#so I cut it out 😂

[darwinquark]

Heyyy girl, I have been thinking about the last chapter ever since it was uploaded and I am kinda confused, does tony tell jug that veronica was there when she heard or does she choose not to mention it at all? Also in the sequel will jug know about how betty treated veronica in the hospital? And will barchie still be talking to jug (I don't think they will be talking to veronica still) and will they know about the (hopefully inevitable) jeronica getting back together

So I had a whole scene written between Toni and Veronica that I ended up taking out because it felt like too much that I'll add beneath the cut, but basically Toni is caught between knowing something feels off about how Veronica left/the way the Ghoulies conveniently took credit for everything, and knowing Veronica has been a shitty person before and could very well have just left because she didn't care enough to stay. And I think her major goal is just getting Jughead to heal and move on, regardless of what happened. So she's definitely being guarded with what she's letting Jughead know - he knows Veronica came to the hospital the night it happened, but he doesn't know how badly she lost it, and she's also keeping the scene I've added below from him (if I decide to keep it as a headcanon lol) because she's torn over how real it was or wasn't.

Betty and Archie do end up forgiving Jughead, and sadly on Betty's half it's somewhat born out of feeling like Jughead was just another victim of Veronica like she was, which sucks. Archie probably would've forgiven him regardless. That said, their friendship is never quite the same and they definitely drift after senior year ends. I'm not actually sure if Jughead will know what Betty did at the hospital, but both Jughead and Veronica go back to Riverdale at one point for a book signing thing in the sequel and Archie and Betty are both there. Veronica and Betty will have a scene where that's confronted.

Here's the scene Toni/Veronica scene I ended up taking out, which would've come right after the hospital scene - let me know if it helps flesh Toni out a little more. I was just going for mystery! Leaving you guys as confused as Jughead 😂

-----------------------

The knock on the door came three days later.

Veronica glanced up from the box she was taping shut, squinting through the mess of hair that’d fallen loose from her bun. The movers weren’t supposed to be there for another few hours.

Besides, only a handful of people knew to use the back door, and of those handful, two hated her guts and one was in a coma.

Unless.

Her hands stilled.

“Yes?”

“It’s Toni,” came the muffled reply, and her shoulders loosened a little. “I tried the front door but it was locked and no one answered.”

She abandoned the tape dispenser and made her way over to the door, wincing at the blast of sun that hit her eyes as it opened.

“Hey,” Toni greeted with a cautious smile, stare flickering a little when it took in her appearance. Admittedly, a stringy bun and yoga pants wasn’t her typical aesthetic. “How are you?”

Veronica blinked at her.

She’d had rum for dinner three nights in a row.

Toni shook her head. “Stupid question—did you get my texts?”

“Oh,” Veronica said, pushing some of the hair out of her face, “I switched number a few days ago, so no, sorry.”

“Well, definitely give me the new one because there’s been a ton of upda…” she trailed off, frowning at something behind her.

Veronica followed her gaze to the boxes scattered in the foyer. She cleared her throat. “Sorry for the mess.”

“Are you moving in or something?” Toni asked, stare tracing over the sprawl of half-packed clothes and personal items.

“Moving out,” Veronica clarified, an upside to her tomber en disgrâce being that she couldn’t care less who knew she’d lived there anymore. “Been here since May, actually.”

Toni’s stare flicked back to hers. “What?”

“Yeah.” She turned away, plucking a discarded sweater off the floor. “Came with the whole disavowing my parents thing.”

Toni blinked. “I—” she shook her head briefly, “I mean, where are you going, then?”

“The city.”

She felt Toni’s eyes on her shoulders. “Like for good?”

She’d never thought about how strange that expression was before, ‘for good’. “I guess, yeah. The movers are going to be here in a few hours, though, so I should probably finish up packing.”

“When are you leaving?” Toni pressed, and Veronica’s jaw tightened a little.

“Tonight.”

Silence met her back.

She carefully folded the cashmere, ignoring the words hanging unsaid between them.

What about Jughead?

