#ive connected the two dots. i'm connecting them

[hotvintagepoll]

you're right about the holiday but I would extend the no chemistry to Kate Winslet having too much chemistry with Eli Wallach like she really did want to fuck that old man

THAT'S ELI WALLACH??????????

[marie-m-art]

Good Animated Omens - Behind the Scenes

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the walk cycles I animated of Aziraphale and Crowley (original post here).

I'll reiterate that the character designs are @lookitsstevie's creation! I made builds in Toonboom Harmony based on their designs, and then animated the builds.

Long post under the cut, organized into four parts. Feel free to jump around or just click through the images and gifs to get an idea of the gist. (At least take a look at Part IV, where you'll see a version of Aziraphale without his jacket and a closeup of Crowley's torso!)

Hopefully this is interesting even if you don't know the first thing about animation. It's not a step-by-step-from-scratch tutorial, but it might give animators some ideas to think about when trying this software!

I'm happy to answer questions about what I cover here - comments, DM's, or ask-box questions are all fine by me. If you like any of the new gifs and want to reblog it on its own, I can make new posts for those upon request! (I'd prefer you don't reupload them, but if you do please at least credit me with a tag to my account - thank you!!)

Part I: The interface and some basics

Above is a screencap of the software interface.

In the centre is the Camera window, where all the drawing and animating is done. 

To the left, the Node View. It's a representation of how the pieces and layers that make the characters are grouped and connected to each other, which is what makes a character "build". Every piece in this window is called a node, and there are different types. Light blue "drawing nodes" contain the drawings themselves. Each drawing node usually has a green "peg" attached; the peg is used to move and rotate the drawing piece; you set a pivot point on each peg. Light grey nodes are groups that have more nodes within, and dark blue nodes are added effects (eg masks, the blur for the halo, etc).

Below, the Timeline - it's where keyframes are set and tweened. The red square dots indicate there is a new keyframe on a particular frame; the white dots indicate keyframes are on layers nested somewhere under the topmost visible layer. All the pieces of the characters can be found in the timeline and correspond to the pieces that exist in the Node View (and Camera). Typically you work with a collapsed view of the build layers in the timeline, which allows you to set keyframes on multiple layers at once.

To the right, a few tabs in this window - Tool Properties, Colour Palettes, and, shown on top here, the Library. The library is where you store your builds, so that you can bring in a fresh copy when animating a new scene. This library tab also has the Drawing Substitution window, which shows thumbnails of every drawing contained in a drawing node when that node is selected.

A second of animation is 24 frames long. Finished animation will often have keyframes on every second frame with the tweens removed, to help simulate the look and feel of traditional animation - this is known as animating "on twos", and saved time, money and paper in the old days. If you leave the tweens on, and/or have keyframes on every frame, the animation is "on ones".

My walks are on twos - it's the look I prefer.

When I say "tween" I'm specifically referring to the software feature that will automatically calculate and interpolate the path between two different poses/keys of a peg. An inbetween could be the result of using a tween, a new drawing, or both. On twos, an inbetween will look the same as any other keyframe on the timeline when you're finished - its relevance as a concept is during the process, not the end result.

Quality animation is achieved via a combination of moving/tweening pre-existing drawings using their pegs, and adding new drawings as hand-drawn inbetweens when needed. Toonboom Harmony also has nodes called "deformers": they offer a way to tween the shape of a drawing without needing to redraw inside the drawing node. (Part IV has the explanation for which pieces I used them for, and why.)

Part II: Navigating the builds

This is what their default poses with no animation look like.

Animation using builds is sometimes colloquially referred to as "puppet-style animation" because the way you can connect body parts to each other feels like making and handling a 2D digital puppet: you can connect a hand to a forearm so that they can move as a unit, and you can connect that unit to an upper arm to move the whole arm as a unit, and that arm gets connected to the torso, and so on.

When you want to connect two pieces, like a hand to a forearm, then you create another peg in the Node View and attach the two body parts together under that new peg. The screencaps below show the nodes that make up Aziraphale's and Crowley's entire builds inside their respective groups:

Things got a bit sloppy ... It looks extremely complicated, but once it's set up, you don't have to think about it too much when you're animating!

And I've zoomed in on the nodes that make their arms so you can see how there are pegs on top of pegs (all the green nodes), with wires connecting everything:

As I explained in Part I, new drawings are added and contained within a body part's drawing node (the light blue ones under the green ones), and the Drawing Substitution window is where you can see all the drawings that exist in a particular node. In the timeline, you set keyframes for moving the pegs, and you also choose which frame the new drawings will appear when applicable. You might have a lot of drawings stored in the nodes, but only what you set to appear in the timeline will be visible in the final animation.

You can select a body part in the camera view, and then find the corresponding layer in the Timeline or the Node View by pressing the "o" keyboard shortcut. If you select a body part by clicking on it, and then press the "b" keyboard shortcut, you will jump up to the next peg it's connected to. You can hide and unhide pieces using "d" and "a" respectively.

In the first capture above, I'm showing that the arm pieces can be moved separately or together, and you can see how the pegs in the Node View light up when I select them in the Camera window (hiding them turns them red). In the second capture, I pop down to the timeline to step back and forth between the poses - the light grey row (it appears between the rows of red dots) represents the hand's drawing node in the timeline.

Part III: Summary of animation process

In my head I imagined how their walks would differ from each other - Aziraphale bouncier but with very straight posture and limited arm movement, vs Crowley slinking and swaggering all over.

I also knew that I wanted the animation to look good for both a walking-on-the-spot version, and as a version walking across the screen (both versions are at the top of the post!).

Then I started doing some rough animation.

I set aside my finished builds for the roughs. For each character, I made a few drawing nodes and two pegs; a peg for the up-and-down upper body motion, which I tweened, and a peg for moving them across the screen. The legs and arms are drawing substitutions.

With these extremely rudimentary rough "builds", I worked out - how many frames long the walks would be, - how far the characters would move across the screen each step, - how much the upper bodies would move up and down, and - the key drawings of the legs and feet.

I didn't worry about animating clothing, hair, or Azi's arms in the rough stage. For those elements, the drawings would be spaced really close together and would be easier to figure out with tweens. (Note: this rudimentary setup would be sufficient if you want to clean up and inbetween characters by hand frame-by-frame instead of making full builds; my preference is build animation because the process is more fun for me)

Then I started working with the finished builds, using the roughs as a guide, and established the broadest motions first: the up-and-down motion in the upper bodies (I set a keyframe at the lowest point, a keyframe at the highest point, then tweened between them) and how far they'd travel across the screen. Then the feet were done.

I went back and forth between viewing them walking on the spot and walking across the screen to make sure that both versions worked. I also made sure they crossed the same amount of ground relative to each other.

After those crucial parts, I moved on to animating their arms, hair, torsos, clothing details, and finishing the legs, not necessarily in that order. I simulated twisting/rotating their torsos in 3d space by moving their waistcoats and lapels.

The first gif switches back and forth between versions (imagine a background scrolling by when they walk on the spot). The second gif is an example of bad "footslip" - they're moving at different speeds, and if you pay attention to their feet, Aziraphale appears to slip on ice while Crowley appears to slide forward on skates.

"You go too fast for me, Crowley!"

Part IV: Extras and details

Here is a version of Aziraphale's walk without his jacket, and a closeup of Crowley so you can see his swaying hips better:

One of the cool things about animating with builds is they lend themselves well to small modifications; the jacketless version took all of five minutes to make.

I'd be remiss not to include a close-up of Aziraphale's hair, the real star of the animation :) (Crowley's hair is also animated but I purposefully kept it understated since it's a much different texture.) And a closeup image of Crowley's snake tattoo:

The biggest unit for both of them are their upper bodies, which includes their pelvises. The up-and-down motion is only on one peg instead of on every single piece, which is handy because it means I can hide just that part of the animation when I want to work on the clothing details:

During the process of animation, I am often hiding then unhiding pieces like this so I can see what I'm doing.

Their clothing ended up being a lot of separate pieces, which I kept adding during animation rather than before, as it was hard to predict everything I needed. Their clothing also incorporates cutters (aka masks), and deformers (see explanation in Part I). In the next set of gifs the deformers show up as green outlines with handles and get turned on and off.

Aziraphale's torso functions as a mask for his clothing. The shape of his torso subtly changes via deformer. His lapels and waistcoat have V shapes that are masks/cutters (they cut a V shape out of those pieces); the same pieces that make the cutters also are used for the black lines of those V shapes via a special layering setup. The main shapes of his lapels are animated with deformers, and you can see how far beyond his torso shape they extend when I turn on the deformers in the second gif.

Deformers work best for shapes that change a little bit, and/or slowly. The minor shape changes in his and Crowley's clothes ended up being a great use case for deformers, because they pretty much tweened perfectly.

The reason I didn't use them on Aziraphale's legs was because those shapes change significantly between keys; I predicted I'd have to re-adjust every frame of a tweened deformer, so I drew the inbetweens by hand (halfway through, I realized I probably should have used them after all, but I was in too deep by then; hand drawing was fun though!). Deformers worked well on his bottom jacket:

Crowley's pelvis is layered above and below his thigh pieces and has a deformer. Also take a look at all the drawing substitutions for his hands:

And lastly the deformers on the hair:

Epilogue

I'm hoping the gifs all play at the same speed for everyone as they play for me. Hopefully the demo gifs are at least watchable, if not super clear... (I'll listen to feedback on the presentation of the information, for if I do similar posts in future!) Don't hesitate to ask questions about anything I covered, or about any details you noticed that I didn't elaborate on!

ko-fi.com/marieanimate

I'm shy about mentioning it, but I set up a Ko-fi account in case this post compels anyone to leave a small "tip" (but reblogging and sharing is just as good)!

Thanks for reading, and have a nice day!

[everythingne]

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ ➛ one and two, chapter two (ls2)

Forced to move in together, you and Logan slowly fall into an easy routine. It's not hard to act like you love someone when you do, even if they don't believe it, but you'll show him.

logan sargeant x first daughter!reader // fc: yasmin barbieri

warnings/notes: a bit of low self esteem at the end, drinking and cursing, i tried to keep this as fluffy as possible. sorry for the long wait, i made this pretty long to make up for that <3

previous / next (https://www.tumblr.com/everythingne/756176337028464640/one-and-two-ch-3-drafting)

Apparently, according to your father, the best thing for you and Logan would be to move in together. Which... isn't a terrible thought process if you are in an arranged marriage, but you'd met Logan less than a week ago and now half of your stuff was being shipped overseas without as much as a question.

It felt... weirdly demeaning.

Despite the tension raising with your father, living with Logan is quite easy. He's late to bed, an early riser, your seperate rooms down the hall give you both space that's your own while leaving the kitchen and living room for moments where its okay to be together.

Plus, it makes it easier for you to fix your sleep schedule. The difference between London and Washington, d.c. isn’t that big, but it still throws you off for a few weeks.

And because of that, you don’t travel with Logan until the Spanish GP.

By then you’ve settled into life in London and planned your fashion shows and such around his schedule because it was more concrete than any schedule you'd make yourself.

Life in London was wonderful to you, because you able to keep a lower profile than in the states. It was nice to be able to take yourself out for coffee, or to go to your cycling class, or yoga, or pilates—or whatever you’re feeling, without too many cameras.

And you settle into life with Logan quickly.

yn.fdotus

liked by logansargeant, alexalbon, potus, and 987k others...

ynfdotus: cannot believe i let a blonde guy convince me to move from the heart of the states to a bit outside london 🩵

potus: big adventures await!

user1: shut UPPPP THIS IS SO CUTE??

user2: nah bc who convinced her.

lilymhe: yayy!!!! ur so close now!!!!! girls day.

⤷ yn.fdotus: only if @ lilyzneimer joins this time

⤷ lilyzneimer: oh babes im down 🩷

user3: wasn't she at the williams paddock for miami.... and her hug with logan after the race?? ive connected the dots.

⤷ user4: you haven't connected shit.

