#experimenting again with style <333

[bakatenshii]

angel !!!!!!! i miss your writing i hope you're having a fab saturday

NONNIEEEEEE !!!!!! i hope u know @theygottheircages and @undermattsun r holding guns on each side of my head forcing me to vomit words onto a doc xxxx

hope ur saturday is incredible &&&& hope its sunny where u are!!

[judasofsuburbia]

So you’re looking to write some smut but feeling stuck, uninspired, or unsure where to start. Smut writing comes easily to some and not others, and that’s okay! Here are some tips I’ve gathered over my few years of writing smut to take with a grain of salt! It's my opinion; you can always do what you want!! <333

It’s fiction writing at the end of the day. So, it’s okay if you haven’t experienced what you’re writing about or maybe you have experienced it but you find it difficult to put it into words. I’ve never fought a creature from the Upside Down but I’ve written about it because that’s what fiction writing IS!! You’re creating a story from your own experiences/thoughts/emotions and applying it to a made-up scenario. So don’t feel discouraged by your own personal journey, anyone can write smut!!

When in doubt, plan it out. When I’m really stuck, just simply grabbing a piece of notebook paper and writing out each event in a sequence, even in the most basic terms, can make things so much easier. For example: making out, blow job, hand job, prep, fuck. Write down positions (sometimes limbs can get lost in the sauce and it is so hard to figure out how they’re actually doing it lmao). Write down settings. Write down if one person is leading it more than the other or if they switch off. Write down desperation levels (personally, I think it’s more fun when desperation is very high but casual fluffy smut is fun too!!) This will help the writing process feel a lot less daunting. 

More specifically, remember that prep is important. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been taken out of a smutty fic because they get to the main act (penetration, typically) way before someone should be ready to. Fingers, mouths, and lube (actual lube or something that can be safely used as lube. Blood is not lube. Blood is not lube as it is a liquid that dries quickly and offers no moisture so it will not help you penetrate anything, as hot as it would be.) Foreplay and prep can be a really good tool to establish a sexy dynamic between your characters and get the reader ramped up to read through to the end! 

If you feel like the action part is getting too technical, this is where you can add in thoughts and emotions that will give your smut some personality. It can feel very silly to write, for instance, your character A thinking “Wow character B is so hot” but it’s a thought that would probably cross their mind!! Write out any nerves the characters are feeling or maybe even the confidence they’re feeling. Write out what sensations they pay attention to. Write out what they like and dislike. Write out what actions cause an immediate response from them (moaning, bucking their hips, groaning, eyes rolling, etc.) Write out how your character would verbally respond (Are they dirty talking? Are they praising? Are they degrading? Are they stuttering through their words? Are they incoherent because the sex is so good?) It’s important that your characters still feel natural and not like sex robots. Unless your story is about sex robots, then go off!!!

The thesaurus is your fucking FRIEND!! Smut can feel ridiculously repetitive, especially if you’ve written it before. I say every time I write a blow job scene that “god blow job scene is blow job scene is blow job scene” because that’s how it FEELS! Use your resources like the thesaurus or there are a million posts with other ways to say “said”, ways to describe a kiss, etc. Just be careful that you don’t fall into using words that seem unnatural to the flow of the story (for example, a lot of synonyms for cock are simply…unsettling and can take your reader out of the story). Find ways to creatively tell the same action again and again which leads to tip #5…

Go read some smut. The tag “porn what plot” is so unbelievably helpful. Even if the writing isn’t exactly your style or your preference, sometimes reading someone else’s descriptions of sexual acts can be helpful if you’re lost! I have a few faves that I go back to read to get inspiration and I have notes about what it is specifically I enjoyed about their work. While you’re at it, if a fic inspires you and you feel comfortable doing so, leave a comment! It’ll make the author’s day, I promise. 

TAKE THIS TIP WITH AN ABSOLUTE GRAIN OF SALT but…go watch it. Or my personal preference, go listen to it. If I’m really lost, I’ll seek out audio porn that follows the same ~vibe~ of whatever I’m writing. There are many websites for this but Soundgasm is my go-to (it’s a free upload site so there are THOUSANDS of sounds and varying quality levels so it might take a second to find what you’re looking for)! Even a sexy playlist on Spotify can put you into a good headspace for writing. Just make sure you’re being safe and looking out for your own comfort levels. Never put yourself in a situation to experience something triggering for the sake of writing a good story. 

All of this to say, it is so different to write smut than it is to write a regular plot. It can feel incredibly daunting to go about it and find the perfect balance between technical actions and thoughts/feelings/dialogue and then make it all cohesive in the end. It’s hard to do but it’s not impossible! 

[conceptofjoy]

SHIT I loVee your real boy seb. hes like if autism and adhd had a child. him having selective mutism and hiding behind someone close im crying. ive been feeling down/tired lately and seeing him made me genuinely giggle and smile. AND AHHH his interactions with other kids i love how you do the relationships in your posts not only <333 in your art style he and his expressions look so familiar and close.. hes my baby. my head aches its so good. seeing seb doing his bunny deals warms my heart like chocolate cheesecake in the microwave in fact. HELL FUCKING YEAH DESTA GO ON!!!

btw thats offtopic as hell but im that anon who originally said dorkhell LMFAO i saw you made the word? a whole hashtag uhoh! i opened my jaw like a smol bird opening its beak 180 degrees so that its mother bird would feed it WHEN i noticed. its actually so funny to me because i didnt even think about that too long. just a sudden thought i decided to add. but yes... this is your inheritance now joy (>_0)

well back to seb im about to disintegrate into sand. i really like how everyone uh... treats him in some sense? though he, i admit, may be a little disaster here and there but they love him <3 so, the way people treats seb with some kind of understanding (im not sure if thats the right word b i cant find anything better than this) is frankly comforting. i just go all "god damn it" as a person who was that neurodivergent child growing up. i may repeat, but i just adore your relationships between all the characters and I DARE to wander into another field BUT the vriska polycule,,... damn yes thats the thing anyone needs to see to make their earth spinning like its should. and they all care deeply about each other despite their ways of showing it is different. i see now!!!!

i literally cant form sentences anymore but they all are so dear. tyyy for making&sharing your art w random people on the internet again!! puts a turtle in your hand and frogblinks at you

AAAA THANK U puts turtle in a well maintained tank. everyone loves little seb n even though no one rlly has experience talking with kids, all of them are nd + have sibling energy/experience. his mischievousness matches a lot of the others lol.

hes a smart kid and knows how to use his cuteness/ how to play dumb to get out of situations (youngest child behavior) but is also incredibly silly. he takes after hal a lot in his smugness and dirk in his explosive displays of affection.

guh thank u so much for ur kind words. im glad i could make u feel better :) also dorkhell was just so good lol its so fitting. i should def elaborate on the vriska polycule l8r but it would take SEVERAL posts lmfao

[the-s1lly-corner]

I'M SORRY I KNOW I SHOULD'VE LIKE PUT THIS IN THE SAME REQUEST BUT AFTER I READ YOUR TIMXDECEASED!READER I GOT AN IDEA..

BUT IDK HOW THIS WORKS LIKE WHAT IF SHE GOT REVIVED OR SMTH (OR LIKE IDK SHE DIDN'T EXACTLY D*E JUST WENT MISSING OR SOMETHING BUT GOT DECLARED DEAD?)

AND BTW

I love the way you write and thank you thank you so much for Doug my request:3

Remember to rest and stay hydrated mwa I love you!!<333

-🙀 anon

Tim x reader who went missing but returns!

UEUEUEUEUE thank you!! i was so nervous that the post was going to be kind EUGH!! since im rusty with MH and my brains foggy on the lore + still experimenting with how i write the og/mh versions of tim !! admin grew up with creepypasta first marble hornets later (though its been a blast getting into mh!! yahoo!!) that said i hope you enjoy this as well!! previous post/post in question!

just like a lightning bolt i was struck with the image of tim and reader hugging, studio ghibli style. you know. like getting INTO it

though.... would it be in character? in not sure, actually..! because on one hand i can see him being happy to see you still kicking, after being supposedly "dead" for lord k nows how long, but i can also see him cautious... like are you a threat? are you going to pull some stuff? i think it depends on how far into the whole mess of MH that this would take place in

thinks

god know because you know how in the other post i mentioned that he would make a little memorial... thing for you. like its just a space somewhere with your picture and some stuff you like/had. thats going to be fun to explain to you. probably takes it down when youre confirmed to still be alive

do not tease him about it. i do think that would actually cause some issues. like i thought about this as a joke but can you imagine how messed up that would be, to try to joke with him about that?

therapy. you guys both go to therapy. i mean he needed it even before you showed back up, but i doubt you just suddenly coming home is going to erase all the grieving he went through

"youre just as beautiful as the day i lost you"/ref or however the quote goes

oooooooouuuugh imagine its been so long and you guys have the rekindle your relationship if you guys want to make things work

i dont know, the admin just enjoys tropes like that. same energy as the "we knew each other in a past life and have once again found our way to each other" but in a different font... kinda...

if this is post-MH you guys both grieve together over all that was lost/who had died, as well as generally trying to recover

i do think that after the initial shock he would ask a few questions... though im not actually sure if he would interrogate you... i can see both, actually. on one hand he wants to know exactly what happened to you and where youve been, but on the other hand hes just so exhausted that he doesnt think he can handle the truth for the foreseeable future

baby steps, you know

[gamerbearmira]

Of course I have more to say about this resident 8 Au!

First I love the idea you have for the family it honestly all seems really cool. Though I do think for Julieta instead of her hand spontaneously combusting, little cuts appear and the black mold starts leaking out from it and wrapping around her hands at random making it hard to do whatever it is that you was doing and if she's making food/touches food it completely infects the food in mold. I think for Alma it was an experiment on her throat because she likes to argue so much You can see the incision marks and sometimes The incision marks will open up and leak black she can still can talk but her voice is a little bit more grainy and sometimes it's hard for her to talk so she has to drink water more and will sometimes not talk to try and save her voice.

