#ah what is a consistent style anyways...

[icewindandboringhorror]

One of the interesting bits of trying to resume working on the game after so long is looking back at my ancient Draft Placeholder versions of an image from 4 yrs ago trying to remember what the hell I meant back then, to hopefully interpret it into some more final (ish..) form of the same thing .. making slow progress lol

[silentstaresfanficandfanart]

Welcome one and all to MR H's BIG BUNNY ADVENTURE :D where YOU get to help decide how mr H handles things! you, the peanut gallery, can help him with your GREAT (or terrible, your choice really!) advice! will he survive? guess we'll see! will I be able to keep up with this ? who knows! ill chose the response i think is the most fun and when i post the next chapter you'll get to see what happens! and i CANT GURANTEE that this art style will be consistent im messing with a new brush, but anyways i Hope you enjoy..whatever this is!

it looks like mr h is in a real pickle! MR H! how did you get into this situation?

"The Peanut gallery? Well that's a sight for sore eyes if I ever did see such a thing! Are you all doing alright? I suppose neither of us are in the best shape are we? Last thing I remember is a whole lot of static...and as bright and pretty as this place is, I have a feeling we didn't just upgrade to color, dreadful shame isint it? ah but I digress, these fine folks seem to think I'm their mayor...and while I used to be mayor of my own little town I don't remember it being this...bright. I don't really see any escape routes either. I feel like I should ask some questions or something or..maybe just walk away very fast but what do YOU think I should do?"

[johnhwatsonblog]

Good evening Dr. Watson! Thank you for being firm on lab safety measures. I suspect this was not the first time that Mr. Holmes maneuvered a Bensun burner with his mouth. I’ve seen a photo of him bald, consistent with fire burning off his fringe and crown.

Good evening to you too, Jamie.

Ah. That photo.

Right, I hate to ruin the mythos, but the scorched scalp incident? Not real. Nope. It was a wig.

@artofdeductionbysholmes was going undercover at a chemistry conference (as a disgraced Belgian academic named Dr. Claude Moleculéy. Yes, yes, please, don’t ask) and insisted on ‘method costuming.’

He bought the wig from a dodgy shop in Soho, styled it himself with what I can only assume was a fork, then singed it deliberately to appear more ‘authentic.’

I walked into the flat and found him holding it over a candle like some sort of pyromaniac hairdresser—who, I sincerely hope, doesn’t actually exist. Ha! Can you imagine? ‘The Case of the Follicle Arsonist.’

Anyway, I’m digressing.

So no, he wasn’t bald. Just committed. Deeply committed.

[airenyah]

hello~ i was rewatching the THK trailer again and noticed something interesting: FadelStyle go from using formal/polite khun/pom pronouns -> informal/rude meung/guu later in the series.

In the trailer, I think I hear Fadel using them in the "I don't like being pursued" line and Style uses them when he says "Whenever I'm with you, you either make me feel so scared, or so damn safe".

I was wondering if you had any Thoughts about that? I was surprised they use rude pronouns when it looks like KantBison keep using khun/pom throughout. Do you think the rude pronouns a sign that FadelStyle are closer or more a feature of their personality/dynamics?

I'm still very confused about how any of the pronoun stuff works, so I apologies if this doesn't make any sense. ^^;;

ah, it's funny you should send me this ask because only last night before i went to sleep did i ramble in a group chat about the pronoun use in ep1 😂

disclaimer: i'm not a thai native speaker and i actually get kinda anxious talking about the thai language publicly out of fear of getting something embarrassing wrong lmao. calling fellow language nerd @visualtaehyun as well as Known Native Speakers™ @recentadultburnout and @happypotato48 for double checks and potential corrections in case i'm blabbering bullshit at any point <3

yeah, in the trailer it seemed to me that fadel and style were consistently using guu/mueng for each other except for when style was trying to flirt with fadel on purpose (as in, when he's flirting for kant and the car, not when he's saying flirty or romantic shit bc he genuinely likes fadel now. or at least that's what i thought was going on upon watching the trailer for the first time kfkdkfdkjkjfd)

so when i watched ep1 i was actually kinda surprised bc i hadn't expected them to consistently start out using phom/khun with each other at first! which probably also comes from the fact that i hadn't expected them to meet on their own before kant hires style to hit on fadel hahaha (like, i didn't think the "my nipples are sensitive" scene would happen before kant sets style onto fadel. i thought at that point he was already very purposefully flirting with fadel for the sake of the mission, but instead it's all style himself just to get on fadel's nerves 😂)

anyway, in ep1 fadel and style use pretty much only phom/khun with each other EXCEPT for style at three very specific points:

he uses "guu" to refer to himself at the very end of the scene of their first meeting when fadel drives off and style shouts something about fadel scolding him like a dad when fadel has left already. i'm like 90% sure i hear him say "guu" in that specific sentence

you probably caught him call fadel "nong" to be an extra little shit when he sat down and made fadel get him those beers

when fadel manoeuvers style out of the restaurant and style is raging he uses phom/khun until the very last sentence where the subs say "i'm gonna take you out!". unfortunately i can't understand the entire sentence that well but he starts the sentence with "guu" and i'm fairly sure i hear the words "เป็นแฟนกู" [bpen faen guu] which translate to "be my boyfriend" and so i'm guessing he's saying something along the lines of "i'll make you my boyfriend" or "you will be my boyfriend" (calling a native speaker to pls transcribe that sentence for me thank youuu 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻)

so we see that style uses the rude pronoun set guu/mueng when he's annoyed (no. 1) and when he's seriously pissed (no. 3). other than that he sticks to formal/polite pronouns throughout the first episode

however, we know that they're gonna be using guu/mueng for each other regularly at some point from the trailer and there's also that scene in the promo for next episode where fadel asks style who sent him: they're both using guu/mueng in the "who sent you?" "i like you" exchange

so now the question is when and why do they switch from polite to rude pronouns? personally i'm speculating that fadel is gonna start using guu/mueng with style once he's seriously fed up and annoyed by style. bc rude pronouns aren't just used to show closeness/intimacy but also when, you know, you're actively trying to be rude. and i could see fadel switch to the rude pronouns for the exact reason of being rude on purpose in order to emphasize his disdain for style and to give him a hint to fuck off. and i could see style going along with the pronoun switch bc he sure ain't intimidated by fadel and won't go away that easily hahaha

and if that really does happen then i could see them just sticking to the rude pronouns from that moment on, since these pronouns can be used in an informal way too and it does fit their dynamic

also, i just went and rewatched the trailer bc i wanted to see if there were any scenes in which fadel and style use phom/khun for each other that we haven't seen yet and yeah, all the scenes from the trailer in which they do use the polite pronouns are scenes that we in fact all got to see in ep1 already. then we have the "good morning krub" scene happening next episode, which i'm guessing is gonna happen before fadel corners style in the locker room. and i'm guessing at that point they (or at least style) will still be using phom/khun since that's what they've established as their pronouns they use to their face (note how in the above list, style is never standing right in front of fadel, yelling directly into fadel's face when he uses "guu", so fadel likely isn't even aware of it). and i'm also guessing that then when fadel is eventually seriously fed up and suspicious of style, he changes to guu/mueng in order to show his anger and to basically declare a war with style. and style switches to guu/mueng too in order to fight back bc he sure as hell won't let fadel intimidate him

idk what language you have as a first/native language, but mine is german and in german we also differentiate between formal and informal pronouns. although for us it's by far (by FAR) not as nuanced as thai pronouns since we differentiate only two pronouns for the 2nd person: formal "you" (Sie - pronounced "see") vs informal "you" (du - pronounced "doo"). and in german it is absolutely considered rude if you use "du" to address a person you should be using "Sie" for. and you can absolutely show your negative emotions (like anger, annoyance, etc) towards your conversational partner who you should be addressing with "Sie" by suddenly switching to "du", esp when you're trying to start a fight. and yeah i can see fadel switching to rude/informal pronounce in this way, to kind of start a fight with style so style will finally fuck off

and in german, usually once you're on a "du" level of addressing each other (esp if you do it regularly and it wasn't just a one-off sentence in an argument or something) then you usually wouldn't go back to using the formal "Sie" for each other. of course in thai everything is muuuuch more complicated and complex than in german when it comes to pronouns, so this is kinda like comparing apples with oranges. but yeah, i can totally see fadel and style sticking to the rude/informal pronouns since they've already crossed that line. since they've already established that they can use this level (register) of language with each other, so why bother going back to a more formal/polite register?