⤷ user3: i connected them !!

"I'm home!" Logan shouts down the hall of the flat as the door clicks shut behind him, his hand automatically reaching to lock it. You call back a greeting as you check over his meal plan notes once more to ensure you've cooked the food correctly before turning back to look at him as you turn off the burner you're using.

"You had lunch today right?" He asks as he comes around the corner and you nod softly, standing on your toes to grab some dishes out of the top of the cabinet. When your fingers miss the edge of the bowl, Logan's hand comes to your back to keep you still while he reaches up and grabs them for you, before settling them in your hands and kissing your cheek. And eyeing the dinner you're making with a bit of curiosity over your shoulder.

The quick kisses were another thing to help settle into the way you had to act for media. But honestly, they ended up being more of a habit now. But Logan would kiss anywhere but your lips, which sucked, because kissing Logan was like being shocked with electricity. It made you blush, it made your heart stutter, all you wanted was to be with him.

Logan moves back to the counter as you set down the dishes by the stove, and you turn fully to actually take him in now. He's in a hoodie and jeans, having changed after going to the gym, and you smile at him when your eyes meet, then you gasp.

"Oh! Flowers!" You exclaim as he sets down a few bags of groceries and other items you'd asked him to go run out to grab.

"I bought them for you." He smiles, genuinely real, crinkling at the corners of his eyes as you turn around to grab a spoon to get a little bit of the dish for Logan to taste before you plated it.

"Oh, what's the occasion?" You ask as you hold the spoon out to him, and he happily bites the salmon off the spoon with a content hum.

He raises his hand to his mouth and says, "There has to be an occasion? I just noticed the other flowers you have in the house are dying and these were pretty. Also, you cook this shit way better than I ever could."

You laugh out a thank you, and agree the flowers were dying as you turn to plate the food. Logan makes himself busy swapping out the flowers and getting all your little mood lights up so he doesn't have to turn the big light on when the sun finally sets. The big bay windows of your apartment letting in the last fleeting rays of golden sun, and he stands behind you for a moment to admire the way it curls on your skin.

"Hey, after dinner..." You turn, making eye contact with him and pausing at the way the golden glow lights up his eyes. The two of you just pause, sort of staring and taking in the moment before you clear your throat and you somehow manage to pull your eyes away to go set down the food.

"After dinner?" He prompts softly and you turn over your shoulder as he brushes behind you, one hand gently sliding across your back so you know he's there.

"Do you wanna walk to get ice cream? This little gelato place opened around the corner." You say softly, blinking at him with a sort of... awestruck, love filled expression. It makes his cheeks warm as he leans down to press a kiss to your hairline.

"Sure, just don't tell anyone I'm going off my meal plan."

You chuckle softly, moving to sit down next to him at the table, facing the window so you can watch the city around you moving around. Lights flickering on as the night closes in, the silence of the apartment is very soft and welcoming. Dinner is finished pretty quickly and soon you find yourself tugging on a hoodie while Logan finishes up the dishes, and then you both head out.

Walking down the busy but slightly quieter London streets, you wander towards the roadside to look at a flyer. Logan watches as you return to his side, and after a moment of walking on his left, you feel his hand gently take your wrist and bring you to the inside of the sidewalk.

You watch his face soften a little as he takes your hand in his and at a crosswalk, pops a soft kiss to the back of your hand.

And in the moment, you forget all about the gelato, all about London, all about the world around you. In the moment, it's just the warmth of his hands against yours.

yn.fdotus

liked by logansargeant, cambridgeuniversity, potus, and 912k others...

yn.fdotus: got to teach a wonderful group of sustainable fashion designers at @ cambridgeuniversity this morning. while I'm hitching a train ride to barcelona, i'm full of love for all the creatives.

my next teaching event will land me back in the states at @ SCADFASH in savannah during september ! you can book tickets at: scad.edu/yn.fdotus.visit !s

cambridgeuniversity: it was wonderful having you! see you soon!

user1: pls tell me shes going to barcelona for the gp

logansargeant: see u soon miss america :)

⤷ yn.fdotus: you too, captain america 🩵

⤷ user2: SHUT UPPPP????

Coming into the garage, you can feel the tension across the entire building. You glance to your side, taking in Logan's half the garage, before passing over with no hesitance. Dipping through some of the larger groups of workers, you find solace in the drivers rooms. Knocking twice, you hear Logan call for you to come in, and you pop open the door before shutting it behind you.

"Hey." You breathe softly and Logan smiles as he tugs his sleeves on, coming over to press a kiss to your cheek, "good luck out there."

After a few disappointing races, you knew Logan wanted nothing more than to finally smoke out his competition. And he'd been qualifying better and better, but was having an almost George Russel level weekend luck. You figured he might be the next Mr. Saturday.

You'd missed the past two days, busy with your own work, and you note how Logan is clearly at much more ease now that you're by his side.

"Thanks, baby." He murmurs softly, pulling you into a tight hug. You reciprocate without hesitance, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek as you do. But theres something stiff that makes you step back, taking his head in your hands and pressing your foreheads together.

"What's a matter?" You hum, rubbing your thumbs under his eyes and hoping and he'll tell you whats up with him. Finally, he sighs and crumbles into your hold.

"I didn't tell you on the phone," Logan murmurs, closing his eyes as he leans into your touch, "I was having steering issues yesterday, they haven't been able to figure out the source of it."

You hum softly, leaning down to peck his nose before settling your foreheads together again, "how bad was it?"

"Not the worst I've dealt with, just some understeering."

"I don't know much about these cars, only what you've babbled at me before," You start with, earning a curious look from Logan as he opens his eyes, "but could it have something to do with your like... what is it, downforce? Isn't understeer or whatever affected by that? Like DRS?"

Logan blinks, then gasps, capturing your lips quickly before whispering, "you're a genius, I didn't even think of that."

And he drags you with him into the garage as he goes to ask about a million questions about his car, you're just happy to tag along with a bounce to your step and your hands intertwined. Alex and Lily are also in the main garage area, making some sort of Tik Tok together, and you suction to Logan's side as he speaks with his engineers.

The answer ends up being something with--not the rear wing but the front wing, or at least they find another issue that might kinda fix the steering issues with some shit like downforce or something... so you count it as a success.

Logan happily pops a kiss to your cheek in thanks as his head engineer gives you a fist bump for thinking of something they'd overlooked, you say its a lot like fashion, how one wrong stitch can ruin a whole dress.

Alex goes on to call you Elle Woods, and you feel like a nickname is cementing in Williams.

Logan goes on to place P6, his highest ranking of the season, which you determine calls for getting absolutely fucked up at the club. Your plan is surprisingly well accepted by the team, and you rent out a little back private room of some club blasting songs from any and everywhere as you drag Lily with you onto the dancefloor.

You're not sure how long you're out there before Logan and Alex are pulling you both back to reality, settling you at the back corner of the bar where you can watch Lando and Oscar betting over something Max and Charles are doing a few feet away. George trying to get Alex to try some sort of liquor, and Fernando chipping in a few bucks to the bet that Alex will like it.

"How much water have you both had?" Logan asks, a beer in hand as he leans on the bar behind you.

"I had two glasses, I think?" Lily says, "I can feel I need more though."

"I'll need more water." You smile, trying to hide the fact you don't remember if you've had water at all tonight. Logan nods, and whisks off to where Yuki has flagged a bartender down.

"You two are so cute." Lily gushes once Logan's out of earshot. Alex coming to stand beside her as he now nurses whatever liquor George was trying to get him to try in an Old Fashioned glass.

"I would've never expected the First Daughter to be dating a dude from Florida." Alex deadpans, offering Lily a sip of his drink, and she's also surprised by how good the drink is.

You laugh softly, tequila on your tongue letting the truth slip, "It's a Public Relations thing."

"What?!" Alex gasps and Lily nearly spits out her second sip of Alex's drink.

"Wait, seriously?!" Lily echoes, "But how? You two are so perfect!"

"And Logan's a shit actor." Alex adds with a tiny laugh. You feel an arm slide around you, and peek to see Logan as he hands Lily a water bottle, and then hands you one as well.

"Well," Logan chimes, "It's more of a like... arranged marriage kinda deal, rather than PR."

"You got in an arranged marriage? What, are you mormon?!"

"Mormon's don't do arranged marriages actually." You hum into your bottle before taking a sip, "And it's because of my father. He thinks, because my brother was a big party guy in his mid-twenties, that I'm gonna be the same way. Which is stupid, because yeah, I'll go and get drunk, but I won't blackout and flirt with a professor."

"Did your brother do that?" Lily snorts as you nod with a loud sigh, leaning into Logan.

"So, we're arranged." You shrug, "Doesn't mean I can't still like the guy. My parents were arranged too, and they literally are sickeningly in love with each other."

"Can vouch for that." Logan laughs softly as you smile up at him and take another big gulp of your water bottle. With Alex and Lily now in on the secret, you feel a bit more at ease, not having to play anything up as much with them.

But the night drags on far longer than it should, with Logan's arm around your shoulders between the hours when the clubgets too busy to really move.

The drivers all plan their escapes around three in the morning, and it's sobering for you to have to literally lean on Logan so you don't fall and die in the halls as you make it back to your hotel room.

"Christ. I didn't know you were worse of a lightweight than me." Logan hoists you up, one arm secure around your waist so you stay cemented to his side as he fiddles with the key to unlock the door. As you both get in, he helps you settle on the bed, taking off your heels for you and letting you curl up in one of the throe blankets you'd brought. He stands, moving back from you to the dresser with a soft yawn.

"Lo, baby," You hum softly and he turns, nodding as you reach out to him.

"It's okay, darling," He says softly, moving back over to kiss your forehead as you cling to his arm, "I'm just gonna get changed and grab you something to wear that isn't... a mini dress."

"Okay." You whisper, tired from the long night, and release him as much as you don't want to. Logan works around you for a moment, getting himself ready for bed before he leans down in front of you and helps you to your feet.

"C'mon. Let's get you ready for bed before you knock out."

Logan takes your hands as he leads you to the bathroom, sitting you on the toilet while he roots through your bag. You clear up which is which product, what order, and how to use them.

Logan takes the oil cleanser, pouring a little bit out and applying it to your face. The only spot he has you do is by your eyes, before he uses a wet rag to wipe it off. While he works you keep trying to wrap your arms around him.

He laughs softly, letting you cling to his side as he tries--bless him, to apply another cleanser to your face to properly clean your face now. Eventually, and after a bit of fighting with you to let go of his torso, he manages to get all of your makeup cleaned off, and skin... semi-properly washed.

"C'mon, pretty girl," he croons softly, brushing a hand across your jaw to tilt your head to face him, "Let's get you in bed, yeah?"

And even though the hotel has two beds, you coax Logan to cuddle with you in your drunk state. And you don't mind being wrapped up by his warm arms when you wake the next morning.

yn.fdotus

liked by logansargeant, alexalbon, oscarpiastri, and 978k others...

yn.fdotus: so. about last night... i don't remember much after the twentieth tequila shot... <3

logansargeant: its ok you have great dance skills

oscarpiastri: thanks for letting me win 20 in that bet

yn.fdotus: oscar. ur on thin ice.

user1: U WENT CLUBBING W THE DRIVERS???

lilymhe: my favorite lightweight <3

After Barcelona, the next race you go to is Silverstone. You've been biting your nails for weeks about this, the upgrades Williams is planning on bringing don't seem to be very... solidified. Logan tries his hardest to seem confident, but it's clear he's more worried than you are.

You do the track walk in Barcelona with Williams, idly tagging along last moment with Lily. It's more for PR, as the cameras snap photos of the four of you (Alex, Logan, Lily, and yourself) dicking around as you walk.

But theres a damper to the mood.

Sure, the weight problems in the Williams car is 'fixed' but it seems like something was taken away... something helpful.

You and Lily settle in the little watch area in the garage, you pulling out your laptop to get some emails sent out before the race, while Lily posts something on her Instagram.