“He woke up, Veronica.”

Her hands froze around the sweater.

Her heart leapt into her throat, thunderous and pulsing.

“Sorry, I know I should’ve let with that, I just—” Toni lapsed into a laugh, hope flooding into her voice. “It was only for a second, but he nodded yes and no to some questions before drifting back out, so the doctors are feeling optimistic.”

Veronica stared hard at the fabric in her hands.

Her vision was hot and blurry.

“He woke up, girl!” Toni repeated, lapsing into another joyful laugh, and Veronica nodded stiffly, forcing her hands to resume folding.

“That’s great.”

She blinked rapidly to clear the tears from her eyes.

“It’s more than great, it’s incredible!” Toni laughed, though it petered a little when she noticed her enthusiasm wasn’t fully shared.

Veronica placed the sweater in a box and reached down for another one.

Started folding it into neat little squares.

“Are you,” Toni faltered a little, “I mean, you’re going to go see him, right?”

Veronica’s jaw flexed as she folded the sleeves across the chest.

She’d known this part was coming.

“I think it’s better if I don’t.” She reached over and dropped it into the box, topping it off. “I don’t want to give him the wrong impression.”

A stiff beat of silence followed. “And what impression is that?”

She drew in a steeling breath before turning around, pulling her face into a mask of indifference. “Jughead knew what we were, Toni. He knew I was going to New York. None of this is a surprise.”

Toni just stared at her, visibly thrown. “Think he probably assumed you’d wait for him to come out of a coma first.”

She forced a shrug. “That’s on him.”

She turned around and reached for the tape dispenser as Toni broke into a scoff. “Okay, what’s going on here, Veronica? Because I watched three security guards carry you out of the ICU while you were screaming your fucking lungs out to stay, so this whole ‘love ‘em and leave ‘em’ routine isn’t really landing.”

“It’s not a routine, Toni, it just is what it is.”

“Look, I may not have been able to make out the details of your screaming match with FP,” Toni pressed in a hard voice, “but I know something went down there—something you’re both not telling the rest of us.”

Veronica’s jaw tightened as she kept packing.

“And now three days later you’ve packed up your life and you’ve changed your number and no one can get a hold of you and it’s almost like—”

“Like what?” Veronica snapped a little, tensing under the line of questioning.

“Like you’re trying to disappear,” Toni steeled right back.

A stiff silence followed the accusation.

Veronica merely stared down at the box, fingers tight around the tape dispenser. Struggling to drum up the stomach for what she knew had to come next.

“What happened with FP, Veronica?”

She couldn’t leave loose ends. She couldn’t leave any thread of hope or misunderstanding that he could follow back to her, otherwise what was the point?

He’d follow you anywhere—New York, prison, his fucking grave—and you’d let him.

She loosened her jaw and shrugged on the skin of the absolute cunt she’d been in prep school.

“Toni, everything about this fetid menstrual stain of a town is miserable.” She eased around to face her with a cold expression. “I sleep in a diner. There is a sex tape of me getting fingered by a townie. I spent Christmas being questioned by the police about gangs that sound like reject Hogwarts houses, I mean,” she gave a hollow laugh, “this macabre comedy of errors was never supposed to be my life. And Jughead getting shot five minutes before picking me up? Pretty thunderous wakeup call that I could be next.”

Toni’s eyes flickered in naked appall at the selfishness of the comment. “Is that all it was?”

Veronica’s shoulders tipped up coolly. “I’m not dying here, girl. It was a fun social experiment while it lasted, but I’m done pretending I have anything in common with any of the frankly incestuous people that live here, or that my life was ever meant to be as small as theirs. So yeah, I’m going back to New York, and yeah, I don’t want anything about this mortifying stretch of time following me there, and yeah, that means my coup de grâce is essentially a disappearing act. That’s it.” She shrugged again, pointblank. “That’s why I’m leaving. FP and his latent syphilis have nothing to do with it.”

