#left is an altered palette that i think looks better | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

imagines-by-a-typical-fangirl · 3 years ago

Text

Silhouette

Pairing: Arthur (Aquaman) X Reader

Word count: 1.9 K

Summary: During a visit to a small, cold town, you took a picture of the waves. Among them, the shadow of a man. You couldn't stop thinking about it, so you decide to go back and try to find him.

{Justice League Masterlist}

It was a forgotten picture, that you didn't look twice when you took it, almost a year ago on a trip to Iceland.

Photography has always been your hobby, and that makes you always look for different places to visit. So that was how you found yourself in that frozen, small village, walking over that dock, with the waves crashing around you, the water splashing crystal towers above you. At that moment, you turned around and clicked, and the picture came out as if the water was levitating.

A beautiful, perfect picture, that got lost among the many others.

But now, it got your attention.

After printing it, you hold it in your hands as you sip a cup of tea, moving to sit on the armchair you have by the bedroom window.

The picture is amazing, gorgeous. The cold colors, the dark and pale blue palette, the water, hitting the dock from both sides, creating a tunnel. But that's not what gets your attention.

It's the man, or better saying, the silhouette of a man, standing right in the middle of the waves.

You tried some alterations before printing it, to see it better. But it was useless. It's clear it's a man, 6 feet tall, or maybe a little more. Strong, stronger than anyone you've ever seen. You're mesmerized by him, you're not sure why. Two weeks after you saw it, you still can't let it go.

And when you have ten days off work, you book a flight back to the very same place.

It's a long shot, stupid even, to look for someone who might not be there. For someone that only appeared for a second, because you're sure he wasn't there the moment after the shot. You'd notice a man like that if he was standing right in front of you.

But when you regret this silly, stupid decision, you're already on the plane. So there's nothing else to do than enjoy the trip, and that's what you do. After you've settled on the small cabin, you leave, walking around the place and seeing that nothing really changed.

But it's a complete change of scenery from the big city you live in. Things are slower here, and people know each other. But the downside is that it's cold. Freezing, more likely. But it's beautiful. And it doesn't take much until you're taking pictures.

“Excuse me, miss.” Someone calls, and you turn around to find two men carrying a huge box, full of fish.

“Sorry.” You say, stepping out of the way with an apologetic look. “Mmm... Excuse me. Do you know any places I could get a different angle?” Deciding to ask, you show the camera to justify the question. “I'm a photographer.”

“There's a cliff over there.” One of the men, with gray hair and faded yellow pants, points out. “There's a trail on the end of the beach that leads there, a smooth one. But rained yesterday so the stone might be slippery, be careful.”

“I will be, thank you.” With a wave and a smile, you turn around, going to where he pointed out.

You couldn't help but take pictures on your way there. Flowers, trees, animals.

But even now, that picture burns in your head. Also, you couldn't help but notice that the man in it – if he even lives here – isn't anywhere to be found. Not that you looked for him diligently.

The track is indeed easy. Two miles, maybe three, always going up. And when you get up there, the view is amazing. The ocean, the village, the gray clouds above.

You're clicking over and over, walking closer to the edge. When you get there, you can see a stream of water below you, among the rocks to your left, flowing to join the ocean down there. Careful where you put your feet, you move closer to the edge to get a better look. The stone doesn't seem that slippery, so you feel brave. You're basically on the very edge when you get the perfect angle, taking a few clicks. When you're done, you stop, letting the camera hang from your neck, looking around, and taking your time to admire the place.

The wind is cold, and you wish you had a stronger coat. But you'll come back here tomorrow. You'll be staying for five days, more than enough time to revisit the places you like the most.

Looking down, at the raging water down there, you spot a shadow. A fish perhaps, but it's too big. A shark? But that's an odd shape for a shark. The image, moving almost unnaturally, stops suddenly. You don't even notice you're bending over, trying to see it better.

But you suddenly lose balance when a stronger wind hits you and to add up to that, the rock under your feet breaks, launching you into a free fall, knocking all the air out of your lungs as you hit the water hard.

Cold, freezing water.

And you don't know how to swim.

But despite that, you try to fight it, out of instinct, to make your way back to the surface. But the water is too strong, pulling you down every time you get closer to the light, to the air, for which your lungs burn.

It doesn't take long until you're tired, exhausted. Chest burning, brain getting slower for the lack of oxygen. You didn't know it was that fast. At some point, you just stop, eyes open, taking in the vastness of blue around you. A good place to die maybe. You wonder if you should let the water in, die already since that's happening sooner or later.

But in the middle of that thought, you see it. The silhouette from the picture, the shadow in the water.

A man, swimming, floating, over to you.

Maybe you're dead already, and the very last synapses your brain can fathom are making you hallucinate.

But when he's right in front of you, when he touches you, he's very, very real.

•••

You jolt awake suddenly, turning on your side and spitting seawater on the sand, lungs pulling the air in and pushing it out violently. With a hand over your heart, it takes some time to recall what happened. The cliff, the fall, the man.

The man.

Looking up again, near your legs, you see him. Huge, muscular... Shirtless. Hair wet, probably from saving you, and eyes like a predator. A shark comes to mind.

“You...” Voice fading, you clear your throat. “That was embarrassing.” You continue in a low voice.

“Don't worry. You're not the first tourist I have to rescue.” He says, and his voice gets to you. It's strong, deep, and sends shivers down your spine. “Are you feeling well enough to stand up? Or do you need me to take you where you're staying?”

“I'm well enough.” You quickly say, getting up.

But when your legs fail you, the man keeps you from collapsing on the sand. “Whoa. Easy.” He says with a smile. “Don't push yourself.”

“Thanks, mmm...” Looking at him now, eyes traveling quickly through his body, you remember it. The picture. And you also remember your camera. “Oh, no. My camera.” Looking around, you don't find it.

“Is it waterproof?” You nod, raising your head to look into his eyes. “I'll get it.”

“You don't–” And he's off, running back to the water and vanishing from sight.

You stand there, alone, until you start wondering if he got caught up by the powerful waves. After a while, with your eyes attentive to the ocean, you start considering getting someone to help. But when you're about to move, you see him, walking over the beach as if it wasn't through any trouble.

“Here.” He says when he's close enough, handing over the camera.

“I have a picture of you.” You burst out, taking the camera back. “I-I mean... Last year I was here and I snapped a picture by the docks. You were there so...” Looking down, you shake your head. “It's stupid.”

“I'd like to see it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Is it in the camera?”

“Oh, no. I don't keep the pictures here or else I would have no space for the new ones. But I have a printed version in my cabin. I'll bring it over.” Gesturing at the hill where you're rented cabin is, you look back up at him. “Give me twenty minutes and I'll be back here.”

“Or we can save the time and I could go with you.” And he starts walking in the direction you pointed out. “Name's Arthur. Yours?”

“Mmm...” Taking a deep breath, you rush to reach him, keeping his pace. “(Y/N).”

“(Y/N), huh? It suits you.” Looking down at you, Arthur smiles.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Pretty name for a pretty lady.” That makes you blush. “What brings you here? Looking for the man in the picture?”

Choking on air, you cough, clear your throat, and try to look normal. As casual as possible. “I came because I loved this place last year. That's why I'm back here.”

“Oh, I hit the exact right spot, didn't I?” He chuckles, and you stop.

It doesn't take much for him to do the same. “Look, I don't know what's up with you, but I don't like being... Mocked.” You say, your cheeks burning.

Arthur furrows his eyebrows, coming closer. “You're not used to being complimented. So you think I'm joking.”

Gasping, you step back, crossing your arms. “You–.” Whatever sassy comment you were hoping to come out, doesn't. “I don't–.” Shaking your head, you sigh, starting to walk again. “As if you know me.”

“Wait, wait.” Arthur grabs your arm, but not in a violent way. He doesn't squeeze it, softly pulls it instead, forcing you to stop again. “You were looking for me and I was looking for you.” He says, towering over you. Eyebrows furrowed, you wonder if he's joking again. But his voice, deep, strong... Sounds like he's serious. “The girl in the light pink coat with a camera around her neck, walking through the deck in the middle of the splashing waves. I tried to find you but... You live too far from the ocean.”

“Too... Far from the ocean?”

He smiles. “You don't know me. I'm who people call Aquaman.”

Your brain freezes, and it makes sense. It's a weird feeling to suddenly know the man you've been talking to for a while now, and it feels like you were hit by cold water. Again. “Y-you... You're like... That water guy from the League.”

“I'm that water guy from the League, yes.” He repeats with a smile. “I tried my luck searching for you, but without a name that's quite difficult.”

“I don't even know what to say...”

“Say yes then.”

“Say yes to what?”

“Going out with me tonight.”

That makes you more perplexed than knowing he's Aquaman. “You really want to go out with me?” He nods. “Y-yes then. A hundred freaking times, yes.”

“Then we must schedule a hundred dates.”

With a smile taking over your face, you nod. “I'm fine with it.”

And so it happens.

But your story with Arthur didn't end there, on those countless dates. You both went around visiting each other, until you moved to a city near the ocean, in a touristic area where you started taking a side job with your photography skills. And it didn't take much until you and Arthur got together, and as you became one with him, you also became one with the ocean. Many times he took you swimming, making you play with dolphins and whales.

What started under heavy clouds and rain with that first picture, lead you to sunny, clear skies with the owner of that silhouette, swimming, floating around with nothing but the calming ocean, and the two of you.

#arthur imagine #imagine arthur #aquaman imagine #imagine aquaman #justice league imagine #imagine justice league #arthur curry x reader #arthur curry imagine #imagine arthur curry #arthur curry x you #justice league x reader #justice league x you

871 notes · View notes

ribbonstrawberrysurprise · 2 years ago

Text

More Like Version Down

(TMM New Spoilers)

So, as expected, the final episode of New included both Ribbon Aqua Drops and Ribbon Strawberry Check Surprise, which means we saw the New versions of the Mew Aqua Rod and StrawBell Bell Version Up. And... I'm unimpressed.

To get it out of the way, the Mew Aqua Rod is... fine. (The animation quality, though, not great. Off model immediately. What is consistent prop size?)

I think all the other versions of the Mew Aqua Rod (manga, anime/toy, ReTurn) are better, but it's not a terrible design, and I like the idea of each girl getting a personalized version. Not quite sure anyone thought too hard about how the bow/candy is placed on the tutu-like part when viewed from any other angle, though, but it was already clear there's no intent to make toys/models of these new wands... Maybe a little gachapon charm if they release another round of the Mew items.

I do think removing the little Mew Aqua bottle shape at the top was a mistake, and I think it'd look way better with slightly altered colors. Why so low contrast with the crystal vs the heart around it???

As a caveat, if it turns out this is the design instead of Mint's design, I'm going to be much harsher in hindsight.

-----

And now for the real doozy.

To start out with, I really like the TMM item designs, even the manga originals. (A hot take???) The originals didn't have that much in common with one another design-wise, but I think each one was striking in its simplicity. That being said, it's super obvious why they were changed for the anime (and later chapters of the manga), and the anime/toy versions look stylish and consistent with the overall style. The choice to model each one off an instrument is also cute, and poses a fun design challenge for OCs. This isn't really a surprise; obviously Takara already had experience designing and producing magical girl-type toys. The New versions of these designs haven't been changed enough to really comment.

