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teememdee · 2 years ago

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2022 Art Summary!!! I'm extremely proud of both how much I've made and how much I've improved this year :D and because I love talking about my work I wanna go through each month under the cut because I didn't put some things on here but I feel they're important

JANUARY

After two years of it being the same picture, I decided to start the year update my twitter pfp, and I think I'll keep up the tradition this year, because not only has my art style evolved, I'm now over 4 months on T so I want to reflect that. Other than this piece I started work on another late in the month, but wouldn't finish until February.

FEBRUARY

And there's the big piece. Based on my own fanfiction would your heart know, I had been wanting to draw this scene for a long time. Ahri and Kai'Sa's Runeterra designs take forever to draw and I spent ages on Kai'Sa's expression. Fun fact, for the background, I painted over a Breath of the Wild screenshot for reference, and Link is crouching behind Kai'Sa if you turn her layers off. I like this piece still, and I'm glad I made it, but I like the other piece from this month more. I love drawing characters from games I don't play! I love Yae Miko's design and love making myself suffer with small details, so this happened. I can't remember the exact number but each piece of jewelry is an absurd amount of layers. This piece helped me improve both my hair and metal rendering, plus I just love the colors. ALSO: published the first chapter of my Kahri Proposal fic, the stars align for you and i!

MARCH

One piece this month, as this time of year is always the worst, both mental health wise and school-wise. Still, I wanted to make art for Kai'Sa's birthday on the 7th. To be honest I don't really like this piece that much, I could sit here and nitpick it but no one wants to read that. People on Twitter liked it though!

APRIL

I don't think I was as miserable in April but I didn't draw / finish anything (I definitely did stuff for my art classes, but nothing fanart related + I was still writing fic at the time) until the 24th. I did this in one night after the "Hollow Mind" episode of The Owl House. A fantastic episode from a fantastic show. This piece gave me the confidence that I could make simpler yet still really good pieces in less time.

MAY

Evidently, I was much happier in May. Kujou Sara was another "I just think they're neat" piece that turned into me teaching myself how to render hair and skin way better, and about gradient maps. I did the whole piece (minus the mask) in greyscale and then basically just fucked around. I'm still really happy with how it looks. Then I finally drew a kiss I liked. This is another piece I could now sit here and nitpick but generally I still like it, especially the hand. THEN THE RELEASE OF BEL'VETH RUINED MY LIFE. The color story Pinwheel WRECKED me. I drew the "You, and your father" piece the same day it came out. Not only did this teach me more about expressions and ESPECIALLY environment lighting, the author of the story liked it on Twitter!!!! I was already obsessed, but Pinwheel threw me into the depths of brainrot regarding Kassadin and his family (Kassfam). Due to a distinct lack of canon material, I have a boat load of headcanons that I won't get into here, but the family portrait is set in K/DA-verse when Kai'Sa is two years old, not long before her mother dies. TL;DR the Void won't leave this family alone and I'm obsessed with them. Then, a piece that was in my head for a really long time, I couldn't stop thinking about how Kai'Sa was only ten years old in Runeterra when she falls into the Void. I adore this piece, wish it got more attention on Twitter but oh well haha ALSO: published the second chapter of the stars align for you and i!

JUNE

My birthday month!!! The first piece was a gift to myself, and I love it so so so so much. It's so cute. I love them. I'm so proud of how Kai'Sa's second skin looks and both of their expressions. This piece was also my first steps into getting better and rendering Ahri's tail + hair. I love it. It's one of my favorites from the year. Then Star Guardian 2022 started!!! I finished this piece the day after SG Kai'Sa's voicelines dropped, and because I'm a firm believer in Kahri being soulmates, I went wild over this line. I really love how Ahri looks, she's so cute. This piece taught me how to cope with my ship being so, extremely not canon LMAOO

JULY

More Star Guardian!!! The big Kahri piece is approximately one billion layers (200+) and took five years off my life. I'm very VERY proud of it, but I'm never drawing full body pieces of those designs again. KAI'SA MENTIONING HER MOTHER IN ANOTHER SKY WAS FOR ME PERSONALLY. I'm the only person obsessed with her. I love this piece it's so cute. I hope one day DeadWife gets a canon design but for now I love her like this. And then a big smooch!!! This started as a sketch I was doing bc I was miserable + found a good reference and then it turned into my most popular piece of the year, and I adore it. Definitely a step forward in regards to rendering Ahri's hair and showing motion + emotion.

AUGUST

Just one piece because I was busy, but good practice. I love Sarah Fortune and wanted to make her Star Guardian version look more like how she does in Runeterra. Love her expression and nose shape especially. ALSO: published the first chapter of my copium Star Guardian Kahri fic, be the light to carry me!

SEPTEMBER

Simple pieces I knocked out in one day each. The Runeterra kiss is my favorite, I want to say it's the best rendering I did all year. Admittedly I don't have much to say about the Star Guardian piece. Could have been better but it's good! Twitter loved both of these :)

OCTOBER

I've always wanted to draw Seraphine because I love her, then her Legends of Runeterra design came out and I knew it was time. I LOVE her hair. I love Seraphine. She's my bestie. Then my favorite piece of the year!! No reference, just brainrot. They're so cute. They love each other so much. They're married. I adore them. That's all. And next I wanted to practice gradient maps again, so I did this one night and am so, so proud of it. Another contender for favorite piece of the year. Kai'Sa is such a tragic character and I feel like this really shows just how sad she is. I love her. ALSO: published the second chapter of be the light to carry me!

NOVEMBER

And of course I made an Ahri companion piece. Same deal, done in greyscale then I messed around with a gradient map. I especially love the background here. Can you tell I love Runeterra Kahri. I wanted to update my Twitter banner because it was an old piece, and so this happened. Again, their designs are so much, but the effort is always worth it. Notably this piece taught me more about environment lighting. I just love how they're holding each other. Noticed after this I've been coloring Ahri's shoulder armor wrong, but oh well. I love this so much.

DECEMBER

And here we are at the end of the year!!! Ahri's birthday means she gets art, and I love all the photos she has in an album in that official Spotify playlist cover art, and always wanted to make something involving that. This piece started off with a different sketch but I didn't like how static it felt, this is much much better. Super proud of the expressions here. I tried to get the handwriting at the bottom as similar to Ahri's canon handwriting (it's in a photo Seraphine posted), and writing out Kai'Sa's name in her handwriting made me stupid emotional. Lastly, for the past two years of brainrot, I've drawn a piece of Kahri in some winter scene, and WOW is this an improvement since last year. I also finally figured out how to do drapery in my style, I think. I literally finished this piece today, and I adore it. I just love this ship so so much and I'm not sorry.

IN CONCLUSION:

I made a lot of art and got much better at it!! I mostly wrote all of this for me, but if you read all of it, thank you so much! This was also the year I joined tumblr because my home base Twitter is. yeah. but I had wanted to make an account for a long time and have lurked for even longer. Glad to be here and glad that you are too!! Happy New Year!!! May you all have a good 2023 :D

#2022 art review #long post #yeah this got out of hand lmao I just love talking about my work and also mostly wrote it for me #tanner art #tanner talks

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same-side · 5 years ago

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hiiii! i just wanna say, i adore your art. second, im teaching myself to draw and while i can draw simple basics (mouths and sometimes eyes if im lucky), im still a beginner. ive watched many art videos and im still a bit confused on wtf im doing. so i just came here to ask if you had any words of wisdom for beginners? could be anything from what tablets to buy to simple mistakes to avoid. ive read some of the other posts here and have found it all extremely helpful so far! Thx for all you do!!

Hey there! Thank you so much!

I would put a read more but tumblr is broken. I’m trying to cover a lot of varied thoughts in little points, so if there’s anything you would like me to elaborate on or otherwise have questions on, feel free to shoot me an ask or dm me!

General

I think the biggest thing to remember is not to compare yourself extensively to others. A little bit of comparison is healthy... But too much will destroy your confidence, motivation, and take the fun out of art. Particularly if you are comparing yourself to someone older than you (life experience and coordination come into play here) or that has been drawing much longer (practice).

Additionally... If you’re not having fun (and you’re not getting paid to do it), don’t force yourself. If you find yourself being frustrated or bored with art, don’t force yourself to do it. That’s how you burn out and get art block! This applies to parts of a peice, too! If you don’t feel like drawing a face or a hand today? don’t force yourself to finish it. Come back to it later when you aren’t as frustrated or are getting better results. Even if its a week or a month from now. Honestly, at any given time I have probably ten headless bodies in my drafts. That’s okay! I just come back to them when I’m ready to do the face. And don’t be afraid to abandon something if it doesn’t feel right!

Something that also doesn’t get said enough.... take care of your body! I never knew when I started art, but artists are supposed to do warmup sketches and stretches and muscle exercises! I didn’t do any of this, and i went through a period of a few months where I was drawing for 5ish hours every single day. I developed carpal tunnel from it! So remember to take care of yourself. Take breaks, stretch, remember to eat.

Practice

Practice!!!! Even if its just for fifteen minutes every day. Or twice a week. But if art is something you really want to get good at, you have to put in the time and effort!! You can’t expect to draw an hour per month and be on the same level as someone who draws an hour a day!

I know I say this a lot but I think the biggest thing is just reference! If you don’t know what something looks like, look at a picture of it when you draw it! To go hand in hand with that, though, don’t just copy what you see! Learn from it and apply it! So take, for example, a shoe! pay attention to the way the heel is shaped, the location of the eyelets for the laces... how large the toe is, how steep the top! While you’re at it, look at other styles of shoes as well, and compare them! See what makes it look like a boot versus a trainer! And then the next time you draw it, hopefully you’ll remember all the things you learned the first time around!

I do lots of studies that serve no purpose other than to teach me things! I use referencing/studies to learn about color theory, shapes, and anatomy in a real environment. For example, hands or fabric folds! Oftentimes I’ll do them timed (20 or 45 minutes) so that I don’t fixate on perfecting things, just on the process itself and what I can learn from it. This also helps with getting better acclimated to your software and more coordinated with what you’re doing. Repetitive learning, like with playing sports.

I’ve realized a lot of people don’t quite understand what a study is? Basically you just look at a photo and try to replicate it so that you can learn about lighting or color theory or textures or anatomy or whatnot. So here’s an example of a timed study.

Additionally, don’t avoid!! We, as humans, have a tendency to avoid things that make us uncomfortable or are difficult. But it will make you a better artist in then end. When I first started, I absolutely hated doing fabric. I felt like I wasn’t good at it. So instead of avoiding drawing clothing, I sat down and did studies and sketches of different kinds of fabric. By the end of this learning period, I became comfortable with it and grew to enjoy it. These days, I adore sketching clothes, and it’s why my pants and shirts and things tend to be detailed instead of stylized in line art. If you don’t like drawing hands because you feel like you aren’t good at it? Sit down, look at a bunch of pictures of different hands, and practice it. By the end, you’ll be more comfortable, you’ll have learned something. Even if you feel like the drawings you ended up with aren’t good, you’ll still have learned, and that’s what matters!

Style

I worked on basics before I tried to develop a style. I made sure to start with a very realistic method at first, so that I could be sure I understood how fabric folds, anatomy, and realistic expressions worked before I tried to stylize them. I think in the long run this approach really paid off for me. It also allowed me to be conscientious of what elements I was absorbing into my artwork. I hear from so many artists that they started drawing when they were younger and into anime or cartoons or things like that, and tried to emulate it. Because those styles became so ingrained into their artistic skillset, it becomes near impossible to iron out those influences and get rid of them later. So starting with realism is a way to ingrain proper anatomy and other good practice into your artwork.

One way to develop style is to take a look at the artwork of someone you admire, and try to list out the things you like form their style - perhaps the thickness of their lines, or the way they do eyes. Do this with several artists, take all those little details you like and try them out! See if you enjoy using them in your own drawing process! Think of it like a grab bag or a pick-n-mix, sprinkling in the elements you like here and there to create something new and your own - not just copying another artists style word for word.

Don’t worry too much about it though; don’t allow yourself to become anxious or fixated on “achieving a style”. Its a natural ever evolving process that comes with time and practice. I know a lot of people get hung up on style, but just take it one day at a time!

Also try to keep in mind what style you’re going for as you begin drawing. And I don’t mean that like sailor moon vs. ghibli. I mean that as in, is this piece going to be a painting, a lineart, a lined painting, cell shading...? It will help you in the longrun if you narrow down the broad kind of style you use, and refine from there.

Workflow

My workflow for paintings is very different from my workflow for lineart and cell shading. A full tutorial on how I do paintings can be found here! A process video for how I cell shade can be found here!

Everyone is going to have a different method that works for them! You just have to experiment and find out how you like to draw! For me, personally, I use color blocking for painting (see the tutorial above) and a spine method for lineart. How the spine method works is that I will draw lines that represent the legs, arms, back, etc. so that I can determine the placement, length, and composition. From there, I’ll add a dark outline that actually shows the shapes of the body. Then, I’ll use thinner lines to add details. This is the method I’ve found that works for me. Another commonly used method that I’m sure you’ve seen is representing body parts with cylinders and cubes. There are lots of good tutorials out there on breaking down bodies into shapes like this!

Something that I do is if I’m not quite happy with a part of a drawing, I don’t just erase it. I duplicate the layer so that I always have the original copy, and then I make changes from there. Sometimes I can end up with five or six different versions of the same arm or face that i’ve made minor changes to. And then I compare and pick the one I like best, or condense all the parts I like from each version to make a “best” version.

Tools

Currently I use Procreate and the standard Ipad with Apple Pencil. Prior to March I was using a Wacom Bamboo Touch and Photoshop Elements 2008. I find its harder for me to do full paintings in procreate, but its made my life a million times easier for lineart and cell shading. The pen pressure is phenomenal, and I also adore that its wireless / active screen instead of plug in like the wacom. The programme itself is intuitive and easy to get the hang of; it simply lacks a lot of the neat tricks that photoshop has, like rendering (lens flares, for example), gradients, and gradient maps. Try testing out different trials of programmes... firealpaca, photoshop, autodesk, whatever it may be! What works for me may not work for you!

#thegodbucky #asks for ts #t talks #long post #art reference

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comicteaparty · 5 years ago

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April 20th-April 26th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from April 20th, 2020 to April 26th, 2020. The chat focused on Only In Your Dreams! by Tuyetnhi Pham.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Only In Your Dreams! by Tuyetnhi Pham~! (http://oiydcomic.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until April 26th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

5. I like how distinctive the character designs are! The mcs are both very unique and recognizable

8. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it also explores some real neat concepts

the story is full of personality

carcarchu

the comic's not loading for me shakes fist at wifi, gonna try again tomorrow but i just wanted to say the look of the site is really cute!

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Got the chance to read it So here are some of my thoughts: 1. I like the romantic atmosphere that the comic starts off with warm colours and it gives a vacation ad sensation? 2. My favourite moment is in the pink strange dream world, the colours contrast to the reality of Cara. 4. Fave moment: When that mystery guy shows up and he had corny lines like a romantic parody. It seem so fantastical. 5. I like the colour palette choice of brown tones, shades of pinks. 6. I think the theme is about expectations (it's not clear atm), how Cara is distancing from real relationships and prefer to indulge. 7: I like how the creator shows Cara looking scared of confronting things. It sets an interesting tone of uncertainty. Is she hiding something?(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm super curious about the situation of Cara not remembering her past dreams with Richie, and how that ties into the theme.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

1. I like how I don’t know what to expect. I also like how the premise is relateable; the idea that you are scared of imperfection making you have high standards in life hit close. 2) Every single time we’re treated to....Tuyetnhi’s lovely use of expression. Also the end part of episode 2, because that’s when I realized it’s going to get dark. 3) A tie between Ana and Richie. Ana because she makes me laugh with her blunt assertions (which...aren’t wrong) and Richie because he’s so flamboyant and extra. I love how much personality they all have. 4) Hands down Richie and Cara. They have a really hilarious dynamic going on. 6) The idea that people seek perfection through their dreams instead of facing reality. Also I really liked how it tackles society’s fixation on everyone to find someone....maybe Cara doesn’t need that and needs to focus on herself first? 7) That I won’t know what to expect. I came into this thinking it was going to be a classic romcom, and then I get hit with implicit horror and trippyness. I have a feeling Tuyetnhi is hinting at some darker aspects of the story we have yet to see. 8) Good lord the expressions. They really do the story justice and make me turn the page every time. Also the colours are beautiful.(edited)

(Whoops sorry keiiii)

7) two moments actually!