we'll have to wait and see if i'm right with my speculation about the pronoun switch, though. of course it could happen totally differently than what i think (who knows, maybe they'll hop between guu/mueng and khun/phom for a while depending on their moods, like, whether they're being civil to each other bc the given situation calls for it or whether style is actively hitting on fadel or whether they're annoyed/pissed at each other and basically challenging each other to a fight)

and i don't find it surprising that kant and bison would be using different pronouns for each other. they did meet under completely different circumstances and they have a completely different relationship to each other than fadel and style do

one thing thai and german pronouns have in common is that their usage depends heavily on who is talking to whom and also what situation/context the conversation is happening in. german speaking kids are taught that they have to address adults with the formal "Sie" pronoun unless they're given explicit permission by the adult to use the informal "du". german learners who take it up as a second language are taught that they need to use the formal "Sie" when talking to strangers. however, that doesn't reflect the reality at all. there are situation where you can immediately jump to the informal "du" without asking for permission first even when you don't know the person while if you met this very same person for the first time in a different situation you might have to call them "Sie" or else they'd be offended because using "du" would be very rude in this context

now if we look at bison and kant's first meeting... kant is trying to hit on bison. a rude pronoun that you'd use out of negative feelings or with peers/close friends seems a little inappropriate in this situation, don't you think? it would definitely have made the unsolicited advice sound even worse and more invasive, imo 😂

and also throughout the entire episode their goal is to be polite and friendly to the other person, since, you know, they're trying to get on the other person's good side in order to get something out of it. and even when (and after) they get to know each other, well, intimately, they don't really have a reason to be rude to each other or use more vulgar language, i feel like? UNLIKE fadel and style, who are actively trying to piss each other off

i'm not surprised that fadelstyle and kantbison use different sets of pronouns for each other since the couples have very different starting points with very different goals that require very different strategies in order to successfully get there

i hope i managed to explain it in a way that makes sense to you <3

[1driedpersimmon]

Do you have any advice for people who might want to get into making comics like yours? I'm always pleasantly surprised by how fast you pump them out and even have other little projects/doodles on the side. How do you keep the quality consistent?

(sorry if this sounds a lil cold (?) i rlly love your peppercakes they r so skrunkly)

First off - Thank you !! I'm honored you like my lil guys and comics hehe! (and no worries on the tone !! I didn't think it sounded cold at all!)

Alright secondly lets see...

Short answer: You really just gotta start and keep going!! Once you start you get the momentum and it gets much easier (like riding a bike, which people like to use as comparison often).

Long answer:

Alright I thought about how to answer for this for a bit and I think I'll break it down to the main aspects.

So timing ! Basically I'm drawing 24/7 (and I'm currently not working as it's an off time for me, but I shall in a week and you will see that my posting frequency will decrease substantially). Ok maybe not 24/7 but I essentially am drawing from the moment I wake up to when I sleep (minus eating, restroom, working out, some errands) and while I do not say this is the key to being better, I'm just realistically displaying how much time I'm spending on drawing. (... one of my new years resolution is to not in fact do that and go out more because I feel like I'm being cooped up in my room a lot haha). But minus the amount of time I spend itself a lot of it has to do with the importance I take in speed drawing. And when I say that I mean quite literally how fast I can draw. AND I think a large part of where that speed comes from is how I like to generalize designs and just my overall process of drawing. (Which, I will not go over now but if you'd like I could make a separate post on how I go about doing my usual sketch, lines, colors, etc) Like, I love ff and all of it's crazy designs but it's so complicated I simplify everything till it's juussstt recognizable, and that's something I feel like really adds to the speed of things.

Also that's sweet of you to say for the quality haha (I always am thinking stuff like ah man this aint it... not my finest work, and then just post anyways cuz who cares I already made it heh)! That being said my quality wasn't alwaysss consistent! Here's an example of my very first "comic" I made for my characters:

And here's the same 4 panels I redrew just about 2 years later:

So I've been basically drawing comics for this for just about 2 years now (will be 2 years officially in a few months) and I most certainly did not get here in one night. I think, as I've mentioned, it's really important to keep up with the comic making (or drawing in general) so that, yes, you can get better, but the way you get better is that it becomes familiar to you. So you can approach concepts and ideas with a more experience. And I think a large part of what holds alot of people back is the idea that "ah I can't do this idea I'm not good enough." So what !! Still do it, I most certainly did it a couple years ago when I barely scribbled my ideas. And then you can totally go back and redraw it ! no "Rule" saying you can't go back and revisit your ideas, like hell even professional artists go back and republish their works with their improved art styles ! (ex. Tokyo Ghoul... even though I don't care for the story, it's still pretty cool! I think he even added more scenes? Anyways..). I think there was that one post going around where it was something like do it scared and that's really REALLY what you gotta do.

And that leads to my final point. You gotta love doing it. I like to make comics because I LOVE my characters, their story, and actually the act of putting it all together into a story, drawn comic, visuals, etc. And, I found my method of loving them. For me, what held me back was the "structure" of comics. I mean you can p much see that the way I like to do things is def not the "traditional" manga/western comic book style right? I won't go as far to say that I "made up this way" of comic making where it's one panel at a time but it certainly worked for me. (I have no idea how many comic wips I have collecting dust in my folders from my earilier days of making this comic where I just gave up 20% of the way in because I really could not vibe with the formatting, but then I figured out I really like to "thumbnail" comics (a result of when I was studying storyboards alot imo) and I went on from there).

This is where I feel like alot of people get stuck too. Where they really do like their ideas, their character, their stories and such, but as soon as they try and go through the process of creating in a certain way... the wind is just instantly taken out of their sails. And while I do believe sometimes you just gotta push through and do it anyways, sometimes that's not the right method to go about it. So instead of brute forcing a method of creation and eventually forming a bad relationship with the process, find a method that works for you. And maybe it doesn't look all that great or good compared to others, but that comes in time and as long as you like doing it, that's what really matters at the end of the day.

Tl;dr: be a lil freak, and lil weird about what you do (this applies to everything, not only art :3)

Alright so I think that's all the points? idk if you still want to ask me stuff, feel free to anytime :) Always happy to share my thoughts!

[heretherebedork]

You might want to not tag this one, but I gotta get it out for TH/K writing.

For me, personally, I think the contrast of having such well written characters against not so rounded ones is what undersells them more.

Both Style and Fadel are really well thought, written, and consistent through and throughout, but Kant and Bison? They have their moments, but there's something within them that feels a bit empty. They're compelling characters but only in theory, in practice... I'm not sure what is exactly what they're lacking, but it feels as if they're just written for moments, for scenes between them, but they're just not well developed by themselves.

I'm finding myself enjoying much more the interpretations and afterthoughts the fandom has about them than they themselves, especially with Kant, who's peak of interest for me was at the water boat bit and then it just went nowhere. Well

Ah, welcome to the no tags zone, anon! I will keep this in that area and I respect you for it because I agree.

Kant is, for me, the bigger problem. He feels hollow. His 'fake' love feels the same as his real love and that really removes a lot of the... feelings... in the relationship. We saw Style change as he started to care for Fadel and we saw his momentary fear and then how he got over it and saw every aspect of his love for him as well as how he regained his trust after the betrayal.

But with Kant it's just all been... words. Words, words, words and none of them actually deep or meaningful. None of them feel meaningful. He's just... also there.

I think they made Kant too perfect.

He was a car thief but only for his brother!!! And he was a snitch but only to save his brother!!! The guy who calls him an asshole? Lying!!! He was really the NICEST GUY EVER. And then that just leaves with Kant the Actual Angel who only did anything wrong because he just loved his baby brother SO MUCH that he also said he was gonna abandon him the instant he got out of high school but, you know, that's... that's okay I guess?

He just doesn't feel like a whole, entire character. He feels like someone wrote out the parts of a character they thought mattered to the romance and then just... stopped. He's a really cool tattoo artist who used to steal cars because he had to take care of his little brother and now he's gonna snitch on this hitman and pretend to love him but OOOOO turns out not to be fake!

But there's no depth to any of it. It's all so shallow. The depth is what we give it but the show isn't giving us any of it. The show is as deep as the water Kant reached when he was still experiencing his phobia while we're trying to make it as deep as he reached thirty seconds later when he was suddenly and inexplicably cured of it.

AND because Kant is a Perfect Character who can Do No Wrong he brings down the people around him. And Bison is more complex and multi-faceted but because he has to be played entirely with Kant his depth ends up unable to actually be explored in the relationship because Kant doesn't have the same depth.

