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mossmurdock · 8 months

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vampire!geto letting you do his hair is something that can be so personal actually. he's borderline meticulous about his nightly routine, some type of multi-step process you've never been able to keep up with no matter how many times you try to participate.

you've settled on watching him go through the motions. it's such a simple thing, so unbelievably practiced and languid. he matches the flow of his own hair, smooth and perfect. you're a little jealous, envious of his routine and how rewarding it must be; but the feeling of your admiration for him overrides that envy completely. turns into something soft and sweet.

most nights, he'll pretend not to notice you watching him so intently. he'll work the fact into a passing conversation just to make you feel embarrassed later on, whether it be in front of guests or just the two of you. but tonight, he catches your eyes in the mirror, still guilty of your admiration for him.

he says your name and he makes it sound too much like a song.

"what are you looking at?” he asks, already knowing the answer. you think he wants to hear your voice while you’ve been caught in the act.

“you." you reply, looking back down at your hands. they're still dawned in a polish you said you would have gotten rid of days ago. for the past month, you've dawned gloves at geto's parties to hide the state of them, slightly ashamed at the humanness of it all. there's a shine you just cant replicate in your own skin, an immortality you've realized you would never be able to reach. they’re never as polished, never as smooth as you would like them.

and for the past month, geto has made sure that the gloves subtly match his suits. while he entertains guests, he will pass you by and slyly squeeze your hand.

"have i told you you're beautiful, geto?" you ask. you don't have to hear his voice to know he's been flustered, you catch it because you never stop looking. there's an out of place pause in the combing of his hair, his eyes flicker to yours through the mirror of the vanity. "you have told me plenty," he replies flatly.

"are you tired of it?"

"i never said that," he corrects. he puts down his brush and gestures for you with a sort of finality, like he's come to a conclusion. "come here."

you go, but not before sneakily bearing gloves that sit on the night stand. you hide them behind your back as you step by his side; a proximity that's close enough for him to feel comfortable. its satisfying to see that he’s pleased with your proximity, he used to be so frustrated with your distance.

the eye contact between the both of you should be enough to drown in, but neither of you let up; a constant exchange between rock and wave.

“finish this up for me,” he demands. and you would say the command was sudden, but you know he’s onto you with the way his eyes dart down your body. he's caught on. your gloved hands clench behind your back.

“i wouldn't want to ruin it,” you try to sound convincing. “you shouldn’t have to start all over because i want to fuss with it.”

“it isn’t fussing if i’m asking you.” he turns, facing the mirror and granting you access gracefully. “go on,” he urges.

you pause for only a second, fooling yourself into thinking he wouldnt notice the feel of leather. your hands hardly make it half way before their in geto’s clutch. he grabs you by the wrists in a movement you hardly are able to follow, before turning gentle as he guides you closer to him. you’re pressed up against him once more as he turns and begins to delicately peel the fabric off for you.

he begins by loosening them, careful not to snag your actual skin, and then moves on to rolling them off. when they are bare, he remains silent in his scrutinizing, simply grazing his fingers along the lines embedded in your skin. once he seems satisfied, he turns them over, palms facing his thighs, and brings your knuckles up to his lips. they’re cold and smooth and he spends too much time having you know this; having you know the intricacies of his body.

he chuckles when you break and draw your eyes away from his own, your face heats at the seer of his own gaze. if he were at least trying to be a little funny, you could have taken this obvious flirting more lightly.

“there,” he says, breaking the silence and finally letting your hands fall from his own. “you’re ready now.”

again, he turns his chair back to the vanity, handing you an innocent smile as he looks at you through the mirror, waiting for you to start. he doesn’t mock your slight shaking. geto simply leans into you, fighting no urge to hide a hum of pleasure as you begin brushing, like he’s never been touched by anyone better.

he’s too beautiful for his own good, but you aren’t able to say it this time, too scared of declaring something else.

#ITS HERE #this has been in my drafts for wayy too long #anyway hes such a tease i lobe him #jjk x reader #geto x reader #suguru x reader #geto suguru x reader #moss writes

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jamieedlund · 1 year

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Image Aaravos can shape-shifting into whatever animal he wants and one time he turns into a cat just to mess with Callum ,you know the meme with the women pointing angrily at the cat ,image it but with the whole world vs Aaravos

There are 2 - things (?) being said in this questions so I'll answer this in parts---

I don't really think Aaravos enjoy morphing himself into something else due to what we have seen of him (minus ss4 I will talk abt this later, in another post probably--) He seems to prefer to create an entirely separate animal/entity to act in place of him. I do feel like he would turn into a cat if Callum ever asked, but he himself might not go out of his way to do this...especially when he's been travelling with Callum for a while -he DEFINITELY would have seen the way this boy talks to animals...

And personally I can not see someone like Aaravos enjoyed being talked to that way...at all...

However~ I do think he can just mess with Callum by being himself just fine, for example:

Callum listens to him most of the time because he's a good boy who loves and respect his master . . . I feel like this already opened up endless windows of entertainment for Aaravos lol.

2. As for the woman yelling at cat meme... I feel like this

has been done SO . MANY TIMES. BEFORE with various of characters from the show and also- I do not have the time or effort to photoshop a decent one.

BUT

may I offer you (and anyone else who's probably reading) a different experience :

is that bowl of rice floating? yes. yes it is.

I feel like this would have been hilarious to witness.

Bonus if you really want to see him as a cat I made a sketch for it during my lunar new year post right >> here << It is a sketch nonetheless so please forgive the ugliness 🤜🤛✊👊🙏

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compacflt · 7 months

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hey! i was just going through your blog, and i saw a post about ice&carole and mav&goose. i looked a bit more but i couldn't find a post about your take on mav and goose's relationship, so i wanted to ask what it was. if you have answered this, i'm sorry about asking you again. imo i think what they had was wayy deeper than friendship but complex and probably not romantic, but again, i just wanted to know your thoughts on it.

thank you! and this blog has probably been one of the best finds i have ever come across on tumblr, i'll be sad to see you go.

yeah, i was really trying to be suave and subtle and mysterious about it with this parallel

like, you should be able to figure it out for yourself.

but luckily for you i looooove beating dead horses. to a problematic degree.

the full story of my vision of mavgoose (moose?) is in the completed draft of the extras that are coming out on Saturday. about halfway through. But i want to bring it back to the internal craft-of-writing debate i brought up yesterday—my inability to summarize, or to cut superfluous sections that don’t really matter.

