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myheelsdontmatchmysweatpants · 3 years

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This is my first collab fic and I could not be more excited! I'm so thankful that I can be part of the group!

The AU for this month was Sex Work. The Masterlist for this collab can be found here. Please take some time to check out everyone's contributions! There are other fics and amazing art!

That being said here is my fic, big BIG shout out to @doinmybesthere for being an amazing beta reader and sweet angel bb. ily Emme!

Please please please read the warnings. They are there for a reason!

Warnings: consensual noncon, mentions of being burnt, stabbing and blood; no prep penetration, disrespectful use of the word "whore", blackmail, psychological abuse?, Mineta (nuff said) he gets what's comin to him

You’re in the doctor’s office getting a regular checkup when you overhear the nurses in the station next to you talking.

“Look! They posted the new hero rankings today.”

“I forgot those were today, too bad they can’t have the conference during the pandemic. I miss seeing Deku all cute and blushing.”

“FUCK” In your brief moment of panic you forgot where you were. You cringe and look at the nurses, trying your best not to look like you were gonna be sick. “Sorry ladies, didn’t mean to yell.” No point in offering an explanation. You wouldn’t be able to tell them anything anyway.

As you very impatiently wait for your blood results to come back you check the tacky red cell phone you have to keep with you at all times. You had put it on silent since you were in the doctor’s office and you were glad you did. Taking a quick look at your screen had your stomach dropping into your ass.

M.M: Gonna move my appointment up to today.

M.M: You better get ready. I’m not happy.

M.M: I’m sure you saw the postings. Number 36.

M.M: I made sure to pay for any accidents in advance.

M.M: I’ll see you tonight.

Why does he have to be so fucking horrible? Accidents my ass.

The messages make your skin crawl, you should have figured the hero rankings would piss him off but honestly you never paid enough attention. With a heavy sigh you opened up your web browser and pull up the list.

“Number 36...number 36…. Number 36…” When you finally reached the hero you were looking for, you let out a sigh.

Hero Ranking Number 36: The Rainy Season Hero Froppy

Well at least you had her outfit already, for some reason she was one your client asked for a lot. Not that you wanted to ask him why, not with the way his black eyes looked whenever he saw you dressed up like her.

I don’t know if I should feel glad that he isn’t actually taking this out on her. Or upset that I’ve had to deal with this for months.

“L/N, Y/N?” The doctor walks up holding their clipboard and closing the privacy screen. Your file almost too much for the metal clip at the top. “Your test results came back negative and your burns seem to have healed very well. I would tell you that any strenuous activity should be avoided but we both know you can’t do that.”

Their poor attempt at humor had your stomach rolling. “Haha anyways Doc, I think I’m gonna need another medkit to take home today. I can schedule my next appointment online, right?”

You can’t handle the thinly veiled pity in their eyes and look down, reaching over to your side to grab your purse. You hear them moving around and a dark blue plastic box is put on your lap.

“If I remember correctly this is your favorite color, right? You are able schedule an appointment online but if you would like I can schedule it for you. How about in two days? Afternoon work for you?”

You look up after clutching the kit to your chest, you know they are just trying to be nice. All of the nurses are especially nice to you and as endearing as it might be to some people, to you it just feels dirty.

“Afternoon is perfect, thanks Doc.” You get up and walk towards the privacy screen. Before leaving you stop for a moment “Blue ismy favorite color.”

As you make your way back to your living quarters you scroll through the internet looking at every picture of the Pro-Hero Froppy you can find. Your quirk can project a person’s desires onto your body by reading them in their eyes. It’s easier when the person has a clear view of what or who they want. However, your client’s desires are such a jumbled mess that it’s easier if you know what it is beforehand.

Hopefully, I can act like her enough that I don’t have to look at his desires this time. I can’t stand how disgusting they make me feel.

You pass by a few familiar faces on your way back to your rooms but don’t pay them any mind. They in turn leave you alone, most of them knowing that when you have that look on your face you were in a mood.When you first were offered a position at the brothel you thought it would be easy money. You had been stripping for several years, known for how you looked different to everyone who saw your dancing. The beautiful, enchanting, flexible Erised. You had built up your quirks ability to be able to project almost a full clubs worth of desires. Sure, it caused extreme fatigue and chronic migraines but the money you raked in was well worth it.

A few months ago

After an especially successful night a patron walks up to you after you leave the stage.

“I have a job opportunity for you, courtesy of my employer.” He hands you a card you read “Heroes Consulting Agency” in bold silver letters.

“I’m a stripper hun, not sure I can do the type of consulting you’re looking for.” You go to hand it back, but they put their hand up.

“I’m afraid I must insist, why don’t we treat you to lunch and you can listen to our proposal?”

You put your hand back down and study them. They are dressed in a white button up with a vest, definitely out of place in a strip club. You would look in their eyes, but they didn’t really have any, their whole body seemed to be made of dark smoke. You don’t work in the nicest of places so someone with their kind of full body quirk isn’t unusual.

“Alright, I give. I’m not really one to pass up free food.” The rational side of your brain is telling you that you have more than enough money to buy your own food but the stingy part telling you to take it while you can is a little louder.

“Excellent choice Miss Erised. Someone will meet you at the address on that card tomorrow at around 5pm? Should give you enough time to recover from the side effects of your quirk.” They give a slight bow and walk off towards the exit, a large something getting up from a seat and following closely behind.

Sam, one of the waitresses walks up to you with a tray filled with drinks. Her normally short stature elevated with high heeled leather boots. “Did you know that person Y/N?”

Oh man, I do not have the energy for this.

You turn to her and survey the tray before grabbing something that looked like a fruity cocktail. “No, but they offered me a job. Gonna go have lunch with them tomorrow.” Sipping from the glass you tuck the card into your bra, making sure to not show it to the girl.

“That’s weird, don’t they know you’re a stripper? What is someone dressed that nicely want to hire you for? Also did that person look familiar to you or is that just me?” Any normal person wouldn’t be able to keep up with her unending questions, but you had known her for years. The tray in her hands tips dangerously to the left but she balances it out without a second thought.

Guess she does have to be quick on her toes to be a waitress at a strip club.

“They were here for my dance so yes they do know, either way I’m getting free food so…”

She huffs, aware of your attitude for anything “free”.

You finish the drink and place the empty glass back taking a couple bills from your bag and tucking them into her apron.

“Thanks for the drink Sam, but I gotta leave before my headache hits.” You walk off before she can say anything further. You really wanna be nice to her but her endless energy really gets on your nerves sometimes.

By the time you make it to your modest apartment, you can feel the pain starting behind your eyes. You drop your stuff by the door without turning on any lights and walk to the box safe hidden in the kitchen. After you make sure all the money is secure you grab a glass of water and head to the bedroom. The bottle of pain killers already set out on your nightstand. You should really take a shower but for now, you strip down, take a few pills, drink the whole glass of water, and lay down. It takes a while for the pills to kick in but once they do you finally fall asleep.

When you finally wake up the next morning your headache is gone, and you have to piss like no one’s business. You grumble as you stretch your tight sore muscles and get up to go to the bathroom. After taking care of business, you get into some light clothes and walk into the kitchen to make some food. Thankfully, you had some leftover rice and spam in the fridge, so you pop that in the microwave. You put the kettle on for some green tea and down another glass of water as it heats up.

Remembering the offer from yesterday and the promise of free food you pad over to your pile of things by the door and grab their card. It’s sleek looking with a plain black background and silver lettering. The address isn’t something you recognize right away so you look it up on your phone.

“What the fuck?” Why is this place in a business park?

You scroll down and check the street view; the building is a high rise surrounded by a mostly empty parking lot. The entrance of the building is blurred, probably to keep the privacy of anyone entering or exiting.

“Well, I guess it’s a nice gig. Better dress the part.” Or maybe you’re gonna get murdered.

“Wow, I really have to stop watching all those true crime shows.” You put the card in your wallet and head back to the kitchen. The microwave beeps and the kettle whistles shortly after. When you’re done eating you put the dishes in the sink to soak and head to the bathroom to finally take a shower.

By the time you have finished showering the whole bathroom is filled with steam and your body has a pink flush to it. You open the door to air it out and finish cleaning up for the day. Your outfit consists of your nicest jeans with ankle boots, a long sleeve blouse and a dark cardigan. You grab one of your smaller over the shoulder purses and leave your apartment.

One of the things you allowed yourself to really splurge on was a car. Public transportation was not as reliable as it could be and with your hours not the safest either.

By the time you make it to the building the sun is starting to set, giving the sky beautiful pink to blue coloring. As you park and get out of your car a young woman walks up to you.

“Welcome Miss Erised! Please follow me and I will escort you through the building.” The woman’s blonde hair is in two messy buns, her face childlike. Her voice was high pitched enough to grate on your nerves a bit, but you ignored it.

As you follow the person through the lobby you take a glance around. Looks like a high-end hotel lobby. There is a front desk area with a marble counter top, women that are dressed in matching button ups with their hair up in buns or ponytails. Random potted plants and small trees dot the area, and a nice chandelier hangs in the middle of the ceiling. No one besides the women at the front desk are in the area.

“Doesn’t seem to be busy right now.” You didn’t even really mean for her to hear you, but she did, and you sounded like an asshole.

They turn their head slightly with a knowing smirk. “It would seem that way wouldn’t it?”

Conversation halts while you stand in the elevator which you were thankful for. They had chosen a floor close to the middle of the building, which gave you just enough time to rethink your life choices.

By the time you got to your floor you are tired of the silence. Normally you hate small talk, but you figured you would give it a shot. “Do you like your job?”

The woman turns to you and smiles, here canines peeking out a bit while shrugging her shoulders. “It keeps me busy, plus I get to make so many friends.” The gleam in her eyes flashes menacingly for a quick second, you decide to pretend you didn’t see it.

As you get to the end of the hall, she opens a door and gestures you inside, closing it behind you. There is a nice desk to the left of the door, other than that the room is sparce. The person sitting in the chair has quite an eclectic look about him. Grey hair parted to the side, shrew eyes behind circular wire rimmed glasses, a gold chain peeks out from the slightly open white button up with a purple blazer. He reeks of cigarette smoke the evidence of his habit tossed into the half-filled ash tray on the desk.

“So nice of you to join me Miss Y/N. Why don’t you have a seat, we can talk about your new position.” He gestures to the only other chair a smirk on his face that shows of his missing tooth.

“I haven’t accepted the job yet Giran, and I thought I told you I don’t want to work for you.” You aren’t used to seeing him in this type of place. But you do know him so there is no need to put on a show. You lean back in the chair and cross your arms.

“How rude of me, you won’t be working for me, but I have been given authority to hire for this company.”

You don’t bat an eye; most large companies use outside help for hiring. “What is this position you would like offer me?”

“This company provides heroes with a way to alleviate their… desires in a safe and discrete way.”

“So, you hire prostitutes for heroes to have sex without worrying about anyone telling the press about it.”

“That is correct.”

“I don’t know if your just stupid or if you forgot but I’m a stripper not a hooker.” You sit up in your chair fully ready to leave the room.

“They would provide you with a fully furnished apartment, medical coverage with 24/7 access to their fully trained medical staff. Any cash given to you by your clients you can keep, however they would take a percentage out of the money they initially pay for your services.”

“Let’s say I’m a little interested, how much is the initial pay for my services?” You want to deny the offer, nothing wrong with having sex for money but it isn’t really your thing.

Giran doesn’t answer right away, instead putting out what is left of his cigarette only to pull another one out of his blazer and lighting it up. “The starting hourly rate is $2,500 an hour, they would take 30 percent from that.”

Holy shit, that’s as much as I make in a day and I would be making it an hour? You keep your face neutral but something in your eyes must have tipped him off.

“You would start tomorrow; most clients keep a contract with their favorite employee and we actually have someone lined up for you already. He has extremely specific tastes and you are the perfect person to fill in.”

“I’ll have to talk to the club owner; would it be possible to start later?” You don’t want to seem to eager, especially not in front of him.

“I don’t see that as a problem, they can give you one week but that’s it.”

You stay silent, making it look like you’re thinking about it. After a moment you lean forward in your chair and stick your hand out. “Sounds like a deal to me.”

Giran grabs you hand and gives it a firm shake. “If you ever need help or have any questions call the number on the card. Now I believe you were offered dinner, let me take you to one of my favorite places.”

You let his hand go and rise from the chair. As Giran comes around the desk and walks towards the door, he stops for a moment and turns to you. “Welcome to the team.”

Dinner was actually genuinely nice; the food was good, and you were able to have a comfortable conversation with Giran. Of course, he didn’t tell you anything about himself, but you had no problems with that, you didn’t wanna share anything to personal about yourself either. He dropped you back off at your car after dinner and shook your hand again before driving off.

By the time you got home you had decided what you were gonna tell the club owner and mentally packed your apartment. Not wanting to take all of your things you moved most of it to a secure storage facility. Having had it for a few years already in order to store the overabundance of clothes you owned.

After the week was up you had quit your job and packed all of your belongings. You realize you don’t know where you are supposed to go so you pull out the card and call the number.

“Hello, how can I assist you?”

“Giran never told me where I would be moving my stuff to. Could you give me the address?” You pick at your nails while waiting for him to answer.

“Of course, Miss Erised. Will you be needing any assistance for your move?”

He sounds so polite; I wonder if he is always like this.

“No, I’ll be fine on my own thank you.”

He gives you the address and let you know that you can call if you need any additional information.

“Good luck Miss Erised.”

When you get back to your apartment you immediately go into the shower and wash up, using the tea tree oil that Froppy had said she uses in an interview.

I don’t understand how people can like this stuff, but he gets easier to handle if I smell like those women.

When you are done you towel dry your hair and make sure to lotion your whole body. When your hair is dry enough you straighten it and leave it down. He likes it better when its down.

You go to your closet and rifle through until finding the very skimpy version of Froppys hero costume. All it really has in common with the original is the tan harness and the green with black and yellow stripes. Otherwise, it is a one-piece bikini without a crotch. You grab your black leather over the knee boots and get dressed. After checking the time, you give yourself a moment to mentally prepare.

I hate this, I hate him. Disgusting filthy little bug. A false hero, a plague. I can’t wait to leave this place.

Standing in the middle of your room you close your eyes and take deep breaths, allowing your consciousness to drift. You have found that the best way to endure these sessions is to detach yourself from the situation. Only focusing on the absolute necessary and maintaining the effects of your quirk. Giving yourself another minute to get into character you walk to the door joining your apartment to the “service room”.

Thankfully, he hasn’t shown up yet, you shut the door hearing the lock click into place, the door seamlessly vanishing into the wall. Sitting on the edge of the bed you face the door that Mineta will walk through and wait.

No matter how many times we do this I never lose the feeling of wanting to vomit while bathing in bleach.

When he walks in you see that he is wearing his hero costume, as atrocious as it is. He never really deviated from the original design. You immediately start your performance.

“Mineta? What am I doing here? kero” You clasp your hands together in front of your chest and look around frightfully.

“Hello Tsu, what a pleasant surprise to see you here.” He walks up, taking off his gloves and throwing them to the side.

“I don’t understand, do you know where- “Your sentence is cut off, pain in your cheek sharp and hot.

“I don’t believe I gave you permission to talk Miss thirty sixth hero.” He stands there with his hand still up as you cup your cheek and look up at him, the tears in your eyes real. He pulls his hand back again as if to slap you and you flinch.

“Good girl, now finish taking off my outfit for me.” Mineta walks back a few steps and holds his arms out. Your fingers are clumsy as you take it of piece by piece.

Mineta abruptly grabs a fist full of your hair and yanks your head back. You grab his hand with both of yours trying to ease his grip.

“Do you think if you do it slow enough, I’ll get bored and go away?” He pulls harder. “Huh? You really think you’re gonna get out of this don’t you.” He tosses you towards the bed and you scramble to get back on your feet.

The tears in your eyes have started to spill over and you start babbling. “Please let me go Mineta, I don’t know what I did but please pleasejust forgive me kero. I won’t tell anyone about this just please don’t hurt me kero.”

He doesn’t answer you, just finishes taking off his outfit before he is walking towards you again, a vicious gleam in his beady eyes.

You back up until the back of your legs hits the bed. You open your mouth to speak but before you can utter a single word, he slaps you again.

“I told you not to speak unless I told you to once already. Now I’m gonna have to punish you, aren’t I?” He shoves you onto the bed and follows, using his knees to push your legs open he sits up and gives himself a few pumps.” No need to prep you, I want this to hurt.”

You are sobbing at this point, your hands covering your face when you feel him push into you. A scream rips out of your throat and you reach forward to push him away.

“You know Tsu, these meetups have been the best. I’m thinking next time I will find the REAL you and have even more fun.” He closes his eyes a leans his head back, fully immersed in only getting himself off.

To engrossed in his own world, he doesn’t realize that you have gone still. Your tears have stopped, and you have pulled your hands back from him.

DISGUSTING

“Find the real me?”

VILE

You break character, bringing your full consciousness back. You voice is just a whisper at first, so he doesn’t hear you, doesn’t stop thrusting.

FALSE HERO

“Find the REAL me?!” You are screaming at him now.

He finally stops, hearing you the second time. For a second you see fear in his eyes before they fill with rage.

MONSTER

“Hey! You better start doing the job I paid you for, I don’t come here for you to question me.” He lifts his hand up, as if to slap you again. Before his hand comes down you grab it, squeezing until he yelps in pain.

This job is over, he isn’t worth keeping around anymore.

“You think I give a shit about a little piss ant like you?!” As you sit up, he yanks his arm away and pulls out of you. Stumbling back, he starts shaking a finger in your direction.

“You can’t talk to me like that! You’re just a whore!”

You dart forward before he can put more distance between you and grab him by the neck. As you pick him up you snarl and let your quirk fade away.