It's why, frankly, I found his scene with Fadel and forgiveness to never quite go as far as I needed it to go.

Then again, I still don't trust Kant. I know I have and the show doesn't care but he still feels like he's lying to me. Like, he doesn't feel sincere to me because I feel like he never changed from the part of the story where he was supposedly 'faking' his love.

(Also, fuck the idea that bringing back the safeword in the kidnapping is actually bringing back the BDSM or a good callback because it wasn't, it wasn't deep, it was a callback that didn't make a lot of sense in context and didn't go anywhere in the actual story and apparently that was also all it took to make no more BDSM for Bison, I guess?!?!?!)

Anyway, I love Fadel and Style and they make me very happy and Kant and Bison are also there. I'm more invested in Keen and Nont at this point and Nont is probably, like, tied up under the place Fadel was crying.

But yes, anon. I fully agree that Kant is underdeveloped and I think that underdevelopment has spread to Bison and I think it's weakened them as characters to the point that they cannot carry the plot or the romance... at least for me.

[cruel-heathcliff]

oooo i wanna ask u questions abt ur ocs so bad rn.... anyways uuuu i think im a bit lost but do u have any . like. brief rundown of the crew? the Lorerrrrr? etc? i love them all and ur designs are FIRE and i require the Lore Feed Me the Lore ok thank uuu ☺️

ah of course ! i know a lot of its scatterer so it can eb a tad hard to keep up with . any road

Warwick

a former radio host from the outskirts brought into the company after his village is raided and destroyed by tripod like monsters that he failed to announce the presence of . holding onto hope his wife survived somehow . major germaphobe and keeps a ton of sanitizer on him because of it . is actually an infiltration drone of the previously mentioned monsters in the shell of the original man .

Alex

the youngest of the group - an expelled member of the thumb . did a lot of bad things and had them done to her as punishment as well as very unethical k corp style therapy done to her making her fully incapable of any thoughts or acts of violence without being incredibly sick . the therapy wears off later towards her canto and her violent tendencies make a full return . extremely secretive about her past . i still am scared to talk about her sorry

Jekyll

former k corp scientist who had been studying EGO and distortions . he used to run a lot if experiments to see how exactly to induce distortion and bery quickly became obsessed with the light . ends up forcibly making his wife distort along with making a ton of peccatulum during his experiments . those experiments are also what brought on his zayin ego too . distorts during his canto after contact with a monolith into hyde who realizes just how much distortion actually sucks and how much pain hes put people through because of how blinded by his own ego he was . he puts down his experiments

oh also in his private time he does a lot of drugs . he kind of got addicted to k corp ampoules

Daedalus

has had so many jobs . used to run a workshop during the smoke war developing weapons for said war . after the war was over and lobotomy corporation established itself she picked up being head of welfare at a branch - designing abnormality containment and breach prevention technology . her son - who worked at the branch she head at - died due to a failure of her technology when the corporation fell . got held by n corp for a bit after the fall of her branch since her technology was useful for containing stray abnormalities still

Winter

one of two people of the crew who arent from this world . she made a deal with a forever consistent abnormality named valgavoth to be able to escape the world she was originally from if she sacrificed to it something she genuinely loved and cared about .... and she immediately sacced her friend and lover to the monster who then took its new tool and tossed it into the next mirror world over - stapling her onto the exact same person she just sacrificed except now a different mirror world version of them. this happens in every world . winter is constantly haunted by val in every world . 100% throwing the entire bus under the well . bus. later

extremely misanthropic

Emporer

a now kind of disgraced high grade fixer . he ran his own fixer office with all 24 of his sons and his workers . he was never a good father to any of them - putting work before being a father . over the years some of his sons started to lose it - sliding into the backstreets to try and hire gangs or hell try to get attention from a finger - to try an destroy their fathers lifes work . they ... well dont exactly succeed but dont fail either . during a very important contract mission the emporer is betrayed by his son horus and is left near dead in the backstreets - the rest of the loyal sons heavily injured , some dead even . after his sons leave him dying in the streets is when he is approached for a new job

uptight pos

Jack

okay honestly i havent fully decided on everything for jack despite him being here so long.

former t corp tax collector . dabbled in chemical experiments to try and find a way to get around having to pay for things . well i mean he did certainly do SOMETHING . started microdosimg this invisible chemical and started doing petty crimes about it . minor theft type shite but that grew into macrodosing it to start avoiding taxes . the macrodosing didnt help so now hes permanently invisible . very very very wanted . uber wanted . owes so much time and ahn to t corp . wow lets hope the gang doesnt go to t corp

very annoying pos

Emily

oh my god we ' re at t corp

well - sort of . remember how the coffin was still sealed at the end of canto 6 ? yeah you do . thats emily !!! she survived ! how ? by not being catherine ! please note if she ever regains memory of who she is she will cease to exist like every catherine before her

The Black Mirror

as stated yesterday the fixer is a calmer erlking situation and is also an identity stapled onto a random person . hes blind and is a fairly well established fixer in his home world but not so much here to the point some people dont believe in his status as a colour. hes just kind of has to go along with guiding everyone of these idiots in a world thats so similar to his own he doesn even realize its different . alcoholic !!

[jackandjellyfries]

Opinions on Four gijinkas that are part rabbit or have hair that closely resembles rabbit ears?

I definitely see why people would draw humanized Four like this, but seeing human Four with anything that looks like rabbit ears or just a bushy tail or smth weirds me out for reasons I can't explain. I used to not like algebralien gijinkas in general. (except for those of One because she's almost always wearing a cute witch hat) (Four always reminded me more of a frog anyway)

Last night, I tried drawing Four and X as humans, but in my cartoon style. I couldn't picture them as full-on humans. I just mostly finished Four, and I'm surprised that I actually like the design for the most part. There are some parts I dislike but can't fix without making the drawing look more wonky than it already is, but I like it. He's a rubberhose cartoon type thing with a thin, lanky body and completely round head.

No rabbit features were added. I tried to imagine him with bunny ears, but I got weirded out all over again. I started out by just giving him the two nubs on top of his head, then worked it into his hair. They way it came out reminds me a tiny bit of the cats from Pico Park, but they're not that small. Based on the sounds that came from Liy squishing Four in Getting Teardrop To Talk, I hc Four's body to be like some sort of really thick liquid, or something with a similar consistency to jelly. You get what I'm trying to say. His hair isn't realistic hair, it's all solid and moves around like jelly. It's wavy to match his nubs. It's shoulder length, but slightly shifted to one side to resemble a third nub. The shape of his face is completely round. When drawing him, I drew his face just like how anyone would draw a face on regular Four because it fits with his cartoony appearance. I tried a more human face later and kind of liked it, but the design felt less like Four and more like some other character, so I changed it back.

I considered giving him cartoony gloves, but I instead gave him human hands that very closely resemble his hand in the shot of him crushing Black hole down to a smaller size in, and I think they fit his cursedness. I'm surprised I did a good job drawing them because I haven't drawn five-fingered hands in forever. I also accidentally made them along with his forearms a little large, but ah well- I haven't coloured him in yet, but I imagine his hair to be the same colour as regular Four while his skin is a lighter colour. I like the headcanon of his eyes being some shade of brown that I keep seeing people apply to their art, but I wouldn't draw the algebraliens with coloured eyes. His outfit is a pair of long, dark brown denim pants with a brown belt, black sandals, and a light grey, nearly white short sleeved dress shirt. The shirt is a little wrinkled and not buttoned up properly because I don't think Four would care about looking fancy too much.

Sorry about this long af description, I just don't know if I wanna share my art here yet.

I also completed X's gijinka design. I'm not gonna go into too much detail about it. I love the outfit I gave him, but not the hair. I did the common thing of hiving him four buns, then I tried again but started by giving him four nubs in the shape of regular X and then tried to turn them into buns from there, but nothing looks good to me, so I'm just gonna go back to One and Two's hairstyles or find a frame of Four to redraw as his gijinka.

[hell-drabbles]

Ra-on 1

Summary: Ra-on comes into your room to deliver some human essence for you to drink.

(If I'm going to be writing about Ra-on, I'm at least going to make him into a good-looking, if soggy, pretty boy. Just, looks like he's been left out in the rain. And is slightly oily. Pathetic style. And gross. I am not exaggerating when I say I made Ra-on real gross. It's fun for me.)

"This," you sloshed the full bottle around, "I have to drink, this?"

"Yes," Ra-on nodded and looked away, biting his dry lips, "It's, uh, it's Minhyeok's."

"…did you drink first?" You asked.