The fact that their wide eyed sweaty expressions matched made me laugh really hard

And also Cara’s quick acceptance of the situation was so unexpected and hilarious I took a double take. Also props to the colour dissonance; that looks like meme material right there!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah. I want to make it clear that Cara is like "This is really not my day." lol

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Well....you portrayed that sentiment perfectly

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Omg yes the wide eyed expressions were also making me laugh! Well that was an expression I didn't expect coming into the story(edited)

I was wondering if that was suppose to be serious or humorous?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

both LOL

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I see the horror you got going there Tuyetnhi Reminds me of...I dunno Jojo?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

well............ yes and no lol

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

But I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen

Although...if we’re going by the silhouette....is she scared of herself?

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I like that sense of not knowing what's happening? :)(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

that will be coming up in Ch. 3 soon

so please wait till then thank u lol

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

So far it's tough to choose a fave character right now since I feel the story has just started its first segment. I would like to wait until more content is shown before I can make a firm choice? (I'm analytical, I like to go over OCs flaws and strengths once I know more about them)(edited)

I'm curious to learn about her ex crush, since we only get a glimpse of how Cara precieve him. But what is Dean really like? *Drum rolls(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

you got.... good questions

it will be rewarded.... later on LOL

mariah (rainy day dreams)

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? I really liked the colors and island vibe. And this was even before Animal Crossing came out and I started hardcore living that island life I just love a good, soft pink to purple gradient generally speaking so the opening of the story was like falling into a comfy brain pillow for me. 2-4 I'm just gonna answer these ones kind of all together because they thoughts on then are all kind of threaded together into one big thought. After having read through the archive I really liked the scene with Ana and Cara. When I first read it I was like "dang, she's giving Cara such a hard time," but after having read the scenes where Cara just refused to admit to Richie she doesn't know what's going on I really retroactively appreciated Ana's willingness to call Cara on her bullshit XD I think it's a really good foil trait to have for a protagonist who seems dead set on avoiding confrontation even though it seems like doing so is most likely just gonna come back to bite her later. I imagine we aren't going to see Ana for a while though unless Cara is able to use her Phone A Friend card in the dream realm XD I am also looking forward to seeing more of the Cara doppelganger and how she and Cara interact with each other going forward. That feels like an exciting and drama filled mystery

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? I also love the atmosphere. The color choices are just so beautiful. 2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)? Ana pointing out Cara's BS hahahaha. 3. Who is your favorite character? Definitely Ana. She's so down-to-earth from what I can tell, someone I'd want to be friends with. 4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most? Probably Ana and Cara. I like to see good friendships depicted, especially in a romance. 5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it! In general, everything is so soft and pretty. I also really appreciate the fact that all the characters have larger noses. If I had a favorite panel, it would be at the beginning, the sunset beach waves. 6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores? So far, I'm not sure about themes, but I like the talk about the pressure parents give to their children to get married. 7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content? There's a lot of mystery, so I'm looking forward to learning about Cara's dreams, Richie, and the key. 8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are? The visuals are really nice. I can't stop gushing about the color choices and the pretty atmosphere.(edited)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

The way Cronaj sums up their thoughts on OiYD, I'm agreeing with the statement on Ana and Cara! Esp friendship part

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'll answer the questions hopefully later this week, but this song reminded me of the comic!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4z5ecLCvSQ(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

@Deo101 [Millennium] damn that’s a good song

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Oooo

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

He's definitely hot and extra

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

lmao

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

My joke idea is that Cara is secretly in a reality show starring Richie and her and the bonds they play out is meant for a live broadcast. But she's clearly not agreeing to this(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh god. i don't think that's good for Cara's mental state lmao

Feather J. Fern

Also I have to say, I do love how the first cover is literally Cara being the meme of "Oh no he's hot"

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

fjdkalfdjdklfj

Feather J. Fern

Also I finally started it, while a bit late, I have to relate to Cara being an accountant.

Also I think my favourite panel is "Welp that worked"

Also I have to appreciate picking a pink that doesn't grate on the eyes.

https://gyazo.com/71fe22ea6ac2ebf6b3d85531c66bf8ed Another really good panel

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I enjoyed making that one LOL

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

that face is one of my favourites not gonna lie

Feather J. Fern

I really like the surrealness of the story, can't wait to see what happens next

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

same! I feel like something is about to happen

I'm also wondering how Richie would react to the real world

like....the ex. And her parents.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

soon™️

Feather J. Fern

More like everyone reacting to Richie XD

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Yeah pretty much

Like can Richie handle the world?

More like

Can the world handle RICHIE

RebelVampire

I like that the beginning really contrasts the dream and Cara's reality pretty quickly. I kind of feel it catches that feeling of coming out of a dream to face reality which kind of sucks, and also plays into the themes of dream vs. reality and expectation vs. reality. It's very easy to idealize things, whether as a route of escapism or just because it sounds appealing. But the reality of things generally is always different, and I like that we're seeing this full force in the comic through Cara's perspective. And the contrasts between the two really enhance those topics. My favorite moment in the comic so far is probably when Cara meets what I assume is Dean. Cause I really loved that both parties were kind of at fault, and I also liked how quickly that convo devolved into a grumpfest, because that felt very realistic. My favorite character right now is definitely Richie, because he is ridiculous and sympathetic at the same time. I adore his exaggerated personality, while at the same time feel sorry for him since for him the memories are clearly there and like...I would not want to be in the shoes of someone where the person they loved no longer remembered them. As for character interacting the most, Cara and Richie because that entire premise of one person remembering and the other not makes for a really tense and awkward situation. It's hard to tell where it's going to go. What I like about the art is the palettes of color chosen, since there's some beautiful scenery as well as fantastic contrasts when needed to make certain moments pop (like dream vs. reality).

As for the story content, what I actually like the most is that Cara is a flawed protagonist. I've read a lot of stories where the protagonist is always 100% right in the relationship and is just eternally the victim because society pressure. But Cara has a lot more going on, since she's clearly been at fault in some interactions, and while we can sympathize with people pressuring her into relationships, she also maybe takes it too far by being avoidant of basically every relationship. However, since she has these traits, I'm more invested into her personal dilemmas since she'll actually make mistakes when dealing with stuff. Which I think this is the overall strength of the comic. Cara is just a damn good protagonist who is easily likeable but isn't perfect and whose imperfections are not just brushed off so easily.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

;_; .... thank you.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I love the story so far! When I first started, I figured it would be some sort of awkward story where Richie comes into the real world and he has to figure out how to, like, act natural, and hilarity ensues. But holy cow, Cara losing her memories, and the slide into somewhat of a horror angle - it's not something I expected (though admittedly I could have read the synopsis lol), but it's definitely something I like!(edited)

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. Do you think the people around Cara were right to try and pressure her into a relationship? Overall, what do you think the comic has to say about relationships and the themes regarding relationship pressure?

10. Is what Cara experiencing dream or reality, and where is the line between them in this case? Additionally, why do you think her dreams have the potential to become reality as opposed to other people? Also, what is the overall message underlying these themes?

11. Is Richie really just a dream Cara dreamt up, or is there something more to him? If he somehow makes it to Cara’s world, do you think he’ll be able to adjust to that reality? Also, can he win Cara over?

12. What do you think the Cara imposter is about, and what does this have to do with the entire situation? Do you think Cara will eventually remember her dreams? Lastly, what do you think Cara has in store for her as the story continues?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

9. I personally don’t think it was great of the people in Cara’s life to pressure her like that. Sure, they mean well, but it’s most likely bringing Cara’s self esteem down by a lot. I have a feeling that her dreams/reality colliding together is partially motivated by that; the pressure of pleasing society has made her....subconsciously take drastic measures?

10. I’m actually not sure! Maybe there’s a supernatural explanation to it, or it could all just be a dream. Dreams have a way of showing a person’s innermost desires or fears, so maybe Cara’s desires and fears are coming alive in response to external stress factors. So perhaps she opened a portal of sorts between the realms in some way (there’s a key!!!!).

11. Oh I’m thinking they might end up together. But the realist inside me thinks...perhaps what Cara needs isn’t romantic love, but more independent love and being able to love herself. What DOES worry me, however, is the fact that Richie seems...a bit desperate for Cara to like him. Is there a condition to his love after all? If so, that means that it’s possible he’s forced in some way to love her or make her love him. And that’s not really conducive to romance, is it?

12. Ah...the thing that makes me mystified the most. Cara seems to have a negative view of herself, since she told her to get out in the end of chapter two. However, Cara #2 seems to be pretty helpful; knocking on the door to tell her to get out of the house (which Richie has her in), so in a way letting her out. While our Cara seems to dislike her a lot, I think the key to the story would be our Cara needing to accept this double Cara to be really free. Maybe she will, maybe she won’t! But from what I can see from the story and like I’ve said earlier...maybe Cara needs to be able to find love within herself. Love for that Cara double, and enough love to become independent and not bend to society’s overwhelming pressure for outside romance. I hope she finds that as the story comes along, and know that it’s okay to not be ready for love.

As for Richie...hmm. He’s dealing with an amnesiac heroine, and adjusting to the real world. I’m sure it’s going to lead to some hilarious hijinks, but hopefully he can manage! He seems up to the task

RebelVampire

I think whether people were right to pressure Cara is a tricky gray area. On the one hand, no, they were wrong. Nobody should be forced into a relationship. But on the other hand, if you know a person is actively self-sabotaging, isn't it more correct to speak up? So to me this is maybe a situation of good intentions with bad execution. However, I do think overall the comic does say pressuring people into relationships sucks and plz don't do that cause that's how you make ppl run further away. I think it's both, because a dream is reality in a sense. I think many of us have had dreams that caused real emotional affects, whether negative or positive. So the line between them is merely the fact effects are limited. Cara have may have just found a way to cross that line and make a dream a tangible thing that has more consequences. As for why her dreams, I don't know. Maybe she's just super good at dreaming. I do think as the overall message though is that dreams are good but not when we get lost in them, because then we idealize and reject "reality" in ways that aren't healthy. I do think Richie is primarily something Cara dreamt up, but kind of not maybe. Like sure maybe Cara is idea creator, but something else was involved in making the physical reality of that idea. As for Richie adjusting to Cara's world, I'm sure it will be laughably hilarious. I do think he can sort of win Cara over, at least in the sense of being friends. Cause how can you hate Richie? I'm taking a shot in the dark and saying Cara imposter is the embodiment of Cara's missing memories but since they're just memories, all they can do is imitate. As for Cara remembering, I feel like it will be yes but I kind of want it to be no. I like the idea of them having to reform a relationship entire from scratch.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Oo good impressions! I wish I have more to say but it would affect the story LOL. Enjoyed reading everyone's theories tho!

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Ok my turn, let's see what my head theories are: 9: I felt the same annoyance as Cara but it's a mixed feeling, Even though, people shouldn't pressure a lady on her love life, she also has a problem with being in relationships. Or I remember one quote from the story was how she 'ditched her dates by rushing to the bathroom.' although I don't know her circumstance, I do know she has issues to settle too. Relationship pressure is real, especially as a young person grows older. 10. From the comic visuals, it feels much like it's her escapism dream. The only clue I got, is that her holding a literal 'key' connecting both worlds, is evidence that both world could collide. So far, we haven't seen other people's dreams, or whether this is an unusual occurrence in the world? It seems to be a message about idealistic relationships. Since Cara seem to turn away real ones, it manifested? 11. I'm curious about Richie's character too. He seems like a powerful imagination, enough to sway the lead, so he's more than a simple figment. I wonder if his submissive, flirtatious (?) personality was build in him. He doesn't seem to have a 'life' outside his dream house, or so far. 12. I'm not sure whether the 'Other Cara' might be trying to help her or is that.. actually a shadow side? I don't want to say too much, but it's interesting to see where the story goes.(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Oh! You make a good point about Richie; I never thought about that! Do you think maybe he's simply a part of Cara and eventually gains his own sentience/personality?

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Hehe I like analyzing dreams :3 In dream theory, I feel he could be? I was more skeptical whether he should be treated as a real character or something else.(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

man this does make me want to look up dream psychology

i have a feeling...Tuyetnhi is using some theories from that

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Hmmmm dream psychology you say?

I guess you can say there's some elements of that, but it's not a major chunk of it if that makes sense lol

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

13. Maintaining the will power to finish OIYD! so I can see it as its end lmao. As a passion project but also something that I want to invest in when I have the time, I hope ya'll looking forward in reading Ch. 3 very soon lol.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

13. I really want to see how both Cara and Richie will develop as characters. Whether Cara will figure out for herself what being both independent means....and whether she does want a relationship for herself and not for other people. Likewise with Richie, I want to see if he'll be able to be his own person...and whether he's real or not. I have a lot of questions that I want to be answered, and I can't wait to keep reading.

14. Tuyetnhi, good luck on the webcomic. It's hard to start one and even harder to pull off a good one, and I know yours is a good one. I really look forward to reading more from you. You're amazing (edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

thank you

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

13. I'm interested in learning more about Cara's conflicts, why she is hesitant about having a real relationship vs her dream one? I love the unexpected dark twist that the story seems to be going. 14. I want to say, no pressure and take your time to complete the chapter. Just know you have my support and willing to read when it is ready. Good luck

RebelVampire

I'm looking forward to more Richie being Richie. Because he is an adorable person. And also because I'm waiting for some 'reality' culture shock. My final words are that this comic has a strong themes game going on and an intriguing premise, so it'll be fun to see where the comic is in a few more chapters since I'm pretty sure we're in for a wild ride.

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Only In Your Dreams! this week! Please also give a special thank you to Tuyetnhi Pham for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Only In Your Dreams!, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://oiydcomic.com/

Tuyetnhi’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oiydcomic

Tuyetnhi’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/tuyetnhip

Tuyetnhi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/tuyetnhip

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic bookclub #webcomic book club #comic tea party #ctp #only in your dreams #only in your dreams!#tuyetnhi pham

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ephemeral-writings · 6 years ago

Text

Everything I Need // 03

oh sehun x reader

genre: angst, fluff

word count: 3.3k

Everything I Need // oh sehun teaches you a thing or two about life. but falling for the boy who lived across from you was not what you had anticipated.

Part 01 / Part 02 / Part 03 / Part 04 / Part 05

//////

Thankfully, there wasn’t another letter from your father found in your mailbox. Weeks passed before the anxiety in you finally let up, and you were back to your old self, a sleep deprived student with a sack of stress, but nevertheless, relieved that the non-existent communication with your father ceased. It was like the letter never existed.

However, the idea that he could possibly find you once--if-- he gets out on parole chips little pieces of sanity you still have within you.

“Let’s meet when I get out, okay? Appa will try his best to get out early so we can start over again.”

