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danwhobrowses · 11 months

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Quickfire Review

So I am out of the cinema, and I have thoughts

We've finally reached the sequel to the epic Spider-verse movie, which in itself rewrote the rules on animation while being able to juggle a large cast outside of the Marvel machine.

So let me tell you my experience with the movie

Spoilers for the movie, you've been warned

Okay, this was a lot

It was really good, but it was a lot

I really don't want to speak badly about this movie because it is not at all bad, it's a visual spectacle with many twists and great characters. But I think the plot lost me. The main reason I think it lost me was the crux of 'Canon Events', which I will get more into, but given that last movie was about anyone being a Spider it was irksome that the story is also 'yes but you also have to have the exact same experiences which strips your story of agency'. I also think that the retcon that Peter A would've survived is wrong, and if all Spiders are meant to have the same chain of happening then why is Miles, the anomaly, subject to that rule in a universe where that chain has already happened? Also if he's an anomaly why didn't the universe disappear after a year of him and the Spider from Earth-42 being in this world? In a way it does threaten to lose the heart of what made the first movie so good too.

I also feel like it was two or three movies stitched together, Gwen's story was great, albeit with so much angst, Miles' story in his universe barely got going and Miles vs Spider Society was the main part of the narrative, and while it was woven together well I think the magnitude of it all took me out of it a bit, a lot of the times I felt like it was gonna end and then it went on for another 10-30 minutes, and it is a bad sign when you can feel the length of a movie. Honestly we could've easily gotten away with a Spider-Gwen movie of her own, let it cliffhanger with the cold open we got then have the final interaction with her dad and the infinite amount of colour palettes in this movie with just the Miles stuff going on.

My main character critique is probably the sourness that they did EXACTLY what I feared they would do to Miguel O'Hara. Spider-Man 2099 is my favourite Spider-Man but they really did decuple down on the edginess over the basis of his suit and powers. I mean sure, he has trauma that has killed off the last of his lighthearted value we saw in last-movie's post-credits scene, but most Spiders have trauma, and he did essentially steal another man's life for his own. I think the fact that he puts a ton of pressure on himself to uphold other timelines didn't quite come across so well, because they needed him to take over as the primary antagonist and 'the guy who tells Miles the stuff his mother warns him people may say to him'. Also, Miguel is different from most spiders because he doesn't have his Uncle Ben moment, he was a dick who caught conscience and Alchemax tried to silence him and accidentally gave him spider powers, so that also hinders the 'Canon Events' plot of Uncle Ben and Captain Stacy moments happening. Jessica Drew I struggled to get around to, loved her at the start but then she just started being cold, same can be said for Miles' parents towards Gwen, they picked one thing she couldn't have known they'd dislike and that was their tone towards her for most of their interactions after.

B U T !

Do I intend to watch Beyond the Spider-Verse? Yes! Absolutely.

Because even with the narrative flaws and the irksome nature that some characters are just being cold for little reason and that one of your favourite comics Spider-Man is not represented the same way, there is an extremely good movie in here. The art was amazing, in between all universes, the music was AMAZING, like Gwen vs Vulture just had an amazing soundtrack on its own. And gods all the Easter eggs; game and live action continuity weaved in, Ben Reilly, Unlimited Spidey, Julia Carpenter, adult MayDay Spider, Venom movie shop, even Prowler Donald Glover! There is so much to enjoy and the more you know about the several iterations and media of Spider-Man the more you find to enjoy.

But Hobie (Spider-Punk) stole the fucking show, everything he did was gold, Pavitr was fun but we needed more of him same with Spiderbyte and really Peter B and Miguel, Spot was hilarious too and then terrifying-looking when he reached his full potential, also Penny has an EVA now. The Spiders chase was well done with its clever quips and dynamic use of other spiders, the cold open was also inventive with Renaissance-verse Vulture. And then of course we got a very gripping cliffhanger, I like the squad we have for Gwen to rescue Miles and I can only beg that Lord and Miller manage to tone down and bring Miguel around in a satisfying manner without having to compromise the integrity and heart of the plot as Miles seeks a way to save his father without erasing his universe.

If anything this movie will keep you on your toes, it is stylistic beyond anything you might have seen before, but it can easily get overwhelming. I personally enjoyed as much as Guardians 3, maybe more by a slight margin (the highs are higher but the qualms are greater so hard to tell), but I also feel like it's not better than the first plot-wise just because of that feeling of being overwhelmed. It is worth a watch though for sure.

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rococospade · 7 months

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Have some Letho attempts, in oil paints(!)

Art, life and cat updates under the cut.

Art update:

I’ve opened commissions again for the next two months (October-November 2023). The last one in my queue is nearly finished, and I’m excited to share it — though I’ll have to crop the tumblr version substantially. I’ve also been working on tutorial content for digital painting. Monie’s been poking me for years to do one on sheer fabric, and I’m trying to edit that between other tasks. I’ve thought about doing one for scars as well — is there anything you struggle with that you’d be interested to see a tutorial or tip-sheet for?

In terms of personal work I’ve struggled to connect with my digital painting in the last few months, so I’ve been working more with traditional mediums. I love watercolour, I’ve been fiddling with my oil pastels since I don’t want them to go bad (they keep for about 3 years past opening, apparently) and I’ve wanted to try oil painting for years. Last week I finally took the leap and bought some water soluble oil paints: pictured above is my first attempt with them.

Oil paints are slippery little bastards — I had a teacher tell me “it’s like painting with colourful mud” over a decade ago when discussing them, and that sort of prepared me. I finally get it. They move constantly, even if it looks dry it’s likely not, I have no idea what I’m doing, disposal is a pain, I am wrong at every step, and I love them. Oil painting looks so cool! It’s so much easier to rework than acrylics! This is not always a good thing! I’m having a great time :)

Naturally, upon getting a new and notoriously difficult medium, I dispensed with looking up guides (surely things I watched or read months and years ago are sufficient for right now?) and sat down to screw around with the paints a few evenings ago. This resulted in a muddy mess even with a limited palette, but I’m a toxic goblin who doesn’t learn, so I shrugged and started working with the muddy tones to try and fix it.

@silverscalestudios was kind enough to give me a quick and dirty explanation on workflow when they found out what I was doing. Thank you again for that! I spent a while last night reading about various forms of underpainting because of you, and will give brunaille a try. I knew underpaintings were a thing but I didn’t know *why* or how important they really are — it didn’t occur to me the oil colours would be so transparent. Hopefully the next picture will be a little bit neater as a result of your intervention — thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me about it!

I found some useful videos on YouTube as well, but I’m struggling with colour temperature shifts. Some studies might be in order.

As usual I’m not satisfied with anything I do for long. My current goals are to learn more of the body’s simplified muscle groups, simplify my compositions more, and make more illustrations with character interaction as the focus. Also, I guess, to gain some competence with the mediums I’m playing with — but that’s a bonus more than a goal. Oil pastels especially are just so pleasant to work with that even if I hate the result, the process is too enjoyable to complain. And failure is how we learn.

Potentially useful tip, buried for anyone who read this far: assign yourself studies for the projects you’re currently working on. This took me far too long to learn, but if you struggle with doing general studies for the sake of them, do them to prep for a specific painting instead. If you suspect something will be difficult (the hand gesture, the colour scheme, lighting, expression, whatever) grab or make some ref and doing a couple of studies, so you can fail quickly and make ugly versions. It’s a huge timesaver when it comes to the final piece. My big, detailed paintings usually take 10-20 hours, so I’d like to get any difficult elements sorted before I start whenever possible.

For an example of studies for a painting: the four roughly scribbled Letho’s in coloured pencil on this post — those were done after I had my composition sketched onto the canvas, to figure out what I wanted to do for colours. And I’m glad I did! I tried the analogous scheme on a whim, and if I hadn’t done this study, I’d have played it safe and gone with a mostly neutral palette. Next time I’ll also do some lighting studies so I have a detailed plan for those before I start painting. Traditional media in general involves a lot more concrete planning than digital, and working with it is underscoring how many bad habits I have — especially with massively reworking paintings mid-process.

I did have a photo reference I was using for this painting (one of the images from the rogue warrior reference pack by Noah Bradley) with the lighting and hair modified to try to resemble something I’d seen another digital artist do, and by awkwardly tilting an asaro head in my kitchen to figure out how the lighting would work. There’s a relatively common lighting scheme in anime-esque art where just the tip of the nose is lit. It’s cute, but playing with the asaro head, I found that the top half of the area around the mouth should also catch at least a bit of light. The lighting ended up being repainted into something more standard for this, but you can see the triangle of light on the upper mouth area in the wips.

Life update:

Well, it was a nice run, but spouse and I finally caught corona last month >< that was horrible. I got lucky, in that I only had for a week or so and it was a mild case. Now I’ve mostly recovered except for a cough. “Mild” is still probably the sickest I’ve been in my life. Do not recommend. Will be going for the booster as soon as I’m able to, I do not want that shit ever again.

I’ve been doing a bunch of new things like sashiko (satisfying), trying to make pie crust (hard! But delicious, and the ingredients are cheap enough that I don’t cry over failure. Please give making pie crust a try, if you haven’t, it’s really not that complicated — the recipe I’m using only calls for 3-4 ingredients, and it’s so versatile. We’ve had like four quiches in the last week and a half) and trying to cook more. Adulting is hard. I’m also considering more decorative embroidery attempts, because I’m reentering my goth phase and want to customise my clothes with little mushrooms and skulls :) it would be cute.

About the cats:

Cloud is cancer-free! She has to get rechecks every three months, but the little monster made it. She celebrates by trying to sleep with her butthole on my face, which is terrible. I love her dearly. I wish she would stop with the butthole thing though.

Sheik is currently taking her turn as the cat with medical problems. She couldn’t eat for a few days and the vet rushed us in when we called. The vet came in and informed me that she wasn’t eating… because she had gas. It’s in her small intestine, which isn’t supposed to have gas in it for cats? Good job, you little weirdo. She’s getting further checks or it this month.

We also adopted an adolescent cat. He’s bonded very well with Tez, whom our other cats — well, they don’t hate him, but they’re a bit aloof. Tez is very big and a bit like a bowling ball with teeth, and most of our cats are old (or Jetta, who is full of bitter hate) and do not appreciate being tackled by said bowling ball. The kitten loves him, and Tez seems much happier for the company. He’s more gentle with kittens than adults. Not all of the cats are thrilled, but our oldest queens have accepted the kitten, so it should be smoother sailing from here. Unfortunately they like to play at 8am, so I am suddenly on an adult sleep schedule for the first time since working from home. Nothing like a teenage cat launching himself onto your abdomen to get the day started :) They were yelling at each other as I typed this, but now he’s laying beside me like a prince. … and attacking my cardigan. Nevermind.

Currently trying to find more ways to install cat climbs and enrichment, since we’re running out of corners for cat trees. Debating the merits of a cat run — we have very tall walls, which is neat but also I don’t trust these guys not to fall off. If we could spring for a modular system that would be neat.

If you’re getting two cats, pro tip: get two with similar coat patterns but different sizes. You will hate yourself. It’s very funny, and you can disorient any house guests!

#Rococo rambles #personal #rococospade art #Long post

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eyesofshan-if · 1 year

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Hello there! :D

First of all, Happy New Year! I wanted to tell you that I'm already hooked on your IF. You immediately got my attention. I'm already in love with Hansol and Yongsun, haha <3

I've got a few questions, if that is alright with you. Please feel free to only answer what you want or ignore it entirely if it's too many at once!

First: I checked your Tumblr and the post on the forum but I didn't see anything so I'm wondering what we should refer to you as? (It feels a bit weird to always say "dear author" and the likes, unless that's something you'd prefer of course!)

