#i’ve been working w/ stylizing my art

[responsetoloneliness]

guys did i eat

sorry i haven’t posted in months i was tired 😪

[hinamie]

hi hina i have some art related questions! 1) is it easy to go back to an old art style on account of already having drawn in it or do you actively have to train yourself to go back? for example, i notice that your lmhs art style is softer and your current one is sharper (that's the extent of my technical art terms knowledge gomen) 2) which of your own art styles/eras is/are your favorite(s)? 3) do you prefer more stylized or more realistic art styles? 4) are you easily influenced (consciously or unconsciously) by other art styles? i know when i read something i really love, i start to mimic that style in my own writing. 4) do you have any favorite classical paintings? i know the fallen angel is one.

hi mariam!!! sorry it’s taken me so long to this so late fjhdskgdjf i won’t lie some of these questions Stumped me but i will try my best to answer !

it depends? I think a lot of my art style shifts come naturally as the result of growing and improving my skills, so “going back” to an older style might be hard to do without falling back on bad habits that I might have grown out of, or simply things that i no longer think look good. i don’t think i would have to train myself necessarily because the muscle memory is still there, but i might have to stop myself from wanting to Improve aspects of the style in ways that might fundamentally alter what made the style recognizable in the first place. in terms of the lmhs art style, or the soft/sketchy look i was using at the time, that specifically would be pretty easy to go back to I think, since it’s basically a slightly cleaned version of how my art looks early in the process :> i would just have to take a clean sketch + add colours w minimal shading, skipping the lineart and intense render 

it feels like a copout to say but i love where i am now :’> from what i’ve seen it’s almost like. a gag among artists of arcane being a catalyst fr drastic art improvement but it IS . everything about the art and animation in that show inspires me so much and it’s been great taking what I like from it and trying to mimic and adapt it into something that suits how I like to work. even though it’s frustrating that I take longer to finish a piece, I really am so happy i’m back to painting i’m so proud of my current render and anatomy and use of colour. i think i’ve finally found a good balance of textures as well and overall i’ve just been having so much fun pushing myself into new brushes and finding new ways to use old ones :D

i think i’m somewhere in the middle but leaning more into realism, especially when it comes to the way I colour. obviously there are aspects that I stylize to suit my needs but especially in terms of Other Anime Art i’m aware that I fall more on the realism side of things lol

yes omg i’m so easily influenced and that constant influx of new inspiration and learning how to adapt to it is one of the things i love most about drawing and making art!!! i kind of mention this notion in my lil gush about arcane but i LOVE looking at other artists' works or at things that inspire me and picking it apart in my brain to see what/how i can use it! i got into art by “copying” and even as i’ve grown into being comfortable enough to make my own stuff, I think that there is always value in learning from what you love and figuring out how to make what you love about it your own. maybe it’s not that deep bc i draw anime fanart but art fr me is an amalgamation of every piece of media ive loved and of everything i’ve ever found beauty in

i do love the fallen angel painting but tbh i don’t think classical art occupies a very big place in my brain fhjdskgfj my knowledge is sadly lacking :< i like claude monet and roberto ferri’s work a lot but overall i think modern art and media means a lot more to me in terms of where I draw my inspiration from

[tauforged]

Gahhh i love how you draw, do you have any tips for drawing people?

WAH IM FLATTERED ANON!!!!!

i’m not the greatest at art advice because a lot of my artistic process has been me just kinda winging it until something sticks in a way i like, the main reason i’ve gravitated towards a more painterly style rather than hard lineart is that i enjoy the process of refining details out of vague shapes….. the thing that’s helped me the most has been seeking out references. trace over screenshots to get a feel for a characters face shape, use stock photos to block out poses, atuff like that… and don’t be afraid to let ur art be messy. something i feel gives pretty good insight to how i approach art is when i compare a rough sketch/colorblocking to the finished product (like so!)

color swatching too is something i’ve found pretty invaluable when it comes to portrait style painting like i’ve been doing recently, building up a palette to work with can be super helpful, especially when you’re trying to simplify or stylize those features

working out an even middle tone and a few darker accent/outline colors can even make unshaded/blocked out art like this feel a lot more rounded out than black lineart over flats most of the time…

i have no idea if any of this makes sense LMAO i have a really hard time putting anything relating to my artistic process into words … my number one tip will always be to collect references and do lots of studies and warmups until you feel confident freehanding a character w/o double checking 👍 i tend to obsessively draw one guy over and over for days at a time anyway due to my mental illness so that’s worked out for me anyway LMAO. hope this helps mwah mwah

[spacetravels]

5, 13, 21, 30 for the artist asks? 👀 (btw you don’t have to answer 13 if you worry they’d take offense or something haha I just thought it was an interesting question!)

21 here :9

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

quite a bit i think. i tend to draw big canvases with upwards of 100 layers of Anything(tm) so about 20% actually sees the light of day 🧍… i’m shy

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

it’s ok i love opinion sharing 🧘‍♀️ this is HARD cuz i mean . smth smth art is subjective . i think all artists are dedicated to their craft and how/what they draw. smth not for Me works for Someone and that’s why art is awesum. besides i don’t tend to follow artists if i didn’t enjoy their work in some capacity LOL so u can have my opinion on a style: i’m not into anime realism

like i have respect and love for the artists. i empathize w them cuz this genre is ai art’s greatest victim. it’s very… art meant for easy consumption? “beautiful” and nothing else evocative? nothing challenging to the audience. a near perfect contemporary style for people who are afraid of art. easy to steal, clearly. it’s uninteresting to me to see a piece of art and only call it beautiful and be unable to dissect why beyond technical skill 🧍..

but also being technically well done is Not a bad thing. i do think these works are made skillfully. stylized realism presents unique challenges, and it’s awesome when ppl can figure it out for themselves. i’m not gonna name names cuz no one specific comes to mind but well u could just type realistic anime girl into google or whatever and you’ll get the idea 🫡

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

MAN normally i’d say i wish my ocs got attention. and i do. i love making my webcomics and talking abt my ocs and drawing them!! but it’s ok cuz well i know i love my ocs soooo. it’s ok

i’m gonna say this piece!! i don’t often do this type of work even though it’s a style i love working in. i was worried my intention wouldn’t come across very clear (heartbroken americana, i’ve been calling it) and i just don’t think i have the audience for this. it’s a little too vulnerable and too idealistic in discussing usamerican patriotism turning commodification into religious iconography… the higher powers of pop culture and the watering down of social identity by what we understand thru film lenses versus being oneself in their community… is this all buzzword talk. is the only way we can engage in greater issues is when someone can fictionalize it and create a safe barrier of reality disconnect. is it meaningful to create art about this when i myself am begging and needing my pain and grief to be understood through that same barrier. god was a 2 dollar cheeseburger before inflation

[veryvincible]

how do you draw faces? mine look okay in sketches but lining them ruins them 😢

I may not be the best person to ask, given that I’m a self taught artist in the same way someone who watches a lot of Synesthesia videos might be a self taught pianist. I can certainly pick up a pen and draw, but I’m not super well versed in terminology or, uh, really anything specific that might be of help to you. I’ve just been doing it for so long that my hands know how to do it. I will respectfully tag @ghosthan here, though, and if she’s willing to give some advice of her own (and possibly correct some advice I’m giving you, if any of it is not up to par), she’s more than welcome to. She is the Art School friend.

But, since you’re here, here’s my basic process:

I’d suggest using a lot of reference images if you’ve got a particular look in mind, especially as someone who’s not super practiced with faces. This is especially helpful for angles that might seem unfamiliar to you. I’ve kind of collected all the knowledge there is to collect from my usual references (Steve, Tony, and Tiberius), so I don’t have to do much searching when I draw them, but when I pick up a new character, I tend to scroll through images of people that match their age, race, etc. to see what vibe I’m going for.

For our purposes, I’ll just pull up the reference I used to solidify my 616 Tony. I don’t think this is a perfect faceclaim by any means, and there are a lot of changes I tend to make with his face shape and facial structure overall (mostly jaw, cheekbone, and nose changes), but. Here’s David Gandy, tumblr’s favorite.

I usually do this part by eye, to the point where I’m not actually sure whether or not this is how you’re supposed to do it anymore, but breaking the face with three lines and comparing the widths of the sections you get as a result is very helpful for proportions.

Kiiind of like this? I know some people are very particular about where these lines are supposed to be (like, where they fall on the eyes, nose, and mouth) and what the circle is supposed to be focused on (I’ve heard someone say it should be from the top of the skull to the bottom of the nose?), but as a general guide, my rough sketch when I’m looking at a reference kind of resembles this minus the lines. I just start the circle at the top of the skull and try not to make it much wider than the ears, then adjust later on to accommodate the rest of the skull.

So, this is kind of rough, and I can explain how I do it by eye if it’ll help, but.

As you can see, the middle of the nose here kind of splits the face (from the forehead to the jaw) in half, at least on Gandy. By eye, I’d take more care to notice the bottom of the nose as well as the middle to create kind of a diamond shape in my sketch (we’ll get to that in a minute), as well as the top and bottom lines of the lips, but that’s more intuitive.

So, you can kind of place placeholders for everything here, and I’ll go more into detail about how I do individual facial features, but.

This is basically the most bare bones one of my sketches will get. I put in little lines for the cheekbones, and I start sketching in some basic features. I sharpened the jaw as well, because I like a Tony with a sharp jaw. :)

For the eye shape, I basically get down the shape of the eyeball we see+the inner corner of the eye.  Then you can focus a little more on studying the eyelids, the wrinkles, etc. And then I added in a little iris+pupil, which is... you know, circles.

The nose is pretty simple. You get down the ball and the little shapes above the nostrils (nostril houses..?), and then you start to build the bridge off of that. Some people’s noses don’t have very pronounced bridges, so you don’t have to bring it up that high. I’ve drawn some noses that just kind of fizzled out at the top of the ball (and then defined the very slight bridge later on in coloring/shading).

