#adjust expressions or lipsync

[krawdad]

Wait you can track geometry in blender you could augment the shit out of puppets with that

[itsnotmourn]

ok wait pause everything everyoNE BE QUIET.

did yOU ANIMATE LIPSYNC..

IN PROCREATE...?

I NEED TO KNOW.

LMAO YES AND NO !!

so technically, this was all i did for kevin’s lip syncing on procreate. really basic, only uhhh five drawings (and then i redrew half of it to match his happy and scared expressions).

THEN, i went over to ToonSquid (this costs money but i think Alight Motion is a good free alternative) and pasted his mouths over.

for the more smooth animation, i just squished/stretched it :] !!

technically, you can do that in procreate, but:

i hate how the images blurs it (regardless of settings)

i don’t wanna redraw that when it DOES blur (im lazy)

toonsquid has pivot points so i can keep the symmetry of freeform adjusting

and for the REALLY smooth one, i did the same but added easing curves so that it automatically does the “animation” for me (see how it’s still moving between the two diamonds aka my keyframes)!

tadaaa!

[torchiiko]

ok my model showcase video is done !! all i have to do now is figure out pricing,, i need to determine a base price, whats included in that, & figure out how to price any upgrades like extra toggles or expressions, lipsyncing, mouse tracking, etc. im thinking of doing animated blinks bc i Love making those but idk if that should be built in or a paid add on (itd only add like 5 bucks anyway)

for lipsyncing, there are 14 total mouth shapes so im not sure if i should charge per mouth & let the clients pick which ones they want or only do sets, like just vowels or full lipsync. maybe a bit of both? like vowels & then charge for additional mouths?

i also have to consider like. a basic model will probably from the thighs/knees up, but what if someone wants a fullbody? how much extra is that? a lot of rigged pngtubers start around $50 from what im seeing but i think they tend to include a toggle or 2. rn im thinking maybe,, $35-40 starting price, $5 for extra toggles depending on what it is, $10-15 extra for a fullbody, & then otherwise adjust the price based on how many moving things the client wants, but im hoping to get some outside opinions

[holy-hyuck]

Crossroads

You’re used to prioritising your career over your love, and so is Felix. But when standing at a crossroad, you’re forced to make a choice. And for the first time, you seem to choose right.

Pairing: Idol!Lee Felix x Model!Reader

Word Count: 2.8k

Genre: Fluff, Slight angst if you squint

Warnings: None

P.S: This was requested by the lovely @pisces-gal23​ 10 months ago...yeah. We all know my time management and organisation skills are shit, and I had started this months ago and never finished due to lack of motivation, but here it is! Anyway I hope I did your request justice and I hope you enjoy it!

The clouds rolled by and the wind made a whipping sound against the window as your car drove down the empty road, nothing but a single truck in front of you that turned left thirty metres farther down, leaving you alone on the straight path. Felix's hand lay leisurely on the steering wheel, the fingers of his other one laced with yours.

With your head propped up on your arm that sat by the open window, the cold glass cooling your skin, you bathed in the glory of the rising sun. Your eyes were closed as you let the wind caress your face, albeit violently, without resisting it.

You were in a deep slumber just minutes before, catching up on your interrupted sleep. From your grandparents' cottage on the outskirts of the town, your boyfriend and you were making your way all the way to the JYP headquarters, where the man himself awaited your arrival since the week before.

Felix squeezed your hand tighter and you opened your eyes, slowly, adjusting to the sun that turned the sky a light blue instead of the purple hues it had painted on hours ago. The concept of time felt strangely unfamiliar when there was no pressure on you, and no deadlines to meet.

"You okay? Did you sleep well?" He glanced at you for an elongated second before forcing his eyes to face the road. He knew you hated when he didn't pay attention to where he was driving, but if only you saw yourself the way he saw you during those precious, rare moments in life when it was just the two of you and the road, you wouldn't want to tear your eyes off of yourself either.

You mumbled something, and though incoherent, Felix knew what you meant. Shifting, you placed your hands on either side of your legs and changed your position into a seated one.

Though you enjoyed spending time with Felix more than anything, you missed sleep, being able to bury your face in the soft sheets and not care about smudged makeup or wrinkled designer clothes. You missed the sun filtering through your white blinds and the smell of coffee in the morning when you took the time to make it and enjoy every sip instead of downing five shots of espresso to stay awake through another photoshoot.

"How long have we been on the road?" you asked through a yawn, making a sound towards the end that seemed to amuse Felix to no end. Hearing his giggles put a smile on your face.

Once he composed himself, he looked at the watch on his wrist, keeping a gentle smile on his face. "Nearly four hours." He watched as you nodded, letting out a sigh in the process. "Just an hour left, baby. You can do it."

You gave him a look, watching a stupid grin overtake his features.

"Do you want something to eat?" he asked, approaching a petrol station.

Your stomach rumbled at the thought, and you wished you had more time to eat a proper meal. For now, though, a small snack would have to suffice, so you nodded your head and unbuckled the seatbelt, letting the freckled boy put the petrol in as you wandered through the isles of the small shop. You needed Lix to make some decisions for you, including making the choice between a Twix or a Snickers. Seeing your boyfriend enter the shop, you grabbed both off the shelf, taking a pack of crisps for Felix and a water bottle for yourself, and made your way to the counter.

After paying, both of you sat in the car and ate your goods, letting comfortable silence fall between you two. No matter the circumstances, seconds spent with Felix were never awkward. You allowed each other to feel like a family, a home - you allowed him to feel safe and loved, and he returned the favour.

Felix brought a crisp up to his lips and shoved it in his mouth to cover up a yawn. You furrowed your brows, watching him in concern until he finally noticed your stare.

"Yes?" he asked, eyebrows raised and another crisp on the verge of being consumed.

"Are you okay? You look tired."

His expression remained the same as he took in your words, then nodded his head.

"No, you're not. Get out, I'll drive."

"Wha-"

"Chop chop," you rushed, already leaving your side of the car and coming onto his.

Bewildered, the blond scrambled to get his sweets, and the two of you switched places.

"That's better," you commented, throwing your wrapper onto the back seat and starting to drive away, back towards your original destination.

The journey, yet again, was quiet, songs from the radio filling in the empty space of the car, your hand tapping the wheel to the beat and your mouth lipsyncing the words. Felix watched you from the passenger's seat, awe painted on his face.

You were the only harmony. You were the gentle wind enveloping people in a hug when they most needed it, when they were alone. You were the birds chirping at five in the morning, signifying a new day, and you were the flowers blossoming at the start of spring, a season of change and hope. You were Felix's hope, his safe haven. You were his sign that there were good things in life still waiting for him, just at the reach of his fingertips.

Your humming lulled Felix to sleep. He laid his head on your lap, the love and safety he felt in the moment stronger than his feelings of uncomfortableness. With one hand on the steering wheel, you reached the other one out to run your fingers through the soft strands of Felix's hair.

Neither one of you were used to the lack of products on you, as every day you were reminded that you were somebody's dolls and puppets. Your bodies were made to be clothed in someone else's designs and visions of beauty, your bare faces not good enough, in need to be covered up. Felix was yours and you were his, but you were both also somebody else's, a product from a perfectly oiled machine of a ruthless industry.

And yet, you knew you signed up for this, and were the one who crafted your own tale. You needed to take responsibility for your actions, and you had to be content with the life you had, even if it was exhausting, both mentally and physically. You weren't planning on living in regret.

