#i have about 5 other requests on that same canvas sketched out

[astragatwo]

For the drawing requests, do you mind drawing Adam lobcorp? Thank uuu so much :))

[elleirbagsstuff]

fluff camilo x gender neutral artist!reader where camilo notices reader draws the exact amount of freckles he has in their drawings of him oh and camilo pov maybe hehe (this is my first time requesting sorry if its kinda bad sjshjshdhsjd) camilo romantic lmao 😯

No problem!

--

"Just the way you are"

Pair: Camilo x gender neutral!reader

Genre: romantic, fluff

Summary: Y/n invited Camilo to their house so they could teach him how to paint, then during the painting session, he got a peak on y/n's drawing him with all of his freckles.

(I know nothing about painting so if i made a mistake please point it out😭)

••

Camilo's POV

Y/n requested me the other day to come to their house because they wanted to teach me how to draw and paint properly, i wanted to decline the offer because painting takes time and i'm very impatient!

But they already asked permission to abuela and my parents and they agreed so now i have no choice but to agree as well. But their reaction when i said yes made my decision worth it, i love when i make them happy

Now i'm getting ready on meeting them, but i can't stop checking myself if i look good! What if i came to their house my hair all messy?

"Stop overthinking Camilo, it's just y/n.. they love you, nothing to worry about.." i whispered to myself taking a deep breathe when suddenly someone came in my room causing me to squeal. "Ayy hermana! Please don't scare me like that!"

"Sorry Camilo but, you're like 5 minutes late, and i can hear y/n asking themselves if you changed your mind." With what Dolores said i immediately run out of my room and out of the house almost tripping but i caught myself, thankfully.

"Enjoy mijo!"

"Yeah, mami!"

As i arrived in their house, i fixed myself before knocking, and it was them who opened the door. "Camilo!"

"Hola mi amor! Sorry i'm late." I smiled and gave them a hug and they did the same.

"It's okay, for a second i thought you didn't want to go." The way they frowned made me regret i went late "but! You're here now, so let's go?"

I gave them a kiss on the cheeks before nodding. We went inside their room and i saw paints, brushes and canvas.

We're really doing this huh..

"You know you can still change your mind right?" Y/n spoke beside me and i shook my head, i'm not going to fail them!

"I don't really like painting but i'll make an exception for you, amor." They blush at my words before playfully shoving me.

"Let's start!" They grabbed their own canvas and sat on their bed and i followed grabbing my own canvas. "Okay so first, think of something you want to draw, it can be anything like the view of Encanto, your house even your own room. If you have no idea how to paint it you can sketch it first." I nodded and started sketching, at first i didn't know what to draw but i ended up drawing the mountains of encanto

In my peripheral vision i could see y/n looking at me but i didn't mention it as i focused on my own canvas.

"What did you drew?" They asked

"The mountains" i said glancing at them, i show them the result of my drawing and they nodded. That's an approve nod, okay i'm doing well.

"Ready to paint it?"

"Yeah!"

They handed me an extra palette with different colors of paint on it already and they handed me a paintbrush.

I didn't know what to do so i glanced at them and they sighed.

"Pick a color you want and if you see that the color you need isn't there you can mix it over here at the empty spot." They pointed at the palette with no paint and i nodded my head.

Painting is stressful.. but to others it's peaceful.. i kept watching y/n and i could tell this is peaceful to them so i tried not to ruin it.. but i also ruined it by asking stupid questions.

"How do i know if i'm stroking it right?"

"You would know, you can see the lines."

..

"What do i do if i used the wrong colors?"

"Camilo!"

"I was only asking!"

"You have to start over then"

"Dios.."

..

"How is your painting so far?" I glance at them frowning, my hands are full of different kinds of paint and i ruined my canvas by accidentally dropping the palette.

"I suck at this.."

They laughed while shaking their head, they stood up and gave me a kiss on the cheeks.

"Oh cariño don't worry, i'll go get some towels." They went out of their room, out of curiosity i peeked on what they painted and i was shocked to see my face. I grabbed the canvas and decided to study it.

It's very detailed.. you can tell she puts an effort on painting.. every freckles on my face can be seen in their painting and i'm to shocked to speak, i also didn't notice that they already came back.

"Oh uhm.." they startled, they took the canvas from my hands and placing it on the table near her bed. "You weren't suppose to see that." They sat beside me and started wiping my hands while i was looking at them softness on my eyes.

"You.. drew all of my freckles." I said, they nodded a blush forming on their cheeks. "Why?"

"Is that even a question Camilo? I love the way you are, just the way you are." They said and i can feel my heart thumping as i heard the sentence over and over again.

They love me for who i am..

"If you hate your freckles, well.. i don't.. i love them because they're a part of you, cariño."

This is exactly the moment i knew i found the right person for me.

••

Hope you like it! Thanks for requesting!

[violettelueur]

— ITADORI YUJI + FUSHIGURO MEGUMI + GOJO SATORU + NANAMI KENTO || HAVING AN ARTISTIC S/O

↳ featuring : itadori yuji + fushiguro megumi + gojo satoru + nanami kento from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : grammar issues

↳ form : headcanons

↳ published : 27 january

↳ pronouns : non specified in headcanon

↳ request : Goodday Violettelueur.😊 May I order classic black coffee? Okay ummm can I request headcanons Gojo Satoru, Nanami Kento, Itadori Yuji and Megumi Fushigiro (spell I his name right?) x S/O that's talent creative like painting, drawing, sewing, kriting, tinkering.

↳ barista’s notes : good day to you too~ i decided to take the painter/sketcher approach to your request, so i hope you don’t mind ʕ´•ᴥ•`ʔ but guys, when i was looking for an imagine for this banner, i cried reading the manga again because if you know, you know...ʕ ꈍᴥꈍʔ BUT other than that, i hope you enjoy your cup of classic black coffee (jujutsu kaisen request!) and come again soon ╲ʕ·ᴥ·　╲ʔ

When Itadori finds out that you are creatively talented, this boy will always ask you if you are planning to draw/paint soon because he wants to watch you do whatever you choose to do.

It is known that Itadori is your number one fan and supporter and will cheer for you in the background quietly because he knows that you need to concentrate when you’re doing your thing.

When you are either painting or drawing, Itadori will always sit next to you with his head on your shoulder because he wants to see the process but mostly the final result.

If you are painting, Itadori will ask if he can help mix paints to make different colours for you since he doesn’t want to ruin the piece you are making.

Imagine him shyly using an extra paintbrush and just cutely mixing colours next to you - guys...I can’t, I’m going to start crying.

Even though he is nervous, when you want him to paint on your canvas, he would always ask you what colour to use and where to paint even when you tell him he can do anything he wants and you’ll go on from there.

During this time, he will apologise profusely when he thinks he has ruined the painting - so please tell him that he is doing a good job as he goes along, it gives him confidence.

Since he is your number one fan, he will take a picture of your sketches/paintings and shows them off to everyone like the proud boyfriend he is.

“Look! Look! Y/N drew this yesterday, isn’t it so cool?!”

Fushiguro and Kugisaki will be amazed but will get annoyed at Itadori constantly shouting at them to look at your art - “We already know Y/N is an amazing artist, you don’t need to keep telling us…”

If you gift him a painting or a sketch of him, this boy will cherish it with all his heart and will compliment on how well you got his features - you can’t tell me otherwise at all.

In conclusion, Itadori will be the proudest boyfriend ever and will show you off - not in a possessive way - it’s more out of happiness and cheeriness.

When Fushiguro discovers your artistic talents, he will invite you over to his dorm to hang out together as an excuse to see you draw or continue on what art piece you were doing before.

He knows that you don’t ever come to his room without your art supplies because usually, you both are in his room just silently with each other.

He will stay silent and leave you to continue your work - when you are in your dorm room - but expect him to keep coming back once every 5 minutes to admire your work over your shoulder until you tell him that he could say if he wanted.

His favourite sights to see is when you are on his bed laying on your stomach sketching away on your book or you sitting on a stool with your canvas and easel in the sunlight with the touch of his divine dog calmly laying on the floor beside you.

Sometimes, when you are in his room, you would ask him if he wanted to draw with you, to which, of course, he would deny the offer since he doesn’t want to ruin your sketchbook.

Once you convince him it’s fine, it is known on a daily occurrence that you would draw/paint on one page of your sketchbook and he would do the same on the other - if he can, he would hold your other hand.

When you are feeling bored, Fushiguro will allow you to draw on his arm since he knows it’s a coping mechanism for you - I don’t think he would wash it off anytime soon…

Unlike itadori, it is unknown to you that he takes pictures of you drawing/painting as well as your work - he probably has a whole folder dedicated to you and a picture of you painting is probably his wallpaper.

If you draw him, expect him to blush and ask why and if you tell him ‘it’s because you are pretty’ that blush will just go redder.

I don’t think he will show your talent off, not because he’s not proud but maybe because he wants this knowledge to only himself - like yours and his little secret I guess.

Overall, Fushiguro is someone that will admire your work but also want to somehow relate to you by joining in with your sketching sessions - he has some pride inside of him to have such an artistic partner but wants to keep that to himself.

When Gojo finds out that you can draw and paint, he will always try to find your sketchbook and canvas to see if you have done anything new without his knowledge - because curiously kills that cat right?

If you have drawn something without his knowledge, he will pout and complain to you on why you didn’t tell him about it

“Honey~ why didn’t you tell me you were going to draw this week? I wanted to watch you~”

If you draw/paint him in any way, he will get cocky and confident because, of course, he is an amazing subject to be used. 

Of course, Gojo has to be that one person that takes a picture of something and will ask you if you could draw/paint what is depicted on the phone screen.

He will also allow you to draw on him and expect him to take a few photos while you are doing so because he thinks you look adorable doing so.

He will also ask you if you want him to model for you - because he is confident in his looks - and if you say ‘yes’ make sure to say what you want to draw from him because he thinks you want to draw all of him.

When you are painting, do not expect a peaceful session, because this guy will play with your paints and paint-brushes.

What I mean by this is him dabbing a paintbrush into the paint before brushing it on your face or anywhere that you are showing skin.

His excuse will be because you are a masterpiece and he will continue to swipe white paint on your face and maybe your hair to ‘match with him’.

Gojo will also mix paint to match the colour of his eyes and will use it to paint on you also - he just loves to tease you.

If you paint of him, he will cuddle you to get you both messy with paint since it’s another excuse of his to have a shower together~

In conclusion, Gojo will always mess with you when you are drawing and painting, he wants to be the subject of most of your works but he is grateful that he has a talented significant other like you.

Namami will give you more privacy than his senior - Mr Gojo Satoru - because he has an idea on how much time and concentration it takes to make one masterpiece.

When you are in the middle of something, Nanami will make you some of your favourite beverage and place it next to you with a bowl of fruit or his favourite sandwich.

His favourite site of you when you draw is when you both go on a coffee date together and you sit next to him with your sketchbook in hand - he would have a soft look on his face as he admires you and the book.

When you are painting, it would be you that will brush some paint on him since why not help him have a little fun?

He will groan at you for being a bit annoying but once he hears you laugh, he will forget about the little incident since this moment is something he wants to appreciate with you.

If you do any artwork that is related to him, he would seem nonchalant about it but you know on the inside he is really proud of you.

He would admire the work for a long time even when you have gone to do something else and if you are sly about it, you could see him sitting on your stool with a small smile being displayed on his face.

When the painting has dried or when a drawing has been completed, he would gently trace the drawing and will ask for a copy of it - even though he already has a picture of it on his phone, he just wants more.

“It’s really incredible Y/N, thank you for doing this”

When you have finished your work for the day or if you are tired, he will help you clean up and place your work somewhere for it to be safe or to dry since he is really proud of your work and doesn’t want anything to happen to it.

He doesn’t really have pet names for you - usually, it’s darling, love or something endearing - but he will add a new one for you and he will call you his “little artist”.

Overall, Nanami is very discreet when it comes to you and your art but is really amazed by all your work since he is a person that takes everything to detail - sometimes he is shocked at how well you get every little detail into your work.

© violettelueur 2021 : written and published by violettelueur - do not steal or repost

[dialovers-translations]

Diabolik Lovers Zero Vol. 12 Azusa Mukami [Track 4]

Original title: ただ、一緒に

Source: Diabolik Lovers Zero Vol. 12 Azusa Mukami [CD not owned by me]

Audio: Here

Seiyuu: Kishio Daisuke

Translator’s note: ーー And once again, the power of true love prevails!! The plot of the Zero CDs is a perfect combination between angst, suspense and fluff, which is why it is one of my favorites. I felt like the ‘enemy’ they were fighting this time was not as extreme compared to some of the other CDs and I genuinely got some ~~feels~~ in the end. ;w;

Track 1 ll Track 2 ll Track 3 ll Track 4 ll Track 5

→  LIKE MY TRANSLATIONS? SUPPORT ME ON KO-FI!

Track 4: Simply, Together

The two of you walk through the hallway of the museum.

“Oh...The hallway is...different from earlier...It used to be full of twists and turns, but now it’s just...one straight path...If this building is alive...I suppose it would easily be able to...change its interior...?”

You ask how much longer you’ll have to walk. 

“Mmh...I wonder how much longer this path goes on for...? I’m pretty sure...the museum is guiding us towards a place though...”

Azusa comes to a halt.

“Ah. ...A door. ...Let’s go! We have no...other choice.”

*Creaaaaak*

“...H-Huh...? We’ve returned here again...? The room filled with...art supplies...”

You seem confused. 

“Mmh...I wonder why? Is there something...important here? ...Oh! Wait.”

He looks around, suddenly spotting his doppelganger.

( Say, what’s wrong? Ah...You’re hungry, aren’ you? I’m sorry! I’ll prepare your meal in no time! )

“It’s his...voice...I can hear it from right up ahead...We should probably turn around, huh?”

You shake your head. 

“Ah...Right...It’s a one-way path...So we can’t go anywhere else...Ugh...In that case...Let’s quietly...sneak closer. There might be something in the back after all...”

You slowly step closer.

( Hey...Cheer up? Do you hate me now? )

*Ba-dump*

“Eh...? W-What’s...that!?”

( ...Oh? Ah...You’ve come here. )

“...!”

( Haah...How troublesome. I went through so much trouble to tie you both up too. )

“...!! Stay by my side...!”

Azusa protects you.

“We can’t die here...! We have to go back...no matter what!”

