#and rose being an Artist (TM)

[corner-stories]

mornings together

Irey West. Rose Wilson. Bart Allen.

Eavesdropping. Sunlounges. Sketchbooks.

2227 words.

(ao3.)

From the day she was born Irey West had been vibrating through matter like it was nothing. Even after gaining a full connection to the Speed Force, walking through  chairs and tables alike was already second nature to her now. 

A habit she had yet to outgrow involved literally walking through doors, something she often did on reflex rather than laziness. Her father actually had to remind her how to use door knobs before her first day of school.

In the public eye Irey presented the image of a (mostly) normal twelve-year-old girl, but in the presence of heroes she saw no need to hide her powers and phased through walls as she pleased.

Her stays at Titans Tower were no exception. 

On her third weekend with the Teen Titans, Irey West woke up, got dressed in a flash, and immediately phased through the walls. 

Despite being a chronic sleeper, Irey often became an early bird whenever she visited the Tower. Perhaps the excitement of being a Teen Titan simply overwhelmed her desire to sleep, even if her father insisted that she was a ‘Titan-in-Training’ for the time being.

Irey moved through the walls without a sound. She knew better than to slip into anyone’s private quarters, but the public areas of the Tower were fair game. She phased into the computer room to see Cassie and Kon musing over a case, then phased through the gym where Raven and Kiran led Damian in a bout of meditation, then finally arrived at the rooftop pool of the Tower. It was there she stumbled upon a pair she was not expecting to see. 

Despite the morning air being more frigid than usual, Bart Allen was at ease as he laid on a sunlounge. He was sporting his blue and gold college sweatshirt and his usual messy curls. With his hands behind his head he looked up at the cloudless sky, taking in the sight like he had never seen the sun before. 

Next to him sat Rose Wilson, the designated swordsman of the team and Irey’s second favorite Titan after her beloved cousin. Like him, Rose was comfortably relaxing on a sunlounge. However, seemed less concerned with the picturesque view of San Francisco and more interested in drawing with the sketchbook on her lap.

Irey knew that the pair hung out sometimes, but she hadn’t heard of them ever spending mornings together.

Bart and Rose seemed to thrive in the silence, both taking in a moment of the early hours before the chaos of the day. Rose continued to sketch and Bart mindlessly ran his hand through his hair, a chronic habit of his that only served to make his mop-top even more scruffy. The fact that his hair had yet to gain sentience despite its resemblance to a shaggy woodland creature was the greatest mystery of the world. 

Before Irey could walk up to the pair, Bart let out a yawn and pulled his sweatshirt off his torso, causing Rose to frown.

Suddenly Irey’s instincts kicked in and compelled her to be as silent as possible, which was rather rare considering her status as Keystone Middle School’s resident motormouth. She hid behind a conveniently placed potted plant and watched the two closely. 

Rose narrowed her eyebrows at her teammate. “Hey, not cool!” Bothered, she scribbled harder on her sketchbook. “I was drawing you.” 

Bart looked amused. “Oh, were you?” He tossed his sweatshirt at the foot of the sunlounge and laid back with a little more dramatic flair than before, making sure to extend his legs fully and place one hand behind his head. 

“Make sure to get my good side then,” he smirked. 

Rose gave her teammate a stern, yet comically serious look as she flipped her page and restarted her work from scratch. By now the charcoal sticks she used were starting to show on her hands, tinting her fingertips with smudges of gray. 

Bart’s confident aura lasted until his phone buzzed. Quickly, he took the device from his pocket and read the message on the screen. Whatever it was caused him to knit his eyebrows in concern.

“Ah, shit.” 

Rose looked up from her sketchbook. “What’s going on?” 

“Tim needs me,” Bart explained. “Something about delivering a letter.”

Rose looked befuddled. “Who sends letters anymore?” 

“People who want messages to be untraceable,” answered Bart. “You can’t hack paper.” 

For a moment Rose paused, then let out an impressed hum. “Smart.” She scribbled in her sketchbook a little bit more, then looked up to take in the sight of Bart furiously texting. 

It was strange that someone who could break the sound barrier even felt the need to text anymore. Perhaps it’s one of those things he Bart did to feel just a little more human.

As  he texted and Rose sketched, she asked —

“You guys really look out for each other, huh?” 

Her gaze had moved up to meet his, so when Bart looked back his momentarily concerned eyes softened considerably. 

“We do that sometimes,” he soon answered in a simplistic voice. He gave his old friend a gentle, friendly smile. “I’m sure you’d do the same for… someone.”

Rose put her pencil on the corner of her lip and began to think for a second. “For the right person,” she quickly clarified.

Still hiding behind the bush, Irey found herself cocking her head to the side, confused. For a reason she couldn’t entirely comprehend, her mind began to question everything she had just witnessed. Bart was always playful and jovial to his friends, Rose was no exception, but looking at them now one would think that the Wilson girl brought out a different side of him, one characterized with fondness and warmth rather than the usual humor he carried himself with.

Irey was certainly beginning to think so. The few times Bart had commented on his teammate’s prettiness, or the occasions Irey caught Rose flashing him playful smirks during team meetings was only evidence to her hunch.

A lifetime ago the Titans had believed Rose to be the enemy — or so Irey was told — yet even then Bart believed in her innocence. Whether it be because of the few months they had spent shackled to Uncle Roy’s Titans roster or something else entirely, his belief still stood.

It seemed that what remained of that bond, even today, still stood strong. 

Whatever the truth may be, Bart was clearly comfortable enough with Rose to entrust her with certain details of his life. He slipped his phone back in his pocket and eyed his friend on the sunlounge.

“If Irey asks, tell her I’ll be back soon,” he explained. “I don’t want her to think I ditched her.” 

Rose didn’t hesitate to shake her head. “She would never.” For the first time in the morning she closed her sketchbook and looked the speedster in the eye for real. 

“You know she adores you, right?” 

There was a beat, then Bart seemed to tense up in the shoulders, perhaps a new form of nervous fidgeting. 

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Never figured out why, though.”

And with that said Bart got off the sunlounge and onto his feet. He took a single step and sped away, zipping away from the roof of Titans Tower and down to earth. Even from where she was Irey could see her cousin running across the the waters around San Francisco, gradually increasing speed until he disappeared into the horizon. 

Refocusing her attention back to Rose, Irey watched as the older girl sighed. She stood up and stretched, looking out at the world to take in the view for a little bit longer. She looked to the foot of Bart’s sunlounge and noticed he had left his sweatshirt there, a cliche memento for any college freshman. After gathering up her sketchbook and charcoal sticks, she reached for the sweatshirt and then turned towards the entrance. 

In the second it took Rose to look at the door, Irey took off with all her might. Her instincts told her to head to her room, since the older Titans were under the assumption that ‘Baby Flash’ was still fast asleep. Like before she phased through the walls, moving through layer and layer of the Tower until she arrived in her familiar quarters. 

And there stayed, wondering just when Bart would come back and when the other Titans would pick up on her little eavesdropping habit. 

…

…

…

Rose Wilson sat in the midst of the Titan’s kitchen, nursing a mug of coffee as she continued to draw in her sketchbook. In her own words she knew she was nothing special, just some person encouraged by their brother to pick up a hobby. But what Rose also knew was that drawing helped her feel at peace, whether it be the feeling of her pencil on the paper or the sense of accomplishment that came with a piece’s completion.

Plus, it was healthy to have a hobby that didn’t involve bladed weaponry of any kind. 

Rose’s style was far from photorealistic, much preferring a scribbly, impressionistic way of interpreting the world around her. Sometimes she pressed hard on her charcoal, thickening the lines of the piece to better create the way she saw things. 

Just as Rose was putting the finishing touches on a sketch of a dagger, she heard the sound of footsteps coming down the hall. When she looked up she was greeted to the sight of little Irey West entering the kitchen. For a reason that couldn’t be known, there was a nervous look on the young girl’s face. 

“Hi, Rose,” Irey greeted in an uncharacteristically timid voice. 