The last bit is just erasing most of that circle and then stylizing the bridge/ball a bit.

Excuse the rough, rough erasing here, but this is basically the deal for lips. You can squash/stretch/whatever the circles as needed to match the face shape you’re going for, and you can add some fun shines if that pleases you. Lips, I mostly play by ear, but this is the method I used when I was first starting out.

Speaking of ears. I would help you with those if I had any idea how. I feel like I use a reference every single time I draw an ear. Sometimes, I just scribble whatever the fuck into the lines and just let it happen. This was one of those times. My bad.

So, you just take what you’ve done there and plop them onto the sketch (I usually lower the first rough sketch’s opacity and then make the neater sketch over it, as opposed to having a rough sketch that I then try to line-- it’s not that time consuming once rough sketches come more naturally to you), and:

You get something like this! Some details have been changed (bridge of his nose, lip shape), but all of these were small modifications that worked to personalize the reference. I tend to do my face very cleanly the first time to get all the details right, and sometimes this works so well that I can just copy+paste everything inside the face and color it black for the finished lineart. This isn’t a must or anything, but it’s my preference. Even if you’re rougher than this, sticking to lines that you’re pretty confident will be placed similarly in the final lineart can help a lot with finalizing the portrait. 

Add some facial hair, some hair, and more details, and... There he is! The reference was used more for a general “feeling” of a face and proper proportioning than anything else, and then you can switch up facial features, push things up or down, and sharpen or round out whatever you’d like to make the character look more identifiable. If you sketch like this, your lineart might be a lot easier to work with. Or you could just use this as your lineart, color it in messily, and pretend the whole thing was intentional from the start.

A few last notes that I’ve learned from actual professional/educated artists, and then you’re in @ghosthan’s ghost hands:

1) You should always be able to draw a straight line across the nose from the corner of one eye to the corner of the other. This doesn’t necessarily mean a horizontal line on your page, it just means that it’s perpendicular to the line you’d draw vertically down the face if you were to half it. To make this clearer, I’ll do the same on some stock photos.

No matter what angle the character’s at or how their head is tilted, if both eyes are showing, I’m pretty sure they follow this rule.

2) The pupil is usually centered in the center of the iris, and it’s also usually showing in full. Yes, that middle circle in there is supposed to be a pupil. I know. I draw them funny. (There are some anatomical mistakes here made in how I moved the iris along the eye, as it’s important to remember that the eye is a sphere and the iris will move around it, as opposed to the iris moving up/down/left/right on a flat plane). The biggest mistake artists make with this is that they’ll move the pupil to the side of the iris that the iris is pointed toward; if the eye is looking left, the iris will be to the left (correct) and the pupil will be to the left of the iris (less correct). A lot of people cut off the top half of the pupil when stylizing eyes as well, which is... I mean, again, it’s just slightly less correct. Honestly, I’ve seen some art styles where these “mistakes” worked fine, and I don’t really think your art style has to be perfectly anatomically correct with every single tiny detail of the pupils and iris and whatnot, if you’re not submitting it to any critics or competitions or w/e. But if you would like this information, here you go. I have it.

3) Identify the hairline, then draw your hair in sections before adding detail. I didn’t learn this one from an art school source (I picked it up naturally, just from photo/comic panel studies), but this is art school friend approved, so! Apparently, a lot of beginner artists struggle a lot with rendering believable hair. These sketches are by no means flawless, but the gist is there: cut it up into sections, draw those first, then fill in the details afterward. It’ll give you a more cohesive looking style and make it easier for you to fiddle with the hairstyle as you go along.

That’s all I have for now! I know this is nowhere near fully comprehensive (and it doesn’t cover a lot of angles, nor coloring, nor... okay, a lot’s missing), but here’s how I generally go about fully sketching a straight-on face.

If you have any more questions, please let me know! Or you can ask @ghosthan directly and get actual art school advice.

[faerielleart]

hello my easter bunny! tysm once again for the wonderful art and all the effort that you've put into it! and i hope you indulge me in asking you this question, but how would you explain your drawing style? do you have any artistic influences or so? i just noticed that you tend to make use of pop culture references or literary quotes, but i'm not sure if that's something you deliberately intend to do in all of your works. much love <3

hello dearest! :D

thank you for the nice words aaa ;w; i am genuinely so happy you enjoyed your present ✨

these are very interesting questions 🧐 i’ll answer in order:

how would you explain your drawing style?

this is probably the hardest question for me to answer because i tend to switch it up a lot shdjskdkd it kinda depends of what i’m trying to convey, if i want to make something cartoonish or something more realistic, but i’d like to say it’s generally semi-realistic with a heeeavy emphasis on the “semi” hhhh i guess i am also kinda inspired by old school anime that i used to watch as a kid like sailor moon, the rose of versailles and others. i tend to do my best to get realistic proportions for the characters i draw and don’t really do heavily stylized work with exaggerated features, i try to imitate real people but i’m also incredibly stubborn and like to suffer so i always avoid using references unless i really need one (ex: muscles, hands, feet, dynamic poses) because i want to build a better visual memory for how a human is supposed to look like. when i first started posting my art i tended to do black and white only, then i got progressively more comfortable with colors. i’d say my signature thing would be the lighting :D and the lil dots of atmospheric dust, but yeah i have a tendency to do a lot of backlighting or random streaks of light, i think it looks pretty 🥺 also i like drawing hurt/comfort which is why i do a lot of black and white art, i think it looks nicer bc it reminds me of old photographs and it’s just a ~vibe~ i enjoy hehe but when i use color it’s super vibrant and saturated kinda like a punch in the eyeball. so yeah my artstyle in really brief words: inconsistent but shiny as hell with an extra colorful punch in the face when i feel like b&w doesn’t do the job :’D

do you have any artistic influences or so?

quite a lot! when it comes to backgrounds, i take inspiration from studio ghibli and makoto shinkai movies for scenery, kyoani for indoor settings. i freaking love yusuke murata and takehiko inoue’s artstyles and i love hirohiko araki’s use of color. as far as the technicalities go, my art never looks “smooth” bc i can’t figure out how to draw with airbrush tools to save my life, and i am very very veeery influenced by impressionism, which is why i paint in broad strokes that look messy and you can also kinda see all the lines hhh and i guess the focus on the lighting comes from my obsession with caravaggio when i was in school :’) oh also i absolutely have to mention the two italian comic artists whom i’ve been following since i was a first year middle schooler just getting started with digital art, mirka andolfo and angela vianello; they’re probably my biggest influences and lil fangirl moment i met mirka at a comicon a few years ago and she drew me hiyori from noragami as she was in charge of drawing the alternate cover for the first volume release and she was so nice and kind and encouraged me to keep making art and excuse me i’m gonna cry- angela vianello is also an absolute legend and her work is absolutely breathtaking, she’s probably *the one* who helped me shape my artstyle the most through the years. haven’t met her yet unfortunately ;;;;

about the pop culture references and literary quotes

BINGO i am a literature student and an anthropology student which comes with an extra art history, theatre history and philology+mythology on the side which means that basically 99% of everything i’ve ever posted stems from either a song i was listening to or a book i was reading or anything i was studying for my lectures bc i’m a huge nerd and i love making art of things i love inspired by other things i love (cue me recalling the obscene amount of AUs and wips i have in my gallery). my fav levihan stuff i’ve ever drawn were inspired by jane austen, victor hugo and anne carson quotes :D also a ton of musical theatre songs! i am a giant les misérables stan (book and show) and i have quite a few things inspired by it. yeah i basically have no originality and my brain needs to go “OH THIS QUOTE IS RAW AS FUCK” and “OHHH PRETTY SONG LYRIC” for me to start producing things hhhh

thank you for the questions 🐰💜💜💜

[dickpuncher420]

8 and 22 for the art asks? <3

8. What is your favourite piece that you have done?

im still quite partial to this one honestly, even if it’s over 2 years old now. this one is a close second tho :)

22. List at least one of your “artspirations.”

im assuming this is artists that inspire me? ooh i’ve been waiting for this moment hehe :3

sarakipin (biggest inspiration and favourite artist ever hands down. i own their artbook!)

chootalks (i really admire their linework and colour)

CassandraJP (huge inspiration colour-wise)

Cy_lindric (love the simplicity and colours)

_mohtz (colour and texture, also just the way they draw people)

eleheba (their linework and stylization is just sooo good)

Rudo Co (not a single artist but an animation studio, i am obsessedddddd w their work)

there’s definitely more but i’ll stop here. go check out their work!

ask me about my art!

[abyssmail]

Caerul Design Notes,

because I’ve actually put a lot of thought into creating Caerul’s aesthetic and I’m lowkey really proud of it.  I won’t get into her actual character concept/personality/backstory/etc. since this got super long, but this is how/why I made the choices I did with regards to her name and visual design!

▶ Caerul’s color scheme started off way bluer (hence the name “Caerul,” from caeruleus/a/um - “blue”/“cerulean”/“azure”/“of the sky/sea” in Latin) and less saturated, but when I gave her a (dead) twin with a red theme, I wanted them to look more alike and made both of their hair purple (although I haven’t actually done more than sketch Roseus before... he’s got purple hair and red eyes).  Purple’s my favorite color, and unnatural hair colors don’t seem to be uncommon in Orth, so why not, right?   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯   The red elements in Caerul’s design are meant to represent her honoring Roseus!

All of the base colors I use when drawing Caerul! They all end up looking a bit darker once they’re shaded though.

