#if anything I’ll just redraw in half a year
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princesskkfish · 10 months ago
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Now that we're entering into 2024, I'm asking some artists and writers that I follow:
1) What is the one piece you're most proud of from this past year?
2) What are some pieces that you would have liked more people to see? If you can include links, I'd love to go check them out!
3) What were your top three favorite pieces (art, comics, fics, etc) that someone else has made this past year?
(As always, no pressure to respond! Feel free to just ignore, or let me know if you'd rather I not send you these kinds of asks in the future.)
this is super late but I wanted to do it :DD
1.That’s super hard I’m proud of a bunch of art I’ve made last year and proud of how much I improved and accomplished with my art. Especially in the last half the year. But the one piece that when I looked back and think of when I really started to improve is THIS ONE. And it’s definitely not my ‘Best’ piece from this year it’s the one I’m the proud of in the sense that, this is when I really started to improve and experiment with my art style and so I think it’s a pretty solid one to be proud of. 2. Like I said I’m proud of a bunch of stuff I have made this year. A lot of which was for comics and aus that other people made. But I did start a au of my own last year that I’m excited about that and I’d like to share. I haven’t made any actual comic or anything for it yet but I’m proud of the stuff I have :P
•Here’s a link to the masterpost
•Other then that I did a redraw a few months ago I’m really proud of here.
•And I’ll put a animation I made I’m proud of Here too
3. There’s literally so so so many comics and au’s I love and people that have inspired me to improve my art especially this year I can’t pick just three >:0 so here’s a few of these people in no particular order:
-CAS by: @/somerandomdudelmao , 2AL by @/intotheelliwoods , all of @/thegunnsara’s aus and art , and in particular @/tapakah0 amazing art, aus, and animations
and there’s literally so many people I could mention and thank for inspiring me to wanna improve and make art. 2023 was so crazy and I glad I met so many incredible and kind wonderful people this last year!!
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galactic-pirates · 9 months ago
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Ask Game for writers: 1, 7, 10. 😀
In which I should have read this more carefully 🤣 I saw it was about WIPs and didn’t realise it was so fic focused. I guess I could answer this two ways. I could convert it to art which is fandom, or I could vague talk my original novels. Maybe both? 🤔
1) 🦈Tell us the name of your/ one of your WIP(s)
Hmm well I don’t want to share the name of my original novel 🫣 I know I probably should but I get afraid about it. I sort of put up a division between “personal fan me” and “career me”. Not that I have a career (yet) but I can dream.
As for art well that doesn’t have names exactly, and also I don’t have WIPs in the same way. I have a list of ideas and I tend to take one, and finish it, rather than juggle several projects like I did fanfic.
I am currently signed up to the Librarians Exchange and I will be making something for that. I probably shouldn’t talk about that though because of the whole ‘secret’ gifter thing.
I would like to pick one idea off the list and say “I’ll do that next” and talk about it but truthfully what I am hoping to do is practice basic techniques. I spoke about this earlier with my frustration at being stuck with the ‘tracing’ and wanting to do it properly. I don’t know if I will be able to ‘teach myself’ to any level so that I can use it for the exchange. I mean I have had literal years to do so and not got anywhere with it so far 🤷‍♂️ I got a new sketchbook (because clearly the half dozen I already had weren’t enough) but maybe this time I will commit. I got some erasable coloured pencils and sketching in purple seems very fun so 🤞
7) 🖍Post Any sentence from your wip
As said I can’t really do this. I wish I had some kind of sketch to show, but again as I said art “WIPs” are more just ideas unless I am mid-project and I’m not right now.
To make up for not answering this I have picked another question for you.
11) 🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?
For my original novel quite a lot of things 😂 but description is usually the hardest part. I can see it in my head but it’s so clunky when I try and write it down. Way too much frowning or smiling going on lol. I am trying to use more body language and less dialogue tags but I need to find more variety in it.
For the art it’s like I said I have my current process of bashing together a bunch of different references. Sometimes this includes selfies when I am struggling to get limb angles to match what’s in my imagination, but it just doesn’t work. It’s a) botched together so a lot of the angles are just slightly off/mismatched and it is unnatural and b) so stiff with no flow/life. It has zero style.
10) 🤡How many Wips are you actively working on?
Well I am actively drafting one original novel. I have benched the redraft I am 1/4 of the way through, the first draft I need to reboot, the first draft I am only about 70% finished with, and the first draft I only wrote a bit of (I think that covers them 🤔). But really it’s just the one for “actively working on”.
For art… well I can’t lose sight of the gift exchange. I’m wondering if I should pick up ‘Sketch a Day’ again. I definitely want to do the 100 heads challenge. I got a copy of the Loomis Method book (heads and hands) and I think I should go through that. Same with Hamptons book (figure drawing). I was doing some screenshot redraws from “What If?” as I adore that art style. I can’t seem to pick a medium (paint, pencils, markers, ink) and so there’s so many options for rendering practice. It’s a bit overwhelming to be honest all of everything I want to work on.
Thanks for the ask ❤️
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matryx7728 · 9 months ago
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dear god
1: medibang, krita, ibispaint
2: i can only draw most things facing right except for the fucking v models from ultrakill i have to draw them at least facing somewhat forward i don’t know
3: i can’t really understand what this question means at the moment my reading comprehension is fucked sorry
4: gabriel ultrakill .. 💔💔💔 cant draw him good for the life of me
5: i show like everything i draw to a very small discord server of very close friends but i hardly post any of my art anywhere else so
6: there’s way too much here for me to list
7: painting. like on a real canvas i love it so much but i just can not do it
8: i was gonna make a thing with my current sona and my old sona ghat j could redraw like every month or something but like i kind of just Didn’t
9: i name my files mostly just the thing i drew. like if i draw my oc v0 i’ll name it like ‘v0 doodle.png’ or something however @cikdik would have a very good answer for this question
10: i hate drawing all clothes i don’t know how to do it
11: music very loudly always my v0 playlist mostly
12: probably arms but when it comes to anything animalistic the face and the legs
13: i don’t really have one of these as far as i can remember
14: body horror, gore, horror in general things like that i also like religious themes a lot but that’s just cause i really really like ultrakill
15: anywhere i have access to my phone or my tablet i guess
16: reference images which is funny cause that’s all i fucking draw half the time it’s either that or whatever character i’m drawing just standing there side profile and it’s kind of frustrating
17: i don’t eat when i draw but i will drink. mostly flavored water, tea or juice
18: not much i draw digitally most of the time for the past like four years
19: uhhhi have no idea unless robots count and i don’t think they do
20: not really any specific thing but i make my sketches very fast apparently like for mostly anything i’ll take at most like maybe 20 minutes for a sketch or doodle i think
21: that kind of like. scraggly roundish art style i have no idea how to describe it better but i love it i just try to draw more angularly you know
22: absolutely none unless you count constantly cracking my knuckles as a habit
23: no i don’t know how they work i’m trying to figure them out though
24: no i hardly ever remember to use references and i think that’s not good for me but hey
25: j can’t remember anything named specifically but it happens often
26: i don’t really have many actuall like. pieces and if i do i haven’t posted them so
27: no my dumbass always goes straight in and then i’m like shit hold on and then doodle a million other things while i’m halfway through and forget what i’m doing
28: artfight if that counts this year will be my third on artfight
29: like uh. mostly everythjng j think the only media that really influences my art has been wings of fire and ultrakill i guess
30: i don’t post most of my finished art like at all i don’t have many pieces to go unappreciated but like. that one time i made that shitpost of gabriel and me and @cikdik ‘s ultrakill angel ocs on the ‘save the turtles. that’s a fucking frog’ video i think that’s my magnum opus /j
@cikdik (i tagged you like twice already in this sorry) @athiav2 @adriaue
Weirdly Specific Artist Ask Game
Didn't see a lot of artist ask games, wanted to make a silly one.
(I wrote this while sick out of my mind last year and it's been collecting dust in my drafts, I might as well let it run free) 1. Art programs you have but don't use
2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)
3. What ideas come from when you were little
4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw
5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself
6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)
7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate
8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in
9. What are your file name conventions
10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw
11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what
12. Easiest part of body to draw
13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing
14. Any favorite motifs
15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)
16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing
17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what
18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken
19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)
20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy
21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways
22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any
23. Do you use different layer modes
24. Do your references include stock images
25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by
26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended
27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with
28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)
29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically
30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated
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skinvelope · 2 years ago
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he’s trying very hard to figure out how to hold hands with a securitron
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theveryworstthing · 2 years ago
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A quick obituary, if y'all don't mind.
In 2018 my cat Lace died. it was sudden and mysterious and she went to one of her favorite spots to do it alone. She was buried just before a big hurricane at the beginning of summer. a little bit later me and my mom took a road trip to Georgia to see family, and I was inspired by the life and death i saw on the side of the roads to draw the 24/7 Haunted Roadside Diner comics.
In 2022 my cat Coup died. it was a long fight through 7 months of cancer that ended with me holding him at the vet as he took one last big jump after months of losing the ability to do so. he was cremated just before a big hurricane at the end of summer. a little bit later me and my mom took a road trip to Georgia to see family, and I was inspired by the life and death i saw on the side of the roads to draw more 24/7 Haunted Roadside Diner comics after not thinking about them for years.
They were total brats to each other most of the time and they could never agree on anything, but they were my friends for almost half of my life and they called truces to sit on my bed together and comfort me during the Bad Health Times or the Bad Emotions Times. I didn't realize that I was repeating history a little bit until I was almost finished redrawing these first 5 pages, but I think it's funny that even though they tried to go out as they lived, as fussy little opposites, that I started really healing from both of their deaths creatively in the same way.  So here's to the prettiest girl in the world and the baby boy. I probably could have gotten weird enough emotionally to write about roadkill ghost stories on my own, but y'all made it way easier to get there.
I redrew the first 5 pages to fit in better with any future 24/7 HRD comics I want to do (and generally flex my improved art/writing skills), so I’ll be posting one of those a day for the next few days. I've got 5 more pages and some illustrations planned for spooky season (October/November) along with some Downtrodden stuff so y'know. Nature is healing.
Hopefully I'll have more to post soon. the future is lookin' lonelier without my small grey guy, but it'll still have bright spots I bet. I hope.  
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lady-potato-ninja · 3 years ago
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Can we see some oc art?
I don’t really have OCs with like a story or anything yet ( I would really enjoy having my own cast of characters someday but I really struggle with finding a story that could bind them together :/)
But I do have DnD OCs! I’ve had the chance to play three campaigns (2 long running and a very short one) and while digging some fanart of them I’ve found out I haven’t drawn them in like five years ….. So, Anon it took me some time to reply to you because I decided to redraw two of them and it was really exciting so thank you for the inspiration!
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The dwarf lady is named Edros Silverfighter. She was my first DnD character. She’s from a noble family and her main goal is to accomplish as many feats as possible in the outside world to prove to her family and people that she’s worthy of ruling them not because of her status but because of who she is basically.
The coolest thing about her is her strength, she can bend metal with her fists and let’s say it led to a lot of good fighting scenes in the game. She also found this magic ring that creates up to 4 holograms of her which she uses for tactical plans and/or as shields.
By the end of the game she had a lot of titles like Coupe-Jarret (There was an epic encounter where she cut off the feet of six of her enemies it was honestly badass), Snake-Strangler and a couple others that I don’t remember!
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The Half-Orc lady is named Daisy I believe and she is a Druid! Her main goal is touring the earth to find the coolest plants tbh ! She was found in the forest as a baby and raised by Gnomes so she’s very in tune with the earth. Although she’s sad to be different from her parents she loves them a lot and would do anything to protect them. My favorite thing about her was when she would elongate her teeth and nails to attack just because in my head it looked so cool!!
In the game she was very protective of a dragonborn girl and she was just very sweet? She fought a Karen once? And she had tea with three not-so-suspicious grandmas? She was over all so much fun to play and I wish @empyreen hadn’t killed her.
I hope this was as much fun for you to see as it was for me to create and I’ll leave the old design under the cut!
Hope you have a nice day! :3
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hadtochangemyurlquick · 3 years ago
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11+54 leatin
Send me two (2) tropes from this list + a ship and I’ll describe how I’d combine them in the same story.
Neighbour AU & Secret Relationship 
Too easy anon!
There is a perfectly ordinary suburb in Berkely, California. The public schools give the kids panic attacks, the private schools are overpriced, and all the teachers are overworked and underpaid.
Twenty years ago when they drew the borders the city councilors split a street in half. One half would go to Earhart High, the other Sally Ride High School.
Of course, none of this applied to Fatin Jadmani.
Fatin Jadmani had picked up her friend’s older sister’s cello when she was four and accidentally played Beethoven’s Fifth. It wasn’t like it was hard or anything, the sheet music was right there and you start at the start symbol and go up when the dot thing goes up and that obviously means hold the note and obviously that’s a rest what, is it supposed to be hard?
So Fatin Jadmani was stuck going to a performing arts private high school and that whole redistricting thing didn’t apply to her. In fact, she wouldn’t have noticed it at all if it weren’t for the girl across the street.
