#shane molina

[sirianasims]

Chapter 44.1

Girls on Millionaires

“Samara, this is hopeless.”

“It’s been five minutes, Julia, we’ve barely started!”

“But how am I supposed to find anything in here? They should have thrift shops online, I just want to grab what I need and get on with my life.”

Samara shakes her head. “You’re thinking about it all wrong, this is not shopping. Thrifting is more like a treasure hunt, you never know what you’re going to find.”

She moves between the chaotic piles with the practiced air of someone who’s done this a thousand times before. Her hands are constantly busy, picking up items, examining them, and occasionally letting out a small laugh or shaking her head as she puts them back.

I trail behind her, aimlessly running my hands over stacks of old sweaters and linens, feeling out of place. The whole rebrand is starting to stress me out. My money is dwindling faster than I expected, and I only have so long to get the channel up and running again before I’ll be forced to make that dreaded phone call and ask my parents for help. It would feel like admitting defeat.

My spare room looks empty and forlorn without my sewing machine and fabrics, and I was hoping to find something that would help me get the new aesthetic right without breaking the bank, even if I don’t know exactly what I’m looking for.

Instead, I feel like I’m drowning in a sea of other people’s memories, and none of them fit the person I’m trying to become.

I’m about to give up when Samara calls out, a triumphant grin spreading across her face.

“Julia, come check this out.”

She waves me over to a large, white mirror, tucked away in a corner by some broken chairs and unused exercise equipment.

I walk over to it and run my fingers along the curved frame. It’s smooth, no dents or scratches. There’s even a useful shelf on the bottom, and I can already picture it in my new recording setup, framing the scene just right.

“This is perfect, Samara! There’s no price tag on it, do you think they’ll sell it?” I gesture at the girl at the register. She hasn’t looked up from her phone since we got here.

“They’d sell the roof if it didn’t keep the rain out, let’s go make a deal.”

The Rooftop

The music pulses through my body, a steady beat that seems to resonate in my bones and push away any lingering traces of worry. The Rooftop is packed tonight, but I don’t mind the crowd. The energy is electric, the kind that makes you feel alive, feel like anything is possible.

I’m tipsy – more than tipsy, actually – and it feels good. Samara and I managed to get my new mirror home safely, and for the rest of tonight, all thoughts about the rebrand and the money situation are far away, drowned out by the bass and the chemical smell from the smoke machines.

I throw my hands up, twirling in place as the DJ transitions into a song with a heavier beat. The floor beneath my feet feels like it’s vibrating, and I can’t stop smiling, can’t stop moving. I’m probably grinning like an idiot but I don’t even care. For the first time in weeks, I feel like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be, who I’m supposed to be.

Samara and Miranda are dancing next to me, and I close my eyes, letting the rhythm take over. All the tension I’ve carried melts away. I know I’ll have to face reality again tomorrow, finish setting up my recording equipment and sort out a new posting schedule, but tomorrow is a million miles away.

Miranda leans in close, trying to get my attention. “Let’s grab a table,” she says, and I feel like I can see the vibration of her words through the air more than I hear them. “I need a break.”

“Yeah, good idea, my feet are killing me.”

I slide onto the seat, relieved to get off the unforgiving steel floor, as Miranda puts a drink in front of me. The glass is cool in my hand, condensation dripping down my fingers as I take a sip. The strong taste of alcohol is barely masked by the fruits and sugar. Miranda always gets the good stuff, all the bartenders know she tips well.

I gently peel off my shoes and rest my bare feet on the cold, smooth metal bars of the stool.

“Miranda, seriously, how do you handle wearing heels every single day? I’m so sore.”

Miranda grins.

“You get used to it after a while, really. It’s all about practice and a little bit of masochism,” she says with a laugh. “And then there’s the stubbornness, I didn’t spend all that money on shoes just to keep them on a shelf – speaking of, since when can you afford Diego Lobos?”

I glance down at my shoes. “They were a gift from Paul, for New Year’s Eve. I just haven’t worn them since we broke up. He joked that they were mostly a gift for himself, actually. So he wouldn’t have to bend down as far to kiss me.”