▶ As well as shamelessly using one of my favorite Latin words (I’m a Classics major, okay ;;>~>), I also tried to pick a name that sounded similar to the ones that already exist in-universe.  This was actually fairly tricky, since as far as I can tell the names in Made in Abyss have a WIDE variety of influences.  Some of them seem passably Japanese-sounding (Riko, Jiruo, Kiyui, Nanachi) disclaimer I bring dishonor to my ancestors and know 0 Japanese so this is just about vibez, others seem Western-ish (Reg, Nat, Lyza, Prushka).  Some are fairly whimsical (Shiggy, Maruruk, Mitty) while others are more mysterious and fantastic (Any of the White Whistles besides maybe Lyza).  The only common thread I could really settle on was a general fantasy feeling to all of the names.  I tried to capture that nebulous vibe with Caerul’s name, although with something so vague and subjective it’s pretty much impossible to say if I was entirely successful.  I named her siblings afterward with other Latin color words and ended up with a RGB theme lol.

▸ By the way, “Caerul” is pronounced “KAI-rool.”  It rhymes with “Hyrule.”  The ae diphthong makes an “eye” sound in Latin #TheMoreYouKnow

▸ “Caducalae” is a portmanteau of “caducae alae,” literally “falling/doomed/futile wings” in Latin (again), playing off how pointless it is to be able to fly when the Curse of the Abyss is a thing.  Originally, they weren’t supposed to work at all outside of the Abyss, but I decided that was boring for crossovers/other verses so I scrapped it.  I’m not too happy with the name since it doesn’t fit the naming scheme of the canon relics (there is no precedent at all for gratuitous Latin in Made in Abyss, which is a good thing because it’s overused in fantasy, but Latin was the only thing I was good at in high school sooooo... ^^;), but I didn’t like any of my other ideas that much, either.  “Wings of Futility” feels more canon, but it’s also kinda depressing :/

▶ I’ve mentioned before that Caerul’s build is based off of mine for art reference purposes (it’s convenient to just look in the mirror while making the pose I want =w=)b), but another reason she’s so short is that I didn’t have to make the caducalae quite as big since she’s smaller, so she can actually go indoors if she’s careful.

▶ Long hair isn’t super practical with mechanical wings with lots of bits for it to get caught in, but Caerul idolizes Lyza, so I left her hair as long as I could reasonably get away with.

▶ I heavily referenced the canon Made in Abyss character designs for Caerul’s clothing so she would fit into the world, but made some alterations to make everything more personal to her and accommodate for her wings.  In general, I lightened everything up, since she takes a bunch of short, quick trips rather than lengthy expeditions.  Her gloves, for instance, are loosely inspired by the ones we see many delvers wearing in the manga/anime, but are less heavy-duty and are convertible mittens/fingerless gloves for better dexterity with handling letters and such.  

The best close up of the gloves I could find was actually a screenshot of the aftermath Reg & Riko’s orb piercer encounter, but I didn’t want to have to tag this for gore, so you get Lyza ^^; There’s a filter over Caerul here so you can see the glove better which is why she looks kinda washed out :/

▶ Her coat is heavily influenced by Jiruo’s, since he’s the only Moon Whistle we’ve seen in canon.  

yeah, uhhhh, sorry to yoink your style my dude ^^;

▸ Caerul’s has a different color palette, a simpler lapel border, an extra set of outer pockets, and three separate panels in the back that button around her wings so she can put it on! I haven’t drawn it, but her shirt works similarly.  

This is my favorite detail about her design tbh... it’s just really satisfying what a logical solution it is for some reason???  the original doodle is off rotting somewhere in my Modern European History notes, but I tried to recreate it just as sloppily here =w=)b

▶ Caerul’s corset isn’t just a painful fashion choice - it’s actually meant to be a(n admittedly heavily stylized) brace for her back against the weight of her wings.  

▶ Since Caerul can’t wear a backpack with the wings, I had to get creative with storage options for her.  In addition to an undetermined number of pockets on the inside of her coat, I gave her these two pouches on her thighs to carry more stuff.  

I wonder how buff your quads could get carrying a significant amount of weight there...

▸ Messenger bags don’t seem super practical for delving, so I didn’t design a specific one for her to carry all the time, but Caerul does use them on occasion.  Even with that, though, she still has far less carrying capacity than the average delver, which is a problem she has to deal with when carrying out her duties!

▶ The wings/caducalae were by far the most difficult part of designing Caerul, and it took several redesigns over 2+ years before I was finally happy with them.  Their first design was deliberately far simpler in the interest of having to draw them a zillion times, but they ended up clunky and unwieldy looking: 

chonky o~O

▸ The final design is MUCH more of a pain to draw (in fact, a lot of the time I cheat and just copy and paste them from drawings I’ve already done), but I think it looks much sleeker and more “functional”.  

I also got better at making my diagrams look slightly more authentic ;0

▸ I knew I wanted jetpack-style thrusters to be a component of the wings to somewhat justify the shit I wanted Caerul to be able to pull with them (especially to eliminate the need for accounting for the damage landing suddenly could do to her ankles), but incorporating them proved to be one of the biggest problems of the design.  At one point, they were going to have a whole separate attachment point on her back, but I finally just made them an offshoot of the first “joint,” as you can see in the final design.  

A really messy intermediate caducalae sketch.  The weird double pentagon shape was meant to be the part of the relic actually fused to Caerul’s back, but I scrapped that too when I scrapped the separate limbs for the thrusters.

▸ Speaking of the joints, they’re all balls so they can rotate all over and I don’t have to fuss too much about how they move.  Likewise, the frame is metal, but I treat it like it’s kind of flexible, so Caerul can “flex” the wings open and closed.  These wings are hard enough to draw period okay I’m giving myself every excuse to be inconsistent af on purpose.

▸ The caducalae have some “bonus” features that I’ve sketched out, but that Caerul hasn’t unlocked yet, and won’t for a while.  

owo what’s this?

▸ For the wings, I think my biggest inspirations were some of the mechier Cardfight!! Vanguard dragon units (although I don’t remember which cards specifically) and the energy wings on the ninth-generation knightmares in Code Geass R2.

I’ve made a lot of OCs, and since I don’t like to use faceclaims, I’ve done a fair amount of character designing.  I don’t think I’ve ever spent as much time or had as much fun with any of them as I have with Caerul, though!  OCs aren’t always super well accepted in fandom roleplay, but the Made in Abyss community has been super welcoming and I’ve had a blast.  Thanks for listening to me gush about Caerul if you got this far, and thank you to everyone who’s interacted with her!  

The original sketch of Caerul from back in 2017.  How far we’ve come :’D

[insane-control-room]

Birthday

cameos from @randomwriteronline‘s eska and @startistdoodles‘s charlotte <3

Ao3 link

Today was a special day.

Joey felt happy, even though normally on that day he did not. But in the past, the day had been marred by family ruinations or worldly problems. 

He changed from his pajamas, pausing after putting on his pants and belt to study the silvery scars on his arms. 

He smiled, slipping on his dress shirt, humming as he tied his tie, his custom jacket covering each. Joey clasped on his pin, and smiled at himself in the mirror. 

Joey thought he looked ok.

It made him smile.

He whistled as he made his way down the stairs into the studio. It was too early for anyone else to be there, so he slipped outside to his garden. His bees instantly swirled around him, vibrating in tune of Happy Birthday. He grinned, tearing up. 

“Thanks y’all,” he mumbled, petting those that landed on him. Some tugged on his shirt, some pushed him by bumping into him. Joey smiled, letting himself go with them. They brought him over to their apiaries. “What’re you gals up to?”

He opened the apiary, and gasped. They all had arranged rose petals into a beautiful pattern, and set them in crystalized honey. A few of them picked it up with an effort, passing it into Joey’s scarred hand. 

A tear slipped from his eye as he grinned widely, eyes crinkling with joy. He wiped them with his free hand. 

“Oh, you girls shouldn’t’ve,” he murmured. If the bees had cheeks, they would have blushed. Some passed their one of their hands in an ‘it’s nothing’ motion. “Oh, it really is something. Thank you so much… you’re all lovely. Oh, g-goodness, thank you.”

He fed his chickens, and tended to his flowers and plants, attended to by his bees. 

Once he finished with his outdoor duties, he placed the crystalized honey charm on the mantle. He looked at it for some time, feeling a happy glow in his chest from the panacea decoration.

The clock chimed, catching his eye. Nine.

He continued admiring the amulet, until he did a snapping double take. 

NINE.

He was late to work. 

Joey jumped up, running down the stairs into the studio. Curiously, no one else was around - not even Ms. Lampbert, who normally briefed him on his meetings. He checked his schedule. Nothing aside from ‘pub room’ was scrawled on it. Joey pursed his lips; he hated when people called the break room the pub room, sounded as though they would be drinking there, even though most alcohol was forbidden from the premises (aside from beer or other light drinks). 

Still, baffled, he made his way up to the break room, his light brown cane clacking as he walked. 

As soon as Joey walked into the room, the door slammed shut behind him, making him leap with a shriek. Heart pounding, he tugged on the handle, eyes attempting to adjust to the darkness. Even though his speed to adjust was higher than those without his color deficiency, he was not fast enough. Two hands grabbed each of his own and pulled him down the stairs slowly, he mute from surprise. Once he was on firm ground, the lights flashed on.

“Happy birthday!” the whole of the studio cried, laughing at his stunned expression. Shawn slapped a sticker onto Johan’s chest, it reading ‘bday boi’, which got a wheezing laugh from Willy, who gave his husband’s hand a squeeze. “Happy birthday, ye toll feck!”

“Ah-” was all Joey managed to say before Allison and Susie squished him in a bone breaking hug. Allison let go before Susie, who tugged Joey’s head down to ruffle his hair. He wiggled to try to escape, but her chokehold on him was far too powerful. She chanted, “Twenty seven! Twenty seven!”

She let him go when everyone joined in the chant, he snapping backwards. Being pulled down two feet is not very conducive to one’s back. He blushed, standing slightly awkwardly, not expecting this at all. He never even told anyone of his birthday.