A tear slipped from your eye and you sniffed, your hand leaving the warmth of Felix's head to wipe it away. Clearing your throat, you turned up the radio, before your hand returned to its original position, and you let your worries fade away, melt into the melodies leaving your lips.

"My love, my love, my love, my love," you sang. It was your favourite song, and you begged Felix to sing it to you, albeit with no luck. He was still very much shy when it came to singing, and preferred to do other things to impress you, things he knew he was good at.

Felix woke up, gently opening his eyes before the light forced him to close them. It felt like he slept for seconds, even though you'd later claim it had been nearly half an hour. Talk about a power nap.

He heard you singing, and it made him want to go back to sleep but he knew that once he woke up, there was no chance of him falling asleep again.

He loved your voice. Not because it was the best in the world, but because in this cold world, when he detached himself from reality, it was the only thing that was familiar. It had the ability to bring him back home, where he needed to be the most.

The corner of his eye stung, a free-falling tear leaving a trace on your jeans until it turned into something more, a waterfall of his emotions staining the material beneath his face, and soon after your skin.

You felt it, too, when you stopped at a crossroad, the red light signalling that you had to wait for your turn, even though it was just the two of you driving on this lonely road. When the colour transitioned into a bright green, and your foot was so close to the pedal, you stopped, hesitant.

You looked down at Felix, who not-so-discreetly used the sleeve of his oversized, fluorescent red jumper to wipe away his tears, the way you had before. You sighed, driving forward ever so slowly, then took a rather sharp turn to the left, despite your destination being straight ahead. Dirt flew from underneath the burning tyres until the car finally came to a stop beside a boulder.

The sudden motion made Felix jump up, and his wide, deer-like eyes filled with curiosity as he scanned his environment. In the meantime, you had already left the car and copied Felix's actions, trying to decipher where you were, but every answer you came up was the same; unknown. Perhaps it was better this way.

"(Y/n), where are we?" Felix asked once he climbed out of the car, the gentle wind making his platinum strands dance along to the beat coming from the car radio.

"I wish I'd know," you replied, looking over at him. His eyebrows were scrunched together, and he stood there in confusion, and yet his features remained as soft as ever.

You sat on the hood of your car, patting the space beside you, collecting the dust on your fingers. Though reluctantly, the boy sat next to you.

"I think it's time to talk about whatever is it that's bothering you."

"And what is it that's bothering me?"

"Whatever made you cry," you pointed out, and as though he was classically conditioned to do so, his hand reached his eyes, finding nothing but dry and sticky skin, his freckles reading like Braille under the touch of his fingertips.

Silence fell over the deserted land, enveloping both of you. You resorted to playing with the rings on your fingers, truly believing - as each second passed by agonisingly slowly - that you chose the wrong time. That maybe, Felix had nothing to say to you.

Feeling the metal creak next to you, you shifted your gaze to see your boyfriend playing with the chain on his jeans. You both looked up at the sky and stared, finding it hard to pick the conversation back up.

"Being an idol is stressful," he stated, at last, not looking in your direction.

"I know." You looked at each other and you gave him a half-smile. It wasn't sincere enough to elicit a response.

"Lix..." Your hand found his and you gave it the warmth it needed.

"I'm fucking worried," you whispered, growing frustrated when he didn't reply. "Felix."

His hand left yours and he looked up, smiling. Then, he wrapped his hand tightly around yours and broke into tears. His head down, tears falling onto the ground, he bent forward and you were quick to envelop him in a hug.

You rubbed soothing circles onto the small of his back, your face buried in his hair.

Felix was so incredibly and undeniably human, and as you felt his hot tears roll down your skin, you were reminded that because he was only human, he had to break too. The real him was concealed to fit whichever image the company needed from him, and on-screen, became what the world wanted, and every once in a while, you remembered that all idols were, were people. Like you, like your friends, like the cashiers at your favourite store, and the girls selling peonies down the street. He was just the same. The same twenty amino acids made up his DNA as they did yours, the same cells repaired his body over and over again, and the same heart pumped blood around his body and allowed him to experience being human.

And if you ever asked, he’d say it felt incredible to be alive, so simply, yet in such a complex way.

The wind whistled in your ears as you held Felix in your embrace, afraid he'll slip away just like sand, holding him like the treasure he was. You hoped he felt safe in your arms, and you hoped he knew he could tell you anything. Felix held so many emotions in his heart, sometimes you feared they would overspill at the most unexpected time, in the most hurtful way. You didn't want him to bottle his feelings up.

Your boyfriend sniffed and pulled away from the hug, leaving a part of your white shirt see-through from the tears. You gave him a smile, warm and gentle, and he seemed to reciprocate it with genuineness. Standing up, he pulled you by the hand towards the car, and both of you sat inside as the wind outside picked up its speed.

"It's just so hard sometimes, you know? Having to be everywhere, all the time, and having to be a perfect mix of yourself and a fake. I just wish there was a day in my life when I wouldn't have to pretend, when I could just be tired, or sad, or angry without repercussions and judgement." He sighed and ran his hands down his face.

"You get to have that with me," you told him and watched his face remain unchanged. "Lix, I know it's hard. It's exhausting, and it makes you want to rebel every once in a while, and we shouldn't have to hide who we are for the sake of our reputation because we are good people and there's nothing we have to hide," you ranted, not knowing where you were going with this. By the look on the boy's face, it was clear it's something you’ve never confessed before. "But at least we have each other. I get to be one-hundred-per cent myself with you, and that's okay because it's only you who matters anyway.”

You placed your hand on top of Felix's and he squeezed it tight so the tears pooling in his eyes wouldn't slip again. It was a silent thank you, and it was enough.

You started the car again and drove in the quiet of the day. After you said what you said, a weight you didn't even know existed was lifted off your heart. It felt like you just freed a trapped bird from its cage. And it felt damn good.

There's a shit ton of crossroads, you thought as you approached another one, the light turning red. This one, however, you recognised, for just turning left instead of going straight meant getting to the diner where you and Felix had your first official date. You smiled at the memory of Felix spilling your water on you from the nerves, and you joking that at least it wasn't wine, for you were wearing a white tank top underneath your denim jacket.

You remembered the beating of your heart as you kissed Felix goodbye on the cheek, a small peck that left the boy blushing, and you, closing the door in his face just to jump up in joy behind them. You remembered your first "I love you" in that same diner, nervously holding your boyfriend's hand as you told him these three words that you kept on the tip of your tongue for weeks, and perhaps that is what made you take a left when the lights turned green.

"(Y/n), we need to go straight to get to the meeting," Felix informed you, believing it was just a simple mistake of yours.

"No, I know." You were met with confusion, and you sighed. "Think about this. We always only do what we're told. We were enjoying a nice week away from work at the cottage and the moment your boss called, we were packing our bags. We let our lives be controlled by the people that mean the least to us. We let ourselves be criticised for the sake of our happiness, which only damages us in the end. All we ever chose was our jobs, always only JYP, and recording, and photoshoots, and never, ever just us."

Felix's featured softer the longer you ranted for, understanding what you meant, and letting your tone convince him your words were true.

"I don't care for that anymore. I wanna go to our favourite diner. I want to eat their vegan pancakes, and lie down on the grass by the river that runs by it, and tell you that I love you without the pressure of time on me. I wanna choose my own happiness this time around."

You looked over at Felix, and all he did was smile at you and press a kiss to your cheek. That was all the encouragement you needed to keep on driving and never look back.

