#sunrise palettes ARE super fun to work with though

[bambeptin]

can't save everyone

[future-boi]

Doctober 2023 Summary

Completed 24/31 prompts!

List of all the prompts I did for Doctober 2023 below

So happy to be done 🥳🥳🥳👏👏👏

1. Sunrise: Tbh I don’t feel any which way about this one and I think it’s because I created it to be a companion piece to Sunset. So its like lowkey half-assed but also far from it. I’m very happy with how that turned out so that’s something…

2. Desert

3. Gun Fight😜🤧☠️: Ah, the first meme post. I felt shaky posting this. Cherry, I hope you know I did it for/because of you

4. Light Blue😈: Ah yes, the first Hell Valley angst post. I’ve always been super proud of it and I’m really happy that others are still liking/reblogging to this day! Almost a month later

5. Alarm Clock😜☠️: AH YES, the first post to really give me anxiety about posting. I was like this ain’t a SIMPLE meme anymore, ITS GOT COMPLEXITY.

6. Ticking Time Bomb  

7. Family😇: This one was super wholesome and the first time in a long while drawing Jules and Verney!

8. Outatime😜💛: This one was a fun one! There was a moment where I wasn’t sure if I should do a background… I’m glad I still had fun with it, it took a lotta work hahaha

9. Zipline

10. Nuclear  

11. Briefcase😜☠️: We back doing goofy shit again… but I really liked this one and had a lotta fun with it. definitely up there with Rear View Mirror.

12. Train Tracks  

13. Photo Album😜: This one was fun and gave me a break from drawing (aside from the days I didn’t do anything…)

14. Coffee😇💛☠️: This one’s so wholesome. But Im biased af

15. Invention😜🤧: This is the first certified half-assed art piece LMAO im sorry to admit it but I gotta speak the truth

16. Stage

17. Einstein😜: This was really fun, I love poking fun at Biff but who doesn’t?

18. Letter  

19. Memory 😇😈: Didn’t like the linework on this one I think that’s why I was feeling so negative about it… or maybe the composition… overall, I think I can do better.

20. Rearview Mirror😜💛🔥☠️: This one’s definitely the funnest one I’ve worked on and still makes me giggle.

21. Improvement😇: I was stressing over trying to finish it so I don’t have the happiest memories of working on this one…

22. Constellation😇💛: This one’s special to me so I was gonna love it no matter what lmao. I really enjoyed working on it even though I wish I had more time.

23. Nostalgia😇💛: One of the faves and always will be. The vibes are on point.

24. Record Player😈: The return of Hell Valley angst

25. Café😇: I’m happy with the color palette. I want to revisit this one some other time cuz I feel like I could do more if I had more time. Not sure if I should categorize this under half assed attempt or not.

26. Anniversary😇🤧: Yeah this was another half assed one, sorry

27. Thunderstorm😈: Angst and Hell Valley are synonymous at this point. I really liked this one, especially how it transitions from colored to black and white

28. Metallic😜☠️: Nimona. That’s all I gotta say. Nah jk I wasn’t going to do this but the no pines timeline was really interesting to learn about… and by interesting, I mean scary. But hey, it gives us another angle to the bttf storyline.

29. 2023😇😜🤧: Talked about the musical. Drew a few doodles. Hair style reveal?

30. Sunset😇⚡: Gives all the warm fuzzies, how could you hate it? Very happy with my use of color here.

31. Free Day (Halloween)😈🎃☠️: We don’t talk about this one… It’s the number one rule of the club 😉

What the emojis mean:

🤧 Half Assed

😜 Funny/Meme

😇 Warm Fuzzies

😈 Angst

☠️ WHO LET ME COOK

💛 Top 5

🔥 Funnest Prompt

🎃 Spookiest

⚡ Personal Fave

My goal for this prompt list challenge was to focus on quality over quantity. There’s a few half-assed art pieces that snuck in, but it could have been worse. By quality, I wanted clean line art, backgrounds, and if I have enough time, color!

What drove me to create art: Showing other people that are in this fandom (most notably ⚡@cheriboms). I’d love to interact with other mutuals on here. Shout outs: 💛@bttf-dork 💛@synthsays 💛@alex-a-fans. I feel like I’ve been doing that more towards the end of the challenge, but yall give me motivation! And sometimes, inspiration!

