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enhasfever · 3 years

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𝑇𝐻𝐸 7𝑇𝐻 𝑆𝐸𝑁𝑆𝐸: 𝐻𝐴𝐿𝐿𝑂𝑊𝐸𝐸𝑁 𝑆𝐸𝑅𝐼𝐸𝑆

on hold!

➪ your town has always been rumored to harbor various beings from humans to vampires, and even scarier mythical creatures that the very thought of will keep you up at night and scanning the shadows of your room. every october, unusual mishaps begin to arise in your small town that can't just be coincidental. from sudden disappearances to unsolvable murders that have even the sharpest of detectives in a stump, from unsettling noises heard from deep in the forest to strange markings found around town, part of you, a much, much braver part of you, mulls on the idea of exploring these phenomenons just to put your own sanity at ease. some answers lie right beneath your nose.

➪ a/n: hi there, i've decided to attempt a series for the upcoming spooky season! i cant guarantee that they'll all get written and published by the end of october like i'm planning for, but i'll do my best. inspo is taken from one of my all time fav nct songs the 7th sense, though it's mostly just the eerie vibes the sound gives off rather than the actual meaning of the song that i've based the series off of. also got some inspo from various supernatural movies/tv shows such as the vampire diaries, teen wolf, twilight, etc. none of the stories will be linked so they can all be read as standalones!

currently working on: jake's story

➪ heeseung

➪ creature type: wendigo

➪ tw: tbd

↳ you've never seen him around before which instantly draws your curious self to investigate. your town rarely ever got new visitors, especially during this creepy season. so, when heeseung makes his presence known, you make it your personal mission to befriend and warn him of your town's mysterious history.

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➪ jay

➪ creature type: vampire

➪ tw: tbd

↳ he's always been the quiet kid who quite literally lurked in the shadows. like, nobody's seen him step out into broad daylight for as long as anyone can remember. jay and his family have been labeled as the town's antisocial weirdos, only emerging from their home after the sun starts setting and covering themselves from head to toe when presented with a reason to go outside before then. you sense something off about him each time you're given the chance to be near him, though not in the way that makes you think he's got something going on with him...he's definitely hiding something.

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➪ jake

➪ creature type: hellhound

➪ tw: tbd

↳ he's more or less your best and only friend you've managed to make and keep through your years. the second that jake began to hang around, your other friends seemed to have fled from your social circle with the claim that they didn't feel comfortable around him. you've never understood why anyone would be afraid of this puppylike boy who seemed to follow behind you at all times as such.

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➪ sunghoon

➪ creature type: dragon

➪ tw: hoon's overworked in one scene, near injury incident, painful shifting scene (poor hoonie :c)

↳ with being the town's resident heartthrob, there isn't a time in your day where you don't hear sunghoon's name leave the mouths of fawning teenage girls. you've never really gotten the hype about him, though maybe that's because you just needed to be given a chance to talk to him for yourself. you quickly find that you're learning more about him than you intend and maybe, just maybe, you start to understand the incessant chatter about him.

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➪ sunoo

➪ creature type: banshee

➪ tw: tbd

↳ he's been one of your town's biggest controversies for as long as you can remember. nobody ever sees sunoo around until this time of the year, and even then he only shows up long enough to blink, then he's disappeared again. it's become almost a sort of competition to see who in the town spots him first each year, though his appearances are strangely followed up by mysterious disappearances or murders. when you're the first person to run into him this year, a little voice inside of you tells you that something bad is about to happen.

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➪ jungwon

➪ creature type: siren

➪ tw: tbd

↳ there are a few unspoken rules that your town has collectively decided to abide by, and one of those few include staying away from the underground caves located deep in the forest. most people don't know why this has been a thing for the last few decades, but you've heard myths about there being horrible creatures living in its depths. of course, what better activity to do on a friday night than to explore those caves with a bunch of drunk teenagers? you don't know what you expected to come out of the experience, certainly nothing particularly good, but you definitely don't expect to run into someone like jungwon.

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➪ ni-ki

➪ creature type: phantom

➪ tw: tbd

↳ it's been two weeks since you've started seeing this boy around the town, and normally you wouldn't think much of it but it doesn't take you long to recognize who it is. the boy, riki, who had supposedly died three years ago is now wandering around your town and you seem to be the only person who notices.

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mariamermaid · 3 years

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The Queens Gambit

Ron Weasley x fem reader

Summary: Ron had been waiting for weeks for the upcoming chess tournament in London, but what if his title is endangered by a rookie…

Words: 4k

A/N: I think it´s pretty obvious where I got the inspo from, but in case you haven´t watched the show; I can highly recommend it! (That doesn´t mean you have to watch the show before reading though) I decided to add a few more characters from the HP fandom to make the story a little more entertaining. It´s basically like a little alternate universe story (but not really??)

“Do you have a clock?”

You shook your head as you filled out the form with your name and other information. It was your first tournament and as much as you were excited on the inside, you kept a cool exterior. In reality, your heart was pounding against your chest. You had counted the days to this precious Saturday midmorning.

“If you´re opponent doesn´t have one, we´ll loan you one. Play starts in 20 minutes”, the boy in front of you nonchalantly explained. He was tall, but his slack figure was loosely positioned on the wooden chair. His teeth were a little crooked and he barely looked up to eye you any further. “What´s your rating?”

You glanced up from the paper in your hand, furrowing your brows. “My rating? I don´t have a rating.”

“Have you ever played in a tournament before?”

“No.” Your voice was steady, but a slight annoyance grew as the rules of the tournament seemed to have decided to play against you.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Starring directly at the boy, merely a man, in front of you, you nodded. Then you handed the paper back to him. “I´m sure.”

“Then I put you in beginners”, he sighed and shrugged.

“I´m not a beginner”, you argued, but apparently, that didn´t change anything. “Doesn´t matter, if you´re an unrated player, you go in beginners and people with ratings under 1600.”

A pause fell from your lips, clearly Merlin didn´t want you playing against actual contenders.

“Is it against any rule for me to play in the Open?” The boy with dark short hair seemed taken back by your sudden and quick answers, and he stuttered when answering. Maybe it was your confidence that startled him, maybe it was the pure attendance of a female.

“Not… Not exactly.”

“Then put me in the open.”

“There are three guys with over 1800 and Weasley might show up, you have no chance.”

You didn´t answer, leaving him sitting behind the desk. You weren´t sure, if he meant to spare you with good will, or simply feared that an irascible woman could ruin the tournament.

Neville Longbottom, looked at the paper handed to him and read out the name. “Y/n Y/L/N.”

When entering the hall, that was used for all kinds of events when booked, very few decorations fell into your eye. A few flags with symbols of schools or teams and a few goblets. Pieces of sports equipment were pushed to the sides for space. The tables, all fairly small with enough space for the chessboards, were placed induvial throughout the room. Boys, mostly around your age and older were talking to each other, while other´s sat down to study their strategies. At the back was a partitioning, that’s where the big players gamed.

Another boy, he seemed to be around your age with dark hair and round glasses joined you in eyeing the scene.

“Are the matches played random?”, you asked him quietly without looking away from the tables. You hoped for no unwanted attention, which was easier said than done. Especially giving the fact, that you were one out of two girls.

“No, they match it by ratings on their first round. After that winner play winners and losers play losers.” The boy answered. He seemed calm about his presence as well as his answer. He had clearly played before in tournaments. You nodded understanding, before walking to the first table assigned to you.

The second girl other than you, was sitting to your opposite.

You starred at the clock at the side of the chess board, you had never played with a clock. It annoyed you deeply that it made you look like a beginner. You were good and you were planning to win. The girl, black shoulder length hair and almond shaped eyes, noticed your look and offered you a polite smile.

“I´m Cho Chang. Each player has 90 minutes, after you move, you press the button closest to you. Then it´s your opponent’s turn.”

You didn´t want to talk much, you were there to play, but you appreciated her explanation. Then your eyes traveled through the room, just to find Cho´s again.

“Why do they put the girls together?”

“They´re not supposed to, but if you win, they´ll move you up. Have you ever played in a tournament?”

You shook your head slightly. “No.”

But she simply shrugged. “I´m sure you´ll do fine.”

“What about Ron Weasley, is he coming today?” Oh, the king of chess, at least currently.

You had read about him, his matches from his first years at Hogwarts. Even Dumbledore himself had praised him and the daily prophet had written multiple articles about him. You had studied his games, over and over. It was him, who you wanted to play.

“Yeah, he has to defend his title.”

After 20 minutes, Neville heard light steps approaching. Only seconds after, he found you standing in front of him again. “What do I do with this?” You hold up the paper from your match. It took every bit of effort to hide your happiness, the first game had taken a lot of weight off your shoulders. After beating Cho, you were more determined than ever.

“Is your match already over?”