“I may be a whore but I not a monster like you. You are just a fake hero, a plague on this world and I will get rid of every single one of you.” You throw him onto the ground still holding on to his neck and squeeze.

“In other news, Minoru Mineta also known as the pro hero Grape Juice has gone missing after several videos of him have gone viral. He was last seen leaving a brothel that has requested to remain nameless. The videos contain triggering scenes of the pro hero having relations with a prostitute while she is dressed in various hero suits the resemble his old female classmates. He even refers to them by name. The videos contain triggering images, and it is recommended to not seek them out. The original videos have since been taken down but are reuploaded onto the internet on several other sites. The prostitute shown in the videos has also gone missing. Any information on the whereabouts- “

The T.V. turns off, the voice of the news anchor no longer filling the dimly lit bar. The people present remain silent for a moment before a man with burns all over his body starts to laugh.

“You could have really fucked that up Doll. Good thing we got enough evidence.” You sneer at him, making sure you change your appearance to match your own desire. He flinches when he sees his own face.

“I wish you had cut him! There wasn’t enough blood to keep his appearance up for awfully long!” The young woman with two messy blond buns in her hair twirls a knife around.

“I’m terribly sorry Toga, but I didn’t have anything sharp with me.” You pick at your nails and look over at Kurogiri, who is busy pouring a glass of whiskey for Dabi. “Do I get a break after this one or do you and boss man have another gig for me?”

#lillith masterlist #lillith writes #lilliths writing

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strangerays · 3 years

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Nothing in Particular Update #3

About seven months and I finished the first draft at 93k!

I always imagined how it would feel to finish a first draft (I’ve been writing novels “seriously” since about 2017) and now that I’ve finally done it, I can say it’s a better feeling than I imagined! Telling my friends and family (and even my doctor, who was really quite excited about it) was an amazing amazing thing. I’m generally pretty nervous to tell people about my work, but I had a really positive reaction. Honestly all of it has me on a creative high (not sure I’m coming down from that any time soon lol).

I’m going back for my last year of school in two days, which means I’m not going to have as much time as I did to write all summer. This is okay, because I’m actually going to take an entire month off of writing! I’m really burnt out - don’t want to start editing a story that’s so near to me if I don’t feel ready. I’ll talk more about editing when the time comes!

In a lot of ways, I found that my life mimicked my art. I think for a lot of people, it tends to be the other way around, but this story did a lot to heal me.

Going to hop right into excerpts now! I’m not going to explain much this far into the story because I would like to try to publish this story (FAR in the future) so I apologize for that! Also, I stopped naming most of the chapters until I go back and edit because there are just SO MANY and I didn’t have the time to stop and think of cool names. Anyways... enjoy!!

(Here is the link to the original masterpost!)

text: Rays of gold curled to the ground, primordial and shy as the fire reeds on the cusps of shallow pool around the bay outside of Mothouse combed them to fine sparkles. I remembered the way Lonan kneeled on the edges of this pool. He never dove in – just blinked slowly as he watched crabs and minnows chase each other in a swirl of sand. I could not resist the water. I’d made it a part of me. My hair was longer then; down to my elbows, fading from dark red to orange and white, soaked always. Lonan let me borrow his shirts when I forgot to bring my own. They hung from my waist, too big for me, and I was warm even as the breeze rocked us inside.

text: The sky was never blue in Point Blink. At least, I couldn’t remember the last time the clouds hadn’t given way to a dark gray mist. Jude was here. I was out of place. I was floating – watching slender, underfed pines wave in the breeze behind houses on the water before they disappeared underneath furls of cloud. Bursts of warm light shone in windows on the bay, like hungry eyes watching for a storm. A group of kids our age chaffed on a rocky expanse, their heads popping over pockets of darkness when they laughed. Froths of cloud stretched across the sky, moving the ground with it. Long stretches of trees and islands far on the other side of our small pocket of ocean looked more like large freight ships. Lights glittered and beamed on the roads and highways that belonged to the city. Pink was starting to show over the horizon. Lonan was on the other side. Somewhere.

text:

Jude sucked her lips in and flopped onto her stomach so she could see the blue below her feet. Her dark curls draped over her ears and hid her nose.

“I can’t see the bottom of the ocean.” She cupped her fingers with the other hand. “See where the water fades to white and back again? The endless tide. Why do people say the ocean is blue?”

I leaned forward. She was right. Blue ocean climbed up the side of the cliffs and turned the rocks a dark gray; ate the erosion as if from a plate. I’d never had the ocean explained to me that way before.

“I think I like it that way,” I said.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what was at the bottom of Point Blink.

text:

She smiled weakly. “It’s okay. This is just guesswork. Patchwork.”

I wanted to apologize again, but I had a strong guess that it might make her annoyed with me. “It’s kind of like… I’m just waiting for the next bad thing to happen.”

She wrinkled her nose and eyebrows, scrunched up her little face. “That’s dumb.”

“I think it’s a smart way to live.” Sometimes it felt like worry was the only thing that kept me alive. It wasn’t dumb at all.

“You’re going to be fine though. We’re going to be fine. If something bad happens, we’ll deal with it. Don’t let it eat you.”

There was wisdom in what this seventeen-year-old girl on my bed had offered me. I caught it like a gold coin. Before I could reply with anything, she launched into another question. I didn’t want to think much about change anyways.

text:

“Oh. Wow. That’s like, next year.” I sort of laughed.

“A year can be a long time,” Lonan said with a wince. “What do you think?”

I sighed through my nose and leaned back with him. The sun was going down. Sometimes, my life felt less like a golden hourglass and more like a stopwatch with a broken face.

“For once, I think I agree with your mom.”

Lonan just stared at me, with something like awe.

“I think you should do what you want,” I said.

“Ray,” Lonan started.

“No,” I interrupted him. “It’s not about me. She’s stopped you from doing anything and everything you’ve wanted to for the last four years, so when you go to college, you’ve got to separate yourself from this place.” I pointed to him. “You’re allowed to do this.”

text:

Maybe I was just being strange. Lonan was my best friend. It didn’t help that there was a little bit of him in everything – the tide pools, the echo of shells, my broken camera.

Soon, we stood in the center of the field. A breeze whispered through the cattails, fanning against our knees. Ellis loped behind me as I stepped in and out of tire tracks under the cloudless sun. She wasn’t much different than Jude. Her footsteps crunched excitedly behind mine, excited at the prospect of an unprecedented adventure. I’d missed those.

Lonan said he didn’t like to walk in fields because the wind tricked him into thinking that someone was behind him. Every brisk of his heel was a trick of the mind. Sometimes I felt the same way, like I might be haunted.

text:

The ageless water begged me closer, frizzed my hair and swathed my arms in a sweet, familiar scent. I remembered galloping down to the shore with a childhood friend in one May. Soft piano accompanied croaky lyrics from someone’s radio when we fell chest-first into the water. Static erupted in my head. There had been nothing new for me in Point Blink for so long that I’d forgotten what it was like to float. Grass turned into pebbles, and I heard Ellis’ footsteps soften to the beat of the sand. Our eyes crumbled the shells that walled the long expanse of dark sand where waves rolled in. We leaned over like two swans, crunching shells beneath our feet, displaying shells to one another, naming the ones we recognized, and when I looked out at the horizon, I saw blue.

Red plastic cups, cigarettes, and even some broken glass stuck out through the sand as we made our way further down the shoreline, as if someone had thrown a party. My brow furrowed. Maybe this part of the beach wasn’t so abandoned after all.

Between the spit of the waves and dry sand lay some sort of book. Sand trickled out of the pages and onto my shoes when I swept it out of line of an oncoming wave. Ellis was beside me in moments. Shells tolled under her shoes.

*Warning for mention of blood (fake blood and fake knife!!) this takes place on Halloween haha*

text:

Jude held the container in her palm, kneeled down so we were shoulder to shoulder. Her eyes fixed on the knife in my neck, mine on her hands, then her focused expression. Her fingers tipped my chin up, cold on my skin. I tried not to move. Suddenly, I wasn’t thinking about Dad, or Raven, or Lonan. I only let Jude in – this girl who had come out of nowhere and wrecked me, saved me. And she didn’t know any of that. I didn’t owe anything to her, but I needed her. She kept us afloat when I couldn’t even keep myself above water. Her fingers painted blood over the center of my throat, our breath quiet on each other’s cheeks. She held my shoulder as she set back.

“Absolutely feral,” she said.

text:

“Point Blink is all I have. It’s where I am, what I am.” My throat was tight. “It’s all I’ve known. I am happy with my life. And I’m sorry, but I’m not willing to throw all of that away so we can dig up answers. I want to stay.”

Jude sat there for a moment. I think Florian and Ellis had turned to look at us, because when we went silent, I could no longer heat their hushed whispers, only the sound of water as it rose and rose and rose. I wondered if it would rain.

Jude sat up on her hands, then her knees, then she stood over me.

“Is that what you honestly believe?”

Tears bubbled in her eyes. Blood streaked down her cheeks. I’d been so focused on not crying, I had missed when she started to.

“Point Blink is just the same as anywhere,” she said. The words sat somewhere above her inside her chest, weak and frail, as though they’d been realized a long time ago.

I’d stared into her eyes until they disappeared. She grabbed onto a branch above her and quietly swung herself around a corner. Her footsteps echoed until they dissolved into waves and birds and frogs and left me in the dark.

#10

*Warning for strong language!*

text:

“Why didn’t you tell me how you’d been feeling?” he asked after a few moments of silence. It was beginning to stretch uncomfortably.

“I know I don’t deserve to know,” he added, “but you’ve always put me first.”

I picked at the wood that peeled from the fence.

“I just want you to be okay,” Lonan croaked. “Please tell me what to do.”

Even when we were together, we still worried about each other. It wasn’t always that way. Maybe that was my fault. I didn’t want to think about it.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I mumbled into the crisp, red air. “To be fair, I didn’t know it like I know now for a long time. I think sometimes I got the same way as a kid. Now I have a name for it, and I still don’t know if it feels right.” I sighed. “I guess… I guess I just thought that was how things were supposed to be. I thought I was only the humming low and the high.”

“Of course that’s not how you’re fucking supposed to be.”

I coughed on a laugh, wiped away a new set of tears. On the rare occasion that Lonan did swear, he sounded much like he was doing it for the first time.

I hadn’t fully realized what I’d said before Lonan’s hand was around my arm. He pulled me close to his chest. I felt smaller than him; warm and safe. I exhaled and sunk into him, didn’t allow anything else in. I’d almost forgotten what that felt like.

“You’re funny and smart and better than a lot of people.”

And... that wraps up all of my excerpts for the time being! I really enjoyed writing the last four chapters of this book. Of course they aren’t perfect. A lot of the book needs improvement. There are entire characters who are flat and plot lines I just forgot about! Come October, I plan to get back into my edits/rewrite the story.

Really quick before I finish writing this:

I just wanted to thank everyone who read about my story and showed genuine interest in the characters. Had I not received all of this love from people in real life and online, I might never have finished this draft at all. When I started this story, my mental health was really quite bad. (I’m doing a whole lot better these days!!) I guess you could say the idea started as more of a journal entry. All of these characters are like little parts of me coming together to help the main character, and I think there’s something really special about that.

Thank you so much! Good luck on all your creative endeavors! It pays off in the end, I promise :)

tag list (ask to be +/-); @wannabeauthorzofija @a-completely-normal-writer @baguettethebooklover @corkytheguar @writeherewaiting @cryptid-s-wips @kingsinking @author-a-holmes

#my little note at the end says it all haha #thank you so so much for reading!#I still can't believe I finished this book on five hours of sleep

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meruz · 3 years

Note

Hey I can't find this in your FAQ so sorry if it's been asked before! Your traditional art is so stunning and vibrant, would you happen to have any brand recommendations for people trying to get into painting? Maybe specific gouche paint, brushes, papers etc. Thank you so much and have a nice day!

no one has ever asked me this before because this is like the first time ive started putting traditional art on my blog! LOL umm to be honest I’m very far from pro on this front, most of my knowledge comes from a handful of classes I didn’t pay a lot of attention to and lots of youtube videos but here’s my recommendations:

Paint

A lot of my paints are winsor newton designer’s gouache because this is what my teachers made me buy when I was a freshman at art school LOL. it’s definitely kind of pricey, I think it’s like $10.99 for a tube which I was NOT a fan of as a college student and is still not my favorite thing now. But they’re overall worth the price if you really want solid, high quality opaque paints. Though I’ve heard their student grade winton paints are decent as well?

I’ve heard less good things about brands like reeves and artist loft... but I think turner is alright? m.graham is supposedly great.

I also bought a set of holbein acryla gouache when it was discounted on amazon a while ago and have found it very solid. One thing you have to know about acryla gouache is that it uses a binder more like acrylic paint (hence the name acryla). Paints are made out of pigment + binder and most gouache is essentially watercolor but with extra pigment/chalk to make it opaque - the binder is water soluble so these paints can be reactivated with water. Acryla gouache is NOT water soluble when dry and it dries pretty fast so it’s overall less flexible. But other than that you can pretty much treat it like any other gouache and I find they keep a little better too, less likely to get gunky or stiff.

All paint brands have a handful of starter packs which are slightly discounted but if you want to build your own starting palette I’d say get a warm and cool tint of all the primaries, get a lot of white (working with gouache somehow involves a lot of mixing with white lol), and get a brown, maybe like burnt sienna or raw umber for underpaintings. No need to get a black, mixing darks builds character, looks better, and having one out of the tube can become a crutch. If you find a white watercolor paint tube that’s cheaper you can buy that instead of a gouache white. Again, they have pretty much the same make-up. And white paints are generally opaque enough that the composition between gouache/watercolor shouldn’t matter too much.

I’ve never used a block tray of gouache. Like those paints that come in little blocks in a tray? I know there's a bunch out there but I’ve never used them and I don’t know anyone else who does so I have no opinion on them.

Brushes

I’ve been kind of exploring this myself. I recently bought a cheap set of flat brushes off amazon LOL and I like them a lot?

Theyre probably not The Best or anything but I found flat brushes suit gouache plein air painting really well because its suits the kind of color blocking shapes I want to make. Also these had the right handle length to fit in my painting bag. That’s like the main reason I chose them tbh.

Honestly a lot of my art supplies philosophy is “give it a whirl with whatever you have lying around and when it feels like you're missing something specific keep an eye out for when that stuff goes on sale”

Paper

GOTTA BE HONEST I’m using cheapo paper. Because I’m making these paintings half for study and half to give my parents something to hang in the living room.

You can actually see some of them curling in on themselves here lol. If you’ve seen the sketchbook I’m holding in any of my pics of paintings it’s one of the canson mixed media books.

and its FINE... I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it lol.. I like that the texture is very fine but it doesn’t hold a lot of water and definitely distorts. Also I keep ripping off the surface with painters tape but that might just be on me. Oh buy artist tape. Just because its so satisfying to have clean edges.

I’m using painters tape instead of artist tape because I found it in the basement but if youre buying supplies buy artist tape because it’ll be kinder to your paper.

SPEAKING OF PAPER.

I guess anything heavyweight for watercolor/mixed media will be fine? some people like a lot of texture but if you’re painting small you might want to avoid it and pick hot press over cold press. Honestly I feel like a lot of this is going to depend on what your specific needs are.. how big do you want the paper to be.. do you want a sketchbook or would you rather carry around loose paper... etc. Maybe go to an art store and touch all their paper. I feel like its easier to understand sizes and texture when you’re seeing it physically.

When I go on a trip, I normally bring a softcover heavyweight stillman & birn sketchbook because I tend to obliterate metal spiral books in my bag LOL. Also I don’t rip any pages out of my travel sketchbooks so I don’t need perforation or anything. Also they go on sale a lot in the art store I go to haha. I havent used gouache extensively in it but it takes inkwash/maker pretty well.

On the higher end, I personally haven’t used it that much but my friends who do traditional illustration professionally swear by arches watercolor paper. It comes in lots of different sizes.

Whatever you use, if you really want it to lie flat you’re gonna want to soak and stretch it on a board but I don’t bother with that because I am lazy.

Palette

You didn’t ask about palette but I’m taking the opportunity to be a shill because I personally use a sta-wet palette and I LOVE it.

One of the biggest frustrations about gouache for me was how quickly it dries after it leaves the tube. And even if you can reawaken it with water its not quite the same? and consistency is SO important when it comes to applying gouache so I don’t want to be over-watering my paint.. ugh. Anyways, I don’t have to worry about that with the sta-wet palette and really its been a game changer for me. sta-wet is a brand name but there are a bunch of other wet palettes not by masterson that I’m sure are just as good. I mean, it’s just a box with a sponge basically, that can’t be hard to replicate.

The only thing - and I personally have not had this issue but I have friends who have - is that if you leave it wet for too long it could grow mold? or a mouldy smell? Just wash your palette with soap and don’t leave it for weeks on end and it should be fine.

If you’re not feeling a palette that’s always moist, the best palette I used in school was a simple glass palette. you can buy one I guess but it’s so easy to DIY, I think the way we did it in school is getting a piece of glass and mdf from the hardware store cut the same size and then duct taped them together on the sides so it wouldn’t be sharp.

costs like nothing.

what else...get a palette knife if you like to mix paints? and like to save paints... mixing with the brush means you lose paint in your brush in the mixing process so a knife is a good way to maximize that process. I don’t use it much but sometime if I have to mix a lot of one color I’ll pull it out of my bag.

I don’t know anything about easels, I sit on the dirty ground like a gremlin when I paint.

Ok yeah that’s all the supplies tips I have. hope some of it was helpful! always try to save money with art supplies, I think. Especially if you’re just starting out - it’s less stressful to use cheap supplies too lol. Good luck! Happy painting!