(I do maintain they should have changed the color scheme on the StrawBell Bell to match Ichigo's more reddish palette but were trapped by not wanting to differ from the design used for the 20th anniversary prop, but other than that...)

The original version(s) of the StrawBell Bell Version Up is one of the coolest magical girl weapons to me, just because it's so unique. It almost comes across as more of a thing Ichigo wears/rides in instead of a thing she holds. (Also it can maybe fly???) There's an immediate reason for Ichigo to not break it out at the start (beyond everyone else being left defenseless): it's big and unwieldy enough she needs the Chimera Anima to be stunned and ready to be Check Surprise'd because any other kind of fighting is impossible. She can jump around and melee a little with the normal StrawBell Bell, but if she breaks out the Version Up, she's committing to a big finisher.

It's not an especially subtle design; it's literally a combination of all the Mews' weapons, dyed Ichigo's color scheme. But somehow it really comes together and looks cohesive. This holds true for the PS game version, too. Since the game adopts the anime designs, it's no longer a direct combo of the weapons, but the intent is still clear.

In contrast, the New version is... just a wand. That's already disappointing enough, but as a magical girl fan, I do like wands. But the design lacks any cohesion, and the ties to the other girls are tenuous. Frankly, it reminds me most of a parody wand that might appear in a fake magical girl show within another anime.

To start off with, it doesn't really look like a TMM weapon. Aside from the StrawBell Bell stuck haphazardly on top, it lacks the signature bow-heart motif, and introduces multiple new motifs. The bottom is a star, presumably for the 5 girls, but the emblem below the StrawBell Bell is a 5-petaled flower. Why not pick one? The curved shapes on the side at least vaguely resemble things we've seen before (e.g., the curves on the PudRing Ring, the shapes found in the Mew Marks), but why are there also Xs? Why six wings, with Ichigo getting 2 in her color? Why the heart with a 4-arched crown in the middle? It's criminally overdesigned, which is saying something coming from me, someone who loves adding unnecessary detail!

Speaking of the design details, some of the girls clearly get shortchanged. The StrawBell Bell in it's entirely is perched on top, looking way out of place, like you just kind of duct taped it to a pole. The MinTone Arrow is represented by... glowing rainbow wings? That pop in at the last minute. Again, why 6, why Ichigo twice? The LettuceTanets are represented by a strange looking ribbon. I guess you could sort of also draw a connection to how Lettuce's antennae things defy gravity, but, oops, that was her old design. The New ribbon doesn't really do that. The PudRing Rings must be the swirly things, I guess, despite New depicting them as undetailed hoops most of the time. And the ZaCross Whip similarly must be the weird crisscross pattern on the rod part. Why does she only get a vague pattern, not an actual piece? It looks way too busy while still shortchanging half the Mews...

If I were to try and fix this, I'd just use the PS game design, maybe altering it slightly to incorporate more of the anime/New-version weapon designs. Palette-wise, I did a pink + gold version and a more pastel rainbow version.

But if I were forced to make it a wand, here's two options, again in two color schemes:

I based the overall shape shape on a caduceus* since it was convenient with wings + winding ribbon, and Mew powers have always kind of been associated with healing. (Plus, you know, Strawberry Check Healing, even if New cut it...) The one on the right is more the classic caduceus shape, but I do like having the wings in a more Mew Berry Rod position on the left, so 🤷‍♀️ The ribbons on both also look like a DNA double helix. 🧬

As for incorporating elements from each girl, I tried to be more generous/balanced. I hope it's obvious, but just in case: The StrawBell Bell is still on top, but I tried to make it look more connected to the design as a whole, instead of stuck on there. The MinTone Arrow is the wings. The LettuceTanet gets both the castanet part and the ribbon above, with the ribbon melding into the ZaCross Whip wrapped around the rod part. The flute holes/horizontal cross bar part also appears. The PudRing Ring is alternatively at the bottom or floating around the heart on top, if you want to keep it looking more magical. Either way, the bells from the smaller ring appear at the ends of the ribbon. (The bottom on the right design is kind of Mew Aqua Rod style, and the 5 colored hearts up and down the rod are also inspired by that.)

Alternatively, for fun, I made a design that's still a musical instrument. Maybe making it a shamisen** was a little mean to Ichigo 😅 The references to each girl's weapon are a little more stylized, but I think they're still clear enough!

Ichigo would probably hold it like the instrument to cast Check Surprise, but also I think she could hold it like a battleaxe and slam into Chimera like an edgy rock star destroying a guitar. It’s what she deserves.

*Caduceus = winged rod with snakes winding around it. You've probably seen it in logos for hospitals and other medical-related businesses. Now, I know, I know. It's the rod of Asclepius, with one snake, that's the actual medical symbol. The caduceus with 2 snakes intertwined is Hermes' symbol. But they've been so confused and interchanged so much in modern times that I don't think it's worth arguing over. I did consider having the ribbon twist in one direction, but I liked the DNA connection too much.

**The shamisen is a traditional Japanese 3-string instrument. It's also traditionally made with cat skin...

#Tokyo Mew Mew #Tokyo Mew Mew New #Meta #Long Post #Strawberry Bell Version Up #StrawBell Bell Version Up

59 notes · View notes

luckydragon10 · 2 years ago

Text

KinnPorsche Ep08 Lines of Power

Deep breath, everyone! This is probably our last chance to breathe easily before the finale. Enjoy the calming atmosphere while it lasts.

Without further ado, I shall address the lines of power, staging, and framing in Episode 8 of KinnPorsche... actually, I'm gonna take it easy because it was a very chill episode without too much wild, crazy line business.

More LoP posts: [Trailer] ... [Ep04] [Ep05] [Ep06] [Ep07] [Ep09 Part 1] [Ep09 Part 2]

Look, if you didn't already realize in the first 10 minutes that this episode is pure comedy, this shot should seal the deal. A head popping out at a random angle from a doorway is peak comedy, a pure classic staging art.

Porsche, why so cute? 😳

You guys. You guys. This looks like just a normal, cute shot on their date, right? Right?

WRONG. You've been FOOLED.

Look in the background. It's a mirror, another damn mirror!

Kinn is perfectly framed in the mirror, his other self haunting their date in a much more subtle way than Tawan did. This is a clever reminder that even though things seem sweet and fluffy now, they still have Kinn's alter ego and other life to contend with (and integrate?) if they want to be happy in the long run.

I haven't had a chance to review it yet, but I know @daltoneering has published a huuuuge meta about the mirrors in KP, so check that out for more mirror thoughts.

Nope, nothing serious. Head empty, only cute boy with beautiful golden Wat Arun temple to frame his face from the background.

Now, I ask you, what's better than one cute boy with a beautiful temple behind him?

Answer: TWO cute boys with a beautiful temple behind them!

Again, nothing serious here, but I just want to point out that the sweethearts are off center to better incorporate the pretty golden glow of the temple behind them into the shot.

You can also take this as slight foreshadowing of the religious element coming later in the episode.

The lines of power were a bit shy this episode, but for this scene, they came out in full force.

This is reminiscent of the Emperor Korn shot in Ep 05 (for good reason considering they're the same set), but this is so different and so romantic. The sparkles from the waterfall, the glowing lines of the pool, and the lower lines of the ceiling are all pointing to the central couple, giving them the focus and the power.

The lines say this is love, and love wins.

Steal every bit of happiness you can! (I'm not just saying that to Kinn and Porsche, btw.)

Lots of soft, wavey lines of light... I can't help but think that all the soft lines are helping to emphasize how much their relationship has softened.

Yet the shot also shows Porsche clutching at Kinn's face for dear life. I'm not over that, not in the slightest. The boy is holding on with all his might. He's gonna be fierce about it.

...he probably also needs some air.

Q: When is a line of power not a line of power?

A; When you really just need a divider.

I could try to say that the big thick wooden line in the middle symbolizes this or that, or it's about Porsche being sneaky and not just asking Kinn the questions he should ask... but sometimes a line really is just a line.

For this gag to work, the characters have to be divided and unable to see each other.

So? Not a line of power, imo. But the shot is still very nicely framed with dynamic composition.

Pretty, so damn pretty.

Great staging composition of the three cast members -- Porsche low, monk middle, Joe high.

Scenery is fantastic and engaging from foreground to background.

The angle of the sidewalk line on the left helps draw attention to the actors.

On top of it all, Porsche stands out in his black suit against the soft white, cream, and orange color palette.

If you didn't give this shot much thought during the show, take a minute to stare right now. Enjoy an aesthetic moment!

///

More LoP posts: [Trailer] ... [Ep04] [Ep05] [Ep06] [Ep07] [Ep09 Part 1] [Ep09 Part 2]

For LOTS of great meta from all over the Tumblr community and dozens and dozens of contributors, check out the Damn Good KinnPorsche Meta doc.

Also, absolutely shameless plug, but today I posted the prologue for my soulmate AU fic. It's going to be a wild ride and a big multichapter fic, so hop on board early: The King's Tree.

#kinnporsche #kinnporsche meta #kinnporscheep08 #cinematography #cinematography breakdown

132 notes · View notes

icefang100 · 3 years ago

Photo

The Mechanisms crew as cats, with the intent of a Warrior Cats AU! In order of left to right for each row, these designs are for: Jonny, Nastya, Ashes, Brian, Ivy, Toy Soldier, Tim, Raphaella, and Marius.

Edit 5/28/22: I’ve finished full body designs for these - linked here!

See the read more for reasonings on markings, colors, scars, and other details.

(Also posted on DeviantART)

All of the drawings started with the same base - Toy Soldier’s design has the least altered base, the rest having mostly fur length and expression edits. I may draw more of these designs (perhaps even properly fleshing out the AU).

Jonny D’Ville: A vaguely classic tabby-like look worked well for Jonny’s design, as it enabled me to represent his eye makeup. I’m honestly really happy with how the markings ended up.

Nastya Rasputina: Although a darker color palette may have fit her better, the light blue-grey I went with just looked best to me. A full body design would have darker elements to balance it out.

Ashes O’Reilly: The shades of orange and shapes of Ashes’s markings are meant to be reflective of fire. I tried a few different color palettes, but that’s the one that looked best/fit best. Their fur is long simply because it looked right.

Drumbot Brian: Brian’s design was a struggle - I was aiming for a mechanical sort of look while also having somewhat believable markings. This resulted in the sort of... calico-tabby combination you see. I felt heterochromia was fitting, given his moral situation.

Ivy Alexandria: The scar on Ivy’s left side is meant to show a head injury, resulting in the same/a similar memory situation as canon. The reddish color(s) were hard to settle on, but I think it came out well enough. Minimal markings seemed right for her design, but I wanted some to be present, so the full body design may be something like a ticked tabby with residual markings (on her face, low legs, and tail).

Toy Soldier: Toy Soldier’s design was difficult, as it needed to be relatively simple but not uninteresting to the eye. It came out looking sort of mountain lion-like, though that wasn’t intentional. I’m not super pleased with the design, but it’ll do.

Gunpowder Tim: Tim’s design includes a large scar over his right side (including the absence of that eye) because I want to keep damages similar to canon (though this means some injuries are more severe/permanent, including this one). The patterns around his eyes (as scars on the right side and markings on the left) are meant to be reflective of the wires/metal bits in canon.