But you didn’t want to start over. You had to restart your life the minute you walked out of that house, and you will continue as so. Alone. You had managed three years without him, and if he had any thoughts on leaning on you for help, he was better off staying in prison.

It was Saturday night, and though you’d usually avoid all social events that forces you to interact with people, you had agreed to go to Jongdae’s birthday party since he did personally stopped you after class on Wednesday just to invite you. The least you could do was show up and wish him a happy birthday. Also, the better part of you decided that for your sanity, you needed to be somewhere that wasn’t your apartment.

You warned Jongdae beforehand that you’d be late since you were working, but he waved it aside, assuring you that the party wasn’t going to end at 11pm, the time you told him you’d finish work. So you rushed home after your shift, managed to squeeze in a quick four minute shower and apply the bare minimum of makeup just to look somewhat like you’ve made an effort. Your hair styled itself once you released it from the bun you had on for work, natural waves falling just below your elbows.

Jongdae had texted you the address earlier that week, but you didn’t think about checking it out first. Looking at the outside of the club now, you physically felt inclined to hop back in the cab you took and go home. The music was loud even from outside, you couldn’t imagine how wrecked your ears would be by the end of the night.

Here goes nothing.

There was a short line to get in, and you didn’t even wait five minutes before it was your turn to flash your ID and the bouncer finds your name on the clipboard he’s holding, and allows you through. Inside, it was loud, to say the least, but bearable. There are minimal tables floating around the circumference of the dance floor where small groups stood around, conversing with their drinks on the small round tables. Booths were elevated on a platform that wrapped around the whole club, some filled to the brim, others deserted as patrons found entertainment on the dance floor. The only thing that separate the dance floor from the tables were gold metal bars with red velvet detailings to match the floors. Somehow, even through the music, you heard your name being called out by someone. That someone being the birthday boy himself. He extricated himself from the large group of people, some of them peering at who Jongdae was running over to.

“You made it!” Jongdae gave you a one-arm hug, his other hand homing a cup with clear liquid.

“Yeah, I did,” you chuckle lightly and wish him a happy birthday to which he smiles gratefully.

“You look amazing. Was your hair always this long? How was work? Can I get you something to drink?” You could see that he was already tipsy from how warm his body was, and his hyperactive nature seemed tenfold as he fired questions at you before you could even open your mouth to answer.

“It’s alright, Jongdae. Why don’t you rejoin your friends? They’re looking for you, hmm?” You spoke to him as if you were speaking to a child. He gives you another hug before doing so, reminding you to have a good time. You weren’t too sure how to do that, but nodded in response.

You made your way to the bar which was on the opposite side of the club. A whole right wall made up the bar with a long mahogany island that separated the club go-ers and the bartenders. You found an empty seat easily, settling on it and trying to make yourself more comfortable in the unfamiliar setting. One look around and you noticed that everyone was around your age, some you even recognize from class. You guessed that Jongdae might’ve booked the whole club for his big day, and invited everyone he knew. You weren’t necessarily close to Jongdae, but he was the nicest person you’ve ever met and somehow made you feel like you were old friends. It was just too bad you don’t know anyone else at the party.

“Can I get you something, miss?”

The voice came directly from over your shoulder where your back was facing the island. You spun around to see a familiar face.

“Sehun?”

“Y/N?” Your neighbor looked surprise but not as much as you. A club was the last place you’d think you’d meet Sehun at, especially with the man standing behind the bar, asking to get you a drink. Speaking of which, you took a moment to appreciate his get-up. A striped button down with a small logo of the club embroidered on the right tip of the collar hugged his frame a little too perfectly. Around his neck was a velvet red necktie that matched the club’s red interior. Over his shirt was a neat, plaid vest also stitched with the club logo on the left breast. He cleaned up considerably well.

“Y/N,” Sehun called, snapping you back to reality. The tiny smirk on his face tells you he had caught you staring, and you flushed. “So, something to drink? It’s all on the house.”

“Um, I- I don’t know.” You really didn’t since it was your first time. All you knew about alcohol was beer and soju, the standard. “Surprise me, I guess.”

Sehun took a few seconds to think. As he leans on the granite top from behind the counter, you tried hard not to be distracted by the way his forearms taut and literally put out on display for you to drool over. His fingers tapped on the counter while he thinks, enticing you to follow the rhythm of it. Finally, after what felt like hours being under his spell, he moved to start making you a drink.

You watched, slightly amazed at the fluidity of his movements as he maneuvers behind the counter, walking to and fro and grabbing ingredients without even checking twice. He measures each component at a speed that wasn’t rushed nor lagged, just at a pace that showed off his expertise. It showed how comfortable he was, how confident he is in his work. He didn’t say a word as he worked, and it made you slightly self-conscious that maybe he wasn’t keen on talking to the girl who lived across the hall, nevermind serving her. Sehun finished off with some garnish, a thinly sliced orange and sprig of mint, and slid you the highball glass filled with a pink-orange gradient mixture.

You’re left staring at the piece of work in amazement before Sehun motion you to try it. You hesitate to mix the liquid, not knowing if you were suppose to drink it as is or blend the two colors. Sehun, noting the look of uncertainty on you, instructed, “Mix it, so that the flavors combine.”

You did as told, and took your first sip. It was a burst of flavors in your mouth, mostly citrus, and you barely tasted the alcohol you had seen him put in.

“It’s delicious,” you complimented, taking a few more sips before asking, “What is this?”

Sehun, though still ever expressionless, eyed you with mirth swimming in his eyes as he answered, “Sex on the Beach.”

You choked mid-swallow. “Excuse me?”

Sehun looked down, feigning wiping down his near-spotless station, as he attempted to conceal his grin. “That’s the name of the drink, Y/N.”

You flushed even deeper now that you’ve had something in your system. Mildly blaming the alcohol, you shut your mouth and continue nursing the drink. Sehun excused himself while he tended to two girls who appeared at the other side of the island. It was dim, you couldn’t make out the faces of the girls, but their body language said everything. If you could tell they were hitting on Sehun, you knew for sure he had an inkling as well. You could only see his back from where you sat, and you saw his shoulders bobbing up and down from something the girl in an all-black ensemble said. Maybe a pick-up line. And from the girl’s giggle, you figured she got the reaction she wanted.

The wonders of intoxication, you thought as the tension in your body begins to expel. You’re finding it easy to forget your worries and stray towards thoughts concerning your neighbor. Granted you’ve never seen a girl around his place, you couldn’t rule out the fact that he may have a girlfriend.

You’re far from drunk, tipsy maybe, at midpoint, so when Sehun came back after accepting something the girl slid on the counter, you request another drink. “Can I just get a shot, please, if I may?” Your words were beginning to blend, so you prayed Sehun understood you over the music and everything.

“So, you’re friends with Jongdae?” Sehun asked as he bends down to grab a bottle of Hennessy. He pulled a shot glass towards him as well, but he doesn’t pour the liquor in. Sehun wordlessly motioned you to finish your drink which you had a few sips worth left.

You play with the orange slice in your cup, stabbing it with the straw to release it’s natural juice compared to the cartoned juice you saw Sehun poured in earlier. “We’re classmates, yes, but I wouldn’t necessarily call us friends.” Your lips fell into a natural pout as you think about how nonexistent your social life was. “Jongdae is just really, really nice. He’s friends with everyone, so I guess that’s a yes to answer your question. Do you know him?” You asked, cocking your head sideways as you looked at your neighbor slash bartender.

“Sorta,” he grunted, assessing how talkative you were in your intoxicated state. “He’s my boss’s cousin. Comes by too often, if you ask me.” You made a sound of acknowledgement followed by a loud slurp that indicated the end of your cocktail. Sehun quirked a smile when you shyly peeked over the rim of your now empty glass, silently asking him for another fill.

“You here alone?” Sehun questioned as he pour you a shot of the brown liquor. He traded you it for the empty glass when he was done. You made a face that Sehun couldn’t read, and downed the shot, morphing your expression from one of dejection to disgust.

“I didn’t choose to, y’know?” Your abrupt statement only made him more confused, but he continued listening, silently, intently.

“Jongdae, like I said, is really nice. He’s friends with practically everyone on campus. He talks to me in class even though I sit all the way in the back, and he sits in the front with his friends. But does that mean I’m not? Am I secretly a bitch?” You whispered the last bit, burning holes in the mahogany wood. You’ve lost Sehun, you think, but to your surprise the shot glass in front of you disappeared and you redirect your gaze back to your neighbor. Sehun poured you another shot, though significantly less than the first.

He placed it back on your coaster, making sure you’re looking at him and listening when he tells you, “You’re far from one, Y/N. You might be...a little difficult to approach but you don’t bite.” He shrugged, “At least not the first time we met.”

“Oh, yeah,” you agreed animatedly, assuming he was talking about the day you had locked yourself out. “I was really tired and stressed that day.”

“As you are every day, it seems,” Sehun mumbled with his arms crossed. “But that’s not the day I was talking about.”

You plopped your arms on the counter, too quickly for your reflexes that weren’t top-notch functional at the moment, and you end up hitting your funny bone. You pouted while cradling your elbow. “Then what day are you talking about? We’ve never talked before then.”

Sehun prepared to explain when another tender, one of equal build and dressed identical to him, appeared behind him, tapping him on the shoulder to gain his attention.

“Thanks for covering my station, man. You wanna go on your break now?” The guy offered to take over Sehun’s station as well. You noticed the hesitation in Sehun when he glances at you, so you quickly spoke up.

“Go! Don’t mind me! I have to look for Jongdae, anyways,” you urged. You slid down your stool without falling on your face, downing your third shot as you go, before shooting Sehun a thumbs up in thanks for the service. You didn’t hear when the other bartender asked Sehun who you were, and Sehun replied with, “My interesting neighbor.”

You were more than buzzed, you weren’t dumb enough to not know that much. Though you were the one who told Sehun to leave you, you were regretting it already. You had to admit that talking to him came easy, or maybe it was liquid courage that made you spout all those sentences the way you weren’t used to. Not long after departing the bar, a man, evidently drunk, attempted a move on you. You don’t recognize him, even when you sobered up for a second when his hand went for your waist. The guy was eventually pulled away by his group of friends when he came a little too close to your face, invading your personal bubble. They apologized on his behalf, but you ignored them, walking the opposite direction to avoid further contact with them.

You spent fifteen minutes looking for Jongdae but to no avail and gave up. It was nearing 2:30am. You texted Jongdae, letting him know that you tried searching for him to say goodbye and thanking him for inviting you. You doubted he’d respond but at least he would know you’d left on the off chance that he goes searching for you later.

You were surprised that the party was still going strong. The dance crowd had simmered down, and instead of the loud head-banging kind of music that you had walked in on, the DJ had turned it to a more chill, house-party kind of vibe. Meanwhile, your feet ached from all the walking around you had done at work and just wished to be home, sleeping. In your haze, you stumbled out the wrong door. Instead of the main entrance, you had opened the door next to it. It led to an alleyway, one that separated the club’s building from the next one over. There was a metal fence cage that blocked loiterers on the streets from coming up on the property, but the other side of the fence was where you needed to be.

And boy, did you wished you could revert back in time and chosen the right door.

“I’m so sorry, excuse me,” you stammered, and you hated that you did.

The same girl that Sehun conversed with earlier sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes at the intruder, ruby red acrylics detaching from the man’s pecs when she steps back from Sehun’s frame.You were so sure she could claw your eyes out with her manicure. You ducked your head, refusing to look at Sehun or the girl directly in the eye to save yourself from embarrassment.

“Yah, Y/N?”

You stood paralyzed in dread when you heard the voice. Unwillingly, you looked at the girl standing in front of Sehun. You remembered her eyes being cold, black coals, but when your eyes met, you saw a piercing blue that made your blood run cold.

“It really is you,” she scoffed in disbelief. Jung Liah was your ex-roommate, the girl who made your first year of university a living hell. She’s changed her look. Before, her style didn’t matched her attitude, you suppose it took time to figure out her true colors. Her black on black matched perfectly well with her black coal of a heart.

You remembered dreading going back to the dorm because you knew all it held was her wrath, unwarranted and unrelenting, and the malicious remarks she made would torture you day and night. You never figured out why she hated you so much, but you had your assumptions.

“I see you haven’t changed one bit,” she sneered. “Always the nosy little mouse, you are.”

You knew exactly what she was referring to. One day, without any ill-intentions, you had decided to tidy up the room. It was a shared space, but Liah never thought twice about leaving her stuff strewn about, taking up your space as well. You had just bent down to gather the scattered pieces of paper when she came in after one of her lectures. Peeking through her belongings, she claimed, invading her privacy, she preached. You had muttered barely two words to defend yourself before she had kicked you out for the night.

After she blew up on you, it was never the same. She began to nick and prod at every “flaw” she found in you. If you didn’t shut your alarm after the first ring, she called you deaf. If you didn’t answer to her belittling, you were a mute and a coward. If you didn’t have weekend plans to party, she labeled you a loser.

Presently, you rolled your eyes. You noted a clear shock in her expression because no matter how many times she had put you down, you had never fought back. For her information, you had changed.

“Good seeing you, too, Liah,” you replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. You turned to Sehun, barely, and nod your head once, before turning back to where you came from.

“Fuck. Shit,” you cursed under your breath. Your hands clenched at your sides, willing the tingles of alcohol to wash away in your blood.

A brief thought crossed your mind, hoping you hadn’t ruin the moment for Sehun, he was so nice to you, he doesn’t deserve to not get laid tonight because of you. But you suddenly remember the hell that Liah put you through, and you’re glad to have interrupted. More profanities left your lips. Your mind went haywire with thoughts that shouldn’t be in your head but are, like how Sehun looked so disarmingly handsome, and how unfair that girl who was so nasty to you is to be able to have someone of Sehun’s caliber.

You were so busy with your internal turmoil you hadn’t notice the grip on your shoulder until you were turned around, faced with the man plaguing your mind with unwanted thoughts.

“Are you leaving?” He asked, face expressionless with the slightest wash of anger.

You took two steps away from him. “Yes. Look, I’m really sorry, about interrupting. It was a mistake, honest.” You look side to side, up and down, everywhere to avoid staring at him smack dab in front of you. “I’ll see you around, Sehun. Thanks, for the drinks.” It took way more effort than necessary to look at him and smile like you meant it. Before he could stop you a second time, you bolted. You ignored the burning gaze behind you, ignored the buzzing alcohol in your system, and skittering of your breath.

So much for suppressing your worries. You might’ve unlocked a new case full of troubles.

#exo #sehun #exo sehun #exo scenarios #sehun scenarios #exo series #sehun series #sehun angst #sehun fluff #exo fluff #exo angst #kpop scenarios #kpop series #oh sehun #angst #fluff #series #sehun fanfic #exo fanfic

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goultrasweetheart · 7 years ago

Text

The Meeting Part 2

Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me. They belong to their rightful owners. But the ship children do belong to me.