Over the twenty years demographics changed: parts of the district got poorer, parts of the district got richer. But despite the natural migration of people’s across the state the city councilors decided every year to put off deciding the districts for another year. So after twenty years the students who went to Earhart High were mostly Hispanic, mostly lower income, and had the highest percentage of students in the free and reduced lunch program in the state. The kids who attended Sally Ride High School were majority white, majority upper class, and were congratulated on speaking two languages fluently--instead of expected to.
And it just so happened that if you were standing on one street your family was made up of multi-millionaires, you licked caviar from the lips of eager butlers in Europe and never missed Coachella. And if you were standing on the other side of the street your family was one missed pay check away from having to sell the car. Definitely not the worst off at Earhart, you can afford to bring a lunch, but you would be eaten alive at Sally Ride High.
It was lucky then, that Leah had a scholarship to the fancy performing arts school in the area. Lucky because otherwise her parents would’ve never been able to afford it.
All of this would’ve been fine! There was no issue with Leah and Fatin grinning at each other over chem homework, or Fatin reading over Leah’s latest short story, or Leah going to Fatin’s concerts. Leah could march up to her door and bring Fatin flowers whenever she wanted. Fatin could press her against her bedroom wall, kissing her breathless while her parents were out getting groceries.
It was perfect, it was easy, it was the kind of easy every childhood first love should be.
But then the city councilors said: has it really been twenty years already? Wow they just flew by! Who’s the president now? Bill something? We should really redraw those borders.
And everyone, collectively, lost their fucking minds.
It took one (1) meeting for the Jadmani’s (who’s daughter does not even attend the public high school) to decide that Leah wasn’t good enough for their daughter. And it took that same meeting for the Rilke’s (who’s daughter also does not attend the public high school but at least they were in the right here) to decide that the Jadmani’s were classist assholes and Leah shouldn’t be wasting her time with their trash daughter.
And the city councilors said: everyone’s got way more upset than we thought they would! Maybe twenty years was too long? Should we just leave it as is? Let us know!
It was an ordinary suburb in Berkley California, there are a lot like them. This one just happened to be the front lines of a war-zone.
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soyforramen · 3 years ago
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28. i’ve been crushing on you for so long and when i get your name in secret santa i decide to write you a love note except there’s a last minute shuffle with people trading and my gift is given to someone else (bonus: ot3! ot3!)
I know this was a prompt sent in by @arsenicpanda, but lord help me if I can find the ask.
--
“So, who’d you pull for Secret Santa?” Fangs asked.
Betty picked at her sandwich. The reminder of Cheryl’s forced Christmas cheer drove away what little appetite she had. Nervously, she glanced over at Jughead who seemed oblivious to her internal struggle. When he glanced at her, she smiled and shoved her sandwich towards him.
“Veronica,” he mumbled through bites. He shot Betty a glance, a concerned warning that he’d be making sure she ate later.
“Cheryl,” Betty said miserably. “I don’t even know what she’d want.”
While she and her cousin had been on better terms now that the babies were older, it was still rocky. Alice Cooper and Penelope still hadn’t learned how to co-grandparent, forcing Cheryl and Betty to work together to avoid a Hatfield and McCoy situation for every holiday."
“Something red,” Fangs said with a laugh.
“Or stupidly expensive,” Jughead added.
Betty sighed and stared out at nothing in particular. Between finals, editing the school paper, and Christmas shopping for her own family, not to mention the long list of things she hadn’t managed to get to this month, it looked more and more like she wouldn’t be getting much sleep until the New Year.
“If you wanted to stare at me, all you had to do was ask. I'll send you as many pictures as you want.”
Betty’s eyes refocused to find Toni sitting across from her. Her knowing smirk made Betty flush. Suddenly, Toni was all she could see, bright eyes twinkling with mirth and her lips temptingly full and pink. Before Betty could stammer out a response, Jughead laughed and slung his arm across her shoulders.
“Toni, are you flirting with my girlfriend?”
At the reminder of his presence, Betty squirmed and stared onto the old picnic table. Guilt crawled across her skin; after all, Toni hadn’t been the only one flirting lately.
“Have been for a while Jones,” Toni shot back with a wicked grin. “You gonna do something about it?”
Betty held her breath, waiting for an irritated response or jealous sulking, but instead Jughead threw his head back and laughed. The sound shook out the tension that had suddenly risen within in her, and she couldn’t help but join in with him. When she glanced across the table, Toni shot her a wink. This time Betty’s skin crawled with something far different than guilt.
--
It was the last day of finals, and Cheryl had finally rounded everyone up. A vast array of presents, the wrapping of each a reflection of the giver, was piled in the center of the common room. Betty’s was meticulously wrapped, a hand made bow sitting on top. Archie’s was wrapped with more tape than paper, and Jughead’s had been thrown into a plastic shopping bag. Veronica’s was wrapped in expensive, holographic paper, no doubt wrapped at a chic New York boutique, while Kevin’s sat in a reusable tote that proudly thanked him for his donation.
“Can we get this over with Cheryl,” Veronica said over a latte, “I have an economics test in fifteen minutes.”
“So much for holiday cheer,” Kevin said in a soto voice.
“She’s even wearing Grinch green,” Fangs added.
“Do any of you humbugs have any holiday cheer?” Cheryl asked. She set her hands on her hips as she surveyed them. “No? Then how about we make things extra interesting. We’re all redrawing names.”
A collective groan rang out. Not to be discouraged, Cheryl picked up the first gift, a small package topped off with tinsel.
“Archie, pour vous.”
Before he could take the package, Toni leapt forward and grabbed the package.
“Sorry Red, you'll have to take a rain check,” she apologized, ignoring Cheryl’s harsh look. When Cheryl started to object, Toni said, “You’re the one who changed the rules on us.”
Cheryl huffed. “Fine, I’ll allow it just this once. But anyone else who tries it -“
She let the threat hang in the air before reaching for the next present.
“And this one will be for …”
--
Betty watched Jughead pack from the comfort of her bed. Outside the snow fell, it’s soft plinking noise lulling her back to sleep.
“Are you sure you have to be in Ohio the whole time?”
He turned, smiling, and kissed her on the forehead. “Jellybean’s been threatening me since August that if I didn’t come up there she’d drag me there herself.”
Betty reached out and grabbed his flannel shirt, pulling him back for another kiss. “I’m sure I can fend her off.”
“I’ll miss you too," he said.
His eyes were so soft when he looked at her like that. It was almost enough for her to volunteer to drive him to his mother’s. Almost. Knowing that they had holidays to spend together years from now made it easy enough to let him leave today. That, and the fact that if she did go she’d miss the twins’ first visit Santa. (And, worse than that, she'd have to hear about it all second hand from Cheryl).
“Why don’t you ask Toni to hangout? She wants to go see that weird alien movie you've been gushing about,” Jughead said, turning back to his luggage.
All of the warm, gooeyness that she’d felt evaporated immediately. Desperate to relieve her discomfort, Betty pulled the blankets tighter around her. There wasn’t really a reason she could give as to why she could say no; after all, they were part of the same friend group and they did get along splendidly. Not to mention the inappropriateness of admitting to one’s long term boyfriend that you had a maddeningly, infuriatingly, deep crush on someone else.
“Maybe," Betty said while she picked at a loose thread.
Then again, maybe spending more time with Toni would cure her of this crush; after all, it had happened with Veronica and they’d settled into a close friendship, one Betty wouldn’t give up for anything.
“Don’t have too much fun while I’m gone,” Jughead said, picking up his bag and helmet.
He kissed her cheek and Betty mumbled out an ‘I love you’ that felt just as real, just as strong as it ever had. A few minutes later Betty’s phone chimed and she saw a text from Toni. Betty groaned and burrowed deeper into her bed.
--
“It’s fine, really. I can walk. It’s only a few blocks,” Toni repeated as she pulled on her jacket.
Betty glanced out the diner window. Outside, drifts of snow were quickly growing.
“Just because you can doesn’t mean you should,” Betty replied.
Despite the tension that had been building up within her, despite the fear (exhilaration? increasing desire?) of being alone in such a close space with Toni, Betty couldn’t let her walk home in this kind of weather. Even if their friendship hadn’t grown deeper over the past week and a half she still would have made the offer.
“Are you worried about me, Cooper?” Toni teased.
“Yes.”
The smile fell from Toni’s face. She searched Betty’s face, and finding what she was looking for, smiled softly at her. It was so similar to the one Jughead had given her before she left that Betty had to look away.
“Alright. Lead the way,” Toni said.
Pop’s bid them a good night on their way out, and they braced themselves for the cold. Impulsively, Betty slipped an arm through Toni’s. After all, they were friends now, closer than they had been. She did this sort of thing with Veronica all the time, though unlike with Veronica, Betty only found her crush on Toni growing deeper.
“So, what are you doing tomorrow?”
Toni shrugged and stepped closer to Betty. “Same thing we always do. Watch reruns of It’s a Wonderful Life with Grandpa and eat too much. You?”
“The Blossoms invited us over for Christmas dinner.”
“Yikes,” Toni said with a slow whistle.
Betty pulled out her keys and opened up the passenger side door. Toni nodded her thanks and sat down. A minute later they were pulling out of Pop’s parking lot.
“I take it you and Cheryl are running interference?” Betty nodded and turned on her blinker. Despite there being no one on the street, it was a ingrained habit that made Toni smile at her.
“Something like that. Mom’s convinced they’re going to cancel last minute to make us host it, so she’s been on a cleaning and decorating rampage this past week. But the kids love that Cheryl’s been staying with us.”
“That’s good. I'm down there. ” Toni pointed to the right side of the Sunnyside Trailer Park. “The most drama we get is when some idiot decides to shoot off firecrackers at 4 am.”
Betty laughed and pulled in next to the trailer surrounded by half rebuild cars. She sat on her hands to keep from rushing out of her car and checking the models of each.
“Well, this is me,” Toni said.
Betty nodded, unsure of what else to say. In her peripheral vision she saw Toni pull something out of her bag.
“You were supposed to get this at Cheryl’s Christmas exchange,” Toni said.
She held out a package with crushed tinsel wrapped around it. When Betty looked closer she realized there were different kinds of vintage cars driving along a highway, each with a pine tree strapped to the top. Glancing at Toni, she gently pulled the paper apart. She almost fainted when she realized what it was.
“Toni, this is too much, I can’t -“
Toni held up a hand. “It’s really nothing. I just got lucky at the thrift store and thought of you.”
Betty stared at the first edition copy of The Secret of the Old Clock, scared to open it least it fall to pieces in her hands. A paper peeked out of the pages, and she gently tugged it out.
‘Merry Christmas Betty!
Thought you might like this (and don’t forget to check the inside cover before you put it under glass).
From,
Your Secret Admirer.’
Upon reading those words, Betty couldn’t help but keep the smile from her face. Something like this was so heartfelt, so personal, she couldn’t help but want to take Toni into her arms and thank her profusely. Opening the book ever so gently, Betty gasped at the author's faded signature.
“Toni -“
Her voice had taken on a tone of anguish. Torn between her loyalty and the sudden tenderness she felt, Betty was at a crossroads without a map.
“Is this about Jughead?” Toni asked. Betty whipped around to look at her. With a gentle smile, Toni wrapped her hands around Betty’s.
“Call your boyfriend.”
Betty squinted at Toni, unsure. Was Toni asking her to choose between them? As if reading her mind, Toni laughed. She slipped the book out of Betty’s hands and set it on the dash.
“Call your boyfriend, Coop.”
Frowning, Betty pulled out her phone and dialed Jughead. With every ring, her heart beat more painfully against her chest.
“Hey, happy Christmas Eve eve,” came Jughead’s sleepy voice.
“Hey, I didn’t wake you did I?”
She could her him shifting in the background. “No, we were just watching the worst movie of all time.”
Jellybean yelled out in the background and there was a scuffling as the phone exchanged hands.
“Break up with him, Betty, he has no taste.”
“Santa’s Slay should never had been made,” came his tinny voice. A second later and his voice was as clear as if he were sitting next to her. “What’s up?”
“Toni’s with me, and -“
“Oh, she finally gave you her Secret Santa gift?”
Betty’s eyes drew together and she glanced over at Toni. “You knew she drew my name?”
“Actually, I drew it, but -“
“You?”
Jughead’s chuckle was throaty and deep. The sound of it sent shivers down her spin in much the same way that Toni’s look did right now. “She wanted to trade, and neither of you have been subtle.”
“But -“ There was a silence that hung in the air as Betty processed what was happening. “Do you mean -“
“I’m secure in our relationship Bets. If you want to, then you have my blessing.”
“Oh.”
He laughed again. “Merry Christmas Betts. I love you.”
“I love you too,” she said, her voice sounding far off.
The line went dead and she sat there, watching the falling snow. It felt as if her chest were going to explode. The world had expanded three times since she’d first picked up the phone and suddenly it felt as if there was a wealth of new possibilities open to her.
“Well?” Toni asked, breaking Betty out of her reverie.
Betty turned to her slowly, taking her all in. Setting her hand on the console between them, Betty slowly leaned in, hesitantly touching her lips to Toni’s.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “I really like my Christmas gift.”
Toni wrapped her hand around Betty’s and tugged her closer. “Than you’re going to have to do a better job of showing it than that.”
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yanderecandystore · 4 years ago
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The bullies with an S/O that’s just completely off the board? Like no matter how much they look the bullies can’t find /anything/ on them, all their school papers are forged and their home just isn’t able to be found no matter how hard they look? Maybe due to the S/O changing their identity after doing something bad?