Logan appears with his helmet on, wrapping an arm around you and saying, "Any last words before I get in the car?"

You look over, and pop a kiss to the little part of his helmet covering his lips--leaving a little smudge of lipstick behind as you knock three times on the side of his helmet, "Don't worry about the upgrades. You'll be fine, Lo."

"Thanks, baby." He almost grumbles, eyes squishing from his smile under the helmet. You send him on his way, and Alex scoffs from besides you where Lily is fixing his glove.

"I still don't get how you two claim you're 'just arranged.' Like, I just watched a cute couple moment." He laments, making Lily laugh as she leans back on the couch next to you.

"I'm just a great actress," You shrug, but can't deny the heat that rushes to your cheeks. You and Logan had an undeniable spark, and you acted way too romantic to be platonic even behind closed doors. But you had always just chalked it up to being for the bit, being for the media.

But... had you even done any of this for the media?

Alex bids farewell and you, with a bit of stammer and a blushing face, retire to Logan's drivers room. It's just practice today, so you find your able to get somewhat comfy, turning on the TV to show you highlights as you work in quiet solitude.

You're not sure when you doze off, but when you come back, theres something plush under your head. Blinking, you look up to see Logan, idly scrolling on his phone... with your head on his lap. Your arms are wrapped around one of his legs like you'd snuggled in, and he's thrown his jacket over your legs.

So you close your eyes and move to wrap your arms around his waist instead, and he chuffs out a soft laugh, murmuring, "c'mon, baby."

He hoists you up as he slides down to lay on his side, shifting until he's inna comfortable position. Then he slowly shifts you back into place, your head coming to his lay on his bicep as you bink your eyes open.

"Hi, sleepy." He whispers to you, "Don't worry, I saved your email drafts before shutting your laptop."

"How was practice?" You whisper and he shrugs, kissing your temple as you wrap your arm around his waist and slot your knee between his as usual. Or, your new usual since Silverstone.

"P10. Not terrible." He hums, "you were right about the adjustments. I just wasn't used to the car yet, it made me lag behind."

"You'll do better tomorrow." You murmur through a yawn and Logan draws you into his chest a bit more, firm arm around your shoulder as he lifts his chin to tuck your head under it.

"We have a bit to nap, get some rest." He whispers and you hum back a yes, the warmth of your arranged husband and the soft whir of the world outside pulling you into another nap.

You find later that night that Logan's being overly self-ciritical once again. You do all you can to coax him to at least apathy, but lay awake with his head on your chest (the hotel room now with one bed), thinking.

The next day you sneak down to a corner store to buy a tiny notebook, tape, and glitter pens, and employ both Alex and Benny to help you with your task.

You scrawl the notebook full of reassurances, word even getting to engineers, media workers, analysts, who all take turns writing little notes for Logan (and some for Alex you give to Lily)

And then you spend the time Benny distracts Logan with training to sprinkle them around his drivers room and gear. A tiny smile on your face as the stupid little idea tickles you so much. Even writing one and taping it to his water bottle.

You manage to miss Logan before qualifying, but he drives exceptionally well and ends in Q2. And when he comes back, you have a cold water bottle in hand, something Benny had started giving you to encourage Logan to drink more water.

Cameras follow him into the garage, but cut before he gets to you. His helmet is long since discarded as he leans down to peck your cheek in thanks for the water, taking a few gulps as you ask about the race.

"The race was good, it was... I felt more confident with the car." He swallows another sip of water, "I think we have a good chance tomorrow. Must be thanks to your notes."

You beam when he says that, his hand firm on your back as he holds you close. There's an air around you both for a moment, and you wish the feeling could stay forever.

If only.

He ends up getting track limits on his qualifying run, bumping him back on the starting grid by a hefty amount. You literally cannot determine where he breaks limits, but even with Williams challenging it, the penalty stays. Logan tries to brush it off, to pretend it doesn't hurt him, but you can see the stress in his eyes.

Another night you fall asleep thinking. But other than the notes you already placed, you didn't have any more ideas.

And then he places out of points when Alex snags a podium, in a stroke of luck and a safety car. Logan doesn't take the cold water you offer him, barely greeting you as he slips by to his drivers room, and you try not to feel distraught.

Benny gives him space, as does everyone else, so you follow suit and walk to the paddocks. Which is where you and Logan are finally reunited after the race.

"Hey, baby." You murmur as he walks over, slumping into your hands as you let his face be molded by their grasp, "You drove well."

"I couldn't get around Lewis." Logan murmurs in complaint, and you can feel the pant up anger starting to burn in his cheeks, "if I hadn't been such a fucking dumbass."

"Hey." you chastise, squishing his face before he pulls himself away, "You're not a dumbass, you had a shitty penalty. Lewis is a really good driver, sometimes it's hard--"

"But I can be better." Logan interrupts you, and you go to speak again before he says, "You deserve better."

"What the hell are you talking about? Deserve better?" You ask, stepping towards Logan as he tries to retreat from you.

Logan groans, turning back sharp enough you step back to avoid his shoulder colliding with your outstretched hand. Gritting his teeth, he hisses out, "You can back out of this little arranged thing, stop being so cutesy and so kind and so loving to me, because I don't deserve it. You deserve someone who wins. Because you're so fucking amazing, and I'm just... whatever the hell this is."

You are genuinely shell shocked, but Logan just continues before you squeak out a very soft,

"But I love you. Like I... I genuinely do."

And then Logan goes to backtrack, claiming you're lying and that there no way you actually do. You watch him sputter, scraping for excuses and reasons you're lying and theres only one idea that pops in your mind. Damn the cameras, damn the people around you.

"I am hard to love and you're just gonna hurt yourself trying--" Logan says as you cup his jaw before you press up on your toes enough to lock your lips to his. There's a moment of hesitation before his arm slides around your waist as he breaks to reconnect you properly.

And when you pull back, your cheeks burn as you whisper, "I do love you. And I'd crawl with bleeding knees and palms for years if it meant one day, one day, I can make you see yourself the way I do."

Logan is just staring and you stammer again, "Sorry, was that too much?"

"No." He answers quick, "No, that was what I needed. Do it again."

And you laugh, tossing your arms around his neck to pull him into a proper kiss this time. The scattering of camera flashes like the fireworks you feel in your gut.

yn.fdotus

liked by alexalbon, flotus, williamsracing, and 998k others...

yn.fdotus: all because I really like this boy 🩵

tagged: logansargeant

oscarpiastri: finally you guys have the guts to be public

⤷ alexalbon: now everyone can see how disgustingly in love they are

⤷ yn.fdotus: oh you are one to talk, alex.

flotus: so cute !!

user1: HOW DID LOGAN PULL HER?

⤷ yn.fdotus: @ logansargeant idk how did you?

⤷ logansargeant: my american charm obviously

user2: sobbing. my parents.

taglist (thank you all so much <3!!)

@stinkyjax @kroissant-content @samantha-chicago @jpg3 @mickf1loverf2too

@nixisracing @h34rts4maisey @heartsfromtaeyong @a-beaverhausen

@purplephantomwolf @insanedeathwish @llando4norris @formulaonebuff

@vicurious28 @lady1505 @lozzamez3 @kqliie @barbsschumacher

[the-m0st-forg3ttable-g1rl]

❝𝐚 𝐋𝐚𝐦𝐛 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫❞

𝐁𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐆𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐘'𝐀𝐋𝐋!! 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐈'𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐬𝐮𝟏𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐬𝟑𝐥𝐟 𝐡@rm, 𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝟑𝐫𝐝𝟎𝐬𝐞. 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤.

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐈 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬!! 𝐈 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 (𝟑+ 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬)

the lamb siblings sat outside their musty trailer, they could smell the weed from the surrounding houses... if you could even call them that. Penny was convinced the two had a constant second hand high from how much their little "safe haven" smoked that shit.

This was their normal ever since they were small, sitting with each other while their parents couldn't care less, penny, being the elder of the two felt the responsibility to protect her brother, Ezra, from the cult they lived in, however he was a clever kid and eventually caught on in his preteen years.

"do you think we'll get out of here, ez?" penny asked gently, looking over at her little brother, dressed in his usual cape, he insisted he looked cool.

"no. no we won't, no one has" Ezra put simply, that was one thing him and penny never saw eye to eye on; sugar coating things. he always said it how he saw it.

"you.. don't think we even have a chance?" her question was met with the boy simply shaking his head.

She sighed deeply, feeling herself starting to tear up, god she hated this place, she hated her parents, more importantly? she hated herself. Times like this she thought back to her countless nights alone in her room, bloody toilet paper, a razor in her hand and her cheeks tear stained as she felt the sting in her thighs. that's how she kept herself grounded; pain. The only thing keeping her alive was her brother, she cannot leave him alone in this hellhole, he's her whole life, he's the only one who loves her.

Her flashback was interrupted as their parents called the pair inside, the two exchanged worried looks before heading into their trailer, this thing didn't even deserve to be called a home. Once inside they we're met with a harsh grab on their wrists and dragged to the kitchen, Penny's worst fear had become reality, and her brother would have to bear witness.

"mind explaining this? hm?" their mother questioned, her glare shifting between the two.

a razor, a bloody fucking razor sat on the counter, penny felt sick, she wanted to run away and die. actually die, no coming back like in movies, no happy ending; she deserved death.

Ezra stared in shock, he'd never seen it before, he was too young to worry about facial hair to shave, he was too afraid to even touch dangerous objects, so he shook his head

"ive never seen that, mom, and- and I doubt penny has! she.. she wouldn't, right penns?" penny remained quiet "penns..? why is it bloody?" he asked again shakily, connecting the dots. Their parents watched emotionless, penny finally spoke up

"how.. did you find that?"

"oh honey, please, we looked through your room once you developed a little limp and found your friend here. Tell your brother what you've been doing, or should i?"

"tell me what? penny why have you been limping? what does,.. that... have to do with it? you said no secrets between us!" her younger brother quickly became defensive, he knew the answer, he knew the answer to it all, he wished he didn't but... He wasn't dumb.

"Ezra, please, I'll explain it later-"

"no! I want- I want to know now! how are you so calm?!" tears began to form in both of the children's eyes.

Ezra was crying over his beloved sister hiding secrets, penny crying because her brother hated her now.

"ever... ever since we were young, I began to cope in this place with... that" she gestured to the object "the pain would distract me, would get my mind off of how doomed we were to die here, I'm not calm, i am beyond scared right now" penny explained, her voice flat, it was scary, she was never like this. this all but scared her brother more, he was the monotone one, it seemed they had switched places.

With that he walked silently to his room, their mother turned to penny, holding the razor out for her to take

"I see you'll be needing this again, now that the only person who would remotely like you is gone, all because you can't handle your emotions..."

penny took the blade, going up to her own room and breaking down as soon as the door was closed.

Her mother was right, about everything, grabbing the stash of first aid in her dresser she hitched up her skirt and began to "cope"... she couldn't even call it that, it wasn't coping, she was dying, she wanted too, now that Ezra was gone what was stopping her? she continued this cycle of thinking, of slashing and hacking at her skin, for what seemed like hours but was only 2 minutes. The girl sat there, staring at the mess she made, her skirt was blood stained, her thigh was sticky and her nostrils were intruded with the smell of sickly sweet metal. she wanted to vomit, she wanted to vomit until she couldn't any longer.

After her self pitying, penny finally stood up, limping to the bathroom in order to clean up, this was her nightly routine it seemed. Wrapping her leg in gauze, she heard a knock on the door;

"Penns...? I know it's you" her heart hurt. She couldn't turn her brother away, she opened the door to let him in.

Ezra nearly screamed at the sight, his sister was blood stained and sickly pale, he sat next to her on the ground, grabbing an alcohol pad to wipe her hands. A small gesture but he needed to be there for her

"I didn't want you to see me like this, I look pathetic" penny laughed, finishing bandaging her leg, letting her brother care for her

"I didn't want to see you like this either, at least I know you're alive" he reassured, throwing the wipes away and just sitting near her. the two sat like this for a while until penny spoke up

"when... I leave, will you be okay-"

"no. no I won't. which is why you can't leave, in any way." he knew what she meant by leaving. he wasn't dumb.