"Well, no but-"

You put the bottle on the floor and rolled it towards Ra-on with a light kick. "Then you drink first. I'm not drinking before you."

Ra-on is weaker than you are. More prone to collapsing faster than you. He'll need it more than you do, even though you are pretty sick yourself. That and you want to delay the inevitable for as long as possible.

"But-"

"Just drink first." You said in a tone that left no room for argument.

Ra-on gulped as he picked up the bottle. He swished it back and forth, as if fascinated by the thick consistency. He licked his lips. He popped off the cork and began to chug.

"Not in front of me," you groaned out, massaging your throbbing temples, "Out. Drink that elsewhere."

Why? Just, why? Is this another one of his kinks? Being looked at while chugging cum? He can have all the kinks in the world, but he shouldn't do them in front of you! You didn't agree to see!

You know what? You've known Ra-on for too long. He wasn't thinking, again. Probably being overly cautious because you're sick and very testy. Thought that because you didn't tell him to get out the first time, that he isn't allowed out.

Augh, that man needs more friends. His social skills are right down the gutter. Not these devils though. They don't count.

Ugh, it's so gross to think about. You care for Minhyeok, you won't deny that but to have to drink his cum? To survive? That's hell. Disgusting. And it was still warm too and you don't know if that's worse of better than if it was cold.

Ra-on choked and popped his lips off the bottle. He coughed, wiped his mouth and gurgled out, "Sorry. I'll-I'll go. I'll be back with more, okay?"

Ugh! Why? Well, you know why but… ah!

"Hey."

Ra-on went stiff and hesitantly turned around, like you're about to scold him. Look at him, he even has his eyes to the ground.

"…" Alright, you have to ask, "Do I have to drink the entire bottle to get better?"

Ra-on blinked and relaxed his thin shoulders, "Ah, well… yeah. It's better to be safe than sorry. If you drink too little, you'll collapse sooner."

…oh boy.

"Minhyeok's balls are gonna be raisins by the time we get back," you collapsed your head into your knees.

Poor man. He does not deserve this fate. But what a trooper, truly.

Ra-on was silent, then gasped after a delay. "…oh no. To have to provide for the both of us… on his own… Um, hey."

"What?" you asked, flatly, head enduring pain that can only be described as being sliced by wires.

You heard shuffling of clothing. "…I think it should work… if I give you some of mine-"

"No. I'm drinking that. And it wouldn't work anyways." It has to be essence from a human that isn't in Hell at the moment. You don't know if it's some purity shit, like somehow being in Hell taints you but whatever. Point being, Ra-on is not an option, and you will not tolerate him being an option.

You're already having trouble keeping yourself from throttling him at every moment. If you had to drink his jizz, you'd straight up let yourself die. You know he would find satisfaction in that. It would pop up later in his masturbation fantasies, you just know it.

…he's always been like that, always sexually charged no matter the time and place. You have no problem with that. His libido will act how it wants. The problem is…

The problem is how Ra-on deals with it. He indulges in it and yet refuses to seek anyone out to relieve it. Refuses to say anything about what he's into and what he wants, and yet jacks it no matter where or who is in the room.

…he didn't even have the decency to stop stroking his dick when you came into the room to borrow Minhyeok's computer. He even finished the minute he saw your face, like he wanted to be caught.

That face... You'll never forget that face of fear and bliss.

You kicked that damn chair out Minhyeok's room the minute Ra-on ran off.

…point being, you don't want anything to do with Ra-on's kinks or semen.

"Well, what if we tried?" Ra-on insisted, pale eyes rounding out in that infuriating puppy-dog like fashion, like that'll work on you the same way it works on Minhyeok.

Gross. Vile. Disgusting.

Your head pulsed and you growled, "No. Get out."

Ra-on clenched his jaw and practically skittered out the door. Good. If he lingered any longer, you would've thrown your shoes at him.

You fell back on the bed. Sleep. You need sleep so you can stop being so angry and snippy. And finally quiet down all the memories you don't want to remember. All so you can be a better person.

[yzafre]

Rise Magic Watch - End Game pt 2

Part 1

Alright, the Dark Armor.

This thing is, in fact, very dangerous. A moment that caught my attention early on is this:

Single finger-flick to send Raph flying. How interesting.

Also it can turn into a drill??? It's metal, I guess, so....

Also, brief aside: I've noted a couple times that there's a decent amount of technology blended with the mystic stuff - Big Mama's hotel, especially. However, Draxum...

"Do not tell Baron Draxum how to use your mouth stick!"

Draxum doesn't know how to use a microphone. Fitting, given his character and how much he hates humans - he probably isolated himself with solely within the mystic environment.

The way Draxum uses the armor is fascinating - becuase he still uses it hte same way he uses his vines, it's just... metal, now. And possibly semi-sentient?

I really don't know what else to call those snake-arm things. They've got eyes and shit. but you see the way he buries his arms into the ground, stretches them out in swirling vine-like formations. The armor is accommodating his fighting-style.... for now.

Because while the armor is powerful.... it also fucks you up.

Like holy shit. They're signalling "something's not right here" with big neon signs - especially those glitch-frames in the last two images.

We then see the boys going "total chaos" with their powers, in an attempt to get at the Jupiter Jim figure.

Raph is... unusually unfocused, for what we've seen from him lately? I'm not sure why he's not forming his second-self. Mikey lights up, completely with laugh-effect.

Leo is actually trailing a LOT of excess energy behind him... but the portals themselves are clean - and both numerous and on-target. I'm so proud of him. These boys have come so far. (Donnie is also great, he's just still snubbing the mystics.)

April deals the final blow, and...

Hm. Don't like that.

I honestly didn't realize just how much... visual foreshadowing there was to the Krang in the show. But it's all over the place if you start looking. An the armor - much like the Krang - wants to consume. To make everything part of it.

But they broke down the armor - victory? Except... well, remember how in Shadow of Evil we noted that the mystic metal is capable of repairing itself? And now the blockage keeping the helmet/tea pot from doing that is gone, so....

Ah.

I'm not actually sure if that connection was intended - the fact that the metal will repair itself without a blockage, rather than the revival just being the result of Draxum's life force - but it tracks, I think.

And that's the end of season one! This has been really interesting so far! Rise definitely is a squishy soft magic system, like I thought, but there's a lot more consistency and set-up than I was expecting? Like things tie together very cleanly, and you can really get a sense for how the world works.

I feel like my "analysis" has devolved into a lot of pointing and waving, but doing a focused watch like this has been a lot of fun anyways.

[cocomanga]

*Spoiler Alert* Solo Leveling Ep. 17 Review

And Jin-woo served AGAIN!

I can pretty much bet that this'll be a consistent occurrence for all of us to witness going forward. 😍🤩 And he did so at like 10% effort.

This episode set us up beautifully for what's to come, and gave us even more insight into why Jinwoo ends up where he does, and with who he does.

Frist, were blessed to see the rest of his sweet, and exciting first encounter with Cha. How he was so impressed by her being able to "sneak up on" him, which led to us seeing him in a bit of a vulnerable state. And her, even after his awakening, being the only person capable of pulling off such a feat.

Bravo Cha. I SO love this for you!🥰

Side note: How can he be so damn fine from BEHIND!! Those muscles flexing along with that gait was just... whew!

And the height difference...😩 Can you imagine?

but anyway … lol … this leads me to another thought/perspective that I've had conversations with multiple SL fans about.

This, is why Cha is, at least currently, by Jin-woo's side as opposed to another one of his friends, Joohee.

This woman pulled no punches when it came to him, and did so with the style and grace of a woman worthy of Jin-woo's caliber.

Once she "caught wind" of him, even as he was still E-Rank, she was already on the phone, trying to figure out exactly who he was and went out in SEARCH of him, taking real steps to get closer, whatever that meant. Her intuition is strong, and she listened well.

Some argue that it was his re-awakening that attracted her to him, as if her decision to be with him was a result of her desiring him only for his power. However, at this point she only knows him as an E-Rank.

He has not gained any "status", so she has no knowledge of a glow-up where he's concerned. She simply recognized him as different. He stood out to her, whether it was like a sore thumb, or like an aromatic needle of perfection in a haystack of stinky comrades. 🤭

Ms. Hae-In is brave enough to take action when it comes to Jin-woo, and for those who have not read ahead, we'll see where that leads...

I'll likely dive much deeper into that topic in another post. :)

But... seriously... its hard not to be completely taken with him. In this moment he maintained a quite pensive presence, his warm heart on full display as he reflected on his old life and old friends, and how things used to be. How he's no longer a "weak", struggling, E-Rank hunter, but something very different. Someone even he is beginning not to recognize. Yet, this man maintains his integrity and compassion for other people and is never moved. Ah, he's just so wonderful.