The Dimitrescu family is painfully aware of the fact that Mirabel likes her family more than them. Which is why I feel like they had the first response that they did because in all I feel like that family is a very territorial and aggressive even when they try not to be. so when they first meet something that they view as a threat which was unfortunately the rest of mirabel's family (they are a threat to their relationship to Maribel) their instincts take over and make them act a little bit more aggressive but the more time that they spend with the family the less aggressive they are it took them a while (bela and Isabela did bond over the fact that they had similar names) but they eventually were fairly friendly with most of them (they tolerate the men.)

When it comes to Ethan maribel's entire house obviously is a safe area except for maybe one moment when Miranda shows up at random to "check in" on Mirable. I 100% believe that Maribel or maybe even some of her family members helped him in the final fight against Miranda and he lives! and Mirabel not trusting Chris or blue umbrella pulled him, Mia (I'm pretty sure she was also kidnapped again) and Rose into hiding with her and her family because I do not want them in umbrella custody or anywhere near that facility! only bad things happen I want them all to be happy in the end and away from all of that horribleness!

As for art! I would love to see the family fussing over Mirabel maybe when they had first gotten there or just in general how they act with her? and maybe a couple of Antonio following her around? And possibly the family and the Dimitrescu family interacting? Anything really you want to draw for it I would love to see it! I really enjoy your art style and know just how time consuming it can be!

RESIDENT EVIL 8 GRAHHHH 👺💪💪

No but uh. I'm glad you agree, and the Julieta one is so much better <333 ALSO THE ALMA ONE WORKS❗❗ That was actually similar to what I was thinking, so incision, maybe a failed attempt at trying to remove her vocal chords?? L Miranda but W Mirabel for letting her keep them ig 😭😭

Also Alcina and her daughters are just gonna have to tough it out cuz with the way they act??? Listen, Mirabel is optimistic, but not that optimistic 💀💀 and the fact that they were passive-agressive to her family (straight up aggressive to the men), doesn't help that 🗿 but at least they somewhatade up and even if they don't like each other, they tolerate each other for Mirabel's sake <\\3

ALAO ETHAN LETS GOOOOO I know he was scared out of his mind when Mirabel shoved him to a cupboard and he heard Miranda's voice the next second. He also learned that Mirabel is Mirands's favorite in that moment 🤧 maybe he uses that to an advantage?? I mean sure the Duke is there, but Mirabel or her family might be able to get rarer items, for cheaper too 💀 plus they might be more helpful in finding Rose. You know how frustrating it was to hear "Look a little closer 🤓☝"

HE LIVES AND GETS TO RAISE ROSE LETS GOOOO 🦅🦅🦅 ALSO I AGREE WITH NO UMBRELLA BUT...I thought the B.S.A.A was good??? But maybe I'm trippin', I mean it is RE, and Mia is sorta the problem to all this. Like if she just told Ethan the truth a lot of things could've been avoided 🥸 anyway, I think Ethan staying with the Madrigals (maybe permanently or just near wherever they were relocated in Colombia) is a cool idea, they can help him with Rose <333

AND ART YEAHHHGG OF COURSE I CAN I LOVE THIS AU <33 I really appreciate the ideas and??? I'm glad you love it 🤭🤭 I originally was working on it but got busy hence why it took me. A week to past this rather than a few days BUT HOPEFULLY IT WON'T HAPPEN AGAIN 🤓☝

Anyway art <333 Antonio's clothes (that Miravel made obvi) are based off of a lady bug so. Ladybug and Mantis. Lil bro is still happy to be around Mirabel even AFTER the experiment, its wild 🏃‍♀️ she tries to distance herself after the experiments on the family, thinking they'd hate her and never forgive her, but Antonio just refuses to leave her and she slowly gets closer again.

I LOVE THIS AU 👹👹

[aleespace-art]

Hello again,,,,, could u draw BobTord this time, pls?,,,,

My boundaries on them are the same as in my other 2trenchcoat requests!!

Also if ur going to do more than 1 pic about this current request, could u make one of the pics a little angst? Pls i am starving </333 anyway sorry for so many requests I just love ur art style I love when u feed me,,,,,/pos

Let's goooo

Wanted to experiment with my style a little, push myself more, hope you don't mind

(bonus sketch 😏)

[haejjoon]

Hiiii

First of all I want to say that I love your art and I really admire it. It has kind of make me want to go back to drawing again. I used to draw a lot a few years ago but I stopped because I became unhappy with my progress. Now I want to go back to making art but I'm insecure about it because I'm worried I'm too old to start again (I'm 19) and whether I'm capable of relearning it properly. Do you have any tips about where to begin to learn art basics (specifically anatomy)? I would appreciate any advice.

Hello!!! Firstly thank you so much for the compliments, it really does mean so much <333

I'm nineteen, too! Of course you can start art again. I've taken a lot of breaks in between my own art, too, and it's only very recently that I started enjoying making art again (after .... like.... a year or two. lord) so I really do understand how you feel. But we're nineteen years young, and have so much time ahead of us to get back on our feet.

In my experience, improving comes quickest when you focus on one very specific skill at a time—and I mean SPECIFIC. Practicing gestures with torsos only, the muscles of the upper arm, skeleton heads in different angles. I've been studying arm anatomy (and only arm anatomy) recently, and I'm already miles ahead of how I used to draw arms in the past.

If you want a specific step by step on how I personally draw anatomy, I don't mind sharing a quick tutorial! But for general advice—form follows gesture, and gesture follows movement. The biggest mistake someone can make while drawing a body is focusing on the accuracy of the muscles/bones before getting the flow of the gesture down.

Even if the anatomy looks a bit wonky with the gesture, it's important that you capture the movement of the pose first, and then build muscle on top of that. Proko on Youtube has a very good quick drawing series on this, and explains it way better than I do, but that's the gist of it.

Also, PLEASE always use references! I know that hearing that gets old, but it's really important. If you'd like, I can make a quick tutorial on how to use references properly, too. Reference everything—pose, lighting, even art style if you're looking to switch things up (i have about 10 different tabs open on my computer with different artists I admire so I can reference their art religiously).

Speaking of referencing art styles, it's important to gather a bunch of artists you like in terms of style, and not just one. The trick is to separate them by skill—"this artist is for lining refs", "this artist is for anatomy refs", "this artist is for face refs", etc, etc.

And to jump off of That: I find that with anatomy, looking at other peoples' anatomy studies on pinterest is also very helpful. Obviously you should be referencing from real life too, but with art, it can be difficult to pin down what to put on the page and what to leave to the imagination. You wouldn't want to actually draw every single muscle in the arm individually, right? So I go and look at other artists' anatomy studies to see what they keep and what they don't keep.

(usually i find them on pinterest, and they look smth like this. the color coded ones especially help me.)

I'd recommend learning gesture and anatomy first, then building off of that to learn how to draw faces, then lining/coloring, just so that you have a solid base to work off on when it is finally time to color. (also because coloring/lighting requires a fair bit of how body anatomy works as well!!)

But yes, that's all the advice I can give from laying in my bed. I hope it helped somewhat, and if you'd like tips on how to do something more specific, I'm always willing to draw it out or go more in depth ^^ Best of luck on your art journey!

[gabessquishytum]

dream fucking dilfy hob and realizing he’ll never be able to go back to people his own age is killing me!!! dream & corinthian are uni classmates & started dating some time ago. they’re young and naive and all that and are each others’ firsts for most things. their sex isn’t bad, but it’s very obviously sex being had by a couple of teenagers who could count the amount of people they’ve been with on one hand. they’re awkward and cum too quickly and are just on the wrong side of messy, but they’re young and don’t know any better. how are they supposed to improve if they don’t have experience?

the answer is hob. the two of them aren’t doing well enough in his class, so hob comes over to chaperone their studying…which turns into hob watching the corinthian try to fuck dream, and he’s technically gotten point A to point B, but again, inexperience. dream doesn’t know what he’s missing and cori is too cocky to admit he’s a little mediocre, so hob punished him by forcing cori to watch him fuck dream and turn him onto older men permanently….dream can’t get satisfied with his boyfriends cock anymore, he might just have to go asking professor gadling for another favor……

Asdfgjklhfs poor Cori <333

Dream and Cori are still in the late teens and they're still finding their feet, growing into their bodies... Cori likes to brag about his big dick but he doesn't really know how to use it... and Dream meanwhile is still struggling to give a decent blowjob. They obviously need a liiiittle bit of tutoring from an expert.

Cori is relieved when Hob drops his underwear and his dick is only average, maybe smaller than Cori's but thicker. He's thinking that Dream can't possibly be about to enjoy this but... he's wrong. Very wrong.

Hob puts 4 fingers into Dream’s hole before he even thinks about getting his cock in. Cori usually only gets as far as 2 before he's got to hurry it up. Dream is melting into the mattress, whimpering and arching his back so prettily as Hob stretches him. His noises only get louder when Hob pulls Dream into his lap.

Cori and Dream almost always do it doggy style, for ease of access. But Hob gets Dream riding on his cock. He lifts Dream up and down like a toy, bending him forwards and backwards to hit different angles. And it goes on for ages, even after Dream has cum from having his prostate pounded. Hob coaxes Dream through a second orgasm and Cori's jaw drops. He didn't know that was possible.

Dream even lets Hob come inside him, which he almost never does for Cori. Hob does look a little bit smug as he cleans Dream up and meets Cori's eyes across the room.