“Yes, I won”, you shrugged.

“That was fast, circle your name and drop in the basket”, he muttered and you did as said. Neville starred at the spot where you had previously stood; something tingled in his senses. Maybe you would actually get a chance to prove yourself to the higher players.

You snuck through the rows of players still starring at their boards until reaching the dividers. Clearly, you were fast, faster than most of them, which gave you time to study the room further. But the interesting part was happening behind the dividers. You paused for second, before deciding to enter. Around the table was a group of people watching, within the crowd, the boy from before with the round glasses. It was your turn to join his side and watch the two seated players. By the red hair, you could easily make out Ronald Weasley himself. His green eyes were pierced on the board as he chewed on his lips. You had seen several pictures of him in the newspaper, but seeing him in person? It was a new excitement rushing through your veins.

“Is he a Grandmaster?”, you asked the dark-haired boy to your left. Curiosity had always been in your nature, it even more so, got you into trouble.

“He´s working on it, it takes time. You have to play a grandmaster to become one.”

“How much time?”

“Do you mind?”, Ron turned from the game, eyeing you with caginess. His green eyes pierced right through yours and you pressed your lips to a thin line, looking to the floor with guilt. Internally, you cursed at yourself, but the smallest part showed a weird reaction; Ron Weasley had taken notice of you. Not in the way you wanted, but maybe he´d remember you. Slowly, they all focused back on the game.

Weasley´s opponent, Blaise Zabini, had his arms crossed in front of the board. “Draw?”

Ron shook his head, he wasn´t cruel. However, the victory was too close and too easy for him. “No.”

Zabini sighed, watching as Ron´s Queen moved on the board to shatter his king. The art of wizard chess remained aggressively; how queens and rooks smashed and destroyed kings and pawns. It was fascinating to you.

Weasley clapped at his own win, just like the crowd, a smirk back on his lips. “Yes!”

The group around you echoed in further applause and you couldn´t help but feel a smile. The two of them shook hands, before Zabini took off in defeat. He tried his best not to show his disappointment and anger. Ron watched his tall figure leave through the crowd, until his eyes landed back on you. You felt a blush rushing into your cheeks. Did you said he´d remember you? He probably despised you already.

Avoiding his glance again, knowing you had already attracted unwanted attention, you swallowed. Ron on the other hand just realized the pretty girl, who had watched him…

The minutes and hours took by and one after one player was defeated by you. Oh, how you loved winning. Some might decline it as a weakness, but it was the drive that kept you going.

“That´s check”, you explained after successfully beating another man. He adjusted his hair, feeling clearly uncomfortable. You on the other hand, had found your safe zone.

“I know what it is”, he then replaced his Queen, which rose from her throne, before making her way to the newly assigned field. But you had already figured out his move and even more so, your own win.

“Draw?” He asked, nervously tapping with his pencil. You had placed your head on top of your hands, watching him closely. You shook your head.

“I resign”, he admitted.

“Dinner break, then three more rounds. Final round on Sunday 11a.m.”; Neville explained, while the players had gathered outside the hall to either chitchat or look at the charts of the past games. You eyed the chart; you had won four games already. Two games were listed above you, the next one was against Harry Potter. You furrowed your brows. “You said there were three people with ratings higher than 1800!”

Neville, the boy of drossy posture and crocked teeth, looked up from the papers. He had already guessed that you would complain. “Yes, that´s right.”

“I thought I´d be playing one of them.” Neville sighed, his love for chess, organization of tournaments and the clear instructed rules, were a little thwarted by you. “You don´t have a rating, consider yourself lucky.”

“How do I get a rating?”

“You play 30 games in the USCF tournaments and then wait four months.”

“But that’s too long! I want to play Weasley”, you exclaimed. The calculations in your head were fast and no matter how you turned it, time was your enemy. “If you win your next three games and if he does the same…”

“I will.”

Annoyed, you stepped back into the hall. You were ambitious to win. It was all you had and the potential price money lurked you even more. At home, nothing but your mother waited for you. Money had always been a big concern, she wasn´t even able to afford for you to go to Hogwarts. Everything you knew about magic; she had taught you. She worked two jobs to make enough money for food and rent and while she cleaned motel rooms, one of the guests that often stayed at the motel, taught you to play wizard chess; Mr. Lupin was an amazing teacher…

At the table of your next tournament, you found the dark-haired boy with round glasses. He awaited you and smiled as you finally sat down. “I´m Harry, Harry Potter.”

Besides your prior encounter, you had seen him talking to Ron Weasley and a small wave of exhilaration rose inside you. He and Weasley seemed close friends. “Y/n, Y/L/N.”

The game started with innocent moves from pawns. In between, Harry glanced up to you, checking. But you were sure of what you were doing. Minutes passed into the game and Harry started realizing that you were better than him, he didn´t show it yet, but he was well aware. Nevertheless, he was enjoying an exquisite game of chess.

You took his queen nonchalantly, which fell off the board in debris, and nervously licking his lips, he wrote down new notes on his notepad, before making his move. Your turn again, the rook.

Harry folded his hands, starring at the game. He pondered how to get out. After more minutes passing, a few people even started to watch you. They stood in the background, far enough to not make it conspicuous, but close enough for you to notice.

You moved your king and Harry sighed. “Merlin, Y/n, you´re humiliating my rook.”

“You won´t have to suffer much longer.”

Yes, you had it all played out in your head. Your win was safe and secure.

A smile was on your lips. Two further moves, and it was done.

He stretched out his hand in defeat and you took it. “Good game, you´re very talented.”

You shrugged as if it didn´t matter, but it did. To you it did. “You really are something.”

Saturday came to an end; you had won every single game. With your head tilted high, you stepped out the building. Fresh air flowed through your lunges and you took a deep breath. Suddenly voices echoed from your right; a few steps away Harry was talking to Ron Weasley. They chuckled in ease as they continued to make conversation. Ron´s back was turned into your direction, but Harry quickly noticed you.

“Hey Y/N! You played well today; do you want to grab a butterbeer with us?”

A bitter taste spread on your mouth; you had never even tried butterbeer. But all your savings had gone into the fee of the tournament and you already expected a long lecture when coming home. You shook your head with a polite smile on your lips. “Sorry, I have to get home.”

The two boys watched as you left, silence between them.

“She´s good, better than all the other girl´s I´ve seen”, Harry added and his friend rolled his eyes.

“Come on, Harry, just because she beat you, doesn´t mean she´s some kind of unknown genius. She doesn’t even have a rating.”

Harry shrugged innocently. “Whatever you say, but be careful, maybe she´ll even beat you.”

Ron echoed in laughter as he playfully punched his friend’s shoulder. “As if!”

Sunday came, Ronald Weasley was late.

“Mom, have you seen my shoes?”

“Ronald, if you just once tidied up you might find them at the right place!”

Ron wasn´t nervous, but as so often, he was running late. With the annual tournament of wizard chess, he was ready to defend his title as current state champion.

Finally, the shoes had been next to the dishwasher (probably Fred´s and George´s play), he threw over his jacket and made his way to the fire place. “Mom, I´m leaving.”

Molly Weasley, who always knew where every single one of her children was, came hurrying down the stairs. With swift motions she brushed away dirt from Ron´s jacket and then started fidgeting around with his red hair. “Mom!”, Ron instructed his mother to stop and hurried towards the fireplace. He took the floo powder and rolled his eyes as Molly started wiping away a tear.

“There goes my champion!”

You sat at the table, the same table where Ron had previously won against Zabini, waiting and growing impatiently. People around you waited as well. You couldn´t help but feel a deeper reluctance towards the conceited champion. Finally, you flinched as the door opened.

“Sorry, took a butterbeer on the go”, Ron added and held his cup high to show his evidence. You wanted to let out a sigh and roll your eyes, but you resisted to do so.

He took another sip before stretching out his hand.

“Ron Weasley, what´s your name?” Quickly, you shook his hand. Ron knew your name, Harry had told him, but he asked nevertheless. It was a rude tactic to make you feel smaller against him. You on the other hand wanted to begin, not waste more time. “Y/N, Y/L/N.”

He nodded acknowledging and the game started.

Five minutes into the game, he yawned.

It drove you insane. Did he do it on purpose? To make you lose focus? Or was he as underwhelmingly annoying?

He played confidential, not even thinking he could lose. It didn´t even take seconds for him to plant his moves. It intimated you and no matter how hard you tried not to show, the second yawn as you moved the pawn, did bring you to a slight stumble. Neville as well as Harry stood in the audience watching.

You felt sweat forming on your neck and cleavage, and strain pushed against your temples.

“I´ll be right back.” You jumped off your seat and hurried into the bathroom, leaving behind their confused faces.

Cold water ran down your hands and you placed the refreshing cool on your cheeks and neck.

