#hopefully my art tablet is getting fixed soon too

[omori-sv-au]

sorry for suddenly dropping off of the face of the earth LMAO ive been visiting family and drinking margaritas for the past 2 weeks but i am now back and ur regularly scheduled sv content will continue very soon! thank u all for being patient with me

[cheriboiyo]

Hey hi hello anyone remember me? 🤷‍♀️ sorry I’ve been inactive with posting

I don’t think I mentioned it before but over the summer I cracked my display on my laptop real bad and I’ve just been putting off getting it fixed — I do have the parts, I just have to get my friend to do the actual repairing..

They lent me an external monitor to have it still be functional, but it’s a pain to set it up and it’s uncomfortable to draw like that, I’ve always just had my computer in my lap and my tablet at my side, plus I just don’t have the space to have that kind of setup so I’ve just not done digital art that you guys have seen much since ;;;

I’ve kinda just been doing sketchbook stuff here and there when I’m not too busy or worn out from work, posting some to my Instagram (I’m also cheriboiyo on there!), I try to update and post as much as I can on there so feel free to follow me there too

I’m hopefully gonna get my laptop fixed soon tho, I’ve been in touch with the friend again so I’ll be back with more stuff to bring y’all here (I have been looking into getting an iPad too as another option so we’ll see 👀)

So until anything further happens I probably won’t post here anytime soon tbh 🤷‍♀️ unless you guys would like to see more traditional pieces? I don’t have the time or the patience to do full on finished pieces so it’d just sketchbook dumps and stuff, but lemme know~!

[bvannn]

Weekly Recap Feb 3 2023

Not too much to say about this week. I had far more work than anticipated but tried to do pet projects regardless.

My main focus this week was Tim and Emile’s test animation. I storyboarded it, to which I am satisfactory (though may tweak some areas). I have begun keyframing, and discovered that I can reliably use the models asymmetrically so long as I adjust a couple pieces. This is wonderful, as it means I do not need to make new pieces. I am still uncertain how I will do the direct interaction, but I have part of a plan, which will be adjusted as needed.

In the coming weeks I hope to create some more clip studio assets for these animations, including the stray sketchy lines, dry ink lines, impact bursts, potentially a generic background, etc. that I include in my individual art, as well as some glitchy effects for Jon and maybe some blurs for fast motion. I want my art style to stay distinct and a bit messy, so I want to include that in the animations as well.

On the topic of TRG, Colosseum is approaching! Last year I did a few art pieces of some of the ‘bumpers’ that played before or after segments (for those unfamiliar, these were short skits the participants wrote, acted, and recorded). I don’t believe I ever posted those to this account, so I will likely do that, as well as drawing some more. We got a new batch of skits last year, including some instant hits including ‘Cardboard Jon’ and ‘I took a Few Liberties’. As much as I would love to animate these, most of these skits would involve rigs I do not have built yet, and will not for a while, so I will stick with single illustrations, or potentially comics, at the very most a short gif in reference to a skit. I may reawaken my Twitter to post these, though afterwards it will become dormant again.

I have also been rewatching TRG’s older videos, in part to select a clip to animate, but also to buffer my volatile mood as of late. Rage helps writing stories, but hurts many other functions, so I can’t let it linger more than a couple hours.

Unfortunately I have made little significant progress with stories to speak of this week. Rage helps build despicable villains, though I have focused on them enough as of late. I have devised a few henchmen for both the primary and secondary stories I am working on, which greatly assist in characterization of the villain in the primary story, and push the plot and raise the stakes of the secondary story. I hope I can use these characters to assist in structure of both stories, and that I may do proper art of each soon as well.

Unfortunately, the USB port on my computer is broken, significantly reducing capacity for art, as I can no longer use my art tablet. The port should be fixed late Monday, and a USB hub item I had ordered for unrelated reasons (I wanna draw and watch cartoons on my fire stick at the same time) should be arriving this weekend hopefully, so this should be a very momentary delay in work, and I can still work on animations so long as I don’t need new storyboards.

I fulfilled the Inktober 52 prompt barely on time this week, this will likely repeat. I wish to get better with placing my sketchy lines, and more practice on both paper and digital are required.

I got scouted for the newgrounds portal this week, which is wonderful as it confirms my art is at the standards of newgrounds. This is wonderful news for my confidence, I hope I can provide a halfway decent drawing to the website every once in a while as a thanks!

I have thrown together some music to potentially rearrange and create original songs from, though this would need testing. I do not expect to have time for this in the coming week, though I may throw more measures together.

Main plans for the coming week are to chip away at the test animation, work on story outline/structure, inktober 52, and at least one TRG Colosseum drawing. Anything else is a fun bonus.

[emilyoftheshadows]

Person A catches a bus home everyday, but today, they're so exhausted that they fall asleep, suddely they feel a light tap on their shoulder and open their eyes to see a cute guy/gal/person smiling at them. "Sorry to wake you, bit this is your stop, i hope you slept well"