What I learned:

🤔 I can actually draw backgrounds if I actually try [wowowow who'da thunk] It’s much easier to draw a background from a reference rather than coming up with one on your own. So I need to keep that in mind whenever I feel discouraged.

🤔 I feel like my work is very dramatic. Like melodramatic fr. Or at least it can be... I blame watching those tv dramas with my mom when I was a kid. But then again, if you want to incite emotion out of an audience, you gotta know how to frame stuff and do all the fancy cinematography work. So you gotta be dramatic to an extent. I got really really bored with my ideas that weren’t telling a story(or rather a more interesting story…). And that effected my motivation.

🤔 Looking back at the list, I noticed that my top 5s are all either silly or wholesome and I’m glad and relieved about that. I said that I’m really dramatic and there’s quite a bit of angst in there, but ig I’m not THAT edgy (or maybe the prompts didn’t allow me to be🤔👀)

Things that I want to improve on: COLOR THEORY. Brush theory/line weight. I’ve been experimenting a tiny bit with this throughout the month, but I want to delve into it. Since I didn’t work on something for more than a day, I felt like I was throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks.🤪I didn’t get to really study what colors work well and why and experiment with it.

A lot of the ones that I’m not very proud of could be chalked up to not having enough time to work on it/make it better, so that’s an interesting dilemma.

TL,DR; I talk too much. Gotta work faster smh git gud 🙄

[ct-hardcase]

ID: A grid with boxes labelled for each of the 12 months, with a drawing from that month in each of the boxes. 

I feel like I have to add an addendum for this year because obviously, everyone's lives changed drastically and that affects the mood of the art and the artist. I got the "lack of time and motivation" end of the stick, and while I sometimes tend toward self-deprecation for this, and it's weird to see my art sort of "regress" (less fancy lighting, ambitious poses, etc.), so I'm going to take a moment to be proud of the fact that I've learned how bodies work in space better, how to more seamlessly slot two people in a picture again as opposed to it being out of place, I've gotten better at working on the head from different perspectives and action shots, and most of all, I'm still growing, despite all of this.

Thoughts about individual months under the cut:

January: I realized that, even though I branded myself with clone content originally, it'd been a while since I...drew any of the clones. I decided to change that for a short burst in January, and this is probably my favorite of the bunch: I love the vibes, tension, and me adding a highlight for the hell of it (even if the light source is a bit inconsistent). February: I drew a lot this month but I figured I'd be remiss if I didn't put at least one rwby-related piece in here. I think this is the best Penny I've drawn, but still need to work on Ruby. Either way, Nuts and Dolts won this year! March: Bar none the piece I'm the most proud of this year—I worked with a pretty intense pink palette and the fun of working that into the usually black armor as well as the background. Also, the slightly tilted up perspective was a beast, and I had to trace and then reference my own tracing in order to create something that was still consistent with my style, but I did it! I think this was the transition into what I wanted the trajectory to be for this year, and in a way, I sort of kept that going with realizing how limbs work in a space. Also, create the obscure inquisitor content you want to see in this world. April: I finally settled on a face for Eighth that I really enjoy, and also I came into my own with the beginnings of digital painting. Also, more highlights for the hell of it, which I love and will continue to incorporate into as much as I can. May: I did a few fun couple shots in May, but this one was my favorite because during this and April, I learned that I could do backgrounds without putting maximum effort into it but still add depth and interest to a space. June: I did neekaz at sunrise so tamnara at sunset felt appropriate. I got to expand on their character design and am finally starting to get better at making people organically fit together. Also, the easter egg in the image is that Synara's wearing Tam's bandana around her leg, and Tam's wearing Synara's necklace. July: I wasn't initially super proud of this when I first drew it, but audience reception helped me realize it was a step for me—once again going with the theme of having fun with lighting and relying on the lightsabers to cast light for the image. Also, create the content for obscure inquisitor duos you want to see in the world. August: Even though I'm not as into it anymore, I feel like these would feel naked without some sort of ags material on the list, so I decided to have Alex and Zee live out my fantasy of waking up next to your partner/best friend in a tent and enjoying the sunrise together. September: This month started the mother of all art block which has lasted up until this point, and also w*rk got really busy. Either way, I did make something I was proud of this month, for Voe Starwars who absolutely deserves both the world and more canon material. I like the sense of dynamic movement and the actually doing a simple background with markers! This is also probably one of my favorites from the year. October: This was also...something. I redrew an old piece because my motivation was at a low, but I ended up enjoying both it and the noise filter which I applied on top. My cycle this month though was pretty much I came home and slept though, so honestly? Still proud. November: Once again was barely able to muster the motivation to draw, so this is an art ask game, but I love the simplicity of duo-toned markers to color something. It makes it feel more polished than it is. December: I drew all of one finished thing this month. Granted, it was 23 whole characters in different positions, lined and colored in so I'm proud of that! I mostly drew this just so I could get out some concepts which all deserved their fully-finished glory, but I didn't dredge up the wherewithal to do, so I at least did something.

