#and then started leah

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

Finishing the last fifty pages of Leah on the Offbeat at 4am because I'm feeling gay and nostalgic

[retquits]

winter leah!! wife wfie wfie fwife wi

[mydairpercabeth]

they planned this

[lily-s-world]

It is unbelievable to me that two months away from the release, people are still complaining about the casting of Annabeth Chase. Specially, when the only justification for their complain is “she needed to be blonde”. Because no. She didn’t need to be blonde.

The whole reason for her appearance was to represent the girls that get overlooked or face bad stereotypes just because of her physical traits, and not only blonde girls face these issues. Do you know who else does? Women of color, especially black girls.

The casting of Annabeth is perfect to show representation of black girls being wise, driven, resourceful, strong… and all the great qualities she has. Yet, you keep reducing her as if only her hair color mattered.

Honestly, Book!Annabeth would totally throw you to the floor judo style if she saw you saying that being a blonde is all she had to offer.

[heynhay]

thinking abt kleah. and like, on one hand i like the idea of everyone else being the same gender-wise in vld except them. but on the other hand i always love the bits where keith's gaydar is too dookie to realize lance is bi or lance has to have a bi crisis so maybe i can make allura SO butch that kat is like damn....leah likes him..... and not women...... meanwhile leah is essentially walking around in a butch bait t shirt whether knowingly or not

[anna-scribbles]

cant watch the show yet but i CAN draw las vegas illegal animal truck percabeth

[fishyfarms]

“But there’s still time, it’s not too late // Nothing will change until I change”

Guysssssssss I love Maru SOOOO much you don’t even know. It’s hard for me to pick favorite bachelors/bachelorettes bc I do genuinely love them all (Harvey only wins by a MARGIN and that’s just bc he’s just like me fr) but Maru is literally so high up for me I’m always so intimidated about romancing her bc she’s just so cool! But also CA…can we talk about the bob. Why did you give her a BOB! She would not have a bob I’m sorry I had to change that. Anyways she’s my favorite cutie patootie I had SO much fun drawing her honestly 🫶

[patheticbatman]

I haven't seen any posts about this yet but l've seen some fan art that makes me feel this needs to be said:

Don't forget Leah Sava Jeffries has darker skin when making Annabeth Chase fan art!

She is much closer to Lupita Nyong'o than Zoe Kravitz when it comes to shading, reflection, and complementary color usage :).

Lighting for dark skin is different on light skin. Light skin gets changed by lighting, and dark skin reflects the lighting. Below is a lovely shot of Nyong'o's character from Wakanda Forever in mourning. The filmmakers emphasize the umber qualities of her skin in contrast to the funereal white and (arguably harsh) light across her shoulder below.

Try to pick spots that aren't directly in or near the light, and try mixing 3 or more! You can put it into a color mixer online, or even color pick, lower the opacity, and lay the shades over each other until you find one that fits. And of course, the more 'realistic' you want to go with shading and lighting, the more shades you're going to want to be able to explore vivaciously :D.

Let's take a look at the same 3 beautiful actresses I mentioned at the beginning, with a bad color picked area and a better-ish color picked area. (Please keep in mind, these are not perfect comparisons, as I was not able to find pictures of all 3 actresses under the same kind of lighting.)

Kravitz's has a clear difference between the two, but they aren't too far apart, in comparison to Nyong’o’s and Jeffries’s. Note the dullness in the poorly picked shades as opposed to the better ones. Also keep in mind that while Kravitz has a rosy undertone (at least in that picture - it’s from The Batman, which has stylized coloring) Nyong’o has a slight cool undertone (I can’t pin down quite what, but the picture is definitely not stylized like Kravitz’s).

Jeffries runs more ochre or russet, but neither of those are pink. They are more red than terracotta or umber, but to call Jeffries’s face rosy would be wrong. Err more towards the golden when drawing her.

^^saved an image from a writing tutorial long ago, but can’t seem to find it. If someone recognizes it, I’ll link it. EDIT: it’s from this post. Thanks @autumnrowancollector ! <3

And also, the darker skin gets, the less likely warm undertones are going to appear. Don't be afraid to use blue or purple or even green on occasion!