( Can’t do~ Just look at how grumpy she is. I’m sure it’s because she’s hungry. Therefore, I need you two to become her food. ...Say, you want to hurry up and eat too, right? )

*Rumble*

( Oh...What’s wrong...Why won’t you rejoice...? )

“Ah...S-Say! The thing you’re...talking to...it’s shaped like a person but is it...a work of art?”

( ...Right. I made this. It’s the heart of the museum. )

“Oh...! Of the museum...?”

( Fufu~ Isn’t it pretty? I attached these tubes as well. All of the nutrients absorbed through the food come flowing in here. Because of this system, she can stay alive, even when reduced to just her heart. )

“What do you...mean...?”

( My precious someone...was killed a long time ago. Even though she was...so very, very important to me... )

“Are you perhaps talking...about the woman on those sketches?”

( ...Exactly. The one person who accepted me. Without her, I would lose even my reason to exist! Yet...! She almost took her last breath right in front of my own eyes! If she were to pass away I just...I wouldn’t know what to do! ...But you know, I realized! That I could simply move her still-beating heart... )

“Oh...Don’t tell me...That heart is inside...?”

*Ba-dump*

“You transplanted the heart and...turned the person you loved into that thing? Is that why this museum is alive?”

( Yes. Right now...She is this building. )

“Say...Who are you? You’re not an ordinary painting...”

(  I’m a Vampire just like you. I just so happened to be well-versed in this department. (1) ...I was simply living a happy life painting pictures, accompanied by the person I loved. ) 

“Together with...the person you loved?”

( However, as you can see, I died too, staying by her side as a spirit to ensure she would not grow lonely. As a painting who hunts for her prey. ...To make sure she stays alive. )

*Cling*

“...!! What are you...going to do...?”

( What do you mean? I have to restrain you two with pins to make sure the food doesn’t run away? )

The fake Azusa uses his magic to make the pins float in the air.

( Hm~ I’m glad I brought a bunch of these large pins with me. ...I’ll turn you both in skewers, okay? )

*CLANG*

“...!! Step back!! ...Ugh!”

*CLANG*

“Aaargh...!! Uu...Ugh...”

( Ahaha~ My live specimen is complete~ We’ll do this in order, so you’ll have to wait till later. ...First up, we’ll start with the more delicious-looking one~ )

He approaches you.

( Woah there...~ Struggle all you want, but you can’t run. ...The sheer white canvas over there, that’s the museum’s mouth. Once you get thrown inside, you will melt away and become nutrients. ...You seem to have a thing for pain, so I’ll make sure you dissolve slowly, okay? Fufu~ )

The painting demon starts dragging you towards the canvas.

*Rustle rustle* 

“You...can’t...Let...go of her...!”

*Rumble*

( Ah...! )

“...The museum is...crying...again...Perhaps...S-Say...! Couldn’t your...girlfriend be weeping because...she wants you to...stop this already...?”

( ...Hah? )

“When you...fed off her or...even when I did it...Every time...there was the scent of blood...the museum cried...Even when you tried to get her eaten...as if she’s...begging you not to do this...”

( ...You’re wrong. That can’t be. )

“But...!”

( She would never disagree with what I do...! I love her this much! It’d definitely make her happy! ...Ugh. She has simply grown impatient because I’m such a slowpoke. Come on! Get inside the painting...!! )

He pushes you against the canvas.

“...Eve!”

( It’ll be all over once she sinks into the canvas. I’m sure she’ll feel better once she has had her meal~ )

“...Eve...Kuh...You can’t...I won’t let you go...!! I definitely...won’t let you go all by yourself...!”

*Cling*

( Eh...!? There’s just no way he could stand up right now!? )

“Ugh...Kuh...To me...She is my special someone...She is the only one I have...! I definitely don’t want her...to go...!!!!”

Azusa frees himself.

*Cling clang*

“...Eve!!”

He rushes over to you, trying to pull you out of the canvas.

“I won’t let you go...Never...! Argh...!!”

The two of you get absorbed by the painting.

“...Aaah!”

*Thud*

“...Where are we...? I can’t see...anything...? Haah, haah...Am I...inside the painting?”

You call out for Azusa.

“...! Eve...!? Are you there...!?”

You call for him again and Azusa runs to you. 

“Ugh...Haah, haah...! You’re here...”

He grabs hold of your hand.

“...Why are you apologizing...? I didn’t want to leave your side...so that’s why I followed you. I don’t want us to be separated...”

You ask if you will get eaten now. 

“Mmh...It’s all over once you...get absorbed by the painting...We might get...consumed. But you know, this is way better...than losing just you...Neither of us...should have to be lonely. We always have to be together...Right?”

You nod.

“Yeah. ...That’s why...I don’t regret anything. Let’s be together in life and death.”

*Rumble rumble*

“Oh...Eh!? It’s...shaking?”

*Rumble rumble*

“...Ah! I’m being...pulled in...! ...Eve! ...Hang on tight...! Don’t...leave me...!! Aaaaah...!!!”

The two of you get sucked out of the canvas again. 

*THUD*

“Ugh...Ow...A-Are you...okay?”

You nod.

“Thank god...Give me your hand. Can you stand?”

Azusa helps you get up.

“...Where are we...?”

*Rustle*

“...We made it...out of the canvas...!?”

( ...Why!? How come!? How did you get out!? This has never happened before...!? )

“Oh...I see. She let us out...The museum let us...go...”

( ...!! N-No way...No...I don’t believe this. She is always happy with my work! There is no way she would get in my way! )

“That might be true...I’m sure she really does love you...But couldn’t that be...why she’s sad now?”

( ...Eh? )

“You see...I saddened the person important to me in the past as well. Time after time...”

You frown.

“That girl was a...kind person so...she was worried about me and hurt herself too...That’s why I sort of understand...I’m sure your girlfriend is worried about you...Since you’ve taken many lives for her sake. ...I’m sure she doesn’t want you...to continue this...So don’t you think that could be why...she’s crying?”

( ...! ...Say...Is he right...? Are you crying because of me...? )

*Rumble rumble*

( ...!! I-I see...I was wrong... )

He drops to his knees.

( I’m sorry...I...I’m so sorry...! I never meant to make you suffer...! I just...I didn’t want to let you die! I thought that...You’d be happy if I did this...! But...I was wrong, huh? I had forgotten. That you were always the type of person who would worry about me, instead of about yourself. I made you worry a lot, didn’t I? ...I’ll no longer repeat the same mistake. I’ll stop doing this. So please...! Will you stay by my side? )

*Rumble*

( Aah...I see...Mmh. Thank you. )

He stands up again.

( I have a...request to make. Could you please...burn me down together with this museum. )

You seem shocked.

“W-Why...!?”

( She wants things to end. Because she can’t become happy, even if she were to remain alive. However, I can’t let her go alone, so I will perish alongside her. No matter where it takes us, I don’t want to leave her side. )

“I...see. ...Mmh. Understood.”

You tell Azusa not to do it.

“I...can’t stop them. The two of them...seem happy after all. That’s why...Eve...”

You nod.

“Mmh. Let’s go...outside. If we stay here...We’ll get swallowed by the flames...after all...”

( ...Hey! Can I ask one last thing? )

“...Eh?”

( What would you do...If she were to die on you? )

“I would...”

You look up at Azusa.

“i cannot...fantom that...But! However...I might have just done...the exact same thing you did...”

*TIMESKIP*

“...Oh. It has stopped raining. The nearby greenery is still wet, so the fire probably won’t spread...”

You ask him if this is truly the right thing to do.

“Mmh. They wished for this themselves...So I think this was for the best. Besides...I’m sure that nobody can decide...whether this is good or bad...This is the path they have chosen for themselves after all...Nobody should interfere with that...”

He turns his head towards you.

“It’s the same for us, right...? No matter what happens...We don’t want anyone to get in our way...We’d want to be together forever...Don’t we?”

You agree.

“Mmh...I pray (2) that as they meet their end, and even after that...they will never be torn apart...Farewell.”

Azusa sets the museum on fire.

ーー TO BE CONTINUED ーー

Translation notes 

(1) This sentence is quite vague, but I suppose he refers to having the necessary knowledge to know that if he preserved his lover’s heart and put it into something else, he could keep her alive that way. 

(2) He ends his sentence with ように or ‘you ni’ which implies that he is making some sort of wish. 

[collecting-stories]

Artwork - JJ Maybank

Request: Hey! I've read your entire masterlist 😶😬😂 I was wondering if you could do something with jj x reader and she's an artist. Idk I was painting and thought of it, maybe a paint fight or something

A/N: I incorporated the pandemic a little lol. 

Outer Banks Masterlist

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Eyes closed, JJ was laying on your bed, an old quilt stretched out underneath him. It was nearing the 100s outside but inside the air was kicked up and your fan was on, blowing cool air across the bed. JJ was on his back, shirt off, muscles tensing and then relaxing again each time that your brush ran cold paint over his tan skin.  

Quaratine had eaten up most of your summer plans but you had made an entire list of ‘at home’ things that you’d seen on pinterest and tiktok to occupy your time and naturally, you’d roped JJ into most of them. He’d made stickers with you and redecorated CD’s and painted your bedroom. Today’s activity was painting. It had started on regular canvas but had somehow moved to JJ’s back being used as the canvas.  

Bright yellow sunflowers, hints of blue in the background, covered JJ’s skin from the base of his neck to just above his swim trunks. You sat straddling him, a small paint brush in your hand as you finished the last few details. JJ whined at an especially ticklish swipe too close to his side and you bit your lip as he pressed his mouth into his arm to stop from making any more noise.

“I’m almost done.” You promised, careful of the wet paint on his back as you leaned forward to kiss the part of his shoulder that was decorated.  

“Good, I get to do your back after this.” JJ replied.  

“Uh...no.” You shook your head as you grabbed your phone off the bed beside you to take a picture of your handiwork. “I hate to break it to you babe but you aren’t exactly Picasso.”

“I’m assuming that’s some art dude.” JJ said, turning his head slightly, eyes still closed. He smiled like he knew you were taking a picture and you tapped your phone, the flash flickering over him for a second.  

“It is some art dude, yes.” You laughed, climbing off of him as carefully as possible, trying not to smudge your handiwork.  

“Yeah well I could totally paint better than him.” He replied. JJ got up off the bed, stretching his arms up over his head and you bit your lip watching him flex, the muscles in his abs tensing and then relaxing. The artwork on his back was beautiful but you’d argue that nothing compared to actually looking at him. JJ was his own artwork.

“Fine.”  

“Seriously?” He grinned.  

“Seriously. I’ll let you paint on my back.” You conceded, knowing it was pointless to argue. There was no way you had the will power or discipline to say no to any of JJ’s suggestions, even if that meant your back ended up looking like a three-year old’s finger-painting experiment.

“Alright, you know the drill...strip.”

You rolled your eyes at him but pulled your shirt off over your head. Your sports bra went next, dropping it beside the bed before you laid down, getting situated. “You know how lucky you are, you can just lay down you don’t have to like readjust your boobs so they’re not squashed.”  

“You could sit up,” JJ suggested, climbing on the bed, his knees settling on either side of your hips, “then I could paint and have a nice view at the same time.”  

Even with your eyes closed you could tell that JJ was no doubt looking at the mirrored closet door that sat across from the end of your bed. “I’ll stay laying down. You’ll see enough of me when I wash this off later.”

“Wash it off? Please you’ll be begging them to do a living art piece in the MoMa.” He replied. “That’s what it’s called right? The MoMa?”  

“Yeah...it’s called the MoMa.” You smiled knowing that he had remembered. God knows that you had sent him an onslaught of photos sneakily taken inside of the MoMa when you went up to New York with your mom last summer to look at art colleges in NYC.

The first brush of paint ran across your skin and you couldn’t help tensing, the coolness of it shocking you slightly. JJ’s free hand pressed into your back, just above your ass, thumb massaging your skin gently as he continued to paint.  

Your talent in art was as good as JJ’s was bad. While you were thinking of pursuing a degree in art and had been taking private lessons since you were ten, JJ could barely manage a stick figure. That didn’t matter though, whether he could actually draw or not he could appreciate your art. He was an antsy person by nature but he’d sat almost perfectly still for hours at a time for sketches. Everytime you took part in an art show, even if they were just small, local fairs, he got excited about it.  

“What are you painting?” You asked, trying to tilt your head to catch a peek at what colors he was using. You’d done sunflowers on his back because if anyone reminded you of the flower it was JJ. It helped that they were his favorite, something he’d mentioned in passing once when you first started dating. Followed defensively by ‘guys can like flowers too’ not that you had said anything to contradict that.

“You’ll see.”  

“It better not be a dick or something!”

“It’s not a dick! I’m a serious artist here and I am offended that you would even suggest that to me.” JJ replied, sounding offended.  

You hummed skeptically. JJ dipped his brush in the blue, mixing it around on the palette board with the white. It was messier than yours usually looked but he ignored it, running the brush over your back and smiling a little at the actual picture coming together.  

He took his time, just like you had, mixing different shades of blue and adding detail, shading, all the pieces of technique that he had watched you incorporate when you painted. When he was finally finished he grabbed his phone to take a picture, the same way you had taken his picture.  

“I think it looks fucking awesome, if I do say so myself.” He mused.  

“Can I see it or are you just gonna keep sitting on me?”  

“Tempting but...I’ll move.” He climbed off of you careful of the paint.  

You climbed off the bed, holding your arms in front of you as you turned to look in the mirror. JJ had painted waves across your back with a bright sun over your shoulder. You couldn’t help smiling at his handiwork, better than you’d thought it’d look but also, being islanders there was nothing the two of you loved more than the beach. It’d been there that you’d met and there that you’d had your first date.  

“I think you’re right, I might end up putting myself on display in the MoMa.” You said, looking over at your boyfriend and smiling.  

“Not to shabby huh? I’ll be stealing your scholarship soon.” He teased.  

“Oh definitely.”

“You know what we should get?” He asked, moving your art supplies off your bed and over to your desk to be washed later.

“What?” You asked, skeptical.

“Those edible paints.” He replied, “we could do some finger painting on each other.”

“Oh god you are...” You shook your head at him, already knowing where his mind was going. “You better buy me sheets to cover my bed...I’m not washing that shit out afterward.”  

“So that’s a yes.”

“Unbelievably, yes.”

