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pink-onyx-au · 8 months

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[Jump to the Episode Master List]

Nap time! Thank you everyone for your continued support and interaction! I adore it and it adds so much more to the AU than you could know. This is a heads up on some minor down-time for the blog while I rest up and prepare the next episode.

Notes and asks are still open and encouraged during this time! Bored and want to chat? Send me a message!

To see some WIP, storyboard previews, doodles, shitposts, and other projects I’m working on, along with a healthy amount of 3am memes, head over to my trash fire blog, Ceephor’s Shit Show. The "pink onyx au" tag will filter everything for you, along with showing you fabulous fan art made by others that I just love to pieces.

Speculation and theories are encouraged! The comic is designed as close to the show’s logic as I could muster, which means many secrets are staring right at you, provided you know what to look for! Just be kind to one another.

Comic FAQ:

What is this? Pink Onyx AU is a Steven Universe AU focused on interactions between Steven and Jasper and is intended to be read after you have finished Steven Universe Future, as it contains many many spoilers for the series. If you have watched it already, great! Welcome! The goal is to bring you a Jasper redemption arc that we couldn’t get due to time and cooperate restraints on the Crewniverse. I hope you enjoy!

I do not own these characters or their likenesses except for the single fluffy thembo fusion I created for the story. This is just a fan comic.

Comic is PG-13 for some angsty themes, minor blood, violence, and gem-cussing.

When do you post? Typically when you see this post pinned, I’m on a bit of a break, but when Nyx wakes up (this post goes away) the comic is due to be released 1 page at a time at 7am EST most days. I try for a daily release. Sometimes I skip a day if I’m behind. Episode release dates are always announced ahead of time by a few weeks.

Is this a romantic ship AU between Jasper and Steven? Nope, more like an aunt and her nephew trying to figure it all out. No romance between these two here.

Is your Tapas updated at the same time? Nope, tumblr comes first, and the tumblr will always have bonus content which Tapas will not. The Tapas for this updates after the tumblr version is completed. Usually same day or within a day.

Curious about the characters? Check below the cut for more a detailed FAQ about the inner workings of the story. Love you all! See you soon! 🧡💕❤️

FAQ’s about the characters generated via interactive asks:

What kind of fusion is Pink Onyx? Are they good or bad? Pink Onyx is a fusion of a protagonist and an antagonist, so their alliance is yet unknown, but they have Steven’s good heart and Jasper’s loyal nature. They also have Steven and Jasper’s flaws, so they can be volatile and emotionally explosive at times, too.

What are Pink Onyx’s pronouns? Onyx likes they/them, but also answers to he/him and she/her, especially when Steven or Jasper is dominant over one another. They also seem to take on a fluid role and prefer a she/her when in a caretaker status. They dislike it/its.

What does Pink Onyx sound like? Personally, I hear them as a youthful, masculine tone. Like Steven if a little older. But I also enjoy when people say they hear them as a gruff, Amazonian-type feminine. I enjoy and endorse both.

Do Jasper and Steven enjoy being fused to one another? For now, it is a struggle, but they enjoy what the other brings to the fusion even if they won’t say it.

Does Pink Onyx need to eat and do human things? If so, do they enjoy it? They don’t need to do them, but they do feel the discomfort without them. Things like breathing, eating, and sleeping are optional for Onyx, but they will become quite irritable if not allowed to do them. They greatly enjoy sleeping and trying new foods.

What does Jasper think about having human organs when fused? She’s pretty grossed out by the idea of organic matter going into her mouth and coming out of other places. The heart beating and lungs breathing she can feel for the first time, and it is highly strange for her to experience.

What is Pink Onyx’s favorite food? They adore anything watermelon flavored and Cookie-cat ice cream products

Does Pink Onyx have any special fusion powers? They do, and as they learn about themselves, more powers seem to come out. Each of their base component appears to be enhanced in a unique way. They have Pink Diamond at their core, so the destructive potential is also there.

Why is Steven hiding Pink Onyx from others? This AU occurs directly after the events of "I Am My Monster", so Steven is very emotionally, and mentally, raw. He fears judgement for running back to Jasper, who in the past, was part of so much trauma he already endured.

Pink Onyx seems to know nothing about human culture and gem culture despite being a fusion. What’s going on? Jasper and Steven agreed to fuse, but they have yet to open up to one another about much else. The fusion exists because they agree to do so, but Jasper won’t open up about her emotions, and Steven is so sensitive yet that he is not sharing because he knows Jasper won’t want to hear it. This causes Onyx to be unable to access both of their memories easily, but they can bring it out with enough effort.

#pink onyx au #steven universe au #steven universe #steven universe future #c423art #ceephorart #pink onyx #fusion #jasper #steven #Nyx nap #faq

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greypetrel · 4 days

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WIP Wednesday Thursday

Tagged by @salsedinepicta and @hollytree33, thank you very much! <3 It's the next day, but Glaze didn't want me to post yesterday apparently. And yes I toggled all the options but "to trust is good, not to trust is better".

Some expression chart of Aisling, this time in Whale AU shores. Top right one is my favourite, and it isn't really her if she's not crying in at least three ones.

Going on with the symbolism one, I'm kinda stuck over the object for Miss Trash Raccoon. I'd put a trashcan but I already painted one in the chart.

A collage from my sketchbook: I was in the dukedom of Prosciutto last week for some work, and I scribbled something. Always Whale AU themed. I am very upsed there's so few paintings themed around the Orlando Furioso, I referenced the possibly one I found. Raina in this iteration has more themes taken from that poem (lost her wisdom upon the moon). Some smooching as I listened to Hozier's I, Carrion (Icarian), which quickly became their love theme. And some random storyboards which I don't know if I'll keep. I found a piece of lore which gave me an idea for some comic pages to start... but it was in a book whose authors wrote for a broadcast notorious for featuring conspiracies and being very historically inaccurate. Think history channel, but worse. (Sì sto parlando di Mistero.)(I bought some books in a rush and didn't check the authors in the store). It needs to be double checked: I haven't found anything on the internet, but I have other books on lore from Alghero on which I hope to find a confirmation. Meanwhile, it's there.

Oh wow it's another wall of text! :"D Sorry, oops.

Tagging! @shivunin @ndostairlyrium @underneathestars @pinayelf @blarrghe @dreadfutures @inquisimer @dungeons-and-dragon-age @daggerbean and YOU!

#wip wednesday #whale au #raina hawke #aisling lavellan #character design #greypetrel #is linking hozier a low hit? yes and no - in both cases here you go take a handkerchief and some chocolate #I bought more than one dubious books on that first bookstore incursion #BUT- I couldn't stay there long to check if I wanted to catch the second store open #it's a second hand book store and I LOVE IT it always has the best things

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ducktracy · 9 months

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Have you ever met any of the voice actors on Spongebob?

i’m incredibly lucky to say that i have!! i first met (“met”, at least as much as one can in a Zoom.. but Rodger did say hi to me!!) Rodger Bumpass and Carolyn Lawrence on a Zoom call back in 2021 to celebrate the premiere of The Patrick Show, and i met Tom Kenny and Doug Lawrence this year at our Kamp Koral season 1 wrap party! i got to stand next to Mary Jo Catlett in a picture as well :) saw some of the others like Bill Fagerbakke and Clancy Brown but didn’t get to say hi

i posted these before! but now is as good as time as any to tell my tale

when i showed up to the party i was Visibly Confused as to where to go since it was held in a (very pretty!) bar in Union Station but very out of the way bar. so i just sort of hung around until i recognized someone from the show so i could hound them as to where to go

i saw our showrunner Marc Ceccarelli and Doug Lawrence walk in and very shamelessly ran up to them like “hi do you guys have any idea where to go” etc etc etc and cracked some jokes. trying to play it cool and not throw up my breakfast lunch and dinner because holy shit i’m walking with Doug Lawrence! but he was so kind and cool and actually introduced himself first and gave me a handshake, i think i babbled something like “i know who you are and i’m trying not to freak out” HAHA so. so much for keeping it cool

but he was incredibly kind! and as we were getting our name tags he pointed to the one in the picture above he wasn’t using and was like “do you want this?” so i told him yes and i’ll be sure to sell it on ebay right away (it is proudly pinned on my corkboard above my desk and is never going to leave my possession)

later on i saw Tom and was like. i have to introduce myself or i will literally never live with myself. so i hung around until he had a free moment and was like “HI IM ELIZA IM A (at that time) STORYBOARD REVISIONIST IM SO SORRY I KNOW YOU GET ASKED THIS A TON BUT MAY I PLEASE HAVE A PICTURE WITH YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH”

he was SO NICE! that’s putting it so mildly. he hung around for at least 15 minutes and had a beer with us and talked about how he got his start and his career as a comedian. it was so. so amazing and kind of him to stay around and very casual! so much so that Doug came by and Tom even introduced me to him since i’m an out of towner and Doug was like “hey i know you!!” which. again. hard not to pass out on the spot. i think i babbled something like “SpongeBob and Plankton are my two favorite characters just so you know so i am in heaven right now” HAHA probably not the most professional approach but who cares

still one of the greatest nights of my life and a moment i’ll treasure for the rest of my life! i’m hoping that i’ll be able to have more stories to tell in a very similar vein to this one. beyond bucket list level and i’m still so gobsmacked that i can’t even find the words to express just how life changing and amazing and humbling it was

#anonymous #asks

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ask-the-dps · 2 months

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Spencer: Did you plan your story entirely from start to finish or did you plan some parts and go from there?

Thank you for asking this! I really love when asks are directed towards me :- )

Originally, back in May of 2023, I just knew I wanted to start off with a scene from For Whom The Ball Rolls and maybe branch off from there. I didn't fully have a book plot, just a few ideas.

Eventually, I made a short chapter-base for the story:

^(these are very old, I made them in June if I remember correctly.)

As you see, much is different from it. Mascot was only supposed to be in chapter nine, and chapters 11 and twelve were supposed to be just one chapter. I never had a full story, and even now I am thinking of things i could have added or altered or completely gotten rid of. I don't believe that'll fully go away, but it's good to see I notice mistakes, making it known that I am improving.

When I finished a chapter, I would almost immediately make a Google Doc for the basis/storyboard for the next one. I considered these technical drafts/storyboarding, just to get my full ideas out and plan it all before writing.

But, for Book 2, I was almost completely lost. I had a basic idea, but there was no ending. I just knew I wanted Petey to come back and Li'l Sydney to be aged up.

Originally, a side plot would be about Mascot and Peter falling in love, or at least trying to confess to each other. But, I decided it would have been impractical and not fitting with the story.

Instead of chapter concepts and storyboards, I had started writing my ideas down in a Samsung note, until that became the ENTIRE story outline.