#Anonymous #traditional art #gouache #one day ill work out a proper way to tag this

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gaylotusthatexists · 4 years

Text

escaped

fandom: sanders sides

pairings: platonic analogical and moxiety, background logicality

prompt: trust issues

trigger warnings: injury mention, nightmares, panic attack, let me know if i need to add anything else

word count: 3310

a/n: this was requested by @skelevale and written for the @badthingshappenbingo! this was fun for me to write haha so thank u for the request, i hope that y’all enjoy ^^

ao3

Virgil spread out his wings and took flight, leaving the cave he'd used for shelter last night. What he hadn't expected to happen was for him to immediately tumble down the side of the mountain, hit several trees on the way down, and land on the hard floor, his entire body beginning to ache. That was weird - he'd been flying just fine the day before, what had-

Oh, shit. His eyes widened as he saw the state his wings were in. Feathers missing, a huge tear down one side, some feathers a little burnt around the edges. He supposed it was to be expected, after the trouble he had gotten into the day before, those army men trying to shoot him out of the sky. He just hadn't realised how bad it had been, hadn't had much time to check over before he collapsed and fell asleep.

He needed help, someone to fix this. But it wasn't as if he could easily find help. Unlike most injured people, he couldn't just walk into A&E, or go into a shop to buy bandages. No, no, that would only get him killed sooner. He needed to get out of this forest, find someplace safer. He knew there was a town on the other side of the forest, one that he'd seen a few times in the air, but he wasn't sure how accepting that place was. And he couldn't go back to where he came from, couldn't risk it.

He tried to fly again, but only managed to hover in the air for a few seconds before collapsing again, hitting his head on a rock below and very nearly screaming out in pain. He kept it in, though - he was well practised in the art of staying silent, even when he wanted nothing more than to shout out to the world. He rubbed the back of his head as he sat back up, and noticed blood staining his hand once he drew away. Well - that wasn't good.

His only hope was walking until he found some sort of safe place. Perhaps that town would be friendly - if it was, he'd be able to get some supplies and patch himself up, or even find someone to help him. The chances were low, but... it was worth a shot. He stood up and began to walk through the forest, his wings curling around his body as a sort of defence. A weak defence, really, considering about battered they were.

The town would have only been a fifteen minute fly away, but on foot he had no idea. He wasn't the fastest of walkers, not used to using his legs unless he absolutely had to. But perhaps fear could fuel him, the knowledge that there were people out to get him, and that if he didn't move quickly he could get caught.

His stomach rumbled and he instinctively wrapped his arms around his waist, eyes falling down to the floor. For a moment, he felt dizzy, his vision blurring, before he took a deep breath and continued moving forward, perhaps a little slower than before. When was the last time he'd eaten? Days seemed to blur together when he'd been on the run for so long, and it was difficult to find food in the wild that wouldn't kill him. There had been that kind couple he met near the last village, who'd given him some supplies before telling him to run. He'd been so, so grateful for that, but he'd ran out of that food a while ago, and it must have been almost a month since he'd been at the village.

Okay, okay. Just... a little rest. He moved over to the side of the path and sat down at the base of a tree, taking off his bag and taking in several deep breaths, holding his head in his hands. The pain was beginning to catch up with him, his dead wings weighing down on him. He took his bottle out of his bag and had a large gulp of water, which helped just a little.

Was it already nighttime? Looking up, he noticed the sky beginning to darken, the setting sun casting an orange glow over the forest. Perhaps he'd just woken up late - thinking about it, he had been pretty exhausted. Maybe a little nap now wouldn't hurt. He hadn't spotted anyone else on his travels, and those army men had their base on the other side of the forest. He curled up in his spot, closing his eyes for just a second, and was immediately swept into his dreams.

Bound in chains and drenched in sweat. People called his name - no, a number, he needed to remind himself that his name was Virgil, not whatever they called him. People called a number and he had to follow, knowing exactly what was about to happen, and knowing there was no way he could stop it.

It was always a blur, but he could remember the pain, as his feathers were stripped away and he cried and cried, trying to ignore the blood and his own screams. They ignored it, too, so why couldn't he?

And then darkness, thrown against the cold, hard floor, bound in chains again. A small room, enclosed, hardly enough space to stand, definitely not enough space to move. Not that he would be able to move anyway. And he' d cry, all the time. There was nothing much else to do.

A whisper, echoing through the dark, calling him, death beckoning closer, the alarm sounding, his head racing, blood dripping down his arms, and no one coming to save him.

Virgil woke up, trying to catch his breath, and wondering why there were tears falling down his cheeks. He didn't want this, didn't want to think about everything that had happened. He remembered what it was like, and knew he'd never go back, couldn't go back. He'd escaped now, he was free, he was...

A sound, further in the forest. A twig, snapping, and someone moving suddenly, hiding behind a tree. Virgil could hear them breathing, could hear them shuffling in place. They thought they were doing a good job of hiding, but Virgil could see their body behind the tree, their shadow on the ground. He wiped away his tears and tried his best to remain calm.

"Who's there?" he spoke out, cringing at how quiet and hoarse his voice was. It had been a while since he'd used his voice.

There was no response.

Virgil tried again. "I'm not afraid of you." Lie. "Just show yourself." Please don't. Please just leave.

The person behind the tree moved, slowly spinning around and facing Virgil with his hands in the air. He looked... friendly. Not wearing the uniform of anyone who would try to hurt Virgil, at least, unless he was in disguise, or just a general asshole. No, no, he just looked like a normal person, jeans and a shirt, glasses, a blue tie. And a knife, strapped around his belt. Virgil kept his eyes fixed on the knife, trying to control his fear.

The man slowly reached down for his knife and Virgil stiffened. But then, he threw the knife away, a few feet further along the path, and lowered his body so he was eye level with Virgil. "Are you okay?" he asked, softly, with genuine concern.

Virgil just stared at him, unsure what to make of him. He... didn't look like a threat, but he did have that knife, and there was no indication that he didn't have any more weapons. "Who do you work for?" he ended up asking, trying to stay as far away from him as possible until he knew he'd be able to trust him.

"I'm self-employed," the man replied. "I'm a scientist, conducting research in these woods."

Virgil's shoulders stiffened again at that. Scientists. He'd never met a scientist on his side before. He- He didn't want things to go back to the way they were, he-

"Don't worry," the man continued, "I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help."

Virgil looked him up and down, trying to figure out if he was okay. He... wasn't displaying any signs of aggression, so...

"You're injured," the man stated. "I can help you. My husband is a doctor, I could take you to see him."

A doctor. Virgil hadn't had many good experiences with them either.

"Please, I just want to help. Are you- Are you with anyone else?"

Virgil shook his head.

"No, family? Friends?"

"I'm completely alone."

"You're... a child, though."

He wasn't a child. "I'm seventeen."

"That's still a child."

Virgil didn't reply. He wanted to run, get far, far away, but was afraid the man might try something to get him to stay. It was probably better to just comply, assess the situation as he went, and escape when he had an open opportunity.

"My name's Logan," the man introduced. "Can I ask what yours is?"

He stayed silent.

"Okay, that's fine." Logan rose up, standing tall and offering a hand. "Let me take you back to my house. My husband will be able to help you there."

Virgil stared at Logan's hand for a moment, before standing up himself, not needing Logan's help. He grabbed his bag and began to follow Logan through the forest, silently. At least he was going willingly at that moment, it wasn't as if Logan was forcing him. Perhaps that was a good sign. Or maybe Logan was just trying to build up a false sense of security.

Virgil's eyes followed the knife on the ground as they walked, waiting for Logan to retrieve it. He didn't, instead abandoning it on the forest floor. And when he looked back up at Logan, he was smiling, giving him a comforting look. This- This seemed okay. Logan wasn't trying to hurt him, not like everyone else did. His wings curled around his body again, shielding himself as he walked. He kept his eyes fixed on Logan.

"So," Logan said, after fifteen minutes or so of silence, "what are you doing in this forest?"

Virgil's eyes fell to the floor. "Couldn't fly. Got stuck."

"Ah. Where exactly were you heading before?"

Virgil shrugged.

"You... don't know?"

"Just away."

"Are you running from someone?"

"Do you have to ask so many questions?" Virgil snapped.

Logan seemed taken aback. "Sorry. I'm just curious. We don't really see a lot of winged teens wandering the forest."

"Yeah, well-" He shoved his hands in his pocket. "-it's not like I'm here by choice."

"Is there somewhere else you'd rather be?" After Virgil didn't respond, Logan added, "Surely you must have a home somewhere. Family, or something."

Virgil shook his head. "Nope. Like I said, I'm all alone." He kicked a rock on the ground, watching it bounce along the path.

Logan was quiet for a while longer, before he glanced over at Virgil again. "Are you hungry?"

"No." As if on cue, his stomach growled again. "Yes."

"Here." Logan handed him a small cereal bar, with writing he didn't understand on the wrapper. "It's not much, but it will keep you going."

Virgil twisted it around in his fingers, examining it to see if there was anything wrong, before opening it and taking a small bite. It wasn't the best thing he'd ever eaten, but didn't taste like it was poisoned either, and he hadn't eaten in a while so it was... welcome. He ate the whole thing in a matter of seconds, feeling just a little bit better. "Thank you."

"It's quite alright, uh-"

"Virgil."

"Virgil." Logan smiled. The tips of Virgil's mouth tilted up slightly, before he plastered on a frown again. He shoved his hands back in his pockets, fiddling with the empty wrapper as he walked.

Eventually, Logan came to a stop, by a small cottage in the middle of the forest, cosy and warm, the smell of pie drifting out the open window. Virgil swallowed, trying his best to force his stomach not to growl, as he didn't want to seem ungrateful for the food Logan had already given him. Virgil followed Logan into the house, scrunching up his wings to fit through the doorway.

"Patton!" Logan called, stepping further into the house, as Virgil loitered closer to the entrance, surveying his surroundings. The house looked nice enough, nothing like the place he'd previously 'lived' in. Pictures of Logan and an unfamiliar man were hung on the walls, and flowers were dotted around the rooms in little pots, adding a dash of colour. It looked nice, but Virgil still refused to lower his guard.

A man came out of the kitchen, eyes widening as he spotted Virgil. He looked to be kind enough as well, with curly hair and a round, freckle-dotted face, wearing a blue t-shirt tucked into a flowing skirt. Upon realising Virgil's condition, he rushed over, eyes immediately filled with sympathy.

"What happened?" the man - Patton, Virgil presumed - asked, as he looked around Virgil's body, getting way to close for comfort. Virgil couldn't help but move back, folding his arms and wings around his body protectively.

"This is Virgil," Logan introduced. "Found him in the forest."

"Oh, you poor kiddo." Patton stepped back, looking Virgil up and down. "C'mon, let's get you patched up." He moved further into the house and, after glancing at Logan and receiving a comforting nod, Virgil followed.

The three of them moved into the kitchen, and the smell of the pie from earlier only got more intense. Virgil tried his best not to stare at it as he sat down at the table at Patton's command. Patton got down on his knees and began to clean up some of Virgil's wounds, dapping a wet cloth on some of the cuts. It stung, just a little, and Virgil wasn't quite sure what to do, wasn't sure if he could trust Patton, but he sat there anyway, not able to think of an easy escape.

"What happened?" Patton asked, as he began to wrap some bandages around Virgil.

Virgil closed his eyes. "I don't- I don't want to talk about it."

Patton looked concerned, but didn't dig any further, which filled Virgil with relief. He continued to patch Virgil up until all the cuts had been wrapped in a bandage or given a plaster, before he moved around to his back and looked at his wings. Virgil turned his head and body slightly so he was still facing Patton, still trying his best to maintain a calm composure. When Patton touched his wings, Virgil couldn't help but flinch, move his wings back, stiffen his shoulders.

"Sorry!" Patton immediately apologised, now looking a little panicked. "Did that hurt?"

It hadn't hurt, not really, but...

"Is it okay if I touch them?" Patton asked, after Virgil's silence. "I just need to figure out the best way to fix them, but I can do it without touching if you'd prefer."

Virgil relaxed a little at that. "Don't. Please."

Patton nodded. "Okay." There was an extended period of silence as Patton moved around Virgil, humming every now and then. Virgil looked over at Logan across the room, who was looking at them with a curious expression. Virgil didn't know what to make of that, but everything in his mind screamed danger. He knew that was... unlikely, Logan had only been kind to him so far, but...

"Virgil, can I ask you a question?" Logan asked, breaking the silence.

Virgil blinked. "Uh..."

"How long have you been out here alone?"

Virgil's leg bounced up and down. "I- I don't know. Few months? Half a year?"

"Interesting. It's just-" Logan paused, considering Virgil for a second, before continuing anyway. "-I know someone, another scientist, who works in a... rehabilitation centre for people such as yourself, and they were telling me about how someone escaped five or so months ago, someone who... fits your description pretty well."

Virgil's whole body tensed up at that, his eyes widening in fear. Fuck. What if- What if Logan was that kind of scientist? What if he was going to hurt Virgil? What if he was going to send him back?

"R-Rehabilitation?" Virgil repeated, in hopes that maybe it was a different place. Wherever he had been stuck certainly wasn't to 'rehabilitate' him.

"Well, that's how they described it," Logan said. "I don't know the specifics of what they do. It's across the country, anyway, at least a few cities over. They seemed pretty concerned, though. Everyone is still looking for you - or, well, for whoever went missing."

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Virgil could feel the panic building up inside him, his heart beginning to race, vision blurring as he stood up, moving away from the couple. It was getting harder and harder to breathe, and Virgil just- He- "I need some air," he let out, quietly, before rushing back towards the door, our into the forest. Logan and Patton followed him - of fucking course they did, why wouldn't they, they're trying to kidnap me, send me back there, fuck - but halted in the doorway, as Virgil took off, shooting into the air. He cringed at the pain soaring up his back as he tried to move his wings, feathers falling to the ground and Virgil losing his balance very quickly. He fell back down to the floor, trying not to cry upon impact, and curled up into a ball, wrapping his wings around himself protectively, wishing that he could just disappear, or that Logan and Patton would just leave him alone, or that-

"Virgil," a voice said next to him, "breathe with me, okay?"

Virgil peeked one eye open, noticing Logan close to him, counting on his fingers. For a while, Virgil just stared at him, vision slowly turning darker and darker, until he began to attempt to copy Logan's rhythm, breathing in and out, in and out, until he was calm again, until the world made an ounce more of sense. As Virgil slowly uncurled himself, still staying on the floor but sitting up and staring down at the dirt, Logan moved away.

"Are you alright, Virgil?" Logan eventually asked, crouching down so he was eye level with him. Virgil still refused to look Logan in the eye.

"No," Virgil admitted, wrapping his arms around his waist and hunching his shoulders.

"Are- Is it you? The one who ran away?"

Virgil's silence confirmed the answer as yes.

"And you... don't want to go back?" Logan guessed.

Virgil nodded.

"Did- Did they hurt you?"

Virgil was still for a moment, before he eventually nodded again. Logan reached out a hand towards Virgil, but Virgil just shuffled back, afraid. "Please- Please don't send me back there."

"I promise that we won't send you back," Logan said. "We can keep you safe here, okay? You can trust us."

Virgil gulped. "H-How?"

Logan blinked. "I... know it may be difficult to believe, or that you may find it hard to trust us after everything you've been through, but Patton and I are... good people. Or, we're trying to be. We won't hurt you, we promise. We just want to help. And- And if you want it, you can have a home here, okay?"

Virgil looked at Logan for a while, trying to blink away his tears. He had to admit that Logan had been nothing but kind to him, and... and if seemed safe, here.

"You can leave at any time, of course," Logan added. "Or leave now. Really, it's up to you. I just need to you know that the option is there."

After a while of consideration, Virgil slowly nodded. "Okay. Okay. Th-Thank you."

Logan smiled. "We have that pie inside to eat if you're still hungry."

Virgil's eyes lit up.

#bad things happen bingo #trust issues #thomas sanders #sanders sides #virgil sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #winged!virgil #tw injury mention #tw panic attack #tw nightmares #my fanfic #my writing

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oveliagirlhaditright · 3 years

Text

I’m starting to feel like I might be a better vidder than I am a writer--though I’ve always debated with myself about that--and now I’m wondering if I should have tried to go into that instead. But again: it’s always a question I end up asking myself. And there’s probably no real answer to it. If I’d chosen to do that more, I’d probably be questioning the same thing about my writing.

But since I am feeling that way lately--and am a little burnt out on writing--I feel like I’m maybe vidding more than writing, oddly enough (when usually it’s the other way)? Or I’m at least posting more of my videos than I am my stories. But I’m also a bit sad, because my videos get less views than my writing (and not that I get that much for my writing, but I’m not complaining). But it’s my own fault for deleting my old YouTube account, where I actually had a lot of subscribers and stuff (mainly back from my high school days, when I vidded a lot, before technology decided to hate me). So I’ll just have to try and build myself up again, I guess.

And I have five subscribers, and I’ll take that for now. Especially since I don’t know who any of those people are, but I thank them for subscribing to me--and when I know amvs are less popular now--and since most of the videos on my channel are my old not so good ones, but I’m trying to make more exceptional ones every month.

...I feel like the moral of the story, is I just like to tell stories (in the written format or the visual one). I feel like in some perfect world, I’d actually be a script writer (but man, do I need to learn how to write scripts if that ever happens, as novels are my bread and butter) and then edit whatever was made from my script. Haha.

Edit: But I also know that I’m rusty when it comes to vidding. But in other ways, I know I’m better than.I used to be. But I know it might be I’m actually a better writer because I can see the flaws in my work... and a less good vidder, since right now I think every thing is hunky-dory in my edits. Because usually when you start a new art, and have a knack for it, you think everything you do is great... until you learn about the craft more, and realize how you could improve and have more finesse or whatever.

