#but i kind of want to wait until i get home to my copic markers

[snickersnackety]

got a little inspired by @deeum's art style :,)

[heavenly-roman]

The Kind That Lasts A Lifetime

Plot: Virgil doesn't think the others will remember his birthday. Spoiler Alert: He's wrong.

Warnings: brief insecurity/anxiety, brief crying

Pairing(s): platonic lamp/calm

Word Count: 883

if you liked this, consider buying me a coffee?

(ao3 link!!!)

+++

Virgil didn’t expect them to remember. They were new friends, and in his experience, new friends just don’t remember.

He was wrong.

Walking into school, Virgil saw his friends crowded around his locker.  Oh God.

“Happy birthday, Virgil!” They cheered, all with various levels of excitement and enthusiasm.

“You all waited here, just to say happy birthday?” Virgil asked.

“Of course we did!” Roman answered. “I’m offended you would even think to ask.”

“As painful as this is to say, I have to agree with Roman,” chimed Logan, earning a Hey! from Roman, and a be nice from Patton. Virgil laughed and pushed his way through the crowd to open his locker and grab his books. To his surprise, however, the books in his locker were nowhere to be found. Instead, there were presents. Presents.

“Surprise!” Patton giggles. “We hope you like them!”

Virgil turns around with a look of shock on his face. To his dismay, the anticipation on his friends faces drop. His heart starts pounding, of course he messed this up, they hate him, they-

“Virgil?” Patton stepped minutely closer. “Are you alright? Why are you crying?”

Virgil’s hands flew to his face, feeling the tears he didn’t know where there. He hastily wiped them away, and shot them all a real, genuine, smile. “I’m… I’m great, Patton. Thank you, all of you, thank you guys for caring about me.”

“Well yes, you’re… a nice break from the others,” Logan said, smiling.

“I thought I told you to be nice, Lo!” Patton scolded.

“I am being nice,” Logan answered matter-of-factly. “To Virgil.”

“I suppose I will accept it, only because it is our dark and stormy knight’s birthday!” Roman cheered, patting Virgil on the head, despite being over a head shorter than him. The bell for first period rang, causing Roman and Patton to rush to class.

Virgil moved to close his locker so he and Logan could head to the library for free period, when Logan’s hand blocked the locker from closing all the way. After shooting him a puzzled look, Logan sheepishly replied, “I want you to open my gift to you.”

Virgil nodded, backing away for Logan to pull the package from the locker. Virgil grabbed the wrapped box - galaxy print wrapping paper, classic. With prompting from Logan, Virgil ripped open the paper to a black box. Pulling the top off, it reveals purple headphones, earning a gasp from Virgil.

“They’re noise cancelling,” Logan supplied. “For when you’re overwhelmed and need time to yourself.”

“Logan, I- Thank you so much.” “Don’t mention it,” Logan smiled.

+++

Next was Patton. After sneaking the gift from Virgil’s locker, he stuffed it in his bag and brought it to second period.

“Virgil,” He sang, waltzing to the back of the class where Virgil was slumped in his chair He shoved the box into Virgil’s grasp, crinkling the light blue paper. The small box fit just in the palm of his hand, and he fumbled it a few times while opening.

Inside was a tin - black, with a skull and crossbones on the lid. Pulling the top off, Virgil revealed a small sewing kit, with purple, black, and white embroidery thread. Underneath were some folded pieces of fabric matching the thread, and one or two squares of the same purple plaid on his hoodie.

“It’s a travel kit! I know sometimes your sweater rips and you have to wait to go home and fix it, so you can take this with you everywhere and-” “Patton?” Virgil interrupted.

“Yes?” “Thank you. I love it.” “Of course, kiddo! Anything for you.”

+++

Virgil had managed to avoid Roman’s gift until fourth period. All day he’d been staring at the giant, red box in his locker, taunting him. He didn’t even want the thing. Sure, Roman is sweet, and means well, but if he’s being honest? Roman is not the best at gift giving.

But alas, Virgil’s downfall was fourth period art class, of which he shared with none other than Roman himself.

Somehow, though, the gift didn’t get brought up at all during class. Virgil honestly thought Roman had forgotten about it, until -

“Oh! I still have to give you your gift!” Roman pulled the box out of his backpack and plopped it onto the table, narrowly avoiding his work. Virgil examined the large box - red, with little crowns on it. How all three of them managed to find wrapping paper that fit them all perfectly, Virgil will never know.

He took a deep breath and prepared himself to put on the best performance of his life - he didn’t want to hurt Roman, afterall. Tearing open the paper, Virgil stopped in his tracks.

“Are these-”

“A full set of copic markers, and a sketchbook to go with it?” Roman asked, giddy with excitement. “It sure is!”

“Roman,” Virgil gasped. “These- these are so expensive. I appreciate it, but really -”

“Don’t sweat it,” Roman responded. “Anything is worth it for my best friend.”

Best friend. Virgil rolled that thought around in his mind before making a split second decision. He launched himself at Roman, tackling the shorter teen in a bone crushing hug. “You’re my best friend, too, Ro,” he whispered.

Roman wrapped his arms around Virgil’s torso. “Happy birthday, you emo nightmare. We love you.”

[hellas-himself]

Crack Ship Holidays

Friendsgiving Pt. 4 

“I love that vermillion, Cora. Good choice,” I say as Cora dips her brush into the paint again. She beams at me and I pat her shoulder before continuing on. I have the kindergarteners and first graders painting to their hearts’ content. ‘What do you think of when I say the word autumn?’ Some children are painting leaves, others foxes and just a mess of color, and I love it.

Ten minutes before class is over, I show them how to clean up their brushes. How to store them. We have a few hiccups, but it’s nothing I can’t fix. I have second and third grade working on watercolor galaxies and reflections in a body of water. 

Fourth grade is my last class before lunch. Aelin’s goddaughter, Evangeline, had volunteered to help me with our lesson in shadows and light. She sits on a chair in the front of the class while another student shuts the lights off. I turn on all four studio lights and Evangeline tries not to laugh at the sudden focus on her.

“Ms. Archeron?”

I look over to see Heather raising her hand.

“Hm?”

“Who was that guy who carried the lights in for you?”