So, this is the first piece I have written and posted here! This is a fluffy drabble loosely based on the prompt above as well as some tik tok ideas i've seen. I hope you enjoy and don't judge too hard :)

~~~~~~

Aelin never knew that she could feel such a wide range of emotions in such a short amount of time. The hectic events she had endured earlier in her day had left her drained and in dire need of sleep.

She started out her mornings as usual - brewing her coffee with the help of an overly excited Fleetfoot. On the subway ride to work, coffee in hand, she explicitly remembered checking her emails for any important notices regarding her job. As an advertising agent, she dealt with multiple clients at one time. With her meticulously organized calendar and the help of her overworked assistant Marion, she was usually able to keep everything in check. Today was not one of those days.

As she entered her office, Marion greeted her with her tablet in hand- Aelin’s schedule color coded, labeled and sorted by hour.

 “Good morning Ms. Galathynius, ready to hear your schedule for today?” Aelin nodded, sipping her coffee as Marion listed her client meetings for the upcoming day. As they entered her office, Aelin paused.

“Marion, could you please repeat that first meeting  again?”

“The Havilliard Scotch pitch at 12?” And that was when Aelin knew she was fucked. This pitch was meant for a well known drinking company in New York, fast on the come up. Havilliard Sr. was known to be picky about his branding, scrutinizing most agencies that had helped him before. She had barely gotten this client, practically begging Nehemia for the job. As she worked the branding, she had become worried about the content she was producing.

She was so worried about this pitch, that she had taken her laptop home last night in hopes of triple checking her work for mistakes and to fine tune some details. And that's where her laptop was at that moment. At her apartment, across town, sitting on her desk, collecting dust. Her mind raced at how to solve her predicament. The subway ride to and from her apartment was too long of a trip to make before the meeting and, like an amateur, she hadn’t saved her files anywhere else but her laptop. She was completely fucked. 

Marion stood in the doorway, confused on what was going on in Aelin’s head. Aelin decided to finally release herself from her stupor. “Marion, could you please go find Aedion for me? And tell him it’s an emergency.”

With a determined look on her face, her assistant went as fast as her short legs could carry her to Aedion’s office on the adjacent part of the building floor she was on. Within minutes, Aedion was standing at her door, panting like he had just sprinted the fastest race of his life. The good thing about having her overbearing cousin work with her, is that she knew that in any problem he would help in an instant. And this was one hell of a fucking problem.

“What happened Aelin? Are you okay? Were you hurt? Do you need an ambulance?”

“You idiot I am physically fine, but still screwed and I need your help.” Aedion released the first breath Aelin had seen him take since entering her office.

“You know, when Marion power walked into my office saying you had an EMERGENCY and she didn’t know what was wrong with you, I definitely thought you would be passed out on your floor with blood on your face. But, you know, thanks for the heart attack. Really woke me up this morning.” 

Aelin rolled her eyes at him. He was more dramatic than her, and that spoke volumes in itself. 

“Aedion, please it really is an emergency. I have the big pitch for the Havilliard Scotch today and I left my laptop with the presentation at my apartment.” Aedion’s eyes widened in surprise. He knew that Aelin had been obsessed about this pitch and that mistakes like this only happened to her once in a blue moon. Aelin saw understanding dawn on his face and took that as a sign to continue.

“Now, I know a while back I sent you the rough drafts of the branding from when I first got the pitch. Is there any chance that you have the email or presentation saved still? If I have the basis of the presentation, I have an hour to build on it and hopefully fix this.”

Aedion’s face fell at the request. “We can go look, but you know I’m not the best at organizing my files Ace. It could be anywhere on my computer or not at all.” With those reaffirming words, Aelin and Aedion walked at a brisk pace back to his office. Combing through Aedion’s computer was an agonizing process. There were files saved from years ago that should’ve been deleted, and backtracking through all the contents of his computer made Aelin want to stab her eyes out. But it was all worth it, because hidden in the depths of this man’s terribly organized computer was the presentation. With a quick click of a button, she emailed the document to herself. She gave a half ass hug to Aedion, then practically ran to her office to start reworking her pitch on the computer there.

--

Aelin believed it was pure adrenaline that enabled her to finish her pitch in time for the Havilliard meeting. With a strong foundation laid out before her from her first draft, she had constructed almost her exact pitch that was left at home. Aelin waited for the Havilliards in the boardroom, smoothing out her clothes as she paced at the front. Far too soon, Marion escorted Havilliard Sr., Dorian Havilliard, and their close friend and partner Chaol Westfall into the room for her presentation. The three men had sat down in silence with no introduction, except for a small encouraging smile from the younger Havilliard. Taking that as her sign to start, Aelin cleared her throat.

“Hello gentlemen, today I want to present to you the future of Havilliard Scotch…”

---

As the men had exited the room single file, Aelin finally allowed herself to relax. That had felt like the longest pitch of her life. Going into the meeting, she had known the men were notorious for being extremely serious and critical of their agents. What she had not expected was the whispered words between the men after she had finished her presentation. As she looked on, Dorian Havilliard had finally broken away from their circle to address her.

“Miss Galathynius, thank you for your time. We will get back to you shortly about our decision to run with this branding or not.” With a quick nod and gesture to his companions, the trio had stood up and left the room. She was utterly shocked. Aelin had poured her sweat and tears into this pitch, quite literally, and they had just thanked her and left. No critiques, no opinions, no nothing. 

Quite honestly, Aelin was exhausted. She had spent most of her brain power reworking that pitch in that 45 minutes before that meeting and she had nothing left to give today. Yet, she still had a full schedule left to woo clients and work on her other projects. By the time Aelin trudged back to the subway, she was ready for a nice dinner at home followed by a restorative night of sleep with Fleetfoot at her side. 

Now, as she entered the subway, she immediately noticed the mystery man sitting down a few feet away from her. The man was moderately built, with muscles that were outlined by the fabric of his long sleeve t-shirt. His style was simple with a pair of nice jeans and Doc Marten boots, but that just allowed one's focus to settle on the beautiful creation that was his face. Mystery man had a strong jawline, lined with a bit of stubble and scruff. His eyes were a beautiful shade of green like none that she had seen before, his head topped with luscious silver hair. As the subway started, Mystery Man continued to sketch drawings into his book. Now, Aelin was never one to back  down from an opportunity to flirt with one of the most attractive men she had ever seen. She was a single woman in a big city, why the hell not. But her day had taken a toll on her, and she just didn’t know if this was the right time or place. So, she opted to put in her headphones as she waited for her stop, listening to relaxing music to calm her anxieties regarding the failed Havilliard pitch. 

 Seeing that her stop was next, Aelin rose from her seat to wait in line for the doors to open. As she waited, she felt a light tap on her shoulder. Low and behold, there was the Mystery Man standing next to her with a piece of paper in hand. As she pulled her headphone out, the man silently handed her the paper. Looking down, she saw a pencil sketch of herself on the subway. The drawing was beautifully done with bold lines and harsh shading, contrasted by highlights created from the fluorescent lights of the subway. Her eyes welled up, immediately grateful for this thoughtful gift after such a horrible day. The Mystery Man saw her emotions, startled to see tears welling up in her eyes.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude on your privacy. I just… I like to draw and when I saw you… I mean, it’s just you’re so stunning..” The man’s face flushed red as he tried to justify his beautiful art. Aelin laughed out loud for the first time today at his misunderstanding of her swell of emotions. 

“Oh no, these are just tears of..uhmm.. happiness? I guess…” She started to flush at her own awkwardness, trying to explain her emotions this time.

“I just had a really rough day and feel like shit. But this drawing is beautiful and I really am grateful that such a talented artist like yourself chose me as your muse today.” Aelin watched as the Mystery Man reacted to such a lavish compliment, somehow developing an even deeper blush with a shy smile . Gaining confidence from his reaction, she decided to make her move before she exited for her upcoming stop. 

“Hey, Mystery Man, why don’t I give you my number? Seeing that I am your muse and all, I would really like to learn more about your art.” It was a subpar pickup line at best, but hey, she had a long day and for the circumstance she thought it good enough. The man gave a deep timbered laugh at her pickup line, clearly enjoying their conversation now. 

“I think I might be one step ahead of you actually. Flip the drawing over.” As she flipped the paper, she saw a messy scrawl with the name Rowan, and what she could only assume was his number. The sight of these two things brought her complete giddiness. Giddiness that made you want to jump in the air and pump your fist because you're so excited. She looked up at Rowan, smirking as she tucked the piece of paper into her purse.

As the subway doors opened and they were pushed apart by bypassers, she turned around one last time to look at the man who had brightened her day beyond belief. She winked at Rowan as she walked away, not missing the wide smile he gave in return as the subway doors closed and continued on to the next stop.

[wicked-yarn]

Realizing a lot of my anxiety about art comes from being so poor I only really had one chance to prove I was good enough at something to get my parents to keep buying me art supplies. Like, being asked to re-use canvases and paint over my paintings that I had already hung up if I wanted to paint more. And also from my school art classes constantly forcing me to draw like a portrait artist, which don’t get me wrong has some nice skill sets but I’m only JUST NOW relearning how to loosen up and draw as cartoonishly as I wanted too since childhood. Will be nice when I can eventually get doing digital more, less anxiety about wasting money on art supplies, lololol XD On that front I’m testing out some drawing programs my very limited laptop can handle, I have a functioning tablet! Main issue is just not having the right table/desk to just sit and draw, hopefully will fix that soon. Wish me luck <3

[btswishes]

Love me for who I am now

Bucky x Reader ( Chapter 2 )

Previous / Next

Summary: You apply for the Stark internship and end up getting it, so now you have 5 months to make a good impression to continue working with the Avengers.

A/N: Continuing my little experiment here with chapter2, a bit more filler for the story. Sorry for any mistakes made, hope you enjoy it even a tiny bit.

Word count:  2,903

Warmings: fights, harsh language, not part of the original MCU

Y/N- Your name 

Y/L/N- Your Last Name

                                  ----------------------------

   The suitcase made a slight thumping sound, when you laid it down on the floor next to your desk. Wasting no time books found their new home on the empty shelves, notebooks fell asleep in the dark drawers. Pens, pencils, markers and all your stationary soon followed suit and found their own little space to rest.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.” the silence in the room finally got overthrown by the voice of its new owner, asking for some help in the matters unfolding 

Yes Miss Y/N

“Would you put a timer for 5min from now please?” still focused onto your stuff, finding them a visible but safe from damage storage. Nothing could destroy as well as time and dust did.

Timer set for 5 minutes from now.

“Thank you.” The only thing left to do now was to get the clothes in the closet and move the tech to the lab. Hopefully Dr. Banner wouldn’t mind waiting a bit more, not like he seemed to but who knows, Hulk lived inside him after all. You didn’t want to take a chance and play with his limits. The closet was hidden inside the wall, stealthy I must say. Toothpaste and toothbrush, essentials and cosmetics. All was done, now.

      Ding Ding Ding.  

Timer is going off  Miss. Shall I turn it off or restart it?

“Thank you F.R.I.D.A.Y. You can turn it off. “

  Your laptop and small bag were safely nestled under your arm, making your way outside the room.  For a moment you thought you got lost, but the orange tint of the sun’s rays soon pulled your attention in the right direction. Around the corner your nose caught the smell of caramel. Your head hesitantly protruded behind the pillar, as you called out to the man holding 2 cups in his hands firmly.

“Oh.” He jumped a bit, reaching out offering one of the mugs “ I hope you like it, we don’t have much selection when it comes to tea here. Coffee addicts you know.” he laughed out

“It is ok. Thank you very much.” Your leg levered and you swung onto the bar chair like it was nothing, taking a sip from the hot drink. You felt it warm you up slowly as it went down, melting away a bit of your anxiety. Once again your sight was captivated by the view. No one knows how much time passed since you got lost in the sunset, but it was nice. You could barely hear the bustling city from the 134th floor. It was only you, the sun and the room. Quiet almost like a safe serene space.

“Beautiful isn’t it.” Bruce shook you out of your little mind palace

“Mm? Ah, yes. Very much so. “ you puffed out some air with your smile, eyes forming little crescent moons “I feel like a cat, my attention keeps drifting to the glass unintentionally.”

“I understand you. I keep doing that myself and I have lived in the compound for quite some time now. “ the conversation was lighthearted, easily drifting over the main reason for your arrival “One would think I would be used to it by now.”

“Mr Stark made this place so calm. Big yet homey.” Your head scanned the area, words intriguing the doctor “ In a way it contrasts the inner state of most of the Avengers.” realized what just came out of your lips, your body stiffened. Oh man, way to ruin it - you thought to yourself “I am so sorry.” The mug clanked under the table, sending a vibration to his palm, as you bowed “I spoke out of place.”

“I think you might be on to something.” Your neck pulled your head up, a few strands of hair falling down next to your soft cheek. Bruce was still looking at the setting sun with a soft smile, his jaw exposing the beard to the light, coloring it a deep fiery yellow hue. There was something nostalgic in his dark eyes. “Most of us here have some sort of troubled past- lets sugar coat it a bit. This whole building, on the levels we use., is like a constant Zen state. It calms us down unintentionally. How do I say this...” He turned towards his coffee, laughing out almost silently.

“Maybe it offers you the peace you couldn’t have on the inside, masking the pain from past trauma. A way to indirectly cope with all that had happened, offering a haven to heal the past.” Bruce was listening to you, taking in your way of thinking and how right you were about something that had always been in front of his eyes ,but he had never noticed it before. Such a young girl, so much pain in her manner. He couldn’t bring himself to ask you about the weight inside your voice. It felt too close for him to do so. He had just met you after all, it is not like he could just straight up ask you about all your deepest and darkest secrets, that you might be hiding underneath your mature façade.

“Well, enough about our depressing past.” He pushed off the table “Lets get you situated in your new place.”Dr. Banner began walking in the direction of the lab, turning towards you from time to time. He was make sure you were close by and not lost somewhere in this maze of halls, corridors and who knows what else Tony could have hidden in these walls, for some unsuspecting person to stumble upon.

“I am sadly not familiar with your work like Tony is. He told me about you literally a few hours before you arrived, so you would have to excuse me for that.” You nodded with a smile, accepting the apology he didn’t even need to speak of 

“The lab is pretty big.” He unlocked the door and turned the lights on. It was exactly as he said and nothing like you had expected. The color pattern was the same tints, maybe a bit of blue mixed in as well, a dash of red. The tables and tech inside were state-of-the-art, high-quality and very well kept. Some weren’t even yet released or known to the public. Talking year 3054 up in here.

“This will be your desk, right next to me.”Bruce plopped onto his chair and waved at you “Hi, Hi.”

  He gestured for you to get yourself as comfortable as possible, which you almost couldn’t wait to do. Your fingers gently ran over the material getting familiar with it. Just with one look you already knew where everything was going to go, like it knew it’s own home. You had a tech bay, where you could check how systems worked, if they didn’t and building anything. It was amazing, just an arm’s length distance was possibility and creation itself. Excitement boiled inside you, eyes wide. Reaching inside the bag, you pulled out your work computer, your project tablet and made sure they were all connected to the internet and matched the Stark system interface. As soon as you saw the company logo you were all set up.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y.” the silence danced hand in hand with your voice

Yes Miss. Would you like a run down on the desk functions?

“Yes please.” In a matter of minutes you realized that this wasn’t just some random fancy desk ,but a whole machine of its own. Interactive hologram functions, building station and program 3D design. It had it all. Bruce was shocked how easy you worked with F.R.I.D.A.Y. , naturally taking a lead and informing yourself at 100% capacity about what you will be working with. For a second Tony flashed before his eyes.

“What made you apply here?” he cut your investigation “I don’t mean to be rude but I saw some of your pre-university work.”

“No problem. I was mostly out of the country for a very long time, maybe most of my life. When I came back the Avengers were something I loved watching on the news.” The praise went over Bruce’s head unnoticed “ There was something nostalgic when I looked at you guys. Mr. Stark’s tech, the way everyone fought with ease, I don’t know how to explain it. I craved that in my life, almost like a forgotten world I was striving to immerse myself back into. “ a gentle crook of the neck and a smile eased Bruce from the question

“Well you made it here, so congratulations.” loud joyous clapping followed his words” I think I am talking for all of us, we will love having you around. So-” His face became serious, glasses finding the bridge of his nose onto his face, eyes sharp “Would you like to start with your job here miss intern?” he winked playfully waiting to see your reaction. Like a mirror ,you pulled your hair away from your face, rolled up your sleeves and flashed back the same look of determination. “Introduce me to your train of thought and your projects.”