Raphaella la Cognizi: Raphaella’s markings seem a bit lack-lustre to me, but no complex markings looked right. To balance that out, a full body design would include more complex markings on her body (including some wing-like ones).

Marius von Raum: Marius’s marking design doesn’t really seem right to me, but I had no other ideas for him. His colors were hard to decide on, as well, and the greenish-grey I ended up using still isn’t quite right, but it’ll do.

#Art #My Art #Mechs WC AU #The Mechanisms #Jonny D'ville #Nastya Rasputina #Ashes O'Reilly #Drumbot Brian #Ivy Alexandria #Mechanisms Toy Soldier #Gunpowder Tim #Raphaella la Cognizi #Marius von Raum #[/End main tags. Entering 'whisper zone']#If you want elaboration on one of the designs or my thoughts for the AU please go ahead and ask! I'd love to talk more #but I don't really know what to say without any particular question to answer #Also: [beats back my reluctance to show any fan-thing I create]

89 notes · View notes

lily-orchard-gossip-blog · 2 years ago

Text

Anonymous Submission

So... I redrew Lily's new puppet out of spite.

The first (and most obvious) thing I did was resize Lily's left eye, and then I moved and resized her mouth so it's not so close to the nose, both of which made me realize that her head was a little too big, so I resized that as well. I also made her eyebrows a little more visible because the simple black lines of the original blended in too much with the lines in her hair. I lightenend the hair just the tiniest bit so the detail in it would be more visible, and I made the braid on the top of the head look more like a braid.

For the eyes I made the pupils/irises rounder and less alien-like, plus I added some detail to make them pop out more. For the clothes/accesories, I added the other strap to the top (because though the right strap might be slightly obscured, it shouldn't just disappear like that.), slightly altered the top's saturation, gave the skirt a more identifiable shape and cut (I think maybe the original was trying to be a circle skirt, but I wasn't sure so I just made it a pleated skirt), I then changed the bracelets to a more round, Sonic style bracelets to help define the silhouette a little more, and I changed the necklace to be more clear as to what it's supposed to be (the Gardevoir megastone). I almost wanted to do a pink diamond symbol out of spite, but I decided not to. The pink clashed with the color palette! :))))

I only made very tiny changes to the colors so they'd be more clear in black and white. Here's a tip for artists, if you're unsure about your character's color palette, take whatever photo editing/art program you have, make a new layer above the drawing, fill entirely with white and set the blending/layer mode to "color", if the values of the colors look way too similar with each other, then you might need to change the color palette a bit. That's why I lightened the color of the skirt and changed the hue of the shirt (I was going to give her a blue skirt, but then she started to look like Wonder Woman, soooo).

Hehe, I put way too much effort into this. 😓 And I'm sure a professional character designer could come up with something better, but whatevs. The "Good vs Bad Character Design" video by BaM Animation was a huge help for this design, and I recommend it hugely for anyone trying out character design!

#submission #anonymous submission #Interestingly #This looks really good! Your design would also look good with the kim possible lip that was on the original #if that was a lily specific request.

21 notes · View notes

buckhelped-archive · 3 years ago

Text

bon’s coloring tutorial

so this tutorial was originally requested by @eddiesbuckaroo who wanted to know how i colored this edit, but i'm an idiot who's terrible about saving PSDs, so instead i used the same method on this one (spoilers for 911 5x01), so i’ll be using 2 of those gifs in this tutorial

so if you look through my edit tag you'll see that i'm basically incapable of making an edit that is not gaudy super colorful, and while sometimes i do use the whole color layers/masking technique (if you're not familiar with what i'm talking about, the lovely and talented ally has a great tutorial on that here), i often don't because the scenes i'm using have too much movement and i'm a bit of a masochist

SO this tutorial will be focusing on how i get gifs like this:

without altering any layer masks

rest of the (way too long) tutorial under the cut!

(side note: yes i am using 2 scenes from the most recent episode of 911, but it's mostly just buck and eddie looking at each other so it's not really spoilery)

BIG disclaimer first: this is a very loose method. because it doesn’t use layer masks, it relies on building color and contrast largely from the colors already present in the scene. this means sometimes you’re able to get really nice contrast between the characters and the background, and sometimes you’re not. and certain colors just aren’t going to work well. and no single step is set in stone. you’re gonna have to be willing to play around with things and start over if need be

disclaimer #2: i’m almost entirely self-taught when it comes to coloring, so if something seems dumb or inefficient that’s probably because it is. if you know of a better way to get a similar effect, go for it! (and better yet, let me know!!)

alright, all that aside, let’s look at gif #1:

WHY do they have to make it so fucking brown 😭

the first thing i do no matter what is add curves, levels, and brightness/contrast layers

for my curves, i use the eyedropper tool as much as possible since it adds color correction as well as lightening. i’m not gonna get into the weeds on this, so for a detailed explanation of how to do this see this tutorial, but these are the points i clicked on:

for the white, i used the light behind buck, but instead of clicking on the brightest portion, i clicked i little to the right of it so that it brightened things up a bit. it also made things even more orange though, since there was a lot of blue/cyan in there, but i fixed that by picking a spot with more yellows/reds for the gray. for black i usually go for one step lighter than true black if i can find it, which adds a little more contrast

with those adjustments, and raising the main RBG curve a little, this is the result (upper left), along with what my curves look like:

sometimes the curves make a huge difference but it's pretty subtle here. then i do my levels and brightness/contrast, and in this case a selective colors layer on the reds and yellows since it's still pretty fucking orange (you basically just have to play around with this until you're happy with it):

now our gif looks like this and we're ready for the fun stuff:

i'm kind of obsessed with color palettes rn so i'm using this one for this edit. i decided i'm just gonna pick whatever color i like best for each scene, so i'm gonna use the third one for this gif, which means my goal is that kinda bubblegum pink

i also always choose a secondary that's more or less on the other side of the color wheel for things like highlights. this usually ends up being cyan/blue if the color is warm, and magenta/yellow if it’s cool, just because i personally don’t like working with green and red bc tbh i think they’re hard to make look pretty.

so basically now i start building up color, pushing everything i can towards pink, and everything that doesn’t really work with pink towards cyan

the first layer i add is always a color balance layer, which i use just to nudge everything in the direction i want. i usually just adjust things by 5 points which honestly doesn’t add much and probably isn’t necessary in most cases but whatever i do it anyway

these are the settings i ended up with:

you’ll noticed i went with cyan instead of magenta for midtones and highlights, and that’s because there’s so much red in the background and buck’s face and i wanted to mitigate that a bit.

sometimes i add a channel mixer layer here, and i did try that initially, but it wasn’t really working for me. that’ll come up with the next gif though. for now, i add my first solid color layer and go through the blending modes to find the best fit. you’re generally gonna wanna steer clear of the lighten section since that’ll replace your blacks with the overlay color and that’s hard to work with. i went with soft light for this one and set opacity at 40%, and now the gif looks like this (in the circle is just the base coloring above):

next is a selective color layer. i basically just go through each color in order and adjust them until i’m happy with them (make sure you have it set to absolute and not relative, otherwise the adjustment is too subtle). this is what i ended up with:

(there isn’t a green one bc there’s no green in the scene) initially i tried to adjust the reds to be a bit more pink but because buck’s face is almost the exact same color as the wood behind him, it made him like. fuchsia. not a good look. i played around with it for a while but there was just no way to adjust those bits separately, so i took the L and just accepted that the wood was just never gonna be pink. better that than pink oompa loompa buck. so instead i turned down the magentas and turned up the yellows to preemptively mitigate the pink on his face when i add the next color layer (god bless ryan guzman’s olive skin that doesn’t absorb red like a sponge). so this is what we have now:

for the next solid color layer, i normally set it to color and set the opacity between 20 and 30% depending on the scene. this one is at 20%:

aaaand another selective color layer:

(no yellows, greens, or cyans this time) i had to do a pretty significant adjustment on the reds to, once again, make buck’s face look normal. the blues and magentas were just to bring out the pinks a bit more and get it even closer to the goal color, and i added a bit of cyan to the white just to give it a little bit of contrast. same thing with adding cyan/blue to the blacks, but i also increased the black a little bit because of the pixelation on buck’s shirt. it didn’t make it completely go away but it helped:

the last major thing i did was a channel mixer layer. like i said earlier, i normally do this towards the beginning of this process but i just felt like this gif needed a little extra help. channel mixer can be daunting to work with, and i usually just do small increments with it, but i did use it a little more heavily with this one:

in my experience, the best way to learn how to use channel mixer is just to play around with it, but there’s also this tutorial which does a really good job of explaining how it works. anyway, now my gif looks like this (and we’re almost done!):

the last layer i added was a b&w gradient map to soften the colors a bit since we’re approaching oompa loompa territory again. i set it to saturation and opacity at 15%. then i just did my standard sharpening and export settings and voila! the final product:

onto gif #2! here’s what it looks like to start:

i’ll be using the fourth color in the palette for this one, so my goal is a mild purple

the first four steps are gonna be exactly the same as before, i.e. curves > levels > brightness/contrast > selective color (on relative to fix skin tone). after all that we have this:

then we add our color balance layer. since the goal is purple, for the shadows/midtones i increased the magentas and cyans, and the yellows in the highlights for contrast:

this time, i did add a channel mixer layer, and but just increased/decreased everything by increments of 5:

and here’s the gif so far (the circle contains the base coloring from above):

next is a solid color layer set to linear burn, opacity at 30% (again, just play around with blending modes until you hit one that fits):

selective color layer (i decided play up the contrast in the cyans rather than the yellows, which is why the yellows ended up kind of salmon-colored):

another solid color layer set to color, opactity 20%:

i’m actually happy with how the colors look now, so for my last selective color layer i’m just gonna adjust the whites and blacks:

like before, the last thing i did was add a b&w gradient map set to saturation at 15% opacity. with that and my sharpening, the finished product is this:

and that’s it! like i said at the start of this, none of this is set in stone, so don’t be afraid to play with everything and get comfortable using all the different layers and tools. and if anyone needs any clarification anything, feel free to send me an ask/dm or reply to this post! happy coloring!!

#this is so long im sorry #i hope it makes sense 😖#i've never done anything like this before so idk #resources #coloring tutorial #my resources

38 notes · View notes

twh-news · 3 years ago

Text

Interview: Makeup Artist Douglas Noe on Loki’s Looks Through the Years & Creating Anew for ‘Loki’ [EXCLUSIVE]

Douglas Noe has been in Hollywood for three decades. An award-winning makeup artist, he’s worked on projects such as World War Z, Planet of the Apes, Spider-Man 3, I Saw the Light, and Birth of a Nation. On top of these impressive credits, he’s also been Tom Hiddleston’s personal makeup artist since joining the MCU in The Avengers, designing all of the looks for Loki’s subsequent appearances.

Noe has been nominated for three Emmys with one win, and five Makeup Artist and Hairstylist (MUAHS) Awards resulting in two MUAHS awards. His skills include creating making natural and period looks, prosthetics, hair, and tattoos.

Along with being the head of the makeup department for the most recent Disney+ series Loki, Noe is also creating looks for the new Netflix comedy series True Story starring Kevin Hart and Wesley Snipes.