Little does he know that both Dream and Cori are about to start visiting him on the sly, both of them thinking that they're betraying the other but unable to keep away from the hot older man. Hob gives Cori his first really good blowjob, and shows Dream that he can get a whole fist inside his cute little hole... he should probably tell the boys that they can be honest with each other, but... he kind of likes being both of their dirty little secrets.

[unethicallypleistocene]

hello, me again :) seems like summer is kicking ur ass. i would feed u summer fruits myself but since i can’t, eat them for me? 🥺 but no you’re not ending anything (asks or otherwise) on a depressing note, not on my watch. so! answer some more: 3, 12, 17, 27, 30. also, i love ur ask box title. truly feels like i’m dropping a letter for a dear friend

P.S: thank u for ur unwavering support of my holmesposting & denethorposting! 💕💕 i hope u know that i’m the same w ur cherikposting + can’t deny that they’re v amusing & so is ur commentary on them lolll

aaaaaah I am smooching you platonically!! I actually like summer quite a bit more than winter, but I suppose I have a good amount of Dread coloring my experience. Rest assured that I am consuming summer fruits at maximum velocity! Just this morning I horked down an unadvisable amount of mango (although there really isn't an amount of mango that's unadvisable besides. none) and I hope you're doing the same!! The horrors persist but so does fruit. And thank you for complimenting my ask box! I quite like it too, I really wish I had a similar cozy-looking mailbox irl that was full of the lovely messages from friends I have here! Also: ofc I will always be rooting for your holmesposting and denethorposting! Recently I've been debating whether I prefer holmes/watson as a qpr or a romantic relationship (both. both is good. they might be in a sam/frodo situation here). Thank youuuu for supporting my cherikposting as always! They're so silly and I hate them but that's why they're special to me <333

also. me learning you read my cherik commentary and find it amusing:

On to the actual questions!!

3. What are some of your pet peeves?

Time to get meta with it: when people ask for my pet peeves. I'm never able to come up with something Normal so either I say something actually true that's kind of niche and end up getting weird stares, or I panic and just make something up that's not true and end up spending time feeling bad for lying even though, really, who cares. My autism's kryptonite: pet peeve questions.

12. Something you want to monologue about?

Since I'm still in cherik prison, it looks like there's only one option. Sigh. There's something really tragic about ideology, especially ideologies that are more-or-less aligned, tearing people apart. When an ideology has the power to interfere with a (GAY) relationship, it thereby cements itself as a part of the self. It's more than identity, it's more than a motivator, it forces characters to become figureheads. Of course this is obvious for Charles and Erik specifically, that's been their purpose in the comics since the 60s (and this is especially important in the symbolism/allegory heavy world of x-men comics). Unfortunately for me, I just think their conflict is so much more interesting when they're actually together! They're constantly forced to deal with the cognitive dissonance of the most important person in their lives representing an obstacle to their deepest beliefs. And that's fascinating! I don't think they have to constantly be at the brink of divorce to be at odds, either. From my perspective, they probably increasingly like each other the more they fight, those absolute freaks.

17. Space, enchanted forest, magical kingdom, or underwater city?

Enchanted forest! Let me be an ent!! Let me shepherd the trees!!!

27. What fascinates you about humanity?

A passion for knowledge (of any kind!). People can spend decades studying a single topic, people can spend hours upon hours writing nonstop about a character. That love is so mysterious and beautiful to me.

30. What is your favourite way to create?

I love brainstorming writing ideas by listening to music. If someone opened my brain during my near-daily music session they'd find cumulative hours of animatic-style storyboarded narratives mapped onto songs. I know other people do this too, which makes me SO happy.

[fbfh]

rocks at your window pt 5 - ricky bowen x reader

disclaimer: this series contains smut and chapter by chapter warnings, so as with all nsfw works, ricky is aged up to 18 and he and reader are both 18 and in their senior year!!

additioanlly we're working towards a ricky x therapy plot, so as the series goes on he'll start expressing more symptoms of mental illness and bpd, and he gets worse before he gets better. also obviously i'm not a professional and this is for entertainment purposes only, I have done research but PLEASE take this with a grain of salt or several.

!! contains spoilers for season 1 of hsmtmts and previous chapters of this fic !!

wc: 7.8k

genre: slice of life, hurt/comfort, smut

pairing: ricky bowen x (afab she/her) reader

warnings: actually proof read thanks cici, anti nini/nini being a pick me, one sided angsty gina pining, reader has professional theatre experience, brief vague mention of your parents marriage falling apart, carlos is struggling, a few paragraphs of ricky spiraling about his mom/wondering if she ever loved them, ricky has some flashbacks about that, nini is a self centered bitch, nini writes sad songs about heartbreak in her little mitchie's song book, reader was in matilda annie and hairspray when she was younger (unspecified as to who), one good boy, a GRATUITUOUS amout of titties/nip play, partially clothed sex, cockwarming/cum plugging, subby boarderline puppy boy ricky, ricky's in subspace a little bit with you, cuddling as aftercare, ricky's mommy issues are so bad (sorry freud), slowburn red x ashlyn, nini is an unprofessional menace

summary: after a fun, only somewhat chaotic photoshoot, you're gearing up for the blocking of when there was me and you, until rehearsal grinds to a halt with the release of some troubling news. ricky finds solace in your arms once again, and is enamored with the way you always know how to solve whatever problems are thrown your way.

song recs: I can't handle change - roar, truth justice and songs in our key - hsmtmts cast, you're my world - atlas

a/n: I finished the second half of this in like a day because I was so anxious about a check up because I hate medical stuff but the chapter's done and it went well. I'm getting my wisdom teeth out next week so I'll probably be so busy distracting myself from that I knock out like 5 more chapters /hj

anyway this was supposed to be short and it's almost 10k cause I have no self control lol anyway ENJOY <333

tags: @yesv01 @afidiofobia @aliyahsutherland @hopefullhearts @pikzel @demirunner @matiere-detoiles @ifilwtmfc @uselesssapphickitten @nxstalgicnxbxdy @ggclarissa @n-slayaaaaa @stormi-ames

You exit the girls dressing room, running towards Seb, who just left the boys dressing room. 

"Oh my god!" You exclaim, floored by his costume. It's pink and sparkly, and fits perfectly - even the heels. It's everything he was imagining. 

"I know!" He replies, matching your energy perfectly. You’re so happy that Seb loves his costume. Miss Jenn even added in a subplot and solo about Ryan finding himself beyond being Sharpay’s brother. He’s absolutely killing this role, breathing new life into it, and you couldn’t be happier for him. He’s still a little nervous, so you and your friends are making sure to hype him up.

You hear it before you see him, a hush falls over the room as everyone on stage around you falls silent. Someone tries (and fails) to hold back a loud snicker while a few people gasp.

“Alright, let’s do this!” 

You turn around at the familiar sound of Ricky’s voice, and he’s happy he got your attention. He’s met with a myriad of reactions at the questionably styled wig, but he only cares about yours. He’s only looking for yours. He gives you a look, a little quirk of his eyebrow that silently asks what you think. You smile radiantly, overjoyed to see him in costume for the first time. You feel like a mother sending her kids off to the first day of school. You have the urge to get pictures before the day is over. 

Standing downstage of you, Nina stares at him with her mouth open in a dramatic gasp, eyes following him as you move closer to each other. 

“Oh… my… god. There is so much to talk about.” She says. She watches Ricky closely, waiting for some kind of reaction to her words, but his eyes are glued on you. She tries again, letting out another very loud laugh, “I literally can’t even.” 

“I think he looks great!” you say with a sincere bubbling smile. You reach up, adjusting the alignment of his wig, the way the hair falls. He’s sure it looks much better than it had when he’d tried to put it on by himself. You tug gently on his hoodie strings, making them even lengths. He watches you closely while you do. He loves the feeling of you fixing his hair and clothes, he wishes there were more things for you to fix. You smile up at him, and irritation prickles in Nina’s chest at how close you are to him. 

“You gotta get the hair flip down,” you say, jerking your head to the side in example. He follows your lead, copying the gesture, and you go back and forth like that for a minute, quoting Troy Bolton and making each other laugh. Your eyes widen as realization strikes. 

"Oh my god, I know what this reminds me of…" you gasp, pulling out your phone to search for something, “I’ll text it to you.”

"Okay…" Ricky chuckles, smiling in anticipation and watching you type. You glance up when you hear Carlos telling Seb how amazing he looks. You pause typing and walk a few feet closer to them. 

"I know, he looks fucking amazing!" You say with a radiant smile, and Carlos thoroughly agrees. 

Spotting an opening, Gina makes her way over to Ricky. 

"Wow," she says with a smile, really taking him in. "You look great, Ricky." Just as she’s working up the nerve to playfully nudge him on the arm, he smiles, motioning over to where you’re talking to Carlos and Seb.

“Yeah, she said the exact same thing,” he smiles, greeting you as you walk back over, “Gina agrees with you.”

“I know!” you smile, radiant, “Not a lot of people can pull off the whole 2007 Mitchel Musso look, but you’re really making it work.” 

His heart pounds when you talk like that. Your words, your praise, your attention give him a sort of high he’s never felt from anyone else before. He craves it, and he always craves it more than he expects to.

“You think so?” he asks. Part of him knows he’s fishing for your attention, but the sweet look you give him, so excited to see him in costume for the first time makes it worth it. 

“Yes!” you exclaim, vibrancy rubbing off on him, “You look fantastic, Ricky.” 

His heart pounds loud in his chest, cheeks flushing at your words. Behind you, Gina’s stomach sinks. Old feelings of discouragement get more and more stirred up inside her the longer she stands there, watching the way he looks at you. It’s almost too much to bear by the time she cuts her losses, making up an excuse about getting something from her bag that she’s not sure either of you hear. 