Rose raised an eyebrow, both concerned and amused. “Hey, Red. What’s got you in a funk?”

Irey was quick to shake her head. “Nothing! Nothing at all!” 

Before Rose could question things any further, Irey skipped to the kitchen central island and hopped onto a stool. Immediately, her bright green eyes looked straight to Rose’s sketchbook. 

“Whatcha drawin’? Ooooh! A knife!” 

Irey seemed strangely intrigued by the image of a dagger. Rose watched as the little one took in the drawing with utter interest, then reached over to flip the page of the sketchbook.

“Here, check it,” Rose said, rifling through the various charcoal-filled drawings until she found the one she was looking for. Eventually she settled on the blocky, cartoonish sketch of the team’s other resident speedster, something she had created that morning. She took extra care to emphasize his boyish prettiness and his untameable curls. 

“Doesn’t this look like him?” asked Rose, holding up the drawing of Bart. 

Irey looked at the photo and tilted her head to the side, her brows knitting as she took in the piece and thought things through.

“Sorta,” the little one soon said. “His hair’s not floofy enough.”

As Rose processed the mild implications that she had been subtly roasted by a middle schooler, she closed her moleskine and placed it back on the table. 

“Everyone’s a critic…” she muttered. 

Slipping out of her stool, Rose grabbed her coffee mug for another quick sip and walked to the kitchen fridge. “I’m starved, want some breakfast?”

Irey nodded with a smile. “Of course!” 

Without hesitation, Rose grabbed the eggs from the fridge and got to work. As she cracked eggs into a bowl with butter and milk, she put the little Speedster to work making some toast. They worked in tandem quite well, Rose cooking the eggs over a hot stove while Irey sliced up some sourdough. 

As Rose continued to cook, Irey came over to the stove and peeped into the pan, then glanced up to her teammate with a curious look in her eyes. 

“Rose?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you and Bart together?”

Rose looked at Irey in surprise, then let out a lighthearted chuckle. “Why do you ask?”

“Because you’re wearing his sweater.”

Suddenly Rose became very aware that she had snagged her teammate’s sweatshirt off a sunlounge less than an hour ago. The garment fit her quite well and bore the colors of Bart’s university, but for the life of her now Rose couldn’t exactly explain why she picked it up in the first place.

“It was cold out,” she decided to say, focusing on the eggs in front of her. She took the saucepan off the heat and plated the food.

“Is that a yes?” asked Irey. In the corner of the kitchen the toast popped, and in half a second she had zipped over and brought it to the plates by the stove.

“It’s none of your business,” Rose soon claimed, handing a plate of eggs to Irey. “Besides, dating within the team never ends well.”

Irey smirked as she salted her eggs. “I was told that.”

Rose raised an eyebrow at the younger girl, both curious and cautious. “By who?”

“My Dad,” Irey answered simply. She then poured an absurd amount of hot sauce onto her eggs. “He tells me a lot about team drama.” 

Intrigued, Rose slipped onto the stool next to Irey and leaned her elbow on the counter. “What kind of drama?” she asked in a slightly kinder voice, perhaps hoping that her tone could endear her to the girl and give her some new dirt.

With a proud smirk, Irey took a bite of her eggs and said — 

“It’s none of your business.” 

[glowmiser]

Hey you, take my CCCC headcanons

Heart has iron deficiency [and often does stand up too fast]

Soul is color blind

Mind has the highest pain tolerance out of the three [This is due to Heart being really fucking violent]

Heart has wing stims [and has hit Mind/Soul in the face several times]

Heart is like a rabid animal, you cannot take him anywhere

Heart has the most trouble sleeping

Soul cannot lay his head down or else he will fall asleep almost instantly

Heart has to sleep with a pillow to level out the feeling of those heavy ass wings

Soul has scoliosis [He does use a brace] [[This is slightly based off my bestie, @shockettes, go follow them theyre really cool]]

Heart is the most autistic[/j] artistic out of the three

They all have those shadow journals from clock app tm

Heart loves making origami stars and origami black roses

Soul loves to make those origami fortune tellers

They all have top surgery scars, all decorated with tattoos of their own aesthetics

Heart has the solar system on his

Mind has lightening storms

Soul has two spears and another spear on his sternum

[bunnymajo]

6 Magical Girl Titles to Try if you've only seen "Shonen"

So I've been seeing more and more battle shonen anime fans interested in more female lead characters, stronger female friendships and less objectification of women in general and that's great! When they get told that such a thing does exist, the Magical Girl genre, the unfortunate response is hostility.

And I get it, MG anime can be unapologetically feminine. Frilly, pink & sparkly and full of cute boy drama OR ....it's full of fanservice.... and if none of those things are your cup of tea I can see why that'd be a turn off if that's what you're expecting from the get go.

But! What if I told you that the magical girl anime genre has been going on for almost 60 years and it's not all the same! (wow!)

So here are 6 titles (3 part of the shonen demographic & 3 part of the shoujo demographic) that might change your mind. Also all of these are safe for viewers 13+

Under the cut because this one's long

Granbelm - The most recent entry here, Granbelm is a “Battle Royale” style mecha show where 7 girls duke it out to win the coveted title of the “Princeps Mage” where they’re able to shape the world as they’d like with all the magic they can control. The mild-mannered Mangetsu finds a new genuine excitement in this tournament she’s been thrusted into and her newfound friend and mentor, the lone wolf Shingetsu, is happy to teach her the basics about magic as the two of them try to hold their own. The mysteries behind Mangetsu’s magic power and the bloodied histories of the other 6 contestants unfolds in each episode. Also magic robot fights

2. Genmu Senki Leda - A direct to video movie from 1985, Leda tells the adventure of 17 year old Yohko who’s transported to another world to defeat the evil Zell. Zell becomes interested in obtaining Yohko’s powers for himself to cross dimensions to invade. A very simple fantasy movie premise with some stunning animation and music. Has all the 80’s staples: robots, side ponytails, sword fighting in armored bikinis, artistic music video sequences, you name it! The performance of the late Hiromi Tsuru as Yohko is also very sincere and lovely. If you’re a sakuga buff don’t overlook it!

3. Little Witch Academia (TV Series) - Yeah witches totally count as magical girls! The genre started with witches after all. But anyway: the over-excitable Akko joins the Luna Nova magic academy to learn witchcraft to follow in the footsteps of her idol Shiny Chariot the witch. Magic in this world is treated like it’s been alongside the modern world this whole time but is seen as archaic, unimpressive & useless compared to the breakthroughs of technology. Practicers of “old magic” are a dying breed and trying to find ways to stick to their roots but still be relevant, and the enthusiastic but pesky Akko might just be what they need. Animated by the always impressive Studio Trigger

4. Magic Knight Rayearth - More magical fantasy worlds & giant robots! Taking story & aesthetic inspiration from 90’s Fantasy RPG games, Rayearth is about 3 normal schoolgirls chosen to save a princess held captive by the dark lord Zagato. Our leads Hikaru, Umi & Fuu become unlikely friends that always have each other's backs no matter what the untamed land of Cephiro has to throw at them. Original manga by CLAMP & animated by TMS.

5. Revolutionary Girl Utena - This one’s a bit of a doozy but I think it’s a critical darling for good reason. Utena is a new student at Ohtori Academy but has already gained the reputation for being a rule breaking tomboy determined to become a prince that always defends others. After getting into a fight with a student council member to stick up for her friend, Utena is thrusted into Ohtori Academy’s sword fighting duels to win the hand of The Rose Bride Anthy and her mysterious power that’s said to hold the key to “Revolutionize the World” 

A very allegory heavy work that also deals with heavy topics such as abuse, homophobia, incest, sexual assault but in a way that’s intrinsic to the work itself and it’s characters. I’d say the overall theme of Utena is about the struggles of teen adolescence and it doesn’t shy away from whatever those struggles are and what it may stem from. A bit polarizing but I think if you give it a chance you’ll be incredibly rewarded 

6. Futari wa Pretty Cure - Wait come back! I know you’re thinking this was all a trap just for me to say “Watch Precure!” but I genuinely think the 1st season is a great magical girl show for someone who’s only used to action anime. Directed by Daisuke Nishio of DBZ fame, Pretty Cure was incredibly risky & experimental for its day giving it’s heroine’s hand to hand combat moves and more dangerous stunts & enemies from week to week and finishing off their enemies with a grand lightning attack. Beyond that, Nagisa & Honoka have an “opposites attract” dynamic with Nagisa being a jock with insecurities about herself & Honoka being an outspoken & adventurous lover of science. The bond that grows between these two is really heartwarming and genuine.