I’ll stick it under the cut for spoiler reasons, but i wanna show the simple first draft of this scene versus the complicated, heavier final draft. And I want to ask any of you, if you’re interested—as a reader, which is more impactful? which should i end up publishing?

the simple first draft:

then i kept turning it in my head thinking of different ways to edit it to say something slightly different, to get a little more specific, coming up with things to add, and ended up adding like five extra paragraphs. which is this:

about 1/4 of the final draft (by which i mean, this is about 1/4 of the whole final discussion scene, but the goosemav-specific content only goes on for about another graf [omitted bc spoilers]):

(so to answer your ask explicitly, i actually don’t think they were anything deeper than good friends. imo there’s no evidence that they were anything deeper than good friends, especially with maverick blowing goose/goose’s wishes off soooo many times [‘she’s lost that lovin feelin;’ volleyball; refusing to do the responsible thing at least twice even after goose tells him it puts his & his family’s livelihoods at risk…bro all he does is blow off goose]. see me bitching in the tags for more on this)

obviously in my head the complicated in-depth version ⬆️ is the True version, the version of events that really Happened. i think the writing is in some spots much more compelling. But it just doesn’t make for a particularly good reading experience when it’s surrounded by like 3/4 pages of other discussion of history! sometimes too much of (what i think is) a good thing turns that good thing bad! & this is a major keystone dynamic of my whole series so i just want to get it right, for my own peace of mind. I guess im asking you to be the harsh editor i wish i had sometimes, if ur interested in doing so—this is genuinely a major major problem i have with my writing, i can’t ever just leave well enough alone 😭 please let me know if simpler is better/less is more in this case! do i publish the short vague “the reader fills in the blanks” version or the long boring “here’s EXACTLY how i see it” version?

#crowd sourcing beta readers. let me know.#also.#how many times do i have to say maverick is neither a good person nor a good friend #and the writers of TGM hugely whitewashed and dulled down the original sharpness and thoughtlessness of his character #for the sake of post-50s tom cruise mary-sueifying him #before it sticks?#if it helps you can write out a list of his actions in the original movie.#for instance: > blows off goose to be late to dinner with Charlie anyway #> follows her into the women’s restroom > continues a pattern of dangerous behavior even after #Goose his supposed best friend tells him multiple times it is threatening their jobs #the truck master scene… the locker room scene… the ‘can’t afford to blow this scene’#and then he does it a FOURTH TIME AND KILLS GOOSE HELLO!!!!!#so much for being a good friend like c’mon!!!#if he REALLY respected goose he would have SHOWN HIS RESPECT FOR GOOSE!!!#i am leaving this blog so out come the hot takes!#movies are also woobifying tom cruise lately! how’s that for a hot take #i genuinely felt insulted by TGM’s sexless passionless soft bokeh-light KIND OF half-sex with Penny. that was insulting.#what happened to the savage bitter kid in 1986 top gun? why is he so soft and toothless?#the only time we see him is in the ‘it’s not the plane it’s the pilot’ ‘EXACTLY’ exchange. THATS maverick.#sorry you know me. TGM is not my favorite. i am extremely cynical about it.#i love the IP but the writing choices in the 2nd movie wrt mav especially make me…. 😵‍💫😵‍💫#pete maverick mitchell #nick goose bradshaw #mavgoose #you can ignore me bitching but pls don’t ignore my begging for secondary opinions here

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icedmetaltea · 5 months

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I've been feeling discouraged about my art recently. Could you possibly give me some tips?

Ok I wanna preface this by saying I am by no means a professional or even "good" artist, BUT I shall try!

These are all tips by a digital artist so I can't help much when it comes to other forms

This got long so under the cut, 20 ART TIPS TIME LETS GOOO

1.Try to draw most days, or at least once a week. The more often the better BUT I don't mean like hardcore, a complex drawing every single day (recipe for burnout right there). I mean like even just 30 seconds of SOMETHING. You can draw shapes, maybe fill a page with circles. There are programs u can find online that give you like a min to sketch something and challenge yourself in a really short time frame. Guess what?? When you draw often you're building those neural pathways (I think) and the more you do it the easier it'll get

2. Don't obsess over making stuff look perfect on the first draft... or at all. I recommend making a "draft" layer or 2... or 3 over the initial sketch. The more you go over it and change stuff, the better it'll be. Also, If you spend hours on it and still hate it?? Who cares! You put in the work and now you have an idea out on paper that you can go over some time in the future and improve if you chose to.

3. DON'T DELETE STUFF!!! Unless it's literally just mindless scribbles, save everything you draw. Like I said, you can go over it again and improve it someday. You can also look back at it in like a year and compare your art to see where you've improved! I deleted all my old art from beyond like a year ago and regret it so much. Don't berate yourself for the stuff you need to work on, be proud of what improvements you've still made

USE REFERENCES!!!!!!! Please just do it, I know it's annoying but I promise it helps so so much

4. Invest drawing tablet, preferably one with buttons that you can map to undo, sketch, fill and such. This will make drawing sooooo much easier (and faster). My quality of art has improved just from drawing the same thing and redoing it like 20 times at a time, and it takes way less time when I can just click a button to do that. It might seem daunting at first but it quickly becomes instinctual. This is the one I got and I'm quite happy with it! It's got good sensitivity, a pen you don't have to replace batteries for or even recharge, and it's mid-range so not wayy too expensive. However, if you're just starting out, I'd recommend this (I got the corded version but I assume it's about the same) since it's small, cheap and you can focus on just learning basics like improving lines n such.