-

taglist: @maplelattes22 @poguesrforlife  @freckled-and-daydreaming  @chasefreakinstokes @millie-753 @fangirlwithme @alex12948 @katherine097 @tangledinsparkles @carbonated-beverage @mariofgreengables @damonsalvawhore27 @dopedoodes @dolanfivsosxox @belledutchess @poguelifeeee @faded-blue @parkerpetertingle @thebookwormlife @summer-clouds-and-long-days @jellyfishbeansontoast @minigranger @hoewkeye @love-someone-special @tiredfeels @strangerthanfanfiction713 @the-only-nana @tomzfrog @mozz-are-lla @vindictive-hearts @poguestyleskye @ssprayberrythings @jenahbell @beautyandthebleh @gothackedalready @teenwaywardasgardian @sarahcxmeron @haha-fuck-you-thot @stillbelieve398-5 @rewindlr @queenniccimicci @thedarkqueenofavalon @alytavzla @bqmblebee @linniep @nerdypartytrashpsychic @xxchxrryxx @spencer-reid-is-a-cutie @mirjanak @danielladreaming @obx-saltlife @youngestxhearts @spnobsessedmemes @wowitswondergurl @celestialmaybank @mybnkjj @pineappleandcherries @mysterious-adventurer @justawilddreamerchild @rhyetaylor62 @calm-rejects @balletandyuzu @oh-annaa @aiifandomsunite @x-lulu @ceruleanjj @wicked-laugh @obxwriterfan @allie-mcginn @pcterparxer @literarycharleton @crushe-s @teamnick @daydreamlilys @collectiveuniverses @activist-af @mdgrdians @buckys-sunflower @vindictive-hearts @copper-boom @talksoprettyjjx @5am-cigarette @jolomez @timotaychalabae

[kosmosguk]

Hi!!! Are there any bts yandere profiles we shoud know about?? Like what sort of yandere is each member. Can i request that you do a yandere profile for each member?? Thanks!

I did a brief version of this for my post BTS as yanderes based on their MOTS 7 song, but this gives me an opportunity to elaborate more and be more detailed! Sorry for the slow posting; luckily school’s ending soon which means I get a break to catch up on my inbox :) Thanks to everyone who’s been supporting me and a BIG shoutout to the anon who sent me the long incredibly sweet message because y’all are the reason I’m posting this week<3 (also this gives me a reason to look at pics of heartthrob bts)

warnings: yandere themes (toxic relationships), mentions of violence, mentions of kidnapping, blackmail, implied deaths, gaslighting 

Kim Seokjin

Yandere Type: Controlling

Danger Level: 7

It’s often rare that Seokjin finds someone to take interest in; after all, he’s spent all of his life being the one who people took interest in. Thus, when he sees you, someone he finds as beautiful as himself, he falls too hard too fast. He sees you as a pretty doll, one that he can arrogantly toy with and play with as much as he wants, and, as the son of a wealthy family, he’s spent his life always getting what he wanted when he wanted it; you’re no exception. He’s not above using the power that comes with his family to force you into the role he has applied to you in his mind, whether it be subtle threats against your family or punishments. As his obsession with having control over you continues to grow, you better not refuse to play your role well; after all, if he snaps, you’ll find yourself waking up in a special room that he has designed for his precious little princess. 

Min Yoongi

Yandere Type: Overprotective 

Danger Level: 8

Yoongi’s a little rough around the edges; he’s cold and distant, or at least that’s what you think about him. You don’t even suspect that he’s harboring such dark, twisted intentions for you, even when those who have hurt you seem to be disappearing in such mysterious ways, and Yoongi always shows up looking scuffled. Those who are fortunate to survive can barely meet your eye, only showing up to apologize before abruptly vanishing; you find it weird, but you can’t help but think that your life has gotten so much easier. It takes a while for you to realize how overprotective Yoongi is; he’s always with you, refusing to part from your side unless you’re using the bathroom. With him by your side, it helps you to evade all of the rumors that’s floating about him, but the one person who brings up the rumor about Yoongi always ends up disappearing. But you barely realize that; not when Yoongi’s so adamant about protecting you from everything outside. 

Kim Namjoon

Yandere Type: Manipulative 

Danger Level: 8

Namjoon’s always been good with words; he can twist a situation that’s horrible into one that sounds like it’s meant to be. At least, that’s what you’ve deluded yourself into believing. He starts out small at first, passing remarks that shed doubt on the choices you’ve made like whether or not the dress you’re wearing is right, and the remarks grow until you can barely look outside the window without practically trembling. After all, Namjoon’s always right; everything he’s said that’s wrong with the outside world has happened, and if you were rational like you were a few months ago, perhaps you would’ve realized that everything that’s happened to you is much too planned out to be just coincidences. But you’re not the you from a few months ago; Namjoon has manipulated you well into placing your heart and mind into his grip. Even if there’s doubt in your heart, it’ll be quickly stomped out by your belief that Namjoon is always right. 

Jung Hoseok

Yandere Type: Two-Faced

Danger Level: 8

Hoseok, as a yandere, is good at fooling you; to you, he’s so nice and energetic, always smiling brightly and taking good care of you. But with others who dare to even look at you, he’s terrifying. If you ever looked at Hoseok in these moments, a callous look in his eyes, the same eyes that practically sparkle whenever he sees you, and his lips set firm in a line, the lips he uses to smile and kiss you tenderly with, and his hands, the ones that softly cradle your face, stained in a horrific red, you wouldn’t be able to recognize him. However, Hoseok is careful about revealing who he really is with you to the point where you would refuse to believe it if someone told you the truth. As long as you don’t suspect your loving and supportive boyfriend and don’t get too curious, you’ll be safe, but if you find out something that you shouldn’t find out about Hoseok, you can’t blame the drastic measures he’ll need to take to ensure you can never leave him.

Park Jimin

Yandere Type: Delusional 

Danger Level: 6-8

Jimin’s yandere type is quite volatile. He’s stuck in his own fantasies and delusions, in which you’re his pretty lover and he’s your doting boyfriend, and his fantasies will continue to escalate if you, out of fear, keep feeding them. One day you’ll be his lover, but then suddenly, he’s proposing to you in public, a bold smile on his face, and you’re terrified to say no as everyone around you claps and cheers. If you dare to try to push him out of them because hell, you don’t even know this guy besides a brief introduction at the start of college and he’s insisting that you’re dating, he’ll snap, and trust me, it will not be pretty. Either way, you’ll end up in what Jimin fondly calls ‘’our happily ever after,’’ the kind where you’ll have children running around, either from the both of you or lovingly adopted, and you’ll have the wonderful duty of prettily smiling by Jimin’s side until your last breath.

Kim Taehyung

Yandere Type: Obsessive 

Danger Level: 8

Taehyung, normally, loves art; he loves the beauty and the blend of emotion-provoking colors and lines that lies within the canvas of a masterpiece. As a yandere, his obsession with art continues to grow and decrease in stability after meeting you; he craves being able to put the image of you down onto paper, and he dreams, fingers twitching unconsciously, of sketching your face perfectly down. His studio is filled with half-finished portraits and crumpled sketches and walls filled with carefully creased photographs of you because no matter how much time and effort he pours into replicating your artistry, he can never achieve it. Taehyung comes to the conclusion that to really replicate your beauty, he needs to have you. You find yourself knocked out one night walking back home and waking up with a throbbing head to a man who’s as beautiful as the marble statues he’s surrounded himself with. You should pray and hope that his obsession with you will only remain at putting your image into art.  

Jeon Jungkook

Yandere Type: Clingy/Aggressive 

Danger Level: 5-9

Jungkook’s initially one of the softer yandere types, refusing to leave your side for even a second. As long as you don’t try to leave him, he’ll remain sweet, like the syrupy taste of honey. But, just like honey, you quickly find yourself getting sick. He’s too clingy, and he’s easily jealous, the kind of jealous that shows his more aggressive side and leaves a numb unsettling sense of terror gnawing deep in your bones. You try severing your relationship with him, and suddenly Jungkook, the Jungkook who’s always been gentle and soft with you if you ignore his bouts of horrible jealousy, changes. He becomes the Jungkook that terrifies you, the Jungkook that only comes out when he’s wracked with jealousy. If you resist him when he traps and confines you, he’ll only get worse, but if you give in and return to being his loving significant other, Jungkook will take it easier on you and become your sweet Jungkook again. 

[with-love-anu]

The New Neighbour 1

PAIRING: Sirius Black x Reader

Series Masterlist

Sirius sat down at the table yawning. James was just back from his run and was making a smoothie for himself.

“Morin’” Sirius mumbled.

“Good morning.”

Sirius poured himself some coffee, making himself a sandwich.

“How many steps today?”

“14 K . It’s getting better, I am nearing the goal.��� James said smiling as Sirius nodded.

“James, you are amazing, they’ll regret not having you on the team.” Sirius said taking a big bite of the bread.

“I know, I know. I just want to make sure my audition goes well.” They heard some fumbling and turned to see Remus coming out of his room with disheveled hair.

James sighed.

“Were you up again, reading all night?”

“In my defense, there were just 5 chapters left.” Remus said, boiling some water for tea.

There was a knock on the door and Sirius groaned.

“Must be the encyclopedia man. I’ve told him so many times we are not interested, yet he wouldn’t just listen.” Sirius got up fussing and opened the door.

“WE DON’T BLOODY NEED YOUR ENCLYCOPEDIAS! GET A HINT! …fuck off?” Sirius stopped yelling seeing a (Y/h/c) haired girl standing outside.

“Oh… hello?” Sirius whispered, cursing himself for behaving such in front of a cute looking stranger.

“I assure you I would not try to sell any encyclopedias to you.” She said with an amused smile and Sirius clenched his eyes shut.

“I’m (Y/n) by the way. I was moving into 18 B and thought I’d introduce myself.” (Y/n) said with a smile.

“Sirius.” Sirius said giving the girl a smile. He opened the door wider and gestured to his friends.

“He’s James and he’s Remus. We’re roommates.”

“James, Remus this is (Y/n) and she’s moving in 18 B.” (Y/n) gave a small wave, smiling at them.

Remus furrowed his brows.

“You aren’t (Y/n) (Y/l/n), are you?”

“The very same.”

“Holy shit!” Remus said widening his eyes. “I am Remus Lupin, we’ve conversed several times through mail?” (Y/n) gasped.

“Oh, hi! I adore your feedback on my books! Thank you so much!”

“I love them so so much!! Your poetry is a-amazing!”

James and Sirius watched the scene play before them in amusement. ‘Who the hell was this girl’ Sirius thought. ‘And how did she look so perfect in the morning?’

“It was so nice meeting you guys! I must go now.” (Y/n) said giving them all a tight nod.

As soon as the door closed, Sirius stalked towards Remus.

“Okay spill. Who is she?” Sirius asked.

“She’s a poet. She’s written so many books like- “Thinking out loud” and “Dreams and fantasies”. I’ve read them all and I know she’s a super sweet person. She always answered my mails, takes time to address questions and replies.”

“So are we just going to ignore the fact that Sirius straight up told her to fuck off?” James smirked at Sirius, making him release a groan. Remus laughed.

“Well, the encyclopedia man comes at the same time!!!”

“Is it only me or Sirius checked her out the whole time?” Remus asked James.

“Oh, he did.” James said looking towards Sirius.

“Sirius, can I request you to please not sleep with this one girl; because A: She’s gonna be our neighbor and B: I really like talking to her.”

“Not that it was going to happen, but fine.” Sirius grumbled.

***

You moved into your new apartment a few days later. The neighbors seemed to be very welcoming. And Sirius… well, he was hot. You put on some music and got to setting up the house. You had already got the shifters to place the heavy furniture into their specific rooms, so you had much lesser stress. There was a knock on the door. You frowned going to see who it was. Sirius, your new neighbor was here.

“I’m sorry. Was the music too loud?” you asked.

“Oh no, it’s fine.” He said shrugging. “I just thought I’d check up on you.”

“I was just setting up the house.” You opened the door wider so he could look in.

“Would you like some help? Me and James have nothing much to do and are pretty much bored out of our minds. Plus, bonding experience.” Sirius said gesturing between him and you and you let out a giggle. Sirius smiled widely, he loved that sound.

“Well if you insist,” you said.

Sirius went back to his apartment, and switched off the T.V.

“Hey!” James groaned. “I was watching that!”

“Come on, (Y/n)’s setting up the house and I offered we would help her.”

“You bloody never help cleaning this house and offered to help her set up hers?” James asked raising his eyebrows.

“Well I am being a good neighbor and you should too. Come on, get up!”

“You like her.” James pointed out. Sirius felt a blush rising on his cheeks.

“No, I don’t. I just want to be a good neighbor and do a nice thing.” Sirius said looking away.

“Oh my god, you do like her.” James laughed and Sirius glared at him, making him stop.

“Okay let’s go.” James mumbled.

“Hello there, neighbor!” James said as he came in and you gave him a warm smile.

“Hey James, are you sure you want to help me? I feel very selfish taking both of your time.”

“Oh shush. I am happy to help.” James grinned. “Wow, the colors are lovely!” he said looking around.

“Thanks!” you said opening up the lighting box. You took out the lamp, the neon lights and other fancy bulbs. Sirius and James were beside you, helping you clean them.

The three of you spent hours un-boxing, cleaning, talking and having fun. Strange, how with better company, work seems so much easier. Sirius constantly flirted with you, a thing you thought he did with everyone. He was apparently a fashion designer and James a fitness trainer and owned the gym named “potters”. You sighed opening the last box. Your paintings. Portraits of acquaintances, complete strangers and best friends. James and Sirius gasped as you took the canvases out.

“You draw too?” Sirius asked with widened eyes making you giggle.

“Yes. I actually love doing a hell a lot of things and hence take up only part-time jobs. I’ve sketched and painted as long as I could remember. All over the years, travelling to different countries, writing and working as a part time designer and editor; I kept the habit alive. Took out my canvas and brushes whenever someone seemed to pluck an inspiration in me.”

Sirius looked at the different canvas in awe. Was there one thing, you couldn’t do?

“You seem to have so many talents!” Sirius said softly.

“Ahhhh… well, thank you.” You said as you felt heat crawl up your face.

“Mate, look at this one!” James said pointing out the Jack’s painting.

“This is Jack. He owned a bar at the outskirts of Amsterdam. He was about 72 years when I met him. Never saw someone so full of life and energy. And he was pretty open minded too. Talked to depressed people at the pub, always leaving them feeling happier.”

James gave you a wide smile.

After putting up the canvases in the room you let out a long breath.

“Thank you so much, guys! Couldn’t have done this without you. Let’s go eat somewhere. Does pizza sound good? My treat.” You asked them, relieved that you settled in much faster than you had hoped.