Your eyes were pinned in the mirror, starring angrily at yourself. Running away from the game felt like an embarrassment enough, you weren´t ready to lose.

“Come on, you can beat him.”

Slowly, your stare wandered towards the ceiling. The chess board appeared out of your imagination and the figures stood tall, just like you had left them behind. Then, they started moving and each time you found yourself in an inescapable path, they pulled back into their initial position. Until…

As you sat down, you were steadier as before. It surprised Ron a little and he watched as you moved your knight to take out one of his pawns. His rook then took your knight and you followed by replacing your pawn. On and on. The game continued. You were dangerously calm and as you placed the bishop down, you watched his face closely.

Ever so slightly, Ron shook his head and the glint in his eyes vanished. Harry in the crowd had the smallest hint of a smile.

“For Merlin´s sake”, Ron muttered and his hand pushed back his ginger hair.

“I think that´s it.” Your tranquil voice didn´t help him at all, but it gave you the confirmation you had hoped for.

“No, I can get out of this.”

“I don´t think so.” Then you tilted your head to side, completely deserted. “Maybe, if you had gotten here on time.”

Ron´s green eyes pierced into yours, then back on the board. Oh, time could be a cruel opponent and right now, he was losing. He took another move, not wanting to admit it yet, but you sighed sounding bored and exhausted.

“It doesn´t work, I don´t have to use the Queen.”

It didn´t matter to him. This was now more and ever about his ego. “I´ll just cover it with the bishop and-“

“Move.” His voice was low and unlike his usual character, deadly serious. Harry had never seen his friend in such a situation and even though he found it alarming, what a terrible loser Ron was, he was happy for you. You deserved it.

You did as said, covering your queen, while his rook took one of your pawns. It didn´t help, all it was, was a desperate cry. Your rook moved right next to his King, which he placed further away, but then your queen came along.

“Do you see it now? Or should we finish this on the board?”

In disbelief, he shook his head once again. But this time, his eyes found yours in an amazing gaze. “For Merlin´s sake.”

The King was destroyed by the Queen. You had won.

The people around you echoed with applause and Ron clapped as well, gentle smiling.

It was useless denying it further, you had beaten him fair and square. Harry had been right, you were good and better than Ron.

He lifted himself off his seat and shook hands with you, a reassuring smile on his lips.

For the first time on this day, you could smile as well. All the worries and the lecture that lasted till late in the evening, had been worth it.

You defeated the state champion and you won the prize money.

“Y/n?”

You had planned to go home, your mother would be enthusiastic about the money, but Ron´s voice held you back. You were outside in the hall, hand already on the railing to the staircase leading outside.

“Do you want to grab a butterbeer with me now?” He sensed your hesitation and quickly spoke up again. “Don´t worry, I´ll pay. I guess I owe it to you”, Ron shrugged and pushed his hands nervously deeper into the pockets of his brown pants. He looked different than when seated behind the chess board, taller but less comfortable as well.

“I´m not sure…”

“Come on, you can´t leave me hanging like this after taking my title.”

A small chuckle escaped your lips and Ron noticed how well it suited your face. While playing chess and debating over strategies, there wasn´t much time to give away polite smiles or studying your opponent’s traits.

You couldn´t help, but feel how the reluctance towards Ron disappeared. He sighed relieved as you nodded agreeing.

The bar was only a few streets away, a side alley and the entrance to the magical ambience was hidden. The door opened as the front side to a large dumpster and lead a few steps down into the pub. It was cozy and due to the early time on a Sunday afternoon, still fairly empty. The bartender nodded towards Ron, they seemed to know each other.

“Two butterbeers, Dean.”

Together you sat down in niche to the side, a few plants hung from the ceiling and blankets and pillows laid on the armchairs in between. Chill jazz music played in the background and a house elf washed up used glasses. You imagined how the room was filled with people in the evenings.

“So, you never played in a tournament before and yet you beat the state champion?”

Ron was curious, which was understandable and you blushed at his question.

“A friend of my mom taught me how to play chess.”

“Really? He must know a lot about it, I imagine.”

“Yeah, and he gave me many books about openings and strategies.”

“I never saw you playing in the school tournaments, when did you start?”

You avoided his glance, starring down at the butterbeer Dean just brought to your table. The yellowish, sweet smelling liquid with soft foam on top.

“I don´t play for a school team”, you admitted quietly. The topic was hard to avoid, but you didn´t have many friends anyways to talk to.

“Well, I think you should maybe start then. They often travel together to other tournaments and-“

“I´m actually not going to a public school, I´m home taught.” You voice was louder now, but still shaking enough for Ron to realize your indisposition. He maybe was a genius on the board, but construing social interactions? Not his strength. Awkwardly, he scratched the back of his neck.

“Oh.”

An uncomfortable silence settled between the two of you and you decided to take your first sip to take off your mind. He watched carefully, how your face enlightened with joy. “It´s really good!”

Ron kept his assumption, that it was your first butterbeer, to himself and smiled nodding.

“Dean knows how to make one of the bests around here”, he paused before continuing.

“I admire you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Everything I know about wizard chess, I learned in school from my teammates. Actually, everything I know, I was taught in Hogwarts. But now you come along and beat me, you´re brilliant Y/N.”

“I always liked chess, it´s a whole world on a simple board. I´m not as good in other things, trust me.” You admitted, but his compliment spread warmth around your heart.

“If you want, I could teach you a few things about magic.”

Maybe Ron Weasley wasn´t the best teacher, but he truly wanted to see you again. Something about you was so charismatic and mesmerizing, he couldn´t help himself. To his luck, excitement was shown in your face. “That sounds amazing!”

When you had finished your beers and left the pub, Ron faced you again. The two of you had talked for over an hour and he was beginning to like you more with each minute.

The thought of Ron teaching you more about magic, made you enthusiastic. Maybe it was also the fact, that seeing him again, brought a tickle in your stomach.

“Well, I see you next week, Queen.”

You chuckled at his new nickname for you, it was a pleasant flattery.

“We will see how good your gambit is when it comes to dueling.”

#ron weasley imagine #ron weasley x reader #ron weasley oneshot #ruppert grint #harry potter imagine #the queens gambit #mariamermaidimagine

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perseus-jacks · 4 years

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tagged by @syndullastars thank you !! ♡

on a scale of 1-10, how excited are you about life right now? I want to say 7, but its probably more like a 4.5

describe yourself in a hashtag? #i’llsleepwheni’mdead (#overlycaffinated applies too)

if you could do a love scene with anyone, who would it be? such a tough question... either Timothée chalamet or Gavin Leatherwood

if your life was a musical, what would the marquee say? biggest goofball in the town

what’s one thing people don’t know about you? that I care waaaaaay too much about what others think

what’s your wake up ritual? shower, brush teeth, wash face, get dressed, cook breakfast/make coffee and then read

what’s your go to bed ritual? pick out clothes for the morning, brush teeth, wash face, write agenda for the upcoming day

what’s your favorite time of day? I would say late at night, like at 2am when im the only one up and I can already hear birds chirping outside my window.

your go to for having a good laugh? YouTube videos (commentaries, reviews, and even my fave books as vines)

dream country to visit? Switzerland

what’s the biggest surprise you’ve ever had? my life isnt full of surprises, sadly. I guess when I was able to live and study in Oxford for two days (I honestly didnt know if I could, it was a mess)

heels or flats/sneakers? sneakers

vintage or new? vintage for sure

who do you want to write your obituary? my sister

style icon? a mix of Cher from clueless and Monica Geller, with a hint of my sister’s style ( I draw my inspo from many people ok)

what are three things you cannot live without? friends, my books, my laptop

what’s one ingredient you put in everything? sugar

what 3 people living or dead would you want to make dinner for? my mom, my sister, and oddly enough,, van Gough (it would be interesting to share a meal/convo with him)

what’s your biggest fear in life? failing / not living up to my family’s expectations of me

window or aisle seat? Aisle. I love day dreaming while looking out the window, but the aisle is a matter of convince

what’s your current tv obsession? Outer Banks, and I'm trying to get into Anne with an E too

favorite app? Spotify, it houses all my music, and thus, a source of happiness.

secret talent? I can quote every episode of Friends word for word

most adventurous thing you’ve ever done in your life? Spent my spring break in Spain

how would you define yourself in three words? perceptive, passionate, witty

favorite piece of clothing you own? My distressed Shawn Mendes tour T-shirt ( wear like 3 times a week)

a must have clothing item that everyone should have? a black turtle neck

a superpower you would want? telepathy/compulsion

what’s inspiring you in life right now? writers and storytellers

best piece of advice you’ve received? sometimes the best thing to do is take risks without fear of the consequences

best advice you’d give your teenage self? stop worrying so much about what others think and speak you mind always

a book everyone should read? Jane Eyre

what would you like to be remembered for? being a good friend

how do you define beauty? Beauty cant be defined. It's everywhere and in everyone.