5. Use a bigger canvas size. I started out with 1000x1000, and that's still fine for smaller stuff and doodles, for better quality I recommend bigger sizes. If it's too small it'll look all weird and pixel-y

6. THERE ARE LITERALLY SO MANY FORMS OF ART, maybe the one you're trying just isn't something you vibe with! There's mosaics, digital, traditional (and all the many sub-categories of that), sculpture, photography, etc. All are equally valid and you will improve in your craft if you choose something that 1. you enjoy, 2. are consistent with it!

7. SEGEMENT OUT THE LIMBS drawing DCA stuff for over a year has helped me improve on anatomy sooo much literally just because it forced me to think of each part of a limb in terms of segments, shapes- for instance, instead of an upper arm, I think of a tube which connects to a circle that allows it to rotate and another tube... followed by a weird shape for a hand that connects 5 smaller tubes, whiCH ARE THEN SEPERATED IN TO 3 TUBES EACH. Yes it sounds confusing but breaking it down like that instead of just trying to figure things out helped an absolute shitton

8. Have some kinda hobby that makes you draw frequently. For instance I have a discord sona I draw a new pfp for every month or so. It's a simple design and since the pfp won't show many flaws I can pump out lots of art for it in a small timeframe and I find it relaxing. I've actually improved a shitton just drawing pfps This is one of my first pfps from maybe 2 yrs ago compared with one of my most recent ones

(yes I'm a bit of a furry deal with it) It's cute, there's nothing wrong at all with it! However, you can see how things have changed.

See how the lines are a lot more even, less jagged? The proportions of the shoulders are much wider, the ears aren't just popping out of the hair, the shading makes a bit more sense and isn't just thrown around at random. There's also a broader range of color, with a few bright highlights to catch the eye, colored shading I think as well. The former is just like 3 simple colors. These are all things I learned from drawing pfps consistently.

9. CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! And FUN, if you have fun drawing it'll be a lot easier to do frequently

10. Whether it's drawing pfps, blorbos or landscapes, find something that brings you joy and it'll be MUCH easier to stick to. Draw, draw a lot, do not worry about "good" art and "bad" art cause there's literally no such thing. Compare what you draw now with what you do in like a year or two from now and I promise, if you're consistent, use references and are patient, you WILL amaze yourself with how much you improve.

11. Challenge yourself! Join secret santas (assuming you know you can complete it within the allotted timeframe), draw your friends' sona/ocs (if they're cool with it), do palette challenges, do monthly stuff like drawtober or whatever it's called (BUT I don't recommend doing something every single day for a month cause again, gonna cause mega burnout)

12. Draw when the inspiration comes, it will move your hand. These days I make much better quality art that I'm proud of when I just let inspiration flow through me instead of begrudgingly making myself draw. You shouldn't be forcing yourself!! If you are, you probably are burned out by either drawing too much, feeling a lack of confidence or some other stuff going on irl. Inspiration comes naturally, and when it doesn't it's prolly your mind trying to communicate that something's up. If resting a week or two doesn't help, take a deeper look at your life and see if the artblock is a symptom of something else (for me it's most often depression).

13. At the same time, sometimes you just need to start. Kinda on the previous point of lacking confidence, often we scare ourselves out of even trying. It might feel insurmountable. Nah, try. If all you can do is a wobbly, vague sketch?? You got the idea out!! Start drawing fuckin eyeballs or something, just start. Sometimes the hardest part is just facing a blank canvas and putting a couple lines on it

14. Not all brushes are equal. Some just make drawing easier- at least for me. I dunno the science behind it but when I use my sketch brush (it's got a similar look to pencil) rather than my lineart brush it makes drawings just... look better. Also using thicker lines in general helps. Why?? NO CLUE, maybe thinner ones just show flaws easier or intersect better or something.

15. Music or some other distraction can help, idk why. Some days I like to have a movie/show/podcast going in the background for a mild distraction that keeps me slightly stimulated on other stuff even as I draw- maybe it increases brain activity or??? No idea. Sometimes just listening to music. Sometimes I need total silence. Do what works for you! Give lots of different stuff a try, you may love drawing while listening to a podcast in the background

16. Take breaks!! The pomodoro method works with art as well. Every 25 mins or so, take a 5 min break. Get up, stretch, get some water, maybe watch a yt vid. Call ur friend and tell them you love and cherish them. Then get back to it and you will feel oh so refreshed. After maybe 3 rounds take a 15 min or longer break and then repeat if you still feel like it

17. SLEEP IS INCREDIBLY FUCKING IMPORTANT you will see a deep decline in the quality of your art when you're tired, plus you just feel like shit and art is about feeling good and expressing yourself. Sleep is important, even tho yes I stay up too late drawing most nights, I do my absolute best to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night, as should you!!

18. DO NOT BE SCARED OF STICK FIGURES AND MESSY SKETCHES, they're actually the best way to start bc 1. it's a quick way to get an idea out before you forget it 2. the finished piece will actually look a lot more fluid since you weren't spending all that time obsessing over making the first draft look perfect- which often just makes it look stiff. You can do a whole lot with stick figures. Focus on that good ol' line of action.

19. Random but when drawing the face, I like to first make a circle and then like a "mask" over it for the actual face. For me it just makes sense. Then two lines, one up/down and one left, right, it'll make it easier to align the eyes and ears. In general, the ears usually go where the "mask" begins and just below the left/right line

20. Finally surround yourself with people who encourage you. I grew up in an environment where people would gawk at stuff my sibling drew and ignore me bc they were ~naturally talented~ and it made me not want to draw at all.

Well guess what?? Now that I spend time with people who encourage me and genuinely care about my interest in art I've improved a lot bc I have the motivation, the joy of showing ppl who care about me new pieces. If people in your life aren't encouraging you, or gods forbid insulting your art (excluding constructive criticism that you've explicitly asked for) then TOSS EM OVERBOARD THE BOAT OF LIFE and find people who will treat you with the love and respect you deserve

P.S

This isn't a tip, just a recommendation: Chicory, a colorful tale. It's a game where u play as a cute lil dog who gets a magical paintbrush that lets you color the world. The only issue? You have no ~talent~. My gods, this game struck a cord with me.

