#i am just trying to draw anything to break back into drawing more often its so haaaaard :')

[bigkickguy]

another eustace isaac granblue doodle !

[brother-emperors]

Biagio Buonaccorsi a Niccolò Machiavelli / Firenze, 21 ottobre 1502

Besides making fun of his political views, Biagio kept  Niccolò up to date on important events in Florence. He assured him that Lorenzo di Giacomino would soon deliver the wine he had purchased and said Niccolò had been a fool to agree to a price of five ducats: “you are going to be ruined by it,” he noted in jest. He also informed him that in a quarrel over cards, Andrea di Romolo had hurled a wooden shoe at Antonio della Valle, hurting him in the kidney, and the two were in the outs, snarling at each other. In time, they would make peace, but first Antonio would have to convalesce and heal. Finally, after updating Niccolò about Marietta’s anger, Biagio told him that his new long, high-necked outfit (l’uchettone), which Niccolo probably planned to show off in the duke’s presence, was ready. In your Absence, Biagio wrote, I had it made to my measure. I hope it fits you well: if not, “go scratch your ass.” A true friend.

In the same tone-- indeed, telling him to go to the devil with his incessant requests-- Biagio told him that in all of Florence there was not a copy to be found of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, which Niccolo had asked to be sent to him at Imola.

Niccolò's Smile, Maurizio Viroli 

society6 | twitter | deviantart

[windvexer]

hey chicken! what can i do in the dry periods in which there is nothing really bothering me? as in, how can i further my practice with spirits and witchcraft if i am not actively needing to do a spell?

What a great question! This is a problem that plagues many practitioners. Here's a few ideas in no particular order:

Take a break and do nothing. IMO, a vital part of growth in witchcraft is growth of the witch. Just by living life, you develop yourself and therefore your craft. Your witchcraft evolves at the exact same pace as you evolve. It is in lockstep with you; it is you, it comes from you. It is never separate from you.

So do literally anything - relax and steep yourself into a tea of nonaction, learn a new hobby, watch that Netflix series, go for a walk. Do anything, including nothing.

Learn a new creative hobby, by the way. A significant portion of my practice these days is making things. My beliefs advise that the act of physical creation is very powerful and a very good way to bind magic into our physical world.

Christmas is coming up and it's the perfect time to learn to crochet coasters, paint watercolor bookmarks, calligraphy for fancy cards, and so on. Knowing most of us, we probably have expensive and barely-used craft materials in the closet from last summer's hyperfixation! Pick something up again and learn to use it for small projects.

As you hobby away, ask yourself how the skill you're learning might translate to witchcraft.

When it's time to do magic again, you'll have extra tools in your toolbox. Hand-made bags for spell sachets, devotional artwork, stunning sigils: by learning a skill and meditating on its mystical uses, we unlock new doors in our path that may lead to mysterious and winding hallways of possibility.

You can also do drills. Whatever sort of magic you do, you can break it down to its composite parts and practice it. Suppose you like to do a lot of candle magic where you charge the candle. Well, practice that. Get a pack of 100 tea lights and practice charging each one. Fill it with a specific sort of energy. Come back the next day and fill it again. And again. Carve a symbol on top. Do you perceive that it is easier to charge the candle when a corresponding symbol has been carved into it? Put it away. How long does it stay charged for?

Learn a new method of charging. Maybe you like to do visualization + willpower charging. Now, try something new: charging through offerings. Charging through sacrifice. Charging through prayer. Compare the results to your original method. Is it less draining? More? Does it stay charged as long? Is the quality of energy different? What about when you carve a symbol and then pray over it, does that make a difference?

(the benefit of this is ending up with a hundred pre-charged candles ready for spellwork when the time comes)

Of course, you may work over substances specifically meant to be worked over ahead of time. Oils, waters, potions, and powders may be prepared ahead of time, especially at opportune astrological appointments, and accumulate a great deal of power before they're needed. Many traditional recipes call for an incense or oil to steep for months before it is used.

What kind of magic do you often end up doing? Are you regularly blessing, generating good luck, or drawing prosperity? Perhaps your practice would benefit from careful preparation of a blessing incense, worked over for a few months before it's put into use.

If you're in a creative mood, maybe there is some big project you've been putting off - building of spirit houses, making of fancy altar cloths, crafting of special ceremonial masks - that you could finally get started on.

Moving away from mundane creation, perhaps there's some magical skill you'd like to adopt. Astral travel, new methods of divination, new methodologies of spellwork, and so on. If there's truly nothing for you to cast on, learning about a system is better than not learning about a system. You'll still take away more than nothing.

A healthy period of self-examination may also serve. Try giving a name to your practice (something very cool and 90s, like Path of the Golden Crow) and writing a handbook for hypothetical novices who want to join this path. What are the foundational skills of your practice? What are your core beliefs? What spell or ritual formats must people be able to work if they want to be a Golden Crow?

Pouring energy back into spiritual relationships is always a good option. It's my experience that spirits don't like feeling like vending machines, and relationships may turn sour if we only show up when we need something from them. Spend a lot of time talking to the spirits. Ask them what you should be doing.

If your skills with spirit work are limited, actively practice psychism, divination, astral travel, or other methods of spirit contact.

Of course, you can also just do spellwork regardless. Why does something have to be bothering you before you cast on it? Wouldn't you like to get a pay raise, or have more ideal hours? Would you like your blog to have more followers? Would you like a very expensive tool or crafting supply on the cheap? Maybe you'd like to meet similarly-minded folks in your local area. The list goes on.

Now, I will say something to wrap this up: plateaus are good and necessary. There is a difference between a plateau and a rut. I started this list off with "literally do nothing" for a reason. Periods of rest are not periods of stagnation, and things are often going on behind the scenes without us realizing it.

A few years ago, a witch friend of mine said she felt she had plateaued and asked me for a reading on how to get to the "next level." The reading was very bizarre and recommended that she basically implode her own life by making horrible decisions.

"Judy," I said, "isn't it true that all your periods of growth in witchcraft have been because something horrible happened, and you had to adapt to survive?"

"Yes," she said.

"Then enjoy your plateau," I advised, "and don't try to get out of it."

[withahappyrefrain]

Ehem

against a window

I am going to hell goodbye

Who on this website isn't going to hell, lbr. 18+, we got some breeding kink here folks bc I can't stop myself

You stepped through the empty room, looking around. It was a decent size bedroom, one that could be used in a variety of ways.

Peter was right behind you, as was the real estate agent.

"Here we have the second bedroom. The previous owners used it as a second bedroom. But it has the potential for so much more! Guest bedroom, home office, home gym-"

"Nursery?" You said, eyeing your husband. His eyes widened at your suggestion.

"Yes, this would make a lovely nursery!" The agent walked over to the huge window that was lighting up the room, "This bedroom overlooks the backyard, which gives you lots of privacy!"

"Privacy is always good, right Peter?" You asked, nudging your husband who was too caught up in your previous comment.

"Yeah, always good," He mumbled.

"I'll let you two discuss!" They said, walking out and closing the door.

Before you could even say anything, Peter's hands were all over you, as were his lips.

"Peter," You gasped, his grip forcing you to walk backwards until your back was up against the window. He grabbed your legs, hooking them over his waist while his other arm supported you.

Peter's enhanced strength often came in handy. Such as moving a couch up four flights of stairs. Or when he wanted to fuck you against a wall-or window in this case.

"Oh, like you didn't know what you were doing when you said that," he muttered, breaking away from your lips only briefly.

"They could walk in-"

"I think with how loud you tend to get, they'll figure it out pretty damn quick." Peter's hands fumbled under your skirt.

"Fuck it-"

"Don't you dare-"

The sound of fabric ripping signaled that you were too late.

You shot him a look. Peter was too busy stuffing your now ripped panties into his pocket.

"I'll buy you new ones, bug. I always do," He said against your neck, "But right now, I gotta put a baby inside ya, okay?"

The two of you both agreed you were at a stable enough point in your lives to start trying. It was why you two were touring houses. You weren't actively trying, the two of you agreed it would be less stressful to just let it happen.

What you didn't expect to "just happen" was for Peter to become absolutely feral at the mere mention of having kids and fucking you up against a window.

You'd be lying if you said it was the first time you and Peter had sex in a semi-public place. Your back had become familiar with many bathroom stalls and brick walls.

And fuck if it didn't turn you on.

"You're already so wet, don't even need to get ya warmed up," He cooed.

"Please, before that real estate agent-Fuck, Peter!" You said louder than you intended as Peter slammed his hips against yours, filling you up instantly.

He pulled almost all the way out before thrusting into you again at a bruising pace.

"Is this what you want? Want me to put a baby in ya?" He grunted into your ear. You nodded weakly, your head buried into his neck as your makeshift attempt to keep the agent from hearing you.

"P-Please. Want it s'bad," You whispered.

"I know, bug. Just gotta make you come first, okay?" You bit your lip as he began to draw fast circles on your clit.

You whined into Peter's neck, tightening the grip you had on his shoulders and his cock.

At that moment, you didn't care if the real estate agent or God themselves walked in. You only wanted one thing.

"Please, fill me up, please," You repeated, your voice reduced to a whimper. Peter's fingers became more frantic and desperate.

You came first, Peter quickly following you. You couldn't help but moan at the sensation of him coming inside you. It wasn't an unfamiliar act, but the intention behind it had changed.

"Please tell me this bedroom has its own bathroom," You said after catching your breath.

Peter looked around, his cock still inside you, "Uh...I have a handkerchief?"