“Well I can’t deny anything when it comes to you, my love.” Sirius said smirking and you blushed and widened your eyes slightly. You turned towards James, who grinned and nodded.

“You could call Remus too, if he’s not busy.”

“He’ll probably be reading some book right now. He loves doing that. He is actually an editor. Wait, meet me outside, I’ll call him” James said and turned to leave. You went in and grabbed your coat, keys and your purse.

Sirius was looking at a picture when you came back.

“Ready?” Sirius smirked. You nodded. He gave you his hand which you took it, giggling. Did he have to be so charming in everything he did?

Remus gave you a small smile as he saw you. You all went to the local pizza place laughing and chatting. They seemed to be very nice people. You hoped you all could be friends.

“And then he goes in and is like ‘whaaat’; and I am like, ‘bitch please, you knew this would happen’.” James recounted, making you snort. Your cheeks were already hurting with how much you laughed and there were tears in your eyes. As you all returned towards the apartment, you stopped by the ice-cream truck for some treats.

When you went to bed that night, you smiled. You felt happy after a long time, talking to genuine people, not someone who was all too intent on making a good impression on you.

The boys however grinned and smirked at Sirius. They had every well seen Sirius act differently around you.

“So, I saw someone watching (Y/n) as if she held the world.” James teased.

“Shut up, she’s just very nice and a really cute person.” Sirius said not quite meeting his friends eyes. Remus mock gasped.

“Never. Never have I heard in the last 12 years of our friendship, that Sirius finds a girl ‘just very nice and a really cute person’” Remus said air quoting.

“They are either: hot, really hot or meh. Did the sun rise from the west today or has our pretty little Sirius finally fallen in love?” James said cocking an eyebrow. Sirius rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Okay, I might like her.” he said pointedly.

James hooted and Remus threw his hand up in the air.

“Finally! someone he actually likes. What do you think Remus? Though I am happy for him, how long do you think before he messes up?”

“A week.” Remus said winking at Sirius, making him groan.

“I hate you guys.”

“You know you love us!” they laughed as Sirius went to his room shouting-‘fuck you!’

A/N: I’ve completed the series. I’ll be posting it everyday. Stay tuned. And this is my second series, the first one wasn’t much of a hit so feedback would be greatly welcomed! And ahhh... yes, prepare for some pinning

[z-iridest]

Musical Muse: A Yusuke Kitagawa x fem! Reader one shot

Yusuke Kitagawa.... Most knew him as the former pupil of Madarame, the infamous artist who plagiarized the art of his students. But, to you, he was your best friend since middle school.... Scratch that, your boyfriend since you both entered high school. Though going to two different high schools, the two of you helped each other through slumps as much as possible. In fact, around summer, he told you about the Phantom Thieves and even introduced you to them. Ann and Makoto had easily accepted you into the group, Ryuji, Morgana and Ren all following their lead.

After 2 years, Yusuke and you were living together in an apartment building in Shibuya. You practiced your music while Yusuke often painted beside you. Though, around Valentine's Day in your third year of being together, he hit a slump and was rightly frustrated. Knowing how he could get, you had gently tugged him away from his work to relax, only allowing him his sketchbook and pencil as the two of you went out together. "Dear, where are we going? I have to finish that art piece..."

"Yuse, I love you, but you are not going to get anything done staring at a blank canvas. We're gonna have a picnic at our usual date spot, and I'm going to play for you." You held up the violin case you were carrying, the instrument Yusuke knew was your favorite. He interlaced your fingers with his, trusting you as he always did. The two of you ate together while he looked for inspiration. After having your fill of the food you had prepared, Yusuke grunted, laying on his back as he watched the stars appeared in the sky.

"It's no use, my love. I cannot find inspiration anywhere I look." Yusuke groaned, making you giggle and move so you were above him, looking into the grey eyes you loved so much.

"Then maybe it's time you stop looking and start listening." You replied with a smile. His grey eyes blinked in confusion before he moved a piece of h/c hair out of your face.

"I'm not sure I follow, my beloved." Yusuke told you.

"What I mean is, I'm about to help you rise out of your slump. Now, come on, sit up." You took his hands and helped him sit up, though not without him kissing the back of both your hands in princely fashion. "I'm going to challenge you to do something you've never done before, Yuse. I want to close your eyes as I play, let your mind paint the picture for you. When I'm done, transfer the image in your mind to the page."

"Interesting... You're basically going to show me a new way of inspiration." Yusuke summarized, gaining a nod of agreement from you before you moved to your violin case. Your s/c fingers lifted the latches and opened the lid. Inside was the violin you had had since you were a child.

"I'm not sure if I ever told you about why the violin is my favorite.... Have I?" You asked, peering over your shoulder to find your boyfriend watching your frame closely. He shook his head.

"I don't believe you have, my darling." Yusuke answered, causing you to smile.

"It's simple. Just as many pieces of music have different emotions behind them, the violin can be played to express them all, from Happiness to Sadness, from pain to love... The list goes on." You told him before moving to his side once more to steal a kiss from him. His hand gently held your cheek, keeping his lips against your own for a moment longer than you had intended, but the kiss was sweet nonetheless. You smiled before standing to your feet, backing up a bit before getting into position to play your violin. With a deep breath, you began to play, noticing how your boyfriend had closed his eyes with the first note. You closed your own eyes as you played, conveying your emotions in the piece.....

By the final note, the both of you opened your eyes at the same time and locked onto each other, sharing a smile between you. Yusuke had that spark of passion in his eyes once more. After rising to kiss you in thanks, he sketched what he had seen in his mind. But.... Oddly enough, he wouldn't let you see it until the exhibition he had submitted it to. He had insisted that you go with him on Opening Night, so there you were, and when he finally showed you the piece....

Your breath was taken away. It was a portrait of you playing, but he had painted you in a way that seemed like the music you were playing was magical. Your eyes were opened in the portrait, as if you were looking at him with a loving look in your eyes. He wrapped his arm around you, holding you close as you laid your head on his shoulder. "The love in your eyes is what I felt listening to you play. The song you played held sadness, but I noticed that it turned to love and happiness at some point in the song.... I felt like you had written that composition just for me, my muse, that the song was about us. I wished to capture the beauty of the music in the painting as a thank you for always being by my side, and for making me the happiest man alive in doing so. I love you." You smiled up at him, sharing a kiss with him.

"And I love you, Yusuke Kitagawa." You told him before gazing at his newest masterpiece together.

(A Persona 5 one shot, send requests to my inbox for more)

@vivinightingale , it's an idea I've had for a while now, so I hope you enjoyed it most of all ^.^

[thot-writes]

some goofball’s attempt at a step-by-step tutorial

ok so i was requested to do a tutorial starting from a blank page. please keep in mind that i draw purely for fun & there are likely a lot of inaccuracies in my anatomy, lighting, etc.

anyway, onto the step-by-step! i use photoshop CS6. i mainly use round brushes (with adjusted hardness depending on what im using it for) and occasionally special brushes like a glitter or dirt brush or whatnot.

VERY long post so it’ll be here under the cut.

step 1 (pose sketch): 

i start on a big 4100x3500 px canvas and find a pose that i like (this one was from amanda khamkaew’s insta, since i use her as chickie’s face claim) and i redraw it. i edit things that i dont like about the pose, so for example this pose was a selfie so her other hand was taking the picture - i decided to just have the hand resting on the knee instead. 

it also doesn’t matter if your sketch looks like dogshit at this point, MOST of the corrections happen later.

i normally draw in a dark grey, but i really can’t see that as being an important step. 

step 2 (detailing the sketch):

here i put more effort into the sketch. i add the clothes, hair, face, and fix up things to make them more realistic (like her hand, which was previously just a bunch of blocks)

i use reference for all of these things. with the eyes, because im lazy, i copy and paste the one i draw first onto the other side and fix it up. same with the shoes. i drew one, then copy and pasted it to the other foot.

i clean up the linework a bit, change the colour to black, and add a little dark triangle underneath the chin (i dont know why i do this, i just like how it looks) and added lines in the back just for a general idea of the angle of the picture and ta-da! sketch done.

step 3 (base colouring):

on a new layer i colour the entire sketch using a hard brush with one colour that’s easy to see against the background, most times the skintone of the character i’m drawing. if their skintone is too white, i’ll just colour in a random, darker colour and once i’m sure there’s no gaps or spaces that aren’t properly filled in, i lock the layer and change it to their skintone. 

step 4 (skin details):

here i lock the layer and use a soft brush (0-30% hardness) to add the shading of the body. even if something isn’t going to be exposed much, like the skin in the ripped jeans, i still shade it anyway just to remind myself of where the shading is going to go. use a big brush at first, then decrease the size for details.

don’t mind mistakes here, especially not if they’re in areas you’re going to cover up later. i don’t do TOO much shading on the face at this point because i like to leave that for when i’m focusing on the face later on in the drawing.

step 5 (uh.... everything else):

on separate layers clipped to the skin layer below, i add the colours of the clothing as well as the hair and makeup. i do basic shading and once i’m satisfied with how it all looks, i merge it into one layer.

i also merge the colour layer with the lineart layer, so EVERYTHING at this point should be on one single layer. if you notice a mistake, just undo it, fix it, then merge it all again. if you decide later on that you don’t like the colour of something, create a new layer, clip it, colour over the area in question (using a layer effect like overlay or multiply), adjust the colours to what you want, then merge it again.

step 6 (the bulk of the work):

once the layers are merged i use the liquify tool to adjust anything i don’t like about the silhouette. for example, i wanted to extend and thin out her torso and increase the size of her butt (a common step for me tbh...)

i draw over everything with better details. i focus on one thing at a time like shoes, pants, shirt, gloves, etc. and use references for all of them. if you’re unsure about a change you’re making, you can always draw on a new layer and then merge it down once you’re happy with it. i aim to either erase or draw over all the lineart by the end of the piece - which is why you shouldn’t spend TOO much time on the initial sketch.

i ended up not liking how the shirt was ripped before, so i coloured over it then added different tears where i wanted them.

NOTE that this is the most LENGTHY PROCESS of the entire drawing. while i can have the base sketch and colouring down in an hour or two, the adding of details can take TRIPLE that amount of time. maybe there’s a faster way to do it all, but honestly i don’t mind, because (again) i draw purely for my own entertainment.

step 7 (yes we’re still fucking detailing, folks):

by this point you want to kill yourself because of how finicky you’re being with the details, but you keep going anyway even though you know you’re only two-thirds finished with it.

i’ve finished the details of the clothing - once again looking at references for ALL of them - and can move onto my favourite parts. namely the skin, face, and hair. 

also, i utilise the layer effects (mostly overlay for lighting and multiply for shading, although it can vary) to easily add depth to what i’m drawing. i clip the layer, change the layer mode, and colour away. it’s MUCH easier than colouring the shade in initially especially on more complicated parts like the shoes.

when i shade the face (not done here) i add more detail to it. i add the shading and lighting via multiply/overlay, and i also add a blush to the cheeks just to give the face some more colour.

step 8 (the hardest part is now DONEZO):

the skin is shaded, the face is perfected, the hair edited, and the gory details like blood and bruises and dirt are now added. fantastic!

i use SHAPE DYNAMICS on the brush when i add the strands of hair, it essentially makes the brush taper off rather than be one shape the whole time. on a separate layer, i add the gore. for the blood/cuts/bruises, i use multiply underneath the actual wound to add redness. again, USE REFERENCES for everything you do, it’ll make it look so much better trust me.

i DONT MERGE the initial drawing layer and the layer with gore and dirt on it. you can if you like, but i like to keep them separate JUST IN CASE. 

for chickie’s tattoos, i create a new layer and CLIP IT then copy and paste all of the tattoos i have in a separate file onto her skin. i erase all the parts that wouldn’t be showing, put the layer on multiply, and adjust the opacity or the colour depending on how faced i want it to look.

step 9 (the background):

unless its a simple background i can easily knock out myself, I DONT DO MY OWN BACKGROUNDS. i normally have an image in mind (for example, since this is chickie in far cry 5 i was envisioning her inside a cabin, so i looked up cabin interiors) then i find one i like, add it to the background and adjust it. i use gaussian blur on it, edit the lighting and shading with overlay/multiply once again, and mess around with the shaping tool until it at least somewhat matches the perspective it should be in. 

step 10 (filters!):

i make a group of all the layers involving chickie and duplicate it. on the second copy, i go into blending options and remove the R channel, so it’s got a bit of a chromatic aberration effect going on. i move the layer around for a subtle effect. this isn’t a necessary step it’s just something i’ve done for ages.

i also play around with layer effects like colour dodge, multiply, overlay, hard light, etc. and add in extra lighting and shading to the image. i use colour dodge for the harsher lighting on chickie’s left side where the light is coming from the window, and i also use a WHITE colour with outer glow on to add even more lighting to her. i trace over the outline of her hair and body, and draw over the little shinies in her eyes for a subtle glow on her silhouette.

i normally end up with like.... 4 or more layers of filter so i tend to group them all together in a separate group. 

also i add my tag “eshos.ian” which is my instagram account and THEN, finally, after roughly 8-12 (don’t know, didn’t time it) hours of drawing it is complete. sometimes i add further filters on it with apps like insta but this is the gist. isn’t she beautiful? waw.... i sure do love me some chickie.

i hope this has been a useful step-by-step and that you’ve learned something new! if not, sorry lol i tried.

[wakraya]

Hello everyone! With some people having been showing interest in my art lately, I thought I’d get my stuff straight with Art Commissions and Pricing! I have a variety of styles, so bear with me.

I’m open to draw a variety of topics, not just Homestuck, and like designing characters and OCs, but I do reserve the right to turn a Commission if the topic makes me uncomfortable. 

You can find examples of my art Here, Here and Here, in This Imgur Album, as well as below the Read Me!

If you’re interested, you can contact me here on Tumblr, or at Wakraya#4164 on Discord.

Commission Slots Filled: 1/4

The MSPA Style is pixel-based, reminiscent of the style used for Homestuck. It’s simple and generally line-less. The usual size for these is a 500x500px canvas, but depending on the complexity, they can easily go bigger.

- Partial Shots (Bust, from the Waist-Up...) come up to 10-15$ per character, depending on complexity of the pose, while Full Body Shots would be 15-20$, again, depending on the complexity of the pose.

- More Complex composite shots, positions, backgrounds, etc., will be priced on a case by case basis- That is to say, tell me what exactly you want and I will see what I can do.