We had a chance to chat with Douglas Noe about his work on Loki, The Avengers, the incomparable value of teamwork on set, and most importantly, Richard E. Grant.

Nerds and Beyond: So you started your Marvel journey with The Avengers, but what drew you to your field in the first place? And how did you get your start?

Douglas Noe: Star Wars was a huge influence to me as a young boy, both sketching and drawing, and a little bit of sculpting but not much. Cut to 1983, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” comes out and I find a magazine called Fangoria on the newsstands where I can order blood and wax and pencils and fake hair. So, I started playing with these things. I was also taken with the horror movie craze that was happening in the early 80s — Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th, and others, obviously.

In High School, in 1984, I joined choir thinking I would get an easy credit, but my voice had not changed. So the choral instructor had been waiting for a boy soprano to do a theatrical opera presentation. So with that I sang the lead, I quit choir after that, because my peers were merciless, but, I learned the world of theatrical makeup which I hadn’t been introduced to.

I did years of theater. I went to a performing arts high school — it’s called Fort Hayes School for the Performing Arts in Columbus, Ohio — graduated, went to beauty school, and continued working in Ohio doing industrial, commercial, theater, and opera [makeup]. Worked for Maybelline and Revlon, got restless, worked in Cincinnati on my first film in the summer of 1990, it was July so 31 years ago, A Rage in Harlem. And my boss said you come to Los Angeles, I’ll make sure you get on your feet.

Nerds and Beyond: So you mentioned that it’s been about 31 years since your career started, what’s changed over the course of those 30 years in your field?

Douglas: How much time do we have? I’d say the biggest, biggest change would probably be the way we make these things now. Although another large change, more specific, would be the materials that we use. There’s a constant evolution and reinvention of almost all aspects of the materials that a makeup artist uses. That said, I have to shine a light on the way we do things now with the onset of digital and digital cameras. Shooting on film now has almost completely fallen by the wayside. Film was very forgiving, quite frankly, and now it’s not so forgiving. And because of that, the bar has been raised. The wonderful thing about this journey is watching my peers just get better and better and better, my colleagues rising to meet the challenge of not having anything to hide from with this new way we make films.

Nerds and Beyond: So, sometimes you kind of throw prosthetics to the wayside in favor of a more traditional makeup. How do you make that decision on which one to go with?

Douglas: That’s an excellent question. The decision is based purely on what are we going to see. That’s where I start, what is the lighting? I have a conversation with the director of photography and I find out what is the dynamic. Obviously, I know from the script whether it’s an interior or exterior, or if we’re exterior but we’re going to be on a stage, if it’s day or night. These variables all play into my decision as to whether or not I should rely on my theatrical experience and ability to paint 2D to appear 3D, or go ahead and make small prosthetics and put them where I need to put them and use actual prosthetics in lieu of paint.

That has everything to do with lighting, locations, logistics, and because most of his [Loki’s] wounds appear on his arm and some on his face in the Void, it’s all very moody and very dark. And again, the theatrical quality of the paint is not going to be altered by the changing light, it’s just going to react the same way the rest of the face is going to react. It’s purple light, it’s going to make everything have a purple hue. There was no accounting for any correction that didn’t need to be done. There wasn’t anything wrong with that. It’s real.

Nerds and Beyond: So, you did make up for not only Tom on Loki, but you helped plan out the looks for everybody?

Douglas: Yes, what I do is I surround myself with strong talent. It’s all about team. I designed Wunmi Mosaku, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sophia DiMartino, and Tom [Hiddleston]. Regarding the rest of it, Neil Ellis, both Dennis Liddiard and I, added to the elements of his scars and wounds, which you would only see in close-ups.

The rest of it, the parameters are set — Blade Runner to Mad Men — and stay in those confines. And obviously, I choose color palettes for the women and there are parameters set for the men, but then it’s about team. I’m a big one on a team and not putting my thumbprints on other people’s work, but rather build other people up so they feel like they own what they’re doing.

My team consists of artists that also have stronger resumes and quite frankly, skills that exceed mine. It’s the mutual trust that allows us to keep a high level of artistic integrity in every aspect of the job. It also means I get the very best from my team, and it shows on the screen.

So, I didn’t have every look in my hand. Dennis Liddiard designed the Mobius character and I had Ned Neidhardt run with Gugu and turn up the volume on some of the elements that she already possesses that we can play with. Her eyes and lips, I think Ned turned the volume on both. And because we’re shooting in order, it’s a progression in the makeup you did.

Nerds and Beyond: When it came to Sylvie and Loki, when you when you’re doing those, did you try to kind of plan them both to have any similar things to give them a Loki look?

Douglas: It’s a fair question, but the answer is no. So again, I think the characteristics and traits that were going to be similar among them, aside from wardrobe and costume hints, were all character driven. And I did nothing with the makeup and hair to try to make them look or even closely resemble each other.

Nerds and Beyond: I want to kind of back up a little bit to Tom in the first Avengers film. That was by far one of his most standout looks. Can you tell me anything about what went into the creation of that absolutely tormented, haunted look that he had throughout that entire movie?

Douglas: Yeah, and that’s probably one of the elements that, because the character has evolved, we kind of left with Avengers because by the end of Avengers, and we carried it into Endgame, he does have a bit of an edgier look in Avengers, and not many people pick up on it. But the reality is he’s a little sculpted in Avengers.

I remember sculpting his cheekbones and temples, and doing a little play on his forehead for when he’s in the cell on the Helicarrier carrier with all that overhead lighting. I did like a little devil horn shadow, which is so subtle. The only person who’s going to notice is anybody who looks back at it and having read this and knows what to look for, but it is so nuanced and so subtle. And that’s the only place I think we did that. But the rest of him is very much chiseled and sculpted, but it’s a light touch.

And I think, again, as he evolved through the Marvel Universe and into the other movies that was something that was easy to leave behind, because I think that look played directly into his evil desire to rule over Earth. We rested that design element with that storyline.

Nerds and Beyond: It’s very clear too and I’ve always loved looking at that, because I’m a huge fan of the character. I’ve always loved kind of comparing how he looked in that movie to the rest of them.

Douglas: You’re on to me!

Nerds and Beyond: I’m not! I swear [laughs] So, what’s your best method for making the actors comfortable in the makeup chair? And with the final outcome?

Douglas: It’s dialogue; listening, talking to them, talking to their representation, whether it be an agent or a manager, and doing my homework and doing my due diligence to find out what’s going to make them comfortable the moment they walk through the door. I do my homework on them. It’s not just IMDb, it’s an internet search. So, I spend some time on the web and find out who these folks are, and if I find out, for example, they’re not one that likes to talk a lot, well, the writing’s on the wall, we’re not going to talk a lot, we’ll cut to the chase and get to the point. But also, it’s about building a rapport and building a relationship. Also, knowing that, I’ve said this in previous discussions, knowing it’s necessary to get out of the way.

Like if, for example, I’m not a proper fit for somebody, I have to be plugged in, I have to be aware enough to understand that it may not be working before somebody says to me, “Hey, this isn’t gonna work.” So it’s just about being open, especially as Tom’s personal on these projects and running the department, knowing that I don’t get to do everybody. I don’t get to put my thumbprint on other people’s work. Because not only is that disrespectful, it’s very often unnecessary, because I hire good people. I hire contemporaries and peers. Truly, you’re only as good as your weakest crew member. I surround myself with good people.

So, take Owen Wilson, for example, it would have been wonderful to do Owen’s makeup, but there were times when he was not going to be shooting with Tom and I was going to need to be ready for Tom or available to Tom, so it didn’t make sense. So I never touched Owen, I had Dennis Liddiard design that look and run with it. And then Ned Neidhardt took over that look when Dennis had to depart. That’s just one example of not trying to do everything.

Another one was the Classic Loki. I wanted to do Richard E. Grant’s [makeup] so bad, I can’t even tell you. I’ve been a huge fan since 1987. I wanted so badly to bring that full circle, didn’t make sense. It just didn’t make sense. So again, I never touched him. It wasn’t necessary. Ned was always there. And I think the same thing happened to me on Ragnarok reshoots, which I ran in Atlanta again with Dennis Liddiard. I wanted so badly to do Sir Anthony Hopkins makeup, but it didn’t make sense. So I was happy to hand it off to Bill Myer.

Nerds and Beyond: Oh man, I loved Richard E. Grant in this show so much.

Douglas: He’s amazing.

Nerds and Beyond: He’s so good!

Douglas: He really is. And he’s that good in person. He’s just so fun and interesting and alluring and attractive. He’s such a wonderful, wonderful person and, of course, a phenomenal actor.

Nerds and Beyond: I was watching little videos that he posted and he just seems like the warmest person.

Douglas: You know, just one last tidbit about Richard Grant is he’s got wonderful stories and as he’s telling them he’ll often stop and pause and just laugh. Just laugh, not for the sake of the stories or for anybody that he’s telling the story to, but because recounting the story brings him true joy. So he’ll stop and embrace that joy. Oh, it’s so wonderful.

Nerds and Beyond: That’s so amazing to hear. What is the most memorable job that you’ve done?

Douglas: The most memorable … That’s a tough one because I have so many fond memories of so many projects. The first Avengers film was memorable because there was a buzz, there was a vibration, a frequency, that was in the air when we were shooting that. We kind of knew we were making something big and something special. I don’t think any of us knew how big or how special it would be, but that certainly is one of the most memorable and most special projects.

I’m pretty good about focusing on the positive aspects of all these things, regardless of how difficult the project may be for whatever reason. The pros always, always heavily outweigh the cons, but I have a lot of wonderful, memorable experiences. Another one, it’s the polar opposite only because of the conditions in which we shot, but Birth of the Nation was one of the most memorable and exceptional experiences of my career. I was on the wrong side of 40, had 25 years of experience, and had still never worked so hard in my entire life. We did a 50-day shoot in 27 days. So proud of the work we did.

It was 100 degrees with 99 percent humidity, we shot it in the summer in Georgia, in Savannah, so it was hot, humid, and just getting the makeup necessary to be on individuals to stay put was its own challenge. And then the other challenges only added to that. But Nate Parker, the director, writer, producer, and lead actor, he is a special human being. And he was inspiring from start to finish. Usually, the first people in are the teamsters, transport department, and usually I’m second. He beat me in almost every single day. He’s in three hours before he needs to be. That was a very special experience.

Nerds and Beyond: Finally, are you excited about the news of Loki Season 2?

Douglas: I’m beyond thrilled! I invite being in the dark a little bit, I kind of like surprises and I like not knowing, so I suspected, but hearing the news confirmed, I was thrilled, naturally. What are they going to dream up? This is amazing. How do you top season 1 of Loki? That’s the burning question.

#loki #loki series #douglas noe #interview #article #nerds and beyond

30 notes · View notes

ddaehyeon · 4 years ago

Text

。✧ hyacinth; park serim + reader

— pairing: fashion designer!park serim + photographer!reader

— genre: angst, slight fluff, exes au, post-breakup, slightly suggestive (one scene only!)

— word count: 7.1k

— warning: arguments, heartbreak, mentions of anxiety and emptiness

— summary: years had passed since you broke up with serim; life had been continuously patching up ever since. his name had marked several clothing lines, while your studio was well-known in the small city you lived in. who would’ve known that a sight of him on a bus stop would be enough to bring back wounds you thought had long ago healed?