[sueetlies]

⌜ ning yizhou, cisfemale, she/her, ⌟  welcome back to hogwarts, SUE LI ! according to your file, you’re a TWENTY-FOUR year old HALF BLOOD as i’m sure you remember, last spring had its challenges, but i’m confident you’ll take your studies more seriously this year. as a SIXTH year SLYTHERIN, focusing on SPELLCASTING, you’ve got a lot on your plate. our records show that you're CONFIDENT and ALLURING however, they seem to have left off that you're VENDICTIVE and MULISH. if i’m correct, you’re siding with THE DARK , which makes sense considering you’re known around the castle for the scent of burning rose petals in a sweet oak fire, red lipstick writing on the bathroom mirror, the feeling of ruby nails gently grazing your back as you inhale seductive perfume. let’s hope you make it through the year in one piece.

statistics // tag dump // pinterest

henlo everyone kip here, this is 2/2 of my lovely muses. ms. sue li is a hot bitch and honestly is only siding with the dark because she thinks they'll win atm. above has her profile/stats and her pinterest linked and below is some little information's about her!

born in glasglow, lankshire, scottland, only adoptive child of su feng li and dahyun kim

the way she acts for sure comes from the upbringing of extremely high standards especially since only one of her parents was a wizard.

they gunned for her to get into hogwarts as one of her mothers was an alumni as originally she wanted to go to another wizarding school, but there was no fighting the li legacy heir's fate.

she decided to make the experience her own (see: started stepping on necks and scheming her way to the top of the social ladder and heirarchy after her slytherin sorting)

pretends to be sickly sweet, those who know her well knows absolutely not

walking bombshell and knows it

secretly an art whore but will not join the art club bc her image wont allow her too. she often attends their exhibits and hangs out in the back not to be scene.

is an artist herself, specializes in sculpting and hyper realistic sketching

spellcasting major simply because of the power that comes with mastering multiple spells

borderline ravenclaw sorted, but the universe saved us all from that travesty

easy to make friends, hard to keep them

dad often donates to hogwarts as almost a little thumbs up for her to continue her studies

will not breathe a word to anyone about being a gamer girly^tm

often uses her position at the paper as leverage for favors and such.

charms club president

potions club member

likes boys and girls because why limit yourself to one aka whore.

really needs to be fucking tamed and put in her place...and yes she'll like it.

all in all she's a closet art and gamer nerd who has an insidious need to be the hottest bitch in charge. its engrained in her to be number one and if she can't do that solely in academics she'll do it in the social hierarchy though her grades rival some of the ravenclaw members. will literally die for you if she manages to care about you if not...goodluck charlie.

[perfinn]

just finished rereading the heat that drives the light and god i’m fascinated by cecily PLEASE tell us more about her 🎤

ohohoho, absolutely i will. i will never pass up an opportunity to talk about my ocs, so thank you for giving me one. there's quite a bit that i can't say because of spoilers, but i will yap about what i can below the cut bc i adore my bbgirl

some fun (and some not so fun 😔) facts!

the illness that caused her blindness is actually measles. measles is ofc not canon in asoiaf world but i've found that anything you want to not explain can be explained as being "from an essosi seaport/beyond the bone mountains." so, life hack i guess

braille also does not exist in asoiaf world, but luckily for cecily she's very rich with a father who adores her, so she has a collection of specially scribed books with indented words so that she can still read them through touch! it took her years to learn, but she figured it out eventually. written correspondence is of course not indented, though, so she has flora read letters aloud for her (and usually write them, though she is somewhat capable of writing)

cecily has a dog! a tiny little lapdog who'll be introduced in the next chapter, much to the confused disgust of aemond

because you'll never get a cecily pov, i can safely tell you now that cecily is horny for aemond. bad. she's having tea every day with flora like this.

girl is THIRSTY for it (and the man hasn't even let her feel his face. she doesn't know what he looks like. she's hot just from his voice and the touch of his hands)

here's a glimpse at cecily's unfinished playlist, which i may or may not release if i build it up to a satisfying collection of songs

(i swear i do listen to artists other than mitski, hozier, and f+tm 😭)

cecily has a rather intense mean streak in her. let's just say every rose has its thorn, and cecily isn't afraid to prick when threatened

she's very much aware of how precarious her inheritance is and isn't afraid to get her hands a bit dirty to keep it secure (hence why she suggested her cousin leo join the kingsguard) (but just between us, leo "shooting handsome smiles at the crowd" tyrell was never going to take a wife or sire any children in the first place)

her mother is a redwyne, hence why she was in the arbour in the first place when she got sick

umm... and i think that's all i can really say for now! alas anything more than little tidbits is massive spoilers 🙏 i love to yap about her though and this was very fun. i hope this has satisfied some of your curiosity!

[theendofuno]

the jester and his marionette

real infodump hours (tm)

all this text was sent on a few messages so i just did a rough translation on it, it may not be 100% accurate lore-wise bcs of that lol

i like to imagine Lass being Uno's guide on living, on how to "be" human, how to get rid of the strings from the past, he breaks Uno's strings and give him new ones

tho, Lass does not want to control Uno, he wants Uno to control himself, he wants him to create and change his own destiny, he wants Uno to be himself

Lass was a marionette his whole life, so he dedicated himself into helping getting another marionette on finally feeling human, he got rid of his own strings and he will guide Uno into doing the same, even if Uno isn't on a literal, actual circus, he's stuck in a mental circus

(i think you can assume why I choose a jester instead of any circus character for Lass amirite)

now for the clothing choices! for context these were my references: fearless clown & lifelike

Uno

i changed all the roses for forget-me-nots for obvious reasons, and i added eyes that look everywhere on his skirt as a representation to paranoia

i added tears into Uno's sleeves, and if you pay attention they're the most common places to cut yourself while self harming (i'll never be tired of talking about uno self harming but i wont get into details for today SDAUGDSGDS)

i added vines with spikes on a few clothing parts as a representating of being stuck, along with the actual strings

i changed the checker board pattern by asanoha, which is a meaning about growing stronger and without much help, and are commonly seeing in children kimono as a way to hope they grow strong and healthy, i also read it's supposed to protect you from harm and evil spirits :)

i kept all the strings white except for the neck one, who is red, and since his transformation form is all black/white except for the marking on his face and chest, neck is the mid-way between them, and is also the only string who is thigh and suffocating him, while the white ones can be easily taken off

the triangle pattern on Uno's bow is supposed to represent a few flowers petals growing

now for Lass

his clothing has a few Uno "motifs", such as the growing petals and his hat (im absolutely clueless on the actual english translation mb) has X and "loose strings" as a way to represent strings being taken off, being freed

i added his arm tattoo on his hat thingy :D it was originally stars but i thought it would look cute

(artistic fun fact hours: i shaded the blue part with red and the red part with blue)

i thought a lot about doing the clothing only blue or perhaps blue with yellow, but keeping the red seems to make him closer to Lupus, who is an important person on his life and is an important on his growth, and is someone Lass loves (even if he refuses to admit)

+ the lyrics translation (in order)

guess thats all god bless the wilde sibilings (salute emoji)

[antifascistblackmetalnetwork]

Knights of rain - The Witch's Garden Stays Hidden from Dawn (2023 - full album)

Hello again, folks! And welcome once more to another chapter of ABMN Does a Cool Review About an Amazing Album (tm).