Toni eyed her for a long, silent stretch before turning wordlessly toward the door. She paused in the doorway, hand catching the frame. “This will crush him. You doing this. Regardless of the reason. You know that, right?”

It took her a second to look up at her.

Veronica stared back vacantly.

“He’s a big boy.” Her mouth took on a horrible slant. “Surprisingly big, actually.”

Toni’s face flooded in disgust. She took a final beat to take her in, as if searching for any last shred of her that was worth knowing, before shaking her head and shoving the door open. “Have a nice life, Veronica.”

“That’s the plan.”

The door swung shut behind her, and Veronica waited till the sound of her car pulling away had fully faded before slowly sliding down to the floor.

--------------------------

[starflungwaddledee]

alas, it seems the christmas mystery shall remain unsolved 🎁 happy holidays!

[kindahoping4forever]

🎸 Cashton in the studio 🎸

[soaps-mohawk]

(Forgot to turn on anonymous the first time I wrote this, ha-ha.)

Put together some brain cells, figured that reader would have a heck of a time getting tangles out of her hair after being folded and fucked for a week. I know that we can imagine sis with different lengths of hair, but like ‼️‼️ I know I wouldn't want to deal with that 😭 like girly is ur hair ok 😭

-🫎

Kyle's gonna pull out the coconut oil and he and Johnny are gonna go to work 😂 poor reader's hair getting yanked from both sides.

Either that, or John just takes her to a salon and makes up an excuse 😂

[silviakundera]

again with my The Grand Princess / The Princess Royal bullshit but really, Pei Wenxuan, the way his insecurities had him stubbornly persisting in shoving LR to SRQ in the beginning of the story. (head in hands) my god man, why are you like this??? The fact that she was spitting facts from day 1 and he still turns his whole wedding into a LR/SRQ shipper event.

They really toned down how absolutely deranged he was about this 😂😭

Pei Wenxuan @ Su Rongqing

Li Rong @ Pei Wenxuan on Su Rongqing

______

She could hear Pei Wenxuan’s persistent tone as he started to say, “Does Your Highness not have anything to ask this humble official?”

“Hm?” Li Rong returned to her senses. After hearing Pei Wenxuan’s question, she decisively said, “I don’t want to ask, I’m not interested.”

Pei Wenxuan: “……”

Li Rong’s thoughts continued to roam in each and every direction. Pei Wenxuan held back for a while before saying, “But this humble official wants to talk about it.”

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to stop you,” Li Rong sighed, “Just say it. Otherwise, I’m afraid you’ll suffocate to death.”

“These words of Your Highness,” Pei Wenxuan was neither indignant nor indifferent, “Are enough to suffocate this humble official to death.”

“And wouldn’t you keep suffocating from holding it in?” Li Rong sincerely suggested.

Pei Wenxuan couldn’t help it anymore and candidly said it: “I feel that Su Rongqing has special feelings for you.”

“Really?” Li Rong’s tone of voice was flat, “I’m so happy.”

“Li Rong,” Pei Wenxuan called her by name, “I’m being serious. Su Rongqing is very good to you.”

Upon hearing Pei Wenxuan’s words, Li Rong decided to stop playing around with him. The chief eunuch’s voice could be heard, announcing the beginning of the morning court session. As she watched the ministers filing in, she calmly asked, “Pei Wenxuan, do you know what the biggest difference between you and Su Rongqing is?”

Pei Wenxuan said nothing. He followed Li Rong’s line of sight and looked at the ministers standing under the early morning light that looked to be perhaps worried, pleased, apathetic or affront. Li Rong tonelessly said, “He is crueler than you.”

“Family, glory, and tradition.” At the same time, their gaze stopped on the youth standing in the distance. The youth under the early morning rays was dressed in crimson official robes, holding a hu tablet in his hand with grace and poise, and emanating a noble and upright temperament. He followed the stream of people, ascending the white jade steps and stepping foot into the palace hall that signified the vortex of power of a country.

“This is what Su Rongqing has been carrying on his shoulders all his life. Under these things, what he has learned since childhood is restraint, composure, and the patience to endure.”

