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kirindensetsu · 3 years

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The Making of Fubuki

((Reposting from Den of Angels workshop thread because I wanted my friends to be able to see~))

After years of pining after dolls I couldn't afford as a broke teenager, my first BJD was a Bobobie Sprite I purchased for my 18th birthday. Unfortunately, she didn't live up to my expectations and I never really bonded with her. Her face was cute enough, but the Bobobie body lacked the grace and posing ability I imagined for the Unseelie faerie I'd been daydreaming of for years. Sueding and wiring didn't help, blushing and tattooing highlighted her blockiness, it was a mess. I packed her away and tried not to think about my disappointment for 12 years. In the meantime I learned to build and paint resin garage kits, inherited one of my sister's dolls, bought some others, took anatomy & physiology in college, and did a couple extensive restorations and full-body modifications. I was sure I had thrown her away at some point as a failed project, but last weekend I found her tucked away in a doll bag I thought was empty. Having just finished substantial mods on a Dollshe body, and awaiting an unfinished Unoa kit for my birthday in September, I decided that I owed it to her to try again. Doll nudity below the cut, looooong post--

My Sprite was originally going to be a pooka with golden eyes and extensive woad tattoos. The golden eyes are incredible, so those are staying, but she's now going to be a blue oni to fit in with the rest of my collection. My plan is to do extensive additive epoxy work, and then to use Krylon Fusion to give everything a unified finish. The goal of the project is to reduce the... idk, STRAIGHTNESS of the old Bobobie body. I was never going to be happy with it, the lines were all far too rigid.

Head: Modified mouth for a wider, smirking smile. Magnets added to headcap (old Bobobie used an S-hook iirc; I did this part back in 2008). Forehead drilled for 3mm brass rod armature, and epoxy used to sculpt horns over rod. Bust: Substantial subtractive modifications to breasts, which involved removal and readdition of nipples. Addition of epoxy clay to back and shoulders to give a more curved body line in profile. Deepening of shoulder sockets with 18mm eye bevel, followed by sanding to make shoulders narrower. Waist: Reshaping of upper torso joint into sphere for smoother range of motion. Subtraction of resin in back and addition of epoxy in front to enhance lumbar curve. Hips: Substantial reshaping of lower waist seam to more naturally follow the pelvic girdle. It reminded me of granny panties before Added epoxy to butt, again for lumbar curve. Thighs: Suwariko joint mod (cut the thigh and added a PVC insert to enable swivelling at the hip). Added epoxy to make her thighs look less straight. Calves: Removed 1cm of length at the ankles and rebevelled the socket. Removed resin at the ankles to bring them in, and added epoxy at the calves to make them curvier. Feet: Sculpted little claws, which were cute, and then decided the feet needed to be 5mm longer. Cut across, drilled and pinned with brass rod for structural strength, gap filled with epoxy clay. I also modded her feet to have defined arches and balls back when I first got her. Alas, spitting into the ocean. I added S-hooks, but did so by drilling the ankle and inserting brass rod to form the axle for the hook. Arms: The proportions on her upper arms BOTHERED me! they were so SHORT! and I only just figured out that's what I hated about them last week! I added 5mm to the upper arms by cutting them in the middle and using SteelStik to make a structural repair (plumber's epoxy putty has a shorter open time but far greater structural strength than artist's epoxy clay). Sanded the heck out of the wrists to give them a more delicate taper. Hands: Beyond salvage. The hands were my least-favorite part of this sculpt. I tried to bulk them up to look less spidery but it was just too difficult... I've ordered a different pair of MSD hands which will have claws added, and then when everything is painted it'll all match. Thanks for reading this far! Here's a preview of what her golden eyes look like next to Krylon Fusion in Antique Blue.

((first progress post)) I think I'm mostly done adding epoxy clay (at least where it'll show; presumably the wrist sockets will require tweaks to fit the new hands), so now it's time for finish sanding. I start with 60 grit for shaping, then switch to a 120 grit sanding sponge. To check for scratches, pinholes, and inadequately feathered edges, I apply a wash of diluted acrylic paint. Once the paint has dried, I scrub the piece with a nylon scouring pad. Paint remains in the surface irregularities.

All sanded with 220 grit. I don't think I'll be going higher than 400 because I want there to be some tooth for the paint.

Any pitting in the epoxy clay that can't be sanded out is marked with a Sharpie and will be patched with Tamiya spot putty.

I did a test spray of the Krylon Fusion on the headcap and it's fantastic! Holy cow is it *poisonous* tho, I'm used to working with volatile chemicals but this was something else. Get OUT OF THE AREA between coats and leave it outside until it stops outgassing, not just until it's ready to handle.

This test piece is four light coats sprayed 1 minute apart, allowed to cure for 4 hours, and then wetsanded to remove the spray texture. It's pretty sturdy but I will wait several more days to see how it continues to cure before experimenting with matte sealants. ((progress update 2))

Haven't done much but sand-and-fill-and-sand-and-fill, but my 14mm beveller came in today so I can start deepening her elbow and ankle sockets. Added some epoxy clay to the insides of the eyewells so 14mm eyes will fit with no gap. I need a needle file to clean up the corners of her mouth... Monster feets! Nails on the right came out better than the left, still need to feather-sand everything.

Elbows progress. The early Bobobie elbows are I guess /technically/ double-jointed because the joint is a sphere with two slots, but I thought I could do better than that. You can see epoxy clay spliced in to make the sphere into a peanut: this isn't a structurally sound repair unless you pop it apart and drill/pin/glue-epoxy it back together.

View from the back. By keeping the joint heads spherical with no elbow-shaped detailing, there's some rotation as well as flexion, which I like.

Touching her face with one of her old hands. I hope the new ones come soon!

((progress update 4))

In good news, these parts are all ready for paint! It's really hard to do prepwork with no filler primer, hope I didn't miss any spots...

In less good news, her new hands arrived and they are... very smol ;u; I forgot that the new trend for slim minis means that everyone has TINY LITTLE HANDS.

They are, however, beautifully sculpted and a good 3D reference for what needs fixing and how. Bobobie palm is very short relative to fingers: I made a transverse cut behind the knuckles and added epoxy to lengthen More curved volume across the back of the hand: Not necessarily realistic, but looks a little cuter, plus it makes the transition into the cylinder of the wrist look less stylistically jarring. More defined joint angles: Some of these I did via cut-and-thermoform repositioning, mostly I'm aiming to fake it by building up and carving away at the weird smooth curves. The fingers are just TOO SKINNY: But obviously I'm not going to squish rice-grain-sized blobs of epoxy to the fingers, right? It's too fiddly, it doesn't want to stick. What's the solution? Brace for a truly hideous WIP image--

"AAAAAAGH WHAT IS THAT DARK GRAY MESS" it's JB Weld epoxy! It's like load-bearing, slow-curing modeller's putty! Slathering putty onto an armature and then carving it away to refine the shape is how anime figure artists make hands and detailed hair. I was thinking about it from a polymer clay technique/perspective so I missed the obvious solution. Hand in the foreground has more layers than the hand in the background, every layer gets the shape a lil closer. ((progress post 5)) Parts set up on sticks so I can handle them without touching...

... and after 4 light coats!

Closeup of the head, lil' glossy because it's still drying. For the deeper areas like the joint slots, mouth, and the crannies of the ears, I'm going to have to decant some of the paint into a jar and apply it with a sacrificial brush.

((progress post 6)) I return from Depression! I finally finished sanding-and-spraying the Krylon Fusion coats, gave her a last polish with microfine to even out the texture, and have started blushing her. I'm using a mixture of Tamiya X-series acrylics applied via airbrush for basic contouring, then I'll go back in with pastel to add warm tones and details.

Fun discovery: in an attempt to cover some accidental overspray, I tried spraying the Fusion directly into the paint cup of the airbrush and using it to "erase" back to the base color. I'm NEVER using this product straight from the can again, it goes on so smooth and gorgeous from the airbrush! No orange peel or bubbles to sand away. I'm seriously tempted to get a can of pink and try blushing with it.

((progress post 7)) Doing a faceup over a spray-painted substrate is HARD I want to CRY. I talked about sanding out the spray texture to get an untextured surface, right? Welp, didn't/couldn't sand well enough in the corners of the mouth and the folds of the eyelids, so it's crusty-looking with pastels over it and now there's nothing I can do about it that doesn't involve stripping down to resin and starting again.

((final post)) Sueded and strung!

I didn't take pictures of the sueding process because I was using Barge Cement and it is messy and time-sensitive. I used masking tape to make templates of her joints, transferred to some thin gray lamb suede I found on eBay, and glued it fuzzy side out. The suede was thicker than real pliver, more like the thickness of silicone KIPS discs, but I think it worked out without too many fit issues. The trim store had 3.5mm elastic in a beautiful slate-blue color that I thought would look nicer in the joint slots, so she's strung throughout with thicker elastic. Some more poses to show off the functional mods~ Suwariko joints let her sit crosslegged, and more mobile wrists let her put her hands into the pose.

A more ball-and-socked shaped contact surface at her waist lets her slouch at a full range of angles instead of being locked into two.

With longer upper arms, she can reach the ground in this pose! You can also see how the modded waist joint lets her cock her hips.

She could always stand with locked knees. I think she needs some wire in her legs to let the suwariko joints hold their rotation against gravity, but I'll see how the elastic tension settles in first.

A parting shot out the snowy window. We've been having a hard time picking between a few names for her, but I think this settles it. Welcome back, Fubuki~

#making-of-fubuki #doll custom #bjd #bobobie

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buckybarnesbingo · 4 years

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The second game of 3 Prompt Summaries!

Here’s the example rounds, and the rest are under the cut!

Prompts by @rebelmeg - blanket, "don't touch that", roommates

Summary by @psychiccatpanda - Generally speaking, Bucky really loved having Tony as a roommate. He liked to have fun, enjoyed movies, shared some musical tastes, you know - important things.

One of the drawbacks, though, was walking into one of Tony's experiments. They'd had the fire department out more than once... in the last month. As he walked in, there was no sign of his roommate - just a large blanket-covered lump in the middle of the living room. When Bucky started to lift the corner to peek at the project underneath, Tony shouted, "Don't touch that!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @rebelmeg - blanket, "don't touch that", roommates

Summary by @writing-mermaid - The blanket is lying in the middle of the couch. "Don't touch that !", Saskia yells at Winnie and Morgan. Sam sighs, how his daughter, Bucky's and Tony's will be roommates for three days, if they are already fighting over a blanket ? Sam, alone with a bunch of 5 years old, will have to figure this out all by himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @rebelmeg - red, angst, safehouse

Summary by @dreaminglypeach - The door to the safe house is unlocked when they get there. It’s unlocked, open, and there’s blood everywhere. Bucky tries very hard not to panic.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

@psychiccatpanda - "Oops."

@blurockets - Winterwidow

@writing-mermaid - "It was an accident"

Summary by @magicadraconia16 - When your partner is the famous Black Widow, the very last thing you want to hear in the middle of a black op is "Oops". Closely followed by an uncharacteristically sheepish, "It was an accident." He should have picked Clint after all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @psychiccatpanda - Sam Wilson, Red Thread of Fate, and "Oops."

Summary by @rebelmeg - "Oops." Bucky muttered the fateful word a split second before alarms started going off, prompting Sam to whirl around in disbelief. "Did you seriously just trip the lasers?" "I'm sorry! I don't have the fancy birdbrain goggles like you do." "YOU CAN SEE THEM WITHOUT GOGGLES, BUCKY, THEY'RE NOT INVISIBLE RED THREADS OF FATE OR SOMETHING!" Okay, so their sneaky infiltration was ruined now. Here's hoping their extraction plan will still be intact by the time they finish their mission.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @rebelmeg - Blanket, "Don't Touch That", Room mates

Summary by @blurockets - "Touch that and you lose vital fingers," a tired voice said from the depths of the couch. Clint stared back at the knit blanket that was draped from the recliner he wasn't even using. When you’re trying to build a blanket fort with your niece and nephew on the compound while it was a mass space mission you had to get creative if you didn’t want to break locks. Or Where the former Winter Soldier has a blanket and Clint is stuck rooming with him and has questions about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @rebelmeg - Angst

Summary by Angst_BuriTTo - There was a saying he had heard somewhere, he wasn't sure where, not that it mattered now, anyways, but one he thought fitting: "The sound of silence is the loudest sound of all". It felt fitting, stuck in this miserable place, for god knows how long, waiting to be rescued. there was no sound here, in the soul stone. and the other dusted couldn't speak either. just... silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @rebelmeg - red, angst, safehouse

Summary by @writing-mermaid - Red, this is red, red and thick. And he doesn't know if they'll have time to reach the safehouse. And the more he's waiting, the more her blood flows on the ground. But will they make it safe, especially with all those HYDRA guards on the way. But he must past through them, it's a matter of life and death.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @magicadraconia16 - "Hand on heart, I will kill you", T'Challa, kitten

Summary by @rebelmeg - "Heeeeere kitty kitty kitty," Bucky whispered to himself, peeking out through the slat in the vent, lying in wait for his prey. Unfortunately for Bucky... T'Challa was finding the cat jokes less and less funny. Bucky had about three seconds worth of a head start when T'Challa looked him right in the eye through the wall vent, and said in a dangerous tone, "Hand on heart, I will kill you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

@dreaminglypeach - Race Cars

@writing-mermaid - Tony

@psychiccatpanda - Sam Wilson

Summary by LLightz - Tony's idea of "team bonding" this month was to hire everyone a top of the range sports car and act out some street racing movie Steve had never seen but everyone seemed very excited out... especially Bucky who always had a thing for speed, and well, Steve wasn't going to deny him, plus Natasha was already throwing down challenges, and Clint was always up for any crazy stunt... So, it came as no surprise when the 2 ex-Russian-assassins and a man who regularly failed to use parachutes ended up practically playing chicken with cars that were definitely not legal, and even then ... "how do I make this car go faster Tony????? came Bucky's shout into his headset... yep, someone was definitely gonna get hurt! Flying overhead and easily keeping pace, Sam was filming every moment...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @rebelmeg - Red

Summary by Angst_BuriTTo - Red. a color that covered his hands and his past, a ledger full of that scarlett color that haunted his nightmares and his waking hours. when an oppurtunity comes to change the red from ever staining his fingers, will he take it?

Bucky Barnes has a really shitty century -- but it's starting to look a little brighter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @psychiccatpanda - Red Thread of Fate:

Summary by Angst_BuriTTo - the moment HYDRA found out about his thread, they were determined to snip it. too bad for them that it was tied to a man whose serum enhanced the strength of everything, down to that thread.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

@blurockets - Lake House AU

@dreaminglypeach - Wanda

Angst_BuriTTo - "It's ok, It's my time."

Summary by @magicadraconia16 - He thought he'd been stood up. And he had to admit, two years was a long time for her to catch up to him. But instead, oh, instead, that terrible accident that had finally burnt him out... that had been her. He tried to tell her, to warn her, to demand that she actually stand him up, but her only response was, "If it's my time, then that's okay." No, it was NOT okay!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

Angst_BuriTTo - FBI AU

@dreaminglypeach - Wanda

@psychiccatpanda - oops

Summary by @blurockets - "So your definition of messing with probability is asking the universe what if this happened and you make it happen?" Agent Barnes asked as he sat beside a woman in a red outfit that would not be remiss on a stage in Las Vegas. "And my powers make it happen" She corrected "And the iron man suit just happening to crash on top of the ferrari?" Bucky asked pinching the bridge of his nose wondering just how he was going to file this report. "Oops?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @your-ginger-angel - Historical AU

Summary by Angst_BuriTTo - Pharaoh Buchanan was known throughout Egypt for his kindness and his generosity, but also for his fierce skills in battle. When an Assassin is sent to kill him, his subjects are surprised that instead of disposing of the small blond would be assassin, he takes him to his bed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

@dreaminglypeach - Wanda

@writing-mermaid - "It was an accident" "What ? You just tripped and fell on his lips ?"

@psychiccatpanda - Sam Wilson

Summary by @writing-mermaid - "I'm telling you, it was an accident !"

Wanda runs behind her brother. "What ?"

Pietro answers, "You just tripped and fell on his lips ?"