That's hella specific and I love it?? XD
Sure thing boo, let me see what I can do.
Also, I'll change the ocs profiles to be paper drawings with digital coloring because believe me boo, I'm tired of redrawing them (and I believe y'all are tired of always seeing these new drawings).
I noticed that my paper art is a lot better than my digital art, and although I'm kinda proud of them I still feel a little petty because I wish to do cool stuff on the computer ;-;.
Anyway, just a heads-up if you see something off with the oc's bios.
TW/Tags: I have no idea what to tag this lmao // identity theft // illegal/unauthorized inscription // not an accurate representation of university/how universities work lol // abusive household/abusive parents // I may or may not have changed your concept a little, I'm sorry for it 😔
🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭
Suspicion (fuck yeah, I don't know what to title this) [Yandere!Bully OC x Reader - Headcanon]:
→Adrien Coldwell:
For a person that prides themselves as the "know it all" when it comes to people's social media and reputation, he doesn't know anything about you.
This is a first for him, which is both annoying and honestly so intriguing. You didn't strike him as a person who would hide any secrets, and he had a hunch this was about to be good.
He searched for social media first, not finding anything about Avery Remington. Well, at least nothing with your face on it.
However, he did find something very, very interesting while looking at the school's documents, specifically the archives of all the students that have already studied here. He honestly didn't think he would find anything about you in these old papers, he was probably doing all this stupid work for nothing.
However, he was half right and half wrong. He didn't find anything about you, but this whole search wasn't completely lost, as he did find "you", Avery.
"- Student name Avery Remington, average grades and apparently no history of wrong doings or any bad behavior in general. Their registration to the Academy dates to 1980."
Oh. Ooooh, this was rich.
"- Huh." He said closing the documents and letting it where he found it. He was at least kind enough to let the palace a little organize after going through each paper trying to find your name.
Well, "your name". The only things that he kept for himself was photos of both the old documents about Avery Remington, and the earlier documents about Avery Remington. It was clear that you did something probably really, really bad, and you know he'll take advantage of it.
He had built his own theory about this, as in: you somehow found the paperwork of Avery's registration and their previous school's records so you could somehow impersonate them and get a free entrance to this institution.
He knew that you had something to hide, no one can be so perfect. But knowing the action itself wasn't enough for him, he needed to know the motive behind it.
For someone that is lazy and doesn't bother to care about important things, he sure spent a lot of time trying to scoop some dirt on you. When he finds the perfect opportunity, without any witness around, he'll take the chance to use this information against you.
"- Well, hello "Avery"." His tone was already suspicious, his voice not hiding anything from you. He came here to belittle you for his own entertainment.
"- H-Hi Adrien." You said shyly, hoping that your anxious mind was wrong and that this was all just a misunderstanding. You were hoping that the growing feeling of him possibly knowing about your fraud, was wrong.
"- Ya know, I'm kinda jealous of whatever plastic surgery you went through to look so young, maybe you should ask the faculty to correct your age tho." He said while showing the pictures he took of the documents.
"- Wait! I-I can-"
"- Honestly, I didn't think you were over 60 years old! Could have fooled me." His smug face was the selling point. You knew that you wouldn't find any form to convince him that what was on his phone was false.
He had a victorious smile on his face. Ever since you entered this school you always acted a little too paranoid and almost too friendly for his liking, and to confess to himself that he has fallen for you would be the bottom of the pit to him.
Still, he wanted to know why you did it. Why didn't you pay to get in if you wanted the scholarship so badly? What, you were too poor for it?
And what about a talent, or the test? Obviously, the university hasn't gone out of their way to pick a loser like you and insert you inside their classes on a whim, as they thought you were Avery Remington, a student that is already registered in school's documents (yet, of course, their system haven't verified the date of the registration, either by incompetence or by a "small mistake"). So you didn't do the test too, simply pathetic honestly.
Your sad dramatic story explaining how you managed to get into the academy. You did your best to get into the academy by legal means, but they always rejected you. Apparently you thought it would be a good idea to use your grandparent's documents to squeeze yourself into the institution.
"- But why in hell would you do such a thing? Are you that pathetic dearest?"
"- I… I wanted somewhere to go. Somewhere I could grow into a better person, a-away from-" You cut yourself short when the memories of your old home started to come into view.
For some reason, your parents couldn't stand the idea of you getting into a decent university, if anything, they thought you weren't capable of even washing some dishes at the local pizzeria. In their eyes, you were worthless.
When you found out your grandparent used to frequent this institution, and that they managed to disattached themselves from their familial routes and thrive as a musician you got instantly inspired! Determined to follow their steps and prove your family that you're just as worth ass-
"- Urghhhh- Boring! I don't care about all of that. Are you serious? You committed a crime just so you could stick it up to your shitty parents?"
"- …. Yes?"
"- Huh. Geez you're cooler than I thought. Listen, how about we make a deal?"
The deal was simple, he would not tell anyone about your little secret, and he would even help you keep your scholarship and help you reach your ambitions as long as you started spending more time with him. Which, at first you thought it sounded absurd, this man is holding your whole life by a thin thread as long as you give him attention?? What?!
And although that sounded extremely suspicious, you accepted it, not knowing that for the next few years you would have to endure a harsh training to discover your talents and to improve them before you two graduated. However, you started to think Adrien was starting to see your deal in a different light-
"- Come on now, after this we can go eat something okay? Where would you like to go this time? Our last date I chose the best restaurant I know, so you better choose something of equal value."
…. Date?
→Alexandra Coldwell:
You were suspicious from the very start. Overly friendly and too- Ugh! Too cute?!
You were always skittish whenever someone called you. What, you had a problem with your name or something?
And the worst part was how no one seemed to know where you lived. Every group project with you was considered annoying by most of your classmates, as you never called people in your house or never let anyone have your address, not even your phone number??
You didn't have any social media, what are you, a weirdo? What the hell??!
She is not even pissed about you being a loser, she is pissed that she has fallen for someone like you! A complete weirdo that was always panicking over nothing.
She started stalking you with the intention of finding at least one thing that she could hate on you so she wouldn't feel so- Lovey dovey towards you!
But what she really found was something worth an entire gold mine.
A private phone call between you and someone who was losing their shit. She couldn't understand too much of the conversation as she didn't have any context, yet she could hear a lot of things that you and the person were discussing.
The person yelled [Y/N] multiple times while in the phone call, saying how you were absolutely the worst mistake of their lives (which by the way, rude much? Who is this asshole?), that you were a selfish brat that needed to learn to appreciate their hard work.
Oh… Oh. She now knows who you're talking with. She decided to record the entire thing the moment she saw you taking your cellphone to have a private call.
She was planning on recording your voice for her own hearing pleasure, but this? This was so… Interesting.
"- [Y/N]?" She called your attention after the conversation ended, and because you haven't been accustomed to people calling you "Avery", you turned around saying "what" instinctively.
And when you noticed Alexandra smirk for a split second, you regretted answering your parents call. Not that you needed anymore reason to regret it, but this was certainly the last nail in the coffin.
You begged for her to understand that you couldn't go back, you simply can't go back to them, ever again! You told her the whole sob story about how your grandparent had decided to run away from home and fulfil their own dreams as a musician, even if people didn't really hear their music all that much, and now that you think about it, that's probably the reason why no one have recognized their name at all.
Your grandparent had a really small fanbase, and you knew that because you were part of them. They weren't popular at all compared to Amaryllis Academy standards, yet they were happy singing their songs to the world.
You kinda wish your family hasn't broken the old recorder that belonged to your grandparent. Their first album was in there, it was cheesy and filled with errors, yet they sounded so happy when doing what they loved, and you wanted something like that for yourself!
You needed to live that hell hole and so you did. You rented a small apartment that was falling apart, the reason why you never gave people your address was because you knew they would bully the hell out of you because of how poor you are.
After finishing your story you noticed Alexandra snoring beside you. You thought she was only exaggerating, but then you saw her drooling and acting really dizzy after you woke her up.
"- Oh my God, so… That was it? You ran away to follow your dreams and stuff?" She asked, still kinda sleepy.
"- What? Of course it was-" You were fuming with anger, how dare she-
"- And I thought you only looked cool because I liked you! You're pretty strong for sticking up for yourself." She interrupted you, looking at you with admiration in her eyes.
She proposed to you a deal. How about you two keep this secret together, and, if anything does happen she'll still help you stay inside the institution. However, you'll need to work your ass out to become the best you can be, and you'll let her guide you through, because you're too much of a dummy to do it all by yourself. You'll have to spend time with her and let her help you out.
At first, you thought it sounded absurd, this woman is holding your whole life by a thin thread as long as you give her attention?? What?!
And although that sounded extremely suspicious, you accepted it, not knowing that for the next few years you would have to endure a harsh training to discover your talents and to improve them before you two graduated. However, you started to think Alexandra was starting to see your deal in a different light-
"- Why you never hold my hand? Come on, "Avery", won't you hold the hand of your dearest girlfriend?" She asked playfully while taking your hand anyway.
…. Girlfriend?
🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭
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ourladylennon · 3 years ago
Text
this is a stress rant and also I absolutely have to get these thoughts out of my head and onto something so that I can understand how I'm feeling. so pardon me.
I have some very mixed feelings about my latest tattoo experience and it has been incredibly, astoundingly stressful. For anyone who was interested in how it went.
and after typing out this whole rant and reading it back my advice is: ALWAYS make sure it is exactly what you want. ALWAYS speak up if you don’t.
I have a specific style, as everyone, but the style of tattoo I have is a bit of a niche that can be hard to find: geometric design with dotwork/pointillism/stippling techniques to create shading rather then standard fill in shading. This shading style is incredibly time consuming and taxing for the artist and I've had a lot of trouble finding people who specialize in this (and within my area).
I started with an artist about 3 years ago, whom was new to me but known to be good. Got my appt set up, he drew me an entire sleeve- it was absolutely gorgeous. Went through two sessions and his work is genuinely amazing. Clean. Precise. Detailed. Unique. I didn't vibe with him too great but it was something I kind of put aside. But without explaining the whole fucking mess that became, just know that our artist-client relationship fell through. This left me with only the beginning of my tattoo. The whole ordeal was really stressful and upsetting so I put down the goal of getting it finished to try and recoup. And I just continually hit roadblocks trying to find artists who are good at dotwork and willing to do it. Often times they live in other cities/states/etc. Obviously this involves meeting a new artist, trying to figure out if it's a good fit, driving out for consultations/redoing all that process- s t r e s s. Now with covid, it's even more difficult because almost every artist I've come across that I've considered has closed books. All of them being out of town which is fine because it would be worth it. It's expected.
But after three years of this go around of trying to find someone, I was getting really put out by the process and just wanting to get this thing going. (Mistake #1- or #2 technically cause fucking up w the first artist is where it all started and I do regret it to this day).
A new shop opened IN my town- a miracle!!! I started following an artist whose work I found to be particularly amazing. Clean lines, clean shading, artistic seeming. Didn't see any pointillism, but I just like kept seeing her work and thinking damn that's good. So I decided to reach out and told her this is what I'm looking for, a dotwork sleeve and here are some examples of the style I like. I specifically mentioned this and asked if they'd be interested in working on it because I know that dotwork is not everyone's thing. The artist replied and said they've been wanting to get into and would like to do that (we'll call this mistake #3. Do not assume the artist, even if very good at other things will be good at all things. Do not go to an artist wanting a specific style without having seen their work for THAT style).
At this point I sent over pictures of my current tattoo that we'd be adding onto for reference. In my mind this is what I thought would mean: "I am looking at what you have to see how to incorporate it into a new sleeve design and see how I can create a collaborative piece and mesh the two together." (Mistake #4: that was not the case. Do not assume. Anything. Ever.)
The appt date was relatively quick despite the fact that I figured she'd be booked out for quite some time (red flag #1: not because she wasn't busy. But because this was not a whole lot of time to come up with a design but I figured "Well she knows her capabilities better than I do and she wouldn't suggest it that soon if she weren't sure). In my previous experiences, the artist will send you a proof or have a separate appt to review the design. I never received an email with said design (red flag #2, in my personal opinion. But I thought I was just being...extra? Also just thought, okay I'll see it at the appt and it will be OK, right? <- mistake #5).
I show up, there is no sleeve design. (RED FLAG #3) There are two single mandala tattoos. Outlines only. No shading. I'd also like to say my style is much more geometric fractals than it is mandala. A lot of people find these interchangeable but...they're really much different. (RED. FLAG. #4). I genuinely did not see that coming. Maybe I'm wrong to say, but this was negligent in my opinion and experience. A sleeve design ensures that your finished piece flows, that it works together, you can see the whole picture, modify, etc. Especially with it being an addition to my existing work. Cannot stress how much of a red flag.
I'm wigging out at this point. I don't love them but I want this tattoo. I'm going back and forth thinking, "maybe it's just because the shading isn't filled in I can't picture it." (MISTAKE #6: trust your gut!!!). I tell her OK well I like this about this one and that about that one. She only nods and listens, where I was expecting feedback; perhaps an "OK well we can draw it on" or "I can rework it" etc. She didn't and I am too paralyzed to speak up. (Red flag #4)
Mistake #7: I accept it at this point. I pick between the two. She has to go resize it. I'm having a literal internal freak out and battle. I am someone who DOES NOT know how to speak up for themselves. In any way. EVER. For any reason. At any time. I am a fear based individual, in fact, I am nearly certain I have APD (avoidant personality disorder) and it effects me severely and deeply. To the point that simply speaking to someone can be hard for me.