Today we will dig into the German project KNIGHTS OF RAIN, with a beautiful and enchanting proposition of synth-y post-black metal in "The Witch's Garden Stays Hidden from Dawn", their latest work so far from this mysterious and promising Berlinese project that comes directly from Agnosis. Little can be known in depth about this project's involved artist except for a pseudonym, that is the knight Petrichor behind all music here accompanied by the fantastic illustration by Harry Clarke showing us a bit of the taste for this album's conceptual body.

With a gentle melody serving as introduction and continuing in the first part of the next song, the album grab the listener into a dreamy passage of faint -even ethereal- voices and clear strings strongly focusing on an ambiance and on the song's line with still notable riffs and a harmony reminiscent to that of blackgaze. To dive even more in this beautiful blend of elements, lyrically the album does close this experience as well as musically within its rethoric drawing from imagining a dark fantastic scene with direct yet poetic messages expressing spite against power as seen in "A Rose-shaped Mace", for example, where we can hear a weary but rather hopeful voice speaking on the pointless and perishable is, while no less harmful, to reign, watching the figue of kings fading away as we watch the light of a new dawn over what's left.

This is an emotional, personal and reflective album that will totally hook anyone into post-black and unorthodox compositions, being a solid piece of work altogether, where every detail adds to a memorable listening experience.

[mydriases]

Leona, Riddle and Vil with a painter s/o + unique magic

Anon asked: If it's okay I'd like to request headcanons for Leona Vil and Riddle where their artistic s/o asks if she can paint a portrait of them and it comes out wonderfully, showing beautiful details highlighting their best features not to mention in the painting it seems as if you could walkt into the painting (bonus points if her magic brings people into the painting if they touch it) have a good one

Don’t touch the paintings, kids.

Leona Kingscholar

It is a difficult thing to have leona stay still for a while, so it was a surprise for you when he agreed to be your model

You didn't expect him to fall asleep, though. Of course, you knew he had this rather useful ability to fall asleep at the speed of light but still

Anyway you could see the details of his face so it was fine for you

When you finished the paiting because your talent is to paint at the speed of light, you woke him up and of course he asked you to see the result

You said no because the beauty of the painting is in the details and your work was far from over.

The next day, you had covered the dry paint with a light veil so as to reveal it in a dramatic gesture at Leona's sight.

He had never seen one of your painting before, some sketches scattered on your desk had sometimes entered his field of vision but he paid no mind. He knew you prefered to exhibit your best pieces only and he respected that.

The fact that he had no expectations greatly amplifield his astonishment when he saw what you had painted.

The colours complemented each other harmoniously, and he'd never looked more attractive, he wondered if that's how you saw him.

Proud boyfriendTM , you may not have seen it directly but he would be so impressed !

He patted you on the head and complimented you till you collapsed of embarrassment/till your ego mutltipled by three. Usually the praise was hidden behind some sort of teasing so it was there but not so bluntly said, you probably never felt more pround of your work than when he praised it.

And he hadn’t even seen the best part yet !

“Come closer, you can touch it if you want ! You know, to feel the details and all…”

You didn’t tell him exactly what was your unique magic, he knew it was linked to painting of course, but he never thought that it would transport him into the painting in itself !

He was in his room, the same he was just a moment ago. But he knew, when he looked at the orange tone of the sky, that this wasn’t reality.

“Sooo, what do you think about this ?” you chimed, and Leona noticed he wasn’t alone anymore.

“Not bad, amazing if I’m honest. How long are we going to stay here ?”

“We still have a lot of time, we can’t leave this room but... “

There was a knowing glance from Leona as he walked towards you. In this place where no one could know how to reach you, you linked you fingers to Leona’s and prayed that your magic will be able to stay stable for what was going to come.

Riddle Rosehearts

The trickiest thing was to find moments to paint him since he always had something to do as the dorm leader of Heartlabyul. Thanks to Trey though, one day you were able to steal Riddle away from his duties.

You could see in his facial expression the sheer pleasure of being your model. The head held high, the features of his face frozen as if not to confuse you with a sudden change of expression. Once again, you realized how beautiful your boyfriend was.

He seemed to feel that your look lingered a bit longer than usual as he glanced at you, but you were already working again.

“Riddle ?” you interrupted him in the evening while he was working “Do you want me to show you something awesome ?”

“I’d like to but following the rule num-”

You were already gone before he could use the same old sentence to justify a decline. You knew he’ll be curious since you usually followed the rules in order to not uspet him.

You made him play cat and mouse: disappearing at each end of the corridor so that he knew where you were going but didn't catch up with you.

Then, when he reached the room where your painting was hanging, you were not there anymore. A single note was left next to the painting : “Touch it”. He did what was told as his portrait smiled at him.

The room was replaced by what looked like the area where the Unbirthday parties are held. Scarlet roses were more numerous than usual, making any other color that dared to compete with it pale, bland even. In the center, the table where he always sat was prepared, the silver cutlery shining brighter than ever. He saw your figure sittting in his place, you invited him to come closer with a movement of your hand.

“I tried to put more emphasis on red than I usually do, because it matches with Heartslabyul, you know ? But I may have went a bit too far. Now, everything seems dull in comparison.”

He came next to you and sat in a nearby chair while observing the surroundings.

 “I don’t think so. It was a portrait of me in the first place, it’s normal the main color is red. If we think this way, the dull colors compliment well the painting. Good job.”

You thought that his remark was really similar to the ones he would tell you when he was grading your  homework. Encouraging as always.

“Someday, I’ll able to build bridges between my paintings. Imagine ! One day, even if I’m from the other side of the world, we could meet in a nice place like there. Till then, you can come here when you want to be assured to be tranquil. Put your portrait in your bedroom to have a fast escape from the world.”

“I thought my magic was powerful but your is another kind of power, love.”

He kissed your forehead and took your hand, leading you to the gate of the garden. He understood that even though years will pass, even though your talents in your art and in your magic will improve ; he’ll still go in this place. You might try to replace that portrait -you’d call hideous- with a better painting, but Riddle will always be more attached to the first one you offered him.

Vil Schoenheit

You never should have asked him, he’ll never come out of the bathroom again.

“Vil, love, please I just need to wash m-”

“No.”

If he was going to be immortalized in your art forever, he might as well dress up to the nines.

He wanted everything to be perfect. Choosing the scenery up to the lighting of the room so his complexion would be magnificient.

You had to interrupt him to let him know that you'd already chosen the place where you're were going to paint him. To your surprise, he directly accepted and let himself be guided to the place you had chosen.

You blushed at how cliché all of this was : a field of mauve flowers just for the two of you. That seemed really romantic in idea but now that you were actually there with Vil you found that it was a bit too much.

Is there really a too much with Vil though ? As he sat down on the chair you had prepared for him, his silvery voice let you know that this place was lovely.

Vil once told you that he’ll never lie to you. So maybe he didn't mean what he said, but he certainly didn't mind the decor. Alright, no need to fret, it’s time to work.

There are chances that Vil would not like what you thought while you were painting him : the truth is, you almost forgot how beautiful this man is. When you see the face of someone everyday, no matter that they’re beautiful or unsightly, their face just become a part of your everyday. You could still see the delicacy of Vil’s features but you were used to it.

You didn’t observe him before painting him. Sure he spent a long time in the bathroom, as usual, however it was now evident that he couldn’t have shortened his preparation.

Maybe it was useless to paint him since he was already looking like the masterpierce you studied to improve. You couldn't honor such a face. Vil would see what you did of his perfect features and stay silent, because he told you he’ll never lie.

Watching him as his gaze was lost in the distance, you despised yourself for thinking that painting a person for whom beauty was a priority would be a smart idea.

“Don’t worry, love. I know your skills and there’s a reason I accepted to be your model. No pressure, I’ll be proud of you no matter what.”

Before you fell in love with him, it always surprised you how gentle Vil could be. After you became friends, he would often speak with you of his admiration for the Queen. You understood with time that he wanted the Pomefiore students to make as much efforts as she did and that was why he had such a severe attitude.

“Thanks, Vil. I'll paint your portrait with the utmost care.”