"I'm choosing us."

[erwilson-uclan]

Summer Project - Tutorials

Gestures with Andrew Gordon: This video was very informative and made me think about how to pose a character during different movements, actions, or even when standing idle/and talking. When watching the clips during the tutorial, or any animation clips afterwards, it made me aware of the poses, composition, and arcs used in gestures, what particular settings/moods/intentions work with which gestures, and what they mean when they make that movement. In addition, it highlighted the importance of weight and character personality in each gesture; everyone gestures differently and it portrays something about them personally.

Storyboarding with Dermot O’Connor: This tutorial, alike the previous, gave me useful insight into how certain shots are framed depending what is going in it. For example, backgrounds can be warped to create an effective panning shot, compositions can be adjusted and experimented with in order to fit both characters and key features in, as well as not being afraid to change things and move features such as the horizon line. Rule of thirds is very effective and while being a simple type of shot, it’s useful and allows the viewer to understand what is happening without a confusing shot being used. Transitions can be utilised in different ways, as well as zooming/panning shots to establish an environment.

Story and Character Development for Animation with Andrew Gordon: Many times, stories are created by a simple question; “What if this happened? What if such a thing didn’t happen? How can we break out of a cliche storyline?”. They can also be made up from things seen in other shows, people seen in real life, or much more. Inspiration can come from anywhere and with enough work and development, can evolve into an interesting and unique storyline. When an idea is down, references are needed. This could include speaking to someone who has experienced something similar, observing a certain event, or visiting a location similar to the one you are aiming to create. This allows the creator to more realistically and accurately portray something, as well as begin planning where cameras could be placed and how the composition can come together. Character performance is also something to be referenced. For example, if you’re going to animate an animal, watching and studying how that animal moves and gestures allows the animator to use that inspiration to create a more lifelike and interesting visual. Emotion is important to keep in mind when thinking of how a character could move or act.

Learning Character Animation with George Maestri: In this video, Maestri explains how poses are thought of, what they tell the viewer, and how they work. For example, poses are coupled with an action or intention of the character and tend to come from a specific area (e.g. chest puffed out). Weight is also very important, keeping in mind gravity for when thinking if the pose is even plausible. Silhouettes allow poses and character designs to be more unique and recognisable. Dynamic poses have more dynamic silhouettes, keeping in mind negative space and where limbs are placed. When it comes to pose-to-pose animation, blocking out the poses with well-placed keyframes is the most important step in animation. To fill in the middle frames, weight, line of action, and arcs are very important to keep in mind. Everything moves in arcs and allows a more natural and fluid motion. Secondary animation allows the scene to flow more realistically (e.g. standing up while the arms move forward for balance). In a walk cycle, it is vital to understand how each part of the body moves. The hips sway, arms sway, the head nods, and different types of walk cycles allow more insight into the character’s intentions and personality. Head expressions are just as important as body expressions. Blinking moves the head very subtly, eyebrows can convey the most emotion, and mouth movement allows for lipsync and dynamic expressions while talking/emoting. Different letters, vowels, and consonants require different mouth shapes, and it’s key to remember those when animating. When you put all of these aspects of animation together, it results in a fluid and realistic animation, with dynamic posing and accurate lipsync movement.

In addition to the four videos, I have found and researched a further 3 resources via LinkedIn Learning, which I believe are equally valuable to study when it comes to creating characters and storylines for animation.

Learning Character Development and Design with Mary Jane Begin: When it comes to designing a character, making them believable for your viewers is an unmissable step in creating an intriguing story. As well as incorporating recognisable features for a unique silhouette, giving the character flaws, interesting design choices, and doing research about the area and setting of your story is vital for a believable cast.

Fundamentals with George Maestri: While it may seem like the first thing an animator would learn before creating a story, the basic fundamentals of animation is key when working on a project. You can have an interesting story with a unique cast, but if the animation does not look good or follow the principles of animation, it can be hard for viewers to get invested. Aspects such as forces and motion, friction, mass, working in arcs, and much more, are vital to creating an interesting and inviting animation.

Loosening Up with Dermot O’Connor: Similar to knowing the fundamentals of animation, having a fluid and ‘animated’ style to your characters makes them more believable and interesting to watch. Different movements can portray personality and emotion depending on the scene and setting. If your character is stiff and calculated, it looks fake and like the character is an unwilling actor. Loosening your characters’ movements and designs allows the animator to experiment and exaggerate different gestures and actions.

[annychristine831]

Best Instagram Reels Features You Should Know

There are many social media apps that offer its users a common feature of posting their pics. The people often skip pictures and like to watch videos as more and more people are interested in watching something that displays a person’s feelings and emotions. A still photo can’t do this well. Keeping this in mind, Instagram has rolled out a new feature that lets you choose a song and lipsync to it. If you love acting, the feature will really appeal to you. The reels on Instagram lets you create an amazing video of your performance. You can post this video on Instagram and get more followers and become popular. There are many good things about it such as a vast library of songs and a wide range of amazing editing options. The filters can give a fresh look to your video so that your video looks cool. If you are fond of acting, you must know about it. It’s time to have a look at Reels.

A vast collection of soundtracks

Getting the right song for the right occasion may be difficult on most of the apps that offer you a similar feature but Instagram has left no stone unturned in offering the vast library of soundtracks that can be used to create an awesome video. It contains all kinds of genres. Whether you are in a romantic mood or sad mood, Instagram has songs of almost all types. If you want to display your inner talent, you can take advantage of this amazing feature on Instagram. The feature has started getting a good response from users. People are giving it a try to know how good it really is. If you are interested in acting and showing your style, Reels on Instagram will create a celebrity within you. You should give it a try and amaze your friends with acting skills.

Select the desired portion of a song

The feature is going to be more useful for you. If you want to draw people’s attention in the blink of an eye, you can choose the most appealing portion of s track. After choosing a track of your own choice, you can edit it as you want. The feature helps you cut the part of the song where the boring lines are hummed. This is truly a great feature that is attracting the attention of many new users. You will have more chances of getting popular among your friends if both your video and track are interesting. If you haven’t had a look at it, just go to your Instagram account and try it now. All you have to do is just select a song from the sound library, keep the desired portion of it and delete the unwanted portion and your track is ready. Make a video of your acting in tune with your favorite song.

Loads of fantastic filters

In order to make a video more appealing and attractive, you may need a good camera, lighting, and a good amount of money to make adjustments for proper setup. No need to worry! This is now possible with the help of fantastic filters that Reels have. Most of the users have appreciated Reels for having the great filters that help you edit your video in a perfect way and let it look better. There are tons of excellent editing filters that enhance your video quality and make it look like a video shot on a good camera. Reels give you all the great filters that can be applied to your video in order to add a fresh look to it. If you can’t afford an expensive smartphone with a good camera, there is no need to worry. You can take advantage of Reels’ fantastic filters that take your video to the next level. These filters are good and will make your video more attractive so that viewers’ hearts fall in love with it.

Make slow-motion videos like never before

Slow-motion videos have become the choice of many. Nowadays most of the mobile companies have started offering this feature in their smartphones. If you don’t have this feature on your phone, don’t worry. It is now easy for you to make slow-motion videos with the help of Instagram Reels. It’s good news for those who love making slow-motion videos. The great thing about Reels is, it has an option to adjust the speed to the desired level. If the craze about slow-motion videos persists within you, you should look no further than Reels. Make video clips of your acting, movements, and stunts, adjust the speed to the extent you want. Reels offers you a great option to increase the speed of video clips. It has tons of excellent tools to enhance your video quality.