Additionally, cool lighting on dark skin is always a win imo.

(I was going to use that picture of Jeffries as Annabeth by the lightning bolt, but then I realized the lighting on her face doesn’t quite match up with where it should hit from that angle, and I realized they kind of just turned everything bluer, so screenshot time!)

(Also if you want another really great live action example, check out anything Aldis Hodge is in, like Leverage and Black Adam)(and of course there’s Spiderverse <3 but I want to post pictures of Hodge)

Now, to here’s a list of more experienced people’s advice:

Black facial features & hair

Shading digitally for a (somewhat) monotone Black character

Stylistic choices and places to start looking for inspiration (besides a search engine).

Coloring Black people’s lips

A better coloration tutorial

Also a nice tutorial for Indigenous skin tones, just in case yall want to draw Piper or use this information for other dark skinned characters :).

EDIT: Some actresses who are closer in skintone to use for Annabeth, provided by the lovely @blackfemmecharacterdependency ! If you can’t find a reference for Jeffries in a specific lighting, maybe check out these ladies’ pictures! It’s a reblog, so scroll down.

TLDR: Don’t make Annabeth pink and pale, make her dark and golden.

[blorbiter]

leah

[cherriko-art]

First encounters 🐔

[updownlately]

how do i hold these emotions (when you spin my world out of place?)