“Happy birthday, darling!” Bertrum laughed, the ink kids clinging to him. Then the sextuplets jumped onto Johan, knocking him to the floor. “Happy birthday, Papi!” 

Johan teared up, hugging them all tightly. Words escaped him. Henry took his hand, picking him up from the floor. 

Henry gave him a small kiss. 

“Happy birthday, Joey,” Henry smiled. Joey blushed even more. “Took me ages to figure out that it was today. I called your brother for the information. Jeez, the lines to Night Vale are awful!”

“Yeah, they are,” Johan half lied. There are no lines to Night Vale. He furrowed his brow, about to speak, when speckled cinnamon arms wrapped around him. A carved wooden flower was placed into his hair. “W- Eska?”

“Good birthday.” The skeletal man croaked and nuzzled his head. “You’re not as bad as you could be.”

“Th-thank you?” Johan blushed and blinked. Eska vanished as his eyes were closed. Lacie clapped him on the back, sending him tumbling. She tapped onto hir glass to announce, “Cake time everyone!”

“I baked it with Dot and Buddy!” Linda excitedly grinned, and the older kids smiled behind her, waving. “Happy birthday Mr. Drew.”

“We made it dairy free,” Dot added, and hugged him. Buddy nodded, and then turned to Mr. Cohen. “And it’s kosher. We made it at my place.”

Joey sniffed, smiling, but on the verge of tears. 

Everyone who was able to hugged him within the moment. 

“Y’all are the best,” Joey said, his voice cracking, hugging all that he could. “I couldn’t ask for a better studio, a better family. I love you all!”

“We love you, too!” many voices chimed back. Henry, pressed to his chest, smiled at him. “I love you especially.”

The party went on for a bit, mostly full of laughter and birthday wishes. Johan was partially quiet, just soaking up the sweetness of the environment.

Some time later, when some were starting to excuse themselves to go to work, one person cleared his throat.

“We got you a present,” Norman, leaning against the wall, remarked, seemingly in a reminder to those around. “It’s outside.”

They lead him out to the car lot, and Joey’s mouth fell open when he saw his motorcycle. 

“We know you pawned it to pay for Shawn and Willy’s wedding,” Allison sheepishly told him. “And we know how much you love it, so we bought it back for you.”

“Y’all shouldn’t’ve,” Joey cried a bit, walking over to his bike in a bit of a dream. Sammy tossed him the keys. “Yeah, and Thomas fixed it up a bit. Some of the art department stylized it. Hope you like what they did with it.”

The toons were painted on it, making Joey cry even more. 

“I love it,” was all he could say. “I love it, I love it.” 

“Take it out for a spin,” Wally grinned, elbowing Henry over with a wink. “Go on!” 

“I mean,” Henry swallowed, looking apprehensive, knowing how much of a speed demon his husband was. He smiled nervously. “If you want. For your birthday.”

“Yes!” Johan beamed, yanking Henry over to swing him onto the bike, hopping on behind him, his long limbs able to reach the pedals and gears even with his round love before him. “Let’s go!”

They were off like a shot. 

When they returned, Henry was dizzy but laughing, and Johan never looked happier, his hair splayed every which way due to the wind. They had gone out to dinner, both rosy cheeked from laughing excessively. Henry excused himself to hang out with some of the others, and Johan went up to his roof, just as the moon peeked over the tall pines. When Charlotte shimmered into existence, Joey hugged her tightly.

“Oh! Hello darling!” she hugged him back. “What’s the matter?”

“I’ve t-turned twenty seven today,” he told her, smiling. Her brows rose, and she hugged him again, even tighter. “Happy birthday, Johan, goodness me!”

“Thank you, Ma,” he replied. “Would you like to come in for some tea?”

“I’d love to,” Charlotte happily answered, letting her son lead him inside (even though she could have floated through the walls). They talked, Henry and the kids joining them, even more laughter bundling into the day.

For Johan, this was the best birthday he had. 

Of course, he was always looking forward.

[8requiems]

A Webcomic Review of “Deadlove”: I think I am a Sadist now.

Intro

WHOA WHOA WHOAAAA, before you skip this part, I tweaked the process of how I review webcomics after reviewing the webcomic before this one, “Wizard of Arsenia”. The changes aren’t earth shattering, but I just wanted to put that out there.

If you don’t care. I mean, you can skip reading it. I guess it's cool. I don’t mind...not like I didn’t spend time refining it- but it's OKAY.

Before we get into this review, there are two main parts of the review:

The General Review

This route will give you a simple idea of the webcomic you are about to read. It will naturally include my personal opinions, but they will not be inconsistent to any prior or future reviews I do (in the sense that I don’t do double standards when I talk about said webcomics). 

Said opinions won’t really dominate this route because I will be mainly establishing what the webcomic has to offer in each part. 

Because of this, my opinions will always be presented at the end of each section.

If need be, I will refer to events that might be considered as “spoiler territory”. 

I will read as far as I require in order to get a good idea of the story I am reading, so the amount of chapters I read will vary. At a baseline, I will have read at least 10 chapters.

Granted, I doubt anything too important will change how you experience later chapters since it isn’t as, lets say, a “Season Review”.

The only sections that will be fully opinion within this route is: Execution and Conclusion.

      2. Beyond the Border

This route will be available if you scroll to the very bottom.

Think of this route as the “New Game+” equivalent of the review.

I will read further either because the story has me hooked, or if I want to see if my criticisms still hold true.

EXPECT TO SEE SPOILERS. ESPECIALLY IF I GAVE THE REQUIEM TRADEMARK COPYRIGHT APPROVED THUMBS UP.

Disclaimer:

If you decide to skip “The General Review” to read “Beyond the Boundary”, don’t let it affect your opinion of the work too much (if you are easily swayed). Despite how open I am to webcomics, I might have opinions that could contradict with how you might view the webcomic if YOU were to read it.

I do advise that you read “The General Review”, and with that information in mind, proceed to “Beyond the Boundary”, if you so wish.

The Description:

*Ahem*

" They say you can’t run away from your problems... and Joel just learned that the hard way. Talk about having cold feet! Joel is all set to marry Kim, his art school sweetheart, but in a moment of poor judgment he has an affair with his roommate Zoe. Hounded by the guilt, but unable to fess up to his fiancé, he decides the most responsible thing to do is... run away. As far and as fast as he can. He now finds himself selling cosmetics at a shopping mall in New Zealand. Sure, he is homesick, and everything is unfamiliar, but at least he can work through his issues in peace and quiet, right? Wrong. Read this comic to find out how Joel’s plans fall apart, and how he puts himself back together, with the help of an unexpected guest… “

Y’know, this is usually the part where I give my own synopsis of the story, at times because the description is in no way useful. 

But, I have nothing to add. 

I will say that when I first read “Deadlove”, I don’t believe I read the description, and I think not reading it was a welcome surprise considering that although I was expecting a “Comedy with a simplistic art style that is kind of charming”, I think I got a bit more than I bargained for.

I should also note that if it were not from my blind curiosity, and I were to judge it purely on description and the title art, I probably wouldn’t have read it.

It doesn’t do justice towards how creative the Webtoon itself presents its characters and the story it wants to portray.

But we’ll get to that in a minute. For now, let’s get a good idea of the characters we will be following.

Characters:

Joel:

(A panel in the middle of Chapter 1)

As you will quickly understand, Joel as far as life decisions go is the definition of incorrigible. Despite having many opportunities to confront his problems, or even having moments of foresight. These 5 chapters, if you are one to hate misunderstandings or easily resolvable conflicts, will be hell for the reader.

Maybe it was because I was forcing myself to read another webcomic before getting to this one, but I somehow  was not personally annoyed by the way Joel was acting. 

Granted, if I read this on ANY other day, I would have been seething and/cringing at the sight of this imbecile.

Which, as Creator Teo reveals in his editors notes at the end of every chapter, will be a very common theme.

(The last paragraph of Chapter 2’s Creators Note ^)

(The beginning of Chapter 3’s Creators Note ^)

I think it’s safe to say that Joel's current situation is the logical extreme of not taking responsibility for your poor decisions and refusing to confront and learn from your mistakes. 

I feel like because of how his character is written, everyone is going to be on the same page, regardless of personal views on life when reading this webcomic, specifically because of how comically stupid we as the audience see Joel as.

I mean, at the very least that's how I feel…

At the same time, after reading the first chapter multiple times, I decided to set my personal biases aside just so I could be sure Joel is full of shit.

There were two parts of the Webtoon that caught my eye:

^ For this dialogue portion, the part that caught my attention was him brushing past keywords that we have likely heard before when hearing about cheating: “Love isn’t Binary”, “I thought only assholes cheat”, and “She looks hot”.

Now, I could easily be reading too much into these lines, and I probably am. But this isn’t the first time I have heard or read about someone cheating on someone they love for “X,Y, and Z”, so I decided to look up a random case to see how the cheater in that situation felt.

After reading about it, I felt myself not necessarily thinking he wasn’t an ass, but I did end up feeling bad for Joel. Not because of the lines I just showed, but for the lines in the following panel towards the end of the chapter:

In the case that I looked up, they felt miserable at the development that had come of their new relationship, despite cherishing the one they already had. 

Now granted, Joel does say that he isn’t a reliable source of info for the story, but I feel as though the points where he does start deviating from truth are obvious enough to the viewer that we can differentiate it from the real truth. 

At least, that’s what I believe, I tried reading back to see if there were any obvious deviations in truth but I couldn’t find any. Maybe you found some? Share what you found in the comments section down below if you have.