Second: I love the character posts you've already done and talking about the ROs I'm wondering if you could--if you have time, no rush there--post a color palette for skin colors? I read the text but I always have a hard time getting it from that alone 🥲

3rd: what sort of voices does everyone have? (Rough, smooth, melodic, etc. ) Maybe you even have some voice actors in mind what you'd think they would sound like? Though I personally only really recognize Japanese VAs, I would gladly Google anyone else lmao

That's it, sorry this got so long😭

To wrap this up I hope you have a wonderful week, lots of fun with your story and please don't forget to rest, eat and hydrate enough! :D

happy new year (although this reply is a few days late oops) i’m really glad that you like my sorry attempt at an IF!! here are my answers under the cut because its pretty long!!

one: you can refer to me as pingu (i just decided that today) for now!! but i do like being called dear author as well <3

two: i will try my best for a skin colour palette, but here’s a warning that my eye for anything colour related is absolutely awful. trying to do those moodboards was an emotional rollercoaster. but because you asked i will try my best. please remember that these are only my take on the subject, and you’re free to have some artistic freedom with where you take it!!

^^ this was an awful struggle and should probably just be used as a suggestion because i am an absolute clown when it comes to colour. please just use it as a reference for the light to dark and warm to neutral skin tones!!

three: i’ll try putting a mixture of kpop idols here together with japanese vas, so you can hear them speak in a normal tone!! japanese vas tend to exagerrate a lot in their delivery, which is not how i imagine them to speak in real life hoho. most of the kpop idols voices come from the group ateez, who are around the ages of most of the characters mentioned

hansol: warm to people he is close with. his voice feels like the gentle heat of a fire after spending a long time out in the cold. tends to speak politely and use proper language, but there’s a certain liveliness to his tone. his voice references are ateez’s yunho and hino satoshi

insu: his voice is always sharp and cold, like the edge of a steel blade. he speaks briskly, always prioritizing efficiency. not afraid to swear at anyone, including the emperor. his voice references are ateez’s yeosang and yuki kaji (specifically his todoroki voice, not eren yeager)

yongsun: listening to his voice feels like you’re sitting next to a running stream alone at night, moonlight ripping off the waters. he always speaks calmly, seemingly able to make any situation feel lighter with a single sentence, and each word contains a certain quiet self confidence. his voice references are kaedehara kazuha (nobunaga shimazaki) and kamisato ayato (akira ishida)

wooyoung: lighthearted and playful. there’s are little ups and downs to his cadence that makes you feel as though the sun is shining on you, beckoning you to play outside. he might not sound like the refined gentleman he’s supposed to be, but his voice is enjoyable to listen to. his pitch isn’t very low, and sounds youthful. his voice reference is ateez’s wooyoung (wow)

#asks #hope you enjoy!!#some of the clips are just vlogs from the kpop members #but they speak like... normally so i thought it would be a better comparison #not gonna lie i used quite a few ateez members are voice and appearance references lmao

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battlemaiden13 · 10 months

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Hiiii BattleMaiden13! I had a thought so now I gotta ask! Or at least share this thought! Possible spice if you wanna do a spice vers, or you can do spice vs non spice vers

What would all of HND!MC Love interests think if MC design a whole outfit, hairstyle, dyed hair, accessories, jewelry etc, for them?

Like has they're favourite things on the outfit, fav type of clothing on MC, they're magic colour as the main palette etc! Like say for sans has magic colour dyed, star and constellations in hair clips and on outfit, thigh highs, big jacket like his, but more star or science or puns designs, little ketchup zipper keychain, hair in space buns, moon and sun earrings. Pretty much all they're favourite things and maybe fav clothing wise turn ones (socks/knee highs for those Skellies ;)), blue with sailor faintly in the design or clothing 180, edge with lingerie faintly showing but defiantly eye catching)

Maybe if possible for all love interests incase your unsure or a new fan is unsure, neighbour Skellies(sans, papyrus, blue, orange, red, edge, Berry, syrup), hotel skellies(axe, crooks, ink, error, dream, nightmare, day(daydream), killer), mafia Skellies(roulette, sniper, carbine, rifle, colt, musket), and Mint + Mango(technically also hotel Skellies in a way-) if you do mango the friendship bracelet is very easily seen, like cute sleeves rolled up above elbows or short sleeves)??? And if willing to do spoilers, the new (6?) Skeletons?

Hehehehe, if ya can't tell, Hiiiii it's meeeee

~💚𝒯𝒽ℯℴ💚

Also,

Thank you for being my main inspiration for writing again, I’ve been struggling with writers block and gave up on many projects because just didn’t have motivation or inspiration or just fell outta love for my own projects, and for giving me inspiration to start Cosplay and outfit designing and just fashion again, and thank you so very VERY much for getting my artistic side going in every way and far more then before that I never had ideas on how to start or get into it, you are really amazing, and l'm so happy I found you! And I absolutely love all your writing, art, etc! Thank you so very much! Honestly and truly, I adore you and your works, I hope you get amazing weekend, week, month, year, everything! You truly deserve it and words can not express how absolutely fantastic you are!

Remember to get some rest, take breaks, eat, drink water! To you and anyone! Have an amazing weekend My Fair Maiden!

OMG THEO!! Same page gang!

I actually have plans for this later on. Like Mc will coordinate her outfits on dates with the skeletons so she matches and now I want like Magic Hair dye that can change colors super easily with a mist spray or something. AHHH.

The Sans outfit you have described here is super cute! with the space buns and big jacket with the detail! AHHHH I want all of it.

Since I will be like doing this in later chapters I don't want to give too much away but MC has even started this. When she went on her double date with Blue and Orange (and Myra I guess) She picked out Blue's colors and a modern outfit that she thought he would like and would match.

I have a plan later for Red which is going to drive him wild. One of his thick jackets, Short ass black skirt with a red belt that has gold chains hanging off it, a red bralette, no shirt, Thigh high socks, Red and black sneakers with gold accents and a choker/collar. My favourite part about this outfit that is so totally up Red's alley is she won't be wearing it for him, even though she borrows a jacket XD I am very excited. It's one of the chapters I've had planned for a while.

I have some plans for the others too like MC classic Skulls outfit for Colt, a goddess cut dress for Nightmare and Dream, A dark purple lolita dress to mess with Berry, Orange's hoodie with underwear and nothing else for Orange. There is so much we could do both spicy and not. I am now very excited about these possible outfits.

Also

Thank you. You are so sweet and I'm so happy to hear my work can help inspire others. I want to see everything you make/do!! Thank you so much for being so nice to me! I will look after myself and you need to as well!! Have a great, day, week, year, life!! Thank you!!

#hnd #house next door #housenextdoor

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drsilverfish · 1 year

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The Winchesters: Back to the Garden?

Is this, SPNWin 1x02 Teach the Children Well.

really heading for this? SPN 4x03 In the Beginning

The tone and colour palette of The Winchesters, which is Scooby-Doo in golden sepia is, thus far, significantly removed from the dark palette and profound horror of early Supernatural.

This is partly because the CW wants its programmes to be advertising friendly for its youth demographic and it has ideas about what that looks like. We know that Supernatural was an anomaly, and that the network told SPN to move away from its early (gorgeous) darker cinematography,.

But, the story-telling horror remained. And that horror was driven significantly by the struggle with fate.

If we are in Universe One (the SPN universe) then we already know John and Mary’s fates.

As Lucifer said in 5x04 The End: “Whatever you do, you will always end up... here. No matter what choices you make, whatever details you alter, *we* will always end up... here.”

But that would be hopeless, right? To simply be heading to SPN 4x03 In the Beginning, when Cas takes Dean back in time, but Dean is unable to prevent the events that lead to Mary, desperate on the road at night, kissing her own father Samuel on the mouth (possessed by Azazel), to seal the demon deal that damns Sam to become Lucifer’s vessel, while John Winchester’s lifeless body lies between them...

This story, The Winchesters, doesn’t feel like a dark-character-arc story, a fall-from-grace story, about how Mary ended up dead and John ended up neglecting their kids.

Robbie Thompson wrote SPN 10x11 There’s No Place Like Home and the colour palette of Oz (an Alternative Universe) really reminds me of The Winchesters:

I’m guessing many SPN fans are missing the traumatic text of SPN.

I’m missing it too, and The Winchesters feels... confusing.... for that reason.

Trauma can be addictive, after all.

Is The Winchesters intended to be a redemptive text, a healing text, by contrast?

I mean, like Sam and Dean, The Winchesters Scoobies are carrying trauma. John is suffering from Vietnam War PTSD, given he saw his friend Murph get blown up. Mary has been traumatised by her childhood as a hunter, and the death of her beloved cousin Maggie on a hunt. Lata is estranged from her family and has lied to her friends that her parents are dead. Carlos’ family (parents and brother) were killed by a ghoul, which is how he got into hunting. Ada has already been traumatised by demon possession and seems to be going a bit dark with her bonsai tree as demon trap.

But somehow, they’re... reaching out to each other, supporting each other, talking about their feelings?!?!?!

Particularly given the 60s and 70s soundtrack, I’m really hearing Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock:

“I came upon a child of God He was walking along the road And I asked him where are you going And this he told me I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm * I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band I'm going to camp out on the land I'm going to try an' get my soul free We are stardust We are golden And we've got to get ourselves Back to the garden Then can I walk beside you I have come here to lose the smog And I feel to be a cog in something turning Well maybe it is just the time of year Or maybe it's the time of man I don't know who I am But you know life is for learning We are stardust We are golden And we've got to get ourselves Back to the garden By the time we got to Woodstock We were half a million strong And everywhere there was song and celebration And I dreamed I saw the bombers Riding shotgun in the sky And they were turning into butterflies Above our nation We are stardust Billion year old carbon We are golden Caught in the devil's bargain And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden”

Some kind of return to Paradise (but not the fakery of Heaven) guided by Holy Ghost narrator Dean?

To a place where “Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt”? (Slaughterhouse 5 - Vonnegut).

I can sense that the SPN fandom is a bit muted about The Winchesters and there’s some not-great news about its survival coming out of the CW already:

https://deadline.com/2022/11/the-winchesters-amp-walker-independence-no-back-orders-cw-cutbacks-season-2-canceled-renewed-1235159619/

A shame, because there’s something really intriguing about a redemptive after-vision for Supernatatural from Robbie, Jensen and Daneel, with a Vonnegut twist - the promise of healing for the traumatised and I’d like to find out where the story is going.

#Supernatural #The Winchesters #SPNWin 1x02 #The Winchesters meta #Meta #SPN meta #Robbie Thompson #Vonnegut #Everthing was beautiful and nothing hurt #Joni Mitchell #Woodstock

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tamaradoubraomonibeke · 7 days

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MP - Research on 3D Games (LO1)

Yesterday, during our tutorial, Rich displayed the gameplay trailer for animal crossing to show I can create an animation rather than the whole game.

Now, in all honesty, I have been struggling on how to create the interactions so even if I create an animated trailer, I will need reference to how it will look like and Rich gave me inspiration with animal crossing to look at other 3d games.

Virtual Games

Growing up, I played a lot of virtual games like MovieStarPlanet, HabboHotel, SecretBuilders and Smallworlds. My favourite was SmallWorlds and I was obsessed before I went to boarding school in 2014. Unfortunately, it got discontinued whilst I was in boarding school. However, it's graphics were superior to other virtual world games so I turned to it for inspiration.

It got discontinued but began not many years after from scratch in Portuguese as MiniMania.

I downloaded it and regardless of the language barrier, I wanted to see the UI. I expected an upgrade but it's understandable as it's still in the beta phase and there aren't much players (especially since it's in Portuguese but mixes English)

I didn't screenshot the character making page but started analyzing how the avatar interacts with space. There is no pan or zooming or orbiting the space in the game. Instead, the camera follows the avatar's direction using the mouse. For the second photo, I clicked on the TV and a circle of interactions pop-up which I believe I can implement into my idea.