[master-sass-blast]

Painting Pandemonium

Alright, I know this should’ve been part two of “Out With the Old, In With the New,” but I had a bad few days and needed fluff. Part Two of last week’s fic will be up next week, barring any other mishaps.

Summary: You and Piotr host a Bob Ross painting party for your family and friends.

Rating: G for domestic fluff and found family stuff.

Pairing(s): Piotr Rasputin x Reader, Nathan Summers x Wade Wilson, Ellie Phimister x Yukio, Kitty Pryde x Illyana Rasputin (alluded to), and Alexandra Rasputin x Nikolai Rasputin.

Set after “Future: Realized.”

Sidenote: I’m thinking about doing a dedicated arc to Alexandra. She’s got an entire fleshed out backstory for the series, and I love her so much and would love to feature her more. Would any of you be interested in that/some Alexandra-centric fics? Let me know via DMs or asks; Tumblr changed the notifications system and made it too hard to keep up with reblogs.

Taglist: @marvel-is-perfection, @chromecutie, @super-darkcloudstudent, @girl-obsessed-with-things, @nebulous-leo

It begins one sunny, early Spring day, when you’re watching your husband work on his latest painting (one of two hands holding each other, each smeared with the colors of the lesbian, gay, and asexual pride flags) in his art studio.

“Have you ever heard of Bob Ross?”

“Da.” Piotr dabs some more magenta paint on the wrist of the left hand, then looks over at you and smiles. “I watched tutorials to learn English. Why ask?”

“Eh, just wondering,” you say, curling up in the cushy arm chair Piotr keeps in his studio –he says it’s so he has somewhere comfortable to sit when he’s thinking, but it’s as much for you as it is for him. “Wasn’t sure if he’d made it over into Russia’s cultural bubble or not.”

“Ah, that, not so much.” He takes a step back from his easel, eyeing the canvas with no small amount of scrutiny, undoubtedly weighing out whether the distributions of the colors on the two hands–the rainbow amalgam for the gay pride flag where the fingers interlock, and the lesbian and asexual pride flag colors on the separate, untouching parts of the hands and wrists—are up to his incredibly high standards. “Matushka found some for me to watch on tape when I started painting, but I earnest watched when I came to America.” He quirks his mouth to the side, then looks at you and jerks his head at the canvas. “Mysli?”

“Needs more yellow and green,” you declare after a moment of studying the painting. “Otherwise it’s a lot of warm tones and purple-y tones, and that just makes my eyes start glazing without something to liven it up.”

Piotr nods with a grunt of agreement, then adds more yellow and green paint to his palette.

***

 It continues a few weeks later, when the two of you are buying groceries.

“Hey, have you heard about those ‘Bob Ross painting parties?’” you blurt when you two pass the arts and crafts section of the store. When Piotr gives you a blank look, you elaborate. “You know, a bunch of people get together with a bunch of paint and canvases and shit and follow a Bob Ross tutorial while hanging out.”

Piotr blinks rapidly as he processes the concept, then smiles slowly and shakes his head. “I take it you have reason for bringing this up.”

“I mean…” You let your voice trail off, then look up at your husband with your patented ‘I’m-so-cute-you-can’t-resist-me-please-make-me-pancakes’ eyes. “We have a house. We have access to YouTube and Netflix –which are where the tutorials are. We have friends we like to hang out with.”

Piotr chuckles, then grins down at you. “Would you like to host ‘painting party,’ myshka?”

“Well, since you brought it up!” you chirp brightly, which only makes your husband laugh harder. “But yeah, I think it’d be fun! And we got paint right here!”