I think this simple meme panel that is shown at the end of chapter 1, although very simple, justifies the way I think about Joel as a character:

Execution:

When I first started reading “Deadlove” I thought the charm would come from the simplistic art style, and I wasn’t wrong about it not having charm, but it is certainly not the main appeal of the Webtoon. The way the visual and writing style compliment each other reminds me of my time reading “God of Bath”. But with “God of Bath”, that would moresoe be applied to the gag panels.

For “Deadlove”, it's every panel of every chapter.

Visual Style: 

I think my favorite part of the Webtoon would have to be the way Creator Guy makes visually metaphorical jokes, and just the way he decides to show Joel’s interaction with the audience as he breaks the fourth wall.

An example of a visually metaphorical joke would be something Creator Teo actually had to point out for me. Had to do a whole double take:

( ^ A panel in the latter half of Chapter 1 )

( ^ The fourth paragraph of Chapter 2’s Creators Note )

( ^ Joel revealing his wishy washy nature to the audience in a panel towards the end of Chapter 5 )

Although there might be better examples of Joel’s audience interaction, I personally love this one. I can’t help but chuckle every time I remember it.

The Writing:

I rarely consume media that breaks the fourth wall. And even then, they would break the fourth wall for comedic effect, not for telling a story. 

Then again, many stories will have a narration at the beginning where they basically guide you in the beginning portions of the story, only to return every now and then.

Joel is telling the story as he is living it. I mean, he does say the story isn’t linear, implying that this isn’t the case, but I still appreciate how the story is written nevertheless.

Conclusion:

Overall, I feel like I’ve communicated how much I love “Deadlove”, and I shouldn’t be surprised considering the talented duo of Creators Teo and Guy have experience telling simple yet fun and captivating stories, such as “The Adventures of God” and “My Dictator Boyfriend”. Both Webtoons that I love.

I already feel like I am someone that Joel is talking to, making me in some way a part of the story too, but having Creator Teo talk say reveal some insights about the Webtoon and giving some giving some thoughts about “Deadlove” shows a connection with me, the reader, that I don’t really feel in other Webtoons, even if they do Q&A’s every now and then.

That being said, I think that Teo’s quick tidbits are a consequence of the very stylized nature of the story itself.

I would suggest “Deadlove” to anyone, even if they would hate a character like Joel. Just because I feel like he is interesting enough to see him continue to make mistakes and follow his overall journey.

[tevinterdays]

How old do you think Max is? I think Klei said a long time ago he was in his 60s but I personally see him being on his 50s, mostly because of his implied relationship with charlie, she looks quite young, early thirties at most? And I think max being on his 60s would be wayyy too creepy on this case, assuming he didn’t age since entering the constant? Idk if characters can age there

omgomgomgomgomg thank you for asking hi hello yes

let’s get CRACKING! i’ve been thinking about this for the last few days!

last bit is easiest for me: i don’t think characters age in the constant. not non-magically, anyway. i can imagine that the nightmare throne drained him of vitality while he was on it, with aesthetic ramifications, but that’s very different from anyone being affected by the passage of time. in his speech in the adventure mode epilogue, maxwell says that “time moves differently here,” so i just apply that as a blanket thing. it makes sense and also allows for a lot less juggling of game logic meta whatever.

so, how old do i think max is.

short answer: late forties at youngest, probably early to mid fifties.

long answer: translating human aging to numbers is super hard for me and also in general because of how casting works in live action media, and also i’m bad at human people faces irl. it’s harder in art, because it’s easy for any lines or wrinkles to age someone a million years even though they start developing on the cusp of adulthood for most people. the more abstract stylization is going on, the more that stuff stands out. like, i’ve known wilson to be read as a literal child - max is one of maaaaybe four characters on the roster total who have any visible aging going on. so yeah. it’s wild and indeterminate. hair thins and wrinkles happen and we’re used to being shown people who have aged absurdly well.

cartoon sexual dimorphism stuff makes it hard to gauge CHARLIE’S age, too, she read early 20s to me automatically at first (as in for like, 4 years and i avoided thinking about it too hard - i’m w you on late 20s). i’ve had to break a lot of stuff down in my head logically and i think about this when i draw both of them. i think there was something there between them, but there’s no way of negotiating that there’s also about 20 years between them.

[mikauzoran]

Ask Game: Mikau’s Headcanons - This Should Be a Drinking Game

Anonymous asked:

5&6

Thank you for the ask! ^.^

(The questions are from this list. So far I’ve done five, six, eleven, and fifteen.)

5. What’s your favorite headcanon you use in fics?

Oh my gosh. There are so many headcanons. XD I was actually just thinking last night that I needed to compile a list and turn it into a drinking game or something. 

Take a sip of tea every time:

1. Félix is Adrien’s older brother (eight years older). He left home at sixteen, married Marinette’s cousin Bridgette, and now lives in Marseille where he’s a homicide detective. Bri runs her own bakery. They have a daughter named Noëlle and a son on the way. Fé used to play the violin competitively growing up, and Adrien learned to play Danse Macabre and the first movement of Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata from him.

2. Émilie was a stage actress, and Adrien used to do the child roles in whatever production she was in, so he grew up backstage and going to the theatre to see his mum a lot. Her signature role was Viola in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. When Gabriel and Émilie met going to high school in Marseille, she was performing Viola and dragged him into being on the costume crew for the school play once she discovered he was an aspiring fashion designer.

3. Adrien decides to pursue a career in acting. He misses performing from when he did it with his mum when he was a kid, and it makes him feel connected to her. He likes getting to portray all kinds of different people and experiencing what it’s like to be someone else. It’s a safe space for him to experience emotions since expressing emotions was frowned upon in his home growing up. The roles he really wants to play are Jean Valjean from Les Mis, the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera, Elphaba from Wicked, and Viola from Twelfth Night.

4. Adrien is originally left-handed but has learned to be ambidextrous. This is my hill to die on, and you can fight me over it. ^w^ It’s probably just production error/the creators not really caring, but I’ve noticed several times in canon where Adrien has been shown doing things left-handed. (I mean, he uses his right hand for things too, but...) In Origins, when he’s walking to class and signing autographs left and right, he does so with his left hand. In Marchand de Sable/Sandman when he’s doing homework in his room, his writing supplies are on his left side. (I just want some left-handed representation. Is that too much to ask? ;-;)

5. Adrien is biromantic asexual. Even when I pair him with Marinette, he’s never not bi. I don’t always write him as ace; sometimes he’s bisexual in my works, but I could see canon Adrien as ace.

6. Adrien’s comfort foods are mint tea and salad. When he was little, when he or  Émilie had a bad day, she would kick the kitchen staff out of the kitchen, and they would make a big salad and some mint tea and enjoy it together. Now that she’s gone, he has mint tea and/or salad when he’s feeling down, and it’s comforting because it reminds him of his mother.

7. Adrien is a total anime nerd. He grew up relatively isolated from the outside world, so he learned about life and “normal”/“acceptable” human behaviour from Disney movies and anime. He’s always wanted to be a Disney princess and a magical girl. He was really inspired by Disney and anime protagonists who overcame the difficulties in their lives to achieve their dreams and find happiness and love. He has a lot of strong, female role models, starting with his mum, so he tends to identify with female characters more strongly than male characters.

8. Adrien is a polyglot. Obviously, he knows French, and he’s learned English because it’s required. Chinese lessons are canonical. He taught himself Japanese so that he could read manga and watch anime in the original (and pass it off as “studying”). He also speaks Russian (see “9″ below). He doesn’t speak Italian, but he has a passing familiarity with the language. He knows some phrases from opera from watching it himself and his mum’s career. He has some of his favourite portions memorized. He can insult someone’s sartorial choices in Italian from listening to his father do so on trips to Milan for business, and he knows survival phrases, but he can’t actually construct sentences or have conversations. He just hasn’t invested himself in it.

9. Adrien’s bodyguard’s name is Victor (really Viktor, but he uses the French spelling to fit in). He’s originally from Russia and still has family there. The reason why he doesn’t speak is because, even though he understands French just fine, he’s self-conscious about speaking it because of his accent. He’s also afraid to make mistakes, especially in front of Gabriel who is not a patient or tolerant man. Victor taught Adrien Russian, so now they can speak together, and no one knows what they’re saying. (Nathalie has picked up a little bit here and there, but not enough to have conversations.) Victor calls Adrien Adrianka. (It’s the Russian diminutive.)

10. Nathalie speaks a little bit of Mandarin Chinese. Her tones are so-so, but she can get her point across. She learned from listening in on Adrien’s lessons so that she could make sure he stayed on top of his curriculum. When Adrien has to miss Chinese lessons on short notice, Adrien’s teacher works with Nathalie instead.

11. Luka loves all music, not just rock or punk like we’ve seen on the show. I mean, the guy is portrayed as music being his whole life, right? He came to music through rock and roll because that’s what he was exposed to through his mother and her music career, but if you dig into the music and look at its history, where it came from, what inspired it, you start wandering back through time until you get to the big names of classical concert music. Luka is an inquisitive, thoughtful guy. I can see him digging into the roots of the music he grew up with and finding all sorts of cool influences. I can see him learning about and experimenting with different types/genres of music.

12. In university, Luka studies Literature with an emphasis on nineteenth and twentieth century Russia. Why? Below is excerpted from my response to a comment asking about this point.

Especially in the nineteenth century during the height of Romanticism, a lot of literary elements and themes made their way into classical music. Program music uses literary texts as a base and illustrates the story with music. Composers drew from the Russian literary tradition as well, particularly in opera. Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades is based on Pushkin's short story, and I just found out a month ago that Shostakovich turned Gogol's short story The Nose into an opera. In the arts, one thing always leads to another. It's like looking up something on Wikipedia. Two hours later you've become an expert on botany or Balkan folk dance. I think Luka would dig into the sources of inspiration for the music he was consuming in order to better understand the works and as a means of getting inspiration himself.