“I work mainly with the structure and characteristics of vibranium. At first, I was focused on making prosthetics that pack a punch the same way the Iron Man suits worked and Sergeant Barnes’s arm- of course on a smaller scale. But then my mind started drifting towards the process before amputation, which was for a certain percent of people the healing factor. Maybe inside strength as well. ”

“As in incorporating it into medical technology?” this sounded too simple of an idea coming for someone Tony chose, yet Bruce kept listening. He was judging the book by its cover way too soon.

“Not exactly. Vibranium has a metal crystal structure that possesses ‘memory’ the same way other metals remember being indented even after getting fixed or straightened eventually. My theory has a few parts before I reach the main plan. Going on an atomic level, even deeper to its base structure, I change the connections between the atoms. They have the same functions as in keeping the shape, but missing that molding memory.”

“You are saying you can mold the bonds, selecting freely what function to remove?” Bruce pushed back off his chair, letting the idea enter his ear and stay there, feeding the interest on his face.

“I am not saying I can.” he was listening more and more with each passing minute “I am saying I did it. I am in the final stages of my project.” Your hands pulled out a flat disk of vibranium  “F.R.I.D.A.Y. would you do a double scan before and after I bend this?”

Affirmatively Miss. Scan done. Shall I offer a hologram?

“Please do.” Right between your two bodies you could now see the basics of the metal “ See how the bonds are thicker? I noticed, metal bonds just have to keep  the shape of the crystal structure. Not only did I make vibranium stronger than it originally was, but now if I bend-it.” Your voice strained in pair with your muscles, as you folded and unfolded the sheet. The second scan showed no memory intake not even deformed the shapes “I call this metal healing.”

“That...that is amazing, not even a crease to be noticed! But where are you going with this?” Bruce rubbed his face, still shook from what you just showed him

“It might sound stupid, but this isn’t even my main idea. You see, if we look at matter as one and the same, things start to add up. Everything on a molecular level has no difference. Bonds, and atom-placement dictate what the object will be, look like and how it works- properties if you wish. I looked at vibranium and human flesh as different parts of one thing, which lead me to believe enhancing people could be done without super soldier serums.”

“That is… truly amazing, but won’t the testing period be a sadistic thing. We are not HYDRA thankfully.” As great as this was Bruce had a point here “Human experiments are not a politic the Avengers will ever lean upon. As fellow humans nonetheless.”

“I am not planning to make another Winter Soldier. I already have control over vibranium on levels outside and inside hyperspace.” You pulled out a bottle of metallic looking dust. The top unscrewed easy and you spilled the contents like heavy silvery snow all over the floor. “If I take quarks from the human body and use them to make 1 proton from the atomic nucleus, I can theoretically program it to answer to the human body using the unbroken rule of our system.”

  Bruce blinked a few times understanding exactly where you were reaching “All work in favor of the body.” He said out loud, glasses sliding off his skin

“Exactly. If they get programmed correctly the metal will work for the body, under the command of the main system- the nerves and brain. Post that success I would be able to inject them with a liquid medium directly into the bloodstream. As they make their way to all parts of the body, they will get acquainted with the cells. I want to change them so they will be susceptible to hormones as well. Basically I want to make a metal compound that reacts like organic matter. It would be able, upon will, to pile around bones, create fibers, strengthening muscles ecc. Some could even carry other substances with them, or isolate toxic ones. Now their size and ability for diapedesis is still questionable. So far I can move them at a certain extend.” You swung your hand and the dust lifted off the floor cleanly in one swoop 

“That is amazing!” Bruce pitched his voice after seeing the floating cloud “Are you using some kind of device ?”

“No, this dust was modeled after me, I am the only guinea pig so no one was harmed in the making. I have to say though, it was quite painful till I got it right.” You laughed out uneasy, scratching your arm  

“ I could only imagine, taking your own tissue for this. What else could it do?”

“Well. I know that Mr. Stark isn’t into weapons anymore, so I pitched him the enhancing technique only. The dust’s only function right now sadly is shaping.” Your fingers danced as the vibranium cloud formed Captain America’s shield, before turning into a sword. “As long as I have enough information of structure, function and the way the object works I can make it.” Your footsteps were confidant and strong.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. the window if you please.”

Certainly Miss

   The clicking sound of the metal around the glass flung the object open. Your hand reached outside and pointed towards the sky. “My uncle had a deep interest in weapons so naturally I learned as well by listening to him.” The dust wrapped around your hand and formed a Heckler Koch pistols. With the pull of the trigger you shot into the air, making Bruce jump from the sound.

“I am sorry about that, I should have warned you.” You giggled stepping in

“That is a completely functional firearm. His breath normalized as his body took him right up to you, running his hands over the gun “ This is, something I can’t even imagine.” Eyes scanning every inch of it looking like a perfect mold “How does it look so solid? Smooth, no trace of it even being made from any smaller particle. ”

“Oh that, intra-atomic pressure. Kind of like gravity times 100 or more. If I pitched this to Mr.Stark I think the selling point would have been…”your fingers gently pulled the weapon out of Dr.Banner’s hand as the vibranium flew from the outside to the magazine “ It doesn’t run out of ammo since I call it back at anytime AND once in the body I can infest it.”

“It could travel through the blood stream and form clumps in certain organs!” he gasped

“I could have gone a bit more sadistic with this one, but I will stop talking now.” You laughed out sending your project back to its jar, securely tightened up. 

“How far is your limit? I mean is there a distance at which you can’t sense the partials, any mental fatigue or physical? You are amazing! This is something out of this world truly, no wonder Tony accepted your application. I wouldn’t be able to come up with anything closely resembling…wow.” He kept praising you each time his mouth opened

“Banner.” Light and confident footsteps accompanied the familiar playboy voice inside the lab

Welcome back Sir

“F.R.I.D.A.Y. medical bay on standby please.”

As you wish Sir

“I would appreciate it if you stepped back from my new intern and helped out a bit. We have injured coming in stat.” Tony waved his hand and Bruce pulled away from you, cleaning the couch on his side “You too miss intern. No slacking off just because it’s your first day. Treat it as orientation.”

“Yes Mr. Stark.” Panic rose up inside you again as you tried to follow what Dr. Banner was doing. Injured? Were the rest of the Avengers on a mission this whole time? It didn’t matter, you were mobilized as well and for a second it felt kind of cool, like you were also an agent fighting crime. The grunts and groans pulled you back to Earth as Captain America’s large frame stepped inside.  

[kombuchaclock]

Disabled, broke/no income, offering commissioned drawings

Sorry to keep posting about this. This is related to previous posts I made but I didn’t want to reblog them to add this because they’re already long.

Currently, I have less than $30 in my bank account and no income as I’m unemployed and haven’t yet been able to receive unemployment or disability benefits. I had a job interview yesterday (it felt more like pre-interview screening but w/e) but I don’t know if I’ll get the job yet, and  if I do get the job $30 still probably won’t be enough to last until my first paycheck.

If you’re willing, you can donate to my paypal.me, but I am willing to offer commissioned drawings/sketches starting at $15. I’m not going to detail it too much because this isn’t an “official” commissions post, I just need some money. You can see examples in this blog’s art tag and my gallery website. It’ll probably be traditional (I need to fix my tablet drivers, hopefully I can soon) and for the starting price of $15 it probably won’t be a detailed full-color drawing. It’d be something like this dragon sketch or these character drawings (warning for mild body horror in the second link). You can buy one for more than $15 if you want which would probably get you more color/detail but please discuss that with me. If it is traditional, I may also be willing to send the original to you for a little extra (10% of the drawing, to a max of $5, plus cost of packaging and postage if applicable). If I’m able to do digital I don’t think I could add project files because the drawing program I normally use is very old so almost no one else uses it now, but if you have a suggestion for another drawing program that might be helpful.

It’ll be a queue, with five “slots” to start out with, technically other people can get in queue but if I draw their commissions I’ll wait until after I finish the first five. If you want a commissioned drawing, please let me know that before you send the money. Discussing the drawing would also be best before then. Probably best to reach me by emailing ewarnecoles@gmail.com, but after you first contact me we can stay in touch by Discord or Telegram if you’d prefer either of those. If you’ve sent the money and I haven’t finished the drawing yet, you can request a refund, but depending on how far I am in drawing it I might only partially refund it.

If you can’t commission or donate that’s fine, sharing or reblogging this is also appreciated. Thank you very much for reading!

[quicksilversquared]

Pants on Fire

Ladybug AU/ After Lila decides that Adrien's implied threat has no teeth and decides not to walk back on her claims about Marinette, Marinette stays expelled. But she has absolutely no intention to let things stay that way.

Soon enough, Lila will wish that she had taken Adrien's easy way out.

links in the reblog

Across the street, the school bell rang, and the last of the Françoise Dupont students cleared off of the sidewalk and into the building. From her balcony, Marinette could see her old classmates in their homeroom, gradually making their way to their desks. Lila was still sitting in the back, but Marinette didn't doubt that before long, she would have taken over Marinette's old seat.

Day three of her expulsion from Dupont, and Marinette was (rightfully) no less bitter about it now than she had been three days ago.

Seriously, how was it fair that she got expelled without any sort of investigation? How was it legal? How had her teachers and principal even believed that Marinette would do anything like what Lila had claimed?

Did Lila have secret brain-draining superpowers that no one had found out about yet? That was the only thing that she could think of.

"At least Adrien tried to get Lila to come clean," Tikki offered as her Chosen clambered down from her balcony and headed for her desk. "I mean, I know it didn't work because Lila is too stubborn, but..."

"At least he tried," Marinette finished. She was really grateful for that, honestly. When Adrien had stopped over to check in on her the previous day, he had sounded super frustrated. Apparently Lila had somehow gotten herself invited to his photoshoots and he had confronted her then, trying to bargain the appearance of his friendship to get Lila to walk back her claims about Marinette. At the time, Lila had seemed to agree, but she hadn't followed through afterwards.

Count Marinette not surprised. If Lila walked back on any of her claims, well, that meant that all of her other claims would be questioned, and she would not want to open that door. Even if that meant irritating Adrien.

"And at least someone at Dupont knows that it was Lila's fault," Marinette added with a sigh. Not that it did anything, really, since no one would listen to Adrien, but it was still nice. "And at least he's planning on coming over again and talking to my parents today, so that they aren't just going on my word that I didn't actually do any of the stuff Lila accused me of. But that doesn't get me un-expelled."

"Well, if you can't do anything about it, maybe we should just brush it off and move on," Tikki suggested. "Mulling over it isn't going to help, and if an akuma comes again-"

Marinette hid her scowl and reached for her remote, flipping her monitor from computer screen to TV to drown out the rest of Tikki's words. She knew that it wasn't a good thing that an akuma had actually managed to get as far as corrupting her purse, even if Marinette had still had enough control at the time to start taking her earrings out so that Tikki could fly away with them. Tikki didn't have to keep reminding her that getting akumatized wouldn't be good. Marinette knew that.

(Marinette was this close to going to Master Fu without Tikki and talking to him about her kwami's constant scolding. Marinette knew that her duties as Ladybug were important, but what about the girl under Ladybug's mask? Didn't her feelings matter, too? What was she supposed to do, take a train out to the countryside so that she was out of Hawkmoth's range and only let her emotions out there? Be an emotionless robot until Hawkmoth was defeated? No thank you.)

"Don't be bemused, it's just the news!" Nadja Chamack was saying on-screen, beaming into the camera as Marinette pulled up her first lesson of the day on her tablet. "In today's news, we have extended coverage from the most recent akuma battle, updates from the mayor on proposed new recycling initiatives, and much, much more!"

Madam Chamack chatted on as Marinette started reading through her first class's lesson, determined to at least stay on top of her studies and not let herself fall behind. The online school she had gotten herself enrolled in for the time being was flexible enough that if she got a little behind schedule because of an akuma attack it wouldn't be too big of an issue, but there was no point starting off on the wrong foot.

Besides, if she could work ahead, then she could maybe have some more free time to try to make some progress on tracking down Hawkmoth. That would be making the most out of her situation, at least, and then she would be in a better position to focus on improving her designs and sewing techniques so that she could start developing a portfolio while she was in lycée.

Tikki finally settled down across the room, fiddling with some of Marinette's extra thread and beads while Marinette worked her way through the day's Literature lesson, then Math and Civics and Chemistry. The TV kept playing in the background, muted only when Marinette needed to listen to a video for her schoolwork on her tablet.

"Morning classes done ahead of schedule," Marinette said cheerfully as soon as she finished her last electron drawing. "And homework for them finished at the same time, not that there was much homework to do to start with. Time for a break, I think."

"It is almost time for lunch," Tikki agreed, flying over to join her. "You wouldn't be getting out for another half-hour at Dupont, but you've been working hard! And normally, you would have breaks between classes."

"Mm-hmm." Marinette glanced back up at her computer monitor to glance at the time, then did a double-take when she saw the screen. "Hey, I remember hearing something about this before! Tikki, can you turn up the volume?"

"-the continued fallout from the plagiarism scandal at Paris's famed university for the arts," Madam Chamack said onscreen as Tikki bumped the volume. "Another professor has been linked to the scam, which came to light after a student discovered the plagiarism. After the faculty member that she brought her concerns to didn't do anything about the issue, the student, who wishes to remain unidentified, did her own digging and found enough evidence to go straight to the police."

Marinette froze, eyes fixed on the screen as Madam Chamack kept talking, telling her viewers the timeline of what had been discovered so far. There was a lot, with faculty members at the university trying to sweep the problem under the rug all because of some rich donors who wanted to keep the flow of ideas coming to them. Three attempts from the student to let professors and administrators know that it was happening had all been swept aside with empty assurances and nothing had happened.

No one had expected the stubborn student, armed with facts and evidence to the point where she could directly get the police involved.

And Marinette's brain went aha.

There was plenty of evidence out there that Lila was lying, if only people bothered to look. The looking had been the issue at school, with everyone just taking Lila at her word instead of actually looking for themselves. Marinette didn't doubt that Lila had taken at least some steps to cover her steps- forging her mother's signature, probably, and giving incorrect email addresses that would divert to any emails to her mother to a mimic email that Lila could control- but that didn't mean that they just had to take that at face value!

But if Marinette compiled a whole pile of evidence, then- well, Marinette wasn't going to kid herself into saying that that would solve everything, either. Knowing the discipline that was given at her school, Lila would probably get a tap on the hand as punishment, and everything would get swept under the rug. But if Marinette got evidence, and then went to the proper authorities so that Ms. Buster and Mr. Damocles were forced to act, well...

That might be the exact thing she needed.

  Adrien wasn't sure what to expect when he headed over to the Dupain-Cheng bakery after school. He had waited until most of the other students had cleared off before leaving, so that Lila wouldn't see him going over and try to mess things up even more, then ducked into the bakery itself.

He had told the Gorilla that he was studying at the school for a couple hours, so hopefully he wouldn't be interrupted.

"Good afternoon, Adrien," Mrs. Cheng greeted him. She didn't sound as upbeat as she usually did, which wasn't much of a surprise considering that Marinette's expulsion was still fresh. "What can I get for you today?"

"I wanted to talk to you, actually," Adrien told her, glancing around the bakery. The collège student rush had passed, and now there was only a businessman perusing the shelves of baked goods. "About what happened earlier this week-"

Mrs. Cheng's shoulders stiffened, and her smile became a bit more wooden. "I appreciate the concern, Adrien, but-"

"Lila's a liar," Adrien blurted before she could wave him out of the bakery. "She's been making up stories left and right about knowing all these famous people ever since she arrived in Paris, and she's had it out for Marinette from the start because Marinette never fell for her lies."

Mrs. Cheng blinked at him, clearly perplexed. "Are you sure that Lila is making up her stories? Alya dropped by for a couple minutes yesterday and she seemed certain that Marinette was just jealous."

Adrien only just barely resisted the urge to snort. Marinette, jealous? Marinette was possibly the most connected person in their class, if he didn't count the connections that he and Chloe had just because of who their parents were. She designed things for Jagged Stone on at least a semi-regular basis, and Clara Nightingale knew her and liked her, and his father had complimented Marinette's designs. "I'm positive, Mrs. Cheng. Lila claimed to be Ladybug's best friend right after she first arrived in Paris, and I was there when Ladybug confronted Lila about lying. And Lila claimed that she once saved Jagged Stone's kitten on an airplane tarmac and so he's a huge fan of hers, and Marinette knows Jagged Stone. She knows that Jagged never had a kitten. And if Lila was making that up, the probability of everything else being a lie, too..."

