#but yeah in technicality I just use a lot of programs

[queenofallimagines]

Omg hello!! I just read your devotee headcanons(they were all amazing I loved them) for the brothers and I just wanted to ask if you could do one for guardian angel simeon???in my religion we believe that every person has a guardian angel so imagine how funny it would be when you come down to the devildom and simeon is like :o it's you!!

Certainly beloved!💕 I think this one might be the longest😭

Simeon:

- unlike the others, notices right off the bat

- He’s been assigned to you since before birth like come on he could recognize you by just an eyelash

- Will be slightly hurt if you don’t recognize him

- “You don’t remember me?🥺 but I sing you a lullaby when you were 2”

- Sir…. Please be serious, that’s like 3 seconds of memory

- Will passive aggressively push for you to move in with him in purgatory hall

- Lucifer is exhausted because he’s always there

- “You act like you LIVE here. Go back to YOUR dorms!”

- “Bold of you to think I would leave MY precious, amazing human here will all of you unsupervised”

- He’s not about to stop being clingy neither

- Sharing old stories at student coy meetings like you have got to stop him before he gets out a photo album 😭

- Scolds you like a parent

- “I know you’re now doing what you shouldn’t be”

- Luke is your honorary baby brother

- Will ask Luke to watch you like he’s tall enough to reach the microwave

- “Luke I’ll be back in a minute make sure they don’t have any more sweets”

- Like you’re literally grown💀please tell him to back off a little or this will get worse

- When he realizes he’s falling for you in a way Guardian Angels shouldn’t. He panics

- This the same shit Lilith did

- And he got demoted for just AGREEING with Lucifer about the war

- Hides it like he’s gonna take it to the grave, especially from Luke

- You notice he starts avoiding you a little and will lie through his teeth that he’s just feeling a little under the weather

- Lucifer peeped game though, and he’s like yeah absolutely NOT

- he’s not letting anything else happen to any more of his Family

- Will lock your ass up until he gets Simeon alone to have a talk with him

- Like you now have a curfew 😭

- Listen…. He would tear apart the entire exchange program over lesson 16,,,,

- Like y know how Diavolo said Simeon is the ONE person he doesn’t want to piss off?

- Yeah it’s like inconsolable now

- In any timeline any life any dimension he will feel you’re endanger

- In like Bible canon they really can’t help unless god gives them the okay so they’re often times forced to watch the one they were bound to protect suffer

- But this is the devildom and he don’t really got eyes down here. So who’s to stop him from coming to your aid??

- Even though you’re “technically” okay he’s still like not having it

- As soon as it happens he feels a sharp cold pain throughout his entire body and drops whatever he’s holding

- Struggling to remember how to breathe all he can think about is sprinting to the house of lamentation

- Busts open the doors to see you in mammon arms, and it’s like his whole world shatters

- He hears belphie laughing, and he’s never felt rage like this before

- Lucifer is fighting for his LIFE because he’s having to balance feeling grief, shock,rage, and also try to keep his brothers from going off the deep end so he’s like frozen

- Can’t think fast enough to stop Simeon from unleashing some divine punishment on this spoiled brat

- Lucifer does snatch him up because he will literally kill him in cold blood right there if he doesn’t reason with him

- Almost snaps back on Lucifer before you show up again for the intermission

- Shaking and crying with relief

- You’re gonna make him literally faint MC please😭

- Like don’t the angels use a LOT of magic to keep their emotions in check so they don’t go crazy like demons do?

- They’re having to suppress every emotion ever and dull those

- So he’s got like a couple of eons of just raw feelings pent-up beating his ass all at once

- When you explain the reveal he’s like REALLY about to throw up

- Lucifer and everyone are like feeling relief and are glad you’re okay

- Almost wants to break mammon arms for holding you and barely letting anyone else get near you

- But he’s frozen in shock too

- Lucifer side eying Simon like,,,,, me too bro, but he has NO idea how to talk to him about that?

- Settles for holding you as tight as possible and whispering a prayer into your hair for protection

- Teaches you to use your angel powers

- But doubles down on his over protectiveness

- Helicopter angel now

- Which doesn’t really mesh well with Lucifer’s attachment anxiety

- will come pick you up at random ass times and whisk you away for no reason

- Like the exam is in a month why are you studying devildom history now???

- Causing Lucifer to freak the fuck out when he does his randomly scheduled MC room check-ups

- Doesn’t even think to text you before hyperventilating

- Luckily enough, the first time you come back with Simeon attached at the hip

- Him and Lucifer have gotten into it a few times over this

- Dia is forced to call a student council meeting without you present

- You and Luke think the meeting is tomorrow and are making snacks

- he’s like okay Simeon you can’t keep doing this

- And he goes OFF

- Like this is HIS fault for not watching and protecting you

- Like if this is supposed to be for human angels and demons to coexist you’re doing a shit job

- Almost single-handedly shuts down the program by saying he will take you home and make sure they never get near you ever again

- Lucifer feeling so much guilt he can’t breathe is trying to be in his best behavior and be rational, but Simeon is relentless

- He’s talking out the side of his neck until he snaps back on some “you’re literally following in Lilith’s footsteps! Do you not think that the celestial real won’t also deal out a punishment for MC? You falling from grace isn’t the only thing on the line here.”

- OOP

- It’s suddenly crickets

- Even Barbados is like 😦🫢

- He can’t even deny those allegations so he’s just like glaring at him

- Solomon steps in bc WOW this is getting crazy

- Reasons with him that because you have a pact with all of them now they CANT hurt you and you’re training under him as a sorcerer so you’ll be fully equipped to defend yourself from anything

- Simeon relents at least sitting back down in his chair

- Explains there really nobody best as a candidate for representing the three realms than you being a part of all three of them

- (Lilith when she died wasn’t an angel or a demon but something in between so in my head MC has always been all three; human demon and angel and that’s why they’re extra immune to demon magic)

- Simeon agreeing to chill out a little bit swearing if anything else ever happens to you, he wouldn’t hesitate to target whoever’s directly responsible

- Imagine how awkward the actual meeting is tomorrow 😭

- You’re having a great morning and everyone holding they breath

- Barbados my beloved is the only one who’s got enough sense and acting skills to act like nothing happened

- When you stop lord Doavolo mid-sentence to ask what the FUCK is up with these rancid vibes

- Barbatos kindly informs you that it’s the stress from a new school event that diavolo has yet to announce

- “It happens annually (lie) and it’s usually very exhausting to put together. Perhaps you can alleviate some of that for us.”

- Everyone subtlety lets out the breath they were holding seeing you so excited to help out

- Barbatos stirring the pot a little more ALSO suggests you run the maid bunny café

- Suddenly everyone forgets what the elephant in the room was and is now talking over each other

- There was no school event btw LMAO so they just had to make one up and then take three weeks to prepare for it.

- Great way to lift the spirits though✨

[suzukiblu]

join, scent, sorry

"Wait, so you just . . . ditched Superboy? Like right after he got out of Cadmus?" Captain Marvel sputters right in the middle of a League meeting, looking startled. "Why?"

"Batman is handling the Superboy situation," Clark says as neutrally as possible, resisting the urge to grit his teeth or rub at his temples or glower over at Bruce or just–anything, just anything. He isn't Superboy's father, though, and five minutes into this nightmare he's already more than sick of people making the assumption that he should be. He didn't volunteer for anything or consent to anything or even just make a mistake; he had his DNA stolen by people who built a weapon out of it, and just because that weapon's aging process got interrupted and it therefore currently looks like a minor, Clark is supposed to . . . supposed to what, exactly? Sell out his secret identity and his family and his whole damn life to something that only knows what some deluded mad scientists and enslaved genetic experiments thought it should know?

They're not even sure if Superboy is actually a real person. If the personality that's been presented so far is anything more than programming or puppetry or . . . or who knows what, exactly.

Clark can't take that home with him. Can't introduce that to Lois or Ma and Pa or hell, even Jor-El's AI or Krypto. He just can't trust that.

Who could?

And building a weapon that just so happens to look like a kid in a lab and conveniently getting that weapon found and broken out "early", and having that weapon be so eager to join the good guys despite its origins and education and so eager for specifically his attention, so eager to learn about specifically his powers and all the best ways to use and abuse them straight from the source, to try to make specifically him feel some kind of . . . of attachment or affection towards it . . .

Well, Clark's seen much more convoluted and improbable plans from supervillains than that, frankly. They don't know if anything they've been told about Superboy is true. They don't even know if the files Cadmus let them access are accurate or unredacted. They know nothing.

But everyone else seems to think that Clark shouldn't care about that, and that it shouldn't be making him crazy to see his dead birth family's crest in blood red on the chest of a weapon who won't answer to any name but "Superboy".

.

.

.

Dubbilex is a null and doesn't ever scent anyone at all, but sometimes Rex will give him a quick little scruff of approval or Tana or Roxy will give him an affectionate pat or two, and Knockout likes to find excuses to flirt-scent him whenever they end up having a throwdown or whatever, but none of it's ever . . . it doesn't ever . . .

It's embarrassing, but Superboy doesn't–he appreciates it all, obviously, appreciates anyone thinking he's worth any kind of scenting, but it's not what he really wants. He wants something–deliberate. Purposeful.

Lasting.

He wants something heavy, and steady, and certain. Something committed.

Or Superman's attention, just for a minute or two.

He wants to belong to somebody. He's not a real person anyway; he's a thing more than anything else. And if he has to be a thing, it's not fair that he . . . that he isn't a thing that belongs to anyone.

At least, not anyone that he wants to.

Technically speaking, he's Cadmus's IP. Technically speaking, he belongs to Cadmus. There's paperwork that says he does. A lot of it. Cadmus has "custody" of him, legally speaking. He's . . .

He doesn't want that.

He hates that.

.

.

.

"It wasn't . . . it just never felt like–like the right time to tell you, that's all," Kon stutters, feeling like an idiot, and Clark looks . . .

Clark looks pained.

"You mean you never felt safe enough to tell me," he says quietly.

Kon . . . swallows.

Because–that's true, yeah. He's trusted Clark to save his literal stupid life before, but . . . but he never felt safe enough to tell him this.

That's kind of fucked up, isn't it.

"I'm sorry," Clark says, and that suddenly Kon is too bemused to do anything but stare at him. "I should've made sure you knew you could tell me things like that. I shouldn't have just assumed you would."

[henrioo]

°•*⁀➷ BABY FEVER: KID AND KILLER

꒰ SYNOPSIS ꒱ : "Sometimes your body is not in tune with your desires, although some are jokes you can always count on your two boyfriends to be your safe base. Which doesn't stop them from having perverted ideas thanks to your desires."