— navi: playlist | video teaser | cravity masterlist

— a/n: my wips suffered from a major slump and this is quite an overdue fic (i also have another overdue fic help) but i hope someone would still at least read this though >< the first ver of this didn't satisfy me and though this ver didn't satisfy me that much, i feel like after rewriting almost half of the fic, this one's better. i'll do my best to pull something better soon!

autumn must be the most magical part of the year. the leaves experiencing a color alteration, scarlets and golds carpeting the ground— a yearly harvest of the earth where everything was gradually being taken away. long gone was the heat of the summer; the chilly evening breeze sure was much friendlier than of winter. the season served as a comforting quilt. it was such a great time for warm drinks that could lift up the mood even for the wariest.

you let go of a breath as you stared at the window, the sun was setting. the color fleshed out in the sky golden, jiving well with the surrounding that was already of the same palette. with an indoor shoot for a seasonal issue of a magazine, it sure was a tiring day. the sound of camera clicks still ringing in your head, along with the hushed talks and chitchats coming from the staff members and the models.

at first, you were hesitant to accept the project. afraid that you’d bump by one of the renowned fashion designers in your region, park serim. but then, you couldn’t just chicken out when a hefty sum was to be paid. the relief you had when you saw that his name wasn’t on the list of designers was almost the same kind of relief you'd have after preventing big trouble from occurring.

“i finished placing back the props in the room.” hyeongjun’s voice was still as bright as it was this morning as if not touched by any fatigue. he was one of the photographers you hired in your studio, offering only fine shots. “i’ll be going home early, just send me a message about what time tomorrow’s shoot will be!”

“thank you, junie.” a smile was on your brim as you nodded on his words, watching him pack his camera and leave afterward.

silence melted in the room as soon as hyeongjun stepped out. alone in your photography studio, you sat on a stool used earlier by one of the models. the room was dimly lit with only one of the umbrella lights open. it was only by then that you realized your thighs were already stiff from the nonstop work earlier. you wanted to go home and just be in the comforts of your bed.

pulling out your phone, you dialed your brother’s number, frowning when it took him quite a while to pick up. was he busy or did he just forget that he was supposed to pick you up tonight?

jungmo would always fetch you by your studio after his working hours concluded. with the two of you living together in the same house, your brother just found it ideal— bringing you to your work every morning and giving you a drive home every evening. it might seem like he was babying you, but it was a gesture you grew fond of.

“y/n?” jungmo gasped on the other line. it seemed like he was outside, music playing in the background which mingled well with the peals of laughter. “shit, i forgot to tell you.”

you raised a brow, questioning his words. “what’s the matter?”

“can’t fetch you today.” you can already envision the pout he had on his lips. “i’m at a party with allen and woobin, catching up with my colleagues. i’ll make it up to you tomorrow, i promise!”

“alright. i’ll just ride the bus then.” it was your turn to purse your lips. you can’t bring yourself to complain about it though. “have fun! just stay in woobin’s apartment tonight, don’t drive!”

“i will, i will,” jungmo replied, a call of his name following. his friends might’ve been looking for him already. “text me alright? get home safely, y/nie.”

at the end of the phone call came another sigh from you. a tightlipped smile braced your lips as you stood to turn off the remaining lights. you retrieved your camera and placed it back in one of the drawers. making sure everything was back to its place, secured; you gave the place one final look. something you’d do every single day before going home. a reminder of the thing you loved the most. a reminder of what could have been.

the sidewalk wasn’t as empty as you imagined it to be, maybe you weren’t used to walking to the bus stop anymore. strangers of different day occurrences exchanged various looks that shared one same element, tiredness.

when the wind blew, fallen leaves danced along with it. the slight coldness making you tuck your hands inside the pocket of the cardigan you were wearing. you loved the cool breeze, but not when you knew you had to stay out on an open shed with it as your companion. cold weather could be your friend, a company for a better evening sleep. but rather a harsh fellow when you had to be alone, when loneliness can easily be injected to your senses.

tracing the path, a memory went to play in your head. way back in college, this was the same sidewalk you’d walk in with your ex-lover. a camera on your hand while he had a roll of satin in his arms. it was such a usual view for the two of you as you talked about how the day went, ranting about the monotonous lectures, gushing over how you missed each other’s company and how you wished that the two of you could get back to your shared apartment as soon just so you can snuggle on the couch.

you glanced at the sky, the cloud hiding the few scattered twinkling stars. a faint smile spread upon your lips, only to disappear when your gaze went back to the bus stop. the male that passed by in a form of fleeting memory earlier was standing right in front of you as if fleshed out from your mind. a lavender-colored paper bag was hanging on his arm, the logo of his product line delicately stamped on the middle. his phone was resting on his other hand, if he was scrolling through sns or texting someone, you weren’t sure.

the magical feeling he used to offer long gone, your stomach twisting into several knots. a cold sensation went down in your spine as a familiar tug came to pull your heartstring. he’s back? what is he doing here? he lives here again?

your thoughts were loud in your head, but none of it was pulled out loud. each word ending up as a lump in your throat. the air was thickening, your heart beating fast, not out of excitement, but out of the clashing thoughts that left you so nervous and confused. it had been years, how come a single sight of him made you feel like all your resolutions are gone? how did a single sight of him become enough to shatter the glass that protected you from the ache that night had caused you?

it was cold. but no, it was no longer because of the autumn breeze.

“serim?” the name was uttered in the same way you would before everything came crashing, yet it held a much weaker tone. you can’t even remember the last time your voice came to wrap around the syllables of his name.

the male turned his head to look at you, a brow raised as he stared at you. no obvious emotion, his eyes held no recognition.

and his reply? it sent a shiver down your spine, your stomach flipping in a horrendous manner.

“who are you?”

for a moment, the air caused such a nauseous feeling— thin and hard to inhale. it was only three words, yet it was powerful enough to serve as a punch in the gut.

how can he forget?

how can he forget how the two of you first met?

not that it was a very momentous event, just a regular struggle faced by two college students that needed someone else to accomplish a project for a major subject. there were no butterflies involved, nor did sparks fly the moment you met. regardless, up until now, that day burned fresh in your mind.

“i know someone from that department,” woobin said without even looking at you, his eyes focused on his book. though you weren’t sure if he was really paying attention to the words written there as he kept on diving in the conversation every now and then.

“and who might that be?” the dreadful task of having to pair up with the design department had been inhabiting your mind ever since it was given to you. pressure rising as you saw your other blockmates having no hard time getting themselves out there and communicating with the department they weren’t really accustomed to. you still have a month and a half, you were sure you can still make it. it was just a photoshoot anyway, featuring your partner’s designs.

“park serim,” woobin finally answered as if he had to think hard of the person’s name. “i think no one had asked him to become their partner, he’d be available to do it.”

desperate to get over with the task, later that day, you found yourself by the catwalk the design students would take. it was a path that connected their building to the main gate directly. your building wasn’t exactly far away from theirs, but still of a different building. with their building equipped with supplies and machineries for final products, yours were of computers, lightings, and screens.

you stared at your phone, his instagram profile opened. earlier, you already took the pleasure of checking his works out and without much filtering, him as well. he sure does love taking pictures of himself; something that could work perfectly with him being your subject. once satisfied, you left him a dm that was probably one of the most awkward sentences you had ever typed in the entirety of your life.

a notification popped out as you look at your screen, which was shortly followed by another. it was only of common courtesy to follow him before asking him for a favor right? you did that before messaging him and now he followed you back and replied to your dm. unlike you, he didn’t spend much time wandering in your profile. well, as if he had so much to look unto aside from the sceneries and some stories posted.

‘you were the person woobin was talking about? i’ll be out in two minutes. see you in the catwalk.’

it wasn’t too long of a duration, you allowed yourself to simply jump from a social media to another, mindlessly scrolling and liking some post every now and then. only lifting your head up when a wave of students began getting out of the establishment. most were holding mannequins with unfinished clothing attached to them, some were holding rolls of fabrics you weren’t sure what to call.

with squinted eyes, you tried to look for him among the crowds. woobin said that serim was a fashion design major, so he’d probably be holding the same thing as the other students that came out.

and he was.

leaning on his shoulder was a mannequin, asymmetrically dressed in silk. it wasn’t sewn yet, only supported by sewing pins. an arm wrapped around a roll of what seemed to be linen of pastel blue color. there was also a paper bag hanging on his arm which seemed to have some extra fabric and maybe some other supplies.

you walked towards him with a wave to which he gave you a confused look at first, the frown melting away when he realized that you were the one who messaged him not even an hour ago.

“you’re y/n?” he asked, merely to confirm.

you nodded your head and offered a hand in carrying the paper bag. something he didn’t refuse to. “so…” unsure of how to bring up the means of meeting with him after his class, your voice trailed.

“what do you need anyway?” he supported your words as he traced the path of the sidewalk. “take pictures of me or take pictures of the clothes i make?”

“both.” a chuckle left your lips, laced with nothing but sheer abashment, at the same time mentally cursing this project. you were okay with taking pictures, but the negotiation that comes with it wasn’t a task you were so used to doing.

serim hummed, saying an almost inaudible ‘i see’ before taking a big step and stopping in front of you to do a curt observation. his gaze trailing from toes up to your shoulder. “i’ll agree to do it, if you’ll model for me for a project.”

blinking your eyes multiple times, a baffled frown came to mask your countenance. “what?”

“i need a model that will wear the dress i’m doing by the end of the semester,” serim uttered nonchalantly, proceeding to turn his back to you and resume walking. “that would be quits.”

“i’ll do it,” you said, despite still being hesitant. having close to zero knowledge about how such a presentation would work, you were so close to disagreeing. but then again, it would only be a good way to repay him, right? and perhaps the other fashion design students would ask you of the same thing if you try to team up with them.

turning to look at you, there was a curve that formed on his brim. “that’s a deal then.”

how can he forget how the two of you confessed to each other?

two months. it took two months of random meet ups, daily conversations, and occasional hanging out to get to know each other. the awkward messages of checking up on each other’s side of the project turned to asking about each other’s day, sharing rants about academic life or life in general. the occasional hanging out turning to planned dates and spontaneous ones when the two of you both have the time to spare.

you’d usually stay in his unit as he worked on the dress for his project, a clothing that perfectly suits your figure. late night talks induced by the slightest energy given by coffee the two of you had clung into in hopes of being able to finish what was due.

it seemed like time flew by and before you knew it, you were in the backstage. serim was pacing back and forth, more nervous than you were. he wasn’t the one that was going to the stage, but sure his body was restless.

“are you alright?” you asked him once the two of you were left alone in the dressing room.

this was enough for serim’s movement to come to a halt. even when his eyes landed on you, it was obvious that his mind was floating. in fact, it even took him hot seconds before he was able to commit to a verbal response. “i am.”

“you are?” a smile broke out of your countenance which was eventually followed by a chuckle. “are you sure with that?”

your laughter was adequate to ease his nerves a little, a curve appearing on his lips. “i am.”

one of his classmates who was in charge of the flow came knocking to the door, signalling that you should be on standby.