This point promptly proven in this next scene, where he enters the dungeon to help out the High Rank hunters led by Kihoon (talk about another fine ass side character... besides Choi, I mean *ahem) and ends up doing far more than just a little bit In STEALTH mode...😩

Just so badass.

And again, we see the juxtaposition between his compassionate heart under normal circumstances, against his quite hardened one, manifested in his ruthless fighting style when it comes to beasts.

Check the WAY he chose to kill this Orc. He could have simply sliced him with his dagger, but nah.. Our Jin-woo literally ripped his head from his body, exposing his spine... Gaaaah! 😖 He is playing NO games with these b*tches.

And This! Oh my gawd!! BAE moving in stealth, was E👏🏾.VE👏🏾.RY👏🏾.THING👏🏾! 😭

Yeeeeah... s'not lookin good for these nasty monsters.😌

Another thing I felt so good about were these Honorable and Brave healers. Really, the whole strike team. They were such a relief, and a welcome change from the culture we're used to seeing up to this point during Jin-woo's raids, as well as their decision to keep Jin-woo's identity a secret, considering he may have his reasons for choosing not to reveal himself. Very cool.

From Dangsuk's group, to Kang, to Chul Kim, circumstances have been consistently grim for Jin-woo's colleagues due to the sheer incompetence of the so called "stronger" hunters he's been working with.

The irony of Jinwoo being named the "Weakest Hunter of all Mankind" yet he managed to save all of the high ranked hunters, including Joohee, from the double dungeon practically using his intellect alone, and defeating higher ranked hunters solely by outsmarting them and/or simply due to them being complete monsters themselves, despite being chosen to lead raids per the higher ups of the Hunter's Associations is crazy. Go figure, right?

That actually begs the question, why would the system chose him? Why choose the weakest hunter, someone who's an E, over A or even S-Rank hunters? ... Seems "Weak" might be a relative term, and maybe for the system, the weakest was not determined soley by lack of physical prowess??

That aside, sort-of, this group was just amazing when it came time to show their grit and determination to take on the beasts behind this particular gate. Sadly, I couldn't help but recall Joohee in this moment. This woman, stood her ground like a true soldier after healing a man and coming face to face with an enormous Orc.

It was almost time for her to die, yet she stayed strong and accepted her fate because it was her choice to be there. Unfortunately, not all healers were this mature, and were far more of a liability Joohee. *cough cough* than a support to their fellow Hunters. 😕

This beauty here, was LIGHTYEARS greater in character and bravery than many others we've witnessed.

Not to mention the other healers who were just as traumatized as anyone would be in these horrific, terrifying and debilitating situations, yet showed unyielding strength despite their odds.

Of course, the leader, Kihoon is definitely the VIP (aside from Jin-woo) of this group, standing before the Orc's as a whole grown ass, strong ass man, and not a self-serving coward choosing to sacrifice Jin-woo to save his own skin.

Interestingly enough, was the first time Jin-woo had gone on a raid with a group of this stature, and was treated with respect, regardless of his ranking.

In the anime, this squad included six A ranks, three B-Ranks, whereas the Manhwa quoted ELEVEN A-ranks and SIX B-Ranks.

While they had more than enough people to take care of this job, or so they thought before they went deeper inside, this group remained solid and were nowhere near weak, not in rank, or in spirit.

These Orcs are nothing to sneeze at by any means, either. Just look at the sheer vastness of this space! I'm just excited to see what my baby daddy does next week. Get ready, 'cause Is about to go DOWN!

p.s...

They left some things out of the Anime that were in the Manhwa... I wonder if they'll add later to the story. I'm thinking it was done due to their perception of those parts being relatively insignificant, but again, those were some of the things that made this story more than just fighting, but full of even more substance and fun. Here's to hoping they'll add it later. ✌🏾💙

Decided to post this panel because he's just so damn pretty.🥰😍

[theresa-of-liechtenstein]

art by em year in review 2024!

i find myself surprised i drew much at all this year considering the circumstances (completing a bachelor's degree. concerts. international trip. starting a phd. general state of world.) however, for the fifth time i am happy to present my yearly retrospective.

as always, reflections under the cut.

jan: i feel like my weakest pieces always happen in january 😭 this was definitely one of those where concept > execution; some of this feels woefully flat and i wasn't too enthused about how herc looked. oh well. that was literally one of the only things i drew in january

feb: one of the developments that came about this year in my drawing was that of my cartoon/comic style, because i wanted to have a record of all the funny shit that happens in my music life. i've continually been surprised at the reception of it online haha. tita conductor is OUR internet microcelebrity now i guess

mar: ah, the douglas seventh wheels the hercolyn wedding fic i've been saying i'd write for almost two years. well, that actually got written and will go up later this week. but anyway, Hurt That Old Man!

apr: in which some professor of media studies with a slide whistle chose to examine a 160-year-old novel through the lens of an intergenerational relationship, and i took it personally. i was not drawing a lot during this time, so i was naturally falling back on my favorite subjects, namely. herc and linda. so much for branching out this year LMAO

may: a pen test for my graduation gift to tita conductor (finished version here, which she loved so much she couldn't stop talking about it when we next saw each other in september). someone once said to me 'it's weird that you can draw her from memory.' i replied 'looking at her is kind of part of the job description.'

jun: drawing theresa is probably one of the ways through which i measure my art progress, given that out of all the character designs i have (bar one, which i don't share on this blog for Reasons) hers is the one that has stuck around the most persistently. the grey is here to stay‼️

jul: i drew this one while having stomach problems in the philippines 😭 but something about the philippines (and like. being around people of my ethnic background on a daily basis) made me think a lot about my character designs for the soft-shoe-shuffle trio, so i wanted to do something with them a bit

aug: for all i talk about martin i sure never draw him, ever 😂 it's probably not obvious, but i was trying painting an base layer rather than an overlay (which i've been using pretty consistently since last year). in the future, i want to experiment more with coloring: i think i've not been eager to touch that part in my art and that needs to change. also pour one out for what i almost captioned it:

if i got onto a plane and i saw a twink in that mfing pilot seat i'm jumping off 😐🤚🏻‼️

sept: the piece that got the most attention this year i think. i'm not sure how well it came across that douglas is supposed to be ever so slightly horny in this one. oh well. it was funny.

oct: i think it was this piece that made me start to realize that i have kind of developed a problem with making everyone's faces super long. which. i don't really know how that happened. anyway this is really cute still. read the theresa-becomes-a-pilot fic.

nov: omg guys remember when i was obsessed with the theresa-maxi dynamic. well it came back for a blazing second of glory in november. maybe it'll come back to me again for good. we'll see

dec: again, familiar subjects during a tumultuous time. not much of note here, except i have noticed myself getting very lazy with lighting recently. also i wrote a fic about this.

overall: going into the new year, i think the whole 'making everyone's faces look super long' thing needs to be addressed; otherwise, as stated earlier, i really should start experimenting with coloring and base layers and shading and lighting.

thank you everyone! and a happy new year to all!

[ravangie]

Your style of characters is so beautiful!! How did you learn/develop/practice to draw like that?

Ah!!! Thank you!! 💗💗💗✨✨

Here comes a long rant, get ready

Talking about your own art style is kinda tricky, I feel like to artists it comes as second nature, so one doesn't really see it as a so-called separate "style". Rather they see it as a continuation of themselves in a drawn form (at least i do). But if i had to, i'd say that one's art style consists of two things:

1) What comes naturally.

I look at 5 year old kids drawing and see that each one of then has their own unique style. Already. Without even trying.

I've been drawing my whole life and I never tried to shape my drawing style into a box that I could call "my style". I just let the lines flow naturally and followed where they led me.

I started going to live-drawing sessions again recently and my friend told me that she could see "my style" of drawing that she sees in my digital works in those quick sketches that I make during these sessions. I think that's because when I work on digital illustrations, I don't think about how I should draw this or that. I just do it.

So, practise! With time, the ways you personally draw things will flow to you. When you draw one thing a 100 times you start to notice simularities in all of the 100 different examples, and then you systematize what you've learned and put it to use drawing your 101 drawing. After a while you won't even think about it before drawing them in the usual for you way.

I like to draw freely, not picking up a pencil from paper, with my lines just flowing naturally everywhere that I want them to. And I try to keep that same feeling in my finished drawings (where there is lineart still visible).