what do you love most about your body? My eyes

best way to take a rest/decompress? lounging around and reading with a coffee in hand, or cruising with the windows down with my friends/fam

favorite place to view art? the Met in nyc

if your life was a song, what would the title be? Smile

if you could master one instrument, what would it be? guitar

if you had a tattoo, where would it be? a small crescent moon behind my ear or on the part of my hand that is in-between my thumb and index finger

dolphins or koalas? dolphins !!

what’s your spirit animal? an owl

best gift you’ve ever received? a pretty, vintage looking necklace

best gift you’ve given? I made a friendship timecapsule for my friend when she moved away, and every two weeks or so she would tell me how it cheered her up

what’s your favorite board game? monopoly

what’s your favorite color? cornflower blue

least favorite color? burnt orange (sorry Peeta)

diamond or pearls? diamonds

drugstore makeup or designer? drugstore, it does the job

pilates or yoga? hip-hop yoga

coffee or tea? coffee

what’s the weirdest word in the english language? canoodle, moot

dark chocolate or milk chocolate?both stairs or elevators? stairs, i hate elevators

summer or winter? both

you are stuck on an island, you can pick one food to eat forever without getting tired of it, what would you eat? just the thought of that makes me tired of every single food in existence lol

a dessert you don’t like? anything fancy

a skill you’re working on mastering? life drawing and general storyboarding stuff, for school and career purposes

best thing to happen to you today? the clone wars finale :((((

worst thing to happen to you today? also the clone wars finale :((((

best compliment you’ve ever received? a few of my friends have told me that i always know exactly what to say, and that makes me happy bc i try very hard to understand them and be what they need so i’m glad it pays off

favorite smell? pine trees and snow on the air, but also sunscreen and the sea

hugs or kisses? hugs

if you made a documentary, what would it be about? the evolution and highlights of reality tv; its fun to watch but has serious implications if you look closely enough

last piece of content you consumed that made you cry? Wall-E

lipstick or lipgloss? lipgloss

sweet or savory? sweet

girl crush? Jenna Coleman

how do you know you’re in love? i’ve only been in love once and it was a very fledgling thing but it was like, they’re always on your mind, seeing them is like a thunderclap to your heart, you want to be near them and laugh with them, you constantly wonder what they think of you (like the littlest thing), you care about how they see you, time with them feels like nothing and everything

a song you can listen to on repeat? Golden by Harry Styles + Dust Your Pocket by Glass Animals

if you could switch lives with someone for a day, who would it be? whoever is dating Gavin Leatherwood, I just want to know what thats like (even if its for a day)

what are you most excited for/about this time in your life? Im excited for law school actually and moving out west

this is long so i’ll just tag a few: @maxons @wizardra @vikingthors @oceanvs @thorne( feel free to ignore ofc ♡ )

#about me

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sunday-readings · 4 years

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Zine/PDF Publication Inspo

I had lots of fun today on Quarantine Zine Club (https://quarantinezineclub.neocities.org/zinelibrary.html) which Bailey showed us and I found some inspiration as starting points for what I might want to create in my own pdf publication. After feeling a little more confident in my ideas I found some further inspo from Pinterest. (all images are credited and have the links where I found them)

1. Cover and Page 3 of “Pop” Zine by Lliam Amor, 2016, from https://quarantinezineclub.neocities.org/zinelibrary/lliamamor-pop.pdf I really love the combination of paint physically applied on paper, and then graphic drifting applied over the top

2. Digital Zine, Gundam Girls, by @RainMirage_Art from https://quarantinezineclub.neocities.org/zinelibrary/rain-gundamgirls.pdf I like the layout of this digital zine, a bit more relevant than the handmade ones due to our new project circumstances.

3. “30 Days” Zine by Jess Eddy, from https://quarantinezineclub.neocities.org/zinelibrary/rain-gundamgirls.pdf I also love the combination of digital and handwritten elements in this zine, it’s super fun and the use of colours is so great, something i want to achieve in my fun interview.

I also had a scroll through Pinterest for some more general aesthetic inspiration…

1. “A pocketbook of Witchfolk and Demons” by Natalie Andrewson, small 24pg risograph printed book from https://natalieandrewson.bigcartel.com/product/a-pocket-book-of-witchfolk-and-demons These playful colours and hand drawn illustrations appeal to me so much!

2. There’s something I love about the ‘punchy’ nature and composition of this “AYC Riso Summer” Zine. (by Hendrik Klein & Julian Klein, 2019) from https://www.behance.net/gallery/84129133/AYC-Riso-Summer-Zine

3. “Animal Gamations” Zine, by Birdstrips, from https://shop.birdstrips.com/collections/other-fun-stuff/products/animalgamations-zine, 4.25" x 2.75" size zine (when folded) offered as a print at home PDF

4. I like the simple, child like nature of the composition and colour combination. It's childish yet fun and sophisticatedly playful for adults. “L’Atelier Irradié” by Alain Vonck & Laurent Vonck, from https://www.idnworld.com/creators/Irradie - probaby my favourite overall

To summarise the commonalities of aspects I like and might want to explore in my own work and upcoming experiments... - playful colours and playful layout design - hand drawn illustrations - mix of hand crafted aspects and digital drawings

#research journal rmitdesignstudies designstudies inspo inspiration

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studyinglola · 6 years

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hi guys!! It’s me, lola. I know I haven’t been posting on here as much or on my instagram (@studyinglola go follow me) and the reason why is a simple fact: I am in a gap year. I had been following 2 studies and I dropped out of both of them because of some reasons. The biggest one of the last one was: it wasn’t what I was seeing myself do in a few years. And because I’ve been overcoming my own issues and I’m trying to find my inner peace and love!!!! I discussed with my parents and we came to the conclusion that I am going to have a gap year. So without further a do:

here are some tips and advice, if you want or going to have a gap year!

First of: I am european. I have no idea, I am a chasing in the dark in the whole school system of America or wherever sometimes. The only thing I can say or give advice for if you want to have a gap year in college: talk with your supervisor, a teacher or anyone who can help you or give you advice. The thought of a gap year can come sudden or you can be thinking about it four month’s before your next school year. Know what you can do and try to figure it out with your school.

If you’re coming out of high school: CONGRATS ON GRADUATING! Not everyone is going to college or university right away! At this age, and in this climate we’re living in, I don’t expect that a lot of us know what we really want to become when we get older. Or what kind of job we want to have for the next 40 years. So that’s okay. No pressure from me.

But let’s get to business. You can’t sit around for a whole year doing nothing. You will get lazy, your health will fade and your stanima and muscles will decrease. You can have off days, when you can chill, watch your favourite series, eat some junk food and pamper yourself. But don’t do it every day!

You have a whole year, to think about what you want to do. Explore the internet and try to find jobs or stuff that excites you or try to find stuff what you’re good at and enjoy, so you can put that to use in a job, and try to find a major or college course for.

You can get a job! A job or past experiences look good on a resume (if anyone is interested I could make a resume example or tips just message me). You can add your skills you developed over there as something you have learned and can put to use, because every company loves a multi-functioning person. Go job hunting and have fun in it! You don’t need a 9 to 5 job, just as long you are doing something!

If you are already working, and you are doing to to pay your bills; ask the manager or someone if there are any programs you can follow to learn new things and get higher up.

Volunteer! Ask around, help shelters, go visit older people in the nursery home and give them company! It also takes up some time of your day so you’re doing something!

Sport! Excercising is healthy. It keeps your muscles flexible and at work, it can make you happy and you can work on a schedule or habbit! For example: I only ran once a week. Saturday at 11 a.m. I ran 5 to 8 kilometers on a bad day and 15 kilometers on a good day. It was my drive that wanted me to run more and more. It made me happy I did it and also because I did it in the morning, I had enough energy for the rest of the day and still had my day left! Some simple examples that won’t (if you’re doing it for the first time or want to try it out) cost much or no money: Jogging (running), yoga, jumping rope, bootcamp off a youtube video or try the ‘workout at home’ video’s!

find a new hobby! Hobby’s can include bullet journalling, studying, reading, drawing etc. but also being active, and moving. Baking or cooking? you are moving around, using a lot of muscles and your brain. It is a good way to learn recipes and it is food!!!!

I could go any more into detail but those are a few examples!

This can be an issue for some people and I understand. In some way I can only say or give the advice is to not beat around the bush. If you are having a gap year and people will ask you about school and you find it hard to talk in depth about it; just say you’re doing a gap year to be sure of everything you’re doing. It is a good thing to be sure of things, and it is also a good thing to doubt. No person could make you feel bad about yourself, because you are trying to do what is right for you. Not for them. So if a family member is judging you, or you are scared to tell a friend. Just stay true to why you’ve done it. People will understand why you did it. And if they don’t, leave them be and don’t discuss it with them furhtermore.