“i’ll do my best,” you said, walking toward the door. it would be a definite lie to say that you were not at all nervous. a deep breath taken before twisting the knob, stopping when serim called you. it was covered with a bit, yet noticeable hesitation that it made you cock a brow for a moment.

“good luck.” it was all that he uttered, along with a gesticulation of him raising both fists. though serim’s mind spoke of different words, words he had little courage to let go of. at least not yet at that moment.

you gave him a smile, nodding your head afterward. “thank you.”

and off you go.

roaring crowds and camera clicks; the auditorium set up for the use of the fashion design students as they exhibit their works through their chosen models. formerly, you’d find yourself among the crowds, snapping pictures and admiring the clothes done by the other students. but this time, you found yourself clothed in a floral print silk-blend asymmetrical dress designed by serim himself.

the lights were blinding, being always part of the photographers, you were quite accustomed with how you were part of the persons behind the camera lense. serim was in the dressing room, watching the runway from the screen that displayed the live broadcast. some of your friends were among the crowds, your older brother even telling you before the show started that he’d be sure to take pictures of you.

fortunately, the few days of practice didn’t go to waste, no major mistakes happened when you modeled serim’s design. perhaps the only problem was you were a little stiff, something too trivial for some audience to notice.

as soon as you stepped by the backstage, serim’s proud smile welcomed you. unable to rest in the dressing room once he saw you getting out of the stage, he practically ran to meet you behind the curtains.

his eyes were filled with adoration, not just for the dress he finished making, but for the overall beauty you radiated. without much thought, he walked closer to you, soon wrapping you in an embrace. tight, yet gentle.

“you did well, y/n,” serim whispered, not letting go.

a soft chuckle was heard from you, your cheeks burning. “you did well,” you corrected. “please, it’s your design.”

“thank you.” releasing you, a smile lingered on his visage. “i’ll make you a better dress in the future.”

“you don’t have to, but thanks,” you replied before the two of you sunk into silence. regardless of how the surrounding was of heavy music and cheers, peace had found its way to emanate in the dimmed part of the area.

no words spoken, yet feelings poured when serim leaned closer. his lips easily capturing yours enough to make your heart pound in your chest, louder than it did while you were in the catwalk.

serim broke the kiss, his lips still close with yours. his eyes were of another glow when he uttered a set of words, familiar yet foreign. “i love you.”

once again, you were under his spell. soft kiss turning into a sloppy one once he guided you to a more secluded area. it would be such a waste to rip the dress off given that it was an original design, yet as the person who sewn each part of the clothing you were wearing, serim had his way to resolve the small dilemma.

the surrounding was silenced, your body frail under each of his touch, breath taken away, chest heaving. sure, it was a night you won’t be able to forget.

how can he forget about how the two of you practically lived with each other for years?

the exuberance exuded while the two of you carried several boxes into an empty unit you called home. maybe it wasn’t really about the place, but it was who you were with. his arms served as a shelter. his hand caught tears of both happiness and sadness. his lips pressed affection that no one else could offer. everywhere with serim was of comfort, of tranquility— a home.

living with another person, being under a single roof wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to adjust to. throughout the first few months of living together, your head was filled with memories of sheer trial and error as the two of you tried to learn the curves. this included adjusting for each other or at least compromising for what the other likes that the other doesn’t. silly mistakes became such a fond memory.

the smell of burnt food that wafted in the air when the two of you decided to stay on the balcony while cooking dinner. astonished by the stars and the almost endless stories that passed on both lips the meal you were preparing was left neglected. that night, the two of you shared bitter food of dark exterior, quite hard to swallow. but the laughter that filled the house after the incident lifted up each other’s mood. despite the bad-tasting meal, it was probably one of the best dinners you had in that apartment.

it didn’t end there. who would forget about the laundry disaster that rendered one of serim’s white long sleeves saturated with colors you weren’t sure what to call. the mixture of forget-me-not blue and azalea pink stood as the most distinguishable pigment along with the other colors. serim only let out of a chuckle at what occurred, even joking that maybe the two of you could start a business of dying white clothing in such a way.

the best memory thus far was a late-night run by the convenience store when the two of you were chasing a morning deadline. a grumbling stomach that broke the mutual silence the two of you exchanged, along with a suspecting look that ended up with laughter.

“let’s buy some food,” serim suggested, removing the tape measure from his shoulder and settling it to the mannequin.

you hit save on your laptop, the editing could wait for a few minutes.

pulling yourself off the chair, you gazed at him with a smile. it wasn’t a surprise that he had the same beam, as bright as the morning, regardless of how the evening was already crawling onto the whole city. sometimes, you wondered how a simple smile could give you so much energy. what kind of magic does a beam flashed by the person you love hold?

a few snacks picked up by the convenience store; a bag in his hand, your hand on the other as the two of you walked back to your unit. the evening sky and the soft gush of wind amplifying the peacefulness provided by the city. no words were exchanged, yet the silence was enough of a word.

deadlines momentarily escaping the mind as you allowed yourself to be engulfed by his presence. his soft voice breaking the silence, the phrase that left his lips drew a curve on your lips. “i love you, y/n.” you weren’t looking at him, but you could perceive the smile he had. “so much.”

“i know,” you replied.

serim’s steps became slower as he looked at you, waiting for the actual response. with a tilted head and shining eyes that reflected your figure and the street lights, his gaze didn’t waver.

a chuckle left your lips, finding yourself lost in his eyes for a moment. “i love you too, serim.” you squeezed his hand, cueing him to continue walking. “so much.”

sighing out of content, a radiant smile decorated his lips.

at that moment, the two of you wished nothing more but just to be next to each other for as long as life would grant you.

how can he forget about your first anniversary?

it wasn’t grand, just the two of you sitting by the balcony. the bouquet he bought abandoned on the dinner table as the two of you gushed over plans you were sure were realistic enough to be achieved. your eyes twinkling with mirth, a lifetime with him sure was the ideal one you’d want to spend.

“y/n,” despite being just beside you, serim called.

you looked at him with a brow raised, catching his eyes on yours. “mhm?”

a smile simply spread onto his lips before he broke the gaze. his hand seeking for an item inside the pocket of his hoodie, a small box retrieved afterward. there, a necklace sat. the pendant was of a ring that was not entirely decorated with fancy stones, rather a lone blue sapphire stone was on it.

“the pendant is a promise ring,” serim explained before scooting closer to you. his hand reached for the back of your head while the necklace rested on your skin. he locked the jewelry on your neck, pressing a gentle kiss on your forehead after.

you were silent the whole time, not because you didn’t like the gesture. but because you were sure words wouldn’t be enough to express the satisfaction and light feeling that was blanketing your heart.

serim had a faint smile as he admired the necklace for a moment. just like you, his heart was in an ocean of peaceful joy. lifting his head to look at you directly, he gave your lips a light peck. “i’ll buy you a better one once we’re ready for it.”

“thank you.” your countenance mirrored the same expression serim had— of joy and serenity. “i love you so much.”

“i love you too.” serim leaned in for another quick kiss, swift yet lingering. “i can’t wait to spend a lifetime with you.”

the evening droned on and on with the two of you staying by the balcony, exchanging conversations about the future. two hearts in one home, seemingly able to find the path where both can hold each other’s hand. minds filled with dreams where the other can also be spotted. a considerably spacious studio apartment became the foundation of your plans and dreams.

aspirations that soon became the neglected cause of why your relationship with him gradually crumbled down.

how can he forget about your very first fight?

gazes that held no definite emotion, silence that cut through the air— it was all an unfamiliar experience, hard to swallow. something that you weren’t able to forget easily as it was the first time you’ve ever seen serim with such a cold expression.

the coaster of shows on the television had long passed, a few recaps played. something that wasn’t really able to get a hold of your attention. your mind drifting elsewhere and the few notifications appearing on your phone were the only ones that managed to pull you out of your daze momentarily.

“where’s serim?” for the nth time that day, you asked. the room was quiet with only a few chatters from the screen in front of you. the evening was growing older and older, but you haven’t received any message about serim's whereabouts. neither had he sent you a message the whole afternoon.

worried, you opted to stay up and wait for him. even prepared a meal that can be easily heated so he can have something to eat once he arrives in case he hasn’t eaten anything yet.

with the door clicking, you were quick to get off the couch. the faint footsteps signaling you right away.

“you’re finally home,” you said, a smile easily located on your brim. only for it to melt away at the sight of serim’s stern look. his gaze piercing through, enough for chills to trace your spine.

he walked past you, not even offering you the regular hugs and kisses he would do every time he’d arrive. all that was left were cold stares. something you attempted to break. and heck did you regret doing so.

“why haven’t you been answering your phone? have you already eaten?” the worry you had accumulated coming through in waves of questions.

a sigh was emitted out of his mouth as he went to get himself a drink. it seemed like a verbal response was not an option for him since he continued to ignore your questions. at this point, it was as if there was no one else in the room. it was like you weren’t there.

“did something happen, serim?”

a minute. it was all it took for the entirety of your relationship to come to an unknown turn. the curve strange, it crawled to the skin with such a frigid touch enough for your stomach to flip horribly.

“can you give me a break?” serim hissed, a glare shoot in your direction. his voice growing power word after word. your breath was taken away, how can words suffice to make you feel so small? he placed his glass on the sink, the item almost meeting its demise. he turned to look at you once again. “can’t you see, i’m tired?”

“i waited for you.” the words spilled out of your lips, disappointment hugging your tone.

“who told you to wait for me?” serim snarled and before you knew it, you were already standing on the same page. similar expression, different cause. yours were anchored in concern, while his were of fatigue from the whole day of heavy workload. those seemed to have lulled both of your senses, blinding each other.

“oh well, i was just worried about you because you didn’t send me a message the whole afternoon up to this point.”

“do i really need to report my actions to you?”

“no, but you have to at least tell me if you’re going home late.” your voice gradually softened, a tear held back.

no, you can’t cry. no, not in front of him. no.

“i was worried,” you broke out. but it wasn’t enough for his fumes to dissolve. like gasoline poured into flames, each of your replies only intensified the exasperation boiling in his stomach.

“i’m going to rest.” serim sigh was audible as he stormed off to your room, leaving you with tears in your eyes.

a minute.

it only took half a minute for everything to fall out of its order. that fight wasn’t the last one and each passing day, the unit you once called home was stuck with unfamiliarity.

it was no longer a home.

how can he forget about that night?

cold meals by the table had your eyes fixated on them. the date encircled in red, a supposedly special day that turned bitter. different from how you used to spend it before—of laughter and warm touches— serim wasn’t there. he was far too involved with projects that your shared unit only became a short shelter. words were barely exchanged, yet alone gazes. you still sleep on the same bed as him, but no warmth was offered.

you weren’t sure which was better, to continue living with him even if it felt like you weren’t living with him or to have him gone in your life for real. regardless of the turns that occurred, the continuous erosion of your relationship, you couldn’t find it to yourself to let go. still tied by your attachment to the former serim.

a sigh left your lips, desolated gaze trailing on the table. you tried. but it seemed like those attempts were futile. it takes two people’s efforts. you can’t revive a relationship alone.

switching place, you went to the living room and sat by the couch. the place dimly lit by a lone lampshade. the city lights filtering through the window. the air gradually thickened around you, it held your throat in a vice grip. the photographs displayed by the shelves were foreign to you, despite how it was simply you and serim. it was like you were staring at completely different people. smiles had long been taken away, touches had melted, flutters subsided— all that was left was a terrible feeling of helplessness. something that seemed to guide you to nowhere. you were lost.

before, you were sure of how the story was to be written. how the chapters were to unfold. but right now, you weren’t even certain what would be on the next page. it was like the next ones were torn from the spine, gone. oh hell, you weren’t even sure what page you were on right now or if the story was bound to be written in the first place.

serim’s arrival went unnoticed at first. only until you heard the clink of the glass meeting the sink did you turn in his direction. an empty gaze was earned and for some reason you found yourself offering him a faint smile. a small gesture packed in pain that was quick to course through your senses.

sighing had become his way of greeting. dark circles under his eyes and the disheveled look emanated how his work had been weighing him. but your mouth was closed regardless of how you wanted to speak of reassurance and praise. it was strange, the inability to speak of warm words around him. why were you so held by fear?