Here, found an example of a quick live sketch without any boobies for ya (just to be safe) and a linework for one on my more recent digital works. See how I try to keep the lines alive in the same way. And add highlights where I deem them necessary just for something interesting to the eye.

2) Your inspiration.

Everything that you see and like impacts your style, whether you mean it or not. My friend (other friend) watched Wolfwalkers the other night and immediately texted me saying she could see the inspiration that I've drawn from that movie. And she was right. I am a fan of the artstyle of the whole studio, so it's only natural that i, maybe even unconsciously, took something that i liked from their works and incorporated it into my own art style.

When I asked my friend what exact simularities she saw, she couldn't pinpoint them, she said it's just the vibe that she's getting. And i was content with that answer. Means i didn't copy and paste, but rather interpreted what i liked in my own way.

Also. Very important. You have to love what you draw. You're gonna wanna spend some extra time and add those extra couple of strokes that don't add anything in meaning, but are there to just be pretty. Sometimes those couple of strokes make the biggest difference. I think it's is very important to take time to just sit with your work and listen to what it needs to make it truly finished. A drawing can go from empty and unfinished to fantastic in just a couple of lines.

So. There it is. Sorry for the long answer. Or maybe you're welcome? Anyway hope it satisfies you!💖💖

[ap41cu5]

The Rookie Detective: Joseph Oda x Fem! Reader (Chapter 3)

short synposis: a bit of a long, fluffy chapter where the reader was so caught up in her thoughts of joseph that she couldn't get a single ounce of sleep that night. when she comes into work, shes so exhausted that joseph offers to drive her back home to make sure she gets there safe and sound. meanwhile, joseph is also worried about sebastian who has been quickly descending into alcoholism. a/n: sorry if this chapter feels a bit rushed! i didn't want to make it too long but it ended up being super long anyway </3 word count: 4124

Your first day at work was amazing for the most part. While you felt horribly for your coworker, Sebastian Castellanos, you just couldn’t pry your mind away from Joseph. There was just something about him that drew you to him. He was just so gentle and sweet, not to mention incredibly easy on the eyes. The only downside to your little, well, huge crush on him, was that you were unable to get any sleep that night with your head filled with him and only him. Overflowing with so many silly fantasies about going on dates with him or somehow getting the chance to cuddle with him, what his lips would feel like when you kissed, or how his arms would feel wrapped around you in a warm embrace.

You quite literally couldn’t get a wink of sleep that night.

You were so giddy once you got home and you had no outlet for all that pent up energy that you ended up staying up all night, twisting and turning, praying to God that you would finally be able to fall asleep. But to no avail.

No matter how long you closed your eyes for, you were still wide awake. This went on until eventually you saw sunlight shining in through your blinds. Great. Just great.

You checked your alarm clock and there was 15 minutes until you were supposed to wake up.

Well, screw it! You thought to yourself, and just threw the covers off of yourself and got up to start getting ready. 

The KCPD had a surprisingly lenient dress code, as you could see by what Kidman had been wearing. Since you had extra time, you decided to wear something more your style. You pretty much wore the same top as yesterday, which consisted of a white button up shirt with a black vest (like Joseph or Sebastian’s) that you paired with a black tie with beige pleated pants. You decided to accessorize a bit and put on a pair of floral earrings and a matching necklace. You threw on some light makeup and put your hair up in a claw clip, letting two strands in the front hang down (and if you have bangs, you fixed your bangs as well). 

Looking in the mirror, you realized that no amount of makeup could cover up the insane eyebags you developed the night before. Wow. I look like shit, you thought to yourself.

You checked your kitchen cabinets to see if you had any coffee left, but thanks to your amazing luck, you just remembered that you ran out the night before.

You sighed and finally left your apartment.

Once you made it to the office, you practically threw your stuff down and sat down at your desk. You just wanted to get today over with and hastily finish up the police report you had to write for yesterday’s shoplifting incident.

Your head was resting in your fist as you clicked away at your computer, looking for the necessary document template to begin filing the report.

“You look like shit,” you hear from beside you.

“Gee, thanks. I hadn’t noticed,” you sarcastically remarked, looking to see where the voice came from.

It was Kidman, of course. You weren’t sure if this was just how she acted, or if she had some sort of weird issue with you. 

“There’s coffee in the lounge area. Just figured I’d let you know in case you wanted to grab a cup. You look like you need it,” she added, her voice sounding a bit softer than before.

“Ah, thank you. I appreciate it. I’ll probably go grab one once I’ve finished filing the first page of this report,” you shot her a small smile, feeling a bit fuzzy that she was actually being nice to you for once. Perhaps you were wrong about her, you thought.

As you briskly typed away at your computer, trying to get the first page done as quick as possible, you heard the door open as Joseph sat down at his desk in front of you. Your eyes practically lit up at the sight of him.

“Good morning, Joseph!” You said, almost a bit too excited.

“Good morning, (First Name). Are.. you alright? You look like you didn’t sleep at all last night,” Joseph replied as he looked up at you above your computer screen, that same concerned tone in his voice again.

“I didn’t!” You replied, part of you trying to play it off as a joke so he wouldn’t worry himself too much.

Joseph gave a concerned look and got up to leave the room. You were a bit upset he left, but tried to focus your attention on the document. While you still had intense feelings for him, you couldn’t let it hinder your work this badly. Struggling to keep your eyes open as you typed away at your keyboard, you heard Joseph approach you again.

“You look like you need this,” you hear Joseph say.

You turned to look at him, to which he held two cups of coffee. You were immediately touched by the gesture, your cheeks heating up as he carefully handed you one of the mugs.

“Careful, it’s hot,” he warned as you took the mug from him, mindful not to burn yourself.

“Thanks..” you replied, suddenly becoming shy.

Jesus, has it been that long since someone’s actually done something nice for me? You thought to yourself, wondering why you elicited such a reaction.

“Anytime, (First Name). Why don’t I help you file that report?” He suggested, placing his mug down at his desk before standing over your shoulder again.

“How much of it have you completed so far?” He asked, taking your mouse and scrolling on your computer.

This was like yesterday all over again, except this time the close proximity made you shiver. You were having a much more visceral reaction than before, the scent of his cologne sending you into a haze. Was it the lack of sleep? Why were you reacting so much more intensely this time than the last?

You felt him place one of his hands on your shoulder to steady himself, the contact making you jump a little.

“Sorry, just need to skim over everything you’ve written,” he mumbled, “alright, crime committed, shoplifting, number of suspects, three, right..” he continued to whisper under his breath.

The combination of the close proximity, his hand on your shoulder, his scent, and the sound of his voice all turned you into a blushing mess as you tried your best to sit still. Your heart rate was through the roof, your hands were becoming clammy, and you subconsciously pressed your thighs together as your eyes drifted to his hands.

You weren’t sure what it was, but something about his forearms being exposed and those leather gloves just did something to you. You were down absolutely horrendously and it was so incredibly embarrassing.

After what felt like ages, he stood back up again and began to make his way back to his desk in front of you.

“Alright, thank you. I should be able to do the rest from here. Just go ahead and email the document to me and I can do the rest. You already got a good portion of it done from what I can see,” Joseph sat down, taking a sip of his coffee. 

He hadn’t seemed to notice your beet red expression as you only nodded in response, your voice still caught in your throat as you copied the link to the document.

“W-what’s your uh, what’s your email address?” You asked, mentally cursing yourself for stuttering.

“Here, I’ll type it in for you.” You couldn’t even look at him as he made his way back to your seat. As he typed in his email, you noticed his profile picture for his email was a Japanese Kanji character.

“You’re Japanese?” You inquired, immediately growing curious.

“I am. But I only speak a little bit of Japanese. How’d you figure?” He asked, steadying himself by placing his hand on your shoulder again.

“W-well, ahem, I noticed that your profile picture for your email was some sort of Kanji character. I took a bit of Japanese back in high school,” you replied, the blood rushing back up to your face.

“Really? The Kanji in my profile picture is the Oda seal for my last name. How much Japanese do you still remember?” He asked, taking a seat in the desk beside you.

“Oof, barely any. I never learned many kanji characters so all I really remember is how to read Hiragana and Katakana.”

“Well if it makes you feel any better, I don’t know much more than that and I’m Japanese,” he chuckled.

You both laughed a bit,  and shared just a fraction of a moment where you two just sat and looked at each other.

“I should really finish filing that police report!” He remembered, quickly making his way back to his desk. 

You could just barely make out the blush that dusted his cheeks as he quickly turned his back and made his way back to his desk. 