Awesome stickers

Most of the users send stickers as the stickers express their feelings and thoughts. Most of the social media apps have their own collection of stickers that they offer users. Reels on Instagram have come with many superb stickers that will suit every occasion in your life. Whether you are going through a gloomy phase or a joyful phase in your life, Reels provide you with tons of excellent stickers that may help you express your feelings and emotions.

If you want to keep these stickers in your video, you can. Scribbling is the most popular type of effect that is usually in most of the song videos. Reels are an amazing addition that lets you scribble and put texts to your clips. The more you say about it, the less it is. All these features on Reels on Instagram are really fantastic. You can display your talent and unleash your creativity with the help of these excellent tools on Reels.

Take control of comments

Being a celebrity is not an easy task as a celebrity has to face both criticism and accolades. Once your video goes viral, you may have a lot of comments from strangers. Some may praise you for your actions while others won’t. Instagram Reels offer its users a good option that keeps trolls at bay so that no bad comments reach you. If you want to keep these people at bay, you can take advantage of its great feature that lets you have control over who can comment on your video. It is a remarkably awesome feature that keeps these trolls away from you. Some may ask how to do it. It is simple. Just go to the privacy settings, here you will find the option to control comments. It is easy enough, isn’t it?

Reels on Instagram is earning accolades from its users. You can use Reels to get on the shortcut to fame and success.

I’m Anny. I’m a social media manager living in USA. I am a fan of technology, design, and music. I’m also interested in fitness and movies. You can attend my event with a click on the button above.

Source: Best Instagram Reels Features You Should Know

[idolizerp]

LOADING INFORMATION ON PRISM’S LEAD DANCE, LEAD VOCAL AHN JOWI...

IDOL DETAILS

STAGENAME: AJ CURRENT AGE: 24 DEBUT AGE: 18 TRAINEE SINCE AGE: 13 COMPANY: MSG ETC: This performance soloist is known as the nation’s it girl for her variety work

IDOL IMAGE

she’s thirteen years old and she’s here on accident. thirteen years old and she’s followed her sister to this audition like she’s followed her everywhere, living in the shadow of her splendor. she’s awkward and gangly - her ears stick out too far and she’s all limbs, even if she’s not that tall.  her dancing is solid enough, her singing sweet, but is she a standout, really? she looks at her sister - shining hair, shining eyes, a light that seems to pour out of her. maybe she’s not. maybe jowi is destined for second best, middle of the road, just okay.

and maybe she’s young. maybe she’s moldable. that’s probably what they see in her that day. the casting director seems to look right into her soul. they see something in her, that they can use.

they see her fire.

she’s full to the brim with it, from poorly suppressed energy to a wild passion that rages like a wildfire beneath her skin. there’s greed there too, desire, and they can use it. they can shape that. and they do. they take this gangly child and craft her into something shining, a gem cut from rough hewn stone. it takes years to polish her, an opal that flares fiery until the end, a brutal gleam to softened edges, a hardness that belies the sheen of delicacy.

when AJ is put out into the market she’s the girl everyone feels like they could be someday. that’s the gimmick. girls want to be her and she’s not so intimidating, so ethereal, that they feel like it’s impossible. there’s a relatability to her. she’s too loud, for starters, and her tongue too sharp. she’s half sweet and half sour, half dorky and half devilish. her looks are unique but not stereotypical, they don’t alienate. she’s the kind of girl you could admire but you’re not intimidated by her. you could imagine her as your friend, your girlfriend.

she’s a lead dancer and lead vocal and she’s not really the best at anything. there’s a better dancer, a better vocalist, and she can’t personally rap to save her life, but she demands  attention. she’s good enough to carry it off, breezes through part switches relying on humor. she’s got the brain for choreography, reduces it to pattern memorization and becomes the “secret weapon” of the group on stage and off, the key, the pin to hold them together. the others are all mains, the best at something, but they need jowi, too, the glue to stick them together, to propel them from one main’s part to the next, to move through the song and ease the transitions.

it’s not until her first variety guesting solo that anyone really knows the msg plan for her. it becomes clear right away. she’s the sort of sweet and sour and relatable that can get away with a lot, that pushes the boundaries where she can, that sacrifices image for humor, that turns in a quick pivot from hilarious self denigration to wicked and savage comebacks and one liners. she can’t do impressions and she’s not good at chosen talents, but give her a chance to lose herself in an ensemble cast and she can shine. so that’s what she becomes.

the queen of duality, bridging a gap between concepts in her ability to play sexy and fatal on stage and sarcastic and relatable off, a duality that smooths between well polished members and sets them up to shine, propping them up for their big showy notes or solid dance breaks and fading back again. she’s passionate, she’s charming, she’s genuine (or at least, presents the image that she is). relatable but she reverses on stage.

a jack of all trades, a master of none - at least for now.

IDOL HISTORY

“for god’s sake somi, just take her with you. someone has to watch her.”

jowi is thirteen and lanky, long limbed and gangly. she’s not tall, no, but her proportions are odd - like she’s more leg than she is anything else. the bruises that dot her shins speak to a recent growth spurt she hasn’t been able to adjust too just yet. her hair is in two hastily coiled buns, done up at either side of her head, set towards the top, with strands escaping around her face and forehead, wispy and already frizzing in the debilitating summer heat.

somi is another story. only two years older than jowi, she’s already stunning. tall and slender, in a graceful way that speaks to the ballet training both of them have been in since they were toddlers in tutus that extended farther than their arm spans, a testament to the preferences of their mother. somi is all long straight hair, shiny and silky, and big doe eyes. she’s beautiful, honestly speaking, in the way that makes people stop and look at her. jowi is proud of this, too young still to care that she herself looks more like a child of the forest than a properly groomed human being.

somi is expressive too, her eyes rolling in a spectacular display of disregard for their mother, slim arms crossing artfully over her chest as she heaves a sigh so theatrically woe-laden that jowi almost apologizes for the fact that she’s too young to be left properly on her own - at least according to their mother. she feels old enough to sit around the house alone. perhaps the problem is all three of them know jowi won’t just stay in the house, unable to resist the temptation of the wide world outside, liable to run off into trouble at a moment’s notice. jowi is always like that, stumbling into the unexpected, throwing herself headlong into whatever comes her way, unrelentingly charging forward.

maybe that’s why it works out like this.

maybe that’s why they tell her to stay in line she’s going to have to audition, so she does.

maybe that’s why they bring them both back in, offer them spots training at the company.