| leah williamson x reader | angst | 3.9k | inspo: butterflies by abe parker | a/n: so this has been sitting in the ask box for nearly a month. initially i didn't get to it bc of school and then bc i struggled to think of what to write. i'm not really happy with how this turned out tbh but i want to at least get something out in regards to this one, lest i stretch it out another month, so here ya go...

~~~

You hadn’t meant to hurt her. You really hadn’t. Everything had happened so quickly. One second you were intently watching the ball get kicked around during five-a-side and the next you were diving to make a save, unaware of the blonde running in behind the ball.

In your urgency to secure the ball, you hadn’t actively paid attention to your arms stretching out, nor the way the white cleats got caught between your outstretched limbs, you managing to gather more than just the ball.

It was only when the blood rushing from your ears disappeared, when the slight jolt of adrenaline wore off, that you realized the tangled mess of limbs that lay behind you.

Pausing, you immediately furrowed your eyebrows. Players weren’t supposed to be where she was. Players weren’t supposed to be behind the keeper. 

Eyes widening in realization, you dropped the ball and quickly stood up in a panic. 

“Oh my god, I’m so s-“

“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” The sharp voice cut through your sentence, the anger behind it nearly pushing you a step back.

“I-I’m sorry. I swear. It was an accident.” Your voice quieter this time, the fear evident. The midfielder was on the ground, almost curled up in fetal position, hands clutching her ankle. 

By now the whole team was nearly surrounding you two, Lia and Steph crossing you to be by Leah’s side.

“An accident is when you miss the ball, not when you fucking take out your own teammate during a damn practice,” Leah practically growled out, her eyes still not meeting yours.

“Leah, breathe. She was just doing her job, it was an accident.”

You looked over at Steph, a grateful look appearing on your face for a brief second before promptly turning your attention back to Leah. 

“Her job is to stop the ball, not injure a teammate. If she can’t do that then she should find another job.”

You swallowed hard at her tone, the words hitting you hard. You knew being signed by Arsenal, even as a backup keeper wasn’t going to be easy. Hell, you had expected it to be gruelling and tiresome. But you didn’t expect this. You didn’t think you’d manage to turn one of the club’s key players against you on one of your first few practices with them.  

Leah didn’t even turn to look at you, her back being the only thing visible as she let the other two players and the oncoming medical staff examine her speaking volumes to you. 

The way the ever-supportive, always-understanding skipper couldn’t even look you in the eye hurt you more than words could say. 

Body slumping, your shoulders caved in and you quietly stepped back, letting your head hang low. Mentally berating yourself, you cursed at your mind for reacting so quickly, for not looking at where you were diving, towards who you were diving.

Part of you knew it was your job, that this was part of the game, that technically it wasn’t your fault. Yet, the people pleaser inside couldn’t help but agree with Leah. It was stupid of you to have saved that ball. After all, it was just a practice, right? You could have most definitely gotten away with just letting her score, but you didn’t. And where did that leave you? With a future Arsenal legend cursing you out while they likely had another injury, no thanks to you. 

Just as your thoughts began spiralling towards what Jonas might be thinking about only just acquiring you and you already injuring one of his key players, you felt a gentle hand come to rest upon your shoulders. 

Body jolting, you whipped your head around, tense muscles only slightly relaxing when you saw who the hand was attached to. Stina. 

You let her gently tug you towards her, walking backwards, eyes still downcast.

“Ignore her okay? She’s just running high on emotions, she doesn’t mean it.” The quiet words whispered in your ear don’t have the desired effect however, the weight of your actions sinking into your thoughts.

You shrug in response, taking off your gloves to wipe your sweaty palms on the side of your shorts. 

Bending down to tuck the gloves between your knees, your lips mumbled out a quick prayer to a God you didn’t believe in enough. You prayed, hoped, begged that whatever you had done wasn’t major. After all, the blonde had only recently come back from injury. 

Inhaling deeply, you rose again, unaware of Stina’s eyes on you. You intently watched as the staff tested out Leah’s legs and ankle, holding your breath when one of them gently pressed their fingers around her ankle, turning it slightly. Your eyes immediately flickered over to Leah’s face, eyebrows furrowed, concentrating, trying to gauge the potential severity of the collision. 

It was only when the striker grabbed your arm for a second time that you broke from your staring. “C’mon, it’s a water break. Let them do their thing, she’ll be fine.” Your head swivelled at her comments, finally taking note of how empty the field around you was, save for the ongoing situation. Shooting one last concerned look over at the gunner trio by the goalposts, you trailed behind the Swedish player. 

Throughout the water break, you couldn’t help but let your eyes drift over to Leah and the medical staff. Even as Katie and Kim tried to distract you with conversation, your mind wandered. You wondered how Jonas was feeling about this whole situation. It had only been a little over a month since Leah had come back from her ankle injury, a slew of lesions across the years causing a tense relationship between the midfielder and her crucial joints. And now you had potentially caused another one. You despised the thought of you being the reason she would be out again, for more reasons than one. 

Your worries however, rang true, attention being stolen from the girls in front of you and finding its way to the oncoming stampede of footsteps from the pitch.

Wincing, you turned around, ready to assess just how badly you fucked up. 

Unfortunately for you, the sight ahead of you had your heart silently breaking in two, partially in worry for yourself, but more so in pain for the blonde that was limping across the grounds.

You could sense the tension in the group walking towards the locker room. Leah was hobbling on one foot, using Lia as a crutch while Steph walked beside the pair, defeat clear in her body. The medical staff themselves were quietly conversing with one another, discussing something you couldn’t quite make out.

Deciding to take a chance, you opened your mouth to apologize as the blonde passed you, another ‘sorry’ on the tip of your tongue. However, before you could even get any semblance of a sound out, Leah interrupted you, steel blue eyes connecting with yours for the first time since the encounter.

“Save it. You’ve already done enough.” The irritation didn’t surprise you, after all, you didn’t expect her to be your biggest fan right now. Still, the contempt in her voice had you in shock, heart aching at what you had done and where it had left you. 

Eyes staying wide, body frozen to where you stood, you closed your mouth. 

It was only as Leah walked away from you that you let yourself move, immediately bringing your hands to run through your hair in frustration, before bringing them over your face in a failed attempt to rid yourself of the guilt that plagued you. 

Fuck.

~~~

A week had passed since the collision, the injury turning out to be nothing more than a somewhat minor ankle sprain, only looking to keep the defender out for a little less than three weeks.

In the days that had gone by thus far though, you did your best to avoid Leah, still nervous at the blonde’s initial reaction and her icy demeanour towards you.