I smirk. Cassian had driven me to work this morning to help me bring them in. He had kept them for me in the attic at home all this time-

“A friend,” I say and make my way to the front of the classroom.

“Your special friend?”  

“Yes,” I say, and get a bunch of little laughs and snickering. “In fact, he’s an artist as well. And what I’m showing you today is something he has to do every day. But in order to shade and highlight, we have to understand our source of light and how that light reflects back onto our subject.”

*

Aelin and I sit in the teachers’ lounge at lunch time. She’s grading papers while I heat up our lunch; Cassian made me so much food I decided to split it between the both of us.

“How are you holding up?” she asks as I set a plate down before her.

“It’s going pretty well. I think I’m going to keep it simple. We only have two days of school this week and it seems pointless to throw something new at them just to have to do it again after break.”

“Smart.” She pushes her papers aside and pulls the plate closer to herself. “Does Cassian always make you lunch?”

I laugh. “No. Sometimes we go somewhere to eat.”

“I wish Ro worked a little closer. I mean, I wanted to be closer to home- there’s a school by our house but it wasn’t a good fit.”

“He works with Elide’s husband, right?”

Aelin rolls her eyes. “Lorcan. And all his other ridiculous friends. If you were single, I’d totally hook you up with one of them. I swear they all look like they’ve walked out of a runway or something.”

“I feel the same way about Rhys and Azriel.”

“You all seem really close… How did you meet?”

“We grew up together… Mor and I became friends in like… third grade. Rhysand’s parents adopted Cas and Azriel and pretty much raised Mor, too. So we’ve kinda always been together. I started dragging Lucien along with me to get him out of the house and the rest is history.”

Aelin laughs. “That’s… That’s cute.”

“What about you and Rowan?”

She sighs. “I hated his guts when I met him. He’s my cousin Aedion’s best friend so he was always at my house on weekends and afterschool when they had football practice. He irritated my soul.”

“When did it change?”

“Oh, it never changed. He gets on my nerves but I love it. I love him- we’ve been through a lot of shit together.”

Aelin’s eyes widen and she reaches into her back pocket for her phone.

“Speak of the devil,” she murmurs and answers it. “Hiiiiii handsome. Come say hi to Feyre.”

Aelin moves to fit me in the screen with her despite his protests. Rowan doesn’t even have a shirt on.

“Hey, Feyre! Forgive her- I’m at the gym, so…”

“Understood,” I say with a laugh.

“Cassian made us lunch,” Aelin says to him and before she moves the phone away, I can see the frown on his face. “It’s amazing.”

She looks my way and winks.

*

Sixth grade is packing up for the day. I gave them free reign to choose what they worked on today and only interceded when asked. I had some working on pencil sketches, others on acrylic paintings. One girl brought copic markers to class and was working on a little comic strip that I immediately fell in love with. Pastels, oils and watercolors- I gave permission to a group in the back that wanted to spray paint this random piece of plywood that had been sitting in the closet. No one knew why or how it got there.

The door opens and I look up at the clock before I look at who walked in. Cassian grins and gives the class a quick hello. I get up from my chair and blush when the kids start teasing as fourth grade had.

“Class, this is Cassian. Cas, these are my sixth graders.”

“Is that a tattoo?” someone asks. When I look, Alice was holding up her hand.

“Uh, yeah. I’m a tattoo artist,” Cas answers rather bashfully. And the class collectively loses their shit. I cover my mouth, and try not to laugh as question after question gets thrown at him.

“Alright, alright, guys,” I say at last. “We’ve got like… two minutes before the bell rings. If you want, I can ask the principal to have him-”

I get interrupted by multiple voices already agreeing to have Cassian come to class. I laugh it off and wrap my arms around his. I lead him to my desk and have him sit in my chair before I go to lean on the desk.

“I’m really proud of the work you did today,” I say. “If you haven’t already done so, I need the entry slips for the winter art show. If you want to but haven’t come up with an idea, I have no issue helping you figure that out.”

After a chorus of thank yous, the bell rings. I wait until the last kid walks out to push myself off the desk and tie up my hair.

“I have to put away some stuff, then we can go,” I say and Cassian gets to his feet.

“Tell me what to do,” he says to me and rolls up his sleeves.

*

I lock the classroom and look at Cassian who is holding my bag.

“All done,” I say and reach out for the bag. He raises a brow.

“I’ve got it, bunny.”

“Well, if you insist.” I bat my lashes at him and he laughs as he reaches out for my hand.

“I do,” he says and we walk towards the front office.

“Are you up for going with me to the store?” he asks. “I need to start the pernil for Thursday.”

“Of course! I’m making apple pie, remember?”

Cassian flashes me a grin. “You’ll make one just for us, right?”

His voice is conspiratorial and I want nothing more than to push him against the lockers and kiss him.

“What kind of question is that, Cassian?”

“Just making sure,” he says innocently. I open the door that leads into the main office.

“I love you,” I say and briskly turn the corner.

“I love you, too, bunny.”

Cassian nearly bumps into me when I stop suddenly. Tamlin… Tamlin is here.

“Bunny, what-”

I want to walk away but I can’t move. Briar notices me and she beams.

“Feyre!” she exclaims and walks around her desk. “I’m so glad I caught you.”

Cassian stands beside me and I don’t miss the way Tamlin blanches slightly.

“This is my boyfriend, Tamlin,” she says cheerfully and takes his hand. “Tam, this is Feyre, the new art teacher I was telling you about.”

He gives me a curt nod.

“That’s her boyfriend, Cassian. He’s just…” She sighs wistfully. “He helped her set up class this morning. He’s an artist, too!”

I feel Cassian take my hand and I find my ability to speak again.

“Well, thank you for that, Bri… But we have to go-”

“Oh, yeah! Friendsgiving, right? I was telling Tam about it but our parents are so… traditional.”

“Bronn invited us for dinner on Friday,” Tamlin says, his voice rough. Briar laughs and gently taps her temple.

“Silly me, I forgot! Well. I don’t want to keep you. We should hang out some time! Maybe a double date or something.”

“Yeah,” I say with a laugh and look up at Cas.