[strbry-shortcakes]

[APOLOGIES FOR THE DELAY- check end notes for explanations- example images should be coming in future edits]

alright, another week has passed, another anatomy class was attended. this one was actually a lot more vague than the previous, with a lot of notions previously mentioned coming back in a way or another, and based itself a lot on showcasing examples. i wasn’t able to take that many “concrete” notes this time unfortunately, but i can still distill what i have written down. 

anyway. here goes: 

SCENE O-2: BLOCKING IN SHAPES

repeating once, when in front of your support of choice, whether it be a sheet of paper, your sketchbook or a digital canvas (or anything, really), there is a certain series of events leading to the existence of a drawing. these events are influenced by our own personal methods when drawing, such as how you start, what do you always draw first, etc. often these are patterns you follow without noticing. 

once you’ve noticed your own patterns, you may start to question them. if you always start by drawing the head, ask yourself, why do you do that? 

these may come from a more subconscient part of yourself. maybe that’s how you’ve always done it, maybe you saw an artist you love do it once and that affected you so much you now do it too. 

an interesting exercise you may want to do to try and break away from these habits is starting to look at the world through different filters of perception (as mentioned in the previous post). teach gave us the example of looking at strangers in the commute with a single point of view: only focusing on their ears, their nose, maybe look at them like colored shapes. (if you do not commute/use a public transports system regularly, i suggest you try looking for references online, whether they be youtube videos or life model sites like quickposes or lineofaction. these two will be linked below.) 

but, in any case, during this class (the one i am attending, i mean), there is one big first step which is: drawing the whole model in its simplest form. 

usually, when doing just that, there are twoe factors to keep in mind: 

Composition

Setting things up

to start, let’s talk about composition. 

when composing an image, yet again, you have to think about certain factors (subfactors of factors! wow!). these generally are: 

the 2D-3D perception of your drawing

knowing how and where to place your drawing within your canvas

negative spaces and the void 

when drawing in structures (aka using inner “skeleton” lines at the very start) the drawing itself is existing only within a single dimension (1D). when drawing using “shapes” (aka at least three points connected to each other) the drawing transforms to become 2D. 2d adds a dimension of “thickness” to the piece, since you’ve now added a new dimension. 

seeing the world in 2d is similar to seeing it like certain painters do: with the aforementioned “shapes” now colored flat, before starting to add in lights. 

when drawing, proportion checking is actually done in 2D, and not in 3D (as you might, maybe think). think of it as very simple forms bound by lines. adding in volume is a very risky move, since it adds the notion of distance (“what is closer/what is farther away”), which can be too detailed for the simple block-in stage.

when thinking about this, you should also think about where you place your drawing within your canvas. when you are drawing, you are composing an image. drawing a character close up and standing in the bottom right corner of the page gives a whole other impression than if you were drawing it small, in the middle of the page. 

when creating images, these images usually have a meaning, and this whole meaning and wanted feeling you want to transmit is heavily affected by composition. 

when a more “academic” artist first thinks and thumbnails their piece, they may think “where will i place the horizon line?” which in itself is the very first step of composing your drawing. 

the way you place your horizon line gives away most, if not all of your intentions with this piece.

finally, “void” and “negative spaces” in a drawing are part of what makes it legible and interesting. it is heavily tied to the concept of “silhouette”, and, with good placement within the canvas, adds a lot to the piece. but when drawing a model, these “negative spaces” are here to help you draw the correct proportions: the triangle formed by the arm and elbow when a hand is placed on a hip, the space between legs when the model is standing up, all this should be taken into account when drawing. 

but, when drawing, you should pretty much mostly worry about drawing the “general shape” of the model, but accurately, as always, which in turn transforms into a general view of your drawing. in terms of additional things you may want to do when thinking about the composition and proportions of your drawing, you can always

 try drawing “over” your model (simply put, hold your pencil over the model while trying to see important lines to draw, whether they be action lines or countour lines)

thumbnail your drawings using your fingers (putting them in a square shape framing the part you want to draw) or a template (like a card that’s been gutted to form a thumbnail viewer)

if you want to transfer your drawing to another surface, you can trace a grid over the sketch and use it as a guideline for the transferred piece (this technique is called “mise au carreau” in French and i cannot for the life of me find the english term, i’m afraid). this is a technique that’s been used since pretty much the beginning of “western fine arts” (aka stuff from the Renaissance era).

now, let’s get to the meat and potatoes: 

setting up your drawing

when setting up your drawing, the ideal should be to do so with as little lines as you can. this can prove especially hard, especially when drawing a model from life. 

what you can do is stop seeing the model’s body as a body, and more as a series of geometric shapes set one next to the other. (this does sound fairly dehumanizing, but don’t be afraid! the humanity should still exist within the shapes you draw, and will appear even more once the proportions are corrected and the details are added in.) the moment you add another line, you are adding in measures, proportions, and direction to your drawing. 

your base should have a limited number of lines, but, as always, they should be proportionally accurate. 

“i am simplifying and always checking my shapes”, pretty much.

(i think i am going to make you hate the concept of proportional accuracy with all the emphasis i put onto it… sorry!) 

a small tip when drawing these shapes: draw them lightly! the block-in should ideally be very light for the later parts to be drawn with more force. (teach compared it to an architect’s plan, but i yet again cannot attest to the validity of this claim as i completely lost interest in architecture the moment i found out about Bravely Default and how cool the Job designs were. anyway,)

alright, so the rest of my notes are mostly about “mistakes you should avoid”, and given this is coming from only one person, whose ideas are being transferred by another (who is obviously much less skilled) to a post to be seen by others, you can see that this can rapidly become an opinion-piece about “what is good in drawing and what is wrong” (you know, kinda like youtube thumbnails with two drawings, one “bad” and one “good” posted by certain art youtubers…you know what i mean, right?) 

so, i am going to share them, but do keep in mind that these are even more subjective than anything written before, so, as always, take them with a spoonful of salt. 

so, these are: 

drawing using very short lines, the kind that makes for a “hairy” looking drawing

pushing too hard on your pencil (see the paragraphs above for reasons, with the added reason of being really hard to erase afterwards and often leaving a dark mark after having been erased the best possible)

relying solely on lines for proportions, aka using one line as a reference, then adding up more lines until you think you are done, which nets you the risk of having a badly proportioned drawing by the end. (this is something weirdly common when drawing as a whole, but that especially shines when drawing architecture, in my own experience both drawing and looking at my classmates’ drawings). 

fuzzy/blurry lines, which can strip the drawing of precision, adding noise where it isn’t needed. this doesn’t really apply if you only draw over the line only a couple of times, or  is rather moderate, doing so has its own name in French which is a “repentir” (masculine word, i wonder if there is an English equivalent. “repentir”, aka repenting your other line with a more accurate one. “repent motherfucker!” )

a final note that i think is worth sharing is this one: 

there is a whole system of proportional setups, multiple methods, but the more important thing is

i understand what i am doing

well, that should be about it for this week (or rather last saturday, oops). for some reason i have gotten exhausted these last handful of days, and i don’t even know thanks to what god i was able to wake up to attend class this week. it was only the second, too!! really would’ve been upsetting if i couldn’t have attended. but it didn’t happen, fortunately. next week should be about correcting your mistakes and proportions. 

and, just like last time, all these notes are from a class by Mr. Francis Buchet i am attending to at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière. if you live close to/in Paris, i suggest you look up what classes he is going to be teaching, as a live class is always a lot better than simple notes written down by a student. 

and, may i remind you (again): these notes are only here to showcase one approach among many others, so they don’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. i myself am in absolutely no way a professional, so please, take all of this with a grain of salt (or a spoonful, even). draw how you enjoy drawing, and find happiness in the way you want to draw.

Francis Buchet's instagram: x

[NOTE: this was written last weekend, in the hopes of being posted during a weekday with some added visual examples, but due to school as well as health related issues (physical exhaustion among others) i couldn't get to draw said examples in time, so i decided to just go ahead and post it without any and add them later via edits. is this a good idea? no, but i do not think i can give good examples when my shoulders feel like they'll drop from my torso. i cannot say when part 0-3 will be posted but i hope it will be quick. exhaustion is a bitch but i hope i can still manage eventually.]

[sarafroot]

pls talk about technique!! sorry if i’m annoying you but i’m eating this up lmaooo. i appreciate your responses a lot!

i’ve been having trouble with coloring/rendering?? like idek where to start when it comes to that part of a drawing and every time i try it i get frustrated which just sucks

Answering this under the cut because its LONNGGG 😜😜😜 also you are so not annoying me I have been waiting for someone to be as interested in this as I am lolz

Here is a detailed walk through of how I'm going about coloring something for that band au-- I hope this helps!!!

For skin I start by putting down a base color; this is the color that shadows and highlights should be considered in relation to! I always set the layer to "alpha lock" so that when I start rendering my strokes stay within the silhouette I originally colored

From here I add redness to her skin first in the form of any natural flush her face may have. I pick a color for blush by beginning with her original skin tone and adjusting the hue to a slightly cooler color and increasing its saturation. I use a soft, buildable, and blendable brush to apply this (quoll). In this scenario, I want the flush to be subtle as she's supposed to be in a darker setting.

For shadows, the first thing to consider is where your light source is. In this scenario, the light will be hitting her from the right, so shadows should be most prevalent on the left. I pick a color for shadows the same way I pick a color for flush, only this time I don't saturate the color as much and darken the shade more. The color usually appears purple-ish. I use a more defined brush to apply shadows and blend them around where I imagine the contours of her face are softest.