Feeling like you don't have any talents that come naturally to you. Being overlooked even when you try your best. Feeling like a complete joke when you try to pick up the brush (or in this case stylus) because there are so many "real" artists and you're not one of them.

Also the things people say and how they can affect you even when not intentional. Damn. It's just a beautiful game. It's made by the same people who made Wandersong, another absolute banger game with a character who is seen as a joke and I cannot recommend them enough.

bonus tip bc why the fuck not: OVERLAYS!!!!!!! In clip paint studio you have all these layer options, I can never memorize what they all do so I just make like an ombre color layer over my base colors and try all of them to see what looks cool

#Answer tag #Metaltea Talks #ref #art tips #long post #*gives anon a thousand tiny cartoon hearts in a bottle*

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loosestitchescomic · 1 year

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Love the comic!! I was wondering if you have any tips for people who want to get into digital art? What program do you use?

Hope you have a good day :D

oOF so that's hard cause it's been kind of a really long journey and a lot of the stuff I've picked up has been from watching youtube, looking stuff up, and only recently a few classes here and there. So I don't have any TIPS but I CAN walk you through my digital art journey, if you will. (also if you don't wanna read this all: I use Clip Studio Paint Pro, and a Wacom Intuos Pro)

SO. my first tablet was a cheap, tiny square thing that cost 30 dollars and connected to my labtop via a usb cable. It only lasted a few years. It was a Huion drawing tablet, don't know what kind but a brief search shows they're still selling tables for around 30-50 dollars and they look WAY better than the one I started with. so if you wanna start digital drawing but don't wanna buy a super expensive tablet at first in case you don't like it, I'd suggest Huion.

NEXT I used a free digital art program called Fire Alpaca for a while, and since I was new to digital art I didn't really need all the fancy brushes and options that expensive digital art programs had because I just needed to familiarize myself with the basics first.

After a while I wanted an upgrade, but adobe products are super expensive and slowed down my cheap broken laptop. Eventually I ended up finding Clip Studio Paint, which I bought for like 40 dollars (I think it's 50 dollars now) and has been my faithful companion ever since. It helps that it's made specifically for digital illustration/manga creation too, since I like making comics.

somewhere along the line my Huion tablet started sporadically cutting out and losing pen pressure so I asked my mom for a better one, since I'd proven that I was serious about digital art, and I ended up getting a Wacom Intuous Pro for christmas (also a tablet without a screen, I've found from using others ipads that I kind of hate screen tablets haha)

WHICH SURPRISED ME cause I thought they were WAYY too expensive. That's the tablet I still use today but I wouldn't suggest buying it, the charging port broke multiple times and after the warranty expired there wasn't much I could do about it, so I had to switch to using the wireless option and charging the battery via a different battery charger I bought on amazon and the whole thing was very annoying and BAD, I made do cause I can't afford a new tablet but the charging port breaking is kind of a big fucking deal :/

anyway thank you for your interest and giving me the chance ot ramble haha

AH SORRY I THOUGHT I POSTED THIS THE DAY I GOT IT. My bad i saved it as a draft instead haha.

#loose asks #not comic #long post

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the-nymphvallien-universe · 2 years

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Day 7 Art

Now that I've given some information about Flickering Out (specifically Day 7) I figure now's a good time to release some art I made for it. Now's probably the first time I can post these while having the audience have any idea what's going on. Also I may put in some sneaky exerts from Day 7, y'know, for fun.

Now I'd give headers for the artwork's titles but I kinda gave them dumb names like

The Big Scary Demon Pegasus

Its telepathy is interrupted by a terrible, earsplitting screech. Atsume has teleported herself onto its back, and is now wrapping her arms around its neck. This takes Durkuat by surprise, as it opens its beak to scream.

It sounds halfway between an eagle's squawk and a woman's scream. It lasts a dreadfully long time before Atsume reaches her arms up to its head, and eventually its beak. I lie petrified as she tries to yank the beak off. Durkuat bucks wildly, violently trying to fling her off its back, but Atsume must have a grip of steel, because she manages to stay on. ... With three good tugs the beak tears away from its head.

This piece is actually a redraw of something I made traditionally. I made it for a school Book Week contest where I had to draw something illustrating "my story," or something like that. I actually left it to the last minute so I spent all my classes on the deadline date drawing it. Ah... don't worry, I wasn't doing anything during those classes anyway. I won that contest, though I'm not sure if that's because mine was genuinely the best or if I was the only one who entered. I was the only one in my grade, at any rate.

Day 7 Comic

Yeah that's literally the title in the filename - very creative I know.

I glance at Durkuat. Still screaming as though it is in pain, it has now started to glow white. Not wanting to witness whatever change of form comes next (good or bad), I silently agree, and we're on the run again. ... Suddenly I'm startled by someone grabbing me by the back of my collar. Instinctively, I turn around and knock them away with my arm.

...She has to be Durkuat. She's got the same bands of blood around her face. And then she speaks. It's a horrible sound. Her voice is strained, it breaks as though it hasn't been used in centuries. She slurs like she's forgotten how to make the sounds. A mixture of saliva and blood leaks out of her mouth. It's a horrifying sight. The worst part is, I don't think she has a tongue. ...

“Come on, Sonwy!” calls Atsume. I glance back, Atsume's waiting a bit up ahead. “I’m sorry,” I say. And I run.

Those are some very abridged exerts there. Sorry, had to do that, otherwise this post would've been wayy too long. And it's pretty long as is. I suppose this is actually Durkuat/Nori's visual debut on this blog. Not ideal... I have a Tiansei explanation post that's been in my drafts for the past two months, and at this rate I'm not sure I'm gonna be able to finish it.

The Nightmare

Another digital redraw, but god do I love this one. Looks like a movie poster... or book cover... That's ironic. As the title says this is more of a nightmare and not something that actually happens, and ah, Durkuat doesn't actually look like that. I should... I should probably finish that Tiansei explanation post.