“There’s a movie in the park coming up,” Cassian says to Briar. “Rowan invited us, I don’t think he’d mind if you tagged along.”

Aelin would no doubt eat Tamlin alive, but I don’t say that. I merely smile.

“Think about it,” Cassian continues, his nonchalance is enviable. “Well, it was nice meeting you, but bunny and I really gotta go. Our dog gets antsy after a while.”

Briar waves at us enthusiastically while Tamlin just remains frozen in place. I hear Briar excitedly gushing over Cassian’s pet name for me and I swear I hear Tamlin groan. Cassian hauls my bag over his shoulder as I open the front door, but Cassian doesn’t let me go, even after he puts the bag in the back seat. He opens my door but instead of lifting me up into my seat, he pulls me in for a hug.

“Want me to take you home?” he asks me softly.

“No… No, I want to go with you.” I pull back enough to look up at him. “I need it.”

“Alright.”

“And… we’ll talk about it later?”

Cassian nods and kisses me.

*

I have my laptop open on the kitchen counter playing Christmas music. Cassian has his hair tied up and is wearing grey sweatpants and a white shirt- no doubt on purpose. God, he looks fucking good. Valo is pretty bummed that Cassian won’t let him near the pernil for Thursday so he’s moping at my feet.

“Has it been like an hour?” I ask Cas as I look over the apples sitting in the bowl.

“No,” Cas replies with a chuckle. “I thought you put a timer on.”

I shrug. “I forgot.”

Cassian looks back at me and just smiles and shakes his head. He goes back to seasoning the pernil and I slide off the barstool.

“Need help?” I ask and he shakes his head.

“You being here is enough.”

I have no witty come back. Nothing funny to say. Last November, I was a wreck. I had only gone to our annual Friendsgiving dinner because Cassian and Mor practically dragged me out of bed…

I blink- Cassian kissed me.

“Get out of your head,” he says softly.

I lean back against the counter, mindful of all the bottles and glass containers of seasonings he has around him.

“I don’t know how I would have reacted if you hadn’t been there,” I say quietly. “But at least I know why he’s stopped calling me.”

“He was still calling you?”

I give him a nod.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Well, the last time he did, Nesta showed up at the apartment and then you came over and stayed the night. It didn’t really matter by then.”

Cassian smirks.

“She’s too nice for him,” Cassian says. “I can’t even imagine how that happened.”

“I wonder if Aelin’s met him.”

“Aelin would never keep her dislike for someone to herself. Believe me.”

I roll my eyes, but he’s right.

“Can I ask you something, Cas?”

“Mhm.”

“Will it bother you… me working there and him knowing, I mean.”

Cas sighs. “I always worry that you’ll bump into him when I’m not around… I see your sister every now and then- it’s not completely avoidable. But this is your career. He can’t take that from you.”

He leans over and kisses me again.

“I’ll never let him hurt you again.”

“I know.”

Cassian’s phone goes off and he asks me to check it for him. I let out a laugh.

“Thank you,” I say as I turn the alarm labeled ‘REMOVE THE APPLES, BUNNY’ off and lock his phone.

*

I wake up to Cassian’s alarm. I reach over to find his side of the bed cold. With a groan I get up and crawl over to his side of the bed and shut the damn alarm off. I hear the back door open and close, Valo’s excited bark at whatever Cassian is saying to him.

After washing up and throwing on one of his shirts, I go find him. The second I open the door I can smell the food in the kitchen. It smells like heaven. When I walk into the kitchen, Cassian is by the stove. The pernil is in the oven and on the stove is what I assume to be breakfast.

“It’s so early Cas,” I say with a yawn.

“The pernil wasn’t going to cook itself, bunny.”

I make my way to him and hug him from behind. He puts his hand over mine.

“Go back to bed,” he says softly. “I know you’re off for the rest of the week.”

“Your phone doesn’t think so.”

Cassian chuckles. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I say with a sigh. “I get to be with you longer.”

School had ended early on Tuesday and we had yesterday off as well. I had spent the day cleaning the house and playing outside with Val.

“Now that you’re awake, I can get started on the coquito.”

“Hm… Now you’re talking.”

*

“Hey, bunny, everything is in the truck,” Cas says. I look through the mirror to see him peeking through the door.

“I’m done.” I look back in the mirror and give myself a quick once over. Cassian walks into the bathroom and I can’t help but blush by the way he’s looking at me.

“I really like that skirt,” he says as he comes to stand behind me.

“Yeah? I like your shirt.” My deep red mini skirt matches his button up shirt. I have an oversized long sleeved shirt tucked into it and black tights with heeled boots. I like his black pants too, but he already knows that.

“You look beautiful, bunny.”

“Thank you, handsome.”

I turn to face him and give him a kiss.

“Let’s get Val and get out of here,” he says, and kisses me again.

*

There are spots in my vision from all the pictures we have taken. Rhysand’s mom insists on a big family picture every holiday- this year is no exception. They have always treated me like family, and I was always amidst the pictures taken for any event and holiday but this year… This year Adela ushers me away from the camera on the tripod and has me stand with Cassian.

“Don’t be silly,” she says as she smooths my hair and pinches my cheek. “You’re in the Christmas card this year, too, hija.”

I do my best not to burst into tears as we wait for the picture to be taken. Adela asks us to take a few more “just in case”. Val sits happily at our feet while Az puts Iliana down to stand. After the fourth picture, Vincente calls for coquito. Helion and Aurelie arrive right on time for dinner, as do Amren, Varian and Andromache. We take another picture to include them as well.

Rhys carves the turkey stuffed with mofongo that he and Lucien made while Cassian handles the pernil. We say grace solely for Adela and Vinny’s sake. Iliana tells us all how she stopped her teacher’s lesson about Thanksgiving to tell her that the textbook was wrong and that the lesson was based on lies.

“She wasn’t very happy with me, but she said sorry and explained uh… what was that word?” Iliana looks at her father who looks ridiculously proud of his daughter.

“The white-washing of history,” Az offers and she beams at him.

“That! I didn’t get in trouble for that.”

“No, you were suspended for fighting with that Hybern girl,” Elain mutters.

“You did what now?” Cassian asks and Iliana crosses her arms.