As I said before, I hadn't even thought of an ending to Book 2 when I had started writing it. I had to put the story on short hiatus back in Janurary, and I was really discouraged. But I actually had a dream about the ending, and from that dream I finally had an idea.

Another note is that there was originally going to be a 3rd book: Past.

That's why the first one is "Present" and the second one is "Future." There were going to be 3: Past, Present, and Future.

But, chapter 5 had already taken that role, and I didn't want to fully delve into Sydney and Peter's past. It will never be fully discovered or fully remembered.

Basically, to answer your question- I hadn't fully thought of the story when writing, it just sorta came to me while listening to songs or dreaming in my sleep. Yay!

Sorry if this seems like too much information, I just really like raking asks directed towards me, and I love responding with loads of information. #autism ^_^

#YAY! sorry for not posting a lot recently but i had fun answering this one #dog man dp! au #dog man #asks #ozwald answers #<- asks for me!

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plushie-sentai · 1 month

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“Um… Mr. Jeramie?” Yuto asked sheepishly. Jeramie turned and knelt down next to him. “Well now, what can I do for you little Yuto?” He asked gently. Yuto smiled, still a little shy but clearly excited, and held out a folded, dark piece of paper to Jeramie. As soon as he took it, Yuto whispered a quick “Goodnight!” and ran up the stairs to follow the others. As he stood up, Jeramie unfolded the paper to see a white crayon drawing of God Tarantula seated next to God Kuwagata, both wearing matching bright yellow crowns. Jeramie looked for a bit at the drawing, holding it tightly in both hands. “They really care for you, Jeramie,” Gira said softly, looking at the drawing over the other man’s shoulder. “The master artist Yuto doesn’t give his drawings to just anyone.” “Well now. I’ll just have to cherish this art piece forever then. It's quite special to have a Yuto original.” Jeramie smiled and folded the drawing back up, placing it in his breast pocket over his heart. Gira took a breath, watching Jeramie carefully slide the drawing away, so close and quiet he could almost hear the half-Bugnarok’s heart beating. “Thank you, Jeramie. Really. I had no idea you were here talking with the kids. How long have you been visiting them now?” “I’d say I’ve been here about every day since you first brought me to meet them. You told me yourself these people were your home. I felt it was important to find a way to reach them, and though I may not be great with the young ones, stories are great for everyone, and I’m certainly good at those.” “Not good with- Jeramie, did you see how those kids were watching you? They loved spending time with you. You’re… wonderful with them. Thank you.”As he spoke, Gira held Jeramie’s right hand in his, showing his gratitude absentmindedly. Jeramie’s face flushed a bit. “Of course,” He replied, swiping his smooth, scaled thumb over Gira’s knuckles soothingly. The two stood in the quiet for a moment, the golden light of sunset barely lighting the room, their faces beginning to gravitate toward one another almost naturally.

for the fic explanation?

Thanks so much for the ask! Here we go :3

Not much to say here, but in general I think this little bit is a good example of how I view my writing as storyboards more than plot beats. When I'm writing even a little action like this, I see the camera angles, the characters, the movements and whatnot in my head and end up cutting down a lot of what I write to keep the flow going and avoid being super long winded as I'm verbally describing how I would storyboard this lol

As he stood up, Jeramie unfolded the paper to see a white crayon drawing of God Tarantula seated next to God Kuwagata, both wearing matching bright yellow crowns. Jeramie looked for a bit at the drawing, holding it tightly in both hands.

Little kid drawings truly are just so precious ;u; I imagine Gira has quite a few he keeps somewhere in the castle with him from the kids, and Jeramie has probably seen them quite a few times, but this is his first time receiving one himself. Also, little Yuto (random orphan I made up) ships Giramie too obvs

“They really care for you, Jeramie,” Gira said softly, looking at the drawing over the other man’s shoulder. “The master artist Yuto doesn’t give his drawings to just anyone.” “Well now. I’ll just have to cherish this art piece forever then. It's quite special to have a Yuto original.” Jeramie smiled and folded the drawing back up, placing it in his breast pocket over his heart. Gira took a breath, watching Jeramie carefully slide the drawing away, so close and quiet he could almost hear the half-Bugnarok’s heart beating.

I like them teasing each other a bit, Jeramie and Gira are both very playful, but they're also very gentle with each other in particular, so there's a careful balance to be struck there in dialogue between the two. I also really liked establishing this mood of softness falling on the orphanage here, the two of them alone in a cozy wooden house as the sun sets outside. I think I have a habit of bringing up the sound of a heartbeat often in my writing as well, it's just so calming and sweet in these bits

“Thank you, Jeramie. Really. I had no idea you were here talking with the kids. How long have you been visiting them now?” “I’d say I’ve been here about every day since you first brought me to meet them. You told me yourself these people were your home. I felt it was important to find a way to reach them, and though I may not be great with the young ones, stories are great for everyone, and I’m certainly good at those.”

I think Jeramie during the timeskip starts coming to terms with this idea of being really behind socially, and it's something he kinda deals with in the show from time to time post timeskip. Pre timeskip Jer is used to being outcast, comfortable with his weirdness, and somewhere in the middle he realizes he still wants to be himself but now is more afraid of being unaccepted with a whole kingdom's acceptance riding on his shoulders as well. Jeramie is a lot more personable than he'll give himself credit for, like he does here. And in this next bit I add that Gira is a big source of confidence for him in that department as Jeramie is for him in others.

“Not good with- Jeramie, did you see how those kids were watching you? They loved spending time with you. You’re… wonderful with them. Thank you.”As he spoke, Gira held Jeramie’s right hand in his, showing his gratitude absentmindedly. Jeramie’s face flushed a bit. “Of course,” He replied, swiping his smooth, scaled thumb over Gira’s knuckles soothingly. The two stood in the quiet for a moment, the golden light of sunset barely lighting the room, their faces beginning to gravitate toward one another almost naturally.

Gira is also a bit clumsy with his words at times. He wears his heart on his sleeve and it causes a lot of mishaps in the show, but it also gives him a strength behind his words being so heartfelt and truthful, like here where he's reassuring Jeramie. Gira isn't a smoothtalker by any means, but when he's expressing himself, its genuine and beautiful, and I tried to convey that here. The end bit is another good example of me seeing things as a storyboard. I picture the wide shot of the two in front of the orphanage window, rim-lit by the glowing sunset, holding hands gently less than a foot apart from each other, the camera zooming in as their faces get closer. I love storytelling through animating, but i'm also impatient and low on time, so most of the time when i have an animation idea that isn't a music video it turns into a little fic like this lol. Hope you enjoyed!

#tiny warbles #super sentai #king ohger #giramie

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television-overload · 8 months

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Get to know your fic writer (no pressure):

1, 4, 13, 16, 22, 25 (add link if you want), 40, 54, 56

Ooh yay! Thanks for the ask! I think I copied these all over correctly. I was bored so I went in-depth 😂 Here we go:

1. Do you prefer writing one-shots or multi-chaptered fics?

I've been sitting here for like 5 minutes trying to figure out which I prefer 😂. I find myself coming up with multi-chapter ideas more often I think, really grand plots that I definitely don't have time to devote attention to. I also run into the problem of not knowing how to fill in between the parts that I do I have ideas for, so true multi-chapter fics are a rarity. I've had a few times where a one-shot turned into a multi chap, and THOSE tend to work better and are way more cohesive. One of my favorites is one I wrote for Star Wars (wrong blog, oops 😅) but both chapters were a lot stronger than my usual stuff, and it performed way better on AO3 which was really gratifying.

I've always wanted to write a true masterpiece where readers are anxiously awaiting the next chapter, like so many I've read, but I don't know if I've ever gotten there yet. Maybe a few when I used to write NCIS stuff on fanfiction.net.

4. Where do you find inspiration for new ideas?

Songs, a lot of times. They hit me in the feels. Sometimes a line in a fic I'm reading will spark an idea, something I haven't thought about, a new interpretation of an existing scene from the source material. Gifsets, Tumblr meta analysis, movies I'm watching. So many places. I feel like half of them come to me when I'm at work, which is very inconvenient. The aforementioned Star Wars two-shot was half written on the bus ride home from work in the notes app on my phone. I've written several in the aftermath of particularly good or bad episodes/movies. Fix-it fanfic is always great, I feel like I need to write more of it.

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

I haven't done this for very long, but lately in my adulthood (as opposed to my teenage fics *shudders*) I've actually been pretty good about writing out an outline and going back to edit later. I used to just spew everything in a word doc and barely go through it before posting, but now I reread it to death, mostly to make sure it flows well. My outlines are, shall we say, extensive. The Star Wars fic I'm working on now had 20 chapters outlined and it totaled over 20,000 words. I've basically storyboarded the whole thing and then I go through and convert that to actual scenes. Important dialogue moments I want to hit are included, cause I know I'll forget them if I don't write them as they come to me. It helps me to be able to see the big picture, so that I don't give up on the project halfway through. But for spur of the moment fics or most one-shots, I still mostly write as I go. Occasionally if I have a thought that I want to make sure to include in a later scene, I'll just tack it on at the bottom of the doc and delete it once I get to that point and I put it in writing.

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them.

They're scattered all over the place so that's a good question that God probably only knows the answer to. Some are barely even ideas but take up a line or two in my notes app on my phone. Some probably live only in my brain, forgotten until something triggers me to remember that I was thinking of writing it 😅.

I'd love to do something with @irish-trish 's prompt to fill in the scene from NCIS "She mentioned you at the funeral, I could see what she felt." It sounds right up my alley, but there's a Star Wars fic week coming up in September that I want to actually do on time this year, so I can't allow myself to shift focus to NCIS quite yet 😭

Other than that, I want to write a second chapter to my X-Files fic "Field of Dreams" where Mulder gets to play catch with his son. I really loved writing that fic.

22. Are there certain types of writing you won’t do? (style, pov, genre, tropes, etc)

Nothing spicy. I don't think I'd ever write in first person unless it was in the form of a letter. Other than that, I think I'd do pretty much whatever. It's just a matter of what I have the skills for I think 😂

Not a fan of AUs, except canon divergence, obviously. To me, the way the characters meet is so integral to who they are that it can't be changed much or it just doesn't feel like them. I've read maybe one fic that changed how characters met (Mulder and Scully) but that was the result of time travel and all sorts of things that warmed me up to the idea, plus the characters as we know them were still there. Alternate universe in the truest sense. I got distracted, what were we talking about?

25. What fic do you wish you got more of a response on?

The two fics I think of as my comfort fics, ones I found really peaceful and natural to write, would have been nice to see get more attention. I've been writing on and off for like a decade now (😳) and I've only ever really had one fic truly pop off in terms of kudos and comments. Which are literally my life blood 😂. But a lot of my older stuff I look back on and I'm like, yeah, that wasn't that great.