Finally I color finer details like lips, eyes, scars, and freckles, and add highlights where a light source would likely reflect on her face. I love adding washes of neon oranges and pinks along harsh shadow edges and cheeks as well! I feel like this makes faces feel more alive.

When I use this method on a face in profile, here is my color placement:

For bodies, I use the same colors that I used on the face for the sake of consistency. I start with any natural flushing on the body, typically on joints, tummies, butts, upper backs, and hands and feet. I use the same brush I used for flush on the face.

For shadows on bodies, you really have to use your imagination or a reference to form a 3D image in your head. While face shadows are more straightforward as there's often a formula you can follow, body shadows are more diverse. If you were to break her body down into shapes, where does her body protrude most, and where do you imagine there are crevices? How will light interact with these shapes to form shadows? Again, I'm imagining a light source on the right so the shadows I place will be mostly on the left.

Then I go in and add highlights and other tiny details.

For hair, I start with a base color before putting down highlights closest to the light source and shadows in places that I imagine are hidden from a light source, such as underneath a particularly prominent strand of hair. Finally, I pick a color I feel like encapsulates the "true" color of her hair and scribble it over the base color I chose, making sure to leave some base color peaking through. I feel like hair has a lot of depth, and by doing this you can kind of mimic that complexity in color without sacrificing a simplistic art style. In total, I used four colors for her hair. I separated the darks and lights for a clearer demonstration of how I think her hair would fall.

You can apply these techniques to really anything, especially clothes!

Yayyy done!! I will absolutely answer any other questions you have

[kosmicdream]

Well, Chapter 6 of Nasty red Dogs is finally complete. This chapter took about a year to make and it was one of the hardest chapters to make. A lot of factors played into this, but probably the hardest one was my day job making the whole process much slower. This meant that there was a lot more time for me to sit and think, sometimes this was a benefit, but in general I am a massive over-thinker, so that dragged down a lot of my enjoyment of the process as I kept over analyzing all my choices. 

But, it wasn’t just chapter 6 that was tough. For a while, i have been struggling with Nasty Red Dogs. This isn’t a surprise, its something i face with every long-term project and it makes sense that I would hit that moment at some point. NRD is 5 years old now and while its getting closer to being complete, we still have a few more chapters to go. My process for it is much slower, so a single chapter can end up taking a long time. Still, this past chapter was both the longest in length for a NRD chapter and also took the longest to make, so it was a very tedious process.

I have dont a lot more writing and rewriting than I normally would do, and while I don’t consider myself much of a perfectionist, it was really starting to creep back in my mind in a way I haven’t experienced in years, but more so targeting my writing than anything. I also got very critical over my drawings, but I have felt that way outside of NRD too. I am still very proud of the end result of this chapter, but I don’t think im out of the storm yet. It took years for me to refind my footing with FFAK and Eggshells, but I eventually got there and both projects, and I, got stronger for it. I expect that to happen here too, its just pretty draining and difficult. Regardless of the struggle, I am glad that it’s bringing deep feelings like that out of me because I feel like that’s the whole point of trying to make something that takes so many years to finish, cuz it really creates a situation where you are having to challenge your own personal demons on a mundane, daily level and sorting through those feelings. I don’t really know if the story is going to end up “good” or even how i want it to, but I know I’ve changed from it as an artist, and that already makes it invaluable to my journey to make great stories, which has always been my deepest dream to do on this planet.

That being said, I need a break from NRD to rebuild my stamina again. As I said, we’re nearing the end of the story.. But not quite there. I do expect there to be at least 3 more chapters, but considering how I originally planned for Chapter 5 & Chapter 6 to be a single chapter, that could change. It is still all written though, and has been, but pacing the scenes often changes as I’m actually “on the set” and “directing” the moments. While NRD is on hiatus, I will be returning to FFAK, which I have been pretty desperate to return to as I’ve been looking forward to ARC2 for literally years. I also know ARC2 of FFAK is tremendously long, possibly 4x longer in length than all of NRD (my expected length of ARC2 is around 4k or 5k pages).. So Of course, i get anxious when I’m not drawing it for too long. As I mentioned before, I already kinda got through a really huge block with FFAK that took years to address & heal from and I’m very happy to say that I’m in a great place with the project again, in a way that i haven’t felt in years (even if it still feels very different and new.) So returning to it makes me tremendously happy, which I will need to be in high spirits to feel like I can tackle the next NRD chapter. Anyway, I just wanted to share some of my thoughts on this past chapter and as always- thanks for reading my comics. Every day, Its the first thing i check are comments on them and it is always the last thing i do before sleeping. They are always on my mind, but also so are the readers, and I want to deliver my story to those who are willing to listen to them. -kosmic

[sophiethewitch1]

Chpt. 10 - The Echoes

Word Count: 2.7k

Warnings: Portrayals of PTSD, a child that eats raw, blood meat and two people who are basically a bickering old couple. We have all the essentials at sophiethewitch.co

The flicker of the fire holds your attention captive. You recognise all the things you're feeling, that deep-seated fear bubbling up to the surface again. It had been a long time since you stared at the flames the way you do now, like it might jump up and attack you.

Of course, it's been a long, long time since you felt yourself burning alive.

You knew it wouldn't. Wouldn't magically find its feet and strike at you. You'd waited so long for it to do so that at this point it was just silly. Still, you watched, as you watched everything that scared you. You watched the routes the rogues took, watched the paths Abominations carved through the countryside. You watched Creel and his gang of rebels, and the way the Hag lingered around Asa.

You watched the towering Walls in the distance, eyes wide and head bowed. Your fingers itched, always waiting to draw an arrow on whatever cruel thing came at you next. Unfortunately, something you'd learned at a young age, some things you couldn't kill with a bow. A tyrannical army, hunger, the addicting course of venom and... fire.

You couldn't kill fire. Not with a bow. Your eyes flick to the open kitchen on the other side of the foyer. You don't know if the tap sitting there actually works, but knowing Creel, it probably does. Then you look back to the fire.

"What are you looking at?" Asa's sleepy voice asks you, and you force yourself to tear your gaze from the threatening fire. With a strained smile, you answer him-

"It doesn't matter. How was your nap? You hungry, buddy?" you pepper him with questions, and the little jerk rolls his eyes at you. You swear, trying to get a rebellious little probably-under-ten-year-old to listen to you was damn hard work.

"You worry so much! Calm down, it makes you smell bad!" Asa tells you, and you mimic one of his little growls when you grab him under his arms and swing him into your lap.

Tickling him, you respond, "Oh really? What was that?" When all he can manage is squeals of laughter, you say, "Oi, I can't hear you! You need to take things more seriously! Stop laughing!"

"I- ahahaha! I am! I promise, I promise!" Asa swears in between giggles, and you finally decide to give the little tyke a break. Sighing, and grinning, you ruffle his head of blonde hair. He giggles again, and you feel the lingering heat of the flames cool.

"Alright, then you little rat. Now, seriously-" he giggles again "-are you hungry?"

He pouts, looking up at you with big blue eyes. You often think he was too perceptive like his demeanour and age swang wildly up and down the scale. When he looked at you with... pity... you only felt that more.

"Yeah, I am. But I don't..." his words trail off, eyes moving elsewhere. Oh dear, that wasn't good. Asa held eye contact till it was almost uncomfortably usually, a side effect of his Alpha status. Whenever he refused to look you in the eye, it was because he knew he was about to say something that would make you upset.

Immediately, your first thought is that he ate something he shouldn't. Someone he shouldn't.

"Asa, have you eaten anything recently? Anything Baba should know about?" you say, with that firm voice that only a parent could offer. Asa openly grimaces, his pointed teeth bared.

"No, it's just..."

He glances the other way.

"What? Come on, you know you have to tell me." You don't promise you won't be mad, because both of you knew your temper was hellish. Still, you made an effort not to blow up on him, and usually, you succeeded.

Today wasn't a usual day. It wasn't okay for you to yell at him, though. You remembered your mother and father's screaming was one of the worst things to experience.

He finally looks back at you, lips pressed thin. He really was so emotive. You knew he was half-vampire simply because of that. No true vampire could look so uncomfortable and ashamed.

"I don't want to drink from you. You taste... like that mean guy," he finally says, and the exhale you let out is long and slightly defeated. Your hand raises to your Mark again, but you don't touch it.

Your hand falls back in your lap, lamely.

"Yeah, that's no surprise, Asa," you say, and then blow out another puff of air because - fuck - what do you do? He could survive on animal blood for quite a while, but the undead curse demanded more than just wild animals as sustenance. No, it had to be from a person. A human usually, but another vampire would also do.

Seriously, what the fuck are you going to do?

Obviously reading something from your expression or scent, Asa says, "I could eat Creel. He'd be fine with it."

Immediately, you start shaking your head. The idea was damned ludicrous. You'd have to meet up with Creel at least every week and a half, probably less. And he'd also have to agree to it in the first place. A rebel Outsider human who hated vampires almost more than you did.

'But you let Asa drink from you,' some desperate little part of you whispers.

That part of you is stupid, and promptly ignored. Even if he did agree with it, Creel would have to become your travel companion. He'd be too busy to take care of his people, and you knew he cared about that a lot. You think. He's still a damn mystery, after all.

You rest your chin on Asa's head, pressing a small kiss to his golden locks. You were honestly, genuinely, stumped. Maybe you could make a deal with Hag? Let her poke around your Mark as you do your best not to embarrass yourself? You had also just come back from certain death, which was important too. She'd want to test you because of that. You were pretty sure just being a vamp's blood bank didn't make you immune to the Abomination.