You wanted to chalk up her disdain for you to just the unfortunate event and forget about it, but since the incident, each time that you passed her around the training grounds, she seemed to avoid you, ignoring your existence completely. And you’d be lying if you said it didn’t hurt. 

You had looked up to the defender throughout your own career, marvelling at her determination and dedication even though you were only a few months younger than her. To have her nearly pretend you don’t exist whilst on the same team burned you more than you’d like to admit. 

Knowing you had to be mature however, you pretended to be fine every time you saw Leah conversing with another teammate near you. You ignored the tug in your heart when she’d greet the rest of the team, her lips magically skipping your name, as you all filed into the weight room. You told the team it was fine when they confronted you about it, even going as far as telling Kim that you didn’t take it to heart, that you understood why she was upset.

Well aware that you didn’t deserve this treatment, you still let it slide, not wanting to cause any more problems. 

You didn’t let it show to the team but now you were slightly more cautious in practices, letting more goals rocket past you, too afraid of diving too close to a teammate. It was a dangerous game you were playing, nearly putting your career on line, but you couldn’t care about that right now as much as you wanted to. Ensuring you didn’t injure any more teammates was your top priority, lest you somehow manage to turn the whole Arsenal women’s team against you after injuring yet another player.

So as practices passed, you gave your 100% during any distance shooting drills, diving left, right, and centre as needed. You did what you had to, knowing there was no one near you. But when it came to close range shooting, five-a-side, or any other drills you dialled it down. You tried to be subtle with your lessening actions but you knew that the training staff could tell. And you were proven right.

Training had just ended for the day, the cold January breeze making you shiver as you walked across the pitch. You had only made it half way over before you heard your name being called, Jonas’ booming voice carrying through the wind easily. 

Turning around, you walked to him, confusion etched on your face, dread running cold in your bones. 

“Hey, what’s up?” You tried to sound nonchalant. You’re pretty sure you failed.

“You’re holding back during practices, don’t think I can’t tell.”

“What do you mean?” You feigned innocence.

“Don’t. Listen, we brought you here for a reason, what happened with Leah was a freak accident, it wasn’t intentional and we all know that. 

Your body stiffened, swallowing audibly, aware that you just got caught. 

“I don’t care what whoever tells you. You came in here with a job to do and you were doing it well. I’d like to hope that it continues as such.” Jonas ends the conversation, leaving no room for discussion. You can only nod in response, turning around to head to the locker rooms. 

Stuck in your own musings, contemplating on your choices, you don’t see LW squared headed your way, Leah finally off the crutches she’s been using for the past week and a half.

It’s when you almost crash into them, cleats just barely appearing in your field of vision ,that you realize your predicament. Quickly throwing yourself to the side, you just barely manage to avoid hitting Leah again.

“Do you make a habit of injuring all the national captains or just the English ones?” Leah grumbled into the air, the quip no doubt directed to you even as she looked straight ahead.

“S-Sorry.” You squeaked out, picking up your pace and heading in the opposite direction.

You knew she didn’t like you. And you knew you had to make amends with it. What you couldn’t figure out yet is whether you rather have her ignore your existence or acknowledge it with her dislike for you on display.

You didn’t know it as you walked away, but the second you’re were out of earshot, Lia confronted Leah, understanding just how terrible of a position you were in right now.

“You know it wouldn’t kill you to be nice to her right?”

“It wouldn’t kill her to not injure me, especially not after I just came back from an ankle injury,” Leah muttered in response.

“Listen, she’s already been beating herself up for it ever since it happened. You need to cut her some slack.”

“But-“

“No buts. Leah she’s been too afraid to even dive during close practices now. The only time she’s actively being a goalkeeper is during long distance shooting, and we both know that’s not going to do us any good and it definitely won’t do her any good.”

Pouting, it was Leah’s turn to look at her cleats, mind wandering. 

“I wasn’t that rude to her was I?” “You’ve been ignoring her for two weeks! She’s only been here for three!”

Silently groaning, the blonde continued walking.

“Leah…”

“Yes mum?”