My Star Wars (Obi-Wan and Satine) one shot "this could be such a dream" I found really emotional and relaxing to write. I was kind of surprised it didn't go very far, but it was part of a weekly challenge thing so I suppose it makes sense in a way.

To get back to the TV shows I write for, though (since that's the focus or THIS blog), I really really loved my X-Files fic "Field of Dreams", in large part because I love that movie which inspired it, and I love a domestic, peaceful and content-if-not-happy happily ever after for Mulder and Scully. The movie itself makes me cry and feel so many feels, and I thought the connection to Fox Mulder was a really good one.

40. If someone were to make fanart of your work, what fic or scene would you hope to see?

I would welcome anythinggggg, that is my dream!! I haven't really written anything I'm super proud of yet in the NCIS fandom that I feel would warrant art, but maybe someday! I'm working on a Star Wars "Sound of Music" type looooong fic rn and boy, the amount of work I've put in, I would die if someone were engaged enough to be inspired by it.

54. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process?

Honestly, I get so excited to post it. I hope people will enjoy what I've written. I've read so much great fanfic, that I just want to contribute my 2 cents to the fandoms. Getting comments (as rare as it often is) literally makes my day and makes it all worthwhile to me. Any form of engagement, interaction here on Tumblr, that's what I strive for. But I also write for me. Exploring ideas I've never seen done before, filling in gaps in the fandom, I love it. Those comfort fics I was talking about, I love to just go back and read. It doesn't really matter, in the end, if they touched other people like they do me. I like them and that's what matters. The fics I'm not so proud of? I've been transferring them over from Tumblr and fanfiction.net anyway because some of them have received really lovely comments and people might enjoy them despite how I feel.

56. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

I hope I'm improving on descriptive language. I want to bring out emotions in my writing, and I think there's been definite improvement since I started. I'm also thankful that I have a grasp on grammar and spelling and all the typical writing conventions. That can be a turn off to a lot of readers if it's a complete mess, so luckily I was always a pretty harsh editor throughout my schooling 😅

Get to know your fic writer

#asks #askbox #get to know your fic writer #get to know me #fanfic writing #my fanfic #fanfiction

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eirianerisdar · 2 years

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I was wondering how do you motivate yourself to write long fic? Or if you remember when you first started writing and, if there were struggles, how you kept writing everything down? I find myself wanting to write scenes down and expand what I’m envisioning into a longer work, but I’m finding great difficulty in not falling into self-doubt and just not liking what I’m putting down.

Thanks for the ask, anon! I'm sorry for taking so long to reply to this. Work has been absolutely exhausting.

Like you, I usually have a particular scene in mind when I start a longfic, and build up to it. As always, starting a fic is often the hardest part! There's the question of the first line and the introduction and setup, when often you might be tempted to write the one scene you're thinking of immediately.

That in itself isn't a problem - some writers like to write the climax of a fic first, and re-edit when they get to that point later.

But if you're like me, and you like to write scenes in chronological order, you should figure out the general themes and character arcs you want the fic to encompass.

The pitfall here is trying to storyboard scenes before you're fully sure where you want both the characters and the theme to go. While you don't have to plan out every chapter of the fic before you begin writing the first chapter, you should know where your character starts, the catalyst for their development, their development and rise (or fall, depending on what sort of fic you're writing) and their final conclusion in relation to other characters and the overarching story. Don't worry about being too specific; changes will inevitably happen as you write and characters take on a life of their own.

For the first chapter of a fic, I like to make sure I do a couple things:

The first few paragraphs should be attention-grabbing. Often, things don't need to be immediately explained in set up; the character can be in the middle of a breakdown, trapped, or in the middle of an action scene. You can always go back to explain how the character got into that moment later in the chapter or fic.

Set up where the character is, and set up the main character dynamics between your core cast (or if they meet later, at least set up your main character's voice and internal dialogue) so readers get an idea of what to expect going further in the fic, and you will get more comfortable writing about one or two of your characters first, before getting to the larger ensemble cast. Remember, it is always easier to write fanfic than original fiction - so set up your "canon" so to speak, and then you can play around in this new sandbox you set up as much as you like. You’re effectively writing fanfiction of your own fanfiction.

End the first chapter on a good clliffhanger, or at least with the expectation that something is going to happen. Before meeting another character, or just after/on the cusp of the catalyst that will get their character development going for the rest of the fic. It'll push you to build on that in the next few chapters, and your first readers will want more.

If you feel stuck, take a step back and think about what you're doing here - every scene should direct character development between one character and another, or a character on their own, or set up the changing world around them. Stagnating scenes are usually because nothing is happening character-wise or theme-wise. Change a POV or setting or re-order and re-add scenes if you run into situations like these.

I hope this helps, Anon! Don't hesitate to ask any more questions you need.

#writing #fanfiction #writing advice #longfic #anon #replies #my post

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lgcbk · 1 year

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⸻ AN ORIGIN STORY

Project Origin Audition / wc: 695

"So, I was thinking a while about the character I wanted to present to you today..."

A solid three days - a record for Byeongkwan and he would be proud of himself for at least the next three weeks. "I really wanted to come up with a character that really embodied who I was as a person... My personality, my strengths -" he aptly cuts himself off at even the mention of his nonexistent irrelevant okay, maybe a few fine, MANY weaknesses.

"And if I'm being honest... It was pretty hard. I'm not the best at - Stuff like this always - But I think I've come up with, uh - " He glances down at the spiral notebook in his hands, scanning the page of haphazardly scribbled notes alongside the rap he'd prepared for the first part of his audition. "I'll just - "

"My knight is nothing extraordinary. He's not the strongest, although he can pull his weight. He's not the fastest - unless something's chasing him, that's a different story. He might not even be the brightest, but he likes to think that his dashing good looks makes up for it - " Byeongkwan glances up at the panel with a cheeky smirk, framing his chin with his thumb and forefinger before continuing his spiel. "I guess at first look he's... practically useless. And I'm sure that a lot of the other knights - most of the other knights, wonder how he even made the cut. A lot of people would probably see him as a nuisance. The kind of person who rather spend all his time flipping swords and racing dragons - those exist in this universe, yeah...?" he trails off with a curious blink.

"Anyway, he's not someone anyone would think capable of protecting a kingdom. So, what good is he, really? And that's where my knight's special power comes in. In the heat of battle, when all hope might seem lost - Luck is on his side."

"His power isn't something that's as obvious as flight or super speed, but he has his own brand of magic. He's always at the right place at the right time. Finding some mystical tool that the other knights need to take down an enemy. Stumbling out of harm's way at the very last second to get it to them. And in battle, it's almost like no on can touch him. You might even call him invincible. Not because of his amazing combat skill or anything like that. ...Just a well-timed rolling boulder, a sudden stampede of magical creatures, quicksand... Who knows."

"He doesn't know why or how - but things just always work out in his favor. And with each random instance of success, it gives him the motivation to push forward and become a knight worthy of his status. A knight others can really rely on." He gives a shrug and tucks his notebook under his arm. "When it's all said and done, and the smoke clears, and the kingdom is saved... I want him to be the character that no one saw coming. He probably didn't even see it coming himself. And maybe, just maybe, it's not just because of his 'dumb luck' anymore."

He finishes up with a final nod, clasping his hands together. "And... that's it. I'm not really the type to believe in luck or anything like that, but... I know that I'm lucky to be here, and although I think my 'ideal public persona' is still a work in progress I hope to be someone that others can believe in. And... I think I could believe in a character like that." The corners of his lips curve up into a half smile, bowing his head. "Thank you for your time, and I'm, uh... looking forward to this."

He starts for the hall, greeting the staff member waving him out with a pursed grin, somewhat satisfied with himself. He pauses in the doorway brows raised as if he'd forgotten the most important part. "Oh! And if anyone needs any storyboard design ideas I have some pretty great sketches - No? You sure? Oh, alright - If you ever change your m - " He calls out as the door is slowly closed on him.

#( trainee mission 012. )#lgc:projectorigin002 #( nothing to see here )#( scroll on )#( ignore )#( kthnxbye )

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connorumodeling · 2 months

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DFX 452 Post 6:New Ideas, Storyboard, Ect.(Mar 1, 2024)

Hey, I am back. It has been a while, but I have been working and also go some new ideas. This post will include things like, new blog format, reformatting, storyboarding, edited the walls a little, Made the save point star (from Undertale), and new decisions.

New Blog Format:

I Have been thinking, and thanks to group critiques, and I found a format that I want to try for blog posts. I want to have some in-between blogs to help focus on, and capture, what I am currently working on the specific day I am working on it. For example, if I am working on lighting for the windows on Sunday, then I will make a mini blog post focusing on the lighting, on Sunday. I think this will heavily benefit me for time capsuling more of my work, while also going into more detail on what is currently being worked on.

Reformatting Outliner:

For some reason my Maya file for the Judgement Hall was messed up. There were extra models in the scene, and the organization of the outliner was messed up so I had to fix it, format it better, delete extra models, and more. Now it looks better, cleaner, and should be easier to work with for me, and any client that could use the model in the future.

Images of Cleaned up Maya File:

Storyboarding:

I have been busy thinking of how I want to storyboard my demo reel. I took some paper, watched different scenes, from different movies, demo reels showing off environment, and animations, to do research. I made a draft storyboard, on paper, of some of the main shots I want. This will be revised and tidied up once it gets closer to making the demo reel, but I am happy that I now have an idea of what important shots I want in it, even if the sketches are basic. There is a reason why I am a digital artist over a non-digital one... my drawing skills. I remake it when the time comes and either scan it or make it in Photoshop, but at this stage, it is good as it is.

Image of basic storyboarding draft:

Wall Edits:

I realized that the walls were too thin and It was affecting the overall appearance of the scene, when the windows were connected to them, so I extruded out the walls for the future window redesign.

Extruded Walls:

Save Star Model:

I also decided to add another item model to use in the scene. If anyone reading this has played Undertale then you know what this is. How can you keep resetting/coming back after death? well the save star of course! this is a pretty iconic thing in the game since it is how someone saves their game. Here is a reference of it's shape:

I decided to model a basic version of it to show off in my Judgement Hall scene. I started with a cylinder, got it to the size I wanted, the took a set of vertices. I then selected them and selected the next set of vertices every 2 sets, then I scaled them down to get the star shape. This is what I got.

After that I added surface shaders, and also made another version then took a render:

Now the star, in the 2D game, twinkles. I want to emulate that, if time allows, for the demo, by animating it(the model I choose) rotating continuously, or twinkling. I will fiddle with that later, but I just wanted to have the model done, and there are more pressing matters to deal with, like finishing the updates to past models, and finish the ceiling. If I do decide to have them moving in the demo, then I will make a post involving me messing with getting the animation right.