Also note to anyone reading this: don't Ctrl+Z while writing posts. You can only redo once and it's never the amount you undid. I had to write that intro three times.

#tw: blood #fiction #artwork #writing #flickering out #sonwy koren #atsume sakana #tiansei durkuat #tiansei nori

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fanficsfromyesteryear · 3 years

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LEVERAGE

A DEADLY CLASS ONE SHOT

— PAIRING: Marcus Lopez Arguello x Reader — WORD COUNT: 1,808 — WARNINGS: Cursing, mentions of violence — REQUESTED BY: N/A — A/N: I've been gone forever, huh? Sorry about that :/ I’d kinda lost motivation for writing and for this account for a while, and I’m still not at 100%, but I’m better!! This has been in my drafts for wayy too long, and I think I’m happy with how it turned out?? I know it ends in a cliffhanger, but I’ll be more than happy to write a part two if there’s enough interest :)

You were no stranger to Marcus’s elusive nature. Sure, it bothered you sometimes—your boyfriend would show up to your house after a week at his “mystery school” covered in bruises and scrapes that weren’t there the last time you’d seen him. The first couple of times that had happened, you’d tried asking him about the marks, but when he’d brushed it off as clumsiness or gym class accidents, you’d realized there was no use in questioning him. Through the months that the two of you had been together, you’d learned that there were just some things that Marcus didn’t want you to know about.

Tonight was no exception. When he came knocking at your bedroom window, the glow from the nearby streetlight dully illuminating his bruised and tired face, accentuating the dark circles under his eyes, you knew it was going to be one of those nights. He avoided your concerned gaze as you let him in, his head down as he tried in vain to hide his wounds.

“You wanna talk about it?” you asked, though you already knew the answer.

Marcus silently shook his head as he dropped down onto your bed, kicking off his shoes. He held up his arms, motioning for you to join him.

He wasn’t an exceptionally talkative person on his best days, but on nights like this, Marcus didn’t want to make any sort of conversation. He just wanted to be held, to be reminded that he wasn’t alone in the world.

You relented, crawling in next to Marcus and pulling the blankets up. It was late, and you were almost glad that he didn’t want to talk—sure, you cared about your boyfriend’s well-being, but like him, you were tired, and you didn’t trust yourself to not drift off mid-conversation.

Needless to say, the two of you fell asleep in an instant, but you didn’t stay that way for long. You awoke with a start as Marcus scrambled over your body and ran to the window. You rubbed your eyes, watching him with confusion. “What’s wrong?” you asked, your voice groggy.

Marcus didn’t answer. Instead, he held a finger to his lips and slowly peeled back the curtains. He took a sharp intake of air, body rigid as he reached for your lamp. Raising it, ready to strike, Marcus threw back the curtains the rest of the way only to come face-to-face with a lanky figure and a mop of green hair that he was all too familiar with. “Billy?” Marcus hissed, sliding open the window. “What the hell, dude? You almost gave me a heart attack.” He stepped back, allowing his friend room to stumble inside. “How did you even find me?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Billy said, “‘cause I’m not the only one that did.”

“What are you talking about?”

“El Diablo has a nice little surprise party set up for you out front, but the others are waiting to meet us in the alley. If we hurry, we can still get to Shabnam’s before the Cartel does to get the—” Billy cut himself off as you appeared beside Marcus.

“Either of you care to explain what’s going on?” You didn’t know who the mohawk-clad teen with the skateboard was, but Marcus seemed to trust him, so you didn’t bother asking who he was—what worried you more was the hushed and frantic way in which the two of them spoke.

Marcus glanced down at you, and the panicked expression on his face took you by surprise. He was usually very good at hiding his emotions, what he was thinking or feeling at any given moment, so to see him standing there like a frightened little boy was enough to scare you, too, despite not having a clue as to what was going on. Furrowing your brow, you reached out to grab his arm, but Marcus brushed past you to your closet and grabbed the first jacket and pair of shoes he saw. “No time,” he muttered, crossing back to you and holding out the clothes for you to take. “Put these on.”

Billy grabbed Marcus by the elbow and pulled him farther away from you. “You’re bringing them?” he asked.

“Well, yeah,” Marcus replied, his eyebrows knit together as if his answer should’ve been obvious. “We can’t leave them here. What if El Diablo takes them for leverage or something? I can’t—” Marcus turned back to look at you, still half-asleep, struggling to zip up the front of your jacket. “I’m not gonna let that happen.”

“I dunno, man,” Billy pressed. “I don’t think—”

Billy didn’t get the chance to finish. Marcus was already ushering you outside, much to your confusion and dismay, and telling him to close the window on his way out, leaving Billy with no choice but to accept the new addition to their team and follow.

“Ah,” said Lex as soon as you and Marcus were within view. “So this is where you’re always runnin’ off to.” He paused, sizing you up, before a grin broke out across his face as he turned his attention back to Marcus. “I can see why, mate.”

“Not now, Lex,” Marcus responded, waving his friend off as he dragged you toward the back of the van that the ragtag group had parked in the alley beside your apartment building.

“Jesus, don’t objectify them.”

Lex turned on the short brunette, grabbing her by the shoulders and bending down to her level. “Lighten up, Petra, love. Since when are we taking anything I say seriously?”

The last thing you saw before the van door opened, obscuring your view, was Petra shoving Lex away with a scoff and holding her middle finger up between them.

You eyed the back compartment of the van. “What, are you kidnapping me?” you asked, accentuating the question with a nervous laugh as you looked over at Marcus. Suddenly, you were starting to wonder whether or not you could really trust your boyfriend. After all, you hardly knew anything about him, and taking you out to a sketchy van parked in a dark alleyway in the middle of the night to meet up with the strangest group of people you’d ever seen was not adding up in his favor.

“Nah,” Marcus assured, giving you the smallest of smiles. “Me and my friends just have something we need to do, and I felt bad leaving you by yourself.”

He was lying, and you knew it.