But my brain was screaming you cannot do this! You aren't sure! This is for life! It's your body!! You HAVE to say something! (RED fucking alert)
She came back with the one design resized and my heart is thumping, my chest is constricting, the throat feels like it's closing. I make myself say it. I tell her I don't think this is what I'm looking for. I literally almost busted into tears trying to say it because I was so fucking terrified and overwhelmed. I've never been in a position where I genuinely wasn't sure whether I liked what I was looking at. She says you don't need to be sorry you should speak up this is your body. So immediately, I lost a lot of tension because of her kindness. I thought she would be angry or rude or upset, just because I'm fearful. She proceeded to kind of go in and shade in with a pencil on the stencil to give me a better idea and apologized that she should have had that prepared. I continue asking questions to assuage my concerns and feel....better....ish. she offers to redraw and reschedule but I went against my gut, gave into my desperacy to continue my sleeve, dismissed my feelings as being just my typical overexertion of fear and did something I NEVER do: turn my back on my instincts. (Mistake. Mistake #8)
She was pleasant and I genuinely enjoyed her, felt comfortable with her which is not something I can say about previous artists and that's a good chunk of why I decided to continue. I liked her, I liked her other work I've seen, I just thought that once the stippling was in that I'd see it was really nice. However, I am laying there and I'm like I do not feel poking, which is literally how dotwork is done. Dot by dot. I'd feel her do the tiniest bit of dot-dot-dot and I'm like OK OK I'm just not paying full attention and missing it. But then I'd hear and feel her shading- standard shading. I'm like why is she using a shading tip? I'm just confused honestly. I'm like I have no idea what the could be for, just assume it's necessary for something I didn't realize. But I can see because I'm laying and my arms at a weird angle.
I finally get a peek while she's pausing and its....not dotwork. It's not dotwork at all, in fact. It's too late at this point in my eyes. It was only partially done but what am I gonna do? Stop her in the middle and have an unfinished tattoo? And then what? (Try to) go to someone else to have them do dotwork and have a half unmatching tattoo? There was nothing I could do. So I resigned and accepted this as the consequences of my actions and ill choices. And that's honestly been the hardest part to deal with: I let this happen to myself because I could not speak up. The only person who could have stopped this was ME. And I could not do it. That's how deeply my issues of fear run. And that is terrifying, pathetic, sad.
I'm not saying I got the world's ugliest tattoo. It's okay. Just okay. In the words of RuPaul, meh. I don't want meh. I want astounding. And I didn't do what I needed to to make that happen or not happen.
I just have been in awe over the fact that I asked for dotwork and the artist expressed no concern over this, literally had my existing tattoo right above where they were working and continued to not emulate that style of shading at all. Most of this is my fault, 90% of it. But there was negligence on the artists side and I genuinely don't think they meant it to be. I just don't think they had enough experience, but they too should have spoke up if they didn't feel they could carry it out. They gave me no inclination that they could not or would not be doing dotwork. At any point. And I do feel upset that I don't think they put in the effort or care to work off my existing tattoo in their design, and in looking back, their design also does not look nearly anything like the designs I gave for example. It was my job to walk away and request a redesign or to cancel and I didn't. So in the end this is on me. And it has been very taxing on my mental state.
To end this shit show: the tattoo I just got costed half of what my first one did, while only having taking the fraction of time as my first and being less then half the size of my first. It is not nearly as clean, it certainly reflects their level of experience. The shop environment was not fantastic: it felt a bit like as if I had walked into a chain restaurant...but a tattoo shop. There were no private rooms, there were no tattoo chairs. They were literal stools and that's not...not professional or normal. And I chose to continue.
I'm faced with some really tough decisions moving forward. I am at least thankful it is relatively small ish and wraps towards my inner arm which makes it less visible. But I'm at a crossroads of whether I go through the whole mess of trying to find a FOURTH artist to try and finish my sleeve the way it was meant to be finished (dotwork, whole sleeve design etc) and make the best of it at the risk of having a fucking patchwork arm. Or I continue to work with this artist and see the design through myself (literally design it myself which I didn't want to do but it doesn't appear that I should leave this to them), so that at least the remainder of my arm is consistent shading and work.
And because I've made it sound like the tattoo is atrocious, be assured it's not trash by any means. It's just not what I wanted. Big sis learned a big lesson.
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(the immediate center is bothering me the most. But I think it can be altered. Nonetheless. The skill/experience level shows, unfortunately. And you can certainly see the difference between the stipple shading on my first tattoo and the regular shading on the new one.)
I am trying to be positive and that's all I can do. I accept the results and I think it can be fixed to a certain extent, and I can only hope as I move forward that I make the right decision and that the end product is something I enjoy.
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ryuichirou · 4 years ago
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How did you learn anatomy, senpai??👀
Did I learn it though haha.
Well, it was a journey… it still is tbh, because there’s a lot of stuff I still need to learn.
I started passively learning anatomy ~in 2012-2013, when I first learnt about proportions (just basic stuff though, like the amount of heads in human’s body) and the fact that the hands I draw are extremely funky. I drew a couple of studies back then, but they weren’t good, and I’m not sure if they helped me at all – I wasn’t ready to study properly back then. Still, it was an important step lol
Here are some examples of my early attempts at redrawing poses from references…sigh (these are mostly from 2013)
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I had a phase in ~2014 when I used to sketch tons of poses from some app (random poses app?.. something like that). I wasn’t trying to imitate every line or perfectly copy it, I was just breaking the pose up into shapes and sketching it very quickly. It didn’t feel like I was doing it a lot, but when we looked back at my old sketches, we found a lot of scans like these:
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For the record, this is what my regular sketches looked like back then. You can see how stiff and off (anatomy-wise) they are, so I guess it’s safe to say that I was pushing myself out of my comfort zone with the random-pose-sketches.
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I still have this stiffness problem from time to time, but I think it’s gotten much better from this point
Plus, and it’s very important, I think it helped me to understand how human bodies work pose-wise. As a result, now it’s much easier for me to come up with a pose without looking for a photo-reference. In fact, it’s much easier for me to draw a pose out of my own head than to find a perfect photo-reference that’d fit my idea, so I don’t even bother lol Sometimes my drawings even look worse when they’re referenced.
Of course the poses and the anatomy that I draw aren’t perfect and there are some nuances, but still, I’m glad I have this knowledge now. Drawing these poses gave me a very good base, even if my anatomy and proportions still were somewhat funky back then.
And then I continued getting better and better and then I got MUCH WORSE and then I started getting better again… And then I realized that the bodies that I draw are too boring and simple lol I wanted to make them more interesting.
I started thinking about the details and spending more time making them look better (in my eyes). I still had the simple shape base, but the shapes became more complex: «it’s not an oval, it’s ehhh idk something weird but not perfectly round». At this stage reference photos help A LOT to capture details that I might miss, but it’s basically “I’ll just google torsos and draw my own thing”, I still barely copy anything, I actually have to force myself when I’m doing studies lol I still draw studies from time to time, and after I’m done with them, Katsu usually looks at them and comments them, points out the details that I overlooked, etc.
Hilariously fun fact: remember how I mentioned that I used to be terrible at drawing hands? Well these are my first proper studies (once again, all of these are done in 2013). This is when I got a grim reminder that the “just draw your own hands” rule doesn’t apply when your own hands are chubby and small.
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As a comparison, here are the hands I drew earlier this year. This wasn’t a study, rather we were just looking at Qunni’s hands tutorial and wondered if I could draw the examples from it myself. This is the result:
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Good job, Ryu, it only took like half a decade…
So yeah, basically I drew a lot of bodies and did a lot of thinking while doing that, even though it took me a while to do the second lol. When I had the base, I started working on details, because even the smallest details always make a huge difference when it comes to drawings. For example, this year I pushed myself to draw ears more-or-less properly, then I tried to fix how I draw torsos, stuff like that. I know my weakest points and I try to work on them…
Hope I’ll get better with time.
And I also hope this wasn’t too boring to read lol I don’t know why I ended up with such a long reply.
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mcwriting · 4 years ago
Text
The Marriage Project (1)
Omg I can’t believe it’s taken me THIS long to post this. I wrote this chapter probably in like April or May and it freaks me out to finally post but here it is!
My slow burn (American) High School AU with Tom Holland!
All the general info for this series is on the story masterlist, but I’ll list warnings and word counts on every chapter. Chapters will be much longer than my typical 2000 or less babies
Warnings: This will become a mature story in the future (no smut; more info on masterlist). Some profanity in this chapter
Word Count: 4140 (I told you!)
% approximately the 2nd week of August %
Ah, senior year. One last year of high school, one last year of seeing the people you’ve grown up with every day.
You’ve been told it’s easy. The best year ever. And yeah, maybe it will be. It’s not like you’re taking too many hard classes or overloading yourself with extracurriculars, aside from volleyball, soccer, the National Honors Society, and quiz bowl.
(Okay maybe it was a little much, but you loved it anyways)
The only real problem was the certified thorn in your side, Tom Holland. 
He’d essentially been your mortal enemy since the sixth grade when he beat your mile time by only a few seconds. 
Now, it’s not that he was a bully or anything, he was just so insufferable to be around. And yes, everyone always says boys pick on girls when they like them, but rest assured that wasn’t the case. You’d both always hated each other, nothing more. 
You were always competing, and because of that ended up in the same place a lot.
He was in all your honors classes, in NHS, played boys soccer, and did quiz bowl. The only thing you had to yourself was volleyball except, oh wait, his younger brother’s girlfriend was on the team and Tom was his ride home every day.
All these thoughts raced through your head as you walked in on the first day, sitting down in AP calculus as soon as you finished up at your locker. 
Everyone did the “how was your summer?” and “long time no see!” as students filed in. Eventually walked in Tom, and you shot each other a glare as he sat down right next to you.
“Holland.”
“Y/l/n.”
Everyone around you groaned. They all knew you two were forces to be reckoned with and probably dreaded spending another year listening to the two of you bicker everyday.
Though you were often in close proximity, you never really talked much, except to argue. Rarely did you agree unless it was on basic facts, and even then was it hard to admit sometimes.
Because of this, you typically resigned yourselves to only speaking when it came to grades so you could keep a mental tally of who was in the lead. You were both in the running for valedictorian at the end of the year, and you were not about to let Tom win.
%
The week was almost over and things had gone smoothly for the most part. 
Sure, you and Tom had had a couple of spats, but nothing that wasn’t handled quickly. 
He’d been to all of your volleyball games so far, even the summer ones, which meant he was forced to watch you dominate the court as both a setter and right side hitter.
It was a nice little satisfaction. 
Especially because you’d watched him throw some horrendous passes in the preseason football game last week that led to a loss by one touchdown. (Okay, he’d had some good passes too, but they were lucky shots).
You settled into your seat in senior home economics Friday before lunch. The class was your school’s attempt at teaching some life skills for rising adults. For the most part however, it was a glorified cooking and sewing class. You didn’t mind per say, since you could cook up a pre-snack lunch sometimes.
Most of your friends were in there, including your best friend Alexis, whom you hadn’t seen all morning.
You, Alexis, and two other girls stood around a mixing bowl with the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies since it was a Friday, which Mrs. Flynn called “dessert day.”
“Oh! Before I forget,” your teacher, Mrs. Flynn, started getting everyone’s attention. “This year we’re doing something new for this class! Next week I’ll have you all split into pairs for a semester long marriage project! I will be drawing names out of a hat, so don’t get too comfortable yet. Anyways, be thinking on what kinds of careers you might want and things of that nature! Okay, now get back to your desserts!”
The whole room broke out into chatter the last part of the hour-and-a-half class, people speculating who might end up with who and what jobs they’ll get.
“Oh my God, wouldn’t it be funny if y/n got Tom?” Alexis stated as you stirred chocolate chips into the dough. The other girls laughed as you just snorted.
“Yeah, I’d rather lick the inside of the microwave than be paired up with him for a semester,” you replied, earning more laughter from your friends.
You assumed Tom’s friends were saying the same however, because when you looked over to see how bad their dough looked, he was rolling his eyes as his group pointed in your direction.
%
The next week came and went, and it was once again Friday. Or, as Mrs. Flynn was calling it, Wedding Day.
Every time she’d pull a couple’s name, she was going to make you both come to the front of the class and exchange plastic wedding rings and sign a fake marriage license.
Yay.
Everyone chattered excitedly as she tore up the strips with your names and mixed them around. Finally the time came for her to start the drawing.
“Okay, friends. First up we have...” she drew the first name. “Katherine and... drumroll please?” 
The class drummed their hands over their thighs.
“Chris! Come on down folks, let’s get this marriage on!”
She “married” the first couple, and then continued to draw. You had to admit that you were a little nervous, but still eager to see who you’d get.
Two couples later, she pulled Tom’s name.
You shot him an eyebrow raise to which he returned a discreet middle finger. You rolled your eyes as you prepared a drumroll for Mrs. Flynn.