At those words, and without knowing about who they were talking about, Sam Wilson bursts out laughing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

@rebelmeg - Angst

@psychiccatpanda oops

@writing-mermaid - Tony

Summary by Angst_BuriTTo - "oops." that's all that Thanos said when he dropped the lifeless body of Steve Rogers to the ground of Wakanda. Tony could do nothing but stare in disbelief -- he never got to apoligize. he never got to have that talk. he never got to get to know this new, harder Steve Rogers. he felt just as broken as the neck of the man staring sightlessly into the sky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts - FBI AU, vacation, "it was an accident"

Summary by @your-ginger-angel - When Steve agreed to this vacation, it was with the understanding that Bucky would be putting his FBI badge in a drawer and leaving his work phone at home. He made Bucky swear that they were going to keep work at home this time. But when Bucky comes back from the corner store and the local cops are in tow, he knows that there's no way Bucky can keep out of trouble. "What do you mean you managed to catch a drug dealer just by going for soda?" Steve whispers, trying to keep himself from blowing up in front of the cops. "It was an accident?" Bucky replies with a pleading look in his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

@rebelmeg - Safehouse, red, angst

@magicadraconia16 - Kitten, "Hand on Heart, I will kill You"

Summary by LLightz - Bucky could barely see through the red mist of anger in his head, but he could still hear the soft pained meaows coming from behind the restaurant, and he made his way towards the tiny kitten he'd spotted, injured and hiding under a dirty tossed-out rag... Scooping him up into his big warm hand, he hoped he never came across whomever had hurt his defenceless little creature because "Hand on Heart, I'll Kill You" he muttered out loud. Cradling his new friend to his chest he made his way back to the safehouse...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @your-ginger-angel - Historical AU

Summary by @writing-mermaid - (ancient Greece au) Y/N is a priestess, sold by her parents at a young age. She's born to serve the God Apollo. Bucky is a soldier, and he's send to Apollo's temple after a war the king he serves won. Since the beginning, Y/N and Bucky aren't getting along, but they will have to, because here he is and here he'll stay, following his king's orders. But the more they spend time together, the more they are longing and pining for each other, craving for each other's touch, despite their hate. With one question in their mind, must they do war to please each other, make love and stay quite or silence their difference ? (and the thing is that the question in question comes from a French song from a musical and I was keeping it in French as the title haha)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @writing-mermaid - "It was an accident" "What ? You just tripped and fell on his lips ?", Big bro, Tony

Summary by @dreaminglypeach - Warning for abusive relationship ”I didn’t mean to,” Tony says. “It was- it was an accident.” Rhodey scoffs, folding his arms as he stares at the dumb kid who has metaphorically glommed onto him and doesn’t seem inclined to let go anytime soon. “Right,” he says flatly. “You just tripped and fell onto his lips. Sure, that happens to me all the time.” “It wasn’t like that!” Tony looks almost too pathetic for Rhodey to continue berating him, his left eye puffy and ugly, purple fading to blotchy green around the edges. “It just- Ty apologised, he didn’t mean to, Rhodey, it won’t happen aga-” “Tony,” Rhodey interrupts, as calmly as he can. “Tones, no. You gotta break up with him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @rebelmeg - bot fic, "catch", ceiling

Summary by @themadhalewrites - After Tony had lost mini robot Bucky to a ceiling fan he created humanoid robot bucky who develops feelings for his creator.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @magicadraconia16 - Rhodey, cuddling, cheeseburgers

Summary by @rebelmeg - It wasn't the WEIRDEST thing Bucky had ever seen. Though it was kinda up there. Seeing Tony and Rhodey in the armors, it definitely gave off a BAMF sort of vibe. Like you definitely didn't wanna mess with them, like, ever. But when Bucky happens upon them in the communal living room one night, curled up on the couch and sharing a blanket while they eat their way through a big takeout bag of cheeseburgers... he starts to reevaluate his thinking. Especially when they offer to share their blanket and burgers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

Angst_BuriTTo - SPN AU

@your-ginger-angel - Christmas

@magicadraconia16 - Rhodey

Summary by @blurockets - It's the road trip from hell where Rhodey and Bucky on the way to a Christmas wedding. Run over a demon and have to deal with possession, learning the supernatural is real and have to still try to reach their best friends wedding in time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by LLightz - on fire, rivals, forgotten

Summary by @rebelmeg - "I can't believe you set me on fire!"

"THERE ARE NO FRIENDS IN GAMING!"

In which Bucky gets really into gaming, is a terrible team player, and occasionally forgets to eat or respect basic hygiene.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

@rebelmeg - bot fic

Llightz - on fire

@your-ginger-angel - Christmas

Summary by @magicadraconia16 - He usually spent the latter half of December getting blackout drunk to forget... well, to forget. This year, however, he'd promised to stay on the wagon and had locked himself in his lab to keep that promise. Trying to roast chestnuts over a bunsen burner didn't really work, though. Especially with DUM-E on fire watch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts - SPN AU, cuddling, ceiling

Summary by @your-ginger-angel - Steve as Dean and Bucky as Cas. "It was horrible, Bucky," Steve whispered as he buried his face in Bucky's neck. "I haven't had this dream in years, but there she was, on the ceiling and burning." "Steve," Bucky cradled Steve in his arms and swore he would keep this man safe. "I'm sorry I couldn't save your mother and I'm sorry I couldn't save you." "But you did, Bucky," Steve replied as he looked up into Bucky's eyes. This angel had done everything for him and what had Steve done to thank him? Nothing, that's what. Well that would change, starting today. Steve wasn't much of a cuddler, but this felt so good that he's pretty sure that he can't go back to the way things were before. And it seems that Bucky doesn't want to either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

@themadhalewrites - Murder

@writing-mermaid - "he's my friend"

LLightz - Forgotten

Summary by Angst_BuriTTo - "He's my friend". those words rang through his mine, no matter how many times he tried to forget them and move on.

It had been 6 months since that fateful day, and Tony had done a lot of thinking, some soul searching, and had, recently, come to one conclusion: He had attempted to murder Bucky Barnes. He had tried to do the same thing to Barnes what HYDRA had forced the poor bastard to do to his parents. He had dropped the charges a week ago against Barnes and Rogers -- they were acting in self defense after all. sure, Steve could have told him about his parents-- but Tony knew Steve enough that the blond had probably not told him because he wanted to protect him from bringing up old demons. How many times had Tony complained to Steve that his father was a cold hearted drunk and his mother, while kind, wasn't around as much as she should have been? Steve had probably thought that bringing up those memories would reopen scares that had only barely healed.

hence why the 'rogues' were back, and why tony was hiding in his workshop.

he didn't know how to apologize. Rogers had already given him a heartfelt one, along with Barnes, and then Tony ran away after a stuttered acceptance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

@writing-mermaid - Mermaid

@themadhalewrites - Stolen Organs

@rebelmeg - "catch"

@your-ginger-angel - Farming AU

Summary by LLightz - The catch of the day was the finest specimen they'd ever seen; not another mermaid but a mountain of a merman, not like the tiny useless weakling they currently held but finally a strong one that they could breed the others with so they could begin their organ harvesting operation...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @your-ginger-angel - Mechanic AU

Summary by @writing-mermaid - A forest, in the middle of nowhere. Bucky's car refuses to start. He's waiting for a tow truck for an hour, when one finally stops near his car. "I've ask for a breakdown mechanic, not his girlfriend", he says at the girl going out of the truck, "I'm the breakdown mechanic", she answers, "but, if you want a man to take care of your car, you'll have to wait for more time", she adds, wiping a stain of grease of her nose.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @themadhalewrites - Luna eclipse, murder, stolen organs

Summary by @dreaminglypeach - It’s a dark night when Bucky goes to let the dog out, the way it always is here when it clouds over. He likes it here, far from the city and all those vulnerable regular humans, but if the moon isn’t out, it’s goddamn dark here. Still, dark or not, Bucky is very much not expecting to trip over a body.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

LLightz - rivals

@writing-mermaid - mermaid

@themadhalewrites - lunar eclipse

Summary by @writing-mermaid - The Lunar eclipse, that time of the year all mermaids are waiting for this to go on Earth. This year, two rivals, Natasha and Y/N, both of them fighting for the same man.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

@magicadraconia16 - Cheeseburgers, cuddling

@writing-mermaid - Europe

@themadhalewrites - Lunar Eclipse

Summary by LLightz - As they sat watching the lunar eclipse with their friends, eating cheeseburgers and enjoying the companionable silence, they took advantage of the darkness to sidle further towards each other until their legs pressed tightly, sending each other looks and smiles hidden in the night that promised more of these soft moments in their future... He could imagine retiring somewhere in Europe, maybe Iceland, he always wanted to see the Aurora Borealis, and it had a small population... he could dream of cuddling out on the open grass under the stars without a care in the world... but for now, as the light flooded back to them, they moved an acceptable distance apart once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts - Ghost au, fluff, pancakes

Summary by @your-ginger-angel - Bucky missed pancakes. As a ghost, he could smell, he could see, and sometimes he could even touch, but since he didn't need to eat, he couldn't taste anything that passed his lips. In fact, it just looked gross when he tried to eat. But Steve, the new guy renting Bucky's old apartment, was the sweetest ever because he took the time to describe exactly how his pancakes tasted. And if Bucky tried to catch a taste of those pancakes on Steve's lips despite the fact that he couldn't taste, well, Steve didn't have to know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @your-ginger-angel - domestic avengers, ocean, chef AU

Summary by @themadhalewrites - The team had brought a restaurant on the beach but the only two working were tony and bucky. Bucky had been trying to do knife tricks a knife slipped and now while the rest of the staff were playing in the ocean Tony was stitching up bucky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by Angst_BuriTTo - Once Upon a Time AU

Summary by @writing-mermaid - "Papa !", the little girl shouts looking at Bucky from head to toe. "Wha... What ?", the later says, his mouth opening and closing like a goldfish out of his bowl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by LLightz - Identity Porn, wrong door, pancakes

Summary by @dreaminglypeach - Bucky is tired, hungry, and fucking fed up of trying to find the place he’s supposed to be meeting Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. He gets that they’re young and use the google for absolutely everything, but that is no excuse for giving him such craptacular directions. He finally thinks he’s got the right place, but the teenage boy who opens the door with a plate of pancakes in his hand looks unaccountably surprised to see him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by @themadhalewrites - Pregnancy

Summary by @writing-mermaid - “Penny for your thoughts”, Steve says, coming silently behind me. “I’m pregnant, Steve”, I say, still looking outside. “Is it Bucky’s ?”, he questions. “Of course, it’s Bucky’s, who else would it be ?”, I shout, turning to him, rushing out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prompts by

@your-ginger-angel - Chef AU

@themadhalewrites - New Love

@rebelmeg - Fluff

Summary by @blurockets - (stuckony) Watching Tony argue with the new food prep robots he was fiddling with trying to make Bucky's life easier while they were still fiddling with his arm had to be one of the cutest things he'd ever seen. Watching Bucky throw a peeled clove of garlic into the processor with his good hand while he used 'The Beast' to hold the the wayward robot in place. Steve took a photo quickly trying to preserve the moment. He was going to draw it later. He was going to preserve it as best as he can. They were covered in flour and giggling and there was no where else he'd want to be. From being yelled at by one man to the other man invading his kitchen and fixing everything. This still was a whirlwind. It was amazing.

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Prompts by

@blurockets - Ghost AU

@your-ginger-angel - Ocean

@writing-mermaid - snow

Summary by Angst_BuriTTo - There was a legend, down by the ocean docks, that if you sailed in snowfall, that the Winter Siren would sing and drag your body to the ocean floor, and use your bones to make its nest.

Steve Rogers didn't believe in such nonsense.

"So, the legend is true."

"What gave it away -- the razor sharp teeth, or the tail?"

"In hindsight, it's 1932, and fairy tales are just that, TALES. I didn't expect that my mother's fairy-tale would be TRUE."

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Prompts by @rebelmeg - Body Swap, Fluff, Heat

Summary by LLightz - Bucky loved to cuddle up against the soft and ridiculously warm furry expanse of Steve's body, feeling completely safe wrapped up in his best friend as they licked each other clean before falling asleep. So when he woke up one morning, feeling oddly large and clumsy, with a small kitten under his paws that looked exactly like he used to, he was terrified... feeling terribly exposed in this new body, and why were his thoughts so muddled and slow?

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Prompts by @rebelmeg - body swap, fluff, heat

Summary by @lbibliophile-mcu - The first thing Sam notices as the fog of sleep starts to clear, is the warmth. He usually prefers to keep the bedroom cool while sleeping - read somewhere that it helps convince the body to slow down and conserve energy. The second thing he notices, is the bed - and he is so glad that it is a bed, that drastically reduces the potential consequences for waking up somewhere unfamiliar. The mattress sinks under his weight, cradling him in a totally different way to his own firm bedding. Combined with the several fuzzy blankets and veritable mountain of pillows surrounding him, he is feeling more than a bit smothered. The third thing, he notices when he runs his hands over his face and finally blinks open his eyes. Because those hands... he squints at them blearily, waves them around a bit to make sure, then sighs and flops back. Two hands, one pale and one metal. Well, at least that explains why he is waking up in Bucky Barnes' bed.

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Prompts by @steverogersnotebook - Mutual pining

Summary by @writing-mermaid - (2nd part of the ancient Greece AU) Bucky left a year ago, during this time, Y/N became the High Priestess of the Temple of Apollo. When he left, she told him she had desire for him but they couldn't give in to their passion. One year later, will the passion still be here and will they succumb to it despite the fact that physical love and desire is forbidden for a High Priestess.

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Prompts by @rebelmeg - Body swap

Summary by @writing-mermaid - Who never dreamed of living in the body of the opposite sex just for one day ? Not Y/N, anyway, and especially not when she finished in the body of an Avenger.

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Prompts by Angst_BuriTTo - Northern Lights, Russia, Once Upon A Time (TV Show) AU

Summary by @fightingforcreativity - The lights were beautiful. Natasha remembered faintly her father taking her up north. As north as Russia gets he had told her when she had asked where. They would sit, freezing and waiting until finally the night sky lit with northern lights. A beautiful arrangement of all colours, vivid and tangible in a way nothing else was. She was reminded about one of those rare childhood memories, when clint zapped through the channels from one station to the next until landing on the once upon a time. The show, despite not playing there, tugged at her memory. She felt like she knew, livid, the characters life.

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Prompts by @blurockets - Winteriron, Ghost au, SCI FI au

Summary by @fightingforcreativity - Tony was not afraid. He was not. Ghosts were a story for old folk and kids and there are no ghosts in his fucking home. Nope. Science told him differently. And Tony would know, as leading scientist on the Stark-Space-Ship 'The Winter Soldier'

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Prompts by @rebelmeg - body swap, fluff, heat

Summary by @fightingforcreativity - Hot. Hot hot. It was too damn hot for this to be his bed room. Why was it so hot? Tony blinked his eyes open, fearing to find himself in a cave. But instead he was in an opulent room. The bedsheet felt like silk and the ceiling looked like one of those in palasts and- "What the hell?!" Tony stared at his hand. At his black hand and then his brain caught up with the voice, which was not his!

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Prompts by @writing-mermaid - Phantom of the Opera AU, mutant, snow

Summary by @fightingforcreativity - Snow used to be his favorite form of water. Bucky had loved to play in the snow. To have snowball fights with his sisters and if Steve was doing well with him too. He had adored snow. Then, something changed, he changed. Now all that snow did, was making him uglier, disposable, worthless. He hides away so that snow never touches his frame anymore. So that the snow won't burn anymore of him. The catacombs were his home now. One day though, the most beautiful voice he ever heard made him risk it all. He needed to know who that brunet opera singer was.

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Prompts by @themadhalewrites - Pregnancy, new love, "not my baby"

Summary by @fightingforcreativity - It was said that every woman would fall in love at least once in her life and then could never love another man like that anymore. Peggy strongly disagreed. She had felt love for Steve. She had felt love for her husband. But... the love she felt for the child growing in Maria Stark, the love she felt for this tiny baby which was not born yet, that was a love she wouldn't be able to feel again. "You're not my baby, darling, but I love you like your mine already." She whispered to the belly while Maria smiled softly.

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Prompts by LLightz - Identity Porn, wrong door, pancakes

Summary by @fightingforcreativity - Steve was not panicking. He was Captain America after all. He can't panic. Steve was just.... not expecting his neighbor to look so much like his ex-boyfriend. He was totally not expecting a James Buchanan Barnes look alike as a neighbor. When Steve had seen the man first, he nearly choked up and barricaded himself in his home, cooking the one meal he always had found comfort in, pancakes. The blond refused to acknowledge that he might be indeed panicking, when said neighbor broke in the following night, looking around confused and just mumbled, "Shit, I'm sorry. Wrong door. Gimme a call alter about the costs." and vanished again. He was god damn Captain America and he- ok. Fine Steve was panicking.