I am in a gap year, and the ‘official’ school year is starting in September. For me that means I am going to find a 9 to 5 job. I already have a job, but I want to save some money and go do my own thing. But I also am interested to learn a new language; or just try!

Self study can be very important. Most of the stuff is self study, even though we don’t recognize that all the time. You are the one that is going to class, you are the one doing your homework, you are the one taking that test, listening to your teachers or professors and keeping all that information inside your brain to put to use later or in situations you need! It is all you!! So you can try and study for yourself, if you still want to learn stuff.

You have no deadlines, no stress, no homework (sometimes grammar) and no one that tells you what to do. You are your own teacher and that can be good sometimes. It is also a way to find out, how you can find your best way to study!

It may sound weird, but you are going to be lazy. You have no obligations; no school to wake up for, no tests to study for, no homework to make etc. The feeling of not having to anything will or can consume you. You will be finding yourself staring at your black screen, loading a new episode of riverdale and you see yourself with the bags under your eyes and hair that should’ve been washed three days ago. That is a problem we don’t want. Sometimes mental illnes can take you there as well. Not taking care of yourself that frequently, and all the stuff we know what happens and we go through. And it takes a big scoop of will power, to get out of your bed and do your stuff because honey: you can do this.

Here are some tips and tricks I’ve been applying:

Clean your room (or home if you still live at home or are on your own) twice a week. With that I mean: vacuum, mop, dust off the tables, cabinets and everything. Do the kitchen and living room one day, and the bedroom and bathroom the other day. Change your sheets, and take a shower after all that. Nothing beats a nice clean body and an amazing fresh made up bed.

Learn new recipes, or try to cook once a week instead of the person who does it most of the time. If you are close to go and live on your own and you know you can cook: try and watch your parent or person who cooks for you when they cook! Ask advice, ask why they do some things and get excited. Cooking can be great, and the fun thing is: you can always change it up.

Have a ritual! You know those ‘my bedtime routine’ video’s people post on youtube. They do exist you know. But they go through the whole day. Wake up and be really awake. If you are still snoozing or won’t open your eyes, you won’t leave the bed. Set a timer, even on the weekends and let yourself get awake. Sometimes you need the time to really wake up in the morning, or just let your eyes wake up. A fresh wet towel can help you, a shower, coffee or water or tea. That is all part of the ritual of itself! That’s how you build up a ritual, one step at the time find out what can work for you so you can start the day off right and fill it in with examples of above!

Go do stuff with people! Sometimes people do have time when they are studying or going to college when you aren’t and that is just a simple thing that we call planning. My friends are all in their senior year and are busy with exams the upcoming year, and I am sitting at home. You will feel alone at some times, but that’s okay. If you know you can see your friends: DO IT! It will be fun, they miss you too! Go and get some luch, talk over coffee or have a sleepover in the weekend and tell them to bring their homework cause maybe you can help! Your parents of family can be a good way to get out of the house to do stuff! and I saved the best for last: if you have an animal that can walk on a leash; go out together and be each other’s best companions!

I hear a lot of people talking about traveling in their gap year or even wanting to travel the world. With all the travel inspo on instragram and all the people soaking up the heat in their boohoo dresses and half cut sunglasses; it can be a breather to know that not a lot of people travel in their gap year.

Traveling can be very expensive, and if you don’t make money throughout your trip, it will end and you have the rest of your year left. Some can’t even get out of their state, country or continent. That’s not fun for some, but there’s no rush with seeing the world or wanting to see more and experience more.

You can travel in your gap year, and that is also a lot of planning. You wan’t to go backpacking? Go ahead, I’ve heard Thailand is a great place to do that; Australia also if you’re not from there. Road trips through europe are very short because they can last for 10 days and you could’ve seen it all oops. But also America is good for road trips because it takes more time.

Do your research, go find out whatever you want to see or visit; how much it costs and go work for it. It can be so satisfying to know that you did that on your own and you have the time to do it. You can go whenever you want if the time is there. But further more I don’t have a lot of advice on this but only that it is no requirment to do so. To travel in your gap year.

for more advice or just want to chat or talk you can always ask me a question right here

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houseofvans · 6 years

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ART SCHOOL | Q&A with BOSS DOG

Mystical felines and shamanistic canines are just some creatures that lurk from the realms artist Mikey “Boss Dog” McKennedy. We’ve been following Boss Dog’s dark artworks, which appeared on a series of decks for Zero skateboards. We’re excited to chat with Mikey and find out more about his work, his process, and his upcoming animation project for The Planet of Doom!

Photography courtesy of the artist | Portrait by @enginethusiast

Introduce yourself? My name is Boss Dog. I live in Portland OR. I’m from small towns in Texas and Washington. I’ve lived here and there and everywhere in between!

How would you describe your work to someone who is just coming across it? Occult D&D chopper nerd who loves cats and dogs!

How did you start from doodling and drawing to what you do now? Doodling is a gateway drug. For me at least. I really want to see how far I could take it. I am a huge believer in just putting in the hours. So, it evolved over time — over countless hours of drawing and just pushing myself. I used to only be able to sit and draw for like, 2-3 hours. Now I can put in a 12 + hour day and — while it’s exhausting — I can get the work in.

Who and what were some of your early artistic influences? I am an 80′s child. So, early inspo is all comic books, heavy metal, and D&D. I imitated comic books. Just tried to mimic everything I saw.

What are some things that inspire the drawings you make? Probably the same stuff that’s influenced me as a kid! I I think at my core I am a shy day dreamer and a nerd, so I just like to imagine different worlds where grim reapers are magical wizards who ride dragons and encounter mystical beasts. I think I feel more comfortable in those worlds than planet earth haha.

When did you find yourself incorporating felines and canines in your works as characters? That’s all David from Made In Brooklyn silk screeners! He suggested it one day. He wanted me to paint his cat like one of my wizards. After that people would hit me up and I never say no so, it’s just still going! I absolutely love dogs and cats, so I am not complaining.

Take us through your artistic process? What’s a typical day in the studio like? I do a ton of gestural drawing. I don’t ever draw anything right or well the first time haha. So, I just sit there and draw super sloppy and refine as I go. I would consider myself obsessive compulsive when I draw, so I am really in to “getting it right,” however, that’s defined in the moment. I like to keep a lot of projects goIng at the same time mainly because I love gestural drawing and sketching, but I sometimes put off the hard work of inking.

What are your essential art tools and materials? Non photo blue pencils, Liquitex acrylic paint, Molotov acrylic paint pens, micron pens, and cardboard … and podcasts … lots of podcasts (shout out to Reply All, The Nod, Hello From The Magic Tavern, Last Podcast on the Left) !!! What artists inspire you these days? Oh man, too many to name all of them! I absolutely love Corinne Halbert’s work. I love John Black and Matt Stikker and Orion Landau. Skip Class is always killing it. Lou Death is a beast. Bat Dog. Skinner. Cvspe. Elle Taylor, Kyle Sauter, Naoya Muga, Jacki Jo Koester, Matt Kerley, Sketchy Tank and the entire Swamp Wizards group. Mister Tucks. David Paul Seymour. I’ll think of 20 more 20 minutes from now!

What has been the most challenging project you’ve worked on? How did you overcome those obstacles and what did you take away from it? Probably the one I am working on now. The Planet of Doom asked me to illustrate a scene. I’ve never been part of an animation project until this one and another one recently so that’s a real learning curve. Plus it’s like 30 + illustrations, and it can just be mentally draining. It’s so tempting to half ass it just to get through it. I am the type of person who isn’t happy unless I am DONE with a project, so the discipline required to really make this right is challenging.

What advice would you give someone who wants to follow in your footsteps and pursue art? I don’t have a traditional path at all! So, I wouldn’t suggest following me haha! It took me a long time to figure out what I wanted to be when I grow up – and I am pretty sure I am still not a real adult haha! I spent most of my young adult life playing in hardcore and punk bands and partying way too hard and definitely not thinking about a whole lot as far as long term planning goes. I definitely had to grow up and change some of my ways to be able to really dedicate myself to art. I think I now look at art and drawing the way a horse with blinders on sees things. I tune the whole world out and put my head down and just move forward. I try not to get caught up in what others are doing or worse, wondering what others are thinking! My advice is to just focus on what’s in front of you. Everything else will fall in to place.

What’s your best Art School tip that you want to share with folks? This sounds SOOOO CHEESY haha , but I really mean it: be positive. It’s actually really easy to be negative and talk shit on other artists/scenes/styles/etc. I have that critical mind in me that can be so harsh. When I realized that it’s harder to be and remain positive than to wallow in dickheadedness, I took that as a personal challenge. I don’t always succeed. On my best days I do, on my bad days I can only try and not say the evil shit that is in my head out loud!