“serim,” you called, breaking the floating silence.

he looked at you, eyes deep like he was examining a piece of fabric. it was enough for your stomach to churn. the stillness continued after your call. you weren’t sure how to continue it; it was as if his name was unnatural in your tongue. not only was your breath sucked, but also all the possible words had dissipated.

yet again another sigh as he tore his gaze away, stepping towards the bedroom. “i’m so tired, y/n,” he uttered, setting a line for you to not cross onto. “very tired.”

resurfacing on your brim was a smile. your eyes weren’t exactly skillful of lying though as tears soon gathered on it. heart hollowed in emptiness as if a scream would echo on its wall. likewise, your voice decided to betray you— shaking. “serim, i’m getting tired too.”

for a swift moment, serim tried to come up with an answer. but just like you, comforting words seemed to be an unfamiliar language. even aware of how a look would be inadequate, he only stared at you. his eyes don’t speak of words nor radiated comfort— it was vacant. lowering his head, he carded his fingers on his hair before letting go of a breath.

serim finally stepped inside the bedroom.

and that was how the two of you parted ways.

how can he forget about you?

it went on and on in your head, the question continuously striking.

a gush of autumn breeze pulled you out of your daze. serim was still looking at you, his eyes slowly lightening with recognition. a few blinks and he spoke. “oh, wait.” he tilted his head to the side. “y/n?”

you weren’t exactly sure what kind of answer to give, but you gave it your best to offer a faint smile. “yes.”

still— despite how other people were walking on the sidewalk and how vehicles passed by the road, the surrounding seemed to come to a stillness you didn’t ask for. denying and pushing away the feelings you’ve long ago tried to bury and made yourself believe that you’ve healed from only brought a new wave of pain. as if you were its child, sadness came to hug you.

just in time, the bus arrived as if to save you from further drowning in emotions you didn’t wish to engulf you in. to your surprise, serim also boarded in. while you chose to sit somewhere just nearby the driver, he went to the last row.

usually, your rides on the way home were the most relaxing ones. a time to just stare at the window and watch the night spread into the city. it will always be accustomed by jungmo asking you on and on about how your day went and also sharing about how his day went. but your brother wasn’t around for that kind of support right now. and you can’t blame him for it. you can’t blame anyone for this unexpected meeting with the person you never knew you’d ever meet again.

the ride was sickeningly slow, all you wished was to get home and allow your voice to echo in your room. to release the emptiness if it was even possible to empty something that was already vacant. the sky held no comfort. its color dissipated and all that was left was an empty canvas that like a broken record, played memories. it was silly how despite those quick memories popping in and out of your mind, questions still managed to penetrate.

serim was living in another city, why did he ride the same bus? was he to meet his new lover? maybe to meet an old friend?

or did he perhaps mean to meet you? this was a guess you despised. the hope it brought that maybe an answer for all the questions formed that night were to be given tasted bitter in your mouth and offered restlessness in the heart.

an urge to talk to him surfaced, but then you asked yourself why. why would you want to talk to him? for what?

despite being curious about the reason why he left that night, a certain fear crawled onto your senses. the fear of knowing.

what could knowing his reasons possibly bring you?

the time when the two of you loved each other wasn’t of the best timing. two newly graduates seeking career growth, wanting nothing but to achieve various goals. those were dreams drawn with the other person placed as a part of it. however, during the process of achieving those, that same person where the aspiration was rooted gradually disappeared from the mind. the path the two of you promised to take together came at crossroads and you ended up taking something different from what he preferred to go to.

at first, there was a powerful yearning that made the two of you grow more fond of each other. but it was slowly replaced by numbness towards it, making love such a foreign word.

you understood. but it wasn’t something you had fully accepted.

a familiar shed came to flash on the window, your stop nearing. and when the vehicle finally came to a halt, you gave serim a final glance. he was looking at you, not moving from his seat. dismissing the contact, you walked down the bus and began tracing the sidewalk with heavy steps.

disappointment curled into your stomach when you arrived near your house, realizing that the recurring questions will not be answered. however, fate played its game. anxiousness arose when once again you heard your name wrapped around serim’s voice.

you turned to look at him, his lips hesitant to let go of a word.

serim was also in deep thoughts, mind all over the place despite how he already had the resolution to talk to you, not to explain and justify himself, but to apologize for the damage done.

“i’m sorry for that night,” serim began, the initial words already clinging into his chest, weighing down. “i should’ve been more honest with you and trusted you more with my struggles.”

there was nothing serim wanted but to prove himself worthy of you. achieve things that could make you be proud of him and deem him as someone who deserves you. working up to late hours, diving into designs in order to perfect his craft. the thing was, he forgot that you already loved him even when he was simply that serim. that you loved him as park serim.

blinded by the goal, the mean diminished. as he was too caught up with it, he was no longer striding towards it for you, but for himself.

“it was selfish of me to decide for something we both should be deciding for. i left that night thinking it was better that way without even considering how you will feel,” serim continued, his voice weakening. he lifted his hand as if to hold you, but stopped midway. it fell to his side as he breathed in. “i’m sorry. i’m really sorry.”

“i was hurt, but you were probably hurt as well.” the way those words left your lips ever so calmly surprised you. “it wasn’t the most pleasant experience, but i hope we both learned from it.” a smile became evident on your visage. “promise me one thing serim, do not make the same mistake with your future lover.”

“i will not,” serim replied.

both of you never really imagined the end of your relationship and as the page of it was torn years ago, an ending was deemed impossible to earn. closing a book would never be that easy, but some stories were meant to end— yours included.

“also, this is for you.” serim handed you the paper bag he was holding. “i told you years ago that i’ll make you a better dress, and here it is. i figured that i wouldn’t be able to keep the promise laced on the ring i gave you before but i at least want to have one of my promises kept.”

you looked at the item for a moment before turning to serim once again. “thank you.”

“i also want you to know that i truly loved you.”

never at once did you doubt serim’s love for you. the thing about it is that people will grow and know love from a better perspective. know how to best keep it. know how to best show it. but it will not change the fact that back then, you felt that it was love.

serim had a single flaw and that was to hold everything to himself to the point that those created a wide gap between the two of you. the distance far enough that reaching his hand became impossible despite how you wanted to hold him.

and maybe during that time, parting was the best solution. and up to this point, it was too.

“it’s nice seeing you again, serim.”

“likewise, y/n.” a genuine smile crossed his lips. “goodbye?”

“goodbye.”

tonight, you gave him a piece of your heart. it was his, to begin with. whatever he was to do with it— keep it, throw it, crush it— it was a decision for him to make. keeping something that shouldn’t be there would only bring further destruction, it’s way better to have an empty spot in your heart rather than keep a damaged one.

the breeze embraced you. the goodbyes uttered were to serve as a beginning. there were new questions that formed and you knew there were tears that were yet to be spilled. but it was a start. opening a buried wound would never be pleasant, but it was way better to open it yourself than have it bare you.

staring at the newly planted hyacinth in the neighboring flower bed, you let go of a sigh. they will bloom in the spring. and you hoped that you would experience the same.

#cravitywriters #cravity imagines #cravity oneshots #cravity scenarios #cravity x reader #cravity angst #cravity fluff #serim x reader #serim #this has been in my drafts for quite a while...#finally got that push to post it u_u #cravity

89 notes · View notes

fatal-error-blog · 4 years ago

Text

About Afterthought!

Hey folks! First off thank you for the warm reception to this year’s Halloween event! It seems like ya’ll got a kick out of it and that’s all I can ever hope for ^_^ Secondly, I’m really excited to get to talk about it now!

Here’s the thing: in an earlier draft of the main Fatal_Error comic, Afterthought was actually going to be a character in it! They would have looked more like how Patch appear in the comic as opposed to the line-less style that looks closer to Error. In the main comic, Afterthought would have represented the first Papyrus prototype, when only code from sanses were being used. But they would have been functional, thinking, and feeling, just like how Patch is. And of course, we see an instance of what that could be with Stiff back in Chapter Three!

This presence in the comic would have altered quite a lot in terms of how the story would play out. The plan I had for them was that Fatal would have made them, and then after a very serious lapse in memory, not remember making them. But they would be there, by his side, eager to help and be his friend. Afterthought would have been the one to suggest he use Papyrus code to build his brother. And once Fatal achieved making Patch, Fatal would have been satisfied and would have stopped. And once Fatal had Patch, Afterthought would have been ignored, just like how he was in the halloween comic. They’d become jealous, and in a desperate move to reclaim their friend, they’d actually find Error! And they’d team up with him to take down Fatal and Patch.

So why are they not in the final version of the story I’m working on now? As much as I really liked the concept of Afterthought, I felt like it was too much of a departure from the main story I wanted to tell. It also would have taken more time to introduce Afterthought as a character which would have made getting to the end of the story a much longer journey. Also the themes and ideas I wanted to explore with Afterthought could be explored in better ways, so I took what I liked most about them as a character and their story and integrated those concepts in the final version of the story. Which is why a lot of you super sleuths pointed out some interesting similarities between the main comic and the halloween event ^_^ But at the end of it all, I actually think it’s a very fitting end for a character like Afterthought, and very on brand too. A character made only to be forgotten and left behind, just waiting to be acknowledged, unable to communicate, as the story goes on without them.

To me, a sentient image with a mind of its own that is trapped and unable to do anything but just hope for someone to acknowledge or help it is a spooky concept. Which is why I wanted to adapt it for a little halloween comic ^_^

The design for Afterthought was a very last minute choice XD A lot of folks also seemed to enjoy the color scheme, which I appreciated! Both their design and the color scheme were more out of necessity as opposed to being planned out. I knew that I’d have to crank out a couple of updates in a very short amount of time (most updates I drew out from the second I got off work in the evening right up until midnight hahaha), so not using lineart and a limited color palette helped reduce the options I had and therefore I could work faster. I’m not very comfortable with line-less art, but I’m glad things turned out okay ^_^ Also I worked with about 5 colors and just inverted them to give me the rest of the palette.

And that’s about it, I think! I’m pretty sure I covered most people’s questions. If there was something else you’d like me to talk about let me know and I’ll do the best that I can!