Mrs. Cheng's expression turned pensive.

"Besides, the pendant that Lila claimed was her grandmother's is actually from my father's latest jewelry line," Adrien added. "It's a replica of the Fox Miraculous, and she bought it shortly after she arrived in Paris. And Lila claimed to have injured her ankle from falling down the stairs, but as soon as there isn't any attention on her, she's walking just fine. And the foot that she's 'favoring' keeps switching."

"And the teachers didn't notice that, or investigate?" Mrs. Cheng asked, the doubt in her voice finally starting to vanish. "It's what they're meant to do, surely."

Adrien could only shrug. He wasn't sure why Marinette's expulsion had been rushed, unless... "Lila told us that her mom's an Italian diplomat. They might have just not wanted to cause an incident."

Mrs. Cheng muttered something under her breath that Adrien didn't entirely catch, but it sounded rather like "I'll show them an incident."

...if Mrs. Cheng was going to storm over to the school to throw hands with Mr. Damocles, Adrien wanted to be there.

"Thank you for letting me know, Adrien," Mrs. Cheng finally said after a couple of seconds had passed. "I didn't want to doubt Marinette, because the accusations didn't sound like her, but I was putting too much faith in the teachers, it seems. That, and the fact that Alya seems to like Lila... well, that was a bit confusing."

Adrien nodded. He could understand that.

"You can go up to see Marinette, if you want," Mrs. Cheng added after another pause. "I mean, if she's working on her schoolwork then don't disturb her, but I'm sure she would enjoy seeing you otherwise."

"Thank you, Mrs. Cheng."

"And here, have a cookie on your way up, I know these are your favorite."

Adrien lit up as he accepted the treat. "Thank you, Mrs. Cheng!"

That mission accomplished, Adrien headed up the stairs with a bounce in his step. It seemed like Mrs. Cheng had believed him, which would hopefully help repair any strain that had appeared in the relationship between Marinette and her parents. He wasn't sure if Marinette's parents would be able to get through to Mr. Damocles any better than he had- Adrien had tried talking to their principal again today between classes, only to get immediately brushed off- but it was at least a step in the right direction.

Even with a fresh cookie to munch on, it didn't take Adrien long to reach the Dupain-Cheng living room. Marinette's trap door was propped partway open, so he headed, up, keeping his steps quiet in case she was still trying to study. Up above, he could hear Marinette's voice, a low murmur as though she were absentmindedly talking to herself.

"Okay, so either Lila was lying about her mom being an ambassador, or the pictures that she showed us of her with her mom were photoshopped," Marinette was musing aloud when Adrien popped his head in her room behind her, going completely unnoticed. She was sitting in front of the computer, intently focused on something onscreen. It didn't sound like schoolwork, though, so Adrien slipped through her open trapdoor and into her room. "Which would make sense, if she didn't want us recognizing her mom out on the street and saying anything about all of her lies, but how good would she have to be at Photoshop, really?"

"This doesn't sound like schoolwork," Adrien teased, making Marinette yelp and startle before spinning to face him. "Your mom said not to disturb you if you were still doing your lessons, but is it safe to say you've finished?"

"Finished and then some," Marinette agreed, waving him over. "Right now, I'm finding evidence."

Adrien bounced up, at her side in a moment, instantly curious. "Evidence? That Lila's lying, I'm guessing, just based on what I just overheard."

"Exactly." Marinette waved at her screen. "And right now, what I'm finding is that Mrs. Rossi isn't an ambassador. Not unless she has a different last name than Lila and isn't the same person that Lila showed us in her photos."

"I- what?" Adrien leaned over, scanning the computer screen. Marinette let him, scrolling down to let him see the rest of the page, which was apparently from the Italian Embassy's site and showed all of their top staff. Sure enough, there was no sign of the woman whose picture Lila had shown them of her mom. "That's just- wow. Uh, do any of them have, like, personal descriptions at all? You know, like get-to-know-me pages?"

Marinette shook her head. "I've already checked. They're all very professional, no personal information in sight. Which doesn't surprise me, really. I mean, if there are people out there who might have a bone to pick with the embassy for some reason, you don't want too much personal information online."

Adrien opened his mouth, then closed it. He hadn't thought of that. He also didn't understand why someone might have an issue with an ambassador to the point of wanting to target their family, but if Marinette thought that that might be an issue, then he would believe her.

"So that's a dead end for the time being," Marinette told him. "Which is fine, really, because I got a job description of what ambassadors do, which isn't what Lila has been telling people, and then this is evidence that either she's lied about her mom being an ambassador, or she's lying about what her mom looks like-"

"Or she's lying about which country her mom is ambassador for," Adrien finished. He shrugged when she gave him a dubious look. "I mean, it's possible! Then the teachers wouldn't know which embassy to contact."

"I guess. I hadn't thought of that."

"D'you think it's enough to make Mr. Damocles undo your suspension?" Adrien asked, stepping back to snag Marinette's extra chair and pulling it over to sit next to her. "Because I mean, it feels a little mean to say it, but... he sometimes doesn't seem the sharpest? And I just worry that he might try to say that Lila's other lies don't matter, just because of what they 'found' in your bag and locker."

Marinette ducked her head, clearly trying to hide a giggle. Adrien was glad that he could amuse her, at least. "I'm not planning on going over with just a little evidence. Lila could probably lie her way out of that. I want to find a ton of evidence and actually get other authorities involved. Like, Lila definitely was skipping class without permission, and there are such things as truancy officers."

...this was starting to sound serious. Like, really serious.

"That seems like a lot of work that you shouldn't have to do, Marinette," Adrien pointed out, suddenly worried for his friend. He knew that Marinette had a tendency to overwork herself, and with all of the additional stress of getting expelled, that didn't seem like a good idea. "Are you sure-"

"That I want to spend time on it? Definitely," Marinette finished. "I'm not sitting by and letting Lila get away with expelling me. It'll go on my permanent school record- getting expelled, and the cheating and the stairs and the stealing from another student. Once I get to lycée and go back to a traditional school, the teachers won't trust me at all." Her expression became determined. "So if the adults won't step up and help, then I'll make it so that they can't not help."

...Adrien hadn't thought of that before. Being expelled from the school that Marinette had gone to for years and from classmates that she had known for even longer was bad enough on its own. But the effects didn't just stop there, and that had to suck. Like, a lot.

(Adrien was going to ask Plagg to destroy Lila's homework, he really was. Maybe it was petty, but in comparison to what Lila had done? It was nothing.)

"Ooh, yeah, I didn't think about that." Adrien scooted closer, glancing at her for permission before snagging her notebook to look at her list of lies. There... well, there were a lot of them. He had kind of tuned Lila out after a point, so to be honest, he didn't remember all of them. One of the topmost bullet points caught his eye, though, and Adrien frowned in confusion. "You're trying to disprove her being abroad using her Skyping? How is that meant to work?"

Marinette grinned, perking up and snagging her tablet from next to the computer. "Yeah, I took pictures of her when she was Skyping us, and they're clear enough to make out the background behind her." She tapped a couple spots on her screen, then turned it to face Adrien. Sure enough, there was an entire folder of pictures of Lila Skyping them from a whole bunch of different places. "Aside from the fact that she definitely wouldn't get enough Internet to get be able to call us from the street- or good enough cell service to get that clear of a photo- there's no people or cars in the background. Of very main streets. Ever."

Adrien's jaw dropped, and he stared at her in admiration. He had suspected that Lila wasn't telling the full truth, of course, but he had mostly thought that she was lying about who she was meeting, not necessarily where she was. But Marinette was absolutely right. "Wow, Marinette. I didn't- I didn't even think of that! You're brilliant. So what was she in front of, then? Posters?"

Marinette nodded. "I think so. I did a little bit of searching at the time, and if she had used a greenscreen, then she would have risked a little distorted halo showing up around her. Either way, she had to get the picture from the backdrop somewhere, and I want to find it. How I'll do that I don't know, exactly, but I'll figure it out."

"Brilliant." Adrien gave her another admiring glance before turning his attention back to her list. Marinette was a lot like Ladybug, really. She noticed details that no one else did, and could pick out when things were even a little out of place. It was a talent for sure, and one that Adrien honestly wished he had.

But he didn't, so he would have to content himself with helping out the most fantastic girls in his life in whatever ways he could.

Which, at the moment, could very well be using his connections.

"I actually have Prince Ali's contact information," Adrien commented as he noticed one specific bullet point on the list. Lila had told several stories about being in contact with Prince Ali and organizing charities and events with him. Connections with an actual prince was a undeniable attention-getter, so her fascination with him was no real surprise. "We've not been in contact that often, but my father had him and his assistant over while they were in Paris. There was an idea that there might be some collaboration or publicity with Gabriel that fell through, but, well..." Adrien shrugged, bashful. "Neither of us had that many friends at that time, so we exchanged numbers. I can text him and ask about Lila's claims and if he has any suggestions for sites to look at to back up his claims." He flashed a smile at Marinette. "Because I bet we don't just want word-of-mouth, right? Since emails can be modified or faked."

Marinette looked thrilled. "Right! And I'm so glad you have a way to contact Prince Ali, because I figured- well, I figured that those lies would be the most difficult ones to disprove, since Achu seems to keep him fairly sheltered from the media and not that much information about his life gets out."

"They do, but I'm pretty sure that Prince Ali does have some official pages with information on his projects." Adrien pulled out his phone, shooting a quick text to Prince Ali before tucking it back in his pocket and turning his full attention back to Marinette. He had the better part of an hour left before the Gorilla would come looking for him, and he wanted to use that time to help Marinette as much as he could. "Okay. What else do you have on your list?"

  Things were coming together faster than Marinette had expected, she had to admit. Only days after she started collecting evidence, her parents' last lingering doubts about the validity of any of the claims against her had vanished, they had told Madam Chamack and she was preparing a story to break once Marinette said the word, and on top of that, they now had a lawyer who had listened to Marinette's detailing of everything that had happened at school. They were preparing a lawsuit against the school, because absolutely none of the required procedures for expulsion had been followed.

Like, literally none. The accusations had been flimsy and all coming from one other student, and they hadn't been investigated at all. There had been no consideration of how likely the accusations were given Marinette's stellar history, and no calling in Lila's mother to discuss the accusations. There was absolutely no sense of any procedure being followed, and considering how much behavior from Chloe the school had let slide before, well...

The favoritism there was astounding, and they couldn't let it stand.

Marinette smiled at the reminder of that meeting as she navigated her way though her online school's portal. It was really nice to have so much support from adults, after months and months and months at school where people hadn't listened to her about Lila, hadn't done anything about Chloe, had told her that really, it isn't as big of a problem as you're making it out to be.

It was a big problem, and people weren't addressing it correctly, and that was going to be fixed. It was unfortunate that it had gotten to the point where lawsuits had to get involved, but things couldn't just be allowed to continue as they were.

And this time, it wasn't entirely up to Marinette to end it. The adults would take care of all of the legal stuff, and if Marinette decided that she was tired of dealing with the situation entirely, then that didn't mean that Lila would get away with things.

Which was nice to know, even if Marinette had no intention of excusing herself from the whole thing. Lila had made life exceedingly difficult for Marinette; now, Marinette wanted to look Lila in the eye while grinding all of her lies into the ground.

...maybe she shouldn't be so focused on revenge when she was a superhero, but honestly, Lila had it coming.

Smiling to herself, Marinette clicked a couple few more times before reaching her target page. It loaded quickly, the title of her class and her current unit at the top of the page, with a little bar below it showing where she was compared to where she was meant to be.

Marinette had started slightly behind schedule- Dupont had apparently fallen behind the national standards schedule, probably because of akuma attacks interrupting their days- and now she had caught up in most subjects and already had started edging ahead in a couple classes, including this particular one.

Civics. Unit: Foreign Relations

Unit project: Create a product- a poster, a paper, or a film- on a country of your choice, documenting their relationship with France, current and historical. Exact requirements, due dates, and minimum lengths detailed below.

It wasn't a mistake that Marinette had pushed herself to get ahead in this particular class. She had looked ahead and seen this particular project coming up and, well, filming some interviews at the Italian Embassy sounded like it would fit the bill perfectly.

"Do you really think that that's necessary at this point, Marinette?" Tikki asked from where she was perched on Marinette's sewing machine. "I mean, you have enough evidence to prove that Lila has hardly been truthful and shouldn't be trusted, and even if she tries to wriggle her way out of it, it's not going to work. Not with a truancy officer alerted and on her trail. Once an accusation has been filed, they will investigate it until they're satisfied. It's going to take more than a couple fake tears and excuses for them to drop it."

"Honestly, this bit is mostly because I'm still curious." Marinette sat back in her chair, scanning over the project guidelines. "Like, I know that Lila needed a backstory that would make it plausible that she could have met a bunch of famous people and be traveling all of the time, but why the Italian Embassy? Was that picture really of her mom? I just- I want to nose around a little. Besides, more evidence is always a good thing, and it doubles as a school assignment, too!"

"A school assignment that isn't due for weeks," Tikki pointed out. "You know what your mom told you, about not burning yourself out by overworking!"

Marinette shrugged, even as she made a few notes about things that she would have to do before filming- looking up some basic history about France-Italian relations, reaching out to a couple ambassadors to see if she could interview them, and seeing if she could check out some decent video camera and microphone equipment from the library were on the top of her list, along with coming up with questions that would hit all of the needed points plus a couple extra. "I mean, I think I'll be fine, especially because, well, I don't think I'm going to get invited to any get-togethers with the girls this week. Alya seemed pretty ticked with me when she left yesterday. So I'll have a lot of free time, probably."

Tikki made a face at that. "I suppose. But you still have Adrien coming over every day! It's not like you aren't speaking to any of your old classmates."

Marinette ducked her head, unable to hide her smile. Adrien had been spending a lot of time with her, and every afternoon they spent together made it that much easier for her to speak to him and see the time as hanging out as friends, not as a potential lead-up to a date. She could enjoy their time together fully, instead of being strung out and on edge.

It didn't take long for Marinette to get fully back into her schoolwork, continuing her slow edging forward ahead of the schedule. Despite her kwami's (and her mother's) worries, she really wasn't overworking herself. Pushing herself, maybe, but really, all Marinette was doing was putting her best foot forward and going at her own pace. It was just that her own pace was fast.

It was just that in class, they always had to slow down when someone didn't understand what was going on, which- well, in some classes, it could be pretty often. Then there were disruptions from people asking questions (or making comments about the famous people they had "met" that were somehow meant to be relevant to whatever they were doing) or having arguments, and the time spent handing out and collecting papers. There were breaks between classes, and even some classes where they ended up with extra, wasted time at the end of their class when they finished something early and didn't have enough time to start something new. That added up to a lot of time, it turned out, and with someone who was properly motivated, getting ahead in classes was a piece of cake.

Marinette was properly motivated. So motivated, in fact, that she completely missed Adrien calling her name from downstairs before coming up into her room, hair in disarray with sweat after his fencing lesson and backpack slung haphazardly over his shoulder.

"That doesn't look familiar. You must have passed us, then."

Marinette yelped, startling and whipping around. Adrien just looked amused at her reaction, pulling up his usual chair next to her. "Am I right?"

"Yeah, I'm working ahead," Marinette admitted, glancing back at her screen. "It gives me something to do. And when the curriculum was made, I think they factored in some interruptions during class, and I don't really have that. I mean, we had a meeting with a lawyer today, but that was kind of over lunch anyway so I didn't fall behind."

Adrien blinked, puzzled. "A lawyer?"

"My mom was talking to Madam Chamack, because they're friends, and she said that it would be the best idea," Marinette told him. "It'll get my expulsion cleared for sure, and will address some of the ongoing problems at the school."

A flash of uncertainty crossed Adrien's face and he started worrying at his lip. "So Ms. Bustier and Mr. Damocles will be getting in trouble, too, not just Lila?"