- The Basic Background for this style is simply a solid grey or a few tones of grey to represent the background. Room furniture, outdoors detail, etc, all count as more complex Backgrounds. (See above)

- I can do some Basic Animation in this Style! Snappy sprite movement, tail wagging or ear twitching. Once more, entirely dependent on complexity, parting from the Basic Prices listed above.

- Once the base is done, Extra Edits can be done to the pictures, such as, using the same base but giving the character different clothes, or changing the position of the limbs/facial expression. Very minor edits like, a version with a White Sprite and another with a Skin tone, are free. Basic Edits are 5$ each, and more Complex ones will be once more a case by case basis.

The Standard Style is just my normal drawing style. The canvas are generally 1000px or higher in size, which makes it more elaborate and slow.

- Rough Sketches are usually what I do first to get a clear idea of how the overall piece is going to look like once inked, but more elaborate Rough Sketches can look quite good as well. A Rough Bust would come up to 10$ per Character, 15 around Waist, and 20$ for a Full Body Rough Sketch.

- Inked Sketches are more refined, and ready for coloring if needed, but obviously need more time. An Inked Bust would come up to 20$ per Character, 35 around the waist, and 50$ for a Full Body Inked Sketch.

- Basic Coloring depends on the size of the piece, but will usually come up to about 5-15$ per Character, depending on the amount of detail.

- Other details like the Complexity of the Piece itself, or Background Detail, may add to the final price, but will be calculated on a case by case basis when discussing the full piece/s.

Chibi little dolls/charms that look really cute! This is a relatively recent style, and the Chibis themselves are about 400x250px.

- A Sketched Chibi Doll with no Color will come up to 15$, 20 if their pose is particularly complex, or they’d have some detail with them like some item or weapon.

- Adding Basic Color to them will be an extra 5$, or 10 for particularly complex ones, although considering the Chibi Style, I struggle to think what would qualify as ‘Complex Coloring’.

Pixel Sprites! These are good for character reference, like a D&D Sheet. These sprites are proportional- 5′6″ being equivalent to around 150px tall, and may range from fairy-sized to 8+ feet tall. Even if you don’t care about the proportional size, have it in mind to request a Bigger or Smaller Sprite for pricing purposes!

- Standard Pose Sprites are the cheapest, a standard base in a neutral stance. These are 20$ for the Average-Height Sprites (And for the Tiny Sizes that require a Zoom), but may range from 16 to 24 for smaller and larger sizes and depending on complexity.

- Basic Pose Sprites are slightly more expensive, but can give the sprite more personality than the neutral stance. These are 30$ for the Average-Height Sprites and Tiny Sizes, but may range from 25 to 35 for smaller and larger sizes and depending on complexity.

- Complex Pose Sprites are much more dynamic and unique, but require a lot more time to deal with. These are 40$ for the Average-Height Sprites and Tiny Sizes, but may range from 32 to 48 for smaller sizes and depending on complexity.

- Objects like Weapons, or Non-Human Anatomy may come with extras. Things like, Ears or Tails shouldn’t be much of an issue, but Wings or a Digitigrade Pose will require time and work. These extras will be a case by case thing, depending on the specifics of the Sprite.

I do Other Stuff, too, which ranges from the experimental to the silly. I don’t have set prices for anything like this, but hey, if you’re interested, I am capable of doing the following:

- Iconography & Symbology, stuff like this. I even did a Tattoo for myself once.

- Landscapes. Very out of practice with these, and I’m not even that particularly good, but I know I can draw general scenarios with nice vibes.

- Maps. Note, I haven’t drawn any in a while, but I have done some stuff in the past.

- Dumb Memes and Emotes. I doubt anyone would be interested in something like this, but hey, if I’m exposing all of my work, I may as well showcase the sillier of the bunch as well.

[mable-stitchpunk]

I have no clue what 9 is about but all of this talk about it got me interested. Theoretically, would u ever write a short crossover between fnaf and 9? Not a request, just my curiosity about what youd think about it

9′s basically about this: In a world destroyed by machines, nine Stitchpunks (burlap and canvas dolls with endoskeletons) survive and try to find hope for humanity. Or at least try to form some semblance of society when the highly intelligent, soul devouring Fabrication Machine is reawoken and starts creating more monstrosities to hunt the Stitchpunks down. 9, a recently awoken Stitchpunk with a knack for leadership and curiosity that kills, tries to find a way to stop the machine after he is the one to awaken it.

Here’s a brief look at the other Stitchpunks:

1: The older, stubborn, and nearly tyrannical leader of the Stitchpunks before 9 came along. 1 has kept the Stitchpunks under an iron fist for years out of his fear of the machines. Dresses nearly like a pope.

2: The gentle and friendly old inventor, who is a mentor to 5 and the first person 9 meets. He is kindly and warm, and protective to a fault, but small and fragile. 2 saved 5 in the past and since then they’ve been extremely close.

3 & 4: The mute and scholarly twins. Portrayed as younger, the two are totally invested in their work of cataloging everything they find of the past world. They communicate to one another with flickering of their eyes.

5: 9′s best friend and the healer of the group. 5 lost his left eye in an accident years ago and now wears a patch where it once was. While he can be timid at times, 5 is friendly and warm-hearted, and cares deeply about those around him. Enough so to put himself in danger to protect them. He’s also very loyal to them. 5 wields a needle firing crossbow made out of a clock key.

6: A peculiar striped Stitchpunk who has visions of the future and draws sketches of the things he sees with his fountain pen head fingers. 6 can be hard to understand and has trouble getting others to listen to him, especially when he can be scattered, but he’s sweet and has a close relationship with 5. He’s the only Stitchpunk with hair, which is made of yarn.

7: The only female of the group, 7 is a self-trained warrior who wanders the Emptiness with a spear and a bird skull helmet. There’s bad blood between her and 1, but she’s on good terms with the others, if a loner by nature. She is especially protective of the twins.

8: 1′s bodyguard, 8 is the largest Stitchpunk and wields a kitchen knife. He is gruff and fierce, and does anything his leader says at a moment’s notice, but he does have a hidden soft spot for said leader. 8 has a weird habit of getting high off of a magnet he wears to carry his knife.

...Okay, so sorry about the lecture there. XD There’s more stuff too, like how the Scientist who created them also created the Fabrication Machine, and how the Fabrication Machine went rogue after it was forced to mass-produce weapons for an alternate reality version of WWII. It is girthy.

Now onto your actual question, would I do a crossover between 9 and FNAF? Honestly, yes if I could. Considering how haunted animatronics and Stitchpunks are made so similarly, they could realistically exist in the same world. It is getting them into the same timezone that’s the tricky part.

[holdmekhh]

I Like You, Do You Like Me? -Pt.1 (Jealous!Seungyoun / Enemies to Lovers)

Artist/Person : Cho Seungyoun/WOODZ

 Group/Crew : UNIQ/X1

Genre : SMUT/ Semi-Angst/ Fluff

Words : 3.6K

Requested: “ hi can you please write a super jealous seungyoun smut w daddy kink 🥺 i love your writing sm 💕💕”- Anon

A/N; I’m soooo sorry this was posted so late, I was on the road... But enjoyyy!

____

If looks could kill, Seungyoun would’ve been a goner. Her eyes were set ablaze at his grinning face. He stuck his tongue out, laughing obnoxiously when she stuck up her manicured middle finger. “Fuck off, Cho!” She hissed, her friends grabbing at her arms when she started to march towards the boy and his group of friends. “Is princess angry?” He mocked, a fake pout on his lips making her growl softly and fight against her friends’ hold. “Just let it go, he’s dumb.” One of her friends muttered, making the other one nod. “Let’s go get some lunch.” They nodded, glancing to each other and forcing her around as they led her away from the area. “Have fun, princess!” She heard him call to them, making her groan softly. 

“Why do you idiots do that shit? Just fucking ignore him.” Her friend, Kendall rolled her eyes. “You know why.” Her other friend, Erin, laughed as she wiggled her eyebrows. “They’re gonna end up fucking. We all know it’s gonna happen eventually.” The look of absolute irritation took over her face. “Shut up.” She rolled her eyes, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. “But, nevermind that topic, are you guys gonna help me with my art assignment?” She muttered, half focused on pushing the bobby pins back into her hair to keep it neat, but keep them well hidden. “Of course, we’re helping you. The only person I’d let paint my fat ass.” Erin laughed, head falling back.  The three were best friends, all having met in middle school and stuck out together up until now, their second year of college. There was Kendall, a dark chocolate goddess. She was tall, standing at 5 '11, and thin. 100% stereotypical model material but was a complete tomboy, top it off with a genius scientist brain. Then, there was Erin, a gorgeous Mongolian queen. She was average height and was curvy as hell, though she wouldn’t agree with that statement. And, last but definitely not least, there was Y/N. She was introverted and didn’t like many people, and usually looked at people in the light of an art piece. Which isn’t always the best, or healthy way, to look at others when she didn’t fancy them too well. 

“Yeah, stay like that.” She muttered softly, looking at her friends through her camera lense before snapping away. “Turn your right side in just a little more. Shoulder forward. Yes, just like that.” She whispered at the end, adjusting the camera before snapping away for more photos. “Why’re we taking pictures instead you painting?” Erin muttered, raising an eyebrow at Y/N just as she snapped another picture. “Because if I just painted you guys and had y’all standing there, then it would take too long of y’all standing. With pictures-” She moved around and got close, snapping a few more before stepping back to look at the shots on her camera. “I can search through them and find which one I like the best and want to paint. We’re done by the way.” She stated, making the two rush over and look at the pictures. “Ugh, I’m so fat.” “Shut up, Erin. You look good as hell. Like, yo-look at that ass!” Y/N laughed and Kendalls words, nodding along silently as she glanced to her blushing friend. “Alright, go get dressed you two. Y’all can stay here and chill, order food and watch me paint, if you want.” She sat at her desk, connecting her camera to her desktop and transferring the photos. She’d become a master at these motions, getting the pictures transferred and a couple of them printed onto large pieces of photo paper in no time. Standing, she moved to set the photo down on a part of her eisel, against the canvas. “We’re gonna head out. Skype sesh in a few hours, so we can see how far you’ve gotten.” She hummed out in confirmation, looking back as her friends left. Overly exaggerated waves and blown kisses were exchanged until they disappeared, leaving her all alone in her studio.

It’d been almost 7 hours since Kendall and Erin had left, and she still hadn’t gotten to the actual painting. Melanie Martinez was blasting in the room, here eyes focused intently on the canvas as she continued to sketch the body and attire of her friends. She’d decided to make it into a greek renaissance kind of style, draping the drawn figures in soft strokes of silks. She was so into her painting, she didn’t hear the knocking on her studio door until the song ended and left a pause before the next one started. Her head whipped around to stare at the intruder through the glass barrier, eyebrows furrowing. Moving over, she lifted the needle from the vinyl and halted the music. Standing to make her way over, she pulled open the door with a soft grunt. “What?” She deadpanned at male in front of her. Wooseok was his name, he hung out with the asshat Seungyoun, but for the most part never gave her issues. “H-Hey...um, I wanted to ask um- I was told by the professor that you would be a good art history tutor...and I need a tutor for this upcoming test.” He stuttered along his whole speech, cheeks getting redder and redder the longer she stared at him. She nodded softly, “Okay. My pay rate is 10 an hour, so if you’re cool with that, I’m down to help.” Her voice was still emotionless, stable and clear as she stared at him making his stomach do backflips. He nodded, hold tightening on his backpack strap. “Would it be a problem if we did our first session now? It’s okay if not! I don’t want to intrude...I know you don’t really have the best impression of my character.” He muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as it heated up. She merely looked at her watch and shrugged. “I planned on being here for a few more hours, so why not.” She opened the door wider and stepped to the side, allowing him in.  

The look of pure wonder took over his face as he looked around the room at all of her paintings. They were masterpieces. Pieces that could easily go for thousands. “You can pull out a chair from over there or you could sit on the couch.” She sat back down in front of her eisel, starting to sketch again. He watched for a few heartbeats, eyes intently watching how she held the pencil and stroked it lightly across the fabric of the canvas. “So, what level are you on? 101, 102?” Her voice made him jump back into reality, rushing to grab his material out his backpack. “U-Uh...101.” He stated, ear heating up in embarrassment, and nervousness. She was one of the top art students, he didn’t want her to look down on him because of his level in the subject, especially because he was a year above her. But, she simply nodded, asking him questions about the topic of the test. She stayed neutral throughout the whole session, explaining things that he needed extra understanding of. She even halted her drawing to give visual examples a couple of times. Then, she looked to her watch and stood from her seat and stretched. “Well, Wooseok, it’s almost midnight and I have to get back home.” She stated, watching the male nod and start to pack his things. Grabbing her bags of books and materials, she led him out of her studio, shutting off the lights and locking the door. “I’ll have the payment for you in cash tomorrow morning, promise.” He smiled after walking her to her car, making her nod as she got in. “Okay, see you around.” She started the vehicle and pulled out, going back to her apartment.

“Oh, look who’s here. Did you miss me, princess?” Seungyoun’s grinning face almost made her regret walking over, but the awaiting payment in Wooseoks hand made it worth it. “As if. I just came to get my money, then I’ll be out of here.” She deadpanned, walking to Wooseok as he slipped it to her with flaming cheeks. “My studio, tomorrow at 6.” She stated, making the blushing boy nod, before turning and walking away to her other class. “And what the fuck was that?!” Seungyoun stared confused as Hangyul started to poke at their friend for answers. “She started tutoring for my art history test…” “Since when?!” “Last night…” Seungyoun felt his face contort into one of disbelief. “Look, my professor suggested her to me and told me where to find her. She said she’d do it, and her pricing isn’t that bad. And, I’m pretty sure I’ll pass with her helping me.” And though Wooseok’s words made sense, Seungyoun couldn’t help the intense feeling of irritation as he clenched his jaw.

“So you do tutoring?” At the sound of the familiar voice breaking the silence that surrounded her, made her huff in annoyance and roll her eyes. “I’m doing work right now. So, kindly, fuck off.” She stated bitterly, keeping her eyes trained on the books and laptop that sat in front of her. But, her eyes squeezed shut as the chair across from her was pulled out and he plopped in it. “What do you want, Cho?” “For you to tutor me.” The laugh that slipped through her lips was genuine as her head fell forward. “Fuck off.” “I’m serious.” He deadpanned, making her raise an eyebrow as she looked at him with complete amusement. “Is this because I’m tutoring your friend?” The chuckle that left her as his ears turned pink was soft. “I’m only tutoring him for the cash. And because it’s easy shit that I know. We’re on the same intellectual level, you and I, surprisingly. You don’t need my help, and even if you did, I wouldn’t help you.” She spoke so softly, he almost didn’t process her words because the tone made his heart flutter. “Now, leave me alone. I have work to do.” 