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Prompts by @steverogersnotebook - Mutual pining; stargazing; single parent

Summary by @fightingforcreativity - Every night at 11 pm on the dot, the blond would step outside his tiny apartment and look up, hoping to see the stars he was used to. Every night at 11:05 pm, a brunet with his daughter would step on their balcony, (way bigger over in the better parts of the town) and would look in the sky hoping that the pain of losing his wife would one day stop. Every day at 11 am sharp, Steve Rogers would connect his business laptop to a meeting with his best friend and secret crush, Bucky Barnes. They would talk and they would argue and they would do business and then they shared something from their lives. Bucky shared stories of how Natasha was developing and Steve would listen and sometimes talk about that nice old lady from three doors down the floor. Neither man would ever say something, until they do.

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Prompts by @your-ginger-angel - domestic avengers, chef's Au, and Ocean

Summary by @fightingforcreativity - As a chef, Bucky prided himself to know where his ingredients came from. So when the family known as the Avengers asked for the best, Bucky was suggested and found himself in the position to cook for them. The brunet had always dreamed about cooking for those big names like Romanov and Stark and Rogers and Barton, but the things those heathens wanted to consume turned his stomach. So he took it as a challenge. He had the perfect recipe. He just needed to catch that rare fish from the coast of Hawaii, easy, right?

#buckybarnesbingo2020 #bbb2020 #discord party #3 prompt summary #fanfic summaries #party game

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greyias · 4 years

Text

FIC: Smoke and Mirrors - Chapter 6

Title: Smoke and Mirrors Fandom: SWTOR Pairing: Theron Shan/f!Jedi Knight Rating: T Genre: Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn Synopsis: Something’s rotten on Carrick Station, and Theron won’t rest until he finds out what. But picking at the frayed threads of suspicion quickly unravels a conspiracy much larger than even the Republic’s top spy can handle on his own. (A mostly canon-compliant retelling of the Forged Alliances storyline, as seen through the eyes of Theron Shan.) Author’s Notes and Spoilers: See Chapter 1.

“You zigged when you should have zagged.”

“Excuse me?”

“Unless you’re wanting to take a stroll through the Tomb of Naga Sadow, you may want to backtrack a little.”

There was a snort of frustration picked up over the mic, but the dot on the fuzzy projection of Korriban halted its progress, and after a few moments, started to retrace its steps.

“I’m glad you have a map,” Highwind said, but he couldn’t tell if the slight trace of irritation in her tone was directed at him or herself. It didn’t really matter in the long run, just as long as she stayed on track.

“At least someone does.” Kira’s dark mutterings were probably meant to be under her breath, but the overtuned mic still picked them up. “With all the rubble it’s easy to get turned around here.”

“The first wave may have been a bit… overzealous,” her partner agreed.

Theron thought about pointing out that the first wave of the operation had been completely for her benefit, but bit down on his tongue before the comment formed completely. He needed to keep her focused on the task at hand, and that was easier if she didn’t get irritated with him chiding her over the comm. Half a galaxy away, it wasn’t as if he could march up to her and physically set her back in the right direction, and the incident with the slave pens had already strained Darok’s patience dangerously thin. The taller man was still stalking back and forth, and in between coordinating the rest of the teams on the ground and in the air, was flashing both Theron and his holographic map a thoroughly displeased glare.

“So, does Mapboy have any other helpful tips? Maybe a nice food stall to pick up a quick bite before we go face down the most dangerous Sith in the Galaxy?”

“Kira.” Highwind’s recrimination sounded almost like an exasperated older sibling who was tired of lecturing her younger sister, but still did it anyway out of habit.

“Mapboy?” Theron echoed. “Is that all I am?”

“You are more than a map, Theron,” Highland was quick to reassure him, almost as if she didn’t pick up his undercurrent of sarcasm.

“Yeah, you’re a voice in her ear too.”

“Kira.”

“What? I’m only getting half of this conversation, I have to amuse myself somehow.”

“Perhaps you should remain focused on the mission.”

There was a quiet series of beeps and trills barely picked up by the microphone.

“See. Teeseven agrees with me.”

“I am fairly certain he was confirming we were heading in the right direction.”

“You are,” Theron piped in, “just take a right and it should be straight ahead.”

“A… right? Are you certain?”

“Yes. Why?”

The hum of a lightsaber being activated nearly drowned out Kira’s exclamation of: “Exactly when did the K’lor’slug population explode into an infestation?”

“Thank you for the directions, Theron.” Another hiss of lightsabers sizzled over the comm. “But I’m afraid I need to cut our conversation short.”

“You’re so polite. Go take care of your bug problem.”

“There’s always time for diplomacy. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

His eyebrow arched of its own accord, and he couldn’t help but wonder if he had just been on the receiving end of a very, very subtle dig. He shook his head, trying to ignore his rising curiosity about his asset and focus back on the job at hand. Once the package was secured and safely in SIS’s hands and the mission complete, his role as her handler would be done. Unless Jace decided to inelegantly smash through Dromund Kass (and Theron wasn’t sure he could put it past the Supreme Commander completely), there wasn’t going to be much need for him to make smalltalk with the heaviest hitter in the galaxy for the foreseeable future. She was a bit too… flashy for the shadows that Theron preferred to lurk in.

The apparent “horde” of K’lor’slugs seemed to not be that much of a match for the two Jedi and their little astromech, but the sounds of lightsabers crashing and blaster fire continued over his audio feed. The closer they got to the Academy, the heavier the opposition it seemed. The deep furrow in Darok’s brow seemed to ease the closer Theron’s team got to their objective, but there was a larger issue at hand. His map got even sketchier once they reached the interior of the Academy, and unless he was able to get eyes in there, the strike team would be wandering around blind.

His fingers flew across the keys, mind already processing a workaround. If that little T7 unit was as good at slicing as his file seemed to indicate, there might be an opportunity for Theron to get some eyes inside — as well as extract a little something extra for his old pals in the Analytics division to sink their teeth into. Those data nerds would just love the chance to pick apart every piece of the Academy that they could. He just needed to make a few programming adjustments to prep the communication relays for the data stream. He listened with half an ear, keeping one eye on his programming and the other on the dot representing the strike team’s progress towards the Academy.

The cacophony of the seemingly endless series of encounters faded, and the sudden silence was a bit eerie. The mic picked up the sound of footfalls echoing through what was a large cavernous room. From the position of the dot on his holomap, apparently they had finally arrived at the entrance to the Academy. Jace and the Highwind Fanclub Division of the SIS had been right about one thing — this woman seemed to be able to fight as if she was an entire army.

“Going to be a lot more close quarters combat in here.” The mic picked up Kira’s soft mutterings. “Even before those bombings this place was always a death trap.”

“It will be okay, we just have to stick together,” the older Jedi assured her. “Do you know which way we should head?”

Theron was about to pipe in about his need for an access point, when the voice on the other end of the line cut him off. “Not really. Things look different at this height.”

Theron frowned, wondering what the hell that meant, but the conversation on the other end continued, oblivious to the third party listening in.

“I’m going to guess we follow the highest concentration of Sith standing between us and something else, and just go that way.”

“Do you think they were able to evacuate the students when the bombings began?”

“I don’t know,” there was some reluctance coloring the younger Jedi’s tone, “do you really think that’s a priority?”

“If this were Tython being attacked, the Masters’ first instinct would be to try and protect the initiates and padawans. The highest concentration of Jedi would be defending the students.”

“The Sith aren’t Jedi, and Korriban isn’t Tython.” There was an undercurrent of steely fury to Kira’s tone that was a bit of a surprise to hear her taking with her partner. “It has a way of corrupting people. Nothing good ever came from this place.”

“That’s not true.” Highwind’s reply was just as firm, but instead of fury it was laced with affection.

“Name one thing.”

“You.”

“I… Master…”

The rest of their conversation was drowned out by the sudden rushing in Theron’s ears, as he suddenly put the pieces of the conversation together, and had to physically bite down on his tongue to keep from cursing aloud. Of course the Jedi Order had recruited from within Korriban’s walls, they preached about forgiveness and redemption all the damn time. If they had been a bit more open about their personnel records, perhaps the SIS could have gleaned valuable intel from the converts, instead of having to scrap pieces together from everything else.

Had Theron known that a member of the strike team had first-hand knowledge, even outdated knowledge, it would have been something he could have leveraged. He snorted an angry breath, wondering what other key pieces of intel the close mouthed Jedi were keeping under wraps.

He keyed his mic, probably a little more forcefully than necessary, and let out a long breath before speaking in the most even voice possible. “Looks like you’ve made it to the Academy.”

“We have.” There was a brief hesitation. “Is there a problem?”

“Yes,” he said, a little more terse than he cared for, “I don’t have eyes in there. You’ll be walking around blind.”

“That might be a problem. It’s rather large in here, how are we looking on time?”

Theron glanced at the chronometer and grimaced. “We’ll be cutting it close. Do you see anything that looks like a data or security terminal?”

There was the sound of shuffling, before her voice filled the line again. “Yes, I think we can make something work. Why?”

“If you lend me your astromech’s slicing skills for a few minutes, between the two of us we can probably slice into the mainframe. Piggyback the data off your comm signal and I should be able to get a layout of the whole place. Maybe a little more, depending.”

“You can do that?” She actually sounded impressed.

“You’d be be surprised what I can do with a few loose security protocols and enough free time.”

“See, I knew you were more than just a man with a map.”

He didn’t know what to make of the light teasing tone, and instead focused on his fingers flying across the keyboard, finishing the final line of programming. “To be fair, I’m just getting a new map.”

“Is that all you’ll be doing with this uplink?”

Sharp one, that Jedi. “My primary concern is getting you to the Dark Council chambers. Any extra data I find on my way there, well, that’s just a side benefit.”

“I admire your dedication to your profession.”

Now that he couldn’t tell if it was meant as a jest or not. There was only so much subtext one could determine without facial cues, especially if the other party tended to be a little deadpan in their responses.

He was making some final adjustments to the relay when a message pinged from the far end. The HUD in his left eye implant superimposed a text read out of the message, and his lip curled ever so slightly into a smirk.

Modifications to Jedi comm unit = unauthorized use of Republic equipment // Violation of Regulation C1726 + Galactic Communication Act SR.7628

Theron’s fingers flew across the board as the tapped out a quick response. T7-01 I presume. You going to tattle on me?

The response was immediate and succinct. T7 = here to help // You = help?

That’s the plan. I’ve got a fun little surprise for the Academy’s security system if you can get me a connection.

T7 = slicing access point now // Imperial security algorithm = predictable; layers deep // Sith Academy = closed network

Theron nodded absently, even though the little astromech couldn’t see. He’d expected that, but luckily his unauthorized modifications would be a temporary patch for that. With a few more keystrokes, his last minute programming was being sent half a galaxy away.

Got a code packet incoming, might make that whole place a little more accommodating for digital visitors.

Code packet = virus // T7 = unfamiliar with program // Safe for Republic network?

Code is brand new — but targets the closed system, two-way data transfer will be safe. Don’t worry, I’m not going to scramble the comm systems and leave you guys running around there blind.

Theron waited, but he didn’t see an affirmation via text whether the astromech had uploaded the spike into the access point. Not for the first time that day he wished that he was physically there. It was easier to just do things himself rather than trying to convince various personalities to follow his lead. Asking for forgiveness was generally easier than asking for permission — although he probably needed work on that whole apologizing part of that tactic. But usually his results negated much of the need for an apology.

His fingers remained poised over the keyboard, ready to send a ping on the status when a rush of data started flowing across every available port. A smirk threatened to form as the entire Sith Academy’s network was laid out before him. It was possible he was one of the first Republic agents to actually see all of this (and live long enough to tell the tale).

Good job. Thanks, T7.

Theron = talented slicer // unorthodox; talented

Thanks. I think. I should have what I need now to get you guys the rest of the way. Just need to sort through it.

Theron = need T7 here?

No, you guys should stay together. As long as I’ve got a connection to the comm we should be good.

It was easy to see why Highwind was so fond of the little astromech, willing to stay behind even in a place crawling with Sith that wouldn’t hesitate to hack him in two. Then again, this was the same droid that supposedly had helped take out the Sith Emperor with the Jedi in question. Teeseven might very well have been capable of taking them on.

Theron focused back on the task at hand. There was too much intel to completely sort through at the moment so he diverted the majority of it to a data silo that could be safely mined once completely disconnected from the Republic grid. For now he only needed the facility’s blueprints and way to access the security feeds, even if there was a part of him wanting to rub his hands together greedily at the possibilities of what he now had in hand. Whatever was locked behind the Dark Council’s doors was a far more valuable prize — but just because it wasn’t the motherlode didn’t mean valuable intel still couldn’t be gleaned from what he had just acquired.

There was only so much that the hijacked comm channel could handle though, so once he found what he was looking for, he stopped the upload so he didn’t overload his connection. No need to be greedy, they were already lightyears ahead of where they had been in terms of intel now as opposed to when the day started.

He flung the wireframe projection of the Academy’s layout on the holotable on top of the little dot representing Highwind’s strike team. It filled him with no small amount of glee as Darok’s eyes nearly doubled in size as he got his first look at the layout of the Sith stronghold. It was an unseen deviation in his plan, but as his initial shock faded to grim satisfaction it was apparent that it wasn’t an unwelcome one.

The glitchy visual feed from some of the still functioning security cameras Theron kept limited to the HUD for now. The last thing he needed was Darok breathing down his neck as the strike team tried to navigate what was clearly a crumbled mess. The state of destruction inside of the Academy was quite extensive, as bombings and their aftershocks had done a number on the place. He pivoted around the camera he had hijacked in the foyer, ignoring the way the twisted faces carved into the giant obelisk taking up the center of the room sent a shiver down his spine. Perhaps it wasn’t all bad being stuck on Carrick Station.

Deciding to cut out eavesdroppers, he activated the subvocal portion of his comlink implant. “So, is the Sith’s new decorating scheme courtesy of Darok’s overzealous bombings, or did you get in on the renovations as well?”

On his HUD he saw Highwind’s head head swivel around, taking in the room. Even with the distance of the camera he could see her frown. “You can see us?”

“Part of that ‘little more’ I mentioned earlier.”

“The voice in your ear is being creepy, Boss.”

He saw Highwind shoot the younger knight a look, but didn’t respond to Kira verbally. “I hope this means you have a map.”

“Of sorts. From what I can see here, the Dark Council chambers are on the upper levels. There’s an elevator on the second floor that you’ll have to take to get there.”

“I am hearing some hesitation in that statement.”

Theron let out a sigh, minding to keep it quieter than he truly felt. Mostly so he didn’t have to involve Darok in this conversation.

“Apparently the access codes for the elevator aren’t stored on the Academy’s main network.”

“Main network?”

“Paranoid Sith. Apparently they’d rather have several closed networks rather than have everything all together. It’s almost like they expected to be invaded.”

“Fancy that,” Highwind remarked dryly.

“Teeseven and I might be able to slice the elevator manually if we work together, but that’s going to take a while.”

“That sounds like a big ‘might’,” she returned. “Is there time for you two to try that?”

Theron glanced at the countdown, pressing his lips together. “We can try, but there’s no guarantee we’ll crack it before your return window closes. Pretty sure that encryption is going to be pretty complicated. Have I mentioned the Sith are paranoid?”

“Is there any other way to get access to that elevator?”

“Are you talking about the elevator to the Dark Council chambers?” Kira piped in. “If it’s anything like it used to be, the high level instructors always had access codes. The Sith don’t change their game plan much if everything is working.”

“It’s worth a try. Theron, can you find them?”

“Hold on,” he muttered, cycling through the various security feeds of the destroyed rooms.

Almost all of them were empty. Having never stepped foot in the building before, it was hard to say how occupied everything usually was, but it appeared that the younger students and acolytes might have been evacuated. That would probably make his very perplexing knight on the other end of the line somewhat happier. There were still Sith crawling through the hallways, clearly defending something at the far end. That something turned out to be another Sith, whose importance was marked by the fine robes and markings indicating their high status. A quick check on other hallways confirmed a few more individuals.

“Found them.” He frowned at the map, trying to calculate the best path to take the team through. “First one’s down that hall on your right — if you can get past all of their faithful guards first.”

“We will manage.”

That was starting to sound less and less like overconfidence and more a statement of fact. He sat back, monitoring their progress through the map and available security feeds. Her fighting style changed to accommodate the closed quarters, and the acrobatic flips and twirls incorporated the walls and rubble. The finer details of the lightsaber work was lost to the fuzzy, unstable connection, but even with that it still looked more like some frenetic dance.

By the time they had the codes in hand and stood in front of the elevator, it was clear that even the Jedi super endurance was getting a test today if the sheen of sweat he could make out on the security cameras were any indication.