Li Rong’s voice was a bit distant, wavering with a twinge of pity and vague sympathy.

“He won’t have the kind of feelings that you’re thinking of.”

“He won’t be good to me because of his feelings,” Li Rong said rather calmly.

//

Li Rong leaned forward to reach for a cup of tea and raised the small cup to her lips when she suddenly heard Pei Wenxuan say, “Why do you think Su Rongqing came?”

Li Rong did not answer and listened as Pei Wenxuan said: “With his cleverness, how could he take his chances and venture deep into the palace?”

“What do you ultimately want to say?”

Li Rong put down the cup of tea and smiled helplessly. Pei Wenxuan looked at her and asked, “Have you ever thought about…”

“I haven’t.” Li Rong interrupted him.

She looked at him and earnestly said, “I know what you are going to say. You want to say that Su Rongqing likes me, but regardless of whether it was the previous life or this life—at this moment, it doesn’t matter if he likes me or not.”

“Because you have to marry me.”

Pei Wenxuan calmly looked at her. Li Rong was a little irritated and waved her fan, “Yes, this is already an established fact, so Pei Wenxuan, I will ask you to put your clever little head into the lake and wash it out. Don’t always be thinking about things that don’t exist. Never mind the fact that Su Rongqing likes me or not because even if he does like me,” Li Rong looked up at him and just said, “His admiration can only exist in his heart. He will never do anything detrimental to his clan’s interests. Is that clear?”

Pei Wenxuan was silent. Li Rong lifted her hand to hold her forehead, “If you don’t have any other business, then quickly be on your way. I get a headache whenever I see you. Also,” Li Rong raised her head and looked straight at him, “You and I might be quarreling right now, but don’t go back and start randomly spending money.”

....

When he reached the doorway, Pei Wenxuan suddenly stopped, his back to Li Rong as he looked down the corridor and suddenly asked, “Li Rong, do you think you have always been right?”

Li Rong was taken aback. Pei Wenxuan continued, “If Su Rongqing truly is the kind of person you think he is, he would not have entered the Palace today. So do you truly know what kind of person Su Rongqing is at the age of twenty?”

“What kind of person he is,” Li Rong coldly said, “Has nothing to do with me. If you bring up another word ‘Su,’ I’ll have someone throw you into the lake today!”

“Su Rongqing, Su Rongqing, Su Rongqing.” Pei Wenxuan spoke very quickly and repeated it three times, then he turned back to look at her, “You can have people come and throw me into the lake now.”

Li Rong: “…”

“Pei Wenxuan,” Li Rong let out a laugh as she tightly squeezed her fan, “If you have the courage, then don’t marry me. As long as you enter my Princess’s mansion…”

“I will jump into Jing Xin Lake myself.” Pei Wenxuan turned around to leave and indifferently said, “Jumping in once every day.”

Jing Xin Lake was the lake in the rear courtyard of the Princess’s mansion. Li Rong nearly fainted out of anger when she heard this. She pushed herself up on her feet and wanted to chase after Pei Wenxuan to scold him. It was only when she got up that she regained some composure. She was currently in the Imperial Garden, and she wasn’t some kind of shrew either, so why would she lower herself to his level?

Li Rong urgently fanned herself and tried to calm herself down with the cool breeze. Jing Lan walked in and saw the state that Li Rong was in and couldn’t help but smile and ask, “Did Pei daren make you angry again?”

“Wicked official.”

Li Rong shook her head: “Bengong cannot lower herself to the same level as a wicked official.”

//

“On my big wedding day,” Li Rong smacked her fan against the bed and furiously asked, “You had Su Rongqing come to escort me, just who are you trying to humiliate?! Do you still think that would make me happy?!”

“It’s only because there’s no fate to bring you and him together,” Pei Wenxuan lifted his head and looked at Li Rong in all seriousness, “There was no suitable opportunity in the previous life, but in this life, you can have it, can’t you?”