As expected, the male never left from his spot across from her, but he did stay silent as she worked. She could feel his eyes on her most of the time, but he didn’t speak another word to her. At one point, he’d even started on his own tasks, headphones covering his ears completely as he worked diligently on his activity. When she looked up from her computer screen, her eyes red behind her glasses as they rested low on her nose. Stretching, her lips parted in a satisfied whimper as her muscles pulled and bones popped. Her eyes shut as she rolled her neck and cracked her fingers. She’d been sitting in the same position for hours, working sedulously and unmoving, so the tug and snap of her body was very welcomed. Both to her, and to the male across from her. The soft sounds that slipped from her lips didn’t go unnoticed by him, having stopped the track he’d been working on to add some more things. His heart fluttered and his stomach did backflips as the sounds flowed to him, making his breath catch in his throat. 

Days had gone by, Y/N and Wooseok becoming a bit closer through the process making it easier for her to tolerate him and his friends that sometimes came to pick up their friend. Today was the final tutoring session, ending the two weeks, and to say that Wooseok was nervous was an understatement. Y/N could tell, immediately trying to talk down his nervousness, even getting a few words of encouragement from Seungyoun who’d invaded their session. Y/N didn’t mind, as long as he didn’t interfere because this wasn’t just a hang out, she wouldn’t allow people who weren’t her best friends into her studio just to hang out. She was doing business in the situation, and also helping out an art-ignorant fellow student. “Look, think about it this way… As long as you get a 75, you’re not a complete failure.” She states simply, eyes still focused on her canvas as she slowly stroked her brush over the material. The piece was almost done, needing a few more finishing touches before she would put the finishing gloss on. It’d taken so long to get the piece done, as she had actual work for school to finish between painting sessions. But, the time was worth it to get the perfect result.

“Okay! Well, I have to get out of here. I have night shift tonight.” Wooseok muttered, standing and stretching before packing his things. “See you.” Y/N called over her shoulder, barely pulling her focus away from her art. After the door shut, it was silent for a long time. She’d even reached over and placed the needle of her record player onto the vinyl that rested on the inside, letting the soft jazzy instruments fill the space of her studio. The lights were dim, she had a couple candles lit, and she had incense burning in a small corner of the room where she kept a few gems. Soft hums left her lips as she swayed softly to the tunes, completely in her element. She thought she was alone, until she felt  breathing on her exposed shoulder making her freeze. Slowly turning her head, a loud gasp left her lips as she came face to face with Seungyoun. “What the hell, Cho?!” She squeaked, hand resting over her chest as her head fell back, giving the male an heart fluttering view. “What?” He muttered, smiling gently as he eyed her. “I thought you two left!” “Wooseok did, I wanted to stay back and watch you finish. It’s intriguing, seeing you in your element.” He stated, straightening himself to go look around at all of her works. She was still settling back after the scare he’d given her, merely watching him with shaky eyes. “You’re really talented.” “Thanks.” She muttered, feeling her insides twist as he studied each piece. “Can you explain these to me?” He asked gently, making her stand and walk over. She was nervous, stomach doing backflips as she approached his figure, because no one had ever asked her to explain her art work to them. “Which one?” She muttered, standing next to him as he pointed to a piece of two people morphing into one another. “That one...I did my freshman year, I think. I was going through a really hard time, figuring out who I was at the time and who I was becoming.” The soft hum of acknowledgement made her look to him as he pointed to another one. “That’s my sister...my favorite person. She was reading in the middle of the libary and looked so intrigued with the book she was reading, which peaked my interest and I had to capture the moment. I sketched it and later on resketched it on a canvas and painted it like a greek sculpture.” She chuckled at the end, making him smile as he pointed to another and another before finally turning to her and eyeing her. “And what about your outfit for today? What inspired this one?” The shock was evident in her features as her ears started to heat up. “M-My outfit?” He nodded, “I always notice your outfits are usually dark and very grunge-like. Today, though...seems super sexy and elegant…” She cleared her throat, looking down as her ears heated more. “I had a showing today…” “M’okay...tell me about your outfit. What fabrics? Tell me about the pieces you chose.” Suddenly she felt small under his gaze, clearing her throat again. “So...my top is actually a silk slip dress that I thrifted for like 3 bucks. My skirt is a silk, a vintage piece I got from my granny...and the shoes that I wore with it were a treat to myself, because they were almost 200. Oh! I also wore a cute pinstripe blazer over it, so I could cover all of my tattoos.” He nodded, smiling as he watched her, “You also left your hair out.” She subconciously ran a hand through her afro of curls, humming softly. “I like them…” He muttered, having moved closer to tower in front of her. She gasped softly as she looked up to him. The way he was looking down at her made her stomach twist and heart race; it was filled with such adoration. “Can I kiss you?” He whispered, making her nod without hesitation as he smiled gently.

His hand raised slowly, burying into her curls as he leaned down slowly to gently brush his lips against hers. Finally, pressing their lips together completely, he stood still as he waited for her react. The slight pressure of her pushing her lips closer to his made his heart swell and his other hand to move to cup her waist, pulling her to his body. Her lips were as soft as he imagined, like beautiful, full clouds. And her hair, so soft and bouncy as it curled around his palm. Pulling back slightly, he smiled against her lips. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do that, princess.” The nickname, along with the kiss, made her head go fuzzy. “Princess…” He muttered softly, chuckling when she whined softly. “Stop calling me that…” “Why?” He smiled as she pushed face into his chest. “It makes me tingly…” She muffled out. “Now it does....after all this time.” “Always has.” At that, his chest tightened and his stomach knotted, body stilling as it heated up. “Really?” He squeaked, making her nod as she chuckled into his shirt. “Why were you always so mean about it then?” “Because it made me tingly…” The loud laugh that ripped through him shook her, making her whine.

The days after that were mutually less aggrivation filled, and she’d almost thought that he liked her until she saw him flirting with another girl at a frat party the weekend after. She knew that shouldn’t be so hurt, because they just kissed and everyone just kisses, but she was. Add that to her being high as hell, and petty as hell, it was a big uh-oh moment. Walking up to Wooseok, she grabbed his hand and pulled him with her to the dancefloor. “Woah...you okay?” He asked making her nod, though a soft pout played on her lips. “Is it because of Seungyoun-ie?” He leaned in to mutter in her ear, unknowingly giving her the advantage of seeing over his shoulder slightly. She made eye contact with Seungyoun, a sly smirk finding purchase on her face as she silently nodded to Wooseok’s question. Pulling away to look her in the face, he kept his face close enough for her to hear him. “She’s been flirting with him all night, but I don’t think he’s really interested.”He stated just as they heard a throat clearing, pulling away to turn to the interrupter. And there, in all of his fuming glory stood Seungyoun. “Y/N, can I talk to you for a second?” She shrugged stubbornly, rolling her eyes as he gently grabbed her hand and led her to one of the bathrooms. Shutting and locking the door, he turned to lean against the door. She sat on closed toilet, his low gaze on her form as she looked to him with reddened sclera. “What was that about, princess?” His voice was stable, calm and relaxed. “I don’t know, ask your little girlfriend.” She snipped back with an icy tone, eyes rolling when he chuckled softly. “You saw that, huh?” He pushed off the door, and crouched in front of her. “Is that why you acted out with Wooseok, princess?” She scoffed, rolling her eyes again making him clench his jaw. When she turned her head, he caught her chin between his fingers gently to turn her back to look at him with a couple of soft ‘tsk’s. “Listen, princess, she was nobody. She came up to talk to me, but I wasn’t interested. Wanna know why?” He made her stand up by slowly pulling her to him by her chin. “Because you’re the only one I want.” He whispered, leaning down to peck her lips. “I’m only interested in fucking, kissing, and loving my princess. M’okay?” He muttered, kissing down the column of her neck to latch onto her throat as she whined. His hands cupped her butt, rubbing it gently before gripping it and lifting her up. “You’re so light, baby.” He chuckled, nipping at the skin of her neck softly, smiling when she whined. “So cute…” He cooed, sucking at the skin with a grin. 

Setting her on the sink, he pulled her head back by her hair. “So pretty.” He hummed, staring down at her before running his nose over her jaw. “I bet you taste as sweet as you look.” The growl in his voice set waves of arousal to her core, causing her to whine as she clenched around nothing. “Daddy…” She cried as he tugged on her hair a little, making him freeze. “What’d you call me?” He muttered, feeling his adrenaline spike and heart speed up. “D-Daddy…” She muttered, face flushed and eyes blown as she stared at him wide eyed. His head fell back, eyes squeezing shut, as he growled lowly. “You’re gonna make me ruin you,  princess.” He stated, voice having dropped a couple of octaves in a raspy groan. “Let’s go back to mine?”

[monstertronexchange]

Rules & FAQ

Rules

1. This exchange is a multiship event. Please do not express any hate towards your fellow participants or members of the Discord server.

2. All prompts and offers must revolve around the theme of monsters including but not limited to one or more main characters depicted as monsters (e.g., siren Lance, yuki-onna Allura), situations revolving around monsters (e.g., zombie apocalypse, vampire hunters), or other supernatural elements that make up the foundation of your story. Aliens do not count. If you have any questions about what qualifies as “monster-themed”, please do not hesitate to contact the blog or a moderator. Mod can be found on tumblr here: Mod Han.

3. Do not share the specifics of your gift with your recipient as this will spoil the whole point of the exchange! If you have questions for your recipient, contact a mod and they will act as a proxy to get you the information you need.

4. If you are a minor (17-) please do not request/create NSFW works. If you are not a minor (18+), AT LEAST ONE OF YOUR MINIMUM 2 PROMPTS MUST BE SFW IN THE CASE THAT A MINOR/SOMEONE UNCOMFORTABLE WITH NSFW IS ASSIGNED TO YOU.

5. Have fun! Join us on our Discord server if you want. We encourage all participants to interact with their fellow fans and make some friends! Please don’t hesitate to join as we would love to get to know you during your time in this event!

FAQ

What is the Monstertron Gift Exchange? This is a fandom event where you will submit 2 to 5 monster-themed request prompts, and someone will be matched to you to make one or more of your requests as they see fit.

What is a request prompt? A prompt can be as vague as “Keith/Lance, zombie apocalypse, minimal blood, SFW or NSFW” thus leaving it open to your gifter’s interpretation, or as specific as “NSFW, Keith/Shiro, Keith is a dragon that Shiro finds wounded in the woods behind his house and nursed back to health. Anything to do with Keith as a dragon will do, but I enjoy some tender loving dragon care!”

What is the schedule? Sign ups open - June 1st at 12:00 AM EDT Sign ups close - June 30th at 12:00 AM EDT Assignments sent out - July 14th Check in #1 - July 31st - August 5th Check in #2 - August 28th - September 1st Gifts due - September 13th - September 19th

What are the minimum requirements for my work? The minimum requirements are as follows: Artists - Must be at least a colored sketch on a 600 x 400 pixel size canvas. Writers - Must be at least 1,500 words in length, betas are strongly suggested.

You are welcome (and encouraged) to go beyond the minimum requirements for your preferred medium, but we want you to be as stress-free as possible when completing your piece, so if you feel that you cannot meet these requirements we strongly suggest either speaking to a mod or reconsidering the event as a whole. We want all participants to give what they get because this is a gift exchange.

What are expected from Check-Ins 1 and 2? Check-ins are just a way for us to make sure you haven’t forgotten your assignment, and that you’re at least a little on task! Check-in 1 will just be letting us know you’ve got at least some kind of idea of what you’re going to do. Check in 2 will be us making sure you’ve started and are ideally almost done with your gift. All check-ins will be completed via a Google Form that we will email out to participants.

Everyone works at different speeds, so don’t sweat too much about the check ins, there’s no pressure to be done immediately!

Where do I sign up? You can sign up here starting June 1st at 12:00 AM CDT and ending at the same time June 30th.

Can I edit my sign-up? Yes, but only until sign-ups close!

Where should I post my gift? Please post your gift to Tumblr and either tag us @monstertronexchange or use the hashtag #monstertronexchange so we can reblog it here! Writers are welcome to post their fics to our collection on AO3, but please post a link tagging us on Tumblr!

Am I allowed to write a “Dear Gifter” letter? Yes, please! You can link it to your request once you fill out the sign-up form. These are usually posted on your preferred social media platform and are used to give your gifter more information about your likes/dislikes, dos and don’ts, and any other information you want them to know.

Can I specify what medium I want certain requests to be fulfilled in? Yes, but try not to do this for all your requests in case you are paired with an artist and all of your prompts are for fanfiction, for example.

What about treats? A treat is a work by anyone whether they are a participant in the exchange or not. You can make these at any time based on the available prompts and there is no work minimum, we’ll post a link to a Google Doc filled with the requests we received in the form along with the announcement that assignments have been sent out. Participants should only submit treats after their original request has been fulfilled.

[withinthescripts]

Season 2, Cassette 10: The Karikari Contemporary Gallery (1986)

[tape recorder turns on]

Welcome to the Karikari Contemporary Gallery. I am Hester Wells, curator and director. We are proud to present the life and works of one of Aotearoa’s most notable artists and founder of this gallery, Roimata Mangakāhia. This exhibit focuses on the evolution of Mangakāhia’s works over the course of her long career, from her early landscapes and portraits, skilful but straightforward, to her more surreal and fantastical focus on smaller objects later in her career. While Mangakāhia did not get the recognition she deserved from art critics or the public, at least internationally speaking, she was well regarded by her peers and was part of a sprawling collection of artists. In particular, she formed a close relationship with Claudia Atieno, in a friendship that could perhaps be compared to that of Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield.

This exhibit will address the inspiration the two artists took from each other’s works. Atieno was Mangakāhia’s passion. Her every work or gesture was received by Mangakāhia as either a favor or a threat. Perhaps they were.

Unlike Atieno, whose works dealt in wide statements, sweeping political views made clear in her re-imagining of famous works destroyed in the Great Reckoning, Mangakāhia reveled in the intimate depths of what makes us human. Her surreal twisting limbs and contorted faces showed the complexity of emotions within the body itself. Even her uninhabited landscapes enveloped the viewer, as if to place them into her world, forcing them to come to terms with the reality she was experiencing.