With all of the secrets that Marcus kept from you, you were well acquainted with his tells, the way he didn’t blink—nearly held his breath—as he looked you in the eye and made up some fib to help you sleep at night. It was like he’d heard one too many times that a liar’s gaze gets shifty when they’re afraid of getting caught in the act, so he was trying too hard to do the opposite, which, in your opinion, was just as obvious of a give-away.

“Marcus,” you said, taking hold of his hand. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I will,” Marcus promised, stepping around you. “Later.”

“But—”

Too late. Marcus had already climbed into the back of the van and was pulling you inside, too.

The ride to Shabnam’s house—wherever that may be—was eerily noiseless for a group of friends. Whenever you and your closest companions got together, especially in a place as cramped as the inside of a vehicle, your excited chatter and laughter filled the space, but with this group, a tense silence hung in the air. A couple of them whispered back-and-forth occasionally, but the moments in between were deafeningly quiet, save for the sound of the van’s tires as they tumbled across the asphalt.

Aside from the general lack of conversation, there was something else that bothered you—the quick glints of metal each time the van passed beneath a streetlamp, concealed weapons strapped to every member of Marcus’s eclectic party—and the sinking feeling of dread grew in the pit of the stomach with each mile you rode. What exactly did Marcus and his friends need to do?

The vehicle came to a shuddering stop on the side of the road, and almost instantly, the back doors were thrown open. You tried to catch a glimpse of your surroundings, but Marcus squatted in front of you, blocking the scene outside. “We’ll be back soon,” he said, “I promise.” Marcus kissed your forehead gently before grabbing a baseball bat from the opposite side of the compartment and stepping out. “Stay here, okay?”

You nodded. You didn’t need to know what Marcus and his friends were up to in order to know that you didn’t want to be a part of it, so you were more than happy to comply with your boyfriend’s request.

That was what you’d thought, at least, but as minutes turned into hours, the dark interior of the van was starting to feel more like a prison than a safe space. You crawled into the front seat to peer out the window, but it did nothing to ease your mind—if anything, it only made you more anxious. You took to checking the horizon religiously, hoping each time that you’d see Marcus returning safe and sound, but each time he wasn’t there, was another pang in your chest.

Fuck it. You pushed open the passenger side door and emerged into the cool night air. Glancing around, you tried to make sense of the area, looking for any sign of Marcus and his friends and the direction they might’ve gone, but it was no use, so you blindly chose a direction and decided to see where your feet would take you.

The house loomed on the side of the road, its windows tall and dark. It had clearly been a place of wealth at some point, but now, it was overrun with garbage and neglect. Every once and a while, a shadow passed by, but you couldn’t make out what you were seeing, just like you couldn’t make out the noises you heard coming from within. Muffled shouting and sounds of struggle tainted the otherwise quiet street. You wanted to believe you were at the wrong house, that you should turn back now and try a different direction, but you remembered Marcus’s bat and the other various weapons his group had carried, and you knew there hadn’t been a mistake, but that didn’t necessarily stop you from wanting to leave.

You never got the chance to. A sharp blow to the back of your head and you crumpled onto the sidewalk, wincing in pain. You tried to fight the urge to faint as your vision faded in and out, but the throbbing in your skull was too much. The last thing you saw was a mutilated figure crouching over you, a wicked grin on his face.

“Well, ain’t you cute?”

#marcus lopez arguello x reader #marcus lopez arguello one shot #marcus lopez arguello #marcus lopez x reader #marcus lopez one shot #marcus lopez #deadly class x reader #deadly class one shot #deadly class

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fuzzballsheltiepants · 5 years

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Hi! So recently I’ve started writing a little more bc I’ve been interested in writing but I never really picked it up. The thing is though, the things that I’m trying to write end up being wayy too long. How do you control the length of your stories? Lol I feel a little weird asking for advice. (PS I love your writing, it has such a nice style to it)

Ahhhh thank you, you’re a sweetheart! Congratulations on joining the weird and wonderful world of writing. And I’m so flattered that you’re asking me!

This is a problem I can totally relate to, lol. I am very prone to letting fics get away from me, so I have lots of experience in trying to control length. What works for me may not work for you, but here goes:

First off, what makes you think they are too long? Does it feel slow? Redundant? Do you feel like you’re losing track of the story you’re trying to tell? Or is it just that you were expecting to write something short and then...it’s not?

If it’s the last one, sometimes the story that you are writing needs more room to breathe, or sometimes the story you start writing turns into something else entirely. Every Time a Bell Rings was initially conceived to be a one shot comedy, maybe 5-7k words, but once I started writing it became clear that the story my brain wanted to tell deserved more.

I’m not big on outlines, but for many (most?) people they’re really helpful. I do outline most of the longer fics (Back to the Start, Forging of the Wolf, my RBB fic) but I have the bad habit of straying wildly from my outlines as I write because sometimes the outline ends up being too limiting or I’ll get a better idea.

It’s common for me to lose track of what I’m trying to tell. I will write a scene that is pretty or that satisfies some urge, but then when I’m partway through it or I finish that scene I realize that it doesn’t actually add anything to the story. A lot of times I just keep writing and go back to it later to see if it still deserves to be in there. Other times, if it’s really pulling something in a weird direction, I’ll either delete it or, more often (since deleting hurts my brain) I’ll move it into a file that I call my “Discard Pile.”

My Discard Pile for my Forging of the Wolf fic is literally 20k words long. It’s about 2k for Mewment, and was about the same for ETABR. Sometimes I end up pulling little bits from there, but most of the time I got rid of it for a reason, as I realize once I have the objectivity to go back to it.

If you feel like you’re just a bit redundant, or that the pacing is too slow, just keep writing! That’s what second and third drafts (and betas!) are for. Get it on the page, and tweak it later. I’m big on reading out loud when I’m done as that helps me catch when stuff doesn’t flow well or is just too repetitive.