"right but... if I did?"

"I'd go with you, I don't exist without you"

penny just nodded, pushing herself up to exit the bathroom in silence

"I'm okay, ez, I'm going to bed, you should too" he agreed with her, hugging her tight as he headed to his room.

Once she knew he was asleep, she rushed to the kitchen, searching the pill cabinet for Ezra's Ritalin, with shaky hands she poured a handful, pouring a cup of water with her free hand.

She walked up to her room, waiting for the pills to kick in, she laid down in bed, feeling at peace for the first time in her life, she was finally leaving Elysium. her peace didn't last long as her body soon became clammy and her breathing was shallow; it was time, and she was okay despite the panic. her mind was racing; was this the right thing? should she call someone? what would ezra-

Ezra. oh god Ezra.

By the time her brother crossed her mind, she felt herself choking on her own blood, she found it beautiful in a way, ghostly pale in a pool of blood.

After a minute of agony... penny lamb was dead. She reached her goal of leaving Elysium.

Ezra awoke the next morning with a sense of dread, something wasn't right in the house. he rushed down to the kitchen, finding his parents but no sister

"where's penny? she's out by now"

"hell if I know, couldn't care less about that slut" his mother huffed, shooing him away like a horsefly, he simply turned and made his way to pennys room, figuring she must've overslept after the long night she had. It was unusual for her to sleep until 10am but he didn't put it past her, slowly he opened her door in case she was indecident.. she was, but not in the way he suspected.

This time he did scream at the sight of his sister, the only thing remotely recognizable about her was the twin French braids she always had, even they had dried blood in them, everything about his dear sister was bloody. his parents rushed to find their son kneeling in front of their daughters body, hysterically sobbing as they watched in shock

"no... no she couldn't have, she can't be serious, penny lamb, wake up!" their mother pleaded, shaking her slightly, her head simply lolled to the side as her mouth spilled with blood, dripping onto the floor, causing her family to back up.

Ezra stayed in her room for days, even after her body had been removed, the room smelled of her, of her perfume, blood, tears, memories... the room was her, it was all he had of her, he barely ate for weeks, just enough to barely live, just enough so his parents, as shitty as they were, would have one of their kids. He needed to stay alive for her, stay alive so she wouldn't have died in vain.

[ch0cocrave]

I just realized how short I am -_- /neg

I mean I've always knew it, my friends won't shut up about it, which gets kinda annoying sometimes :/

But when I walked through the hallway a couple minutes ago, everyone was towering over me and idk I just felt like crap... its something I can't control I know, but i'm just kinda tired of hearing " OMG YOU'RE SO SHORT LMAOOO "

" OH YEAH DID I TELL YOU YOU'RE SHORT?? "

One of my buddies literally wrote in my sketchbook "i'm taller than you" Which I mean that's funny and all, but you're not the short one that has to hear that every school day so idek

I go to this activity thing every Wednesday, and I've made a few friends there including my two besties >:], but one of them told me a couple weeks ago that they thought I was 13, based on my height. -_- LIKE HUH????? WE EVEN WENT CAMPING TOGETHER FOR A WEEK AND YOU DIDN'T CONNECT THE DOTS THAT I'M 15???? HUH?????

And when winter break comes around my friends are all gonna tease me saying that I should go back to work at Santa's workshop cause i'm basically an elf WOW DANG WOULD'VE NEVER GUESSED :D

I mean we were talking about how funny it would be on the day before winter break I dressed up in an elf costume and handed toys out which I guess that's funny but idk

Ive kinda grown to hate myself based on this...

I love my life/nsrs

[minimag1c]

Finally ANOTHER CHAPTER OF YOU REALLY DIDN'T KNOW YIPEEEE

Uhm- anyway-

Be ready I'm gonna post a lot for a week and some of you will know why this for now I will feed you with this

Chapter IV: Connections

A knock on the door.

"Ma'am Jophiel?"

Followed by silence.

Something that was unusual or eerie during this specific period in the holy place.

"Nirvana", one the most prominent and famous studios of Heaven have just finished filming an ad for the new perfume that was currently trending with the holy place and the main actress of it retired herself after a few shots who weren't that successful except the last one.

Say, the main actress wasn't just any averagely known figure they picked up on social medias or a doll face like cherub that anyone would fall in love with but the literal, actual and well known Archangel of beauty, Jophiel. The company was already a cash flowing one and well known for their high expectations and goals so it wasn't that all surprising if one of the virtues was also working on the commercial but the masses didn't actually know that for perfectionists, it was fighting with nail and tooth until their figurative and physical state collapse.

That doesn't mean the Archangel Jophiel was the type to exhaust her celestial bones until her own feathers would feel heavy on her wings' flesh however, there where those moments of surmenage accompanied with a bad timing for a sensory overload, let's just say the walking ticking bomb of emotions nesting on eggshells finally exploded and of course in the middle of another shooting.

And here's another problem: No one knew what to do when the model had her meltdown. Of course they didn't knew that this would happen, when hiring one of the original Morningstar, they didn't excepted that of them would actually react badly and it wasn't even on a failed attempt or whatsoever, it was... Just because of a few bright lights.

But after hindsight, did they actually make it too much? It wasn't everyday someone could witness this and did an archangel even needed to be taken care of? Or could they heal themselves? Or on the contrary, they actually needed to be more pampered and looked on??

Almost everyone in the studio would have be shut down, asking those questions that they never considered before if it wasn't for the exception of an heavenly being with a heart pin in his brown hair and clothed with plain a white short sleeved shirt and black pants holding a clipboard in hand who went to the backstage, specifically in the archangel's room.

Actually, he was just like Jophiel except he was the Archangel of love but employees and workers in Nirvana didn't suspect that a lambda manager's assistant is Chamuel Morningstar or, in some texts and other choices of words, Camael. Plus, his disguise made him pretty much unrecognizable and thus, it wouldn't make sense that people would be able to connect the dots between these two identities unless they have stalked or knew the archangel too well which wasn't that many or anyone at all except his siblings.

Right now, Chamuel has put aside the bumble bee-esque sounds roaming and buzzing in the studios or in other rooms except the backstages as he waited patiently in front of Jophiel's door, crossing his arms while lightly tapping his foot. There could be a chance that she wasn't probably inside but instead trying her best to calm down or plaster a smile solid enough to be believable for a few hours or, if she was lucky enough, the whole day and an afternoon in a nearby bathroom but Chamuel had a sharp hearing and if it was for the slight shuffling of a sheet accompanied by a thud, he would have thought about checking the second option.

"Ma'am? Can you hear me?" He asked again, more concern evident in his words. Jophiel herself already knew that her own sibling was in Nirvana, working undercover but she didn't actually know where they were nor what was their costumes or other appellation of it. Another thing is that she didn't really know who it was hence Chamuel preferred to be formal for now as to not overwhelm her even more. Plus, it was also just in case if one of the staff accidentally stumbled next to him and actually realize that two even more powerful than the average heavenly entity was inadvertently working with them.

Camael wasn't sure what would be their reaction but it was better safe than sorry.

In the end, after waiting for a good few minutes, the archangel felt that it was enough for him to enter inside the room, not before warning the one inside it. Without further ado, he opened the door.

Overall, it was the typical decor of any Hollywood backstage and rooms for any stars and celebrities except it had angelic motifs and touch of different yellow hue, from slightly pastel, even white to straight up bright albeit it was only a small portion. Aside from the vanity, there was a simple lemon flavored couch glued to the wall, a small ball of sheets was sitting on it, occasionally shifting back and forth slightly but stayed still on the soft cushions.

If it wasn't for the short curly hair that faded at the tip, Camael wouldn't have guessed that it was Jophiel, putting aside the room's design.

With the softest smile he could plastered on his face, he cautiously when towards the other archangel as he sat down next to her, barely touching her shoulder as to not frighten her furthermore.

"Hey" he started, being as gentle as possible. "What got you so bummed out?" He asked, no hint of malice in his voice.

It took a moment for Camael to get a reaction from her but slightly, ever so slightly she poked out her heard, her eye who was visible out of the sheet glaring at him. Chamuel smiled furthermore.

"Hale."

Hale was the name that Camael picked up for his camouflage in Nirvana. He liked the name rolling out of his tongue, plus he liked the meaning behind it, healthy and good looking, even though he didn't considered himself as a healer, he considered love as a fuel, something that everyone, platonic or not, could use as a natural medicine, a coping mechanism if used well, a link for strengthening emotional support.

But after all, who was he to tell, being a healer, a pillar of marble was Raphael's purpose and duty.

Which, now that Camael thought about it, he hasn't seen his brother in a while...

But that wasn't the current situation that mattered at hand right now. The mass of wrapped blankets started to wriggle a bit next to the archangel until the woman's head fully emerged from it. Her own eyeshadows stained slightly the corner her eyes while the pigment of her yellow blush started to fade out. Her hair was also a mess but, as the beared of the title "one of the most beautiful archangel", of course her appearance would have been a sweet eyestrain in a gawking way.

For the first few seconds, she hasn't moved nor said a word until a small, barely present, mischievous smirk appeared on her face as she finally spoke, her voice a tad raspy.

"You still kept that weird wonky nickname of yours?"

It tooks Camael a while to process what she actually just said before he widened his eyes and lightly punched her on the side. Albeit there was no harm intended nor actual force in his fist, he pouted slightly, huffing at her snarky remark.

"Hey! You said that it was good when I told you I would use that name!" He slightly scolded her. Jophiel's small smile widened a bit more. "Cammy, you already know that when I said that, it was out of from pure sarcasm."

The concerned one only proceeded to roll his eyes, soon finding himself to laugh at her propos and even more, his own joyfulness contagious as Jophiel soon followed him, albeit with less energy and more with a las feeling lingering.

It didn't tooks that much time, in fact it was only a few minutes after, for the feminine archangel to slump back on her velvet couch, drowning again in her sheets and sour mood.

Chamuel titled his head to the side, his smile slowly faltering before it became a thin line, both eyebrows frowning slightly as he looked at her. However, when he was about to speak up again, trying to come up with another way to confront her state, the archangel of beauty was faster, asking with a still a tad hoarse voice coated words.

"What are you even doing here-?"

"Just wanted to check on you, Joy. Is that a crime?"

The concerned one huffed slightly, even though it seemed more like a sigh of resignation. Camael, nonetheless, didn't backed down as he ever slowly and gently put his hand barely next the sheets that shielded Jophiel from the outside world. The woman was not really the one to be easily open to other people and less when she wasn't having it, emotions and feelings speaking or just meeting others but Chamuel was still persistent. Not stubborn. Persistent was a better word and he was really one, mainly to help other and relatives.

"Jophiel I just want to check on you." He admitted, his eyes showing his empathized bummed out feeling, mirroring with Jophiel. The latter only scoffed lightly, shrugging her shoulders although her gaze still hasn't met the other's.

"It's nothing really. I'm an archangel I can deal with it."

"You know what I mean." He said, rather harsh with knowing it but Jophiel continued, hers still firm on her own conviction but it felt more like she was already getting irritated by Chamuel's continuing presence.

"They were just a few lights. I can handle it but it's just I was more tired than usual today-" Jophiel was about to continue but Chamuel was already getting impatient as well, his own feelings starting to grow tumultuous because of his empath ability increasing.

"Jophiel, don't start pulling out those excuses on me, you already know it won't work." They said, tense. Jophiel glared at him intensely, her lips quivering and, for a moment, Camael really thought that she was going to snap at the other.

But then, instead, she tooks a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying her best to not escalate quickly as she buried herself furthermore in her small makeshift nest, not wanting to add anything else.

Somehow Chamuel felt even worse with that kind of reaction.

An oppressive and awkward silence settled between the two heavenly beings, both of them hesitating if the other would talk or themself. In the end, Chamuel was the one who broke the silence first, sighing heavily before.