“you better not slow me down.”  somi says, with a hardness in her voice jowi is used to, by now.

so jowi works twice as hard as anyone else even dreams of.

of course she likes this, this acknowledgement. years spent in somi’s shadow mean she’s thirsty for recognition, for validity, and she’s on the edge of the precipice that is adolescence, desperate to solidify who she is and who she will become. jowi is driven to a fault, always has been, and she burns with the need to live up to the ghost of her father, the present icon that is her sister.

she’s been in a race against this girl since she can remember. she’s been condemned by her mother twice as long, the child born a month after an unfortunate accident. a burden for a newly single mother, trying to juggle a toddler and the aftermath of a funeral.

despite born into mourning, jowi is strangely bright eyed, a larger than life personality that beams out of her like sunlight, to the point of overbearing. like the energizer bunny she exists in perpetual movement - until sudden and abrupt crashes drag her down. months of three hours of sleep a night and endless energy erupt in one drunken night gone an hour or two too long leaving her slumped over a friend’s shoulder, carried home to sleep for the next forty hours, only waking to shower, gulp down liters of water.

trainee life isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon, and for jowi its nearly unsustainable. for most of them it isn’t, it’s a system built to break you down. but jowi is fierce, jowi is nothing if not determined,  pushing herself to her limits and past them, until she’s taking intravenous fluids in the hospital, suffering dehydration, exhaustion, anemia, you name it. she pushes herself to heights she would never have thought possible, reaches lows she thinks might ruin her.

and yet, somehow, she isn’t the one who breaks.

instead, its somi. somi, the perfect daughter. somi, perpetually first place, effortlessly lovely, stunningly intelligent, immensely skilled. but somi hasn’t faced adversity. somi doesn’t know criticism like jowi does, hasn’t thrived under duress and neglect. somi can’t take it - it’s too harsh, too cruel, too exhausting.

for jowi, it’s something like second nature.

you might think to yourself now, “surely this only exacerbated the rift in the ahn family?” and you would be right. beyond that even. the rift became a gulf, a trench - mariana’s even, the deepest chasm of the ocean.

at seventeen jowi was all but alone, excluding the trainees she was working and living (at that point) alongside. of course her mother outwardly supported her, to keep up experiences, but the understanding was that any sustained contact would not pass the bare minimum societally required of her, and would mostly consist of a few thousand won here and there and phone calls that heavily suggested she was simply waiting for jowi to get kicked out and come back home with her tail between her legs.

only that’s not quite how that worked out.

instead, she was put into vocal lessons, and then more and more personal training, and then finally told she’d been chosen for the potential lineup for the upcoming girl group. that her monthly evaluations will be weekly now, that she needs to keep on top of her diet, that this could mean big things for her.

they put her in music videos next, dress her up and stand her in the middle of luridly bright sets, have her smile soft and serene and sweet as boys she’s mostly seen on screen up until now, or on twitter or naver. it felt unreal at first. but as hours of forced smiles and constant cameras and continuous takes slogged by, she found herself buried under the reality of what it was to be an idol, to lipsync through a chorus forty five times to get it from each angle, to perform the same song, the same segment of the same song, fifty different times in five different outfits all for ten seconds of a jump cut you pray doesn’t expose how sweaty and exhausted you were in the moment. in those moments she discovers what will be required of her, and it’s a little frightening. but then the first articles drop, just little ones on pann, who’s that girl in the video, and later, did you see her again? and eventually look, it’s solstice’s girl, her name is jowi, she’s a trainee. and then she has fans  - not many, but a few, and the numbers grow, and she gets a letter from the desk downstairs from a fan telling her to be strong, that they’re waiting for her debut, and she cries. happy tears, but bittersweet, because how can strangers see what her own mother can’t, or won’t?

and then she is chosen, and she’s debuting, and she’s so fucking excited she’s overflowing with it. she’s lived in somi’s shadow for so long that to be debuting now and in a central position in the group no less, has her head spinning. surely now, now her mother will care about her. now her sister will acknowledge her. they’ll smile at her, they’ll tell her they’re proud. she’s sure of it, so sure she’s full to bursting.

it’s only silence though, that she gets. they don’t even bother to decline the invitation to the showcase for her debut. the other girls are finding their families in the audience, tears spilling down pretty cheeks, and jowi is crying too. how cute, their slow growing number of fans say, little jowi is so touched to have debuted.

and she is, god, is she ever. it was an accident of fate that brought her here but she finds herself born for it, made for it, thriving on it. this goal of so many years, finally in front of her. the rush and the thrill and the ache of it, heart pounding like it might explode out of her chest.

but they aren’t there.

for years, they aren’t there, and jowi learns to find the validation she craves so desperately in other ways.

but that’s hard too. if trainee years were a marathon, debut is climbing mount everest. msg is an established company, sure, but they’re not at the top of the heap just yet. they don’t have the cache to rely on that. they’re clawing up to the top come hell or high water, and jowi’s jack of all trades status is useful, but it’s not the kind of thing that lands you cf deals or acting parts, gets you hosting. that goes to visuals and the like, and jowi’s always been a little too atypical for that, more unique and charming than broadly adored and acknowledged.

maybe she can pretend, at first, it isn’t terrible. things are in the works. a guest spot here, a commercial there, an influx of articles on every little movement she makes. the comments are nice too - the media play isn’t oversaturated yet. t the attention is there, and the intrigue. they’re being noticed. she’s being noticed. her mother even calls her, one night, and jowi thinks maybe it can be okay.

of course, when she lets herself stop, think, listen in the dead of the night she’s sick to her stomach. the anxiety heightens day by day, and she’s ferocious in her efforts to combat it. she trains herself into the ground and her dietary habits consist more of liquor to put her to bed and handfuls of hastily swallowed nutrient supplements than anything else, and her hours in the gym become absurd. but if they’re going to media play about her abs, she better have them, and if they’re going to talk about her figure in crop tops, she better suit them. she’s always been obsessive, when it comes to coping with her own emotions, when it come sto avoiding her life.

it’s her personality that finally takes off. she’s been groomed to facilitate transitions in their songs, to work the bridge or the chorus and help the song get to the point the main vocal will take over and soar, or push the transition to the rap verse, or slide through the moves that will precede the main dancer’s showcase. she’s glue to the girls, fitting the distracting and diverse songs together into something that makes at least a little bit of sense, with a charisma and performance capability trained into being diverse and multifaceted, to help carry off each vastly different concept in a way that seems convincing to the audience. if she can take that first chorus or hit that opening strong, the skepticism starts to fade and “what the fuck concept is this” drifts more towards “what a weird and fun concept, as expected of prism!” she’s there to sell the image of the group, so maybe that’s why she works so well in an ensemble atmosphere. ironic, for a girl trying to go solo.

she lands a spot on invincible youth and plays off the other girls well, develops a reputation as a social butterfly, as half sour and half sweet, a startlingly savage sweetheart with a competitive fire that surprises, given her soft demeanor and boyish offstage mannerisms. from there come the cf deals, and slowly the attention builds up in bits and pieces. she gets into the normal scandals - too close to this idol, too friendly with that one, a rude face here, rumors of deviant behavior behind the scenes. the irony of a rough and tumble variety image is that it acts as a shield -  she’s so goddamn normal seeming that no one can fault her for it too much, like they might were she one of the stunningly ethereal beautiful goddess types. they don’t have high expectations for her, maybe, so they don’t hold her to a wildly high standard either. it gives her room to work with.

but it doesn’t give her a solo, doesn’t help her stand on her own two feet, doesn’t let her shine in the way she wants - the way she feels she deserves. instead she remains prism’s secret weapon, prism’s key, the glue to hold them together, but she’s tired of being the border pieces of the puzzle, tired of being the wiring that turns the lights on to let them shine.

she wants that spotlight, and she’ll get it one way or another, whatever it takes. all she wants,  all she’s ever wanted, is to be seen.

the grand plan for jowi escalates in bits and pieces. moments on variety pick up steam, her public recognition grows, and as the group becomes more successful in its own right, the doors open. opportunity knocks. it comes in commercials, in brand deals that plaster her features across bus stops and sign boards, playing out oft-cringey attempts at comedic acting across the screens of televisions throughout seoul.