New Decisions:

After seeing what others are presenting, and taking feedback, I have decided that it might be a good Idea to start messing with Unreal Engine 5 for this project. This week, I am going to import what I have so far into Unreal and see how it looks. I will test out lighting, and the camera to see if I find it better than Maya's tools for delivering the renders I want. I will also see what textures would transfer and what ones would not, because i would have to remake textures that don't transfer, and depending on which ones, it might take to long for what time I currently have, and maya might be the better option. This will be a basic test to see which program would be the better option to work in for shots, lighting, and rendering.

Conclusion/TLDR:

I have taken a look at a new format for these blogs which involves possibly updating it more frequently. I have also made a basic draft of my storyboard for important shots for the demo reel in the future. I have extruded the walls so the scene looks less flat, made two different models for the Undertale save star, and will fiddle with Unreal Engine 5, later down the line, to see if it would be better for certain things, like camera movement and lighting, than Maya for the demo reel. I am on break, so I have way more time to focus on updating this project so expect more updates this coming week as I finish up remodeling some past models, make celling, and (if the week isn't over by then), take a crack at fixing my lighting, or testing the Unreal Engine 5 exporting.

#dfx452 #judgement hall #undertale project #undertale #update

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ithilloktewrites · 2 years

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OMG, I cannot express how much I love your writing. I found your blog today scrolling through tumblr and your writing fascinated me, it’s so compelling and well written. I then decided to check your ao3 profile just to find out that you are one of my Favorite authors in ao3, gotta say , found in translation was a game changer for me. What a coincidence. <3 <3

Found in Translation is a Collab between me and Cinful, with plot, helping with avoiding loopholes, ideas, and other stuff, (storyboarding) being my forte, and Cinful being the talent to write the story and ideas that my brain comes up with. I have been included as an author of Found In Sweets, as as my Maladaptive Daydreams have been super helpful to Cinful, and it’s ended up becoming a whole series to write! But thank you for the gushing. For me personally, I am a crossover writer. I am not so great with /reader stories, as my stuff is not neutral enough to write /reader fics, but I do write crossovers with Inu Yasha and Naruto. But put a good story in front of me, and my daydreams usually take off.

Cinful is the one who made Illy come alive. She’d used my avatar, which is my OC Ithillon, as the basis of Illy. (Tickled me pink when she told me that.) So kind of yes, kind of no, I think your opinion would change now, as only half of your favourite author, but I am enjoying the excited gushing because while I may know the plot and I am indeed helping with the messages for Found In Sweets, I never know exactly how Cinful will write the next chapter. So I usually squeal along with others when reading my own ‘work’ on AO3!

CinfulWriter32: Thank you, I am so happy you love the story, it means a lot and inspires me! Gonna sit down and get the next chapter done lol!

(Took this directly from her on discord after I showed her your ask! Thanks for the love hun!)

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ygreczed-3 · 3 years

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The Walking Dead/Detroit Become Human AU

(so basically I was tempted to make a post to apologize about the mess my blog has become lately - feels like I’m posting AUs, artworks, sketches and comic updates in such a chaotic way… I’m really sorry about it ahaha 😅 Hopefully it will get better soon)

So this post is me drawing for hours and forgetting to eat on my break day (I finally did !!! Don’t worry ahaha) because I became obsessed with an idea again. Also I like to make concept arts and storyboards as if I was working on a professional project for a TV show/animation. I find it fascinating ! This time I don’t really have any plot or finished story, I just wanted to draw these scenes badly so… I just did.

I’d like to draw your attention to Connor’s curly hair and Hank’s design (strongly inspired by Kristoff from Frozen). I just LOVE these details.

⚠️Remember this is NOT a new series. Just me having fun with characters and a universe I like (aka The Walking Dead) !

Anyway, more ideas below 👀

*POW*

Hank open his eye again. The walker was shot in the head. Hank pushes the walker away, it falls dead on the concrete.

Looking up, he sees Connor with a gun.

Hank : Jesus… Thank you. I thought I was…

Connor : I wouldn’t have wasted a bullet for you if it wasn’t for your kid back there. Your car, does it work? Hank : … Yeah… I just… I was looking for some gas when… well… Can I drive you somewhere? Connor : Not really, I’m looking for someone.

___________________________

Hank and Cole are walking in a gas station with jerricans and pour what’s left of gas from the pump.

Cole : Dad, that mister from earlier, do you think he’s gonna be okay ? Hank : I think, pumpkin. He was the one helping us. Cole : Being alone sounds dangerous… He should have come with us. Hank : …

___________________________

It’s nighttime, Cole is sleeping in the backseats with a blanket, Hank is sleeping in the driver seat. He wakes up brutally as he hears something tapping softly against the car window : the young man from earlier. He rolls the window down.

Hank : You ? Connor : I’ve looked around the whole city. Now it’s too dark… I need a safe place to have some sleep, I was thinking you could let me in. You owe me after all. Hank : … Yeah sure. Get in.

Connor gets in the car. He takes his bag off and keeps it by his side, out of Hank’s reach. He takes his coat off but keeps a gun near him. Hank stares at him with narrowed eyes.

Hank : … You’re safe here, really. You can trust me. Connor : Sorry, but I only trust myself.

___________________________

It’s dark outside, Hank can’t really sleep with the stranger next to him. His guts dictate him to stay alert. He watches carefully as Connor turns his head to him, half-opening his eyes.

Connor: Can’t sleep ? Hank : … Well you were right… I don’t know you. What about you ? Did you sleep a little ? Connor : … No. I’m too… cautious. My brain won’t let me sleep with a stranger next to me. Hank : … My name’s Hank. You ? Connor : What the hell are you doing ? Hank : We agreed we couldn’t sleep next to strangers. I’m introducing myself. Connor : It won’t make it any better… *after a silence* I’m Connor. Hank : Nice to meet you. Connor: … Where were you before ? You… you act like a newborn in this hell… Hank : … I had a neighbor with one of those bunkers… with tons of food, water, enough to live for months. We… We were hiding there with her until… until a few weeks. Connor : What happened ? Hank : She thought she had heard a chopper. Thought someone was out there to rescue us… she opened the hatch and she was… attacked by those things… Connor: … the kid… he’s yours? Hank : Yeah… Cole. Connor: … Where’s her mom ? Hank : He’s never known her. Connor: Sorry. Hank : Don’t be.

*silence*

Hank : I think… I’m starting to relax… we should try to sleep huh ?

Connor is already sleeping.

___________________________

Connor takes his backpack as Hank and Cole take a breakfast with some fire.

Hank : You sure you don’t want to eat anything ? Connor : No thanks, I have my own stock. You should save your food for your kid. Hank : … Hey, if you ever need to find us… after you’ve found what you’re looking for, I have a police radio. Frequency 58,7 kHz. Connor: I won’t need it but- thanks. Good luck.

Connor leaves.

___________________________

Cole : What should we do now? Hank : … We need to find more food… and weapons. I’ll go downtown today. You… You’ll stay here alright? Cole : No I… I want to stay with you… Hank : I know you’re scared Cole… But it’s too dangerous. You’ll be safe hidden in the car. Cole : You’ll be quick? Hank : Back before sunset, pinky swear.

___________________________

Hank finds an axe on a bar counter.

Suddenly : *BONG BONG BONG BONG*

Hank : What the-

He runs outside and hides against a wall as walkers pass nearby, heading to the source of the ringing.

He looks up and sees Connor climbing on a ladder but a Walker is trying to grab his leg.

Hank comes and kills the monster. Connor : You..! Follow me !

On the rooftop, they see the church. It’s an automatic bell, the walkers are massively getting around the building. There is something painted on the wall that says “Find Jericho” with black paint and scribbled under it “Find 9s”

Connor : Nines… Hank : What is Jericho ? Connor : … A safe place for survivors. It’s hidden… to keep the thieves and killers away. Hank : … The church. Connor : What ? Hank : Jericho, it has to do with the bible. The message is written on a church’s wall. It’s not a coincidence, there might be… a hint in there. Connor : … But we can’t get inside with those creeps around… Hank : … Maybe they leave when the church stops ringing the bells. Connor : Or maybe we should try to lead them away with… Hank : With what ? Connor : … Your car.

___________________________

Connor : So, let me get it straight. You drive around the town honking. It will attract the creeps away from the church. I get inside the church and look for any kind of hint. When the bells start ringing I get out before the creeps come back. And what do we do with Cole ?

Hank : He’s going with you. I don’t want to have him in the car with hundreds of undeads trying to get me. Connor : … I don’t- Hank : Don’t worry. He’s a smart kid. He will do as you say. Right Cole? Cole : …Hmm. Connor: … Fine. Let’s do it.

___________________________

Connor and Cole sneak into the church. Connor kills two of the Walkers still inside the church as Cole follows him cautiously.

Cole : … Look. *he points out a book on the altar* Connor : … It’s a bible… The chapter about the Battle of Jericho… it can’t be a coincidence. *They look up and see something written with old blood on the wall behind the altar. It says “Rahab the harlot defied the King of Jericho. Here lies the key to the fortress.”* Cole : What’s a harlot? Connor : … You should… ask your father. Now… I have to read… and think. Cole : … We only have one hour left before the bells ring again… Connor : I know.

___________________________

Connor : … I don’t get it ! There must be something I’m missing ! Cole : … Connor, I found a map ! Connor : Not now Cole, I’m trying to focus… Cole : Connor, look ! Connor : Cole please I really need-…

Cole shows him the map… there is a “9s” written on it.

Connor : Nines ! Cole : Does it help ? Connor : … I don’t know-…

The bells ring suddenly.

Connor : Crap… we have to get out of here. Give me your hand, buddy.

___________________________

Hank is waiting for them : he has lit a fire and when Cole sees him, he lets go of Connor’s hand and runs to hug his dad.

Hank : I gotcha, pumpkin. *looking up at Connor* Did you find something ? Connor : I think… Hank : You think ? Connor : I have this map my brother left for me inside the church… there was some kind of riddle on the wall, and it must have something to do with this but… there is nothing noted on it. Hank : What’s the riddle ? Connor : “Rahab the harlot defied the King of Jericho, here lies the key to the fortress.” Rahab was a prostitute, she helped Joshua by hiding spies he sent inside the city… and Joshua spared her when he took the fortress. But I… I don’t see the connection. Hank : … Let me see the map.

Connor gives it. Cole sits next to his father, near the fire, and soon falls asleep. After some time thinking and overthinking it, Hank finally points to a town on the map. A city called Defiance.