꒰ WARNINGS ꒱ : TRANS MALE READER! POLY RELATIONSHIP! RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TREE MENS AT THE SAME TIME! A lot of talk about gender and body dysphoria, talk about babies and biological pregnancy, talk about transphobia, A LOT OF TRIGGERS FOR TRANSMASC PEOPLE, besides that, Kid is a grumpy boyfriend and Killer is just following the vibe, some ideas about babies, talks about pets, kinda sad but then is happy, hurt comfort, boyfriends trying to make you feel safe and comfortable. The final is a little suggestive and a little explicit but is pretty much SFW

꒰ WC ꒱ : 1,5k

꒰ NOTES ꒱ : So yeah, that's totally self indulgence because I need someone saying these things to me, I don't care if they are not real and technically only say that because I write them saying, they said and nothing changes that! So start fluffy, go to angst and then comfort, like we all like! Enjoy!

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You were sitting on the couch with your two boyfriends, Eustass Kid and Killer, the two rockers you met in a bar and when you least realized you had been living with them for months. Some program was on television and Kid was more focused on his cell phone than anything. You had two legs over Killer's, and you were leaning against the redhead who was hugging you sideways and keeping his hand on your stomach over yours.

“Kid” you called him after an idea popped into your head.

“Humph” he muttered in response without looking up from his cell phone, probably watching videos of cars.

“I want a baby” you said, looking at him seriously.

“And what do I have to do with it?” He said with an irritated frown on his face, but still without looking up from his cell phone.

“Give me a baby!” You said happily as if you were ordering ice cream.

“Ahem… What?!” He adjusted himself on the couch and looked at you in disbelief and shock. “What the fuck do you mean by ‘give me a baby’?”

“I meant get me pregnant and give me a baby!” You huffed, sitting on the couch and looking at him, irritated that he didn't accept it.

“I'm not giving you a baby! What is your problem?" He said irritatedly, looking at you as if you were an alien, “Are you crazy?”

“I want a baby! Please Kid! Imagine the three of us being dads! And they're wearing cute baby clothes! And having a cute baby room!” You said with huge puppy eyes and a sad pout as you begged him to make your wish come true.

“I’m not giving you a fucking baby” he huffed as he stared at you irritated, where did you come from with that?

You quickly crossed your arms, irritated and frustrated at not having your wish fulfilled, then you turned to your blonde boyfriend, who until now was just silently observing the scene.

“Killer, give me a baby!” You asked, smiling innocently at him.

"Stop with that! You won't gain a baby! None of us are going to get you pregnant, you freak!” Kid shouted irritably as he slapped you on the head.

“I want a baby! I want to be a daddy!” You huffed irritably, looking back at Kid.

“Adopt a dog, then, damn it!” Kid continued yelling at you.

“Killer doesn’t like dogs!” You huffed, shouting back at him.

“He doesn’t like it?” Kid looked confused at his blonde boyfriend who just nodded, “Oh shit, adopt a cat then!” He shrugged.

“You’re allergic to cats!” You grumbled, getting more frustrated.

“What the fuck, adopt any shit! A ferret, a hamster, you can even adopt a spider if you stop with this baby nonsense!” He grumbled, laying down on the couch irritably.

You laughed a little, realizing that you had really irritated Kid, so you decided to lay on top of him to apologize and improve his mood... In fact, you decided that you would annoy him a little more since you were actually considering the possibility of having a son.

“Come on Kid, let’s have a baby” you said with a pout as you laid on his chest, even though he was angry, he wrapped his arms around your waist.

“Shut up” he grumbled, looking away from you.

“They would be so cute, they could have your red hair or Kil's blonde hair… They could also have his blue's eyes… Ah! What if they were chubby babies? With little hands and chubby cheeks?” You smiled lovingly, imagining the creation the three of you could make.

“Holy God, stop that” Kid grumbled, but you could see him swallowing his smile, he was thinking about it too.

“Kil, help me convince him!” You whimpered for help from your other boyfriend.

Killer just laughed and threw himself on top of the two of you, making a real sandwich with you being the filling, he rubbed his beard against you, making you laugh and automatically making Eustass calmer when he saw a loving interaction between the two men he loved.

“We’re not giving you a baby,” Killer said, smiling.

“Two against one prince, accept defeat” Kid smiled like an idiot when he won a game.

“I hate you! Why don’t you guys want to give me a baby?!” You whimpered against them, sulking.

“I'm not against having a child with you two, the difference is that we're not giving you a biological child” Killer said, adjusting himself to lay down with you without crushing you “You know you couldn't handle it, during your period you can’t even deal with the fact of having a uterus, imagine getting pregnant then” he spoke seriously and worriedly, you knew that what he was saying was true. There were many things that gave you dysphoria just because you considered them to be “woman” things, makeup, breasts, uterus… As much as you loved the idea of having a child with them, the idea of doing something that had been said for a long time being only something women could do… It made your stomach churn.

“No need to be upset about it” Kid said as he noticed your silence, then he slowly stroked your back “Everyone has limits, that’s not a shame”

“I wanted to have a family with you…” you admitted softly, wrapping yourself closer to the two of them, many thoughts dominated your head, and you didn’t know what you wanted to feel and believe.

“We can have a family, but let's start with something easy... Like a parrot” Killer laughed “And one day, if we are older, more mature and have enough money in our pockets, we can think about adoption” he suggested, showing that his dream of having a family was not impossible.

“The brats will still be ours even if they don't come out of your belly, you know that doesn't change anything, if having an adopted child will make your dream come true and not give you eternal dysphoria from giving birth to someone, then we can adopt the entire orphanage for you” Kid said seriously, and you had no doubt that he would accept having as many children as you asked.

“Pfft… You would die with the second child” you laughed at them, but soon you felt your heart becoming calmer and your head lighter. They were right, an adopted child was just a child in need of a home and love, they wouldn’t be any less of your children just because they didn’t have a blood connection “adoption… Sounds good” you smiled at the idea.

“Yes, it would give us more time to get used to the idea, especially because we would have to adapt to the child and the child to us, so we would have time to know if we want it or not” Killer sighed, relieved that you were calmer “And you know … If even after adopting you want a biological one, that’s okay, there’s nothing bad about that.”

“We just don’t want you to do something out of obligation, you don’t need to produce a child just because you have a uterus, hell you don’t even need to have a uterus if you want!” Kid said in his crude and affectionate way “But if you want, you need to know that this won’t make you less of a man, you are a man regardless of what you do or what others say”

“Stop! I’m going to cry” you whimpered, feeling completely loved by their words. They truly were two soulmates and the best partners you could have asked for.

“Don’t cry, you look ugly.” Kid laughed, and you slapped his chest, making you all laugh.

“So no babies for now, okay?” Killer decided to conclude the matter as he laid his head on two backs, the three of you were an awkward and uncomfortable mess on the couch, but you didn't mind at all.

“Okay… At most a parrot” you said as you both laughed.

“Yeah… But you know… I'm not against pretending we're going to make a baby” Kid smiled mischievously, and you blushed “What do you say prince, don't you want to take a test drive of how you'll feel when you're completely full? Can you imagine us cumming so much inside you that you’re going to be all swollen?” He said, whispering in your ear, and you felt your body burn when Killer squeezed your thigh, showing that he was also interested in that.

“Well… We need to finish it in case I want to get pregnant in the future… Just to make sure we can do it, right?” You said, sighing, excited by his touches.

“Don’t worry darling, we’ll make sure you beg for us to make you a daddy” Killer laughed darkly, “And then we’ll make sure we fulfill your wish.”

You swallowed deeply, knowing exactly what awaited you now that you admitted that as much as you didn't want a baby yet, you wouldn't be against a little practice... It seems that in the end the ones who got baby fever were your two boyfriends who really enjoyed the idea of fucking you raw and seeing all their sperm inside you.

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[catsharky]

I've just discovered your Rolan x Tav comic.

It's SO neat and accurate, in matter of deign and details!

In case you don't mind, of course, I have some questions you maybe have answered before:

What software do you work with? What kind of pencils do you use? How do you manage to set so neat and clean results? Do you need many references for that or is just a gift you have? How many years have you been drawing to achieve those results?

I don't mind at all! And I don't believe I've answered any of these questions before, at least not since I started doing my comics.

For software I mainly use Clip Studio, though I do also use PaintTool Sai (v2) for certain things that I feel it does better. All of my Mass Effect comics are lined in Sai, for example because things like armour have a lot more inorganic shapes and require long, sweeping, unbroken lines, and I like the pen stabilization in Sai far better than CSP's for that sort of thing.

For how long I've been doing art, I've been at it basically nonstop since I was 9 (so 20 years now, jeez). I was in an art program throughout highschool, went to college for art/animation for 4 years, and I'll have been working professionally as an animator for 8 years in May! So there's a lot of practice there for sure.

And yeah, I use a ton of references. Usually a good chunk of the time I'll spend on something is just collecting or making the reference material I need for it.

I'm putting the rest under a read more because it's pretty long:

(Tumblr keeps eating my formatting so sorry if this is a little scuffed)

Because I'm normally working full time and doing this stuff in my free time after hours and on weekends, if I know I'm going to be drawing something a *lot*, I'll usually put together some kind of reference for myself in 3D so I can take some of the brainwork out of it and get more out of my evenings even when I'm feeling fried. It also means I put as little extra strain on my wrist as possible because I injured it a number of years back and it gets angry at me if I go for too many hours in a day.

But to give you an example, for Ember I have a Sculpt of her head that I can use to reference any angle I want, or to draw directly over top of for tricky angles. How I draw her isn't quite 1:1 to the model, but it gives me a base structure and landmarks I can build on top of.

My basic workflow is to take the angle I want, draw over it using the model as a guide (while picking and choosing where to stay true to it and where to say fuck it and do what I want), then I get rid of the 3D and do another pass, tweaking and redrawing anything I'm not totally happy until I'm satisfied with how it looks. I draw Ember with a slightly softer, more rounded face than the model has, for instance. Just because something looks right in 3D doesn't always mean it looks right once translated to 2D and I don't care if something is technically "correct" if it doesn't feel right or isn't conveying what I want it to properly.

I'm also always checking reference screenshots to make sure I'm in the right ballpark of how something should look. I actually have a wall of photos next to my desk and while I didn't put them up for that purpose, it has come in surprisingly handy for quickly checking face or hair details when needed. I also just have a big folder of screenshots and other saved reference material.