Rogues were like little treats for Abominations, you doubted normal vampires were different, ergo, no help from the Mark. Of course, this was all blind speculation because you didn't know shit about what was going on. Alive? You were alive? Ugh, you couldn't think about that. You didn't have time for a mental breakdown.

You let your head fall forward, pressing gently against Asa's.

"How many days you think?" you ask him, and his little body shrugs.

"Dunno. You've been out for like, a week," he answers, and your eyes snap open. You lean back to look him in the eyes and curse when you see the truth in them.

"Language!" Asa chirps, and you roll your eyes. You seriously didn't know how this child didn't swear like a sailor, definitely not from your parenting. You place your hands on his shoulders, trying to force him to pay a little more attention.

This was bad. Not I've-been-marked or swallowed-by-the-living-materialisation-of-Rot bad, but pretty bad.

"So it's been..." you count in your head, wincing when you tally it up, "Asa, has it been sixteen days?"

He nods, pushing out his bottom lip, "Pretty sure."

You press your hand into your forehead, doing your best to ignore the migraine coming on. You fail, obviously, and let your hands fall into your lap with a sigh.

"Have you been feeding in between?" you ask, because you can't figure out how he's not a feral animal at this point. The math simply isn't adding up.

He nods again.

"I told you Creel would be fine with it."

Your fingers move to dig into your eyes, as you rub at them. That could not mean what you thought it did. It couldn't. You just... you couldn't.

"Asa, do you mean you've been feeding from Creel?"

He frowns, looking confused. "That's what I said, isn't it?"

Ah, shit.

"Yeah, Asa. That is what you said," you finally answer, pasting a smile on your face. Asa gives you a suspicious look, which probably means you're probably grimacing instead of smiling. You let the awkward bearing of teeth fall from your face, remembering that you were shit all at lying.

Fuck's sake. You need a drink. Well, since Creel is being so damn accommodating, you're sure he won't mind if you steal some of his moonshine, right? Frankly, the thought of pissing him off was thrilling. You knew it was a distant hope, but weren't you the type of person who hoped even when they didn't want to?

You were still alive after all. Nobody could fight this hard without hope. That's what you tell yourself, anyway.

"Well, have you been having your human food too? You need both, remember," you tell Asa and he nods.

"Creel and his friends are good hunters. They catch lots of meat," he replies. You decide that all this talk of food is making you hungry, so you pick Asa into your arms and wander over to the side kitchen. Sitting him down on the bench, he starts kicking his feet back and forth, glancing outside.

"Creel hasn't let me go outside though. It's not fair, and it's really boring," Asa complains, and you merely grunt at him. You had to give Creel that, he protected Asa's secret with the same conviction you did. Protected him, full stop, actually.

You couldn't really process the fact Asa has been drinking from him. Despite being raised around vampires, you still didn't understand the bonds of blood drinking. Some considered it an incredibly intimate thing, that you'd only do with family or friends. Some just see it as eating, nothing special. Some only drank from their lovers.

You sigh, putting your hands on your hips. Your thoughts drift to the bastard who had bit you, but you shake your head. No use thinking about him right now. While it was unlikely he'd... let you go... You shake your head again. While it was unlikely he'd let you go, you, Asa and Creel had fucked him up bad. Not even elder Alphas could take an explosion to the face and jump right back up.

You think. You're pretty sure. Is this wishful thinking?

"Whatcha in the mood for, baby?" you ask, starting towards the fridge. Asa's taste buds were something you could never predict. Some days he demanded sweets and would throw a fit if not delivered, some days he wanted wild venison, and some days he'd pick up wild rats in the woods and bite into them like they were juice boxes.

"Cake. I want cake," he tells you, and you turn to look at him.

"Something a little easier, please?"

He frowns, places a finger on his chin, and thinks.

"Blood?"

You cross your arms, and he sighs.

"I don't want veggies, Baba. They're gross," he finally answers, and you throw your hands up, just deciding to do an old-fashioned rare steak. You didn't nag him about the vegetables, because you were pretty sure he didn't actually need to eat them.

Over your shoulder, you joke-

"So no more potatoes? More for me, then!"

You evil laugh while Asa whines. Finally, after hours of tense shoulders and shaky hands, you find yourself relaxing again. Asa had that affect on you, after all.

Later, when Creel walks into the room, it's a damn mess. Asa had a particular way of eating, that you really had tried to stop, but inevitably couldn't. His entire face was covered in blood, his smile a lot less cute than it usually would be. Still, Creel doesn't do anything but ruffle his stained hair, uncaring of the blood he gets on himself.

You look at Creel with open suspicion, hurrying over to stand in between him and Asa. The corner of his mouth digs down, which is as close to an emotion as he seems able.

"You've been feeding on Asa?" you say, and Creel sighs.

"No hello? No, thank yous? Seriously, (Y/n)? A little gratitude would be appreciated," he mutters, turning to pull out some drink from the cupboard. You grind your teeth, restraining the urge to attack Creel. It was a loyal one, one that never left your side.

Just like the overgrown asshole himself.

"Look, I appreciate you... helping me, but twice is too much. I don't like debts," you tell him, pulling Asa into your side protectively. When you feel your skin wet, your teeth dig into your lip in an attempt to not swear. You don't succeed. Anyways, now both you and Asa need a bath.

"I know you don't. You don't owe me anything, my life debt still hasn't been properly paid. And we saved each other the last time, that Abomination was far too close to one of the settlements for no catastrophes to strike," he says, darting a look your way. Those damn eyes, you wish you could gouge them out.

"I saved your life, you saved my life, we saved each others lives. Doesn't that sound like enough? Can we please let this go?"

In most situations, you're too proud to beg. Creel's situation is a bit different. You were seriously getting desperate for him to leave you alone.

"And what? We never see each other again?" he asks you, turning around with a glass in his hand. He puts it down on the table, and even from this distance, you can tell it's a liquor of some type. A good one, too. Creel isn't stingy when he's bothering you with overt gifts.

"Yes. Yes, exactly that," you nod, a smile on your face. Creel frowns, seeming to not return your feelings about this offer. Bummer.

"You can't get rid of me that easily."

"Got any tips?"

Asa laughs at the two of you, clapping his tiny hands together. Glad someone enjoys this, because you and Creel certainly didn't seem to be. You decide you've had enough Creel for one day, and turn back to Asa and sweep him into your arms.

You're striding out of the room for a bath when Creel says something that has your feet stopping.

"We need to talk about the Abomination soon," Creel speaks up, shattering that fragile moment of peace you'd been trying to protect. That was one of the reasons you hated him so much. You'd always tried to ignore these sorts of things. The weirder parts of your life, the ones you couldn't explain. You didn't know what you'd find when you finally went looking.

You didn't think you wanted to know, either. Today again, you want to run from whatever horrible truth waits behind you. Waits patiently, carefully. A hunter stalking it's prey. The deer in the monster's jaws.

You glance to the side, keeping the hulking giant in your peripheral. He's got his arms crossed again.

"It's none of your business," you respond, trying to shut down the conversation quickly. You'd run, but you know he'd chase after you.

"It is. My team wasn't the first to find you. People are starting to ask questions, and rumours are spreading," he protests. You sneer at the ground, and Asa looks up at you with curiosity. He doesn't say anything, though, content to just listen and learn.

You sometimes thought he was already smarter than you. It was a worrying thought.

"My priority is getting the Mark off my neck, Creel," you respond, ignoring his words about questions and rumours. You'd always lived with those, and you always will. Nobody will ever know your entire story, and you liked it that way.

Not even Asa knew everything that had happened to you.

"One of our scouts saw a large group exit the Mirkra Walls. One of them was an Alpha with a ring around his neck, with magic that seemed similar to what we saw on the Abomination."

Your breath hitches, arms tightening around Asa. He rubs his cheek against your arm, smearing blood.

"What did he look like?" your words are soft. You don't know why they're soft.

"He had silver hair and eyes. One of his close companions had black hair and green eyes."

You rush out of the room, Asa clutched tight to your chest. Creel doesn't follow. Still, you feel his eyes on you. Piercing into the skin at your back, burning the silver runes carved into your neck.

You do not think of the deer.

-

NEXT CHAPTER

[spottyissleepwalking]

Hello, sorry to bother you but can I ask a question about the warrior cats disability post you reblogged earlier? And I mean this in good faith, honestly, I want to understand.

I haven't read warrior cats, but just from what was described in the post, it sounds... realistic? Since not everyone bounces back from becoming disabled. For example, a coworker and I (in a labor intensive field) have the same injury to our knee. He, I guess you could say has responded "well" to his injury. He has a higher drive to push past pain, not let it limit what he can do, and is able to work as hard, or harder, than non-disabled coworkers, but he is still absolutely disabled. In his case, he often overworks himself and thus ends up having to take off several days to recover and is on a lot of pain medication, both Rx and self medicated. In the scenario presented in the post, he would def be able to stay in the warrior class. But I didn't respond well to my injury, and don't react well to pain. I fell into a deep deep depression that took almost 8 years to crawl out of. Doing the exact same tasks as he does, I work slower and more carefully, avoiding pain at all costs rather than pushing past/despite pain. I'm slower, not as effective. But I don't need to take time off or frequent breaks to recover, and though it takes a little longer, I do just as much work as he does at the end of the week when accounting for the time he takes to recover. I like to imagine that I've reacted to my injury well, but can't help feeling inadequate and worthless when compared to coworker. Especially on days that we work side by side and he's running quite literal circles around me. And remember, we have the exact same injury with very similar causes and only a few months time difference.