He chuckled and no birds could have created a more melodious sound.

The day after, once the finishing touches were done, you led him to your room and showed him his portrait. He stayed silent for a long minute, his eyes traveling every inch of the painting, gauging colours and shadow. He looked up at you and you patiently waited for him to say something.

Finally, one of his hands came and put a lock of hair behind your ear as he whispered congralutations to you.

Of course, you went in the painting with him. The flower field was now immortalized forever in this place, the edge of the forest standing as the only boundary between reality and the two of you.

[rosethornxs]

AYYYYYYO! congratulations, my bb! so for a ship, pls choose for me from the Pedro Boys(TM). so i work in mental health. my favorite colors are like marigold yellow and light blue and pale pink like the morning sky or a really pretty sunset. my favorite scents are coconut, vanilla and coffee. i really like to cook. deep water scares me. sunflowers are my favorite but i also like daisies and orange tulips (specifically orange tulips). i am permanently cold. i will choose mountains over beaches any day. as well as being a published writer, i'd like to own a joint coffee/book shop.

O!!! 💖 Thank you so much, my love! I’m so grateful to have you as a friend!

I ship you with Marcus Pike!

He is a sweetheart and would want nothing but the best for you. He’d do absolutely anything for you — cheer you up when you’re sad, help you reach your goals, and celebrate all your accomplishments. I can totally see him digging you a little flower garden for all your favourite flowers. I think he loves sunflowers too so he’d be sure to plant tons of those. I see Marcus as a coffee drinker with some fancy machine to make it so his place always smells faintly of coffee, especially after he’s ground more — he keeps the grounds as compost for your garden too. Finally, he’d be soooo supportive of your dreams. He’d help you look at listings for a space for your book/coffee shop and he’d probably help with designing it with that artistic eye of his. He’d also love your writing and encourage you every step of the way, maybe even using some of his FBI connections to get you in contact with a publisher. Marcus would definitely do anything to make you smile.

rose’s 400 follower ships

[sanstropfremir]

Oh, sorry! I wasn't being clear. I'm not saying kai was told to do it to stand out, I'm just saying that he stands out because he's doing it, and no one else is doing it because it's...not optimal/ not possible.

And yeah bom from 2ne1 talked about it before. Her natural singing voice is completely different from what she uses professionally because yg thought her natural voice was too standard. So they had her intentionally strain her voice to give a signature 2ne1 sound that would make them stand out. She talked in an interview at one point about how it's permanently damaged her voice and range:(. It's not confirmed by others I don't think but people point out that rose and other yg main vocalists have the exact same sound that bom did and everyone kinda knows that its them using the yg technique(tm). Some people think it's to compete against sm, because sm artists tend to have great technique so yg decided to move in the opposite direction so that their singers would come across as more individualistic and unique.

no worries!! i was already thinking about if he was doing it on purpose as a stand out feature when i got your ask so i just read into it what i was thinking. but yes you're correct anyways.

oh god that's horrible i hate that so much, although i'm not that surprised. jype (male) groups all have a very specific vocal sound too, but honestly i think that's mostly a narcissism thing that anything else, because i refuse to believe that every male vocal at jype naturally has a nasal voice. obviously the industry is very competitive and people want to have distinctive and unique characteristics but what people don't seem to realize is that the reason there is a generalized 'standard' sound is because....that's the technique that doesn't destroy your vocal chords. 'standard' sounding voices are good, actually. ten times out of ten i would take a good standard sounding voice with good technique over a 'unique' one with horrible technique that's gonna blow their voice out.

[peekbackstage]

I for one very much appreciate the information you provide, given without rose colored lenses. It's just my opinion, but I sense that some of the people who have been combative probably haven't entered the workforce and/or Really had to look at things from a corporate, money is the bottom line, perspective that certain jobs can require. (Hell, I work in the museum industry and even we have to shape narratives, entice visitors with good PR, and persuade wealthy individuals/companies w deep pockets to support us.) Entertainment looked at in-depth as a job and business can be quite jarring a switch to turn on. More so when it's people who are the commodity.

Again, I'm very appreciative of the information you provide. I am a big fan of facts and your knowledge lends credence to and helps us flesh out or disqualify certain CP rumors. Even if you have thick skin, I'm saddened to see that you have gotten such combative anons and responses to your posts when you are really doing us all a service in educating us primarily about the east asian music industry. Many thanks 😊

Thanks for this message and for the encouragement! I’m glad the content I create is illuminating. 

I imagine that in some ways, the museum industry is actually part of the live entertainment industry, seeing as it provides live entertainment for its visitors. So, in that very well sense, there are quite a lot of similar overlaps! (Museums try to entice visitors with new exhibits, live music entices fans to come to concerts with the artist. Museums court patrons, live music court corporate sponsors.) 

Regarding the combative Anons, I’m not going to lie - I am a little disappointed that there has been quite a lot of negative Anons in my inbox the past few days; but, I can’t say I didn’t expect it. I knew that this was bound to happen. 

As I said in a previous post, I don’t feel comfortable speculating on what kind of work or life experience anyone has - that’s really not for me to make assumptions. But what I have observed is that often, people who have a hard time accepting that everything is about money/the bottom line in entertainment tend to have bright dreams and brighter ideals, especially when it comes to the artist they love the most. It’s very easy to want to believe that entertainment stakeholders might actually want to support the artist out of the goodness of their hearts or because they “believe” in them. But the reality is, no one ever does anything in the music industry for absolutely nothing in return. And unless there is financial gain to be had, people don’t ever really lift a finger. If someone does you a favor, they expect you’ll pay them back one day in kind.

If a big name tour manager is willing to take a pay cut to run a new artist’s tour it isn’t because they believe in the artist as a human being or want to help them out of some act of altruism. It’s because they want to have stake in that artist before that artist takes off, to have a cut of the pie before it’s out of the oven. It’s a financial investment. Not an act of kindness. (This example isn’t one I made up off the top of my head. This is something that actually happened about four years ago, when a big name TM took a massive pay cut and told me, verbatim: “You want to get in on the ground level before they take off, to reap the best rewards in the future.”) 

I used to manage a producer who broke a few artists whose albums sold so well, that they received diamond certification. This producer told me that when he finds artists, if he believes that the artist can become a really big hit, he will go out on a limb for them and do everything he can to get them the best possible record deal. He also will go out of his way to produce every song on their debut album to get as many points as possible on the record. He doesn’t do this because he actually wants to help the artist - he does it because there is a massive paycheck waiting for him at the end of all that sweat investment. 

Because that’s what it really is in the end - an investment. 

[paint-lady]

Hello friend! i am genuinely curious as to what your favorite clan is and why! same for path!

Hiya!

So I got my start in vtm through v5, so when it comes to truly knowing what path I like, I have not played a character on one. Well, I have an npc on Path of Night. But it is different. I make choices that would adhere to her tenets, but ultimately my players have made her fail to meet specific tenets by just letting them live. Though aiding them ultimately aids her. So. Ehhh. 

But these are the paths I’m fascinated by:

-Path of Night: aka why the Lasombra are like that tm.  This one has grown on me as I’ve played that NPC, but I often find her motivations for pursuing anything on this path rather lacking. After all, adherents to this are literally called Nihilists- so it presents an interesting role play challenge.  -Path of Lilith: The concept of an All-Mother rather than an All-Father to the vampires is a fun one. V5 Loresheets and the wiki do not adequately explain who the Bahari are, so I am curious to learn more about how they function as a group. I have learned more about why the Thin-bloods fear the Bahari as they search for the Last Daughter of Eve than why the Bahari believe this mythic daughter will be what overthrows their creator.