I don't have a problem noooo~ 😅

Additionally, if my art has a background these days, there is a 100% chance that's a 3D set I built in Blender because I hate drawing backgrounds, but I do like building them in 3D.

Here's two examples: the area around Astarion's bed, which I built out of some of the in-game assets like a lego set (this was a pain in the ass, it probably would have been faster to just build it from scratch based on screenshots 😩) and a closet I modelled for something that's still a WIP.

I'll get the angle I want, have Blender generate some linework from it and then grab a basic render of it to slap into CSP so I can draw the characters over top of it.

And as for brushes: the main brush I use in CSP is just the default 'Real G-Pen', with opacity effects turned off and these pressure settings: (I like to keep it simple, and I have a bit of a heavy hand so the altered pen pressure just helps me get a smoother taper). I change up the stabilizer settings depending on what I'm doing. Lower for things that need short, quick lines like hair and higher for most other things.

For Sai, I use a 9B pencil I found a number of years ago on Deviantart (I think?) and I wish I could link you to the original post I got the settings from, but Deviantart's search is... bad and I'm unable to find it again.

I hope that answered all your questions! If not, feel free to ask more!

[f1stargirll]

Conversation Friends ° Lando Norris

Chapter Two

Word count : 1.658k

Description : slow burn, college!au (enemies to lovers) and more to come

Hey guys, sorry this chapter came out a week late, I was suffocating from homework. But here we are! And I'm currently on a week break from uni so I'll try to write as much as possible during this time, I have sooo many ideas. I think I'll even try writing oneshots so if anyone has requests I'm open to them! Hope you'll enjoy this chapter, and feel free to message me if you want to be tagged in the next parts 🧚🏼‍♀️

PSA : Since I’m STUPID, I’ve started writing on a side blog which means there’s a lot of things I can’t do!! So I’m switching to my main blog which is @f1stargurl !!! The next parts and the rest will be posted on there, so if anyone follows me here, if you could pls follow me on @f1stargurl 🤧 To quote mister Leclerc once ai gain, “I am stupid”

Hi Lando,

I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I’m sure that stupid encounter at the supermarket was just a result of the both of us being irritated and tired. As you can probably tell, my first few days here weren’t so easy and it might’ve been one of the reasons why I was so unpleasant, and once again, I apologize. 

I really am willing to put this stupid history behind us and get this program started!

I hope you’ll give it a thought and I look forward to hearing from you soon, have a good week! 

Sincerely, y/n

It’s been six days since I’ve sent Lando that email and pushed my pride to the side to organize a date. Well, it’s not a date, but still- I guess it is technically a date? Is it a date if we hate each other? It’s a meeting. Yeah, I was trying to organize a meeting. 

Still no response. 

Closing my laptop, I decided to take my mind off this situation and take a break at a coffee shop near campus. 

Taking a step inside the coffee shop I spot Daniel and Alex sipping on their drinks. Seeing Daniel again instantly put a smile on my face, we’ve been hanging out these last few days and having him by my side feels great. 

“What’s up guys!” I say while waving at them across the room. 

“Hey y/n!” They both got up from their seats to give me a hug.

 “Go get your drink and come join us,” Alex invited me, pointing at their booth, “we were talking about the party this weekend.”

“Don’t mind if I do then”, I respond smiling from ear to ear. 

After picking up my hot chocolate I sit down in front of them, Daniel makes fun of me for not liking coffee, again.

“I swear y/n you’re 21 and you still don’t like coffe? You need to grow up,’ rolling my eyes, I playfully shove Dani’s shoulder feeling his muscle tense under the light punch, so annoying, and buff, wow. We kept talking for more than two hours. I got to tell them all about Lando ghosting me and about the amazing cheese and garlic pasta I made last night. 

“I think he’ll come to his senses. He has to,” Daniel insists, crossing his arms in front of him. Ooh, veiny forearms… “the reason you guys hate each other is so ridiculous anyway, over freaking pasta!” he shakes his head in disbelief. 

“I think you did the right thing trying to reach out, at least you’ll be the bigger person” Alex says, his hand reaching for his matcha latte, “I’m sure you’ll be able to figure this out together.”

“Thanks for the optimism I really appreciate it” I say with a weak smile, not really believing in Linguini’s philanthropist potential, “I just hope this won’t ruin the program for me…”

“What? No way!” Daniel exclaims sitting up on his side of the booth, “Look, you’ve got your Conversation Friends right here” he says putting his arm around Alex’s shoulder who’s nodding and smiling in agreement, “and you’ve got Lola!”

“You’re right Dani, I’m not gonna give myself anxiety over a guy who can’t even be polite,” I state with confidence, “anyways, I’m so excited about the party this weekend!”

Once back in my room, I decided to check my inbox one more time. Just in case.

Still no response. 

The sight tugs at my heart a little. We have our first mandatory meeting in a few days and I still have no contact with my partner. I wouldn’t care so much about it if it was just about the two of us, but the whole group is supposed to visit a museum and I don’t want to be the only one there without a partner, that would be too embarrassing. 

But as I reminisce on the topic, I realize I’m not just sad anymore, I’m bitter. All week I saw everyone meeting up and doing fun activities with their partners, but I can’t get an email back? Even a “k” would’ve been enough… I’m stunned at how childish this boy is being. 

Putting my phone on my wooden nightstand, I close my eyes and try not to overthink about the situation. Is it my personality? Maybe it’s because of the way I look.

But I catch myself slipping, the last thing I need to do is to start doubting myself because of a man again.

God, this British Society class is really kicking my ass right now. Why did I even choose the 8am one, what is wrong with me? The professor starts off the first chapter of the class as we hear a loud knocking on the door. 

“Sorry I’m late,” I see Lando standing in the doorway, out of breath, his cheeks a light pink from the rush. His eyes search around the room for any seat still available until they meet mine. There’s one right next to me, but of course he’ll never take that one. He sets down his bag on the table front row and I feel my heart racing from embarrassment as my mind instantly jogs back to the email and how vulnerable it was. He turns around a final time and blankly looks at me. What is that supposed to mean? 

The class went by slower than ever, my mind speeding about different ways to go up to him and finally settle this ridiculous situation. 

8:55 finally strikes the clock as the professor concludes his explanation. As I put away my computer I see Lando clutching his books and bolting towards the exit. 

Not on my fucking watch. I head for his direction, calling out his name, “Lando! LANDOO!”

He turns on his heels in a swift motion, “What do you want from me?”

Suddenly feeling small, I still mustered up the courage to ask him about what’s going on, “Well you’ve read my email so I don’t know why you’re acting like you don’t know,” I grumble. “I feel like I’m making way too much effort here.”

“What email? What are you even talking about?” he asks, his thick brows furrowing in irritation. “I didn’t even give you my real email, the one I wrote down was just to fill the blank so the teacher won’t bug me,” he explains, still slightly confused as to what I was on about, “I just don’t want us to communicate outside of the mandatory attendings, got it ? We’ll meet there and that’s it.”

Well, at least that explains the total ghosting, doesn’t make it any less humiliating though. My lips close in a tight line, “Message received then, glad to know you’ll still be there for the museum,” I slowly nod my head trying to process what I’ve just been told. I feel my throat tightening up a bit and decide to leave before embarrassing myself any further, never looking behind me at the curly haired boy. 

Standing in line in front of the museum’s ticket office with my two favorite boys feels like we’re high schoolers on a field trip. I still feel uneasy about this upcoming afternoon, even if the run-in we had was terrible, he still assured me he’ll be coming today. 

But now, I don’t even want him to be here, I’m done with the idea of making any efforts with him, I’ve been way too kind to him. I’ll just stay glued to Dani and Alex and spend a nice afternoon at the museum with them, it’ll be way more fun than if he ever was to be here. 

“Still no news from Linguini?” Alex asks, trying to make sense of this situation, probably feeling bad for me. I really was pitiful.

“It’s not like I have a way of having any.” I half-joke trying to keep face despite anxiety and sadness creeping their way into my heart;

I found myself gazing at a beautiful photograph of a peony field, my favorite flower. The exhibition was showcasing the origins and the beauty of perfumes around the world. It involved a path filled with elements used to make our favorite scents through the use of pictures and different aromas being diffused all around the museum. I had clinged on to my favorite boys for twenty minutes before the teacher noticed, “I don’t care if your partner isn’t here, it’s a pairing of two only.” So now I was wandering around the exhibition and taking in the great sights and scents on my own. 

“Hey,” I turned around to see Lando looking ahead standing next to me, his hair covered by a green cap matching the crew neck sitting on his shoulders and the color of his eyes. Last time I thought they were blue, but they’re not. They’re the most gorgeous shade of olive green I had ever seen. It bothered me that I noticed these kinds of small details about him, he was the last person to deserve it. “Sorry I’m late.”

I kept my focus on the piece in front of me, “Alright.”

“Alright.”

“These are my favorite, my grandma used to grow some in her garden,” I tell him without really knowing why.

“My grandma had roses, those are nice too,” he answers, I just nod in agreement. We both keep looking at the photograph in silence for another minute when his phone starts to ring. 

“Hey babe,” he quickly picks up, “yeah it’ll be quick I promise - no I don’t care I just have to do this, you know that.” Wow, way to ruin the last speck of hope I had. He hangs up as fast as he picked up.

“You know you could’ve just told me you had a girlfriend and didn’t want to talk to me for that reason, I mean, It’s a little extreme but I get it.” I know that some girlfriends are overprotective and the idea of their boyfriends spending time with another girl can be a nightmare.

“It's not about her,” he spits out, “I just don’t want to be here, I’ve got better things to do,” and with that final sentence he rubs the salt in a wound that’s already way too deep for what it’s worth. 

“You don’t have to be here though, nobody’s forcing you to” I remark, my voice filled with resentment. I’ve had enough. 

“I do, though. I’m only doing this to pass my semester, so let’s just wrap this up,” he starts going for the rest of the exhibition in hopes of finishing early. When he doesn’t feel me following him, he turns around and stops, staring me down with his hands in his back pockets, his shoulders slumped in frustration.

Slowly shaking my head, I stand my ground and head towards the next step in the exhibition in silence, disregarding the icy stare from the green boy across the room. I’m not letting him get away with it this time. I’ll enjoy the rest of the tour and make sure to take my time. Might as well enjoy my own company if that’s all I’m gonna have for the rest of the program.