From what I understand of the culture of Warrior cats (which is admittedly very very little) I imagine I'd end up in a healer class as well, even if I wished I could be warrior class. I would give almost anything to work as fast, as effectively, as hard as coworker does. But I can't.

So I guess what I'm asking is, what am I missing from the narrative, as someone who hasn't read warrior cats, that makes a character, who has not returned to their former glory after an injury, a poor representation of disability? As the post stands on its own right now, it just feels like it's kicking disabled people when they're down for not acting like they're still fully abled. Like shaming a paralyzed person for not joining a sport.

I have to assume that it's just poorly worded for anyone outside the fandom, but it really does come of as... well... ableist. Which is what drove me to ask, since making assumptions of ableism is generally kinda shitty, and I am curious about the source material.

I hope I didn't come off aggressive or let my emotions on the subject get carried away here, genuinely sorry if it does come off rude. I promise am asking in good faith because I want to understand from a creative standpoint if the narrative actually handled it poorly, and how-so, to help myself and others potentially avoid making the same artistic mistakes.

Thank you for taking the time to read this wall of text, and again, so sorry for bothering you!

No no!! Not aggressive or rude or anything of the sort :D

I’ll be honest, I didn’t read the full text, but I got the gist of it so I’ll try to answer aptly ^^

The problem with Warriors isn’t that there isn’t disability representation - there is, it’s just. Awful. Why? Because almost every single disabled character, sans THREE, in a series that has thousands of named characters, is FORCED into a role they don’t want - or KILLED. Solely for being disabled, solely for being “different”.

It’s not that they necessarily chose that life for themselves, it’s that it was forced upon them, which is where so many fans (reasonably) draw issue with. Disabled characters are offered the bare minimum in Warriors canon. Either they’re essentially forced to become a doctor, with the trope of “the broken-bodied healing the able-bodied” (which personally unsettled me greatly), or they’re shipped off to the elder’s den, which is a place where cats retire due to old age and are cared for by their Clanmates, usually without ever having the chance to prove themselves, and display both their abilities and weaknesses. They’re just automatically shoved into this corner.

There was a Deaf character, once, in the decades-long span of this book series, that was told he would never become a warrior solely because of his deafness - and then was immediately killed off in a manner that was almost never used again as a device to kill a character.

There was a character who was hit by a car and, as a result, ended up losing the function of one of her back legs. Prior to this, she was training as any other young member of her society would. Immediately after? She became a doctor.

There was a character who became blind due to an outside force, and, despite being the equivalent of maybe a thirty-year-old, immediately retired to the elder’s den.

There was a born blind character who fought to train as a warrior, under a half-blind warrior. He was doing well in his training - until the in-universe religion came down to him and forced him to give up his dreams in order to become a doctor. Granted, his case was a little more complicated and intermingled with plot, but it still stands.

There was a character with anxiety who was a poor hunter, and was pressured to become a doctor because of his lack of skills.

There was a character who was paralyzed, and was dismissed as dead, or “better off dead”, by almost everyone around her - INCLUDING HER OWN FAMILY - except the blind character, who found kinship with her and fought tooth-and-nail to keep her alive and healthy.

And the thing is? These characters are CATS! Cats, who have been documented living alone in the wild with these sort of disabilities and thriving!! Which makes it all the more frustrating to see a narrative built around the appeal of cats, have them have this whole support system and community, and that community actively turn their backs on them.

It’s not about them choosing. It’s about them being forced. Not having any opportunity to grow, or learn, or allow others around them to do the same in regards to them. There’s no acceptance here. In universe, it seems like they’re just shoved into the shadows so the able bodied characters don’t have to look at them or think too hard about them, unless they’re healing their wounds.

The characters themselves are not the poor representation. It’s how the authors have handled them - by shoving them aside, to the shadows, to the dogs. It’s frustrating and disheartening.

[lollytea]

this is more a request for YOUR huntlow thoughts but who breaks and says their feelings first. does hunter even know how to articulate that. does he just start yelling

There's like a fic that I have no idea if I'll ever write but I'll yack away but how I pictured it going down cuz if I don't write it, at least I got to talk about it.

I kinda like toying with the idea that there's not gonna be any talk about feelings for a while. Not in show canon anyway. I figure by the time a year passes after the show's timeline ends, the tension between them is palpable. Neither are certain but they have an inkling that the other likes them too. But no words about it are ever exchanged. Absolutely none.

Hunter has decided that he wants to kiss her. Just once. It kinda overwhelms him to think too much about anything beyond kissing her, so he just fixates on that alone for whatever reason.

Theyre in her garden late at night. Hunter draws a light glyph in the dirt so he can see her face. And all the lines in his face crease as he tries to just. Ask her. That's all he has to do. Maybe she'll say no but at least he can finally say he tried.

Willow notices his efforts. She's been noticing how his eyes have been darting to her mouth this last while now. So she takes mercy on him, leaning in until their noses bump together and she asks "would you mind if I kissed you?"

It's a sweet awkward experimental little kiss in the dead of night that nobody will ever know about. Two kids who aren't really sure what they're hoping for but know that they've never kissed anyone before and they'd like to give it a try. And they can't imagine kissing anyone else but each other.

Neither asks it aloud but both are thinking "Now what?"

And theyre scared, man. They really didn't think of what comes after the kiss. Are they dating now? Dating sounds intimidating. And sure, not a word on the matter was exchanged but they've both kinda exposed themselves of having feelings for the other.

Hunter begins to panic and Willow takes hold of his hands until they stop shaking. "We don't need to get carried away." She says. "We can come back to this whenever we're ready. No rush. I'll still hold your hand if you want me to."

Luz and Amity dated for a few months and then built up to kissing. Willow and Hunter had a silly impulsive kiss just for the sake of it but decided that there would be no dating just yet.

Three years pass and they're in love. They never talk about it and they're not dating but they're in love and they both know it and they know the other knows it. They have their own ambitions, jobs, seperate lives, but at the end of the day, they're unable to go in completely different direction as they always circle back to each other. They're still best friends and they know each other inside out and my god. The tension, the flirting, the intense eye contact, the deliberate brush of hands every so often. The way they intertwine fingers when no one is around to watch. They still work hard to make the other blush and they can still pull it off. I think they are finally ready for this step as they are literally about to burst at the seams.

They're texting late at night when Hunter asks Willow to look outside her window. And lo and behond, there he is, standing in her yard, beneath her balcony.

"Hunter?"

"Hey, Captain. Does this look stupid from where you're standing. It feels kinda stupid from where I'm standing. But, well, we're in it now and there's no turning back."

"Are you....drunk?"

"I'm not. But now that you mention it, that would have been a great idea. Actually, I am fully sober and aware of everything I am saying and doing right now and I'm gonna be honest I'm in Hell."

"Is there a reason you're standing outside my window right now?"

"Luz said this sorta stuff is romantic. Do you think it's romantic? I need a second opinion."

"I guess if its the right person, you would consider anything they do romantic."

"Okay. Um. Do you think it's romantic if it's me?"

"As dumb as it is, yes I do. Pretty sure I used to hope you'd do something like this back when we were kids."

"Follow up question. Would this be an appropriate spot for me to tell you I'm in love with you?"

"Oh....um. Well. I-....to be honest, you could tell me you were in love with me in a garbage dump and I'd be happy."

"Do you....wanna go to a garbage dump? Because I can take-"

"No, Hunter. I like this."

"Great! Fantastic! So. Um. Me. Thoughts?"

"Too much in love with you for my own good."

"Oh. Sorry."

"Titan, you better be."

"I know it's been a while but...is it okay if I kiss you again? And....maybe kiss you tomorrow? And make it...a permanent thing?"

"I like the sound of a permanent thing."

[fagdykemuppet]

sawyer breaks down and doesn't know how to cope with emotions the musical the movie the fic

wc: 1353

relationship: sera/sawyer (oc/canon)

tags: hurt/comfort, alcohol mention, sera POV (3rd person)

summary: sawyer isn't as put together as he comes off. sometimes he needs to break down.

notes: thank you to the slasher u discord (mainly JJ, basil, and kel) for inspiring me and letting me bounce ideas off of them

(under the cut)

theatre meant late nights. lots of reading, lots of writing, lots of drawing, lots of… a lot. if time wasn't spent in the theater itself; it was time spent researching and perfecting. so of course serafin was up at 3 am, and of course it saw the lengthy text sawyer sent it. the notification flashed across its phone and it could tell without more than a glance it was at the very least a paragraph long. it thought nothing of it; late night rambles weren't uncommon between the two of them, more often than not they were both up, exhausted from school and work, chipping away at things they needed to get done, and needing an outlet to throw any late night thoughts at. it clicked its tounge as it wrapped up the line of dialouge it was writing, finally pleased with the direction the script was going, and picked up its phone.

before it could really get a grasp of what was going on, its eyes darted to the most recent texts.

“fuck… Sera i'm so sorry i don't know why i sent all of that.“ ”Shit, i'm sorry i'm tipsy. had too mcuh to drink. disregard all fo that.“

it immedtiately scrolled up and read through the wall of text he had sent only five minutes prior. lines upon lines about lonliness, and fear, and dread, and emptiness… things that twisted its heart into knots. quickly, it texts back:

”hey, get your ass over here, now. i wanna make sure youre safe.”

it paused a moment, before shooting off another text:

“if you dont come over im dragging you over. please”

sera anxiously stared at its phone; praying to whatever was out there that he'd actually respond and it didn't have to find god knows where he is right now. right when it was started to put its shoes on, the screen lit up.