“Fix it.”

“Yes m-“ “And stop calling me mum, you child.”

“Yes mother.” A gentle smack hit the back of the skipper’s head before the Swiss captain took off running onto the pitch.

“Oi!”

~~~

You thought being a backup keeper for a club like Arsenal, who already had a great goalie meant that playing time for you wasn’t going to be crazy. You believed it. Nearly confidently knew it. So when Jonas told you that they were resting Manu for the game against Leeds, your anxiety spiked through the roof. After all, it had only been a little over three weeks that you had been with the club, two of them spent with a star player of theirs injured because of you.

Aware that with the team you had the game would be easy, even if it was the fourth round of the FA cup, you weren’t worried about the Gunner’s ability to score and win. The thought of starting while being a backup goalie however, of wanting to maintain a clean sheet on your first game, intimidated you.

When you had initially got the news, two days before the game was supposed to be held, you immediately started to prepare. 

After Jonas had pulled you aside, you had gone off and begged one of the trainers to stay back and shoot at you, setting you up in tough positions and sending in shots from all sorts of angles. Spending an extra two hours on pitch that day, you tirelessly saved shot after shot, working on your release, your control of back passes, and your dropkicks, wanting to perform your best. It was only when the trainer called it a day that you agreed to go home and rest.

You spent match day minus one reviewing game footage, nervousness still rolling through your body. You had studied Leed’s strikers’ shot tendencies, taking note of how the starting XI liked to attack, but still, the weight of what this game meant for you, for your career, sat on your shoulder with a heavy weight no matter how much you prepped.

Arriving to the Meadow Park the day of the game, headphones blasting music, you tried to quell the butterflies in your stomach, tried to ease the tension in your jaw, but it was to no avail. 

Even throughout Jonas’ locker room speech and announcement of the starting lineup, your leg bounced fervently. It was only when warm-ups started that you finally started feeling a bit calmer, the familiar feeling of being on the pitch shushing the roar of voices in your head. 

However, when the team huddled up right before the game started, you could feel the nerves crawl up your spine again. It was only when you felt a hand rest on your arm did your thoughts finally branch off from the game, eyebrows furrowing as you traced the limb to its owner, Leah.

Eyes widening, you looked down at your feet, checking to see if you were maybe stepping on her foot or accidentally crowding her. Noting that you weren’t in fact injuring her in any way, you stepped back, mind reeling at the fact that Leah, the Leah that you injured not so long ago, and then almost hurt again, was willingly standing next to you right now, your arm in her grasp.

Sliding up next beside you, Leah turned to face you, your eyes meeting blue ones for the first time since the injury. 

Taking a sharp inhale, you let your head fall slightly, body deflating. You really weren’t in the mood to be reminded of how you injured the girl, not with the way you were feeling right now.

Leah sighed at your timid demeanour, Lia’s words from a week ago still whispers in her head.

She knew you had been nervous all day, very likely due to the fact that you were starting today. With the way she treated you thus far, she thought maybe she could try and help make you feel a bit more confident but clearly with the way you almost collapsed in on yourself in her presence convinced her otherwise.

Still, it was worth a shot.

“Listen, I know we haven’t started off on the greatest footing, but just know that I’m rooting for you today…we all are. You’ve got this. You weren’t starting keeper for the Red Stars for no reason, you earned it there, and you’re gonna do that again here. Don’t let the voices in your head convince you otherwise.”

The quiet words from the blonde had you frozen in your spot, the gentleness and concern catching you off guard. The words somehow managed to ease your anxiousness ever so slightly however, the weight on your shoulders easing just ever so slightly.

Nodding, you whispered out a meek thanks, eyes meeting hers to show your appreciation. 

Splitting from the rest of the team, you made your way to the goal, throwing your water bottle to the side and taking position. Stretching your neck, you let Leah’s words play in your mind, shoulders loosening up, chest puffing up in confidence.

Throughout the game, you were hyper focused, eyes tracing the ball, following its path even whilst it was wholly across the field from you. Active at every chance you needed to be, you were agile, running to aid in back passes, being aware of a few shots taken your way, ones that you caught with ease. 

By half time, your confidence in yourself was off the charts, proud of your performance and for keeping a clean sheet thus far. It also helped that the team had a comfortable 3-0 lead, thanks to Foord, Kühl, and Kim.

Making your way across the field behind the rest of your team, you saw Leah staying back, her gaze on you. As you approached, she fell into step with you.

“You did great you know? Clean sheet so far and you made a handful of key saves! Especially the one shot where you somehow managed to punch the ball just wide.” You couldn’t stop the smile that took over your face at her words, posture straightening in pride. 

“You really think so?” “Yeah. You did great. You’re not a half-bad keeper y’know…”

Walking the last little bit in silence, you internally celebrated at Leah’s words, glad that she wasn’t upset at you any more. 