Taglist : @u5dthsduttd

[dwobbitfromtheshire]

Stuck Between a Jock and a Metalhead

Summary: Nancy, on a whim, decides to visit Steve at Scoops Ahoy, which leads to her overhearing confessions from Steve that leads her to think about the decisions she's made. A few days later, she decides to come back. She finds him being hit on by the town freak. What's a girl to do? Oh, get stuck in a freezer with the both of them.

A/N: I imagine Colbie Smulders as Lily.

Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six - Chapter Seven - Chapter Eight - Chapter Nine - Chapter Ten - Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Nancy sighed as she lay in bed, staring up at her ceiling. Technically, she was no longer grounded, and she could leave the house if she wanted to, but around this time, she would be heading to the newspaper. That was out of the question, considering she lost her job. Was she still fired? Tom was possessed by the Mind Flayer at the time. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about it or to feel guilty about all of the times she hated Tom. She also tried not to think about Hopper's funeral would be tomorrow. A soft knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts.

"Come in," Nancy called out.

Mike's head appeared in the doorway before he came all the way in. He looked downtrodden.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing," Mike said softly.

"I'm not really sure," Nancy said softly.

"Yeah, me neither," Mike said. "I still can't believe that Hopper is. . ."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Nancy said.

"We didn't get along, and I was rude to him, but he did help us out. I just hope he didn't think. . .," Mike trailed off.

"He knew how much you cared about him and how much you cared about El," Nancy said softly. "El was his only daughter, and I think it was her extenuating circumstances that made him on edge. I mean, you two have a lot in common. After you thought El was dead, you weren't exactly the happiest person to be around. You were very rude to Max and extremely protective of letting her into your group, kind of protective like Hopper was with El."

"Yeah, I guess so," Mike sniffed.

Nancy got up and hugged her brother tightly. She pulled back and smiled.

"You're getting too tall," Nancy said. "Asshole."

She was about to say something else when the phone on her beside table rang. Nancy spoke quickly and eagerly before hanging it up.

"What was that about?" Mike asked.

"I got my job back at the post!" Nancy grinned. "They got a new Editor!"

"Already?" Mike asked.

"Well, the one female reporter didn't want one the assholes to become the new Editor, so they called in a favor with a friend. The new editor is going to be a woman from a competing newspaper. The new mayor is hoping to clean house and reopen businesses that were closed because of the mall," Nancy said. "And he is hoping to clean up Klein's mess as quickly as possible."

"Man, Eddie's lucky he got to witness Joyce slug the guy," Mike said.

"I got to admit. I'm a bit jealous myself," Nancy said. "Anyway, she wants to meet me, so I guess I'm going in today."

After allowing her mother to drop her off, Nancy walked into the building and headed directly towards the editor's office. A woman with long dark hair and a powder blue pantsuit was unpacking her new office. A nameplate sat on the desk: Lillian Barnes. It matched the name on the diploma on the wall from Emerson College. Nancy stared at it for a while, imaging her own name there.

"It has a great journalism program," the woman's voice startled her out of her musings.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss Barnes," Nancy blinked.

"It's Lily, please, and you never have to apologize to me for being ambitious," Lily replied.

Nancy realized that her eyes were just as blue as her pantsuit, and the woman was very tall. She practically towered over Nancy.

"It's a great school?" Nancy asked.

"The best, in my opinion. I might be biased. It was home away from home for me for quite a few years, and it certainly never let me down," Lily said and sat down before pointing at the seat in front of her. "And I love Boston. Do you have a particular college in mind, yet?"

"Not really, keeping my options open," Nancy said. "I plan on applying to lots of places."

"Smart. Well, if you plan to get a degree in journalism, then my suggestion would be to apply to Emerson as well," Lily said.

"I might just take your suggestion," Nancy grinned. "I'm looking forward to seeing what you bring to the table here."

"I bet you are," Lily said. "I bet it was frustrating working with people who are so misogynistic, not to speak ill of the dead or anything."

"It was frustrating, and I did come close to quitting, but then I realized that's probably what they wanted me to. I didn't want to give up this job, and I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing me quit," Nancy said.

"Determined, I like that. What made you get involved with journalism?" Lily asked.

"My friend, Barb, she went missing a while back. Turns out her death was covered up by Hawkins Lab. It had been a chemical spill," Nancy said.

"And who uncovered the truth, I wonder," Lily said, her eyes sparkling.

"I broke into the lab and got them on tape admitting to the cover up, then I worked with a former reporter to reveal the truth," Nancy said and Lily laughed.

"Damn. I like you," Lily said. "Tell me, are you willing to use that same stubbornness that used for your friend to find the truth for other people?"

"Absolutely," Nancy said without hesitation.

"Well, it's definitely going to be interesting working with you. I'll be sad to see you go once school starts, but until then, I'll be putting you to work. Now, you'll still be an intern and do the usual things like answering phones, but I'm not going to waste your other skills either," Lily said.

"Thank you! You won't be disappointed!" Nancy exclaimed.

"I know I won't," Lily grinned. "I look forward to seeing what you bring to the table, Nancy."

A weird feeling settled over her as she started to work throughout the day. Slowly, but surely, life was moving forward, and it felt strange because it was still happening even without Hopper. Nancy knew it was strange to think that time would stop because he did, that the whole world would come to a complete crashing halt because Jim Hopper had died. But no, Jim Hopper had died, and the world kept turning. It left an odd, bitter feeling in her stomach. There was one less grown-up who could keep them safe, and suddenly, Nancy didn't feel quite so safe anymore. She had decided to walk back home after work. She made sure to call her mom and let her know. As she was walking she saw Otis's salon door open and Steve's car out front. Nancy started moving and walked in to find Steve playfully arguing with Robin. He brightened when he saw Nancy.

"Hey, Nance, my parents and siblings just left," Steve said.

"What?" Nancy asked.

"Oh, the Sinclairs and the Hendersons adopted Steve," Robin said.

"Well, that's good. You definitely deserve it," Nancy grinned.

She stepped into his space and pressed her cheek up against his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"What's this?" Steve asked.

"Oh my God. You're so damaged you can't even recognize a hug," Robin said and Nancy giggled.

"Very funny, Robin," Steve said.

"I got my job back at the Post," Nancy said. "There's a new editor and she's amazing."

"That's great!" Steve said. "You deserve it, Nancy."

Nancy sighed, and she gazed up at him.

"I'm not ready for tomorrow," Nancy said softly.

"Neither am I," Steve whispered and kissed her forehead. "I think my lip has done enough healing to risk a little pain."

"Are you sure?" Nancy asked.

"Worth it," Steve said.

"Are you guys allowed to kiss without Eddie here?" Robin asked.

"Yes," Steve and Nancy scoffed.

"I wasn't sure how three people relationships work. Hell, I'm not even sure how people relationships work," Robin said.

Nancy grinned and moved to wrap her arms around Steve’s neck. She pressed her lips to his and sighed in contentment. Kissing Steve again felt a lot like coming home. It was warm, familiar, and safe. She giggled when she felt him smile against her lips. She pulled back when she felt him wince but stayed wrapped up in his arms. No, she definitely wasn't ready for tomorrow, but she felt like she could get through it with Steve there and Eddie. She knew, though, that Eddie would be there mostly for his sister. She burrowed deeper into Steve’s arms, trying to get the image of a sad El out of her head.

The next day dawned bright and early. Nancy woke up before anyone else in her house and sat at her desk, her journal open before her. She stared at the blank page, not knowing what to write, and she sat there until the sun finally came up. Nancy stared at the clock. Time to get ready. Her movements were slow as she showered and put on her black dress. How many times were they going to have to do this? The ride to the church was quiet, and Nancy sat in the back with her siblings, sharing looks with her brother over Holly's head. When they walked into the church, Nancy spotted Eddie standing awkwardly at the front. He was wearing a borrowed suit that hung off his lanky frame. Nancy moved forward to greet him. His eyes lit up when he saw her and immediately pulled her into a hug.

"Glad you're here," Eddie said with a smile.

"Where's El?" Nancy asked.

"Oh, she's in the back with Uncle Wayne and Joyce. She's not handling it very well, which is understandable. I was a basket case myself when my mom died. It helped having Wayne there, though. She hasn't been sleeping, and she tried to run away once because she thought she was being too much," Eddie said and ran his hands over his face, carefully avoiding his nose.

"You haven't slept either," Nancy said softly.

"How can I when I have nightmares of my own?" Eddie asked softly. "And when I'm not having nightmares of my own, it's El. It's back and forth so Wayne's not getting any sleep either. When I'm not having the nightmares, I lay awake at night trying to figure out how to help my own little sister with hers."

"I'm not sure if there's anything you can do except to let her know that you're not going anywhere," Nancy said softly.

"Yeah," Eddie said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Talking about your own will probably let her know that she's not alone," Nancy said.

"This sucks," Eddie muttered.

A moment later, El was coming out from the back of the church, her eyes red and puffy from crying. She approached Nancy and hugged her.

"Thank you for coming," El said softly.

"You're welcome, is there anything that I can do?" Nancy asked.

El shook her head and then she moved past Nancy when she saw Mike. They hugged tightly, El clinging to him as tight as she could. It was then that Nancy noticed Steve walk through the door with Robin. He moved politely through the crowd of people and made his way over to them. He hugged Nancy, kissed her cheek, and then hugged Eddie tightly. El broke away from Mike and moved to wrap her arms around her brother's waist. Lucas, Dustin, and Max arrived last. Lucas and Dustin were with their parents, but Max was by herself. She was by El's side in an instant and stayed there, ignoring everyone else. Nancy heart broke at the thought of Max suffering through her own loss, and she remembered that Max had to watch her own stepbrother die. They all went through too much shit.

Eddie, Wayne, El, and the Byers sat up front while the rest of the party sat behind them. The pastor stood in front of an empty coffin and spoke empty platitudes about a man he didn't really know. If only he knew what Hopper had really done for them, for everyone in this damn town. It was Joyce who stood up and spoke about the man she had known for years that drove the party to tears. It was Joyce who struggled to keep it together, and Nancy knew that this woman had one foot out the door. When they moved things to the cemetery, El had to be carried by Wayne to the grave site.

"What are we going to do now?" Dustin asked as they lowered Hopper's empty coffin into the ground.

Nancy shared a look with Steve, Robin, and Eddie. They realized at the same time that with one less adult in the know, these kids were going to need them now more than ever. What are they going to do if it all happens again? Suddenly, they didn't just lose the greatest man they ever knew, but in some way, they officially lost the last bit of childhood they had been clinging to. It was time to grow up now and make sure that these kids still had something to hang onto.