As a beginner, I'm automatically a commoner and can upgrade to VIP with real world money. This is shown in the first page and in the second screen I'm typing. These little UI details are important as I need to integrate pop-ups into my design. The navigator by the side is a pop-up which assists in informing me about my mission. It not only uses the blue hue, but implements green, white and red (Now, I won't be using too many colours for my palette but it's a noticeable element)

Then I finally observed how pop-ups are integrated into the space. It's place in the center and takes only an 1/9th of the viewport (this is loosely based on my visual assumption but I am aware most to all web design utilize a 12 grid system.

I noticed how alongside the blue hue, yellow is utilized as a CTA.

In the fourth photo is a smaller window which displays information (when the mouse hovers on an avatar), it's another elements I could implement to show a small body-copy of information.

Conclusion

The UI inspired me a lot but I expected by 2024, the pixelated avatars would've been clearer.

Secondly, as a played the game it became dull as it's in a different language and classist (I'm a commoner and can only be a VIP if I pay, in my days, I worked and got gold to become a VIP, there's no way I'd tell my parents to pay for an in-app purchase).

I apologize, that last paragraph wasn't necessary but shows I won't be addicted to the game :)

Other Resources

Trailer Oficial do MiniMania! (youtube.com)

SmallWorlds - The Game Where You Belong! - Official Trailer - YouTube

#visual communication #learning #research #3d #small world #minimania

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grad604-poppi · 9 months

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Week 2

Lecture Take Aways:

Learn to adopt my own system of catorgization

Consider context and meaning behind design choices

How I organise my design research and images: FOLDER SYSTEM

In each project folder is the photos of the projects outcomes, and a description of what the project was.

Design Community's Around Me:

1. Threaded Studio

http://www.threaded.co.nz/about-us

Threaded is an award-winning studio led by Fiona Greives (head of the design faculty) and Kyra Clarke. They also have Threaded Magazine which is an ongoing international project. It includes digital elements where a bar code can be scanned to see further moving images. We were given a Threaded Magazine in class to have a look at. I loved the gold foiling and the different textures on the cover. You can tell every decision is made with a lot of contextual background and all elements are well-refined.

Fiona was my lecturer/teacher in my first year and I did not know she had her own studio and magazine when she was teaching me.

Threaded Magazine - Fiona Grieves:

2. Mate Act Now

Started by Chris Flack, 'Mate Act Now' is a movement for an urgent change in behaviours affecting climate change. Mate Act Now brings designers together to design posters addressing the urgent issue of climate change;

The website has used an uneasy colour palette of bright red and black with a direct tone in the communication, adding to the sense of urgency.

The tagline for this movement is "As a poster will not change the world — people's actions will." which is a powerful message that correlates to all designs for change.

Inspired by: Christopher Doyle and Paul Garbett

https://mateactnow.com/gallery

Reflection:

There are so many incredible design initiatives going on around me. that I was so unaware of. I am feeling frustrated that I had so much to learn and so much opportunity for inspiration that I have been missing out on for these last 4 years of practising graphic design. Even though my journey of design research is just beginning I already feel like my understanding of graphic design and the industry is increasing rapidly, and I feel my own work is going to be elevated the more I learn.

Reasons for Designing:

EMPATHY

collaborative

connection

awareness

Personal narrative

Example: McCarthy Studios for Art Foundation - A foundation created to back New Zealand creatives.

HUMANITY

Climate crisis

Sustainability

Wellbeing

Urging change

Example: 'Mate Act Now'

STORYTELLING

Perspectives

Generational

Cultural

COMMUNITY

Collaboration

Safety

Social

Example: 'Designers Speak Up' poster call

Tutorial Main Take Aways:

When you come across something you like, ask yourself why 3 times.

Example:

I love this composition done by Ruby Neagle in her Breathe publication.

Why do I love it?

I love it because I think the unique type layout combined with the one tone screen printing create for a cool combination.

Why?

I personally really like screen printing, and minimilatic text so combining the two works for me.

Why?

I feel that screen printing is more unique and interesting than regular print. I like minimalism because it gives the art space to breathe and interpret from. I also personally struggle with type layout as I only really began learning about typography last year, so I have a lot of respect for Neagle and her out-the-box layouts.

WHO AM I AS A CREATIVE?

This is my first time thinking about elements that relate to who I am as a creative, I really had to think deeply about this.

Brainstorm of elements:

Main Categories Elements Fall Under:

Tactile + Tangible

2000's Hip Hop Era

Creative Outlets

Travel

Family

0 notes

lesyasun · 3 years

Photo

A while ago I received an interesting question about game aesthetics. The person in that ask really struggles with downloading stuff and finding their own style. They asked me how I came up with what you see on my screenshots. Have you ever thought that you can recognize whose screenshot this is by just a quick glance? Is editing important in photoshop? How to take beautiful screenshots? Today let’s talk about how different one single game could be for each of us and what really makes this mysterious “sims aesthetics”.

EDIT: Sorry, it turned out to be huge with lots of random thoughts :D I hope at least one percent of these is useful!

NOTE: English is not my native language, I apologize for possible grammar or spelling mistakes. I tried my best in writing this!

Ok, let’s imagine that you’re a person who just obtained the sims game or just want a nice fresh start and demolished your download folder. (We all need fresh starts sometimes, right?) The struggle is that you have no idea which style you like the best. There are so many sims blogs. Everyone seems to enjoy what they post but you’re a little bit lost in that jungle. Don’t worry! I’ll try to guide you and share my thoughts.

STEP 1 Choose your general style

I roughly divide all sims blogs that I see on my dashboard into a couple of so-called styles. I’ve been doing it in my mind for ages. I like following different people and seeing diferent editing. None of them are better than others. I hope you understand that it’s just a matter of liking. Ok, here we go. Let me put this sorting hat on you :D

1. Realistic

Screenshot by @luchiatores

Perhaps, it’s the most important thing that you should decide for yourself. Wether you should use realistic textures in your game or you’d prefer to stick to more cartoonish maxis match ones. Why is it so important, to my mind? I like things that match. Just imagine game Witcher 3 where characters and surroundings are realistic. And now imagine Minecraft where things are pixelated. Both games are great, both games have certain beautiful styles. And now imagine Geralt hunting for monsters in a pixelated Minecraft swamp. A bit strange, isn’t it? :D The same applies to Sims. If you put a super realistic skintone on your sim and put a Maxis ponytail, that would probably look strange too. If you choose this style, just try to dig for a good quality content, start following simblrs in this style. Unfortunately, I’m not an expert when it comes to realistic content. So, try to drop an ask to someone whose realistic game you like. There are so many helpful people around in the sims community no matter what style they have :)

2. Trully Maxis Match

screenshot by @whattheskell

This is a complete opposite of a realistic style. I’ve always called people who use a lot of original maxis textures “trully maxis” :D If you can decorate a house without any custom content, if you like the way original hairstyles look, if you like Maxis clothes, you should go this way. From what I’ve spot after being so many years in the sims community, “trully” maxis simblr are so creative when it comes to storytelling. The stories that they write about either their sims/or maxis premades are so breathtaking. So much drama, so much fun. The only thing that I write about my screenshots is “Ok, this is my cat! Look, it can eat flowers and puke afterwardst! Yay! Cute”. If you choose this way, I can recommend you to check out @holleyberry, @didilysims or @moocha-muses. Obviously there are a lot more blogs that I follow. These people are just so sweet and helpful and they’re first who came to my mind.

3. Bright Maxis Matchery

screenshot by @muupi

This is where I refer myself to. This style is still Maxis but what stands out is the use of bright colours and saturated photoshopped pictures. Ah, my love for overedited pictures is endless <3 This is what I’m going to talk a lot below since it’s my cup of tea. It’s all about colours and pallete addiction. If you love looking at super bright/silly/cheery screenshots and they boost up your mood, than join the squad!

Basically, Maxis match (I’ll just shorten for MM from now on) players avoid super shiny skins or hair textures and prefer to have content with Simlish letters instead of English ones. This is a very important factor for me when I choose paintings or prints for T-shirts. I don’t know, I feel like it’s so cute that sims can’t understand our languages, talk this funny gibberish simlish language. It’s cute! There are so so many people that I can recommend. @lina-cherie @keoni-chan @kahlenas They are first who came to my mind <3

4. Grungy/cosmic

screenshot by @lilithpleasant

I don’t know if these are suitable words :D But this is how I describe people’s game who like aliens/supernatural sims/grungy textures with or without bright colours as well. Just think would you prefer a bit of a grungy stuff or less-textured but cleaner MM? You always need to think about textures while you download stuff. I can recommend to check out @pooklet or @furbyq-sims

5. Semi

screenshot by @whysim

You might ask me “Why am I not allowed to put a realistic skintone on a maxis sim? What the hell?” Of course, you are! Do it please, if you want. There are no rules, no restrictions. You CAN go semi-realistic, you CAN mix patterns, you CAN mix colours. There’s only one rule: please, enjoy what you do. Don’t be afraid to share your pictures on the Internet. There will always be people who can judje your style and say: “meh, it’s too dull, meh, it’s too bright, meh, too shiny, meh, too plain meh, meh, meh”. Just don’t pay attention and enjoy your game. As for semi-realistic I can recommend such wonderful people as @marvelann @lilith-sims @falkii @knowledgeaspiration

A bit about my style: I’ve always loved cartoonish/bright style. I’ve never ever played with shiny textures. Before Tumblr era I just played either without CC or with a bunch of maxis recolours. How I came up with the idea of cartoonishness? Pretty simple. It’s a part of my personality, I think :) I’ve always loved Disney/Pixar movies. Cartoons just make life a lot funnier! They make me happy. I’m a pre-school teacher after all :D. You can’t imagine how many cartoons I’ve watched throughout my life. I can quote Peppa Pig and will never be tired of that :D Before Tumblr I just played some funny legacies (I’ve never finished any though :D) When I found out about Tumblr, and such great content that can make my game even more Disney looking, it just blew my mind! Every time when I download stuff, I imagine that I’m watching a Disney/Pixar or whatever studio cartoon. When I create sims, I feel like I’m a cartoon designer. Pretty silly, right? :D

Let’s take a look at my screenshots from the past. I tried to find similar ones with a lot of greenery.

2014

2021

I stil like a lot of greenery. Editing has changed, photo angles have changed. But bright colours and Maxis stuff are forever in my heart <3

Risa (2014)

Gage (2021)

As I’m a big cartoon addict, I love recreating game/anime/cartoon characters. No matter, if they’re my favourite or requested ones. I love when my sims have different traits. I love when they’re funny looking/clumsy/absent-minded or when they’re evil/supernatural. When they are pirates/detectives/vampires or witches. This is my way of playing Sims. I love this game as it gives us possibilities to show your creativity, a chance to recreate our favourite characters. A chance to be a writer of storylines or if you’re bad at telling stories, just being “a cartoon designer” like me :)

STEP 2 Colour palettes

If you’ve chosen the path of “bright maxis matchery” than colour palettes are super important! Oh, you can’t imagine how addicted I am to certain colours. I can download GBs because of it.

Here are some of my favourite colour palettes:

1. Anna’s colours

My absolutely favourite palette. I would download absolutely anything in these pretty colours. Just looking at them makes me so cozy *0* There’s a photoshop action for those who want to recolour CC in this palette.

2. Poppet’s colours

I especially like the latest one. So pretty! @poppet-sims is the queen of lovely recolours. She has some more palettes. But “Back to Basics is my favourite”

3. Eversims colours

@eversims has got a lot of pretty colour palettes. But the most iconic one is Ever So Lovely

So, these are the basic colours that I like downloading furniture/clothes with.

There are a couple more pretty palettes that I like:

Huning’s Pony Colours

Back in the days it was my ultimate favourite one. But these days I edit my pictures in Photoshop excessively and prefer calmer colours and add bright layers in photoshop instead.

Nyren’s Kosmic Colours

If you’re more into pastels, than try to download some stuff in this pretty palette.

You might wonder if I use all of these colours. Of course not! I have a selection of colours that I use: apple green, sky blue, yellow, red, pink, orange, purple, teal, mint. I absolutely love combining 2 or 3 of these in my interior shots. I also love choosing my sims’ favourite colours and dressing them/decorating their bedroom in this certain colour(s).