“She called me stupid and said she didn’t care about what I was saying.” She looks so much like Elain right now it’s astounding. “Then she said something nasty about brown people like me so I gave her something to be mad about.”

That is a line straight out of Elain’s book.

“We had to meet with the girl’s parents.” Elain rolls her eyes. “It’s disgusting that people teach their kids to be so hateful.”

“I have never seen two full grown adults look so ashamed after you spoke to them,” Az says teasingly.

“The bitch tried blaming Lia for her daughter’s bullshit,” Elain snaps and Az just leans in to kiss her.

“I know, babe.” He chuckles and she rolls her eyes.

“Are you okay?” I ask Iliana. She finally loses that haughty look and sighs.

“I was sad for a little bit, Auntie Feyre…” Iliana musters up a smile. “I only got suspended on Tuesday. That cabrona is in trouble for more days and isn’t gonna get to go to the museum next week.”

“Iliana Gabrielle,” Elain says sternly. “Language.”

It doesn’t help that everyone laughs. Elain just sighs and starts to laugh, too.

After dinner, Vinny brings out the cuatro and the singing begins. Everyone takes part in decorating the tree while coquito is passed around. We made a virgin batch for Iliana and anyone driving home- in my case, me. Cassian has rolled up the sleeves to his shirt and unbuttoned his shirt enough to let his tattoos peek through.

“I am honestly surprised I got engaged before you,” Rhys says. I roll my eyes.

“We’ve been together barely a month.”

“That’s bullshit.” I glare at him and he laughs. “You two have been together since New Year’s. That’s almost a year.”

“And you and Luce have been together since your Freshman year of college.”

“Fair point.” He looks pensive. I put an arm around his waist and lean into him.

“I am so happy for you two.”

“I know.”

“No, really. I know we all cried and said our congratulations that night but… I am really happy for you. I love you both so much.”

Rhys hugs me and presses a kiss to my temple.

“I know, darling. And we love you… more than words could ever explain.”

*

“Feyre, hija,” Adela says to me. “Leave that for Rhysand. Come sit.”

With a blush I pass the knife to Rhys who wastes no time in cutting into the pie. I make my way to Cassian but Adela pats the empty space beside her.

“Ma…” Cassian sounds worried but Adela ignores him.

“I want to share something with you,” she says to me and Cassian’s eyes widen. Az laughs and throws an arm around Cassian’s shoulder.

“You’re a taken man now, manito. It’s a rite of passage.”

Cassian elbows him which only makes Azriel laugh even more. Adela sets the album on her lap and opens it up.

“Look at this jamoncito,” Adela says sweetly and looks up at Cassian who looks like he wants to die. “Baby pictures are rare… but they’re precious.”

Cassian hadn’t been adopted until he was in grade school, that much I knew. I noticed the way Adela’s eyes welled up with tears as she carefully brushed her fingers over his baby pictures. She lets out a sigh and turns the page. She laughs and taps a picture of Cassian as a two-year-old, sitting on a towel at the beach with snails in his hands.

“Mami, please,” Cassian pleads but she waves him off.

There are very few pictures of him as a toddler. But he was the cutest baby I’ve ever seen.

“You were so fat,” I say happily. My heart feels tight in my chest- I can picture our own child together and I bite my tongue. “I could eat you up.”

“This is the day he came home for good,” she says as she touches a picture of Cassian standing outside of their house between Adela and Vinny. He’s smiling and his hair is a mess of curls. I had never seen him with short hair before. Then there were pictures of birthdays and his first time on a bike. Pictures of him with Rhys and Az in their bathing suits by the pool, the three of them smiling. I’m in some of the pictures and one of them brings me pause. Cas and I are asleep on the sofa- I remember that day. My parents had been fighting nonstop and Nesta had gotten in the middle of it. Elain and I rode our bikes to their house but it had rained so much, I lost control of the bike and fell. Elain had helped me sit up before she left me to find them and Cassian had come for me with Rhys. Rhys rode my bike back to his house and Cassian had ridden his bike with me sitting on the seat. Adela had cleaned up my knees and wrists, put me in some of Rhys’ pajamas while she threw my clothes in the washer. Cassian and I had spent hours coloring and playing on the Nintendo until we all went to the living room to watch novelas with Adela.

I look up at Cassian and he’s visibly concerned. I offer him a smile as Adela turns the page. I remember the middle school pictures- Cassian after his first football game. Homecoming. Cassian and Mor dancing at a Christmas party. There’s even one of Cassian diving into the water during a family vacation. Though Cassian smiles in most of the pictures, I remember how much he struggled with depression, with a self-hatred that had turned into recklessness that only worsened as he got older. There is a picture of us on his motorcycle- neither of us are wearing helmets and I’m waving at Adela. I remember that day- he’d taken me to my first house party and I’d gotten shit faced for the first time in my life. I cringe.

Cassian sighs with relief as we reach the end of the album. He gets up from the sofa and walks towards us and snatches the album from her hands. Adela takes advantage of that to hug me tight.

“I keep telling Vinny how lucky we are that our boys are happy,” she says and kisses my cheek.

“I’m lucky, too,” I find myself saying. “I didn’t have a family until I met you. I owe Mor everything.”

Mor is in tears but I know that it’s mostly all the rum she’s had tonight. I get up to hug her as she begins to weep much to Andromache and Rhysand’s amusement. Cassian pulls me away once Mor is calling for another song and Az is handed the cuatro to play. He leads me to the kitchen and surprises me with a hug.

“Are you alright, bunny?” he asks. He pulls away to cup my face, his eyes searching mine.

“Yeah, I’m great… Why?”

“You looked… spooked.”

“Oh… No. It’s just… You’ve always been there for me and I don’t know. It was a nice reminder of how lucky I am.” I put my hands on his chest. “And seeing you as a baby-”

He sighs. “I can’t believe her.”

“She did this to Rhys and Az, and you laughed at them. But that’s not the point.”

“No?” He brings his hands to my waist. I shake my head.

“Seeing you as a baby… It’s easier to picture what our baby is going to look like- I mean, if we have one.” I don’t know why I’m blushing, we’ve talked about this before.

Cassian smirks.