“And his lucky partner is... y/n!”
“What!” you both exclaimed simultaneously.
Almost the entire class burst into laughter.
“Mrs. Flynn, this has to be a mistake,” you said.
“Yeah, can’t we have a redraw?” Tom asked. 
You hated that he was agreeing with you.
“Nope! You get who you get and you don’t throw a fit! And if it doesn’t work out in a few weeks we can discuss divorce plans.”
“How about annulments,” you stated dryly, earning a chuckle from her.
“That… kinda depends on if you have kids,” she trailed awkwardly before perking back up. “Now come on down! They always say your first marriage is the most memorable!”
“Who has ever said that?” Tom asked.
“You know. They. Now just get up here and do the ring thing!” she commanded.
You both sulked up to the front of the room.
“Okay, now stand here facing each other and hold hands.”
“Do we have to?” Tom whined.
“Yes, now do it and it’ll be over with faster.”
He groaned, rolled his eyes, and grabbed your hands, holding them loosely.
“May I have the rings please!” Mrs. Flynn asked Caroline, the girl whose desk was closest that she’d asked to be designated ring bearer. She handed over the basket to let you both choose from the mix.
You took a silver colored ring with a faux white diamond in the shape of a star. Tom chose one with an oval “ruby.” You couldn’t help but notice how every single person was on edge watching the two of you.
“Okay now Tom, repeat after me. I, Tom Holland, take thee, y/n y/l/n, to be my wedded wife to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.”
He mumbled through the vow, avoiding eye contact, and slipped your star ring onto your finger. You were surprised at how gentle he was, carefully caressing your hand and making sure the ring faced straight up once it was on your finger.
You, too, said the lines and placed the ring onto his left hand.
“Alright. It is with the power vested in me by this very school that I am proud to now pronounce you husband and wife! You may now air kiss!”
You took a deep sigh and pretended to kiss each other's cheeks. 
“Class, I’d like to introduce you all to Mr. and Mrs. Holland!”
They began to cheer and clap and laugh when you interjected.
“Uh, no. It’s Mr. and Mrs. y/l/n.”
Tom began to argue with you when Mrs. Flynn stopped you both.
“Alright fine, we’ll do a combined name. How’s the y/l/n-Holland family sound?” she asked, writing your names on the fake marriage certificate.
With reluctance, Tom agreed to having your name first and you both signed the paper.
Finally you were able to sit back down where your friends were waiting.
“So what was that about licking the microwave?” Alexis asked.
“Oh shut up.”
%
After your volleyball game (another win!), you and Alexis conversed over cheese fries at your favorite diner.
“Still not ready to talk about today?” she asked. You shook your head.
Alexis had been paired up with Caroline. They were both straight, but you had both been friends with her since freshman year and they got along well.
Today had just been the marriages, and next week you’d be learning more about your family dynamics.
“I’m just so pissed at him. This afternoon in senior art he told all the guys in there that he was going to make it as hard as possible for me. I mean jokes on him, he’s going to want to get an A too, but he was just so smug about it. He also strung his stupid ring on that necklace he’s always wearing. What’s that all about?”
“I mean you’re still wearing your ring. But yeah, that is a little weird.”
“I’m wearing mine because compared to some of the others, the star is actually cute.”
“True. I got unlucky with the selection,” Alexis admitted, digging hers out of her purse to show you a big square blue gem.
“I just wish there was a way to get back at him after all these years. I mean, we’ve been at each other’s throats for almost six years but nothing has ever seemed to really hit hard. This is the last year I’ve got to really make it count.”
Alexis gave you a look, one you knew to be quite mischievous. 
“You know what’s the best way to get revenge on a guy?” Alexis asked.
“Uh, no, but by the look you’re giving me it seems to fall under Carrie Underwood ’before he cheats’ directive.”
“No, dumbass. You make his family fall in love with you.”
It took a second to process what she said before you could give a decent reply.
“You’re kidding right? His family already knows who I am because of all the stuff we’re in together. They probably also know about our rivalry. I mean, he’s told his brothers to never become friends with me.”
“And you know that, how?”
“The libero is Sam’s girlfriend. She’s been spilling tea for me for the past year.”
There was a break in the conversation as the waiter brought your meals out. Once he was gone, you spoke up again.
“Look, do you really think that would work? I mean sure I’d get under his skin, but it doesn’t really constitute revenge, does it?”
“Look at it this way,” Alexis put down her burger so she could splay her hands out in front of her. “If you can get on everyone else's good side, they’ll all talk about how much they love you and he’ll be forced to listen. If he really hates you, it’ll drive him crazy.”
You thought on it for a minute as you chomped on a chicken tender. 
“Alright, I’m in. If it doesn’t end up working, I still have all of next semester to mess with him anyways. Now if I can just figure out how to really get to know his family…”
%
By the time Monday rolled around, you and Alexis had done some more scheming, but your plan wouldn’t even begin to be put in action until your volleyball games Wednesday and Friday, when you’d try to talk to Sam.
You sat down in home ec, where today you’d be picking careers. The catch, however, was that your family unit would have a set income, so each couple had to decide how it would be split up.
“Y/l/n-Holland family, you’ll be making $200k a year,” Mrs. Flynn announced, handing you the slip of paper. “Get together and decide who’s getting what jobs.”
“At least we’ll be rich,” you thought as Tom plopped into the seat next to you unhappily.
“So I’ll be the doctor and you’ll be the trophy wife, right?” he asked immediately.
“Hah, good one. I think we all know that I’m the smarter one here and wayyyy more likely to get into med school than you. And don’t call me trophy wife. I mean, what, you think I’m hot now? Can’t wait to tell everyone that little number.”
His ears turned beet red and he balled a fist.
“I don’t think you’re hot, except maybe hot shit. It’s a figure of speech.” he spat.
“Oh get over yourself. I know I’m hot anyways. Let’s just both pick jobs that earn $100k so we can be equal. How’s that sound?” 
“Fine.”
He played with the plastic ring on his necklace as you looked up jobs on the computer. After a half hour of searching, Tom and you decided that to be fully equal, you’d both take the same job as physician’s assistants.
“Just so you know, I’ll never actually be anyone’s assistant,” he said.
“Oh yeah? Ten years time if you’re lucky I’ll hire you as mine.”
He rolled his eyes. 
“Hey everyone, since class is almost over, we’re gonna wait to draw how many kids you’ll have and other financial things Wednesday. See you then!” Mrs. Flynn called out as students packed their things.
“We have to have kids, too?” Tom asked incredulously.
“Good thing it’s fake. I’d hate to see you as a parent,” you shot smugly, earning another middle finger from him that left you laughing.
%
Wednesday came kids, and thankfully all you got were twin girls, age 9. The project didn’t make you carry around flour babies or anything like that, you just had to account for them in your weekly budgets. 
There goes the annulment plan, though.
Each week, Mrs. Flynn would be drawing something new for you all that would either be good or bad for your budgets, and it was up to you to figure out what to with the funding, or lack thereof. You also had to come up with a story each week that explained why money was put somewhere or what your “family” did that week. 
 She would also be doing progress checks, so you couldn’t wait until the end of the semester to do all the work. By the end, each couple would have to give a presentation over what they did and learned.
“Okay, so we each get to name one. That’s pretty equal,” you stated, thinking up baby names.
“Well I like Elizabeth,” he almost immediately replied, writing it down on one of the “birth certificates” you’d been handed by Mrs. Flynn.
“That’s… surprisingly good. I’ll go with Francesca. What about middle names? I like Rose.”
“Hm. How about Opal? Then they’ll have the same number of letters in their names.”
You were surprised at how much though he put into this, but let it go as you wrote your child’s name down.
“By the way, we need to plan time to get together and write a budget and find a house this weekend. I have a volleyball game Friday so how about Saturday?”
“I have football practice Saturday.”
“Well yeah but only until like 10 right? We could just meet at like 1. We’re doing construction at my house right now so could we do it at yours?” 
You spoke sweetly in an attempt to receive a yes and put your plan into motion. Tom sighed and thought about it.
“I mean I guess. But you’re only going to be there to work on the project and then leave right?”
“Uh, duh. The less time with you the better.”
“Likewise.”
%
Tom and Sam weren’t at the volleyball game Wednesday, so you had to wait until Friday’s.
Friday was muffin day in home ec, so you thankfully didn’t have to talk to Tom. Instead, you and Alexis discussed the plan of getting Tom’s family on your side as you mixed up batter.
Later that afternoon, you watched from afar as Sam and his girlfriend, Julia, sat on the bleachers speaking. It was still an hour until game time and coach had asked you to round up the girls for stretching.
“Hey, Jules!” you called, jogging over to where she was. “Oh, hey Sam!” He looked at you like you were crazy before responding.
“Uh, hey y/n.” He gave a slight head nod.
“Anyways, coach wants us to start warming up. Wanna be my partner today?” 
“Um yeah. Sure. See ya later babe,” she said, giving Sam a quick peck on the cheek before standing up to follow you.
After another win, you were helping take down the net and noticed Julia once again talking to Sam while Tom stood a few feet away looking bored. 
“Hey, could you wrap up the net? I need to do something real quick,” you said to another teammate as you headed over.
“Hey, Jules! Solid digs today! You were making my job way too easy,” you joked.
You could see from the corner of your eye Tom look up at you in annoyance.
“Ahaha thanks girl. But I can’t take all the credit. You were on fire tonight. What was that like 15 aces? And your hits? Incredible,” she replied.
“Yeah, you were amazing tonight,” Sam added. 
“Ohhhkay we can stop the compliment parade on y/n now. We need to go anyways, Sam, mom wants us home,” Tom interjected, putting an arm out in front of his brother, who was rolling his eyes.
“Alright fine. We still on for dinner tomorrow?” Sam asked his girlfriend. She nodded and they exchanged a quick hug and kiss.
“I’ll see you tomorrow too, Tom,” you said. “I’ll bring my laptop.” 
Sam looked at him in confusion.
“Yeah whatever,” was all Tom could say to you as you strutted off to the locker room.
%
You stood nervously on the front porch of Tom’s suburban home. You had texted him when you parked but now dreaded actually going inside. 
After shifting back and forth for a minute, you finally rang the doorbell. 
It was only a few seconds later that the door opened, revealing Sam’s twin Harry. He looked confused.
“Y/n? What are you doing here?” 
“Hey Harry. Tom and I are supposed to be working on a school project today and he said to come over at this time so...” You awkwardly shifted your backpack straps and looked down.
“Tom! Someone’s here to see you!” he yelled out, making you snort.
He appeared shirtless in the doorway and looked at you blankly.
“Oh. It’s just you.”
“Just me? What did you just forget that we have to work on our project today,” you replied, holding up your left hand to point to the plastic ring on it.
“You’re still wearing that? Why?”
“Firstly, the little star is cute. And secondly, you don’t have a lot of room to speak, Tom. Yours is still on your necklace,” you pointed to the chain around his neck, to which he instinctively reached up and grabbed the ring, twisting it between his fingers. 
“Touche. Now come on, let’s just get this over with.” He opened the door wider and let you in, locking it behind you. 
As he led you down a hall covered in photos towards the stairs, his mom stepped out, almost running into her son.
“Oh, sorry.” she looked at you, “Y/n? What are you doing here? It’s nice to see you.”
“Nice to see you too, Mrs. Holland. Tom and I have to work on our home ec project and we couldn’t do it at my house.”
“Oh dear just call me Nikki. And I do remember him mentioning something about a project. Are you the one he’s married to? I never thought I’d see the day.”
Tom tensed up and clenched his jaw while you gave a light chuckle, holding up your left hand again.
“I hate to say it, but yeah. You’ll probably be seeing a lot more of me throughout the semester.”
“Well you kids have fun. And Tom, honey, would it kill you to put on a shirt?”
He went red again and you had to stifle your laughter.
“I was just on my way to do that, mom. Come on y/n,” he mumbled, grabbing your wrist and dragging you up the stairs.
You turned and waved at Nikki one last time as she called up behind him,
“And make sure to keep the door open!”
He was totally embarrassed by that, and made it a point to shut the door behind him once you made it to his room. Finally you could let out a hearty laugh at his expense as he dug through his drawers and pulled out a simple black t-shirt.
“Finally. I was getting tired of looking at your man boobs,” you quipped, looking around the room.
“Ha ha. Good one,” he shot back dryly. 
You were surprised at what his room looked like, though you didn’t know what you’d expected. It was very neat with sleek grey walls. His blue and grey bedding was made up with decorative pillows laid out. On his desk were a few random school papers and a computer, and one shelf held some Spider-Man paraphernalia while another contained medals and ribbons and trophies. 
You dropped your backpack to the ground and pointed up at one figurine.
“Hey, that’s pretty cool,” you said sincerely.
“Yeah, I’m sure you think so,” he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
“Uh, no. I’m serious. It’s actually really dope.” 
He looked taken aback at your compliment, and even to you it felt weird to be saying that out loud about Tom of all people.
“Oh. Well uh. Thanks. Spider-Man was my favorite growing up. But let’s just get to work.”
After an hour of sitting on his carpet searching for a house and arguing over general money allocations,
“Yes Tom, tampons actually cost like $7 for 30 of them and most girls need at least one box a month. And that’s just one factor of personal hygiene. Do you even condition your hair?”