“I don’t really have much on the upper-level defenses,” he said quietly, this time out loud as Darok’s impatience was starting to show again. “You can try to find an access point once you’re up there—but I’ve got a feeling you’re going to face some heavy opposition.”

“Will your modifications to the comm allow you to talk to me up there?”

He glanced at the weak signal stretched to the limits, and the heavy shielding indicated by the blueprint. When the Sith wanted to protect their communications, not even his best slicing tricks could get him in remotely. His experience infiltrating the Orbital Defense Command Center on Ziost proved that.

“It’s unlikely.”

This was the worst part of the op, the one thing that he couldn’t account for. Despite Darok’s planning, Theron’s intel, and his entire bag of slicer tricks, once she stepped through that door it was all out of his hands. He shifted his weight and crossed his arms, trying not to glare at the giant hole in the map that represented the Dark Council chambers.

“It will be all right,” she said quietly, and it took him a moment to realize she was talking to him. “You have gotten us this far — the Force will take us the rest of the way.”

He almost snorted aloud, but caught himself at the last moment. Whatever beliefs or mental exercises she needed to lean on were fine, especially if that’s what helped her accomplish the mission. It wasn’t his place to comment on that, especially when he needed her to stay focused on the end goal.

“Good luck,” he said instead.

He watched on the security feed as they stepped inside of the elevator until the doors closed and they disappeared from his view completely. He glanced back up at the map on the holotable, where the dot representing the strike team started to move up before suddenly winking out completely as they hit the shielded area.

“They’re in,” he said to Darok, and for once, the colonel was silent.

All that was left now was the waiting — and hoping that the little Jedi lived up to her larger-than-life reputation.

#swtor fanfiction #theron shan x jedi knight #Theron Shan #Female Jedi Knight/Hero of Tython #Kira Carsen #oc: greyias highwind #otp: adorkable #swtor #fanfic #smoke and mirrors #SoR Fic O Doom #greyfic #theron got a codename #(although probably not as cool as he was hoping for)

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greenlightmusicreviews2 · 4 years

Text

The Revenge of GLMR!!! | Reasons, Review & Analysis

Because opinions are like voices, we all have a different kind, so just clean out all of your ears, these are my views • atcq "award tour"

There’s a lot different ideas that run through my head when I’m listening to music, and - although it’s been a while - especially when I try to review music. Obviously, there’s going to be bias because I have certain sounds and textures and concepts that I like more than others, but there are three that I expand on down below: effort, competence, and experimentation.

Of course that’s not to discount other aspects like... production value, mixing style, lyricism, songwriting, composition, style and a lot of other aspects to what makes a song work or an album flow - egads! - album sequencing!!!

I really like music, and at the bottom of that, I really want to like music. I’ve spent a lot of time writing my own music and sitting next to friends as they mix and produce the music I write, and so it’s exciting, new and different to sit on the other side and seriously think about the music that I get to listen to. I want to take more time with this endeavor and put in the work to maintain this thing. Maybe that means starting with familiar stuff and getting a feel with how I think about music with artists or albums I know. At the end of the day, I’m a guy on the net with a blog, but I hope you sweet, beautiful people find something worthwhile, interesting, funny and hopefully insightful from this thing. Maybe you can get something cringeworthy out of it. We may never know, but hopefully, we may.

In the words of Josh Homme:

If you've got the time and you've got the space you've got to make something of it. We might balls the whole thing up but you've got to try!

Effort

One of the things I put a premium on is effort: did’ja at least try to make a good song or record? Because if you didn’t, then fuck you.

In my teenage years I listened to a lot of alt-metal, post-grunge, hard rock and generally loud guitar music, so understand that I speak with some authority when it comes to that genre of music. Seether, Hinder, Nickelback, Godsmack, Papa Roach, Saving Abel, Three Days Grace - even bands that were influenced from the original crop: Daughtry, Theory of a Deadman, Popevil - and even bands that were just a little outside of generic rockers, bands like Foo Fighters, Audioslave, the sort of acts that were pretty well-respected but still made similar music but of a little better quality than their imitators. So I’m a bit of an expert when it comes to the post-grunge sound, that sound a generation or so removed from the Seattle heavyweights they hold in such high regard. My favorites of the bunch were: Foo Fighters, Nickelback, Seether, Puddle of Mudd, throw in some Everclear and that’s a good sampling of bands that I really liked at that time. These are bands that sounded like they put in a good amount of effort in the records that they made.

I hear distant scoffs, but only because it’s fallen out of fashion to dislike Nickelback, but hear me out: if you think Nickelback was generic and derivative, then you weren’t given the chance to hear Nickelback-lite.

Nickelback is a band whose blueprint was always more CCR, ZZ Top and Metallica than anything else, and their albums, save for maybe Curb typically reflected this.

They combined these three somewhat disparate influences with the sonic template that the Big Four of Grunge popularized and made some incredibly catchy and well executed music.

Hoobastank, on the other hand, you could tell sort of wanted to imitate Incubus, but recognized the immediacy of a band like NIckelback. Their music was similar, though never venturing further than Drop-D tunings, but their songwriting was sub-par. There was never, I sensed, the effort that truly made certain bands stand out. The lyrics especially, where they offered fairly banal observations and pleas for help:

Show me what it's for Make me understand it I've been crawling in the dark Looking for the answer Is there something more Than what I've been handed? I've been crawling in the dark Looking for the answer

- “Crawling in The Dark” by Hoobastank (2001)

The sound is part and parcel of what rock bands in the mid-2000s were aiming for in order to receive radio play: dull production value, samey chord progressions, vaguely introspective lyrics and leads that sound like U2 outtakes. Was there any effort, any character, any color, any life to your production, music or lyrics? Unfortunately, once executives and the ilk come in, well, that’s where a lot of “corporate rock” gets its reputation from.

Competence

Competence is one of those things where all it’s asking is, did’ja do it well? Does it sound awkward or cringey, or is it well-executed and hits the mark?

An example that comes to mind is Foo Fighters’ 2014 album Sonic Highways. After 2011′s Wasting Light, which was a watershed moment for the band, they began to really lean into their own legacy. Grohl and Co. became a standard-bearer for rock music at this time, and to an extent still do. What came after was a pretty bloated concept record about the musical history of the United States in 8 different cities tied together with an HBO documentary. While the documentary was actually decently made though not perfect, the record suffered from the band overextending themselves. They recorded the album in 8 different cities while interviewing famous musicians with deep roots in those cities, and then Grohl would go and write lyrics based on what he had learned in those interviews, weaving in little things they said here and there in order to form a coherent narrative for the song.

It didn’t quite work. The music is decent for the most part, but Grohl was just not able to make it compelling enough. Dave’s insistence on the record not straying too far from the band’s original sound didnt’ make sense when the entire concept was based on a city-by-city celebration of American-made music. The finished product was colored by Vig’s by-the-numbers production and Grohl’s own hesitation about making it too different.

There are musical projects that are well-performed and well-produced (i.e. competent in a couple different dimensions), but the overarching concept can be marred by the artist’s own musical limitations.

Danny Worsnop has had a successful stint with Asking Alexandria. His foray into country music with The Long Road Home is pretty good. Kid Cudi, the rapper whose Man On The Moon records were well-done pop-cum-rap albums, didn’t quite hit the mark with 2012′s WZRD and much less with 2015′s Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven, both attempts to make rock(?) records.

An artist’s own musical limitations can hinder musical projects, even if other aspects of the music are otherwise done decently well.

There’s a dimension where a record can be “competent” in what it does and score a 5/10 or higher. There’s also a dimension where a record can be “competent” in what it does and score a 4/10 or lower. It’s tied to the effort made, and of course, goes by an artist-by-artist basis. Same thing with...

Experimentation

Not every song or album has to be a genre-bending, mind-expanding, sound-expanding trip through another universe, but artists that make an attempt to go beyond their comfort zone or beyond an established boundary get credit for doing so.

This is, again, kind of by an artist-by-artist basis. You can’t have multiple Beatles, for example, who rewrite the music playbook or whatever. But when an artist tries to go even a little out of their comfort zone, it’s appreciated. Take an artist like Ian Thornley. An extraordinarily talented guitarist and songwriter, his band Big Wreck recorded In Loving Memory Of... in 1997 and, although it took its blueprint directly from Led Zeppelin III, did some pretty interesting things sonically and early on demonstrated some great potential in developing their sound. Their follow-up was a bloated piece of work that unfortunately fell into the trope of “let’s go thicker on the guitars and have overblown ballads” that most rock bands in the 2000s fell into. After their break-up, Ian continued this trend with the plodding generic music of Thornley.

A band that actually threads this needle pretty well is Queens of the Stone Age. Josh Homme creates each record with its own unique identity, doing so competently, with effort, and not sounding (at least not all the time) like a phoned in attempt to sit on his haunchy laurels. Era Vulgaris, a personal favorite of mine, was this dirty, sleazy, almost evil sounding record while its follow-up ...Like Clockwork plumbed the depths of Homme’s struggle with depression and created gorgeous sonic landscapes on songs like “The Vampyre of Time and Memory” and “I Appear Missing.”

I like a little experimentation whether with production, music or lyrics. It’s not going to kill a record if they don’t really experiment, but the artist gets points for at least trying.

Final Thoughts, Concerns & Whatever Else

These three things are what immediately came to mind when I thought about what goes through my head when thinking about music. It’s not super technical, and probably comes from my own background as a musician without a background in theory and who pieces music together mostly through feeling and intuition. But there’s a bunch of other things that I know should look out, and want to look out for. Things like production value, lyricism, composition and style. The way I listen to music hopefully will change for the better, and looking back to previous reviews, I can do a hell of a lot better, and plan to. I actually hope to find better and more unique and interesting ways to describe how I hear certain sounds and even improve on listening out for certain, subtle aspects of production jobs.

Welcome back to Green Light Music Reviews! Sub-par music reviews for a healthy colon! Enjoy!!

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ktent · 5 years

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The day after the grand Halloween event, the girls have gathered once again inside a typical practice room. With their comeback already planned, they should all be kept in check.

“I hope you all had a lot of fun yesterday,” Kim Geonwook, their dance coach, starts things off, “because from today on we’ll work on getting everything right, which shouldn’t be as fun.” He starts by staring at the newest member. “What we worked on the most was getting Joohyun to learn all the songs she needed to. She did her job, but the struggle now is to get you all in sync. This isn’t like changing a tire where you just it into a new one and the car starts to move. Each screw needs to be properly fixed and, right now, she isn’t the only problem. Because you aren’t used to her as well, you can’t anticipate her movements, which leads to people not matching each other.”

He claps his hands together once. “But, Joohyun, you’re a good dancer. At the start of this, we had to push each of the members to work on their dance to make this teamwork. Now, I believe you can all do well together. My diagnosis to you is a lot of hard work and maybe some bonding time.” And so their month starts. To help with bonding, the coach prepared some trust exercises such as trust falls, but since that’s not really his style, they quickly moved over to just practicing their moves. With that the coming months have prepared, the group needs to go through the same routines over and over again not to screw up on the most viewed live shows of the year.

Two weeks after her audition, Minji receives the news on November 10th right from her manager about how the producers got interested in her for the role. However, how this will be a big-scale project, things can’t be confirmed with one simple audition. Between all the people who tried for the part on the month before, five of them remain, including Minji. She’s told to return for a second round of auditions on November 24th. This time, more information was given on the project in hopes that it’ll inspire the candidates on doing the best job. The drama will follow a group of rich, privileged high school students as they are about to take over their families' business empires, overcoming difficulties and growing every step of the way. The role they’re auditioning for, however, is of Cha Eunsang, a down-to-earth and somewhat cynical woman who diligently works part-time jobs to support herself and her mother. When they arrive on the scheduled day, the five finals actresses looking for the role will receive a scene on the spot to study for in a set of minutes before performing it. They’ll also receive an impromptu prompt to act on-the-spot in a group scene. The final results will come out the following month.

Since Eclipse were invited to some end-of-the-year shows, that means that Joohyun will have to perform with them live for the first time. Before that can happen, the girls will be taken out to record a reveal video for their new member. They’ll go on November 11th to record the video outside. It’ll follow the essence of this video, but the content will be different. Following Joohyun’s reveal video for the KTROOKIES project, all five girls will be recorded on the busy streets of Seoul while the cars zoom past the streets. They’ll be moving as if they’re looking for something with their faces never being completely visible. That’s until another car crosses the screen and Joohyun is revealed standing on the other side. They’ll also be recording a video like this one next to the Han River. These will be uploaded later in the month. The girls will be using the outfits as seen in this image (without the skates).

Anna — Umji

Blue — Sowon

Haseul — Yerin

Jennie — Yuju

Joohyun — Eunha

Minji — Sinb

In order to avoid the harsh cold of December, the group will be recording the music video of their title song still in November. Their comeback will happen in early January. On November 12th, the girls will go out to their usual hair salon to make needed changes, or just to make sure their hair is in good condition.

Anna — Brown ( reference )

Blue — Red ( reference )

Haseul — Black ( reference )

Jennie — Black ( reference )

Joohyun — Brown ( reference )

Minji — Blonde ( reference )

Members who changed their hairstyles are told not to reveal them to the public.

On November 16th, the group will go out for their album photoshoot. This will consist of two different sets, one inspired by these images ( 1, 2, 3, 4 ) and another by these ( 1, 2, 3, 4 ). The day after, their music video recordings will start.

DAY ONE — NOVEMBER 17TH

8AM: Get hair and makeup done

9AM: Go to filming location

10AM: Change into outfits

10:30PM: Shooting of bridge scenes ( 0:08 [Sinb: Anna; Yuju: Blue] ; 1:33 [Yerin: Minji; Eunha: Joohyun]; 1:41 [Yerin: Minji; Eunha: Joohyun]; 3:06 )

12PM: Filming of bridge dance scenes ( 1:30 )

1PM: Lunch break

1:30PM: Recording of grass & street scenes ( 0:31 [Yerin: Haseul]; 1:22 [Yuju: Anna; Sinb: Jennie]; 1:45; 2:55; 3:03 )

3:30PM: Head to second filming location; Change outfits

4:30PM: Recording of house dance scenes ( 2:58; 3:12; 3:15 )

6PM: Change outfits

6:30PM: Recording of pool scenes ( 1:59; 2:04 [Yuju: Anna]; 3:13 )

8:30PM: Recording of pool dance scenes ( 2:00; 3:10; 3:17 )

10:30PM: Thank staff for hard work; prepare to leave

11PM: Head back to dorms; eat, shower, rest

DAY TWO — NOVEMBER 18TH

8AM: Get hair and makeup done

9AM: Go to filming location

9:30AM: Change into outfits

10AM: Recording of gym dance scenes ( 0:51; 0:56; 1:37; 2:26; 3:27 )

11:30PM: Change outfits

12PM: Filming of gym scenes ( 0:19; 0:36 [Yuju: Jennie]; 0:53 [Yerin: Blue; Eunha: Haseul]; 1:01 [Yuju: Haseul; Yerin: Blue]; 2:24 [Eunha: Joohyun; Yerin: Minji]; 2:33; 2:43; 2:47; 3:21 )

2PM: Lunch break

2:30PM: Recording of room dance scenes ( 1:06; 1:36; 2:39; 3:29 )

3:30PM: Recording of room scenes ( 0:00; 1:01 [Sinb: Jennie]; 1:39; 1:55; 2:44; 2:53 [Yuju: Haseul]; 3:00 )

5:50PM: Thank staff for hard work; prepare to leave

6PM: Head back to dorms; eat, shower, rest

The first award in line is on November 30th, it’ll be the Melon Music Awards which will take place at the Gocheok Sky Dome. ‘Me Gustas Tu’ will be the only track they’ll perform. They’ll enter the stage while an intro audio plays before breaking into the song. For this event, they’ll all be wearing wigs to hide their new hair colors. This will be their first public group performance with Joohyun on the team.

December 4th is the date of the Mnet Asian Music Awards. This will be their first stage after their comeback. Their stage will be slightly based on this video and this video. This means that Eclipse’s stage will be highly linked to Convex’s, however, the two groups will not practice together until the day before the show for the final stage check. Since the event will take place in Japan, they’ll fly over there on the day before and return soon after the end of the event. Their roommates were separated as Anna&Haseul&Joohyun and Blue&Jennie&Minji. For the pairs, Minji will be Sinb; Anna will be Yerin; Blue will be Eunha. On the dance duet, Haseul will be Yuju. The stage will start with Haseul singing one of her lines from ‘Me Gustas Tu’ (2:20-2:25). Blue will do Eunha’s part from behind the stairs, also from ‘Me Gustas Tu’ (0:26-0:35), leading into the song’s performance. For the duo dance and onwards, the girls will put a robe on top of their previous outfits as seen here. Haseul will sing one of her lines from ‘Chase Me’ this time (1:02-1:07) before they head into this song’s performance.