Favorite Clan:

I LOVE THIN-BLOODS SO FUCKING MUCH OMYGOD YOU HAVE NO IDEA-

Ahmmm 

I recognize that canonically thin-bloods are caitiff, clanless. I enjoy playing thin-bloods because it makes you much more rapidly contend with your actions and come up with gimmicks and plans. Teamwork with the coterie is vital. Every situation has extreme consequences, as most encounters are going to be life or death scenarios. This forces you to be on your toes, maybe even a little paranoid. Wrestling with humanity as a thin-blood is much more personal. With the beast most likely in a quieted state, the monstrous acts you perform weigh heavier. Its not that the beast took over- you committed this act. Being able to so effortlessly blend with humanity and likely sired in the last 40 years mean the thin-bloods are hard to track and uniquely situated to hunt in modern nights.  V5 introduced thin-blood alchemy, which I think is so cool, but has a heavy enough price (time and resources) to not feel too overpowered. Cleverness and quick thinking are highly rewarded as a thin-blood alchemist and resonance tapping. Far reach is my bread and butter, like some vampires love Presence and Fortitude. The lore surrounding the thin-blooded is also fascinating. Is the curse of Caine really running so thin or did something go wrong when you were embraced? Are you truly destined to bring about an apocalypse or are you just trying to take things night by night? How are you simultaneously so powerful and feared, yet so small and weak? You are a walking contradiction, which oddly enough is what I’d love to put on every form that asks my gender.

If I must pick an actual clan, I think I most enjoy playing as either a Toreador or Malkavian. As an artist, playing a Toreador allows me to incorporate my technical knowledge into a character, and it won’t necessarily be a self insert. I think they have the potential to be much more than their clan stereotype, yet leaning into it is quite fun. Let your character be entranced by the home depot lighting department, you cowards. Secondly, it is interesting to play deviant Toreadors. They are set up to be the soul of the Camarilla, what happens to their rejects and burnouts? How to the roses who never bloom wield their thorns? Malkavians intrigue me. I really love the concept of the Cobweb and Malkav and all their depictions. I find that I far prefer choosing specific symptoms to portray rather than illnesses for their clan curse. Ideas of Reference is what one of my players chose, and I think it is utterly brilliant. Playing a Malkavian in a one-shot was certainly interesting! I really enjoyed being a bit off the rails and a know-it-all for 3 hours, but I can’t imagine playing that character for an entire chronicle. That was the time I climbed to the rafters of an Elysium, humming Masquerade from Phantom of the Opera, and dropped the chandelier onto the Prince. Good night. 

[thenightling]

The Dreaming (2018) in a nut shell

Full plot of The Dreaming (2018 run).  This is copied and pasted from a Discord conversation because I didn’t feel like repeating myself...  That’s also why it’s a bit disjointed.

I'll explain the whole plot as best I can, bear with me. There's this monstress named Dora living in The Dreaming, and she's got a chip on her shoulder since Morpheus had once promised her she'd never have to be afraid ever again and that was shortly before The Kindly Ones.  Anyway, she's been haunting the dream of this woman dying of throat cancer (revealed to be Rose's mother).  Daniel goes MIA and doesn't seem to want to be found.

Suddenly these "blanks" generic looking humanoid enterities start pouring in from cracks in the dreaming.   Mervyn invents a racial slur for them of Soggies (totally not "wet backs").

While Daniel is gone Judge Gallows (another old DC horror host) takes over The Dreaming and promises to make The dreaming great again.

Dora befriends one of the blanks who is very child-like and names him Ziggy. Merv starts penning them up on behalf of Judge Gallows and even attempts to lynch Ziggy. 

Merv has a grudge.  Shortly before Judge Gallows took over Lucien used the helm to un-create Merv's friends right on the steps of the caslte and it was implied to be out of spite

("I did warn you." - said by Lucien).  It's a "They took our jobs" thing, apparently. The blanks are more efficient. No immigration metaphors here, nope.

Lucien is apparently slowly losing his mind / going senile.  He can't remember anything.   Eventually Judge Gallows gets defeated and replaced with this weird AI, yes an AI named Wan.   WAN, as it turns out was created by this character who looks suspiciously like Steve Jobs. Actual character name: Hyperion Keter.

Totally not Steve Jobs had a nightmare decades before where Dora was attacking him.  he had confronted her in the dream and told her she's not real.  This caused her to have an existential crisis and flee into The Dreaming where Morpheus had tended to her and sealed her own memories to protect her mind.  He also hid the newly re-created ruby dreamstone inside her to aid her until she no longer needed it.

Steve Jobs-Knock-off guy creates Wan with the intention of invading and conquering The dreaming.  He thinks all the ills of humanity come from dreams.  Greed, superstition, religious zealousness.   Oh, by the way, Judge Gallows heavily indicates that Morpheus caused the civil war and holocaust by creating him (Judge Gallows) to prey on man's fear of "The other". So anyway, while that was going on Daniel was playing human and dating Ivy. Steve Jobs sends some occultists to steal a lock of Ivy's hair to control her.  Ivy gets upset when Daniel won't let her tattoo him since she's a tattoo artist. (that's where I grew to hate her).  She doesn’t accept no means no with his bodily autonomy.  Daniel apologizes to her and proposes marriage.  He gives her an emerald ring.

The occultists (working out of Fawny Rig) control Ivy and she gives Daniel a dream catcher / tree of life tattoo that works as a geas to bar him from The Dreaming and prevent him from calling out for help.

Ivy tries to "apologize" by giving him a cup of tea but it turns out to be poisoned.   Desire (or what appears to be Desire, it might be posthumous Morpheus in disguise, the face is always partly hidden and he's very thin) warns Rose of what's going on and Rose slaps the drink from Daniel's hand but he's already had a taste.  Daniel, freaks the f--k out.

A dog walker eats his own fingers right there on the beach.   Someone screams until their vocal chords burst in their throat.  Daniel is maming and mutilating right and left (and this is NOT where those partiers were killed, that was earlier and said very nonchalantly during the dating montage.  Daniel made some drunk bachelor party guys who cat called Ivy walk into the ocean and drown...  I think he killed the entire party...)

Daniel finds the occultists and traps them all in terrible nightmare half-concious states but still weakened and unable to return to The Dreaming he goes to apologize to Ivy, knowing she was being controlled but it's too late, she's ODed and brain dead.

He takes her soul with him to flee to another universe.

Dora, meanwhile, gets a hold of Destruction's sword, briefly meets up with Nuala (who has learned Titania's true name thanks to Daniel stopping by for help with the fae).  Daniel gets the egg that Titania has from back during the original Books of Magic, this is the "Mundane Egg" able to open or create another universe.

Anyway, back in The Dreaming Wan (the AI) is trying to run things and doesn't know it has a secret dark side programming to destroy the place.

Wan legitimately wants to do good and blacks out when the other side takes over. An AI with a split personality. Wan talks Abel into taking the initiative and kill Cain...

Cain does not revive. Wan also digitizes the entire dreaming library because of Lucien's memory problems.   Lucien decides he wants to die.

Abel scooped out Matthew's eyes with a spoon and gives him his own eyes so Matthew can see what he sses, the secret that Wan is destroying The Dreaming. Matthew with giant human eyes sticking out of his tiny raven head, Abel (whose eyes grow back), and Dora, head out to save the dreaming.

Cain, meanwhile, his soul was uploaded into an AI at the home of Not-Steve Jobs. So he's there.  The heroes make their way there and learn the story of why things are happening.   Poor not-Steve Jobs was dying of cancer (this was really tasteless to model him after Steve jobs).  And Daniel briefly came to him, showing him what he was destroying in destroying The Dreaming,  Hyperion tried to set things right but his own minion stopped him.

Dora shows up and accidentally shuts down Steve's life support system. Rose gets told more exposition dump from "Desire" (I'm telling you, there are clues it's actually Morpheus) She hijacks a bus to get to Steve Jobs'  place. Here we discover the re-created ruby dream stone was inside Dora the whole time.  Lucien, meanwhile, had tried to be re-abosrbed into The Dreaming with the help of his dream friends (eve, Merv, etc).  And he has a brief visit with Death who introduces him to Steve Jobs and gives him a special book that has all of Lucien's lost memories. Dora returns to The dreaming with the dream stone, and her, Lucien, and the other dream folk are able to summon Daniel back, breaking the geas spell he was under (Ivy is left behind).