Nina watches this, her gaze flicking between you and Gina. A gross feeling coats her stomach. She expected to stay friends with Ricky, expected to still be close to him. More importantly she didn’t expect so many girls to just throw themselves at him. It’s disrespectful. It’s disrespectful to how long they were together. She and Ricky have been friends since kindergarten, they have history. They’ve known each other forever, and… it’s just funny, she thinks, that you and Gina think you can just swoop in and replace her like that. Before she can fester in this feeling much longer, Big Red has everyone line up. 

“Okay, Chad,” he calls, pointing stage left, “Taylor, Troy, Gabriella, Sharpay, Ryan… good.” 

Everyone gets lined up and spaced out correctly, as Red lines up the shot. 

“Jump on the count of three.” he states, and begins to count down. The sound of everyone’s feet hitting the floor at very different times echoes through the auditorium. Red squints at the result on camera, which is nothing short of a complete mess. 

“Wait, what happened?” he mutters. 

“Where to begin.” 

“Where do I start…”

You and Ricky say at the same time. You lean forward a little to share a look, a silent conversation exchange you both understand, both of you leaning past Nina to do so. She looks between you for that split second, then Ricky gets right back in line without even looking at her. 

“I think you went early,” Seb says to you.

“Wait,” Gina interjects, “are we jumping on three or after three?”

“Yeah, the count of three. Ready?” Red replies, doing nothing to clear up the confusion. 

“Red,” you say, and he looks up at you. Ricky watches you with a little smile, knowing you’ll no doubt know exactly what to do to get things back on track. “Are we jumping on the third or fourth beat?”

“Third,” he says, like it should be obvious, “on the count of three.” You nod, and turn to the others. “It’s one two jump.” you clarify, hopping as you do so to demonstrate. Your hair bounces and your skirt flounces and your heels make a little clicky noise as you land, and Ricky thinks it’s the cutest thing he’s ever seen. He’s ready to try again, now fully confident the photos will turn out perfect thanks to you. Next to you, Seb lets out a puff of air. 

“I think I broke a heel…” he says, and you turn to take a look. Something itches at the corner of your mind, then it clicks. 

“Hold on, I saw some glue back here somewhere…” Red flashes you a thumbs up as you run into the wings, searching for the bottle of gorilla glue you remember seeing earlier. After digging around in the stage right wing for a minute, you see it on a shelf, next to what looks like a bucket of old paint. You stretch up as far as you can, but even in these heels, you can’t reach it. Before you look around to see if there’s something you can knock it down with, you turn back to the stage. 

“Ricky?” you call. He looks over at the sound of your voice like a puppy, scurrying over to you without a second thought. 

“Yeah?” he smiles. You point up to where the glue is.

“I found it up there, but I can’t…” 

“Oh, I got it.” he smiles, touching your arm. He reaches up and hands you the mostly full bottle. You thank him, squeezing his arm appreciatively.

“Thank god you’re tall,” you chuckle. His chest puffs up at your words, a soft heat creeping up to his cheeks. He watches you as you and Kourtney fix Seb’s shoe, how cute you look when you’re focused. 

“There,” you state, “as long as the glue holds…” Seb puts his heel back on, and does a few test jumps. The glue seems to hold, and Kourtney sends you back in line, adjusting one last part of Seb’s costume. You type something into your phone, texting it to Ricky as you head back to the front of the stage. Ricky catches the last half of what Carlos is saying. He’s clearly frustrated at the lack of productivity.

“...You leave the earth, you land.” 

“We just need to get back on the same page,” you say. Ricky pulls out his phone at the familiar sound of your ringtone he set. You must have sent him the thing you remembered. As he passes by, Nina sees your name at the top of his phone, framed by hearts. His screen is full of texts between you, but the last text Nina sent him got left on read? Ricky never leaves her on read. She scoffs at how oblivious he is to your blatant attempts to steal his attention from her.  

“Uh,” she says loudly, a performative smile on her face as she holds back a laugh when he gets closer to her, “I can’t look at Ricky, is that a problem?” 

He doesn’t look up, instead he looks at the text you sent him. It’s an image accompanied by the caption ‘you today’, and when it finally loads, he recognizes it instantly as a gif from the Elijah Wood ‘will you wear wigs’ interview. It catches him by surprise, and a loud screaming laugh tears from his throat. It’s so sudden, so sincere it brings a laugh out of you too. Everyone else either starts laughing with you, or looks completely shocked. 

He slaps a hand over his mouth, trying to stifle the noise without much success. A smug satisfaction settles over Nina before Ricky starts to type something into his phone. He starts laughing again, tucking his phone back in his pocket, and when he shares a look with you she realizes it wasn’t her that made him laugh like that. It doesn’t sit well with her. You’re biting your lip, trying in vain not to laugh too loudly or obviously while everyone stares at the two of you, small chuckles echoing through the room. 

“Okay.” Carlos says curtly, very clearly done with this bullshit, “Let’s take five.” 

“Thank you, five.” you say automatically, and Ricky puts his hand on your back as you start to walk offstage to get some water. 

“On five or after five?” he mutters, basking in the laugh you let slip out. Behind you, Nina lets out a shrill laugh at the comment, clapping her hands together in a way she’s sure will get Ricky’s attention. Her smile grows stale and evaporates as you sit next to each other without looking back once. 

“So, why are you supposed to say thank you five?” Ricky asks as you take a sip from your water bottle, today filled with lemon and cucumber slices. 

“It’s a call and response so the crew knows you got their instructions.” you say. He nods, and you continue, “You usually say it after a break is announced, when places are called, when they tell you how long until curtain, that kind of thing.” you conclude. Your knowledge about theatre never fails to amaze him. Hearing you talk about it makes him want to learn even more. 

“When I was in Annie it seemed like something technical was always going wrong, so the call times were all over the place. It was a hot mess, but it was still so fun.” You reminisce with a smile. That’s not the first show you mentioned you’ve been in, Ricky recalls. He can tell you have… probably the most experience of anyone here, but he doesn’t think he’s ever asked how many shows you’ve been in. He would have remembered if you told him. 

“How many shows have you been in?” he asks, watching your expression carefully.

“Uh…” you look over to where your castmates sit scattered about, then back to Ricky. You give him that look that means you have something to tell him when it’s just the two of you. “A lot. It’s a long story, though, I’ll tell you later.” You finish in a hushed voice. He loves when you talk to him like that, he loves the closeness between you in these moments. 

You know you should probably mention you used to do professional theatre in New York before you moved here, but you always hesitate to bring it up. The last thing you want to do is sound like one of those theatre kids. Besides, you haven’t been in the professional circuit since middle school. You stopped in between shows a few years back when your parents' marriage got really bad and your dad left, and you couldn’t exactly perform while moving across the country, but you’re so deeply glad to be back in theatre now that you’re settled in. 

Your mom was also worried about how much pressure was on you, being in a professional environment so young. She promised you that after you graduate, once you’re older, she’ll drive you all the way back to New York herself if you still want to do theatre professionally by then. You couldn’t argue with her, it was a lot to deal with that young, and your shitty dad didn’t make it much easier. She’s been able to watch the joy return, see your face light up when you tell her about how rehearsal is going, the progress you and the cast and crew are making, and you can’t deny she made the right call. 

You think it’s good for you to act just because you love it for a while. You want the full suburban high school theatre experience, so if that means keeping a low profile and not being one of those douchebags who always brags about “doing professional shows” then you’re happy to keep that under wraps, but as you watch Ricky’s face while he rambles to you about how much more fun it is to be in costume than he expected, you feel like you can tell him. He knows you well enough to know your intentions, know that you’re not bragging about it. 

At their next rehearsal, Red is relieved at how relieved Ricky seems. 

“It worked! I just… I really made sure she knows how much I like her, and…” Ricky laughs, running a hand through his hair. “Thank you, for the advice, bro.” he lets out another bubbling chuckle, his mind clearly somewhere else. Red squints, wondering if it means what he thinks it means. 

“Did you guys…” he starts slowly, not even needing to finish the sentence. The flustered look on Ricky’s face is the only answer he needs. 

“Uh…” he says through yet another flustered laugh, the feeling of your mouth around him, the way you taste still fresh in his mind. He locks eyes with you from across the room, and feels his pulse speed up. “Yeah. I’ll fill you in later.” 

Red playfully punches Ricky’s arm.

“I’m glad it went well! Cause I care about you, but also because I live vicariously through you.” They both laugh.

“Believe me, there’s plenty to catch you up on.” Ricky says, a wistful smile on his face, watching you talk to Natalie. 

“Maybe we should get started. Or at least start warming up.” you say. Everyone’s wondering why Miss Jenn and Carlos aren’t there yet. You can sense her hesitance. It's not surprising, this show is new territory for almost everyone. 

"You're the stage manager, you're third in command when Miss Jenn and Carlos aren't here. Why don’t you and Seb get everyone warming up, that way when they get here we can jump right in.” you offer, and she nods, gaining a little confidence. 

“Yeah, you’re right.” she says, walking over to Seb, who’s sitting at the piano. You’re sure the only thing Miss Jenn and Carlos would hate more than starting rehearsal late is wasting time, especially with how tight of a schedule you’re on. Natalie and Seb are discussing said warmups when Carlos enters in a hurry, clearly frazzled, announcing that Miss Jenn won’t be here. One look past his chipper facade and you know whatever’s going on his bad.  

“Miss Jenn had a… small personal matter to attend to, and won’t be here today.” in spite of the confidence he’s trying to project, you can see right through it. You’re sure the others can too. 

“Is everything alright?” Nina asks, only now noticing that Carlos seems off. He laughs a forced casual laugh. 

“Everything is fine.” he says, trying to convince himself, and you know that this is really bad. The next few minutes are spent arranging the blocking for when there was me and you. He introduces it as a forest of boys, and you think it could work really well if you execute it right. Instead of a giant poster of the basketball team to sing to, something in a tableau style will translate much better to the stage. It’s dynamic and expressive, while still making the same point, keeping the integrity of the message made in the movie. It’s also vaguely reminiscent of when Meg sings to the statues and the muses in Hercules, which adds to the whole Disney magic feeling. Overall you think it’s a great plan.