You will gain +5 POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE AS YOU WISH, +3 DEBUT POINTS and +2 ACHIEVEMENTS for completing the written requirements as explained on the idol tier page. As this is not a promotional month, you may choose any two achievements for the month’s points. There is a capped maximum of five solos, sets of starters and/or partnered threads you may write for to collect this month’s points.

* For clarification, old threads from previous months will count towards points so long as they fulfill the requirements as explained on the idol tier page. However, at least one of this month’s requirements must be written about the schedule to gain any points for November.

The only form that needs to be submitted at the end of the month is a verification form for your debut points and achievements. Any SP points earned can be collected as soon as you finish the requirement for them. At the end of the month, you will submit the following form to the Points Verification blog:

IDOL’S NAME - KT ENT - NOVEMBER SCHEDULE (for the December 4 verification form)

PROOF OF ACTIVITY: [ x ]

POINTS: +00 SP [ distribute these however you like ]

TOTAL POINTS EARNED: +00 SP +00 DBT

+1 WK ACHIEVEMENT #1 [ NUMBER OF TIMES TAKEN + CURRENT LEVEL ]

+1 WK ACHIEVEMENT #2 [ NUMBER OF TIMES TAKEN + CURRENT LEVEL ]

DEBUT POINTS SPENT ON THE IDOL SHOP THIS MONTH:

NEW DEBUT POINTS TOTAL:

**** Their performances in 3 end-of-the-year awards gives them 3 EXP. For more information regarding GROUP EXP, refer to the idol tier page.

#rkeclipse #eclipse:nov19

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houseofvans · 5 years

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SKETCHY BEHAVIORS | INTERVIEW WITH PEARL C. HSIUNG

LA based multimedia artist Pearl C. Hsiung explores the relationships between humans and nature through her various paintings, sculptures, videos and installations. In a collaboration with the Borrego Boys & Girls Club as well as members of the public, Pearl recently created a site-specific sculpture using wood, plexiglass and non-recyclable plastic waste. She’s also unveiling a large-scale tile mosaic commission in 2022 at the new 2nd/Hope St Metro station in downtown, LA. We’re excited to find out more about Pearl’s artwork, collaborations, and what she’s got coming up for the rest of the year.

Take the Leap!

Photographs courtesy of the artist.

Could you introduce yourself to everybody? Hi I’m Pearl C Hsiung, I live and work in Los Angeles. ‘Hsiung’ is pronounced ‘shung’ and means the animal bear in Chinese. I have a pet mini-Rex named Rambo who lives free- range in my apartment.

How would you describe the art you create? How would you describe your particular technique? I’d say that my practice uses the landscape as a starting point for thinking through our connection to it and towards the idea that we are inseparable from the matter around us. If all matter in the universe combusted out of the same material then our current, subjective reality, where we behave as if we’re defined apart from everything around us, is an illusion.

In past painting, video and installation works this is performed through metamorphosing, flowing and eruptive forms bursting out of their geological, biological, technological, and cultural skins. In works like Full Gorge (2017) and Original Face (2018), I was thinking about the interconnection of all that is natural, human, more-than-human and artificial through an experience of immersive presence in material space.

For me, these free-standing paintings point to a certain moment of presence, not unlike the moment I experience sometimes after reading certain zen kõans or Daoist phrases; it is an instant moment, a moment of clarity where I understand it all. But it is fleeting, it is a momentary experience that precedes, challenges or completely eludes language. Maybe this is not unlike a moment experienced when in nature, during sex or laughter (during both?), plugged into VR or while coding.

What are your favorite things to paint? What should folks take away from your works? I enjoy painting on canvas, paper, MDF, wood… Actually I hope people bring to my works. I encourage the exchange that I make the work and viewers bring their perceptions and interpretations.

What’s a typical day in the studio for you like? And what are you currently working on in the studio? My studio schedule is fluid depending on the season. It also depends on how much I’m teaching, I may only get one full day and a couple half days a week for the studio, other times I’m 5-6 days a week. Time spent in the studio varies a lot and can include research, reading, sketching, painting, writing, building, cleaning, organizing, accounting, correspondence, grant proposals, teaching applications, pacing, prepping for big work/big actions, paint experiments, materials tests, staring, repotting plants…

I’m starting on new work for a show at Visitor Welcome Center in Koreatown in November 2019.

When you’re working on and developing a new painting or piece, how does it begin - take us from sketchbook, to color choices, to finished painting? New work is always a continuation of themes and ideas from previous works and research. The form changes as the focus shifts on those ideas or approaches. The decisions on everything from composition, structure, color palette and presentation are informed by this new focus as well as the new context of making that work. Personal, experiential, studio environment, cultural influences, topical events all seep into that. The sketchbook is full of garbage, I let it sit there to compost and sometimes it sprouts a new bud…

What tools will someone always find you using at your studio? What are your preferred materials? Tools have changed through the years. More recently you’ll see squeegees and plastic paint guides (that I use like a squeegee) rather than brushes for the paintings. Consistently, I use white paper and tape as painting tools. The computer, the internet and books are always studio necessities for research and admin tools. I use paints and inks that comes tubes, tubs, tins, buckets, bottles, spray cans, jars, sets on canvas, cold-pressed paper, MDF, cardboard. I’ve been experimenting with painting on non-recyclable plastic I’ve tried to make into it’s own substrate but it’s not yet working out.

How do you unplug yourself so to speak? What do you do to center or re-focus yourself if you find yourself stressed out about deadlines, art shows, and the sort? When the stress piles up it helps if I do yoga first thing in the morning in my living room, but the best way to deal with the stress is to work through it. When I feel overwhelmed by anxiety relating to projects, teaching, or deadlines, it usually helps me to become more prepared, using research, preparation and experimentation to deal with the parts that can be addressed. For short term refocusing, I step outside and stare at things: the sky, the plants outside of my studio, the birds on the telephone lines, the clouds. Or I’ll take a walk around the block, change my daily routine like driving a different route, take the bus, walk through the grocery or thrift store before getting to work.

For longer term re-centering, if I can, I leave town or just go stare at the ocean. Staring is like open-eyed meditation for me, I try to empty out my thoughts, blank out and spend unscheduled time. Sleep well and spending time with family and friends are also priceless rechargers.

You recently worked with AIR Talks: Candlewood Arts Festival collaborated with folks you met at the Borrego Boys & Girls Club? Tells us about the festival, the project and about the various workshops you helped conduct? Why was this event so important to you? This was the inaugural Candlewood Arts Festival, a temporary public art event in the town of Borrego Springs located in the Anza Borrego State Park. Tanya Aguiniga, Devon Tsuno, Kor Newkirk, Mario Ybarra Jr and I created different site- and community-specific sculptures and happenings during the last weekend of March 2019. Most of our works were located out in Galleta Meadows, an open, outdoor lot amidst the expansive desert landscape.

For my sculpture Holocene Screen, I collaborated with youth from the Borrego Boys & Girls Club as well as members of the public during a workshop at the Borrego Art Institute to create a sculpture using wood, plexiglass and non-recyclable plastic waste that considered the simultaneity of nature, human and artificial as a landscape within a landscape.

As part of the Holocene Screen workshop process, the students had to brainstorm words that fell into three categories: nature, human and artificial. Then they were asked to write a short story, poem or single sentence using one word from each category which they painted onto a plexiglass window in the sculpture. It was interesting to learn how easy it was for them to identify elements from nature and human, yet struggle with artificial.

We had discussions about what artificial is and what items from their everyday lives fall under that definition. Their next step was to visualize and compose a singular picture or narrative that threaded all three. I think that was a good example of how easily we can grasp, and even romanticize and/or idealize the relationship between nature and human, and the difficulty or resistance to imagining the artificial in our aesthetic compositions or picture of reality.

My intention, for both workshop participants and myself, was to place these three elements in one view, one image in order to de-emphasize the space between natural and unnatural. What does that look like and where does that lead us to.

What do you enjoy about collaborations? What would be your dream collaboration? The best aspect of collaboration is giving up control and the sharing of ideas and labor. Working in the studio is so solitary that it can be a great relief to open up to working with someone else or others.

Earlier this year you also showed works and visited with the Paramo Galeria in Guadalajara! Tell us a bit about the overall experience and exhibition. I had paintings included in New Suns, a group exhibition curated by Kris Kuramitsu at Paramó, it was the first time I’ve been to Guadalajara. It was thrilling to be showing with such a strong group of artists, Sherin Guirguis, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, Nasim Hantehzadeh and Gabriella Sánchez among them. I went for the opening back in December and also spoke on a panel with Sherin, Kenyatta and Kris at the Guadalajara International Book Fair, which I learned is the largest book fair of the Americas and the second largest in the world.

Another first was speaking to an audience while being translated sentence by sentence. We had a really furtive conversation though regarding the themes that our practices share.

Something else that was new for me, was having an experience that someone might call…spirit related. Ghost or undead related? I told you about it later and you also had a ghostly experience the same weekend but in Big Bear?

All I will say is that it was a disturbance by very young thing that was too visceral to be a dream.

You’ve worked in various mediums from murals to sculpture to painting to video / animation. Is there a medium you’ve yet to try that you want to get into? I like an answer that Gertrude Stein gave during an interview from 1935. It regards the forms that writing takes, i.e. the novel, the autobiography etc, so I’m taking it out of context a bit, but the interviewer asks her “What has passion got to do with choosing an art form?” She answers “Everything. There is nothing else that determines form.” So I think I’ve let form, or choice of medium come from the initial impulses of the work I end up making. Maybe there is a VR piece or mural in bronze in my future….

What’s the most challenging aspect of what you do? How do you overcome these obstacles? What keeps you going? Financial sustainability. Keeping the studio open while also preserving time to work in it. I live off a financial collage composed of hustling - teaching, selling work, artist lectures, panel discussions, grants, commissions - but the stress of keeping it together has taken years off my life!

Share with us some artists you’re really excited about as of late. York Chang,The Signal and The Noiseat Vincent Price Art Museum, April-July 2019. What I like about York Chang’s works in this show is that he uses information, text, images and sound to magnify the chaotic and disorienting feeling that comes with checking your phone, radio or tv for news or information. Facts and truths are just atoms floating around in a giant cosmos of distorted narratives, info, and transmissions, you cannot locate the signal or its source amidst the noise. The show’s installation makes you feel swallowed up in this, it’s enveloping yetliberating to be lost in, setting you up to enjoy the weird connections that York makes.

Carolina Caycedo’s Apariciones / Apparitions, a video exhibited at the Huntington Library last summer (you can see it on view at the Vincent Price Art Museum this summer, June 15 - December 21, 2019.) This video is gorgeous and powerful. Female, black, brown and queer dancers twirl, flounce, throb and glide throughout the colonial-style and asian gardens and libraries of the Huntington. Sometimes they are totally fluid bodies in motion and at others times quite still and making spellbinding eye-contact with the viewer. You are watching a conjuring of the bodies and spirits of those whose representations and histories are missing throughout the art, books and histories archived in the Huntington’s collections.

Christina Quarles But I Woke Jus’ Tha Same at Regen Projects, April-May 2019. I suggest people see her paintings in person, they are really engaging. They are figurative, figures coupling, moving into and through each other, embracing beyond recognition by the brain and into recognition by the flesh. Materially they are gymnastic, virtuosic but not stuffy and make me want to paint. York Chang, The Signal and The Noise at Vincent Price Art Museum, April-July 2019. What I like about York Chang’s works in this show is that he uses information, text, images and sound to magnify the chaotic and disorienting feeling that comes with checking your phone, radio or tv for news or information. Facts and truths are just atoms floating around in a giant cosmos of distorted narratives, info, and transmissions, you cannot locate the signal or its source amidst the noise.

Dynasty Handbag (Jibz Cameron) is a performance, video artist who lives in LA right now. She’s the sharpest, funniest, slipperiest, grotesque-adjacent comic performer in the universe. When you see her live, she reads the room, the crowd and herself so spontaneously that you’re always on a mood-swinging rollercoaster. She’s so distortedly vulnerable, proud and charming that you’re not only laugh-crying with and at her, but you’re mostly dying over how culture makes us schizo and insane. She hosts a monthly queer performance night called Weirdo Night here at Zebulon.

What are your favorite Vans? SK8-His that are all solid black w/ black soles.

What do you have coming up that you can share with us? I’ve got a show opening in November 2019 at Visitor Welcome Center in Koreatown, LA and a large-scale tile mosaic commission at the new 2nd/Hope St Metro station in downtown LA, opening in 2022!!

FOLLOW PEARL | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM

#Art #Vans #Vans Art #Vans Girls #Sketchy Behaviors #Pearl Hsiung #painting #installation #recycling #borengo springs #interview

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journal4life · 5 years

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Choose Your Journal

Entering into the world of stationary via point blank can be at times overwhelming, especially with the existing stigma keeping a journal or diary carries. There are those who find that brand of journal that works for them, who then swear that success is possible only if you use [INSERT BRAND HERE] because all those other brands aren’t “worthy”. Historical note: Anne Frank’s famously kept diary of her years in the Secret Annex was actually originally produced as an Autograph book. Charlotte Bronte and her siblings would create pocket journals using nothing more than leaves to write their stories. The overall “journal” is a concept, and a person can write what they want on anything at any time and make it theirs.

That being said, whenever I am learning about a person and hear that they could be interested in trying to keep a record I play what I call “The journal game”. Here are the main questions I ask a person:

1. What is your favorite color?

2. Hardcover or softcover?

3. Spiral or bookbound?

4. Lined or unlined [dot or graphed if neither]

5. What size would work best?

6. What is your price range?

From there a hazy image may appear in terms of which direction to go in or to search for when on the hunt. Keep in mind that this is never for “the” perfect journal, but “your” perfect journal. There are of course optional notes if you want to get more technical: as in whether or not page count matters, paper weight, or even paper color. For example, one of my family members prefers bright white paper to the traditional ivory that dominates the market in order to show off her many colored inks. There are few brands that offer those specifications, which aren’t sketchbooks, so that would narrow the search.

In my opinion the worst thing a person can do is go out and buy the most elegant journal they find to feed the social media expectation of what writing is all about. Sure it’s going to look fantastic with that succulent and raindrops on the window sill, but personally the journal I struggled with the most was the grandest of them all—and I figuratively choked every time I went to write in it because by comparison I felt that my words tarnished its beauty and poise. Half of that one hundred and ninety-two page display piece consists of me simply apologizing for sullying its identity with my own nonsense.

That being said, one tip I can’t emphasize enough: YOU DO NOT EVER HAVE TO APOLOGIZE TO, OR IN, YOUR JOURNAL. As a whole we all say sorry for the most inane things, but for as much as I will always repeat that mantra, I still find myself explaining why I “haven’t been able to write recently”. It’s a tic I and many others I know are trying to break.

I always promote going out and finding not so much your journal, but journals in general to get a literal feel for what you may be able to stand using for any length of time. After all, if that neon green dollar store notebook bothers you now, no matter how much money you save now it will bug you later! –Unless of course you give it a new cover entirely, however that’s another beast.

Places I found to be the best sites for journals are bookstores (obviously), Target, Walmart, Rite Aid, Walgreens, TJ Maxx, Marshalls, or if you’re in the Midwest, Meijer. Craft stores are also an outlet to pursue, but those can be touch and go with their quality.

Without a doubt the first thing that catches the eye is the cover. However once that journal or notebook is in hand the next thing that can make or break it is the binding. Nothing is more crushing than putting trust and hard work into a volume that falls apart after the first few pages or worse—halfway through. Many lower marked publishers use nothing more than a thick glue to hold their pages together, but with one decent tug or even an off center sheet can leave a whole book to the equivalent of a scratch pad. Ironically I find that most scratch pads are far more consistent in their product.

The best binding to look for looks a little something like this:

This is what is known as a “sewn binding” and is less susceptible to losing pages. The best journals use both sewing and a poxy finish, which gives any journal that sweet new book feeling when you open it for the first time. There are independents that have become quite artistic in their bindery art with exposed threading, so keep an eye out for those too.

Half the fun, as well as the addiction, of journals and diaries is the hunt. I myself am constantly crafting and designing, and therefore searching for that perfect combination to bring a concept to life. Often I walk through the aisles simply to catalogue what’s new for future projects. For the record it does nothing to actually help me fill any of my current projects faster.

Finally not all journal and diary publishers sell or offer their products online. An example is the Tricoastal Design Company which I find more in store than via the online vendor. But that being said, most stores stock the traditional lined and unlined options. While the Bullet Journal movement , which primarily utilizes the dot page format, is increasing, for more of a variety of different paper types the internet may be the best avenue to explore.