she earns a name for herself, and with it she begs, on her knees, for the one thing she’s wanted this whole time. she thinks if she can get that, if she can reach that goal, release that solo, something could change. that gaping hole in her chest that demands satiation might be quieted.

but debut comes and it doesn’t work. the solo does fine. not well, not poorly, just fine. it’s a sexier image than she’d really wanted and a brooding video she hadn’t anticipated, a sort of vampire-chic concept that suits prism, she supposes, but she’s always liked the brighter parts of their discography, the ones that lent more towards the occultly cute than thoroughly occult, the peek-a-boos over the red lights.

so she moves the goal posts again.

that’s all its ever been for her. moving the goalposts, chasing something that will quantify happiness that doesn’t come, satisfaction that isn’t gained. she’s running towards a distant and receding shore, an oasis that drifts ever farther like a mirage. first she’d just wanted to outlast her sister. then she’d wanted to outlast the girl who told her she danced like she had two left feet, then the one who’d said she’d need to get her eyes done if she even wanted to dream of debuting. then the trainer who’d told her she’d only be second rate, then she’d wanted to debut, then she’d wanted that first win. she’d wanted a year end award. she’d moved the goal after that to her solo debut. once and again. running, a hamster on a wheel, an endless race.

[artificialqueens]

Don't Stand So Close to Me Chapter 5 (Biadore)- Splatt

Hi people! Been a while, huh? I got distracted by other fics…. Well, here you go! I hope you like it. I’ll have another update tomorrow and the next day to make up for the three months without an update. Love you all! Let me know what you think.

Roy turned on the doc cam and switched the input on his computer. “Okay, I’m going to walk you through an example.” He brought his left hand up into the camera to adjust the paper.

The class started murmuring loudly to each other.

“What? What did I do?” Roy asked, raising a brow.

The talking died down slightly, and one girl in the third row spoke up. “Is that your soul mark?”

Roy glanced backwards at the big screen behind him and turned his wrist out. “Yes. We all have them. Can we get back on topic?”

“Is that lipstick on it?” One of the boys in the back of the room shouted.

Roy flushed and snatched his hand out of view, rubbing at the bright pink that he hoped no one would notice matched the color on Danny’s lips today. “What is this, twenty questions?”

Danny covered his mouth with his hand and muttered a curse.

“Have you met your soulmate? I thought you were gay?” The first girl asked again.

Roy sighed. “Gay people have soulmates too, and men can wear lipstick, you know. We’ve been through the whole drag queen thing. Let’s get back on track, people. You have a test in a few days, and it’s not my fault if you distract yourselves and fail.”

Everyone turned to Danny, who sat avoiding eye contact with everyone and covering his face.

“What’s his name?” another person asked.

“Look, we’re in the middle of a lecture, and if we don’t get to a section you’re still responsible for it on the exam.” Roy went back to writing out a reaction.

“Hey Danny, what’s that lipstick color you’re wearing?” Someone yelled across the room.

Danny froze and shot a panicked look at his professor, who kept his face schooled into a bored expression. Danny reluctantly moved his hands away from his mouth. “It’s called… uhm… candy yum yum.”

A few gasps and chuckles were heard around the room ad people caught on.

“Can we please stop talking about makeup and get back to the lecture?” Roy groaned.

Everyone ignored him. “Danny, what’s your mark?”

He pulled the sleeve of his jacket down farther to make sure it was completely covered and avoided the question.

“So you two are soulmates?”

Roy sighed. “I am so going to get fired.” He sighed.

“Fuck!” Danny exclaimed. “Can’t you all just shut the fuck up and stop asking questions?” He glared at the people around him. “I think I liked it better when no one talked to me.”

“You’re not making things any better.” Roy rolled his eyes at his lover before addressing the class again. “Okay, none of you are going to let me get back to the lecture, and this will probably be my last class before they fire me, so go ahead. Our subject for the rest of the class is soul bonds.”

Everyone excitedly talked for a few seconds before someone in the back yelled out “How long have you two known you’re soulmates?”

Roy sent a sympathetic look at Danny before answering. “Not long. A month, maybe.”

“Can we see both of your marks?”

“You’ve already seen mine. His is exactly the same. That’s how soul marks work.” He said dryly.

In his seat, Danny shrugged off his jacket and took his bracelets off of his left wrist to show the people around him.

“What does it feel like?”

Roy chuckled. “I think it’s different for both of us. I don’t think the bond manifests the same way in each person. From what he’s told me, the basics of what we both feel is that when we’re in a room together, it feels like a physical pull. Like we just always need to be closer. Right? Is that pretty accurate?” He asked.

Danny nodded in agreement. “It gets kind of painful sometimes, like, we’re not even ten feet away from each other right now, and I can feel the pulling towards him, and it hurts to not be next to him. The only time it really goes away is when we’re touching, and then it feels like it explodes and everything is right.”

“Where it differs is that he says that anytime there’s some sort of skin-on-skin contact, there’s a tingling sensation wherever we’re touching. For me, it’s more of an inner feeling of being whole or peaceful, and I didn’t realize before we met that I felt somehow incomplete, but now I can feel it whenever he’s not there. He says it gets worse when I say his name.”

Danny grinned. “Aww, look at you getting all sappy! That’s so cute.”

Roy waved him off. “It’s for science, Daniel. You have to be thorough when reporting your findings.”

“So you can feel that right now? The pulling?”

Roy nodded. “Constantly.” He glanced over at Danny again to see that the younger man had a yearning look on his face as if just talking about the two of them touching was physically too much for him. “Don’t you give me that look! You look like a fucking kicked puppy. I can’t deal with that right now.” Roy chastised his lover.

The girls around Danny all “aww”ed when his face fell and his eyes got even more sad. Roy tried to look away, but couldn’t snap out of it until someone else asked a question.

“Is the first kiss really as powerful as everyone says?”

Roy smiled sincerely at the way Danny perked up at the mention of kissing.

“It’s so much more.” Roy nodded.

“And it’s not just the first. It always feels like that.” Danny put in. “It’s just so different the first time that it kind of feels like… right. It feels right.”

“Not so much fireworks as feeling whole, and like someone found a way to heat up your blood in your veins and start your nerves firing double time. It’s really fascinating.”

The class “aww”ed at the tender words.

Danny smirked. “Plus, the sex is great.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“Shut the fuck up, queen!” Roy rolled his eyes. “Do you just not have a filter at all?”

“No.” Danny shook his head. “No I do not.”

Roy sighed. “Okay, ignore him. Do you have anymore questions?”

“How did you figure it out? That you’re soulmates?”

Roy frowned. “That’s… Danny?” He looked to the boy for permission.

He hung his head embarrassedly and traced his mark with one finger.

“That’s personal.” He walked over to Danny and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Hey,” he whispered. “We’ve talked about this. It’s okay.”

“Tingly.” Danny leaned his head onto the man’s hand and smiled. “I just wanted you to come over here.”

Roy laughed. “You’re such a fucking bitch. I thought you were actually upset! I swear I’ll come into your dorm at night and cut up all your fucking wigs.”

Danny gasped and grasped at his blue wig. “This shit was expensive. I know where your drag is, too, you know.”

“Can we see a picture of you in drag, Professor Haylock?” The girl behind Danny asked.

“You know what, fuck it. Sure. If I don’t get fired for fraternising with students, I’ll even come to class in full drag.” He walked back over to the desk and pulled out his phone. He found a picture of Bianca and put it under the doc cam for the class to see.