And because he liked it when I wore them to bed. The memory stings a little, but it’s not as bad as it used to be, the wound of the heartbreak has finally scabbed over and the pain is less raw each time I think of him.

Samara giggles tipsily. “I mean, they look nicer than using a stepladder, that’s for sure.”

“Maybe that’s why he dumped me, I was bad for his back. I should find a shorter boyfriend next time.”

“Yeah? How tall is Marten?”

“That’s not – we’re not dating, Miranda!”

Miranda clicks her tongue. “Girl, I hate to break it to you, but he did take you on a date.”

“It wasn’t a date, we just hung out! We got home, played games, ordered takeout. He slept on the couch, and then he took the train back to campus. He didn’t try to flirt or hit on me in any way.”

“Sounds fake,” Samara says. “I still think he’s up to something.”

“Or maybe he’s just not into me, it’s not a crime. He can have friends and not want to date them, you know.”

Thankfully, they drop the subject and move on to something else. I don’t like admitting it, but Marten’s lack of interest bothers me. It’s not even that I want him, but I’m used to most guys wanting me, and my ego is frankly a little bruised. Marten is always so sweet and attentive, but that’s it.

I can’t help but find it strange that he spends so much time with me if he doesn’t like me like that. Am I really just so arrogant that I can’t imagine a guy who doesn’t want me? Or maybe I’m just obsessing over it because Paul didn’t want me either. At least not enough to give me more time. I push away the thought violently.

As I take another sip of my drink, my eyes wander towards the bar. The Rooftop’s head bartender, Shane, is quite pretty, all perfect hair and strong jawline – and not that tall. I catch myself staring a little too long, and then I remember that he asked Miranda about me. A flutter stirs in my stomach.

The truth is that I miss being wanted, being touched. I miss kissing and cuddling and holding hands, but most of all I miss sex, the sweaty, dirty, crazy kind that leaves you breathless on crumpled sheets at sunrise.

“Julia, are you even listening?”

“I think we lost her, Mir, she’s busy eye-fucking the bartender.”

“Good to know she’s healed enough to look at other men at last.”

I feel my cheeks get hot. “Sorry, I was just thinking, uh, isn’t that the bartender who asked about me?” I try to sound casual but Miranda isn’t fooled for a second.

She chuckles knowingly. “Oh, yeah, that’s him. Just a heads up, though, Shane is a total fuckboy, he doesn’t do relationships.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Who said anything about relationships?”

Miranda shrugs, her eyes still sparkling with amusement. “As long as you know what you’re getting into, babe. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you, you don’t need more heartbreak.”

“Come on, Julia, you can do so much better. Just wait, before you know it, some prince is going to come riding in on a white horse and sweep you away.”

“Samara, I’d be happy with a duke on a rusty bike at this point. A girl has needs, you know – and my vibrator doesn’t cuddle.”

We laugh it off, but I have to admit that I feel extremely tempted by the thought of seeing where this might go.

Images flash through my mind of maybe, possibly, staying a little after closing time and getting to know Shane the bartender better. Maybe he could help me remember that Paul isn’t the last man on earth, and that even if Marten doesn’t want me either, someone else will.

My pocket vibrates, tearing me away from my fantasy. I look at my phone, slightly flustered. As if summoned by my thoughts, it’s Marten, asking if we’re going to play tonight. I fire back a quick text about being out with the girls and he answers immediately.

“No worries! Have fun and make good choices, okay?”

Good choices? What is he, my dad?

Still, his words stick with me, making me feel a little guilty for some reason.

I glance back at Shane, who’s now mixing a drink with the kind of smooth confidence that makes it clear that he knows exactly how hot he is. If he’s as bad as his reputation, he probably wouldn’t mind being someone’s rebound, but would I regret it?

I followed Paul back to his hotel even though I barely knew him. Am I just the kind of girl who hooks up with any hot guy on a whim? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but Marten has a talent for making me second-guess myself.