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let-me-make-you-proud · 5 years

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Tangled: The Series Q&A with Kait.

This is a recapitulation from today’s (September 14, 2019) Questions and Answers session with Kait on the Tangled Discord Server.

Q: Which Disney princesses outside of Tangled the series can you see Varian being friends with? Nonfranchise ones included.

A: I think Belle is the first one who comes to mind!! She’s super studious and goes against the grain…not to mention her father is an inventor who’s a little off-base! 🙂 I think he’d be super comfortable experimenting with Belle and her dad and reading awesome stories! (Maybe even sharing the Tales of Flynn Rider with her! …Assuming she hasn’t read it! Haha. ) He could also eat ham sandwiches with Anna. Sorry. Second thought. Lol!!

Q: So Kait, as a storyboard artist on the show what kind of little details, quirks or creative touches did you or any other artists put into Varian scenes you or others storyboarded?

A: Ha!! Any acting scene with Varian I had…I pretty much based off of Anna Lencioni (my best friend/ another board artist on the show.) Anna makes these very specific expressions and she gestures to herself a lot and closes her eyes and creases her brows and says things like “A-huh! Actually…” or “Um!!” Before making a point and it’s always reminded me of him.

She kept a “flynnolium” prop from Halloween with green goo in a vial in her cubicle at work so long it grew mold. She said she was studying it. She found scrap metal in her boot one day. She has a basement lab for her experiments and crafts. She befriended two raccoons at her last apartment. She is the most accident-prone person with freckles I’ve ever met…she’s pretty much him.

Jeremy Jordan’s reads give you so much to work with…and I love that character so much I feel a natural sort of understanding of how he might say something or do something…but Anna would always do these specifically Anna things that I had to use for Varian.

Q: Do you have any specific advice for aspiring storyboard artists or people who aspire to work in animation?

A: Gestural drawings help you learn to draw fast…which is a very important part of storyboarding. I would say storyboarding‘ s biggest requirements are clarity and speed. Lots of productions have different requirements in terms of what they look for from story artists. Tangled‘s leadership cared a lot about drawing skill, animation, layout, etc. because it more strongly informed the animation studio to have those things. The show I’m working on now (Monsters at Work) is a 3D show…so for our production, the emphasis is more on story and speed. We pitch ideas more than we pitch drawings…so clarity is important and acting is too, but we’re far less precious about tying down drawings and animating since we shift into the 3D production pipeline after story. The boards are still very important…but the more technical aspects are a *little* less so. The focus is just more on story and character and what the board artists can bring to their scenes.

So I’d say just practice drawing…maybe try and give someone a prompt or ask a friend for one. Choose a theme! Maybe vampires? What’s the worst thing that could happen to a vampire? What’s the best thing? What’s the funniest thing? What if they were also an alien? Or fused with a werewolf? Or chained to one? What would happen? Giving yourself a starting point for an idea will inspire you to explore all the possibilities for humor, drama, etc. in that idea. If you’re struggling to give yourself a prompt, try looking online…or maybe choosing a song you like or a passage from a book for inspiration.

There’s also this really fun thing you can do to study cinematography and shot composition called a “three tone” exercise. Basically…put on your favorite (live action) film, grab a sketchbook, grab a black and grey marker, and use the white of the page for your third tone. What you wanna do is (as you’re watching or while pausing) sketch a small thumbnail using only three grey tones of what you see on the screen. Draw the shot- where the characters are, try and duplicate the lighting…it teaches you a lot! 🙂 (Phew!)

Q: Do you have any fun non-spoiler head canons about Varian?

A: I think his favorite dessert is apple pie and I think he bakes recreationally very often! He’s probably a good cook. (Though he may have one or two minor accidents……a burnt thing here and there. Minor oil splatters….haha!!)

Q: What’ve been your favorite episodes, both to storyboard and in general? Of course, no specifics if it’s S3

A: Haha! Well…What The Hair and Queen for A Day have special places in my heart because they were such big moments for my favorite character…(Varian, haha.) But I’d say the episodes I had the most fun boarding are all in season 3!!! Which is exciting! I have to start compiling some work to post! 🙂 I think the episode I had the most fun with is one you guys will really enjoy.

Q: Will we get some interesting surprises (In Season 3)?

A: Without any spoilers- absolutely!! The show is always full of those.

Q: So We’ve heard many fans express why they love Varian as a charcter before, I’d love to know what drew you and Anna to Varian as well and why you guys personally found him to be a great character.

A: When Shane Prigmore originally pitched the character to me, he was much younger. He was like 11 or so, I think? Maybe 12? He’s still pretty young…but what Shane said was that he wanted him to go from this wide-eyed kid to this dark, angry person whose bangs fell over those wide, bright eyes…just full of rage. That idea was super interesting to me…it just hit on something in character development that I felt like I’d never exactly seen before? He was so young and it was such an interesting idea to me to make a child the villain and to give that child a strong reason to be angry? It felt like it was taking this child very seriously, which I appreciate. It felt very real and very dark.

The thing that threw me through a loop but also evolved my fascination with the character was Jeremy Jordan’s casting. I listened to a lot of the auditions they had for various actors and I had seen a ton of Shane’s concept art of the character…a lot of them were VERY different than what we have now. One version Ricky Roxburgh (writer) contributed to had Varian cast as an adult in the story. But when I heard Jeremy I felt like I totally understood who Varian really was.

He was a well-intentioned disaster with unchecked emotions. That. Is me! Haha!! I see myself in his imperfections, his emotionality in spite of his creative and often intellectual thinking. He wants to ascend to these levels he may not be ready to ascend to…he feels this need to prove himself and seek validation. I don’t know, I guess I relate to that! And I’m just a sucker for good guys gone bad. The other half of this, of course, is that he’s very charming and cute and super reminds me of my best friend, Anna Lencioni.

Q: Which character do you most like seeing interacting with Varian?

A: It’s a little spoilery for me to reveal that……..but I think you guys are gonna know when it happens! Haha!

I can’t wait to post THOSE boards

That’s actually right out of the episode I think I liked boarding the most, haha.

Q: If there was one prop (furniture, object, the like) from the Tangled series that could be made real and you could keep, what would it be..?

A: I think it’d have to be those little alchemy orbs that Varian throws? They just suddenly clean the whole castle hallway somehow and like…could use me some of that. He also has the one that removes stains from tablecloths, so. I’m sloppy. That’d be a big help. Haha!

Also his staff is pretty cool 😉, I boarded/created that staff…David Lee (prop designer) did its final design…haha

Q: I have a question about a scene in season 1. When Varian got back the first part of the scroll he mentioned that it took him a while to translate it. Has he really been able to read it or has it been a bluff?

A: Varian can indeed translate what’s on the scroll. 😉

Q: Do you have any networking advice for those trying to get into the animation industry?

A: Post your work!! Make it easily accessible, tag it well, just show what you’ve got online! Upload boards, animatics, drawings, etc. Creating an online presence can really help put your name out there. Apply for internships, jobs. I know it’s hard to network because a lot of industry professionals don’t have time to answer specific questions or give portfolio reviews…so it’s sort of important to take some initiative on that and be self-motivated.

For me, I studied the portfolios of Disney feature story artists, CalArts students, etc. and tried to structure the presentation of my work based on that. Also, it helped me get a sense of what pieces of work would best showcase where I was trying to go and what I was trying to do. I’d ask yourself those questions as you develop a portfolio and artistic voice online! 🙂

My first feature job after a trainee program in New York at Blue Sky happened because Doug Sweetland (Pixar animator, feature director, awesome dude) found my work online and liked it. He just reached out based on that!

Shane Prigmore actually reached out to me for Tangled similarly.

Q: Besides Varian, do you have a favorite character that you’ve boarded?

A: I always love Eugene. He’s the second character I think I’m most like. His acting was really fun to play with and I felt like I could push his expressions a lot because he’s so funny. I loved boarding Lance too (I boarded a lot of Lance in S3!!) but MAN was he hard to draw, haha! His face shape is just really hard to draw at certain angles.

Q: With Varian cosplay that is going on, what Disney character would you like to see Varian dress up as next?

A: Jack Skellington! Halloween is afoot. Jack is another well-intentioned disaster. Guess I have a type!

Q: What’s Varian’s opinion on raccoons, are they his favourite animal?

A: I imagine it’s because Ruddiger is always finding interesting things in the trash and giving them to Varian to use in his experiments. Also, they’re fat and cute.

Q: There’s a bit of an argument going on over how many freckles Varian has. Can you confirm how many he has?

A: Ha!!! Yes…one second… 14!!

Q: How big do you think Corona is? Like Vatican City small or Arendelle big?

A: You know, with the wall and all, it actually feels a little on the smaller side to me? I’m sure there’s a little bit of discrepancy between the movie’s version of Corona and our version…but based on where we went within Corona on the show, I’d say it feels on the smaller side.

Q: Are there any non-spoiler Varian scenes or moments that didn’t make the cut that you can share?

A: MAN. Yes. There is one scene that changed after I rolled off the episode and I’m very sad about it. I’ll post it after the episode airs! There was also a line of Varian’s that I boarded to a specific read from Jeremy Jordan and that read was not chosen in editorial later so…I’ll post that one too, haha!

Q: What is your favourite song from the first two seasons so far?

A: All my favorite songs are in season threeeeee…hahahaha!! I think Let Me Make You Proud or the Buddy Song are my favorites. Buddy Song still gets stuck in my head now and then.

Q: What do you think Varian would order at a drive-thru? Specifically at chipotle 😂

A: Chipotle isn’t a drive thru!! Hahaha He’d get the kid’s quesadilla from chipotle. I think Varian is a fries/chips kind of person…something to snack on while he works! He probably also likes milkshakes.

Q: (Continuation from the question above) Chocolate or vanilla?

A: He’d revolutionize by combining them both. FOR SCIENCE!

Q: What is, in your opinion, the most challenging part of varian’s design to draw?

A: His goggles, hahaha. Or just his…hair in general.

Well it’s funny too because when you board these guys, you get used to doing a shorthand for them and then when you go to draw them FOR REAL you realize how complicated that actually is and how wrong your shorthand actually was? Hahahaha

Q: is Varian ticklish at all?

A: I feel like Varian, Eugene, and Lance are all equally ticklish. To the point of absurdity. Cass would fight it as long as she could…but when it finally got to her, she’d laugh uncontrollably. Rapunzel, she’s the TICKLER.

Q: What do you think Varian opinion and belief on magic is now that he’s seen it with his own eyes?

A: I imagine that he certainly believes in it now and no longer underestimates its powers…but I imagine he’s ultimately more comfortable staying in his own lane and working with worldly properties!

Q: If Varian would have been able to meet Demanitus…how would their conversation had looked like?

A: I feel like Varian would have had a TON of questions about his legendary device and whether or not he truly traveled dimensions.

Q: Did Varian have any other friends in old Corona before he met rapunzel?

A: Probably not many…he’s a bit of a hermit. I think Ruddiger is his best friend……. It’s sad but I also think that’s kind of why it hurt so bad when Rapunzel wasn’t able to help him. Also why he was SO excited to have Rapunzel, Cass, and Eugene come visit.

I think the village looked at Varian as a little unstable or worrisome. I’m sure everyone knew he was very nice…but they were likely very unnerved by his inventions.

Q: Do you think Varian ever tried to synthesise gold or the elixir of life like a real alchemist?

A: I’ve wondered that myself!! I think his alchemy has proven to be more about other people…helping others, making people proud. Maybe if someone he cared about was in need.

Q: If you were to meet Varian in real life, what would you say to him?

A: What elixir did you make to get THAT kind of volume? His hair’s so POOFY! Honestly, I’d probably just give him a hug.

Q: How much does Varian know or remember about his mom?

A: I’d say about as much as the photo of her on the wall.

Q: Is there spoiler about his hair streak? Or is it just by design?

A: It’s totally by design. I think it’s safe to assume it’s probably the result of some lab accident!

Q: In what ways is Jeremy Jordan like Varian?

A: I don’t know Jeremy Jordan personally, haha! But I think a lot of these inflections he adds to Varian sort of off the cuff probably come very naturally to him. I know he often wants to do his own pass at the musical arrangement Alan Menken writes…like he’ll want to do something a little different, in his own way, and it will change the song completely!! In an awesome way. That’s a little Varian-esque. In the “Let Me Make You Proud” reprise…Alan Menken had sung that “they are going to pay…they…will…pay” all in a low, downward tone. Jeremy wanted to scream it and make it powerful and angry and loud when he said “PAY” and you could just hear the spite in his voice for the “they will pay.” Genius!

Q: What was the most shocking moment/revelation of the series to you (minus anything season 3)?

A: It’s hard to say because I knew most of what was going to happen long, long ago. I think one of the things that made me go “oh dang!” was something Tom Canfield boarded. It’s that part in Destinies Collide where Lance slices the entire statue down the middle with a sword. What a BAMF!

Q: What were your thoughts on the early concept of Varian having an apple orchard and being a farm kid instead of a young alchemist?

A: He still kinda has those things! Quirin is a farmer as well as the village leader and there are apples on their little farm estate! 🙂 I think that makes Varian very unassuming as a mad little scientist. I’m sure that’s how (Ruddiger and Varian) met! Remember, he used his purple tacky goo stuff to catch raccoons so they wouldn’t eat the crops! And Ruddiger’s favorite snack is apples. 😉

Q: What is his official height and weight?

A: Smol.

Q: How did you guys come up with Varian’s name? And was there any other name suggestions for him before the name ‘Varian’ was chosen?

A: I’m not sure who came up with that name, actually! I’m sure it has something to do with the meaning of the word “variant” which means something that varies, changes in form.

Q: What’s his last name?

A: His last name!! I have NO idea and it bothers me!!! A Disney magazine referred to Varian, Ruddiger, and Quirin as “The Ruddiger Family” and I still haven’t stopped laughing about that.

Q: What sad Disney movie moments would make him cry?

A: Oof. Lion King.

Q: What musicals do think Varian would enjoy?

A: Little Shop of Horrors! I think he’d see himself in Seymour! Or Wicked…you know, that villain arc.

Q: How did Arianna and Fred meet?

A: I actually don’t know off the top of my head!

Q: Would Varian enjoy rollercoasters?

A: I think he’d enjoy how they’re MADE and then scream his head off while riding one, throw up his cotton candy and corndog, and go play carnival games instead. Then get mad that they’re rigged.

Q: So what comes next for you now that the series is almost over? Any big plans?

A: Well the series wrapped for production a while ago! I’ve been on another show for almost a year now! 🙂 I’m working on the new Disney+ show Monsters at Work as a director! It’s an awesome, awesome show…totally next-level…I’m shocked that I’m getting to be apart of something like this. It’s a direct sequel to the movie that serves as an office comedy (a la The Office, Parks and Rec) and has so many characters that fit immediately into the Monsters Inc world. Monsters Inc is my favorite Pixar movie…so I literally come to work and leave work on the same high! It’s an awesome, awesome show with a great crew! 🙂 It’s also just really exciting to be apart of the first original animated property for D+!

Q: How would you compare working as a director to working as a storyboard artist?

A: It’s hard work, just as hard, but in a different way! For me personally, I’m a little easily fatigued by drawing? I get a little creatively frustrated because my thoughts move quicker than my hand. Or because I don’t always feel like I can execute in a drawing what I’m thinking in the way that I want? Part of that is just being an artist…and it’s not ALL the time that I feel that way…but I think I have a certain stamina for drawing that I found challenging to increase.

Directing is just different! It has a lot more to do with managing a team, communication, coordinating, listening, speaking up, problem-solving, being very aware of story as it applies to ALL parts of a production. I don’t draw as often anymore. You have to consider a lot more…more people, more constraints, more difficulties, more opinions, more solutions…it’s just MORE. And you also still have to draw! 🙂 It’s very busy work, but it’s AMAZING and I love it. I feel like I’m contributing to animated storytelling a lot more in this role, actually. I love working with people, I love workshopping, and I love helping! I’m also just spoiled to be working with some great people right now. It’s a blast.

Q: Are any Tangled: The Series crew joining you on that show?

A: Yes!! Tom Caufield and Wendy Sullivan were on it for a minute, but they’ve both moved on to Dreamworks recently! James Suhr (board artist), Isabelle Gedigk (season 3 board artist), Naomi Hicks and Casey Coffey (revisionists), David Lee (props), Ricky Roxburgh (writer), and I are all working together again! It’s awesome.

Q: Does Varian, deep down, blame himself for the amber?

A: I believe he does.

Q: How do you deal with artist’s block?

A: I try to think about the intention behind what I’m doing. Why is the scene I’m working on very important to the story? If it feels unimportant or boring, how can I make it interesting? What can I do on my end to make it more inspiring or fun without going too far off the rails and still serving the scene’s purpose?

If it’s not work-related, I try and start with some fan art or something familiar for me to draw. I have a lot of scribbly Varians in the margins of a lot of my sketch documents. I use him as a warm-up a lot. It helps build my confidence to draw something familiar/ that I think I can draw pretty well.

Q: What’s the hardest scene you’ve ever had to board?

A: Oh God. ANYTHING with action. I’m not an action gal. Lots of stuff in S3. I was board partners with Wendy Sullivan and ended up getting a lot of action to board even though she’s WAY better at it than me!! It was an interesting challenge…but it was very, very challenging. Ben (Co-EP) was a great mentor to me in the scene I did for the mid season. He was very patient with me, despite my shortcomings as an action board artist, haha. I enjoy boarding for comedy much more.

Kait: Anyways, I should probably head off now! Thank you guys so much for all the questions!!!! You’re awesome! I hope you’re all super excited for S3! It’s a great one.

#tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #varian #Q&A #Tangled crew #Question & Answers #Kait #ruddiger #Rapunzel #Eugene #Lance #Cassandra

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seasaltcosmos · 4 years

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HOO BOI

HERE WE GO

2 weeks off of tumblr can do you a whole lot of good lemme tell you what peeps

i’m gonna update everyone on my mental state now, because a lot of things happened since i announced my break way back at the start of october:

i was in a mental dark place when i made that post, so REALLY i shouldn’t have been on tumblr- or hell even twitter- at all ._. seasonal depression kicks my ass every year, not to mention i was pms-ing at the time of that post- which just AMPS up my mental problems every month. FUN. and being online just made that worse.

but regardless of that, i felt extremely burnt out at that time. (and still kinda do) i’m in the middle of a weird gap with my art where i’m trying to be happy with it but something just feels off. and i don’t know if it’s my anatomy, my character design. whatever. not to mention i started taking how much feedback my art gets to heart again, which admittedly is NOT a good mentality for me. maybe i could post again and fake a “haha the notes don’t matter” mindset till i make it, i’ve attempted that in the past, i’m just not sure how much it’ll work out. being an artist on the internet’s fuckin rough. one of the main reasons i took this break was to get a feel of what it’s like to draw for me again, to be shamelessly self-indulgent with my sketches and drawings, which has worked out pretty good. doesn’t fix the aforementioned gap, but hey, i’m getting somewhere at least.

a BIG positive for me during this break is that ya boi got meds for their anxiety!!! yep!! it only took what- years? but we got a new doctor who officially diagnosed my anxiety and depression and prescribed me some medication. they’ve been working great too. they don’t COMPLETELY change my brain but they definitely make it so i can function every day without finding a reason to freak out over little things.

i think thanks to that, i might be better with posting content now and not obsessively worrying over feedback. keyword being might, i don’t know. but i feel like i’m ready to attempt to post on this blog again. maybe not today, or tomorrow, but soon. i just wanted to update my followers and friends on here.

that covers just about everything i wanted to say soooo thanks for reading all the way through if you did qvq

#don't reblog

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voltronramblings · 4 years

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um this got like really really long lmao (feel free to just post like a cut off version so it doesn’t clog up ppls dash lol) kind of super embarrassed about how long it is but…. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ i got a lot to say, i hope that’s okay

Haha, you’re completely fine, sweetheart! I am gonna put it under the cut so that it doesn’t end up taking a lot of space on someone’s dash ❤️

Can i pls get a matchup? :3 I’m a bi girl, 5’6 with longish wavy red hair, blue eyes and lots of freckles cuz i always forget to reapply sunscreen lol pretty much always have a sunburn during the summer. I’m a INFP, and a libra. I’ve got a major case of ADHD, lots of energy and horrible at focusing, lots of fidgeting all the time (mostly the leg bounceTM and tapping things) (also got that anxiety/depression thing goin on).

I’m not super social, I hate big parties, I don’t have a Lot of friends, but the friends I do have I’m really close to and would trust with my life (I’m kind of really selective with who i befriend). If i don’t like a person, they will be able to Tell, I don’t go out of my way to be mean to them but,, it’s a bit obvious. I’m the fun friend, always getting people to laugh and smile and be happy, and I’m super loyal to my friends, ride-or-die kind of gal. I also tend to be the one that people lean on, or turn to if the need any advice or comfort. I’m also really close with my family, love them with all my heart and would do anything for them.

I love to play the piano and sing (pretty good at the first one, not so much the second lol) and i tend to do that when I’m feeling stressed out or sad and it helps a lot. I’m currently in college studying geography and cartography and I’m like a super nerd about it lol. I love to go hiking in the mountains where i live and go swimming in the rivers, and when I’m staying at my family home I go to the beach all the time, my fave summer tradition is having bonfire parties on the beach with my friends where we just swim and build sand castles all day and then roast hot dogs and marshmallows (some of my fave memories of high school were on the beach super late at night around the campfire). I am pretty active, i used to be super into sports in high school but now i’m not really, I used to swim competitively for like 8 years, and I also was part of a rowing team for a couple years, and I really loved it, trying to get back into it but i’m way too out of shape rn lmao. I also love baseball, watching it and playing it (but mostly i just watch) (go giants). I love music, fave genres being rock/alt rock/punk/pop, and I loooove going to concerts, i’ve been to at least 30 by now lol I’m pretty much always got music playing, my fave band is fall out boy (i’m basic i know lol).

my grades have always been…. Super average. Not because I don’t understand what I’m being taught but because I never really did my homework, i would always procrastinate and especially with big projects, if it wasn’t absolutely perfect I hated it and would be constantly stressed about it and then just not do it so :/ (this is still true a little in college but i’m getting much better and just getting things done, and i like to have friends with me while i’m working so they can yell at me if i get distracted).

This got really really long so i’m just gonna stop now lmao (i like to talk about myself lol is it obvious??) (ive never done a matchup request before but i like yours because you put so much thought into them i couldnt resist thank you love you)

hi, love! Before I start, the fact that you let me know about that ^^ literally makes me so happy and is one of the only reasons I still accept match-ups. I know what I was like sending my first match-up request in and I was a nervous wreck. Which is why I sincerely mean it when I say that I am deeply sorry for how long this took to get back to you. Thank you for sending this in and I love you too 💕

SO, it may seem kind of weird but I actually ship you with Pidge (adjusted to your age, of course, bc we don’t do support pedophilia in this Christian household, no thank you)! However, if the fact that Pidge is (canonically) still a teen bothers you, I can and will match you with someone else!

Appearance reason: most people do the whole “your freckles make constellations” thing, but Pidge said “nah, they’re compounds and mixtures lol” what a nerd. She’ll look for one that matches the formula for sugar just to say “hey, you’re pretty sweet”. Also, she feels the sunburn comment on a personal level bc she too is pretty much always burnt somewhere, it’s not fair.

Mentality reason: Pidge is no stranger to mental health disorders such as ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Whatever she can do for you, she’ll do, no questions asked. While she is more knowledgeable about the physical sciences, she can quickly pick up the psychological (and biological, but I think that’s a physical science) aspect of mental health disorders, and, if there’s something that she can make to help you, she will. One of those is definitely creating a portable mini-piano so you can tap away at that, using some energy and even creating a little music.

Introvert reason: Pidge is 100% definitely an introvert, and, while with the right company she might enjoy a party, she’ll tend to spend the night in. So, you two are pretty much aligned when it comes to those kinds of nights, you know? You just keep each other company, often in silence, and that’s more than enough.

Personality reason: Pidge is someone who has trouble relying on others. She’s so much of a “I can do this myself so watch me do it better than you” kind of attitude, and, while she’s amazing, even she needs someone whom she can rely on. Your personality tends to naturally bring that out of her. Before anything else, you two are best friends, and you’d do anything for each other. Because of that bond, Pidge feels able to come and talk to you about things that she really can’t with anyone else.

Hobby reason: Pidge is totally just in awe of your musical abilities even if you’re not as confident in them yourself. She loves listening to you playing the piano or even singing along quietly to whatever song is playing. With other people, Pidge prefers to work in the quiet (unless she’s discussing something or explaining something), but she loves to just hear you faintly in the background like a distant record player. ALSO, as the Guardian of Nature, she’s exploring new ways to connect with nature, so she’ll often accompany you whenever you’re going out to the mountains. She will most definitely be complaining for part of it because it’s too hot and there’re so many bugs, but she’ll always go because she loves spending time with you even if she can’t always keep up. Rivers and beaches aren’t necessarily her domain, but she still enjoys being in water (especially if she’s sweaty as frick from all of that walking). While you may be actually swimming, she’ll probably just be in the water, floating along somewhere… she does like the bonfire idea as it’s much less strenuous, and it’s fun to be with everyone whether that’s just you or the whole Voltron crew.

Education reason: lol, I had no idea what to call this so here ya go. Basically, Pidge adores your brilliance when it comes to anything that you’re interested in (in this case, geography and cartography). Especially if you’re drawing maps of the places that y’all visit through space, she’ll be there with papers and pencils and any drawing tools you might need. She just loves seeing how it all turns out in the end, especially since it’s like a mix of science and art and WOW you can do BOTH so well !! And she’s definitely a huge (?) help when it comes to procrastination. A little bit of a hypocrite sometimes because she tends to get distracted herself if it’s not something she’s genuinely interested in. But, she will definitely be there to help keep you on track if you’re losing focus or motivation, and she will also offer to help in any way, shape, or form that she can. She wants you to do your best but also not stress so much about it because, sometimes, imperfections are better than any perfect thing out there. Y’all also have a deal where you can switch off rambling about what you’re passionate about, it’s cute and wholesome 💕 you guys are literal best friends which is so nice to be with your significant other.

#THIS IS 10000 YEARS OLD I'M SORRY #also honestly #for any of the match ups #they're automatically adjusted to whatever age you are #i mean #they're cartoons y'all #shipping them together is one thing #but it's easy to adjust to your age imo #i mean i was 15 when the show came out #and 18 when it finished #i literally was pidge's age and then lance's by the end of the show #our ages change naturally but theirs don't unless we make them #anyway that's enough out of this old bat #match up #submission

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heartofsnark · 5 years

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Cooking with Tsuneko (Custom MC) Headcanons

Notes: This was a Ko-fi request by @otomemonogatari , she specifically wanted Tsuneko and Mamoru cooking together, but for the sake of headcanon format and ‘cause I thought it’d be fun, I decided to do them all. If you don’t know Tsuneko is my mc in my series Black Market Wonderland. She is my baby and I adore her. And if you’re not reading that series and like her character here, why not give it a chance…..?

Also, I’m still getting a feel for writing Luke and Shuichi, they aren’t in the fic at this point and I haven’t written much for them. So, if it sucks I apologize. Also, no Hikaru cause I haven’t played him yet and I have no how he’d interact with Tsuneko at this point. So.

Eisuke and Tsuneko can surprisingly work pretty well together, when they want to, they just usually do not want to. They’re both similar in a lot of ways, not that either of them would ever admit this fact. They’re both perfectionist and efficient workers, there will be a lot of snide comments along the way though. Tsuneko and Eisuke cooking together would start with her giving him shit.

“Can you even cook? I mean, you’ve probably had chefs your whole life, so I doubt you can.”

“There’s nothing I can’t do.”

“You can’t pet cats or eat peas, but go off my dude.”

He’s scowling as he makes his way over to the kitchen where Tsuneko is, she’s grinning that it worked. Eisuke washes his hands and ties a white apron over his expensive designer clothes. She’s snickering at how stupid it looks, she’d try to hide it, but she doesn’t care if she hurts his feelings.

“I’ll sift the cake flour, you get the parchment paper and pan ready; trace the pan on the parchment paper, cut it out then grease the paper and pan.”

“Because you can’t draw or cut straight.”

“Draw on the fucking paper.”

Once she’s sifted through the cake flour enough, she looks over to see Eisuke has finished greasing the pan with shortening, glaring at what sticks to his fingers, like it’s personally offended him.

“It’s not gonna apologize to you.”

His glare switches to her and he wipes his hand off on the apron. It continues to go well, both taking tasks and easily able to follow directions, though neither misses a chance to make a snide comment.

By the end of it the two perfectionists have crafted a downright beautiful looking strawberry sponge cake. They then proceed to destroy it fighting over the strawberry on top. This is why we can’t have nice things.

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“Why don’t you just learn to make your own omelets?”

The look of concern on Soryu’s face makes Tsuneko laugh. She just figures it’s a practical skill, everyone should know how to cook for themselves and rolled omelets aren’t that hard. Soryu isn’t a stupid guy, so, what’s the worst that can happen?

He looks beyond awkward and clumsy as he ties on an apron. Tsuneko is trying her best not to snicker; he’s a complete fish out of water.

“First, we just need to crack some eggs, very simple,” she says as she cracks one of the eggs into the bowl then gestures at the rest of them.

Soryu reluctantly grabs an egg; he cracks it and promptly drops about half the shell into the bowl. She stifles a laugh as he awkwardly apologizes and picks out the shell. His cheeks are tinted red and a part of her feels bad, but not enough to stop her from insisting he cracks another.

He tries to crack it against the counter before dropping the egg into the bowl, maybe he thinks it’ll help. Instead, the egg falls onto the counter instead. She bursts into laughter and his face turns about three shades darker of red. She takes care of cracking the rest then adding in the mirin, soy sauce, and salt.

“Okay,” she brushes oil over the pan and pours about a third of the eggs in, “now just let that cook about a minute then we’ll roll it, ‘kay?”

Soryu takes over the pan while Tsuneko goes to get the spatula; her back is turned for a second before she hear Soryu yell. The kitchen is suddenly hotter.

She turns around to see flames shooting up from the pan, Soryu’s hand thrown up in defeat as he backs away. Tsuneko grabs a pan lid and covers it, smothering the fire.

“What the actual fuck happened?!”

“I don’t know.”

“My back was turned for less than a second.”

“This always happens or it explodes.”

“Explodes?!”

Soryu awkwardly scratches the back of his head, cheeks red and avoiding eye contact.

“You know what, how about you just go read,” she offers, taking off the lid to look at the burnt egg remains.

He nods in understanding before making a beeline out of the kitchen.

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Cooking with Baba, did you mean an hour of him flirting with her and then there’s food at the end?

They’re both good cooks, Baba more so than Tsuneko. In true gentleman fashion, he keeps offering to do some of the more manual stuff for Tsuneko which while sweet can also be irksome.

“Want me to dice those tomatoes for you, pretty lady?”

“Don’t annoy me when I have a knife.”

It’s also worth noting that Baba tends to just know how to cook, he doesn’t need to recheck or look over recipes. This does nothing but stress Tsuneko out as she is someone who triple checks what to do next before she does it.

“Now to add in the peppers and shallots.”

“Wait, let me double check, we might need to do,” Baba is already adding them in as she checks the recipe, “and that’s exactly the next step, how do you do that?”

“Have I managed to impress you?”

“If I say yes, will you stop winking at me, you fucking weirdo.”

Eventually, the dish comes out virtually perfect and mouth wateringly good.

“Made with love.”

“Don’t make me puke.”

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Ota was not invited into the kitchen, he just showed up, to the absolute dismay of Tsuneko. Being the grade A little shit that Ota is, he just continuously gets in the way and annoys her. It’s a constant battle of her batting his hands away from throwing random things into the batter.

“No, the cookies do not need tomatoes.”

“Don’t be boring, Koro.”

“Mustard is not a part of the recipe!”

“It might be good, you don’t know.”

“I most certainly do know.”

“I swear to fuck, if you put one pickle in there I’m smothering you!”

It’s a constant struggle of smacking away his gremlin hands and making sure he’s not ruining something. The process of making cookies takes about an hour longer than necessary thanks to Ota’s shenanigans.

Then comes time to decorate them, Tsuneko is suddenly out of her league.

“What is that?”

“Depends….what does it look like?”

“That’s not how that works, Koro.”

“It’s…supposed to be a bunny…”

“Pfffft, it looks like a sick plant.”

“Shut up, what did you make, art boy?”

“Look, I drew you.”

The frosting decoration on the cookie is a floppy eared dog and she promptly smacks it out of his hand.

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“Are you gonna help?” She asks as Mamoru is loitering around the kitchen and grazing, instead of making himself useful.

“Wasn’t planning on it,” he grumbles as he starts to pop something in his mouth, she smacks his chest, not that it stops him.

“Either help or leave.”

“Ugh, I’ll try not to get in the way.”

She rolls her eyes, not quite sure why he isn’t just leaving. He expects her to cook him food, but won’t leave so she can do so in peace, maybe he just likes being an irritant.

“Wash your hands and you’ll need an apron.”

“Why do I need an apron?” He grumbles, half-assedly washing his hands.

“Actually wash them, don’t just run water over them, you gross fuck.”

She squirts soap over his hands and then goes to find an apron. There’s a couple aprons tucked away in her kitchen, there’s a few that are plain and more that are cutesy. She decides on a pink ruffly My Melody apron, he wants to be an irritant; she’ll be one right back.

“There, my hands are- what is that?”

“An apron.” She tries to keep her tone even, but the way his eyes widen at the apron cracks her up.

“I’m not wearing that.”

“Seriously, it’s just an apron, so you don’t stain your clothes.”

“I don’t care that much about these clothes.”

“That’s like, your one suit that doesn’t have stains, wear the apron.’

“Why does it have to be that one?” He glares at it like the pink ruffles have personally hurt him.

“It’s the only other apron I have.”

“Why can I wear that one?” He points at the apron she’s wearing, dark blue with just a simple black cat, Jiji, peeking out of the pocket.

“I’m wearing it.”

“This is ridiculous, I don’t even wanna cook-”

“Too late, put on the apron.”

He groans and rubs a hand over his face.

“C’mon, I’m literally the only person who’ll see it; your masculinity can’t be that fragile.”

Another groan and he yanks the apron from her hands, tying it on. She presses a hand to her mouth and sputters out a laugh; the feminine apron looks so goofy against his gray rumpled suit.

“Shut up, brat.”

“Okay, now would you strain the noodles for me,” she finally manages to get focused after a few more giggles at his expense.

“Fine,” Mamoru grabs the pot by the handles and carries it to the sink with the strainer to pour, “FUCK!”

The pot clatters and topples over, splashing boiling water over Mamoru.

“Shit, quick!” She grabs turns on the faucet and runs cold water, getting Mamoru’s hands under it.

“How did you even manage to drop that?” she chastises as Mamoru groans in pain as the water cools his red skin.

“I don’t know, just happened, fuck.”

“Come on, the food can wait.”

Tsuneko gets a cold compress, burn ointment, and bandaids before leading him to the couch. She gently rubs the ointment over his burned skin, earning winces and whines from him. Once that’s done, she carefully places some pink bandaids with My Melody on them over his blisters.

“They match your apron,” she teases.