“And, I don’t know,” I say with a sigh. “You went through so much… But you worked your ass off to work through it. I’m so proud of you, Cas.”

Cassian looks at me in surprise and before my heart can sink at the sight of tears in his eyes, Cassian wraps his arms around me.

“Cas?” My voice is a whisper.

“I love you, bunny,” he whispers back. “Thank you.”

.

.

.

This was so long!!! 

If you haven’t read any of the Elriel holiday shit before, lemme recap on some of the stuff mentioned here. 

Pernil is pork shoulder made for every holiday and major event. I don’t eat it but it is really good. Coquito is a coconut and rum based drink made during the winter holidays. Some people consider it our egg nog which is weird because its not made with eggs (although some people use it and that’s fine- to each their own). Mofongo is fried plantain and garlic and chicharrones(Pork cracklings) made in a ball. It is AMAZING. and inside turkey rather than stuffing- too good. 

Their dad Vinny’s full name is Vincente which is the Spanish form of Vincent. lol 

The word hija means daughter. The word cabrona is the feminine form of goat and is an insult lmao something like bitch, asshole, jerk, etc. Cabron is the male form.

The cuatro is like a guitar but small like a violin, traditionally had only four strings but I believe it goes up to six or eight. Idk my dad makes them and they are just the best. Aguinaldos (our holiday songs) are not the same without it- assume that’s what they’re singing. Azriel calls Cas ‘manito’ which is the shortened form of the word hermano\hermanito which means brother/little brother. I always forget who is the oldest of the 3 but regardless, you can call someone older than you manito or manita because its just another term of endearment. Jamoncito means little ham and I don’t know a single baby that has not been called that. Mami is mom/mommy in this case. Sometimes it’s used affectionately like my grandma will call me mamita or I've even called my daughter that. Some people call their wives/girlfriends mami but we’re not going there lmao Novelas are soap operas and god forbid you change the channel- even if your tia or abuela is not in the room. they’ll know. 

Anyway, there is that. lol I hope y'all had a great holiday. to my surprise, mine was really great. and my grandma’s food was to die for honestly. I also had my goddaughter to myself for 3 days so I was in baby heaven. Thanksgiving marks the beginning of our Christmas and it doesn’t end until the middle of January. ;)

[kichimiangra]

For poor artists...

Okay so weeks ago I came across a post (That I can’t seem to find now...) that roughly went like this: “All you tumblrites with depression need some hobbies to help with depression because hobbies help.”

“Not everyone has the privilege of being able to afford hobbies!  Hobbies cost money!”

“You don’t need expensive stuff to draw!!!  Draw on scrap paper!  Napkins!  Go to the dollar store!”

Now for weeks since seeing that post it keeps coming back to me... almost hauntingly.  It’s not that I can’t comprehend that people can’t afford expensive art supplies, on the contrary I very much remember being like that!  But today you poor artists have access to something wonderful that I didn’t growing up:

Under the cut let me tell you a tale about a wonderful place that could have granted my wish for art supplies growing up!

And that place is called Wish.com!

(Disclaimer #1: Almost everything I’m talking about here are supplies that I myself have personally purchased and tried using AND STILL DO!)

(Disclaimer #2:  I don’t believe that good supplies make a good artist, but good supplies can help make a good artist better/ make their life easier!)

Now growing up I did not come from a wealthy family.  I had 3 siblings, all of us close in age so we were kids/ teens together.  My father worked in a warehouse and my mother was a stay at home mom because it was impossible to find an affordable babysitter considering that My older sister had trouble in school with bullies and a reading disorder, I was an un-diagnosed autistic devil-child, my younger sister had severe asthma and was always sick, and my younger brother was deaf.  We all kinda needed special attention.  As you can imagine we didn’t have a lot of money, and as I got older and more Artish meant I had to make due with what I could get.  That didn’t mean I went without, just often had to save and wait for what I could use, which followed me to adulthood.  Had Wish.com been around in my teens it would have been a godsend and I’m patient enough to wait a few weeks to get my order!

God I love these things!  These ball point pens with 10 colors are what I use for story boarding comics and note taking!  I used something like these when I was in college because notes were much easier to organize and read when color coded!

“But KC!  I like to sketch with blue/red pencil first!” Lookie here!  Colored pencil lead refills in all sorts of colors!  Cyan works great and so does the red!

Now I didn’t know they came this small until recently but I LOVE this 0.3mm Mechanical pencil!!!  The lines are so thin and small!!!  I have literally never seen anything smaller than a 0.5mm in a store!

Now I like mechanical pencils for their consistent lead size as you draw! They’re just a click away from being back to sharpness!  But you may want a 0.5mm and a 0.7mm and this 3pc set is soo sleek looking!  It’s good to have a 0.9mm too! I used to have a spongebob .16mm pencil I stole from my brother but it went missing!  I have never found another one that HUGE again! T_T

Speaking of pencils this nice little set comes with a mechanical pencil+lead+a white plastic eraser.  They work great though the eraser is not my personal fav...

THESE are my favorite erasers to use!!!  Not only are they cute colors but they’re a good consistency!  They’re softer than a plastic eraser but a bit harder than a gum eraser so they feel really good to erase with and do a good job!!!

If you really like working with Pencil you can prolly just get a cheap #2 pencil at a dollar store or a box of them at Walmart, but I Really like the feel of a 2B pencil!  This lead holder comes with some replacement lead too so you don’t have to worry about sharpening it to nothing!!

This set of Graphite sticks are a little messy but it comes with all kinds of lead hardness and you can use an x-acto blade to sharpen them to different size points!!!

This is a pretty basic but nice sketch set and has a lot of size options to pick and buy from!!  I’ve used the small 32 set and it has everything you need if you love pencil art!

FINE LINERS!!!  I have a story about Fine liners! Internet shopping hadn’t quite taken off yet for my family and the only store I knew that sold Microns/Fabercastelle fine liners was a local store.  They didn’t sell them in singles so the cheapest set you could buy was a $15 Faber Castelle set with 5 pens (Sm/Med/Lrg/Brush/Chisel).  Now $15 doesn’t sound too bad until you remember my family was poor.  How poor?  Poor enough where my sister and I would each get one of these sets for Christmas and store one away while sharing the other set in hopes of getting them both to last until June where I could get another for my birthday that will hopefully last BOTH of us until next Christmas.  I noticed when you buy Microns off of Wish.com you have a 50/50 chance of getting a knock off brand but these ones here worked pretty good for their price!