Chapter Thirteen

[amethystfairy1]

Ok, you dropped the crumbs in this latest TTSBC chapter and now I gotta know. What can you tell us about Hotguy's arrows/weapons/tech? I am so dang curious about... honestly everything in this AU, it's absolutely amazing <3

oooooo YEAH YEAH SURE!

Let's break down Hot Guy's hero fit, shall we?

So Scar has multiple biotech enhancements that he received over the course of several years in a hero program at the Institute, starting when he was fifteen. He was the only successful result of this program, the biotech of the previous generation was...let's just say it didn't have long-term capability, but we'll talk about that in another piece someday. 😬

Bracers: The biotech in his legs hooks to his braces, which essentially look like bracers. The ratchets close around his upper thighs, below his knees, and near his ankles where they kinda turn into boots. He can't wear any sleeves or anything beneath the bracers because they need to have direct skin contact, so they kinda look like funky thigh-high boots!

Visor: His visor is also biotech, it links into the augmentations that are beneath his eyes, which is why Scar has a very prominent scar over the bridge of his nose, that's where that's from! It means that he mentally adjust his visor, and his vision is also biotech enhanced so his eyes essentially have their own zoom function and can focus and trace movement over huge distances! When he also has his visor, that ability grows even stronger, and he can also use his visor to confer with the stuff back in the Hot Cave that is tracking like monster surges or crimes in progress!

Uniform: Scar's original Hot Guy uniform was a lot more tame when he first debuted while still working for the Institute, but he felt like it was too constrictive so once he broke away with Cub's help and established the Hot Cave he changed to something showing way more skin because he just felt like he could actually move that way. It had the happy side effect of covering for his secret ID as well, because Prof. Scar Goodtimes tends to wear layered clothes that cover him up, and Hot Guy...well, Hot Guy does not do that. 😆 His uniform has some light pieces of body armor built in, but considering his body has also been bio-technically enhanced so that he has tougher skin and can take more of a beating without risk of major injury (see: Sugar {We're Going Down Swinging}) so he doesn't SUPER need it.

Bow: It's a folding number, the draw strength is CRAZY strong but Scar can use it like nothing. It has a magnetic clamp mechanism in the grip so he can clip it easily to the harness on his back.

Arrows: He's Hot Guy! He's got tons of different arrows! Net arrows, cable arrows, explosive arrows, blunted arrows, adhesive-shooting arrows, just straight up arrows...and look at that, you can already hear Zedaph crying in the distance. 😬

Watch: He has basically a super sleek smart watch that is always linked up to the Hot Cave systems so he can get alerts on monster surges or anything else that might require Hot Guy's attention!

I think that's all of his major gear! Hopefully you enjoyed that! I'm so glad you like my AU thank you thank you! 💖

[millenialfanfictionaddiction]

Being a Hunter and Mentor

to Gon and Killua

*it's was the most generic hxh gif I could find 😅

Hunter x Hunter characters (probably a large variety of them) x gn! Reader

Warnings: light Swearing, Hisoka

A/N: I'm currently on a HxH fixation because I've binged the entire series 😃 I wanted to try my hand at some headcannons because I have zero self control ✌🏻 back to the regularly scheduled programming Thursday!

Honestly YN, I'm not sure which job is scarier

Being a Hunter or dealing with everyone else who is also a Hunter 😐

Because like, it's a lot

Like I'm exhausted just watching the anime I can only imagine how you feel

Let's just say you passed the Hunter exam on your first try 💅🏼

Honestly ✨️MATERIAL GWORL✨️

You've been a pro hunter for about 5 years now

Love that for you

It's a lucrative business and you absolutely love your job

You meet all sorts of interesting people and get to do some amazing things

One of those interesting people just happens to be Ging Freecss 🙃

At first, he seems like a nice guy and I'm sure he is

But then he ruins it 😐

"YN when my son comes looking for you, I want you to make his life miserable. Teach him but make him miserable"- Ging

You 👉🏻👁👄👁 pardon

First off all, this man's has a son ✋🏻

Not only that but he wants you to make his child's life miserable?

"Wow dad of the year much?"- you say

"Never claimed that YN, just please do this for me. I owe you one"- Ging says before he disappears just like he did from Gon's life

OH BURNNN 🔥

I'm so sorry Gon 😭

You can't tell me he wouldn't be all "ITS OK MY DAD IS THE COOLEST :D"

NE WAYS you continue on your life's path until you "accidently" bump into a less than friendly white haired boy

"Watch out!"- he yells

"Excuse me?"- You 😃 🔪

"Killua apologize! We are so sorry!"- a black haired boy says looking at you

Boy does he look familiar 🙃

"Quite the temper you got on you there kid. No worries, it would take more than a child to knock me over"- you

"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME??"- Killua, giving Bakugo level anger issues 💥

"I mean we are children technically. I'm Gon by the way"- Gon says extending his hand

Finally the prophecy has come full circle 🔵

"Ahh yes, Ging's son. Nice to meet you, I'm YN"- you say

Gon 👉🏻😐😳🤩 you know my dad!

"I do! In fact, you're dad told me that when I meet you, I'm suppose to make your life miserable" you add

Gon 👉🏻😃 whet-

"But since your dad is kind of a jerk, how about this? I'll show you a few things and send you on your way"- you say

Gon 👉🏻🤩 yes please!

Killua 👉🏻😐🙄 whatever

*intermission*

Dear YN it's me, the person writing this headcannon set, just making sure you are ok because like do you know what you are getting yourself into??

Well I guess we all have to learn the hard way sometimes 🤷

*intermission over*

You begin your journey with Killua and Gon

Surprisingly, everything is going smoothly

🎶 don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious 🎶- me singing to myself before I ruin your life 😅

You see, at first, everything WAS fine

You meet Kurapika and Leorio

"Wow Gon, that's awesome that YN is training you!"- Leorio says

"Yeah and that you're getting closer to meeting your dad finally"- Kurapika adds

You were training the boys in their specialized Nen abilities

Helping them to strengthen them as well as teaching them more about the world of hunting

You were walking down the streets if YorkNew City when you sensed a strange presence 🤨

"Dont be alarmed but someone's watching us. Just walk normally and don't look suspicious"- you say as you walk with Gon and Killua down the street, turning into a side alley

"Alright show yourself"- you say, gearing up for a battle

"Oh no it looks like I've been spotted"- a creepy clown looking man says emerging from the shadows

You 👉🏻😳🤨

"Who are you? Sorry buddy I don't think the circus is in town right now"- you

Oh good one YN 😜

The creepy clown man just laughs

"That's Hisoka YN, he's a hunter too"- Gon says

"Oh I've heard of you before"- you say, squinting your eyes at Hisoka

"All good things I hope" he says smiling at you

"Honestly no but I judge people on my own interactions not the opinions of others"- you add

"How noble of you YN"- Hisoka says 🤡 🔪

Hisoka totally knows who you are and let's just say he's weary

See I forgot to mention that you are not only a skilled hunter but in incredible Nen user as well

A specialist 💅🏼

Your ability is known around the Hunter world and you are one tough cookie

Your training for Gon and Killua is much like how you learned to train

"So... we just run..."- Killua questions

"Run yes but also while producing aura. Now go!"- You shout

"But YN, aren't we going to run out of energy quickly"- Gon asks

"Sure you will"- you shrug and set your things down

Killua 👉🏻🤨 so what's the point?

"The point is you do what I say"- you add

Please Killua is ready to fight you YN 😭

However you aren't as tough on the boys as Ging had wanted

You never were one to do as others asked YN 🙄

So you not only taught the boys but you nurtured them as well

Kindness goes a long way, even in the world of Hunters 🥰

Unfortunately for you, kindness doesn't extend to most of the underground of YorkNew City

Namely a certain group 👀

Or shall is say Troupe...

Look at me rhyming 😏

That's right because it's just Gon and Killua's luck that they would walk right into the Troupe's hands

Honestly 🤦 have you taught them nothing YN?

"Well I guess I should probably go and rescue them?"- You think as you head in the direction of the Troupe's hideout

You didn't PLAN for this to happen but you can't say you're disappointed

What fun training am I right??? 👍🏻

Thankfully the whole gangs here when you enter the Troupe's hideout

"Alright give me my students back"- you say as everyone watches you waltz in like you own the place

The troupe 👉🏻😐😲

Chrollo 👉🏻 😏 interesting

Gon and Killua 👉🏻😬😬

"How- how did you find this place?"- Phinks asks

"Oh its really not that hard, I put trackers on Gon and Killua so I don't lose them. I'm always losing things"- you say shrugging

Same YN, BIG SAME

"Want me to torture them?"- Feitan asks

Chrollo puts his hand up before you interject

"Don't bother, I'm only here to get these two"- you say walking up to them, studying the nen thread binding them

"Well this is unfortunate. I'm going to need someone to remove this nen thread"- you say

"You can try-" Machi says before she watches her Nen thread fall to the floor

Gone and Killua just stand there 🧍‍♂️ 👁👄👁

"Impressive YN"- Chrollo finally says

"A Nen ability like that is superior"- Illumi adds emerging out from the shadows

"Chrollo Luciler and Illumi Zoldyck, how nice to see you again"- you say standing up and peering at the two men

"YN it's always a pleasure"- Chrollo adds as Illumi nodds

"Well I'd love to stay and catch up but we need to get these two kiddos to bed"- you say pushing Killua and Gon to the door

"It's like 2pm YN!"- Killua growls

"Do you want to get killed? No? Then shut it!"- You whisper yell at the boys

"I'd love to fight you YN"- Hisoka says emerging from behind a large crate

Well would you look at the time ⌚️

"I'd love too BUT unfortunately I have plans so let's do a rain check"- you say, practically hauling Killua and Gon under your arms and out the door

I AM SPEED 💨

"Why don't we go after them boss?"- Franklin questions

"Now is not the time. Not with YN there"- Chrollo says smiling as you quickly leave the warehouse

"Seriously can you two please not"- you say as you finally make it back to your hotel

"YN you were awesome! Can you teach me more about your Nen??"- Gon says 🤩

Please the golden retriever energy ✋🏻

Killua just huffs 😤

You smile, knowing these boys are both going to be amazing Hunters 🥰

[lilblucat]

I just saw the ask by slushysblog. In response you sent a gif that blew me away:

You see, I'm just getting into digital art, and my PC can only handle about 5 or 6 layers before my graphics environment crashes. (Ofc this forces me to restart my PC and lose anything not saved.)

I've learned to work around this, my art isn't nearly so complex as yours, but I know if I want to continue I'll have to get a better computer at some point.