“alright.”

it figeted with its hands as it waited for sawyer. its never seen him like this. he doesn't usually drink like this. it let out a deep sigh, flinching a bit when it heard a knock at its door. that had to be sawyer. the only other person it could be is tate- fuck please don't let it be tate. not this time. it almost tripped getting to the door, opening it to a dishevled sawyer. his hair messed, his mask more on the side of his head than anything, the bags under his eyes more pronounced than usual… he looked a mess already.

he tried to force a smile, trying to force himself to not absolutely fall apart at the seams. ”i'm here, i…“ his voice cracked and he clamped his mouth shut. ”what did…“ his voice trailed off as he started to shake. ”can… can i come in?“ his voice was soft.

”fuck, yes of course you can come in, come here.“ sera immediately grabbed for sawyer's arm, carefully guiding him inside. he felt like he was going to break at any moment. it dragged him to one of the couches, sitting him down. it went to grab him some water, and by the time it came back he was curled up in on himself.

”don't… don't look at me, ser.“ he took a deep breath when it sat next to him, placing the water on the table. ”i… i'm a fucking mess right now.“ his voice was strained, his body shaking as he holds back sobs.

”hey, hey it's okay. i didn't invite you here to judge you…“ sera softly put a hand on his shoulder. ”i saw the texts. i'm just looking out for you, love.“

he let in a shaky breath. ”i shouldn't have even sent those is the thing!“

”why not? you need to get shit off your chest too.“

”because!“ he looked up at the other. ”because i'm supposed to… to be put together,” his voice was wet. “i… i'm not supposed to be the one that's needing to be taken care of! i'm supposed to be… strong. i'm studying to be a lawyer for fucks sake.” he wiped one of his eyes. “i'm not… i'm not supposed to drink until i feel sick like this.”

“oh, honey…” sera put its arms around him, pulling him in close. “you're allowed to be weak too, y'know.” it spoke into the top of his head.

and that seemed to be enough to set him off.

he started shaking hard, clinging onto the other man* as well as he could. he let out strained sobs, like he desperately wanted to keep them in but his body wouldn't let him. they were sad, wet, loud sounds as he wailed into its chest. sera held onto him close. one hand rubbing his back, another petting his hair. soft comforting murmers being whispered as his nails dug into its back. it didn't know him to cry like this.

it didn't know him to cry at all. months, possibly even years, of repressed emotions being unfurled all at once into its chest. and it couldn't help but wonder; what was his breaking point?

was it mike? that bastard? finally saying something that got under his skin in just the right way? did he fail something that he expected to do well on- the straw that broke the camels back? or was it family related. it struck it in that moment that it barely knew anything about his family despite them having been together for almost 6 months at this point, and known each other even longer. was this deliberate? though, he barely knew anything about its so it couldn't be the one to judge. this was, however, a can of worms for another time.

“i'm… i'm sorry,“ he managed to choke out in between sobs after a while.

”what are you sorry for?“

”all of…“ he pulled away, ”all of this!“ his voice cracked as he motioned to himself. sera's heart twisted at sawyer's fact, his cheeks wet with tears and eyes red and puffy. ”i shouldn't…“ he cut himself off with another sob and curled up on himself. ”all of this because i got too stressed. i should… be able to handle myself.”

“sawyer. look at me.” sera took his face in its hands, forcing him to look up at it, and carefully wiped some of the tears away. “you're allowed to cry for fucks sake. you're allowed to feel things. this isn't something that's barred from you. being stressed is a reasonable time to cry.” it rested its forehead on his. his face twisted a bit as he tried to hold back more tears.

they sat there for a few more moments before sawyer wrapped his arms around it and buried his face into the crook of its neck, soft sobs continuing to escape him. it knew that it was more than stress that upset him. knowing sawyer there was more to this. but it didn't pry. that was a conversation for the morning.

when he lifted his head up again, shifting where his head simply rested on its shoulder, sera leaned over to grab the cup of water it had gotten earlier. he made a soft noise of protest, his grip on it tightening a bit, before relaxing again. he muttered something under his breath (sera thought it heard him say sorry, but for his sake it pretended it didn't). it brought the glass to his lips, and he was too tired to protest. exhaustion painted his face as he drank from the glass, closing his eyes when he was done. ”thank you…“ his voice was hoarse.

”mhm, anything for you.“ it spoke into his hair. ”do you want to stay the night?“

a soft nod. ”please…“

”it'll be a bit cramped but we can make it work.“ it softly laughed as it pressed a few kisses to the top of his head. ”you're safe with me, i promise.“

[ciaossu-imagines]

I always enjoy writing for Bungou Stray Dogs and am pretty lucky to have it requested every now and again on this blog! I really enjoyed writing these headcanons as I haven’t written much for this character, despite being one of my favourites from the manga! Using this prompt here, I hope ya’ll will enjoy these headcanons for John Steinbeck!

A(rousal): what gets them aroused quickest

John’s actually a really simple man sexually and he’s really easy to turn on, especially where he’s kind of in the prime of his sexual life but hasn’t had many opportunities to actually get laid. I feel he’s really turned on by almost anything that hints that his partner wants him, from small but naughty touches but especially by kisses. Kiss this man, full on, and make it clear it’s not just a sweet little ‘I love you’ smooch. Or surprise him with kisses along his neck because he’s really weak to those and all the blood rushes from his head when you do that to other areas of his body.

B(roken): what it takes to break them

John’s really resilient. He’s been through a lot, living through poverty and with his family always being an edge away from being homeless. He’s been through hell with the Guild. He’s tortured and murdered just to not only to keep himself alive but to keep his family alive and happy and together. So, it will take a lot to break him, but I do think the most surefire way is by hitting him where it hurts and killing a member of his family. If you killed his entire family, that’s it. He’s done. He’s nothing more than a shell of a man and he’ll consider himself as someone who has nothing to live for anymore…which is dangerous, because it means he also has no reason to have morals or a conscience anymore and he will go to the most depraved lengths to see you suitably punished for what you did.

C(an’t): one thing they can’t do in life/refuse to do

Steinbeck does appear to have some questionable morals and he is a little hypocritical in his behaviours. That being said, even he has places where he draws the line. He doesn’t kill or maim for fun and he’s loyal to those he truly cares about. That blind, devout loyalty is actually what often skews his moral compass, to be honest.

D(enial): something they’re in denial about

It’s not so much that he’s in denial about it…because he knows that the things he’s done or the things he’s currently doing are wrong and that they go against all the teachings of his parents and the bible. But I think he rationalizes it as being necessary so much that it strongly hints at him at least trying to live in some kind of inner denial.

E(ager): something they are eager to do in life

I think that, after all is said in done, all Steinbeck wants in life is to be able to go back to the farm, make it profitable, and live out his days living a simple, happy life close to his family. Settle down, expand the family, work the earth…that would be true happiness to him and he is bound and determined to get a chance to do so.

F(itness): how often they work out and what they prefer doing for a workout

John doesn’t work out. He’s not a gym rat, he doesn’t have an exercise routine. His physique and health are the result of hard physical labour and outdoor living, combined with there never being enough to eat for him to gain too much weight. He’s really going to prefer physical labour to keep fit and healthy over any exercise routine.

G(uarded): something they always guard (item can be physical or mental like their feelings)

He always knows exactly what is going on with his family. Even while abroad, he has ways of making sure they’re safe and okay and doing well and he is really protective of them, as much as is humanly possible to be when he’s not right there with them.

H(ell): what would make their life hell

Aside from the obvious answers listed above in the ‘how to break him’ section, I feel like he has kept his family really in the dark about what he’s actually doing and what his life is actually like. He would rather die than have his mother or his younger sister, in particular, ever learn about what he’s done.

I(ngenuity): how clever they can be in tough situations

Steinbeck might appear dumb or slow at times, like a country bumpkin. But that’s okay with him and might even, in some cases, be a deliberately exaggerated act because he really is very cunning. He thinks fast on his feet and he comes up with clever tricks quite easily.

J(ealous): how easily they get jealous

I think Steinbeck gets angry or disgusted before he ever gets jealous. While there might be an undercurrent of jealousy in his attitude towards the rich, there’s more outright anger and disgust for how they live these lavish lives without ever helping those who need it most, for example.

K(iller): how old they were when they first killed someone

I think he made it into his teens before ever having to kill someone. But he has killed and he will kill again, but he’s respectful towards his victims in that he will at least remember their names and will make sure that their families get to bury a body.

L(ust): what they lust after in life

Security. Having grown up in the poverty he did, Steinbeck lusts after financial security, both for himself and the people he loves.

M(aturity): how mature they are as an adult

Honestly, even before he became an adult, Steinbeck had to learn to be mature for his age. He didn’t get to have a long childhood and while he’s a mature individual, I feel like that missing childhood will lead him into some childlike behaviours later on into his adult years.

N(egligence): what they can be negligent about

He neglects his personal health and grooming quite a bit. He gets really focused on his missions and his goals and can forget to take care of himself, missing meals or sleep. It’s only when his body is hitting its limits that he really remembers and thinks to take care of himself if there’s no partner on his mission to remind him to do so.

O(pinionated): one thing they are very opinionated about

Eat the rich. Seriously, Steinbeck has some very anti-authoritarian and anti-government sentiments, as he feels the ruling parties are more geared towards lining their own pockets and supporting the wealthy one percent than they are in making anything truly better.

P(ersistent): how persistent can they be about something

It will really depend on what it is. If he feels something isn’t necessary, but it’s just something he would like or wants, Steinbeck can move on from it and let it go pretty easily. But if it’s something he considers necessary or a need, he will move heaven and earth to obtain it or accomplish his goal in getting it.