Omnipotent settled into the cushion of the chair while took the big one meant for him “I’m grateful all of you made it here today. All of you are wondering why I called you all here. And this is why” he stood up from his seat with a little help from his lover and took off his jacket. Seraph wrapped an arm around his waist and placed a clawed hand over his belly “We’re expecting” surely, a few did a spit take and others fainted, and some were just plain shocked. “WHAT?!” everyone shout in unison and Ink, and Error wore a shit eating grin “HA! I knew there was something going on between you and Toucan!! My haunch was right!” spout Blue with Dust chuckling next to his spastic boyfriend. While Ink’s sons yanked on the end of the Destroyer’s scarf asking what that word meant. Seraph also wore a proud smile “Twins. As a matter of fact” holding up two fingers and moved his hand back to the same spot from before. A tall figure with white hair and black horns curled out in several directions, and wearing long gold red scarf raised his hand a little “Are you aware of the posseble future complications?” “I’m more concerned about how much damage they’ll do once their born” spoken Geno. Sci stepped out from behind the desk “Think about it guys! These little miracles carry so much potential?!” “You just want new guinea pigs” G deadpans, crushing the cigarette he was smoking in a nearby ashtray with a sigh. The skele-god was barraged with more questions. Some he could answer, others he could not. “Fear not. We’re already well equiped for this situation. I plan to go off duty for the remainder of the pregnancy.You won’t see me for while then. My lover voted to take my place till I return” the room had gone silent except for the constant chattering of the younglings “I hope you all understand why we’ve been quiet about this in the begining. We’ve been unsure whether it’s a good or bad idea this news gets out” Omnipotent now adopted an expression of concern but stood tall “We fret there will be someone out there stupid enough to kidnap my children and use them for well, worrying ideals” announced Seraph, giving one of his intimidating glares, multi-colored wings flaring out in several directions while some forced themselves sit back down into their chairs, and others cowered underneath his aura. His over-protective nature showing through at last. Omnipotent thread his fingers the demigod’s own ‘Calm yourself Toucan. We’ll be fine’ his lover tucked his wings behind him in a neat fashion but kept his tail curled around the skele-god “But. It’s quite rude leaving my subjects in the dark to begin with. My apologies” he continued.

Omnipotent settles back into his seat, relieved the meeting is over as what little tension left him “Thank goodness. My feet are sore as hell from standing that long” he started to doze off a little but something tugged on his cape and tiredly opened his eye sockets to see the other same kind from earlier ‘Paperjam, was it?’ he thought, watching the little tyke hop up to now hang off the arm of the chair “Helwo sir!” he couldn’t help but to find this adorable and chuckled “Evening” the kid giggled before steadily dropping to his feet and run around to the other side “Mama said you’re pregnent two. Swo I came up here to see you!” “Oh. Your mom did?” “Yeah! I was wandering if I couwld touch it?” now pointing to his belly. Omnipotent blinked and adjusted himself, sitting up straight with a gentle smile “You may. I don’t mind one bit, little one” the small child then giggled and ran to the front. He was hestitant to reach out and touch it but... the Ruler carefully took Paperjam’s hand, and slowly placed it on his 5 month bump “Here” the child jumped and his curious expression tranformed into a grin when a well placed kick came in contact with the little one’s hand “I-I felt it!” “Actually. It’s not just one but two, child” “Two?” “Yes” the kid then tried his best to wrap his small arms around his belly and laid his head on it “When do you think they’ll come out and play?” he said much clearer now “Don’t know.Whenever they decide to, I guess” he laughed a little.

An hour or more, he found out the small child fell asleep on him. He too was about to fall asleep until a loud boisterous voice called out “Paperjam! Where are you sweetie?” “Over here” the skele-god spoke up, waving at Ink with much difficulty. The Artist cracked a small smile at the sight of his son passed out on the Ruler’s belly and an exhasperated sigh left him “I’m so sorry your Highness. He does this often. Always running off whenver I take my eyes off him for even a second at most” Omnipotent waved him off and grinned “It’s fine. Your son is very adorable” Ink chuckled and went to remove Paperjam, and into his parent’s arms “Haha, thanks. So. How’s Toucan been treating you?” “Ahh. He’s been a real sweetheart. Always quick to to help me when I need it most. I’m very lucky to have him” “Know that feeling” he said with a smile “ Although. My husband has a habit of keeping me bedridden for god knows how long” he deadpans but next perked up with the same smile “So I heard you’re having twins instead huh? Seraph must’ve been a real busy guy” he winked and Omnipotent’s face became flushed “Yes the skele-god now spoke up in a shy tone and Ink then laughed.

The Artist suddenly turned on his heel “Well. It was nice talking to you, your Highness. I would have Paper say goodbye too but... he’s not awake, ahaha” “It’s alright. The little guy did run around a lot today” waving to Ink as he descended the stairs to catch up with Error. Who’s awaiting them at the doorway with their other youngest, Gradient, and intertwined their fingers. The Destroyer held his lover’s hand with so much care it reminded him his own beloved, Seraph. It was sweet to see those two happy together along with their new growing family. Speak of the devil, his lover came back just at the right time “Ready to go home babe?” he turned to him “Yes” and squealed when the demigod swept him up into his arms. He thought about how that was going to be him and Seraph one day. He can’t wait to meet his children.

#Seraphent #Seraphent children #Ink #Error #PJ #Gradient #Errorink #pregnancy #Dust #Blue #Dustberry #I meant the twins belong to me ahaha

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blaqueandstuff · 7 years ago

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Creating Mercury

All directions lead to cute.

Another making-of post, this time of how she came out the spunky Maiden: Mercury, Maiden of Journeys.

Like before, I did a sketch of Mercury in 2013. In fact, she was the first Maiden I did, having done the Unconquered Sun and Luna earlier. I colored those two and was thinking of coloring this but never got around to it. It got more or less the image I wanted. She had Hermes-style sandals, a neat scarf that had her constellations all over it, and a magic ladder, for reasons. I also think I went specifically to make her a bit more “sexy athlete” in this older one since I had the pretty light clothes, but still kind of this running figure. Anatomy was a mess though.

Before going to Sketchable to mock things up, I did some brainstomring on the pose and outfit. I wanted to keep more or less the same look of the leggings and arm things, since that actually did look like some photos I looked up of marathon and track runners, so that fit her. I also wanted to make sure she was the most “active” looking Incarna, either about to leave or on the way to get going. I also wanted to make teh wing sandles glow, and I also wanted to make her the most “petite’ Incanra, if anything due to her outfit binding down. SO I did a couple sketches for that.

At some point I added the ponytail to things, and decided on a pose (something you can see in the lower right of the second picture. So from there I went and started drawing in Sketchable, to get the rough layout of things down.

So this is what it came down to. I think she’s really baby-faced here, and there’s something really off with her torso, but it starts the process. It shows to me at leas the skirt, the ponytail, and the scarf work together. The scroll isn’t quite feeling as good, but we get to that in the inking.

First round of inks clean up a lot. Lots of use of Masks, layering and such, and even for a bit I kind of “flipped” the drawing and drew it as if her left lang was the one in front and covering things up. At some point I decided I wanted her to be more barefoot-ish, and such. Generally keeping her three-part skirt and turned the scroll into a scroll case since it is fancier.

There’s some feedback I got and I tweak a bit. Mostly how her legs and feet are arranged, and also expanding her wings. I also tweaked the way her skirt goes off screen (it doesn’t now) so that when I get around to making a desktop version of it (I have this for all of them so far in waiting) I will not have to redraw it.

After this I went and made the compass behind her. This one was my first of these symbols done in a program called Affinity Design. It’s basically an Illustrator alternative that while I admit is not as powerful, Adobe Illustrator CC doesn’t actually seem to want to work on my large monitor desktop and so even though I can afford splitting CC with my cousin, well, I can’t actually use it. So $50 to Affinity it is. Anyhow, after soem playing with vectors got this. If I were to change anything I would have probably “broken up” the circle ot have compass hash marks all over it to show degrees more clearly.

Next is flats, and the fun those bring. I actually had her in a darker outfit originally, but ended up settling on the inverted trim/main color for the outfit I think it worked out in the end quite nice. What happened I think is that the darker colors look better for flats, but the lighter ones took better to shading and gradients. Just my pet theory there. Also trimming-up where some muscle lines are and such. Then put it together with the compass.

Next is fancy stuff. Get the background all starred-up using Photoshop tricks and whatnot. I then went in and started shading, adding muscles and all that, and hair texture, and the fun stuff. This part is always tedious. I think I spent a few hours on her abdominal area alone.

Then I got into fancy stuff. I went in and added gradients about to her body, backlighting, all that stuff. There’s a lot of layers here but some fun stuff to think on were he rhair, the wings, her face, and the glowing everywhere were all separate layers. You start managing a lot of Masks and weird blending stuff as you do this.

Highlights were pretty important here with so many different textures. I also wanted to do the “shiny “ look since that seems to just work with anime skin like her’s. And it also helped give some volume to the light off her wings, weirdly. Something I’m pretty happy with is that I didn’t have to do a lot of tonal correction here. It’s all pretty nice a curve of color, probably because how much the yellows and oranges pop against the background.

And there we have it. Probably a bit over-produced in areas, but whatever. This one was fun. I am happy with things like her expression, the glow, and also how to (to me at least) she’s an evolution of the design I hand in the 2013 drawing. I think also working on this series is teaching me some fun tricks with Clip Studio, which is a bonus.

Hope you folks enjoy and see you on Mars next, probably.

And stuff.

#exalted #clip studio paint #digital art #character design #fantasy art #anime aesthetic

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tdrcycle09 · 8 years ago

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Main Challenge #9 - Roleplay is more fun with a second player!

This week we challenged our fabulous five by giving them RPG classes to make looks off of, but the twist is, they also had to make over a partner. Lets see how the did!

Analyse Thropic & Aquaphina Dijon | Bard & Barbarian

The only DMs that we’re used to are the ones that Toni keeps trynna slide into, but for this challenge, myself and my challenge partner became Dungeon Masters. I made over my fraternity brother/drag sister, Jon/Aquaphina. She became the barbarian, and I took on the role of the bard. Creating the looks was a lot of fun this week and I got to work on a lot of new skills in terms of costuming. Painting someone else was also a new experience for me, and I learned how hard it is to do someone’s makeup that keeps falling asleep while sitting there.

For the barbarian look, we went with a glitzy warrior barbarian, complete with rhinestoned ax. For my bard, I decided to portray the character as a half-elf, as many bards are half-elf instead of human. We used the color blue to tie the two looks and mugs together, because although it wasn’t a requirement, we wanted the two looks to belong together, like two members in a raid party.

Lila: Good Morrow, and Good Day! These are really adorable looks and you’re certainly upping your costuming prowess a lot more as the competition progresses. I’ll go from you to Aquaphina starting with positives and negatives. For you, your makeup here is really cute and I’m loving your prosthetic ears to death, really ties the look of the bard together. I actually enjoy this hair (the braiding really sells it and the textures do too) and your flower crown, and from the waist up, plus your weapon, really top notch in terms of progression in this competition, week by week there’s been a growth to you that just keeps getting better and better, and certainly you’ve came back from last week and rose to the challenge. Aquafina’s look is by far excellent in execution as this example of your costuming prowess - really, its definitive in how a barbarian would dress, it has exciting elements of leather and fur, the colour palette for hair and armour works well and the blue stoning breaks up the brown a little. But - with that being said, relating to that, there’s way too much brown that you haven’t broken up. If you used a more grey toned fur or even a different shade of brown - and added a lot more of the fur and stones to this, really could’ve upped the ante a lot. I would’ve also had a bit more eyeliner on the blue warpaint look, and cleaned up the lines a lot more with a lighter concealer. With your look, the dress silhouette isn’t really pressed out as much as you could - I thought you ripped the fabric because of the crease hitting the light in the photo. My main concern is your choices in colour, you sometimes have to take a step back and say “okay, there’s too much blue on me and too much brown on her, I need these to still have some sort of connotation towards one another” and really don’t be afraid to play with different shades of colours, because colour story really makes or breaks concepts like this. Overall, this was really exciting to see finalized and I hope you’re very proud of what you’ve produced!

Gluttoni: Whew! Anal, you’ve really outdone yourself for me personally this week. You look so unbelievably stunning and whimsical. This is probably my favorite look of yours yet. I could easily tell your class from this look and to be honest you look so otherworldly. I really don’t have much to critique you on regarding the look because you really killed that aspect. Your lipsync was also my favorite this week as well. I have barbarians and other brutish looking classes and I think you definitely made your partner look badass and like she’s smash your skull in with a club. I love the juxtaposition of you two. I must admit I was a bit afraid of how your makeup would translate on a smaller face than yours but I really think Aquaphina looks quite beautiful and stoic looking. I enjoy the styling of you both and I’d definitely pick either of you as me avatar. Really good work Analyse!

Letha: can you please put my aesthetic back where you found it? I love the hair on your look, and the ears are cute.The flower crown is my tea, obviously. I really like the smokiness of the eyes, but I'm not loving the lips- the lines are a bit sloppy. Also the nose highlight is a bit TOO shiny for my taste, especially considering it's not really as bright anywhere else. The weapons and nails are so cute, and I'm actually not mad at the outfit. It does make you look a bit... fuller figured, BUT it makes sense with the very earthy/folky aesthetic you're giving. Your partner's outfit is great as well. I wish the fur was a bit more prevalent throughout the look (perhaps a cloak, or something on the arm?), but I like the leather and stones. I really enjoy the hair a LOT, there's such interesting shapes and textures. I like what you were going for on the face with the woad paint, but it's a bit too neat, you want more of an organic spear type feel, maybe even with some drips. The wound is a bit of a throwaway, I think doing some dirt/scuffs would have been a bit better. The lip is a bit odd, the shape is okay but it is so SHINY that I'm a bit thrown. Watch the lashes as well, they're placed a bit far out and cause the eye to look a bit downturned. All in all though, I still really enjoy these looks, great job!

Toni: Lets start with your partner this week shall we? I really like her loo, it reads very gladiator and i think it looks really powerful. I think had you made the leather look worn and maybe a rip or two it could have added a lot. I think the biggest miss for me this week is theres a bit of lack of fur which really would have added an extra level to sell your character. Maybe as a small caplet, i think ti would have been really cool. Onto her makeup it seems very…. Sharp. Its not bad but the blue line looks too shapely and pretty and less like war paint, so I think making a bit messier maybe with a few drips to amp up the edge factor. I don’t like the ...scar????? Or is that more war point??? The red thing is hard to tell what it is but either way i’m not a fan of it at all and think it would have been better without it. The lips are really uneven and and the way you’ve highlighted it makes them look wet and it really shatters the illusion of the drawn on lips. I really like the wig for this look, i wish there was a bit volume right onn the top or even like a little fur as a hat could have worked. Over all this look is really well done. Onto your look, i really love this because you’ve added the race aspect to the character because thats VERY rpg and really fun. You’re giving me this little goofy but loveable elf woman whos just trying to get to woodstock to party, and I’m about it. From the bust up this look is absolutely stunning, but down from the bust it looks a little frumpy. A lot of it comes from where you placed the skirt band. You placed it too high on you and with your body shape it really is unflattering. I think if you had a hoop skirt under it or started the skirt lower on your body (at your waist or hops) it would have really made it seemed a lot more polished because the fabric is beautiful. Your head shots are absolutely beautiful, i love the way your nose looks for this character, I love the ears, and the lips. On the eyes and the face I think ti comes off as a bit muddy, so I think we need to work with you to see what you’re doing so we can correct it. I think the hair is absolutely beautiful and the crown is beautiful.

Laveau: Lovely job this week! I really enjoy all of the thought and hard work that seems to have went into the details of these looks. I also love how you tied in the blue to make your characters part of the same party. Clever idea. Now, let's go from head to toe and look at each part. I love the flower crown. Very Letha. I like the concept behind the hair, but it looks kind of unfinished. Using a comb and some hairspray could really help to make that messy teased hair look more like a choice and less like a cop out. I like the barbarian hair a bit more except for the harsh line at the wig line. On to the makeup. The bard makeup looks a bit muddy and dark in some places. For your eye makeup make sure you're using a small enough brush when blending to get a nice gradient. I like the shapes of your face makeup, I just think your contour is a bit dark for your skin tone. The barbarian makeup looks great! I like how her contour and blush are blended a lot better so good job on that. When overdrawing your lips, be sure to use a darker color for the lip line and a very sharp lip liner when doing so. It gives definition to the lips and makes them look more realistic. The barbarian look is absolutely fantastic. I think you could've incorporated more blue into the outfit so that it wasn't just brown all over, but I absolutely love it. The bard look is also quite good. The only think I would tell you to watch out for in the future is anything looking unfinished. The skirt has a very clear crease on it that could have been steamed or ironed out before taking your pictures so be sure to look at everything from top to bottom for anything like that in the future. Anyway, fantastic job this week, and congratulations on making it this far in the competition! I know you're probably tired but the finale is around the corner so stay strong and keep making magic!