In a journaling “How To” book titled Writing Down Your Soul by Jane(x) there is a whole section dedicated simply to the spiritual kismet moment of how the journal picks the owner versus the owner to journal . Therefore maybe in your searches the most surprising and random moment is where you could find the “one” that was meant for you and you alone, where otherwise you’d have never known it existed in the first place.

~journal4life

#mine #journal4life #journal #notebook #art #diary #writing #choose your journal #article

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homosociallyyours · 5 years

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2018 Fic Year in Review

I know I’m ridiculously late with this, but here we go. I was tagged (weeks ago! yike!) by @horsegirlharry -- thank you, dear!! I appreciate it <3

1. Number of stories (including drabbles) posted to AO3: 34! 11 of those are from the seasonal drabble fests, and 8 are short little ficlets under 1k, but that’s A LOT more than I’ve ever posted in a year before.

2. Word count posted for the year: 118,598. I know this is nothing for a lot of folks, but this is easily double what I’ve written in the entire time I’ve had an AO3 account up til now. I have always said that it’s important to keep writing if you feel like it even if you only have a few readers, but this is change in stats is all down to people liking, commenting on, and sharing my works. It really makes a difference to have other writers rec your work and be excited about what you’re writing, so...support your fellow content creators, people!

3. List of works published this year (in order of posting) I’m not gonna link drabbles, but they’re easy enough to find if you wanna! -Are You Gonna Be My Girl -In 36 Questions or Less -This Opening Monologue Studies Rainbows -4am -One of Those Days When You’ve Got Nothing On -I’ll Say It Everyday -Talk That Talk -I Love It When We Play 1950 -Mudpies -Just Swipe Right -Ready to Run Away -The World It Turns, No Matter What -These Days I Don’t Even Know Myself -Half of the Story -Just to See That Smile -In the Cards -Can’t Beat the Heat/Taste on Your Tongue/Cool Cool Cool -I Believe it This Time -Our Own Little French Club -I’m Half a Heart Without You, Baby -You Shine Like the Real Thing -On the Road Again With You -A Love So True You Don’t Have to Be Afraid -Our House (It’s A Very Fine House) -Are You Thorny, Baby? -When Everything is Perfect -Our Friends Keep Talkin’ About Us -The Christmas Lift -The Cold/Comfort/Christmas Cuddles -You Bring Us Together (Can’t Tear Us Apart)

4. Fandoms I wrote for: All the fic I published on AO3 was for One Direction, though I did publish a few ficlets for Sherlock (this is my favorite of those, a little parentlock featuring genderqueer Ro Watson)

5. Pairings: Harry/Louis, Liam/Zayn, Sherlock/John

6. Story with the most hits: Talk That Talk with 3531 hits

7. Story with the most kudos: The Christmas Lift with 264

8. Story with the most comments: The Christmas Lift with 22 comment threads

9. Work I’m most proud of (and why): Probably “You Bring Us Together (Can’t Tear Us Apart)” because it was ot5 and I really struggled with working out some of the plot points near the end.

10. Work I’m least proud of (and why): None. Writing isn’t easy and I do the best that I can with everything I write :)

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing: UGHHH THIS WAS TOO HARD. So eventually I gave up and picked this little bit from “Our Own Little French Club” because I love Harry’s sweet gay fantasy moment. “Maybe next semester. I requested it, anyway,” Louis said, clicking to the red ink of Harry’s four color pen and doodling in the margins of the notebook in front of her. With anyone else, Harry would’ve requested they move to a new page. But Louis? She could leave her mark wherever she liked.That thought spurred on a fantasy of Louis drawing a line up from Harry’s bare knee and under the soft fabric of her skirt, the pen skidding over her skin until Louis held it taut with her free hand. A free hand that could slide up, too. Up and--“Hazza.” Louis’ voice interrupted Harry’s reverie and she closed her eyes to clear the images from her head. “Did you hear what I asked?”

12. Share or describe a favorite review you received: The reviews on “You Shine Like the Real Thing” are my absolute favorite because a lot of people have said that they’ve struggled with what Harry struggles with in the fic--figuring out their identity and expression as they come out as LGBTQ+ As someone who struggled to find the femme identity that feels like my home, I’m glad to be able to share some of that through fiction.

13. A time when writing was really, really hard: Always, honestly! I’m struggling with fatigue and chronic illness, and some days I just don’t have the ability or energy to focus and get words out coherently.

14. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: Writing as Louis in my 5 days of Louis series (incomplete, but the final fic is actually pretty much finished and just needs a little polish) was surprising for me, because I think it was one of the first times I wrote from Louis’ POV and I found it so comfortable.

15. How did you grow as a writer this year: I wrote longer fics than I ever had before--that’s probably the main thing. I also signed up for the big bang and am working on a fic that will end up being twice as long as the longest thing I’ve written so far, so that’s pretty big for me too!

16. How do you hope to grow next year: I’d like to maybe set word goals for myself to meet every month and do my best to publish fic more regularly (in addition to doing challenges)

17. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc): My beta, @statementlou, has been my number one cheerleader and inspiration, always giving me prompts when I need them and encouraging me to keep writing when I felt like walking away from something. @harryincamp has also been there for me and always supports my fics in the best ways. I’m glad we met on here! Also, the community of writers in the 1d fandom has been such a positive influence!! I’m gonna tag a ton of people, though I’ll probably leave some people out. Basically I felt welcomed and included by so many people right from the start of joining this fandom. So. Massive thanks to: @lululawrence, @horsegirlharry, @gaycousinlarry, @fullonlarrie, @suddenclarityharry, @disgruntledkittenface, @crinkle-eyed-boo, @rosegoldhlfics, @allwaswell16, @a-brighter-yellow, and @helloamhere I KNOW I AM FORGETTING PEOPLE. FUCK!!!

18. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: Yeah, basically writing girl direction has allowed me to bring a lot of my life to my writing. Lesbian not-dates? Femme identity issues? Definitely my life. Also my last fic of the year, the ot5 reunion fic, was set in the Bay Area, which let me use some of my experiences living here. I’ll probably do that more this year, tbh!

19. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: If you like something another writer has done, comment and subscribe to their work and don’t be afraid to message them. Most people want to talk about their work, and having people to message with when you’re struggling to feel inspired is immensely helpful.

20. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: MY BIG BANG FIC OMG!!! It’s a girl direction AU set in a lesbian bookstore in 1970s NYC, and I’m loving writing it so far. After that’s done, I’m thinking of tackling the Sherlock/1D crossover fic that I’ve been scheming over for a year now. It’s time!! Beyond that...I’ve no idea!

21. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read. OK, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this thing from a lot of people in the 1d fandom, so I’m just going to tag some writers in other fandoms and folks I don’t *think* have done it. If you haven’t done it yet and want to, please do!! Tag me in so I see your answers :)

@aprillikesthings @velvetnoodle @zooeyscigar @perpetuallyvex @ennisgarlaend @pendragoff

This was a lot of fun! Thank you for giving me the chance to look back over the year <3 I hope some other folks will do the same!!

#about me #my writing #1d #long post #text post #year in review #i am so proud of how much i've written #and how much i like what i've written

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idolizenews · 6 years

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SCHEDULE 09/29.

Each schedule post provides a snapshot into the way the company is marketing your group as a whole, the expectations they have for your involvement in the industry, and so forth. They’ll range from fun things like CF deals to run of the mill events like fan parties, concerts, or rest time. We’ll be varying things across the board and using this as a way to tease upcoming plot lines for groups. Schedules illuminate the often difficult realities of being an idol, and because of that we award +5 exp / + 5 sp to those who complete a 350+ 4/4 thread or a 500 word solo. Solos must be completed during the three week run of the schedule, but threads may be finished after the end of the prompt provided they were started well in excess of the end point (e.g. finishing up a reply or two after is fine, but posting the starter right before the next prompt goes up is not). These needn’t be taken extremely literally when threading and are open to tangential preparation threads and other flexibility.

OLYMPUS – Olympus is proving themselves to be the flagship of Midas groups once more as they embark on a new project. Midas has been teasing the concept of group-centric Company produced web-series for awhile now and are now launching their first: Olympus Next Door. Rumor has it: Fans have only just learned the show has started filming and they’re already rabid over it. It promises to be both cringeworthy and immensely successful amongst fans, proving that Midas will do anything to make a buck.

JINX - The ladies of Jinx will be gracing the cover and a large spread for Ceci this month, including an interview portion dedicated to their transitioning image, rollercoaster career, and explosive debut. It’s a rehashing of the usual fare, but sure to remind everyone how attractive they are ahead of their next comeback. Rumor has it: Midas is investing a lot into keeping the girls on board as their reimagined concept took off with their latest releases. The upcoming November comeback is likely to reflect further movement in that area hopefully finalizing a return their prior impressive popularity.

FANTASY – With an upcoming Nightmare comeback of course preparation is serious business. The girls will also be the new faces for Lens Nine, doing a circle lens colored contact modeling shoot and promotional material titled Lens Nine x Fantasy : Fantasia. Each girl will be modeling a particular color with a whimsical name to suit. Rumor has it: The upcoming Nightmare comeback bodes well for the unit concept and promises it will be sticking around at least for awhile, leaving fans curious about how Daydream will promote now that they’re lacking a member. Rumors are beginning to buzz that an additional member may be added.

PROMO/PROLOGUE & GLIMMER & XLNC & TITANIUM & NITRO Every year Gangnam hosts a culture festival in one of it’s more residential areas, with a modest number of stages provided for up and coming groups. Given the more modest scope of the affair, the attending groups are generally newer or less established, and have been listed above in order of billing, with the yet-undebuted Produce groups opening and Nitro as the featured act/headliner. Produce groups will be performing their unit stages from the final episode set alongside the Pick Me! song. Glimmer will perform their debut song and a cover of Heaven’s I Swear . XLNC will perform their 2 most recent title tracks. Titanium will perform their debut song and a cover of Olympus’ Growl. Nitro will perform their last three title songs, with a dance break remix transition. Rumor has it: Of course this is an excellent opportunity for rookies to get their name out there, and Gen-N fans are feeling bittersweet about the whole thing, as this is likely to be the last of these mid-range festivals that Nitro plays at, with the group gradually outgrowing the opportunity. It’s always a hotbed for intermingling rookies backstage, too, so managers ought to be keeping a careful eye out.

IMPERIAL –The boys are preparing for heading out on an Asia tour for the next month or two, bounding off the positive reception for their fan meeting. They’ll be working on choreography and staging prep as well as pitching concepts for special stages to the company. Rumor has it: They’re solidifying their hold in the overseas (notably in the SEA market) to prepare for an upcoming comeback in the second half of the year. This concert capitalizes on their existing momentum and will have them in and out of the country - and as a result in plenty of airport fashion and concert gif media play articles.

WINK – The girls will be performing the ceremonial first pitch and doing a brief performance before a number of baseball games as the season kicks off, once for the LG Twins and once for the Doosan Bears. The appearance of the girls in cute, baseball inspired attire is sure to draw attention and positive reception. Rumor has it: Behind the scenes, the girls are being put through their paces to prepare for an upcoming image shift, with coaching for interviews and increased dance practices required of them for the time being. Rumors of a more sultry vibe for the comeback are all but confirmed if one glances at the concept directors hired on recently at the company. HEAVEN – With an uncharacteristic push forward for the girls of late, they’ll be taking it a little bit easier this week, with a simple fan meeting mini-concert (expected to run an hour and a half) featuring a hi-touch event for those who qualify, maximum 100 participants. Rumor has it: This is an attempt by 99 Entertainment to demonstrate the grounded and kind nature of the girls, reaching out to fans in an intimate venue and on a personal level, likely to continue in juxtaposition of the shaky reputations of some of their other group efforts.

POIZN – Mexicana Chicken has taken on the boys as their new brand endorsers. They’ll be filming a commercial and doing a photoshoot to provide material for their various promotional items, such as boxes, flyers, posters, menu pictures, and so on. Rumor has it: While not the most glamorous of things, landing a chicken endorsement is a major step, and one that further cements the idea that POIZN is hanging on fairly well despite past scandals, which is a good indicator for their future.

HONEY – With the girls in a bit of downtime between comebacks, MSG has decided to capitalize on the time in their schedule to launch Honey TV, a one-a-week Vlive series to connect the girl’s with their audience. Material will cover photoshoots, snippets of dorm life, comeback and album prep, and so on. The first episode set will follow the girls on a fun trip to Everland together, as they go on a safari ride, buy matching headbands, ride rides, and more. Rumor has it: The MSG board saw the success of KJH in reaching out to fans via Vlive and has decided to follow suit, jumping onto the trend, while also allowing a bit of an easier time for themselves and the idols by filming schedules they’re already embarking on for the company: photoshoots, filming, etc, rather than following the KJH practice of separating out, allowing MSG to pump out a stream of shorter episodes consistently without having to find time to film a full “variety show” to air for 45 minutes weekly.

CHERRY BOMB! – Gourmet Road is hosting the girls for an upcoming episode. They’ll be prowling around a night market and having a blast trying food, interacting with passerby, and talking together. They’ll be showing off their close relationship and their mukbang talents. Rumor has it: Increased attentions payed to their newer groups indicates that MSG is ramping up efforts to get them established as the company moves forward, putting a lot of pressure on upcoming comebacks.

ATLAS – The boys of Atlas have been cast in the show Birth of A Family, a variety that involves a group of idols (in this case) raising two puppies in order to bring further attention to the serious situation of animal abandonment in the country of South Korea. They’ll be taking on the dogs for a period of roughly a month and a half, and filming will happen semi-regularly. Rumor has it: This is the boy’s first variety show aired on television, with KJH preferring in the past to keep their variety work in house, on V-live and self produced. It’s a big step in potential visibility and risk for the boys, since editing will be out of the company’s control.

JAWBREAKER – The girls are deep into the preparatory period for their upcoming comeback. KJH has the girls tight under lock and key right now to be sure nothing is given away, which means promotions outside the company have been limited for the moment, and the girls have gone quiet on social media. KJH has big plans for the upcoming song, hoping to cement the girl’s image as Jawbreaker with this sophomore effort. Rumor has it: Planning for the KJH family concert is well underway at this point, with Jawbreaker’s former discography now regained. The company is gauging reactions to individual members with this comeback to begin pushing the girls further.

GALAXY – The boys are heading out on to Happy Together 3, taking part in the classic talk variety that canvasses various fictional settings, participating in various corners, such as being asked to take part in a don’t laugh challenge or to bring a cherished object to explain. Hopefully this will bring some further attention and affection to the boyish, charming group. Rumor has it: Increased attentions payed to their newer groups indicates that MSG is ramping up efforts to get them established as the company moves forward, putting a lot of pressure on upcoming comebacks.

#id.schedule

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matrices · 7 years

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Fursuit Bandanna Tutorial

On my Patreon, I helped a supporter in my tutoring chat who asked about how to make a fursuit bandanna! I decided I'd draw up illustrations to help, and I thought they would make a great tutorial, too!

Here is how I construct fursuit bandannas using a sewing machine! This is an especially great way to practice using a sewing machine if you are new at it. While the dimensions talked about will fit a fursuit, you can definitely make them smaller to fit your favorite pet or for use as a fashion accessory!

Materials:

Cotton Print or fabric you would like to use (dimensions discussed in tutorial)

Matching or accent thread

Iron

Scissors

Sewing machine

Optional

Fastener (such as press-on snaps, a button, velcro, sew-on snaps, etc)

A trip to the fabric store!

Decide how big you wish your fursuit bandanna to be, often I make my bandannas the full width of the fabric as it is manufactured, for the biggest and cutely oversize bandanna I can make. Cotton prints are often 36" wide (which also happens to be 1 yard) sometimes they are wider at 44 inches or more. In my example illustrations, I used the 36" measurement. You can ask for 1 yard cut length to match its width of 36," or 44" long cut length to match a 44" fabric width, and so on. You want enough fabric to start with a square. If you are making a bandanna for a person or a pet, you can make it smaller dimensions.

Taking a trip to the fabric store is fun! If you haven't noticed before the top of the cardboard that each fabric is on will often have its fabric content and washing instructions on it. Also will often show the width of the fabric itself, which is useful to know. You can also find this information online if you are ordering from an online fabric website.

When you pick out your fabric, if you are using this technique that I am sharing, keep in mind that any designs sewn will be on the bias appearing diagonal. If you wish to match the direction of your bandanna with the direction of a specific print, you will need to purchase more fabric and there will be a little more wasted fabric as a result (since you will essentially need to cut a triangle out of the middle).