Piotr shakes his head –still smiling—as you gesture at the Crayola-stocked arts and crafts section, then ushers you away from the aisle. “We can host party, lyublyu –but we can get better paint than that.”

 ***

 It takes a few weeks of planning, gathering supplies, checking schedules, and inviting people –but finally, towards the end of April, it all comes together.

The kitchen counter is laden with snacks –chips, fruits and veggies, cookies, little sandwiches, and the like. The coffee table in front of the couch has canvases, tubes of paint, and jars of paintbrushes loaded on it. The TV that hangs over the fireplace is on and set up to play one of Bob Ross’s tutorials, once everyone’s ready.

Nearly everyone is already here. Kitty, Russell, Illyana, Ellie, and Yukio are milling around the kitchen, jabbering while they down various snacks. Mikhail and Neena are sitting on the couch, looking at something on Neena’s phone. Piotr and his mother, Alexandra, are talking about one of Piotr’s latest paintings, while Nikolai stands nearby quietly, only throwing in the occasional comment.

You grin when the doorbell rings multiple times in a row, then skip over to the front door and open it with a sunny grin. “Hey!”

Wade greets you with an enthusiastic bear hug. “Howdy yourself, pardner! Hope you saved some yellow paints for me; I’ve always found those ones to be the best tasting.”

You and Nate exchange a fondly annoyed eyeroll over Wade’s antics, in addition to a hug. “Glad you could make it, Dad.”

“Like we wouldn’t come.” He pats your shoulder, lips quirking into an amused grin. “Like he’d—” he nods at Wade “—let me skip out. He’s been talking about it nonstop for the past two weeks.”

 ***

 It takes no small amount of shuffling to get everyone situated so they can all see the screen. Kitty, Illyana, Russell, Ellie, and Yukio all cram onto the couch together (which Piotr drapes with towels beforehand), Neena, Nathan, Alex, and Nikolai take station behind the couch with barstools and easels, you and Piotr set up on either side of the couch, and Mikhail and Wade…

Well…

“This is fucking overkill,” Wade gripes as Piotr ushers him and his brother to an area he’d prepped by taping newspapers to the floors and walls before hanging plastic shower curtains over the walls and putting down one of his thick drop canvases over the newspapered floor.

“Language, Wade,” Piotr says. “And it is just small precaution.”

“Nebol'shaya predostorozhnost', moya zadnitsa,” Mikhail grumbles.

“You two are… most chaotic,” Piotr says, attempting to be diplomatic. “This will minimize clean up, at end.”

“Sounds like someone wants paint in his shoes,” Wade stage-whispers to Mikhail.

“Agreed,” Mikhail faux whispers back with a nod. “We wait until tutorial puts him to sleep, and then we put purple paint in shoes.”

“I was thinking red, but purple works, too.”

You laugh along with everyone else, then blow your husband a kiss when he sighs heavily and shakes his head. “Alright, are we all ready?”

 ***

 “Fu –freaking… why does he switch colors so much!”

“Relax, baby.” Yukio smiles at her frustrated girlfriend, then kisses her shoulder. “It’s just for fun.”

“Fun is playing Mariokart… or studying string theory,” Ellie growls through gritted teeth as she jabs at her canvas with a paintbrush. “Not… dab some stuff here and some other stuff there and making little blobs look like things.”

“Come on, Negasonic the Hedgehog!” Wade coos teasingly from where he’s swiping at his own canvas. “Think ‘happy little clouds’ and ‘happy little trees!’”

“Douchepool, I will jam this paint brush up your—”

“Language, NTW,” Piotr says warningly –though not without a good dose of fondness. “And, Wade, no harassment, please.”

“Harassment? Pretty sure your little protegee there was just threatening to harass my—”

“Wade.”

Kitty just laughs as she works on her own ‘mountain sunrise’ scene. “Relax, Ellie. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.”

“Incorrect,” Illyana retorts, brow deeply furrowed as she works on her own painting. “There is tutorial. That is right way.”

“Tutorial is only reference, to show distribution of colors and shades,” Piotr corrects his younger sister as he leans over to look at his mentee’s canvas. “You are loading brush too heavy, Ellie. Start with less, then add more if needed.”

“I think I am less ‘sunrise’ and more ‘disco rave,’” Nikolai chuckles as he peers down at his own canvas.

Neena lets out a ‘whoa’ when she looks over at Nick’s canvas, then laughs lightly. “It’s long distance art. Meant to be seen from far away.”