In the picture, Bianca, Adore, and Courtney all stood together on stage laughing. It was after Adore’s first show, and her lipstick was all over her face from making out with random guys in the crowd. Bianca looked as pristine as always, towering over the barefoot queen with one arm around her waist and the other around Courtney’s shoulders.

Danny laughed. “That was a great night. I had really missed performing on stage. Do you have the video? You should show them that.”

Roy rolled his eyes. “No one is going to want to see that.”

“See what?” someone asked.

Roy motioned for Danny to explain.

“Us performing. Well, she emcee’d, so she introduced me and I performed.” Danny grinned.

There were a few murmurs before people started asking to see the video and what a drag show is like.

“See? They want to see it.” Danny winked. “Plug it into the computer and pull it up on the big screen like that. That way the sound comes over the speakers, too.”

“Daniel, I have no clue how to do that.” Roy groaned.

Danny got up and straightened his skirt before strutting up to the podium and set up the video on the computer. He pressed play and turned to watch.

Bianca walked out on stage and pretended to kick Courtney away. “Alright! That was Courtney Act! She’ll be in the alley out back if you wanna give her a different kind of tip. She’s almost as much of a whore as this next bitch. We’ve got a new girl here tonight. I’ve never seen her perform in drag, but she gives a good show in the bedroom. Everyone give it up for my soulmate, Adore Delano from Azusa, California!”

Adore came bouncing out and pulled Bianca in close to her. “Hey baby.”

Bianca wrapped her arms around the girl and kissed her briefly before handing her the mic and going offstage.

Adore grinned at the audience. And the music started.

“Wednesday’s panties on a Friday night. Drive in movie and I’m getting mine.” She sang, dancing around the stage and feeling herself up.

“Down down down duh-duh, I’m DTF Down down duh-duh, I’m down.”

She pulled a twink from the audience onstage and started grinding on him before spinning around and kissing him hard. The rest of the song, she danced with the boy, letting him feel her up and making out with him until the music stopped.

“Thank you so much!” She smiled, her lipstick all over her face. “Now get your ass off my stage.”

The video ended with Bianca coming back out onstage.

No one knew what to say for a few seconds, before Roy fake coughed into his hand, saying “Slut”.

Danny laughed. “I’m a slut and you’re a hateful clown.”

“Danny can sing?” Someone called out.

“Bitch, what, do you think I just lipsync at the clubs like the other girls? I write my own music.” Danny scoffed. “I’m a fucking vocals major!”

Roy looked up and had to crane his neck to look his lover in the face. “I have a question. Why is it that you’re willing to walk around campus all day in 8 inch platform heels, but you perform barefoot?”

“You just don’t like that I’m more than a foot taller than you right now.” Danny patted the professor’s head and leaned down.

“Sit down. We got really off topic. Who has soulmate questions?” Roy motioned for him to go back to his desk, but he plopped down in the teacher’s chair instead.

“Is sex different when it’s your soulmate?” One of the guys in the back asked hesitantly.

Danny leered at his lover, looking him up and down hungrily. He pulled Roy in by the waist and rested his head back on the older man’s stomach.

“What are you doing?” Roy asked.

“Feeling tingly. Answer the question.” Danny closed his eyes and smiled serenely.

Roy lovingly rolled his eyes and put his hands on Danny’s shoulders. “The short answer is yes. It’s different.”

“Did you feel a connection straight away when you met, or did it get stronger or something? Did it feel different once you actually realized you’re soulmates?”

Roy thought for a second. “I really don’t know. When we first met, my eye was drawn to him straight away, but I don’t know if that’s just because I’ve never had another drag queen in one of my classes, let alone one who dresses in full geish every day. Once we… He called a random number in his phone one night when he was having a really hard time with not having friends and dealing with everyone’s reactions to him crossdressing, and it happened to be me. I think that he was subconsciously drawn to my number because he knew somehow what we share the bond. That’s probably why I talked him down and drove out to pick him up instead of calling the police to go get him, and that’s how we figured it out.” He held tighter to Danny’s shoulders when the boy winced at his words.

“Once we actually saw each other’s mark, it was like, ‘oh my god, that’s what this feeling is.” Danny agreed. “Even if he wasn’t my soulmate, he saved my life, and that’s not worth nothing.”

“I guess once we figured it out and could put a name to the feeling, it seemed like it got stronger just because we could recognize it.” Roy shrugged.

Danny reached up to take one of Roy’s hands in his own.

“Is that why Danny came into your office when I was there?” Jason asked.

Roy laughed loudly. “Yes, that’s why Danny came into my office. That was actually only two days after we figured it out. That’s one of the reasons I was so fucking pissed at you and those other two assholes. Nobody can insult Danny except me.”

Danny nodded. “And Shane.”

“Shane doesn’t realize when he’s being rude. He says it’s an Aussie thing, but I’m pretty sure it’s called ‘Being a Douche’.” Roy clarified. “For anyone who has not been to my office hours, Shane is my graduate assistant. He’s the blonde in the video.”

“Courtney Act.” Danny said with an australian accent.

“What does Danny look like out of drag?” One of the girls near the front asked.

Danny cocked a brow and pulled his wig off, shaking out his hair. He found a picture on Roy’s phone of him out of drag and put it up on the screen. “I look like a boy, yay!” He cheered sarcastically.

“He’s cute as a boy.” One of the girls in the front whispered to her friend, and Danny winked at the pair.

Roy held up the wig. “Am I putting this back on you, or are you done with it for the day? Why did you even take it off if you were just going to show them a picture?”

Danny shrugged. “I’m good. I’m a beautiful mermaid from the ocean with or without it.”

“Party.” The older man mocked.

“So it’s probably completely useless to ask this, but how about we not tell everyone about this so that Professor Haylock can keep his job here?” Danny addressed the class. “I promise I’m not getting any extra help or hints or anything. He just laughs at me when I get all bitchy about getting Cs in this class and tells me I should study more.”

Roy chuckled. “That’s because you don’t study, Dan. You don’t study at all.”

Danny motioned to him. “See? I have no unfair advantage, and Shane does all the grading, anyways. I just get fucked by him and perform with him.”

Roy groaned. “Daniel Anthony Noriega, would you please just not mention any kind of sex in front of the class?”

“What? We’re soulmates. If they think we haven’t fucked, then they need to think again. It’s not like I’m getting on my knees in front of everyone.” Danny reasoned.

“Nope. Just stop talking. Class dismissed. We’re done. I probably won’t ever see you again.”

Everyone started to get up and leave when one heckler in the back yelled for the couple to kiss for them.

Roy glared in the general direction of the person’s voice.

“We won’t tell anyone you’re soulmates if you do!” The boy promised. Slowly, the other students started to nod their agreement.

“Why do you want to see us kiss so badly? What are you going to get out of that?” Danny asked. “I mean, I’m down, but why?”

A girl in the front row shrugged. “It’d be cute, and some of us have never met a pair of soulmates before.”

“Fuck it.” Roy threw his hands up and grabbed Danny by the waist, pulling him in and kissing him hard.

Danny moaned loudly and pressed himself flush against his lover. The two were breathless when they broke apart.

“Jesus Christ that was hot…” someone in the middle of the room commented.

Danny looked down at Roy, his pupils blown out and his mouth still hanging slightly open. “What is the closest deserted place to here with a lockable door?”