What are your favorite style of VANS? Slip-ons. All day every day. I have moved to the Slip-On Lites as I’ve gotten older. They are amazing! I want Vans to make more patterns and colors in the Ultra Lites. So comfy. I love em!

Anything you can share that is coming up? Be on the lookout for The Planet of Doom, and I am also doing some illustrations that will be used for a new Red Fang video that should be out in the fall. Hit up my web store and commission me to paint your dog or cat (or really any type of pet) as a magical warrior wizard!!!

FOLLOW BOSSDOG | INSTAGRAM | WEBSITE

#Art #Vans #Vans Art #Art School #Boss Dog #dogs #canines #drawing #interview #mikey mckennedy

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lunastarjae · 6 years

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Maoh Sakura | Yumi H. | Part 2

Twitch: twitch.tv/maohsakura Twitter: maohsakura Instagram: yumi_h219

[PERSONAL]: What's your favourite subject in school? What are (or were) you good at? *starts sobbing uncontrollably* uh, my favourite subject was math, and I was good at pretty much everything. But now I'm a lazy bum who doesn't use her brain.

Do you want to stay in Vancouver? To live… maybe not for the rest of my life, but maybe for a good majority. I want to see if I can travel and live in other places, but Vancouver has a special place in my heart. I'd like to try living in Japan or California though.

What's your favourite make-up brand? What's your favourite area to glam up? Any make-up inspos? I don't really have one but I like Benefit and Tarte. And anything else that Sephora offers. I like putting make-up on my eyes because there's a lot of different things that I can do, such as the type of eyeliner. I like PONY makeup, Wengie, and Tati.

Do you sing/dance/play music? All three (kappa). But not well.I enjoy singing a lot though. Music is the key to my heart!

[DATING | RELATIONSHIPS]: What was your worst dating experience? *starts sobbing uncontrollably* Probably something like the guy telling me he can't date and then starts dating someone immediately after…

What made you start dating vAnals? HE's aCTuallY oNe oF the SWEetesT gUyS I'Ve EVEr mEt (rip Luna) He was there for me when I was having a lot of problems in my personal life and he stayed up a lot of late nights to keep me company.

What is vAnals really like? HE's aCTuallY oNe oF the SWEetesT gUyS I'Ve EVEr mEt (omg STAAAAAHP) He seems like an ideal boyfriend (pukes)

What's your ideal date? It'll be in the summer, watching fireworks together with doing things before like eating, taking a walk, playing games, chilling on the beach… but the fireworks are the most important part.

[GAMING]: What's your favourite and least favourite part about League? My favourite part is that there's so many ways to play it, it's a versatile game--you can outplay someone in a million ways (or get outplayed (kappa)). My least favourite part is the fact that 99.9% of the players are toxic trash (kappa).

Is there a game you're planning on streaming or getting into? Yes, PUBG. And I'm really open to any other games… possibly horror.

[TWITCH | STREAMING]: What areas are your streams focused on? Hanging out with my viewers (to make it a more comfy and closer environment) for anybody to join and drop by. I mostly stream League, IRL, and I sometimes draw and play smaller games.

How did you find out about Twitch/streaming? Did you ever think you were going to be a streamer? I found out about Twitch through Lilypichu's videos on YouTube, and I never thought I would stream but I admired how much fun Lily had, and a lot of people started suggesting it to me. One day when Luna started, it pushed me to start as well.

You were able to get your affiliate in under two weeks, something that normally takes months or even years for others to do. What do you think contributed to your quick growth? I would say that the Twitch community is very welcoming. I met a lot of people who helped me to improve my stream and I feel like my outgoing personality drew in a lot of viewers. *laughs nervously*

What do you think is the most important aspect as a starting streamer? Make sure to not look trashy (yourself and your stream (as in panels and layout)), have social media, and be willing to have people help you. And be nice! Greet and thank everyone who dropped by and watched you. Acknowledge your viewers because they're important!

What do you have that is unique in comparison to other streamers? My expressive and approachable attitude and I say things that people don't expect out of this innocent-looking face!

Is your platform exclusive to Twitch or are you thinking of expanding it to other platforms (i.e: YouTube)? When I get proper equipment, I'm thinking of expanding to other platforms. And maybe once in a while I'll do an Instagram Live.

I know you've been streaming for a short time, but do you have a favourite memory that you'd like to share? I have a couple. When trolls come to my stream, my viewers have my back. I liked meeting all these new people (like vAnals) and becoming everyone's Rap God (kappa).

Do you have any upcoming projects or something that your viewers should look forward to? I'm planning on an all-Yumi-can-eat IRL/Q&A stream, and for my subscribers, my emotes are coming!

[OTHERS]: You sometimes draw on stream. What do you like drawing the most? Did you learn art from anywhere? What's your favourite kind of art? Who's your art inspiration? I actually like to do things that interact with my viewers so I like to play games as I draw and I like to draw anything popular, anime-related, and easily guessable. I didn't learn art from anywhere, I just like to draw whatever I see and whatever is pretty but sometimes if I don't know how to draw a certain thing, I watch YouTube videos of random artists. I like shojou-styled manga/art, and I don't really have an art inspiration.

Do you prefer to watch anime or read manga? What's a series you recommend? I mostly read manga but I occasionally watch anime. My favourite series is Kaze Hikaru which isn't animated but I like historically-set, romantic-comedy stories.

Yumi streams periodically every week from 8:00 p.m to 2:00 a.m PST.

#streamer #interview #twitch #lunastarlight

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rj15zq · 5 years

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The Effects of Media Messages, Celebrities, and Personae (Blog Week 3)

Remember that feeling when you had just turned 13 and you were finally old enough to attend PG-13 movies? (without lying about your age) Or have you ever thought about why a movie is rated R instead of G?

Rating guidelines all have to do with media content. Does it contain violence? Nudity? Drug use? Profanity? All of these things play a role in media effects. But why is that relevant? We discussed its relevancy in lecture on September 19th. Our brain’s primary function is to pay attention, even if we’re not consciously aware of it. Media’s integration within society has caused audiences to have a degree of dependence on the media for common access to information/stories.

Chapter 2 of our textbook states that “media messages carry potentially damaging information for the public, and that these messages need to be carefully monitored and potentially restricted” (Sullivan, 2010, p. 26). The example given was the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University shooting inflicted by Seung-Hui Cho, who was believed to have been “inspired” by realistic first-person shooter games. Now, while I do believe that media content plays some kind of role in affecting our personal behaviour, no sane person is going to go on a shooting rampage just because they played some Fortnite. This theory was eventually debunked after findings revealed that Cho was more into games like Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s kind of how like some (homophobic) parents are hesitant about the media exposing their children to same sex relationships because it’s going to “turn them gay”. Like, no Karen. That’s not how sexuality works. Although media messages don’t entirely control the behaviour of individuals, they definitely play some sort of role in influencing individuals attitudes and ideas, according to Mass Society Theory.

This connects to the article that we discussed in seminar examining four processes of audience involvement with media personae. Many scholars argue that the rise of popular culture in the last decade has given celebrities/media persone privileged positions of “social influence that can shape, reinforce, and inculate values and beliefs and promote specific social practices within diverse audiences” (Brown, 2015, p. 1). Basically, we want to be like the celebrities we look up to. And while everyone loves to claim that they’re entirely their own person and aren’t affected by the media or celebrities, it’s just not realistic. Even if we aren’t consciously aware of it, the media messages we are exposed to influence us. The four processes of media personae (Transportation, Parasocial Interaction, Identification, Worship) definitely play a role as to what extent these celebrities, athletes or even fictional characters influence us. For example, if you’re a Britney Spears “stan” at the point of worship, you are probably constantly referring to her as Princess of Pop and have a not-so-secret shrine of her in your bedroom:

However, if you’re like me, you are more so at the stage of parasocial interaction (PSI). In seminar I talked about how I personally find myself at the stage of PSI because I often “interact” with celebrities online through platforms such as Twitter, which can create a false sense of interaction in result of my media consumption. For example, I’m seeing Tove Lo live in concert for her upcoming tour in February and have tweeted her some of my favourite songs I’d like to see on her setlist. I don’t do this expecting a response, but I do know that she can possibly see it and that if enough fans are requesting for a song to be on the setlist, she may likely add it due to the impact of audience power. I have also had some “lucky” instances resulting in some interactions with celebrities through social media. Do I think I’m friends with them? Not even close. But do I think it builds and enhances connections between artists (for example) and fans? For sure, audience involvement is a major aspect of media personae.