I was hoping you could tell me a bit about the technical side of your work. What are your PC specs? What software do you use? That sort of thing.

Thanks in advance! I love your art!

My set-up is complete overkill for art. It's a heavy gaming-ready desktop PC I got a few years back that I've upgraded the RAM and storage on over the years. I was doing fine with 16GB of RAM but I always have open a lot in CSP and other stuff so upgrading was definitely something I needed to do. 16GB should be fine for most people though.

You can also see that I run Arch Linux and uh yeahhhhhh it's a long story. The short of it is that my old laptop broke its Windows install during an update and I was completely unable to fix it so I just.... switched to Linux lol. I started out on Ubuntu and switched to Arch after a while. I don't rec using Arch unless you know what you're doing, Ubuntu is way easier.

What you might find more interesting is my away from home set up on my laptop since it's an older gaming laptop.

The graphics card is actually a NVIDIA Geforce 850 or something. It's so old that you can't play some games on it. However, I have no issues with it for art. I can open my comic project files in CSP fine on it. It's also running on Linux Mint, which isn't showing up on the little image for some reason. Both of my devices run Linux, but that's a me preference/need thing and I don't rec messing with your operating system if you don't know much about computers. It gives me a bit of an edge since the system doesn't use as much RAM as Windows but yeah don't touch unless you're committed to learn. Windows will serve you fine. Or MacOS even.

As for my program, I use Clip Studio Paint EX. I bought Pro a long time ago and upgraded to EX because of the extra tools for comics and animation (I've heard animators don't like CSP though, it's the BEST program for comics however). It's a really solid program but the recent changes to pricing and updates is really stupid. Fun fact: I use only default brushes and materials because getting it to run on Linux breaks the store. I also use an older version of it because of how I got it working on this system.

For my tablet I use an XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro. It's a pretty solid screen tablet on a budget (I bought it on a sale) and I have no issues with it. I actually partly got it because I thought it was cool that XP-Pen carries official drivers for Linux too, and this helped a bit since this was before Windows bricked on me and I switched to that. It was kinda weird how it played out lol. I would heavily not rec a Wacom tablet unless it's an older one for cheap. Wacom is stupidly expensive and you can get a better bang for your buck at other companies. My first tablet is a Wacom and it's still holding up pretty well but their quality on their new tablets isn't great. Check out XP-Pen, Gaomon, and Huion for better tablet options.

[iztea]

Maybe you have some drawing tips for beginners?

Your style is incredibly beautiful and it just inspires this thing inside me to grab my iPad and start drawing but unfortunately I have no idea where to even begin

Or maybe you have some recs where to look to learn how to draw stuff?

But I understand completely that it’s your thing and artists should never feel pressured to share all their techniques and secrets, you worked hard on it!

I just really really love your art to the point where I just look at it for 30 minutes straight with this big feeling in my chest

<3

ah it was never about being secretive, i'm pretty open about my drawing process since gatekeeping knowledge is a big pet peeve of mine. It was more like,, laziness because writing a cohesive and helpful drawing tutorial is pretty difficult and i wouldn't even know where to start; i'm afraid i'll get maybe too technical and what have you.

As for tips for beginners, i've shared plenty on my couriouscat so you can scroll through the answers there, i also have some drawing timelapses on my twitter account as well (albeit you'll have to scroll a little)

I'm very flattered you feel that way about my art, it really means a lot to me and i'm glad to have inspired you to draw as well that's awesome and i wish you best of luck!

I actually don't know how different drawing on an iPad is compared to a graphic tablet+desktop, so I am actually pretty clueless in that regard. I think Procreate is the most used digital art app for iPad so you can start by getting it and familiarizing yourself with the UI. I think this step is often overlooked. The brushes and the chosen program can make or break the drawing experience. If you simply find yourself not enjoying Procreate, experiment with other apps or maybe try switching to a graphic tablet, maybe that feels better and is more suited to your tastes.

To be completely honest, one "bad" piece of advice that i should probably keep to myself is to draw something you actually enjoy: fanart, Pretty Girl Portrait(tm), your cat, landscapes etc even if it's above your skill level (becoming obsessed/ fixated on some character from a piece of media also works wonders i'm just gonna throw that out there). The main point is to actually care about your chosen subject in order to get inspired and to have that inner desire of "doing them justice" aka drawing them well. The traditional art learning route probably involves studying the fundamentals, shading spheres and cones and simple 3D forms blablbablah which. Yeah ! sure that's probably better advice but i'm telling you what will make you want to keep going and not get discouraged after a few failed attempts.

As for the drawing subject, I highly recommend having photo references to guide you.. you always need refs it's a recurring thing. My fastest artworks are the ones where I have the right references. the less references the more difficult it is to draw something

As a beginner it is also a good practice to draw OVER your photo reference to get the proportions right ( i'm not talking about literally tracing the contour of a face or limb ( just an example ), but moreso identifying the Main shape which makes up that body part and observe how long is it in respect to the other components, how does it connect to the other parts etc - big difference. Tracing won't help you in the long run).

Another thing you can do is to study your favourite artists and see how They tackle whatever it is that you like in their work. how do they simplify facial features? what about anatomy? color/ light etc and kinda reverse engineer your way through their process. ( but i highly recommend to just keep these practice sketches to yourself, and to not share them on social media- unless you get the artist's permission)

This is how i got into drawing and what i did back then, again, for more technical hands-on information i did answer similar CCs before so with a little bit of stalking you'll find them in no time

I wanna finish this with some resources that helped me:

>youtube guys - sinix, ahmed aldoori, marco bucci, and also just speedpaints in general i highly recommend watching those

>for simplified anatomy i found @/ taco1704 's ref sheets to be very helpful but ........... I'm pretty dry here i just look up refs on Pinterest tbvh

speaking of, here's my pinterest i have a bunch of art related boards board cool stuff overall maybe they can help guide you towards some direction or inspire you in some way idk

ok i kinda suck in the resource department listeN. im starving too just.................. watch youtube speedpaints ok

SORRY IT'S SO LONGGGBGGG i hope it was at least a bit helpful? this was all over the place... I'll try to come up with a tutorial as well but i really gotta be careful with how i go about it. I'll leave you with this for the time being. Again, thank you a lot for the kind words, I really am very grateful and touched esp by that last part about staring with the big feeling stuff eeeeeeeeeeeeee really wow T T that's so lovely and a big compliment thanks ty ly

[thebluestbluewords]

CYOA: Endurance Game 

(read the previous section here)

You swallow back a really, really inappropriate giggle. “Carefully.”

Over the roar of the crowd, Evie eyeballs you. “Carefully.” 

You let the sharp grin that’s been threatening to take over your face slip free. “Yeah. Really, really carefully.” 

“I trust you with my life, Mal, but you have the worst plans,” Evie hisses, before turning back to the crowd gathered below, the one made up of kids who aren’t going to have to grow up like you did. Kids who are going to have a future because of you. 

You’re not a perfect politician yet, (and oh, you can just hear Ben laughing about that understatement already), but you have half a plan and a hell of a lot of angry kids backing you up, and if you know one thing about the Auradon gossip chain, it’s that once something goes on TV, it’s out there forever. 

Good luck taking it back now, High Council. 

The kids are getting off. 

*

“You could have told me what you were planning, you know,” Ben says later, ensconced in the conference room where you’ve set up your crew. “I would have backed you up.” 

You lean back in your chair and throw another handful of blueberries into your mouth. “I didn’t know I was going to do it. It just sort of slipped out.” 

“You said you had a plan.” Evie points out. “Lying to us all isn’t the way to start your reign as queen, M. We all would’ve appreciated a little warning.” 

“I didn’t know.” you repeat. Again. It’s not like you’ve been having this conversation since you stepped off the Isle, or anything. “I meant to read the speech like we planned, I swear. I wasn’t planning on changing the whole plan. I just…” 

You saw the kids. You’re pouring all of the funding that the Bureau for Isle Affairs will give you into improving living conditions while Ben works with the high council to get programs set up to remove the kids safely, but you saw their faces all looking up at you, and the part of you that’s especially like Maleficent kicked in and screamed that these are your people. 

You’re not exactly a fairy godmother, but there’s something to be said for fairies and wish-based magic, and your current theory is that the force of all the wishes that the kids have never even had the opportunity to dream of before sort of took hold. A wicked fairy-godmother kind of thing. The Isle is your home for better or for worse, and the magic that runs in your blood likes to latch on to things. Places. Like the moorlands that you’ve technically inherited from your mother, and the island that you called home for most of your life, even though they’re both awful places to live. 

Actually, knowing the rules of magic now, (don’t breathe too deep when the pixie dust comes out, and always have faith in your own ability to not fuck things up) it wouldn’t surprise you if there’s some sort of ancient magic tying you to all the shitty, swampy places in the kingdoms. 

You’lll have to investigate that thought more. Moor. Swamps. 

Later. 

“I think it was magic,” you finish. “It didn’t feel like me saying it. It felt like something else was guiding me.” 

Your friends are staring like you’ve grown an extra head. 

“Um, Mal?” Carlos asks. “Did you know you’re sort of–?” 

“What?” 

He shrugs. 

“What?” you demand. “Tell me or I’ll fill all your shoes with glitter again.” 

Evie steps forward and lays a hand on your arm. “You’re glowing.” 

“I’m what? No I’m not. That’s ridiculous. I’m not a fucking pixie.” 

Evie holds out her mirror. “You are. Here, look.” 

“What the fuck.” you snap, pulling back reflexively. Glowing magical mirrors aren’t a good thing in your books, but Evie grabs your arm before you can recoil too hard and pushes her mirror in your face again. 

“Look! The mirror isn’t in magic mode, it’s just a regular mirror right now. You’re the one who’s glowing.” 

“Like you’re a lightning bug’s butt,” Carlos snickers. “Like you took a glowstick transfusion.” 

You look. He’s right, but that doesn’t mean you appreciate him saying it. You’re glowing from the inside out, a soft pink-y light that looks like your blood is lighting up under your skin. Like it’s been replaced with the juice from a glow stick, or like you took a bath in Evie’s glow paint experiments. 

“Evie?” 

Evie’s hand on your arm tightens just a fraction. “Yeah, babe?” 

“I’m not joking about that magic feeling. I think this is what my powers want me to do.”  

“I know.”

“It feels…” You make a grasping gesture. Your actions today felt right, in a deeply satisfying, completely intangible way that’s a little bit concerning and a lot more comforting in the way that you’ve learned comes along with using your magic for good.  “Good. It feels right. I think this might be why I’ve been here all along.” 