Q(uest): what they feel their quest in life is/their main goal in life

At the root of everything, Steinbeck is just out trying to do right for his family and to earn them all a happy, safe life. He wants to do good for the people who raised him.

R(egret): what they regret most in life

So, just because Steinbeck the character is based off Steinbeck the writer’s creations, the Joad family, I do think he also has an older brother Noah who is handicapped. While John knows it isn’t his fault and that he does the best he can by his family, Noah ran away from the family after confessing to John that he knew his parents didn’t like him as much as the other children and that John was the son his parents had wanted. It still really troubles John and he wished he could have figured out what to do or say to his brother to keep his brother from leaving.

S(trength): where they find their strength

I feel this might be really repetitive, but it is his family. They are the root of everything he does, what he thinks about to keep him going.

T(est): something that will test them to their limits

I think Steinbeck can deal with pain, both physical and mental. But isolation gets him really bad. He’s never been truly alone much and loneliness hits him harder than it should. He’s not someone who could hold up to extended periods by himself; he needs at least some contact with his family or some contact with people in general.

U(nbelievable): one thing that they experienced that they still have a hard time believing was real

Sometimes Steinbeck does wonder, now that Lovecraft isn’t around, if he dreamed the man up…Lovecraft truly was something, someone, truly unbelievable.

V(engeance): have they ever wanted vengeance on someone

My god, yes, and it’s on Fitzgerald. The man is not getting off easy if John has anything to say about it.

W(aiting): how good they are at waiting on something/someone

Steinbeck has a lot of patience, honestly. He’s learned patience from a young age and he can usually keep himself from getting too bored or antsy while waiting for something. With some things, he even enjoys the waiting and the excitement for a thing more than he’ll enjoy the thing itself.

X(enodocheionology): (the love of hotels according to some) since they do some traveling, what their favourite hotel was

While it wasn’t his first choice of lodgings, Steinbeck really did marvel at the Moby Dick and all the opulence Fitzgerald put into the modifications on it.

Y(ield): one thing that will make them stop what they’re doing no matter what

Very repetitive and I am truly sorry about that, loves, but it will be the threat of injury to those he loves. It’s about the only thing that will stop him once he sets his mind on something.

Z(oo): how old they were when they first went to a zoo and what their favourite animal was

Steinbeck has never been to a zoo. There weren’t zoos in the area he grew up in and his parents never had the extra money needed to take their children to the zoo in the big city so it’s not an experience he’s had. He did grow up on a farm though and they did keep animals there, with the baby goats being John’s favourite.

[denimini]

This is gonna be a very long ask (sorry about that) but there were three different things that I wanted to talk about.

1. I really dislike when cishet jikookers try to assign heterosexual standards to whatever potential romantic-sexual relationship Jimin and Jungkook could have/ have had. I dont know if you are queer or not, but many queer people tend to have more *situationships* than meet-like-become bfs/gfs-love-marry relationships. When you add the layer of them being celebrities since they were teenagers I think that would only decrease the likelihood of their relationship ever being like an average heterosexual relationship. I will also add as a disclaimer that I am a queer woman and cannot speak directly on how mlm relationships develop. Having said that, my thoughts on what their dynamic is/was (if it really has been sexual or romantic) are that it was probably a combination of experimentation, convenience, and chemistry, and less serious than the average expectation of male-female relationships. During the 2017-2019 years where most of us seem to think there was undebiably smth going on between them beyond a friendship or brotherly bond, they had a lot of proximity and very busy schedules. Ironically, the two times where Jungkook has had dating rumors (with evidence) have been during times where they are not in close proximity and have different schedules (i.e., the break they took in the fall of 2019 and early this year when Jimin was extremely busy while Jungkook was not.) I am not trying to diminish their bond by saying it was purely out of convenience. Its possible for love to come out of that convenience, but what I am saying is that that type of dynamic also might have left them wondering if there was every anything more out there for them. Similar to the whole ch2 situation, when we remove the whole enlistment thing out of the equation, its probable that some of them wanted to try something different but that didnt mean they didnt like being in the group.

2. Tomdaya. Why tf am I bringing Tomdaya up? lol

Back during the shooting and promotion of the 1st Spiderman movie there were a lot of rumors of whether Tom and Z were together. Most of the gen public wasnt keeping tabs on that but Zendaya fans were quick to realize that he would often fly out to see her but they were very secretive about what they then referred to as their “friendship”. Sometime after, there were pap pics of Tom with a woman that clearly did not look platonic so her fans immediately realized that they either broke up or were never a thing in the first place, only friends. After that, they both went on to have semi-public relationships with other people. Then, a few years later they get papped kissing and are officially a couple. At that point, most people werent even aware that there were some sus things early on in their *friendship* and just assumed that they just got together much later after they met. I don’t want to over explain it, but Im hoping some of the parallels Im trying to draw are clear.

3. Finally, I am really curious about who that anon thinks Jimin might be dating. Right now the only sus thing Ive seen that could be interpreted as a “thing” is his friendship with Lee Saeon. Not only is he the only person Jimin has been spotten out with casually, but it also looks like he wears a lot of Jimins clothes. He was even spotted with Jimin AND JK a few years ago. He starred in a BL and did say that he was strictly an ally, but he would not be the first or last closeted queer person to call themselves an ally lol. Despite Jimin spending so much time with him he has never brought him up and always talks about his friends in plural even though its always the two of them alone (except for that one time with jikook in i think 2021). Im sure he has other friends so its interesting to see why its only ever the two of them going out. Him and Eunwoo have also been kinda sus sometimes but its been a hot minute since we’ve seen anything from them lol.

I do agree on your point about queer relationships. Personally, Ive been in a heterosexual one for years, but I know from friends and family that comparing heterosexual relations to queer ones isn't very fair. The challenges , expectations and risks when you're queer are completely different and the way to acceptance and a steady relationship , especially in a country which doesn't support you, is a very different than what straight people go through.

On this topic, I find something Jimin once said very interesting. He said he used to think he was just living life and having fun but it didn't turn out that way and had to accept some things and come to terms with them (not an exact quote). Many people, including myself, thought he meant coming to terms with his sexuality (for the record, I believe he's shown us clearly he is queer, possibly bi).

That being said, I believe in your theory about his and JKs relationship. Given their age, profession and country, if there ever had been something between them, I doubt it had been linear and straightforward, as some would like to imagine. Them being young, busy, and constantly together with one being bi and other (probably) at least bi-curious is not something to be dismissed. I genuinely don't think that if they had something more than friendship, it was superficial, but it most likely was complicated.

I see Saeon's name being brought up a lot when talking about a potential partner for Jimin. I don't want to speculate much about someone who said they're heterosexual, but it's not impossible for them to share something more. At least the physical stuff he has mostly gotten out of the way already 😁

Does someone know when him and JM became close?

[flaringfoxsoul03]

Hi there Writer, can I ask some Match up Romantic Obey me? Ofc if it's okay to you

How should I started, well.

know myself actually but it's hard to describe it, I'm a Female She/Her pronouns Demisexual INTJ-T. I'm a quiet person and rarely talk but somehow I can make people befriend me easily, maybe because everyone says I'm "Cold outside but warm inside" I guess??? I'm also an ambivert who tends to be more extrovert actually, I'm not easy to get comfortable with new people but I think I'm a friendly person because in my hometown Being friendly and polite is a bridge of socialization and it's already in my bloodblood. I sometimes feel bad for someone even though I know it wasn't my fault when I got into a fight and when I get angry I just stay quiet and don't react much maybe I'll just give them the cold shoulder or at least try not to be seen with them.

the place I hate the most when I hang out is hiking. I got lost and almost died (obviously I don't want to experience that again) and my Favorite Place to Hang out is Cinema and My house. I really like drawing and I often draw my daily life on my tablet like a diary (my hands are fine-)

My love language is quality time, I know I may not be a talkative person but spending time with someone special is what makes me want to talk a lot, i might be the silent jealous type, not because I don't want to admit it but maybe because it's not my right to forbid my partner from interacting with anyone (I will stare at the person who is the reason I'm jealous). I'm also not the type of person who believes in "love at first sight", maybe other people feel it but not me

a little information about my appearance: I am about 176 cm tall. My hair is short Platinum blonde (dye), and black eyes and Oliver skin

Things I like : Flowers, Books, Rabbits, Spicy and sour food (but I'm not a picky eater), Going out or staying at home, Coffee, Drawing, and the color white

Things I hate : Lizard, smoke, Ghost, Horror game and movie ( I'm a scared cat ok-)

I'm sorry if it's too long and feel free to ignore this if you want to, and thanks if you read this. I'll see you soon

You are literally too sweet for words. Nothing can describe you accurately in the amount of sweetness and kindness you possess. Yet ever so valiant of the human traditions of pain and suffering. Even demons would be initially blinded in your radiance, mistaking you for the Virtue of Kindness. I’m not kidding, you are giving me a lot to work with. Let’s see if I can put my work up to the test…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I match you with…

Mammon!