"Listen Joy I-... I'm sorry I really didn't wanted to get on your nerves but I just want to help." He said before adding other words, with more pleading coating his words. "Please. Can I at least try to do something? For you?" He insisted slightly, his once persistence fading throughout the time.

Jophiel thought about his question for a short while and was about to answer until he cut her off again, slightly deadpan.

"Except telling me to go away. At least something I can do right now before you throw me out."

"Dammit." She muttered. Chamuel shrugged.

"You heard me."

The silence was still unbearable for the two but this time it was shorter. In the end, Jophiel gave up at trying to be reculant towards him but still, it tooks strength for the archangel to eventually speak up.

"Can I have some water-? Just a small bottle." She asked, her voice barely audible.

Chamuel looked at her, his eyes a bit wide but didn't minded it. Of course, as someone whose powers where just powerful enough, he could snap his fingers and make water appears but he thought to himself that it could be more appreciated if he tries to find one normally since he wanted to walk a bit as well.

"Alright if you say so-"

"But please."

Jophiel's suddenly interrupted them almost made him jump as he looked at her, a bit confused but still, they listened to what was she going to say...

... Even if what she said after somehow made them feel a needle stuck in their heart.

"After that just leave me alone. I really don't want to deal with- I really don't want to deal with anyone right now." She said, now fully hiding her entire physical being inside her sheets.

They knew that she didn't meant any harmful undertone in her sentence but Camael felt a slight weight in his stomach, an unpleasant feeling of uselessness wrenching his guts. Obviously, he felt stupid for feeling like this but it was stronger than him and for a fraction of second, he was about to get really upset.

But then, with hindsight, if it meant helping his sister, than he wouldn't mind.

He shouldn't mind.

"... Of course."

And they left, closing the door without any words.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

The archangel of wisdom sat on the floor rummaged through the mountains of papers and scrolls that was in her office alongside with the library, slightly tense and frowning.

The exterminations! How come she have never heard of it? And the fact that the actual head of the seraphim hid that cruel method from the virtues since how many years?? Centuries or eons even???

She was the archangel of wisdom. The archangel of knowledge and closely related to the Heavenly Council, Hell even one of the seven virtue, someone who was supposed to be all knowing and who was able to depict everything and be a powerful being but then if she didn't even knew about these barbaric ways, how can she even still considered herself as enough for this title? And moreso, if Sera hid it away from prying eyes for a long time now, that only emphasize how unworthy the more she thought about-

No. She was worthy of it and that's the reason why she was here, working her ass off, totally not on the verge of a breakdown with a brain as gushy as mud because she have found nothing about the exterminations. Totally not because of that.

A b s o l u t e l y n o t.

... Okay clearly she needed a break.

Uriel grunted, pinching in between her eyes, massaging it slightly, feeling yet another headache incoming as she let go of the papers who were gripped tightly in her hand as she sighed heavily, stress gradually leaving her as she realized how actually exhausted and hungry she was.

"I should probably summon a cereal bar or a bottle of red bull before continuing.." she thought to herself.

However, when she was about to get up to stretch herself, a small black flame suddenly materialized itself in front of her, slightly startling the archangel. Uriel raised an eyebrow before the flame changed its form to a more rectangular one until a dark purple lunch box appeared and almost fell on the floor if it wasn't for the woman who catched it.

At first, she raised an eyebrow in confusion, looking closer at it before she deadpanned, clearly not having it.

Obviously, she knew about the one who gave her this and, normally, she would either laugh a bit or smile at the gesture but the amount of works she had to do today really took a toll on her.

"Azrael, I'm really not in the mood right now." She said out loud. Not that long after, a figure emerged from the ground, wrapped in a black mist until an archangel with long white hair and black wings stepped forward, their arm crossed on their chest, a slight sight of disappointment on their face.

"It is not about your mood or whatsoever, Yuri. You didn't touched food for so long it's now as cold as Antarctica before climate change." Azrael said, raising an eyebrow at Uriel who slightly glared at him, not only because of the nickname but also because she definitely didn't wanted him to come.

"I thought you were the virtue of patience. Why did you even came when I told you I was still working?" She asked. He shrugged.

"Just because I'm that doesn't mean I shouldn't jump on when my siblings doesn't even know how to take care of themselves." He answered, just as nonchalant.

Uriel grumbled under her breath but, nonetheless, couldn't help but bring the lunch box close to her because of the divine smell. Azrael couldn't help but chuckles a bit as he sat next to her, leaning on a pile of old leather books as the other archangel opened the lunch box and widened her eyes, seeing a variety of Korean like dishes. Azrael couldn't help but smile fondly at his sister.

"I've decided to prepare a new one since the last was really not it. Don't worry about the temperature, you can wait a bit because I'm pretty sure it's still hotter than Australia."

"I still don't know why you keep doing Earth and its problems related jokes or metaphors these last few weeks." Uriel said, summoning chopsticks as she took a piece of kimchi. Azrael only hummed.

"When you constantly deal with Death lingering around mainly because of humans' stupidity, might as well use some dark humor to cope. With limits of course." Azrael added the last part as he smiled furthermore when Uriel ate a piece of the meal and hummed in approval, pleased of the savory taste of Azrael's cooking. She shallowed before continuing, her eyes darting away, her tone almost nostalgic.

"Mmh. You reminded me of the time during the ten plagues in Egypt where you accompanied me and kept making jokes all around because of the numerous deaths." Uriel piped in, a small, soft smile on her face yet at the same time restraining herself to not shake her head at the memory.

"Well, technically you were the one who would check if the door have lamb's blood while I shoot the kid." Azrael said almost as a matter of fact, smiling in false innocence.

Uriel almost choked on her meal as she glared at her bother, her joy being ephemeral after that propos. She narrowed her eyes at him before letting out a sigh, rubbing his eyes behind her glasses.

"For Mother's sake Azrael, I said take them, not shoot them!"

"Knowing the context of it, pretty sure these two are the same thing, am I wrong-?"

Now that caught Uriel off.

"Well- uh- i-" The archangel of wisdom was about to pull up another stunt but upon realizing that she let out a huff of resignation.

When the angel of death seemed to observe that his sibling didn't had anything else to say, he couldn't help but laugh at her attempt. Obviously, not out of malice rather a begnine teasing.

"Either way you understood what I was trying to say."

"Yeah. Of course."

And despite it, Uriel didn't fought back the small crack of smile that creeped out up on her face.

Soon, a silence settled between the two. For a the primary few minutes, it was decent until the atmosphere gotten thick, shifting unto something more awkward and unbearable to handle even for the toughest shells.

Unfortunately, Azrael's question only added more unwanted salt to the elephant in the room.

"It has been almost a week since I didn't saw you coming out of the library."

Uriel was playing and poking her remaining teokkbokki, contemplating the metaphorical voie in front while her consciousness tried to process fully what her brother was implying.

For a fraction of second, she felt her own golden blood running out but then she tried to calm herself down, her appearance as neutral as possible to not betray her inner growing turmoil.

"It's because of work. Exterminations have been such a bum in the butt I have extras now." She replied as Azrael made a sniffled up noise of understanding, his expression going on a small degree of sour.

"To be honest, I know you're like those librarians that have so many knowledge but still, I have no ideas how is your job and those exterminations are related."

Oh boy where does Uriel would even starts to answer that.

Because first thing first, not a lot of people weren't aware of that, not even her own siblings but Uriel is actually, indirectly in that case, member of the Heavenly council. There were no veiled explanations, she was the wisdom, the pillar or logics and techniques in some perspectives and, as much as it was overly frustrating how it was bright on the face that Sera was the one behind the exterminations therefore the main culprit, she needed to be neutral first and thus it was a necessity to provide concretes informations and notions about the yearly slaughter alongside with its participants, which are, in that case, exorcists...

... And that led to the second thing which was another whole problem: the case itself was a total mess. It was certain and official from now on that exterminations were illegal and weren't even supposed to work in the first place but that was EXACTLY the issue! How could Uriel even work on a registered crime case when it has no written traces and registered laws concerning it and even less files! And THAT was infuriated Uriel the most because in juridical way of speaking, that meant that exterminations had nothing in it aside the exorcists?? No registered informations or official connotations, it couldn't just be that easy.

And let's not even talk about the exorcists themselves who, most of them, doesn't even have any assurances and official identities in Heaven.

And for informations as well, the victims or the one who were involved in the case are only citizens from Hell and if it was for Heaven's case, it was the one who were put on the trial which wasn't... The best thing.

And the only person the archangel could think of was Emily which was also not... The best thing. And no. She won't elaborate.

Oh and Adam too. He was already a whole problem by himself and now that he died, the problem got worse...

"... There are reasons why it's linked. Trust me." Uriel decided to put simply in the end, not feeling ready to dump all the reasons and whatnot to her sibling as she went back to her files.

The virtue of patience frowned slightly at their sister's response, knowing easily that Uriel actually had the answers, she always had them, but just didn't felt to talk about it.

But nonetheless, he respected Uriel's choices of words, as long as she didn't tried to hide bigger and darker secrets nor crucial informations that risked to be compromise in the current situation, as he sighed slightly in small content before he finally got up, ruffling his wings slightly.

The feminine archangel bit his lips, knowing her brother would leave her be again... But a sudden question that made her froze in mixed emotions was itching her as she decided to impulsively ask it out loud.

"Do you think he received our letters?"

The temperature of the room suddenly dropped as Azrael himself felt a weight dropping all the way down to his throat and stomach, as he only stood, immobile, his back turned to Uriel as his mind tried to process the following words.

After what felt an eternity, frozen in time, he spoke up, his tone almost betraying his doubtfulness.

"He's the king of Hell now, Uriel. Pretty sure he is busy with his duties."

It wasn't the best response to it obviously and Uriel didn't even seemed that convinced with his words as she muttered something under her breath but, knowing it would go if he added anything else, the angel of death let out a quick goodbye as he disappeared in a black mist.

Uriel only hummed, going back into putting her nose in the numerous papers and written laws.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

Lucifer didn't knew if he was just woke up from a nap or coming back from the deads.

In either way, he felt as if he got ran by a truck three times before being crushed to death by five elephants. To say the least.

And it's very precise I know.

In either way, to summarize it up, Lucifer really felt like shit almost like the first time he died.

Which was agonizing mind you. Unfortunately for him, it was not a quick painless death but the exact opposite: slow, full of agonies, emotions now blurry and mixed with the blood that kept pouring out of his own body, his heart ripped off his chest and destroyed until it was just pieces and shreds of flesh as he was forced to watch it.

A bit gruesome he had to admit.

And now he felt as if the sensations of his first time were coming back to haunt him. Or probably they just want him to go back through all of this again. Who knows.

Unfortunately for his miserable and pathetic life, Lucifer had already planned activities and his day and therefore, as much as he has gotten familiar with it, he was busy.

Like trying to fucking get up for example.

In the end, after what felt like countless attempts, the king let out a groan of frustration and tiredness, clearly feeling that today will be those days where his body and mind wouldn't cooperate.

"Oh for the love of-"

He rubbed his face with his wobbly hand before lazily snapping his fingers for... Well he didn't knew what was actually the reason on why he should even use his magic.

Well. Might as well just use it for everything.

After he felt somewhat satisfied with his wishes, he finally snapped his fingers before he got engulfed in a red and golden mist as it dissipated after a while, leaving him now in a new pristine usual white and red suit and hat, as he got up and stretch himself, putting on his best shiniest smile as he only readjusted his clothes.

NOW he was ready!

Wait. There was one thing left.

Lucifer frowned when he remembered it as pulled out one his drawer and pulled out a small bottle of medicines, filled with pills whose names were "HaPpY pIlLs"

The devil couldn't help but glare intensely at it but he knew he needed them to at least function like a normal person even if the name was so disgusting.

Reculantly, he poured almost an handful of those medicines in his hand, admiring their horrendous glory before chugging all of them down in one go.

Father above that tasted horrible just like always.

After he felt ready and not forgetting anything, he took another breath before teleporting himself to the hotel, this time taking longer than usual.