“But KC!  Not only am I a poor artist... I’m a poor HIPSTER artist! I wanna kick it OLD SCHOOL!” WELL This is a nice cheap little set of dip pen nib holders and nibs!  The pink one is cute but I have the black one.  I personally love my Cork nib holder more but for plastic this one is decently comfortable to hold and a good price!  I find Nibs are a bit of “You get what you pay for” but if I was displaced into an apartment somewhere without any of my stuff and I wanted some dip pens this set would do just fine!  Dip pens take some skill to get used to so even if you want to just cheaply try some this is a good set to start with!  And if you want better nibs later on they fit right in these holders!

I also have a very decorative (but functional) glass dip pen!  Unlike the metal nib dip pens above the glass one doesn’t really allow for a lot of variation in line weight, but if you want the line work to stay a consistent size then this one is pretty good for that, though depending on your paper it can bleed a bit... once again takes some practice to get used to it.

Now you’re gonna need some ink for those dip pens!  I haven’t really gotten to try any black ink from Wish.com because I have a few bottles of black ink that I keep getting for birthdays and Christmas and such, so I haven’t run out and gotten to try a new brand.  COLOR ink on the other hand...  These little 5oz bottles have gold sparkles in it!! And they look nice to boot!  They can get a little expensive because on THIS particular order you can only order them one at a time (And pay shipping for each bottle) but you really don’t need all 24 bottles as a lot of the colors look similar to each other.

Here’s a sketch of Keira Hagai from Jak and Daxter along with the supplies used to draw it (Notice the ink, glass and black nib pens and the 0.3mm pencil.  The only thing used not from Wish.com is the feather sweeper I made from sculpey and chicken feathers.)

The ink doesn’t work great as paint though but you know what does?

PAINTS!  I didn’t buy this one but it’s a nice little affordable starter set with pallet and brushes!

Now I’m a bit snooty, I prefer to buy watercolor paints in tubes and an empty paint pallet.  The paint pallet I have isn’t THIS one specifically but this one is a bit nicer than the one I DO have and a bit cheaper as well!  (Mine doesn’t have a lid the folds out into a paint mixing area)(Now I wish I had this one!)(Maybe when my current pallet runs out of paint...)

If you use watercolor paints you’re gonna need some brushes!  This is a pretty good deal!  You get 12 brushes and get to pick either flat or round tip brushes!  They’re also not too shabby!

I use a set like this though!  They has a water reservoir in the handle so you squeeze the water out and onto the paint!  The reason I prefer these is I have a lot of pets and they like to get into mischief, so having a pallet that can be closed if I get up for a bathroom break or water that can’t be knocked over is a must for me!!

“But KC I like more... dry mediums...” Lucky for you colored pencils are all over the place on Wish.com!  You can get all kinds of different sets and sizes and some even have nice carrying cases too!  I haven’t bought any because I own a LOT of colored pencil sets already and don’t use them frequently...  I’ve also tried some chalk pastels from Wish that worked well enough on their own but the way I use them is grinding them into a fine powder and brushing them onto paper and that didn’t grind well...

And What’s art without PAPER!?!?  Wish.com is tripping paper!  Whatever is in your price range look around!  I can promise you you’ll find a sketch book or two within your budget!  Some even name brand sketch pads!

And now some miscellaneous stuff:

I LOVE binder clips!  Great way to keep all my paper together and in some places hang stuff up so I can stare at it a bit before continuing working on it!

I like art markers and not many truly can fill in the shoes left by Copic brand markers.  I have tried a handful of copic alternatives (And watched even MORE comparison videos by other people who own said markers.)  I feel like there is no such thing as a GOOD CHEAP QUALITY art marker.  There are lots of sets on Wish.com that (For their prices) are what I consider “Cheap enough to tinker with”  When I was in highschool back in 2007-9 I really really really wanted Copics and was resentful that I was poor and couldn’t get any.  I would get so angry when I saw 14 year olds on deviantart who drew like ‘14 year olds on devintart’ but had no less that two 72 sets of copics. I know, it was rather petty of me to be resentful of younger more fortunate artists... The trade off with my parents was that I would settle for Prismacolor markers, bought 1 per week with a 40% off coupon provided I did all my chores and kept my grades above failing.  That was the closest I ever had to an allowance.  Throughout the years I’ve settled with ‘Tinker Markers’ (Cheapish alternative markers) and Ohuhu, Prismacolor, and Touch New seem to be the better alternatives.  Just don’t go looking for a brush nib >.<!

MASKING TAPE!  Always good for taping things to other things!!  Unfortunately I feel like Walmart gives you bigger rolls for better deals so if it’s going cheap I’d say you don’t need tape from Wish...

Aaaah!  A light board!  And another long trip down memory lane!  Last October going into Inktober I noticed there were people throwing little fits about Inktober itself and if it’s okay to do it with a digital medium.  One persons comment stuck out (And echo’d in my brain) where they said (And I’m paraphrasing): “How am I supposed to focus on my ‘self improvement’ with traditional art if I just can’t draw from the anxiety of knowing that every pen stroke is permanent and I could completely ruin my drawing at any second without the CTRL+Z and layers!?!?!?!” To which my first knee-jerk reaction was: “Wow kid... I think you have waaaay more problems than inktober if your anxiety levels are THAT high that you can’t just accept an oopsie doodle and try again...” But then I do remember a time when I was like that.  In college I scheduled a really bad semester with too many classes, mostly art classes.  One was a classic Pen and Ink class which I did fear screwing up, not because of anxiety of failure but because I would have to start over on my homework, and that would take time from all my other homework.  Time I didn’t have.  I found a large sum of money on the ground ($100.00) one day, waited a month (Nobody claimed it), donated half to my local animal shelter (As is a karma thing in my family with ‘found money’) and used the other half to buy a light board (With a 40% off coupon.)  It was the size of a shoe box, thick and clunky, and didn’t get very bright, but it did what I needed it to.  If I screwed up on ink homework I’d throw a new paper over it and start again.  You can be cheap and use a window on a sunny day, but light boxes (or light boards now) are so affordable and sleek and thin and wish has a lot of them!  I have a cheapish but large A-Line tracing board that sits on my drawing table and fits well and honestly saves 40% of what anxiety I would have putting pen to paper (If I hadn’t been drawing freehand so long that I just don’t get that kind of anxiety over it)

If Wish.com was around when I was a teenager art supplies would have never been THAT big of a deal and I wouldn’t have had to ‘Carpool’ 3 fine liner sets per year with my sister!