Dora is a Night Hag, by the way.   That was her big secret besides having the ruby in her. They kept harping on how special she was, that she wasn't like the others in the Dreaming. ...she was a Night hag, that's it.  They kept going on about her being special, this big secret, she's a night hag.  Eve delviers a line I cannot forgive.  She says something like "We were worried he only kept us around out of laziness or loneliness. We were wrong."  They were HAPPY they were there as a failsafe, as tools in case he got captured again in the waking world.  They would rather be tools than for someone to want them around out of loneliness?!  Daniel uncreates Wan but as Wan begns to fade the good side of Wan helps Daniel set things right and apologizes for its other personality. Daniel erases Rose's memory of the entire adventure (which I think is bullshit).  She lost her f--king daughter, you asshole!  And Lucien learns to be 'More assertive" and when Daniel requests he come to the throne room so he can thank them formally Lucien says no, because he's drinking with Dora.

"character growth" TM

 hated Simon's run of The Dreaming but not as much as I hate Caitlin R. Kiernan's. 

Dreaming Waking Hours is about a Nightmare named Ruin who escapes to the waking world because he's fallen in love with a mortal.   It's so much better but all the events of Simon's Dreaming are still canon so that's a problem. The villain being modeled after Steve Jobs even if he sees the error of his ways in the end was totally tasteless. My hands ache from writing all that out...

Oh, and Cain is back to normal (for him) he and Abel took turns in a sort of tag team tormenting the tech support for Wan, via nightmares. So they couldn't intervene in stopping the destruction of the AI. That was actually a fun scene. "There will be no tech support today." Cain shows up with a chainsaw.

Also the reason "not Steve Jobs" knew about Dream was because he found a journal from an occultist at a garage sale that described Morpheus' capture.

I think I'm still traumatized from reading it, especially the early issues where Merv was used as a Trump supporter allegory. And Abel did give Matthew back his normal raven eyes while they were in Steve Job's house.   Though don't ask me how Abel even did the initial eye surgery of putting his eyes in Matthew while he was blinded.  

Someone tried telling me Simon Spurrier wasn't trying for a Republican metaphor, he was making a commentary on the Tories How is that better?!?

It's still a very dated political reference.

[suchalilyofthevalley]

What kind of path do you see Camila’s career taking, outside of her connection with Shawn Mendes? How do you feel about her publicity/marketing teams? Are they doing too much or too small, based off of your own experiences?

Full disclosure – I am not a fan. Wasn’t into of 5H (which I mentioned herein the Normani ask earlier today) and really wasn’t a fan of her once she went solo. I’m approaching this solely from PR professional/music industry perspective here.  

Her team first and foremost needs to understand what I call separation of churchand state. Right now, ALL you see is her and Shawn. There’s little to no separate entity of it. They played it all through from the drop of Senorita to album press to tour press to second single push. It’s all her talking points seemed to be about during anything on press. Little on the album, heavy on the relationship and the Shawn of it. They’ve had a loud social buzz from her fan base through it all, but it has not translated into transactions, sales, traction with general mass pop or anything of the like. And let’s be honest the approach they’ve been taking - it ain’t working. That’s not opinion (which of mine it is) it’s fact. 

Let’s break it down for proof’s/facts sake:

Album sales were lackluster stateside for a sophomore release with the amount Sony was throwing at it. It may have somewhat ok overseas, but the US - it didn’t move the units. Yes, it was a top 5 debut on the charts coming in at 3 with 86K in equivalent units, but it only moved 50k in pure sales, 30,000 stream-equivalent sales resulting from 40.6 million on-demand streams (which I would love to know how many are Seniorita pre-album drop), and 2,000 track-equivalent sales. Sourcing/thanks to Billboard and the charting master Keith for this. It maxed out at a top 2 position before sliding off the top of the chart. 

Singles really didn’t get high up (not taking into consideration Seniorita because that success came before the album dropped as much as it’s on her album) nor get a ton of spin on the radio. Streaming numbers can be shifted the same way due to the single “non-single” being included. The secondary push of My Oh My was a valiant effort, but considering it dropped so soon after the album push/press, other than Fallon, you didn’t see a lot of major outlets doubling up on the press ops or support. 

Let’s not forget the tour that they couldn’t sell and fill. Scaling for it was high meaning ticket prices weren’t too forgiving I think at ON SALE the cheapest ticket was 99 upwards of 899 for platinum/VIP (give or take a few bucks on either side on both of these). It was a new promoter for this tour (went from smaller scaled/smaller venue Live Nation produced tour playing theatersand smaller GA venues to AEG/Messina Touring production in a massive haul across the globe). The first headlining tour kicked off in Spring 2018 so not too far in the distant past, something like 16 US/Canada dates but again,smaller venues. This new tour also jumped from places like Terminal 5 in NYC where she played on the first tour straight into a venue like MSG. T5′s max cap is 3,000. MSG depending on the concert setup is almost 21,000. That’s a MASSIVE JUMP in a short period of time. This new tour routing was 28 across US/Canada/Mexico in venues that are 3-5-7 times the size she was playing last. I did see they added some dynamic pricing models for some buildings, doing me + 3 ticket packs with TM and dropping some price points through their scaling. It also was super telling when Ticketmaster went from the dot map matrix for some venues that they’ve been loving to tout to fans so you can see exactly down to the minutia where you’re sitting, to the greyscale here’s the map and this is what we’re pulling for ‘best available’ for you. Last I had seen, venues were looking somewhere between a 20-45ish% capacity. Even with as far out as some of the dates were, from a building/promoter perspective, that raises some red flags.

PERSONAL OPINION ON TOURING (given I’ve worked touring and venues before): They never should have transitioned her into venues like that just yet. This should have been a summer/fall/winter outing starting in sheds/amps outside here in North America where max caps can range from 9k to 15k depending on the market and are probably more forgiving when ticket sales aren’t there - ex: PNC Bank Arts Center in NJ, their set up is seated amp then a whole back lawn for GA seating. Then, transition over to closed buildings in Europe/South America/wherever else they had her routed where you’ve got some more flex over closed building size.

She was everywhere and anywhere pimped out to the max. We all saw it. Anywhere she could have been on, she was and then some. Like it got to be well-oversaturated overkill. The partnerships they did like The 1-800-Flowers Valentine’s day promo with buy roses and here’s a pair of tickets, the CD bundles, concert ticket bundles they were throwing at it, the sheer amount of PAID radio, digital and streaming ad promo. There were entire FULL WEEK LONG takeovers of ticket giveaways for this well after the on-sale date. Like one Adult Contemporary station in New York, Fresh 102.7, it was anytime ANYONE calls in, even if it’s not a call in to win, we’ll give you tickets. There were long blocks of giveaways like that on Z100 here in NYC too, like 6 times a day we give away for a long weekend Fri-Mon. Like Sony threw everything and the damn kitchen sink at this and now we can look back and see the results.

PERSONAL OPINION: I don’t think they’ve done a good job, I think they need to work smarter and definitely more strategic. It shouldn’t be about volume and quantity and mass overload spray and pray - it should be about quality and making moves that matter. It should be about the music, and her as an artist, not who she’s seeing and sleeping with now. They need to brush up on the media prep and media training for sure before any ops or big press tour undertakings. They took a massive jump and risk this go on a sophomore release/campaign and they lost a bit. It’s in the numbers. You can’t dispute that. Coming off COVID pandemic, it’s going to be interesting to see how the industry shakes out, let alone how labels shift perspectives here. They had to have dropped massive bank on this album and tour support, and there’s not a lot of real returns. In talks of touring/rescheduling - building avails are going to be few and far between with everyone wanting to reschedule PLUS need to take into consideration there are already tours that have booked out dates for the next two years or have dates on hold with buildings that we don’t even know about yet. It’ll become do you tour even at all at this point, do you do abbreviated swings meaning fewer cities/more compact routing based off avails, do you push to 2021/2022 where there may be better avails but risk the fact it’s so far out from album release that is it even worth it/relevant at this point, do you shift from arenas to sheds/amps/outdoor spaces and you need to factor in the economic impacts of it all.