She had suspected that Adrien might have trouble with that. Marinette had too, because she had known Ms. Bustier for years now and for the most part, had enjoyed her as a teacher. But, well, it was impossible to ignore all of the serious missteps that Ms. Bustier had made. "Yeah. But if it was just Lila getting in trouble, then what happens down the road if another liar shows up, or just another bully in general, and they just keep doing the same thing where there aren't any punishments? I could handle it, but I couldn't always, and, well..."

"And not everyone is as resilient and brave as you," Adrien finished, the uncertainly on his face starting to ebb away. "And not everyone is as willing as you to stand up and fight, or help classmates. I know if it was me that Lila had targeted, I- well, I might try protesting, but I don't think it would go very far. I would end up homeschooled again for sure, and never get to go back to public school again."

"I think the rest of us would protest, and I would definitely go after Lila just like I am now," Marinette assured him. "But for kids in the future who might not have that- well, I don't want injustice to go unchecked. I'm not going to be surprised if someone gets akumatized over this, but better one or two people now than a whole slew of people in the future."

Adrien nodded, letting out a slow breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I can understand that. It makes sense, I was just surprised." He worried his lip, then perked up. "Oh, I meant to tell you right away- I think that Madam Mendeleev has caught on that Lila isn't telling the truth, because she isn't being as lenient with Lila as she used to be. She's not giving any accommodations whenever Lila tries to claim that she needs them because of some condition or another, and she's told Lila off about story time in her classroom."

Marinette giggled. "Oh, I would love to see that. I bet Lila is pretty mad about that."

"She's whined plenty, but I don't think that it's going to do much. Not if she doesn't have a doctor's note to back all of her 'conditions' up, and not when Madam Mendeleev has actually had students with some of the conditions that Lila has claimed before." Adrien grinned. "The look on Lila's face at that- oh, you should have been there. Al- some of the other classmates were scandalized that she was questioning a medical condition, and there was a whole thing- actually, I can see how you're getting so far ahead of us," Adrien interrupted himself with a snort. "Ten minutes of class, gone, just because of, uh, people pulling up sources on accommodating disabilities and trying to talk over Madam Mendeleev until they got sent to the office."

"Why do I get the feeling that you were referring to Alya?" Marinette asked with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. "Now she decides to go for her sources. She won't even entertain the idea of looking up sources for Lila's claims or for some of the stuff she posts on the Ladyblog, but the moment that someone questions Lila..."

Adrien quirked an eyebrow at her. "Should- should I ask?"

"Alya came over yesterday to update me on her 'investigation' and I commented on the fact that she wasn't even looking at Lila as a possibility even though she was the one leveling all of the accusations, and she got really ticked at me," Marinette told him. "She said something about making accusations without any evidence and being obsessed with Lila and then stormed out."

Adrien spluttered. "She- you- she accused you of making accusations without evidence? But you have a literal pile of evidence right over there- it's not hidden or anything! Like, it's super-obvious! How did she miss that?"

Marinette could only shrug. "You know Alya. When she gets focused on one thing, she just turns oblivious to everything else."

"That's frustrating." Adrien reached over to squeeze her hand comfortingly, flashing her a small smile. "I'm sure she'll be kicking herself once everything comes out."

"Yeah, especially because of the latest interview I got." Marinette reached forward, picking up the flash drive sitting next to her computer and waving it at him. "I got a brief interview with Ladybug, and she confirmed that the first time she heard of Lila was when she saw the video on the Ladyblog, and that she saw Lila throw away your father's book, and that she was in Paris on Heroes' Day, and that she's maliciously interfered with akuma battles before."

"Ooh, nice," Adrien said appreciatively. "That must have been hard to get, but that'll be good. And also a good way to point out to Alya that she literally didn't check anything."

Marinette could only smile. Actually, once she had gotten things set up, it had been quite easy to get the video. All she had really needed to do was record herself asking the questions, pitching her voice a little higher than usual, and then play them back while Ladybug answered the questions, doing her best to make it sound like she hadn't practiced already and pitching her voice slightly downwards.

The Miraculous would protect her identity no matter what, but there was no point in risking someone noticing that her voice and Ladybug's were incredibly similar.

"Are you almost done with evidence-collecting, do you think?" Adrien asked Marinette, giving the flash drive one last look before turning his attention to Marinette. "I mean, the sooner you break the news, the sooner you can come back."

Marinette winced. This was the news that she hadn't been looking forward to breaking. "Actually, I, uh..."

Adrien practically wilted. "You're not coming back?"

"My parents are really furious at the school," Marinette admitted. "We've been talking a lot, and I maybe hadn't told them everything that had been happening at school over the past few years with bullying and discipline, and- well, they said that unless there were significant changes, they don't want me going back. I'll be rejoining everyone in lycée," she added quickly before Adrien slouched straight off of his chair. "Which isn't that far off, really, in the grand scheme of things. And I can hang out with the class whenever, and if you want to come over like you are now, or over lunch..."

"So it's not like we won't be seeing you at all," Adrien finished, scooting closer to her. "I was worried about that."

Marinette flashed a smile at him. She was going to miss hanging out with people between classes, but sacrifices had to be made if she wanted to fully capitalize on her temporary homeschooling and it wouldn't be forever. "Right. I'll be right across the street, available to hang out. It's not the end of the word."

"And it gives me a reason to look forward to lycée," Adrien added on. He glanced at her computer screen, which still had her online school portal up. "And I was right, wasn't I? About you being ahead of Dupont now?"

"It wasn't hard," Marinette admitted. "You guys are behind, and when I work at my own speed, I can cover more than a day's work. So that's another reason it wouldn't really make sense for me to go back, because I'll be so far ahead. And it's probably going to be another week at least, because all of the legal stuff takes some time to put together and file."

Adrien nodded, still looking a bit let down. Clearly he had been hoping that Marinette would be returning to school soon, and as much as that made Marinette's heart race, she couldn't change her plans. "Right."

"But enough depressing stuff," Marinette decided, shutting her notebook and closing the school website before grinning up at Adrien. "Wanna play Mecha Strike?"

"That sounds perfect."

  Marinette headed up the steps of the Italian Embassy, a spring in her steps. It hadn't taken long to set up an appointment to interview an ambassador and a couple other staff members at the embassy, and they were more than willing to spend a few minutes with her. She had promised not to take up too much of their time- after all, they had important work to do- and now she was arriving early, just to make sure that something like a delayed bus wouldn't make her late.

Not that she would have allowed a delayed bus to make her late. After all, Ladybug could cross Paris faster than any bus could, so if it had come to that, she would have just transformed and raced across the rooftops. It wouldn't be ideal- she didn't want Chat Noir to see her out and about and interrupt his school day because he thought that there was an akuma- but the option was still there.

"So I'm meeting with Ambassador Bianchi in ten minutes and Monsieur Moretti after that," Marinette told Tikki as she mounted the last few steps and headed for the door. "I tested all of the equipment last night, so that I know how it works and that it works. I checked to make sure that all of my previous footage was off, so I have plenty of space. Tikki, am I forgetting anything?"

"No, I don't think so!" Tikki chirped, sticking her head out of Marinette's purse briefly before vanishing back inside. "You're all set, Marinette!"

Giving a determined nod, Marinette pulled open the door, stepping inside the embassy. A cheerful lady at the welcome desk gave her directions to the ambassador's office, and Marinette strode as confidently as she could down the hallway and up the stairs to the second floor. There were more than a couple people wandering down the halls chatting in Italian, and Marinette caught flashes of conversations as she passed them.

It wasn't hard to find the ambassador's office- the embassy had good signage, she would give them that- and Marinette stepped in the open door, coming to a stop in front of Ambassador Bianchi's secretary's desk, where a oddly familiar woman sat.

Lila's mother. And it definitely was Lila's mother because behind her, pinned to a very full corkboard, was a picture of Lila and her mom together with an older couple.

Well. Maybe Lila had been lying about her mother being an ambassador or in any sort of top diplomatic position, but she was at least at the Italian Embassy.

"Ah, you must be Ambassador Bianchi's eleven o'clock appointment," Mrs. Rossi said, giving Marinette a friendly smile. "She said something about a student project?"

"Yes, I'm on my Foreign Relations unit right now and we're supposed to do a project on France's relationship with another country. My Nonna is Italian, so..." Marinette shrugged. It wasn't an entire lie. Even if Lila hadn't been in the picture, Marinette probably would have picked Italy to research. That, or China. "I decided to learn a bit more about the country that side of the family is from."

"How lovely!" Mrs. Rossi exclaimed. She smiled at Marinette. "Now, if you want to take a seat over there to wait, the ambassador will be about five minutes."

"Okay," Marinette said automatically, then paused. Maybe she already had all of the evidence she needed to get Lila in very deep trouble, but she couldn't deny that she was really curious about Lila's mom and what exactly was going on there. "Or, actually- if you're busy or don't want to, that's fine, but could I maybe interview you about what you do at the embassy as well?"

Mrs. Rossi perked up. "Oh, I think I can spare a few minutes for that! I never really get asked about what I do," she confided as Marinette quickly pulled out her camera and attached the microphone to it. "Which I can understand, because everybody always talks about the ambassadors and the ministers and they get the spotlight, but there's plenty of staff behind the scene who make the entire place run smoothly. There's a lot of work involved- I work overtime most days, but that's also because I'm still getting used to this job."

Marinette nodded as she checked both mic and camera to make sure that they were running. "When I was reading up on what an embassy does, it certainly sounded complicated! It's not a huge surprise that there are people behind the scenes making sure that everything gets done."

"It might surprise you how many people that information does surprise." Mrs. Rossi considered Marinette again, pausing. Marinette tried to not stiffen up. Had Mrs. Rossi realized who she was? "Forgive me for prying, but I'm curious- shouldn't you be at school right now? Did they give you a pass so that you could do the interviews?"

Marinette shook her head, feeling herself starting to relax. Maybe Lila had decided that her mom might be suspicious or decide to move her to another school if she reported any problems- real or imaginary- to her and so hadn't mentioned Marinette at all. "I'm being homeschooled at the moment- or, rather, I'm enrolled in an online school for the rest of collège."

"Oh, that's quite nice," Mrs. Rossi commented, perking up. "And smart, considering the akuma attacks here in Paris! My daughter's collège was closed for several months because of akuma attacks there- or maybe it was just one akuma who was taking forever to defeat, I don't remember- and I do worry about how that's going to impact her education. I'd have her switch schools, but I worry that other schools would have the same problem and the one she's at is quite highly rated." She sighed. "And Lila seems to have made quite a few friends there, and she's gotten a boyfriend, so I don't want to make her switch and I hadn't had the time to look into other options anyway."

...okay, this was interesting. It also answered the question of how Lila's mom hadn't noticed her skipping school for months on end, but Marinette was really wondering how busy Mrs. Rossi was if she hadn't even looked into Lila's claims. One simple Google search, and she would have found out that no such long-term akuma existed.

She also had questions about the boyfriend claim. Something told Marinette that Lila had probably claimed that she was dating Adrien, who was likely to be less than happy about that claim.

"Huh, I hadn't heard any news about any collèges being closed because of akuma," Marinette said instead of questioning anything, shrugging one shoulder. "Odd. But getting back on track..." She made a show of getting the camera properly lined up, then peered over the top. "Can you tell me what you do here at the embassy?"

  Marinette was prepared.

Over the past couple of weeks, with Adrien's help and a bit of an assist from her family's lawyer, she had debunked pretty much all of Lila's lies. She had printed out pages of evidence and compiled video clips from the interviews she had done on flash drives. The lawsuits- both against the school and against Lila specifically- had just been filed, and Madam Chamack would be breaking the story that morning, while Marinette went in to confront Ms. Bustier and Lila.

Everything was ready, all of her evidence packed into her bag the previous evening, and Marinette was doing breathing exercises while waiting to head into the school. Her family's lawyer, several members of the school board, a substitute teacher, and a truancy officer were all waiting downstairs in the bakery, and would be accompanying her over.

A ding from her phone caught Marinette's attention, and she pulled it out of her purse. On-screen, there was a message from Adrien.

Looking forward to seeing you! You'll do great :)

Smiling, Marinette tapped out a quick reply before sending it and heading downstairs. Nerves were really building in her stomach now, but she pushed them back down. She had faced akumas and supervillains before. This would be a piece of cake.

"The bell has rung," Madam Rochefort commented, glancing up from her tablet. "Let's head over in five, to give people time to settle down."

Ms. Boutin flashed a grin at Madam Rochefort. "It's so odd, seeing you deliberately planning to make a scene during classes. Normally you're all about pulling teachers aside before or after school."

"They decided to make the accusations and expulsion a public spectacle, so I'm not going to grant them the privilege of resolving their problems in private." Madam Rochefort smiled at Marinette. "And I certainly couldn't deny Miss Dupain-Cheng here the satisfaction of throwing all of her evidence in her class's face."

Marinette smiled at that. She had been a little worried with all of the officials that had gotten involved that she wouldn't be able to carry out her (admittedly somewhat petty) plan, but they had been willing to accommodate her.

Five minutes later, they were marching over to the school. Ms. Boutin knocked on the large doors sharply, then stepped back to wait for an answer. Seconds later, Mr. Haprèle opened the doors, annoyed look giving way to confusion.

"Good morning, we're from the school board," Madam Rochefort announced, ushering Marinette in ahead of her and flashing her ID at . "We've come to speak to a couple of the teachers and your principal."

Mr. Haprèle nodded, stepping to the side to let them in even as the confused look stayed on his face. Marinette led the way up to Ms. Bustier's classroom, excitement mounting in every step.

She could do this. Everything was labeled so there was no chance of her messing anything up. There was no need to go into detail for anything if she didn't want to. For once, other people could exert some actual effort and look at the evidence she had helpfully gathered for them instead of her having to explain each and every piece.

"Go get 'em," Ms. Boutin told Marinette, patting her arm. "And we're right here, waiting for our cue. They won't be able to ignore you this time."

Nodding, Marinette put on her Ladybug face, then turned towards the door. With one last deep breath, she shoved open the door, sending it flying open and drawing every student's eye to her as she strode into the classroom, confidence in every step.

"Marinette!" Ms. Bustier exclaimed, rising from her desk at the front. There was a frown on her face. "What are you doing here? You've been expelled, you're not allowed on school property, especially during school hours-"

Marinette's fierce expression cut her off. "Actually, I'm here to contest my expulsion. I think you'll find that none of the requirements for expulsion were even met. Additionally-" Marinette started digging in her bag, a frown flashing across her face as she realized that it might be a bit difficult to pull things out of her bag.

"I can hold your bag, Marinette!" Adrien offered at once, sliding out of his seat and coming up front to join her, taking her bag and flashing her an encouraging smile. You've got this.

"Thank you, Adrien." Marinette returned his smile, then returned to her earlier intensity. "As I was saying- no procedure was followed. The decision to expel me was entirely based on claims made by a lying, thieving, completely untrustworthy liar."

Lila gasped theatrically from her seat, which- surprise, surprise- was now next to Alya, in Marinette's old spot. "You're still trying to call me a liar? Just because you're jealous-"

Marinette cut her off, pulling the first stack of packets out of her bag while staring Lila down. "Evidence that Lila was lying about saving Jagged Stone's cat and knowing him at all. Almost all of which is public information, if anyone had bothered to look." She slammed the first packet down on Ms. Bustier's desk. "That she was lying about knowing Prince Ali." Another slam. "And that literally all of her supposed involvement in charity work and other organizations is a lie, as are all of the other connections that she claimed to have and that I'm not even going to dignify naming."

This slam was even louder. There were several flinches around the room. Lila was starting to look a little less confident, her eyes darting towards Ms. Bustier.

"And, most importantly." Marinette's eyes flashed back to Ms. Bustier, who was looking very taken aback. "Which the teachers here really should have looked into properly, instead of just blindly believing Lila. She was lying about being out of Paris at all and was using posters as her background when she called us, which should have been obvious to anyone with eyes, because there were exactly zero pedestrians or cars behind her. I found all of the posters she used with a very simple reverse photo search."

There were gasps at that, and Ms. Bustier pressed a hand to her chest, looking over at Lila.

"Additionally, as if the posters weren't enough, I have interviews with both Ladybug and Mrs. Rossi that confirm that Lila was in Paris for the entirety of the time that she claimed to be traveling." Marinette reached in the bag one more time, pulling out her flash drive. Lila had gone pale at that, and oh, it was so satisfying. "Those were both very interesting, actually. Ladybug told me that the first time she had ever heard of Lila was when she saw the Ladyblog video where Lila was claiming to be her best friend, and that Lila has hated her for calling her out of the lies. Additionally, Lila has deliberately gotten in the way of the superheroes during akuma battles in order to sabotage them, and she was in Paris on Heroes' Day as Volpina, who made the illusions of Ladybug and Chat Noir fighting."