If I’m being brutally honest, as hot as it sounds, getting railed on a bar after closing would probably not count as a good choice in anyone’s book.

But still…

A girl can dream.

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[siryl]

Art by Shane Molina.

[gorrus]

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Omega Squad by Shane Molina

[nelc]

Scout Walker concept — ATST, by Shane Molina

[chissjedi]

Just so you know, the recent are you rebloged is AI art. The person you reblogged from steals art all the time too https://www.tumblr.com/stljedi/746301233140269056/sabine-wren

I do greatly appreciate this heads up. AI art is a major problem and I don’t want to support it at all. I have blocked the user and recommend everyone else do to.

However,

I did a reverse image search to confirm and the art is REAL, but has been STOLEN from Shane Molina. It was originally posted HERE on Artstation 6 years ago with the original sketch. If anyone liked the art, he has done a lot of similar Star Wars work.

Art theft in any form is unacceptable. Adding a link to the original artist is so easy. Reposting without credit on additional websites increases the possibility for AI algorithms to find and steel again.

Thank you for letting me know and helping redirect me to the correct source.

[holonetwork]

E-Wing Escort Starfighter by Shane Molina

[blithe-imperial-underling]

"Travel Time" By Shane Molina

Click through to the artist's page for the full sized image

[graphicpolicy]

Magnetic Press announces Black Box Chronicles, a new sci-fi anthology

Magnetic Press announces Black Box Chronicles, a new sci-fi anthology #comics #comicbooks #graphicnovel

Magnetic Press has announced the upcoming premiere of their first original production in partnership with Horrible Future: Black Box Chronicles, a science-fiction anthology that spans multiple generations in mankind’s expansion into space and beyond the stars. Developed by Horrible Future founders Mark Schey and Chris Northrop, the anthology serves as an introduction to the sprawling drama and…

[lok1needsahug]

sunshine boy☀️

wanted to try use adobe illustrator since i used it only for school

god bless shane molina for creating the original stunning sketch (credit in art)

[star-wars-forever]

Omega Squad

by Shane Molina

[sirianasims]

 “That reminds me, you know that hot bartender from The Rooftop? Super flirty, cheekbones that could cut glass?”

[caffeinated-and-annoying-bard]

i've been thinking of writing a stardew valley au of the magnus archives with martin as the farmer and jon as some misanthrope researcher living maybe on a flat above the library instead of gunther (perhaps he's researching the strange monsters that appear in the mines and you don't see nearly anywhere else in the world...)

if i were to write it, i think it would be fun to replace canon sdv characters with tma characters, wouldn't it? maybe sasha as maru, perhaps renting a room in the house in the mountains from robin (assuming i don't change her for, say, gertrude? eric and gerry could be there as well. perhaps the house is gertrude's but eric is her assistant– or her son and gerry her actual grandson– and has taken over some of the manual work with her aging, and gerry as sebastian?)

perhaps helen and michael could be there instead of emily and haley? trevor and daisy (julia is in a band now. good for her.) could run the adventurer's guild and daisy could be in shane's place (see: recovering from addiction/unhealthy habits as a parallel to the hunt) perhaps she'd be physically disabled in some way, that would be an explanation as to why the mines are not purged from monsters overnight (can you tell i love daisy)?? basira could be in marnie's place and helping daisy recover while she recovers herself? :)

tim and danny as sam and vincent, with danny as an older vincent but younger than canon danny, perhaps?? waiting for their father or mother or both to return from the war with the gotoro empire? (maybe he had always lived there, moved to a bigger city for a while and returned when the war started. maybe he, sasha and jon are working for the same long-term monster researching project. wouldn't it be nice if martin just came bumbling around one day and drastically started indirectly improving their research productivity with his sdv farmer endeavors?? the four of them engaging in shenanigans?? think about it.)

georgie could be kind of like sandy/visit from time to time from the city, make it a jon heart event first and then a melanie one. melanie could be an aggressive version of leah ("youtuber lives in charming yet spooky town in a cabin in the woods, has a successful channel and a podcast girlfriend. good for her.")