In the end, Li Rong was a little alarmed after hearing what Pei Wenxuan said. She paused for what seemed to be half a day and felt that she clearly heard every word Pei Wenxuan just said, but she still didn’t understand what he meant.

“Can’t you just…” Li Rong wrinkled her eyebrows, “Tell me what you’re trying to say in words that I can understand?”

“What I mean is that you can start over with Su Rongqing in this life.”

“Why should I start over with him?” Li Rong subconsciously retorted.

“Because you love him.” Pei Wenxuan answered in earnest.

“I… I love him?” Pei Wenxuan gave Li Rong such a fright that it made her stammer. She clutched her fan and blankly said, “I… How could I not know?”

... “Before the wedding, I asked him…” Pei Wenxuan had somewhat of a smile on his face, “I asked who he would choose if there was a conflict between his wife and his family. He told me that his wife is also a member of the family, and he will choose to stand by reason. He’s not like what you thought, and he can give you the kind of love you yearn for.”

“He can give me that,” Li Rong felt a little helpless, “But why would I want it?”

... “Don’t keep thinking that you’re too old. You’re just eighteen now, you’re in the best time of your life, so why do you want to close off all the possibilities? When Su Rongqing came to escort you today, didn’t you have thoughts of when there would be a day when the two of you get married, wouldn’t you be happy then?”

“I…I never really thought about it…” Li Rong heard Pei Wenxuan’s impassioned speech and felt a little embarrassed for a moment because she never had anything like that in mind and failed to live up to Pei Wenxuan’s good intentions.

Li Rong immediately wanted to lie down again, but Pei Wenxuan stopped her midway once again and pulled Li Rong up into a sitting positionn “Don’t make trouble. Listen to me, you need to be honest with your feelings. This is going to be the first step in opening up your heart. You have to start being honest with yourself because only then will you be able to live a good life this time.”

Li Rong’s head went completely blank after hearing these words. She took a deep breath and sat with her legs crossed, then lifted her sleeves: “Alright. Tell me, and I will hear you out. I want to see who will be the first to give in and fall asleep tonight. If you have any high-sounding truths to preach, you better throw it all out! First of all, tell me, what good would it do if I were to marry Su Rongqing?

...Pei Wenxuan brought out the fullest extent of his talents and channeled the presence he had in the imperial court. He told Li Rong about Su Rongqing’s best qualities one by one, describing the bright and beautiful future they would share after marriage.

Li Rong’s eyes widened as she continued to blankly stare at Pei Wenxuan.

She couldn’t believe it. Pei Wenxuan was so sleepy just now, but at the moment, he hardly seemed sleepy at all.

However, Pei Wenxuan was fully aware of Li Rong’s intentions, but he was the kind of person who would be just as stubborn when faced with a stubborn person. If Li Rong wanted to compete with him to see who would fall asleep first, then he would never let Li Rong succeed.

So, that was why he gathered all of his strength and fixed his gaze on Li Rong, racking his brains to earnestly discuss and fully demonstrate the necessity of Li Rong marrying Su Rongqing.

... Pei Wenxuan could speak very eloquently. He took to the stage by himself, slowly talking through his points, and he would not stop until the rooster crowed. Li Rong had her head propped up in her hands, dozing off as she listened to the sound of Pei Wenxuan’s voice pouring into her ears like the whispers of evil spirits.

[selfindulgentfandomstuff]

I kinda want grow my hair outtttt

[valiant-if]

so back when Sekiro was released on Steam some five years ago or so, I had a friend who was working for Sledgehammer and was able to get me the game at a heavily discounted price (because Activision is the parent company)

and I played the game for about ten hours, got to Genichiro, and quit playing because I thought the parry mechanic was too hard. in my defense, the majority of the soulsborne games have such a heavy emphasis on dodge rolling, which is not really a thing you want to do often in Sekiro because the dodge iframe and travel distance are both very small. so part of my problem back then is that i was going into the game still trying to do dodge mechanics even though parrying, jumping, and mikiri counter are infinitely more effective

so my friend has been playing it recently, and I was like, "okay, that looks fun right now, i'm gonna pick it back up"

either the me of five years ago was just really bad at the game or i'm just a way better gamer now (or both), because i finally played through the game and had an absolute blast

the boss that gave me the most trouble was probably Demon of Hatred, but only because that boss is more about dodging in a game full of bosses largely about parrying, so it was hard to get into that rhythm

but i went into Sword Saint and got it on my second try, so that was fun and fulfilling

so after owning the game and not playing it for five years, i've finally finished it. I think it was quite an excellent game. the gameplay was super fun, but i really liked the story too. 10/10 would play again