So that's why Russian Literature. I think he'd eventually find his way to it through music. Then, once you find Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky, you really get sucked in. For me, those two have such a way of depicting real human beings and what it means to be human. They really get at deeper human truths. Anna Karenina, Crime and Punishment, and The Idiot really capture that essence for me. (War and Peace too to some extent, but not as much as the other three.) I think Luka would really be drawn to Russian literature too and come to love it for itself apart from the musical inspiration he was able to derive from it.

13. In his teens, Luka takes more of an interesting in the piano and falls in love with the violin. He adds piano and violin performance majors halfway through university and ends up becoming a professional solo pianist as well as a first violin with the Orchestre de Paris.

14. Luka wears reading glasses. I don’t think I’ve used this one much. Actually, I can’t find where I’ve used this at all. :/ Well. I suppose there will be no tea drinking at this time for this headcanon. ^.^;

15. Luka has tattoos. I don’t think I’ve gotten around to this one yet either. Adrien and Luka talk about possible tattoo ideas in Chapter Four of Nachtmusik, but... At any rate, the full extent of the tattoos would be a stylized snake on his pelvis, Odin’s raven’s on his shoulder blades, a stylized snake bracelet under his regular bracelets, and a Chat Noir paw print under his ring. So far the paw print is the only one that I’m one hundred percent positive that will happen. The stylized snake on the pelvis is pretty up there too because in the Jabberwocky/Daisy universe I was going to have Adrien and Marinette squabbling over Luka, and Adrien was going to say that he bet Marinette hadn’t seen Luka’s snake tattoo. When Marinette asks Luka where he has a snake tattoo and learns how low on Luka’s stomach it is, she’s left wondering what’s going on between Adrien and Luka. I’m undecided about the ravens and the snake bracelet.

16. The children are always named Hugo, Louis, and Emma, but the birth order depends upon the pairing. Lukadrienette have Hugo (biologically Luka’s), Emma (Adrien’s), and then Louis (Adrien’s). Lukadrien have Emma (Luka and Rose’s), Louis (Adrien and Rose’s), and then Hugo (Adrien and Juleka’s). Adrienette have Louis, Hugo, and then Emma.

Which is your favourite of my headcanons? Which one would you like to see more of? Did I miss any? ^.^;

[letterboxd]

How I Letterboxd #5: Will Slater.

Talking mullets and other manes with the man behind the internet’s definitive ‘exploding helicopters in movies’ catalog.

“Man cannot live on helicopter explosions alone. Even I need some occasional intellectual nourishment.”

A London-based PR man by day, by night Will Slater has a thing (and a podcast, blog and Twitter account) for movies that feature exploding helicopters. According to his Letterboxd bio, it’s “the world’s only podcast and blog dedicated to celebrating the art of exploding helicopters in films… as well as shaming those directors who dishonor the helicopter explosion genre”. As Will tells Jack Moulton, he also loves film noir, Wakaliwood, masala movies and much more. Just don’t get him started on the one action movie cliché that never fails to disappoint.

Sylvester Stallone takes aim in ‘Rambo III’ (1988).

First things first, have you ever had a ride in a helicopter? Will Slater: What, do you think I’m mad? Of course I’ve never flown in a helicopter! If I’ve learned anything from watching hundreds of films where helicopters spectacularly explode, it’s that they are a singularly dangerous form of transport. You never know when Sylvester Stallone is going to pop up with an explosive-tipped arrow and blow you out of the sky.

I’m going to say the words ‘the definitive action hero/heroine’. Who pops into your head first? No runners-up. Go. Snake Plissken, no question, for a number of good reasons. First, there’s the look: that eye-patch, the beaten-to-hell leather jacket and Kurt Russell’s lustrous mane of hair. Second, there’s the attitude: his contempt for authority, the drawled sarcasm and all-round bad-assery. And I also like that he doesn’t have any special abilities. Action heroes generally tend to be either musclebound slabs of beef—Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stallone—or martial arts specialists—Jean-Claude van Damme, Jackie Chan—Plissken is just a pissed-off, angry dude who’s trying to stay alive. He’s very relatable. Plus, I’d argue he pretty much invented the whole anti-hero formula that rules our screens today.

Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken in John Carpenter’s ‘Escape from New York’ (1981).

When did you start your podcast and which film got you into looking deeper into the topic? It was while watching the cheesily bad Cyborg Cop that I first had an epiphany about the weird and wonderful ways in which helicopters seemed to continually explode in movies. But the film that convinced me to start documenting the phenomenon was Stone Cold. If you’re not familiar with the film, it was an attempt to turn former gridiron star and mullet-king Brian Bosworth into the next big action star. It goes without saying that Stone Cold did not transform ‘The Boz’ into the next Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the film wasn’t a total failure as it features a helicopter explosion that is as brilliant as it is gloriously stupid.

And that was the prompt to start the Exploding Helicopter. I launched the website in 2009, and the podcast followed 2015. Since we started, our aim has been a simple one: to celebrate the strange and inventive ways that helicopters explode in films.

Motorcycle crashes into helicopter in mid-air, ‘Stone Cold’ (1991).

When did you join Letterboxd? What are your favorite features here? I’ve been around since 2013. As for the features, the stats are very cool. When you dig into your viewing history, you can learn some very revealing things about yourself. For example, I generally like to think I have a commendably broad taste in film, and watch only the most important and influential works from every decade, genre and country. But then you look at the data and find you’ve watched Thunderball nine times in the last five years, so maybe you’re not as cool as you thought.

We noticed that your profile faves are low-key and explosion-free, given your theme of choice. Why these four and not Die Hard four times? Man cannot live on helicopter explosions alone. Even I need some occasional intellectual nourishment, between watching whirlybird conflagrations. There’s a little bit of nostalgia tied up in The Ipcress File. I first saw it as a kid, and it made a big impression on me. It’s very stylishly directed, has a great John Barry score and a star-making turn from Michael Caine. I’m a big film noir fan and Sweet Smell Of Success is a beautifully sour tale of cynicism and manipulation. To borrow the words of Burt Lancaster in the film, it’s a “cookie full of arsenic”.

Jean-Pierre Melville is my favorite director and Le Samouraï was the first of his films that I saw. What Melville does so masterfully in this, and his other crime films, is distil the elements of film noir. Basically, he takes the genre’s iconography—the gun, the trenchcoat, the fedora—and familiar plot tropes—the betrayed assassin, the heist gone wrong, the criminal doing one last job—then elevates them above cliché into something almost mythic. And what do I really need to say about Taxi Driver, other than it’s a masterpiece?

Now you say you shame directors who dishonor the art of helicopter explosions? Which directors did you dirty? Well, one of the biggest names in our hall of shame is Tony Scott. For a man who specialized in hyper-stylized, pyrotechnic-filled action movies, he flunked every helicopter explosion he filmed. In our eyes, one of the most egregious offences you can commit is failing to show the helicopter explosion. And in both Spy Game and Domino, old Tony cheats the viewer by having the chopper fly out of sight before it explodes. Now, I can accept such visual chicanery in a low-budget film, where they presumably don’t have the money to stage the scene, but what’s Tony’s excuse? If you look at his filmography, at one time or another he’s wrecked trains, planes and automobiles in spectacular fashion. But for some reason, he repeatedly couldn’t be bothered to give us a satisfying chopper conflagration. At a certain point, it starts to feel like a personal slight. Tony, what did I ever do to you?

In your immortal words, “a film is always improved by a helicopter explosion.” When has this been especially true? When you see lists of worst-ever directors, Uwe Boll is a name that always seems to turn up. And, according to the internet, one of his worst-ever films is the video game adaptation, Far Cry. Now, I’m not going to try [to] convince you that the film is a neglected classic, but it does have a very imaginatively staged exploding helicopter scene. It’s too convoluted to explain here, but take my word that it wouldn’t be out of place in a Fast and Furious movie.

What about the unsung heroes; the stunt artists, the pilots, the pyrotechnicians, the VFX wizards who have worked on numerous iconic action moments, all of whom deserve a shoutout? Personally, I don’t understand why the Academy doesn’t have a stunts category. But if they did, I’d be lobbying hard for Spiro Razatos to get the first award. These days, he works as a stunt coordinator on the Fast and Furious and Marvel films, but I’d like to draw people’s attention to some of his early work. Back in the nineties, he did a lot of work with PM Entertainment films, an independent company that made low-budget action films for the home video market.

They might not have had much money, but they put every cent on the screen with glorious, raucously inventive set pieces that were often more spectacular than big-budget Hollywood offerings. And remember: this was in pre-CGI times, so every death-defying detail was absolutely ‘real’. Go back and watch films like The Sweeper or Rage, and you’ll can see why Super Spiro has now graduated to these more prestigious gigs.

Narrow this list down for us: which is the ultimate most spine-tingly epic “we got company” movie moment? As you may have gathered, I do like an action movie cliché. When you encounter one in a film, it’s like meeting an old friend. And one of my favorites is when someone uses this classic line of dialog to signal that a car chase or a gun battle is about to start. I’ve heard people deliver the line in all sorts of ways–funny, scared, angrily and often just badly. But if you want spine-tingly, then you can’t beat Harrison Ford in Star Wars. He drops the line during the detention-block scene after failing to bluff an imperial officer. As soon as he says it, John Williams’ iconic score kicks in. It gives you the ‘feels’ every time.

“Boring conversation anyway.” Han Solo and Chewbacca in ‘Star Wars’ (1977).

And which action movie cliché can you simply not stand? Stop it: my hackles are raising just thinking about it. For me, the trope that never fails to disappoint is the ‘reluctant’ hero being convinced to take up arms and join the fight. You know the scene. Invariably, the hero has hung up their spurs and is living a bucolic existence ��off the grid’, when a gruff buddy shows up asking them to risk almost certain death by taking on ‘one last job’. Now, dialog is rarely an action film’s greatest strength, and these beefcake actors generally are not cast for their dramatic chops. Which means we get subjected to the same perfunctory and uninteresting scene over and over again: “I told you, I’m out the game”, “Goddamnit, we need you”, “OK, I’ll do it”. These scenes just never work and are never less than painful to watch.