Prewash your fabric

Prewashing fabric is important, as cotton can shrink by around 2%-5%. Prewashed fabric helps your sewn seams stay crisp and accurate after washing and reduces the occurrence of puckered or imperfect-looking seams after the 1st wash. It also reduces the chances of colors bleeding out onto other things when worn.

I have gotten in the habit to prewash everything I purchase once I get home, before putting it away, so I know that it is ready to use once it comes to sewing time. I separate it out by color and do a quick machine wash & dry. One wash is enough to pre-shrink your fabric.

I also prewash lycra and some other fabrics, which do not shrink, but can bleed out their dye. I do not prewash minky, fur, or fleece. Those kinds of fabrics do not seem to suffer from bleeding or shrinking thankfully! Here is more information on washing fabric before sewing.

Sometimes the loose cut ends let out strings when washed and the fabrics can get twisted up in loose fibers as they wash or dry. This is totally normal. If you wish to, you can iron them flat again before using them on your project for more accurate cuts.

Getting Started

Lay out your fabric flat, iron it if needed. If you do not have a square piece of, that's perfectly OK. Take note of your selvedge, it is the manufactured edge of fabric. It's often stretchy, or has a printed copyright, or otherwise an unuseful area you don't want showing. Make sure it only ends up inside of the seam while sewing and is not visible on the finished project.

Fold your fabric diagonally, so at least one edge is lined up and touching. Again, sometimes there will be variations in cut fabric from the store or other reasons it may not line up perfect on both edges, it's 100% normal if it happens.

You want the "wrong" side of your fabric showing. It's often lighter colored, or the backing texture. With the full color print/design inside of the fold.

Sewing it together

Using your sewing machine with a straight stitch, back stitch the beginning and end. Start on one side and leave your needle down as you reach each corner and turn your fabric to line things back up. Leave an opening, you'll turn it right sides out here. Leave the opening about the width of your hand so you can easily turn it.

Clip, Trim, and Turn

Before turning the project right sides out, clip the corners. Clipping the corners helps reduce the amount of bulky fabric that collects at the points and you can get a flat point at the corners of your bandanna. Also trim off any excess selvedge or other excess fabric off of the project at this time as well.

Now it is time to turn your project right sides out! Carefully work your fabric through the opening you left. If it helps you can use a tool like eraser-end of a pencil or a paintbrush end can help you get your corners turned all the way out.

Topstitch

Iron everything flat so it has crisp edges. Then using your sewing machine and an accent color of thread, create a decorative topstitch. It can be a straight stitch or even a fancier type of decorative stitch if your machine is capable of those! This topstitch will close up your opening in which you have turned it, and it will give it the finishing look. Sew consistently the same distance from the edge on all 3 edges.

With that, your bandanna will be finished! If you choose you can optionally add press-on snaps (those are my favorite), sew-on snaps, sew-on velcro, a button and a buttonhole, or simply just tie it on!

I hope everyone enjoys this simple tutorial! Thank you for your support, and if you haven’t already, check out my Patreon! Its a great way for you to show your support and get early access! https://www.patreon.com/Matrices

#fursuit #bandanna #bandana #tutorial #sewing tutorial #sewing tips #sewing machine #fursuit tutorial #how-to #matrices.net

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reddogf13 · 4 years

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Horrors below ch 4

Pennywise x Beverly

summery: after Beverly's return, pennywise works to gain her trust as "Robert Grey" while also avoiding the cold rains of April. when unintentionally Beverly convinces him to question his very existence. what has lead him to become the monster so many children fear was below their beds? what will he do when he no longer wants to be that monster? can a monster truly become a human?

status: complete

rated: M - fowl language and gore

previous chap: Horrors below ch:3

next chap: Horrors below ch:5

_____________________________________

~ch:4 The fear~

“someone burned my tent. I don't know who.” she sniffled through some tears.

The inner rage burning inside him had him knowing that he would hunt the arsonists down. Not in the current moment however as he first had to make sure Beverly was alright. “stay here, I'll go get a med kit.” getting up to leave the kitchen. Making sure he was out of sight before conjuring up some supplies. An ointment that would heal far faster than any existing one. Along with gentle bandages made from his own special threading.

Coming back to carefully look over her. Cleaning and treating her wounds before wrapping them up. During the whole time he could see how exhausted she was. Having trouble sitting up for the treatment. All that stress, fear, and running for help really got to her in the short amount of time. Her only home now gone along with all her supplies if the fire reached them.

“Bev, want to go upstairs and rest?” he asked.

“i-i shouldn't miss school.” She fought the idea.

“you shouldn't go to school like this. Take today off. Take some time to heal and collect your thoughts on what to do.”

she looked away from him for a moment, then back to give him a nod. Grey stood up to help her stand on her shaky legs. Helping her upstairs to his bedroom and tucked carefully under the covers. As soon as she was settled down she knocked right out for a deep sleep. With her safe and sound he went off to investigate her campsite. Growling and grinding his teeth together at the lingering scent of her burnt flesh trailing the whole way there. Usually he would love the scent, but here it sickened him.

The area burnt black with her tent no more aside from the twisted metal poles. Her bags were a pile of steaming ash the rain cooled. The fire managed to spread enough that it scorched the surrounding trees until the rain came. “someone must have waited for a dry enough opportunity.” thinking with a sniff of the air. Walking around he heard a crunching noise. Looking down he saw bits of broken bottle shards. Beverly didn't drink and the burnt bottle openings told him they were Molotov.

This wasn't them just lighting a match and tossing it. They were outright trying to kill her with the fiery bottles smashing into her tent. Searching for any other scents aside from burnt alcohol. Managing to catch hint of one little trail that managed to survive the falling rain.

Following the scent along various trees down to the river. Fearing the trail would be lost if they walked around the shore. Now flooded over by the new rain building the river by a few feet. Finding luck on his side that they stayed along the high ground, whoever they were. More scents intertwining with the one. There were a few of them running together. Reaching an old bridge when the scent trails went up and over it.

Upon reaching the top he heard voices laughing together. A group of college kids messing around under a tree covered dry spot. Drinking along as if it were a celebratory party they were having. It didn't take them long to notice Grey standing on the bridge.

“hey look! It's the witches dog!” one of them pointed to him with a shout.

He let out a snarl of bared sharp teeth. He was no one's dog. “how dare they! I act human for a day and they all suddenly forget who runs this town? I'll show them!” It was only a brief moment before those arsonists knew what happened.

Their friend pounced on by a large black beast with large jaws of rowed teeth. Shredding into him alive piece by piece to give a slow agonizing death. The others tried to help by throwing full beer bottles or hitting him with branches, but it did nothing. One by one their turns came to be devoured by the furious beast. It was the first time in a while he got a satisfying meal during the rainy month. Licking the blood clean from his claws to savor the sweet fear filled taste. Checking himself over for any noticeable remains before heading back home.

Picking up an order of chicken soup on the way since he never finished Beverly's breakfast he planned earlier. Returning home he was happy to see she was still sleeping. Leaving her be to let the burn ointment really set in to help the wounds heal up.

Maybe this would turn out to be in both their favor. Her tent was gone and that meant no where to stay, but here with him. When she woke he would have a talk with her on whether she wanted to move in. He hoped she would say yes, but if not he'd help her find an apartment. Someplace nice and safe for her that she no longer had to worry about being harmed on the streets.

He kept downstairs to leave Beverly the upstairs. Thinking of what his next move would be. What to say that could convince her to stay with him. Should he get another gift for her? With all her things destroyed she would need a whole new wardrobe. Thankfully her sowing equipment was all in the back room he gave to her. The projects she worked so hard on and all those expensive fabrics were spared. That fire could have unintentionally ended her whole school year if they weren't.

“how dare they.” he snarled in thought at those arsonists. The world is surely better off without them. He wasn't sure how long had passed since Beverly went to bed. The sky's darkening so much from the rain it felt like a permanent twilight. A creek sounding from the stairs grabbing his attention. Turning to look he saw Beverly coming down wrapped in a blanket. Still seeming so exhausted after her short nap.

“you should go back to bed.” he spoke with concern. Standing from the couch to bring her back to bed.

“can I sit with you?” her body giving off the scent of fear souring at his nose. She didn't want to be alone. She wanted to be by him. The thought caught him off guard. She was injured and wanted to be around him?

“sure darling.” taking her hand with an arm wrapping around to hug her close. Walking back to the couch to settle them both down. Carefully rubbing her arm to comfort her as she leaned into him, eyes closed in partial rest. When the fear fell away from her he started to enjoy her close contact. The warmth of her body passing between the blankets that helped trapped it for the both of them.

Nothing wanted to be close to him while injured. This was something new that felt really nice. She trusted him enough to stay against him when most vulnerable. He would make sure she was comfortable as much as he could.

The only sounds around coming from the rain hitting the windows. After letting her rest a while longer he decided it best to wake her now. They still had to sort where she wanted to stay or if she wanted to replace her clothes before school tomorrow. “Bev?” rubbing her arm to wake her.

“hmm?” she tiredly hummed against his chest.

“would you like to stay here? Or would you like an apartment? I know you said moving in would be too fast for you.” speaking softly to her. She sat up and looked at him. Eyes watering up that she needed a moment to wipe them clear.

“I'd like to stay, if that's okay.” she smiled.

He smiled back with a nod. “i went out and got you some food. … I thought we should go do a little clothes shipping as well, since ...” his voice going quiet.

She wiped some more tears. “yeah, I'd really like that.” nodding as she smiled. “I don't want to wear only these.” stretching out her clothes coated in dark ash between large burnt holes.

He smiled. “lets have you eat, then we can go before the clothing stores close for the day.” leading her to the kitchen. Holding her warm hand the entire way.

“you're amazing Grey.” smiling as he pulled out her seat for her.

“I know.” he chuckled in loving the compliment. Sitting next to her as she ate then happily taking her hand she offered first this time. Holding it on the table as she finished her meal. He loved doing that, not just for warmth anymore either. He loved touching her soft delicate skin. Knowing she was so close to him all the time. Simply because she wanted to and not due to trying to impress him out of being eaten.

With her plate finished he checked on her wounds before they headed out. Unwrapping them to see the aggressive dark burn marks turned a mostly reddish pink.

Surprising Bev by the extremely fast healing. “Wow, that burn cream does wonders!”

Grey chuckled as he nodded. Grabbing more of it to apply along with fresh bandages despite putting the last set on only a few hours ago.

Walking hand in hand down to the town center. Beverly being closer than usual as the light scent of fear floated off her. To comfort her he hugged her inside his jacket. Letting her get some separation from the outside world she assumed still had her attackers living in. walking into a mostly empty clothes shop he promoted her to get what she wanted, even the more expensive things she greatly shied away from. Keeping to a simple handful of clothes that she said would last her fine for a while.

Next was replacing her lost school supplies. Pencils, pens, notebooks, a backpack, and a few sketch books and color pencils for dress designing. Feeling set she was happily smiling again with her confidence regained about attending school the next day. Changing into a fresh non destroyed outfit in the changing rooms. Coming out to spread her arms out in showing off her fresh outfit.

“how's it look?” asking Grey.

He smiled while gazing over her happy expression. Paying more attention to her then the new outfit. “beautiful.” he answered. Striking a blush onto her face at noticing he may not have meant the outfit. Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and taking up his hand to leave. Tossing her burnt clothes into a dumpster outside. Not immediately wanting to go home yet he paused them under a dry store awning. “want another movie pizza date?”

“yeah, that'd be nice.” joyfully leading them to the movie store. Picking up various movies then going down along the small candy aisle. Grey latched onto a couple small buckets of cotton candy when he spotted them. Used to seeing the fluffy treats available only at the fairs. Grabbing some rock candy for the both of them as Beverly grabbed her favorite chocolate bars with almonds mixed in.

heading home to enjoy their bag of goodies as Grey “cooked” a pizza like last time. Carefully having Beverly avoid the kitchen to see the oven strangely not on despite the warmth indoors building and the smell of pizza getting stronger. Preparing a fresh pizza meal sided by twisted cheesy garlic bread sticks. Sitting together as they watched the movies for the rest of the day.

Full on pizza and the small pile of movies all watched it was approaching bed time. Grey remained on the couch as Beverly got up to stretch. “today was really nice, despite this morning.”

“mm, yes. Sure you're ready for school tomorrow?” asking to be sure she was alright.

“I'll be fine now.” surprising him next by what she said. “coming to bed with me?”

“what? With you? In the same bed?”

“yeah, … i- it helps me sleep. Having you near.” speaking nervously that she was now being the rushing one.

“uh, yes. If that's what you want.” getting up to walk with her upstairs. Brushing teeth together and getting changed into more sleep wear. Able to do so after sneaking into the bedroom while she changed in the bathroom. Meeting up in the bed where she nested down beside him. Hugging up against him to rest her head on his shoulder. Filling his chest with a warm feeling that he had to suppress his purring down again.

Pretending to sleep by her. Breathing in her sweet flowery scent after healing up today. He never wanted the moment to end. Deep inside he felt at peace for the first time in his eternal life. Zoning out he didn't realize the morning came. Opening his eyes to Beverly getting out of bed. Rubbing her tired eyes before looking at him.

“morning.” she smiled. “can I take a shower first? Or do you want one first?”

“you can go first, I'll make us breakfast.” getting out of bed as she did.

“thanks, love you.” she smiled and grabbed stuff from down stairs to go shower. Her affectionate words making his heart- … lights flutter.

In the kitchen he got started on cooking breakfast for her. Trying a second chance at the egg sandwich. Doing far better this time to fold cheese into a golden egg topped by spinach and a tomato he roasted on a pan together. Plating it with some bacon now that she'd most likely have time to eat at the table instead of in a tent or on the way to school. Making a cup of coffee alongside it in wait for her to come down. Smiling when she did come down in fresh clothes. Seeing her Light up at the presented meal he made for her.

“wow, that looks good.”

“It's for you. I'll go shower while you can enjoy it.”

“oh, did you eat already?” she asked, noticing a lack of dirty plates he may have used for himself.

“yes, I am full.” telling the truth after that large meal yesterday. Heading up to go “shower” by standing in the bathroom with the water running nearby. Not touching the water as he had no need to in order to get clear. Taking a moment's energy to clean himself of any dust collecting on him. Changing into new clothes he did manually. The only thing he hated so far about being human was taking random moments like these that separated him from her. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror that had him pause. Carefully checking over himself for anything out of the ordinary. He was spending a lot of energy that could catch up to him in his disguise. “so far so good.” he smiled and headed down.

The skies thundered outside as the rain began to fall as he touched the bottom floor. Greeting Beverly, who was finishing off her coffee. “ready to go?” she asked.

He nodded with a grab of the umbrella from beside the door. Walking out hand in hand for Beverly to be dropped off first as he usually did. so that he could disappear afterwards to wherever he wanted to go while Beverly was busy. The rains left later in the day to start up again when he met with Beverly after classes. Listening to her talk about her day all the while sounding more cheerful about everything. Holding his hand under the umbrella he held for them. Agreeing on their way to stop by the small sandwich coffee shop deli.

“I have to start another dress and this time we get to model it ourselves in the class.” she talked as they waited in line. “i was thinking about doing something in yellow, but the lighting of all this rain may not let it shine as well as it should.”

He decided to offer up a suggestion. “why not blue? It'll go with your hair and match your eyes.” growing a blush across her face.

“i haven't done much blue yet. I was planning that for winter, but it would look nice against the Grey weather we've been having.”

The talking paused for her to order coffee and a bagel sandwich. While Grey got a small container of salami he could just eat in slices.

“Need to go shopping for fabric?” he asked.

“I do, there's a certain store we have to go to. They take the money from my scholarships so I don't have to worry about figuring out how to afford the new material.” leading while they ate along the way.

At the small fabrics shop she grabbed a pile of fabrics to various threading. Boring Grey as he wandered around with her as she talked about the various fabrics. Nodding along to the stuff he had no idea of what she was talking about. Mostly taking the wandering time to judge the awful threading available. Nothing would last on the wimpy string they dared called “high quality”. But he kept from commenting on it as Beverly seemed to really love it. Listening to her talk about what she may do with the design on the way home.

When they were home they sat together on the couch. Watching shows together around the topic of fashion. Giving her inspiration as she designed in a sketchbook.

“you know, I've been talking all day about designs. I haven't asked how your classes went.” guilt slipping nervously into her voice.

“oh, nothing really. The same, nothing exciting.” he stumbled a little in answering. He still had no idea what engineering did, or what “branch” he was in. whatever that meant. It made him wonder “does it have something to do with trees?”

from that day on their time together melded perfectly. He spent breakfast and dinner with her separated by “their” classes and school work. She worked on her dress while he suffered in boredom upstairs to “study”. Sometimes leaving for the “library.” to poorly hunt for a real meal he needed to survive. Catching plain tasting meals, but they did the job.