Roy rolled his eyes and gently pushed Danny back a half step. “You have a class across campus in 20 minutes.”

Danny whimpered at the loss and pouted. “No I don’t. It’s friday. This was my last class of the week.”

Roy eyed the rest of the class. “You got your kiss. The next class needs to get in here.” He reminded them, walking out with Danny close on his heels.

The two made it to his office, and Roy shoved Danny against the door, pinning his arms above his head.

Shane yelped in surprise and looked confusedly between the couple. “What the hell has gotten into you today?”

“The whole class saw our soul marks at the beginning of the period. Roy’s probably going to be fired, and I want to be bent over that desk.” Danny explained in between kisses.

Shane scrambled to gather his papers and left, shouting that they had half an hour before he would be back.

Roy pushed Danny roughly on top of his desk and pulled his skirt up to his waist.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Danny pushed off the desk and sat sideways on Roy’s lap, his breathing evening out slowly.

“I love you.” Danny sighed happily.

Roy grinned and kissed his soulmate tenderly. “I love you, too, Danny.”

The two of them sat silently enjoying each other’s company for a few more minutes until Shane walked back in.

He looked at the two of them and let out a long breath. “Thank god you’re both dressed. The president of the university is headed this way.”

“We didn’t get undressed. I’m wearing a skirt.” Danny cocked a brow.

“Danny, I think you should go to your dorm.” Roy frowned.

Danny shook his head. “I’m not leaving. I’m a part of this as much as you are.”

Roy groaned. “Please don’t be difficult. You don’t need to get in trouble, too. If you’re expelled, you have to go back to Azusa.”

“I’m staying. I’ll be quiet and out of the way, but I’m staying.” He insisted.

“Fine. Go sit over there and don’t say a word.” Roy pointed to a chair in the corner.

[joyc-ceyang]

LIP SYNC & EXPRESSION

I am personally not too experienced with lip-syncing in animation so I proceeded to complete some research and references. I found these images the most helpful as they seemed to clarify each sound the most. 

I then proceeded to make my own reference clip for both Grandma and Lucy in order to see their expression (eyes and eyebrows) and lips. I got the idea to use a filter on Snapchat that enlarged the eyes and mouth, making it a little easier to see the shape of everything for each sound. It is a little comedic but it was definitely a helpful factor during the process.

EXPRESSION/LIPS REFERENCE VIDEOS

Please excuse my friend in the grandma one, but as I was looking through the takes I did, I felt that this clip was the one that had the best lip sync to use as a reference for Grandma. I also referenced the action video reference from the blocking part of this assessment.

LUCY LIP SYNC AND EYEBROWS

When I first went through and did the lipsync, I found that I was adding too many keyframes. This made her lips move extremely fast and look unnatural with the audio. I also found that a lot of her facia movements were moving too slow, making it look unnatural with her expressions. It was especially clear on her eyebrows and mouth so I made sure to pay more attention to them.

I then went ahead and got rid of some keyframes between the dominant sounds and also adjusted the graph so that the transitions from each syllable were smoother. The outcome was much better and flowed more with the audio. The expression was also better timed as I moved the keyframes in order for the movement to be more immediate and so that it matched better with the audioi (eg, her eyebrow going up.) 

I also added some extra movements such as her looking like shes swallowing nervously and also her bottom eyelids moving upwards to show concern and stress. 

I ran out of time with grandma so wasnt able to work on her lip sync as much as I did with Lucy. However, it did turn out okay as I enjoyed her expressions that went along with the audio. However I do wish I could have focused more on her lip shapes as sometimes it just looks like it is moving up and down. Overall, it was a very simplistic outcome that did its job.

[joy-yyang]

Animated Shot PLANNING

Going into the second part of the assessment I was mostly nervous about doing lipsyncs because I had not ever done it before even in 2D. I found the provided reference the most helpful when approaching the task but also found some additional ideas to get a better idea. 

These websites were also helpful in regards to lip-sync in animation:

http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/anim_lipsync.html

https://www.pluralsight.com/blog/film-games/proven-tips-animating-believable-lip-sync

We were also provided with character introduction sheets and these also helped throughout the process of positioning and animating them with certain emotions. 

I began brainstorming what kind of position I could put Lucy in, I wanted to put it in a way that would successfully show her innocent interest. Ideally I thought of crossed legs because that is a very childlike pose in my head but I couldn't really position the rig well and her arms were harder to animate.

I drew some below (mind the drawing skills):

I eventually went with the last one as i thought it was close to my original idea but wouldn't cause me much hassle. i also thought it showed comfortableness which was important as it was in her own room and with her grandma. She would lean forward with her arms to hold her weight in front of her. 

I then went on to create a short storyboard just so I had a clear idea of what i was going to do and how to position the camera. 

I did not make an animatic just because I felt that, because it was so short, my storyboard summed it up pretty nicely but I did reference the one given to us on blackboard just so I could see what kind of shots and emotions were showed.

Once I had imported everything into one project, I got rid of what I didn’t need in the room and began to position the characters for their first movements. I was able to clearly position Lucy as I had planned her to be in a position that was pretty open and spread out. The grandma I had a bit more struggle with because of the shape of her rig, especially the legs were harder to position but luckily they don’t move much throughout the clip so I wasn’t too concerned if they were overlapping the bed. 

I put them in their beginning positions before I moved their lips just to make sure that it was able to be seen as their starting position was a foundation for what they would be like for the rest of the scene. 

This was the starting position.

I really like how Lucy’s position came out with the rig, I was originally concerned that I wouldn’t be able to imitate 2D to 3D well but I felt that it showed Lucy ‘s age and interest quite well.

I then began animating Lucy first because she had more movements and expressiveness. The rig was pretty easy to locate around and therefore I didn't have too much trouble doing so. This was the first bits of movement I did:

I was pretty happy with the outcome but the part where she gets shocked by her Grandma, is a bit too jerky and the arms end in an awkward position. So I will be smoothing out that action and doing a more natural arm position.

I then began doing Lucy’s lipsync with the help of the images I had found earlier and was at first a bit troubled by the fact that I was key framing but couldn't really see the final product until i had done all of it. In the end, it did turn out pretty well and matched the audio quite smoothly.

I’m pretty happy with how Lucy turned out, she shows genuine interest and curiosity. The part where she moves back is a bit too abrupt still which I failed to ease into. I did however change the arms to a more comfortable position that smoothly transitions as she ponders. 

I then began doing the grandma and I found her body to be a bit harder to function with as it was rounder and had more parts to avoid especially with the arm movement. I positioned her comfortably at first and while I had originally planned to animate her arms while scaring Lucy, I found I wanted her to look a bit more calm throughout it. I was pretty relieved that I wouldn't have the camera on the grandma mostly throughout the clip as I had more difficulty with her rig. 

When i went onto animating her lips though, I found myself to be more comfortable as i had already just done some with Lucy. Plus her lines were simpler and shorter which made for a quicker job. Her movements turned out less smoother than Lucy’s and a bit jerky at times which is somethings that I couldn't really adjust well when animating her.  (refer to Grandma video in separate thread)

I completed mine in greyscale as I had issues with the mental ray function with my home computer. Thankfully, it still turned out smooth and you can see the direction of the eyes for each character. 

I have included a full version of Lucy, Grandma and the full side view just so the whole animation of each character can be seen throughout. 

ALL FULL VIDEOS WILL BE POSTED IN SEPARATE THREAD ABOVE. Including FINAL Animation.