You rested your head on your arms as you put your head down for what felt to be just a few minutes. A quick power nap couldn’t hurt, right? Sleep quickly enveloped you as you hoped to God you wouldn’t snore. 

As soon as you awoke, you ultimately felt even worse than you did before you took the nap. You felt even groggier than you did this morning, making it even harder to focus on your work. As you looked back up at your computer screen, you were pleasantly welcomed by the sight of Joseph’s focused expression just beside his monitor.

You couldn’t help but take a few glances at him now and then while he worked. He just had such a handsome face. You couldn’t help but notice how his brows would furrow when he was deeply focused, how he would rest his chin between his thumb and forefinger whenever he was skimming back over something he wrote…

“(First Name)?”

He was just so.. 

“(First Name)?”

attractive. In ways you yourself could hardly even describe.But you couldn’t let your feelings get the best of you. Especially if he didn’t feel the same way. Can you imagine how awkward that would be working alongside him the day after being rejected? “(First Name)!!”

At the third calling of your name, you were finally snapped back into reality. Your eyes widened as you looked back up at Joseph.

“..yes? Sorry, I must’ve spaced out. Was there something you needed?” You asked, your head feeling like it was about to float off your body with how sleepy you were.

“You’ve been staring at me for the past 5 minutes. Is there something on my face?” 

You swear your heart stopped for a moment.

“I.. I was?” Your voice quivered with sheer embarrassment. 

You could feel your heart rate begin to speed up again and your face become beet red.

“Uh.. yeah,” Joseph replied, his face turning a light shade of pink as well.

“You even fell asleep for.. well.. a few hours. But I didn’t want to wake you, you looked like you needed the sleep.”

“Oh, oh crap! Sorry, I– uh, sorry if I was distracting you. And I’m sorry for falling asleep as well! Shit, I slept for that long? I didn’t get much work done today at all. Is there anything else you need me to do? Any case files, anything?” You rubbed your eyes, still feeling groggy after just waking up.

“It’s alright, really! I was just a bit worried. You may want to take an early out if you’re not feeling too well. I was able to get almost everything we needed done. It’s alright, trust me,” Joseph reassured you.

“No, no I couldn’t do that. It’s only my second day here. I’ll stay the full time. But I do really appreciate your concern, Joseph,” you replied, bashfully tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. Stretching, your eyes quickly scanned the room. Everything looked normal, except for one thing. Sebastian never showed up. At least, you hadn’t seen him.

“Where’s Castellanos?” You asked, glancing at his empty desk.

“He never came into work today. I just hope he’s doing alright. He’s turned to some.. unhealthy habits as means to cope with the accident. To the point where he’s been calling in sick more often than not,” Joseph sighed, rubbing his temple.

“He hasn’t been doing drugs, has he!?” You hurriedly asked, your mind jumping to all sorts of conclusions.

“Shh! Try to keep your voice down!” Joseph whispered to you, “no, he hasn’t. Well, not exactly. He’s been drinking lately. Far more than he should.”

“I trust that you won’t tell anyone about this, (First Name). I’ve been contemplating whether or not to report him to Internal Affairs, but I really think I should. The last thing we want is for him to drink himself to death.”

You nodded, your lips pursing and your brows furrowing in discontent. 

“You know him much better than I do. I trust that you’re making the right decision,” you replied.

“I hope so. I don’t want to impede on his work. Something tells me that this is all that he has left and the last thing I would want to do is to take that away from him. So reporting him may be the only choice I have,” Joseph explained, his voice laced with worry.

“You’re very considerate, Joseph. He’s lucky to have a friend like you by his side,” you said to him, his eyes softening ever so slightly.

“Thank you, I try. I only want what’s best for him,” Joseph muttered, “I’m going to check up on him after work. Would you like to accompany me?” 

Your eyes lit up for a moment at the thought of spending more time with him, but quickly remembered that you weren’t sure if that would be the right decision to make, seeing as you’ve only just met Castellanos.

“Ah, well.. as much as I would like to, I’m not sure that it would be appropriate. I’ve only just met him, and.. well, as it stands I’m not sure he’s exactly fond of me,” you hated to reject the offer, but you didn’t want to be a bother to Sebastian.

Joseph seemed to contemplate the decision for a few seconds.

“I.. I suppose you’re right, how about I call you after?” Joseph offered, hardly even realizing what he had just asked of you at first.

Was he.. asking you for your number? Your face flushed at the realization as your eyes darted around the room.

“I– yeah! That sounds good. Why don’t I write my number down for you?” You weren’t sure where he found the courage, even for him that was profoundly bold.

Joseph hurriedly felt each of his pockets for where he kept his small notebook. His hands rapidly tapped each of his pockets trying to find it, until he quickly felt the familiar shape of the notepad in his back pocket. As he yanked the notebook out, he was in such a frenzy that it slipped out of his fingers and fell onto the floor.

“Ah– j-just a second!” His face was beet red at this point.

As he bent down to pick up the notebook, the moment he had it within his grasp he hurriedly flipped to a blank page. He practically shoved the notebook in your face, the black page overflowing with invitation as he quickly pulled out one of his pens for you to use. 

You found his eagerness and clumsiness to be both cute and incredibly charming. You couldn’t help the smile that graced your features as you carefully took the pen and wrote down your number and even drew a heart next to it. 

“There you go.”

“Th-thanks, I’ll.. I’ll be sure to call you after!” Joseph stuttered, his cheeks bright red. 

You nodded in response, “I’ll be waiting!”

As you stood up, you couldn’t help but stumble, still extremely groggy from the nap that you took. The room appeared to be spinning as you struggled to keep your balance.

Joseph immediately rushed to your aid and attempted to steady you by placing a hand on your shoulder and the other on your waist.

“Easy now, careful,” he muttered under his breath, the purr in his voice sending a chill down your spine.

“You’re in no condition to drive, (First Name). I’ll take you home since it’s already time to clock out anyway,” Joseph offered.

Well, he was more telling you what he was going to do rather than offering. But you were still charmed either way.

“Y-you really don’t have to, really. I’m sure I’ll be fine–” “I insist, (First Name).” You looked up at him, your chest swelling with butterflies at his generosity. He was such a gentleman and that alone did wonders to you.

“Thank you, Joseph. You’re so sweet,” you attempted to walk but ended up tripping on your own feet, stumbling into Joseph’s chest with a gentle ‘thud!’

“S-sorry!” You quickly apologized, attempting to steady yourself.

The scent of Joseph’s clothes mixed with his cologne was strangely relaxing. The feeling of his nimble yet strong arms cradling you and allowing you a chance to regain your balance so you could stand on your own ironically made your knees feel weaker.

“Come with me. My car isn’t parked too far from here,” Joseph kept one hand on your shoulder just in case you lost your balance again as you both left the office.

Joseph carefully helped you enter the front seat of his car, taking your bag from you and placing it down before he took your hand and helped you up. He paid careful attention to make sure you wouldn’t fall.

“Thank you,” you quickly thanked him before he gently shut the door behind you.

The moment you entered the car, his scent mixed with the air conditioner he used flooded your senses. It smelled just like him inside the car, the mix of his cologne as well as a mango scent being a surprisingly good combo.

He quickly entered the driver’s seat, pulling out his phone.

“Here, type in your address so I can take you home. I’ll drive you into the station in the morning so you can get your car as well,” he stated, placing his hand back on your shoulder.

“Thank you for this, again. This is more than I could’ve ever asked of you,” you remarked as you carefully typed your address into Google Maps.

“You’re not asking, I’m offering,” he replied, a slight smile on his face as you handed his phone back to him.

As he pulled out of the parking lot, the low hum of the engine and the sunset in the distance just made you feel so safe and comfortable. You both sat in comfortable silence as your eyelids slowly grew heavier and you felt your muscles loosen and feel lighter. Before you knew it, you slipped into the land of unconsciousness. 

Just moments later, you felt a hand lightly shaking your shoulder, gently trying to awake you from your slumber.

“(First Name),” you heard a whisper from beside you.

“It’s time to wake up, you’re home now,” the voice continued as you stirred.

Your eyelids fluttered open as you turned towards the voice, and you were met by the rather pleasant sight of Joseph’s gentle features.

“Oh, crap. I fell asleep again. I’m sorry,” you apologized, rubbing your eyes to try and get yourself to wake up more.

“Don’t worry about it. Here, let me help you out of the car,” Joseph said as he got out of the driver’s seat.

Opening up the car door, he took your bag and placed it on his shoulder as he took your hand and helped you up.