For example, my sim Mia likes apple green/purple and mint.

I think @deedee-sims can relate. While I prefer choosing a favourite colour per sim, she chooses favourite colour for the whole family!

This is a great idea, I think! :)

STEP 4 Bodyshop stuff

Ok, I hope it’s clear that I’m colour palettes addicted, now let’s move onto actual custom content and what I prefer adding to my game. I decided to divide CC by sections. Let’s start with Bodyshop.

4.1 Skintones

Another important thing that you need to choose for yourself. There are tones ofoptions. I’m going to recommend only MM skins as obviously I have no idea which realistic or semi-realistic ones are high quality.

screenshot by @deedee-sims

If you prefer trully maxis skintones, I recommend you to try Leh’s skintones. It’s super close to original ones in terms of shades. Also look at those button noses! These cute noses is the reason why I started using this skin back in 2014. But later I switched to Lilith’s feather as I wanted more variety and those noses there got a lovely shine.

It was my default skin for a lot of years. These days I own every possible skintone by Lilith and various blends by other people.

Lilith’s Alien Flavor

Lilith’s Android Skin Edit

Lilith’s Apple Pie Skinblend v.2

Lilith’s Apple Pie Skinblend

Lilith’s Apple Pie by Kahlena

Lilith’s Feather Skinblend

Lilith’s Feather Skins

Lilith’s Feather by Sim-Strangers

Lilith’s Feathers Colourful by Berrynooboos

Lilith’s Honey Supernatural Custom

Lilith’s Honey with freckles

Lilith’s Honey with no freckles

Lilith’s Honey Unnatural by Berrynooboos

Pixel-danger-sims pastel skins

Here’s a very handy set-up by Vimpse with Lilith’s skins being townified.

Try to choose one set of skins or download all of them by one certain creator. I need a lot of skins because I love creating tones of sims and I want to make them various looking.

4.2 Eyes

♦ Polaroid ♦ - my favourite

♦ Transcendental ♦

♦ Sleeping Lion ♦

♦ Sharp Eyes ♦

♦ Shallowed in the Sea ♦

♦ Hand Outs and Punch Ups ♦

These are just some of my eyes. There are some more by Poppet, by Kahlena. And I have various addons to these sets that I grabbed over and here. I remember having struggles of choosing only one set. But than I thought: why do I have to choose if I like all of them and want my sims to look as different as possible? I just love when they are cartoonish but high-quality with nice white clean sclera. Just look at Disney Rapunzel. You’ll see what I mean ^_^

There’s one little trick that most mm players do for making sims’ eyes bigger and rounder - adding a whiteline eyeliner by jesstheex. I personaly do it for every single sim of mine.

4.3 Makeup

I use tooooons of blushes, lipsticks and eyeshadows. I have everything by Lilith and Jesstheex. And lots of bits and bobs by various creators. I love using both matte or shiny textures. I sometimes add nose shine or use special nosemasks. There are various lovely things in my collection. What I can recommend you is to download a sim that you like by another creator with the help of Sims Clean Installer and just steal makeup from the sim to add to your collection *evil laughter* I recommend to do it because sometimes there are some mouth corners or various eyebags and etc which are difficult to find. It’s easier to grab them together with sims.

For example, I grabbed the shiny nosemasks from one of Lilith’s sims.

Sometimes I like adding a bit of shine on Sims’ noses. Some sims of mine don’t have shine. It really depends on a sim. But what I definitely like is cute button noses! I like using nosemasks to achieve that. I have all the masks by Lilith and these ones by kahlena.

4.4 Hair textures

Another important decision for you is the hair textures. I recommend you to choose one certain retexture. Back in the days, I used to have Remi’s textures

screenshot by @selenaq13

I liked Remi’s ones because they were non-shiny. They had maxis colours and a really cool yellowish blonde!

Receintly I switched to Simgarooped as I’ve always loved that there are 6 naturals. The yellowish blonde is still there! Plus my favourite Deedee-sims keeps updating every week with the retextures of new meshes <3

There are lots of various textures blends. Just search, download, play test. Think, if you’re ready to look at such type of hair hours of simming.

Also try to decide if you’d like to have more natural looking sims or go crazy and have supernatural/aliens. I used to have really bright sims with colourful skins and hairs.

Even my toddlers had unnatural hairs. It’s a lot of fun! But right now I prefer to create more natural looking sims though I like vampires/witches/aliens anyways!

screenshot by @honeylungsims

If you would like to have colourful supernatural sims, check out Honeylung! She has the brightest and most unusual supernatural sims <3

You’ll need a lot of face masks/bright lips/shadows. Check out @berrynooboos for the cutest alien CC.

4.5 Facial hair and Brows

I don’t think they should really match as long as they look great.

For example, I use eyebrows by @suratan-zir which are super cute and high quality but use Poppet’s textures instead of Simgarooped.

As for facial hair, I use some Poppet’s as well.

by Skoogy

by Poppet #1

by Poppet #2

by Simgaroop

4.6 Clothes

As I already mentioned, I love clothes in my favourite palettes. I love Simlish prints. There are so so many creators who share wonderful clothes.

I love @deedee-sims for age conversions, shoeswaps, morphs. I love @mdpthatsme for really cool 4t2 conversions. I love @moocha-muses for colourful T-shirts <3 Don’t be shy to send me a WCIF about a certain item of clothing.

STEP 5 Buy and Build

Tooons of bright recolours, IKEA items, Maxis add-ons, 3t2 and 4t2 conversions - all these things make my heart beat :D

These days I play in a rural-type world. I download a lot of craftsman-style build things, a lot of plants and garden deco.

I love bright wallpapers and greenhouses, I love clutter and kids CC for nurseries. Patterns with polka dots and plumbobs. Sunflowers and tulips. This is what I usually drop into my download folder :)

STEP 6 Taking screenshots

No matter which recolours and textures you prefer, I think high-quality pictures are important. The first thing that you need to playtest for yourself is a camera mod. It’s upo for you, but I can’t live without Gunmod’s Camera Mod. There are some more available, just check out.

Also lighting is important since Maxis original is terrible. I use Dreadpirate’s mod.

I recommend to take screenshots in a camera man mode. Click Tab to enter it. Use W, A,S,D,E buttons to move right/left/up/down etc. And what’s important, use X and Z for zooming in and out. I always use Z for example, when I take close ups of my cats.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with angles. Try some artistic ones.

You can move your camera down and take a screen from below.

Or vice versa from above.

Sometimes I’ll just take a screen of my sims’ hands or feet. It really depends. I love spending hours on just “walking” in a camera mod around my sims houses.

Another useful feature of this mod is to use Ctrl +4,5,6,7,8,9 buttons.

These can fix the angles for you. And after fixing them, when you click on 4,5,6,7,8,9 you camera will go back to those positions. It’s very handy when you want to screen 2 sims who are talking and there’s no need to constatntly move camera from sidde to side. Just fix it and wait for them to perform cute emotions!

As a bonus, you can fic positions in the life mode too. For example, I always choose a proper angle from above where the wgole house can be seen. And wait for something cute/funny/to happen.

Also there’s such a thing as The Rule of Thirds. It’s the rule of photography composition. I always try to follow it :)

STEP 7 Photoshop Editing

I love oversaturated colours. It can be too much for someone’s eyes, but I like the brightness :) I’ll share some good Photoshop resources. Probably, one thing that I can recommend to absolutely everyone no matter how bright you want your screens to be is sharpening! Seems that Tumblr eats our picture quality for breakfast. Sims screenshots seem so blurry to me. I love sharpening them first.

I use sharpening from Kalekaloo’s action.

After sharpening I run the base from Eversims Action and then add some colour layers from Simburgerr’s one (I like gradients and fluffy lights layers especially). It makes the reds colours a little bit too saturated but I think it’s cute!

There are a some more cute actions and PSD files out there:

OhMySims - Action 1

OhMySims - Action 2

Sterina’s Action

Photoshop PSDs by Pleyita

Snapdragoned PSD

Mandragore PSD by Kiinuu

JellyBeanery’s Action

Roguebotanist

Nnilou - 12:51

A generic PSD by Knowledgeaspiration

Colorize IT by Bonnypixels

Colour Crush by Bonnypixels

Just Like Heaven by Pixeldemographics

For more tips/palettes/cute fonts I recommend you to check out @bepixeled

That’s all that came to my mind. I hope at least something was useful!

#ts2 #sims 2 #the sims 2 #sims 2 tutorial #sims tutorial #sims guide #sims 2 guide

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dontmindmyshadowhunting · 3 years

Text

When Clary meets Ash (Fan Fic)

Hey :) this is how I imagine Clary and Ash's reunion (after the events of TDA) in the fic I am currently writing.

It's Chapter 5 of "The new Shadowhunter Academy" (Ao3 link to the full fic is here but don't click or skip Chapter 4 if you are not in for Kitty sexy times).

Thanks to @amchara for providing beta work and to @blaidr for letting me bounce my ideas off him.

To give you context, Ash met Dru in Faerie and they exchanged their numbers. Clary seized the opportunity to obtain Ash's number from Dru and write him the following text message:

“Hey, Ash. Dru gave me your number and please don’t be angry with her, I am very strong headed and there was absolutely no way she could have refused. I am Clary. You may have heard of me. I am your late father’s sister. That’s right, your aunt. You can call me whatever you like. Emma told me what you did in Thule, how you saved her. How you saved everyone. That was very brave of you. In a way, both of us were faced with a very difficult choice and made the same. Doing what we thought was right. I would love to meet you and tell you about my mother – your grandmother – or just talk about anything. It can be things totally unrelated to the Shadow world. Hobbies, movies, books and games we like. You can pick the time and place. Neutral territory. Hope to see you soon. Clary.”

This is what happens following the text:

*****

Clary wrapped her oversized woolen coat tighter around herself, as she made her way through the crowded streets of Manhattan. The route was familiar. She took it almost every week to meet up with her parabatai and have what they called their “mundane hour”. They talked about everything, from Clary’s art to the latest TV shows they had binge watched. No topic was off the table, save for anything related to Shadowhunter duties, and the Shadow world in general. As co-head of the New York Institute and since recently, artist owning her own gallery, her weeks were very busy so she looked forward to those rare and precious moments when she could escape with Simon. Her heart rate seemed to accelerate with each of her steps, and it didn’t help that she also had the strange feeling she was being observed. When she reached her destination, she took a deep breath and opened the double glass doors leading her inside the coffee shop. She and Simon had their regular routine there, and her gaze went automatically to their usual spot, near the large windows.

A broad-shouldered jock with a baseball jacket was already sitting there, speaking loudly to his cheerleader girlfriend. Two of his friends were standing next to him, mock punching his muscular arms. It made her realize that Ash probably never had this. High school friends and romance. Ash. She was still struggling to figure out why he had asked her to meet up at this place, at the exact time she usually got there with Simon. Was it him being considerate, a clumsy way to make her feel comfortable in familiar surroundings? Or was it a warning? I know your habits, and precisely where you take your coffee, when and with whom.

Her gaze swept over the crowded room - her heart seemed to have moved up her throat, the frantic pulse almost choking her - and zeroed on a tall, white blond haired boy ordering coffee at the counter, standing with his back to Clary. She sucked in a breath. Ash. He was fully clothed in black - Dru had told her that was his usual style - and huge headphones were covering his ears. She slowly and cautiously approached him and when she was close enough, put a tentative hand on his elbow. “Ash,” she whispered. The boy glanced over his shoulder, his blue eyes quizzical and… it was not Ash.

She mumbled an apology.

“Clary,” said a voice coming from behind, and she froze. It was not a boy’s but a man’s voice, the sound beautiful and ethereal. She just stood there for a few seconds before she slowly turned.

What had she expected? Merely a taller version of the young boy with pointy ears and a sour expression that she had met three years before, dressed in the same refined velvet clothing threaded with gold that identified him as fey royalty?