——————————

Look, he is called a scumbag a lot, but he’s different with you. You both met under unfortunate circumstances and got forced into a very difficult situation to navigate, but you both figured it out slowly and like every slowburn romance novel that Satan reads, you fell for each other faster than Lucifer has even seen with Lilith back when they were still angels in the Celestial Realm

Now, it seems odd to put you guys together, but trust me, this works really well. He’s the voice when you’re the words, you fit together so well and would be totally lost without the other, no structure or flow to have anything go smoothly. You, the eye of the storm and he, the raging turbulence protecting you. He’s your first demon, he ain’t letting you go and he’s hoping you won’t let go of him either

Speaking of which, this demon has also raised a very angry creature. He gets angry and its many types, so when he sees you giving the cold shoulder to everyone and being way quieter? Bet on it that shit is gonna turn around real fast. He’ll offer to spend time with him on whatever sounds good in the moment. Whether it be homework, a joyride, or even just cuddling together, bet on it that he’s gonna convince you to be together alone for as long as it takes you to finally break and talk to him. He’s not even trying to talk over you either, he wholeheartedly listens to every little detail you’ll spare him. You deserve to be heard, you should know that better than anyone since you listen to him all the time

Will never actively let you walk by yourself when on a hike, let alone consider the idea of going on one if you’re not totally over the whole near death experience. While he does wanna show you the secret little places he’s found, he knows that you’re not for hikes, especially since you informed him of your last traumatic hike experience. He’s conflicted, he knows pictures will do it no justice, but at the same time he’s worried he’s never going to be able to show you some places he treasures and wants to share it with you. Please help him come to a decision already

Will immediately spend tons of Grimm he’s managed to save up to turn his room into a movie theater from home. He does get the appeal of the cinemas, but why not be able to have it all to yourself when you don’t feel like being sociable? He thinks this is a grand idea, Lucifer is less thrilled with the charges that Mammon has managed to rack up ever since learning your love for the cinemas

Will absolutely try to test your tastebuds against the Devildom’s spicy levels of food. He’s ridiculous and he needs to get that energy out somehow, eating spicy helps him stay at maintained levels of goofiness. He really does love it when you scarf down your food and on top of that be able to handle it? Super hot, literally and figuratively. Even when you can’t handle the heat, you both have a good laugh about it anyways. No shame in spice!

Has great relief that you are never willing to watch horror movies. As much as he claims otherwise, he’s terrified of the movies as he just gets so invested into it, he feels as though he’s part of the movie itself. That’s why he’s so scared of them, even if he knows it’s not real. He’s much more of a Fantasy, Action, and Adventure genres are more his type of movies. But minus the horror? He’s down to watch anything with you, no matter if it’s at the cinemas or in his room

Even if you seem like the opposite couple doomed to fail to everyone else, your relationship with Mammon is of energy balancing acts. If it fails, it’s hilarious at the end usually. If it succeeds, it’s a marvelous accomplishment in your guys’s relationship to be able to do a new thing without getting hurt for it. Sure there’s a few more bumps here and there, but he will never not be by your side

=================

The follow ups are:

Asmodeus

And

Leviathan

===================

That’s it folks, until next time!

~Fox

[mcrmadness]

Watching educational videos about film making for 3 days in a row has resulted in my watching a tv series and occasionally going "oh so they're using the ZOOM here to emphasize the emotions :oooo" or "ah they're filming the characters from a low angle - normally it emphasizes them being powerful but here it just means they're looking at downhill".

Like. Yes. Exactly why I am watching these videos. But I would also appreciate it if my brain would remember these when I am planning MY videos or video projects for school! But for some reason I don't remember even anything they told us at school. I only remember the stuff about technology, not the actual creative process or mood different angles or lighting and stuff can bring into the video.

I think I also need to focus more in the whole concept of this... I think it's "Freytag's pyramid" in English. In Finnish it's known as "the curve of drama". Basically it's just the main frames of a plot and how a plot of any story or media should go in order for the idea to be interesting for the viewer. And I have such hard time grabbing on this concept. I cannot really compare this to anything I have seen, I can't see where's the complication or climax or anything in a work. I feel like I get excited by things that are not meant to be those to get excited over. I feel that I enjoy more of plots that are complex and don't follow this in the exact manner, also plots that are difficult to understand and need you to rewatch the movie at least 2-3 times before it opens to you fully.

I can't review my own writing or videos and compare it to this pyramid, I don't think I have any of the elements there. It's either rollercoaster or a straight line. And I don't know how to even add those? Mostly because: I often don't even want to. It's cliché to always have a plot have this same frame, it's boring to me. But maybe that is why people have a hard time grabbing on my creations cos they are bizarre and might not make sense for others than me, or maybe they feel like they lack something because I have my own way of writing my stories. Maybe one of my newest might slightly follow this pyramid, I'm not sure, but it definitely was not intentional if so. It just happened on its own.

This is, also, a problem of someone who is self-learnt. Maybe this Freytag's pyramid is kinda similar to musicians who make music but have never studied music and don't know the music theory, but just do what they like and for some people it slaps and it's what matters. Kinda feeling this with my drawings because despite being to art school as a hobby as a kid, and having art classes in regular school, I don't remember ever actually studying arts and drawing. It hit me just last or previous year that wait, you can actually study arts and drawing. It was such uncanny thought that had never crossed my mind before??? I just learnt to draw on my own, using my own methord, making sketches in ways I came up with cos I didn't know about anything else. I still don't draw human heads with circles and lines. I find it confusing. My comic book characters start with shapes only to make it easier to see the size of the finished piece so I know it fits the paper. My photorealism starts with me just drawing the outlines without making any helping lines apart from the grid. I just find the regular way of drawing humans, difficult. I did try one way to do that a while back but nothing really came from it. I still don't know how to use that in drawing and just do that how I used to do with my art.

So in a way when we learn about all this at school, I kinda have these... mixed feelings over what we are taught. We are taught about technical stuff, but I'm someone who likes to break the norms. I like to add weird stuff, add easter eggs, do things that feel obvious to me but maybe not for the viewer. There was once scene in a group video where the camera shakes a lot, and teacher mentioned about it that it didn't look that good, so we pointed out it was on purpose because the person in the video talks about challenges in the studies. Handling the camera is one of the challenges and we decided it fits it well cos it just shows the challenged on the video, just not in the hands of the person who was talking. Altho the teacher didn't say it's bad, but that it's understandable and an artistic choice. So things like these, I like doing stuff like this and I think they are often considered unprofessional or bad or plain unskilled, when I have made a conscious choice to do something that looks very unskilled even when I'd have the skill to either make it invisible (such as cut the shaky camera bits when editing a video) or to not do it in the first place (such as drawing straight lines without the line looking shaky, but I just happen to like the shaky-looking lines that give a more relaxed mood). But I can understand that it can be difficult to sometimes tell apart it when someone's just unprofessional and/untalented (or just in need of more practice), and when something was an artistic, conscious choice. And the latter definitely usually has a smaller audience, but often a very loyal audience. I think Tim Burton is a good example here, since I also am a fan of his works but I also know he has quite a lot of haters, too. And for what? No idea.

[aregnier21]

Gaining Inspiration

Inspiration can be hard to come by at times, but don't let that discourage you from creating amazing art.

Finding inspiration can be as easy as googling "famous artist" or "famous artworks" and scrolling through the images that pop up. Doing this can remind you of artists and artwork that you may have heard of in the past. It can also bring attention to artists and artwork that are unfamiliar but fascinating to you. Learning about new styles, techniques, and influencers can help rid the dreaded creative block that every artist fears.

Critique. Hear me out, I know what a lot of you are thinking, or at least feeling. Critique is hard, scary, and mean, except it's really not. It can be very beneficial to gain the incite of another person or multiple people on a piece that you are working on. Sometimes it is easy to get sucked into a piece, and this can make it hard to see it from multiple perspectives. It's similar to the idea of "taking a step back" from a piece to see how its developed. The people who are critiquing your work might suggest that you add a bit more color in one area or remove some linework in another. At first it might feel embarrassing that you didn't think of these changes earlier, or maybe you think the advice is just bad. However, that doesn't need to be the case. After reflecting on what has been suggested, it might lead to a breakthrough that amplifies your artwork to push it to the "finished" product you were looking for. In the end, just remember that the artwork is yours and no one else's, and you don't have to do anything that you don't want to.

Your working space can be the make or break of your creative inspiration and ambition. It is important that you surround yourself in a space that you feel comfortable in and influences creativity. This doesn't mean that you have to rent out a studio next to your local bakery in order to create this space for yourself. Find a space in your living area that you can devote something as small as a hard surface and wall space. You can hang artwork, doodles, and even random objects on the wall to give it a creative flow. Try to accumulate your most used art materials in this space such as a couple charcoal pencils, graphite pencils, an eraser or two, a sketchpad etc. This can vary based on your preferred medium. Don't make it too overwhelming by trying to fit all of your art supplies into this area, utilize storage containers, shoe boxes, bags etc. for the things that you don't find yourself using often. Having this space can help put yourself into a creative mindset and it may present itself in the art you create.

Tip of the Post

I know how hard creative block can be so I am here to try and help alleviate it a little with a drawing method that I have been using for years. The idea behind it is to get rid of the blank paper that can often be overwhelming. What you're going to do is slap some scribbles onto the blank sheet of paper.

Now that the blank page is gone, I will kind of look at the scribbles and see if I can envision anything in the scribbles. If this feels overwhelming you can erase some lines or add more. Depending on the person, it may also help to think of a general idea of what you want to draw and draw the scribbles in the general shape of what you are thinking of. Doing this can inspire characters and scenery that you might not have thought of when trying to create a new artwork. You can also use markers instead of scribbles. I found that it is easier to use markers that are a little dry so that the ink isn't too dark and can be drawn over easily.

Creative Block

Don't let creative block win! There are many simple steps that can be taken to overcome this block. You don't have to do every single step that I showed here either. Pick and choose what fits for you, and what works for one person might not work for another. The possibilities for creativity are endless if you simply open yourself up to receiving them.