But he didn't cared.

"Hello everyon-!!" Lucifer didn't had time to fully finish his dramatic entrance that he felt a bone crushing bear hug encasing him as he lightly choked out.

"Augh-! W-wh-??"

"Fucking thank God dad you're finally here!" Charlie's worried voice rang out as she then gripped her father's shoulders, extreme care and concern written all over her face. "Are you okay?? What happened?? You didn't responded to my texts!"

As the nephilim continued to list all of her unanswered questions, Lucifer couldn't help but slowly frog blinking in incompréhension. Why on earth was she worried about him? Did his not so discreet exit really scared the life out of his daughter?

"C-charlie I'm fine! See? You don't have to worry about me dramatically leaving this morning." He said, chuckling awkwardly, trying to run off the uncomfortable atmosphere.

Unfortunately for the short king, it only got worse when the rest of the hotel's residents looked at each other, all mixed emotions at his propos while even Alastor seemed to frown slightly despite his wide grin.

Lucifer's stomach dropped as he tried to fix whatever he tried to say. "Y-you know when I disappeared like poof! Gone in a smoke h-hehe-"

"Dad?"

"Yescharlie-?"

The hotel's owner looked at her father, mildly concerned and conflicted if she actually should address the elephant in the room. But then, in the end, it was probably for the best.

"Yo- you were gone for 6 months- that sudden disappearance it was months ago-"

At the aveu, Lucifer's face became livid as he almost let go of his apple cane.

Ah. So that's why something fell off when he arrived, a few things a few changed.

Yeah. A few.

"Hahha-! Uh-" the king tried to laugh off but it was obvious he was pushing it before he immediately added, as if his words would compensate his unexplainable absence. "W-well you know Char-! Being the king and all that stuff-!" He made some intelligible noises before he straighten up his back all of the sudden. "Anyway! It's fine like I've said before! Completely okay! So Uh- what was-" he curses himself mentally for being such a fool in front of sinners. "What was the thing that you were trying to say Charlie-?"

At first, the concerned one didn't responded and Lucifer was fearing that she would still insist on his unresponsiveness but then she composed herself (she was way better at it, unlike him) as she also smiled back, except her own as was not as strained as his.

She knew how to keep her blood cold.

Once again. Unlike him.

"Oh well actually I wanted your opinion if you wanted to do a specific trust exercise? For- you know- knowing the rest of our residents-?"

Once more, the suggestion went through the sin's head and it tooks a short moment surprisingly to process it before he grinned at his daughter, pushing his doubts as he tried his best to answer with the happiest tone he could muster.

"Oh of course! Why not Charlie?? After all, I really want to see your friends!" He said enthusiastically much to Charlie's relief as she dragged her father to the rest of the hotel's lobby where fortunately, everyone was just minding their own business, except a certain radio demon who stared at the king with disdain and suspicion.

━━━━━━ ◦ ❖ ◦ ━━━━━━

They still haven't found Samael yet. How??? He was literally not moving for a long time and when they were about to find him he was just gone!

It wasn't fair!

But oh well. The good news is that they finally knew how to track Samael without getting caught physically and therefore it was just a bonus point for them.

Obviously they won't give up. Absolutely not! Not right when they were so close.

Oh Samael really didn't had to worry. They would catch him soon. After all, it's their little Morningstar! And they would anything for him!

A̴̚͟n̸̬̓y̵̦͆t̷̹͒h̵̬͋i̷̖͊n̴͇͌ḡ̴͇.̵̫̇

----

Archive of our own version

[stuck-in-the-ghost-zone]

HIII I KNOW. A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ANNIHILATION. PERIPHERALLY. ive seen like part of it but i do NOT remember much. except that its one of the prettiest movies ive ever seen. that being said im so eyes emoji abt ur au..... r there any specific scenes frm the movie ur thinking about?? how would the character dynamics differ from either canon?? etc etc etc!!!

GOD I FUCKING LOOOOOVE ANNIHILATION. ONE OF MY TOP 5 FAVORITE MOVIES OF ALL TIME EVER. yes yes yes yes yes OK. so this is. all encompassing crossover jrwi au which means I'm pulling characters from different campaigns. which. usually im not a huge fan of but i think i pulled it off rlly well in a limited sense here bc i have very specific reasoning behind why i put each character where. u will know at least two of them and they WILL cause you psychic damage so trust me when i say the other ones will too. putting this under a cut bc im gonna ramble

BASICALLYYYYY it's gonna follow the plot of the movie pretty closely just with slightly altered character dynamics + each of their reasons for going into the shimmer. so each person on the Current Team has lost someone on a previous expedition, and basically all of them are trying to find answers for what happened to their loved ones.

im gonna talk mainly about the ones you know because youll understand where I'm coming from the best with them but just know I am OBSESSED w the roles I have put gillion and chip in here. god I miss riptide every day .

DAKOTA COLE AS ANYA. Anya is the retired paramedic !! she's the one that. hold everything. gets killed by the fucked up bear. smile. that was just a fun little coincidence for me . ORIGINALLY I was dead set on having the pd representative be william bc im biased and I love him but after rewatching the movie I just think dakota fits in anyas place so perfectly. she's the most outgoing of the group, she's the one that initially invites Lena to join their team (also side note there is a pre-existing dynamic between dakota and chip because they've had MULTIPLE interactions in various what if crossover episodes and their dynamic is one of my favorite things ever). she's also the most aggressive. she's the first one to snap into action mode after finding the body in the pool, she's the one to take josie away from it and has a very protective stance over josie for the rest of the time after that (this is going to be relevant i am gonna talk about josie next) . once the group starts arguing about whether they want to continue further into the shimmer, anya shifts into a VERY black and white mentality, pinning ventress as The Bad Guy immediately for wanting to continue. and then when Lena shows some hesitancy over what she wants to do, anya snaps into a "youre either with me or against me" mindset. she also has this growing sense of paranoia ever since they find the tape of what appears to be the previous crew killing each other, and after she learns Lena is lying to them about her connection with Kane she goes way overboard with tying them to chairs and threatening to kill them. while i don't think dakota would necessarily go that far I DID say this to jonesy when we were rewatching the movie together so. bfu connecting two dots meme

anyway i think dakota is in the shimmer looking for william AND vyncent. parallels to the "dakota leaves for 10 months without telling them" which is why the three of them would be separated in the first place. william somehow finds out about the southern reach and his draw toward a mystery is what causes him to join the first expedition. vyncent goes with him because he can sense it's dangerous (and basically a suicide mission) and doesn't want william to go alone. I have. ideas. for what happens to them in the shimmer but they are vague at best right now and even then. dakota never finds out what happens to them before he's killed by the bear. the bear uses their voices to draw him out btw. smile. he dies protecting thr rest of the group even immediately after his paranoid breakdown.

OK THAT GOT LONG. OOPS. ONTO THE SECOND ONE

SHILO AS JOSIE. ohhhhh josie radek one of my favorite characters in media of all time. God I love her so much. anyway she's the only one of the current expedition with no previous combat training, so she's often seen by the rest of them as someone who needs to be protected. if I'm remembering correctly she's also the youngest. (in this. au. dakota would be older than shilo. feels better in my mind. none of them would be Kids they'd all be adults at this point but I'd put shilo in early 20s and dakota maybe in mid 20s. so . still young.) shilo is in the shimmer looking for his twin brother who went missing. somehow he was able to track down the southern reach and find out emizel was part of a previous expedition, and desperately wants to get him back. he's the one with the LEAST amount of knowledge going into the shimmer. he doesn't realize it's a suicide mission. he just wants his brother back. anyway when they get to the first outpost they find the remnants of the first team's base of operations, with names on a guard patrol rotation and leftover weapons and. a video camera. with a tape in a plastic bag labeled "for those who follow". josie is the one holding the camera when they watch it. the tape shows members of the previous party in the abandoned pool, one guy tied to a chair while the others cut open his abdomen to show his intestines moving around like snakes or worms. in the movie, the guy who cuts him open is Kane, Lena's husband. the rest of the party doesn't know her connection to kane, and she knows now if she tells them they won't trust her (and is proven correct by this when anya eventually finds out her connection) ANYWAY I'm going off track. sorry this is my favorite scene in the whole movie I get distracted. ANYWAY so when they see this, josie is the most immediately horrified by it because she's the only one who hasn't seen anything as gruesome as that before. for shilo. well. he gets to see the one being cut open is emizel. and then later when they get to the pool and find the body still there (again. josie is the one to find this. she's also the one who reaches down into the old dirty water and accidentally picks up the knife. which was still left in the same place they saw it be dropped in the tape) corpse plastered to the wall by all kinds of multicolored fungus and lichen, I think shilo doesn't immediately break down, he doesn't really. process it right away. I mean it's completely unrecognizable. it's not until he accidentally picks up the knife that it all clicks into place in his mind and he realizes "that thing right there used to be my fucking brother" and completely shuts down. runs out of the complex, dakota has to chase him down because they all know its dangerous to go anywhere alone, etc. after this he loses any sense of purpose, the only reason he came into the shimmer in the first place was to get emizel back and now seeing what happened I think he just gets. hopeless. which is the beginning of the end for him . i haven't decided if his exact death is the same as josies but i want it to be peaceful in the same sort of way. "imagine dying frightened and in pain and having that be the only part of you which survives... i wouldnt like that at all" "ventress wants to face it.. you want to fight it... im not sure i want either of those things...." josie radek i am in love with you. anyway. annihilation pool scene for you because I love this image more than anything

[totheblood]

how do you feel about some writers equating hyperfemininity to being infantile / chidlike in nature? i really appreciate the work that you're doing, however this was a really big point that a lot of people were making which i'm noticing is getting lost underneath a lot of this. how often do you notice this happening and if it's common then what can be done to better it?

um… if u want me to be quite honest i dont think that the two people who are being bashed for the majority of this write their readers to be infantile/childlike. i think at most they have hyperfem readers and even sometimes thats a stretch and i think its just because of their blog or the way they type. i think people started to dislike how famous some writers got and felt they were overlooked.

hyperfemininity being linked with children is also very problematic for a few reasons, one of them i dont feel comfortable talking on but i think some people can connect the dots.

ive seen a few fics that made me want to vomit and yet none have been from the people currently under fire. i would not at all be friends or not say anything to these people if i felt that way since i know them. its the same as saying adults cant have a plushie collection… why can’t they… they can, it doesn’t make them a child or childlike. i think everyone forgets a lot of things from childhood, esp a traumatic childhood, provide comfort for adults way into their older years. i think writing your reader as not at all knowing what sex is or having them not understand their private parts is where i start to say this is really not okay. i havent seen either do that.

also, i wanted to mention something about the cat fic. to people complaining about it i really hope you dont like spiderman, or and movie for that matter where those things are common. we dont have this hatred for spiderman smut or idk avatar smut. it really did feel like its because this person got too popular 🤷‍♀️ the claims made were crazy and god forbid any of u pick up a fantasy book, i really think u may be shocked.

[a-s-levynn]

How i do stuff | Part 2

Okay so i'm kinda doing this backwards going from the shading back to the sketching but not like i did anything logically ever.

THIS IS NOT GOING TO BE A LINE FOR LINE PROCESS because i am not that insane. Yet.

To be honest the entire sketching process is very intuitive on my part so i don't think i can provide much insight here but i'll try to make it make sense.

It is really not as conscious as the shading.

So first: have an idea to work with

Find a concept i like and go from there.

I decided that i want Vessel to look upwards and a little bit to the side and add some other details (which you are not going to see here yet. We are talking about sketching people here not background or whatever.)

Next step: i try to find a reference image that is as close to the desired pose as possible. It could either be made by a posing tool or actual reference image. Whichever is at hand.

(For whatever mysterious reasons i have a small catalog of IV pics in my head rent free so i actually knew what i was looking for.)