And I am merciless with my own writing. I have a “when in doubt, write it” attitude, but also a “when in doubt, cut it” attitude. I usually don’t even let @tntwme beta until I’ve already pared out a LOT. If it doesn’t add to the mood, emotional development, or plot, I cut it. And I still tend to suspect I’m wordy, lol, but at least most of the time the excess serves some sort of a function.

Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to friends that write. If you don’t have any (or they’re not as supportive/helpful as you need), reach out to other writers that you might not know yet and see if they’re willing to help you out. I’m often willing to give feedback on ideas, and there are some amazingly sweet and generous writers in both my fandoms (AFTG and SJM) who might also be open to it. There’s also resources like the AFTG fic library that has a beta readers list, who might be able to help you too.

Here’s an example from the fic I just posted (The Laws of Physics): I was struggling with where to end it, and I had this idea in my head about Aaron and Neil getting into an argument. But at the same time, I was pretty sure that would distract from the intimacy of the story I wanted to tell. I wrote a bit of that scene then asked @nikothespoonklepto about it. They agreed that while it would be a good story to tell, it would be better served as a second story, and not part of this sweet little moment between Andrew and Neil. So, I still have it, and I may at some point expand and add a chapter or two onto that fic involving Aaron, but for now that particular fic is best ended where I did it.

I hope that this is at least a little bit helpful. I’m more than happy to chat more, and don’t hesitate to DM me!

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sapphicnausicaa · 6 years

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whats up yall! im not dead and sorry for going on an unwarned hiatus for oVER A MONTH FHDHFHDKSJF,,,, things that had been piling up since last summer just got to b WAYY to much for me, especially w school going on and just kinda wasn’t able to handle ppl more than i had too. BUT the school years done now, got out last tuesday and i just CRASHED,,, i think this is the most sleep ive gotten in a LONG time so i feel like thats helped me. i never realize how sleep deprived i am everyschool year until the summer time comes around again and i have to get back on my school sleep schedule.

thats also probably why this year has gotten 2 me so much, it just made it harder for me to handle certain family issues that have been happening. theyve been happening throughout my whole life but the just built up and got rlly bad, and now that theyve been/are being addressed they just seem, bigger-in a way, than before.

and ive always been more of an avoident person- both bc ive always had trouble understanding whats going on around me and as my therapist had pointed out in a more recent meeting, bc of all the conflicts involved w my three parents. i just never knew which side to take or how to deal with it besides ignoring it/ hiding out in my room.

now that its summertime i dont think im going to have any month long relapses back into self isolation but depending on how things go i might disappear for a week as a warning in advance. before everytime i came back online i would think that i wouldnt not let people know ive been online, ignore the app on my phone or just straight up delete the app again for that long of a time but now im gonna be honest, i’ll eventually end up doing it again. im too introverted and maybe a bit addicted to being alone. which is kind of hilarious to me considering how i also absolutely crave attention fhfhfjdkfk.

plus i havent rlly been able to hold a one on one convo w ppl recently bc my head has just been feeling extra empty and if its not i cant form words to say or type out, its like i can only talk if im more of in the background of it adding on to what other people are saying

i have come online in secret and put somethings in my drafts, but never for more than a few minutes at a time and it was always to try and see if i could handle interacting with people again. needless to say, i couldnt and was always extremely distressed at the thought of opening my messages.

anyway thats pretty much that, im already feeling kinda tired but that might just be bc i went 2 bed at one thirty-ish and kept on waking up on-n-off from 5:30 to eight 30 when i finally decided to just get up

theres prob more things for me too say but i cant think off them right now

#honey chatter #vent #i havent read back over this at al besides a quick glance so words r mispelled and probly outta order or just straight up the wro ng word sf #dsfjhkfhdkjsdf #imma go take a nap or mow the backyard shower THEN take a nap in like a few mins #i may or may not bee back online after that today #hahahah BEE #im tired #i do feel guilty abt not talking to yall #ESPECIALLY NATSU AND ALISS #u guys just never stopped messaging me and i loved u for but also never knew how to handle it #i still love u for it and i still dont know how to handle it tbh #but it is apreciated(?spelling?) and im sorry for neglecting and ignoring your friendships #youre always so chatty and talkative and happy when we interact and somehow im always suprized by it #and when youre not happy youre expressing why youre not happy to me and venting and letting me know #its something that i admire and want to learn from you

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isitkpop · 7 years

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Music Producer!Jihun as your Boyfriend

Request: @milkteafairy-hyeri asked: Hi!! I love your Jihoon barista AU! It's so cute! So can I request a bullet scenario where Jihoon and his s/o are rival producer but eventually became lovers? Thank yiu!

Thanks for liking it! Sorry it took me so long to do this. I was trying to figure out how I could write this and then Thanksgiving holiday came up but now I’m in a writing mood. Sooo....here we go!

He’s a genius at what he does and everybody is always wanting him to write their next comeback.

But he’s very picky and only writes for certain groups who are worthy of his music

Like no joke...like he only writes for groups that have at least won an award already or something.

The public doesn’t really know his real name or anything.

He kind of remind everybody of a NEET but HE ISN’T he’s just not out a lot

You on the other hand is a genius too

But you write for groups who are worthy too but for COMPLETELY different reasons

You only write for groups who are determined to win their next comeback

It’s like you write music that brings out the groups strength you know?

EVERYBODY knows about you but it’snot like you enjoy the publicity...it’s more like it just kind of happened after his one group you write for at the very beginning of your job stated your name and brought you out for everybody to see what you look like

But no one follows you or anything but every once in a while you’ll get the occasional fan who would come up to you wandering if they could get your autograph and a picture

And Jihun hates it...

He hates your motives and how you work basically and your views of writing for groups

But truth is...and he doesn’t know it yet...he finds it motivating and admirable...but save this thought for later!

You also...hate Jihun’s views and his work and such...but you know your reason and it’s because you find him a bit arrogant and wayyyy to picky and needs to lighten up a bit because you know he would be a good producer if he just wouldn’t be such a picky person.

Both of your offices are right across from each other by the way!

Did I also mention that you both have a large window across from each other too so you’re both constantly seeing each other too

Did I also mention that you both was offered to write a song together for a group that wanted both of you??