This exhibit is a survey of perhaps my favorite artist, a woman whose work should be celebrated more widely than it has been so far. Many art lovers, even those who live here in Aotearoa, never knew of Mangakāhia s work. We hope this exhibit will excite and enlighten you. To be frank, I’m almost jealous of those of you who will be experiencing Mangakāhia’s work for the first time.

Please begin your audio tour on the left as you enter and work clockwise around the room.

[bell chimes]

One. Early sketches, 1953 to 1958.

I’ve placed three early sketches by Roimata Mangakāhia in what I believe to be chronological order. The first on the far left is a charcoal drawing of a row boat at he end of a long dock. The boat is not moored to anything. It is near the dock, but disconnected from it. Mangakāhia faded the lines of the water gradually out into nothing, into the wide space of the page, and the ocean feels vast, far too vast for such a small vessel.

Inside the boat, she has drawn what looks to be a bag or satchel. I want you to look at the bag. Think about what she might have packed in this bag. Did she pack the bag herself, or was it someone else? Are they escaping with their remaining items?

I’m only guessing, but I believe Mangakāhia would have been about sixteen when she sketched this. She was born right at the end of the Great Reckoning, accords were being struck and weapons laid down. Mangakāhia was not yet born while refugees were desperately fleeing violence in boats too small for the journey ahead, but she may have heard stories about them. She may have taken inspiration from the decades before her birth. Or perhaps this is just a row boat, drawn by a Maori girl growing up in a coastal town.

The second charcoal drawing is of a damsel fly. These insects are common in Mangakāhia’s sketches, but I’ve never seen her include one in a fully realized painting. The damsel fly was also common in Claudia Atieno’s works, and I’m fairly positive the two things are connected. There is beauty in one artist in the Pacific and one in East Africa exploring the same motif.

Did you make that connection as well?

The third sketch is a pencil drawing of a young woman. I don’t know who she is, someone Mangakāhia knew as a teenager I suppose. Or someone she saw from afar. Do her dark eyes look familiar? Her smile, the way it turns up more on one side? The lines on her brow that suggest she may not want her likeness drawn, but is still happy to humor her friend, a young artist who hopes to immortalize a beautiful subject? Mangakāhia wants you to be attracted to this woman. She has drawn her in a way that suggests she was attracted to her.

I wonder what became of their relationship. I wonder if it’s important.

[bell chimes]

Two. “Providence”, 1964.

This painting is of the North American port city of Providence in the former United States. It seems that Mangakāhia must have visited it at some point in her life. She had traveled away from her home when she was in her twenties. At this point in history, after a couple of decades of recovery and restructure, art was flourishing in a way that had not been seen since the late 19th century. Mangakāhia wanted to study this new generation of artists, to write about them and to learn from them. This artistic period is known as the Modern Society Era.

This painting is fascinating, because it suggests Mangakāhia traveled by ship between North America and London, but there is no record of her ever having been aboard a cargo ship. All there is to suggest her voyage is one painting of a row of blue dock cranes and empty shipping containers. There’s not a single person or even boat visible here. It’s as if the city had been abandoned.

My best guess puts this painting in the early 1960’s, but I cannot be sure. I have spent some time in North America, but I have never been to Providence. I have been within a few hundred miles of it, I suppose. I have lived for a while within a few hundred miles of this shipyard.

My work in the former United States was neither safe nor enjoyable, but I’m happy I did it. I’m happier to be home.

[bell chimes]

Three. “Cornwall Cliffs”, 1972.

By the early 1970’s, Mangakāhia had found a home in Plymouth, in the former United Kingdom. While living there, she befriended her artistic hero Claudia Atieno, and began spending much of her time in Atieno’s home in Cornwall.

Atieno’s house sat on an island off the coast with cliffs that overlooked the juncture of the English Channel and the Celtic Sea. It was along those cliffs that Atieno lost her life. When Atieno went missing in 1972, many hoped she was simply keeping herself locked away while she worked on new paintings. But after several years, when most had given up hope, her body was finally found washed ashore not far from her home.

Mangakāhia made several paintings of the cliffs of Atieno’s island, a place where she loved to dive. Some scholars have written that both she and Atieno would spend warm summer afternoons diving together from cliffs behind the house into the rocky water below. I have heard accounts of this time in Mangakāhia’s life from some guided recordings she made for several museums. She frequently mentions diving at high tide. It seems unlikely that Atieno did, though.

I found documents that suggested Mangakāhia had recorded audio guides for 11 different museums, 9 of which are still running. I wrote to those 9 museums requesting copies of the cassettes. I received only 5 back, and according to 2 of those museums, they never distributed the recordings because they were not up to museum standards. I listened to the tapes. I would agree with that assessment. Particularly after Atieno’s body was discovered, Mangakāhia let her opinions and emotions overwhelm her enviable depth of knowledge.

This painting, “Cornwall Cliffs”, is reminiscent of the tragic comic scope of Pieter Bruegel’s “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”. You can see in the lower right a crevice in the rocks. In that crevice, a whitecap. Is that upturned splash of water a wave on a stone? Or is it the aftermath of a diver completing her plunge?

In Bruegel’s wry satire, we see the farmers and workers carrying on about their day, despite the death of the fabled Greek hero. There are no humans visible in “Cornwall Cliffs”, but there are trees seen along the left-hand side and sheep along the shores in the distance. They too carry on about their days despite knowing nothing about this painting, diving, or Greek mythology.

Are you carrying on about your day? What are you doing later after you leave the gallery? Are you answering these questions aloud? Don’t do that.

[bell chimes]

Four. “Fingers Together”, 1973.

Following Atieno’s death in 1972, Mangakāhia’s paintings began to evolve from realist to surrealist. In “Fingers Together”, we see tendrils of bright colors seemingly bleeding down from the top of the canvas and fading into twisted points.

Notice the density of oils near the top, in thick repetitive strokes. There are nine different twisting lines here, so if we are to assume by the title that this is to represent fingers in two hands, there is one missing.

Where is the missing finger?

[bell chimes]

Five. “The Bodies”, 1972.

Here are two humanoid forms, one holding the other. On first glance, the erect figure in the background appears to be cradling the limp figure in the fore as if carrying a small child. But the more I look at this, the more I think the background figure is attempting to hide the other, as if sneaking a large flask into an inner coat pocket.

Look at their faces. Or at least the indentations that replicate human faces on each figure. The one being held has almost no countenance. Perhaps a shadow for eyes and a grayish blob to the left that could be a distorted mouth caught midway into a cry or a song.

The standing figure clearly has two wide eyes. See there, the white in the cacophonous cloud of red and brown. But her neck is askew as if she’s being caught up by whatever or whomever she is holding.

[bell chimes]

Six. “Self-portrait”, 1970.

Mangakāhia painted herself in the guest room of Atieno’s home in Cornwall. You can see her wardrobe and a coat rack over her shoulder, and beyond that a window, looking out over the cliffs where she often dove. I’m particularly struck by the slight mark atop the cliff. It is not a tree.

Look at the mark atop the cliff. It’s not a tree, is it? Is it a person? It is.

I think it is. I think it is Atieno. Based on the recordings I heard, it does not seem likely that Atieno ever liked diving, so it seems strange that she would be on the clifftop overlooking the sea.

Look at Mangakāhia’s face in this painting. Study her attitude, her expression. Study it with whatever consideration you can muster. Is that a smile, or a grimace, or a smirk? Does she know something you do not know? I think I know, but I’m wondering if you do.

Her eyes are not smiling, are they? Are you replicating her facial expression on your own face as you study the image? What is the shape of your body? How is your back? Are you breathing? You should remember to breathe.

[bell chimes] [tape recorders turns off] [ad for the Patreon, I transcribed it at the bottom of the transcript] [tape recorder turns on] [bell chimes]

Seven. “Claudia Atieno with Cat”, 1974.

This was painted two years after Atieno’s death, so I’m not sure if Mangakāhia started it earlier and did not finish until 1974, or if she painted it from memory. She began with the realistic portrait of Atieno’s head, hair, and face, her long braids and narrow lips. But as our eyes move down the canvas, we see a rather shapeless body wearing an almost iridescent blouse. The cat, per the title, looks more like a pile of candles melting down Atieno’s spiraling legs.

This painting is based on Atieno’s “Self-portrait with Cat”, which was unfinished at the time of her death. That painting was on display in the Ulster Museum in Belfast more than 10 years ago. A letter from Mary Breathnach at the museum suggests the painting was donated to them by the sculptor Pavel Zubov.

I met Mangakāhia once, in 1978. I was a student and I had the chance to interview her for a paper I was writing. I remember seeing this painting, “Claudia Atieno with Cat”, and I wanted to know about her relationship to the famous painter. Mangakāhia clearly did not want to talk about Atieno. I was made to understand that very quickly. I regretted asking her the moment I finished my question, but Mangakāhia sighed and said, “She denied ever painting that picture, so I just painted it myself. If she didn’t want to put it into existence, then I would put it into existence.” Mangakāhia added after a long pause: “She hated cats, and I hated her for it.”

Look at the semblance of a cat on the semblance of a lap in this painting, and tell yourself what it means to love something.

[bell chimes]

Eight. “Horopito Number 2”.

In 1980, Mangakāhia returned to Aotearoa from Plymouth. I was living in the former United States at the time. I had paused my career in art history to take a research and technical writing job in a secluded area along the Chesapeake Bay. I did not even know she had returned to her home.

It was in 1982 that I learned she was painting again, and knowing this made me want to resume my own studies. It took some effort, but after a couple of years, I found my way out of my contracted job. I had no money, but I met a cargo pilot in Philadelphia who was able to fly me home. It took a few stops over a few months, sneaking me into normally scheduled routes, but I made it back.

Mangakāhia had lived in a cottage near the sea not far from my own home. I was able to convince a neighbor to let me in, after I told her I was planning to reopen the Karikari Gallery. Every painting in her home, dozens of them, were of Horopito shrubs. Before I had left for America I had seen some of these in galleries, I even bought one.

Look hard at the leaves in “Horopito Number 2”. Just a simple bush growing at an angle from the side of a hill. Nothing else except a flinty sky and a splash of green grass clotted with mud. Two of the leaves, just left of the center, have perfect circles chewed from them by beetles, who seem to worship only hunger and geometry.

The Horopito is neither stunning nor unique. It is simple and ubiquitous, and here Mangakāhia has found true beauty in the mundane. Like Atieno’s 1968 “Stapler”, Mangakāhia captures near photographic realism in acrylics. And at first glance, the painting is dull and innocuous. But it is in the action of painting and the moment of viewing that the artist and the patron perfectly communicate.

Follow green lines as they thicken into violet, and then pink, then orange, then mauve. Feel your head tilt to the angle of the hill. Do you see any people in this painting? Do you feel any people in this painting?

What senses are you ignoring? Are you letting your eyes control you?

[bell chimes]

Nine. “Horopito Number 4”.

This is from my personal collection. It usually hangs across from my sofa. I will return it to my wall at the end of this month, when this exhibit closes.

We will drink tea together in my living room, she and I. We will look at the painting with its blues and teals and simple expendable plant life, as you look at it now.

Examine the missing patch of branches in the lower right, likely eaten away by an animal, or possibly never grown. Or perhaps just damaged in a flood. There are lots of reasons for visual imperfections.

What do you think happened to those branches? Ask yourself that. Just as I have many times. Just as my wife asked the first day we looked at this painting together. But never answer it, it is unimportant.

When this painting returns to my home, I will mostly not look at it. I will know it is there, every day and always, unlike an actual Horopito.

Go home. Have some tea if you have tea. Have it with someone you love, if you have someone you love. Live your life knowing it is there and does not need your eyes. It does not need your critique. It only needs to know it was seen by you.

A year from now, ten years from now, think about “Horopito Number 4” and try to remember its colors, blues and teals. A missing set of branches in the lower right.

Do you see? Touch your hand to your own hip and know that it is still there. Ball joints and ligaments and sinew and skin. How do you walk or dance, or stand, or sit? Ask yourself that. And breathe.

While I was in North America, I received a letter from a former professor, letting me know that Mangakāhia had passed away in her garden. She had become reclusive in her later years, and her body was not found until nature had reclaimed most of it. I viewed this letter as a call to escape, or rather, as confirmation that my plans to escape were correct. There is more talent than celebrity in the world, and many complex artists are left out of our narratives.

Her resentment of Atieno made Mangakāhia a better artist, but I think it prevented her from showing the charisma required for international recognition. I cannot make the world pay attention to her works, but maybe I can bring her the respect of her home land. Her paintings are still hers, but I will keep them safe in this gallery. They would not last in her house, as it has lately fallen into disrepair. My last visit there was a year ago. I found only a cat. I tried to feed it, but it drew blood and ran away.

[tape recorder turns off]

“Within the Wires” is written by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson and performed by Janina Matthewson, with original music by Mary Epworth. Find more of Mary’s music at maryepworth.com.

Don’t forget to check out our Patreon benefits, including that exclusive “Within the Wires” series only for supporters, as well as a bunch of other cool stuff. Go to patreon.com/withinthewires.

OK, our time is done. It’s you time now. Time to stop by the museum gift shop, grab yourself a souvenir book of paintings about [how capitalism is ruining visual art]. Pick up a poster featuring [you as a baby], and buy a commemorative vase made out of [Christmas cards you feel bad about throwing away].

Hey there, “Within the Wires” lovers. Season 3 isn’t coming til autumn 2018, but we have so many cool things to share with you between now and then. Including an exclusive Patreon-only “Within the Wires” series called “Black Box”, with new episodes quarterly beginning in March. Yup, we started a [bleep]ing Patreon page, and with as little as a dollar a month you could get bi-monthly video chats with me and Janina, director’s notes about each new episode, behind the scenes posts, that “Black Box” series I mentioned, and ad-free downloads of every single episode.

Wait, maybe you like the ads? Really? OK, well I’ll post just the ads for supporters as well. I’ll even record some new ones just for you, future Patreon member and ad lover, every couple of months about products that may not even exist. Maybe they will exist if the ad is good enough.

So listen, Mary, Janina and I spend a lot of time making this show because we love doing it. And we do wanna keep doing this for ourselves and for you and for the society, but that will take your support, so please help out any way you can. Benefits start as low as a dollar, just go to patreon.com/withinthewires. Thank you again for liking us. Thank you in advance for supporting our Patreon.