I use reference pictures for a few reasons. For one, they make it so much easier to figure out poses and movements. But more importantly by looking at them i can figure out the flow of the body much more faster than just from memory. They also help with understanding how cloth is draping or the way light hits certain shapes and surfaces. There are a lot of benefits.

Anyway so we have our reference picture:

But i wanted Vessel to look the other way so flipped it. (Zoom in not mandatory but we don't need the rest of IV for this.)

Ye okay i can now kind of figure out where goes what in relation to one and other.

Okay okay okay i know: draw a circle than finish the fucking owl.. no bear with me. I need something on the page to talk about what i do. Lemme explain:

So first i'm starting with the traditional x or cross (blue on the pic below). I usually i orient it in my head that the meeting point of the line is the part of your nose dips right above the nosebridge. Because that is usually in the same level as the eyes. At least how i start, they could be moved up or down later.

So the horizontal line for me is the middle of the middle pair of eyes/eyeholes for Vessel or if there is only one set of eyes than it is the middle line for the eyes. I found it most comfortable in proportion wise for me to start with. (This horizontal line would be the tip of the ears as well if i had ears on here.)

Than i pick where the tip of the nose and the mouth is going to be roughly. Doesn't have to be more than a little dot or line, it is going to be changed later anyway.(pink lines below)

I also pick a comfortable spot on the vertical line where the point of the chin is going to be, where throat starts and pick a spot for the addam's apple.(pink lines below)

Than i make the whole head into somewhat head like shape (pink egg like shape below), because where that ends is basically what i'm connecting with the chin point to find the jawline. (green lines below)

Maybe even add to a line or two for where i imagine the hood to go just for funsies.

What else i do simultaniously with this is finding the flow of the face because where his adam's apple is, will tell me where the neck bends in the movement, the neck curving point will show where the shoulder connects, but also where the tendons are going towards the suprasternal hollow and then where the collarbones start and angle back up towards the shoulders etc. Everything connects to the next thing.

(I also do this for half or full body figures as well, only there i'm trying to find the flow of the entire body. Or more accurately the curve of the spine in a natural or close to natural shape first and then figure out the smaller parts.)

Look i'm not gonna lie, for this to be eyeballed off of even a pretty close reference picture in a way that looks close to natural or makes sense, you have to have a basic understanding of anatomy.

It doesn't have to be a conscious understanding but it has to be there. There are endless tutorials out there to help with this and i highly recommend looking up a few because i know not everyone can learn it just by looking at dancers and anatomy lab videos.

Next step: find a reference for the mask and preferably for the mouth because i'm bad at drawing mouths and i want to learn. If it is moving make it not moving, it helps a lot. Kill it with a screenshot, put it in Paint, bury it in a jpeg. Simple as that.

When i have my mask reference, i'm just trying to find a sweet spot that matches it in a way that feels good. First i'm going for the rough outline of it, details can be added later. It is not going to be a one-to-one to the reference because it is not the exact same angle, but it still helps.

And from here it is mostly just trial end error of putting lines and details in and than erasing them until i reach a state where i can say: yup this is look decent enough and can refine it into a lineart and start shading.

Not much else i could share here about this part of the process because as i've said most of it is pretty intuitive and based on a certain level of anatomical understanding.

(Hopefully you'll see the end result in a couple of days but we'll see how much time i'm going to have.)

Love you all and i'm sorry i can't provide more than this ♥

[fuck-customers]

tws for self harm (alluding to it) ///

puts two weeks in at phone job. blocks all managers, leaves all cord (which. why the fuck are we using that. we were just fine using gm but someone just had to tell them about it and they wanted to be """hip""" and """cool""" with the times. hello fellow kids!) gcs, blocks all numbers.

goes into malwart to shop.

"why would you leave without telling us anything?"

i don't know, maybe me literally having thoughts to actually harm myself and play in traffic like fucking frogger were the clue. who knew!

"you could have called out!"

ive been literally trying to call out for three weeks straight with a guilt trip of "your coworker is too pregnant for me to work her anymore" (which. totally isnt my fault btw, she's had 4 months for me + nine for the coworker to hire a second person after she went on maternity. she sat on her ass for that long and then immediately hires someone literally the next day after i put my two weeks in), "i have to go home when its dark!" (its kentucky, sun doesnt set until around 9 pm in the summer and it's not my fault you live in illinois), and "i have fees taken out of my pay when you dont show up" (yet another guilt trip, which its literally less than $20 from what i knew of it), and with that you'd think you'd have a brain to connect the dots on that when your worker starts calling out to dodge shifts. things come up. things out of our control HAPPEN. and you're more worried about sales and making money instead of treating your workers like they're human??

there's also the fact that. she refused to cover shifts. the manager did. for my store specifically. and then she'd show up at 3/4 pm (almost) every day at the end of the week just to hang around and do nothing but be on her computer and micromanage me?? like okay man. ALRIGHT. that and they'd complain i wasn't making sales when it's literally the slowest store IN THE DISTRICT and they all have the audacity to say that it's a busy store?? literally over the four month course of me being there i've sold like 10 phones. TEN. and i get no help when asked despite being a new employee, and then threatened with my hours being taken away because im not making sales.

sufficed to say i'm pissed as hell.

Posted by admin Rodney.

[la-merlaison]

Hey hey hey I'ts me again and I came with another nerdy Louis post!!

Okay guys, the time has finally come! I'm not strong in french at all (for now) but my half french friend kind of is, so I asked them for some help during my research and I hope it turned out okay!!

So, no time to explain, right now we suggest you make yourself a cup of tea and prepare some marzipans (or at least omelettes if u don't have marzipans) because it's going to be a very big and really grandiose post!

Exactly 407 years ago, on sunday, Jan 29th, a huge intrigued crowd gathered in a giant ballroom of the Louvre palace to watch a truly legendary event in the history of France... Still very young King Louis XIII paid extremely close attention to the preparation of the ballet, as his doctor Jean Héroard noted on January 19th: "He rehearses his ballet twice a day."

Why all this mishmash of sentences, you may ask? *ahem* Lemme explain from the very start... (those who already know of all the drama between Louis and his mom, feel free to skip a couple of paragraphs but if you'd still love to dive even deeper into this rabbit hole and connect two dots then let's go!!)

When little dauphin lost his father (Henri IV) at the age of 8, he was still too young to be a king, so for quite a long time his mother Marie de Medici had to take the place of a regent. And it was all cute and stuff, except for the dauphin had already turned 13 for a year and a half (it was considered the age of majority and gaining power over the state at the time) and Mary did not even think of giving up her career, and especially leaving the throne, no matter how pissed off the young king was because of all the ridiculous formality of his "reign".

He was even more disturbed and frankly enraged by the favorite of the Medici - Concino Concini, who had a terrible effect on his mother according to the prince's beliefs (not only his beliefs at all but let's focus on our blorbo's pov). But don't worry! In January Louis along with his friend, with whom he loved to spend time and in general was emotionally very close, conceived how to end this exhaustingly endless regency, which already had a questioning reputation... And I guess it meant, that the time has come for truly dazzling performances in every single way!

Among all the options proposed by Etienne Durand, the court poet of Marie de Medici (he's also responsible for organizing the performance), the king chose a very specific plot which was taken from the old chivalric poem “Jerusalem Delivered” by Torquato Tasso, as if this choice carried a certain kind of symbolism, but what it really meant??

Keep in mind, Louis really chose the following plot himself: "The valiant knight Renaud de Montauban, played by Charles d'Albert (that one close friend and favorite of the king I mentioned before), succumbs to the charms of the sorceress Armide, who takes him into her enchanted gardens and... enchants him (wow who would've thought)! However, his comrades, including Godeffroy de Bouillon (edit. I accidentally thought that Godeffroy and the demon of fire were the same character, but actually they were two different characters both played by Louis XIII oops) came to save Renaud and break Armide's spell."

Finally, on Sunday, January 29th, 1617, the premiere of "The ballet of Renaud's deliverance" eventually happened yayy, but the crowd was so huge that even the king(!) could hardly make his way through such a large audience, the performance even had to be slightly delayed. But it was worth the wait, because in the end everyone were struck by the fiery appearance of an impressive figure in a black mask, covered from top to bottom with flames. It was the king (OUR BLORBO YASS)!! You can see his costume on the first pic below under the number 1 and Charles as Renaud right above him.

It's believed that the ballet about the liberation of Renaud from the spell of the sorceress Armide has a symbolic, even double meaning. Many people recognize Louis himself in Renaud, who seeks to free himself from the oppression of Marie (as if from the spell of Armide). One of the lyricists of "The Deliverance of Renaud", Rene Bordieu, even compared the fiery image of the king with a phoenix, which could hint at the rise from the ashes because it also sounds like an allegory to getting rid off the pressure. Etienne Durand himself also said a lot of different words related to the costume, but there are so many of them that it is better to leave them for another post idk...

Anyways, each of these versions is wonderful in its own way, but the clothes of flame, which Louis demonstrated on himself that day, symbolized not only anger and a burning desire for revenge, but also those were clothes made of the light of justice and the desire for something light and devine like the enameled blades that reflected the light of countless torches and candles in motion, illuminating a hall full of spectators blinded by such a perfomance both literally and figuratively.

Plot twist.... On April 24, 1617, less than three months after the performance of La Délivrance de Renaud, Concino Concini was assassinated by the Baron de Vitry, captain of the royal guard. And about ten days later, Marie de Medici was exiled to Blois =)

Since then, Louis XIII became, in fact, a king but this time with all seriousness!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the post and had a great time with it! Wishing you justice, deliverances, marzipan & omelettes and a guarantee that no one will ever sit for too long on your throne, gotta love anyone who read this 'till the end <3

[nathandrakeisabottom]

hullo! saw you rb'd an ask game so thought i'd send in a question or two to my favorite nate pegger...

✍️ What's your writing process?

📚 Who's your favorite author (or a few of them)?

"To my favorite nate pegger..." :

😳❤️ Yes ma'am, thank you ma'am.... ❤️😳

✍️ What's your writing process?

You tell me!! Bye!!

📚 Who's your favorite author (or a few of them)?

This is so shameful to say, but I really haven't been a regular reader for ages, and when I am, it tends to be mostly plays over novels. The one exception are my lovely friends on the ol' dot org, especially @durrtydawg, @libertatias, @weltraum-vaqueroand, and @not-those-kids.

But as for my favorites of all time, I have to say I love.... uh.... not to out myself, but: Shakespeare, girlie. Tony Kushner (Angels in America) is incredible. Rebecca Stead has all the incredible, sharp brevity that I wish to utilize more in my own writing. She tells stories with the exact number of words they need, no more, no less, and the pacing is phenomenal for it. Pseudonymous Bosch. David Ives. Anton Chekov. My father. Chuck Tingle.

Okay, fuck it, top 2 writers are William Shakespeare and Lemony Snicket.

(Okay, for real, though) ✍️ What's your writing process?

Unfortunately for everyone, I am a moody booby artsy fartsy hippie dippy friend of shaggy, so I'm diagnosed disease of "waa waa I can't write because I'm not 'feeling it'" which means that for maybe four out of 50 fics, it came pouring out effortlessly in a brilliant whirl of inspiration. Maybe even shed a tear or two (in the acting world, that's how you know it's good).

But for all the others, it's honestly a painstaking grind. I don't really enjoy my writing until I'm able to return a week or two later and go "huh, this actually isn't so bad". Then, I forget, and the cycle starts again. Unhelpfully, my brain works in visuals, and a lot of the times it feels hard to capture moments in a way I'm satisfied with when you can't directly, exactly translate film energy into written fiction energy.

Don't burn me at the stake, but I'm also a "I psychologically have to make each sentence perfect before continuing" person and a "mostly writes connective tissue and struggles to let herself write the big, interesting scenes before it's time" girlie, and then I have the GALL to ALSO complain that there's no good word for balls.