Hank : Look. Connor : Defiance… Of course. The key lies in Rahab’s defiance… Defiance is a town… Fuck- You’re a genius…! Hank : Man, I was feeling like a Detective again… felt nice for a moment. Connor: You were a Detective? Hank : A police Lieutenant, to be specific. But yeah. Detective works too. Connor : … I don’t think the treasure hunt is done yet. You’re gonna need your supercop sense again ! Hank : … It’s good to see you all excited. Feels like meeting the real Connor under the survivor’s shell. Connor: It’s nice… that Cole and you don’t have that shell yet… humanity is a rare thing to find down there. Hank : … So, who is “Nines” ? Connor : My little brother. We lived together, in the same group of survivors. Our camp was attacked… we got separated. Hank : Looks like he’s smart. He solved the riddle all by himself. It took the two of us to understand the hint. Connor : He’s always been a nerd. Hank : Pffft… Well we should try to get some sleep. We should be able to reach Stoneton, then we’ll have to find more gas.

Hank gets up and carries Cole to the car seats.

Connor: … Hank…? Hank : Yup ? Connor : Can I… Can I come with you two ? I could go to Defiance by myself but… if you’re heading there too, maybe we could… Hank : What the heck ? Of course you’re coming with us. With our two half-brains we’re gonna need each other’s help to find Jericho and your brother, don’t you think ? Connor *chuckles* : Right.

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meruz · 3 years

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i was gonna draw tonight but i dropped my tablet pen and the barrel of the pen broke off and flew somewhere underneath (??) my bed (?) and now i cant find it so I’m just gonna answer asks before bed instead. just some art asks and more mentions of infinity train LOL

What program and brushes do you use when making your art?

@ravki hi! part of this is in my FAQ but i’ll say it again anyways LOL: I use photoshop CC and have used photoshop for pretty much....my whole art career. I’ve dabbled in clip and paint tool sai in the past but photoshop is my true wife, we eloped away from her awful father adobe many years ago and are very happy together.

as for brushes... I should prob put this info in my FAQ too lol,... my default brush set is actually free to download here! Tho I will say I also use steve ahn’s storyboarding brush sometimes and lately i’ve been using shiyoon kim’s brushes A TON. Shiyoon’s cost a couple bucks but they’re super worth it imo

How do you choose colors?

This is kind of a difficult one to describe from scratch but hmm.... I’ll put it this way. Generally when I go into coloring or painting something I already have some colors in mind. Like for a certain piece I know I want a bright green, or a magenta, or a dark blue in certain areas. A lot of the time I know a mood I want. So I’ll start with that core color tone and build around it. I’ll use an example from a recent piece

So you can see here that the first color I accessed was that bright cyan. So I start with that bright cyan and then bring in its “friends” in the form of analogous colors (shown below on the far left)

greens greys etc. THEN I know I want the characters to stand out against all the blue so I start laying down warm contrasting colors for them (middle group). the mat under them is orange, skin tones are warm, ryans flannel is red etc. then to get them to work together I work more cool colors into the shadows and slightly warmer (not too warm because its a cool img overall so in this case, greener LOL) colors into highlights.

hope that makes sense? for me choosing colors is a lot about story and composition. If you know what you want to say, the mood you want to create, where you want to go, the path to get there becomes a lot clearer imo.

Have you ever considered making an art book?

I have! But I don’t think I currently have enough...original illustrations for one LOL? Not that an art book has to be all original work but if I were putting fanart in an art book...at that point I’d just make a fanzine. I’m making more original work lately though so maybe this year....? Who knows. For now, I do have a sketchbook up on gumroad. Hoping to do one of those next year too.

Any tips for keeping background drawings from getting super stiff, especially since things like interiors have a lot of straight lines?

This is a really interesting ask. Really great question that I don’t think gets asked enough - forgive me if I get a bit art school here but I drew up some examples.

First I think we have to investigate the assumption that straight lines make things stiff. That seems true on an instinctual level and certainly proves to be true very often But I don’t think its actually the straight lines themselves but the sort of arrangements and compositions they tend to dictate. Take this for instance.

pretty big difference, right? there’s a couple things that make a composition feel stiff and one of the most significant is lines that are perpendicular and parallel to the frame. it feels locked in and solid, like bricks. but the moment you shift these angles even a little the composition instantly becomes more dynamic because our innate senses of weight, gravity, and directionality can sense movement.

But it’s not just diagonals let’s take this one step further

when lines meet and terminate together those tangents can flatten and lock space so the best way to solve this is with overlap and complete intersection, forms continuing past or behind each other feel more layered and less like a flat mosaic... again, even in the simplest line drawings. So how do we apply this to a background?

ok I drew this really fast so its potentially not the best example but I think the idea is there. This space isn’t even particularly deep, it’s basically a room, a doorway, and a hallway behind it, and we’re not seeing that much of any of those things LOL. but when you draw an environmental object like a doorway in a way that lines up with the perpendicular and parallel lines of the canvas you’re automatically flattening it and making it look rigid.

and when you create tangents with objects and characters you flatten the space around them and make it difficult to tell what is actually in front or behind or if they’re on the same plane.

GOD I HOPE THIS MAKES SENSE. Anyways. avoid those things and you’ll instantly have less stiff bgs no matter what kind of bg you’re depicting.

I wanna mention however that this isn’t to say a stiff bg with flat space doesn’t have its purposes.

sometimes you want to create parallels and tangents. it can make characters feel closed in, trapped, regimented, part of a routine, etc. it’s also great for making a composition look ornamental (especially combined with symmetry).

directors like wes anderson can even use these compositional elements to make images feel uncanny or harrowing! its very versatile. I think the important thing is to just be aware of when you are making something rigid and when that’s the last thing you want to do. conscious choices.

Can you speak Tagalog?

@lemuelzero101 I can! BUT NOT VERY WELL LOL ;;; both my parents are from Visayas! but they met and had me in the states lol so I’m pretty American born and raised. We go back to visit family on occasion but not regularly. My tagalog is mostly absorbed from listening to relatives at parties lol and my parents speak bisaya at home so I’m marginally better at that. Sorry to any filipinos out there hoping I’d be better educated, I’m like a little baby...

I do love meeting and talking to other filipinos online though, I grew up in an area that was relatively diverse but the asian population was small and the filipino population basically non-existent. I was like one of maybe 2 filipino kids in my highschool of 2000.

Apart from infinity train what shows are you watching now? Have you seen jujitsu kaisen?

Man this is gonna sound so boring but I haven’t watched a lot of tv lately. It’s not really part of my daily routine. Let’s see... I was sort of watching Amphibia, Craig of the Creek, and the new Digimon Adventure 2020 but I keep falling off watching those for one reason or another. Also there’s a lot of episodes, it doesn’t feel like something I can just binge and be done with.

The last thing I binged was Succession. I want that show and Euphoria back so bad, when I’m done forcing all my friends to watch Infinity Train im cancelling my HBO subscription until Succession and Euphoria return so they know exactly what I’m on their list for LOL.

I have not watched jujitsu kaisen but I’ve kept up with some of the sakuga news (I keep up with anime industry news and production info like x5 the amt i keep up with actual anime) for it and their compositing/editing looks dope. I’ve read the manga actually LOL or at least part of the beginning. I wasn’t super keen on the whole finger eating thing. Also to be honest I kinda feel like its the new Bleach and I never particularly cared about Bleach. Characters look nice enough tho. I wholeheartedly support jjk fans.

Thank you! Thank you @keznodzieja! <3

And thank you anons who don’t watch infinity train LOL...it’s always nice to hear when people enjoy my fanart despite not knowing the source material because it lifts a little bit of the “oh god am I being annoying???” fear off my chest. But also I think you should watch infinity train because it’s really good I have no reservations recommending it.

#ask #GOD so much to say everyday #now to respond to e-mails and hit the hay at a responsible time

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natromanxoff · 3 years

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Mercury Roadrunner's Interview about Freddie Mercury with Peter Freestone – Part II

Thanks very much to Mercury Roadrunner (Pavel Strashnyy) for letting me share his amazing interviews! Originally shared here.

Check the tag "MR interview with Phoebe" to see the other parts. Here are the 3 main topics of this interview, beginning of each topic is written in bold:

1. Language skills

2. Music videos, Garden Lodge

3. Celebrity friends, leg damage story, Joe Fanelli, relationship between band members, Freddie's last days

PS: So here is our second part and the first topic is about Freddie’s language skills:

Did he actually know only the English language or did he also know the Gujarati language or any other languages?

PF: When his parents were in Garden Lodge or if he called his mother on the telephone, he only spoke English. I suppose, he must have understood Gujarati, because, okay, in the school he was taught English, but before the school, when he was in Zanzibar and he would have been with is parents, so I would have thought they would have been speaking in Gujarati.

He had about twenty words of German after living in Munich for so many years. He couldn’t speak German, but I think he understood the language, if he was paying attention, because most of the people around him were talking English, so he never really had the need to learn German. Although, saying that, one of his partners, Winnie, was German and did not speak a lot of English, but then he had Barbara to do the translating.

PS: The second topic is about a very special song “Mad The Swine”, which was recorded in 1972, but was released only in 1991 as a B side of “Headlong” single. Why, after so many years, Freddie decided to come back to it and release it?

PF: Freddie knew that “Innuendo” was going to be his last complete album and I think that this song had a special place in his heart, there were something about it, and as far as he was concerned, it never got an airing he felt it deserved and the rest of the band was happy to put it on.

PS: I mentioned the “Headlong” song and you can be seen in some archival footage of making of the “Headlong” video, you help to lay the Queen members on the shelves. What are your memories about that day?

PF: I was just there to help them. When they are making a video, they don’t need someone to take care of costumes, because there is a costume person, there is a makeup person, everybody is there to do something. And so I was there for Freddie, looking after him, and it just seemed natural to help out. And the band would feel more comfortable if that was someone that they know who would help to put them on the shelves rather than some technician turning up and trying to do it. And this moment with selves wasn’t’ planned. That wasn’t in the storyboard, it’s just that they saw it, there were four shelves so they just thought “Well, why not? Let’s do something crazy”. And the idea must have come from the band member, because Rudi would have seen all the possibilities when he was checking out where they were going to be doing the filming, and if he had thought of using the shelves, that would be one of the ideas put in the beginning.

PS: There are also some parts where we can see you in “The Great Pretender Extended Version” video - can you remember anything about it?

PF: It was just a big long laugh. There is not one part of the making of the actual scenes that they are not laughing and smiling. Roger, Peter and Freddie – they just clicked, it all worked. Nobody had to be bigger than the next one, nobody had to take the spotlight, and they just were there, having a good time.

PS: What is your personal favourite memory from that day?

PF: Personally, for me it is watching the recording of the six girls –you know, both of the backing group were girls, they were wearing two different outfits – and watching the recordings, when they were recording the one group of three and then the other group of three, the costumes they got in to and what they did – you couldn’t help but feel really-really happy. They were actually standing on the same platform when they were recorded. And then, of course, they used computer graphics to put two different groups on the screen at the same time. Just watching three of them there on the platform, waving their hands goodbye, it brings back the memories of those groups of backing singers in the sixties.