#xed has something to say #afterthought #halloween 2020 #fatal error fanart

296 notes · View notes

crowtrinkets · 4 years ago

Text

Eyes, Lips, Face

Word Count: 2,322

When you get thrown into a different world, you kinda forget to mention that the wig and contacts you're wearing are not your natural color, or that you're cosplaying their knightly order because this is actually a video game and shouldn't be real. But at least you get to share makeup with your new-found buddies.

I tried to keep this fic as reader/gender-neutral as possible. Ty to @alexaplaysgames for giving me pointers! Ya'll should check out their fics ;)

---

I let out a stretch as Anisa walks back into her office, carrying more than enough blankets for my one person. I spy Felix swatting Sage’s hands away from ruffling his hair as they walk out the door to find sleeping accommodations. What a wild day. I never really wore a costume that required more physical activity other than walking around a convention for a few hours. I never intended to get into a bar fight while wearing a wig, contacts, and a decked-out costume I spent months on. Then again I never intended to be transported into the world of my favorite video game...

“Here are some blankets to keep you warm,” Anisa plants the blankets on the couch that would be my bed for tonight. I sigh with exhaustion at the thought of falling asleep, I heard Felix and Sage still echoing in the halls as they left. I thanked Anisa for the hundredth time that day and she left me alone to sleep. Alone yes. I yawn, taking in the room. At least there's a fire going, I wouldn’t be able to see without it. And thank god my backpack made the trip with me I wouldn’t know what to do if I didn't have somewhere to put my cosplay supplies. I reach into my bag and pull out a contact lens case. I thought it would be cool if my eyes had a more alluring color for this costume, hoping the color of the embroidery on my costume would be brought out because of them. Carefully removing my contacts I placed them into their case and tossed them back into my bag. I then reached up and unpinned the seemingly endless amount of hairpins I placed in this wig so it would stay put. It stayed in place in the Saucy Gull so I must’ve done something right. I remove my wig and wince a little when I realize it’s just going to become tangled in my backpack. Oh well, what can you do? After removing my wig caps and giving my scalp a much-needed massage from being confined all day, I go to remove parts of my costume. Thankfully the base of my costume is comfortable and inconspicuous enough to not draw attention to the fact that I'm an outsider. I keep my costumed cloak out, in case I get cold. I do wish I had better shoes however, $20 Amazon boots probably won't last out here.

After removing said shoes I plop down into the couch and pull some makeup wipes from my backpack. I never go without these, and I am especially glad to have them after the day I had. I remove my makeup, allowing the cool damp cloth to soothe my tired face. I’ve been running around all day, going through portals, being told I have a magical relic inside me, being flirted with by a cat boy. What I wouldn’t give for a year-long nap, or maybe just some coffee. After cleaning my face and putting my items away I take one look in my compact mirror, yup just my plain old self. Tossing the mirror away I get comfortable and lull into a dreamless sleep.

—-

I can feel the bitter cold outside the warmth of my many blankets, stirring a little I snuggle into them, nuzzling my face in the fabric to warm my cold nose. I’m half awake but can’t be bothered to open my eyes. Five more minutes. But then I hear... whispering?

“Oh my god, they moved,” Anisa’s voice.

“Relax Annie; if something happens, I can banish it,” Felix, sounds slightly shaken while trying to put on a brave front. Wait did he say banish. I decide that I’m now too awake to fall back asleep. I sit up, eyes blurry from sleep, and look at the two indistinct figures who I am assuming are Felix and Anisa.

“Good morn-” Suddenly I hear the sound of Anisa’s sword come unsheathed, and, I think, it’s pointing at me, for the second time. I blink trying to will my eyes to adjust, then rubbing them to reveal that Anisa is definitely pointing her sword at me, with Felix behind her, arms up in defense.

“A-Anisa, what are you doing?” It's too early for this, my voice is scraggly from sleep.

“What are you some kind of Changeling? Poor job imitating in my opinion, MC doesn't even look like that!” Felix states approaching me, a flurry of green flames forming in his palms. Oh shit.

“What? It's me!” I raise my hands in defense. I clear my throat trying to sound convincing. I’ve barely been here for 24 hours and I have been in more life-threatening situations than my entire life combined.

“Then how do you explain your changed appearance?” Anisa says accusingly. Changed appearance? Oh!

“I was wearing cosplay! You don't think I actually looked like that do you?” I lower my arms slightly, laughing awkwardly. I know Sage has weird eyes and hair but why would someone from Earth look like an anime character? Both faces before me twist in confusion.

“Cosplay?” They question in unison. I nod reaching for my backpack slowly. Anisa flicks her sword and I pull away.

“I-if you look in my bag there's a wig and contacts, and other stuff. I was wearing a costume and I thought it would be more fun if I didn’t look like myself,” I point to my backpack. Anisa nods at Felix who approaches my backpack, kneeling down to open it. He pulls out my surprisingly untangled wig, and yelps dropping it in my lap. I lift to wig onto my head poorly fitting it.

“See?” I then remove the wig and place it in my lap. Anisa's eyes go wide, she sheaths her sword and approaches me.

“Oh MC! I am terribly sorry!” She shoots Felix a look who flinches. “Felix had me convinced woodland creates replaced you with a clone,” she turns her attention back to me and Felix blushes with embarrassment.

“Clone?” I question. Felix stands.

“N-no matter, we both apologize for waking you with such an unsettling greeting,” I nod in response. I unwrap myself from my blankets and run a hand through my hair trying to look a little more presentable. Letting out a sigh, as I put the wig back in my bag.

"I-it's alright, I guess I should have said something earlier," I shrug innocently. Anisa looks down at my bag and then back at me.

"Do many people on Earth change their appearance like this?" Anisa looks at me, eager for information.

"Um not usually, well I guess it depends. I just did it for my costume, I thought it would look more interesting," I shrug.

"You said you were wearing a costume? Then why dress as a Starsworn knight?" Anisa questions. I am about to answer her but I hesitate. How am I supposed to explain that on Earth none of this is real? That this is a video game?

"Uhhhhm," is all I can muster to say but my train of thought is interrupted.

"Gods Anisa! Why did you insist on us being here so dammed early in the mor-“ they stop in the doorway. “Who is that?" It's Sage. He burst into the room without even so much as a knock.

"It's MC, apparently they were wearing a wig and other cosmetic adornments to alter their appearance," Felix chimes in. I suddenly feel insecure about how plain I look. At least Felix looks somewhat normal, well from the neck up. I just wave awkwardly in response.

"But I could've sworn their eyes were a different color, and why do they look so tired did they not get enough sleep?" Sage walks over leaning over the back of the couch. I cringe at his comments.

"No, I was wearing a costume, so naturally I wanted to look less... Natural," I attempt to explain. Who knew cosplay was such a foreign concept here.

"Why were you wearing a costume?" Sage squints at me. Oh god this question again, but just like last time, I am interrupted.

“Ouch! Hells,” I look over to see Felix with his finger in his mouth. He takes it out to speak. “Why do you have needles in your bag?”

“Oh! Sewing needles,” I reach into the bag and pull out a container of needles and the spare thread. “I uh, I packed these in case a bit of my costume came undone, sorry Felix,” a thought then occurs to me. “Why were you rummaging through my bag?” Felix suddenly flushes and avoids the eyes of everyone in the room.

"I um, was merely curious about your items," I decide to brush it off as I put my "items" back, I would probably want to examine inter-dimensional foreign objects as well.

“Snooping through MC's bag aye Felix? What were you tryna find?” Sage’s eyebrows waggle.

“Nothing! Nothing in particular I just… saw something that looked interesting,” Felix looks like he's pouting now, to save his dignity I ignore it. I reach into my bag and pull out the even smaller bag full of makeup. I don’t have much with me, just the ones I used for my cosplay in case I needed a touch-up.

“Was it this?” I hold up the clear plastic sachet. Felix nods in response. “This is just some makeup,” I open the bag and pull out a compact blush and hand it to Felix, then I pull out two eyeshadow palettes and hand them to Anisa and Sage, who has now joined me on the couch. Felix and Anisa sit on the floor and observe the items I handed to them. Felix opens the compact and eyes it curious, he runs a finger along the powder and rubs it between his fingers inspecting it. Anisa knocks on the closed eyeshadow palette.

“What is this material? And why have they spelled “elf” so terribly wrong?” She almost looks insulted. I hold back my laugh.

“It’s plastic, lots of stuff on Earth is made from it. It's cheaper than metal and sturdier than cardboard or wood,” I decide to not bring up how problematic plastic can be, no need to bring up the fact that the Earth is slowly dying.

“Sage that looks terrible,” Felix remarks. I look over to Sage who has rubbed bright blue eyeshadow all over his eyelids. Oh, that is SO not his color. I reach into the bag and pull out a brush.

“May I?” I ask, Sage looks at me suspiciously and nods. “Close your eyes,” I run the brush over his eyelids and blend the color out a little more, it’s difficult with all of his squintings but I manage to finish. Pulling back, I hand Sage a mirror.

“Oh… I look terrible in blue!” Sage laughs. But he continues to admire himself in the mirror. Anisa laughs as she watches Sage tilt his face in the mirror staring at himself. From the corner of my eye I catch Felix looking at me, I turn to him and he has an almost, hopeful look in his eyes.

“Do you want me to do your makeup?” I ask, as innocently as possible. Felix flushes and looks away.

“I-if you insist,” he mumbles out. I chuckle and slide off the couch to sit in front of Felix, I grab a large brush and the compact from his hand.

“Do you mind if I?” I hold my other hand close to Felix’s face, his eyes go wide as he nods slowly. I grab his chin gently and apply blush to his face. It's hard to tell just how much I am putting on considering Felix’s face is about as hot as a fried egg on asphalt, but I make do with what I got. I finally finish and pull back.

“Oh, Felix you look adorable!” Anisa chimes in with a laugh.

“You look like a baby,” Sage teases. Felix snatches the mirror from him, grumbling, and inspects his face, his eyebrows are furrowed.

“I think I look like I've had too many drinks, why is it on my nose?” He looks up at me, I half-shrug.

“That’s what's popular on Earth,” I try not to tease too hard, but Felix really does look much younger with his cheeks pink and rosy. Anisa taps my arm, I guess she wants a turn. I give her a nod and allow her to pick a color she likes. She chooses a nice purple and I apply it on her lids as well. She sits perfectly stoic and still allowing me to apply it gently. Once I finish with her I hand her the mirror and she smiles brightly.

“Oh thank you, MC! I say you did a very fine job,” she gives me a nod and goes back to admiring her eyes.

For a good few hours we end up swatching a lot of the makeup, Sage proceeds to put on the absolute worst colors for his complexion, yellows, oranges, and greens which I didn’t even know I had. Felix keeps his blush on for longer than I thought he would. Anisa asks to do my makeup and she does a surprisingly good job at blending. Eventually, everyone has to go back to business and I hand out makeup wipes to each of them. Anisa is a little amazed at how they work. Sage decides to keep his disgustingly green shade on much to our dismay. Felix cleans off his face carefully but his real blush remains for a while. Everyone eventually leaves me to actually get myself ready for the day. It’s when I'm folding my blankets up that I realize.

I just did the makeup for characters in my favorite video game franchise, this really feels like a fever dream. I laugh to myself, I will remember this day fondly.

#fictif last legacy #fictif #fictif fic #fictif anisa #fictif felix #fictif sage #crow writes

55 notes · View notes