“I’ll have you know my hair is well moisturized. I just don’t ever have to pay for it.”
You finally came to an agreement on the week’s budget. 
Packing up your things, you looked up at Tom who was now sitting on the side of his bed scrolling through social media.
“So next week. Your first game of the season, yeah?” you said, remembering that September was already almost here. 
“Oh yeah. You coming? I’d hate for you to see just how incredible I am.”
“Psh whatever. I saw your throws at preseason. But yeah, I’ll probably just rinse off after my volleyball game and head to the field. Gotta see what cuties they’ve got on the other team.”
“Ugh gross. You know you’ll regret saying that when half the school is swooning over me in the stands.”
“The only thing you’d ever see me swoon from is dehydration. And that’s a pretty weak excuse already.”
You stood and Tom got up to lead you back out.
“Oh, I think I know the way. You don’t have to take me.”
“Yeah I do. Gotta keep my eyes on those grubby little fingers of yours. Who knows what you’d do unsupervised.”
Before you reached the door, Nikki spotted you from the living room.
“Done so soon? Wow, good job guys. Come back any time y/n!”
“Thanks, Nikki,” you called back to her, then turned to Tom. “So same time next week? We can do it at my place if you want.”
“Nah let’s just do it here. I’m always exhausted the day after a game and I don’t really want to get up.”
Okay then
“Well, see ya Monday then. Bye.”
You were halfway down the sidewalk when Tom called out, “Be safe,” before shutting the door. You stopped in your tracks in shock, but eventually got into your car.
What really mattered, though, was that you were already on Nikki’s good side.
1 down, 4 to go.
%
Yay! It’s finished! I really hope you guys enjoy this new series because I’m so excited to share it with you all! Once again, future chapters will have some mature content (s*xual harassment and mentions of assault; underaged alcohol consumption) but those chapters will be explicitly labeled with warnings.
Anyways, thanks for reading and please send an ask or message if you’d like to join my story or permanent tag list!
Tag List: @jackiehollanderr, @one-big-fangirl,
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weaselbeaselpants · 4 years ago
Text
I have a lot to say and not enough time to say it. It hurts, but ya’ll know what this is about so if you want my full fandom retrospective opinion thing guys, here.
I’ve been following Vivienne’s art and career since I found her on dA in 2009. I’ve basically grown up with her and have a wide range of opinions up and down her collective work. I must stress that I do not know her as a person and no matter how critical I get in my personal time if I somehow met her in real life or converse with her online again (like, back in the day we went back and forth. She was pretty nice to me), I’d be humble and congratulate her for her success.
Critique does not, EVER equate to attacking people.
But
the reason I don’t call myself a VivziePopVivzmind-fan is the exact same as to why I don’t like the proud use of ‘anti’. Let me try and explain -
The vast majority of Viv fans are just that: fans. Viv’s one of their favorite artists and they’re happy for her and obviously defensive when some mouth breather pops into their fan discussion calling her and all of them trash. Quite a lot of the Hazbin fans I know in my circle of friends are all pretty accepting and agree on the problematic notions and implications of her work.
HOWEVER, there’s a vocal minority in the VivziePop fandom that were and still are toxic. Their specific interest in Viv back in the day was toxic...and now that she’s moved on into a successful career I doubt they’ve gone away, considering the things I’ve heard. These people - they’d flood Viv’s comments sections and stuff with messages like they were talking to her when they weren’t and they’d unironically call her a god in a way that feels like gaslighting, ex: “I’ll NEVER be as good as you Viv! My art is just sooooo unpopular oh god you are incredible no one will ever like you as much as meeeee”. It made me uncomfortable. It made me not want to be around her because these people took Viv’s role in their lives so seriously and their demand for her attention...it struck a nerve.
These same fans have been around long enough to see actual shitlords - the likes of Kiwifarms and tapatalk wikis - come in and actually harass Viv. Viv’s been sent revenge porn by sick freaks who think they’re funny and believe she deserves it. No. In my non-name fan bystander opinion, Viv’s got some shit to work on, but no one deserves raperevenge porn. EVER. It was genuinely bad and yes Viv and her base have every reason to NOT TRUST these communities. Unfortunately, when these incidents happened, these particular fans took it upon themselves to gatekeep the fandom and act like Viv’s unofficial guard against any kind of decenting opinion of her, all without her say so.
((to the critics who will be all “but Viv or Faust said THIS to their fans-”, like I said, Viv’s far from perfect but regardless of how much she prolly wanted people to side with her I’m gonna guess that she didn’t want people sending transphobic death threats to DollCreep. Again, and this is coming from a bystander here, I have a feeling Viv knows about some of the toxicity but doesn’t know how/want to address it - which is a conversation all it’s own.))
This particular breed of VivziePop “fan” holds so much toxicity in her fandom(s). They aren’t the only cause, but they’re there. They feel entitled to her attention and her approval. They creep me out. Having spoken to other much-less critical admitted fans of Viv around me, these fans appear to creep everyone else out and put the rest of the fandom on edge. They’re gatekeepers. They’re creeps. Like the bronies and SU fans of yestertodayyears, they know harassment exists and that people have crossed the line - so they think any means is necessary to prevent that is automatically good. I could pile together all the incidents and folks who’ve had bad runs ins with this aftershock of Viv-obsession, but I do have a life of my own and this post is already stupid long so I’ll just list out the biggest examples and provide receipts when asked.
Critical blogs have gotten RAPE and death threats because they don’t like Viv’s art. HonestZoophobiaCriticisms, a blog I interracted with back in the day, def got one. Now Viv’s opinion of crit-blogs is that they’re “bad takes” but I can assure you she doesn’t want that shit being said on her behalf.
I’ve seen young artists get blacklisted from sites and forums cause they so much as post a redesign. Viv and co get told through the grapevine that someone’s making hatespeech and so preemptively block said person (prolly cause they’re in the middle of WORKING and can’t deal right now) only to find out after the fact that no, it was just a kid drawing their version of her characters. There’s serious miscommunication issues within the fandom about who’s ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and once you get the actual staff involved in this game of telephone you’re begging for trouble. The problem acknowledged, however, it’s souly from the “Viv never did anything wrong camp”. No word is said about how ugly the fandom is under the surface it’s all one type of person’s fault and not complicated’. Blah
I’ve only ever had ONE obsessive ‘fan’ who’d stalk me, mock me, and then redraw my art just to get attention from me. That shit fucked with my head. As a follower hundreds of miles away from Viv who’s agreed/disagreed with her through the years - I absolutely believe her when she says she hates ‘creeps’ and that she doesn’t want anyone in her fandom spreading hate on her behalf. It’s the one thing about her I’m POSITIVELY sure of. Whether she believes that said underlying harassment exists and/or is even a problem within her fandoms is anyone’s guess. That’s not what I’m here for. I’m here to write stupid blog entries like this, talk about fandoms and media and how they and the real world affect one another, and rb fan art I like. I’m cautiously optimistic fan with a side of salt.
Mixed opinions and critique within a fandom CAN and SHOULD exist. Hazbin Hotel has been greenlit by a studio! It has a product line of merchandise you buy. Helluva Boss is getting eight more episodes this coming year (yeeee:3yeeee). Two of Viv’s properties are now products. Nothing is immune from critique. And in critique you will find a lot of people who are not ‘nice’. Critique or analysis doesn’t have to be nice. There will be, in Viv’s words’ ‘bad takes’ on her writing. Maybe they will be actual CinemaSins-styled bad takes or maybe Viv is just mad that people don’t love and feel inspired by her characters the way she wants them to - it’s a fact she’s going to have to get used to.
((TBH, I’m pretty sure she’s already realized that criticism of all types need to exist. It’s just that, again, her and the SpindleHorse staff are kind of overwhelmed by all matter of takes and opinions coming their way they kinda can’t deal weeding out the fair ones from the assholes, so she lumps them all together.))
Shitposters, ironic fans, unironic fans, critical fans, just critics of Hazbin and Helluva CAN and WILL exist. They should exist and not feel threatened by the megafandom. There are people out there who are one step further and rightfully bothered by Hazbin/Helluva’s use of incorrect symbols, portrayal of certain topics, and the response by creators. These people have strong opinions and are actually disgusted by Viv. They deserve to exist too and should not be vilified because, like me, they’re commentary doesn’t consist of anything personal towards the people at Spindlehorse or the fans of her works. They can rant, they can be professional, they can be petty and they can be fair. But they will exist. You have to deal with it.
I am an ADD/OCD ridden autistic woman with serious anxiety issues who has no one to talk to half the time and so only HAS my fandom to communicate with. But that’s just it - it’s a fandom. A community. You have to learn to not think souly of yourself and of others in a community. A fandom doesn’t exist just for you or any one person. You have the right to be angry and defend or be offended. And it’s in the spirit of that that I ask, prrraaaaaay even, that I please
NOT BE CALLED AN “ANTI-ANTI” for not liking the moniker?!
I DON’T TO BE AN “ANTI”. Not ironically, not unironically. ‘Anti’ should be for politics and shit like pedophiles, necrophiles, nazis, serial killer stans, Trump, racists, antisemites, terfs, animal abusers, rapists, and antivaxxers. Anti should only come into critical media analysis when these ethical issues follow suit IN TO fandom discussion. ((EX: Anime and MLP proudly waving their cp and non-con into the public eye; Hazbin appropriating cultural symbols which are not satanic; Basically anything that concerns John K or Butch Hartman.))
If your DNI list unironically consists of the entirety of one fandom:  CONGLATURATIONS! You have done the exact same thing these particular creepy Viv fans have done: monopolize the conversation. And yes, people I’m referring to, IT’S STILL A PROBLEM EVEN IF YOU’RE FIGHTING RACISM/SEXISM/HOMOTRANSPHOBIA.
There are hundreds of Vivziefans who ARE more critical, accepting of faults, interested in discussion and especially rewrite and redesign stuff who would LOVE to engage with you and give you a follow. There’s hundreds of people who no doubt agree with you!
But the thing I’ve seen these very proud AntiHazbinVivzieHelluvaWhatever blogs do is lash out at fans for continuing to like Viv and consume Viv’s art in a healthy way. What the actual fuck is your problem?
I get it. Say a crazy Hazbin fan gets on your case for even SUGGESTING Viv could be homophobic ((”SHE’SBIANDWORKSWITHGAYPPLblahablahblah”)). They get in your face, make some callouts, try to rile up support against you, leave disgusting harassment throughout your social media? Absolutely ban worthy. After that it’s perfectly understandable why you don’t want to engage with anything HHHBZPVivzierelated because you’re so fucking tired of being labeled an abuser or “just jealous” for having an opinion on a show you don’t like. I’m with you!
But,
A fan agrees that something in the canon is bad or that Viv did something they don’t like?
A fan likes your silly shitpost meme?
A fan asks if they can like Hazbin and follow you at the same time? 
A fan does fan art of something you don’t like?
If your response to any of these ^^^ things is to get LOUD and accusatory, Vivsplain them about how they’re an absolutely awful person to ever question YOUR opinion, or just block them without a second thought? You’re a petty, vendictive shit and you also need to learn to let things go. I’m sorry but you do. As I already said, Viv’s work is a brand at this point, not just the work of a singular person. As such, there are gonna be mixed opinions and you can’t judge every single one of these people by what they like. You’re a shitty critic with a shitty attitude and yes that will demean the value of what you’re saying. This is bad because, if you’re trying to point out how Angel Dust’s abuse IS handled terribly; gay rep in Viv’s work is weak and terrible; the show appropriates closed practices; the fandom makes excuses for predatory artists and creepy behavior and individuals who have sketchy pasts - I’M WITH YOU. WE NEED TO BE TALKING ABOUT THIS SHIT. JUST BECAUSE THESE ARE ADULT CARTOONS SET IN HELL MEANS THERE SHOULD BE ANYTHING CLOSE TO 2013 PONY-TUMBLR. <<<---- this shit is as important to me as it is to you and I really don’t like being called an abuser or apologist for saying “hey maybe blowing up at ppl for the shows they like ISN’T the way to go about this”. 
But I have, just like the good old days of 2015 Zoophobia of yore, been blocked because I admit to being tired of ‘Anti’ being equated to ‘critical’. Same with hater.
Critical DOES NOT = Anti+Hater. I’m fucking tired of people saying it does and I’m tired of people taking up the term as some weird form of fandom reappropriation. It’s stupid.
Tl;dr: Once upon a time, I was in a budding fandom for something I liked made by an indie artist I watched on dA. I wanted to be a bigger fan than I was already, but was told by toxic people within said fandom that I couldn’t be part of it for reasons they’d made up in their head about my ‘motives’ against Viv. My admiration for Viv or what I liked about Zoophobia didn’t matter because I thought the story was really rushed and people weren’t being truthful with how they really felt about it - ergo, I HAD TO GO. 
Flash forward 8 years later- My opinion of Viv’s body of work has changed but I still find myself in love with her style and some of her characters. I want to be on a forum or service that gives a healthy look at the problems there are with this series and fandom...and I’m met repeatedly by petty bs where people are again at each other’s throats. And yes, I do think it’s causing more harm than good especially when you insist there’s a “x person shouldn’t be trusted” mentality when fighting actual fucking racist, xenophobic, predatory bullshit.