Really, I know there will still be people out there who still can’t afford some of the things listed above, but if you have an inclination to try art whether it’s with pencils, paints, markers, pastels, ink, dip pens, fine liners, whatever you lean towards, Wish.com has a cheap affordable version that may not be the best quality out there on the market, but thinking back 15 years ago little KC would have loved to save up some money, order some new supplies, and wait a month for them to arrive so she could use them.

Once again most of the supplies listed above have been bought and used by myself.  There are some great materials at mostly affordable prices on Wish.com so if you are poor like Little KC was you probably know the patience of putting aside a dollar here and there and having to wait, or if you are well off but don’t want to spend too much on a hobby you haven’t tried yet and don’t know if you’d like Wish.com has you covered!

And if you’d like to, Reblog this for other poor artists so they know they don’t have to share their fine liners!

[allydsgn]

Supply Recommendations for Graphic Design Students

Hello! It’s been a while since I’ve posted something like this... so bear with me! It was requested by an anon that’s entering a university as a Graphic Design major, so here are some supplies I recommend and why! (I may do a spoken and visual extended version as a video, so let me know what you guys think!)

(disclaimer: this is my opinion and I haven’t tried everything in the world, so if you have your own recommendations definitely reblog and say so in your caption! I’d love to check out your favorite supplies!)

Categories include:

Day-to-day supplies

The Big One$

Projects

Some Fun and Fancy Stuff

DAY - TO - DAY SUPPLIES

Sharpie pens and markers

Cheap-ish

Reliable

You can find them basically anywhere

Great for black and white abstractions/sketches with different marker thicknesses

They also have pretty colors for note-taking!

X-Acto Knife

Cuts in a straight line

Replaceable blades

In most art and office stores and even in places like Walmart

If you cut something sticky and ruin your blade, just replace it!

Goes with a ruler to cut in a straight line

Masking Tape

Holds things down without ripping it

Keeps prints rolled up

Keep one with you or at home

USB Drive

Always have a USB drive ready for use!

Turn in files, take files to the printer, or even just taking files to a different machine to work on is always a possibility. 

If you make it a habit to keep it on you, then you won’t forget it on the days that really matter.

Noise canceling headphones (or at least ear buds)

Rowdy classmate ignorer

Helps blast music in your ears to help you focus

Marshmallow buds that go in your ears works best for this

A drink that makes you happy

That morning coffee before a 9AM studio 3-hour class, or that water bottle during an afternoon session can really help you out. 

Helps keep you going!

I know it sounds small, but your mood definitely affects your productivity!

A sketchbook (any kind will do!)

Literally, can by any paper quality, based on what you usually draw with or sketch with (like to use marker? Either have an extra page behind it or get marker paper)

Any price, any color, any size (try to aim for letter-size/A4)

Make sure it fits with what you usually carry around (backpacks can hold a 9″x12″, but purses would carry a Moleskine size or smaller)

Have 15 minutes before English starts and you thought of something? Take out that handy dandy sketchbook! Bored in said English class? Handy dandy sketchbook strikes again!

Notebook for notes

More than just for typical note taking!

Good for recording feedback

Track any last-minute changes to projects or deadlines

To-do lists will help understand what’s due next class and not get super anxious!

Metal cork-backed ruler

A great companion for that X-Acto knife!

Cork back helps not slide around

Metal means you can’t accidentally carve off the edge (like you would a plastic or wooden ruler)

Found in most art stores and can get pricey for bigger ones, but if you take care of it then it’ll last forever

Make sure to get at least two sizes (a longer one for trimming cover sheets for 16″x20″ mounts and a smaller one-foot ruler for trimming business cards and smaller things like that)

Post-it notes

Great for making notes on things that you don’t want to directly mark. 

Good for just keeping in mind anything you don’t want to forget (especially if you stick them to your laptop, they’ll be hard to miss).

Prisma Markers

These art markers are my personal favorite. 

You’ll hear all kinds of brands, preferences, and prices. 

Copics are nice and are very aesthetic, but they’re also about $7-$8 per marker. Concept markers from Jerry’s Artarama are very cheap at about $2 per marker, but the colors on their caps are sometimes misleading, and Prisma Markers are a happy medium at about $4 - $5 per marker. 

They’re at most art stores 

For me, they’re a happy medium price-wise and I like working with them. (Concept markers maybe I’d get the black because it’s cheaper)

Binder clips

Keep sketches and randomly sized and trimmed papers together

I prefer binder clips over paper clips because they can hold more and group things nicely

You can also hang things with these if you want on a thumbtack

Hair Ties

Keeps hair out of the way when creating mock-ups that include glue and X-acto knives

Rolls things up

Groups things up (markers and other utensils)

Cheap and effective!

Rubber bands are a little meaner, especially to hair or trying to get them off a long paper roll.

Circle Tool

Basically, something that makes perfect circles. 

This can either be a circle template, a compass, or some other device that you find that makes different sized circles. 

You can go cheap on these

The Toolbox

All these little things that I keep mentioning to bring with you need to be contained somewhere! 

I like putting what I’m using for a current project in a toolbox and bringing that to school.

I suggest going with something that’ll fit in a backpack or that you don’t mind carrying around.

Really only carry it if you think you’ll need it.

You can carry a smaller version of typical tools (pens, pencils, markers, scissors, x-acto, etc.) and leave the rest at home, too.

The Baggage

Not the emotional kind, but the one that carries all of these crazy supplies I’m recommending. 

In university, you don’t have all of your graphic design classes in one day (I would hope), so having a typical backpack works fine for the smaller supplies. 