Avana Noir & Keithia Noir | Mage & Druid

In a far far away land, a frost mage set out on a quest to find a Druid to help her defeat the an evil that had been bestowed onto the Mage's land. They were a great duo with the mage's deadly ice magic and the Druids powerful healing spells and spells of the forces of nature. They both ended up defeating the evil that corrupted the Mage's Land and restored the Golden Star that glowed brightly for eons to come! Hello Judges! AND AAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH let me tell y'all this was such a fun challenge and really challenged my skills. So I got Mage and Druid for my lewks and bitch this was harder than i thought! So for my druid outfit and well really both of my lewks, I really wanted to go for this world of warcraft meets Wizard101 meets runescape circa 2010. I wanted to go for the goddess sequel vibe of the Druid outfit just very nature..y? and beautiful. and for my second outfit..OKAY so let me tell yall now this was backup for my Mage Look cause originally it was going to have HUGE icicle pieces and the dress was going to be hand painted and ect, but there some major complications so I had to settle with the lewk, I DO still believe it fits the challenge. I decided to go for a like a a long and flowy look, and create a forhead piece that was suppose to represent like icicles and such. I also created both of the weapons that you see here, both staffs because I feel like thats what both of them would use to like channel their magic and it works beautifully IMO. They were both made from scratch and I used spraypaint, foam, cardboard , actual paint, twine, leaves, Styrofoam. For my partners makeup , I wanted to give them Fawn Makeup but with like a touch of typical Avana makeup , which again IMO it looks pretty good for my first time painting someone. It was pretty simple trying to paint my bestie because we have a similar face shape...round, so that was great! Overall this was such a bomb . com challenge ! Thank you so much and I hope you enjoy my looks, thank you !

Lila: Thank you for logging in! These looks have their positives and their negatives, and I’ll go from you to Keithia starting with the two respectively. You have a stunning face this week and I believe that you should go back and look at your makeups from past week to see how amazing your growth has been this competition, extremely stunning. There’s such a strong colour story here that ties together what you’re going for and it makes me so happy. I have elements of this concept that I love a lot, your cloak, staff and choice of wig this week are this exception. Your choice in hand painting designs was a great choice too.Keithia from the bust up is serving LOOKS. The construction is giving me so much life and I commend her confidence to wear her tiddies out for your look. Her makeup is adorable and honestly ties the whole look together, and it was a great choice to match the headpiece with her tiddy holder. The staff for her, brilliant - which is where I kind of started to look at you and notice that you put your friend together really well, and it seemed like you had almost 1 hour to get yourself together really. Your dress would’ve benefitted from a similar strapped dress you wore last week, and it would’ve worked extremely well if you had some billowed sleeves. I am clocking some tape on your head that is holding like, hot glue strips or something? I wish you had one a sort of circlet rather than that, it would’ve connoted magician a little bit better. I’m clocking your fingers too, girl. Wear nails - you’re in the top 5 now and it’s gonna get tougher and tougher from the onset out. When you do skirts like with Keithia, even a belt would disguise the fact there isn’t a waistband - and You could’ve opened the skirt up with a slit just to give it that RPG feeling to it. For me, I hope you do try harder, but I commend you for making someone over because it’s such a difficult thing to do.

Gluttoni: Omg Frozen Part 2! You looking so glamorous lately Avana! Who is this girl? Whatever fire you have under your ass, please keep it coming about you are slaying. That being said...this is fully realized concept that favored you and your pretty partner. I can tell you really grasped onto this challenge fondly because you definitely got the gaymer avatar vibes downpacked. Who doesn’t like the motif of winter versus spring? Although it’s not the most inventive angle to use, I think you both suit your class and look as if you came out of the same videogame. Your makeup is vastly improving although I’m still waiting to see some bomb fucking eyebrows from you. The Druid is very cute and looks very sirene. You look like you own everything Avana and I’m living for that. My only qualm is that it feels like something is missing that I can’t quite place which at this stage in the game may not be the best. Overall gorgeous work and just know we see the growth.

Letha: Your looks are both very cute this week. I really have similar crits for both. I really enjoy all of the details, including the weapons (the mage staff is so cool looking!), but the body shape gets a bit lost in the fabric. I like the braids for the druid look, but the white wig on the mage is a bit flat and boring. The makeup on both of you is great, I do feel like the druid one was a bit better applied, because she is STUNNING, it's so my aesthetic. One note on the fawn nose contour, it could be a bit wider, because it'd be a bit more deer inspired. On your makeup, it oxidized a bit orange, so watch out for that, but I like the shapes on the eyes/lips. One note though, don't pose with your hands then not wear nails!

Toni: Lets start with your partner shall we? You really hooked her up this week because I think she is stunning! Her makeup is so beautiful and creative, it’s really outside of the box for you and I really like it. The hair is simple and could have had more flowers braided in but I really think it works, just a bit simple. I think the staff is really pretty and the colors, length, and style really all make sense. I think you could have a little more pattern work on the skirt, and even add more stones to it to really make it shine and sparkle. I think the bra is the interest piece for this look because it clearly took a lot of time to make and that shows and is really beautiful. I really like this look. Your look on the other hand I think falls a bit flat in comparison. The dress is really shapeless and kinda looks like it doesnt fit. I think for the bust had you sewn in elastic it would have really hellped the top. For the skirt i love the blue and purple parts, but the white parts aren’t very well done and come off as mess. I think had you done it more as draping or more structured (in one direction or the other) it would have been really improved. The cape is beautiful as well as the staff, I think that they both make sense for the look, i wish there was more accent stones on them to add a little glam to them. Onto the shoulders up I like the wig, it could have been brushed out a bit to make it a little more voluminous. I think your biggest issue makeup wise is that your eyes went up and while thats good, they also should have gone out to the sides as well so its a lifting and angular shape. It would have really rounded out your face in a nice way. Over all good job.

Laveau: Cmon Ice Mage! I Love that you deviated from the norm and instead of doing a typical old dark mage look you went with something a bit more icy. The Druid fawn is also a cute concept. Let's go head to toe! Is there something on your head because if so it is so small that I can barely even tell that it was there. I don't really understand the use of purple in the eyeshadow because every other part of the look is blue. I think the addition of browse would help to shape your eye make up so that it doesn't get too out of control. Your eyes kind of get lost in your eye makeup as it is. As far as the rest of the look, be careful next time to make sure that your entire look looks finished there are quite a few aspects of your submission of that look incomplete. The Cape seems to be cut haphazardly and could use some sort of ribbon or him around the edge to make it look finished. The staff is quite clearly cardboard and could have been topped with some sort of craft foam or cardstock or anything else to make it look less like cardboard. Also, nails really complete a drag look to me because the hands look so bare without them. I like the fawn make up better, but the look still seems unfinished. The paint on the skirt looks messy and simple things like the black of the bra being covered could have really taken this look to the next level. Moving forward in he competition, be sure to finalize every look and look at everything with the eye of a judge to anticipate what they're going to say. Congratulations on making it this far in the competition and good luck as you continue! Keep making magic!

Lexi Lamour & Ma’Cherie Lamour | Knight and Rogue

You roll the dice and move your high dexterity and strength knight into the grassy opening. She looks around surveying the surrounding. Unknown to her....a rogue with high intelligence and hide and move silently bonuses lurks in the foliage studying her every move. Thankfully your knight has a luck bonus and as the rogue is about to use her specialty sneak attack a bird cries from the trees causing the knight to turn and spot the rogue. Drawing her sword she clashes with the rogue's weapons. Who will win this battle? Roll the dice to find out! Hello, Judges! Meet Sonny....I mean my drag baby, Ma'Cherie Lamour. I was so happy about this challenge because I knew we had a wide range of reference to pull from and could get very creative with it. I know I had originally pitched a concept of a black knight. But with my rogue look being so dark....I wanted there to be contrast. So I decided to play on a classic good against evil, light against dark look. With my rogue being dark, hooded, and brooding and my knight being polished, pristine, and bright. For the knight look I took inspirations of pics Toni sent while still keeping the drag aspect and doing what I feel Lexi would portray as a knight. I remember for last week's mini Lila said a word she would use to describe Lexi is powerful and thats what I wanted to bring out in this. Full on armor with rhinestones detailing and acting as the rivets. For the rogue look I went a little more classic and kept it very much of the RPG style. Hooded and capped. Very dark. Lots of belts, leather, harnesses and wraps. All of the aspects of the costumes were hand made and personally fabricated and all of the armor was fully functional...the shoulders down to the wrists were all connected and hinged and moved (only things not made jewelry, my belt, the rogue belts/harnesses, and the shoes and weapons of course...the sword is a REAL sword btw and heavy as hell! lol). For the transformation...I was really lucky that Sonny/Ondi(My Ma'Cherie) agreed to help me! As someone who does drag herself it wasn't as stressful I think it would've been painting someone who had never done drag before. It was very relaxed. And on top of the fact that we went through this in Dessie's together Ondi really knows how much this means to me and really sold her part as the rogue. It was also helpful that she had all of her own makeup in her own colors so we knew what would work well for her. Ultimately, I'm incredibly happy with the level and amount of craftsmanship I did this week and am in love with these characters.

Lila: Your Crafting Skill has maxed out! Hello, Lexi and Ma’Cherie! You’ll be getting positives and negatives respectively this week! For me, Lexi, you have the most complex garment this week. Visually stunning and really captures that essence of what a Knight is and what we wanted to see from the make overs. You’ve finally got those lips down to a T and I can’t deal with the fact that your armour pieces are cardboard with, it looks like, push pins or rhinestones as the bolts on it? Really alluring concept. I love the sword, adds an element of realism to the piece. Ma’Cherie for me is beautiful and the Halsey vibe I get is stellar. I’m glad that you went for this sleek silhouette for this concept as it captures the more rogue class than a skirt would (unless, of course, there was a reveal) The cape and hood attachment is gorgeous and honestly I love that you’ve played with some more conventional (silhouette) and unconventional (latex choker) in this concept, really keep this concept for yourself for later perhaps. I do unfortunately have some negatives to kind of pick out. You stand alone as a kind of character that I can see in one of the many western RPGs out there, Ma’Cherie doesn’t, I think it’s down to design, you’ve got these extravagant pieces on that really sell you, Ma’Cherie is leaning towards a more basic character archetype. A quick fix would’ve been either to darken the makeup up a little more, I’m talking like raccoon it up around the eyes, and subtract the brown leather and in that place add more black, perhaps a lot of purple rhinestones and maybe (get tacky) and put some nails on the gloves too. That would’ve excelled the look a lot more. For me too, your makeups are both on the beige side, if you didn’t have a red lip on, I’d be screaming at your for more colour, but because Ma’Cherie hasn’t, more colour. Also; I’ve started to notice this - going forward, you need to firstly believe in yourself no matter what you get during the challenge, because this is stunning and you have to remind yourself that on the first day you get your challenge category that you are capable of stunning work, and secondly, we’re going into the last weeks of this competition, truly have fun with it. You know as much as I do that once you get this far you’ll be ready to push forward and destroy anyone who stands in your way - really, just have fun! Be proud of your work, because so far, it’s been fun to see you deliver and truly you’ve delivered this week nonetheless!

Gluttoni: I don’t know where to start because I’m definitely blown away Lexi! You are giving me the most fem, pussy power, She-Ra T’s and I am LIVING. I don’t know where the fuck you got full fabricated armor from but bitch if I don’t see you at some sort of Con I will be upset. You look so strong and commanding and since I love strong women, I’m obsessed! Meanwhile you partner looks like a cute ass dark pixie turned rogue. I’d be afraid to be in the middle of a battle between you two. I honestly can’t find anything wrong with this submission.I love that both of makeup jobs are very clean and really framed the character’s classes just through facial expressions. The styling on both looks are bomb. The straight brow on the rogue is my religion henny. Also if that’s a good Rosemary’s Baby wig, I claim it as mine. Thank you. Phenomenal work Lexi, keep the good shit coming.

Letha: Lexi these are such cool looks!!! The knight one is my particular fave, the armor and sword is a GREAT touch, I love how much work went in to them and they're damn amazing. The mug is great too, I'm not sure if it was intentional but the brow is more... severe? And makes the look more masculine which totally makes sense with the knight class. Love the lip shape as well. As for your partner's look, I feel that it's good, but I feel it's the weaker of the two looks. Going nearly all black with the look makes sense for a rogue in a practical sense, but I think adding something like the purple from the cape would have helped add a bit more interest. The makeup is pretty good, I would've cleaned up the inside edge of the lips a bit more, but I love the brow a lot. I really like the hairstyle, but I would have brushed it and sprayed it to make it neater, because the style is so simple. That being said, these are both great looks, and the composite photo is stunning, great job this week!

Toni: Lets start with your partner this week. I think that she is fierce and powerful. I really love the outfit, it comes of as rouge and it looks well. I love the hint of purple in the hood and I wish that was carried more into the outfit because it does come off as a bit monotone but its not like as huge thing. You also could have used the silver that you used in the metal as a accent color. The wig is really nice, not super exciting, but ti makes sense with the character. I really love the face and more pinpoint the eyes. They are beautiful but striking, and the way the brows were done helps highlight them.I think the biggest thing for me on this makeup is the black lips aren’t all the way, like you can see some of their natural lips and that needed to be touched up. Over all good look! Onto yours, i know how hard armour can be and you did really amazing because its astonishing!!! I think it looks really well done and this is at comiccon level, really amazing!! I love the color tones you chose and I really like the rhinestones. I think you could have done a few more stones on the sword but overall I really like it. Onto the wig again its really good but not super exciting, but the crown was a really nice touch. The makeup this week is stunning, I really love the eyes and the brows, as well as the red lip (thank you so much for the matte and fixing the shape this week they look amazing) because it adds some color to your face. Over all good job this week.

Laveau: Slain. Damn near everything about this knight look is right. I'm literally looking for things to critique and there aren't many. Just a few things: I think it's weird that your knight has on a crown and that it isn't as in embellished as the rest of your outfit. It makes it look like an afterthought. Also, The handle of your sword doesn't go with the rest of this incredibly cohesive look so it looks like a mistake. Other than that, every aspect of your knight looks finished and polished. Great attention to detail. As as far as makeup goes, I will say that there are a few things that could be tweaked. The contour on one side of your face looks a little bit more blended or than the other and your eyes look a tad bit uneven but we all know how hard it is to get things to be symmetrical on both sides of the face. I'm literally nitpicking at this point because there really isn't that much to say but I still want to give you some sort of critique as you get closer to the finale. ONDI I LOVE YOUR WORK! I will say that after seeing your night look, your rogue look looks a bit less involved. I would've like to see some rhinestones or some sort of glitz and glam to take it to the same level that I feel like your knight was on. I understand that rogues aren't supposed to be shiny but this is drag so I would've like to see a bit more glamour. Also as far as her makeup goes, you did a great job but watch out for that lip line and next time add a light eyeshadow over the part of her brow coverage where you can see hair and it'll disappear! Lastly, make sure that your pictures are in focus and WEAR NAILS! You look too good to be missing nails, mawma. Other than that, you are doing a great job. You are undeniably on the fast track to the finale and I can't wait to see what you'll do next. Great job. Keep making magic! P.S. The characterization in your runway was EVERYTHING.