PS: What are your memories of making of the “Breakthru” video?

PF: I remember that it was probably the hottest night of the year, no sleep, because it was just so hot and humid. They had a huge problem with the opening scene, and they shot that last in fact. But they had a huge problem because when the engine went into the tunnel it caused air pressure so that that polystyrene wall burst out a long time before the engine arrived. So they tried it earlier on and that’s when they found that that’s what happened, and then they had to do playing around with it during the day, there was people doing that while the rest of the filming was going on, and then they had to sort of re-do it and it was the last shot. And the engine was actually already in the tunnel before it started getting up a bit of speed. And it wasn’t going as fast as people think it does, so that it looked right. It was a fun day. Only the band and the actual film crew were allowed on the flatbed, where the band were performing, because of the way it was being filmed, you could easily be in shot, so the less people that were there – the better. John was having a ball, I remember him laughing a lot, he was enjoying himself. And there was a normal carriage, like a dining car, but old, 1930-1940s, and that was where we would have food and drink. And it was wonderful. It’s a working old train line, it’s a tourist thing, but it’s great, it’s really-really nice and it’s not that far away from London. And Freddie was enjoying the shooting. I was surprised when I saw what he was doing on that flatbed, he was leaning over the edge as the train was going along, but again, it looks faster than it was. It really was only going at about 25-30 kilometers an hour. But it’s made to look as though they are speeding along.

PS: And what was the very first Queen video you were presented on?

PF: The very first video that I was involved with was “Save Me”, because it was shot during two shows of the “Crazy Tour”, I think it was at “The Rainbow” and it was shot at “Alexandra Palace”. Because it was the mix of the live action, the cartoon girl, the bird – and that was the hardest thing – to get Freddie to almost catch the bird, the pigeon. They had to re-film it for about 15 times. And it was where David Mallet, the director, fell of the stage into the orchestra pit. Everybody panicked for a few minutes, but then he stuck his head up “Oh, I’m alright”. It was about 2-3 meters he felled. And then followed all the post-production with the girl, with the cartoon, and how they blended the live pigeon to become the cartoon one and all that sort of work – all of it was done afterwards and it was done before Christmas 1979.

PS: And what was the very last Queen video you were presented on?

PF: “I’m Going Slightly Mad” video. I remember the penguin on the couch moment. Actually most of all I remember the way Diana was with Freddie, because she just took such a good care of him, she had special thermal underwear made for Freddie, because right from my meeting with Freddie in 1979 I remember the easiest thing for Freddie was to feel cold. And it only got worse the more sick he got. And she had special thermal underwear made for him that went underneath the shirt and the suit. She just was there for him all the time and it was just wonderful to see.

PS: And did Freddie usually have cold hands or he had normal temperature of hands?

PF: He could have normal warm hands, but often they would be cold. So maybe he could have a blood circulation problem.

PS: Can you remember something about the shooting of “I Want It All” video?

PF: I don’t think I was at that one, because that would have been Joe, Joe Fanelli would have been there, because we sort of took in turns – he would go to one, I would not, I’ll do all the stuff at home, then I would go to one and he would stay at home.

PS: And it was also the same for you take the turns in concerts?

PF: No, I was on tours with Freddie from 1979 till 1985 and then Joe took over from the last part of 1985 and 1986.

PS: And why you stopped going on tours and Joe took that part?

PF: Because Garden Lodge had been completed and to keep the insurance cover someone had to be living there, so I got to live there. I moved in six months before Freddie did. And Freddie moved in in the middle-end 1985. Because what we did was – Freddie was at Mary’s home and Terry and I took Oscar and Tiffany away from Stafford Terrace. Because Freddie was supposed to move in and he kept putting it off again and again, he said “I’ll do it tomorrow”, “I’ll do it at the weekend”, there was always a reason, an excuse, so what Terry and I did – we went and kidnapped Oscar and Tiffany and took them to Garden Lodge. And then, when Freddie went home and he was looking for the cats, Terry said: “No, they are not here, they are at your other home” – and Freddie moved within two days.

PS: And what was it like living with Freddie in Garden Lodge? What are your first memories of start of living there?

PF: At that point I was living above the kitchen. Joe and I had rooms that were above the kitchen, just up those stairs. And it just felt strange just to be living in that house. The thing is, I’ve been living with Freddie for years, because whenever we were in hotels it was always a two bedroom suit, so I knew how he was, what he would do, what he needed in the morning, how the moods could change, that was all standard, that was all normal. The difference was being in the luxury of Garden Lodge, knowing that it was a house, not the hotel, and the fact that he had made us promise, both Joe and myself, that we would treat this place as our home. It wasn’t just work and somewhere to stay because of work – it was our home.

Some houses have energy, they have a feeling, and while Freddie was in Garden Lodge it was a really warm, friendly house.

PS: And the atmosphere in the house changed almost at the moment Freddie passed away, right?

PF: Literally. For me, while he was still alive, even in those last minutes, it was still the same house, but literally within minutes, while we were waiting for the doctor, it just became bricks and mortar, it just became somewhere to sleep, somewhere to live.

PS: You mentioned living together with Freddie in hotels, but do you remember living with Freddie in some flats or houses before Garden Lodge?

PF: We were living in his apartment in New York. The way it was set up there were two bedrooms, sitting room, dining room, kitchen, a maid’s room and a sort of TV room.

And later we lived together for six months in Los Angeles. Recording “The Works”. They rented the big house for Freddie. A nice house, big-big house. It belonged to a doctor, who just constantly rented it out to stars, who needed somewhere to stay while they were filming. Elizabeth Taylor apparently stayed there, George Hamilton was there, lots of different film stars used it. It was a big house in nice big gardens, it had a swimming pool, had a tennis court, you know, it all the things you need.

PS: And it was actually two of you living there together?

PF: Yeah, Freddie and me. And Terry was there too, to drive.

PS: And speaking of Freddie’s New York Times, can you actually remember what was his the most favourite part of the city?

PF: Most evenings he would end up down on Christopher street, which is down near Greenwich Village. Because there were bars around there, clubs around there, restaurants around there, everything was there in that area, in the West Village.

PS: Our next topic is about Freddie Mercury and George Michael; we can see them together at “Barcelona” album launch party and Queen 20th anniversary party – do you remember the interaction between them?

PF: They actually met up at Live Aid, after it finished. We had to stay in the bar, because there were absolutely no way any cars were going to get out of the stadium area, because of the traffic and everything. And that was the very first time that they actually met. Freddie admired him, he thought George had a great talent both in writing and in singing, but there was no special friendship, because Freddie didn’t create big friendships with other musicians. He preferred, so to say, normal people. And also he enjoyed actors and actresses, their company, more than other musicians, because the way he felt, most musicians just wanted to talk about music and he had many more interests. So, yes, if Freddie and George were in the same place, then yes, they would meet up and they would chat about what was going on in their lives, but most of it was always about work. Their conversations would always be like “what was the tour like” and they would laugh, because they would make jokes about what they had been doing. Freddie could make a joke out of any situation. He didn’t tell anecdotes as such, but he could see something and he could make a joke out of it.

PS: As you mentioned Freddie having friends among actors and actresses, could you remember some of them?

PF: Anita Dobson, Debby Bishop, Carol Wood, Pam Ferris, Susannah York. One he would like to have met and she lived literally just across the road, but it never came, was Diana Rigg. And he was incredibly happy when I gave him an autograph from Honor Blackman. I met her and I said “Could I have an autograph, please”, she says “yes, of course, who’s it for?” and I said “it’s just for my friend, Freddie”. And he was overjoyed with it and he kept it in his bedside drawer.

PS: And who was his favourite actors?

PF: Franco Nero, James Mason, Laurence Olivier. And he got to meet him, so that was another of Freddie’s absolute joys. Dave Clark took Freddie to dinner at Laurence Olivier’s house. It was when they were working on “The Time” musical.

PS: And it was actually very last Freddie’s live performance, can you remember something special about it?

PF: Yes, April 1988. I just thought how amazing it sounded. We all heard “In my defence” before, but when he did “it’s in every one of us” as a duet with Cliff that was absolutely amazing. We had goose bumps. And then after the performance we went to Cliff Richard’s dressing room, sitting and talking there.

PS: And you said that Freddie didn’t have many friends amongst musicians, but could you remember something special about Freddie and Elton John’s friendship?

PF: They first met back in 74/75, when Queen were managed by John Reid and in those days both of them were constantly touring so they could rarely meet up. But every now and then Queen would have just done the show and Elton would be performing the next day, so he was already in the hotel and we would meet up and go round, sitting in Elton’s room talking. And then for about a couple of years after Freddie’s diagnosis they didn’t see each other, but then Freddie told Elton about his status and for the last year and a half Elton would regularly come to Garden Lodge. And in Freddie’s last two weeks Elton would ring us, say what time he would arrive, so that he wouldn’t be seen arriving, he wouldn’t come through the front door, and we would let him in through the Mews in his mini, so nobody knew he was there. He had to go to Paris to record, so he gave me all of the numbers: hotel number, the studio number, his mobile number, his assistance’s mobile number, all the numbers, just to let him know when it happen, because he knew it was going to happen. And at the very last time he came to Garden Lodge, he drove in one of his Bentleys and parked it right outside the front door and the press were running over to him asking “why are you here?” and Elton just turned around and said “I’ve come to see my friend”. And that was it, he just came in and they sat and talked. And when Elton came, it was really just Freddie and him in the room, just talking.

PS: And what was the story about Freddie getting his leg damaged in Munich?

PF: Freddie, when he had a few drinks, he would pick people up, just lift them off the floor, to show how strong he was. So Freddie had picked someone up and then someone next to him bumped into his knee and the ligaments tore, because instead of the way it was supposed to bend the knee bend the other way. Freddie then dropped the person he was carrying, he was screaming in pain and we had to go and get it set. When Queen filmed “It’s A Hard Life” in the end of the video, you can see him favouring the leg.

PS: And as you mention “It’s A Hard Life” video, Freddie’s friend Barbara Valentin stars in this video and she was a star in films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder – did Freddie ever discuss his films with her?

PF: Yeah, because she had videos of them. Freddie did meet Fassbinder once. They were in the “Deutsche Eiche”, which was Fassbinder’s favourite restaurant, he was always in it in Munich. And Barbara would take Freddie there every now and then. So Barbara introduced them to each other, they talked a bit, but they were there for lunch, it wasn’t a planned meeting or anything like this.

PS: And what film directors Freddie admired?

PF: Vincente Minnelli, George Cukor, the directors of the 40’s-50’s.

PS: What are your memories of Joe Fanelli?