Nick laughs along with her. “At last, I have found niche.”

The corner of Alex’s mouth turns up in a smile, and she reaches out and pats her husband’s thigh with her free hand.

***

 Once you’re all done –which takes a lot of pausing and rewinding the tutorial video—you all set your respective canvases on the dining room table, then admire each other’s works.

Piotr’s, unsurprisingly, is the best. He’s the most experienced artist out of all of you, and very familiar with both the materials and Bob Ross’s work.

You wrap your arms around your husband’s waist and kiss his side. “Very nice work, honey.”

He wraps a strong, muscular arm around you and kisses the top of your head. “Spasibo, myshka.”

Alexandra’s is also a “top contender” (even though it’s not a contest, which means there really aren’t contenders, but whatever). It’s not as technically proficient as her son’s –none of yours are—but in balance, composition, and contrast, it’s one of the strongest.

The painter herself, though, regards her work with neutral indifference while everyone else ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ over it. “It’s alright. Average.”

You watch as Nikolai wraps his arms around his wife’s shoulders, murmuring something in her ear that you can’t make out –it’s likely in Russian, anyway, so it doesn’t make much of a difference—before kissing her temple.

Alex’s hand trembles as she places it on her husband’s arm. Just a little.

Before you can make anything of it, Kitty busts out laughing.

“That is amazing!” she guffaws as she studies Wade’s painting –which looks less like a ‘sunrise’ and more like…

Well, it’s somewhere between a ‘LSD trip realized’ and ‘inside of a rainbow.’

(Granted, they might just be the same thing.)

“Very Picasso,” Kitty adds, grinning and shaking her head.

Wade preens theatrically. “I always felt a calling the abstract.”

She moves to Nikolai’s next. “I actually really like this. I think the intensity of the sunrise colors really sets off the greens in the trees.”

Nikolai grins when Illyana translates for him, then does a little bow to Kitty. “Spasibo, tigrionok.”

You can’t help but smile as you watch everyone –the people you love so much—laugh and talk to each other and admire each other’s paintings. This is home.

 ***

 “You seem happy.”

You look up from admiring everyone’s paintings –night has long since fallen, and everyone’s headed back to their own places, but you and Piotr had offered to hold onto the paintings for a few days so they could dry. “Huh?”

“You are happy, lyublyu.” Piotr smiles softly as he watches you. “Glowing.”

You smile bashfully as you look up at him. “I mean… I am happy. We’re making a home.” Tears well up in your eyes, and you smile broader even as grief –well-papered over, but there all the same—rises in your chest. “And it’s so different from the one I grew up in. It’s warm and loving and friendly… and that makes me happy.”

Piotr smiles, melancholy tears shining in his eyes, then draws you into his arms and kisses the top of your head.

Yeah. This is home.

[framing-visualculture]

Garden by Meiting Song

Hello everyone, welcome to Framing Visual Culture. I am Yi Jing Fly. Today’s guest is Meiting Song, a graphic design and motion graphics artist based in New York and Beijing. Her works exude the fun and exciting energy of early 2000s Asian pop culture and embraces girlishness in their character designs and color palettes. She is currently finishing her final semester at School of Visual Arts (SVA) in NYC.

Meiting talks about how she developed a simple aesthetic for her digital designs through the process of silkscreen printing, finding the relationship between colors blocks. She also shares her influences looking back on the nostalgia of 90s and y2k aesthetic shared between her Asian friends, where the common language of communication is English but the visual language of shared pop cultural knowledge transcends words. Meiting ponders why no one aspires to design the branding of feminine hygiene products, and hopes to one day work on such a project herself, where she gets to design a fun and lovable brand image for such a ubiquitous and important product.

I saw that one of your illustration has been translated to a t-shirt design on Animal Crossing?

Haha, yes. In the beginning I tried to make a pixel art design in Adobe Illustrator, but there is some difficulty as the squared corners become rounded in the game drawing tool. It’s hard to come up with original designs as I have to do a lot of drafts, so what I do more now is to turn clothes already available in stores or others’ designs into digital versions in the game. There are also many accounts (like Nook Street Market) dedicated to making designer fashion and luxury items into Animal Crossing outfits. It also feels great when I can wear a luxury brand I really really like without spending any real money!