Sugar Monroe & Blazen Haven | Necromancer & Paladin

Hello peons, I mean, Judges. I welcome you into my lair to view my faithful servant, the Paladin of Misery and myself, the Lipsync Necromancer. I use my dominion over the dead combined with my lip sync abilities and my Mic Staff to slay my foes. After each battle, my devout Paladin heals them with her Holy Light emitting from her shield and leads them back to the slaughter, until their souls cannot go on. Then they belong to me. I keep them as tokens of my victories in glass vials I keep on my side. The Paladin of Misery joins me on my quest in hopes of earning back the soul of her love, who fell at my feet in battle. Once her debt to me is paid, I will return her love’s soul to her. However, what state will she be in? Only time will tell…. Hey Judges! For my makeover challenge, I asked one of my best friends, and TDR alum, Blazen Haven, to be my partner. I decided to give us contrasting looks, paladins being holy knights and necromancers being users of dark magic. Between the beauty of Blazen’s makeup and the horror of mine, I succeeded in that. Now, enjoy my creations and remember, your soul is never safe from the Lipsync Necromancer.

Lila: You have been banned! Reason: Lipsynching Appropriate Words. Just Kidding! Hello to my lovely cycle 8 sisters, I’ll be talking about your positives then your negatives respectively! Sugar, I really love this silhouette and I’m glad that you’ve grown to love it too. This fabric really accentuates everything and the stark colour story is a brilliant choice! Makeup is stunning as per usual, Loving the fascinator of a skull and the coat is to DIE for. You are really coming into your own as a drag queen and I’m really proud to see it every single week since the fears challenge. Blazen has such a stunning face per usual and really you highlighted those features well, I love the wig choice, but that’s where my positives end. I feel like you could’ve done so much more for Blazen’s look - like I’m so upset because Blazen is really such a great queen, I remember her looks being absolutely stunning last cycle and I think you should’ve used that knowledge to your own advantage because it literally looks like those kids you see that wear the cardboard cereal boxes and pretend to be gladiators. You wanna make it look like you both belong together and you look clearly thought out, it’s just that it feels like Blazen was an afterthought. For me, personally, I’m not loving your staff. If you bought an actual microphone or even a cheap child’s toy it would’ve worked even better, the microphone looks like a cross between a beauty blender and a buttplug. You keep peeking over the bar you set each week, but unfortunately this week you let yourself down making someone else over, and I do hope you learn from this challenge!

Gluttoni: Sugar, my sweet! You are going to have a hell of portfolio of bomb photographs by the time this wraps up. You look fantastic. The colors are very somber and Tim Burton-ish and I find that to a very beautiful point of interest of this look but that’s kind of where the interesting choices end for me. I love the makeup but the application and idea could have been more inventive/better applied. This is definitely not to say this bad makeup because I’ve never really seen you look bad but stacked up to the other ladies this is a leotard and face paint. Blazen looks gorgeous per usual and I definitely get what class she’s in. My only qualm is that these looks weren’t pushed quite enough to the scale that I know you can pull out of you especially with what you did last week. Top 3 is over the horizon and I want to see you pushing yourself over the hill of this competition. Amazing job Sugs.

Letha:I really enjoy the story you created for your characters/classes, but I feel as if they're at different levels, if that makes sense. Your necromancer character has much more of a LOOK, and the color scheme is great. The microphone is a cool touch, but I will say I don't love the random skull plonked on your head, I think holding it would have worked a bit better. The hair is cool as well. I think you could have done with a few little bits and bobs (like some little bones) scattered through the hair would have done with a bit more interest. The black or the hair/coat kind of get lost against the backdrop, but it does make for an aesthetic pic. I like the makeup, I wish you would have done something more like the top half of the face being a skull-like mask and the bottom being moe human, as it would have read a bit more necromancer for me personally. ON TO your partner. The makeup, in general, isn't bad, but needs some blending on the edges (crease/lips specifically). The hair is okay, a bit plain, but girl, the outfit. There isn't much going on, but what is going isn't too exciting. The armor could be a bit more fitted, the shield is just okay, but there is NO weapon. I don't mind the skirt, as I think paladins are often a combination of flowing robes and armor, but I just needed MORE here. A circlet and a weapon would have been a step in the right direction. All it all, it's okay for me this week!

Toni: Lets start with Blazen shall we. I was worried when you didn’t give us a sketch for the look that it wouldn’t be as well thought out as the other and it seems that my worries were true. This comes off as very disappointing and almost lazy. The top is shapeless, and I think it would have done better with some more work and details, such as painting lines to show where the metal was put together, or even some stones or shading just to make it interesting, and not look like construction paper. The skirt would have worked perfectly had all the armour pieces been done right, but because of how simple the top is it makes the skirt seem just as simple and boring, I think if you had done something that was floor length and flowers, almost like a chior robe, it would have been more ideal. Also the shield is nice but I see no other form of weapon which really doesn’t make sense because paladins do use magic and physically fight so there could have been any type of sword/hammer/staff just to add something to this look because it’s severely lacking.The makeup is really pretty, i think the way you’ve contoured blazen is really flattering to her face and feminizes her a lot. The wig is nice, not very exciting, it needs a helmet or a head piece, just something to make this look exciting . Onto your look, which I rather enjoy. I think the green is a good accept color onto the black and the body suit is really nice. The symbols are very cute and I think help define your character. The way you took your pictures, in front of a black background really makes the hair and the coat hard to see but I get the idea, so watch for that. The staff and background story for this was confusing to say the least. At first I thought it might have been a smallpox doctor mask on a staff and then what I saw what it was I was confused and a bit let down. I think the makeup is nice but I would have much prefered a uniform across the top half and then a pretty bottom half like we had talked about before, but both sides of the face are well done and very pretty!

Laveau: Love the concept and the story! But let's get into this critique, mawma. I love the use of the green. It looks great for a dark and villainous character and I love how you incorporated it into your makeup. I will say that the amount of black in this look really drowns out all of the details. I love the concept of the half dead half alive nexromancer, but the way that you split the line looks a bit off center and I would have liked to see either a clear line down the middle or more skull makeup on the other side. Also, without the teeth, is it really a skull? I love the bodysuit, but the bottom (around your cooter) looks a bit ill-fitted so be sure to try everything on before filming your submission next time. The potion bottles and the skull are a nice touch but I think, looking at your competition, you need a bit more in order to keep up. I like the staff, but I can see the hot glue lines so be sure to pay close attention to the little details because at this point in the competition it's going to be the details that set each competitor apart. Also, nails. Onto your makeover partner. I like the concept of light and dark, but the paladin looks a bit unfinished. The armor and shield are a little rough around the edges and could have used a little TLC. The makeup looks pretty good but the eye makeup needs some work. When looking at the eyes closed picture, I see three different lines going on. The crease could be more defined and the blue eyeshadow could be blended out gradually into the eyebrow highlight. Make sure to use a small brush and blend from dark to light going upward from the crease. Other than that, congrats on making it to week 9! Keep up the hard work! The finale is around the corner and you are on the right track so keep moving forward and keep making magic!

#tdr #tdrc9 #main challenge #Analyse Thropic #Avana Noir #Lexi Lamour #Sugar Monroe

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breeeliss · 8 years ago

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[Femslash February]: Glitter

shhhhh i know it’s march let me have this

i accidentally started writing this in first person, realized it was too late to change it, and just went with it

Day 17: Glitter (Lilanette)

Words:

Link to Archive of Our Own: [AO3]

[Previous: Tea Party] [Next: Autumn]

Their visual arts teacher lets Marinette stay after school to sketch with the graphite pencils and charcoals in exchange for Marinette cleaning all the paint brushes at the end of the day. She forgets that she used to be an artist before she dipped into designing, and sometimes it’s nice to take a break and sketch things other than clothes for a change. Besides, it’s been a while since she’s sketched with charcoals, and Nathanael already keyed her onto which cabinets to check for the best sets.

She’s in the middle of draining the sink and laying out all the paint brushes to dry when, like clockwork, Lila slips into the classroom and heads right for the shelves in the back of the room where all the containers of glitter, glues, and sealants are kept.

Marinette has her earbuds in and nods at Lila who gives a very small smile and tips her chin up in return. Marinette washes her hands, grabs the good charcoal set, and sits on the window sill to try and sketch out the buildings and sidewalks just outside. Lila sets out old newspapers across one of the art tables and starts to pull out five or so glass mason jars from her bag. Just as usual, they both work in silence.

She watches from the corner of her eye as Lila paints glue onto the outside of one of her jars, dusts glitter over the entire surface until it’s a shimmering gold, and passes over it with sealant before she leaves it to dry and repeats the process over again. Marinette has been trying to figure out what Lila has been working on for the past two weeks, but she is at a loss for what you could possibly need so many jars decorated in glitter for.

Sometimes Lila comes in with close to ten jars, all different sizes, and spends the entire time coating the outside of them in gold, silver, yellow, and orange. There are a couple of days where she doesn’t decorate them at all -- just fills them with water and glitter, screws them shut, and sits on the window across from Marinette just turning it over in her hands and watching the contents swirl around like a snow globe. One time, instead of jars, Lila came in with lightbulbs and coated them in glitter instead.

She can’t help but ask Nathanael the next day if they share the same visual arts block together. Maybe it’s just a project that she’s spending extra time on.

"We're in the same class, but we’re doing watercolors right now,” Nathanael frowned. “Whatever she’s doing doesn’t sound like anything our teacher would’ve assigned.”

“That’s an awful lot of work to be putting into something that she’s just doing for fun,” Marinette thought aloud.

“To be fair, I don’t think anyone knows what’s going on in her head,” Nathanael shrugged. “Ever since everyone found out about her fake Ladybug interview, she sort of just keeps to herself. Your guess is as good as mine.”

It isn’t her place to intrude on matters that are really none of her business. She’s sure the only reason that Lila has been willing to share this space with her the entire time is because Marinette commits to honoring the very clear desire to be left alone that Lila constantly exudes. But there are brief moments when Marinette can feel Lila’s eyes staring at the sketches in her book and following her fingers as they smudge the lines she makes across the page. Their eyes only ever catch a couple of times, and when they do Lila quickly ducks her head down to stare at her work, leaving Marinette to let her eyes linger as she coats glue over what looks to be old Christmas ornaments.

There is so much melancholy mixed in with the prickly attitude she puts up -- like she wants to be left alone but also wishes that someone would reach out and interrupt the space. It mixes in terribly with the lingering guilt that Marinette feels at having embarrassed Lila in front of Adrien, even if Lila doesn’t know that it was Marinette who had done the scolding. It makes her want to work for a resolution -- some neat, happy ending that’ll end this longing dance they’ve created around each other.

So one afternoon, when she takes a break from sketching long ball gowns on the people she sees walking around outside the window, she asks, “Have you ever thought of doing designs?”

They are so used to the silence that usually hangs between then that Marinette’s voice echoes rather loudly and makes Lila’s head pop up in shock. She takes a moment to scrutinize Marinette, as if she’s trying to discern her sincerity from across the room, and it gives Marinette an excuse to stare at the small grains of glitter stuck in Lila’s hair and against the apples of her cheeks. “Sorry?”

Marinette flips her sketchbook back two pages and finds some of the doodles she left there during class this afternoon. She slides down from the windowsill and pushes the sketchbook across the table. “You know, designs. Stuff like this.”

Lila’s brows lift as she stares at the swirls, waves, and curls that Marinette has doodled across the page. “Um....no, I guess not,” she mutters.

“Might be cool to try,” Marinette smiles. “Instead of just coating the whole thing in one color. I-I mean, unless that’s not what you’re going for. If it’s not, then never mind. I just realized I don’t really know what you’re doing. Which is fine. But I guess....”

She realizes she’s rambling only after Lila’s hesitant frown turns into a smile and slowly melts into a bright laughter -- the first time Marinette’s ever seen her laugh since they’ve met. She decides she likes how it makes Lila’s cheeks blush and shows all of her teeth. “Those designs look cool,” she agrees. “But I’m not actually that artistic. I don’t think I could do something like that.”

“I could help you,” Marinette says. “If you use stencils, it’ll actually be pretty easy. Of course, only if you want to. I don’t mean to impose.”

Lila shrugs. “I don’t want to bother you....”

“I’m not doing anything too important.”

She snorts in amusement and gives Marinette a smile that’s so different from the short, polite one she’s been accustomed to giving thus far -- warmer, wider, and more sincere. “If you want to help, I guess that’d be nice.”

Lila makes it sound like she doesn’t care either way, so Marinette grabs some cardboard sheets from the shelves, sketches out a few of her doodles onto the sheets, and uses an x-acto knife from the drawers under the tables to cut out the stencil. She takes one of Lila’s jars, wraps the stencil around, sprays on one of the adhesives she has out, and sprinkles a dusting of orange glitter across the surface. Marinette peels it off and reveals a beautiful design of orange wrapping around the entire surface of the jar. Marinette hands it back to Lila who stares at it with her mouth formed into a shocked ‘o.’

“That came out so clean,” Lila breathes out. “It’s pretty.”

Marinette grins. “If you seal that bit and then put glue around the design, you can make the background another color.”

Something lights up in Lila’s eyes, because suddenly she’s pulling -- wow, close to twelve mason jars out of her extra bag and lining them all up on the table. “Could I borrow that stencil?”

The excitement is infectious, and suddenly Marinette is grabbing more sheets of cardboard. “Yeah. I can make you a checkerboard one next if you want. Might look cool.”

She suddenly stops and starts shaking her head. “O-Oh, you don’t have to help or anything. This is just for me....it’s....” Lila pauses and swallows back the answer. “Anyway, you don’t have to help.”

“I mean, if you’re willing, I’d be happy to,” Marinette insists. “You’ve been working on all this for so long, I want to help you finish.”

They both stay after school a lot longer than they ever had before. Lila pulls out the rest of the light bulbs she has in her bag and Marinette starts making stencils of hearts, stars, and polka dots that she sprays onto the surface and covers into glitter. Lila is across from her experimenting with making gradients of two and three different colors on the surface of each jar. Eventually, Marinette pulls the headphone jack out of her cell phone and lets her music play out of her phone’s speakers so that they both have some noise to fill the silence around them. Lila looks like she’s not used to the upbeat, pop music that Marinette is partial to, but eventually they both get into a rhythm where they’re painting and spraying and rocking to the rhythm of the songs that spill from the speakers. They aren’t particularly talkative, but Marinette doesn’t mind that too much. Lila is flipping through her sketchbook for inspiration and humming absently to the music, and it’s far more than the thirty second conversation that Marinette had been hoping for when she spoke in the first place.

It takes only a couple of hours for there to be a long line of glittery bulbs and jars neatly lined up along the table, ready to dry in the art room overnight. Lila pours all the excess glitter back into the jars and walks up to another windowsill where her jars from yesterday have already finished drying. She’s loading them into her bag when Marinette offers to help her take them home.

“You really don’t have to do that,” Lila says as a gentle insistence rather than a demand.

“It’s no trouble,” Marinette assures. “You don’t live too far from the school, right? I see you walk to school everyday.”

Lila looks like she wants to protest, but Marinette must look rather eager because Lila relents and shrugs her shoulders, pushing a line of about six jars in her direction. “If you could take these, that’d be a help I guess.”

It’s only a fifteen minute walk to Lila’s apartment, and it’s one that’s spent mostly in comfortable silence. They push through the three floor walk-up, and Lila has to shimmy her house key a couple of times in the lock of the door before it pops open and reveals a quaint apartment that’s not much larger than Marinette’s. She respectfully takes her shoes off before she pads across the carpeted floors, and looks around to see cardboard boxes and plastic storage bins stacked around the living room.