PF: He was American. The first time I met him his relationship with Freddie was just finishing, this was in 1979. But he stayed in London and worked a lot in London. He was working in different restaurants. He was an amazing chef. And they kept in touch over the years and that’s why when Garden Lodge was finished and someone had to be there, that’s when Freddie thought to bring Joe back. And it worked, because Joe used to go to the gym all the time and he was taking care of himself, which he didn’t do so much when he was with Freddie. He was great. He was amazing on the computer. Computers were just starting, but Joe could write programs and things. Freddie’s favourite programme on television was “Countdown”, which is where they pick out seven letters and you have to make the longest word you possibly can out of those seven letters and then there’s also the numbers thing as well – and Joe created that on the computer for Freddie so that he didn’t wait for it just on the TV. He was fun, and he was good; it was good working with him and most of the time we just got on so well. Garden Lodge would not have been the same without him.

PS: And you mentioned Joe programming “Countdown” for Freddie so Freddie could actually play this game on computer?

PF: Well, no, he couldn’t, but he could sit there and Joe would do the computer. The computer was bought by Freddie for Garden Lodge and it was set upstairs on the musician’s gallery in the big sitting room.

PS: How would you describe the relationship between Freddie and other Queen members?

PF: They were all close to each other, but in a different ways.

Freddie was close with John. John was the new boy, he was the last one to join, he was the youngest, and Freddie just felt protective. He wanted to protect him a little bit for the dangers of rock’n’roll. But then John got married, had Veronica, so he had the security of home, and John was not around Freddie as much, but it didn’t stop the friendship because of what happened at the end. John just decided to finish because Freddie wasn’t there anymore.

With Roger it was a different friendship. And a very good friendship, because both of them had similar personality trait, they both enjoyed a good drink; they both enjoyed a good party.

And with Brian, of course, they were friends, but Brian was much more serious and Freddie was much more of a laughing person than Brian. Brian thought about things so much. But Freddie knew that he would never find anyone better than Brian to help him with the music.

PS: We know that Brian and Roger visited Freddie in his last days, but we never heard of John visiting Freddie.

PF: I don’t think John was prepared to see Freddie looking like he did in the last days, but John came and visited Freddie before those last two weeks. I know that he did come to the house, but I don’t think he could accept seeing Freddie the way he was in those last weeks.

PS: Freddie started to get a lot worse in those last two weeks?

PF: For the last two weeks Freddie hardly ate, he hardly drank. He was taking no drugs that were keeping him alive anymore, he was taking painkillers, and that was it.

PS: What was the reason of Freddie’s last visit to Montreux?

PF: He just wanted to get away from London. He wanted to have a little bit of peace and quiet away from all the press. He had that apartment in Montreux, so he went there.

For the last two-three years of his life he would be there every other month for a couple of weeks. There was no feeling of “this is the last time I’m going to Montreux”, that wasn’t part of his mentality, he only decided that this was the last visit when I called him, because I wasn’t with him, Jim, Joe and Terry were with him at that time, I was in Garden Lodge and I rang him and I said: “Look, just so that you are aware when you come home, that there are press outside the house 24 hours a day. In the nighttime it’s down to about four or five and in the daytime it’s up to about twenty”.

And that’s when he decided that when he went into Garden Lodge, coming back from Switzerland, it would be the last time, because he knew that he would never be able to get out again.

PS: And how long was he there for the last time?

PF: For about two weeks.

PS: And how do you remember him when he came back?

PF: He was sort of happy, but he was a bit withdrawn, because he had made the decision that when he came into Garden Lodge, it would be the last time, that he would never leave it again. He already had decided that, so, of course, he was a little bit more thoughtful, more inward thinking rather than being laughing and all that. But still, even in those two last two weeks there were still times when he would laugh, because he never wanted sad people around him.

PS: What are your last memories of Freddie?

PF: Since he got back from Switzerland on the 10th, he basically stopped eating and drinking. He would have a little bit, but that’s it. So, of course, he was tired, he had no energy. Most of the time he had short sleeps, short sleep –wake up, short sleep – wake up.

In those last two weeks, except for his needs, the only other time Freddie left his room, was when Terry carried him downstairs, on the Wednesday, 20th of November, because he just wanted to look around the main room, he just wanted to have a last look at paintings, at the crystal. He just wanted to spend some more time in that huge room where he felt most comfortable.

The last week of Freddie’s life he was actually never alone, because between Joe, Jim and myself, we would spend twelve hours with him and there was always one of us with him. We did the shifts from eight in the evening till eight in the morning. The last time that I was with him was on the Friday night. And on that Friday night I got there just before eight o’clock. And, you have to remember, that at eight o’clock the statement was released to the world that Freddie had AIDS. The thing is, those hours I was with him, he was the most relaxed I had seen him in years, because there was no secret anymore, the whole world knew. And he would just talk about anything, he would be in bed, I would be sitting on the bed next to him and I would be just holding his hand. The television was on, just for some noise, he would talk and he would go to sleep and talk and go to sleep. And we talked about silly little things, nothing really serious, and nothing like “we knew everything was coming to an end”, there was none of that. He could still talk fine, his mind was together, he just was very-very tired.

But, I think, because the statement had been done, I think Freddie felt that it was time for him to go. Because it was coming up for eight o’clock and I think it was Joe coming in at that point, Joe was coming at eight, and I said to Freddie something like “Look, okay, I’m going now, Joe is going to be here, but, of course, I’ll see you, I’ll see you soon”, he said something like “uhum, yeah, yeah”.

And then he just took my hand, looked me straight in the eye and just said “Thank you”.

And I will never know, whether he already decided that we would never meet again and was thanking me for the last twelve years, or if he was just thanking me for the last twelve hours.

But I have a feeling that he already knew that we would not see each other again.

PS: Do you remember when you for the very first time understood that you are not just working with Freddie, but you are becoming friends?

PF: That really started from the very-very beginning, because we didn’t have to always talk to each other to know what he wanted. I understood him. Because of our similar upbringing in boarding school in India I knew why he reacted in some ways, why he did things, I knew it, it was just instinctive and it made everything very-very easy for him and for me. Maybe it became more intense when Freddie started the time out of Britain, because we were going to be together 24 hours a day, so you have to be friends. And for me, it was the easiest thing on earth to be friends with Freddie. I never thought about Freddie, The Superstar. I was thinking about Freddie, my friend.

SPECIAL THANKS TO VALUREX FOR CONTRIBUTION AND ASSISTENCE

#MR interview with Phoebe #queen #queen band #freddie mercury #roger taylor #brian may #john deacon #peter freestone #joe fanelli

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《 Without Envy 》 storyboard 9 - concubine/sleeper agent!wwx & prince!lwj [Master List], you should also have read [6] [6.2]

Lan Qiren coming to visit Hanguang-fu effectively put an end to Wei Wuxian's time as Lan Wangji's servant. He wanted to send Wei Wuxian back to Jiang-fu, but luckily, Jiang Yanli interfered.

Jiang Yanli has been slowly recovering since her drug-induced miscarriage, and while Wei Wuxian had slowed her progress with sedatives, he's been careful to keep an eye on her intake to make sure Jin Ziyan hasn't been messing with her again. As well, with Wei Wuxian occupying Lan Wangji's time and keeping the Jiang family in his good graces, Jiang Yanli had the time she needed to recover fully without needing to push herself to entertain Lan Wangji for favour.

“妾身见过太师，给太师请安。” “阿离啊，听说你小产后一直身体不好，这下着雨，你怎么来了。起身吧, 孩子。” “承蒙太师与陛下惦记，殿下垂怜，阿离的身子已经大好了。阿羡本是妾身院里的，是妾身的陪嫁，一直都安分守己，对王府对殿下忠心不二。是妾身无用，身子一直不见好才让阿羡到王爷身边侍奉。刚见阿羡被太师训斥，相比是阿离平日里管教无方，无心顶撞了太师。有什么过错，都是妾身的错，还请太师责罚。” ~translate~ Jiang Yanli dipped into a proper curtsey, kneeling before Lan Qiren, "This humble concubine greets Taishi. I pray that you've been well." "A-Li, I've heard that you've not been well since your miscarriage. It's raining today, what troubled you to come? Rise, child." Lan Qiren's stance softened upon seeing Jiang Yanli. His late sister-in-law had no daughters, and so often summoned the daughters of nobles into court to dote on and mentor as her own. Jiang Yanli, gentle and proper, has long been known to be a favorite of the late empress. She may not be the greatest beauty in her generation, but was second to none when it came to etiquette and grace. "Thanks be to His Majesty and taishi for remembering, and thanks to dianxia's for his care, my health is much improved now. A-Xian was once a member of my court, my peijia. I've always known him to be obedient and conscious of his place, and loyal to wangye and this princely manor. It is only on account of my poor health that he's been summoned to serve at wangye's side. Earlier, I heard Taishi chastising him; surely it must be A-Li's fault for failing to teaching him propriety and thus causing his unintended offence. The fault is with A-Li, and so I humbly submit myself to your discipline, taishi." Lan Qiren sighed. He did not wish to stir up trouble over a servant. If Jiang Yanli was willing to stand up for this Wei Wuxian, then he must have his uses. At the very least, he'll be a confidant for Jiang Yanli against Jin Ziyan. Lan Qiren so hoped that one day Wangji would choose the Jiang girl as his legal spouse and secure his marriage once and for all. If sparing one lowly servant was the price then so be it. "Very well, A-Li. Since the servant is yours, then his training and discipline shall be your responsible. He is unsuited to serve at the prince's side. It is good that you have recovered; Wangji should not be without a caring partner."

And so, Wei Wuxian returned to Jiang Yanli's side as a servant. Lan Wangji had to watch him go and could not interfere. The next several days was depressing for both of them on multiple fronts.

Xue Yang was very unimpressed:

"So you're tell me that you got to spend quality time with Lan Wangji for months and then... didn't get anywhere?" "I was getting there okay? How was I supposed to know his stupid uncle was gonna barge in like some nosey busybody and ruin everything!? I haven't seen Lan Zhan in days..." I miss him. How horrifyingly embarrassing. He probably forgot me already. "Don't tell me you actually miss him??? That you - barf - fell for him? Whatever happened to standards??!" "You watch your mouth, Xue Chengmei! I'm still your shixiong! And I have standards; Lan Zhan is...very good." Xue Yang: ( ˘︹˘ ) whatever.

Lan Wangji, the sulky boy that he is, brooded for days until Lan Xichen finally sought him out for some good ol' brotherly heart to heart.