there would be different heart events suiting more the canon characters (maybe sasha's 8-heart could be her venting about how she moved to pelican town because someone tried to kill her and steal her identity, tim's about how a circus kidnapped his little brother as a kid like in that one statement, etc. and i'm vibrating like i'll break glass jusr by thinking of what to do with jon.)

at some point jon is sent by elias to the "my ex-husband took the furniture" quest and martin tags along for the fun of it.

i don't know what to do with harvey because he's my husband and i love him and i don't want him gone but i'll think about it. after all, i'm still missing caroline, pierre and abigail (although they could pretty well be mikaele salesa running the store with annabelle working and living there.) perhaps naomi herne should suit the harvey role?? she's peaceful enough to not make me angry for not getting to have my dearest harvey right there. she'd be a doctor, obviously, and perhaps michael could work with her as a part-time nurse? she's waiting for her husband to return from the war (evan herne was sent to the army by his family for abandoning the lukas jojamart family business and marrying naomi, but he'll come back, fear not.)

diego molina and agnes montague as pam and penny doesn't sound bad, and i'm seriously considering having elias be both lewis and the wizard. for the fun of it? perhaps everyone but jon (and later martin) wonders who the wizard is- he calls himself the wizard j. magnus because he's a pretentious bastard. (jon has been set in a position where if he reveals this he gets turned into a plant or something) and he's also the mayor of the town (his legal name is very much elias bouchard.) also, instead of the affair with marnie he has an affair with morris the jojamart guy (peter lukas.)

george, evelyn and alex could be replaced by julia and trevor– they could be softer, less hunt but still recovering from the same thing as daisy– and julia could have a petty feud with jon because, before she knew she was a lesbian, she fancied gerry and gerry used jon as an escape tactic. nothing came of it between gerry and jon but the incident stayed and it was very funny to everyone else.

jude perry could fit clint (and keep on her incel pining over agnes, have a petty feud with jon, because she burned his hand "accidentally" and also because jon is very good at creating petty feuds with people. martin and i both love that man), and krobus and the dwarf could stay like that, etc. and perhaps jas could be daisy's goddaughter that she's struggling to raise (it could be an event, her realising that she needs to pull herself together and stop letting basira raise her alone, just paying half the bills won't cut it– maybe they weren't even together before this and a year or two after her starting the path towards recovery they get together??)

perhaps for willy we could put oliver banks and mike crew there?? local lightning-scarred man is entranced by the vastness of the sea (+his goth not-yet-partner). local hot goth fisherman is so done with everything and just wants peace with the dead quiet of the sea (he rants about death to martin as a heart event, fight me). they should also be a little bit older, to balance the age range of people in town and also because yes.

also jojamart. i think it shoudl stay jojamart because i need someone to make a jmart pun somewhere.

if i should set elias as the wizard/lewis, peter lukas as morris jojamart, who could simon fairchild be?gus, maybe? god knows he's funny enough to be the owner of a saloon. it's funny to imagine his banter with helen while working busy nights there (helen i love you why does the fandom only care about michael.)

i don't know who else i could switch off but if anyone has any ideas both the comment section and my ask box are open :)

[scifiseries]

Iron Giant [by Shane Molina]

[manfrommars2049]

IRON GIANT - VITAL SYSTEM CROSS SECTION by Shane Molina via ImaginaryRobotics

[movies-to-add-to-your-tbw]

Title: Robert Langdon

Rating: PG-13

Director: Ron Howard

Cast: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany, Alfred Molina, Jürgen Prochnow, Jean-Yves Berteloot, Etienne Chicot, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Marie-Françoise Audollent, Rita Davies, Francesco Carnelutti, Seth Gabel, Shane Zaza, Andy Clark

Release year: 2006

Genres: mystery, thriller

Blurb: A murder in Paris' Louvre Museum and cryptic clues in some of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery. For 2000 years, a secret society closely guarded information that - should it come to light - could rock the very foundations of Christianity.