“Haha, hilarious,” he grumbles as she puts the cold compress on his hand.

“I had no idea you were so accident prone, maybe we should keep you out of the kitchen.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

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Rhion would be so excited to help Tsuneko in the kitchen, but his eagerness doesn’t translate to being skilled at cooking. Thankfully, while a disaster on his own, he follows Tsuneko’s directions well enough to avoid absolute catastrophe. Though, Tsuneko babies him a bit, not letting him take over the more dangerous or important things.

“Add in a cup of flour.”

“Got it!”

“A pinch of nutmeg.”

“Done!”

“I’ll take care of the mincing and the oven.”

He nods in understanding, humming along to the radio as they cook. Occasionally, when there’s a wait time he spins and twirls to the music. He’ll pull at Tsuneko’s hand and try to convince her to dance along.

“No way, not happening.”

“Coooooome on Alice,” he says with a pout.

“Even your puppy dog eyes can’t make me dance, sweetie.”

He whines when she pinches at his cheek, before continuing his antics. She watches and laughs each time he nearly falls over.

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Tsuneko groans, a pain going through her hand. She’s trying to chop up chicken and vegetables to cook.

“What’s wrong Sexy Bones?”

“Holy fuck,” Tsuneko practically jumps out of her skin and turns to see Luke suddenly looming over her shoulder, “we need to put a bell on you or something.”

“Are you hurt?”

“Oh, I fell and hurt my hand earlier, so it’s hard to cut everything up.”

“You should relax it.”

“Yeah, well, I’m trying to cook.”

Luke steps towards the counter, blocking Tsuneko from moving back towards it. He produces a scalpel from his pocket then uses it to quickly and efficiently cut everything up. It can’t take him more than a minute or two.

“Is that all you needed cut, Sexy Bones?”

“Uhhh, yeah, thanks.”

The eccentric doctor wanders off, properly to read some medical text book and Tsuneko is left confused but thankful.

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Shuichi has a tendency to micro-manage and Tsuneko has a tendency to hate that. While they both do well following instructions or recipe to absolute perfection, Shuichi tends to be more prone to breathing down someone’s neck.

“Do you think you’re chopping that thin enough?”

“The pieces are practically see through.”

“Did you preheat the oven to the right temperature?”

“Check it yourself, if you don’t believe me.”

“You managed to do it right.”

“Yes, I’ve been cooking for years and I’m also capable of following basic instructions.”

“I wasn’t aware.”

“I’m this close,” she nearly presses her fingers together, “to stabbing you.”

“This is basic supervising, if you can’t handle someone looking over your work, that’s not my fault.”

“Firstly, this isn’t work, you aren’t paying me. Secondly, you’re not just looking over it, you’re micro-managing. No one would put up with this.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Fine, let’s see how you like it, you take over the rest of the sides and I’ll supervise.”

“Fine.”

“I don’t think you chopped that enough.”

“Are you sure you added enough sugar?”

“Maybe you should stir that more.”

She continues nagging him the same exact way he did to her, looking for any chance to criticize or correct him. He stays calm mostly, just giving an annoyed sigh.

“Did you spray that with nonstick stuff?”

“You just saw me do that,” he finally snaps and glares at her.

“Awww, do you not like having someone breathing down your neck.”

“Fine, I understand, I’ll relax.”

“About damn time.”

~Did you like this set of headcanons? Wanna request something similar? Just wanna support me? Consider buying me a Ko-Fi!~

#kissed by the baddest bidder #kbtbb #eisuke ichinomiya #Soryu Oh #Mitsunari Baba #ota kisaki #mamoru kishi #rhion hatter #shuichi hishikura #Luke Foster #black market wonderland #tsuneko tomori

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splattales · 5 years

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Fifteen Questions. Fifteen Mutuals.

Repost, don’t reblog!

(HEY DID Y’ALL KNOW I HAVE LIKE 1,000 MUSES? I’LL DO THEM ALL. HERE’S A READMORE FOR YOU. SORRY MOBILE USERS)

1. Are you named after anyone?

Molly: Sorry, nah. Can’t really ask anyone though.

Finn: I believe my first name is my grandfather’s middle name. Dad’s side.

Marina: Maybe? I think I was named after a historical figure, but it’s, like, a really popular name anyway...

Brine: Nope! Just salty water.

Pansy: I’m named after a flower. It’s a tradition in my fam’bly to name your first-hatched after a flower...

Ribbon: Momma’s a Ribbon Eel!

Slushie named himself -- though technically, he’s named after a beverage.

Tay: Yes! Many rulers in my bloodline were also named ‘Octavio’.

Sabi: It’s shortened from ‘Wasabi’. Not very creative, I know, but ... I’ve had a few names. This is just the one I’ve gotten used to.

2. When was the last time you cried?

Molly: Nunya bizness. (About three days ago.)

Finn: I’m actually quite happy at the moment! Maybe two weeks?

Marina: I don’t ever cry, duh. (Last week after spilling her meal on the floor.)

Brine: Yesterday! Don’t worry, it was just a touchy subject that came up. Always cry when you need to, it can really help.

Pansy: Haven’t in a fair bit, I think I cried on Groa the other day about somethin’ real dumb. One of my workmates left n’ I burnt dinner n’ then something else happened and just… well, I sure hope he doesn’t think I’m weird ‘cause of that, eheh.

Ribbon: It was my birthday recently, so I haven’t felt like crying! I dunno.

Slushie cried the last time he ate a memcake, so two days ago.

Tay: That isn’t any of your business. (Ten minutes ago.)

Sabi: Sometimes I cry when I’m listening to sad music, so, um… Tuesday?

3. Do you have kids?

Molly: No! Adopting might be cool when I’m older, but I’m only 19 and I have way too much to deal with already!

Finn: Do I look like a father? I’m still in uni! … That said, a few of my classmates have kids, it’s really strange.

Marina: No, but I have younger siblings, so I know how to take care of ‘em. … I don’t think I’m gonna want kids for a while, if ever.

Brine: Haha! No! Maybe someday.

Pansy: Slushie’s my kid! He’s adopted, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t family. I hope he knows that.

Ribbon: You’re funny! Sometimes I pretend my dinosaur toys are babies, and then we destroy the town as a powerful army.

Slushie is 15 years old!

Tay: I think Reed could be considered my ‘child’, but I’m still not altogether sure about that. And Masako, I think? But I never had any children in this timeline, so it’s a little confusing…

Sabi: No, no, I don’t think I’d make a good father…

4. Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Molly: Here and there. I don’t like to overdo it, but it’s totally justified sometimes.

Finn: Yeah … my friends aren’t exactly a good influence.

Marina: All the time. I don’t think I could live without it.

Brine: Hardly! It wouldn’t be good if I sassed my superiors, and it’s mean. But a harmless eyeroll won’t hurt, on occasion.

Pansy: Eh, sometimes. I’m not really smart enough, I get out-sarcasm’d, and it ain’t the nicest thing.

Ribbon: Doing a sarcasm can be pretty hard… you get told off, too.

Slushie doesn’t talk enough to use sarcasm, but his body language often suggests it!

Tay: Oh no, I neeeever use sarcasm…

Sabi: …It isn’t kind to be sarcastic.

5. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

Molly: Their face. Some people have real distinguishin’ features.

Finn: Their ink colour! If they don’t have one, then I look at their style instead.

Marina: Uh, does it matter? It depends on the person, right? I usually notice if somebody’s an Octoling.

Brine: Usually? Their handshake. I know that’s kind of weird to say, but the way someone shakes your hand can tell you a bit about them.

Pansy: I try to look at how they carry themselves n’ the expressions they make. It helps you figure out what a person’s like – though how they talk and what they do’s the next important thing. S’ important to watch the eyes.

Ribbon: If they’re smiling!

Slushie pays very close attention to the way other people talk.

Tay: How they behave towards me! Respect can be the difference between a guest staying or being thrown out – and potentially a matter of life and death when assassins are concerned!

Sabi: How much of a threat they are to me, haha… I try to keep my head down.

6. What’s your eye colour?

Molly: Kinda… teal green? Lighter?

Finn: Rose pink!

Marina: Green eyes, green sclera. Just once I want somebody to say I’ve got eyes like emeralds, but I don’t see it happening. Nobody’s that suave, and I’d probably slap a stranger if they did.

Brine: Ocean blue!

Pansy: Deep pink. Cute, right? Haha, that was a joke…

Ribbon: Pink like dad’s!

Slushie’s eyes are purple, with a white sclera.

Tay: Soft blue on green~

Sabi: Blue – and um, I’m the kind of octoling that has green ‘whites’.

7. Scary movie or happy ending?

Molly: I like scary movies, they’re usually not that scary, haha. Happy endings make me think of those sappy films, but I don’t mind them in like … regular stuff.

Finn: I love happy endings! Especially in a romance film. Scary movies aren’t so bad, but some of them I’d prefer not to see…

Marina: Horror. Happy endings can be way too saccharine for my tastes.

Brine: I do love a good happy ending!

Pansy: Yeah, happy endings here too. I don’t mind horror so much if things work out in the end, though. What’s the point if everyone dies?

Ribbon: No scary films please!!!

Slushie isn’t a fan of scary films. He’d much rather watch something happy.

Tay: It depends on my mood. I like a happy ending, but it has to be written well, and scary films – well, I’m not scared of anything, but too much of it taints the mind, you know…

Sabi: Please . . . take one look at me and say I’d enjoy a horror film. You’d be wrong in every way…

8. Any special talents?

Molly: People keep saying my cooking’s good, but I don’t really see it? I know lots ‘bout weapons…

Finn: Art! I’m trying to make a career out of it.

Marina: I’m pretty good at mending up old human tech, and I can program. Real dab-hand at fixing technology. Betcha didn’t know that.

Brine: I’ve got a good eye! … Yup, that’s all I can think of, ahah.

Pansy: Me? Er, I guess I can cook pies pretty good. I used to be decent at all that detective stuff too, but now I’m not so sure.

Ribbon: I dunno what my special talent is yet! I’m hoping it’s to do with detecting.

Slushie is very good at puzzle solving, and has quick reflexes. He’s also an absolute STAR at learning languages.

Tay: I have so many talents! Always looking good is practically a talent, and there’s my overall intelligence – I’m especially good at mathematics – but I’m a creative mind too! I’m PERFECT at stage performance and mixing music, not to mention I’m excellent at tinkering with machinery, I’ve built plenty of things and […etc.]

Sabi: Oh, um, I’m pretty good when it comes to music, I guess…

9. Where were you born?

Molly: Small town just outside of Inkopolis, but basically Inkopolis.

Finn: I think my parents moved to Inkopolis around the time I was hatching? Yeah.

Marina: Octopolis. You know, underground.

Brine: Inkopolis, hatched and raised. (This is a retcon--)

Pansy: Cuttledown, it’s a little village right near Calamari County.

Ribbon: Here! Inkopolis!

Slushie doesn’t know when or where he hatched, but he was quickly picked up by the underground orphanage.

Tay: Oh, somewhere on the surface a very long time ago… (Actually, that isn’t true.)

Sabi: In a lab somewhere underground. It’s, uhm, not very glamorous.

10. What are your hobbies?

Molly: Turf War! I listen to music a bunch too, n’ play games.

Finn: When I’m not doing art, I like to play Turf War and hang out with my friends.

Marina: *gestures to her room full of human artefacts and study notes*

Brine: I don’t have a lot of time for hobbies, aha… sometimes I still make coffee…? I like stargazing and laughing at conspiracy theories.

Pansy: I garden a lot, but that’s also my job now.

Ribbon: I play videogames and draw and use my imagination and collect dinosaurs.

Slushie is still trying to find his place on the surface, so is trying a lot of new things.

Tay: Tinkering! I get excited about circuits and wires. Surprising, no?

Sabi: I really… REALLY invest a lot of my time into music. But I, um, I also like to read. Mostly science fiction.

11. Do you have any pets?

Molly: Nah. Banned. I leave too much to give ‘em attention anyway.

Finn: My little brother. … Okay uh, that was kind of a cruel joke, eheh. No.

Marina: Pets are cute, but I don’t have the time! Not to mention no space.

Brine: Haha, Mom would kill me.

Pansy: We used to have a nudibranch back at Ma’s but not anymore. Maybe I should get another…? They cost a whole lot, long-term.

Ribbon: I reeaallly want an axolotl but dad and mom say no! It’s not fair. Dad used to live on a farm so he basically had EVERY PET.

Slushie lives with Pansy, so likewise has no pets.

Tay: Hm, no… perhaps I should invest in one for companionship. I’d pay someone else to feed and clean up after it, of course…

Sabi: Ah, that’s a lot more responsibility than I could handle…

12. What sports do you/have you played?

[Everyone says ‘Turf War’ in unison, except for Tay who says ‘Sword fighting’ and Slushie who says nothing].

13. How tall are you?

Molly: *grumbles* 4’10”…

Finn: 5’4”, still waiting for that growth spurt.

Marina: 5’5”. I’d like to be taller.

Brine: 5’11”! Nothing more, nothing less.

Pansy: Not nearly tall enough. 5’7”. I’m the shortest of my siblings, and I’m the oldest, pffah.

Ribbon: Small! (She’s exactly 4ft.)

Slushie is something like 5’2”, I haven’t written it down anywhere.

Tay: Tall enough! (He’s 5’6” and insecure about it.)

Sabi: Aaah… I’m 6’8”, how embarrassing… I’m thankful I’m not any taller.

14. Dream job?

Molly: I sure as heck don’t know, my dude. Something where I could show off my knowledge about battling, I guess. A teacher?

Finn: An artist that gets paid!

Marina: I will become the world’s greatest archaeologist.

Brine: Almost there! I’d love to be a fully-fledged lawyer.

Pansy: … I already lost my dream job as a detective.

Ribbon: A detective!! Or a secret agent!! Or… a mailperson!

Slushie doesn’t really know what he wants to do with his life yet.

Tay: What could be better than being an emperor and a DJ? … being an MC? A showhost? I could do that too.

Sabi: My music is already selling well, so I’m very happy.

15. Favourite subject in school?

Molly: I hated school. Uh, I liked history sometimes, but I wasn’t great. Music? We used to mess around a lot…

Finn: Apart from the obvious ‘art’, I did enjoy literature too!

Marina: Human studies. As for the military side, I did always enjoy target practice.

Brine: Law! Since it’s a later subject, I also had fun in Social Studies and Inklish Language.

Pansy: Long time ago, uh… I remember bein’ pretty good at geography? I was awful at Inklish n’ Maths and that. Science was pretty good though.

Ribbon: Hm… I love all the subjects! Does snacktime count as a subject? We hardly get those anymore now we’re older.

Slushie likes foreign languages. He also excelled in agility training.

Tay: I’m not sure I remember exactly, but I do love mathematics.

Sabi: I technically never went to school, um…

Well, here’s the end!

Tagged by: @manysquidsandoctos

Tagging: meap

#pretty sure like 90% of my mutuals were already tagged so do it if you wish--#long post #EVERYONE.#Molly #Finn #Marina #Slushie #Brine #Pansy #Ribbon #Octwovio #Wussabi

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plague-of-insomnia · 5 years

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🍋 🍌

Thank you for the ask 💕!!

🍋 Your descriptions are transportive

Wow... 😶☺️🥰 Thank you.

🍌I want to pick your brain about your creative process.

This will be a long post, FYI.

Chaos.

Haha, I’m joking.

Or am I?

Honestly, I’ve tried a lot of different things over the years, including outlining, and it never works for me bc my characters control the story. I really am just their interpreter, putting their lives and words onto virtual paper.

I’m a “character first” kind of writer (as opposed to a “plot first”), and that means I could probably tell you what any of the main cast of my stories ate for breakfast on the morning of their 8th birthday, but I couldn’t tell you what happens in the end, or sometimes even in the next chapter, bc I don’t know until I “get there.”

I’ve done my best to break my process down into 8 steps.

Step 1: The Idea

When I first get an idea, it usually comes to me in terms of a really vivid scene, like the chapter in Where Demons Hide called “Spark of Madness.” Usually that scene ends up in the beginning of the story but not normally the first chapter. Sometimes it’ll give me some story/plot to help me begin to flesh out the idea more, like in that example, where the main antagonist/conflict is introduced, though normally I have to work at it a bit more.

Step 2: Flesh Things Out

This is where I brainstorm, usually thinking about the main characters, who they are and what their flaws might be and what they might want to help me “find” the story. Sometimes I’ll make a character sheet (normally I don’t if I’m working alone bc I don’t have to). I do normally make a file for notes where I’ll jot down possible ideas about the characters and where the story might go.

I’ll be perfectly honest and say while this process does get me jump started, most of the notes I jot down I don’t end up using bc as the characters and story formulates, they both tend to change from my original ideas.

Step 3: Research

This can often be tied in with #2 and it’s not as if it just stops here. But as I often write about disabilities, mental and chronic illness, I like to make sure I can get as much info about the disease/condition I want to represent as possible so that I can:

represent it appropriately and accurately and

so I can find story/character details along the way.

For example, in my novel UnConventional, I was able to talk with a friend who is not only an orthotic user (and has been for years) but is an engineer of sorts so he understands very well *how* they work. By talking with him about various orthotics and his own struggles with them, I was able to find new plot and character details that help make the story more vivid and real and also allowed me to drive it in directions I may not have been able to otherwise.

Step 4: Write, Write, Write.

Two things you need to know about my writing process:

I usually do better when I write out of order.

I need to visualize the scene in my head to write it effectively. My “writers block” comes from not being able to see things in my head

My method isn’t the most efficient, but it’s how my brain works, and I’ve learned to go with it rather than fight it.

I brainstorm with myself (or a friend or my husband if possible) when necessary, or sometimes I’ll just close my eyes in a quiet place to allow myself to “see” the next series of scenes. Before I can forget the vivid movie I saw in my head, I do what I call a “scene sketch.”