Which up-and-coming action director are you most excited about? In terms of up-and-coming action talent, I’d pick the director Stefano Sollima. I first noticed his work on a couple of TV series: the fantastic Italian crime dramas, Romanzo Criminale and Gomorrah. The way he composed shots really stood out, and it was clear he had a very cinematic eye. He rather reminds me of Michael Mann. He’s now on Hollywood’s radar and got to direct Sicario: Day of the Soldado the other year. And he’s lined up to make a Tom Clancy adaptation with Michael B. Jordan. I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

Have you witnessed the glory that is Wakaliwood—Ugandan DIY action filmmaking—three of which make Letterboxd’s official top ten films by black directors? Which international films do you feel out-match Hollywood? I love the Wakaliwood films I’ve seen. It’s fascinating to watch action films from around the world and see their different styles and flavors. Recently, I’ve been trying to investigate Indian cinema and, in particular, what are known as ‘masala movies’. These mix action, comedy, drama, romance and dance numbers into one big, crazy, entertaining mess. They’re a unique experience. If you want to check one out, I’d suggest Dhoom 2. It’s bananas.

Can you believe there are only two female directors represented in your exploding helicopter list? Do you believe that’s due to systemic or thematic reasons? You have to say it’s systemic. Men have dominated filmmaking for more than a century. Until women have the same opportunities to direct and make films as men, it’s impossible to know what their interest may or may not be in blowing up helicopters. [Will has previously written about the search for “true gender equality in the world of exploding helicopters”.]

To address the elephant in the room, how has Kobe Bryant’s unfortunate death earlier this year changed the way you look at these scenes? Obviously, I appreciate that Kobe Bryant’s death was very shocking and a tragedy for his family and fans. But basketball really is not a thing on these grim shores, so it didn’t register with us unenlightened Brits other than [as] a sad headline about a US sports star.

What was your most anticipated movie event of 2020 before Covid-19 pushed every tentpole back? That’s easy: No Time To Die. I’m a huge Bond fan and as soon as tickets were available, I booked myself in to see it on opening day at an IMAX. But if the Daniel Craig era is synonymous with anything, it’s lengthy delays between films.

Freerunner Sébastien Foucan in the opening scene from ‘Casino Royale’ (2006).

What’s a fond memory you have in theaters related to the Bond franchise? I remember going to see Casino Royale. I was excited, but also nervous to see it. The Brosnan era had ended with the risible Die Another Day: invisible cars, kitesurfing and, worst of all, John Cleese’s awful Q. Since that had come out, we’d had Mission: Impossible, Bourne and the Triple X films, so it wasn’t beyond the realms of possibility that Bond might be finished. Then the first ten minutes of Casino Royale happened. And while that outstanding parkour-inspired chase was terrifically exciting, it also hit me like cinematic Valium. I suddenly realised I could sit back and relax, safe in the knowledge that 007 was going to be just fine.

Are you planning on returning to theaters as soon as you can? When would you feel comfortable? I’m taking a wait-and-see approach. I’d love to see films back on the big screen again, but I want to know more about how cinemas are going to maintain social distancing inside.

Finally, what three Letterboxd accounts should we all be following? Why not give Todd Gaines, Jayson Kennedy or Fred Andersson a follow? If you’re interested in genre films that are a little off the beaten trail, they’ll likely all steer you towards some hidden gems.

[bittybattybunny]

Dang I must say I love your art style specially your anatomy!!! It really cool!

ahhhhh thank you!!!

I’ve been actually pretty happy recently with my style ;w; so thank you!!!!

My anatomy is one of the things i have a pretty decent understanding on even if I stylize it a lot--- (Fun fact: Im much better at drawing muscular folks because I for years drew what i assumed were ‘attractive’ men because I was trying to convince myself I was straight. lol)

I’ve also taken like 5 or 6 figure drawing courses (not that. I really recall them because i mentally blocked them out wee) But I do occasionally do (clothed) studies with https://quickposes.com/en/gestures/random That site’s also good when you cant think of a pose--

and jsut. drawing daily. I draw pretty much every single day either before I go to work or after if I’m not dead.

[dragimalsdaydreams]

man, I think this is the first time I’ve ever had a legitimate ponysona... before this, I could never figure out what class of pony I wanted to be-- and even more frustratingly, if I even wanted to be a *pony* in the first place. I eventually just cut my losses and bound myself to specifically a ponysona or else I’d still be going around in circles still (changeling? deer? kirin??), and I finally figured out an interesting approach to my ‘sona’s class that I think rly fits me

anyways, her info under the cut

Name:

Willowsprout. most folks just call her Willow, though her parents call her Sprout/Sproutling

Class:

most folks assume Willow’s a full-blood unicorn due to her more obvious physical traits. legally she’s an earth pony, since newborn unicorns (in my lore) don’t grow a horn til a few weeks after birth, so her non-unicorn parents just assumed she was full-blood earth and registered her as such. in reality, she’s a bicorn (a concept I describe in more detail here), with most of her magical ability influenced by her earth pony side, and most of her physique influenced by her unicorn side.

Parents:

I usually don’t care to think up parentage for my personal ‘sonas b/c history/family doesn’t matter to me so much as their current/individual state, but this time I might?

see, I’ve always joked that my personality is basically the love-child of Fluttershy (talent with and compassion for all creatures, social anxiety) and Treehugger (hippie aesthetic, mellow vibes, talent with plants), so it makes sense that I’d make them my ‘sona’s parents. BUT a unicorn/earth pony bicorn is p unlikely to result from pegasus/earth pony parentage. not to mention Willow’s white/green palette compared to their respective yellow/pink and green/red...

even so, I still like the idea of them being Willow’s parents, so IF I were to go with them, I’d make Willow an unplanned pregnancy from a fling b/t the two. I like to imagine Discord/Fluttershy/Treehugger in a loose poly “angle”, where Discord/Fluttershy are a solid romantic pair, while Fluttershy/Treehugger sort of vacillate b/t close friends and partners. Discord, despite his tendency towards jealousy, has come to affectionately tolerate(?) Treehugger, and is happy that his wife is happy with the both of them. Willow, however, was born a bit before Discord/Fluttershy became an official couple, and it threw their relationship into a bit of a spiral until Fluttershy, Discord, and Treehugger all finally sat down and worked out their feelings and relationships. since then, Willow has been raised with all three acting as her parents

now if I were to instead just make up parents for Willow, then I’d make them both earth ponies. I like the idea of Willow being entrenched in earth pony culture w/ very little unicorn cultural influence. I especially like the idea of at least one parent (if not both of them) being a farmer of some sort

Special Talent:

while Willow can do magic-based dexterous tasks and pick up reasonably-sized objects with the grace and precision of any full-blood unicorn, she has 0% aptitude for any kind of active spell-casting. even the most simple of spells that a unicorn foal could produce are simply impossible for her. Willow’s true power lies in her earth pony side, with complex, intimate connections to the earth. despite the weakness of her spell-casting, Willow has found a unique way to combine the overt magical influence of unicorn magic with the more subtle influence of earth pony magic

with this combination, Willow can connect to and sense the physical/psychological states of individual organisms and broader ecosystems around her. this can be used identify and help heal ailments, soothe troubled minds, abstractly communicate with other organisms, and even navigate new environments. the Special Talent that Willow typically uses this broad-scope ability for is monitoring broad ecological systems and restoring these systems to balance

one interesting trick of Willow’s Talent allows her to meld seamlessly with the environment around her as a sort of “camouflage”. this doesn’t change anything about her physically, but rather slightly alters the perceptions of those around her so that she simply doesn’t register under any senses. this allows her to quietly observe the environment around her without actively disturbing it. of course if someone knows Willow should be somewhere near them, they can break this passive magic fairly easily, but most creatures aren’t expecting a quiet pony observer, so it’s still a great boon to an ecologist such as herself

despite the control she can exert with her talent, Willow never had much of a taste for the strict monitoring of pony-controlled ecosystems like those around Ponyville. she thinks it best to leave a system to its own devices unless absolutely necessary. thus, Willow’s taken to casually traveling the land, documenting flora and fauna, and stopping to help any systems that need to rebalance

these travels have brought her into contact with several other species, and given her a broader perspective on pony relations with the land and other creatures. she’d never been able to put a hoof on exactly what bothered her about pony-controlled systems, but she’s since learned what it means to live in and among systems, rather than ruling and subduing systems as ponies tend towards. she’s now an active supporter of non-pony sovereignty and land rights, and always works directly with locals whenever she finds an ecosystem in need

Cutie Mark:

Willow’s mark is a stylized aspen tree forest hanging down into the shape of an aspen leaf, representing the concurrently individual and collective nature of nature

(yes, I know her name is Willow, but willows are close relatives of aspens, and “willow’ flows better for her name..)