So now you’re both sitting in front of the windows while glaring at each other and thinking to yourselves about why this had to happen and with you??

You decided to communicate through writing on paper because he is soooo not worth messaging or even talking to verbally

“I seriously don’t want to work with your arrogant ass.”

And Jihun’s writes back “Me either. You’re way too lose minded. No wander way your songs suck.”

You slam down your notebook and hit the mic button that’s a direct line to his office and yell into the mic about how he wants to say that again

And Jihun’s like covering his ear while glaring at you and hits his button “Your. Songs. SUCKS. ASS!”

And the group that wants you both to write their song is walking down the hall and stops at the windows as you and Jihun glare at each other without a care in the world

And the group....let’s say that it’s Pristin...they’re all sighing because they know that you and Jihun are totally into each other but mistaking it for hatred and shit like that and so they smile at you both and start talking about all the subtlety cute things you both do when you’re both ‘arguing’ and fan girling about it

You and Jihun sits back down in yall’s chair and still glare at each other and then Jihun hits the button and is like ‘Fine. Looks like we will have to work together anyways. But I don’t they’re worthy of my music but it looks like I have no choice.’

And you’re like “THEY HAVE DETERMINATION! I know they can win this next comeback you rude shit.”

And he sighs and told you that he will work with you but only if you’re in his studio because he would rather die than be in yours

So the next day he’s already in his studio but you walk in and you’re like “Holy shit! What kind of equipment do you have? Is this the latest model?”

And you’re eyes are sparkling and you’re looking at his equipment with a cute face and he’s in his chair just staring at you because he’s never seen you make that face before and nearly has a heart attack when you look at him and glare at him “What are you staring at you pervert?”

Jihun glares back and just turns his chair around to make sure you don’t see his SLIGHT blush and basically insults you with “A good for nothing producer.”

“You wanna say that to my face this time?”

And he’s turning around and get’s ready to say it again but Pristin and the company director walks in and interrupts you both and they’re all surprised tat you’re in Jihun’s office in the first place but Nayoung is like “You both finally decided to work together? That’s great! We’re going to rock this comeback this time girls!”

And you catch Jihun frowning because you know that he’s thinking that it’snot going to happen and you might just want to smack that damn frown off his ugly ass face after they leave

And when they do Jihun pulls up another chair and tells you to sit and gives you a notebook and a pen and crosses his leg and is like “Let’s both write down some themes and compare yeah?”

You agree and start writing but like halfway you look up and see Jihun’s concetrated face and it’s cute and handsome.

Especially when he places the top of the pen up against his lips and has this lost in thought look on his face

But you’re a blushing mess after he looks up and catches you staring at him and basically scolds you for not staying focused and writing some stuff down

You’re both comparing themes and brought it all down to five themes and then decide on three and decided to combine them all together and then leave for the day

Surprise Surprise...apparently you and Jihun lives in the same apartment complex AND your rooms are side by side but never knew until now because you both leave at different times and stuff like that

You both want to die because now you both know where each other lives and it just HAD TO BE THE SAME BUILDING AS THAT JACKASS

But you’re both laying in you own beds

Jihun’s thinking back on the look on your face at admiring his equipment and you’re thinking about his cute face of concentration but you both catches yourselves and scolds yourself

But the next day it’s kind of awkward because you’re both hoping that you’re not catching onto their thoughts they had about each other

Literally went on like this for like the rest of the week

You're both not talking as much or better yet arguing and Pristin is like...something is weird about them

You were in charge of the lyrics while he creates the actual music

And about a month later of awkwardness and hard work you both finally got the song draft made and you both sung the parts for the girls to hear the whole thing

But before they listen to it, you’re both in his studio listening to the song

And you’re like...damn this is good and fun and bouncy. It totally brings out the girls personality and it fits their image

And Jihun is thinking that you’re lyrics brings out each of their strengths and how the lyrics flow extremely well together.

But you both rather die than tell each other that

So after the girls finish filming the amazing M/V and it’s getting closer for them to perform it on MCountdown you and Jihun are starting to get nervous and Jinhun breaks down honestly and you’re surprised because he’s usually composed with no sign of weaknesses

And you go to find him and he’s sitting on the floor against the wall hugging his knees and you go up beside him and you can tell he tensed up

You asked if he’s okay and he’s like “I’m not. I’m so nervous that they might mess up and I really don’t want that to happen to them and we worked so hard on this song together and I don’t want to see it flop.”

“Hey now. That’s no way for a genius producer to think. You’re amazing! And your music you write is sooo good! And the song we both write WILL win! This is not like you at all Jihun! What happened to the guy who always told me that my music sucked ass and to quite huh?”

“It’s not true. You’re music is sooo much better. You bring out the best in everybody and it beats me on how you do it. Even when you’ve never met the group you still managed to bring out their strengths. So no...you’re music doesn’t suck ass because you’re wayy too good for that.”

“Holy shit...I’m totally done for.”

And Jihun realizes what he just said and he’s blushing and starting to sweat because what did you mean done for??

He’s look at you now and you’re looking away because you know if you look at him your heart is going to beat your chest to death and just fall deeper for him and Jihun grabs your hand and you’re looking at him and dammit!!

He kisses you and it’s amazing and you’re wide eyed and he pulls back and smiles at you and flicks you on the forehead and you’re like “What was that for?”

“Because you’re wayyy too cute when you look like you’ve just been kissed by your boyfriend.”

“How dare you! I’m going to sooo create a song that will beat your ass next time.”

He stops and looks over at you and is like “I know you will babe!”

And Pristin just happen to have accidentally been eavesdropping and they’re totally fan girling over you guys as you both walk back to the stage smiling at each while arguing at the same time by the way.

#kpoptrashtag #seventeen imagine #seventeen scenario #svt imagines #svt scenarios #woozi imagine #woozi scenario #jihun imagine #jihun scenario #jihoon imagine #jihoon scenario #woozi #jihun #jihoon #seventeen #svt

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