There were gasps at that. Marinette was not done.

"And on top of that, Ladybug saw Lila throwing a book into the trash- a book that Lila stole from Adrien." Marinette's eyes narrowed at Lila, whose mouth was opening and closing wordlessly. "Because she had gotten what she wanted out of it, also known as the fake Fox Miraculous that she had just bought from a Gabriel shop."

"Which, I might add, she tried to pass off as the real Fox Miraculous right away," Adrien chimed in from next to her. "And that necklace was the same one that she said was from her grandmother and she claimed that Marinette stole."

"And, if that isn't enough, Mrs. Rossi thought that Lila was staying home because the school was closed due to an extended akuma attack," Marinette finished, a smirk flashing across her face at the look of pure panic that flashed across Lila's face. Clearly she had thought that Marinette was bluffing about meeting her mother."Because Lila told her that the principal was akumatized and therefore the school was closed." Against her better judgment, Marinette's eyes flashed towards Alya for a moment. "How's that for research and evidence, hmmm?"

"I- no-" Lila attempted, clearly scrambling to pull herself together. "That is- a misrepresentation of what- Marinette is just making things up, she's just jealous and bitter that I didn't let her bully me-"

"I have video evidence, Lila," Marinette told her, using her best cold, no-nonsense, I-am-a-superhero-and-you-WILL-listen-to-me voice. She could see several people shrink back, intimidated. "And an entire pile of evidence to disprove your other lies. And..." She reached into her bag for her final folder, opening it up and pulling out another packet before striding over to Lila and slapping it down on the desk in front of her. "A lawsuit against you, for slander with malicious intent."

"But Lila can't get in trouble with the law," Max protested from the back of the room. "She has diplomatic immunity because of her mother."

Marinette smirked at that. Lila was really wilting now. "Top diplomats might get diplomatic immunity for their families, sure. But the secretary for the ambassador certainly doesn't get immunity for her family."

There were gasps at that.

"Additionally, diplomatic immunity can be waived by the family member or the home country even if it did apply," Mr. Bernard announced, stepping into the classroom. "Which we have seen before, and if it had applied in this case, I'm sure we would see it again."

"Who are you?" Ms. Bustier asked, stepping forward. "This all seems like a lot of disruption, we are a school-"

"I am a truancy officer, and Ms. Rossi here is in quite a bit of trouble. Skipping multiple months of school is definitely grounds for punishment, particularly when I suspect that she forged her mother's signature on the school leave forms." Mr. Bernard flashed a doubtful look at Ms. Bustier. "If, of course, there was even an attempt at following procedure in that case."

Ms. Bustier flushed. "We- we were told it was a very last-minute trip, and that Mrs. Rossi was quite busy, and we wanted to be accommodating, so we waited until after the return to really push for ..."

"Procedure is not optional. It is there for a reason, to keep things like this from happening." Mr. Bernard did not look impressed, but he jerked his chin at Lila. "Ms. Rossi. Your mother has been contacted and is on her way. Collect your things at once."

Lila glanced around frantically, rather like a cornered rabbit, but all of her classmates were glaring at her. Slowly, she gathered up her things, picking up the lawsuit notice last, and then headed out after Mr. Bernard, dragging her feet the entire way.

There was a pause.

"It- well, it seems as though I owe you an apology, Marinette," Ms. Bustier finally said, sinking back into her seat. "I should have looked into things more thoroughly instead of letting them slide. I'll get your expulsion wiped off of your record at once, and you can return right away."

"Actually, I won't be returning to Francois-Dupont," Marinette informed her, ignoring the gasps from the class in favor of fishing out the last of her forms and setting it on Ms. Bustier's desk. "My parents don't think that the environment here is conducive to my learning experience, and they don't trust that there will be enough change in the remainder of the year to satisfy them."

Ms. Bustier reached across the desk for the form at once, her eyes going wide as she took in the top page. It was another lawsuit, this one against the school for not following proper procedure for expulsion and for failing to protect their students from a bully.

Marinette had been a little unsure about the last bit, but the school board had pointed out that, had any of the teachers looked into things, Mr. Bourgeois didn't actually have the power to punish the school for properly disciplining Chloe, and even if they couldn't be bothered to look that much up, they at the very least could have separated Chloe and Marinette into different homerooms instead of placing them together for so many years in a row. It wouldn't have been possible to place them in different classrooms every year- after all, Chloe bullied everyone- but getting a break every other year shouldn't have been too much to expect.

Having adults standing up to Chloe instead of leaving students to do that themselves shouldn't have been too much to expect, either.

"I'll be rejoining the class for lycée, but not before," Marinette added, because she could hear Rose starting to sniffle. "And I can hang out with you guys whenever, but my parents aren't at all happy with the administration here."

Rose managed a small smile when Marinette glanced her way, nodding in understanding.

"Speaking of people being unhappy with the administration, we need to speak to you, Ms. Bustier," Madam Rochefort announced, sticking her head through the door. She stepped aside to let the substitute teacher who they had brought in. "We'll go to Mr. Damocles' office, if you could."

Ms. Bustier nodded, even paler as she followed Madam Rochefort out. Marinette took that as her cue to leave as well, tucking her empty folder back into her bag and taking it back from Adrien. He was smiling at her, proud and a little sad at the same time.

"We'll miss seeing you during class," Adrien murmured in her ear as he slid Marinette's bag over her head, arranging it at her side before pressing a quick kiss to the side of her head. "But I know I'll visit as often as I can. For both the company and the food."

"Our door is always open for you," Marinette promised, trying not to flush and probably failing. Adrien was too cute for her blood pressure sometimes. "And you have my number, too. If you want to come over during lunch, too, you can."

Adrien perked up at that as he escorted her to the door. "I might end up never leaving if you keep inviting me over, just so you know."

Marinette giggled. As though she would actually ever complain about that. "We'll make up a bed for you."

"Very tempting." Adrien smiled at her, then glanced back into the classroom. The substitute teacher was looking back at him. "I have to go, but see you later?"

"Of course." With a final wave, Marinette stepped back, watching Adrien head back into the classroom before turning herself and heading back out of the school. She was by herself now, the school board members and lawyer and truancy officer all busy, but that didn't matter. She had done what she had come to school to do. The expulsion would be wiped from Marinette's record, and the faculty at Dupont would be given the help and training they needed to be far better teachers for the next set of students to come through and all of the students after them, too. On top of that, Lila had been taken down, her following gone and her reputation in shatters. With any luck, she would be removed from Paris entirely in order to keep her from getting akumatized again.

Hopefully her next set of teachers would be given a heads-up about Lila's tendency to make up stories so that no one else would have to go through the same thing that Marinette just had.

Humming to herself, Marinette paused at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to change. She had taken down one schoolyard bully and made life in Paris just that little bit better for everyone.

And now that that was over... well, now that she had more free time, she could turn her attention to a much bigger target. Hawkmoth had better beware, because before long, Ladybug was going to be on his case.

[cecelianonymous22]

Part 9! The last one

Also hey I fixed my drawing tablet!

So, this concludes the Expensive Headphones Creep comic. And I can’t really explain how much this means to me. Like, okay, I know the art’s not that good or that I don’t have many notes on my posts, but this was a long term project that I started back in August and I’m so fucking proud of myself that I finished it. I don’t really have a good record when it comes to finishing big projects but..I’m hoping that’ll change soon. I have a full fanfic in the works that I’m excited about (also Expensive Headphones, go figure) so hopefully that becomes another finished project. 

I plan to post things other than Expensive Headphones, by the way. I love rarepairs way too much. I just haven’t gotten around to drawing them because I’m super into ExpHead and all. 

Also, I plan on making an ask blog based on my BMC teacher AU soon! So, maybe stick around for that?

And I’m also into stuff besides BMC (shocking, I know). So, maybe if I get around to it, I’ll post content for Just Roll with It, Epithet Erased, Omori, My Hero Academia, etc. Whatever the fuck I feel like tbh

But thank you to everyone who enjoyed this series! I plan on posting the full comic in a few days so..if you’re having trouble finding all the parts, they’ll all be there. Along with comments on some of the panels

[tiefthief]

hi everyone! I’ve been meaning to make a post for a long while on here but just haven’t had the energy or really known how to. 

first of all, i want to give my apologies for not posting for a very long time. between coursework as well as health and fatigue issues, i hadn’t really had much time to work on digital art over the past year. my course is now over, but i’m in the midst of getting my tablet replaced as it decided to kick the bucket a couple months back. i’ve been doing some art but it’s been with my old tablet, which is pretty broken as is. that runs into the second thing: commissions. i have a total of about 5 [?] commissions i’ve had queued this past year, but i’ve only been able to complete one of them. to anyone who has commissioned me, i’ll be working on those again as soon as my replacement tablet comes in, but if you’re not able to wait [which i understand], i’m happy to give refunds. 

lastly, i’ve been considering moving and revamping this blog for a bit now as well. i’ve got a lot of old art i’m not too happy with anymore, but i’d rather not delete it since other people do seem to like it, plus i think remaking this blog will give me a bit more motivation to post more art once i have the time to sit down and make it. when i do, i’ll change this @ back to slimegull and make the new blogs username this one. my main here on tumblr will stay the same [ @damnek, i haven’t been very active on there either] and i’m hopefully going to fix up the twitter account i made to post art on [www.twitter.com/tief_thief]. my main on there also remains the same [www.twitter.com/jimothylawrence]. if anyone has any questions feel free to dm me!

[chicgeekgirl89]

Happy Coronaversary

Fandom: NCIS LA

Characters: Marty Deeks, Kensi Blye, G Callen, Sam Hanna, Nell Jones, Monty

A/N: So this fic is Corona related but it’s a very fluffy, not-so-serious take on it. I would like everyone to be aware that I absolutely understand the severity of the situation and this is just for fun. Also I feel like the team is considered essential personnel and wouldn’t necessarily be at home. Anyway, enjoy.

                        XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

“Deeks, what the hell are you doing?” Sam asked, his face arranged in that particularly annoyed look he saved especially for the most dramatic member of their team.

“Social distancing,” Deeks said, or rather, called, from halfway across the room.

At some point before everyone’s arrival that morning he’d dragged his desk as far away from the rest as he could get it and then taped off a large circle around it. “It’s for everyone’s safety,” he told them.

“It’s six feet Deeks, not a football field,” Callen said. “Besides, we’ve been together every day this week. If one of us has it, we all have it.”

“Tell that to Eric. He locked himself in Ops and won’t open the door for anyone except Nell. And even she has to wash her hands three times first,” he said.

“I sing the chorus of ‘Cell Block Tango’ from Chicago,” Nell said from where she was leaning against the corner of Callen’s desk, flicking through her tablet. “He’d better knock it off soon or he’s going to have it coming.”

“Is he doing this at home too?” Sam asked.

Kensi rolled her eyes. “He’s slept in the guest room every night this week. Only Monty is allowed to visit.”

“Isn’t it your anniversary today?” Callen asked.

“Yes it is.”

“How are you…never mind,” he said.

“Oh that’s right! Happy Anniversary you two!” Nell said. “Are you doing something fun to celebrate?”

“Well we were planning to go up to San Diego this weekend, but I guess we’ll be doing take out at home instead,” Kensi told her.

“What are you guys talking about?” Deeks hollered. 

Kensi turned around and gave him a look. “We’re questioning why I decided to marry a crazy man a year ago!”

“Daisy land? Do you mean Disneyland? That’s closed because of the virus!” Deeks yelled back.

She turned back and looked at her colleagues. “Do you think it’s too late for an annulment?” 

“Considering what you two get up to in the burn room I think that’s out,” Nell said.

“You think that’s bad, you’ve never caught them at the bar after hours,” Callen said with a smirk.

“Your lease doesn’t extend to the bar so I don’t know why you come down in the first place!” Kensi said with a glare.

“You have good snacks down there. Deeks said it was fine.”

“During business hours! Not in the middle of the night!”

Sam stood, grabbing his bag. “Yeah I’m going to social distance from all of you. I’ll be in the upstairs office if anybody needs me.”

“Sam? Where ya going?” Deeks yelled. “Are you getting coffee? Can you get me a latte? One of those ones with the little happy faces on them? From down the street? Sam? Buddy?”

                               XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kensi had had absolutely enough of this charade. Sometimes Deeks took his performance art too far and this time the humor had worn thin about the time he started insisting they take separate cars to work. So tonight, she was taking matters into her own hands.

She stopped outside the guest room door a little after nine. Monty wandered into the hallway and looked up at her hopefully. “Sorry buddy. Mom and Dad need some alone time tonight.”

Opening the door she stepped into the room and closed it tightly behind her. “Baby, I told you we—“ Deeks’ protest died immediately as she dropped her bathrobe to the floor to reveal one of his favorite nighties, the one with a whole lot of lace and not much else.

“Happy Anniversary,” she said. “I know we can’t go away for our weekend like we planned, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun anyway.” She batted her eyes at him. “Do you want to make a quarantine baby with me?”

“Oh heck yes,” he said, throwing aside the book he’d been reading.

She smiled and took a step back. “It’s too bad we have to keep a social distance of six feet.”

“You’ve been saying all week that it doesn’t apply to couples who live together. I think maybe you’re right.”

“Mmm…I don’t know. I’m starting to think you’re right. Better safe than sorry.” She reached behind her back for the doorknob but Deeks bounded out of bed and caught her hand, pressing her up against the door. 

“Don’t toy with me Fern,” he growled.

“I’m not the one who’s been playing games all week,” she told him.

“Do I look like I’m playing now?” His eyes were dark and she felt a shiver of pleasure down her spine.

She cleared her throat, not ready to give in so easily. “I don’t know, you’ve been pretty difficult to deal with lately. Maybe it’s my turn to social distance.”

He leaned close, hands trailing slowly up her sides. “I bet I can find a way to make it up to you.”

“Oh you think so?”

“Mhm I do.”

His lips found hers, hot and wanting, and she gave in completely, letting him pick her up and carry her to the bed. He set her down and then knelt in front of her, pulling off his t-shirt before he ran a hand up her leg, toying with a ribbon by her hip. “You picked this one on purpose.”

“Yes I did.”

“You know how I feel about this one.”

“I do.”

“You played dirty.”

“I got what I wanted didn’t I?”

“Will you still love me when the Corona gets me?”

“Deeks.” She grabbed his arm and fixed him with an extremely serious look. “Shut up.”

“Yes ma’am.”

[ace-angel-judas]

Raspberry Red I

Pairing: Johnny/Jasmine 

Series: The Love Stories 

Synopsis: Jasmine was building her life, working as an arts manager in a company and watching her drawings and designs come to life. Everything was fulfilling and she couldn’t ask for anything more until an old memory appeared on her set. 

Finally sitting down at her desk, Jasmine opened her laptop and pulled out her drawing tablet, getting everything prepared. Ever since starting her internship at SM Entertainment, she had been exposed to a world of creation. All the artists were so creative, giving her the chance to learn from everyone around her. 

Although, Jasmine wasn’t overly invested in kpop. She hardly knew anything about it or many of the groups, other than the ones under the company and the ones her mother would obsess over when she was younger. H.O.T and Shinhwa. So, working for an idol company didn’t mean she freaked out as much as someone else would. Hell, Jasmine found herself more lucky that they had hired her, since she was only half Korean and from America. 

Slipping her glasses onto her face, she crossed her legs and opened her unfinished drafts. Jasmine had done well with designing the sets and layouts for Red Velvet’s psycho and now they were giving her more work. Hopefully soon, she’d be a full time arts manager and not just an intern. After graduating from College, Jasmine had straight away gone and searched for work in order to pay back her parents and the internship had been offered to her. So after an interview in the states and in Korean, she had been on a place to Korea at the beginning of the year. 

The phone next to her dinged, making her picking it up and answering. Her head manager was calling her down to the meeting room. Jasmine was still surprised by the way Korea worked, they heavily relied on their phones a lot at work after all. It was a rush down to the meeting room, getting there as soon as she could. The manager wasn’t strict by any means but, Jasmine wanted to leave a good mark. 

As she stepped into the room, Jasmine pulled the glasses off her face and fixed her hair slightly, smiling brightly as she innocently greeted her manager. He was looking over a few concept ideas, brows pulled together. 

“Hello manager, I’m here,” Jasmine greeted. 

“Look at these,” He stated, “There some concept ideas for the next comeback for NCT 127,” 

She bowed as she gathered the sheets of paper, looking over the concepts and biting her lip. Jasmine would forever thank her mother for teaching her Korean when she was younger or she would be screwed for this job. 

“Well, I don’t like any of them,” Jasmine explained as the manager crossed his arms, “Not to offend you but, the sheets say the concept is for a fighting style and as idols they need something slick and attractive, these are all a bit brutish,” 