~~~

As the final whistle blew, the three sharp tweets ringing throughout the pitch, you let yourself sigh in relief, all the tension leaving your body in seconds.

A content grin on your face, you grabbed your water and started making your way to the rest of the team. 

A string of claps on the back and acknowledgements from your teammates on your performance as you joined the group had you smiling, the clean sheet and nine goals scored no doubt bringing a sense of achievement to everyone. You let yourself be roughhoused by Katie, the Irish woman loudly expressing her joy and tackling you with a muffled “good game rook!” as you listened to Jonas talk. As he finished up his overview of the game, you could feel his sights rest on you, your head tilting, curious at what was going on.

“And just before I let you guys go and change, I just want to shoutout our keeper’s efforts today. From being told that she would be playing in her first game only two days ago, she’s done fantastic, keeping a clean sheet and being ready at any given point to help our defence out. I know the past few weeks have been hard to you, with the new environment and team to get used to, but you absolutely killed it and we’re all proud of you.” Directing the last few sentences to you, you looked at your feet in nervousness, overwhelmed by the support you were receiving. 

“Couldn’t have done it without you guys…thank you all, seriously,” you replied back, head raising to make eye contact with all of the gunners around you.

And as Jonas finally let you go, you let yourself take in the moment one more time, aware that while this game would be minor in the long run, it now held a special place in your heart, bringing on beginnings only you knew. 

Getting jostled out of your thoughts however, you found the English captain at your side once again.

“How you feeling?”

“Happy I think? It feels nice to be here right now.”

“Just right now?” Leah questioned, an inkling in her mind at the choice of your words, one that became concrete as you shrugged in response to her question.

“Hey listen, I’m sorry for being mean earlier. You didn’t deserve it and I had no right to be an asshole to you when it could have happened to anybody.”

“It’s fine. I’m sorry for injuring you right after you had just returned from another injury.”

“Don’t you dare apologize for that. Accident’s happen, it was just an unfortunate series of events.” “Still-”

“I’ll go back to being rude to you y’know? If you keep apologizing.”

Smiling to yourself, you sighed in defeat. 

“New slate?” You stuck out your hand, awaiting a handshake.

“New slate,” Leah agreed, her own meeting yours, three shakes between you two.

Letting go, you felt as the Leah’s arm come to rest over your shoulders, and for the first time, you held your head up high, delighted that you could stand beside her without fear. Basking in the moment, you let yourself be pulled into her side hug, cheeks hurting from smiling so much and a heart that was finally content for the first time since you joined the club.

You hadn’t meant to hurt her and you were glad she knew it. With your guys’ budding friendship now growing, you wondered what the future would hold, happy to be here, beside her, a seed of hope in your heart.

[brotherconstant]

FOUNDATION | 2x05 | The Sighted and The Seen Welcome, Hari Seldon, Gaal Dornick and Salvor Hardin of Terminus. You are our guests.

[mydairpercabeth]

PERCABETH ALREADY CHOOSING EACH OTHER OVER THEIR GREATEST DESIRE

[massiveladycat]

what if i told you its creepy to read children having sex and sexualize children

[chrlvctius]

baes who get yellow cards together stay together 😍

[marimbles]

artsy redheads make superior farm spouses. imo