[sskk-manifesto]

Finally got around to watching ep 11 (´；ω；｀)

[winterwrites23]

Wait in chapters 1-2 of SoT did Scot use Stonecleaver to threaten North? Or did he use a different sword?

I think he used a normal sword because Stonecleaver has visible runes etched on the blade. Carrying it around super superstitious humans would attract unwanted attention, even if the clansmen know of his true nature.

However, I checked the drawing I did forever ago of that scene, and we can see the sword looks like Stonecleaver so….. Maybe at the time, I thought it was that sword, but now I think it would make more sense if it was a regular sword lol

Also, the existence of Stonecleaver is supposed to be a well-kept secret cuz Marks are powerful artifacts. People throughout history have tried to steal them, so Scotland only uses his when dealing with magic or as a last resort.

So you can imagine the shock when a random kid you found in a forest casually reveals the equivalent of a national secret 😂😂😂

[starflungwaddledee]

i wanted to do a piece to commemorate all the amazing waddle dees who entered the @kirbyoctournament this year! as starstruck is the last dee standing in the mainline tourney, that's a big legacy to carry, but she's doing her best...!

if you want to help her keep fighting the fight for the Humble Waddle Dee against all these super cool knights, dark matters, gods, and ancients, you can vote for starstruck here!

additionally with the first round of second chance voting now open, all these dee's are back for more, and you can give them your vote in the second chance bracket!! sadly a few of them are up against each other, but from top to bottom, here are links to vote for your favourites!

galaxia // ideena // pip // fondue // starry // mimi // daisy // rainbow // wadhat // wridee // stellar // rope mf // keyper // seam // lemon // flower // and of course starstruck being squished to within an inch of her life there 😂

character credits, from top to bottom!

galaxia @centellazul // ideena @tazmilygray // pip @emmyp0ps // fondue @moonmacabre01 // starry @staring-at-a-blank-pagee // mimi @clownie-rainbow // daisy @starrygoober // rainbow @cali-kabi // wadhat @iwontusethis255 // wridee @mxmanynames // stellar @drawscutestuff // rope mf @mint-termsandconditions // keyper @bloodiegawz // seam @cloud-the-forgotten // lemon @snazzyladreal // flower @eliastheownerof0axolotls

i hope you all enjoy it!! best of luck to everyone and their wanyas in the tourney and second chance!! 💖🙏

[pinacoladamatata]

Screaming

[warpedpuppeteer]

All I'm gonna say about the karaoke scene is that I'm not very disappointed/surprised at the news? I never once thought we were ever going to get a full Buddie performance anyways? It would be a short scene of them singing at best so I'm not sure why people are shocked to hear it's been cut 😅. The promos didn't exclusively hype up the karaoke scene imo. It was just showing the shenanigans they got into. I didn't think it was going to focus on the karaoke scene specifically. I just knew we were going to get a montage/flashback of what happened for them to be so drunk and out of it. It's a Madney episode so I already knew it would be focused on them more than anything. It is however, worrying that so much content was edited out of the episode to make it so short.

(btw this is me operating under the assumption at least some of the karaoke/party scene WILL be shown. It's a completely different story if they cut off the ENTIRE thing)

[nordfjording]

Does anyone have good suggestions for meal types/spice/taste profiles that go exceptionally well with ground deer?