Watching as the manager stayed silent, Jasmine’s heart thumped in her chest. The last thing she needed was to offend the head of her department and get black listed, or well, fired. Which was worse, she couldn’t decide. Finally, the short male nodded and smiled. 

“Okay, make some designs and have them on my desk tomorrow morning,” 

Jasmine nodded and bowed, forcing a smile onto her lips, “Of course,” 

Looks like it was another night of no sleep. 

--- 

Working on a set had somehow become Jasmine’s favourite thing to do. 

Something about seeing the drawings and designs come to life felt surreal, it was like there was a beautiful sense of achievement in it becoming a real thing. Many artists loved for their ideas to come to life and Jasmine was so thrilled to see it happen. 

Wearing overalls that were covered in paint and a banana with a pony tail, Jasmine was invested in the design on her ipad. She had spent hours on it, making it perfect. Despite being Korean, she really did love the aesthetic of Japan’s architect and design. A lot of her inspiration for this specific set steamed from the Asian neighbor, from beautiful samurai and night life of the country. 

The set was filled with people, as the idols would be shooting later on in the day. Her interactions with the groups were limited, not that Jasmine really cared but it would be nice to discuss their ideas of what they wanted their music videos to look like. 

“The idols are arriving on set now to get their make up on,” Someone said, “They really art beautiful,” 

“None of them are my type,” Jasmine shrugged, looking between the screen and the set. 

“You should get out more!” Yoonah was an older girl and the previous maknae in the arts department, she was dating someone from publicity, “Are do you have a secret lover back in America?” 

Shaking her head, Jasmine blushed. Her love life was discussed quite a bit by the older staff members, most of them being married or dating long term and oozing for that young love aspect of life that had passed. Only two men had ever truly captured her heart. One was her now ex boyfriend, they’d broken up since she was moving to Korea and he’d been unable to deal with it, demanding she stay for him. 

And of course, her high school best friend. A boy who originally had been her same height but suddenly became a sky scraper and had the worst long hair in existence that was constantly swept to the side. A boy who played volleyball and tried to teach her how to play the piano during all their sleepovers but was never successful. Someone she always wondered about. 

“There’s no one in America,” Jasmine laughed, shaking her head, “I’d rather focus on my career, I’m a bit particular in my taste in men,” 

“You never know,” Yoonah winked as she walked away. 

Placing the iPad down and pulling the paint brush from behind her ear, placing it between her lips and chewing on the end. A habit she had started as a child and never broke. 

“Jasmine?!” 

-- 

The ever lasting sense of tiredness was hanging over the group, a feeling that never seemed to go away with their jobs. Johnny had a cup of coffee in his hand, while Sophia was motoring her mouth away from beside him. He’d learnt to filter her out quite easily. 

But now Jaehyun was responding, and they were way too lively in the morning. They were discussing something about Sophia’s other group, which didn’t really concern him. Johnny was more in awe at how their set looked, it felt familiar some how and it welcomed him. Sophia suddenly stopped, as did the other two. 

“Look, I’m straight-” 

“I doubt that sometimes,” Jaehyun laughed. 

Sophia rolled her eyes, pointing towards a girl standing in demin overalls and cheap discount white converse, a red bandanna in her hair with her curly hair in a pony tail, the ends a raspberry red. She even had red frames over her face. 

“She is beautiful,” Sophia pointed out. 

Jaehyun nodded as he stood beside their female member, “Oh damn, she is,” 

Tilting his head, Johnny stared at the woman. He was being oddly silent but the other two were too in awe at the female. She was short, maybe around 5′2 and more chubby than skinny. They were speaking the truth, she really was beautiful. 

Although the moment she lifted her glasses off her face and smiled, Johnny dropped the coffee cup in his hand and perked up like a meerkat. 

“Jasmine?!” 

[rickandmortysoulbound]

Announcement (Comic Update/Life update?)

So for everyone who reads my Comic Rick and Morty Soulbound this post is for you XD

I have more than one problem right now and hopefully we can fix one of them today or it's going to be so hard to finish it.

First I'm currently (trying) to sketch the last chapter and epilogue of my comic so WOOP WOOP (let’s be super positive and optimistic and say SOON)

Second of all ... I'm in a creative down phase like art block which makes drawing the last chapter hard XD

Third point: my tablet is fucking around like never before. It draws lines even though I'm not really touching the surface of my tablet with the pen and it always changes from my sketching pen tool  to the "moving the picture around" tool (sorry I don't know what that feature is called because I NEVER USE IT XD), which is SO DAMN ANNOYING and takes a lot of my time.

Last thing: I'm so super sorry you guys have to wait so long. I just really want to be finished with all the sketches first before I outline, color and upload again.  I'm scared people lose interest or get sick of waiting or that all my readers are leaving the fandom entirely. I'm probably pushing myself way too much. On good days I manage to draw 2-3 pages but I always feel that’s not enough and then I have awful days when I only can finish 2 panels or nothing at all. I feel like that’s not enough but maybe I'm doing wonderful and I don't know because I can't tell if 2-3 pages a day are a good amount XD

Please be patient

have a preview picture

[buckybarnesbingo]

BBB Week 36 Roundup!

Is everyone excited for our party this weekend?!  We sure are!  We’ll be having our traditional round robin, games, sprints, and there will be another drawing for tokens.  See you on the 19th!

And don’t forget, we have 15 more days until the end of the round.

Title: Ask For Much - Chapter 7: Frenemies Forever Collaborator: buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Link: Tumblr Square Filled: Y1 - Frenemies Ship: Stucky Rating: Mature Major Tags: hurt/comfort, angst, frenemies, volunteer work, supportive Sam Wilson Summary: The last person Bucky wants to talk to after a bad 24 hours is his frenemy Sam Wilson, but the universe has other ideas. Or Sam knows way too much about Bucky’s sex life. Word Count: 1288

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Title: Ask For Much - Chapter 8: Separation Anxiety Collaborator: buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Link: Tumblr Square Filled: Y4 - Lending a Hand Ship: Stucky Rating: Mature Major Tags: hurt/comfort, angst, frenemies, denial, travel for work, curating art Summary: Bucky takes the plunge, but Steve has other ideas. Or Bucky’s reminded Steve doesn’t owe him anything. Word Count: 1124

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Title: The Archive Collaborator: shakespeareanqueer Link: Tumblr Square Filled: B5 - Kink: Office Sex Ship: Bucky/Reader Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Sexual language and implied sexual activity Summary: You work in the office for the Avengers. Why does Bucky spend so much time in your office? What is he up to? Word Count: 1230

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Title: Fragile: Handle With Care Collaborator: starjargon Link: AO3 Square Filled: K2 - Handle with Care Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: Memory Loss, brief mentions of PTSD, mentions of past crimes Summary: The Winter Soldier doesn’t remember how to be a person anymore. All he knows is his head isn’t right, he doesn’t want to hurt people anymore, and he used to have a name. So he finds people who understand, and hopefully, learns to be more than just a weapon. Word Count: 1344

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Title: Art: How Do I Live Collaborator: LiquidLightz Link: AO3 Square Filled: B5 - Never Again Ship: Stucky Rating: Teen Major Tags: art Summary: My main artwork for the fabulous slow-burn romantic fix-it adventure that is powercrow's Planet Hulk / MCU Endgame crossover fic "lost in time, lost in space". Featuring Planet Hulk gladiator Steve, Devil Dinosaur, Wakanda Bucky, and all your canon MCU favourites, as well as other original fantastical creatures and Planet Hulk inhabitants. In this scene, PlanetHulk!Steve is mourning his presumed-dead beloved husband Bucky. Word Count: 259

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Title: Hanukkah Collaborator: BookDragon13 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: C3 - Free Space Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: Jewish bucky, moodboard Summary: Bucky and the Maximoffs Do Hanukkah together Word Count:100

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Title: Ask For Much - Chapter 9: The Envelope Collaborator: buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Link: Tumblr Square Filled: U2 - Newspaper Clippings Ship: Stucky Rating: Mature Major Tags: hurt/comfort, angst, loneliness, long-distance friendship, friendship Summary: Bucky’s not handling Steve’s absence very well, but a well-timed phone call makes things better. Or Bucky and Alpine cuddle, and it’s adorable. Word Count: 1039

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Title: his body is his journal Collaborator: abitnotgoodiebag Link: Tumblr Square Filled: B5 - tattoos Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: art Summary: Character design for nopowers!au I’ve been throwing around in my head

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Title: The Heart of My Own (burn it down low) - Chapter 3: The Sky Collaborator: Minka Link: AO3 Square Filled: C5 – Shapeshifter Ship: Stucky Rating: Mature Major Tags: None, but adult themes Summary: In a deep, dark forest, a city-weary deliveryman finds more than he bargained for. Word Count: 16,151

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Title: Magical Secrets Collaborator: fanbinbun Link: AO3 Square Filled: C5 - Innocent Until Proven Guilty Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Teen Major Tags: fantasy AU Summary: Wrongly accused, Bucky Barnes is left for dead by the village he called home. Word Count: 2233

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Title: Ask For Much - Chapter 10: Every Rose, Lots of Thorns Collaborator: buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Link: Tumblr Square Filled: B3 - Poison Ship: Stucky Rating: Mature Major Tags: hurt/comfort, angst, reunion, best friends, music and food Summary: Steve’s home from LA. A reunion’s in order. Or Bucky has no chill. Word Count: 978

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Title: Somebody that I used to know Collaborator: kalee60 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: B2 - Kink: Shower Sex Ship: Stucky Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Bets & Wagers, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff and Smut, Mutual Pining Summary: Bucky Barnes, if asked, would say he led an ordinary life. He owned a successful business, worked long hours, had a pain in the butt best friend and dated good looking men on the odd occasion - though if pressed, he might admit he was craving a bit more in the romance department. But then he literally barrels into a stranger’s life, a stranger that might not be so strange after all, a stranger who actually seems to know him very well - but for the life of him, Bucky can’t remember ever being friends with such a gorgeous beefcake, who is funny, nice and genuinely seems to like Bucky for who he is. Suddenly a ridiculous wager is cast, and Bucky finds himself with five guesses to remember how he knows this mystery man. With nothing to lose, Bucky embarks on an odd but exhilarating adventure, and soon realises that maybe, just maybe, life doesn’t have to be so ordinary after all. Word Count: 3054

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Title: Come One, Come All Collaborator: plutosrose Link: AO3 Square Filled: C2 - AU: Circus Ship: Stucky Rating: Explicit Major Tags: Alternate Universe - Circus, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Idiots in Love, Thigh Riding Summary: Bucky's new trapeze partner is a jerk he once met in Vegas. Word Count: 2296

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Title: Date Night In (Moodboard) Collaborator: ABrighterDarkness Link: Tumblr Square Filled: C3 - Free Ship: Stucky Rating: Gen Major Tags: moodboard  Summary: Quiet nights for dates can be hard to come by.  Sometimes, they just have to make the time fit.  Going out is great.  Staying in though?  There’s very nearly nothing better.  Except for maybe the morning after.

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Title: Art: lost in time, lost in space - Chapter 4: Falling Collaborator: LiquidLightz Link: AO3 Square Filled: U4 - Fix-It Ship: Stucky Rating: Teen Major Tags: Fanart, Planet Hulk crossover, Multiverse, Canon Divergence, Endgame Fix-it of sorts Summary: This is my banner artwork for the fabulous slow-burn romantic fix-it action adventure that is this Planet Hulk / Endgame crossover fic "lost in time, lost in space". Featuring Planet Hulk gladiator Steve, Devil Dinosaur, and Wakanda Bucky.

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Title: Soulmates? - Chapter 1 Collaborator: BookDragon13 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K3 - soulmates Ship: Buck/Darcy Rating: Gen Major Tags: Light angst, mentions of character death, bit of a slow burn   Summary: Bucky had left his soulmate behind in the war. He doesn’t think he’ll have another one, until he meets one Darcy Lewis, the grandniece of the soulmate he left behind Word Count: 3207

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Title: Obviously Oblivious Collaborator: alwaysabrighterdarkness Link: AO3 Square Filled: C4 - Jealousy Ship: Stucky Rating: Teen Major Tags: Mutual Pining, Jealousy, Avengers Merchandise, Oblivious to Lovers Summary: Steve supposed it didn’t help matters that Bucky started favoring the Avengers themed clothing that had started being sold almost immediately following the battle against the Chitauri.  Iron Man and Black Widow hoodies.  Hulk and Hawkeye sweatpants.  Thor t-shirts.  Plural on every one of them, and Bucky wore them all the time. No Cap gear.  Not a one. Word Count: 4217

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Title: Loki and the Silvertongues Collaborator: abitnotgoodiebag Link: Tumblr Square Filled: B2 - Band Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: art  Summary: The other heroes find that if they just let these three have this outlet, everybody wins

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Title: Art: Home is with You Collaborator: LiquidLightz Link: AO3 Square Filled: Y3 - Bucky/Steve Ship: Stucky Rating: Teen Major Tags: art Summary: My final artwork for the fabulous slow-burn romantic fix-it adventure that is powercrow's Planet Hulk / MCU Endgame crossover fic "lost in time, lost in space". Featuring Planet Hulk gladiator Steve, Devil Dinosaur, Wakanda Bucky, and all your canon MCU favourites, as well as other original fantastical creatures and Planet Hulk inhabitants. In this scene, PlanetHulk!Steve and Endgame Bucky get their hard-earned Happy Ending 💞

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Title: Hot, Sticky, Sweet - Stuckony Fancraft Photoshoot Collaborator: Politzania Link: Tumblr Square Filled: Y3 - Bucky/Steve Ship: Stuckony Rating: Mature Major Tags: photoshoot, cracky as hell, gingersmut Summary: Gingerbread Tony and Steve welcome Bucky back after he’s been re-baked.

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Title: Ask For Much - Chapter 11: Ruin Me Collaborator: buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Link: Tumblr Square Filled: C1 - Kink: Messy/Dirty Ship: Stucky Rating: Explicit Major Tags: hurt/comfort, angst, reunion sex, 69 (sex position), snowballing Summary: Steve doesn’t want to talk. Bucky doesn’t either. Instead, they decide to use their mouths for other things. Or Bucky doesn’t mind a mess. Word Count: 1682

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Title: Drabbles, Assemble! - Chapter 17: Armed and Ready (Winter Soldier braid) Collaborator: lbibliophile Link: Tumblr Square Filled: C3 - free space Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: drabble, fancraft, tablet weaving, Bucky Barnes’ metal arm, A:IW Summary: He looks at the open case; at the dark limb with its bright tracery. He should have known this was coming. He had known.

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Title:  …God, I hate you Collaborator: abitnotgoodiebag Link: Tumblr Square Filled: Y5 - yoga Ship: BuckySam Rating: Teen Major Tags: art, explicit language Summary: Bucky would really just like 20 minutes. Is 20 minutes too much to ask? (In Sam Wilson’s house it is definitely too much to ask)

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Title: Ask For Much - Chapter 12: Plenty of Nothing Collaborator: buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Link: Tumblr Square Filled: U5 - “I’ve Got Nothin’” Ship: Stucky Rating: Explicit Major Tags: hurt/comfort, angst, argument, blowup, misunderstanding Summary: The morning after. Hangovers suck. Or Steve’s had enough. Word Count: 1135

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Title: K1 - Undercover as Tourists Collaborator: pherryt Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K1 - Undercover as Tourists Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Gen Major Tags: art  Summary: Sooooooo I initially drew this on green scrap paper with a #2 pencil with intent to transfer it to nicer paper after and then… just liked the pencil sketch so much I kept going. And then just adjusted the color quality after Based this picture off an old photo I took of my daughter in front of the St Patricks Cathedral in Manhattan (inspired by the fact that i take pictures of everything everywhere and my bestie is always begging me to put away the damn camera, you look like a goddamn tourist!) Lastly - how do you know they’re undercover? Well, duh, if you *knew* they wouldn’t be very good at their jobs, right? eh, eh? Okay, I’ll see myself out… Also, foreshortening is still a PITA

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Title: Somebody that I used to know Collaborator: kalee60 Link: AO3 Square Filled: B2 - kink: shower sex Ship: Stucky Rating: Explicit Major Tags: childhood friends AU, explicit sexual content Summary: Bucky Barnes, if asked, would say he led an ordinary life. He owned a successful business, worked long hours, had a pain in the butt best friend and dated good looking men on the odd occasion - though if pressed, he might admit he was craving a bit more in the romance department. But then he literally barrels into a stranger's life, a stranger that might not be so strange after all, a stranger who actually seems to know him very well - but for the life of him, Bucky can't remember ever being friends with such a gorgeous beefcake, who is funny, nice and genuinely seems to like Bucky for who he is. Suddenly a ridiculous wager is cast, and Bucky finds himself with five guesses to remember how he knows this mystery man. With nothing to lose, Bucky embarks on an odd but exhilarating adventure, and soon realises that maybe, just maybe, life doesn't have to be so ordinary after all. Word Count: 6447

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Title: Ask For Much - Chapter 13: Moral Support Collaborator: buckybarnesdeservestobehappy Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K2 - Upgrade Ship: Stucky Rating: Explicit Major Tags: hurt/comfort, angst, friendship, moral support, dating Summary: Bucky can’t deal with Steve’s rejection, so he agrees to meet Natasha for Brunch. She and Sam have a plan to get things back on track. Or Bucky gets strong-armed. (Pun intended.) Word Count: 826