If so, she had clearly been mistaken.

She blinked a few times to make sure her mind wasn’t playing tricks. He was tall, as she had anticipated (Sebastian had been after all). At least two heads taller than her and probably taller than Jace. But he was also very different from the Ash of her memories, from the sketches she had drawn of him after they had crossed paths. He had amazingly grown into his features, his face now the best combination of the Seelie Queen and Sebastian’s. As if he had picked the most alluring colours of the palette. And the result was… Stunning. Clary’s hand twitched, aching for a pencil.

He was not dressed in black, but in plain blue jeans and he had stuffed his hands in a very elegant, long pale gray cashmere coat. His white blond hair and pointy ears were concealed under a deep green beanie, the same colour as the scarf around his neck.

He arched a silvery eyebrow at Clary, his expression bemused, and she realized she was staring.

“Clary, seriously?” he said, his gently scolding tone at odds with his enchanting voice. “This guy isn't even half as good looking as me." He glanced pointedly at the patron in question, who was gaping at him, and shrugged. "No offense, dude,” Ash added as an afterthought.

He turned his attention to the barista. She was beautiful, dark skinned with long braided hair and pouty lips. “Hello, gorgeous. We’ll have a double espresso with oat milk and a dash of cinnamon for the lady and a plain black coffee for me.”

Clary stifled a gasp and tried to hide her discomfort. He knew exactly how she took her coffee, and she didn’t know how she felt about this.

The pretty barista nodded eagerly, her cheeks red and her big dark eyes dreamy as she stared at Ash. “Why don’t you… Go sit at your table and I’ll bring you your beverages when they are ready?” the girl offered enthusiastically. The long line of patrons that had formed behind Clary and Ash would probably disagree but she didn’t seem to care.

“That would be lovely,” Ash said in his euphonious voice. “And so are you.” He winked at her, and Clary wondered if she would need to catch her while she swooned. He paid before Clary even had a chance to reach for her purse.

“Come,” he said in a commanding tone, as he made his way to Clary and Simon's usual table. This was unnerving.

The jock seated there paused in the middle of his conversation with his girlfriend when he saw Ash stand casually next to him. Clary braced herself for a heated exchange, but she should have known better.

“You want to sit somewhere else,” Ash said evenly, one hand inside the pocket of his designer coat and the other stretched out in front of him as he studied his fingernails.

“I want to sit somewhere else,” the jock repeated in a monotonous voice, his gaze blank. He stood, as if in a trance, and his girlfriend and friends followed him, puzzled, to an empty table at the far end of the room.

Ash drew a chair for Clary and she sat. He did the same, opposite her. He pulled off his beanie, and shook his silvery hair, like a crown of liquid white gold. He wasn’t dressed for the part but he had never looked more like a prince.

“Ash… please don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Your mind tricks.”

He cocked his head and observed her, his face unreadable, for what seemed like an endless minute.

“You’ve been my aunt for what? Five minutes? And you’re already trying to boss me around?”

“I am not trying to boss you around, Ash. Simply asking you not to abuse your powers.”

A shadow flickered across his green eyes.

“I’ll let you in on a secret, Clary. I spend much more time and energy holding back than using my powers. If I did let go, trust me, you would know.”

Clary opened her mouth to reply but was cut short as the barista popped in front of them and placed the mugs on the table. She slid a paper napkin to Ash, her phone number scribbled on it. Clary tried not to roll her eyes, as Ash flashed his dazzling smile at the girl, who almost tripped on her own feet as she returned to the counter.

Clary lifted her cup to her lips and paused, as she caught sight of the cinnamon powder floating on the surface. She put it down.

“What about this?" She pointed at her coffee mug and waved around them. “ What is it, if not a show of power? What are you trying to tell me? That you know everything about me? That you’ve been spying on me?”

Ash pulled on a fake shocked expression, mouth open and green eyes wide in mock innocence. “Spying on you? What are you talking about?”

“Come on, Ash. The evidence is right here.” She lifted her cup abruptly, and hot liquid splashed out of it. “You know exactly how I like it. When I take it, where I take it.”

Ash’s mouth twitched. “Where did you pick up these lines? From the script of some lame X-rated movie?”

“Adult movies have storylines?” Clary asked, arching her eyebrows.

“Of course they do. Where do you think the Grimm Brothers took their inspiration from?”

He grabbed the paper napkin and started mopping the coffee she had spilled on the table. The blue ink faded and the barista’s phone number vanished.

“You lost that girl’s number,” Clary noted.

Ash shrugged. “I have a girlfriend now.”

Right. Drusilla Blackthorn. From the moment she had met her, Clary had known that the smart and quiet turquoise-eyed girl would someday turn heads.

Clary knew that Dru hadn’t really confirmed their relationship status yet, but it was neither the time nor place to broach the subject with Ash. She was, after all, on a mission to win over her nephew and had not been doing a very good job so far.

A young lanky boy with pink hair and piercings covering his skin walked by and dropped a glossy flyer of the upcoming Mortal Instruments concert on the table between them. Clary hid a smile. It reminded her...

“I have something for you.” She said as she fumbled inside her bag and took out the drawing she had made of Jocelyn, Luke and herself, in front of Luke’s upstate farm (before it was turned into the new Shadowhunter Academy) and laid it on the table.

Ash looked at it hesitantly, like a kid who really wanted to grab the candy but was afraid there was a mouse trap under it. He hunched his shoulders forward and clasped his hands under the table, as if to keep himself from temptation.

“I recognize your art. I like it. I also appreciate Julian Blackthorn’s but I may not be as objective where… one of the subjects of his drawings is concerned.”

“You’ve seen my art?”

He leaned back on his chair, crossing his long arms behind his head. Somehow, he managed to make it look graceful.

“Which Shadowhunter hasn’t? I noticed that you often drew Jace with angel wings.”

“Yes. That’s how he used to appear to me. In recurring dreams.”

“Was it?”

“Was it what?”

“Jace. In your dreams.”

“Who else would it be?”

“Someone who looks like him, but who actually has wings.”

“You mean Kit.”

Ash shrugged. “It would make more sense.” His gaze flickered back to the drawing, which still lay on the table, untouched. “You look a lot like your mom.”

“So do you”, Clary blurted before she could take it back.

Ash shot her an unfathomable look.

“How is she?” She asked.

“You mean, the Seelie Queen? You tell me. You must see her more often than I do.”

“Well, not really. I am not that involved in politics, even though Alec is Consul. Julian Blackthorn is the one who deals with her most of the time. She appears to have... a fondness for him.”

“Who doesn’t?”

Clary’s mouth quirked up.

“I am glad you are getting along with the Blackthorns. They are such an incredibly strong and talented family.”

“They are.” He turned his face away, but not before she could see the expression of longing plain on his delicate features.

She swallowed. She was painfully reminded that Ash never had a shot at a happy family. Born of a political union, and dragged here and there, though interdimensional portals, by people more interested in his powers than anything else he had to offer as a person. And judging by how Dru talked about Ash, he had a lot to offer.

“I imagine it must have been awful living in Thule… But what you did for Emma and Julian back there... if it hadn’t been for you…”

“I don’t want to talk about Thule,” he interrupted her. “Can I borrow this?” He asked, his long fingers brushing the Mortal Instruments concert flyer.

“Sure.”

She watched as he started folding the paper, realizing with a jolt of surprise that he was making an origami and wondering what shape would come out of it. It was odd seeing him doing such an innocuous thing, as if he was not a faerie prince with a heavy heritage and a giant target on his back, but an ordinary boy. She remembered what Emma had told her of her encounter with Ash in a nightclub in Thule. The way he had shown no interest, playing a video game in a corner of the room, while Sebastian was committing atrocities. Had he really been as indifferent as he looked?

“Ash, we don’t need to talk about Thule if you don’t want to, but if I can help you… If there is anything I can do-”

“Why?” He looked up sharply. “Are you able to create a rune that could undo the things I saw?” His tone was even, but his delicate fingers had started slightly shaking and he suddenly dropped the paper - his work unfinished - to fold his hands under the table to hide it. From that moment, she knew.

“No…” Clary said, drawing the word out. “But trust me, coming from someone whose memory has been tampered with... it’s not a solution.”

“I said undo. Not forget.” He snapped. “I am not such a coward that I would choose blissful ignorance over knowledge.”

He caught himself, blinking, then clenched his jaw and looked away. As if he was ashamed he had allowed himself to show any emotion at all. But Clary had managed to catch a glimpse of what lay underneath the mask and wanted nothing more than to see the rest of it.

“I don’t think you are a coward,” she said.

He looked over at her, a silver eyebrow raised. “I let it all happen, didn’t I? I didn’t lift a finger.”

“Because you couldn’t. Sebastian would have killed you. And you, Ash, are just like me. A survivor.”

He snorted and crossed his arms in front of him, leaning back on his chair. He had stretched out his long legs and Clary realized that he was tapping a foot nervously next to hers.

“Wrong. I could have. I chose not to. Because I am selfish. I don’t care about other people’s fate.”

His face split into a lazy, wicked grin. Clary could see Sebastian’s influence in his leer, but she wouldn't let it deceive her. Just as she wasn't fooled by his laid-back demeanor.

“I think it’s the opposite, actually. I think it’s because you care too much. It’s not death you are afraid of. The thing is, you have such a tender heart, you need to protect it from an affliction far greater than any physical pain you could endure. So you’d rather lie to yourself and pretend you feel nothing.”

From the long conversations she had with Tessa about her ancestors, Clary knew of a Fairchild boy who had been too compassionate for his own good. And he had been surrounded by loyal friends and loving parents, even though he had shut himself, putting on a facade while burying his grief in alcohol. Ash never had that kind of support. Throughout his life, he was left to figure things out on his own. If he was as empathetic as Clary thought he was, Ash probably had no other choice but to deal with his sensitivity alone. It was a miracle he had turned out the way he did.

“You have a lot of imagination,” he said after a moment. The ghost of a smile was still playing on his lips but something had passed across his eyes. “Then again, you are an artist. You seek beauty in the ugly. You find colors on a blank page. I admire your faith, but in this case, there is nothing to see.”

Clary jutted her chin stubbornly and they held each other’s gaze - his green eyes glittering in amusement and hers dead serious - in a staring contest.

“Still,” he said when he finally broke, first. “I shouldn’t have lashed out at you. I am sorry.”

Clary softened. “Don’t be. I am glad you are finally showing your true self. You don’t need to wear your mask around me, Ash.”

He chuckled. “Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.”

“It’s funny that you would quote Oscar Wilde.”

“And why is that?”

She shrugged. “Just another thing you share in common with a Fairchild I heard stories about.”

“Clary,” he said in a gently reproving tone. Her name sounded like a caress in his melodious voice. “Are you being purposefully cryptic to arouse my curiosity?”

She moved closer, so she was sitting at the edge of her chair, and leaned forward, hands folded over the table.

“If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine,” she whispered. “Let me in. Shed all pretense.”

“I can’t promise you that,” he whispered back in confidence, leaning closer still so that their faces were inches from each other. “It’s like fabric that burns and melts into skin. If you peel it off, the skin goes with it.” He grimaced, reclining on his chair. “It won’t be a pretty sight. I don’t think even my level of hotness could sustain it.”

“Ash…” Clary said, sensing that she finally had an opening to say what she had been brooding over ever since she had learnt of Ash’s return from that forsaken land. “I wanted to tell you… I am sorry.”

Ash’s green eyes widened.

“Sorry for what?”

“I should have looked for you. I should not have given up on you.”

Ash’s jaw clenched and he looked away. “Don’t,” he said through gritted teeth. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“I do. Seb-...Ash, we...”

“What did you just call me?” He snarled. His eyes snapped back to her, suddenly cold as ice.

“Sorry, Ash. What I meant to say is… we are family."

“I already have a family.”

“I know that you care about Janus…”

“I don’t want to talk about him,” he cut her off.