But to be honest, a lot of my work comes simply from a longing for a piece of media I can find myself and my wants reflected in. For as far as we've come, there's still so much shit I'm *shocked* isn't normalized or as readily found in fiction. Especially nowadays, when some fucked up sons of bitches brought back??? gender roles??? in 2024???? gen z???? --- it feels like a survival and self-soothing tactic to imagine a world that dreams of dissolving that entirely. I wanna pay for the dates. I wanna buy him flowers. I don't want to be scared to walk down the street. And I want more stories about weird, messed up women getting happy endings.

also sometimes im just fucked up and horny heehee <3

-S 🧡 

[kiwichaeng]

hello!! i hope you’re doing okay, and i hope your busyness isn’t too bad. as always, no pressure to answer this ask, but i am here as the hs tarlos fairy (i think i gave that a catchier name before) about to sprinkle a load of rambling into your inbox.

firstly, we have a single line from november which ive started editing. i’m finding it difficult to get lines that aren’t too spoilery but i mean..

In his defense, he really needed to spend an hour or so, longer, cuddling his boyfriend.

look, tk always needs to cuddle carlos. that’s a fact.

beyond november, i’m about to start writing february and have i raved about it yet because i’m super excited for it!? not to be annoying with these teases, but it’s a big month for parallels (so in term, sappiness). also, i should be posting the next chapter with carlos’ birthday tomorrow, and im excited for you to read that!!

one last thing: i said this before but ive been thinking again about their long-term future and i have a vague idea for the first 6ish months post-high school and UGH i could tell you everything 😭 (/pos). i love acting like these fictional boys exist it’s great.

wow this is super long. thank you for your time, sending you lots of love and positive vibes!! 💫

The notification for this was the first thing I saw when I woke up today and it was a really nice way to wake up! I read over this in the car but now I can actually like answer it lmao. I love the hs tarlos fairy title, it's very fitting 🩷

TK is soo correct! The cuddles are not a want but a NEED! Let this boy cuddle his boyfriend! They both deserve all the cuddles ever 🥺😭! I love them so much???? It's actually crazy how invested I am in this. All the cuddles for those two!!

OH MY GOD PARALLELS??? Listen I am feral for stuff like this! I am absolutely gonna go CRAZY when I read the parallels! (Although if I'm counting correctly then Feb will fall right in the middle of my finals 😞). I love love love stuff like this!!! Maybe I just love connecting random dots and crying over them. Delighted to hear you're thinking about their future! They deserve all the goodness and oh my god they're spending the rest of their life together dhjfhdjdhksjfhf 😭😭. Also gonna be honest I too think about them as real and existing sometimes to get through a day 😔

Since you sent this while I was asleep, I'm guessing the chapter comes out tonight for me which is AMAZING! Cannot wait! Hopefully, I'll be able to finish with everything by midnight so I can settle in and read 🩷. Thank you for this, I loved everything 🩷🩷

[thepowerisyouth]

hello again it is I tobias

i was wondering, what makes you post what you post? i enjoy reading them, but i just want to hear the motivation. I post because i like to code and share my little coding mishaps and funnies with everyone else. Why do you post?

The global political world's changing. Fast. Ive been a quiet participant in capitalism for 6 years since high school now, and learned a lot about things that I dont typically hear enough in leftist discourse, namely, stupid capitalist shit like finance and capitalist versions of economics. Socially Ive always been leftist, but Ive gone to nearly every camp for the economics of running a globe before realizing the answer is simply that money sucks and nobody wants it but rich assholes

I'm unemployed now and havent been in a position of free time for quite a while, so I have plenty of time to cover some groundwork for just writing about things Ive thought about for a while, then I can go back and expand on the little ideas later if I feel like.

You could just say I want to be a part of the good change happening. I'm a good communicator sometimes, which helps me stand out a bit from other boring finance discussions.

I also dont mind harrassing non-leftists, not changing their mind immediately, but being a pest-in-the-mind they hear later when someone else says the same thing as me and they connect two dots

I do write like a psychotic maniac at times. I embrace that, as it helps me keep a flexible mind. I dont believe that any of us exist in the same reality (metaphorically) so I want to be able switch out of mine and roleplay another idea or belief at will. Gotta keep practicing that flexibility or it goes away.

But truly-- I hate finance. I love pretty much everything else so those discussions are more for my own fun. The finance/economics ones are because I'm honestly too good at it 95% of people are way in over their heads at that stuff its not meant to be accessable or easy to learn whats correct

Ive been told to keep a diary of ideas but find this the easiest way to do so for me. So welcome to my diary of thoughts

Did I actually answer anything just now or just ramble? Lol

[leylayilmz]

about.

Full Name: Leyla Eda Yilmaz

Age & Birthday: 35 years old; December 1st, 1989

Zodiac: Sagittarius sun ☀︎ Cancer moon ☾ Libra rising ➶

Occupation: Owner of Everything Goes / ex published writer

Preferred Pronouns & Gender: she/her, cis female

Sexuality: Bicurious

Hometown & length of time in Briar Ridge: Born and raised in Briar Ridge, lived in New York from 18-29. Has lived in town consistently for the last 6 years.

Neighborhood: Downtown, in a 3 bedroom apartment with her daughter, Billie and best friend, Valentina.

Positive Personality Traits: resourceful, hardworking, loyal, protective.

Negative Personality Traits: disorganised, critical, cynical, impulsive.

✍︎ Penned by: Tee

☆ dot point bio | connections / pinterest / timeline

tw: death mention, pregnancy, grief.

Town local Leyla Eda Yilmaz has had a love/hate relationship with living in Briar Ridge. She loved growing up the way she did, with her dad and brother and sister. But something about New York called to her; it felt like there was nothing for her in her home town. She initially left town after graduation for Columbia University to chase success and study literature, a determination that saw her become a published writer of a two-book series some years after college. But alas, life, as it does, would get in the way. Her brother’s tragic death caused her to return to the Ridge just a decade ago. After his funeral, she pulled yet another disappearing act, leaving town for good. That is, until she fell pregnant to her then musician boyfriend, coming back home after his refusal to be a part of his daughter’s life. Soon after Billie was born, Leyla began to work at Everything Goes, which was recently left to her by the elderly owner. Nobody can make a pastry like Evelyn Girard, but Leyla’s learnt a thing or two and come pretty close. She’s often seen making coffee, overseeing the baking process and recommending novels to those interested. When people ask why Leyla hasn’t written another novel, she quickly shuts it down by telling them that raising a daughter and running a business has taken up almost all of her time. But really, dabbling with words and emotions and throwing herself into her own writing feels impossible when she knows it brings about the possibility of having to face her grief. And that terrifies the hell out of her. 

headcanons.

Every so often, she closes Everything Goes for a day to teach the kids in town how to bake. And Mari Cabrera!

Always has a book in hand, hanging out her bag, etc.

Is always late everywhere, despite being a hard working citizen.

Wears a necklace with a small October birth stone, representative of her brother and mother's birth stone.

CANNOT live without coffee. If she looks mad, give her coffee immediately. If the coffee machine is broken at the bakery, leave. Just run.

Knows ASL

Inspired by — Lorelai Gilmore, (gilmore girls), Rachel Green (friends), Carrie Bradshaw (sex and the city), Summer Roberts (the oc) & Brooke Davis (one tree hill).

wanted connections.

sister: wanted connection link

baby daddy/ex: wanted connection link

cousins: must be turkish

childhood/high school connections: she grew up in briar ridge.

high school sweetheart: this can go any which way! but i'm guessing they broke up before/after she left for new york after graduation.

new york connections: leyla lived there for over ten years (age 18-29) and went to columbia university

downtown neighbours: she lives in a three bedroom apartment with her daughter and Valentina Flores.

everything goes: coworkers & regular customers, pleaaaase.

parent friends: people who understand parent life lol

coffee addicts: speaks for itself. she respects coffee lovers but just like people who need coffee like an iv drip, hanging out and talking smack/gossiping about the town. i need it!!!!

[joshriku]

hi!! I saw a rec list of yours where you were like, "i actually have more but some of them are just the real popular ones so im like. Yeah youve read it." -- but I HAVENT!! I'm brand new to cherik and looking for those ultimate recs, those smash hits. could you rec some ultimate cherik fic, if you have the time? i'm not big on fluff but anything too cutesy but otherwise I'm totally open!!! thank you in advance!

hiii :D i would absolutely recommend you to also browse the tag filtering it by kudos because i tend to filter out some things and i also tend to be picky with stuff so there's probably Smashing Hits(tm) i overlooked bc i was like 'nahh im not in the mood today' and my god there are so many good authors and fics that probs go undiscovered by ME. so do make sure you don't miss out on Those Hits

that being said i went through my bookmarks and i'm grabbing those ones with thousands of kudos (bc to me A Lot of Kudos are anything over 100 but i know some cherik fics have liek 5k or more so. i rec going thru the tag fr) so if i repeat myself from the other recs im very sorry but teehee here you go!!!!

these are all like. well. they don't have major trigger warnings or bad endings so enjoy

two lonely souls in a fish bowl by blarfkey: this is really more centered around pietro and erik but the cherik in it is mmmmmwah and also it's jsut so fucking good if you need to scratch that itch of 'damn i wish pietro had told erik he was his dad' like the rest of us. it's so so so good and IT'S A WHOLE SERIES SO CHECK THAT OUT THEY'RE ALL SO GOOOOD.

been there, done that by asyouwish: time loop fic! fucking love that. erik gets stuck in a timeloop before the cuba thing happens. i love seeing littl emen suffer trapped in time

i don't want to wake up on my own anymore by pocky_slash: my bookmark tag here says 'something about erik sleeping' so i reread it and i was like oghggoghg erik sleeping....so YEAH.

orphans of forgetting by pocky_slash: AHGP okay this one's fucking good listen to me. i like men going through emotional trials that fucks them up but gives them an emotionally fulfilling result. this fics good

the pretender by clocks: au where erik fake proposes to charles to get free food. they're still mutants. apparently i bookmarked this one saying 'im going to cry' and now i remember i was jsut really emotional that day and there was no reason to cry as it is a very good and funny fic. help

the whole world wants what we're on by waketosleep: and there was only one bed!

mi casa, su casa by zairaA: i love this one. it's so fun to read. charles moves into his new apartment only to find out erik already lived there. i love this fic.

shalom malakh by zairaa: ive read this oen so many times and only now ive connected the dots that it's the same author. david haller is in this fic. 10/10 showstoppin gi love MY BOYYYYYY !!!!!! but other than that it's so fucking good. what's better than coming back from the dead to haunt ur loved ones AM I RIGHT..

still life with cookies by ren: this one's cute. like a romcom. the pining on this one is so good and enjoyable i liked it so much

a nice boy (the family matters edition) by pocky_slash: IVE RECCED THIS BEFORE. BUT LIKE 2 WEEKS AGO I REREAD IT AND I CRIED SO LIKE HERE IT GOES AGAIN

x marks the spot by the hoyden: i fuckign lvoe this fic. every time i reread it i blink and it's over even though its like 20k words but it's jsut THAT good!!!!

the courtship by danveresque: what's better than canon characters cherik. REINCARNATIPON FICS . fuck my life thsi fic stresse dme out so bad but it was so good. i love it.

never too late to be who you might have been by acetamide: charles and erik wake up in the future (the 2000s timeline movies) and only remember up until what they know before the cuban missile crisis. chaos but also sweet shit :)

tessellation by nekosmuse: i feel like ive mentioned this one before. no MATTER. it's GOOD. IT FUCKS ME UP SO BAD. it does messes with comic canon and also the xmen animated series so it's PERFECT FOR ME and i really do feel it's a classic. liek. 3k kudos should attest for a classic yeah. magneto is a charles xavier enjoyer. they meet. fall in love. Shit Happens. but like it's my favorite.

i think those are all the fics i have that are over 1k kudos long weeps.. again i SUPER encourage you to filter it by kudos when you go the charles/erik tag bc there are SO many fics with SO much content so please enjoy! i accidentally opened the tag and filtered it on august 2021 and i keep going through it. 2 years later yeah. i'm in like page 157 of it. we all make mistakes. but thank you for the ask and i hope you enjoy! :)