“To glow in one of the castle conference rooms,” Carlos says, nodding. “It all makes sense now.” 

“No, dumbass. To fix the isle. I think maybe the reason we were chosen–” you glance at Ben. He knows that you dreamed about him before you came over, and you know that he dreamed of you too, without knowing who you were. Magic, before you were supposed to be able to access any. In a very literal sense you’re here in Auradon because Ben chose you four, but in a larger universe sense, it would be fitting if you were brought here because an intangible magical sense drove Ben to pick your crew in particular to come to Auradon first. “I think we were chosen because the magic knows that we’re going to fix things.” 

You glance around the room. You’re pretty sure that this is right, but your crew seems less than certain. Evie’s still holding on to your arm like she thinks you’re a flight risk, and the boys are all staring at you with varying degrees of skepticism. Except Ben, but that’s only because he’s a sweetheart and his default expression when he’s concerned is a smile. He’s like Evie that way, in that they’ve both been taught to hide their feelings behind looking pretty for the public. 

“Not to ruin the moment,” Jay says slowly. “but should we maybe consult with FG about the whole glowing skin thing?”

You close your eyes, which thankfully aren’t glowing yet too. “No. We don’t have time for that right now. We have to make a plan for getting the kids off the isle.” 

“Well, we could start with four,” Evie suggests. “And maybe bring them over in batches. Just a few at a time. Like we planned?” 

You shake her off. You need to pace. “It’s not enough.” 

“Mal–”

“It’s not enough!” you say, because it’s not. “We need to get them out before our parents can retaliate. If we do this carefully, we can pull kids out in larger groups. I’m not saying we take everyone at once, but we can do more than four at a time. We’re better than that.” 

Evie pinches the bridge of her nose for one second, like she’s got a headache coming on. Only she’s been doing it intermittently since your announcement so… maybe she has a point with the whole logistical difficulty thing.  

“Okay. If we bring a van over instead of a limo, we can fit thirteen kids each trip. We have about two hundred applications, so if we divide that, we get sixteen trips, give or take. We don’t have the space to fit more kids in my castle, so we’ll need places for them to stay.” 

Ben raises his hand. “I can help with that. My parents have a summer castle they don’t use most of the time. We can send the kids there temporarily, until we can find different places for them to stay.” 

“Can we put them with Auradonian families?” Evie wonders out loud. “Some of them already have family here. Cousins, grandparents, we could push for quick kinship placements. Dizzy’s already agreed to meet her cousins.” 

“They don’t want us.” Carlos says, after they all digest the thought for a second. “They’re the ones who got rid of us in the first place. You think anybody wants a bunch of isle kids they’ve never met before living in their house?

He’s probably right. 

“I don’t care,” you growl. “They don’t get to throw us away again. We’re not a problem they can just ignore until we go away. If we bring over all the kids, they can’t just lock us up in boarding schools and ignore the root problem.” 

Your’re aware that your eyes are glowing, but it’s hard to care when you’re right and you know it. 

Jay leans over the table. “Woah there, killer. Not that I disagree with anything you just said, but you're doing the magic eyes thing again and the last time you did that we lost curtain privileges, remember?” 

The last time you had this much magic burning through your veins, you burned a hole in the curtains of your dorm room, set off every smoke alarm on the floor, and had to use a fire extinguisher to put out your hair. 

“I’m–” You take a deep breath. If you set another pair of curtains on fire, you’ll lose valuable planning time putting it out. You’ve gotta keep your cool. “Whatever. We can’t let the people of Auradon turn their backs on us again. The kids deserve better than that. We’re going to get them something better.” 

“A school.” 

You whirl around towards Ben. “What?” 

He lifts his hands. “I was just– thinking out loud. You guys don’t like going to school here because people are mean to you, right?” 

“We’re villains.” Evie says immediately. “We’re wicked. We’re not supposed to be likable.” 

“No, I know that. I just meant, you’re afraid the Auradon families will bully the new VKs, right?” 

Are you? Feelings aren’t your strong suit. 

“Sure,” you say anyway, because what the hell, maybe you are afraid. You’re reluctant to throw the new kids to the wolves, that’s for sure. Maybe wanting better for the kids coming after you is something you can use for emotional leverage. You didn’t have anyone but each other to watch your backs, so– 

Oh. You didn’t have anyone. 

That’s a thought you’re going to just shove down and unpack later. Or never. Never would be good. You’re totally, completely acclimated to Auradon now. No need to worry about the constant anxiety you feel about only having four people in your corner. You’ve got four whole people on your side now, and they’re conveniently all right here in this room! No need to remember what it was like to be sixteen and squinting into the sun for the first time as you lined up to meet a literal prince and move into a school with prissy princesses who were primed and ready to hate you for everything your parents did. No need to remember that at all. You didn’t need to protect yourself then, because you had each other, and you don’t need to worry about protecting the kids you’re bringing over now, because they won’t be walking into the same thing. You won’t let them walk out unprepared. 

Maybe this is the feeling that Ben’s talking about. 

“So we get around the problem by setting up a summer school!” Ben is saying. “A place where the VKs coming off the isle can stick together and all learn how to choose goodness. Sort of like a training camp, only we could make it fun. A place where you can support each other.” 

“Goodness camp,” Jay offers. “Like remedial goodness, but not shitty?” 

Ben flashes him a smile. “Yeah. And then as we find families, the kids will have had a chance to adjust with their friends already, so it’ll be less of a culture shock.” 

“It’s got potential,” Evie admits. “I think we could bring the kids over in batches, so long as we know they’ll all have a place to stay. We can rent the school vans, and do a convoy sort of thing. Get enough kids to have a cohort, so they can learn together before we set them loose on the larger public. I think we could make this work, you guys.” 

“And our parents don’t have to know when we’re picking them up.” Carlos adds. “Keeps us safer that way. We could use the message boards that Dragon Hall set up to send them coded pickup times, so the adults never know when we’ll be there. They can't retaliate at us directly for taking all their kid labor  if they don’t know when we’re in and out of the barrier.” 

Evie’s nodding. “We can leave messages with Facilier too. He wants his daughters out, he’d help us get there in secret.” 

“I’ll call the council,” Ben offers. “We have a location, and a plan, and if you four are all on board, I’ll vouch for you.” 

“You dad won’t flip out?” 

Ben shrugs. “He will. But it doesn’t matter,” he smiles, and it’s like the sun coming out. “He’s not the king.” 

*

You get the children out. 

It takes a slow start, but you get them out. You pull them off in vans and trucks and barges, at five in the morning while the rest of the isle is sleeping, and at noon when the bright cover of the sun on the water obscures your movements. You pick the first group up before dawn, and they stumble into the vans in the gray light of the isle, and tumble out into the pink dawn of Auradon morning. 

You bring Dizzy back to Evie’s house, because you built a place for her there and it seems like a shame to let it go to waste. 

You bring all the kids back to Evie’s house for dinner, and they demolish her beautiful white kitchen and leave it feeling more like home than the expensive interior design team ever could. 

You get the children out. 

You keep getting them out, day after day after day, until one day you get a message from your contact at Dragon Hall. 

Zero children waiting for pickup. 

You did it. The children of the Isle are free. 

The End 

[albi-mander]

a friend of mine got me a copy of Office 2007 bc i wanted to see how well Word 2007 holds up compared to the version you get in Office 365. i haven't had much time to really fuck around with 2007, but, so far, it's just kind of a straight improvement from 365?

even ignoring the fact that Word 2007 isn't a subscription service (and is therefore superior to 365 by default), it's almost exactly the same as 365 but with a cleaner UI, better performance, and slightly fewer features. and it's not even missing anything important! i do actually use some of Word's more technical tools for my job, but it still has all the shit i need. mostly it just doesn't have all those annoying redundant features that do exactly the same thing as something else but a little different, so if you want to turn them off, you have to turn them off twice.

the only feature 2007 seems to genuinely lack is a proper dark mode, but, like, that's not a big deal. i can just invert my screen colors. i've been pulling that trick on light-mode-only programs since at least 2008. i'll live.

oh yeah, have i mentioned that it runs better? because it runs better. a lot better, actually. i have several 30-some page documents with literally hundreds of tracked changes that 365 really struggles with unless i have simple markup mode on. legit, it gets unstable and lags like a motherfucker until i tell it that it doesn't have to display the tracked changes anymore. i open the same file on Word 2007, and it stumbles a bit, loads shit in, and then it's fine.

god, like the whole time i've used Word 365, attempting to copy text from an equation would reliably cause the program to freeze for a good minute or so before either crashing or coughing up a canned error message about not having enough memory. 2007 doesn't do that. it just copies the damn equation. tf

[that-one-weeb-buts-its-the-main]

Found Family

W/ Stephen Strange

and America Chavez

eader: female | romantic (Stephen) | motherly (America)

type: headcanons w/ that found family stuff we love

notes: Don't read this if you haven't watched the New Doctor Strange Movie aka Dr.Strange: Multiverse of Madness, also this takes just after Stephen meets America and after the whole movie: i don't want to many spoilers

Warnings: Technically no spoilers, but Spoilers, just...just spoilers for safety

░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░

You had been dating Stephen for a while, had been through quite a lot with him after all

You never had kids, never could, thanks Widow Program.

You were glad though; at least you had Stephen.

You guys went on a lot of library dates; to libraries across the world with the help of Stephen's sling ring.

But when America came along and needed help

You couldn't help but try and help her: maybe it was due to someone being so nice to you when they got you out of the widow program or maybe the want of children always lingering in the back of your head

It was quick she trusted you: apparently you were trustworthy in all the universes she's gone too

You made her a cup of hot coco, as she was pretty shaken up when she met you

"You're Ms.Y/n, right?" America questioned.

Y/n nodded, "Y/n is fine, here, it's warm,"

America nodded with a small smile, "Are you and Stephen married in this multiverse?"

"Married? Me and Stephen?" Y/n asked, "in another universe? How many? if you don't mind me asking."

She shrugged, "Out of all of 35? uh....12? I think. It's probably more."

12 times you've married your sweetheart: 12 beautiful days

Okay so you're a sucker for some cheesy romance sometimes oh well

You also made America a grilled cheese while you waited for Stephen

You eventually just take America in for good, even if Stephen gets jealous

America will come and wake you up when she's not able to sleep, so Stepehn wakes up to you gone and in America's room, you holding her close as the two of you sleep

You definitely take her into all the nooks and crannies of New York, hole in the wall places are your usual "mother-daughter" hang-out spots.