I call it a “sketch,” bc just like a sketch is usually the foundation for a piece of art, mine are the basic structure for a completed scene. I do this also if I have a pretty solid idea but don’t have the time to write or I’m too tired or something like that, bc sketches allow me to simply sit down and flesh them out to create a completed scene.

They’re kind of like what an outline might be for other writers but less organized. Sketches are like a little treatment of a scene, including the basic setting, an idea of POV, and even dialog and body language, but jotted down really quickly without quotes or dialog tags. Sometimes there’ll be things like “maybe this happens” bc once I actually write the scene I’ll know if that idea feels right or not.

Here’s an example from a rejected chapter of WDH (I ended up going in a slightly different direction):

Seb answers when room service knocks. Bard is hovering, maybe bc he heard Seb’s scream. He sees the bad bite on Seb’s bare chest, sees he’s trembling and drowning more than ever, his eyes almost pleading for rescue. But when Bard asks if he’s OK he smiles and says yes, sir. Takes the food from the room service person and says he’s been ordered to wait on the guests personally. Shuts the door in Bard’s face.

Sometimes these sketches can be very detailed, other times it’s more of a general, quick jot of what happens or the scene I want to set. It depends on my brain and the scene.

I like to set goals based on scenes (or sometimes chapters), and do my best to complete a scene in its entirety if possible before I stop. If I can’t bc of time, then I’ll write a really brief sketch so I know what I need to do when I pick back up again so I won’t forget.

I’ve been writing and editing long enough that depending on the project I’m able to self-edit as I write. That doesn’t mean I don’t revise or edit later, but it saves some time overall as I am more aware of certain things than I used to be.

Because I write out of order, my process often entails being a puzzle master and piecing things together. Especially for something like Where Demons Hide, which has a lot of flashbacks, since I write those separately from the main story, I then have to figure out where they “belong.” I’d say 98% of the time for this fic I have already written the flashbacks before the chapter(s) they end up in.

My original serial fiction I write in a similar fashion, where I often will write scenes out of order and then assemble them into chapters later. So sometimes I’ll make a kind of “outline” of plot points that I need to cover. It’s not so much a fixed thing as a memory aid and place for me to put notes of ideas that might come to me that aren’t completely fleshed out.

Step 5: Rest

Once I’ve completed a chapter, I try to let it “rest” for at least a few days, if not longer. Especially if it was a long chapter or something that was difficult to write and took me awhile so I’ve been working on it for days or even weeks at a time.

I do this for three reasons:

“In process” brain lies often and says a scene/chapter sucks and I should just burn my computer/phone and take up accounting instead, and that the pacing is awful and it’s boring and lots of similar untruths.

Especially if the chapter took me a long time to finish because it’s lengthy or complicated or has difficult subject matter or whatever, it means there’s a good chance I’ve been working on it for days or even weeks and I’m SICK TO DEATH of it and never want to see it again, so taking a break from it is a welcome relief. It’s like taking a vacation after you’ve been working overtime for months. Sometimes I’ll do writing-adjacent things during this time, like reading, organizing/typing my notes, jotting down things I need to work on, reading/watching stuff that will energize and inspire me. Other times I work on another project or other scenes/chapters in the same project. Sometimes I’ll just take a break if I’m feeling burnt out or stressed.

I can come back to the project with fresh eyes, so that I can read it and see what things are actually good (suck it, in-process brain) or what things may still need work in a way I couldn’t do so soon after finishing.

Step 6: Revise

I revise in different ways depending on how much I feel something needs fixing. The first revision is my chance to see how the puzzle pieces knit together, work on scenes that I noticed aren’t pulling their weight or that need to be fleshed out. Sometimes this means I will completely, totally rewrite—and by that I mean “retype.” I open a fresh document, and referencing the original, start over. This allows me to streamline and better hone my language and ensure each scene is working hard.

This is something I do if I feel like a scene isn’t working as-is or I have a shit-ton of notes and comments on the first draft and it’s so chaotic I feel like I can’t focus anymore. This is especially helpful for dialog.

Other times the revisions are less drastic. Sometimes I means moving a scene around or deleting one that isn’t working. Sometimes it means finding all the times I’ve repeated the same word and fixing that, or fixing places where I’ve used the same sentence type too often.

Revision can be a very long process, depending on the quality of the first draft and what my goal is. If it’s just fan fic I’m doing for fun, then I don’t obsess too much: usually 1-2 read throughs and adjustments are OK. If it’s something I’m going to submit for publication, then that’s a different story bc the quality of the edit of your submitted draft makes a good impression (or a bad one).

Step 7: Beta Reader

If I have one, which I don’t always, then this is where I’ll send it to them. Usually what I want in a beta reader isn’t stuff like proof or copy editing, but rather “big picture” stuff. I want them to tell me: “this scene isn’t working” or “this feels contrived” or “I don’t like the main character.”

It can be frustrating and disheartening to get feedback that means I have to go back and do some major revising, but that’s why they’re there, bc often it’s either things I couldn’t see bc I’m too close to the story, or stuff I was in denial about (lol). Listening to my betas always leads to a better draft.