Note: Not looking for specific recipies per se (hopeless endeavor as I am difficult re:ingredients) but just. Wherever I can shove it into basics. We do the traditional steaks and roasts and meatballs but have a dire need for expansion (and freezer space)

[hellothere-generalangsty]

It's way past my bedtime ans my cat is sleeping-purring next to me but I thought I'd post the process of the @ailani-reillata Ailaniversary art I made today just to talk a bit more about it

Disclaimer: doing traditional art is cool until you need to scan it or post a picture of it 😂 also kinda long post below so ofc no obligation at all to read it!

Phase one: Sketching the Idea

My inspiration for the posture was a Yara Flor comic strip I found on Pinterest. Yara looks over her shoulder and her hair falls on the side of her face, and I loved the way it framed her face and thought it would look great with Ailani's hair.

I drew a little doodle on the page to help me visualize how the hair would be divided, and focused on 3 main parts (the lines, the bubbles, the empty space) which would - supposedly- help me during the lineart stage. Below are images of the final sketch.

I was hesitant on adding details to her arms, such as the folds of a dress, but I was so anxious about ruining the drawing I abandonzd that idea. I was considering adding her tattoos and was still not decided at this stage of the drawing.

Phase 2: Line-ing the Art

Is that even a real word? Idk, I'm too tired to English properly so we will say it is. Following the sketching phase was naturalle the lineart phase, which is one of my favorite stage when drawing. I bought new inking pens too so I was able to test them out, and it went quite well!

As you can see, the ribbons, outline of the skin and facial features have been done with my new pens, and i was quite happy with the result! It gives a more natural look to the whole drawing in my opinion.

At this stage I decided not to add her arm tattoos and consider this version of Ailani as the one you would find in the early chapters of Begged and Borrowed Time, so before she would get her tattoos.

Phase 2.5: Line-ing the Hair

This stage has it's own part because it was really fun to do! The inspiration for the way I draw hair comes from @/ssavaart (aka Scott Christian Sava on Youtube). I've been following him for a while now and I'm trying to push my art beyond my comfort zone and try new stuff thanks to him, and having fun with drawing hair is one of these things!

Look how beautiful these curls are. I'm not trying to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm really proud of the drawing at this stage 😂 it's the perfect moment where the inking went well and I have not yet ridked myself with the watercolours - so I always take a long sight (and tons of pictures) to celebrate reaching this stage without incidents.

Phase 3: Watercolours

Here comes the difficult part. It always makes me nervous because I always fear ruining my drawing and all the efforts I put into it by doing the watercolours. But I love the medium too much and if I want to get better I need to practice. So, testing the waters, I finally dive head first into this crucial stage.

The watercolouring goes well, I'm overall satisfied enough to take some pictures and even try to scan it, with the hope that the scanned rendering will be better than the usual "photographing and editing" I do with my phone.

Spoiler alert: the scan was NOT better than the pictures, and no amount of editing could change that. (Or maybe I am just very bad at editing.) So, back to my "photographing and editing" habits, I somehow managed to get a good enough result:

I still feel unsatisfied as I find these digital versions do not properly render the visuals I have on paper, IRL. With the digital versionsw the hair is either so dark we don't see the details, or too bright, the colours are too warm and light... And while Ailani looks light-skinned, the paper version has these visible brown tones that I struggled to find on the digital version, even when editing the pictures. The closest I got is the tone you see on the first picture, but the image is not lighted enough so the overall quality of the picture is a bit lessened by that.

Still, I won't complain too much, because overall it was a very fun drawing to do, I enjoyed every stage of it and I would love to do another piece like this! But for now I will go to sleep because it is Way Past My Bedtime 😂

If you've made it this far, thank you for your attention, feel free to let me know which stage is your favorite and what you liked most (or disliked most) about this drawing!

I for one really had fun doing Ailani's lips, as well as filling her hair, and colouring her eyes! 😊

[genderexamples]

My phone made me this transition timeline lol. Did my jowls get jowlier or am I just using the backfacing camera? (And making a sad face at my former self who felt briefly happy after their first self-haircut)

[somedaytakethetime]

Well, well, well.... look who it is...