You’re about to express this, when you hear an all too familiar voice pipe up.

“Uh, Troy just broke Gabriella’s heart,” you resist the urge to roll your eyes, having a feeling you know where this is going, and Nina continues, "why would she want to see four more versions of him?"

You're somehow still shocked that she not only can't recognize that her character would handle a breakup differently than she would, but now she's trying to change a fundamental point in the show for no reason. Ashlyn, Kourtney, and even Natalie jump in and agree with her. This isn't the first time Nini has used her character as a thin veil to talk shit, and you're amazed at how bad she is at treating Gabriella like a character she's playing. For someone who wanted the lead so badly, she doesn't seem to care too much about it now. In all your years of acting, you don't think you've ever seen someone so unable to create a distinction between what they would do and what their character would do, and it’s very fucking weird. 

Before she gets literally everyone else to agree with her, you jump in. 

"Actually, I love this, Carlos. I think it’s really dynamic and effective without taking away from the song. Also," you turn to Nina, "it was 2006, so girlbossing your way through heartbreak wasn't really a thing. Plus, you're right; she did get her heart broken, she should be allowed to be sad about it." 

"Yeah," Ricky agrees, looking over at you when you speak, "totally dynamic." He loves the way you talk about theatre, how brilliantly you analyze details or staging and character interpretations. He wishes he could hear you talk more about it, and makes a mental note to pick your brain later. 

Nina looks at you, mouth agape, as Carlos gestures to you. Another perfect example of Ricky following you around like a lost puppy. 

"Thank you, Sharpay, exactly." Carlos states as Nina scoffs, shocked at your response. He lets out a small sigh, grateful for the backup. "Gabriella is heartbroken, she can't stop thinking about Troy, about the guy she thought he was."

Ricky walks back over to his seat to set down his script. He leans down close to you before he does, wanting your opinion before he shares the idea he got. 

"Maybe she could do, like, an acoustic guitar version. You know, strip it down." His voice is quiet, meant only for the two of you. You smile at him with such warmth before your gaze flickers to Nina. You hum, considering. 

"I think you're the only one who could pull off an acoustic guitar ballad in the middle of such a… high energy show." A small, knowing laugh is shared between you, and as every kind word from your mouth does, your message comes across loud and clear, bringing a warmth to his cheeks and a puff to his chest. A rush of good happy chemicals hits his brain. As he heads back to his box, he ruminates on the sentiment. Not only do you think he could totally pull it off, you think he’s the only one who could. He fights a smile, trying to pay attention to the suggestions everyone starts giving Carlos. 

“Or,” Kourtney jumps in, “she could be surrounded by a forest of supportive sisters.” she shares a look with Nina, and you resist the urge to roll your eyes. You hope it’s not only obvious to you that no one’s even really talking about the show anymore. A few other girls agree, and you can tell Carlos is losing patience. You walk across the room to check on him when he snaps.

“Okay, guys, this is not a democracy!” he yells, hands falling to his side before one rests on his hip, the other pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“Are you okay?” you ask, sincere and quiet, but not cloying, with a situationally appropriate level of concern on your face. 

“Look, it’s not that deep,” Nina says, and you’re glad she’s finally backpedaling - or at least trying to - even though it took her this fucking long to realize she should. “We can just wait till Miss Jenn comes back and-” 

“Well, she’s not here, and I don’t know if she’s ever coming back!” Carlos spits, relieved to finally get the distressing information off his chest. 

Ricky’s stomach sinks, and he’s met once again with that disgusting cold feeling frying his nerves. It’s been a while since he had felt it this strong, this fresh. There were bad moments, sure. Like when he caught the family portrait of the three of them in the laundry room. He felt so sick looking at his mom’s smile. It seemed so genuine, and he hasn’t been able to stop questioning its integrity since. He’s spent every spare moment he’s not thinking about you or the show reanalyzing every conversation, every interaction, every passive aggressive remark and dish towel thrown too hard against the counter top, trying desperately to figure out if hers was the face of a housewife slowly losing her sense of self, unsupported, taken for granted and growing resentful, finally pushed to the edge.

Or did she never love them to begin with? Was everything out of obligation? Did she make him tea when he was sick or stressed or sad because she wanted to or because she had to? Maybe she loved them at some point, when he was too little to remember it clearly, or even know what he was supposed to be looking for. Old memories flood back, and he finds himself scouring them for a time when her tea might have started tasting different. Maybe that’s when she stopped loving him. Loving them. 

He’s dragged into the undertow without warning, breath knocked out of his lungs by the force of it all, by the spike of anxiety that shoots up and stays there at the thought of Miss Jenn leaving. 

“Wait, what?” he manages to choke out after that split second of spiraling, his stomach churning. Your hand finds and grabs on tight to his before he even speaks. You’re next to him in an instant, and he latches onto you, for once feeling like he has a buoy in this relentless sudden storm he always seems to get dragged into. Right when he thinks it’s going to be okay, right when he starts to get a handle on everything, he’s knocked off his feet.

You hold his hand with both of yours as he steps off his box, tighter and warmer and more reassuring than anything, and you rub your thumb against his skin while Carlos begins to tell you guys everything that’s going on. You listen with rapt attention, while keeping a close eye on Ricky. Everything is deteriorating so fast, and soon Nina grabs her backpack, storming to the exit and claiming she ‘needs a minute’. Kourtney follows her, then everyone else, and you feel Ricky’s hand shake in yours. His breaths get quicker as he watches everyone around him, his castmates, his friends, leave without a second thought. 

“Rehearsals are officially canceled until further notice!” Carlos calls out, before leaving, defeated and fighting tears.

You continue to brush your hand over Ricky’s. The gesture is comforting. 

“Well,” Gina says, grabbing her bag, “that fell apart fast.” 

“Nothing fell apart.” you and Ricky say at the same time, yours sure and deliberate, his desperate to be true. Gina lets out a singular breathy laugh, unable to ignore how in sync the both of you are. 

“Everything’s going to be okay. We’ll work this out.” you state, and Ricky latches onto your words, how assured you seem, throwing himself and all the belief within him that you’re right. 

“Yeah,” he agrees, “it’s all going to be okay.” 

Gina’s stomach twists at the way he repeats your words. 

“Do you know something I don’t?” she asks Ricky. You send her a look, clearly asking what the fuck. Before you can call her out, Ricky jumps in. 

“She’s Miss Jenn. She’s unstoppable. The whole show’s unstoppable.” 

“But, what if-” she ignores your glares, demanding she knock it off. “What if it does stop?”

Ricky squeezes your hand tighter. 

“Gina-” you say, a warning tone to your voice.

“Let’s not go there…” he says, a begging tone to his voice. 

“Yeah,” you agree, “let’s not.” You turn back to Ricky, your free hand resting on his arm, rubbing gently. He wants to cry - both at the situation you’re both struggling to deal with, and the catharsis, the comfort he feels when you touch him like this. 

“The show must go on.” You say firmly, “There’s no chance something as trivial as a mistake on Miss Jenn’s resume is enough to do any actual harm to the show.” there’s a light chuckle to your voice, one that he mirrors.

“Yeah,” he agrees, needing you to continue, which you do.

“When I was in Matilda when I was younger, the entire basement full of props got flooded the week of opening night.”

His eyes widen in concern, and you continue. 

“Everything was soggy, and completely covered in mildew by the time we got back to the theater. You know what we did?” you ask Ricky rhetorically, who’s looking at you so intensely, hanging on your every word. “We paired down. We went for an abstract, minimalistic set design. Even threw in some shadow play for effect until the props and sets were all fixed.”

“Really?” he asks.

“Yeah,” you state, “and the critics loved it. They were raving about how genius it was, a brilliant way to showcase Matilda’s imagination and view of the world around her.” you say, quoting one of the more memorable reviews. 

“So,” you say with a new lightheartedness to your voice brought on by the anecdote, “the point is, everything will be fine.” your sincerity is palpable, and you watch as he lets out a small, shallow breath. Gina doesn’t miss the way he relaxes when you put your hand back on his shoulder, the way he mirrors your expressions and body language and words without even realizing. He’s beginning to calm down from the worst possible news they could have gotten just because he’s with you. 

“Y’know what?” she says, swallowing the lump in her throat, “I’m gonna head out, so…” she points toward the door. Ricky glances up, then back at you.

“Get home safe.” you say with a polite wave before continuing to reassure him. You talk a little more, and you’re relieved that you can see he’s starting to feel better. The distraction is helping him, you realize, as you stroll around the empty theater hand in hand. “Why don’t you show me that guitar version of when there was me and you?” He laughs nervously.

“I don’t know…” he mutters. A hint of concern flashes over your face. If he doesn’t even want to play guitar, it must be really bad.

“C’mon, pretty please?” you say, causing butterflies to swirl in his chest, “I want to hear it stripped down, and you’re so good at guitar…” 

He lets out a flustered laugh, butterflies fluttering in his chest as he accepts the guitar you hand him, taking a seat. You watch him attentively as he begins playing the first chords, humming along.

In the hallway, a few feet away from the door, Nina sighs. 

She can’t bring herself to walk away, not this time, not when she knows he’s probably wallowing,  waiting for her. Letting out a loud, dramatic sigh, she decides to be the bigger person. She turns and walks back to the rehearsal room, hovering in the doorway when she hears familiar strumming. She watches Ricky, his back to her while he plays. She starts to enter the room, pausing when she sees that he’s singing to someone. Not just anyone, but you. You’re looking at him fondly, chin resting in your hand. She doesn’t have time to roll her eyes before you start singing along, noting how his voice stops shaking when yours mingles with his. 