Personality:

Willow is generally laid back and accommodating, taking situations as they arise with the patience of a rolling wave. she used to be rather timid in her youth, but has mellowed out a bit in her adult years. her social anxiety is definitely still there, but it’s far more manageable now. while Willow is polite when confronted, she’s still not an especially sociable pony, even without the immediate threat of anxiety

Willow tends to shut down in crowded, loud, high-stress environments/situations (this issue is compounded in areas without much plant life, like cities). a thousand-yard stare and one-word responses are clear signs she probably needs a breather with fresh air and a potted plant or two

while Willow’s “camouflage” magic is certainly an active choice at crowded social events, she’s prone to unconsciously pulling the shroud around herself as she simply goes about her life. she prefers to quietly observe the world around her even when she’s not working, and the shroud helps her pass through the day undisturbed. this often leads to spooks when she unintentionally creeps up on a friend to say hello

despite not being very talkative with other creatures, Willow’s prone to idle chatter with plants, and even sings to them on occasion. this likely doesn’t help them grow, but she at least enjoys it

while Willow certainly has strong opinions on social issues-- especially those intersecting with her work with nature and other creatures-- she’s more likely to quietly observe and catalog the opinions of others and act accordingly, rather than state her opinion outright. she’s just not one for outright conflict

Hobbies:

beyond her work with all things natural, Willow loves visual art-- especially drawing and various crafts like sewing, knitting, and found-object sculpture. she loves to collect any interesting rocks, dried plants, and various animal bones she finds out in the field, which she sends back home to later arrange into elaborate displays. her drawing skills are highly refined, and she’s a well-known name among zoological/botanical illustrators. she often takes commissions from fellow researchers who need visual aids for their own work, completing them while trekking around the world

Willow’s interests slant towards the macabre in some respects, which sometimes shocks strangers who judge her to be too meek to enjoy such subjects. usually this interest is academic, such as dissecting a corpse for study/reference, or exploring abandoned areas for curiosities. though she won’t deny that she enjoys the fear-driven thrill of a good spooky tale~ Willow’s humor also tends towards the dark and self-deprecating, especially in the company of close friends

Willow loves a good book-- when she’s not out in the field, she’s most content to curl up in bed with a biology journal, fantasy book, or supernatural/horror novel. she dabbles in writing, but mostly in the form of field journals and poetry

Physicality:

Willow takes strongly after her unicorn side in this respect, with very little built-in strength or stamina to speak of. her work serves to fortify these physical aspects of course, but any time she takes an extended break, she’s right back to square one

Willow’s one physical reminder of her earth side is her small hoof-nails, whose color often blends into the color of the surrounding hoof anyways

Willow is rather short and slight compared to most ponies. while unicorns aren’t the tallest of classes, they usually aren’t the shortest either, so her size is a bit odd to see in a so-called unicorn lineup. her height may be influenced by her earth side since earth pony sizes can vary a lot, but it could just be a simple genetic fluke in this case

[ifyoucouldholdme]

Movie Nights with Trashmouth

Chapter 1

Words: 1376

Pairing: Bichie

Rating: Explicit

Read on AO3

               Bill couldn’t believe his eyes as Richie led him through the maze of DVDs. The whole scenario was oddly an experience out of time. His friend had dragged him halfway across town to a still running video rental store, probably the last of its kind as far as Derry was concerned. “You gotta see this place!” Richie had crowed, “They’ve got movies you can’t find anywhere else.”

               The shelves upon shelves proved him right. Bill wanted to carefully scan through each title, making a mental list of which to rent first. He passed period dramas, sci-fi epics, films from around the globe. “R-Richie, w-wait up. I’d l-like to actually look at s-some of these,” he whined. Richie kept pulling him forward.

               “You can see those later, Big Bill,” he chided, “I’ve got something that’ll give you a raging cinema boner. Hell, it’ll probably give you a real boner.”

               “C-can you p-p-please stop t-talking about m-my dick?!” Bill sputtered.

               “Whatever blows your skirt up, sweetheart. Just be glad you didn’t wear gym shorts today.” He sent a salacious wink, sending such a heart burning through Bill’s gut that he was indeed relieved he wore his rigid jeans instead of his flimsy shorts after all. If only Richie knew that his jokes were a bit too accurate. Bill pined as he watched the goofball’s dangling curls bounce as he skipped through the store. Ok, maybe he was also entranced by the bounce of Richie’s perfectly rounded bubble butt too.

               Before they rounded the next corner, he suddenly turned and shoved his hand against Bill’s chest to stop him. “Alright, BIlliam,” he whispered into the now blushing boy’s ear. The warmth of Richie’s bony palm spread through his chest and mixed with the chills from the trashmouth’s breath dancing across his ear sent Bill into a paralyzed stupor. Yes, Richie was a touchy-feely person, but this felt different. This felt intimate and intentional. This awkward, brash, and gangly boy that haunted his nighttime fantasies was now mere inches from his wide-eyed face. Bill instinctively leaned forward, gradually closing the gap between—

               “Around this corner is the most beautiful sight you’ll ever see, aside from my precious dimpled smile, of course. Like, for real Bill, you’re gonna cream your jeans. I know I sure as hell did the first time I saw it.”

               “B-b-beep, R-r-r-r—” the poor frazzled boy tried, but Richie had already disappeared into the next room. The mere thought of his friend climaxing looped through his head taunting him as Bill tried in vain to cover his now full-blown erection and hobbled through the archway.

His shame was forgotten, however, when he laid eyes on the room before him. Each wall was lined in hundreds of bizarre and terrifying titles and box art. He recognized classics of horror like the Exorcist as well as some just plain weird movies, Meet the Feebles being one he was embarrassed to admit he somewhat enjoyed. Some shelves were alphabetized, others were categorized by director or subgenre. Stylized posters plastered the remaining spaces just beneath the ceiling, their artistry mesmerizing him. Above it all shone a neon marquee that simply read, “Cult Corner.”

“Welcome to paradise, Billy-Boy!” Richie beamed with arms raised in a grand gesture.

“Holy s-s-shit!” Bill proclaimed a bit louder than intended. “They’ve g-got everything.”

“Right?” With that, he eagerly led Bill around the room in his worst tour guide impersonation. “Thank you for choosing Tozier Tours Unlimited. We’re glad to have you aboard this afternoon. If you look out the window to your left, you’ll find the world’s larges collection of the spinetingling, the hair raising, and the grotesquely gory. But please, ladies and gentlemen, keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. There’s lots more to see.”

Bill chuckled despite himself. As often as he wanted to strangle the brash jokester for taking a laugh one step too far, he no less than adored Richie. Underneath that layer of jovial frivolity was a sweet boy just as lonely and as unsure as he was. If he ever needed a true friend or someone to listen to his uncertainties, Richie always did whatever necessary to help him, albeit with a few chucks thrown in to keep the mood from turning too sour. It also didn’t hurt that Richie’s smile did in fact give him the most adorable dimples.

Thankfully he didn’t notice Bill’s infatuated stares as he continued. “To your right you will see the weird, the bizarre, the flat-out what-the-fuckery of the aisle of cult movies. We got your Rocky Horror, your Pink Flamingoes. You want blood, guts, quips, and tits? There’s a little something here for everyone!” he crooned gradually sounding more and more like a carnival barker.

Bill felt lightheaded, overwhelmed by such a collection to choose from. “I d-don’t even know w-where to start.”

“Well then, monsieur Denbrough,” Richie switched again, this time to what he called his Frenchie Dressing voice, “allow moi to direct vous to la piece du resistance.”

“Alright, M-Marcel, c-chill. You only w-went to Q-Quebec for a w-weekend,” he teased, but the smirk flew off his face wen Richie bent over, sticking his glorious ass in the air as if presenting it for Bill’s approval. Bill absentmindedly reached out a hand, just to ‘accidentally’ brush the enthralling derriere, then, remembering his tightening pants, snapped his hand back to cover himself. Once again, Richie seemed not to notice. He was more concerned with the DVD cases he thrust towards Bill. The shaking redheaded boy blankly gazed at the covers, glad for any distraction from his embarrassing issue. At first, he was confused. The boxes were adorned with several men and women in unusual poses.

“These,” Richie whispered in a curiously huskier tone, his face instantly as close to Bill’s as before, “are for extra special movie nights.” The pieces finally fell together in Bill’s mind.

“This is p-p-p-p—”

“The word you’re looking for is ‘porn’, Big Bill,” Richie winked. Crimson flooded over Bill’s cheeks. This pushed his tension over the edge, and he sputtered and shivered with embarrassment. The frenzy subsided a touch as Richie placed a reassuring grip on his shoulder. “Whoa there, Sister Mary Agnes. I’m putting them back. Nothing to get all antsy about, it’s just some dicks and tits. We’ve all got ‘em.” Bill, slightly calmer, quirked a teasing eyebrow at him. “Well, we’ve all got one or the other.” They gazed at each other for a moment, filled with some unspoken thing felt between them. Then they each burst into a hearty laugh.

“Alright, alright,” Richie gasped, “Go ahead and pick a couple out for a date night. It’s on me.” Bill dropped the cases, letting them clatter against his Converse sneakers. He stared, frozen in place, at Richie who also seemed to notice his choice of words and avoided eye contact himself.

“D-d-d-date n-night?” Bill managed through a clenched throat.

Richie brought a hand to his neck, trying to hide a rosy patch his had sprouted on his cheek. “I mean, yeah, I guess,” he said, voice uncharacteristically wavering. “We totally don’t have to. It’s weird. We can’t just get our own movies. Your taste in horror is more on the classy side anyway, you wouldn’t like any of my—”

Bill socked his arm, leaving a nice red mark which would eventually bruise later that day. “B-beep beep, d-d-dumbass.” He then worked his fingers through Richie’s, noticing the other boy’s nervous sweating palm and his own racing pulse. He swallowed his anxiety and excitement as Richie tightened his grip. “D-date night sounds f-f-fun.”

“Well,” Richie stalled, trying to will away red face. Bill could’ve sworn that his bottle thick glasses began to steam over. “Let’s pick out some flicks then. Say, two apiece?”

“S-sounds like a plan.” Bill smiled, lost in Richie’s warmth and the surprising sweetness of the moment. “R-Rich?”

“Yeah, Big Bill?”

“How d-did you even know I’d b-b-be—”

“Well, you’ve been staring at my ass like it’s a buffet, plus I’ve been able to see your hardon since we walked in, so I figured I had at least a fifty-fifty shot.” Bill punched Richie even harder a second time. Trashmouth just cackled in return.