Think about this though, at what point does audience involvement get “too” involved? I mean, surely most of society have gained some kind of inspiration from celebrities they look up to or are simply just following on social media. For example, I wouldn’t call myself a super-fan of Madison Beer, but I do follow her socials and an account on Instagram called @madisonbeercloset for the sheer purpose of fashion inspo. In this scenario, Madison Beer has an influence on my personal style because I draw inspiration from hers. But what about when celebrities start influencing opinions, values, and/or beliefs? It can result in cognitive dissonance, a theory we discussed in seminar and further explained to us in our textbook. If you are at the point of worship, you are much more likely to be affected by cognitive dissonance than those at the stage of transportation.

An example we discussed in seminar was Kanye West’s influence on his fans political views, specifically when it comes to Donald Trump. An example I personally found interesting was Kim Kardashian’s “Kimono” shapewear that she had announced this past summer. Kim received a lot of backlash for trademarking the word Kimono as it was disrespectful to Japanese culture and essentially erasing the meaning behind the garment (Scott, 2019).

Cognitive dissonance in this case would refer to Kim Kardashian fans excusing or explaining her act of cultural appropriation, and is an example of selective perception as discussed in the textbook (Sullivan, 2010, p. 40). Kim Kardashian announced through social media that the brand was renamed SKIMS. Below is a tweet I found of a fan defending the original name KIMONO:

This is an example of selective perception due to the fact that the fan would not have responded in the same way if it came from a celebrity they weren’t a fan of. Because this person is a fan of Kim Kardashian, they felt the need to defend and rationalize her actions, although they may not had fully agree with them.

Here is another example of a fan rationalizing Kim wearing cornrows:

Often times during cognitive dissonance, people will explain behaviour they don’t entirely agree with by comparing it to something “worse”.

These are just a few examples of media effects, and the impact that media personae can have on audience involvement/behaviour, which is why we as audience members need to be critical of media messages and their influence on society.

References:

Jennifer Good, Lecture September 19th 2019

Seminar Discussion September 23rd 2019

Brown, W. (2015). Examining four processes of audience involvement with media personae: Transportation, parasocial interaction, identification, and worship. Communication Theory, 25, 259-283.

Scott, E. (2019, June 26). Kim Kardashian��s ‘Kimono’ brand under fire for cultural appropriation. Global News. Retrieved from https://globalnews.ca/news/5433008/kim-kardashian-kimono-cultural-appropriation/

Sullivan, J. (2013). Media Audiences: Effects, users, institutions and power

Images: Giphy, Twitter, Google Images

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caitlindawart · 6 years

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Moodboard

To start our mixed media workshops off, we firstly were each given a word pulled from a hat. My word was ‘INNOVATION’ - meaning a new idea/device/method. From here, we had to produce a moodboard using anything we wanted (printed images, words, collages, colour palettes, magazine cutouts etc).To begin my moodboard, I wrote out a list of things the word innovation brought to my mind. This list was as follows:

brain → thoughts → cogs → lightbulbs inspo → ideas → imagination creativity success → business technology → medical advances → mechanics → prosthetics → bionics transformation → rearrangement → change → alter

From here, I chose the starting points that I felt were most interesting, which to me excluded the business/success area, and went more for the transformation and medical advances area. Then, I began to find images on the internet of prosthetics and bionics, as well as items I felt fit into the transformation and ‘new idea/device/method’ definition. This included things such as smart textiles → thermochromatic beading, uv fabrics etc; innovative packaging and product designs → new ways of lighting and packaging every day objects; as well as completely out of the ordinary architecture.

I also wanted to include prosthetics, so brought in 3D areas - adding nuts and bolts to represent the machinery and torn sections of latex and skin coloured balloons to replicate this.

Alongside this, my moodboard included words cut from magazines, which focussed on the element of creativity and superiority → ‘more features’, ‘more space’, ‘confidence within’; all which make me think of something that is a new idea/method - whoever came up with the innovative idea had to have the confidence to do so, hence the ‘ahhh!’ and ‘behind the nonsense’, and the ‘we the people are the work’ motif; and the idea itself must have been better than older ideas in order for it to be new, hence the repetition of ‘more’ and ‘stare’.

From here, we are to use the ideas from this moodboard to produce a piece of non permanent art to install at college, surrounding our individual word: innovation.

Art Bomb

The second mixed media workshop was to produce a non permanent art piece to be placed around college, using any media (but not painting on walls etc.). We were to make our statement as a piece stemming from our moodboard, therefore my piece was to represent my theme ‘innovation’.

My plan for my piece was to produce a bionic hand, following this inspiration image that I found when creating my moodboard, seen above. I was to create the hand and ensure it stayed light enough to be able to adhere it to a window, allowing me to draw the ‘computer screen’ surrounding it. To build the hand, I used newspaper bunched and rolled up to produce each singular finger joint and the palm of the hand. Then, I attached each joint to a straw, keeping the finger print end of the finger connected to the bending section of the straw, and the lower part of the straw connected to the palm of the hand. I attached each finger using masking tape and continued to wrap the tape around the palm to ensure they were secure. Once the base was done, I then covered the structure in paper-maché, to make it more sturdy and one piece.

Once the maché dried, I went on to paint a base coat of emulsion to block out the newspaper print; before then painting the hand using metallic acrylic paint, following the pattern for the joints on the inspiration image. As I painted the structure, I came to realise that the hand was too messy, and the maché had given a rough, folded texture which I didn’t think suited the point of the piece. Instead of continuing to build up the base and trying to make it smoother, which simultaneously would continue to thicken up the fingers - to the point where they were too thick for those of a bionic hand. To move on, I started over again, this time using a different medium as oppose to newspaper and paper-maché - clay. This would allow me to get a much smoother finish, and would allow me to make the fingers as delicate as possible, something newspaper wouldn’t allow me to do. I made each joint and finger separately, as above, then assembled them into the palm of the hand using thin floristry wire. Once air dried, I was then able to paint the structure. I used the metallic acrylic again, firstly painting a base coat of light silver all over the hand.

Then, I went in with a mixture of silver and black for the shadows between each joint. I continued to do so for the patterns across the rest of the hand.

When thinking about this further, I decided that I hadn’t captured the look I had hoped for, and much preferred the style of the paper-maché hand, regardless of how textured it was. I returned back to the original hand, and painted the joints similarly. For my final outcome of this workshop, I photographed the finished hand on an acetate futuristic touchscreen, seen below. with an edited gradient background (done in photoshop).

Whilst I still really dislike the texture, I am much more pleased with this outcome as I feel the joints are much better placed and the position of the fingers is considerably more realistic than the clay hand.

Oil Paint

Our third mixed media workshop was to produce a self portrait using oil paints. We began by coating our board in a layer of emulsion, to give the oil paint something to cling to when painting. After this had dried, we went on to use modelling paste (a mixture of PVA, white acrylic and talcum powder), pushed through a stencil, to produce a raised 3D pattern on the board. This would add an interesting element to an otherwise flat surface. My stencil produced tiny squares and oblongs, a pattern I liked, seen below.

Although I have used and loved oil paints throughout my A-Level, I found this particular technique of layering yellow ochre and burnt sienna as base shadows beneath the fleshy tones a difficult and lengthy one, which I didn’t particularly enjoy. Using the oils watered down considerably with white spirit meant that we were able to continue to layer as much as we wanted to get deeper base tones, but overall to me meant I was struggling to get a strong enough colour when it came to adding actual colours and skin tones, meaning my outcome had a very strong ochre tinge to it which I didn’t like. In past experiences I have found oil to be thoroughly enjoyable and easy to work with, but this technique just didn’t work at all for me. I liked the looseness that drawing our outline with a thin wash as oppose to pencil gave us, however I didn’t think this made up for how ineffective the end outcome was, therefore I wouldn’t use this layering technique again; but it hasn’t put me off using oils and this is a well loved medium for me which I will definitely return to in my development.

Paper Making

Our next mixed media workshop, was to produce our own homemade paper. Once made and dried, we will then use our paper for our upcoming life drawing classes, alongside our graphics and print workshops; and in our general development.The paper making process was as follows:

Cut up lots of paper into small pieces.

Fill bucket with water three quarters of the way.

Put the chopped paper into the bucket and churn with the paper churner.

Fill a large tray with water.

Pour the churned paper into the tray.

Use the sieving frame to scoop paper and drain the excess water.

Transfer the paper to a J-cloth on some newspaper and add any extras (eg. plants, flowers, petals, glitter, sequins, magazine clippings, string, thread etc.) ensuring they aren’t too chunky.

Make sure to ‘pin down’ the corners of the extras with some more of the churned paper.

Place a J-cloth on top and drain excess water, then remove it and leave the paper on drying rack to dry.