She’s having the worst day ever, EJ keeps texting her, and there’s Ricky, serenading you. She can’t even talk to him alone for five minutes without you hovering. She feels sick. She hates this, hates the way you ogle at him. She should be the one in there, the one duetting with him.. She’s known him since kindergarten for god’s sake, she has the right to comfort him. Tears welling up in her eyes, she storms off, pulling her song book from her backpack to pour everything into its pages. She’s ready to fill it with songs of betrayal and heartbreak. 

After some more singing, wandering around, and examining old props from former shows, you and Ricky find yourselves on a stiff couch that’s been hidden in the back of the prop room for ages. Just being around props, costumes, old playbills and other paraphernalia makes Ricky feel better. There’s a restorative quality in theaters he never knew about until now. It’s like he can pretend that nothing is different than it was yesterday, like everything is still the same. 

“Can… can we just stay here for a while?” he asks, hugging a basketball and leaning into you. 

“Yeah,” you say softly, “‘course. As long as you want.” you press a kiss to the top of his head, and you both settle deeper into the couch, rough woven texture rubbing against your arms. He rests his head on your shoulder while you play with his hair, telling him more stories from your time in Matilda. Most notably how nice the person who played Miss Trunchbull was, and how tangled everyone’s hair was from being teased and styled so much. It smelled more like hairspray than when you were actually in Hairspray. 

You trace shapes on his back while you talk. His breath is warm on your neck, and he can smell your perfume, the same peachy perfume you wore to homecoming. He’s flooded with memories of how beautiful you were that night, how you touched him, how you tasted. He lets out a soft sigh at the memory. He’s craving more than holding you, he needs to be closer, needs more. He needs to be inside you. He gives a fleeting thought to your location; it’s late, and he’s sure no one will come sniffing around the prop room in the guts of the theatre department. It’s enough justification for him, and he indulges his desires, beginning to press kisses to your face and neck. He grabs at your waist, drawing an anticipatory giggle. The noise soothes him, and he wants more. 

“I-” he tries not to let his voice waver, but you know him so well by now it’s impossible to hide, “...just need you close. Need you with me.” he sighs into your skin, desperate for your smell, your touch, you you you. You rub his back, your touch so cathartic it makes him want to cry.

“I’m not going anywhere, Ricky.” you state gently, and he latches onto your words, wanting desperately to believe them. You pull him in to kiss you more, and he shoves his tongue past your lips, sighing into your mouth at how much better he already feels from that alone. He was right, he really does just need to be inside you, be as close to you as possible. 

He climbs on top of you as you lace your hands through his hair, embracing the taste of your tongue against his. He lets out a shuddering sigh as you place your soft thigh between his, and he grinds against you, unable to stop his hips from rutting into you. He whines at how good it feels, how much better you make him feel. He tugs at the waistband of your pants, and you smile a little at how eager he is for you. You reach into a pocket deep in your bag, zipped up tight, to grab a condom while he makes quick work of shimmying both your pants down.

“Will- will you put it on for me?” he whines quietly into your neck, and you nod, humming and running your hand through his hair in response. 

He’s already moaning and you’ve barely started to put it on. He’s so needy, so desperate for you that it brings a smile to your face. You can’t deny how cute you find it. He pushes into you, trying not to go too fast, and the air is knocked from both your lungs as he works his way deeper into your wet, welcoming cunt. He fucks you needy and desperate, whining cutely like a little puppy as he humps into you. He grinds his pelvis against your clit, needing to be closer to you, and the noises you let out are like a warm shower after a long day.

“F-fuck, Ricky, just like that… good boy…” 

He speeds up, whining and panting into your mouth as you praise him, and he feels little tears begin to prick at the corners of his eyes. Both for how fucking bad today has been, and how fucking good you make him feel. Your touch, your words, the way you call him a good boy and reassure him as he tries to pull you closer to him even though you’re already as close as you can possibly get, it’s all so addictive. You’re so wet; tighter and warmer and more reassuring around him than anything. You feel so soothing, like aloe on a sunburn, and he wants more and more and more of it. 

The head of his cock keeps rubbing against that spongy part inside you, drawing out more gasps and moans, more noises that make his heart pound. He can’t get enough. He’s grabbing at your clothes and clinging to you, begging, whining your name over and over like a prayer. He feels you tighten up around him, feels the way your legs shake, and it sends him over the edge. He had been sucking a hickey into your chest, but now his teeth and tongue graze your skin as he moans, rutting deeper and deeper into you as he spills all of himself into your welcoming embrace. 

A few moments when he would normally pull out and get up, instead he buries his face in your neck. “Can we… just stay here for a minute?” 

There’s still a fragile quality to his voice, and you begin running your fingers through his hair again, before pressing a kiss to his temple. 

“Sure,” you say, nodding. You play with his hair as he sucks on your tits, his arms wrapped tight around your waist. He runs his tongue over the soft flesh, reveling in the taste, the way your walls flutter around him when he plays and sucks on your hardened bud. He finds comfort in the gesture, the way you taste. You stay like that for a little while, and Ricky feels his brain go fuzzy with how good you feel and taste, how sweet you are to him. If he could live between your legs - and with his face in your tits - he would in a heartbeat. 

Your phone buzzes, pulling you slightly out of the warm little bubble you’ve created. It’s Ashlyn. You know she’s upset, she has to be after today. Ricky freezes, looking up at you to see what you do. You bring your finger to your lips, gesturing for him to stay quiet, then place your hand on the back of his head, bringing him back down to your soft chest. 

You pick up the phone, chatting with Ashlyn, listening as she vents and worries to you, gently scratching Ricky’s back the whole time. You have such a casual, nurturing energy, and being squished between your tits, still deep inside you while you idly chat on the phone makes Ricky’s head spin. He can’t get enough of you, can’t stop thinking about how good you treat him, how nice your attention feels. When he wants a little more, he’ll grind his hips against your twitching clit, just to feel the way you throb and squeeze around him, to hear the little hitch in your breath that you try to conceal. 

You send him a warning look, but you can’t keep a straight face, not when he’s looking at you like that. 

“Hey, what if we did a song?” you ask into the phone, Ashlyn silent on the other end as she listens, “Like, what if we did a huge, original, show stopping number, and, like… a flashmob at the meeting tomorrow. You know, show them what we can do when she’s the one directing us.” 

“I… love that. Oh my god, I’m dead. Yes.” she states, and you smile. “I- god, I’m already getting ideas. Uh… okay, can you meet me at Big Red’s?” she spitballs, excited to work on this.

“Yeah,” you say, gaze flickering back down at Ricky, “we’ll be over in a few, text everyone else - we’ll need as much backup as we can get.” you chuckle. 

“Oh,” she says, a knowing tone to her voice, “is… Ricky with you?” Dammit. Now you have to play this off.

“Uh, yeah, we were just-” you trail off, fighting a giggle as he grinds against you. He chuckles into your tits, feeling them jiggle around his mouth.

“We were just hanging around the theater,” you finish, “he didn’t want to leave yet.” 

“Yeah,” she says, thinking about earlier, regretting leaving so soon, “tell me about it. Anyway, get here as soon as you can so we can work on this.” 

She hears a light, flustered giggle distantly through the speaker, and knows it’s him making you laugh. She could let it slide, but calling you out is too tempting.

“...Hi, Ricky.” she says. It’s silent for a minute. 

“Hi, Ashlyn.” his voice is sheepish, and she hears you both giggle. She’s glad you know she knows you’ve been hanging out together, flirting too, no doubt. You hang up shortly after, then begin the process of finally detangling yourselves from each other, and cleaning up enough to look presentable. Ricky’s chest squeezes when you adjust his hoodie strings and fix his hair. He returns the caring gesture by helping you to his car, your legs still wobbly. 

By the time you get to Red’s, Ashlyn already has some lyrics she’s working on, and part of a chorus. Red looks at Ricky, nodding toward you. Ricky looks at him pointedly, gaze flicking to Ashlyn, noting the flustered look on Red’s face. Red gives him a look that screams HAHAHA WHAT? NO! Why is it obvious?? Ricky makes a mental note to grill him on it later. 

They watch you and Ashlyn work together, brainstorming lyrics and choreo as everyone else arrives, and Ricky is thrilled to see you in your natural habitat like this. By the time everyone else is there, you, Ashlyn, and Carlos have made great progress, with everyone else helping to bounce around ideas and iron out details. 

“You know,” Nina starts, a performative tone of wisdom to her voice, “I think we should go for a power ballad.” 

“Uh…” you look over at Ashlyn, who you can tell is feeling defensive over the work you’ve already done. You look at Carlos, who doesn’t seem to want to do a power ballad either. You choose your words carefully.

“I totally see where you’re coming from, a power ballad would be really impactful, but I think in this case we need to go for something with more wow factor.”

“A power ballad has wow factor!” she says. Even she realizes how flimsy that sounds. She lets out a contemptuous sigh, “But a power ballad would show how much she means to us.” she’s clearly trying to tug on the heartstrings, and it’s not working on you. You check the clock. You don’t have time to debate with her. 

“Realistically,” you start, a decisive tone to your voice, “I don’t think we have time to rework all this into a power ballad. I think we should stick with the direction we’re going in, and commit-”

“Oh, so you want to play it safe?” she asks, seeming like she caught you in something, “I thought music… was about taking risks.” 

You hold back the biggest sigh of your life, when Ricky jumps in behind you. 

“I think we should listen to her.” 

Nina starts to thank him, the sees that he’s pointing to you. The words dry up in her throat.

“She is like,” he continues, “the most talented person I’ve ever seen. She really knows what she’s talking about, guys.”

Everyone seems to agree, except for Nina. You can feel the pissy aura radiating off her already. You send him a grateful look, then turn back to her, trying to be professional.