[speremint]

what do you do for a living? is it sustainable? what is/was your ideal job/career?

I’m an Original Creator on LINE Webtoon; my comic is Brimstone and Roses which will be relaunching Soon TM.

I have yet to really fully grasp my financials because of a multitude of reasons I won’t go into, but several creators on there have Webtoon as their full time job and are doing just fine.

My ideal career, I’m not sure tbh; I have always wanted to go into animation, but I’m happy being a comic artist as well, even if it was unexpected

[nihilnovisubsole]

My fashion queen, incredibly important question: How would one go about figuring out fashion *style* for characters? I've noticed your OCs always have a Look(TM), and I've gathered from your blog (and fics) that you've got an eye for aestethics - please, could you give me advice at least where to *start*. I'm completely unaware of fashion and, frankly, completely overwhelmed at the prospect of just starting..

Ah! Previous Anon again - forgot to add a more specific question about fashion (I’m squeezing in 2 quesiton in one xD). Do you have fashion advice for sleek/distant female character’s clothing that doesn’t hinge on formal dresses? (as is discernable, I have literally NO idea what a Grown Ass, Self Respecting Woman would wear)

wow. that’s high praise. when i got this yesterday morning, i knew i wanted to give it the answer it deserved. this is over 1500 words long, so apologies to anyone on mobile, but i wasn’t letting go until i’d really sunk my teeth into it.

unfortunately, since you’re anon, i don’t know enough about your character to suggest anything specific. instead, i want to take a step back and see if we can solve the root of the problem - “where do i start?”

when i was a teenager, an english teacher told me this: “the biggest constraint in writing is no constraint at all.” when you have the whole spectrum of something - in this case, clothes - to pick from, it is overwhelming. the natural human instinct is to freeze up. so while it may sound strange, if you’re just starting out, you might feel better if you have some constraints to work within.

with that in mind, you can treat finding a ‘signature look’ for your character like solving a murder mystery. you eliminate all the suspects that don’t fit until you know enough to narrow it down to the one that does. that’s going to involve something else you’ll recognize from murder mysteries: you’re going to have to interrogate the character. open them up and get to know them - their background, their likes and dislikes, their quirks, the role they play in the world around them. every answer will give you clues and weed other things out, and eventually, you’ll get a box small enough that you feel comfortable working in it.

now, i love fashion, and i love using clothes to send messages about a character’s personality. so as someone who’s had that interest for my whole life, i work from the other end. the constraints happen, in large part, without me thinking about them. i tend to zoom right to a certain aesthetic or item of clothing, say, “okay, what outfit can i build with this,” and go from there. but since you’ve said you’re “unaware” of fashion and it’s intimidating to you, i’ll try to ease you in through a different route and see whether that helps.

so, if we’re going to pick your character apart, let’s think about some practical questions first:

what setting does your character live in?

if you’ve narrowed your setting down to a historical decade, you’ll find most of the style questions already - firmly! - answered for you. for example, a victorian woman would, by default, wear skirts. if the character is contemporary, you’ve got a lot more wiggle room. if you want to mess with historical fashion rules for symbolic or story purposes, awesome, but i think that’s probably more advanced than you’re looking for right now.

if the setting is fantasy or sci-fi, what’s its dominant aesthetic? is it cyberpunk? sleek ~apple~ sci-fi? or is it more like star wars? is it medieval fantasy? woodsy faerie fantasy? JRPG-style fantasy? you get the idea.

what does your character do?

speaks for itself. what’s their job?

what is your character like, just in general?

this is where everything you know about their personality goes. if they’re a fussy courtier who’s worried about their reputation and appearance, they’re probably not going to be comfortable in plain, casual clothes.

what can your character afford to wear?

again, speaks for itself. do they buy designer brands? are they trying their best with what they have? or are they super strapped for cash and just have to get the job done?

does their social scene have an easily-identifiable aesthetic that you could work with?

does your character wear urban/street fashion or preppy rich-kid clothes? are they part of a subculture that dresses in a certain way, like teddy boys? do they have the desire or freedom to go all-in with that style, or do they have to play it down, like being corporate goth?

do they need to wear something they could travel, do hard work, or fight in?

goes with the job question above. do they need some kind of outerwear or accessory where they can hide weapons? do they always need to be ready, or is it situational?

basically, where does the character’s aesthetic need to sit on a chart of form vs. function?

what do other characters who are similar to your character wear?

look at your favorite movies, games, and TV shows and see what professional designers are doing with characters like yours. what colors and cuts are they using? what other elements do they choose? do you like them? if you don’t like them, what would you change? sometimes you can learn more from what you hate than what you love.

hopefully, you’ve already culled a huge swath of fashion ideas that you Know You’re Not Going To Do. you may still not know what you do want to do, either! that’s fine. let’s move onto some more artsy questions:

are there any colors your character would prefer or avoid?

it sounds silly. it’s not. a limited color palette will go a long way toward making a character’s outfits look unified and purposeful. obviously, in real life, most people don’t restrict themselves as much as fictional characters do. but if you were a costume designer, you’d want to have some guideposts to work with.

are there any motifs you associate with your character?

animals, elements, religious or cultural symbols, plants - you can sneak all these into their clothes’ details. maybe their dress has beading in the shape of a peacock, or rose earrings, or icy sparkles, or a bear pelt for a cloak.

have fun with meanings! moon motifs for mysteriousness, poisonous flowers, etc. let your inner lit major out.

do you want your character to have a certain silhouette?

this may seem odd if you’re just going to be writing your character and not drawing them, but think about it anyway. do you want to emphasize that your character is tall? is everything they wear skintight? do they have a large, unique hat?

a great example of this is maleficent. not only does she have a horn-shaped headdress, her huge, flowing robe tells us there’s a much bigger power in her than her body would suggest.

is there a certain ethos you want their clothes to project? what, in their world, would do that? what in our world would do that?

let’s say you want your character to look very powerful, to the point where people would find their looks alone intimidating. should they wear sharp, simple, severe clothes, maybe in dark colors? or should they wear very embellished clothes, like royalty? what are your setting’s ideas about beauty? modesty? does your character play by the rules, or do you want them to stand out?

what colors, shapes, and styles appeal to you personally?

for all the time i’ve spent talking about restrictions and guidelines, it’s important not to lose the fun of it, either. use your favorite color! give them clothes you’d want to wear in real life! character style is a playground where you can let wish fulfillment run wild.

at any time, feel free to turn to google or wikipedia if you’re not sure how to answer one of these questions. if you see an interesting idea, pick it up and follow it - what you’re doing here is training your eye, and that’s how you’ll learn. that said, if you’re already intimidated, i wouldn’t dive too deep into couture/aesthetic blogs until i had a more solid grip on how i wanted the character to look. it comes back to what i said earlier - there is such a thing as too much to choose from, especially when you’re not sure what you should be looking for yet.

there’s one other thing i want to mention that can help bring a character’s wardrobe together: repetition. if you’re planning several outfits for a character instead of just one, echo some of the motifs, shapes, or colors from one to the next. they don’t all have to be identical takes on the same thing, but if they have certain traits in common, they’ll feel less like separate outfits and more like a matched set. they could all be in members of the same color family or have similar patterns on them. maybe your character has a certain accessory that they wear with everything. you get the idea.

while i may not be able to plan your character’s wardrobe outright, i hope this makes the whole process seem more straightforward. or that it gives you some ideas to work with, or any other kind of help you might take away from it. this post is getting unfathomably long, so i’ll wrap it up, but i’d be happy to put any of my own characters through a “question test” like this one if you’d like to see how it works in practice.

finally, if you can find an interview with an artist or costume designer who worked on something you like, those things are worth their weight in gold. i read an interview with colleen atwood when i was in middle school, and it revolutionized the way i thought about fashion and storytelling. and when i say “revolutionized,” i mean “i owe basically everything i just told you to that article.” dig into them and see how they think and talk about their art! they’re more qualified to teach you than i ever will be.