“And we don’t need to. I just wanted you to know… I understand that he’s been like a father to you, and I don’t plan on moving against him, unless he strikes first or makes it impossible for me to overlook his actions.”

“Because of me?”

“Of course, because of you.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Ash… You are my nephew, my blood. You may not feel the same way about me, but that’s how I feel about you. I want you to know that, if things go wrong, for any reason, you can always turn to me. My home is your home.”

“What you are actually telling me is, Ash, if I kill the one person who has ever really cared about you - and it might definitely come to that - you can always grab my hand, still sticky and warm from his blood. Well, how nice of you. To quote Oscar Wilde again, true friends stab you in the front.”

“That’s not what I am-”

“Clary,” Ash interrupted as he stood. “Do not make me choose between you and him. Because…” Looking down at her, he swallowed hard, as if the words pained him. “Because you will lose.”

She knew exactly what he was telling her. Because they were the same in that way. Ruthless, even with their own blood, when it came to protecting their loved ones. If I had to choose between killing him and you, I would not hesitate. I would end you. Yet, despite his cold statement, despite his sharp and resolved tone, his eyes seemed to carry a deep regret.

“Ash, I understand what you're saying and I swear I am not trying to make you pick a side”, Clary said, suddenly desperate, as she mirrored him and stood. “Please don’t go. I am sorry I brought it up. We will stop talking about him. Starting now.”

“This was a bad idea. Never try to contact me again.” He drew his green beanie from the pocket of his coat and put it back on. He turned and strode toward the exit. She grabbed the family drawing that still lay on the table, stuffed it in her bag and followed him, half-running, as he was quickly losing here with his long legs.

“Ash! Please. Give me another chance. I am so sorry.”

He paused right outside the coffee shop, closed his eyes and sighed. “Don’t be. It didn’t change what I had planned to tell you anyway. I don’t want to know anything about you or your mother. I don’t want to have anything to do with either of you.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” she said, and he whipped his head around to look at her in surprise. “I know you were under house arrest. You probably had to break out of whichever place they were holding you in to come here. You wouldn’t have done that unless you wanted something. Something from me. Tell me, Ash. Tell me what it is.”

He turned his face away so she could not see his expression. A full minute passed and she had almost given up on receiving an answer, when he finally spoke.

“My fa… Sebastian. How different do you think he would have been if not for the demon blood?”

“Oh. Ash.” she whispered. She brought her knuckle against her sternum instinctively, as if to cover the gaping whole in her chest. “I saw him, you know. The brother I should have had. The father that should have raised you. If only for a few minutes.” She paused to bite back tears. “In those few minutes, he told us how to get rid of the Endarkened and said he was sorry. It’s not much to go for, but… that’s not all. I have recurring dreams of the green eyed boy that was robbed from us. And I know in my heart he would have been the best brother a sister could ever dream of.”

He was still looking away and she could see the sharp line, the stubborn set of his jaw. She wanted to hug him, to tell him she would not fail him again. That they could mourn her brother, his father, together. That he didn’t need to bear the anger at everything that was wasted alone.

He finally turned to look at her. A tear had escaped to run freely down his cheek. He had completely shed off his mask, and what Clary saw was like a stab in her gut. She shivered. Wordlessly, he reached for his deep green scarf and tied it gingerly around her neck. The way Sebastian had when they had walked down the streets of Paris. Ash looked nothing like her brother had then. His green eyes held an infinite sadness that spoke of a grief deeper, older than the short years of his life.

“It doesn’t change anything.” He said - she hadn’t imagined his beautiful voice could sound so hollow - and turned to leave.

“Ash, wait.” She grabbed him by the elbow and he froze. His eyes widened as his gaze zeroed on the fingers covering his coat, as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. She realized she had never touched him before.

“Clary, what do you want from me?” He asked in a tired voice.

“I just want to get to know you.”

“Trust me, you don’t. I am not the brother who was stolen from you. I cannot replace him. If anything, I am just like Sebastian was before me... my father’s broken toy. There is no way to fix me.”

“I don’t believe it for a second,” she said, almost frantic. “And I don’t want to find my brother's replacement, I want to get to know you! Ash. The real Ash.”

“I already told you. That’s not happening. Don’t ever try to contact me again. I am serious.”

“So that’s it?” She tried not to sound too whiny but panic was eating away at her stomach and she thought she would throw up. “You went through all this trouble spying on me, learning how I take my coffee to simply disappear from my life from one moment to the next?”

He gazed at her for a moment, his expression unfathomable. It seemed like an eternity before he finally spoke.

“I was not spying on you, Clary. I was merely following your stalker.”

“What? You were… protecting me?”

“Take care of yourself, Clary.”

He said as he stepped away from her and vanished into the crowd.

****

Clary threw herself in Jace’s arms as soon as he opened the door to their bedroom at the New York Institute. He froze, then started stroking her hair in a soothing gesture.

“Clary, what happened? Is everything okay?”

“No,” she said, her voice muffled against his chest.

“Tell me, Clary. What is it?”

She pulled away and wiped tears with the back of her hand. Jace’s face was a mask of shock. Clary couldn’t blame him. She almost never cried.

“I messed up.”

“What did you mess up?”

She walked to the bed and sat on the mattress. She took a deep breath, bracing herself for his reaction. “Ash. I met up with him earlier today.”

Jace tensed and his hands clenched into fists. “WHAT- Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you would have insisted on coming.”

“Damn right, I would have. And I would have been right, too. Look at you, you look miserable.”

“It’s my fault,” she said in a small voice. “I pushed him too far.”

Jace sighed and came to sit next to her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulder. “I am sure you did nothing wrong, Clary.”

“I thought- When I showed him the drawing… the way he looked at it, Jace. He is not indifferent. He cares.”

“What drawing?”

“The one I made of the family,” she said absently, as she grabbed her bag and started fumbling inside.

She sucked in a sharp breath. The drawing wasn’t there. Peeking out in its stead, and folded out of the flyer of the Mortal Instruments concert, were origami faerie wings. The Fairchild family symbol.

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monstersandmaw · 3 years

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Hi there. I've got lots of work in progress' I haven't gone back to in years, thing is I really like writing and want to get back into it but I just don't know how? I'm starting to think I might just not have what it takes to be a writer.

So as someone who is quite an extensive writer, what advice would you give to someone who desperately wants to write but won't ?

ooooof, Anon, your ask hit home with the accuracy of a flipping missile!! I know you’re not the only one struggling right now, and the key I think is to be a mix of very gentle with yourself and simultaneously just a little bit stern.

I burnt out completely in December 2020, and didn’t write anything for nearly five months, which was devastating. I’m a writer! That’s who and what I am. And I couldn’t do it??? I was deeply shaken by it, and I’m only just starting to claw my way back to my identity as a writer. I’ve had creative slumps before, but never a complete inability to write at all, and no one really... got it? I’ve had to postpone working on my novel, despite constant pressure from my family, which sucks.

I can’t tell you what will work for you for certain, obviously, but I can tell you what has helped me a bit, and hopefully something there will resonate, and you’ll be able to use it for your own struggles. Hang on in there, Anon!

First off, and I cannot stress this enough, you are still a writer. You don’t have to be sitting at the keyboard and typing actively all the time to call yourself a writer. You can be a writer while also taking a break, no matter how long that break is. If you want your identity to be that of ‘writer’, then you are. Tell yourself you are a writer, even when you’re not actively writing.

Force yourself to stop trying to write for a while. It sounds bonkers, and counterintuitive, but if you’re on a forced break, it might help recharge your energy. Tell yourself you’re not going to try and write for at least a whole month. Don’t open any WIP docs. Don’t re-read stuff you’ve got stuck on in the hopes that this time you’ll finish it. You’re on break, and you’ve given yourself permission not to be writing.

While you’re on your break though, feel free to use a little notebook or something to jot down any ideas you have, or snippets of dialogue/scenes etc., as scraps for the future. Just don’t try to make them into a big complete work just yet.

Read. Read lots of new books and stories. Push the boundaries of your usual genre comfort zones and try a new genre. Analyse the writing of these authors closely. Why do you like their style? What makes their style unique? Why does that sentence work so well, and why does that one feel flat or clunky? Be active in your reading, and it might trigger some enthusiasm for your own creativity. Hold onto that feeling, and see if you want to have another go after your break.

Write something for someone else. I took on some commissions recently, knowing I would be obliged to finish them, but I set a limit on the wordcount so I didn’t get super overwhelmed each time. (This is the ‘being a little bit stern’ part.)

Once your break is over (if you decide a break suits you in the first place!), write just one sentence and then walk away. Close the document and go and do something else. If you want to come back and write more later, then do. If not, you still wrote something. Do the same the next day.

Go outdoors if you can and think about your story somewhere else. Perhaps the change of environment will make it feel more refreshed. Take a notebook with you and write somewhere else. It might even feel like a treat!

Make sure you’re comfortable when you’re going to write. Turn your phone off, disconnect your laptop from the wifi, have some water or tea or whatever nearby, go to the bathroom first, put a jumper on or open the window. Just... give yourself permission to write for the joy of it. Remember why you wanted to tell these stories in the first place.

If you’re still not really feeling it, try creating character moodboards on Pinterest, or colour palettes for your characters, abstract watercolours, or whatever creative medium you fancy. Draw maps of the world, or just try and be creative within the universe of your stories without writing them.

Try a writing exchange with another author.

Take writing prompts for ten sentence drabbles or something.

And if none of that helps, forgive yourself for not having the energy to be creative in this way at the moment. Find a way to let go of the guilt and self-flagellation that a lot of creatives go through when their main focus isn’t playing ball. It’s ok to go into a creative slump, and it can take a long time to come out of it.

Hopefully some of that is helpful? It sucks, it really really sucks, when you’re not able to do something you love for whatever reason. Check out my ‘writing advice’ tag because I’ve written a few posts on creative block/writer’s block/creative hibernation before, and I might have missed some points in answering this.

Good luck, and go gently with yourself.

#writing advice #creative slump #writer's block #writer's problems

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lethendralis-paints · 4 years

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Artist Meme

Was tagged to answer this set of interesting questions by @kourvo

(original post is here: https://kourvo.tumblr.com/post/621355098110640128/artist-meme

Thank you so much for that!

Let’s see....

1) What is the character you've drawn the most (Can be original or fanart)

This precious boy. I can never get enough of him. One of the most compelling characters I have ever come across. Love everything about Fenris and can relate to him on so many levels!

2. What colour do you often use?

Gray and brown are my faves. And all other colours have the same chance of appearing in my artwork :D

3. Any colour you are bad at using?

I don’t think so...I love them all, even the pinks and yellows people usually find hard to incorporate into a colour palette. Tell me in the comments if I’m wrong :)

4. When drawing people, where do you start?

Funnily enough - either with the front of the hairline or with the left eyebrow. Don’t ask me, why - I don’t know myself.

5. What is a character only your eraser will love?

Hmmmm...any sort of villainous character. I can’t draw evil people convincingly. I’m a huge softy at heart.

6. Which of your works took the longest time?

Big scale commission I did for @pikapeppa, featuring all the Inquisition companions, along with Fenris, Rynne and Carver Hawke. That one took almost 3 weeks, due to its sheer scope and my relative lack of experience in such large works. Pika was extremely patient with me though, for that I am eternally thankful!

7. What techniques do you use when you want to improve in drawing?

Classical art studies. Varying my technique, themes I choose and software I use. I try to experiment and go outside my comfort zone often.

8. What do you think of the art of the person who gave you this ask meme?

I adore Lillymon’s technical skill, refined style and limited colours! She is a huge inspiration for me!

9. What art tools/media are you good with?

DrawPile, Photoshop, graphite pencils and liners. That’s about it :)

10. Art tools/media you are bad at?

Traditional paints. I have no formal artistic education and my lack of knowledge comes to the forefront whenever I have to paint on a real canvas. It’s so much trial and error, you can’t even imagine....