I have used this technique before, in A-level, which I used to print on, and it was very effective. Due to producing a whole class batch this time, as oppose to doing exactly what we wanted with a tiny kitchen blender as I had in the past, we were all using the same dye batches and therefore were limited to the colours/extras we were to add in. For this reason, I concentrated on using the plain white tray of paper, and adding in petals and flowers and patches of separately done dyed paper.The first sheet, seen in the scan below, was white with patches of teal and purple dye. I then added in purple flower petals, and matching ripped up sections of teal paper. I really liked the petals, and felt they worked well. The paper was quite thin, which is what I wanted, and ended up to be fairly flat, meaning I will be able to use this one for life drawing/printing on in future workshops.

For the next sheet, I added mini pieces of jigsaw, yellow flower petals, and tiny mixed ripped strips of orange paper. On top, I added glitter, as previously I have liked the look of glitter, however here I regretted adding glitter, as it was too thick and messy looking. I thought the pieces of jigsaw were effective, and using the two tones of orange paper was too, as were the petals.

For my third piece of homemade paper, I experimented with inks, filling a pipette with red and squirting it all over the page, then doing the same again with black. Then, I added glitter, not knowing that in hindsight I wouldn’t like the outcome. Whilst I quite liked the colours I had chosen, I think this was by far the least effective of my papers. The inks just looked messy, and didn’t bleed into the page as much as I had hoped, leaving exact lines and squiggles which I didn’t feel was very effective.

For my fourth and final piece of homemade paper, I used the yellow communal dye tray. This was by far the most effective and my favourite outcome, as the whole sheet was coloured, and my additions of matching yellow petals, leaves and threads were very effective. I will definitely be using this sheet for the printing and life drawing workshops and in my future development.

I additionally produced a 3D cup from my paper, using teal coloured paper, and moulding it around a plastic cup. I then left it to dry, and once done removed the plastic cup from the inside, leaving me with the cup itself. I felt this was very effective, and was inspired to do so after researching Brittany Spencer, a paper maker who produces 3D pieces, reminiscent of childhood, seen below in her ice cream sculptures.

My cup is pictured below. I didn’t actually expect this to work, so in fact I am actually very pleased with the outcome, and would like to further develop this, perhaps adding more than just paper to the object.

To finalise my experience, I would definitely use the paper making technique again, now knowing that the particular type of glitter I used wasn’t effective, and that petals worked well. Mixed tones of paper was more effective than using only one colour, and matching the colour of petals/leaves to the colour of paper also worked best. Overall, colouring the dye tray itself as oppose to adding pipettes of ink worked the best, and therefore this is what I would take further when producing my own homemade paper again.

Mixed Media Sculpture with artist Mark Gibbs

For our fourth mixed media workshop, we were introduced to Mark Gibbs, a mixed media sculptor, who focusses on using wire, recycled electrical goods, cardboard and newspaper to produce his work.

Gibbs first explained his own practice, and challenged us to use ‘contextual analysis’ to analyse his work, trying to pick apart the layers in one particular piece to uncover the meaning behind it. Although I found this very interesting, I do disagree with his view that all art has to have a clear, easy to see story/thought behind the piece. I think this is a very set opinion, and realistically in the real world there is a great deal of art which can be appreciated without clearly being something very specific. There are lots of pieces with meaning behind them, which I covered a lot in my A-level, like Marc Quinn’s ‘Self’, which doesn’t need to be so obvious to have a very deep and thorough meaning behind it. I feel that these sorts of pieces, with meanings that have to be researched to be fully appreciated, as oppose to pieces that very clearly bit by bit tell a story, which I prefer considerably, and appreciate a great deal more; however this is just differing opinions.

Then, we were told our pieces would depict ‘Craft&Conflict’ and that we were to choose an animal of significance, and an item of ‘military technology’, so I first set about producing some initial sketches of my ideas, in which I wanted my focus to be English Fox Hunting, as my conflict. I chose this idea as I felt it was a different kind of conflict; being more animal rights based as oppose to being ‘military’ as such. My choice of military technology was a gun, and from there I had to choose which animal I wanted to create to go alongside it. I had some options, seen in my sketches below, but settled on the main animal, the fox itself.

From here, I began to build both, steering away from the use of newspaper and paper-maché, and instead challenging myself to use the electrical wires and stiff chunks of cardboard etc. in the same way as Gibbs. This was a new technique for me, and I realised that attaching the wires required hot glue, which looked very messy and took away the more raw, natural aspects of the work. I found the cardboard not malleable at all, and as equally hard to work with as the wire. I felt that it was very hard to make the pieces look professional, and no matter what I did I couldn’t get anything to look anything other than childish. I felt that my choice of creature and weapon meant that it was hard to make anything very intricate and detailed, emphasised more so by how difficult I found the materials and technique to work with.

We stopped halfway through our making, and did a whole class crit, in which we each left a sheet of paper out to allow people to write their thoughts on our piece so far. Below, is my page from the crit, with people’s opinions on my piece so far. Gibbs explained that it is good to give both positive and negative points, and that as we grow as artists its important to be able to defend our pieces and explain why we have done certain things. I am pleased with my responses, particularly the ‘the fox looks sad’, and at the time I hadn’t clipped the fur yet so I understand the hedgehog feedback. One thing I didn’t understand, was how there was an element of humour, as I felt that a gun was probably the least humorous object, and couldn’t see any humour in the fox either, other than the large spikes.

After the crit, we were able to go back and continue with our pieces, where I built up some more extra details on the gun, and trimmed the foxes’ fur so they no longer resembled ’spikes’. Below, the fox and gun can be seen separately.

Overall, whilst I’m not particularly pleased with my end result, at least I now know that I find this style of working, technique and mediums hard to use, and that it is easier to work on a much smaller scale to allow for more intricacy and detail. I won’t be using this any further, but working alongside an artist and having a first proper crit was interesting and a learning curve.

Craft&Conflict Exhibition

As part of our workshop with Mark Gibbs, our produced work was then going to be shown as part of the Craft&Conflict Exhibition, in The Forum, Barrow. This exhibition is part of the Highlights Contemporary Craft Tour 2018, and featured the likes of Conrad Atkinson and Paul Scott, amongst others.

We entered the exhibition and began with a talk from Karen, the curator, who explained that the theme of conflict was to mark the 100th anniversary of WW1; addressing issues that affect us all. After the introduction, we were able to walk around and explore the exhibition for ourselves.

Some of our work from the workshop with Gibbs was on show (seen below), which was great and showed us an exact timeline of how art moves from being a concept, an idea, to a base structure, to then being a finished piece in an exhibition.

Laura Moreton - Griffiths: Moreton-Griffiths’ work was by far my favourite of the exhibition. I loved her use of textiles and 3D structural work, and also felt that the bold juxtaposition between the soft materials and harsh reality of the war weapons the material depicted was extremely effective, making her work stand out amongst the rest; hence why it was my favourite.

Matthew Day: Day’s work as a sculptor questions the taboo of missing limbs, celebrating them in plain sight. His pieces ‘explores the potential for limbs that move away from trying to replicate the human form’. Whilst I like the concept behind Day’s work, I didn’t feel that I necessarily felt they depicted ‘conflict’, and whilst the modern, more architectural take on prosthetics was effective and interesting, I didn’t feel very inspired by the work and therefore this part of the exhibition wasn’t my favourite.

Paul Scott - Scott’s work took a different direction to the other artists’ in the exhibition; creating ornate ceramics - porcelain plates and bowls, depicting a range of issues; such as inserting nuclear and coal fired power stations into pastoral landscapes on the plates. Similarly to Moreton-Griffiths’ pieces, I find the juxtaposition between the delicate, intricate medium (ceramics) and the horrific, conflict based additions, seen below, very effective.

Morwenna Catt - Likewise to Moreton-Griffiths, Catt specialises in sculptural textiles, seen in her installation of sweethearts and sandbags, seen below. Whilst I think the use of military fabrics and embroidery suits the piece, mimicking the small hearts traditionally created by recuperating soldiers in the wards of WW1, the work isn’t to my taste, as I feel it looks too busy, and somewhat childish.

Eva Mileusnic - Mileusnic’s work ‘Counter Flow’, seen below, represents pairs of migrants’ feet, produced from slip cast porcelain. I love Mileusnic’s work, as I feel the detail and meaning behind the piece, which can only be properly understood upon reading the description, gives the viewer a connection to each pair of feet, and an overall touching and moving aura. I also love how each pair is adorned with a different pattern; referencing the movement of cultures from one place to another, and showing how each migrant’s story is different.

Overall, the exhibition was a good experience, and from here I have realised that I much prefer the pieces that depict moving, heartwarming stories that need further reading to understand (like Mileusnic’s) , and pieces that show contrast and juxtaposition through the use of materials and context (Moreton-Griffiths’/Scott’s). I think I will definitely re-visit Moreton-Griffiths’ work in particular in my future endeavours.

#mixedmedia

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