“A power ballad is still a great idea-” 

“No, no.” she says, passive aggressive and dismissive, “you go ahead. I’ll just be quiet.” everything about her is making your irritation spike, but you know you don’t have time to babysit her or her feelings. If she thinks she can make you feel bad for that, then she’s wrong. 

“Okay, as long as you’re sure.” You state, before getting back into it with Ashlyn. 

As soon as you finish holding out the final note, you’re met with cheers that turn into roaring applause. Your mom and Ricky’s dad both advocated for Miss Jenn, tipping the scales for Principal Gutierrez to agree, letting her keep her job. Ricky finds you immediately, picking you up and spinning you around. He holds you so tight, and you both giggle, elated. You can’t believe it really worked. When he pulls away you can see it on him, the electric energy, the rush of a good performance. He doesn’t even need to say anything because you’re feeling the same thing, and the silent understanding is shared between you.

“This will be nothing compared to opening night.” you say, your smile infectious, and he can’t wait. Like, he genuinely can’t wait for opening night. He’s never been more motivated for anything than he has for this, performing alongside you again. He’s gotten a taste, and he wants more. 

Nina hugs Seb. When she pulls away, she sees you and ricky talking animatedly - and very close together. She deflates at the sight before her. You’re holding each other and laughing, absolutely beaming at each other. A knot forms in her stomach. 

“What are they even talking about?” she scoffs. 

“Probably some cute story about when the basement flooded when she was in Matilda.” Gina mutters. Nina hadn’t noticed she was there, but something about that rings a bell she can’t place. It’s scratching around in the back of her mind, and she wonders why that sounds familiar. 

Across the room, Ricky catches his dad and Miss Jenn talking real close together too. You follow his gaze, eyes widening. You see how his brow furrows, and think now would be a good time for a distraction. 

“You know,” you start, drawing his attention back to you, “if you want to this weekend, I can show you some of the shows I’ve been in.” you offer. 

“Are you kidding?” He asks with a chuckle, his whole face lighting up, “Yes! Yeah, absolutely!” You smile, your expression mirroring his.

“After we catch up on our sleep, though,” you say, exhaustion setting in from both the all nighter and the high energy performance you just pulled off. You rub your eyes, bleary. “Cause I am about to crash, dude.”

“Same,” he laughs, and it quickly turns into a yawn. You both giggle, making your way to Ricky’s dad’s car so he can drop you off before you take Ricky home. Your mom has a meeting starting ten minutes ago, so she had to rush over to city hall right after you got the good news, and Mike offered to give you a ride. He drops you off, watching the way you and Ricky talk. You’re still having a good time together even when you’re this tired. It’s a positive sign, he thinks. Soon they’re turning into their driveway, and he knows he has minutes before Ricky’s out like a light. 

“She seems nice,” he starts, expecting Ricky to brush it off or act all embarrassed, demand you’re just hanging out, or whatever the kids are calling it now. Instead, he’s met with a wistful sigh.

“Yeah… she is.” he says with an exhausted, sincere smile. The openness of his answer surprises Mike. “She’s… the best.” 

Ricky’s inside and falling into bed before Mike can ask any follow up questions, but he intends to a little later. He doesn’t know if it’s because of Jenn, or the show, or you, but he’s so glad to see Ricky smile like that again.

[hexfloog]

2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024

Can you believe there's barely 10 days left to the year?? Because I can't! Time to lay my feelings bare again!!!

So I definitely slowed down quite a bit compared to 2022, but I still made enough to fill the template and, in spite of everything else, lots of life development things happened these last 365 days that I think makes 2023 one of my best years in recent memory :)

I have less to say about the art this time. The drop in quantity checks out when I stop to reflect on just how much time I spent on each one. I definitely don't have as many sketchy works to show off this time either (probably in no small part due to the fact that I've also slowed down on Detco) - and that's probably owed to having spent most of my art effort this year drawing for other people, be it commissions or fan projects, and I already know that I'm more inclined to take risks when I have just myself to please. It's not a bad thing, that's just how it is.

I suppose my one observation of this year's body of work is that the vast majority of it is quite ambitious. Real pushing-my-comfort-zone stuff, but it's more of a polished brand of risk rather than the kind you get sketching ideas on the spot. Some examples:

February - both a collab and a thing that became a fan cel intended as an autograph piece at a con

April - simultaneously a gift and a very personal piece

June - silly comic (anything humorous is automatically out of my comfort zone)

August - community project + comic page redraw that really tested my ability to find a new style to play with

September - made to become tangible merch (it did)

October - redraw of my very first digital piece

November* - character design from text description only and formal reference sheet commission (my first ever)

December* - digital watercolor + fake children's paperback cover

*active WIP, not yet complete

It's not that much (really, it's average output for me) but I will take my wins where I can get them, especially since this is pretty much the scope of my art projects this year. Didn't really have much time or energy to write, or make more models, or scan more cards, because... ya girl was too busy getting a promotion/raise, moving out, enjoying the best con experience of her life (so far), volunteering, meeting lots of new people, dating again, having general fun, eating good food, trying new things, finishing a monthly art challenge for once, playing creative romhacks, waking up to new career opportunities, etc. etc. etc! It feels like so much happened this year!!

I tend to be harsh on myself and often feel like my life is not going anywhere, but this year really made me feel like I'm finally gaining some momentum again. And like... I don't expect (or want) to live life in the fast lane or anything, but stagnating isn't good, either, and with every passing year I have to ask myself with a little more sincerity what my future looks like.

So all that said, thanks very much for sticking around and suffering me another year <333 Who knows what 2024 will bring!! But for the first time in a while, I think I am looking to it with more than just a resigned "meh" and I hope the same for anyone reading this, too.

[artinandwritin]

For the ask game 6, 10, 11, and 14... hopefully those can fill your time but let me know if you need more lmao!

AGH TY for asking so many!! Im certain ill be able to fill a lot of time with those <333

6. Favourite ships; like i mentioned on your post, for me it really fluctuates what ship is in the front of my mind on any given day. Ofc, hiccstrid is a big one (theyre really good to me personally) and I'm currently also in a big snotstrid mood bc of my friend @spacenintendogs 's dragons off the coast au! (Also p l e a s e if you aren't familiar yet with dragons off the coast im begging you to look into it, its such an interesting take on a modern au and Rose's writing and worldbuilding is absolutely phenomonal). Fishlout also takes up a space in my heart, adore them so much! The dynamic is so good.

Ruffnut and her army of men is also so good, and the dynamics she has with Eret, Fishlegs and Snotlout is really fun and has a lot of potential. Tho i do also think she and Heather have potential. As do Eret and Heather! That whole group can just be mixed and matched together haha. Heather and Fishlegs ofc is also wholesome, they deserved more than this!

Due to me being so involved in the oc side of the fandom and being a really big supporter of everything oc (which is common knowledge after 4 years of this haha), I also love a lot of people's ocxcanon ships! Such as Rose's oc Ermintrude and Snotlout, @nosuda-cringe 's oc Mayeth Vang and Snotlout, and ofc the ships you've hinted and teased in otwd (zephbal save me... save me zephbal. I think about them a. Normal amount. Same with castav but i wouldnt let them save me, they need to save themselves first), plus a lot of others. Theyre all very dear to me <333

10: favourite songs from the soundtrack; OKAY so ive actually got history with this! When i was about 13-16-ish i had music classes as part of my middle school experience (lmao) and we were given the freedom to do any project we wanted. In those 2-3 years i used the httyd soundtrack twice for projects!

First I used Forbidden Friendship (that song man. That song) as like. An underbeat or smt? To add things on. Im sure it sounded horrendous and y'know the other kids in my class laughed at me bc of me using an animated movie's soundtrack, but the song did remain a favourite of mine and still is.

The second time I used the soundtrack was just after the third movie released! We were once again granted freedom and I decided to learn Once There Were Dragons on the piano! (Im not certain i still know it LMAO its been 5 years, this was even before I learned about OTWD which is in hindsight pretty funny)

Ofc once again the kids around me weren't amused and I couldn't play piano to save my life (my hands are too small to reach the octaves needed which. Sucked haha) but i had a lot of fun and the song really stayed with me throughout the years, it always brings me at least some sort of emotion <3

11; favourite locations; OH gotta be Old Berk and Dragon Island. We spend so much time in Old Berk during the shows and the movies and the form of the island is just so... memorable, in a way. In school of dragons, i always loved climbing the Great Hall up to Gothi's little hut haha. Miss that silly little island.

Dragon Island is soooo underused but i adore the implications sm! Like, the Red Death's corpse is there (and we all know how much i love environment changing giants) and we haven't really seen it since RoB/DoB. Underused location in my humble opinion.

Honorable mentions to Berserker Island and the weird treasure island from rtte season 1. They really slayed haha

14; favourite animation style; everyone knows i'm a big hand animation girlie so I have to go for those little moments in the franchise where more 2D animation is implemented (like in Fishlegs' leadership dream and the Boneknapper special). The keyframing and the subtle movements are really worth analysing and i absolutely adore how it's used. A real treat for us animators! (Special mention to the animation that's been going around from the live special, so good)

As for 3d styles, I have to say the first movie. It has a very raw edge which i love and it gives everything a great feeling. Plus, the animation error during forbidden friendship they left in the final cut owns me <333

[lullabyes22-blog]

Fanwork creators self rec! When you get this, reply with your five favorite fics/art/podfics/etc. that you've made, then pass on to others. Let’s spread the self-love 🌼

Thank you for the unexpected treat @mistyautumn<333

As for five favorite fics/etc

Blood Moon Rising - Blood+ : An overly ambitious 50 chapter fic about trauma, maternal wounds, sisterhood, and intimacy in all its magical and miserable shapes.