11. What do you think about your own art?

Lately it’s one of the last few things that were bringing me joy. I hope I won’t lose the passion for it. Because at this point I’m not sure I’ll be able to find some occupation I will be genuinely interested in and good at it. I don’t know if me gravitating towards moody fantasy art speaks about my fear of facing reality. If so, idk what to do with that. I do hope to develop my skills and being able to support myself financially as an artist.

12. Do you consult references for your drawings?

Yes. A lot of them. Anatomical atlases, schemes for both academic and manga art, photographs found online and taken on my own, copying colour palettes from classical art - anything goes. I think it’s essential to develop your technical skill.

13. What do you like about your art?

Lately - consistency, both in terms of produced results and in sticking to the timelines I set to myself. I hope this lasts. I would also like to branch out to other themes and not confine myself to quirky fantasy characters, so I’m working on developing my own story behind the scenes (spoilers) :P

14. What habits do you have while drawing?

Only the bad ones, lol. Hunching forward in front of the screen, forgetting to eat, drink and letting my eyes rest. Tilting my head to the side instead of rotating the canvas....I’m an idiot XD

15. Are you good at drawing faces facing right?

I think that’s the thing I’m good at!

16. How frequently do you draw?

For the last 1,5 years - almost every day without fail, for good or ill.

17. What do you do when you have artist's block?

Change occupation and work myself into a depressed state. I changed work places in the last few years a lot, working as an interior designer, draftsman, textile designer, a cook, a bartender to name a few.

18. What must you have when you draw?

No commotion around me and a cup of some hot beverage.

19. Do you have a lot of stray lines (messy lineart)?

In the starting stage of my work process - yes, like you wouldn’t believe! If it’s a personal doodle, I sometimes just leave in as am under layer and draw clean lines on top of that mess. It looks cool in a way.

20. What is drawing to you?

An essential part of what helped me to retain my sanity in the last year and a half. Hopefully a lasting profession that will help me pay bills and survive on my own, if my life falls apart entirely later.

21. Your art goal from now on?

Broaden the themes I depict, improve my technical skill, work on personal creative project and not only fan arts. And most of all - not giving up on it this time.

22. Artists you've had influence from?

To name a few: @kallielef @kourvo @shayafury @fairsparrow who I met here on Tumblr, and many others who I follow and zealously study their works for clues on how to improve my own work.

23. Artists you like?

I am following them all either here or on Instagram, I also do my best to share their works on my side blog!

24. Which is easier to draw, humans or animals?

It was animals earlier. But now that I started to diligently study human anatomy, I would say it evened out! I’m quite confident drawing humans/humanoids now!

25. Show us an old drawing

My first digital drawing from 2010 when I first bought my tablet!

26. What is the charm-point of your art?

I ummm....I don’t really get the question? Is that like the the strongest suit of me as an artist? Intense expressions maybe? Idk. Let me know in the comments :D

27. What is the first thing you would draw if we're talking about fantasy?

Broody warriors, he-he

28. Please draw your most beloved character:

Here’s a sneak-peek of me drawing him right now! :D

29. When thinking of characters is it mostly female? male? or androgynous/no sex?

I usually gravitate towards depicting strong-willed, caring, passionate, brave, honest men and women.

30. What did you draw yesterday?

Started cleaning up that sketch from the last question, actually!

31. What is the funnest part to draw?

A circle. Mostly because you’d die laughing seeing my struggle to draw a believable one XD

32. What part of other people's drawings do you notice first?

colours, mood, eyes, hands.

33. Regarding backgrounds, what is your method of making it easier to draw?

pick your favourite textured brush, find a good reference for mood and colour scheme, zoom out, squint your eyes and start slapping colours like mad. You’d be amazed at how much you’ll be able to achieve in 30 minutes with this approach. Bare white background is the enemy - destroy it! >:)

34. What colour coordinations do you like?

Gray or brown as a main colour and then deep, earthy, saturated colours to complement the main one. Pink and orange is the combination I strangely enjoy using lately too.

35. What character did you last draw? Fenris and Eris :)

36. Does your style change easily?

I don’t think so. More like it’s evolving slowly into something more serious and deliberate.

37. What part of drawing do you pay most attention to?

Facial expression, body movement, mood and light effects. Not so much the composition and framing, he he.

38. How do you feel about drawing adult art?

Tbh, I don’t consider straight up porn to be ‘adult’ exactly. To me adult art means aiming towards serious topics, exploring complex emotions and ideas, being honest with your viewer. I did doodle a few more steamy sketches of my OTP just to see if I could, but it was definitely a tongue-in-cheek kind of a artwork that I don’t take seriously.

39. Do you like criticism from others?

If it’s friendly and in done in private - I welcome it always.

40. How many people do you normally draw per artwork?

1 or 2. Rarely more. Crowded battle scenes are definitely not my thing :D

This was fun! Tagging forward to @shayafury @schoute @stella-minerva @nug-juggler @kallielef and anyone else wishing to go through such a long questionnaire!

#artist meme #art questions #art style #lethendralis rambles #my art

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whatzaoverwatch · 4 years

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The Reaper of the Opera Chapter 8: Masquerade

Beginning of Act 2! Probably one of my favourite scenes from both the stage play and the film. Masquerades have always been my passion especially since my parents got me a mask straight from New York. I hope everyone is enjoying the story so far.

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Few Months Later

The Opera House was brightened by esteemed guests and party goers as they entered the building with delight. A masquerade was being held to celebrate the end of a triumphant season. People dressed in costumes and masks of various patterns and colours. After the incident that befell the theatre months ago, the Reaper had yet to make his appearance. No notes, no accidents, not even an unsettling presence was felt among the performers. Had the Reaper finally made himself scarce of the lives of the Overwatch Opera House?

That is the hopes between the two very enthused men that greeted every one of their guests with a smile. Reinhardt, with his delighted grin as he held onto a lion’s mask with every bow and handshake he took part of. Torbjorn was less spontaneous than his friend with his more composed greetings with his frowning mask. Both suited up in tuxedos and ready to celebrate the evening away. A roaring laugh came from Reinhardt as he patted Torbjorns back.

“Ah my friend, the night is perfect for this celebration! I cannot wait to show our guests my dance moves. Especially to Madame Amari.” He chimed with delight, eager to get his hands on the beer and alcohol they were serving inside.

“Perish the thought knowing how you move,” Torbjorn muttered to himself, only to pat his friends arm in return, “But I do not see the harm in having a little fun. Things have gotten successful since our ghost friend had disappeared. Maybe the bastard had finally learned his lesson.”

“Come Torbjorn! Enough talk of ghouls and ghosts! Let us make ourselves acquainted with the beer as we have with our guests.” Guiding him inside the theatre, they easily made their way to grab a few drinks.

Everyone had come in attendance to the festivities. Hana, who had since recovered from her vocal disruption, was dressed elegantly in a pink and blue ballgown and a bunny mask in hand. Accompanied by Lucio, who was more suited with a vest and dress shirt combo with a frog mask on the side of his face. Even the dancers were greeted to the ballroom to their delight. All dressed to their own preferences and masks themselves. Lena with her girlfriend Emily, was quick to introduce her to Amelie and her husband Gerard. Fareeha was alongside Ana, as they remained observers with Jesse.

The incident was far too great for Jesse’s left arm to recover. Angela informed him that the shots struck some vital nerve points. He could never use his arm again, leaving it in a rather metallic cast that took time to properly control. It was clear that he was still struggling to use it as he nearly dropped his drink in his hold. Quickly caught by the ever so watchful Ana. She was sure to keep an eye on him and allow him to keep his job at with the company. Since the incident, he was left rather quiet and bitter to what he had witnessed. Knowing he had questions that were left unanswered. Sparing a few glances over to her every once in awhile, as if he wanted to ask her something. But anytime he attempted to bring the subject up, she was quick to make her leave.

Among the crowd was you alongside Genji and Hanzo. The brothers tailored to their own yukatas. Dragon like masks to compliment their own palettes. Since that evening of tragedy and confession, you had been living with the two brothers. While the older brother was a bit reluctant to having you stay, he started to grow accustomed to you overtime. Never getting in his ways and finding time to help him with any cooking or cleaning. Although Genji insisted that you didn’t, it cleared your mind from the times you had returned to the opera house. Hanzo rarely showed his emotions around you, but you felt him lower his guard around you overtime. You had learned about what had happened between the two brothers and what made Genji they way he was today. It was a lot to take in, but you knew that Genji had suffered just as much as you had in the times you were apart. Surprised that Genji had forgiven him, but knowing he had overcome his hatred in his absence.

You found it a miracle that they had chosen to return to rekindle their brotherly bond and mend their troubles. Overtime with your stay with Genji, he had popped the question to you. It was almost a dream as he took you to the cherry blossoms you adored when you were little. Leaving you shocked as he got down to one knee under the sakura tree. With the whispers faded from your mind, you were free to make your own choices. Gently tracing the ring around your necklace, a small smile formed on your lips to the dragon craved ring grasping a tiny diamond within its teeth. It was Hanzos’ suggestion to keep the engagement private. The press was keen on prying into your social life, so the news would cause your privacy to dissipate completely. They were the last things you wanted to have upon you after everything that happened. You wore a black and white halter dress that exposed your backside. A black and white feathered mask rested on your face with little rhinestones that resembled stars.

A gentle tug from your arm was felt by the one who linked his with your own. Looking up to see Genji giving you a sweet smile at your own. Unable to hide the blush growing on your cheeks from his admiration. Giving you a subtle wink, he turns to Hanzo with a smirk.

“Why don’t you go socialize brother? Perhaps you may find someone suited to your type.” Watching the older brother leer at him.

“Are you only saying this to have privacy with [Name]?” He looks over at you, making you sheepishly plant your gaze to the ground. Hearing him sigh, he crosses his arms, “At least be on your best behaviour for once.”

“We are not children, Hanzo.” Genji pouts, letting Hanzo pass you two. He stopped to place a hand on your shoulder with a knowing look.

“Keep an eye on him for me.” You nodded with a smile, patting his gloved hand gently for assurance. Letting him leave as Genji merely snorted.

“Even now, he still thinks I will cause him nothing but trouble.” He sighs, running his fingers through his hair. You tugged his arm lightly to draw his attention away.

“He only worries about you; it’s what siblings do. I am glad he still cares after all that has happened.” Reminding him, he eyes your ring resting upon your collarbone.

“I only wish that I can tell people of our engagement,” looking discouraged, watching it glimmer in the lights, “Why can’t I show how much I love you? Even for just one night.”

You took his hand, raising it to your lips and placing a gentle kiss upon his knuckle. Knowing that everyone was distracted in their own chatter to see the display of affection. Letting the tension in his body ease at your peck. Squeezing his hand softly, you comforted him with your smile.

“I already know how much you love me Genji. I promise after tonight, we can finally tell people,” You whispered, “But let us not talk about it now. I want us to enjoy ourselves.”

He looked uncertain at the thought of waiting just a little bit longer. Although he didn’t wish to force it, he just wanted to assure that the rest of your life with him would be filled with love and devotion. He shared his upmost affection in privacy, so waiting a few more hours wouldn’t hurt.

“Of course, my blossom.” Keeping his hold on you, he guided you to where some of the guests began to dance around the main area.

Various fans and masks seen with each twirling companion. Dancing and singing to the music filling the theatre. Drinks and laughter shared among the groups observing. Even people trying to partner up to join the dancing was seen. Reinhardt trying to persuade Ana into dancing, much to the amusement from the people around them. It seemed to be a peaceful evening to behold. But all good things come to an end at some point.

The lights flickered vigorously, the doors opening wide from the powerful wind from the outside. Only to shut them tight and lock everyone inside. The music drowned by a wave of organs. Confusion and tension rose between everyone. A sudden scream was heard from the top staircase as a new face appeared before the crowd.