"I hear Uncle took away your shiny new toy." "Wei Ying is not a toy." "Wei Ying is it?" Lan Xichen wiggled his eyebrows. "Ah, didi, you have to think a little more creatively. So your Wei Ying has gone back to his mistress, but is his mistress not your concubine? Jiang-furen is still unpregnant, I might add. Visit her. Then surely you'll get to see him." Lan Wangji grimaced. The thought has occurred to him, but the idea of bedding anyone not Wei Ying is intolerable. "Yes, Yanli is lovely, but I'd rather not...you know..." His brother was too polite to roll his eyes. "You've done it before, Wangji." "I would not have had to, if xiongzhang simply did his duty." Lan Wangji bit back icily, and instantly regretted it. Lan Xichen's eyes widened, his cheerful-teasing expression stuttering and crumbling in seconds. "Yes...yes that's true." "My sincerest apologies, huangxiong - no - bixia." Lan Wangji rose to his feet and then bowed down deeply. "I forgot my place. I accept any punishment." Lan Xichen sighed and extended a forgiving hand to pardon him. "Not necessary, Wangji. You're right. I haven't done my duty for Gusu." He pulled the younger man to sit beside him again. "You are doing this in my stead, stepping up where I have let the country down. I should not make light of your sacrifice. The matter of a harem is inevitably complicated, which is why I never cared for one. Neither did Father. His harem had always been sparse, and his first empress was not one of his choosing. When she died in childbirth and our unborn sibling along with her, he elevated our mother's rank to Empress and visited no one else henceforth." "Mother was never popular with the ministers for that reason." "Yes. They suspected that she had something to do with...well, in any case I imagine they were quite relieved when she passed." Lan Xichen shook his head. "The harem is not a happy place, Wangji. You were born after Mother was already Empress, you would not have remembered a time when she was consort. But I do. Like you, your concubines did not get to choose their fate. The fault, ultimately, lies with me." "Huangxiong -" "It's true, Wangji. The fault is mine." Lan Xichen patted him on the arm placatingly. "You cannot love them, and clever as they are, I don't think your concubines would expect you to. However, you can ensure their happiness in other ways. Jiang-furen seems the kind to very much want a child of her own. It will make the rest of her life in your harem more bearable."

After some deliberation, Lan Wangji went back to his routine of visiting different concubines regularly, but never more than just sharing a bed-space. With the exception of Jiang Yanli. Lan Wangji could see it in her eyes; she knew who he really wanted, but those words never needed to be said aloud. Jiang Yanli was kind to him, and he was kind to her in return. All things considered, it wasn't awful being with someone who wasn't your preferred, but who knew you for yourself and shared your struggles.

"Dianxia, you must've heard, that before I married into your wangfu, I was betrothed to Jin Zixuan." She mentioned one evening over a game of weiqi. Of all his concubines (which he has 4) and friends (which he has few), Jiang Yanli's skill on the weiqi board was unparalleled. Lan Wangji half wondered how the Marquis and Marchioness of Yunmeng could have buried this talented daughter of theirs under the shadow of their son for so many years. "Yes I am aware." "I loved him." "...." For a minute Lan Wangji did not know how to reply. He stared at the chessboard. Jiang Yanli's black pieces had surrounded his white ones and forced them into a corner. "Why are you telling me this?" "Your court, my clan: we are their creatures." Jiang Yanli 's smile was knowing. "I am not A-Xian; I can see what he cannot." "Which is?" "You've fallen for each other. Completely. He denies it, heaven knows why." Jiang Yanli took a delicate sip of tea. Fleetingly, Lan Wangji imagined that if he could not have Wei Ying, if he were forced to take a legal wife to make empress, that she would make a magnificent one. "Father loved Mother. Loved her as a wife even when she was only a consort -" "And his love spurred the hate of the royal court." "They blamed her for his loving a woman more than his country, as though she should have persuaded him to love her less. I do not want the same to happen to Wei Ying." "Nor I." "Huangshu says I would need a legal spouse one day, someone virtuous and from a strong pureblood family." "Is that what dianxia wants?" "I want it to be Wei Ying, though I know it to be impossible. Barring that, I'd want to keep him safe in the harem, the size of which will only grow after I succeed the throne." "For that, dianxia will need a spouse who will reign over the harem as you rule over the country." Lan Wangji contemplated his choices and the options available to him. After some time, he placed the white piece he fiddled between his fingers back into the bamboo bowl, conceding that he'd lost this round. Jiang Yanli waited patiently for him to come to terms with the offer she already knew he would make. He wondered how long ago she had foreseen this moment, whilst simultaneously realizing that if his uncle had any idea just how intelligent she truly was, he would not be so quick to suggest her as a candidate for princess consort. A weak emperor and a strong empress never boded well for the stability of the realm. This was dangerous waters Lan Wangji was wading into, but he knew beyond doubt that the only way to survive was to keep straight ahead. He had no other path to take, none which maximally balanced what he wanted with what he needed. Jiang Yanli was his only solution, his only ally. "Huangxiong suggested that we have a child together." He finally said, staring her squarely in the eyes. "You and I can agree that the son of Gusu Lan and Yunmeng Jiang would certainly be a strong contender amongst his brothers." "She could be a daughter." "Then I'd cherish her more. A child and a crown - would they make you happy, Yanli?" "If I said yes?" "Then they're yours." Jiang Yanli smiled.

Two months after Wei Wuxian was dismissed from Lan Wangji's service and the prince began visiting Jiang Yanli, good new was delivered to Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan. The message was this: Hanguang-wang's Jiang-furen was with child yet again.

#cql #the untamed #wangxian #cql ficlet #corie fics #without envy #i said i'd do this for yall #and so i did

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hypmic-writings · 3 years

Note

not me coming back with the manga artist s/o thing but with fling posse instead,,, i love my boys 🥺🥺🥺💖

━━ ∘◦ ☆ ◦∘ ━━

Pairing: Ramuda Amemura x reader; Gentaro Yumeno x Reader; Dice Arisugawa x reader

Genre: Fluff

Warnings: None

A/N: This one was previously asked for with Ichiro here, and it was cute to do it with the Fling Posse Boys too! Hope you enjoy~

⋘ ──── ∗ ⋅◈⋅ ∗ ──── ⋙

Ramuda Amemura

Ramuda thinks it’s amazing that you’re a manga artist

he draws a little bit himself, but it’s mostly sketches and most of the time it’s only for clothes or fashion ideas

so when he sees you drawing panels for stories in manga, he thinks it’s way more cool than anything he’s ever drawn

“Wow, Y/N you’re so amazing at drawing! Look at the way you did these patterns on the hero’s costume, that’s so cool!”

“It’s not that big of a deal, Ramuda, you sketch out stuff like this all the time, right?”

he’ll beg you to look at them before they’re properly finished and will constantly be trying to guess where the manga will go next

he’s going to give advice or ideas unprompted, but he won’t really care if you use them or not, he just likes talking about them

if you ever ask him for his idea regarding some of the character designs and their clothes, you better be ready for him to take complete creative liberties and total control

because he gets carried away very easily

whenever he sees you drawing, he just sits next to you and stares at you or will peer over your shoulder to watch

and if you ask him to leave he’s going to get sad

he stocks up on all of the manga you’ve ever drawn for and loves to go through all of them, pointing out his favorite panels and asking how you draw specific types of things

you might even inspire him to draw, but I headcanon that he’s actually pretty bad at drawing if it’s not sketching

he might be pouting about it, but just encourage him and tell him to keep trying and he’ll be happy

he definitely gets the word out about your manga and sells them at the front of his store

whenever people ask him why, he immediately dives into the way that you draw clothing, but the main reason he’s just doing it to help you sell your manga

whenever he gets one of his customers or long time clients wrapped around his finger, he’s pushing them to buy the manga

and you honestly think it’s really endearing that he wants to help you with your career as much as he does

Gentaro Yumeno

Gentaro thinks your artwork is simply beautiful and he loves looking at all of the manga panels you make

“Really, darling, you should be proud of your work. It’s quite inspiring, you know, I might have to go write for a while”

“Thanks Gentaro, but there are actually a ton of little mistakes”

every time he gets a sneak peek at some of the manga panels you’re working on, he gets inspired to write

he’s definitely based some short stories on the practice sketches you’ve done and although you think they’re mortifyingly bad, he thinks they’re lovely

he also thinks it’s quite amusing that he’s a writer and you’re an artist and you’re so compatible with each other...it just seems right to him

when you bring up the possibility of a collaboration, Gentaro is surprised because he’s never written a manga before

but the idea of working with you makes him want to try so the two of you have your own little side project where he writes and does most of the storyboarding and you draw the panels

the two of you also publish a little children’s novel under false names and it ends up being a massive success

but you two kind of just did it as a joke and now it’s a New York Times Bestseller and you’re both just laughing

I headcanon that Gentaro is actually a fairly good artist and that he can do little sketches here and there

so when you tell him that his drawings are actually quite good he’s going to get uncharacteristically embarrassed because he’s so used to teasing you and not really caring much about any of his talents other than writing

that when you actually compliment him on his sketches, he finds himself interested in drawing a bit more

of course, he would much rather write out the story and have you illustrate it since your drawing prowess is much better

Gentaro is interested to learn all about how you got into the manga illustration business because he finds you fascinating

100% will ask you to reenact one of your favorite manga chapters and if you say no, he will reenact it with Dice and Ramuda

overall, he’s going to be extremely supportive of your career as an artist and will be a huge supporter of yours

Dice Arisugawa

Dice thinks it’s the coolest thing ever that you draw manga

he’s definitely read a lot of manga, always finding random chapters of random series’ here and there at the local thrift stores

so when you tell him that’s what you do for a living he’s going to get starry eyed and ask if you get to know all of the plotlines for the manga you write for ahead of time

absolutely do not give him any leaks because he will sell that information on the internet for as much as he possibly can

and then you’re going to be the one in trouble and he’s not going to understand why

when you tell him which manga you write for, he’s immediately going online to read all of them as fast as he can

stopping to admire certain panels that look cool to him or look like they might have been complicated to draw

he definitely thinks it’s impressive that you can draw like you do

I headcanon that Dice pretends to be horrible at drawing and always does stick figures and scribbles

but that he was actually put into art classes by his wealthy family as a young boy to hone his skills

so he would actually be brilliant at painting if he ever put his mind to it

“Y/N, this panel is so cool! How did you draw this explosion going from one page all the way to the other?”

“It’s actually a pretty common technique. Here, I’ll show you a similar one I did in this other manga I was drawing for.”

Dice loves watching you draw, but sometimes his eyes glaze over when you try to explain the intricacies of drawing and setting and all of the other little details that go into manga drawing

so you just let him support you from the sidelines as he peers over your shoulder, excitedly saying how cool that page will turn out

and he definitely does support you

he’s actually started to make sure that he puts aside money from his gambling winnings (when he gets them) to buy a copy of your manga

because even though he knows you’ll have your own copy, he wants to be able to show you that he loves and supports you career

and the best way he knows how to do that is splurging some of his precious coin

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

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