If a project is due the next day and you’re planning to work at the school and you need to bring everything, then I highly suggest a rolling backpack!

Don’t kill your back!! Messenger bags only work if you’re not bringing much, otherwise, do a backpack (or a rolling one).

THE BIG ONE$

Laptop

Almost all graphic designers will tell you to use a Mac, but of course, not all graphic designers can afford one.

If you can afford a Mac, I’d recommend it.

If you can’t afford a Mac, go with a cheaper alternative, but not TOO cheap. It still needs to last 4 years and run all of your programs.

Wait until you actually need to buy one (that way you can get the latest models or earlier models at cheaper prices).

External Hard Drives (BACK EVERYTHING UP!)

I would even say have at least two (current semester and archive(s))

You never know when previously mentioned laptop may die, malfunction, or wipe everything.

Keep a back-up for sending to competitions, putting in portfolios, and just for safe keeping.

KEEP IT ORGANIZED. You need to know what you have and don’t have so you don’t “double save” something in two separate folders.

A decent phone with decent camera quality

Nowadays most people do have this phone already on them, but if you’re one of the low-budget phone holders, then I highly suggest to get a higher quality phone.

Picture taking for process photos can actually be done with a phone camera if it’s good enough, you can just fix things up in photoshop. 

Having a decent phone will let you also use helpful and productive apps such as camscanner, schedule makers, and Adobe apps

Raising your mood with a higher quality of life will help raise productivity!

If you can’t open snapchat without it force closing then you miss out on your friend’s lives or whenever they get an update on a project and you don’t. Social media can honestly be helpful sometimes as people post their process online!

Drawing tablet

Wacom works well enough for me!

You don’t have to go super expensive with all the bells and whistles for this... you just need something that draws.

These can get a little pricey (mine being at $90 and I got one step-up from the cheapest one at the time)

You don’t absolutely need a tablet, but it is very handy.

If you don’t do illustration often I would not recommend it.

You can also hold off on getting a tablet and just hand-draw something, scan it, and fix it in whatever program (or vectorize/image trace in illustrator and mess with it that way)

PROJECTS

Tracing paper

Helps trace things when abstracting

Covers mounted work with a protective sheet

I prefer the rolls, but they’re way more expensive than the 9″x12″ pad (maybe not per foot, but it’s initially more expensive)

Spray mount/Adhesive spray

One way to stick two things together

You need a lot of space and throw away paper under what you’re spraying

You’ll definitely get all of it everywhere (which is good if you want to make sure corners don’t stick up on a mounted piece, but it’s bad if your garage floor is suddenly sticky)

Liquid cement

Another way to stick things together and is a little more forgiving. 

Elmer’s brand is the one that I have, and basically, if you mess up or “over-glue” something, you can rub the excess off (like you would the typical white Elmer's glue).

When you’ve rubbed it off, it basically becomes those little gray things that erasers produce that you can just brush away. 

It comes with a designated brush attached to the lid on the inside (super convenient) and it’s easy to apply and store (smaller bottle than the adhesive spray can).

Portfolio case

For when you’re carrying larger pieces from one place to another (such as a mounted piece or a large editorial) like turning in your final presentation of your project.

You can get a big fancy one if you really want to, but at least get the bare minimum to carry something from one place to another without it getting folded or wet. (especially you commuters/bus-riders)

SOME FUN AND FANCY STUFF

The big paper cutter

Even I don’t have this one, but whenever I use the one at school or at FedEx it makes trimming things down so much easier! 

You line it up, you drag the blade across, and then you’ve got a perfectly straight line. 

Again, if you can afford the money and space for it I recommend it, but my school provides one for us.

It’s kind of one of those things that you don’t NEED if you have an X-acto knife, but it speeds things up a bit

High-quality camera

Similar to the phone concept... taking nice photos of your work is always a plus. 

The camera I would reserve for mock-up photos for submitting pieces or getting photography for an editorial work. 

Someone in your class ought to have one that you can borrow (and maybe even the program will offer one to borrow), but it’s always good to have your own things.

Also, being able to stage your own photos instead of photoshopping mock-up templates always feels more authentic and looks better in a portfolio. (you’re not the only one looking up Photoshop mock-up templates in the design world)

Light table

You can either buy one or make one (easier than you think)

Very helpful when you’re tracing! 

This is the most useful when you’re doing abstractions or you’re trying to refine hand-drawn ideas. 

You can make one with a shadow-box frame and some LED lights. 

Again, not necessary since programs might actually have some at school that you can borrow.

A second monitor

Web design!

Programs like Brackets do live-preview, so when you code the changes apply immediately to a chrome preview window, so seeing the changes as you code is helpful! 

Putting up inspiration or just other documents to keep in mind on the other screen makes things easier to work with.

Fancy keyboard with custom keys

This one was actually a recommendation from my boyfriend (who is a tech geek). 

Basically, there are keyboards that you can map shortcuts to specific keys on the keyboard. 

There are some shortcut keys that you’ll use a million times in a project and if you feel that a function key being assigned to it would be easier instead, and you have money to splurge, this is the keyboard to go with! 

This is totally unnecessary, but could be lots of fun and helpful!

iPad and Apple pen

Digitally drawing on a tablet with a stylus can be good for digital note taking or just drawing in general (as an alternative to the drawing tablet). 

My professor uses his for sketch notes (which is always fun) and sometimes I see people doing illustrations straight into the tablet or just concepts. 

Sketching concepts digitally allows you to put down ideas quickly, but also be able to save them without having to worry about scanning or taking pictures of the drawings. 

Another splurge option that obviously has other uses than this, but is completely unnecessary.

MORE Prisma Markers

Remember when I said Prisma Markers before?

You really only need a basic color set and maybe a gray set. Any more than that then you’re falling into a fun and fancy category for supplies. 

They’re not the cheapest things in the world, but using markers definitely brings your sketches up a level versus pencil or black and white sketches.

It’s also good for making preliminary color schemes and other illustrations. 

Have several blacks because those are usually the first marker to go dry.

That’s all I got! I hope that helped and I’m sorry it was so long, I tried to condense... but I’ll make a visual/audio version that might be easier to digest!