She's also kinda replaced Stephen in the training part as well

She may be training in the mystic arts, but you're helping her with basic combat as well.

So the only time he feels like he gets actual time with you is when America's using the restroom, that's how glued at the hip you two have become

He's lucky when he gets to grab you by the waist playfully as your cooking

"I'm gonna spill it, Stephen!" Y/n laughed, carefully letting go of the pot.

"Oh please," He laughed kissing her shoulder, she smiled as she looked back at him.

"What's got you so clingy?"

"I think I deserve to be clingy with how much time I've recently gotten with you."

Y/n chuckled, "Someone jealous?"

He scoffed playfully, the smile on Y/n's face never leaving, she leaned over kissing his lips softly. "You should be glad your so handsome."

Not America gagging when she walked in on you two kissing.

"Oh yeah?!" And now your chasing after her

Its a good little found family, you're happu you have both of them.

You make it a point for everyone to sit down at the table and eat dinner.

Weekly board game? Yes. Absolutely

They get playfully violent

"Im taking the car and the kids!" America spoke.

"what?! You can't do that!" Stephen argued.

Y/n watched the game a life board sprawled out infront of them, she was broke anyways.

Definitely tucking America into bed after game nights, but it soon turns into every night.

She sleeps good, may not dream, but sleeps good

You always sleep good after game nights too

Especially next to Stephen

Yes sleeping with Stephen is wonderful 10/10 great sleeper

But here some America unable to sleep and if your too tired or too beat up you'll turn on your side and offer her to join you

She'll sleep in your chest and Stephen will have his arm around you

So basically your on fire all night

Better damn be sure America will try and take care of you when sick, shes real worried about you when you are

When shes sick she kinda likes that you baby her

Her and Stephen have that in common: like being babied when sick

[nhaneh]

I think a lot sometimes about the pushback against the concept of talent within arts and I mean yeah on some level I get it, but also the suggestion that anyone can learn to draw is, to me, like saying anyone can learn to program.

like yes, sure, at the end of the day just about anyone can likely find some way of forming vague scribbles using their tool or input peripheral of choice, but that's basically like saying just about anyone can find ways of writing semicolons and the words if, then, else on some kind of digital computer - the difficulty was never in achieving the most basic and abstracted interpretation of the act, but in an understanding of how your actions translate into the kind of end result that you want.

in programming, the most basic starter program that nearly every extremely basic example or tutorial will start with is called Hello World, which is simply a program that prints or otherwise displays the text Hello World to the user.

#include <iostream>

in python, this can be done with a single line of code, like so:

print("Hello World!")

while in C++, that same program will take a bit more work:

#include <iostream>

int main()

{

std::cout << "Hello World!\n";

return 0;

}

Now if you have the ability to copy that text into a file then congratulations, you have the ability to write a program! But, obviously, to really do any actual programming, you kind of need to know what any of the above actually means and what it makes the computer actually do.

This by the way is why the "Learn to Code" kind of initiatives tend not to work out very well, because while technically anyone can write code, actually understanding how to code is a much more complicated affair that can't necessarily be directly taught - it's something that has to be understood.

What is needed, basically, is a system - a kind of mental library of symbols and concepts that you can rearrange and reassemble in various ways to reach a particular solution; a point where you can break down a larger problem into a bunch of much smaller, more individualised problems that are easier to solve one by one.

This is basically how expertise works - whether consciously or (much more often!) not, you form models and systems in your head to let you simplify and, to an extent, automate otherwise complex tasks. If you've ever looked at something and just felt this feeling of "aha, I see how this works", then you should technically already know what I'm talking about.

And look, this is not an argument against practice - expertise takes work, it takes training and experience and gradually discovering ways in which things start making sense to you, even those things that you might have an intuitive knack for. However, what I do think is that telling people who say they can't draw to "just draw anyway" is a lot like, and just as dismissive as, "Learn to Code" because, just like how saying "I don't know how to code" generally is not meant to be understood as "I am physically unable to write words into a text document", saying "I can't draw" typically does not mean being physically unable to form lines or shapes on paper or in a digital image or whatever. Rather, it's a statement about being unable to break down the problem of how to reach a desired end result into smaller, manageable steps that you are able to grasp. And, much like with programming, not everyone will have an eye, or a mind, for it: just like some people struggle with spelling or mathematics or, indeed, code, some people also struggle with colour or perspective or object shape or lighting and shading. And, by contrast, for some people these things also come much more easily and naturally than others.

Not everyone can do everything - at least not to such an extent that it would let them do something they would want to do. Practice can help, certainly, but it's not necessarily guaranteed to bridge the gap either. I mean, I personally find it baffling how many people seem to struggle with what I consider basic computer literacy, but that's a lot to do with the fact that I just happen to find much of it pretty simple and straightforward where a lot of people don't. Not everyone has a base aptitude to build on for every field or skill, and that's both fine and normal. And I mean - something as simple as the ability to put in the effort to practice and learn a particular skill or expertise is in itself a skill, and one that can be very selective about what contexts it's willing to apply to.

[likesdoodling]

Been playing around with photoshop,

This is another experiment to get used to the program.

:D

And mainly because I recently remembered FMA exists (ah yes, crossover fanfiction, that wonderful reminder of fandoms you forgot about-) and edward was technically the first anime character I learned how to draw funnily enough

FMA- (brotherhood btw) was actually the first anime I watched. It took a while to adjust to the 'ah yes, just because this character is bleeding profusely from head trauma via wrench- does not mean they are actually injured' but you get used to it eventually.

Yup. Just one of those things, y'know?

Also the simplification in animation style. Which is a little jarring if you've never watched an anime before.

But after reading the manga it made a lot more sense.

Yeah.

:)

[kicktwine]

wanted to ask, could we get a look in to how you put together your animatics?? I've been toying with the idea of trying to make one of my own, but I've got no idea where to start

oh yeah totally

though to be fair, a HUGE chunk of my time is spent listening to about 20 seconds of a song and imagining how the images move around like a little movie, and I refine a ton of stuff in my head before starting to actually put scenes down on paper. This happens with non-music boarding too, imagining different versions of how the scenes line up with dialogue/music. So step one: put a song on repeat and daydream for at least two hours. But, if you aren’t sure how to do this, I’d suggest looking at animatics, MAP projects, AMVs, animated musicals, fight scenes, etc. what do they do that’s cool? Imitate them.

after that, I have most of the main images with some blank spots im not sure how to fill until I put them down. I make something like this and get the compositions of each main image looking more or less okay in this form. This is also the stage I figure out the in between blank spots. I try not to have weird camera moves or other storyboarding don’ts, but some storyboarding donts are completely valid to break if you know what you want aesthetically. As usual. This one was actually pretty clean, but check out all the framing edits. i always have to make the frame bigger

If you really don’t know what goes in between things, don’t be afraid to focus on some little details of the scene, pull out and show us the setting, put some flowery symbolism on screen, give us some fun little comedic anime inserts, or do what cowboy standoffs do and build tension. What we used to do was draw paws stepping across the screen or eyes blinking, lol

next comes audio sync! I like to get the timing extant on copies of these rough thumbnails before moving on. It helps my brain work through smaller more animated movements + testing if the things I came up with for the blank spots work. and also just makes it happy. And also, most importantly, it tests if the compositions work. If you can see it, the whole sequence with mom was a blank spot until I sketched it. I usually do this step in roughanimator even if i don’t finish it in roughanimator. Keeps it very rough.

after this is just a lot of polishing and layers! For lots of small animatics, I just use roughanimator and leave it like that. It’s surprisingly good for a very basic program. But, for things that need tweens or lots of camera movement, I use toon boom harmony. It’s more powerful and is actually supposed to be used for animation, which. Yknow. I do. I tried storyboard pro, it wasn’t my favorite.

Here are some, I guess, miscellaneous more technical tips for making your animatics feel nice!

If you’re going for lots of movement, try out timing it so big movements or scene transitions line up with the spikes in the audio WAV. If it doesn’t feel right, move it a few frames BEFORE the spike/audio beat. Your brain usually wants to see something move barely before it hears it - this works for dialogue especially. BUT! Don’t feel like you have to do this for every beat. unless you want to feel like Wes Anderson, which you can do and I will not stop you.

If you’re going for something slower with not that much movement, try motion tweening! or adjusting something very slowly so we don’t linger on one still image for forever.

you don’t need crazy camera angles for everything, but put a few in there for spice. This all depends on your mood you want to cultivate. Slow = flatter, spacious, details; fast = lots of moves, weird angles, perspective; disorienting = slow/jerky weird angles etc etc. the camera has emotions built into it. Because the camera is you! surprise!

watch storyboarding tutorials. lots of people zoom in too much when they draw and I am not excluded. Also, keep in mind the eyesight rule. It’s hard for me to explain concisely but… you as the artist are always leading the viewers eye somewhere, with every shot you make. Don’t make them dizzy by having the center of attention jump around to six different spots for six shots straight - if you find yourself unhappy with a sequence, especially a fast one, see if your line of sight is going all over the place and try moving the subject of a shot or two somewhere else or having them move/gesture towards the new shot’s focal point so the viewers eye moves there naturally. I’m actually not great at doing this when words/lyrics are involved, pmv makers have my respect.

contrast is your friend. If you want to emphasize a big fast move or big bright image, put little slow moves or simple images right before/after it. and vice versa! this counts for camera too!

easy camera shakes are just 3-4 frames of cam down/up/down less/up less, a blank tween or two (easing back into normal), and then a key for your desired normal camera location. Or left/right, whichever.

your brain needs about six frames to fully register an object as being an object. If you want someone to see and really See it, rather than just get a glimpse of it and go "What was that!" It needs more than six frames.

don’t be afraid to experiment!!!!!! And don’t get overwhelmed! Everything I just described I MOSTLY do off instinct, which you’ll get a sense for after you make one. Or like…. Ten. Does it feel good in your heart? Then that’s what’s important. Find an idea you want to make move, figure out your limits (programs, attention span, drawing capability, make sure not to commit to a minute long amv if you dont KNOW you wanna do a minute long amv), and plan around that. When I was A Child, people on youtube were just making like three amvs per second and cringe hadn’t been invented yet so they were all mostly untrained unpolished and so so important and based to me. Stop thinking so hard about it. You gotta get that animatic out there into the world or it’ll start fermenting in your brain and make you sick. So what if it doesn’t turn out exactly the way you imagined it? You’ll have another idea tomorrow. And if it matters that much, you can always do it again. Go make! Good luck!