Unvollendete - Blood+ : Fun fact. This fic was written entirely to a mix of classical music and trashy 2000s rock. While some narrative choices, I'd definitely want to redo, it was still such a wonderful experience sharing it with the fandom (who were super active on LJ in those days, too<3)

Facets - Blood+ : One of the more surreal and lyrical styles I've used for fanfic, but people seemed to enjoy it, and that makes me super happy c:

From the Ashes (I Rise) - Arcane: My first time experimenting with a more gritty writing style (and from a villain's POV). Ironically also the least messed up dynamic I've ever written in fanfic...

Forward, but Never Forget/XOXO - Arcane: Ongoing - and absolutely mammoth - 50+ chapter saga in episodic structure. It's been such a delight to interact with a lively fandom again, and I continue to be humbled and utterly speechless by all the fanart, fanvids, mp3s and what-if works people have made for this fic T_T<3

I tag: @the-blue-quetzalcoatl, @frostybearpaws @silcosmoke, @silcosentropy, @ravenkinnie @juniper-sunny @villainsidechick @letters-to-rosie @kingpins-and-revolutions @hannibalcatharsis

And anyone else who wants to join in<3

[rweoutofthewoods]

mere, love, I AM DY8NH???? when i said I'll read anti hero again i DID NOT EXPECT TO CRY EVERY TWO CHAOTERS????

i HATE growinf up sm??? i remember when i read it last time i was pretty neutral on it, i liked the storyline bur didnt connect to it/relate to it.

NOW SUDDENLY IM JN THE SKINS OF THESE CHARACTER I NEED TO GET OUT I KEEP ON EYING?? i couldvw finished this yesterday but i literally put my phone down and was like aiden, what the HECK??? I DO NOT EMOTE THIS MUCH IN ONE DAY WHY ARE YOU MAKING ME.

im suffering.

lily is currently telling james that he needs potions.

also i noticed how you said that you'd like to do a deep dive and explore james' head in the notes and now, years later, we kind of do notice it in ppp.

also² your writijf style has actually changed?? like i didnt even notice the shift but it has (they're both SPECTACULAR)

with alot of tears,

crying.

TY!! I'M SORRY?? I must insert the terrifying experience of being a young adult into everything I write :))

And indeed I DID do my lil (big actually) James moment in ppp! anti-hero was my gateway drug into writing jegulus, it was the first jeggy I ever wrote and I had a lot of pieces in my hands I didn't know what to do with. BUT I've had lots of time since then to figure it out, I got to write my James-centric in ppp and all the little things I wished to do.

The fact that you mention my writing style has changed... uhm that's why I have a very complicated relationship with anti-hero. I finished it in may of 2023, believe it or not. Not even a year ago, and that was like an entirely different writer. It is not representative of me now, BUT it exists, and I'm glad I wrote it, just so people like you can enjoy it <333 good luck with the rest of it bae 😭

[minamill]

hii!! your soft spot post is gorgeous!! if it's not too much trouble, could you share how you edited it? thank you in adavance?? <333

thank this is so sweet!! this is going to be really long, so i'll put it under the cut

resources: preset, gradient, clean and sharp action, letters and topaz clean

left is the unedited screenshot taken with srwe and right is after placing the gradient and setting the blending mode to color dodge and opacity to 7%

on the original layer i ran my personal action, then the clean and sharp action again, uniform monochromatic noise (not sure what percentage though) and two filters from the filter gallery i haven't tried before. it's been a while since my last edit, so i wanted to experiment more, especially with neon lights and colored highlights since i have very little experience with those, but i'll get to that later. i also fixed the glitch on talia's neck and some clipping on her forearm. using the liquify tool and the smile bar i gave eden and talia more pronounced smiles and otis a subtler one on a duplicated layer. then i erased the right sides of eden and talia's mouths to make it look more like a smirk

left is after the actions and filters and right is after i filled in the sims skin and eden's hair (erasing the clothes, eyes, teeth and jewelry) with a black brush on a new layer and set it to soft light 10%. the diffuse glow filter already lightened their skintones a bit and i wanted a base to stop it and the highlights i'll add on later from washing them out

now the fun part, shadows and highlights! i made a folder with two subfolders, one for shadows and one for highlights. it helps me keep it organized and for something i'll mention later on. i draw shadows with the basic soft brush in black, changing the size depending on how big the surface i'm shading is. then i use gaussian blur to soften the effect and erase the excess. the quick select tool leaves harsh lines, so i manually erase. usually i set the layer to soft light, but depending on the shadow sometimes it can be multiply or even normal. for this edit every shadow i mention will be soft light unless i specify otherwise. i try to keep shadows on separate layers to avoid accidentally blurring ones i'm already done with. usually i (try to) pay attention to the light source and add shadows and highlights depending on the angles, but since there are so many light sources in this one i just casually eyeballed it. besides the shadows on the sims themselves i also darkened the store window behind otis to bring more focus to his face with a black brush and layer set to normal and added shadows to the sides of the edit to create a subtle vignette effect. for the eyes i draw a thicker black line following the upper lash line, blur it, erase everything apart from the whites of the eye and set it to soft light. a subtle shadow on the upper eyelid crease also help the eyes pop

the process for highlights is almost the same as for shadows, i draw with a slightly smaller white brush, blur it, set blending mode to overlay (sometimes soft light, i'll specify when). i also tend to make the highlights softer than shadows and really focus on the layering. usually i'll draw a highlight, blur it, set to overlay, then on a new layer do the same thing with a smaller brush and less blur. for the eyes i focus on the middle of the eyelid, inner eye corner and just under the last line. for the iris i drew a highlight on the brightest part (a half circle on the bottom part), blur slightly and set to overlay with low opacity to make the colors stand out. for the catchlights i drew over them with a really small brush, used no or very little blur and duplicated the layer two or three times, merged them, set blending to normal and opacity to 90% and then erased the excess. if the catchlights aren't visible i add them anyways, the bigger they are the effect will be more cartoony, but i personally like that to keep with the style of my default eyes. here's the difference with the highlights added and a close up of eden's eye before and after both shadows and highlights

now the light sources. usually i take a big brush in a light beige color and click twice on the light source instead of drawing, blur heavily and set the layer to overlay, then on a new layer do the same with a smaller brush and less blur. repeat that for a more intense look or lower the opacity for a subtler one. i did that for the lamp between eden and talia. the colored pixels and harsh look was intentional since i was going for a grainy, cluttered vibe for this whole edit, but if you want to avoid that, don't use the filters from the beginning, make less duplicates of the light source highlights and avoid having a light source right behind a very dark color (talia's hair). here's a before and after for that light

now the neon lights and colored highlights were a lot of trial and error, but overall i'm pretty happy with the results. hopefully i'm feel more confident in them after more practice. the process is different than the one for the lamp, not just because of the colors, but because i also wanted to give them that sharp intense led glow. i'll use the sign next to otis as the example, but the process was almost exactly the same for the fake neon sign and light between talia and otis. first i started by drawing over the sign with a white brush staying inside the lines of the sign, not blurring it and setting it to overlay and 50% opacity. duplicated that layer, set it to normal and blur it. then i made a new layer, drew over the sign with an orange brush and made that layer a clipping mask, both set to normal and 100%. then i duplicated that second white layer and blurred it even more and set it to vivid light, made another orange clipping mask and set it to normal. repeated that but instead of vivid light i set the white layer to hard light. duplicate that last white layer and clipping mask and set the white layer to 60%. do one blurred white vivid light layer with a red clipping mask for the red circle above it. then i drew a highlight on the side of otis' head and shoulder the way i did all the sim highlights, duplicate it and add a clipping mask with the matching colors

the colored highlights are very similar, (white brush, blur, overlay, duplicate layer) i just add a blue clipping mask to the top white layer and if there are spots missing a blue hue that aren't edges (of an arm in this case) i use a blue brush and draw it in changing the mode to overlay. this latter way will show the color, but won't be brighter than the background, so i used it for the area where the arm casts a shadow on the shirt under it. here's a comparison of the version without any highlights, plain highlights and with the clipping masks

i added some bits here and there like the lights from the openings in the door, the blue light above the sign left of the door, shadows under talia's breasts since the shirt was pretty flat, made the little circles by otis' hand fake lights... now that all the shadows and highlights are done i duplicated the folder containing both subfolders, hid the layers that were too dark/bright and played with the opacity of the folder until i was satisfied with how it looked. i settled at 20%. here's the before and after all the shadows and highlights

now i picked the letters i needed from the pack i linked in the beginning and spelled out their names with them. i used invert on some of them (switching black to white, white to black) and added a lot of clipping masks with colors and splatter. i played around with a lot of different blending modes for the clipping masks (color burn, subtract, exclusion, darken, multiply, difference and normal). then i merged all the letters without the clipping masks, put them under the original letters, inverted them and moved them slightly to the lower left creating a sort of shadow. then i merged all the letters and clipping masks together, ran the clean and sharp action and added a lot of noise

and that's everything! hopefully this was helpful, i in no way consider myself an expert in editing, i just fuck around until i find something i like, but if there's any other question i can answer don't hesitate to ask. again, thank you so much for this ask and all the love i've gotten on this edit <33

[roleplayfinder]

Heya !! 22 F, She/Her 🎈🎈

I have once again found myself obsessing with the clown movie, and am interested in a Richie Tozier x Eddie Kaspbrak IT roleplay!!

Characters will be aged up, we can follow canon or create an au, and I can play either characters, I’ve had experience with both. We can discuss plots further in dm’s, I’m very open to brainstorming!!

I require you be 18+, okayy with NSFW themes, third-person writing style, and be able to match paragraphs… very literate!!

If you are interested just like this post and I’ll reach out!! -Discord or Tumblr dm’s-

Thank you :3 <333 🎈🎈

.