“Sorry about the mess,” Lila sighs out. The sun’s already started going down, so Lila moves around the apartment and starts turning on all the lamps and closing the blinds. “Papa and I haven’t finished unpacking yet.”

“It’s fine,” Marinette says. She briefly remembers Mme. Bustier telling her that Lila had moved here from Sicily with her father, and that it was important as Class Representative to help her adjust to the new country and the new environment. “Is he here?”

“He works late,” Lila says, dropping her books on the couch in the corner. She juts her chin to the back of the apartment. “You can just put it down in my room and I’ll sort through it later.”

Marinette takes the paper bag filled with Lila’s glitter jars and follows her into her bedroom. She isn’t quite sure what she was expecting when she walks inside, but it certainly isn’t dozens upon dozens of jars, bulbs, mugs, and ornaments all coated in glitter of all different colors. They are sitting on her windowsills, her desk, her bedside table, hanging on the walls, sitting on her bookshelves, and covering every available surface that her room can provide. Marinette walks over to one of her windows and peeks inside of the glitter-covered jars and sees that they have candles sitting inside of them. “Is this what you’ve been working on?”

Lila pulls a long line of fairy lights from behind her bed and nods. “Yeah. Not quite done yet though. You can help me if you want.”

Lila had poked holes into the lids of the jars she’d decorated, leaving just enough room for the lights to feed into the jar, feed back out, and feed into the next one. Marinette helps her push the lights inside the jars while Lila starts lighting the candles in the jars on her bookshelf. When they’re both done, Lila shuts the blinds, closes her bedroom door, and starts plugging in all the wires around her room.

The effect is breathtaking. Everywhere she looks the jars are glowing and shimmering against all the glitter wrapped around the outsides, turning each one into a sparking globe floating like a star against the darkness of her room. All the Christmas ornaments and bulbs are hanging along her walls, tangled with more lines of fairy lights to make the glitter covered bulbs shine brighter against Lila’s otherwise bare walls. Marinette looks down to see Lila sitting on the carpet in the middle of her room and decides to sit down next to her. From down here, everything feels mystical and surreal -- almost like a calming, beautiful, and magical world that’s contained within the four walls of her room. Marinette almost wants to lay down and fall asleep counting all the lights, staring at their warm glow until she falls into a smooth sleep with dreams filled with floating lights and glimmering space. She feels calm and at peace, and suddenly she hopes that Lila will let her stick around for a while.

“I found tutorials for it online,” Lila starts speaking without being prompted. “I liked how it made everything look all warm and shadowy. We move around so much, I don’t really get to decorate my room much. This is the first time I’ve really gotten a chance to go all out.”

“You’ve never decorated your room before?”

“Nope,” Lila sighs. “We never stay in a city for longer than a couple of months. This is the first city we’ve decided to stay in for good, so I’m trying to get used to that. This was the first thing I wanted to do.”

Marinette laughs. “This is lovely,” she tells her. “I would never want to leave this room.”

Lila chuckles. “Thanks. I was trying to make it seem homey. So at least when I came home everyday, it would welcoming. Like this is a place that’s always going to be here when I come back to it.”

Marinette thinks of how hard it must be to come to school for the first time after having moved around so often. She wonders if Lila isn’t used to the sensation of having a solid place that you can always come back to. She thinks of Lila making brilliant lies about herself on the first day of school to try and make as many friends as quickly as possible, and she wonders if it’s to make it impossible for people to not like her. To make sure that she’ll have someone who will want to stay because she’s so used to having to let go of important people when she inevitably has to pick up and move somewhere else. She thinks of a Lila who sobbed at the realization that Ladybug had pulled one of her friends right out from underneath her, and she thinks of a Lila who grows excited at the thought of being able to do something as simple permanently decorate her bedroom for the first time.

She realizes that she’s been more than unfair to her, and she feels the burning need to try and do her best to fix what she’s ruined.

Marinette crosses her legs underneath her and leans her shoulder against Lila’s, trying not to smile too hard at the feeling of Lila pressing back against her. They’re both still staring at all the glitter and all the lights in her room when Marinette asks, “What other places have you lived before this?”

“It’s a long, boring story,” Lila tells her. “You’re not going to want to hear it.”

“I don’t think it’ll be boring at all,” Marinette says. “Try me.”

Lila grins and fills her chest with air as she thinks back. “Alright. Let me see if I can remember...”

#miraculous ladybug #lilanette #lila rossi #marinette dupain-cheng #lilanette fanfiction #miraculous ladybug fanfiction #my writing #femslash february 2017 #femslash february lilanette edition #glitter

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bitterbuttercups · 8 years ago

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Review: Monster High’s Posea Reef and Kala Mer’ri

So, last week, I was at the local five and under store and I found a whole shelf of Posea Reefs and Kala Mer’ris. I’ve never owned a Monster High before- and, actually, I don’t think I’ve ever held an unboxed one in my hands before, either. I was excited at the opportunity to get them for $5 and bought both.

Image heavy doll review under the cut!

I didn’t really intend to review them when I bought them, but after I got them out of their boxes and played with them I knew I had to talk about them- so, I’m sorry I don’t have any photos of their packaging, but, I can talk about it just a little bit.

I was wowed by the packaging on Monster Highs. I buy a lot of My Little Ponies and Transformers and they’re generally pretty conservatively packaged, but- these girls had beautiful plastic windows and really nice cardboard tabs holding it together. I managed to keep most of the packaging intact and everything! I thought their little diaries were a delightful touch. I read a few pages and set it aside for a rainy day. I really do love the puns in Monster High, I think they’re very fun and clever.

Let’s start with Kala Mer’ri!

Initially I wasn’t sure I wanted to pick Kala up- purple isn’t my favourite colour and I’m not a fan of the big joint beneath her waist.

I also dislike the spots on her lips.

However, I thought her four arms looked like a lot of fun, and for five dollars I figured at worst I would sell her my next collector con.

Fortunately, though, I was completely blown away and while I like Posea’s blue more than Kala’s purple, I love playing with Kala.

I like her profile. She has a wide, flat nose I think is very cute. I also like that her eyes are round and pronouncedby not buggy. I also like her forehead shape- I often find with dolls that I think their foreheads are too long or short and it pulls the whole face into uncanny valley territory.

I also really like the little divet in the middle of her bottom lip- it makes it just a little soft and pouty. I don’t like her lipstick- I think the pink clashes with the purple and I really think the spots look unpleasant. I wish they were at least symmetric, but they aren’t, and they’re much heavier on the left side.

She has very pretty eyes with light blue irises and large, dark blue pupils. She has orange and salmon, fin-shaped eye makeup and very large black upper and lower eyelashes, as well as some little pink and yellow spots on the inside of her inside nose bridge, and its all on top of a light purple.... blobby shape.

I would have thought I wouldn’t like the dark blue pupil, but, I think it looks fine. I really like the pink and orange fin-like makeup, I think it’s very pronounced and in character and the orange really contrasts with the purple in a nice way. I’m not sure how I feel about the large light purple spots. I feel like something better could have been done, but at the same time, I do think it looks better with than without.

What I don’t like is the... squiggly orange french fries she has for eyebrows. Why? Why do they look like that? I’m utterly boggled.

I’m a little confused by her ear shape, as well. It’s like a dish, almost, with a very flat bottom. Is it supposed to look like a suction cup? It doesn’t look like an ear at all. I’m not sure.

I do like the squareness of her jaw and her strong chin, though. I think it does give her a very strong profile- I think I like her nose the best. It’s very cute.

I tend to prefer slimmer faces in my dolls, but I feel like it works really nicely here. I actually thought when I saw her in the box that her hair was an afro, I was a little disappointed when I got her out of the box and realized it was just a frizzy ponytail.

I I had some fun playing with shadows, too.

And I really like how her squareish cheekbones sharpen the light! It’s really fun.

Monster High faces just seem to have so much depth. Not so much molding it looks weird or buggy but they aren’t flat like Equestria Girls figures, which I have a few of and honestly kind of hate.

Her arms are what I bought her for, though, and I found them much easier to pose than I had anticipated.

I was also under the impression that monster highs could not easily touch their faces- I am not sure if I was simply led astray or if the molding of these dolls is a little different, because she easily touches her face.

I’m also noticing quite suddenly in this photo which I did not realize when I was taking her picture that Kala’s left upper wrist has been stained by her accessory. That’s very unfortunate.

First thing I did was take off her armbands and the prickly little belt she’s wearing. It’s very soft material. I don’t really like it, aesthetically, but it does help her open front- coat? dress? lay flat.

I do think she looks better without her many plastic accessories. She looks a little more floaty and cool, but, there’s nothing wrong with having a few more accessories lying around.

Under her coat she’s wearing a little band as a top. I’m not sure what the pattern- it’s like a cross between a reef and lisa frank cheetah print. it’s held on with soft plastic straps. She has these little ridges on her shoulders- I wish they’d left them off, they’re kind of annoying to work around and don’t look particularly interesting, anyway.

It’s held on with velcro at the back. I think the velcro piece is a little too big, but, I really love her shoulders back there! They’re molded really nicely.

Hm.

Hmm. :/

You know, I really like that Kala has a thicker profile than other monster high dolls- she’s wider her back is filled out more, which I think is good. I know lots of people like the stretchy skinny arch of monster highs molds, but I don’t. I dislike HOW wide Kala’s hips get, but I can live with it.

Her torso joint is great, because it lets her turn to the side.

And, well. All the way around, actually. Very monstery!

I wish there was a gradient or something between the light purple of her torso and the dark purple of her midsection and tail. It seems very sudden.

I’m also not sure how I feel about the bright yellow tentacles. I think they’re pretty, and they look better from the front with the patterned gradient, but from the back they look very strange, It really draws attention away from the rest of the doll.

I do love them, though- I think the curves feel really dynamic and natural, like real coiling tentacles frozen miid-movement. I also like that she stands on them! I was a little turned off when I first got her, because I would have rather had a traditional mermaid tail, but, when I let myself get used to the idea I found it very easy to have her stand unassisted because of them. They dont offer her a great range of motion or many poses, but, they are super duper stable.

also super duper detailed, tbh.

Speaking of detail, I love her hands. They have these adorable little suction cups on the fingers.

To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of the flawed hands most monster highs have. I really dislike the heads of Ever After High dolls, but I adore their hand sculpts- very gentle. I’d post a photo, but I don’t have any Ever After High dolls. I think one day I might buy a Cerise, though.

At this point I took her hair down and spent about twenty minutes trying to beat it into submission. it was pretty tangly at the ends, and very poofy. Some hair came out, unfortunately, when I combed it. Not enough to be especially noticeable- but, hair never comes out when I brush my ponies, so, I was disappointed.

poof!

Yeah it was... really not going to lay even remotely flat. That’s fine, I didn’t really want her to have straight hair, anyway. I think later when I have time I’ll boil some water and give her that pretty afro I initially thought she’d had.

for now, though, it’s a little unmanageable so I have to do something with it.

I ended up putting it back up in a pony tail, but thatfelt a little lackluster, so I took down the sides of her head and made some neat skinny braids.

I crossed them in an x on the top of her head and then tucked them into the underside of her hairband.

She came with her strapless top, her sheer coat (I just noticed the squid pattern! How cute), her spiky little belt, two arm bands, one bangle, and two earrings. I am not a fan of jewelry myself and have never liked wearing it. I think her bangle is cute, but, apparently it stains, which is unfortunate. Many bright pink things do. I really like her strapless top the best! I think its bright and fun.

I’m really impressed by her poseability. Her shoulders bend at very tight angles and her elbows bend at almost ninety degrees. Her hands rotate really well, too!

They also spin all the way back! They get in the way of eachother far less than I would have anticipated.

Her torso can even rotate to the left and right a little bit.

She can also tilt just a little bit backwards.

I had thought that her pronounced hip joint would allow her to sit nicely, but, no such luck it appears. She sits very awkwardly, held in place by the weight of her tail.

You can definitely get some nice looking shots if you work for it, I think, but, it doesn’t look great in person.

All in all, I really like Kala. I don’t like her waist joint or her eyebrows but I love her wide body and four arms and cute nose. I think maybe I’ll try and find her a better outfit.

Time to talk about Posea. She has a different silhouette but a similar build.

The first thing I love is her face shape. She has a very sharpley angled face a a triangular chin. I think its very pretty and lets me see her neck. I think her nose is very small and sharp, though, and I prefer Kala’s.

I think her eyes look very nice and soft, too, and this 3/4 profile looks quite elegant.

I’m not a huge fan of her hands, though. I don’t like webbed hands. I guess that’s a personal thing, but I just don’t think they’re very aesthetically pleasing.

Her makeup is nice, though. I like the dark lipstick, I feel like it matches her hair really well- I wish it was reflected somewhere in the upper portion of her face, though. Perhaps her eyebrows? Because I don’t know why they’re purple when her hair is maroon and green. Her eyes have a very soft look because of the medium blue pupils and the light blue lower lashlines. I think its very pretty! The soft green undertones in her iris are very elegant. She has very very light freckles the same colour as her very very light eyeshadow, too, that are really cute- I dislike her very dark freckles under her eyes, though. I find them very distracting and kind of out of the colour scheme.

You might be able to see her freckles better in this photo.

I let her hair down at this point. I’m not a fan of the pulled back style for her.

It didn’t take much brushing to get Posea’s hair to behave- it sort of already wanted to fall in all the right directions.

I really wanted to try and find a way to have some of her hair fall a bit forward to cover the plugs, but...

I guess I forgot what rooted hair looked like. It’s rooted very thickly, but it is still plugs, so it is noticeable.

I tried pulling her hair back in some thick braids, but, I wasn’t super happy with that.

I ended up just putting her hair in a loose pony tail with her hair ornament on the band.

Whichm by the way, I really like. I think maybe it’s supposed to be coral? I’m not certain what’s at the center. It looks like a little crown- the round kind? I think it’s probably some kind of sea creature. I think it works as a little bow here.

Posea has only one piece of clothing, her shirt. I took it off and I was surprised by how much detail was on her body!

She has all these little spines or nodes along her skin. That’s definitely a sea creature thing and it’s really neat. I kind of liked running my thumb over her tummy, it was a weird texture. I like how ornate it is, too, its not just an even coating. It’s a cool and elegant pattern that looks distinctly intentional- I’ve seen many patterns that looked random or accidental, but this one is symmetrical and pretty.

I also like Posea’s torso better here- they look like pieces that go together, unlike Kala, who’s top and bottom pieces look very different.

Posea, too, can tilt a little to the left and right. I feel a bit spoiled that these were my first two, I’m worried when I get a standard Monster High that doesn’t have this point of articulation I’ll be disappointed.

You know, I like Posea more from the front than I do Kala but I significantly prefer Kala’s portrait. Posea’s face looks to be slopped downward far too much. Also, her eyes are much flatter and her forehead feels too long- perhaps this is a personal aesthetic problem, but, I like her from the front more.

I do love her cute little fishy ears, though.

The kelp accessory covering her tail is really cool. I am really disapointed that her little animal friends are attached the way they are. some of them have little hooks like the seahorse but others don’t appear to have anything to attach them to the tail. I left the clear plastic rubber bands on because I’m very worried about losing these little pieces. It strikes me as not the best design for a doll intended for children- There’s not much you can do with them because of the way they (don’t) attach, and they’re so small you can lose them very easily.

Her kelp skirt makes it very difficult to move her tail- it’s soft plastic but not very soft. However, it looks so nice that frankly I think it’s a fine tradeoff.