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crampdown · 3 years ago
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got tagged by @thespiritofvexation @see-sawed and @lovely-menza (thaaanks :D) to answer some lovely questions~
1. Why did you choose your url?
I love the song “Clampdown” by The Clash almost as much as I love horrendous puns. And that’s how I got to a name that’s basically a period joke :^>
2. Any side blogs? if you have them, name them and why you have them.
Nah. But I am thinking of eventually creating a side blog since I’ve been drawing a lot of original stuff lately and not the fanart doodles that got me most of my followers in the first place. But I’m currently too lazy to make a new blog
3. How long have you been on tumblr?
Let’s say I’ve been aware of this infamous hellsite since 2016 mostly for some artists I liked back then. But I didn’t make an own account until late 2018 before finally posting stuff in 2019.
4. Do you have a queue tag?
No. I’ll spam ten to twenty rbs in a row and then vanish for the next three days again
5. Why did you start your blog in the first place?
Because I gained interest in everything classic rock back in summer 2018. I’ve always enjoyed this kind of music but didn’t bother to learn anything about the  musician in question least of all their NAME up until this point. But the “Yellow Submarine” film won me over and before I knew better, I started doodling the Beatles :^) however it would take me more than half a year before I finally gathered the courage to upload my drawings somewhere. At this point I’ve already gotten into Pink Floyd (cause I used some of their music as inspiration for a short comic but that’s another story). FUN FACT: Me being a music dummy not knowing anything about certain subgenres looked up “How do I tag Pink Floyd? Like, what are they?? Prog? Dunno what that is but okay! Gonna write that in the tags :D” And that’s how I accidentally catapulted myself into the prog niche of the Classic Rock Fandom. Hi.
6. Why did you choose your icon/pfp?
It’s the ugly-ass-sort-of-mascot-rabbit that originated from a three year old doodle of mine when I wanted to draw a furry parody, anthropomorphic rabbit but as disgusting as possible, sloppy schlong and all that jazz :^). But since you can’t see him in my header thanks to the ink bottle, he’s quite the looker. Also I love inking the most when it comes to arting around.
7. Why did you choose your header?
Made it myself and still am quite proud of it ^^
8. What’s your post with the most notes?
To this day still that one inktober drawing featuring the Maxwell’s Silver Hammer Recording session :D
9. How many mutuals do you have?
tbh the exact definition of “mutual” is beyond me so I’m not sure. Let’s just say there are definitely some people I love appearing on my dash
10. How many followers do you have?
495 as we speak ^^
11. How many people do you follow?
52 blogs respectively because I always need some time and consideration before following anyone
12. Have you ever made a shitpost?
I’m sure there are some cartoons I made counting as shitposts, at least that’s the category I’d put in any sort of meme redraw
13. How often do you use tumblr each day?
depends.
14. Did you ever have a fight/argument with another blog once? who won?
Sometimes “hOt tAkEs” will randomly appear on my dash and some of them really make my blood boil but not to the point I’d actually bother to interact with them. I just hate online drama way too much. Everytime I see internet discourse completely escalating about the most abstract of concepts I just wish these people would actually spend some time outside.
15. How do you feel about “you need to reblog this” posts?
Oh speaking of random things on my dash that make my blood boil....! I wish :) everyone participating in :) blatant emotional manipulation :) a very pleasant “hope you’ll wet your sleeves while washing hands” :)
16. Do you like tag games?
yes ^^
17. Do you like ask games?
yeeeeess 
18. Which of your mutuals do you think is tumblr famous?
I thought the general opinion on tumblr fame is that it’s basically worthless? 
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
19. Do you have a crush on a mutual?
I don’t think so? However I love the things you people create <3
20. Tags
gonna tag: @catfacedcryptid @nolavulpina @taterpie @raptorcat1960 @mothmanghost @melloclastic and everyone who feels like it :)
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sootygoggles · 4 years ago
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Parent!Paranoia Sanders Sides AU!
No explanation, but I'll probably give the backstory later. For now: memes of Paranoia being an A-class parent and a chaos gremlin. (okay it started as memes but then just ended up as fleshing the AU out)
~~
Paranoia, worried abt his kids: I'm uhhhh gonna go to my room see ya later light sides
Paranoia, sneaking back into the subconscious to check on his now teenaged children: I'm gonna leave duke a r a t that I found and thought looked cool
Duke, waking up the next morning and yelling for 'Nesty bc "HOLY CRAP NESTY LOOK AT THIS RAT ISN'T SHE ADORABLE I WANNA HANG HER ON THE WALL": !!!!!!!!!!
~~
Paranoia gets a habit of sitting on the fridge because his children were wild as kids and sometimes duke comin at you with a knife warrants jumping onto counters
~~
Nesty, who doesnt get paid to deal with duke: I'm raiding dads liquor cabinet it's my due for putting up with this
Paranoia, physically manifesting: put the key to the liquor cabinet D O W N, Honesty
~~
The lights are confused as to why he disappears at random times of the day and night and he just "leave me TF alone before I leave you a goshdarn diddly P R E S E N T while youre sleeping I'm tired"
~~
patton: my child! my dark strange son!!
paranoia, who has children: ,,,,yea ok
~~
Patton ticks him off so he leaves a big halloween decor spider on his bed and nobody sleeps for weeks after that bc pattons too scared to touch it and paranoia maybeperhaps glued it onto his cover
~~
He's like one of those people you know might mean well but ooooooo boy theyre pushin buttons
~~
Paranoia, whos fav animal/insect is spiders and whose children have tarantulas and snakes on the regular: hes not even realistic!! You need to learn to get along with mr sparkles patton!! look at him. he's fluffy!
~~
He has googly eyes and glitter on him at all times of course hes named mr sparkles
~~
paranoia gets to be a little petty. as a treat
~~
Paranoia just carries bags of glitter around and whenever mr sparkles gets duller he takes mr sparkles to the kitchen counter and he dumps glitter on him
Logan and patton are tired of cleaning up bc paranoias just petty enough to make their counters eternally sparkly
~~
"why is there glitter all over the kitchen?"
paranoia, holding mr sparkles: :)
~~
Paranoia, after AA: I hate purple but they dont know that now do they
Paranoia is actually orange the last side is purple lol
~~
Chaos Gremlin dark sides and nobody is surprised bc paranoia raised them
~~
paranoia, going back to see his teen children after acting like a teen all day: what is up, fellow kids
honesty: i am going to lose it
~~
Wrath, coming to yell at them to keep it down: why are you purple I'm purple
Paranoia, cackling bc finally I can get out of this horrible color: *snaps fingers * I'M PARANOIA MOTHERTRUCKERS HAVE FUUUNNNNN I'M GONNA BE MAKING YOUR LIVES LIVING HELL FROM THIS POINT FORWARDS
~~
duke and nesty, pumped for halloween bc u l t i m a t e s p o o k: :D
paranoia, coming out in a traffic cone costume with a shit eating grin on his face: :D
~~
Paranoia, decorating for halloween bc "oh I'm sorry it's just the *sniffles * homesickness and we a l w a y s decorated for halloween" knowing full well all of his decorations are spider and witch themed bc they all like the salem witch trials
~~
He leaves ONE fake snake in romans cereal and the lights just. Lose it. Hes kicked back into the subconscious to be chaotic with his kids, no new side, just the hours upon hours of film hes gotten from the bugs hed placed around the unconscious and a plan for the next several movie nights
He gets back and honesty is w h e e z i n g bc he was watching through the cracks and they make a fail compilation of the light sides
It takes like two months for the lights to just go insane with him around not due to yknow paranoia but bc hes such a gremlin
~~
Patton asks if he was raised by wolves and he shoves mr sparkles at patton saying "take the issue of how I was raised up with my father, a-hole!!"
He doesnt actually curse he just yells "A-HOLE" so loud his kids can hear
~~
They dont find out he's a dad until hes summoned and hes making cookies or smt with the kids and hes in a bright orange stereotypical witch outfit,,, corset and all and an apron that says "worlds most chaotic dad" on the front
And hes talking to one of the kids like "duke you can only put dish soap in your batch nesty cant digest it like you can"
~~
Patton has an apron that says worlds least chaotic 'dad' courtesy of paranoia he made it himself(read: he stole pattons good apron and scribbled over it in sharpie)
~~
Paranoia is always close to cackling when around the lights bc theyre newbs to any chaos
~~
Roman and remus are twins but roman is the kind of kid to promptly forget abt anyone and logan n patton knew remus less than a day before he "disappeared" aka ran to the subconscious to explore and theyve just kinda blocked him out
~~
Logans fine with it and actually likes the decorations tho he has asked if they had to be so brightly coloured and if there had to be so much glitter
I say decorations but hes a secret gremlin at heart and is super close to snickering at all times bc of the pranks
~~
Also yes paranoia mildly dads roman it's great but he dads in an older sibling type way
~~
So pat and logan are all "hes fitting in as an older brother well" and they tell him abt their approval of his older brother chaos and hes just like "no this is how I am deal with it nothing to do with brothers" bc hes not telling them abt his kids he doesnt trust them
~~
Hes up at like midnight complaining with logan abt how patton doesnt let him be full chaos gremlin and logan says "mmmhmm did your parents in the dark side let you go wild with the chaos" and paranoia just,,,,, looks at him, dead in the eyes, and says "I dont have parents"
Cue logan being confusion
Paranoia, who genuinely didn't have parents: my parents are mr sparkles and the cat we've had for my entire life
Logan, who doesnt know they had a cat and is now worried bc "are you taking care of it???": ???
Paranoia: it's great for keeping the Others in line tho I just say "do your chores or no snuggle time with ms peregrin" and they do their chores while I'm making dinner
logan, incredibly confused: i don't know what you mean but ok
Paranoia: yeah theyre dumb but it's the level of dumb youd expect from my idiots
~~
Or he slips up and refers to them as his children/kids and logan, not realizing they have an Actual Father/Sons relationship/age difference(paranoias abt.late 20s early 30s, remus defies all logic and has been about 9-10 for a few years now, and dees like early teens) just says "huh how.interesting would it be to have to deal with people your age that immature" and paranoias just. "Y e a h t h e y r e t o t a l l y t h e s a m e a g e a s I a m"
~~
Duke is very much baby and upon seeing duke eating glue paranoia and honesty the idiots decided to try it too
theyre so dumb dsdhdhdhjsdh
They AREEE and paranoia, after discovering that duke has the h a r d i e s t immune system they decide to test exactly what he can and cannot safely eat bc he may be dumb but hes also def a Dad and he just wants to take care of his kids and if that includes making sure that duke can safely consume toilet bleach then so be it
Duke can eat almost anything short of actual cyanide but cyanide just makes him sick like stomach bug sick
He somehow gets a fever,,,,, he has it for like half an hour and paranoia is amazed
Hes in bed,,,,, paranoia makes him soup,,,,,, hes all better and running around again
~~
Paranoias parenting rules:
Dont murder your brothers pls
Do your chores or no snuggle time with ms peregrin
Glitter is always a yes
Insults are fine just make sure you dont overstep and make your brothers insecure
all of them are printed and then the last one is scrawled at the bottom in
If you get sick, tell him immediately bc he will find out and he will be the most obsessive parent to make sure you feel better ASAP
If your pronouns/name/function change, tell him immediately, he'll make sure you dont feel uncomfortable as well as he can
Duke dont put dish soap in honestys baked goods you know he cant digest it
It's a nice system for making chaos but keeping it manageable
They're all printed then the last one's scrawled in glitter gel pen and duke wrote a reply that said (I'm sorry yall dont have as good an immune system as I do)
There was a whole passive aggressive arguement on the bulletin for the next week before it got taken down to make room for dukes art
They eventually started just putting them up over each other and using magnets instead of thumbtacks
The entire bottom portion of the walls are painted in chalkboard paint so theres no unerasable drawing on the walls and the rest of the paint is magnetic so they can hang pieces everywhere
Dukes improving rapidly tho and doesnt like looking at his old art all the time so paranoia holds onto the drawings in several filing cabinets in case he ever wants to do redraws or needs his original prints to make something in the Imagination
also bc,,, sentimental
jus a little
Yeah bc "yes my child draws nothing but blood gore and new animals but hes a creative genius and I love all of his art"
~~
Roman: anxiety I can see why you left
Paranoia: ??? What?? It's spoopy season??
Roman: there was BLOOD on the WALLS
Paranoia, internally: oh!!!! Duke perfected his blood recipe!!!!
Paranoia, externally: how did it taste?
Roman: WHO TASTES THE BLOOD ON THE WALLS?!?!
Paranoia: if it tasted like lemons or citrus you need to stay off of most foods, stick to crackers and broth- don't eat anything heavy until you're sure you wont throw it up
Patton, who was making cereal: ????
~~
Also!!!! @iliveinprocrasti-nation Thanks for helping me flesh this AU out!!!
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goodwriterwithbadhabits · 4 years ago
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Behind the Mask
Hi. This is, a lot. Like five pages of work. I’ve spent days working on it and I’ve rewritten it twice, so I hope this is as good as I think it is. I’ve left the ending open because I’m thinking of writing a part two, let me know what you think. 
Master List
~~
“What on this blue earth do you mean you need another suit, Hyunwoo? The party is tomorrow.”
“I’m sorry, Lin, I know its last minute.” The large muscular man bows deeply, and you can just feel in his words that he’s truly sorry. 