“Careful of the ledge,” he reminded you as he pulled you up.

“Which apartment is yours?” He asked, one arm around your waist to steady you.

The feeling of his arm around you and his hand lightly gripping your waist made you go weak.

“It’s.. uh… floor 6 apartment number 1,” you muttered, your head foggy and knees feeling like they were about to give out any moment now.

“Right, let's go,” he made sure to keep a strong yet gentle grip on you in case you lost your balance.

As the two of you walked, you couldn’t help but admire Joseph’s features under the golden sunlight. The way it shone into his eyes created a light brown, almost golden hue. The dewy residue on the grass left from yesterday’s rain seemed to make the grass behind him sparkle. If you hadn’t known any better, you would’ve thought you were still asleep, caught in a frivolous dream that you would’ve dreaded to ever awaken from. Has your mind been playing tricks on you? Or was the man that flooded your mind the night prior truly indulging you in an act of grace, carefully cradling your waist as if you were made of glass, just to make sure you got home safe?

You watched as Joseph clicked the button for the elevator, gently guiding you inside as your eyes still struggled to stay open. Come to think of it, for the past 48 hours you had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep. The night before your first day, you were so anxious that you couldn’t fall asleep until 4:00am, two hours before you had to wake up. And just the night prior, you couldn’t sleep at all. That little amount of sleep really did a number on you.

Once the elevator got to the sixth floor, Joseph walked with you until you got to your front door. 

“We’re here,” Joseph gently nudged you.

“Oh, already?” You looked up at your door, then to Joseph, “thank you, Joseph. You really didn’t have to go through all this trouble. I could have just called a taxi or something. But really, thank you. This was.. a very extravagant favor of you to do for me. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you did all of this,” you rambled, looking at the floor as your face burned red and your chest almost exploded with warmth and fuzziness. 

“Really, it’s no problem (First Name). I wanted to make sure you got home safe. I’m surprised you even came into work today with how exhausted you must be. Come on, let’s get you to bed,” Joseph added, motioning for you to unlock your door.

After fumbling around with your keys and finally finding the right one, you pushed your door open and quickly kicked off your shoes. Being the gentleman that he is, Joseph also made sure to remove his shoes before walking further into your apartment. 

You scurried over to your couch, not even bothering to make it to your bed. You sloppily flopped down onto your couch, the soft pillows making you lightly bounce up and down. The soft cushions felt like heaven to your muscles as you grabbed a pillow to rest your head on.

The corners of his mouth softly curved upwards into a small smile, admiring how peaceful you looked. After taking in the sight for a few seconds longer, he quickly looked around for a blanket to put over your sleeping form. 

After finding a soft plaid blanket that had been neatly folded atop one of your shelves, he gently placed the blanket on top of you, careful not to disturb your slumber. He carefully knelt down next to you, before carefully whispering, “I’m sorry I can’t stay longer, (First Name) but–” he stopped in his tracks when he realized you had already fallen asleep, a small chuckle escaping from his chest.

He sighed a bit before tucking a strand of your hair out of your face and behind your ear. As if on impulse, he planted a small kiss on your cheek before finally standing back up. As much as he wished he could stay with you for longer, he needed to check up on Sebastian. Who for all he knew, was drinking himself to death. 

Hastily ripping out a page in his notebook, he wrote down a small message for you when you awoke. Leaving it on your coffee table, he paid you one last glance before finally making his way back to your front door. Gently shutting the door behind him, he let out a breath that he hadn’t even known he was holding in.

“(First & Last Name), you’re going to be the death of me.”

and this marks the end of chapter 3!!! i hope this wasnt too boring </3 i promise the next chapter is going to be much much more entertaining than this one LOL quick silly little thing i did: i made the reader's apartment number floor 6 apartment number 1 because joseph's bday is 6/1!

CLICK HERE FOR CHAPTER 4:

[mikolaj-17]

a new oc to keep the intrusive thoughts away

his name is andrzej i love him to pieces and i want a more gentle vibe for him. his schtick suggests anything but- being basically a corpse brought back to life and allowed to grow up (died at birth and revived by a god but was in a stangnant state until the god abandoned him- hes immortal and if he opens his eyes and looks at anything it will be immediately destroyed so think like medusa if she could blow anything up by simply looking at it) ao anyway- yea he’s now conscious and i want it to be sweet as he navigates life w the help of a beloved retainer.

and i kinda want him to be a source of comfort as i try to beat nasty intrusive thoughts down with a stick (i love burnout and my brain and body just giving up on me lmao) and so yea :P

timelapse under cut ignore that its upside down i wish i knew what happened when i downloaded it to my drive

full length no speed up since this is the only place im posting it lmao. gotta love artistic nudity and every site ever being afraid of it 🫠👍 except twitter im not going on that shithole.

ah also i loooveee style inconsistency. atp style depends on the program and the time i took to paint it lmao. the only thing that’s consistent (ish) is the way i draw my subjects lmao

[sweetest-honeybee]

I'm going to be starting my very first commissions soon! I am very excited but do you have any tips on what I should and shouldn't do?

Oh that’s very exciting! Hmm I have a post somewhere but I’ll just answer anyways 😂 This is gonna be insanely long

- Don’t be disappointed if you don’t get a huge amount of people asking at first. It’s all about drawing people in and growing an audience! If you don’t have an audience yet, it’s always worth it to market and advertise pretty well. Multiple social medias, using common tags, promoting in say, is discord server if you’re in one or something, all that jazz

- Pricing is very difficult and it’ll fluctuate and change over time. You’re not gonna get it down first try, and they’ll change with your workflow and what you realize you can and can’t do/handle! Personally, I took the amount of time I take on each canvas and estimated some average times (I.e. a rendered bust takes me 1.5-2 hours) and multiplied that by ah, $30 I think at first? And then doubled my prices later down the road

- Additionally however, pricing in such a way that you make good money for your time is important but, and I can’t stress this enough, PLEASE consider the people you’re advertising your work to and who follows you, what communities you’re in, etc. For myself, I’ve recently began to aim for higher quality clients who can pay more all at once and so I can get more money with less commissions stacked in my queue. Thus why my lowest price is still quite high. If you want more frequent clients, most often it’s best to keep your prices relatively low but still good value for you. Again, it’s all about finding that balance and figuring out your workflow

- Speaking of workflow, there’s no one right way to do commissions. Your process is your own and from my experience, I’ve gone through a bunch of different processes with different people! Haha, I’ve even signed a contract once to really seal the deal on the terms and conditions. Make it your own! Be as professional as you feel the need to or not. Do whatever makes you comfortable as long as it’s not at the expense of the client, of course

- You may or may not be contacted by spam bots and other accounts about your work. Believe me, it’ll happen once or twice that you might be scammed if you’re not careful (it’s happened to me twice) but if I could say, it’s usually accounts with names that don’t match their icons, using little/terrible punctuation and very automated repsonses, requesting work that’s not what you do usually, requesting work of family members/pets, offering very large sums of money, whatever else. Just be safe!

- Hmmm what else….

- Make sure you have plenty of examples of your work and the style of art/coloring that you’re advertising. If you’re offering something new, just get like 3-4 examples in and have a consistent process before having people pay money for it. I love my current rendering style but I had to wait til I had a few to know how I wanted to go about offering it as a new coloring style and how it’s different from what I would typically do

- Some clients are definitely rude and pester. It’s okay to put your foot down and say you’re not comfortable working with them. Personally, I offer up other artists if that’s the case (within reason, I don’t send rude people generally but sometimes clients get frustrated with you because you’re not the kind of artists they’ll end up wanting to work with) or if I’m just not able to do a commission because it’s, for example, out of my skill level or something. Always good to send people to artists who are open for work

- I’m actually learning this myself but if you’re working with someone who’s well known (I.e. I worked with good ol Xisumavoid), having T&Cs is useful for those larger clients. Xisuma actually gave me his terms and conditions to fill out in the invoices so if the client has that as well, it works that way too! And again, if you have questions or you’re uncomfortable by someone else’s T&Cs, say that! Believe me, they’ll work with you if they truly intend to use your work (bless that man, he was so kind and transparent about the whole process)

- Of courses you are just starting out but you never know!

That’s pretty much he main stuff. Just make sure it’s seen and clear, you’re valued and understand your value, and that everything you’ll be doing is all up to you. If you have artists friends (or myself) that you’d ever need input from, give them (or me) a holler! This is all just me, other artists have more or different ways they’d suggest going about things so if you don’t agreed with anything I’ve said, that’s alright 😌