And there she is nekkie. I like the detail on her bottom half- its very kelpy. The idea of a kelp octopus is strange I suppose but it works. I wish that perhaps her three “feet” were a little more symmetrical- perhaps not with the same swirls but, at least with the same height.

Posea can change her height easier than Kala can by bending her “legs” down at the ball joints.

Now, they painted a bit of green on the front of her midsection in a downward arch but they also painted a little point on her lower back, too. I guess she has a little butt.

She looks pretty similar from the back as she does on the front, though. Which is fine.

Posea’s limbs were very stiff- especially at the shoulders. I found them difficult to move at all and it wasn’t terrifically pleasant.

Here’s all the clothes she came with. Her seaweed skirt (with friends), her top, her coral top, her earrings, her armbands, and her hair ornament. I really lover her top- I think the colours are really cool and fun. it looks very halloweeny without the rest of her, actually. I don’t like her coral top, though. I think it looks a little silly and accidental or random- which I suppose it’s supposed to, because it’s supposed to look like coral, but I don’t think that’s very fashionable.

You know, actually, I think they would probably look better if they switched tops.

WOW. Posea looks really cool in this outfit, actually.

The open front jacket and the strapless tube top? She looks very chill.

Unfortunately because Kala is so much wider than her.... they can’t swap clothes very well.

Unfortunately, as you can see, her jacket is very loose and oversized.

the tube top is far too big.

It’s just sort of hanging there loosely. I guess Kala will need her shirt back.

Before that, though, I wanted to see what Kala looked like in Posea’s shirt. I couldn’t even really get it on!

It’s really unfortunate, too. I think the purple orange and green colours go far better with Kala than with Posea.

But... I can’t even get it to velcro all the way in the back, and her shoulders are kind of stuck because the fabric is pulled so tight. :(

I wish they’d both been thicker, or both thinner. I like the thickness of the upper body on Kala but her butt just looks ridiculous. Posea’s looks much better.

After this I started playing with them and doing some cute poses, because I’ve never really had dolls this poseable and articulated before.

They were really fun to play with! I want to dig up some props later and play with them more.

So, final thoughts.

When I bought these, I had expected them to cure my Monster High craving. As an avid collector of My Little Pony toys (500 and counting), many people I know collect Monster High dolls. The more I saw them, the more I wanted them, but there were still features of them I disliked- the flared hands, the the hyper arched backs, the unarticulated ankles, the hunched necks. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I found that once they were in my hands, these things were not as big of a problem as I would have expected them to be. I found that I loved posing them and I loved their thick, silky hair. These two especially I found to be fun and interesting toys- I love the extra arms, and I love the seaweed motif.

I really think I’ll be getting more of these in the future should they come my way. They’re just so poseable and colourful and fun.

#monster high #kala mer'ri #posea reef #mermaid #doll #review #toy #photography #long post #mattel

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talesofgrace · 5 years ago

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About 12 months ago I decided that my garden needed doing. Actually it was before 12 months ago but it was this time last year that I knew what I wanted to do it it. It needed reflagging and the garden needed to be dug up and new grass laid. Problem with all of that tho is that it costs money, however I was in luck (kinda) I needed to remortgage so I planned to borrow a little bit to get it all sorted and get someone in to do it for me.

Turns out getting a garden flagged is a bit more expensive than I first thought. The area that needed doing was about 70m2 (give or take a meter or two). I got some quotes that were just too much for little old me to afford so I started thinking “how hard can laying a patio actually be……” So I set to work watching you tube videos and speaking to my uncle who knew more than a thing or two about this stuff! He told me about what I had to do and how to go about it. He did this with a caution of how physically hard work it would be and how it was a very big project but never said it was something I couldn’t do, just to be mindful.

Turns out it’s extremely physically fucking draining. Lets just say I went to Ibiza for a week to relax after it….

Anyway as you may (or not) have read before I managed to shift all the dirt that was dug up from my ex and put it back to where it belonged and without any tools and that looked roughly ok. Its still in place now anyway so I didn’t do to bad.

So for those that are interested I hired a man with a digger and he had a mate that had a dumper and luckily he had a mate with a grabber so they set to work clearing out the area that I wanted flagging. on a side note I was so desperate to play on the digger….some of you may be aware that I love tractors and really want to drive around on a JCB so if any of you know someone that has a JCB I could drive around in I’d be the happiest person ever just let me know.

So with that all dug out drains were the first thing that needed to be put in. Id asked my uncle what was best for this and we agreed that running them down the side of the house into the main gully would be the best. So the gully needed changing and the trench for the drains needed digging to.

Now came the small task of laying all the crusher runner/MOT2 or whatever you want to call it. 13 tonnes of the stuff needed laying!!!! That my little lovelies is no small task! And not only did it need laying to a specific depth but it also needed laying with a bit of a gradient so that when the flags eventually went down they drained the water off. So off I set with my wheel barrow and spade. While this was going on several older men walk past my house to get their papers in the morning and each use to give me tips and tricks on how to get the most out of what I was doing and also peered their heads in to see my progress.

1st tip shovel from the bottom of the pile you get a better fill on the spade

2nd tip don’t over fill the wheel barrow, your legs can last longer than your arms can!

(the second tip was actually a life saver)

The dogs did everything they could to get in the way, sorry I mean help me out.

don’t forget your gloves

These are wobbly

Tea break yet?

Just Checking all is in working order

Time for a site inspection

As you can see one of the days it rained so I tried to carry on anyway, turns out this was a bit of a bad move because everything was just so soggy and I was making more of a mess than I needed to really.

Anyway after the crusher was down and all whacked by a big wacker to compress it all down, laying the sand came next.

I decided to use a dry bed of sand and cement to lay the flags as again my uncle suggested this would be best and easier for me. So it was 4 parts and 1 part cement into the mixer then into the barrow then onto the floor. This was the trickiest bit because this needed to be as level and as flat as possible to make my life laying the flags easier. With the trusty help of google I learnt a little neat trick of using plastic pipes to ensure the correct depth and then used a pipe over the top to scrape it down. The this all needed to wacked down with the wacker.

Turns out the dogs like sand, it must feel nice under paw just as I got it all perfect they kept deciding to run through it. needless to say they were chased into the house and not aloud out until it was compacted.

I decided to do the flag laying in sections because of the size of it. And off I went laying how I felt looked good. after compacting I was advised to rake over lightly to give the flags some grip and it would help me bed them too. Overall the sand was pretty bob on and I just needed a little bit extra now and again to stop them wobbling. (I used the very technical method of standing on them and rocking back and forth as they weren’t flat flags so a sprit level wouldn’t of been any good) What I didn’t realised was that the flags came with a pattern to lay them down as a bit of a rough guide until the 3rd pallet. Ooops.

Then came the concrete for the drains. Now I’ve never mixed concrete before and I didn’t know how much I’d get and how far it would go. I ended up needing to take a quick trip to B&Q to get some more and had to use my car as lights to guide my way. As I wasn’t clearly thinking I forgot that would drain my battery so needed help from my mum the next day. But I did manage to lay a bed of concrete. So winner really.

It took me from the 5th September until the 16th September to do this project and I much say I’m very proud of myself. The flags stayed where they should have over the winter and when it’s raining it drains off too. I have recently invested in an angle grinder with a Dimond tip blade so that I can finish off the edges and cut the flags and Ive done all the grouting too.

Over the Easter Bank holiday I sat there on the edge with the dogs either side of my in the full sun and I couldn’t of been more prouder of myself. And in that moment Id of given anything to of been able to FaceTime my granddad and my uncle or invited them around to see what I’d done.

Bring on the next thing

(this video was done just after the majority of the work was done so about 90% finished, tired but proud)

Before

After

before

after (not grouted though)

The Story of the patio About 12 months ago I decided that my garden needed doing. Actually it was before 12 months ago but it was this time last year that I knew what I wanted to do it it.

#diy #Garden #home #house #independent #project

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365footballorg-blog · 6 years ago

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Armchair Analyst: What to expect from the rest of the Leg 2 madness

November 9, 20181:14PM EST

Let me sum up Leg 2 of the Cascadia version of the Western Conference semifinals:

Dairon Asprilla lives for #MLSCupPlayoffs.

In his #MLS regular season career:

79 games 3,579 minutes 5 goals 6 assists

In the playoffs:

10 games 563 minutes 3 goals 4 assists 1 winning penalty in shootout

He has all kinds of dance moves, too!#SEAvPOR #RCTID #MLS pic.twitter.com/eQ8v8BOoVR

— #ThankYouDeuce (@JogaBonito_USA) November 9, 2018

Five years from now, or 10, or 25, when someone mentions “The Dairon Asprilla Game,” Thursday night is what they will be referring to, and the above is why. Asprilla came on for the final 18 minutes – on the wing, not at center forward, mind you – and completely changed the game for the visitors. He bagged a goal and an assist, put in the world’s most honest defensive shift, and capped it off with the series-winning penalty in the shootout.

The game was beautiful, glorious madness. It was pure MLS. If we’re lucky we’ll get more of it this weekend.

Sporting KC v. Real Salt Lake

CURRENTLY: 1-1 on aggregate (SKC have an away goal)

What Sporting need to do: The biggest thing is to get on the ball more. SKC can still press you into mistakes, as they did for Diego Rubio’s equalizer, but this team is more of a possession team than anything else, and in Leg 1 they didn’t do much of that to speak of. If you’re not using the ball well, then you’re not making the defense react to you, and if you’re not making the defense react to you, then you’re not pulling the defense out of position. And if you’re not pulling the defense out of position, then they’re not going to be giving you big, inviting gaps – the kinds that Johnny Russell and Daniel Salloi love – to hit from the wing.

Know who struggled the most? D-mid Ilie Sanchez. He’s normally neat and tidy and able to get on the ball and dictate the pace of the game and hit a million short passes and OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!!!!

That looks like the storyboard from a slasher flick. It’s the most un-Ilie passing map I’ve ever seen from him.

RSL made his life miserable, constantly hurrying him and leaving him bereft of outlets or options, so he spent damn near the full 90 minutes mailing it to Topeka every chance he got.

Not a great strategy, but it wasn’t fatal, either. They got the road result and are heavy favorites because of it.

What RSL need to do: Somehow reprise the defensive effort of the first game and prevent SKC from getting any sort of rhythm, AND carve out better chances despite the loss of Albert Rusnak to yellow card accumulation, AND exploit the space in behind when Graham Zusi overlaps despite the fact that the Claret-and-Cobalt haven’t really played with a pace-and-space winger over there.

My guess is it’ll be Joao Plata as a very inverted left wing, with Corey Baird as a channel-running center forward and Damir Kreilach as a pseudo No. 10 beneath him. I’d watch for Baird to make diagonal runs away from goal into that space Zusi vacated, while Plata dives inside to play with Kreilach.

Also: They can’t give up anything off of set pieces, especially early. If RSL give up a cheapie in the first half they’ll be forced to really chase, the game, which will leave them stretched. At that point, I’d bet on SKC scoring three.

Atlanta United v. NYCFC

CURRENTLY: 1-0 Atlanta (Atlanta have an away goal)

What Atlanta need to do: This is going sound cliched, but the honest-to-god most important thing for the Five Stripes is to match the intensity of the moment. They were superb at it in Leg 1, dominating NYCFC for the first 45 before making an appropriate halftime sub, but throughout their brief MLS existence they’ve usually fallen short in those moments – last year’s Knockout Round loss to Columbus, the way they got dominated at Red Bull Arena in September, and the utter collapse on Decision Day that cost them the Supporters’ Shield.

This team has, more often than not, failed in those moments. Leg 1 was a break from that script as they imposed their intensity upon a good opponent with everything on the line, and won a rock fight. If you’re an Atlanta fan you should be thrilled about that.

You should also be thrilled about that 45-minute cameo by Miguel Almiron, who was the best player on the pitch before coming out at the half. Chances are he’s well-rested and close to 90 fit after another week to recover.

Even on the tight confines of Yankee Stadium Almiron was able to extend the field both on and off the ball, and force the NYCFC backline into copious amounts of emergency defense. At home, with more room to work in…

I’d expect at least a few moments that look a lot like that.

What NYCFC need to do: The No. 1 job is to avoid the above, at least until desperation time. If they spent a bunch of the game chasing Almiron and and Josef Martinez into green acres, their postseason stay will be brief and tragic for the third straight year.

On the other side of the ball, they’ve got to get on the damn ball and put it on Maxi Moralez’s foot, preferably in the central channels at least a little bit. My colleague Ben Baer did a really good job of breaking down how the Five Stripes shut down the NYCFC attack, and it largely boiled down to “starve Maxi, starve the team.”

The Cityzens got marginally more dangerous when they subbed Jo Inge Berget on and went to something of a two-forward set up, as the big man was able to pull defenders away from Moralez and David Villa. If I was Dome Torrent I’d try to keep it scoreless though 70, then replicate that look for the final 20 minutes and toss the dice that Almiron will be too exhausted to punish you on the counter.

To be clear: I don’t think NYCFC can beat Atlanta in Atlanta in a must-win game by going toe-to-toe with them for 90 minutes. Their last road win over a playoff team was waaaaay back on March 4, literally Week 1 of this crazy season of ours.

But if they keep it scoreless for 70, then make some big, bold changes, maybe a bit of magic happens.

Nothing but respect to Dome for calling Atlanta a bunch of divers, by the way.

New York Red Bulls v. Columbus Crew SC

CURRENTLY: 1-0 Columbus (no away goals)

What RBNY need to do: Beat Columbus by two goals, which is something they’ve managed just once in their last 13 meetings. Playing the Crew is hard.

Why? Because Columbus happily play right through the RBNY press when they can, and happily play right over it when they must:

Chris Armas has talked about amping up the intensity for Leg 2, and that’s a start. The Red Bulls weren’t bad in Leg 1, but they were at least a little bit flat – they almost never hurried Columbus – and when the margins are small (as they always are this time of year), that can/usually is the difference.

Another thing to consider: RBNY had a super disappointing result in Leg 1 of last year’s Conference Semifinals as well, against Toronto FC. Jesse Marsch changed things up in the second leg, going to a 4-4-2 diamond with Tyler Adams (!!!) as the attacking tip, specifically to take away TFC’s ability to build from deep in midfield.

It worked. Adams dominated Michael Bradley that game and without that deep midfield outlet, TFC spent the full 90 on the front foot. Only some unfortunately familiar playoff finishing cost the Red Bulls a series they could/arguably should have won.

I would be surprised if Armas went as experimental in this game, but “cut Wil Trapp out of the equation” does make a lot of sense if you want to get the Crew shook.

What Columbus need to do: Surviving the first 20 minutes is key, because they absolutely will get blitzed. It’s a shame, from a Crew SC perspective, that they’ll be without the injured Niko Hansen, whose speed would’ve opened up Route 1 as a viable over-the-top countermeasure for when New York put all 10 field players in the attacking half (which is how I expect the opening 20 to play out).

If/when they survive the first 20, it becomes a process of repeatability in possession – i.e., just do what you always do and trust the system that got you here – and danger mitigation elsewhere. That might mean Zack Steffen, 40 yards off his line, sweeping the ball away, or it might mean Jonathan Mensah launching it to Row Z. It might also mean both fullbacks playing just slightly lower than usual so as to avoid getting stretched.

Basically, though, they just need to score a goal. If they do that, then the Red Bulls need three, and if that’s the case I really, really like the Massive’s chances.

One More Thing to Ponder

Happy weekending, everybody.

Series:

Topics:

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Armchair Analyst: What to expect from the rest of the Leg 2 madness was originally published on 365 Football

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