What is the situation like for young artists and art students now in NYC with Covid-19? Do you feel less affected since most of your works are digital?

For students in the digital art department it’s pretty much the same, we are used to working remotely on our laptops. But I’m taking a risograph course this semester and I can’t access the studios to work on my prints.

The grad show is also affected, as we usually have a huge event at SVA where we get to present our works to industry experts and network with them. I would say our career prospects are definitely jeopardized.

I especially love the animation series and gifs you’ve been working on lately. They remind me of Chinese paper-cut animation enlivened with simple Internet aesthetic. Can you tell us more about how you developed this aesthetic over time?

When I first started out doing graphic design in college I was making a lot of minimal and clichéd designs. We were all inspired by Apple’s aesthetic, but the minimal things I made in the beginning were more unfinished, and I realized I can’t keep doing that.

For the whole of last year I took silkscreen printing classes, and that was where I really challenged myself to think about the relationship between color blocks and each layer I’m making; eventually I learnt the skill of simplifying a very complicated thing. A lot of people like to make complex prints with silkscreen, but that’s not meaningful for me personally. At the time I also looked at a lot of art involving color blocks, and Taiwanese graphic designer Wang Zhihong’s works especially inspired me.

There are strong elements of 90s and Y2K Asian pop-culture in your works, are they from your own nostalgic references?

When I was little I didn’t pay particular attention to the pop-culture I was consuming. It was actually after growing up and meeting many Asian people from other parts of Asia that I noticed these things more. In fact, my inspiration comes more from other people’s sense of nostalgia. For me I watched a lot of Card Captor Sakura, Crayon Shin-Chan, Doraemon, and Hannah Montana. Hannah Montana was actually my fashion icon as a kid. Now I am searching for the songs that were super popular in my childhood, like Jay Chou’s songs, and trying to recall the streets and scenes where I heard them. It brings me a lot of joy doing that.

Another interesting thing I found is that, with my Asian friends, even though we communicate in English, we actually know the celebrity or show we’re talking about, we just don’t know the name in the other language. Communicating this shared cultural experience in English and reaching that moment of connection beyond language is really great!

Fashion and art are very interrelated. Oftentimes we find artists expressing themselves in both their art and fashion, and the aesthetics of both are usually aligned. What kind of clothes are you into right now, and how do they reflect or inspire your creative process?

Right now I’m really into the clothes by designer Rui Zhou (a recent Parsons MFA graduate). I especially like the sinuous lines in her garments, the flow of the curves, as I like round edges. The pearl/ bead element that holds the delicate knitwear together is my favorite part, it almost looks like an exclamation mark! I probably wouldn’t wear the whole look directly over my body, but it’d nice to just wear a piece of the ensemble as an accessory. There are also a lot of singers and celebrities in America that are wearing her clothes in their MVs or photoshoots. I find it interesting that what is indie or non-mainstream is the mainstream in New York.

Ruizhou SS19

I do think that she is one of the designers creating entirely original designs and pushing the boundaries of fashion. You recently did a collab with clothing brand Unif and photographer Monimogi, can you tell us the concept behind that collab?

It began with Moni following me on Instagram, and she liked the Sunrise Mart zine that I made and wanted to collab on something similar for Unif. Sunrise Mart had more of a Shōwa era advertorial aesthetic, with the nostalgic design elements stemming from that time, but for the Unif zine I wanted to make something with a Y2K aesthetic.

A page from Sunrise Mart

A page from Unif zine

I wanted to make something very “Tai” (corny Taiwanese subcultural style), hence the blings and saturated colors, and the use of Traditional Chinese chracters. They are quite characteristic of early 2000s teenage girls magazines as well. In those magazines you will often find horoscope readings or personality quizzes, and I incorporated that into the Unif zine, by making a quiz for “finding your perfect shoes.” I previously made a quiz for finding out what type of drink you are in Sunrise Mart and my friends told me it was pretty accurate lol.  

I also made a series of stickers to go with the zine, adding many elements that I have designed on my own. I also slid in a picture of a glass dildo with a heart shape on the top, and I thought no one would find out since its quite inconspicuous, but Unif side found out immediately and exposed me. But they kept it anyway because they thought it was funny. They’re pretty chill about things.

It took quite a while to make this, from the photoshoot in February to layout design of the zine in March. The Covid-19 situation was worsening at this time, and I had to focus my mind on making this really cute and fun zine when in reality I was being super anxious.