“I was supposed to be out of the country, my plans only just got cancelled.” The other man apologizes, also bowing. Your boss glares at them, her steely gaze made worse by the black mask covering her face. 
“I can make it.” The moment the words leave your mouth you regret them. All three of them turn their gazes on you, and for a few moments you want to sink in on yourself. 
“I don’t want to impose on you.” You can’t speak for a few seconds, too busy being absolutely stuck on the man in front of you. He’s tall and so muscular he could probably kill you with a hug. “Y/n,” Lin begins, “You really think you could create an entire suit in a day?” You square your shoulders, this was the moment you had been waiting for, a chance to show your skills. 
“I designed all the other suits, every other costume you had me work on is done. I already had a mock up of his suit finished when he cancelled originally. If I can use fabric from the workshop, and if I work all night, I can get it done.” The group exchanges glances, and you can see just from their eyes that Lin and Hyunwoo have very little faith. 
“I think you can do it.” The other man vouches, eyes twinkling and making your heart skip more than a few beats. “I have faith in you, and I’ll help as much as I can.” You choke on your own words for a second but finally manage to nod. 
“Thanks.” 
“Alright, Y/n, if you think you can do it, go ahead.” Lin nods, “Hoseok is going to be your assistant.” 
“Great.” You breathe, unsure if you’re going to be able to function properly with him around. “Follow me.” You lead him back to the workshop, which is just a huge warehouse connected to the back of the tailors shop filled with fabrics, lace and all the bits and baubles needed to make whatever clothing customers wanted. 
“Woah.” His small gasp has you smiling behind your own mask as you head over to your workstation. 
“Yeah, it’s pretty impressive, but we’re asked to clothe most artists these days. Dragon Tailors is the official tailor for JYP, Big Hit and P Nation, but we get clients from all over.” You explain, dropping your sketchbook on the table and motioning for him to take a seat. “Alright so this is what I designed a few months ago.” 
The suit was, arguably, simple. It was just a black lace vest, and a deep red jacket with matching pants. The jacket had the wings of Eros embroidered on the back in gold, and doves on the lapel, while the pants had rose vines going up the legs. It was simple but elegant and sexy, and a good representation of Eros in your opinion. The other boys in his (former) group were also going as varying gods. While the other boys were going as much more major gods, Hoseok had chosen Eros, maybe to only lowkey match the other boys. 
“Wow, that’s a lot. Are you going to be able to make it in time?” You shrug, your shoulder brushing against his. 
“I have the rose patches for the pants, and I have a dove program on my embroidery machine for the lapels, I can hand stitch the wings, if I get the rest of it done quickly.” You explain, glancing at your watch. “I’ve got roughly 40 hours, luckily you guys came in early.” 
“Is there anything I can help with?” You finally look over at him. He’s handsome, even while wearing his mask, with strong brows and deep brown eyes. For a few seconds you’re stuck, drowning in his eyes, until you finally manage to pull yourself out. 
“You need a mask and some shoes. The mask should be red and gold, and the shoes should be black, and Oxfords.” 
“You guys don’t make shoes?” He wonders and you shake your head, walking over to the rack of half finished designs you were working on. 
“We design them, but typically the people we work with either have a pair already, or we order them, usually from a brand the star is partnered with.” You grab the mock up you had already built. “Before you leave to get those, try this on for me. I need to know it fits.” You toss the material at him, pointing to the changing room behind him. 
Of course it fits, but you still make a point of reminding him not to work out between now and the party, or he might burst out of the jacket, which you would pay to see. Before he leaves to get his missing pieces you give him your number, telling him to text you pictures before he buys anything. And with that, you’re alone in the workshop. 
“So, he’s kinda cute.” Lin greets, sliding your sketchbook towards her while you’re focused on the bolts of red cloth on the wall. 
“He’s an idol, you told me they’re off limits.” You retort, “Satin or silk?” 
“Silk, with satin for the liner.” You nod, grabbing the cloth you want. “And they aren’t off limits, at least, he isn’t. Are you making him body chains?”
“If I have time,” You drop the cloth on the table, grabbing your patterns. “I mean, he’s hot, no cap, but there’s no way he’d go for me. He probably has girls throwing themselves at him all the time, I’m not about to do that.” Lin nods understandingly, walking over to the lace collection and picking one. 
“What about this for the vest?” You glance over at her, nodding approvingly at the selection. “He’s a broad boy, are you sure this is going to look good on him?”
“He could make a garbage back look good, Lin. Hey don’t you have a Hyunwoo up front?”
“He’s getting the two of us lunch, as payment for stressing me out.” 
“Sounds like a date to me.” You tease, earning a chuckle from her. 
“Maybe it is.” She pats your back as she walks by, “Good luck, I believe in you.” 
“That makes one of us.” 
~~
You weren’t sure how much time was passing, there were no windows in the workshop, so you just kept going. The pants were finished, you had decided to forgo the vines, and just add roses in a few different colors. The vest was done too, the lace Lin had chosen was made of small birds and flowers, like it had been made for this project. Hoseok had texted you not even an hour after he had left, showing off the mask and shoes he had gotten, which looked really good. 
All that you needed to do was stitch these wings, attach the liner to the torso of the jacket, and put it all together. Oh and make the body chains and the choker. It was going to be a long night, the wings were going to take hours to finish, and the chains probably an hour, but Hoseok would have to be here for that, so it could wait until after the jacket was finished. Then you just had to steam everything and make sure he picked it up on time. 
Good thing sleep is an illusion. 
“Hey google.” You don’t look away from your work as your phone pauses your music to listen to you. “Place an order at Dalcomm Coffee.” You adjust the glasses on your nose, lining the sketch paper up with the jacket. “One large white mocha, no whip with an extra shot of espresso.” 
“Confirm order, one large white mocha. Subtract whip. Add espresso.” The device asks. 
“Confirm.” 
“Order total is-”
“Confirm.” 
“Order placed. Estimated time of arrival: 7:16 pm, Korean Standard Time.” 
“Thanks google, play my work playlist.” 
“You thank your google?” Hoseok’s voice has you glancing up, finding him standing in the doorway with two bags in his hands. Somehow, he looked even better than earlier, now in a muscle shirt and basketball shorts. His face was still hidden behind the mask, like yours, but you could tell he was smiling from the crinkle in his eyes. 
“Yes I do, you don’t?” He shakes his head, laughing softly. 
“Can’t say I do. Maybe I should. May I come in?”
“Yeah sure. The pants and vest are done, if you’d like to try them on.” He shakes his head, perching on the stool next to you with his bags at his feet. 
“I’ll wait until the jacket is done.” He decides. “How are you doing?”
“Working. The lapels are on the machine, so I just need to finish the wings and I’ll be almost done.” You explain, pointing to the machine on the other end of the table. 
“Have you eaten today?” His question shocks you enough to make you look up from your work. Had you eaten today? 
“Uh, no.” You focus back on the chalk in your hands as you tediously redraw the wings onto the fabric. “But I am getting another cup of coffee.” 
“How many cups have you had?” You chuckle, knowing your smile is hidden. 
“Many.” 
“Well, goodthing I brought you dinner.” 
“I’ll eat when I’m done.” 
“How about when you’re done drawing that?” 
“I’ve really got to get this done.” You insist, waving at the jacket. 
“You really need to eat, you still have plenty of time to finish this.” His voice is soft but insistent. “If you don’t eat you’ll get sick.” You huff, tapping the chalk on the table. 
“Alright fine,” You relent, “But let me finish drawing this first.” 
“I can deal with that.” He begins unloading the food, setting it on a nearby table, seeing as your workstation was covered in fabric. 
“You know you didn’t have to buy me dinner.” You comment, eyes still glued to your work. 
“I wanted to.” The way he says is so matter-of-factly has your heart beating a little faster. 
“A man after my own heart.” You joke, glancing over at him. You can tell he’s smiling behind his mask, even though he isn’t looking at you. 
“Maybe.” He mumbles, and you’re pretty sure you weren’t supposed to hear that. “This is beautiful.” He breathes, fingers trailing over the roses on his pants. “You’re very talented.” 
“Thank you. If I’m being honest, this is my first chance to make a full outfit of my own.” You confess. 
“Really? I would have assumed you’ve been doing this for years.” 
“I generally just design, and then Lin and the others actually make them. I usually just get to make accessories and take measurements.” You shrug, re-aligning the original sketch over the fabric. “This is my chance to prove myself.”
“Well, you’ve proven yourself to me.” 
~~
Time moves both too slowly, and too quickly for you. Wonho leaves later in the night, several hours after you’ve finished dinner, telling you to get some sleep and not worry about the jacket. You lie, of course, telling him you will when the lapels are finished, but even when they are, you only move them to the side to continue working on the embroidery. Your hands hurt, your back hurts, your eyes hurt, but as the hours pass, the golden shimmer of the thread expands, unfurling into stellar wings befitting any god. You’re halfway through the second wing when a coffee is set down in front of you. 
“Hoseok, I told you to go to bed.” You respond instantly. 
“He probably is asleep, its only 5.” Lin’s voice is tinged with laughter. You finally look away from the needle, finding your boss standing next to you, and a few of the other designers setting up their workstations. 
“Am?” She nods at your question. “Good, if I started at 8,” You pause doing mental math, “I should have the wings finished by 8, the choker should only take about 30 minutes, I might have this ready for steaming by 9-9:30.” You inform her, focusing your face back on the project at hand. 
“Y/n, did you work all night?” Max, another designer asks. 
“Yeah, I’ve still got a bit to finish, but it will be ready for tonight.” 
“Wait, this is for tonight?” Sungwoo gasps, examining the vest and pants hanging on your rack. 
“Yeah.” You answer curtly, trying to just get back to work. 
“Why are you just working on it now? You should have had it finished yesterday at the latest, we need your help with-”
“Kami, you should be praising Y/n.” Lin interrupts. “While you all got the day off, Y/n was given this task yesterday, and she’ll have it done today. How many of you can say you’ve made a suit in under 40 hours.” Your face is warm as the room goes silent. “That’s what I thought.” Lin scoffs, “As for the rest of you. Kami, you’ve been contracted by Jung Seojoon for an upcoming award show, he’d like to meet at his house at 7. Sungwoo, I believe you have a dress for Perry’s upcoming tour that needs finishing. Max, Harden and Dojoon, you’re on call for repairs and styling for tonight, Rain already called this morning about a broken cufflink, Harden if you could.”
“Yes ma`am.” 
“Good, and leave Y/n alone until the suit is done. Understood?” The room was filled with confirmation and Lin patted your shoulder. “I’ll be in my workroom.” 
~~
You were right, the embroidery was finished by 8, but the entire suit wasn’t ready until almost 11, thanks to the choker taking forever. Sitting on your stool, you gazed at your masterpiece, marveling at how well it turned out, and praying it fit properly. 
“Looks good. Hoseok will be here for pick up at 5, why don’t you head home for a bit, get some sleep.” Lin greets, coming up behind you. 
“I should stay and help with-”
“No. You’re going to go home, until 4, at least. If you wake up before he’s supposed to come pick it up, you can come back and help. Otherwise, we’ll call you if we need you.” She orders instead. “Do not argue with me.” 
“Yes ma’am.” You finally relent. 
The exhaustion hit the moment you walked in your front door, and you ended up passed out on the couch instead of your bed. When you finally woke up, it was thanks to the incessant ringing of your phone on the table next to you, and the sudden lack of being able to breathe thanks to your cat deciding to pass out on your chest. 
“Hello?” You mumble into the device, absently petting the naked kitty. 
“Y/n, it’s Lin. Get up and shower, I’ll be at your house in thirty minutes.” Her words have you sitting up slightly, confused, and knocking the cat off. 
“Sorry, Berus. And what do you mean you’ll be here in 30 minutes?”
“I’m playing fairy godmother tonight. Go shower, now.” Her voice is stern, and something tells you not to question it. 
“Um, alright.” 
The doorbell rings just as you exit the bathroom, still toweling your hair dry. Lin is standing outside with Max and Sungwoo, with a dress bag slung over her shoulder. 
“Uh, hi.” You manage to mutter as they push past you into your apartment. 
“Oh good, your hair isn’t dry, that’ll make styling it easier.” Sungwoo remarks, “Max and I will set up in the kitchen, the lighting’s probably better.” 
“I’ll put this in the bedroom. He’ll be here at 9:45, so that gives us only about two hours for hair and make up, think you can do it?” Lin asks, hanging the dress bag on the curtain rod over the couch, giving you and Berus the chance to ogle what's inside. 
The suit is while, with pale pink and gold flowers adorning most of it. The buttons are ivory with golden trim, and a mask, the same white and gold, with the same almost pink flowers, hangs from the hanger. 
“What is going on? Why are you here and why do you have a suit? And who is going to be here at 9:45?” Sungwoo and Max turn to Lin. 
“You didn’t tell her?” Lin smirks at Max’s question. 
“I told her some. Like I said, I’m playing Fairy Godmother.” She turns to you as she speaks, excitement glittering in her eyes. “You are going to the ball, Cinderella.” You wanted to respond with something intelligent, but all that came out was a very undignified, 
“Huh?”
“Come on, Psyche,” Max laughs, guiding you towards the kitchen, “Your Eros awaits.”
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