A man dressed in red, wearing a skull face stood at the top of the staircase. A feathered hat rested upon his had with a red cape upon his backside. Carrying a shotgun in his hand and a book in the other. Fear and terror loomed over the crowd as red death stood before them. You had felt every part of you freeze up at the familiar aura. Everyone's smiles and cheers were no longer heard as they knew who this man was. The Reaper of the Opera had returned.

His blackened gaze looking over the audience. Looking over the crowd in sinister amusement. Smoke escaping the teeth of the mask for every breath he took. Although hidden behind the mask, he could see the various looks of horror and disbelief at his presence. Stepping down the staircase slowly, he chuckled at their reactions with open arms.

“Why so silent, good Messieurs? Did you think that I had left you for good?” He hummed, his voice carrying around everyone with a deceitful sense of comfort, “Forgive me of my absence, I was preparing you an Opera to perform.”

Tossing the book towards Lucio, he scrambled to grab it as he looked at the contents inside. A score and script written with complete detail of what needed to be done. Planned and constructed every so carefully as if he had worked on this for years. Reaper raised his gun up, a silent threat to what he could do to anyone who opposed. Gently resting the side of it with his other hand.

“I suggest you follow what it says with complete obedience. There are more tragedies that await you than just a broken arm,” Turning his attention to an angry Jesse, who was merely held behind a concerned looking Ana. Continuing his steps, he halted before Hana and Lucio, “I do have more specific instructions before rehearsals start. For starters, Hana will have no part in the upcoming performance. The eager little rabbit has taken her course far too long for my liking.”

Taken back by his words, Lucio kept her steady from his words. Watching the man descend down the stairs, Genji kept close to you knowing the two of you awaited at the bottom steps. He was keen on staying by your side, until his attention was grabbed by Hanzo. Watching his brother beckon to his place quickly, he was hesitant to leave you at this very moment. Looking over at your frozen gaze, he hated the thought of leaving you exposed to this man. Parting away from you, he quickly joined his brother to see where he was heading. Disappearing into the crowd, leaving you on your own for just a moment. Reinhardt and Torbjorn were set to approach Reaper before his gun pointed towards them. Halting them from trying to take him down.

“I also advise my managers to remember who exactly runs this theatre. Know your places before you decide to run your mouths.” He warned, watching Reinhardts face look of terror while Torbjorn remained stubborn as ever. Looking down the staircase, his eyes finally found themselves upon you. You could feel him taking you in as every part of you was tempting you to go to him.

“As for our beloved star, Miss [Name]. No doubt she will do her best. Her voice is good, but it could excel if she lets it,” Praising you while also scolding you, he gestures with his free hand to your presence, “If only she will return to me, her teacher, I can continue to let her voice grow to further heights. To be my Angel of Music once more.”

Everyone’s attention drew to you. The reveal of your teacher finally being exposed. The source of your talent residing just halfway down the stairs. Hushed whispers and looks were drawn upon you. But your focus remained on him. Watching the soulless gaze upon you hardening. Even if you could truly see him, you could feel those dark eyes yearn for you. You approached ever so slowly, watching his gun lower as he moved down the stairs. His form towering over yours as you let your guard down. As if some part of him still lured you to his side.

You could never confess that you had missed his teachings, recalling how he took you away to bring light into his darkness. As much as he was to be feared, he was only ever gentle with you. He only wanted you to sing his songs. But you felt as if there was something more, something else that he wanted from you. To be with him, to be by his side.

It was almost as if you had forgotten everything else until he looked down to the ring. The glimmering reminder of who you devoted yourself to. The dragons glare mocking him of what he couldn’t have. Smoke seen around his form as his vulnerability was sealed back up. A growl escaped him as the grasped the ring and snatched it away. The chain snapping as he held the engagement ring in his hand. Startling you from his change of demeanour.

“Your chains are still mine; you belong to me!” He hissed. Leaving you wide eyed as a shout came from behind you.

“Don’t touch her!” The voice of Genji came up as he had returned with a blade in hand. Hanzo by his side with a bow to aim for Reaper. Very much prepared on their part given their past as they were waiting for this moment.

Not fast enough as he made his way back up the stairs with a laugh. Sending shots into the air to cause the crowd to scatter in fear. Causing a distraction for the two men to hesitate their strike. Shadows forming around him as he escaped into the floor on the steps. Genji running ahead, letting Hanzo stay by your side as he tried to slip into the escape. You were still left there to hold a hand to your collarbone to where he grabbed the ring. Just as Genji was about to reach him, the Reaper had finally disappeared. Jesse approached Genji quickly to see his gaze upon the closing floor below them.

“He’s getting away!” Genji cursed while McCree placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Come on, I know where he might’ve gone,” As he turned to go down the staircase, Ana stopped in front of them both. Keeping them from running, “Get out of our way Ana, I don’t need you to coddle me about my arm.”

“I can’t let you go after him, McCree.” She spoke behind the cat like mask she wore. Genji stepping in with a confused look.

“Why not? We should follow him before he attacks anyone else.” He states, trying to pass Ana before she held out her cane.

“He won’t do that unless you follow his words.” She finally claimed, drawing the attention of everyone around her. Even Fareeha was taken back by her mothers’ words.

“What do you mean by that?” She asked. Jesse cursed lowly with a glare to the older woman.

“Ana, what are you hiding? You know who he is don’t you” He questioned, watching the woman’s gaze falter with guilt. The managers approached in complete shock.

“What?” Reinhardt looked broken with a sense of betrayal appearing on his face. Torbjorn scowled as he approached Ana with a sneer.

“I knew it, he couldn’t have done all of this alone. He had an associate this entire time!” He stated. The look of horror now presented on everyone’s face. Anas attention now towards the shorter man.

“I will not be associated with what he has done,” Seeing the eyes fixated upon her, even as the men lowered their weapons from losing the Reaper. No longer able to hold her facade before everyone. She gripped her cane with resentment, sighing as she lifted her mask slowly, “I’m afraid there is much I have to talk about. Come, I will tell you everything that I know.”

To be continued

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the-cat-at-the-theatre-door · 4 years

Photo

Demeter x Alonzo

Requested by anonymous

If you would like some history/explanation of the blurry gifs, I’ve provided it under the cut.

Anon asked: i’m really curious about any alonzo and demeter you might find? if not then its ok but i’m super curious ever since we’ve gotten some bombastrap and that smol discussion about other demeter pairings lol

Oh, boy, anon, I am so glad you asked for this because I have been dying to talk about Demeter x Alonzo for forEVER, because it’s one of my absolute favourite CATS pairings. Here are a couple of examples I’ve dug up for you!

Okay, so, gif explanation because, I know what you’re thinking (and yes, I am one of those fans that make, like, two pixel gifs and lose my mind over pairings. I have to make the best of what I’ve got, alright?), but I swear, these are all examples of Demeter/Alonzo, and the reason why I know this is because of the explanation I will give in a second.

GIF 1 - London, circa 1991

In many 80s and early 90s versions of “Macavity” (mainly in the US and other non-English productions, ex. early Mexico, the original Vienna production, early Hamburg productions (I believe), etc. ), Alonzo was on stage during the first half of the number. Alonzo would directly shadow Demeter’s movements and later dance briefly behind Bombalurina before ducking out.

This one is a bit of an outlier, because it was part of a London based performance. Important to note that London productions rarely (if ever? I don’t think they ever did…) had Alonzo/Demeter as an implied pairing. London based replicas follow this pattern. So it’s a little strange they duplicated the Broadway/European shadow dance for this number, but hey, I’m here for it. (I chose this section specifically because of the reach and head tilt).

What I find interesting about this shadowing, is how Alonzo shadows Demeter’s part of the routine nearly step for step, beat for beat, while with Bombalurina, he falls half a step behind and seems moreso to be responding to what she is saying about Macavity visually. This doesn’t necessarily suggest anything, but I find a lot of CATS fans seem to appreciate when individuals shadow/copy one another as indicative of their ship (Tugger/Misto) or a familial relationship (Skimble and Teazer), so regardless, at the very least it demonstrates a close visual connection.

GIF 2 - Vienna, circa 1988

Early Broadway productions had Alonzo and Demeter strongly implied to be a couple throughout the show, and Alonzo took over the majority of the fight against Macavity (more on that in a second). Alonzo also had a different colour palette than the black and white you may be used to (he is brown, black and gold), which makes it harder to distinguish him, but not if you know what to look for.

Examples from Hamburg:

And Broadway/US Tour:

The original Vienna production, being a replica(ish) production of Broadway, followed in these footsteps. Here, after Alonzo drags Demeter away from Macavity and checks on her, she runs back to attack him, Alonzo lunges after her, but Bombalurina struggles to hold him back.

GIF 3 - Berlin, circa 2004

During the “Whirlygigs” section of the ball, Alonzo and Demeter hold hands during the back steps (They are the only two dancers to do so out of the rest of the crowd.)

(Berlin seems to have done this throughout the 2002-2004 run. Both of the Berlin examples I have are odd ones, because Berlin seemed to be doing moreso of a London replica at this time, as evidenced by costuming and certain bits of choreography. But hey, I’m not complaining)

GIF 4 - Vienna, circa 1989/1990

Okay, so, you can tell if the production is moreso a Broadway replica or a London replica depending on how the fight with Macavity goes (and a couple of other things as well, including who the boys dance with in the “Boys Come In” section, but I digress). In the London production (which the 1998 video and a handful of other productions replicate, depending on the year), Munkustrap does most of the fight scene, only getting knocked out at the very end, with Alonzo briefly taking his place and then the rest of the cats. Since the release of the video, most productions followed suit with this.

However, in the OBP, Munk is knocked out early on, and Alonzo takes up the majority of the fight scene instead. Besides London, most replica productions all over the world in the 80s and 90s followed suit.

This is usually (note: not always, but usually) indicative that the cat that Demeter goes to check on and cuddle with is Alonzo during the blackout period. How can you tell for sure? Well, you can’t in these old videos, but I have taken visual clues (i.e. colour, dancer position, lack of armwarmer/striping/etc) to come to the conclusion that that is, in fact, Alonzo.

See this photo of an early Hamburg production as a clearer example:

GIF 5 - Paris, circa 1990

Same deal. Munk is knocked out of the fight earlier on, leaving Alonzo to take up the rest of it, thus Demeter goes to thank him for saving her. I love how the actor pulls her tail closer to his face, because it looks like such a comforting himself motion. (This is def Alonzo due to wig shape and lack of stripes. Munk’s wig was very distinctive in the original Paris production)

GIF 6 - Madrid, circa 2004

Madrid is a strange outlier, too, because, while the “Boys Come In” section has Demeter dancing with Alonzo (He also does the lift section with her which I can also GIF because it deserves its own set), and generally (save a few exceptions) paired them together otherwise, the actual Macavity fight is a London replica. So I guess Madrid just really liked Bombastrap and Demlonzo regardless of replica or not.

Alonzo also dances with Demeter in this section in Mexico (1991ish):

(That’s them on the right)

GIF 7 - Madrid, circa 2004

K…ki…kisses. (This is just before they start Gus the Theatre Cat, right after “The Moments of Happiness”).

GIF 8 - Berlin, circa 2004

Damn, Berlin, back at it again with the hand holding and longingly looking at each other while letting go. (Except then Alonzo goes in for the seductive oven lean). He’s like…super in love with her, you guys.

As with a couple of other things, the popularity of the London based 1998 Video has shifted this pairing over to the wayside, with most recent replica productions and revivals replacing it with Demestrap instead (Including the 2016 Broadway Revival and the Vienna Revival). A shame, really.

#demlonzo #CATS Musical #CATS the Musical #CATS Madrid #CATS Germany #(Berlin)#CATS Paris 1989 #CATS London Revival #CATS Vienna 1983 #Demeter #Alonzo #catsedit #my posts #we have opened pandora's box here now i will never shut up about demeter/alonzo you have been warned #(i'm kidding but seriously i love this pairing so much)#i am still working on these i like to find lots of different moments and things so it takes me a bit

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