[jandjsalmon]

11 Questions Game

Holy Hannah! I spent my holiday weekend at the symphony (Final Fantasy: Distant Lands - SO GOOD!), playing on the lake for the first boat trip of the season, and paintballing my little heart out and generally hanging out with my irlbgf - and yet while I was away, I was tagged by some of my favourite, absolutely amazing wonderful lovely fellow Buggies in the fun 

I promise I wasn’t ignoring you! I love you all and I would like to answer all five of you - so that's 55 questions instead of just 11. That means that I DEFINITELY have to put it under a cut because it will eat up your dashboard and maybe some of you aren't all that interested in my answers. lol. 

BUT if you're interested at all in my answers and who I am, I hope you'll click. :)

From the awesome and ever talented and wonderful @believe-that-you-can-my-friend  💙💛

1. What’s your favourite piece of clothing you own?  

I have a pair of black velour pajama pants. It is my most favourite things in the world. They feel like velvet.

2. What fictional place would you most like to go?

The Starship Enterprise. The Future and the Federation seems like a pretty groovy society to live in.

3. What’s the best way to start the day?

With overnight updates to all your favourite Bughead fics that you MUST read and review before getting into the shower.

4. What TV show or movie do you refuse to watch?

I'm not into Fifty Shades of Gray. I mean - I have no problem with BDSM - I simply have a problem with bad writing.

5. What are you most looking forward to in the next 10 years?

My kids are growing up! Within the next ten years all three of my kids will be gone/leaving for college. I'll be an empty nester with my super dreamy hubby.

6. What city would you most like to live in?

I love where I live - Calgary is the best - but other than just saying "here" - I guess I'd choose London.

7. What movie title best describes your life?

It's a Wonderful Life.

8. What irrational fear do you have?

Clowns. I hate them. My husband tells me that it's an irrational fear all the time - but it doesn't FEEL irrational.

9. In your group of friends, what role do you play?

I'm generally the centre of attention. In real life, I want people to be comfortable and as engaged as I am - so I talk a lot and ask lots of questions so that they'll feel more comfortable sharing as well. People like me - oftentimes more than I like them. In fandom life I'm kinda like that too - but I like to play the roll of the cheerleader and support and over excited and passionate fangirl. In general, I like being /nice/ and I get something out of people loving me as much as I adore them. 

10. What are you most insecure about?

Um... the same physical insecurities that most people have. I guess that I'll be so over-the-top that people will think I'm fake or that I'm silly.

11. What are you most likely to become famous for?

I'm technically writing a novel... that will probably never be published. But I guess that's the only ever way I'd be famous.

From the freaking fabulous @gellbellshead 💙💛

1. What is your favourite food?

Potatoes. Whether it's mashed, soup, fries (poutine!), or whatever. I love potatoes of all sorts. YUM.

2. What is your favourite movie genre and your favourite movie from that genre?

Um. I like lots of different kinds of films but I guess I like Sci Fi the most. My favourite Sci Fi is probably Serenity. But I actually have a list of five favourite ALL TIME movies of various genres: Stardust, Schindler's List, Serenity, EuroTrip, and French Kiss.

3. Favourite Disney movie.

Meet the Robinsons or Brave.

4. Do you prefer to read fluff or angst?

I like there to be a HEA - so if there has to be angst - as long as I get a happy ending I'm cool. I like to call that Flangst. I really like plot driven fics - but I also love fluffy one-shots... I'm fairly easy. Just don't split up my OTP please.

5. Any siblings?

I'm the youngest of five - my brother is the oldest, and then three sisters, then me.

6. Your favourite fictional character?

Elizabeth Bennet

7. Your favourite person in real life?

My sweetheart, Jay. He's my person.

8. Your top 5 songs of all time?

Bizarre Love Triangle - Stabbing Westward (a New Order Cover) Moonlight Serenade - Glenn Miller Monkey Tree - Mother Mother Sleep Alone - Two Door Cinema Club Sleepwalk - Santo and Johnny

9. What it the biggest risk you have ever taken?

Um. I'm not really a risk taker.

10. What is your biggest pet peeve?

I "seen" it. Irregardles. Supposably.  (I really hate bad grammar)

11. How would your friends describe you?

Loud and fun. Kinda silly.