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Title: afternoon delight Collaborator: abitnotgoodiebag Link: Tumblr Square Filled: Y1 - kink: gentle sex Ship: BuckySam Rating: Mature Major Tags: NSFW/nudity, art Summary: There’s a Sam, there’s a Bucky, there’s a bed.

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Title: Fairy Soldier Collaborator: marvelcollabcupid Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K3 - glitter Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: art  Summary: Fairy Bucky with glitter

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Title: Bandages and Soot Collaborator: fanbinbun Link: AO3 Square Filled: C3 - Free Space Ship: WinterHawk Rating: Teen Major Tags: fluff, injuries Summary: “Oh, you’re new. Hi! I’m Clint. I come here often.” “I have been warned.” Bucky said with amusement curling his lips. “Got a name, or should I just give in and start calling you ‘hot nurse’?” Word Count: 2365

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Title: Holiday Recipe Video Collaborator: BookDragon13 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K1 - YouTuber Bucky Ship: Stucky Rating: Gen Major Tags: slight swearing, sex pun   Summary: Bucky and Steve make a YouTube video showing how to make their favorite Christmas recipe from their childhood Word Count: 622

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Title: The Midnight Fox - Chapter 1: Prologue Collaborator: Minka Link: AO3 Square Filled: K2 – “I Had a Plan” Ship: Stucky Rating: Mature Major Tags: royalty, bodyguard AU Summary: Amid the flashing lights, high fashion, and crystalline champagne flutes of the royal court of Estia, a deadly intrigue is brewing. There are whispers in the night; talk of a plot to assassinate the king and an uprising forged in blood and funded by stolen art. With the bars of his gilded cage closing in, Crown Prince James Barnes faces his own struggles. Dealing with a city more enamoured with a masked vigilante than him is starting to get old fast, and his stuffy new bodyguard is as infuriating as he is potentially dangerous. As chaos threatens to rip the country apart and the list of royal allies begins to run thin, the prince is forced to face the demons lurking in his past. After all, no party can last indefinitely, and no secrets remain buried forever.----Aka, the modern royalty and bodyguard AU that, like all my other fics, no one asked for but you’re bloody well going to get anyway. Word Count: 3845

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Title: Santa Overload Collaborator: BookDragon13 Link: Tumblr Square Filled: K2 - Sensory Overload Ship: none Rating: Gen Major Tags: dad Bucky Summary: Bucky attempts to take his daughter to see Santa Word Count: 262Title:

[tyranttortoise]

Answered Asks Below!

*All right, so I got through some easy SSLL asks and general asks, so if you got a tag notification, it probably means you sent me an ask months ago, and I’m just now getting to it.  Sorry about that!

I’m gonna put all of them under a cut, with also just some thoughts on the past few months, too!

I wasn’t very active on here last year, and man, that sucks!  I really do wanna get back to it.  I felt like my words had been taken from me.  I’d get un-depressed long enough to write, and then something would happen to send me write back down the hole, all of my motivation gone.  

I came back last time, and a few days later, I wrecked a scooter and ended up bleeding all over the streets of Atlanta.  I’m not trying to be gross, but man, there was a lot of blood.  My glasses broke and cut my eyebrow and forehead, so that just poured.  If you guys ever wanna hear the full story just ask, but long story short, I ended up as a trauma in the hospital, got about 8 stitches for my trouble, and broke five ribs, my cheekbone, and my brow.  So that derailed things a bit, then some friends came and stayed with me for nearly a month, and then the holidays hit.  So there’s all the time from when you guys last saw me accounted for, ha.  

I’m still not doing fantastic mentally, but the other day, I was drunkenly telling one of my friends that I just wanted to write, that I wanted the words again, and that I was happiest when I was actively answering asks and talking to everyone on here.

And he said, “Get paper and a pencil or your tablet or you laptop -- whatever you kids use to write.”

“I can’t,” I argued, and he cut me off.

“I’ll help you.  Trust me and get it.”

And he ended up telling me what to write for some stupid UT crackfic that got me laughing and talking about the characters again, and the next morning... I just started writing until I found the words again. 

And now I hope I can keep sharing them with you.  <3

___________________

SSLL Asks:

I enjoyed this way more than I should’ve.  xD Well done!

@crazymadkatt  I’m so glad you enjoyed it! =D  I’d love to do a chapter like that.  It’s one of the tropes I’d been putting off because it was so common in the other reverse harem fics, but it’s been long enough now that I definitely plan on doing my take on it soon!

Oh, a real date’s coming, but let’s just say... I think you’ll like the new update. ;D

He’s a combination of both, I’d say.  The cool, lazy perception of Stretch, with the gruff flirtation of Red.  Wrap all that in a buried past, sprinkle in some extreme devotion to his brother, and mix in a healthy amount of low self-esteem and self-loathing that he tries to hide, and wham!  Rus!

@jukovon​  Hi there!  Sorry for the super belated reply!  8D  I’m so happy that you enjoyed the fic!  As for the Edge screen time... Hopefully, the latest update will help with that!  ;D  I don’t have a Twitter, actually.  I’m not entirely sure how it works.  I recently got into Instagram, and that’s been a weird learning curve, too.

Also, I just looked through your blog, and holy hell, your art is killer! <3

I know exactly what you’re talking about because I used to pretend those were real cigarettes when I was a kid.  I don’t think they’d be sweet enough for him!  Like, his version of the Grillby burger craving is a spider donut from Muffet’s, and he loves honey, so I think he’s got quite the sweet tooth.  I also see him as wanting to roll the sucker stem in his teeth or gnaw on it, and I see those candies as breaking down/ disintegrating too quickly for that.

As much as I’d love to include them, I think my head might explode if I give anymore cameos lol.  But thanks for your interest!

It’s the little details that matter. ;D  Right now, Q’s the only one that gets capitalization.  

Thank you so much!  In the case of HT, I’ve always thought that there was a deeper story -- and the comics have recently been shedding some much needed light on that backstory, too!  I’m a sucker for character development and figuring out what caused them to be that way, you know?

Also, I don’t know why, but I’m really against Crooks with braces.  I dunno, I just think it’d be harder to fix than that because of monster teeth.

@imonlymildlyinsane​  This made me so happy.  <3  When I first started writing him, so many people thought he was weird because he was kinda different from the other SF Paps interpretations, but now I kinda feel like he’s the norm.  He needed an endearment like Stretch and Red, so I went with darlin’ because it’s the one I use the most... because I’m also from the South.  xP  Sweet Home Alabama over here.  Sorry for such a belated reply, but thank you so much for sending this my way!  <33

If we’re talking general Sans and Paps, yes, but SSLL Sans and Paps... they used to be, and Papyrus still keeps up with them through text/social media/functions he attends as the monster mascot, but Sans has really pulled away from his friends after the incident with the machine.  Mostly because he doesn’t want them to find out -- and also wants to keep Frisk far away from Axe.

@desktopdinosaur​  Same skeleton time, same skeleton channel! ;D  

_______________________________________

General Asks:

@kawaiiplum​  Thank you so much!  <3  I’m so stoked that you’re still reading and still excited over the notification!  x]

They’re currently closed, but if I become active again, expect that to change!

Thank you, hun!  I’m glad to see you’re still around, too! =D  I hope everything’s been good with you!

@messedupessy  AHHH, I’ve missed you soulmate!!  <333  Sorry to hear your sleeping schedule’s fucked; mine’s about to be because I’m going to start nightshift and not get home ‘til 7:30am.  xP  I hope I’ll be around more for realz this time, and I’m really glad to see you again!!  <333  I love youuu!

@kuroshiro101  Hey Kuro!  I’ve been not okay, but getting better as a good way to put it.  =D  And I’m absolutely in love with your icon!  <3  How’ve you been doing?

@desktopdinosaur  Happy New Years!!  <3  I hope yours was a blast. =D

I’m stoked to see another x-ray tech Undertale fan!  =D  I definitely think skeleton love is a byproduct of our occupation; even before Undertale, I collected skeleton decor just because it related to my job lol.  Thank you!

I’ve got you!  It was this post, where I brainstormed a few scenarios.   If you’ve written it, let me know!  I think the credit would go to me, if you used that portion, but *shrugs* 8D  You know I’m always down for anyone writing anything about stuff I spit-ball, and I’d love to read it, so sent it my way!

Hanging in there, sweetie!  How about you? <3

When you’re right, you’re right. ;P

@literal-cacophony​  I’m sorry this response is like 3 months late.  8D  But thank you so much for sending this to me!  I wanted to make sure you saw that I got it.  You’re such a sweetheart, and I’m so happy that my writing’s been able to help you.  You guys definitely lift me up with all of these nice comments, and I appreciate it so much.  <33  I hope I can start writing as much as I did back then.

[ghostboy-gamedev]

Learn Log #5 - Sandy Shores

Before I begin with this post, I just want to say a quick thank you for all the support on the last learn log. I didn’t expect to get to 10 notes let alone over 100 so it was a really exciting and pleasant surprise. I got some nice comments too which I really appreciate. Thank you, everyone.

On my 5th week learning pixel art, I learnt how to make sand tiles, water tiles and rocks. I actually made this piece with 32x32 tiles instead of my typical 16x16 which was an interesting challenge but I enjoyed working with and learning from it.

Sand

When I started with the sand I, of course, started with my typical 16x16 tile size. I made a shoreline tile which had mounds of sand pushed back by the ocean’s waves which are shown below.

Making sand tiles, I soon realised, was going to be trickier than making grass tiles. I mentioned last week that with grass and similar environments you can make multiple small tiles and then place them in a scene in a variety of ways. However, with textures like stone, sand and water the design or condition of a tile should realistically have some impact on neighbouring tiles. As such one tile’s design might be repeated across the entire environment. Some pixel art software allows a tiled view so you can design the tile ensuring tiles connect and aren’t repetitive – unfortunately the software I use does not have this view. Therefore, I did a similar testing method to the grass last week where I copy+paste the tile across a larger canvas.

You can clearly see that this 16x16 tile forces mounds to be a bit to round and close together. This is when I decided to make the shift to 32x32 for this piece.

Above is my first 32x32 shoreline tile. You can see the larger size allows the mounds to space out a bit more and stretch so the mounds don’t feel as large or round. The two lines pointing into the mound are present to provide some sense of depth going into the mound. I decided to test it out and see how it looked.

This test looked a lot better, so I was satisfied with the design. Within the test, you can see it is quite repetitive. This is partially because the tile doesn’t do well with vertical repetition - making repetition more apparent. Additionally, I think the repetition might be a little less obvious when wedged between wave and beach textures. You might also notice the mounds are now slightly separated. This is because the mound has reached level ground and thus a hump would not be visible. The disconnection between mounds makes the tiles a bit less man-made, thus, a bit more natural. I decided to make a few final modifications on the shore tiles and finish it up.

You can see here I added a highlight to the tops of the mound and darkened the first mound. The highlight is there to emphasise that the mound is sticking out and thus hitting more light while the darker colours were simply added as that sand will be freshly wet. I decided to add these tiles into a larger canvas to separate the water and the beach.

I added a blue background just to have a representation of water within the scene. Next, I needed a separate texture for the beach and tiles to connect the shoreline diagonally.

I wanted a separate texture for the beach because: A) the shoreline tile did not do well repeating vertically, and, B) the shoreline and the beaches of a coast look quite different. Obviously, if I made a pattern of mounds going horizontally or vertically like the shorelines I would run into issue A quite quickly so I decided to make mounds moving diagonally.

I made this beach tile using the colours of the final shore tile. I simply drew some squiggly lines diagonally with my mouse, removed the doubles from these lines and made sure the lines connected. I then used the same testing method as before to test the repetition of the tile.

This test is a mess. Some of the lines don’t connect and the mounds don’t feel smooth, rather, they feel choppy. Don’t worry, this is bound to happen if you use a mouse and maybe even if you use a drawing tablet and pen. So, I used this test to smooth out and fix up the lines as shown below.

Ahhh much better! The mounds look much nicer now. The texture looks a bit repetitive but not significantly so. The next step was to just add some more details now that I was happy with the pattern.

I added some highlights to and disconnected the mounds like the shoreline. This did increase how repetitive the tile looked but I did feel as if it was worth it as the change adding more depth to the texture.

I added in the beach textures and then fixed up the diagonal shorelines. The diagonals were canvas adjustments rather than individual tiles which of course wouldn’t work in a game engine like Unity, however, I’m sure I could make tiles of these diagonals once I created them in the canvas. Overall, I’m pretty happy with the beach so far. It’s a bit blocky right now but that might change once I add the water.

Water

I wanted the water in this piece to have a tropical island feel to it. I used the blue water texture I had picked and a white colour to draft a pattern I was happy with.

I felt this tile had a similar pattern to pictures of tropical beaches I’d seen online so I decided to go with it.

The test shows that this pattern is really repetitive due to the large square in the centre of the tile. This was pretty concerning; however, I wasn’t sure how I could really fix it up without starting the tile over. Sometimes you’ve just gotta let stuff go, so that’s what I did. I hoped that a few small adjustments would decrease the repetition of the tile.

I changed the white lines into two shades of light blue. This would hopefully make the lines less contrasted and the repetition less noticeable. I used two shades of blue to somewhat portray water that was dynamic in some sense, because of bubbles or the flow of water. This two-tone approach wouldn’t really affect the repetition.

I then added the same set of lines in a darker tone. I think water should have both highlights and shadows. It adds a bit more detail and even depth into the texture. This would hopefully also reduce repetition, but I wasn’t so sure.

Finally, I cut the lines similar to the sand. It’s unnaturally for all the water to be directly connected and it definitely emphasises that it’s a man-made repeating pattern.

I think this new tile looked a lot better. Particularly because of the change from the white colour which contrasted far too strongly. There is still noticeable repetition, however, I was happy enough with this tile to move onto the waves.

The waves were easy enough. The wave should approximately match the shore’s sand mounds because the mounds were created by the waves. I used this pattern up the top with a very light, almost white, blue to represent the crashing ocean foam. I used some dithering into the standard ocean colour to create the foaminess. At the top, I just added the wet sand colour because the waves were not covering that area. I continued the ocean tile pattern into the waves a bit just to make sure there wasn’t some strange abrupt stop into plain blue.

Once the ocean wand wave tiles were done, I added them into the scene.

Of course, the first thing you notice in this picture is the missing diagonal waves, however, you also notice the strange stillness in the wave tiles. Its strange that the pattern continues unaffected like that when the waves are colliding with the shoreline. Additionally, there is a significant lack of depth in the image.

Here’s a fixed version of the beach. You can see I added the diagonal waves and changed the wave tiles so that the pattern is scattered due to the crash. The new wave tile means that while the pattern doesn’t stop abruptly, the water doesn’t seem still and lifeless. I darkened the two back lines of tiles to show that the water is getting deeper. Next, I needed to add a bit of variety into the beach.

Rocks

The first stage in making the rocks for the beach was drawing an outline of the rock with a few segments to show off either cracks in the rocks or the shape of the rock. Rocks aren’t perfectly smooth or round so you have to make rocks with that in mind.

Next is to add some shading to the rock with highlights and shadows. Removing dark outlines and replacing them with shadows is a good idea as it feels more natural rather than drawn.

Like I just mentioned, rocks aren’t perfectly formed, and their shading should reflect that. I used dithering to add some texture to my rocks and added some small cracks and divots with darker pixels invading the space of lighter pixels.

I made another two rocks and spread them through the scene. Rocks on the beach were given a small shadow and rocks in the water were given a water collision line so that they felt like part of the scene. I was happy with the rocks, but the beach could still do with a bit of life.

Crabs/Conclusion

Anyone else think crabs are pretty cute? Snip snip. I didn’t do touch-ups on this piece, but I did add crabs! I feel like they finish up the scene nicely.

I’m fairly happy with this week’s piece. Practicing dithering was quite fun. The textures are a bit repetitive and that is definitely something I’m going to have to think about going forward – different methods of reducing repetition in certain tiles. Additionally, I did a lot of modifications within the canvas rather than building the scene tile by tile. While making this piece did give me a lot of practice, I won’t be able to make pixel adjustments in a level. I’ll need to develop an understanding of what I exactly need for a level and then make tiles for my needs. Overall, while I enjoy looking at this piece it has given me some food for thought about how I’m going to build my levels and create the art required for that task.

That concludes this week’s learn log. Next time I’m going to be tackling a bigger task – learning how to make houses, furniture, snow, stone and man-made textures. This might mean I skip a week of posting or split the piece across two posts as I’ll be making both the interior and exterior of a cozy cabin on a snowy mountain.

My learning and this blog post wouldn’t have been made possible without these fantastic resources. Go check them out if you wanna learn some stuff about pixel art!

How to Pixel Art Sand by TutsByKai

Pixel Art 101: Water by Pixel Pete

How to Animate Water by TutsByKai

[Let’s Pixel] Water Tiles by HeartBeast

Pixel Art 101: Rocks by Pixel Pete

[Let’s Pixel] Boulder by HeartBeast

[Let’s Pixel] Lava Rock by HeartBeast