Step 8: Proofreading/Copyediting

The last step. I’ve done this professionally so I’m usually pretty good at finding typos and inconsistencies myself, but some people will hire someone like me to do that work bc they don’t have the skill or the time. Even if it’s “just for fun,” proofing is important bc it affects readability, and it’s embarrassing to me if I post something with glaring proof errors 😶.

~~~Anyway, that is roughly how my brain works. I don’t know if this is what you were expecting or wanting, but here it is!

#my answers #my writing process #positive feedback #ask chie

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usuknetwork · 6 years

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USUK Christmas Countdown 2017: December 18

Title: A Gift to Worry About Day 6: Gifts/Shopping Summary: When Alfred overhears Arthur go on one of his many rambles he suddenly gets nervous about the gift he’s gotten for his boyfriend. Failing to get a new one, he’s reluctant to give his original gift to Arthur; how does he react? Rating: T Warning: Small amount of swearing

(Written by: @kookiz-us and Art by: @fvck-amx)

I’ve got to find something new, but what? Alfred walked through the shopping aisles one by one holding a small present wrapped in green, thinking, nervously trying to find a solution to his small predicament.

To most people, the incessant ramblings of Arthur Kirkland might seem a little peculiar, but for Alfred, they were constant reminders, reminding him of how special they were; reminding him of the moments he shared with Arthur, all of which struck him with a sense of nostalgia. Them walking together, holding each other’s hands, their fingers interlocked, pulling each other closer under the trees whose leaves were dyed red and orange and falling around them; Arthur falling asleep on his shoulder next to the blazing hearth warming the house as it started to snow outside.

Walking past the bookstore, Alfred couldn’t help but ponder the reasons why he and Arthur were doing this very late Christmas shopping in the first place...

“Oh! ...Wait, you’re coming when? ...This Sunday!? Why didn’t you tell me! ...No! You never said anything about this! ...Alfred!” He rushed down the stairs to see a very infuriated, red-faced Arthur striding across the room toward him.

“What’s wrong, Artie?” Alfred asked, his voice laced with traces of worry and anxiety as he pulled his boyfriend closer, into his arms.

“My stupid brothers don’t know how to plan a proper visit,” Arthur grumbled, burying his head into Alfred’s chest. “They’re going to come and visit us this Sunday... those idiots.”

Alfred paused for a moment. “Sunday?” he clarified as he stared at the wall, hugging Arthur as a million thoughts ran through his head. “Hmm.. then we best start getting some presents for them, ey?” he said, running his hand through Arthur’s hair.

“Yes, I guess so...”

Presents. The word seemed to remind Alfred of something he dreaded to remember, the fact that he himself didn’t get a present for Arthur - well he did buy something, but after a while of eavesdropping on his boyfriend’s ramblings, he heard: “Why would anyone get a unicorn mug anyway, it’s so childish and pretty much useless to be honest.”

Thus resulting in him, now rushing past small gift shops, scanning through the windows one by one searching for a new present that would hopefully satisfy his picky boyfriend.

“Alfred, darling, do you think Peter would like this?” Alfred turned around, a little surprised at the sound of his boyfriend’s voice. Arthur handed him a small model of a P-51 Mustang.

“That looks so cool! Aw look - the propeller moves! Haha, I think he would prefer a Spitfire though.”

“Well it’s too late, there aren’t many things so it’ll have to do,” Arthur said as he watched Alfred examine the plane with such giddiness and joy he’d never seen from anyone, holding back a smile. He sighed. He’d probably always be a child at heart.

“Oh, wait! What about your other brothers? Found something yet?” Alfred asked, finally handing back the plane.

“Hmmm..I haven’t found anything yet, I’ll just buy them sweaters tomorrow or something,” Arthur replied as the two of them made their way to the cashier. “Not that they need anything anyway. Those idiots didn’t have any time to tell me before yesterday, lazy bastards,” he rambled under his breath, huffing.

“What was that?”

“Oh nothing, really.”

That was when Alfred started to worry when he realized they had spent the whole time finding stuff for Peter that he completely forgot why he came along in the first place. What if he knows I don’t have a present for him? Is he annoyed at me? How am I gonna find something for him? What am I going to get? Oh god I really don’t know-

“Alfred, are you ok?” The sound of Arthur’s concerned voice dragged him out of his cacophony of raging thoughts.

Alfred paused before replying, “...I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? You look pale, what’s wrong?” Arthur reached up to touch his boyfriend’s cheek only for his hand to be slowly pushed down again by Alfred.

“No really, I’m fine Arthur.” Alfred flashed him a weak smile as the cashier handed him the bill. They walked out of the store into the snow, Alfred feeling a little colder than usual...

Arthur awoke to the sound of birds chirping outside. Next to him lay Alfred, still sound asleep. He looked at his boyfriend, tracing along the lines of his eyelids, down to his nose and to his mouth, slightly parted. A few more moments passed as Arthur lay there, stationary, marveling at his boyfriend’s beautiful face. He was so lucky.

Alfred’s eyelids fluttered open to the sight of two emerald green eyes gazing back at him.

“Morning, sweetheart,” he said, chuckling a little at Arthur wrinkling his nose at the nickname he had given him.

“Merry Christmas, love,” Arthur said as Alfred nuzzled into his hand, mumbling back a similar sentence. They got up and made their way down the stairs together, conversing, joking around, and laughing.

“Oh come on! My cooking isn’t that bad, I’ll make breakfast-“

“Oh no you won’t, remember the last time you made burnt - or should I say charred - pancakes?”

“They weren’t that bad.”

“Oh really? Did you see the look on Mattie's face-” Arthur had elbowed Alfred in the stomach, cutting him off.

“Idiot.” He chuckled, sitting down on the sofa. “Fine, you can make breakfast and if it sucks I’m blaming you...” He pouted. “Also, Alfred, love...”

“Yes, honey?” Alfred responded, opening the cupboard half stacked with boxes of assorted tea leaves and coffee beans.

“My family's coming tonight, do you think you could make us dinner too?” Arthur’s voice blurred into nothingness as thoughts from yesterday started to surface again, swarming his mind and filling it with the same deafening cacophony of anxiety and stress. Oh god it’s today! What if they don’t like me? Did Arthur get a present for them? Present... Arthur’s present! Shit! What am I gonna do! He doesn't even like what you’re gonna give him Alfred you stupid-

“Alfred? Alfred!” Suddenly Arthur was right next to him, mopping up the coffee that was spilled onto the floor. Shards of the ceramic mug were scattered around randomly. Alfred jumped and stared at him with widened eyes. What... just happened?

“Alfred, love, what is going on! I demand to know I-”

“I’m fine it’s just... a headache, really-”

“Yes, because most headaches make you zone out like that- what’s going on?”

“I...” Alfred stopped, being unable to explain what was going through his head. Arthur shook his head and shooed him away to get the broom so he could clean up the glass left behind.

By the time they cleaned it all up, Alfred was sitting on the cold kitchen floor next to Arthur, his back against the wooden cupboards. He didn’t really know how to explain anything, he just didn’t know how. How was he supposed to tell Arthur that he didn’t have a present for him? It was just so embarrassing that he couldn’t get his own boyfriend a Christmas gift! He let his mind wander as he sat there, silent next to this boyfriend. How is this going to turn out?

But Arthur just sighed, standing up and getting his coat and scarf to buy the sweaters for his brothers. Telling Alfred to stay home and get ready for the evening, Alfred suddenly got an idea.

Their house was small and with him being a huge fan of Christmas, it was all already decorated which crossed one thing off the to-do list. He could prepare the dinner later in the afternoon so now he was at the mall looking for something to give to Arthur.

Walking around the mall window shopping, he tried to come up with things he could give. He thought about getting him a plushie instead when Alfred asked himself why Arthur would prefer a plushie over a mug. Then he thought about a sweater when he realized that Arthur already had too many for one person. Arthur wasn’t a ‘socks, ties and underwear for a gift’ type of person either, in fact that was even worse than all the ideas combined. All of that stress ended in him just going back to McDonalds all the time to eat something to calm down. It wasn’t until 30 minutes later that the American realized he’d been going around the mall in circles, not finding anything to reach his satisfaction.

Sighing in defeat, he walked out of the store, another burger in hand with his head hung low to get back home and prepare the turkey... It was lucky that Arthur was in a traffic jam due to the snow.

Alfred was now sitting on the bed, holding the small present wrapped in green. He and Arthur were waiting for Arthur’s family to arrive. This was when the anxiety slowly started to rise within him as not only did he have to be nervous about his gift but also the fact that he was meeting Arthur’s brothers and now they too had to watch him give his shit gift to Arthur. What if this was when Arthur realized that his boyfriend didn’t know he hated unicorn mugs? What if this was when they broke up? When Arthur or his brothers kicked him out for being a horrible person? What if-

DING DONG

He gasped softly as he heard the doorbell.

“I’ll get it.” Alfred heard the sound of Arthur’s voice from the hallway and the sound of the rushed footsteps down the stairs. As Alfred made his way down the stairs he started to hear the chattering from below.

“-been awhile, how are you two doing?”

“Oh it’s great though I have to admit he-”

“ALFRED!”

The excited squeal was followed by the rapid footsteps of Peter running up the stairs to meet him.

“Peter!” Alfred managed to exclaim as the boy ran straight into him, almost making him fall and drop the gift.

“Did you get me a present? Where is it?! What is it?!” The little boy asked enthusiastically, practically jumping.

“Peter...” Arthur scolded.

“Okay, okay, Peter, you’ll get your present soon.” Alfred chuckled as he bent down to give Peter a crushing bear hug. Walking down towards the living room to where Arthur was, he noticed three more people sitting on the sofa, all of them men.

“Good evening Arthur’s... bros...? I’m... uh.” He struggled to piece words together, nervousness creeping up from the back of his mind. “I...”

“Alfred, right? Nice to meet you, I’m Allistor, Arthur’s older brother.” The redhead sitting across from Arthur stood up to greet him and soon the other two introduced themselves. The one with slightly redder blond hair introduced himself as “Dylan” and the last one sitting next to him as “Liam”. Alfred couldn’t help but struggle to tell them apart. From afar he probably wouldn’t have been able to even tell who was who... hell even their eyebrows looked similar.

Once introductions were done they all went to the small dining room to eat dinner. The conversations during that time were normal, sharing stuff about their early life and what was going on now; them asking questions about Alfred to which he answered. After a while he forgot about his anxiousness and the gift, and he really did get along with Arthur’s brothers, though Liam was a bit of a grouch and there were a couple of squabbles whenever Allistor would bring up something embarrassing about Arthur. But Alfred usually found himself talking to Peter, asking the little boy about school and his interests. Their conversations were entertaining with Peter’s exaggerated stories about a goat and him auctioning himself on eBay. Alfred just pretended he believed it and laughed with a smile.

After dinner, gifts were given and conversations were shared. The memory of Peter squealing at the sight of the plane brought a smile to Arthur’s face and his brothers’ faces when they were forced to wear the sweaters and take a picture. However, Arthur noticed that Alfred had been surprisingly quiet ever since dinner ended. He had thought of bringing it up later but chose not to. A couple hours later he waved off to the car that drove into the distance, walking back into the house to find Alfred sitting silently on the sofa.

“Alfred?”

“Hmm?”

“Is there something you want to tell me?” he asked carefully, his voice calm and gentle. “You were very quiet after dinner, is everything ok?” He reached for Alfred’s hand but paused as he saw a present, wrapped in green, being held already.

Looking at him with a puzzled face, Alfred looked down and held it out, “I-It’s for you but-” he paused to take a deep breath, wiping a tear from his face, “you’ll probably think it’s stupid...”

“Alfred...” Arthur was taken aback by what was happening. Was it his fault? What did he do? “I...I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for this to happen, please just tell me why you’re upset.”

Alfred didn’t respond. Instead he placed the gift in his hands, silently.

As Arthur eyed the gift curiously, he unwrapped the green paper and carefully opened the box, taking out the tissues and pulling out the mug.

“Alfred!”

“I know! I know! It’s stupid-” He waved it off, more tears streaming down his face.

“Alfred... why are you crying?” Blue eyes peered from under his hair to see Arthur smiling with pink cheeks.

“What?” Alfred looked at Arthur with a confused frown, trying to wrap his head around the situation. “But you said unicorn mugs were stupid and useless-”

“When did I- ...oh... Alfred! Did you seriously get all worked up from me rambling to myself? You know I didn’t mean that.”

“Don’t make fun of me, I was actually really worried! I thought you’d get mad and break up with me and that your brothers were gonna beat me up and-“ Arthur cut him off as he laughed and turned around to put his hand on Alfred’s cheek.

“I’m sorry I made you go through all that trouble and you know I’d never break up with you over something as stupid as a unicorn mug. I love you and thank you for this.” He smiled and pecked Alfred’s lips.

“I’m... glad you like your present,” was all Alfred could say, pulling him into a hug.

“But now I feel bad because I haven’t gotten you anything…,” Arthur said awkwardly into Alfred’s shoulder.

“Artie, being here with you is the best gift I could ever ask for, how did you know?” Alfred chuckled, kissing Arthur’s cheek. “...But I still want candy canes tomorrow.”

“Alright you fool.” Arthur smiled, leaning into Alfred more as it continued to snow outside.

“Though I must ask, what did you do when you heard me say that?” Arthur asked the next day as Alfred chewed on his third candy cane.

“I actually went to the mall to find something but came back home ‘cause I couldn’t find crap there,” Alfred replied. “I actually walked around in circles for 30 minutes, probably looked so weird to the shoppers and stuff.”

“Wait a minute... so you were that person I kept on seeing every 5 minutes walk back into McDonalds.”

#usuk #ukus #usukxmascountdown #day 6 #aph america #aph england

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blognimica · 4 years

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SKIN CARE!

This is such a dream, ‘yung aktwal na may magtanong ng skin care routine ko HAHAHA. Pero eto na, I will share the things I do to my fezlak hoping they would help you too.

Syempre, I just need to put some disclaimers here like: I’m not a skin care professional, I don’t even think I’m an enthusiast. So try these out at your own risk!

Also, I guess it’s important to note that I have a combination skin type. I have a mix of dry and oily areas. That said, everyone has a different skin type and what works for me might work differently for you.

GETTING RID OF PIMPLE MARKS

I feel like this needs its own segment because a huge chunk of my glow up owes to my perseverance to get rid of my pimple marks.

I had bad acne throughout high school, so naturally, the aftermath was a constellation of dark marks. They were such a big nuisance because they’re so ugly and rough hahaha.

What helped me get rid of them was consistent exfoliation. I have to emphasize consistency because you wouldn’t get rid of them in one try. I had to get the hang of exfoliating 1-2 times a week for a couple of months before they vanished.

Products I use to get rid of my pimple marks:

St. Ives Scrub

Anyone who has ever talked to me about skin care must know how much I love this product. St. Ives is my holy grail facial scrub because it doesn’t disappoint. It always leaves my face soft as a baby’s butt cheek.

I exfoliate 1-2 times a week, and then I moisturize heavily afterwards, because exfoliating can be very drying.

Kojic

I also sought Kojic’s help to lighten my pimple marks. But here’s a very important reminder: Use this sparingly! 1-2 times a week is enough.

I actually tried using Kojic as a facial soap and it resulted in a burnt face with painful peeling. You’ve been warned.

MY CURRENT, 4-STEP SKIN CARE ROUTINE

My current skin care is actually very simple (and affordable, if that matters).

I limited it to 4 steps because I care more about consistency over the grandeur of having so many products and steps. I do this routine at night. Before I succumb to hours of Mobile Legends.

1. CLEANSING

Do I have to expound on this? HAHA.

Water + Your Cleanser of Choice = Cleansing!

My current cleanser is The Face Shop’s 365 Herb Day Cleansing Foam. It’s mild, smells great, doesn’t dry the skin, and actually lasts for a long time. The tube I’m using is still the one I bought last Christmas. A pea-sized portion is good enough to cover your entire face.

I also used Myra’s Facial Wash for a long while. I loved this cleanser too because it’s mild and not drying. I switch between these two cleansers, whichever is available.

Double Cleansing

A lot of people recommend doing a double cleanse, pero tamad ako for this tbh. So, I only do this when I wear heavy makeup. On regular days, I ditch this step (I don’t wear heavy makeup).

Double cleansing is basically using an oil-based cleanser or makeup remover to swipe away all the makeup before you wash your face (you must not skip this step if you wore a makeup base!).

I use Pond’s cold cream when I double cleanse. A lot of titas can testify to how good it is. Alam niyo sa Mulan, nung tinanggal ni Mulan yung makeup niya in one swipe? Pond’s Cold Cream gamit niya ‘don.

2. TONING

Using a toner really brightened up my face. Prior to learning about this skin care step, my face was so dark and ashy from all the impacted oil and sebum. You’d be surprised at the amount of dirt your toner can unearth from your face. Even after cleansing.

My current toner is *drum roll* Eskinol!

Although you’re most welcome to go for fancier alternatives like Celeteque, Witch Hazel, Kiehl’s and the likes.

How I apply my toner is another thing. I actually learned this technique from Korean beauty vloggers, and even saw some EXO members do it hahaha.

I like to soak 2 cotton pads with toner and just leave them on my face like this.

This technique helps with minimizing my pores. After 2 minutes, I take them off and just swipe them across my face down to my neck like I normally would.

3. MOISTURIZING

Moisturizing is my favorite skin care step because it’s the secret to my glass skin haha. A lot of people take this step for granted but it’s actually very important.

I learned that keeping your face well-moisturized is key to having lesser breakouts and blackheads! It makes perfect sense because if your face feels dry then it would feel more compelled to produce oil which results in pimples, sebum, and blackheads.

I actually saw it for myself. When I began moisturizing everyday, I had lesser breakouts and close to zero blackheads.

My current moisturizer is The Face Shop’s Jeju Aloe Ice. I use this in rotation with Myra’s Smooth Glow moisturizer. I have two moisturizers because I think my face has different needs depending on the weather and what time of the month it is. But it’s fine to have just one.

4. EXFOLIATING AND PIMPLE CONTROL

I love exfoliating because I love having my face feel soft as a baby’s butt. It’s also an essential step in keeping the skin smooth and bright. I’ve already talked about my exfoliation regimen with St. Ives’ Apricot Scrub above. So just scroll up.

For pimple control, I use: Defensil.

I still get pimples. Especially when it’s that time of the month, when I’m puyat, or after a Samgyup dinner hahaha. I count on Defensil to help stop a breakout in its tracks. It’s an antibacterial soap that can deal with pimples before they even erupt. It also helps with pimple marks!

I use Defensil very sparingly though--only when I have to. Because this soap can be very drying.

OTHER TIPS/STEPS

I wash my face with water in the morning. No soaps and cleansers, just water.

I stopped wearing foundation in 2018. And mind you, my skin was still whack during this time. It was a sacrifice I did for the greater good haha.

2 years later, my little sacrifice paid off because I no longer get blackheads as bad as I used to.

I throw in a face mask every once in a while. But I’m honestly too tamad for this skin care step.

I know it sounds pathetic to hear people say that drinking lots of water is their skin care secret. But it actually works.

Don’t touch your face with dirty hands! Even before COVID, I already made it a habit to sanitize my hands regularly because I feel iffy about touching my face with dirty hands (arte?!)

Powder (especially talc!) + sweat = blackheads. I stopped using talc on my face for a couple of years now. When I do use powder, I make sure to cleanse my face very very well.

THE GLOW UP

#skin care

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eventyyr · 6 years

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When do you start photography? What made you start? What's your favourite photo that you've taken? Do you have any inspirations? Any photography goals? (I'm just obsessed with your photography, please talk about it lots and lots

Beth you are an angel! I love talking about photography!

Actually I was already really into photography in 3rd grade. I was a scout and one time when we were on camp we went to an amusement park. There was a huge climbing frame, and I was too afraid to try it. So while everyone (+the leaders) were up climbing I got to take pictures of them. I just remember having so much fun doing it, and for a while I wanted to be a photographer. Then came the phase where I wanted to be a politician and much more.

But about two years ago I went to New York. It might have something to do with the fact that I had just gotten a brand new phone so the camera had great quality, but I suddenly felt really inspired. I’ve always seen New York as something taken out of another universe almost. To me it’s like a country in itself. Perhaps it’s because I’m from Denmark where we don’t have massive skyscrapers, I find New York City almost futuristic. Another source for my inspiration has to be the many people. I find people very interesting. Their backgrounds and their stories. New York is full of so many different people. Whether it’s race, religion, ethnicity, age, sexuality, or gender. New York has got it all. And I think that is one of New York’s many beauties. So I think my week in New York made me look at photography in a new way. Instead of it just being focusing on an object or landscape and then clicking on a little button, it became storytelling. I’ve never really been great at expressing my thoughts and feelings with words, but photography sort of gives me an outlet for that.

I’m very critical about my own work. Sure I’ve captured some beautiful sunsets, but that’s not necessarily what I want. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a sucker for sunset pictures, but it’s not the style I want to portray. As I mentioned, I look at photography as a way to tell stories, and most of the pictures I share don’t do that. Which is the reason I’m being self-critical. I want to tell stories, my own and others. I want to be able to somehow inspire others and make an impact on other people.

Another reason I’m very self-critical has something to do with me being a perfectionist. Good is never good enough, and I constantly want to be even better.

Photography has helped me a lot with me mental health issues. Depression and anxiety is not a good cocktail but photography has sort of resonated with me. Focusing on framings of different objects or landscapes helps me escape my otherwise anxious self. It’s like I enter a little bubble as soon as I’m with a camera, and that has been really good for me.

So as for a favorite photo of mine… Some of the pictures I took in Yosemite, it’s a very beautiful national park and the morning fog is still visible, so I think what captures my eye is the mysterious feel it gives me. Bullisville, when we drove by there had just been a terrible wildfire. Everything vegetation had burned to the ground, the only thing left was some burnt trees. One thing that really caught my eye was a sign made by some children saying thank you to the firefighters, I thought it was really beautiful and I wanted to keep it as a memory both of the trip but of the remaining good in the world as well. San Fransisco, is one of my favorite cities right after NYC. It has some of the same elements as NYC, like the broad cultural aspect and being full of many interesting people. We went to the Castro District, also known as one of the first gay neighborhoods in America. There’s a lot of street art telling inspiring stories, so I really liked not only the pictures I took of the art but also seeing people in their element creating said art. Lastly I really liked some of the pictures I took in Czech Republic. I had brought a DSLR camera and a mirrorless camera, to experiment a bit. Some of the pictures I took with the mirrorless camera inside of Theresienstadt, a Czech concentration camp, ended up being great. It has been maintained really well, and there was very good lightening. Everything inside of a concentration camp tells individual stories.

I have many inspirations. I don’t think you’ll ever be truly able to better your talent if you don’t let yourself inspire by others. As for storytelling my go-to is definitely the facebook page/instagram page @/humansofny. I can spend hours reading about all the different people and their personal stories.

Pure photography inspiration has to be Cole Sprouse. I’ve been following his instagram for quite a while and I love seeing how his style has changed over time and how much better he’s becoming. Cole has some trademarks, I can scroll through instagram knowing which pictures he has taken and which he has liked, I think that’s important as a photographer. Having that is one of my goals. I’m not saying that you should capture everything in the same way. Experiment, find out what you’re good at, find out how your work separates from everyone else’s.

This is just based off who I follow on instagram: @/alessioalbi @/petrafcollins @/nyavgjoe (mostly fashion photography) @/colin_dodgson @/miriam_marlene @/alex_hainer @/prue_stent @/lilyingenewmark @/girlgazeproject (highly recommend this one) @/robbiel1 @/sophiemayanne

I follow a lot of photography accounts, so if you’re looking for some new ones hit me up:)

As for goals I think the biggest one is to be satisfied with my work, because right now I’m far from that. I like to dream about becoming a freelance photographer living in New York, haha. But first step is definitely to be happy with my own work. I don’t care if anyone else likes it, if I don’t. I don’t do photography to please other people, I do it because I enjoy it and find peace with it. And I also believe that you can’t make other people truly love your work if you don’t love it yourself.

I’m sorry this ended up as an essay haha, I’m very passionate as you can hear, and I wanted to answer all of your questions well:)

Thank you so much for the questions, it gave me a chance to consider how I actually see photography as a part of my life!

#ask*#my photography

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kirakiraproject · 7 years

Text

Kira Beauty - Eira

This week's Kira Beauty is our only 3rd generation UK member, Eira from Team R. I'm Mizuki and I'm the one who gonna interview Ori.

E = Eira M = Mizuki

M: Hi Eira!

E: Hi Mizuki! How are you?

M: I'm fine thanks. How about you, Eira?

E: I'm pretty good! I had two days off to relax so I'm doing great.

M: So what have you been doing on those days?

E: As little as possible, lol. It's rare that I have any days with no plans at all so I stayed in bed and played video games.

M: Staying in bed is also something I do very often haha! Anyway, how do you feel by being a Crystal Rose member so far?

E: I'm really enjoying it! So far the assignments have been fun and I've even performed live representing Crystal Rose already, which was one of my goals when I joined!

M: Yeah!! How was the performance?

E: It was so good! I've performed live a couple of times before but this last time was definitely the best. The audience were great, they cheered so loud during our giveaway it surprised me lol.

M: Wow!! What an amazing feeling when the audiences show the supports! So what was the reason that made you audition for Crystal Rose?

E: When I started performing at events last year I became interested in the UK net idol scene and Crystal Rose UK started around the same time so I started watching Crystal Rose videos. I really like Crystal Rose's original music - Win This War and Impress are my favorites. The more I paid attention to Crystal Rose the more I wanted to be part of it!

M: Ohhh, I didn't know that you saw us performed! Wow, that's so cool! So at that time, were you performing alone or in another group?

E: I didn't get to see Crystal Rose live but I watched the videos of you performing ^^ I was in another group at the time.

M: Oh, so when did your dream as being an idol start?

E: I started doing covers over 10 years ago actually. At that time it was just singing on YouTube and I didn't think performing on stage was possible for me, though I always dreamed of it! I was really shy when I was younger and no one else had the same interests as me so I kept it mostly private lol.

M: So it was when you were about 12 right? Did you start with doing covers in English or Japanese?

E: Yep. I started doing Japanese covers of songs from Mermaid Melody which was my favorite anime then and really popular in the J-pop covers scene on YouTube, even before Hello!Project got popular.

M: Oh, so your love to J-pop started with anime, right?

E: Kind of! It was partly anime and partly because I loved the game Kingdom Hearts and got to know Utada Hikaru's music because of that.

M: Ah, I see! So have you think about releasing your own song in the future?

E: I have! When I was 15 or 16 I produced some Vocaloid covers and an original song, it was really fun but I stopped making music after that. I picked it up again a few months ago and I have an instrumental that's almost complete, but this time I have to adjust it to my own range and not a vocaloid so it's taking some time to complete!

M: Wow!!! Are your original song uploaded anyway?

E: They aren't. Sadly I lost the first one when my computer broke, kinda annoying since I get the song stuck in my head sometimes and it just doesn't exist anymore lol. I plan to upload new music to my SoundCloud eventually though.

M: Ah that's so annoying!! Maybe you should re-produce it... I think it's a great idea to upload your songs somewhere to share it with everyone to listen. Were you the one who composed and wrote the lyrics?

E: I might try one day! Yep, I did everything myself, though I don't think I'm very good at writing lyrics so I'd like to work with other people on that in the future. Maybe other members of Crystal Rose!

M: Yeah, there are some members who love to make lyrics so I'm sure that they are willing to work together, but I still think you are better than you think you are. And about the genre, do you have any specific music genre that you would like your songs to have?

E: Aw, thank you! I have a lot to learn in all areas of making music. I like electronic rock a lot as a genre, like Negoto, School Food Punishment and some Vocaloid stuff sounds light and dreamy but it's definitely still rock. I think my voice is good for that kind of music too, so I'd love to make something like that!

M: And do you have any specific topics you would like your songs have?

E: When I write I like finding ways to describe something, like an emotion or the atmosphere of a certain scene. I'd really like to write lyrics that can make you feel something when you hear them.

M: Oh, like something very very deep right?

E: Mostly, but it doesn't have to be! Like Win This War has really simple lyrics but singing or listening to it makes me feel strong!

M: Yeah, I really like those lyrics that make me feel like that too.

M: So other than being a singer, do you have another dream occupations?

E: None at all, lol. I like to work on the things I love most in my free time rather than for a job. I love art and music and fashion but when I studied art I got burnt out a lot because it's stressful with all the deadlines and having to make things to get a good grade rather than because you like it. I work hard even at my hobbies so it works well for me to keep my favorite things as a hobby for now. I think I'd like to be self employed one day though!

M: I got what you mean. Homework always make me stressful. It always end up that I study just to pass the courses and not to learn anything. But since you want to be self employed, do you know with what?

E: Yeah, I think now the best way to learn things isn't by doing a course. I think I'd like to be a fashion or textile designer eventually! I have a lot of fun making costumes for performances currently and I really want to see how far I can go with it!

M: Ohh yeah!!! I have seen one of your self-made costumes! It looks amazing! I think it's definitely something for you!!! Go for it!

E: Thank you!! I'll definitely work hard to build up my skills.

M: So how long have you been designing your own clothes? Did you learn it somewhere?

E: My grandma taught me to knit when I was little and I started to sew clothes for dolls when I was about 13. I learned embroidery, crochet, print and other textiles techniques in my own time as part of school projects, and I started to make my own clothes about two years ago I think! My grandma was a seamstress and left us a lot of nice fabrics and threads so I've been able to practice without spending money on supplies.

M: Wow, you have learnt a lot! That's amazing to have a grandma who could teach you, plus that you were willing to learn. To be honest, I know nothing about textile haha! And how about the music, did you learn it somewhere or were you self-learned?

E: I'm self taught with music but I took drum lessons and singing lessons in school which helped a lot! I really love learning to make things so I spent a lot of time learning new skills as a teenager.

M: You seem smart who love to learn a lot of things. That's really good. It was really fun to talk with you tonight! Take care and have a super nice week, Eira! And thank you to everyone who just read our interview!

E: Thank you for interviewing me, Mizuki! It was fun!

M: Bye everyone~

#kirakiraproject #crystalrose #netidol #netaidoru #girlgroup #musicgroup #kirabeauties #teamreira

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