From the ever lovely, @wordsonpages1​  💙💛

1. Favourite colour?

Mossy green

2. Favourite book?

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Random Passage by Bernice Morgan. The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

3. What is your mantra or life motto?

As a family, we have a motto "Salmons don't do Shortcuts" - but personally I have two additional mantras. I have a scripture that is very important to me Mark 5:36 "Be not afraid, only believe." and a song with lyrics that I call my mantra: The song is called Chances by Kirby Heyborne and the line in particular is, "I am hope. I believe. I am alive. I am every thing. I have come to take these chances. I wonder when things will go my way. I was born to live my life and no one tells me who I am."

4. The number one thing that draws you to a person?

I'm shallow. Smile - shoulders - smell.

5. Who is your idol or inspiration?

Queen Elizabeth II Hannah Senesh My grandpa.

6. Places you would like to travel to?

All over Europe.

7. A perfect day would entail?

Sleeping late. Hours reading in the bathtub with no interruptions.

8. Dream job?

Can they pay me to read Bughead fanfiction all day?

9. Ultimate life goal?

To retire and travel with my sweetie and raising well adjusted and cool kids.

10. What do you like/ love most about yourself?

I love that I'm fun and passionate about stuff.

11. Sunrise or Sunset?

Sunset for sure. Mornings suck.

From my girl @jugandbettsdetectiveagency​ - 💙💛

1. Describe your aesthetic?

Jughead Jones shaking the soap? (does that count?)

2. Favourite place you’ve ever visited?

Visited is an interesting word. My favourite PLACE is the riverbottom at the bottom of the Coulee in Lethbridge. It's home. I love it.

3. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?

Nanaimo Bars.

4. Biggest regret?

After my BA I should have gone to Grad school. Or I should have become a Dental Hygenist or something - but I got a History Degree because I love History. I don't work in that field at all so even though I spent $50,000 to become an official Historian... I could have become something else, that would have probably made me a lot happier than what I'm doing and remained an amateur Historian.

5. You’ve been put in the middle of a fantasy battle, what is your weapon of choice?

Double edged lightsaber.

6. Favourite outfit?

Not counting my favourite pajama pants... I have this super cute red and gold paisley handkerchief shirt I bought in Mexico. I love it.

7. Have you ever been in love?

Twice. I was lucky enough to find my sweetheart when I was 19 years old. The love I felt for the bloke before Jay was minuscule in comparison to what I feel for my husband - but it was still love.

8. Favourite thing, fan fiction or not, you’ve ever read?

I can’t answer that. I read too many delicious things.

9. Main thing you look for in a person?

Sardonic sense of humour.

10. What is your earliest memory?

I remember my fourth birthday party really clearly. 

11. You’re stranded on a desert island, what one item (that isn’t a boat) would you want with you?

Can I have two? A hammock and a book?

And lastly - from the wonderful @peacelovebughead   💙💛

1. What’s your go-to pump up song?

Well lately it’s been Believer by Imagine Dragons - but normally it’d be something from Two Door Cinema Club or like Take on Me by A-Ha or something. lol.

2. If you could travel absolutely anywhere, where would you go?

Auschwitz.

3. What Hogwarts house do you belong to?

Hufflepuff

4. Thunder or Lightning?

Lightning

5. When do you feel most confident?

When I’m doing something I’m good at and people around me KNOW I’m good at it.

6. What is one of your favourite memories?

I don’t know if I have ‘favourite’ memories. Yesterday at the lake with my husband and my kids (who are teenagers and fight a lot!) - I got to hear them happily laughing and joking and having a wonderful time. That’s today’s favourite memory.

7. Who is a fictional character that you relate to? Why?

Dude. Kevin Keller is a gay, male version of me. And my brother and husband are cops so I relate to that part of him too. lol.

8. If you could wake up famous tomorrow, would you do it?

If I could keep my happy family and my morals - then sure.

9. What is one of your proudest accomplishments?

How about that $50,000 piece of paper I have hanging on my office wall that announces to the world that I’m officially allowed to have an opinion on British History along with the roots and causes of Totalitarianism. Getting that was pretty great.

10. If you were to live in a fictional world, which world would you choose?

Asked earlier - but I’d say the Star Trek universe would be the place to be.

11. If you were to pick a colour palette to describe you, what colours would you choose?

Jewel tones.