A week later Beverly had a nice flowing blue dress ready. Paired up with sections of white and purple fading edges. She was so proud to show it off and model to him when it was ready. However in her excitement for tomorrow she forgot to set their alarm earlier than usual. Wanting to walk to school in regular clothes and change into the dress there.

Waking to the alarm going off at the normal time had her in a panic. Waking Grey by rushing out of the bed.

“shit I forgot to set the alarm!” she bolted from the room right down stairs.

Leaving him to rise and changed his outfit before heading down. Watching her run around in a panic without being sure of how to help her stress. “darling, can I help with anything?”

“uh, yes, I need some of my dress to be held up so it doesn't drag through the muddy puddles.” she rushed to smooth out her dress and make sure everything was perfect.

“want anything to eat before we go?”

“no, I don't want any crumbs to land on it. Any coffee stains would give me an auto fail I am sure of it. Can't afford the risk.” speaking quickly as she gathered up her backpack and her pile of sketch notes to put into a small portfolio. Rushing out of the small work room to finally leave they both heard the worst noise.

The loud shredding of fabric.

When passing through the doorway a loose thread looped onto the long lever door knob. Popping the threading to shred a whole dress seam down along the short train flowing behind. Beverly let out a shocked gasp of horror to turn around and undo the threading still stuck on the handle. Looking over the dress damage heartbroken that her hard work was suddenly undone by a stupid door knob.

Cursing at the rip while tears built up in her eyes. “fuck.”

“can you fix it?”

“no, this will take 15 minutes to fix back to looking nice.” sighing her frustration. “I'll just pin It together so it can hold long enough for the class. Hopefully I'll at least get a C for this.” grabbing a bunch of pins from her desk to carefully hold the tear together. Making it look as nice as she could although it still was noticeably damaged. “guess this is all I can do. We better leave or we'll be late.” carefully folding up the torn train for Grey to carry off the wet path to school.

There was a dip of pain in his chest for Beverly. Looking down at the tear he held carefully in his hands. She said it would take far too long to fix, but maybe not for him. As long as he was sneaky about it along the way. Already in a good position behind her out of sight and her seeming far too lost in her stress to notice him doing anything. Stretching his hand to spread a threading between his fingertips. Carefully tacking the threading to weave it along. Made easy by Beverlys carefully pinning he plucked out along the way.

Finishing without her noticing by the time they reached her class. “thanks Grey, you can drop the train now that I am inside.” thanking him at her class door way.

“good luck, see you later.” he spoke a little quickly to get away. Not wanting her to suddenly question how he fixed it on their walk if she noticed.

He tried hunting again for the day. Catching a thief trying to break into a car. Returning with a container of hot tomato soup and grilled cheese wrapped in white paper. Meeting up with Beverly who was strangely waiting for him outside already. Staring at him with a puzzled look of questioning.

“hey, brought you soup and a sandwich.” handing her the brown diner bag filled with food to go.

Receiving silence from her before she asked. “did you fix my dress?”

“yes.”

“on the way to school? In six minutes?”

“yes.” he mumbled.

“how? I didn't know you could sow.” amazed by the work done in such a short time.

“i always have, but many don't know about it. It … comes naturally.” he answered.

“why didn't you tell me?”

“uh, I don't like to use it much.” he awkwardly answered.

“ Your parents do not support it?”

“no, uh, I can do it, but I don't like to.” truthful, but hiding the deeper details. He could string up webs to catch food, but that wasn't fun. He loved the thrill of the chase that provided good flavor to boot.

“ah. Can you show me how you fixed it?”

“uh, no. I don't like people watching. Sorry.” he lied in keeping cover.

“It's fine.” she smiled. “Thanks for fixing the dress. I got my A because of you.” Digging into the bagged meal. “do you want some?” she offered.

He shook his head. “no, I already ate.”

“what threading did you use? It looks like some sort of silk.”

“yes, that.” he simply agreed, but wasn't sure what it was.

“where'd you get it? How expensive is it?”

“not very. I have a lot of it.”

“can I have some? It's really nice.”

“sure. … i-uh, need to find it first.” he lied.

Making it home Bev went to change into regular clothes from her dress. While he went to “look” for his supply of silk. Heading down to a little basement area to spin around a few empty spools he snagged from her work desk. Making a rounded little woven bulk on each. Heading back up to hand them to her as she ate her soup at the kitchen counter.

“found them. You can take all of it. … I may have more … somewhere.” secretly offering a supply to be available.

“wow, these look really nice! Thank you so much Grey.” kissing him in thanks. He lovingly kissed her back and hugged her. “sure you don't want some soup?” she offered again.

“It's fine, I actually can't eat it.”

“oh, sorry. How about I make dinner later then?” wanting to say thanks in some way.

“sounds good.”

They relaxed together until Beverly went to start on dinner. Grey wanted to help but he was quickly shooed away. Confusing him on why she didn't want the help from him. Was he a horrible cook? Maybe he should only conjure up food instead of actual cooking.

“am I bad at cooking?” he asked.

“huh? No, I wanted to make you something. Since you always make me something.” coming over to kiss his cheek.

“but why? I just do it, I don't expect anything.” accepting the small kiss.

she let out an amused chuckle. “and that's why.” heading back to start plating the meal. A juicy meat roast sided by fries and a loaded baked potato stuffed with cheese sour cream and some green bits he was afraid to eat.

After carefully taking a bite he managed better than he thought. It wasn't like most green or veggie things that dripped juice or you had to chew through more than meat. What really helped was the bacon bits and cheese that covered everything. Tasting a bit like the piled on nachos at the fairs. The steak did not last nearly as long as the sides did. Swallowed right down whenever Beverly so much as blinked. He had to be careful that she wouldn't catch onto his severe lack of chewing.

Thankfully Beverly never did, being happy to see his food go so fast. Moving from the dining room to their favorite spots on the couch. Settled against each other to enjoy the small downtime not revolving around school work. Beverly slowly made her way to sit in his lap. Grey hugged her close to give her a quick kiss. That kiss turned into a bit more.

Laying her back into the couch to be over her as they kissed. Her hands wandering from his neck to down along his chest. The heat building up between them causing something lower to stir. Wanting to slip out for a real deep feel of her. Almost committing to it as he lowered her shirt collar to kiss at the bare skin of her chest. Pulling back at realizing he couldn't.

Causing Beverly concern as for why he stopped. “what's wrong?”

“i um- i-its too fast.” making up an excuse. “I am sorry, I do want to but- ...” his voice went quiet.

She quickly tried to reassure him with a hug. “no, it's fine. Don't worry about it.”

he really, really, truly wanted too. However there was the snag that it wasn't him committing. It was a false face, living a lie with Beverly that he wasn't what he really is. Could he truly be with her while hiding behind such a lie? Would it be fair to her? Then again, could he be honest? He could never tell her, she would hate him.

But that meant never going for any deeper intimacy. His parts weren't modeled to mimic a human set. Although he possibly could if he studied, which he absolutely did not want to do. He'd figure out some work around eventually. Buying himself some time for now and maybe he could secretly get an answer from Beverly. He'd heard one common thing cross human conversation about the subject.

“I am actually waiting for marriage.” he tossed out.

“really?” she asked, curiously surprised. “that's rare to hear nowadays. It's nice though to not have the pressure on.”

“yes. Gives us more time.” he nodded in agreement.

“that too, although it's been really nice with you. I wouldn't mind if we did, if you ever change your mind.” leaving the possibility open.

“love you.” he smiled.

“love you too.”

“up for bed? Or one more movie?”

“bed sounds nice. It's pretty late for a school night, but at least it's also Friday and the weekend will be upon us.”

“want to go out to eat again? We can eat at that fancy diner again.”

“i like it better when you cook. How about a picnic by the river. We'll get some nice alone time to hang out and relax the stress away by the water.” standing with a stretch, followed by Grey doing the same.

“i can do that.” smiling as he followed up stairs. Getting ready together and into pajamas before sleeping beside each other.

Grey taking this time to zone out on what his next course of becoming human would be. Should he actually get a job? College wasn't a permanent thing and he'd “graduate” eventually with Beverly. Then what? He could conjure up money for whatever, but that cost energy. Meaning he'd have to eat more and more to keep it up. That wouldn't balance well over time. He should really figure out what engineering is and how he could do it. It sounded very important and high paying from what little he's heard in students talking. Beverly seemed to have the same view, so that must be the case.

Then there was intimacy with Beverly all while lying. But would it be lying if he became human enough? He was Grey … in a way. If he finished some more steps then it wouldn't be anymore, he would be Grey. He'd have to slow on devouring humans. Let the past die and allow Derry to not be such a tragic health hazard for the townsfolk. In the end that would make it a better place for Beverly to live in.

his thoughts broken by the morning alarm. Beverly groaned as she turned to smack the alarm off. Sitting up on the bed edge as he sat up.

“I'll go make breakfast.” he answered before she could ask if he wanted the shower first.

She nodded. “thanks, I'll be down soon.” stretching on her way to get ready for the day.

Over their morning cup of coffee before school they talked about their picnic plans. They would walk home and make a small lunch to share. Some sandwiches with a thermos filled with hot coffee. A side container of meats, cheese, and crackers. All sided by a bowl of seafood salad, since Grey mentioned he couldn't eat something like a potato salad. Happily settling the spot they would pick to be down by the quarry away from town. Separating with a hug goodbye before their classes.

This time Grey actually attended some. Although it was right smack in the middle of the semester, he found it all to be easily follow-able. Reading a textbook also had him realizing what the different branches were. Settling onto civil engineering since Derry was going to be promoted to grow from here on. Being a cosmic creature who dealt with working on a much higher plane, this was like messing with building blocks after working on a space rocket.

After 5 minutes he found himself extremely bored in the subject that came so easy to him. Sticking with it only to make sure he knew the human vocabulary of everything. The basics he would need after subtly getting himself a job when graduation came. Learning the common date for engineering grads as well as what classes he should have taken for the degree he'll magically obtain. Leaving the classes early to meet up with Beverly. The sunny morning shifting to the cloudy Grey as it started to rain.

“hey, how were classes?” Beverly greeted. Taking his hand as she joined him under the umbrella he held.

“boring.” he answered, more happy than usual as it was the first time it wasn't necessary to lie.

“i was really hoping it would stay sunny today. Getting really tired of all this rain that should have ended when April did.” peering up at the sky drizzling down. “We might have to change our plans.”

“could eat under the bridge by the quarry. The random car now and again won't be too bad.” he suggested.

“that could work. The hot coffee will keep us warm too.”

discussing how else they could turn this rain into a positive. Walking around the slow collecting puddles on their way home. Beverly slowed nervously at the sight of a recognizable car turning from a corner. Stopping when it screeched to a halt next to them. Stepping out of it was that annoying male Grey dealt with before.

“Beverly, I am really sorry for all the things I said. I came to apologize and ask if you'd be willing to give me a chance.” he spoke softly. Holding out some white flowers for her. “I got you these to say sorry.”

the air filling with extreme awkwardness. Beverly takes a moment to find her words in declining the offer. “thank you for apologizing, but I cant. I am fully dating Grey now.”

“I thought you two would have broken up by now. Why are you still with him?” he suddenly confronted them with.

she answered. “well, we aren't and I really like him.” Confused by David's boldness to stop them for this conversation. Grey could see his aggression oozing through the males tone. So much so that Beverly was sure to see it as well.

“why?! Are you with him for the money?! Are you sleeping with him?! You're always at his house!” his questions getting far too personal for comfort.

“no! What the hell is wrong with you?! Besides, that's none of your-” she started but he cut her off.

“you really are a whore! I thought spreading those rumors would have had you crawling back to have them proven wrong. Now I am just the idiot who was dumped by a slut!” what he said having Beverly go quiet.

Grey stepped in the way again. “get back in your little shit pile and fuck off.” he ordered. It caused the male to take a step back, but he was standing his ground for the most part.

“fuck no, my reputation is ruined because of her! She lets you fuck her for some cash while I had to fake being a good boyfriend for nothing! She owes me something!”

greys blood boiling high now. “you worthless little leech! Shut up and leave before I feed you your own dick!” holding back on fulfilling his threat only because Beverly was here. This male wanted a fight and he was going to get one now.

“I'd like to see you try limp dick! Lets go fight like men and whoever wins gets the whore!” stomping off the road down into the forested area nearby.

“Grey, lets go.” Beverly whispered with a tug of his arm.

“no, I wont tolerate this. Everything will be alright and I'll be right back. You stay here.” hugging her before following the dumb male into the woods where they were hidden from the road. Perfect as it also meant being hidden from Beverly's view of what was going down.

He smirked at the pathetic man before him. He had no idea that what he was threatening was not a man. He would end this male and make it all disappear. Claiming he won the man's challenge and the rival ran off like a coward. Leaving Beverly once again to peacefully be with him.

Unintimidated by the man he spoke in a board tone. “let's get this over with.” wanting to return to Beverly's side as soon as possible.

the male snapped at Greys smugness. “I wouldn't be so happy, fucker!” surprising him when he pointed a gun. Not giving Grey the chance to speak before the trigger was pulled. The loud sound airing over the light rainfall. The rival smiling darkly at the point blank headshot that had him expecting Grey to fall shortly. Only, he didn't, he rose up bearing a snarl of sharp jagged teeth. Blood inhumanly flowing upwards against gravity to disperse through the falling rain.

the inhuman being snarled. “how dare you!” Bringing up a hand high to slash down. Shredding the man's face open to pool blood. Falling into the puddles collecting at their feet. “what's wrong?” he mocked the terrified male. “thought I was some little shit you could knock off with a dirty shot?!” sharp jagged teeth stretching into a crooked smile. The smile dropping as the male brought up the gun to shoot again.

He let out an inhuman growl in finishing off the pest below him. Slashing the males throat open to bleed out under the building rainfall. Thunder roared across the sky while the males body lay limp in the forming mud.

“Grey?!” Beverly called fearfully for his condition. He looked back toward the direction of her shouting.

“it's alright, I am fine! Stay where you are, it's getting really muddy around here!” he cautioned. Taking the small time he had to cover up what happened. Hiding the males body down into the mud between the tree roots. The rain washing away the spilled blood to seep into the mud. He grit his teeth through the pulsing pain to rip out the bullet. Freed of the metal he healed his face instantly. Breathing out in relief at getting everything taken care of. He wished he could have had the male suffer longer, but oh well.

“Grey?!” she shouted once more at spotting him. He turned from the fallen males hidden grave ready to explain what happened. Ready to reassure her that he wasn't shot and he merely missed. After deeply beating him down the cowered ran away. Confident that this slip up would pass to become a forgotten event. Before he could say anything she gasped out a startled breath. Suddenly stepping away from him wide eyed in alarm over something.

His brows furrowed at her reaction. “what?” assuming maybe he forgot to remove some blood on his face. He looked down into the reflection of a puddle disturbed by rain drops. Clearing up enough to show his literally broken human face cracking off in pieces. Revealing the pure white skin underneath bolded by a red mark going up across the one glowing golden eye. He healed the bullet wound, but foolishly forgot to fix his facade in the rush.

His true face, the clown, revealed to Beverly.

He looked up again as she stepped further back to get away from him. He stared back, like she was, reading all these emotions crossing her face. The shock of learning his dark secret. the hurt of being lied to of who he was.

The fear … that's what hurt him most.

She would never love him now. His chance of being accepted as a human destroyed in one single blow to the face. He should have known it was only a matter of time. A monster can’t be a human … or be loved by one.

A sweep of wind forced the rain to come down sideways. Needing Beverly to close her eyes from the harsh gust. He couldn't bare to face her any longer with no possible words he could say to fix this. on the gust of wind he disappeared into the forest with a flash of lightning. Only the loud shifting of shrubbery alerting to his brief fleeing trail. Not once did he look back while running. To where, he did not know.

Forced to eventually stop on the rocky shore of the quarry lake miles away. Falling to his knees to break down into tears. Like his blood would his tears floated upwards to clash into the falling rain. He shouted down at the rocks in agony over the cruelness of it all. It was over, there was absolutely nothing he could say to save their relationship. Nor was there anything he could do to deserve forgiveness. Beating a fist down creating a dip as rocks scattered under his fist. Another scream of pain drowned out in the thunderous roar of the sky. The rain storming down in an aggressive wave above Derry. Soaking him right through his many clothing layers.

He never felt so cold.

#it (2017)#pennywise #beverly marsh #pennywise x beverly marsh

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