And don’t forget to breathe.

[tak4hir0]

Salesforce Consultants have a variety of responsibilities to manage in their role. While organisation is a key trait to what makes a good Salesforce consultant, you should look to improve your productivity, client communication, and Salesforce project deliveries with the help of apps. Having worked in multiple Salesforce consultancies and as an independent consultant, I’ve compiled this list based on the most popular tools used in the partner ecosystem. For most categories, I have included both free and paid options (and highlighted which tools are definitely worth paying for!) Whether you’re a new or seasoned Salesforce consultant, take a look at these essential tools to keep in handy in your digital toolbox. General Productivity & Communication Paid “An integrated suite of cloud-native collaboration and productivity apps…includes Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar, Meet and more” G Suite is the popular choice among Salesforce consultancies. Personally, I haven’t used anything but GSuite since 2015. If you’re coming from a Microsoft stronghold, I recommend you brush up on Gmail and its related apps. Free Although G Suite comes with Google Hangouts, Slack is a workplace communication tool on steroids that took the world by storm circa 2015. It was the first player in the market to combine group chats and person-to-person messaging, in an intuitive interface. Some even use it for communicating with clients particularly if the project management tool is a labyrinth of Salesforce jargon. There’s even a Slack to Salesforce integration you could take advantage of. Free – with limitations Quip is like a combination of Slack and Google docs. It’s a word processing app that offers so much more than your typical document management, especially the ways it can be integrated with your Salesforce org. I recommend Quip to consultants for bringing the gap between Salesforce org data, and making it readable for clients. For example, you can pull related lists, Salesforce reports (and more) into a document, and work in Quip with clients with the reassurance that the bi-directional sync with Salesforce records maintains your org as the true ‘source of truth’. Thanks to Helen for giving us a tour of how Quip can be used, for user productivity benefits, and security for Admin peace of mind – I recommend you read the whole guide. Free I have used Evernote for years because it does the job for quick note-taking, whether that be taking rough notes during a call, or using it to copy, manipulate, and paste information. Although you are likely to have Google Docs at your disposal, Evernote is far more lightweight. I even find the two-step process of moving my notes from Evernote to Google Docs gives me a chance to reorganize them to the best order. Free An essential Chrome extension for writing documents or emails to clients, especially if grammar isn’t one of your strong points (or you type emails at breakneck speed)! Grammarly is more sophisticated than other spell-checkers; what I love are Grammarly alerts when I could have used a more concise sentence to get my point across. Project Management & Time Tracking Time Tracking – Kimble, Toggl, Harvest Tracking your time is how you track your profitability as a consultant. Recording your task entries per client, per task can be a tedious ask, so it’s important to choose a software that makes it as frictionless as possible. Here are some options I have come across working in different Salesforce consultancies: Kimble (Paid): time tracking is only one element of the Kimble full-blown solution, which is geared towards granular resource tracking. Not the most visually aesthetic, but is certainly robust! Other consultancies may build their own custom time trackers in Salesforce using custom objects tied to the user object. Toggl (Paid): from the look and feel of the Toggl website, you get a sense of what the app aims for. Whenever you start a new task, you can simply press the ‘play’ button, effortlessly giving you start and stop times. It’s lightweight but I know large teams that use it happily. Harvest (Paid): For independent consultants, I highly recommend Harvest. It’s a no-nonsense time-tracking tool that I have used for years (one of the few paid apps that I kept throughout my freelance stint). Harvest offers more features, such as invoicing, expense tracking, and more (although I found this overlapped with my accountancy and banking software). Task Management – Jira, Asana Jira (Paid): As an industry-standard, all consultants will encounter Jira at some point in time. Jira becomes a must-have for consultants working on larger projects, with the ability to create dependencies between tasks and teams. Jira is designed to work in sprints, and the ‘tickets’ can be displayed in multiple ways, including Gantt style. Asana (Free – with limitations): Then there’s Asana. I love Asana, it’s my go-to project management tool. Was created by an ex-Facebook engineering lead who was frustrated with how their projects were managed internally (surely a vote of confidence for the tool!) My thoughts are that Asana is best suited for: Independent consultants,Consultants working on smaller projects with fewer dependencies between tasks,Consultants working collaborating with clients, where a tool like JIRA is less intuitive and typically an overwhelming experience! Process Mapping & Visualization Process Mapping – Lucidchart (+ Miro) Lucidchart (Free – with limitations): Lucidchart enables consultants to show Salesforce processes step-by-step using diagrams, using drag-and-drop from a range of pre-made shape libraries. An absolute essential for consultants. At the discovery stage, use Lucidchart to enrich the proposal you send to your clients with visual flow diagrams that help communicate the value of your work in terms of efficiency and user productivity gains. At the end of the project (hand-off and training stage), use the same flow diagrams to lead users through what you built so they understand the process end-to-end. At the time of writing, the Lucidchart free version limits you to 3 diagrams, each with a maximum of 60 shapes. It’s worth paying for, in my opinion (another paid app that I kept throughout my freelance stint). Miro (Free – with limitations): Miro is an online whiteboard, that updates in real-time (think of it if a Google Doc turned into a whiteboard). See in action below: VIDEO I personally find whiteboards indispensable when gathering requirements and demonstrating how Salesforce works. There’s something about this tool that gets people excited about the possibilities their future org offers! Video Recording – Loom Free Loom is such a gift! You can record videos that show your face and screen (or screen-only) and share it with clients in a number of ways. The Chrome extension sits on your browser, ready to launch when you need it for recording training videos, or for clients record bugs for troubleshooting (the modern, more effective version of ‘send me a screenshot). Design & mock-up: Sketch, Canva Lightning Design System Plugin for Sketch (Paid – limited time trial): Sketch is a design platform for UI, mobile, web, and icon design. Create quick Salesforce UI mockups with the Lightning Design System Plugin for Sketch! The plugin surfaces SLDS components, icons, wireframes, and artboards as Sketch symbols. Sketch offers a fully-featured 30-day free trial. Check out what one consultant had to say in our guide on the blog. Canva (Free): Canva has enabled thousands of people to become graphic designers to an extent! By uploading components into Canva (such as the parts of an email template), you can create mock-ups to get client approval before you built, mitigating multiple revisions. The same goes for Lightning components on a Salesforce page layout. Canva also comes with hundreds of templates for various content and documents, such as presentations, logos, proposals, and more – so be sure to explore these too! Scoping & Proposal e-Signature – Docusign, Hello Sign Using e-Signature for getting client sign off on proposals, statements of work, or any change requests raised during the project duration. Docusign (Paid): Docusign needs little introduction. One of the original players in the market, you’re guaranteed an outstanding product with a good Salesforce integration. HelloSign (Paid): A lightweight and reliable e-signature option, HelloSign is ideal even for consultants who are starting out (with its friendly price point). For a small upgrade, you can connect it to your Salesforce org. Data Management Data Loader Free If you don’t have Data Loader installed, can you really call yourself a Salesforce consultant? This free application is used for insert, update, delete, and extract records to or from a Salesforce org. Data Loader works with all objects and its capabilities are superior to the built-in Data Import Wizard. Note: check your client’s data requirements. If these exceed 10,000 records/per month/org, invest in a paid license from dataloader.io and take advantage of its advanced features. Check out more recommendations featured on our “The 5 Best Data Loaders for Salesforce” list. You may find that these come with additional features your clients need, so keep an open mind. ColumnCopy Free With this Chrome extension, you can copy HTML table columns without the data order or formatting becoming disrupted. This is great for copying the content of Salesforce list views, or in Salesforce setup, tables like object fields list under the ‘Fields and Relationship’ page. Spanning Paid Spanning is an AppExchange vendor with a first-class data backup and restore tool. It’s good to have a tool like Spanning to hand for: Restoring data if a data load goes wrong,Sandbox seeding: to fill sandboxes with test data,Metadata compare: see changes between production and sandboxes highlighted.Read this overview to see how a backup and restore tool could save your skin in the heat of the moment! It is recommended that every org has a backup provider. Although Spanning is not cheap, it will be the client who will pay for licenses to apps like this. Deduplication: DemandTools, Clouddingo, Duplicate Check Deduplication is a necessary, but painful, part of every CRM consultant role (whether you’re tasked with the actual deduping, or not). There are two sides to the same coin: prevention and remedy. Better be equipped with the tools that can help you out in your duplicate data despair, and leave your clients armed for the future! DemandTools (Paid – per user): DemandTools is the all-encompassing option, referred to as the “Swiss Army knife” of Salesforce data management. These 10 modules enable you to manage imports, data standardization, lead conversion, Salesforce reports, backups, email verification, and record ownership – in bulk! (oh, I should mention they have been a leading data management tool-set for Salesforce for 20 years!) DemandTools (Validity) website | AppExchange listing Clouddingo (Paid – per org): A popular option. I remember how easy it was to get up and running, processing a dirty org, and identifying duplicates in minutes. Big plus for consultants: scheduled jobs can run in the background to deduplicate data to continue your data hygiene efforts, even after you have concluded the project. Pricing per org. Cloudingo website | AppExchange listing Duplicate Check (Paid – per org): When I first saw a demo of Duplicate Check, I was blown away. This is a fantastic option for consultants who want to introduce deduplication functionality into a Salesforce org for users to routinely manage duplicates themselves (DC Live). While incredibly powerful in how granular you can make the logic, it’s also bewilderingly simple to set up and use. Read our full review here. Customizing Salesforce ORGanizer for Salesforce Free Working with multiple orgs? Sick of your browser tabs being blanketed with the same blue cloud logo? This Chrome extension has helped many of us consultants organise the client orgs (and own internal orgs) we could be working with simultaneously. Not only does this tool store logins for your frequently used accounts username/password/login URL/landing page, but you can also use colours to differentiate your browser tabs. Every consultant knows a tab-heavy browser is unavoidable, but colour-coding should help when switching between projects. Field Data Relationships – DLRS, Lookup Helper & Roll-up Helper Declarative Lookup Rollup Summaries (DLRS) Free The Declarative Lookup Rollup Summaries (DLRS) managed package is a must-have for creating rollup summaries between lookup relationships. Andy Fawcett’s open-source tool is a gift, enabling you to define rollups using standard UI declaratively, no coding required! Why is this a big deal? You will encounter many use cases for creating rollup summary fields. You will all know that you can’t create rollup summaries between two objects with a lookup relationship (only those in a master-detail relationship). So, how can you fulfill a client’s requirement to not let them down? You could write an Apex Trigger. This isn’t a friendly option for declarative consultants, and involving a developer will each into your profits. Lookup Helper/Rollup Helper Free – with limitations Solving the same consultant pain points as DLRS, these too AppExchange products can step in to save the day. Rollup Helper: roll-up any Salesforce data (count, sum, max, min, average, percent, lookups, text, formula, and multi-currency roll-ups)Lookup Helper: automatically relate records via lookup relationships.The interface is a lot easier to use than DLRS, designed more with the layman in mind. This would be the better option to leave with your clients to manage internally. There is less risk of your rollups breaking if and when there are product updates. The free version is limited to 3 active roll-ups/look-ups, which may be sufficient for what you need to do. You can buy the whole ‘Helper Suite’ which may be a better option depending on the requirements for rollups and lookups. See also: ‘The Salesforce Automation Guide’ in: ‘Delivering Training’. Deployment Prodly Paid Not all deployments are equal. Some deployments are made more complex if data (and not metadata) is involved. The reason migrating data from one org to another (for example, from a sandbox to production) is a headache is because each record will have a unique 15/18 digit CRM ID, related to another record with a 15/18 digit CRM ID. These IDs will be different across orgs, so maintaining these data relationships is a huge undertaking. Prodly is one deployment tool that improves the data migration experience for consultants. Some examples where a deployment tool will aid are FinancialForce, GainSight, Conga Composer, Conga CLM, with Prodly especially popular for CPQ deployments. Org Monitoring & Analysis Salesforce Optimizer App Free Salesforce Optimizer is a built-in app that scans a Salesforce org and analyzes 40+ metadata features, such as fields, Apex triggers, page layouts, etc. It’s a great place to start to get a sense of the overall health of an org. The app serves up recommendations on a sidebar with estimated configuration effort and resources. Salesforce Inspector Free Another unmissable Chrome extension for consultants (and developers) that allows you to inspect data and metadata directly from the Salesforce UI. A handy popup reveals what data lies beneath the surface. In the words of the app developer themselves: “improve the productivity and joy of Salesforce configuration, development, and integration work.” Happy Soup is an open-source, dependency inspector developed by Pablo Gonzalez. Keep this app in your back pocket to do quick metadata dependency checks before making a change to a Salesforce org (especially when coming into an unfamiliar org without the full context). For example, before you change or delete a field, check which reports use the field in question. From the slimmed-down interface, select the metadata type, metadata item, and watch the dependencies list unfold. Choose whether to run an impact analysis or deployment boundary analysis. VIDEO Find the Happy Soup documentation here. Elements.cloud is a pricier option, however, it’s aim is to deliver full visibility on requirements-configuration-documentation lifecycle, as opposed to one isolated part (metadata dependency). This has a huge amount of value for large enterprises with multiple consulting/development teams. Delivering Training Don’t forget! Tools that were featured in the ‘Process Mapping & Visualization‘ section can also be used here – in fact, it’s best you do use the same documentation throughout the project lifecycle for continuity. Gamification – Quizizz Free You only need to visit Trailhead once to see the power of gamification in learning, and what may have previously been considered childish (quizzes, badges, bright colours) has taken the Salesforce ecosystem by storm. Consider breaking up your long training sessions with quizzes. Quizizz is the tool that we use for our Trailblazer Community group at the end of each meet-up. Kahoot! was another tool we used in the past, but it seems that after a recent rebrand they are now appealing to the elementary/primary school audience. The Salesforce Automation Guide The Salesforce Automation Guide is a free, self-service resource you should all bookmark. A Senior Technical Architect at Salesforce compiled everything you need to know about Salesforce into one place, including limits, and that all-important ‘future-proofness’. Use it to guide your own work, or for training newbie client-side Admins you are leaving the org keys to after you complete the project.

[freemechanism]

Commission Guidelines

Well this going to be a long post.

Commission Guidelines

 1. Send an email, Message, or DM that clearly states that you are interested in commissioning me for artwork.

 2. Send a commission brief that describes exactly what you would like me to create and what it is to be used for. This information must be sent via email for my records.

Make sure that you are as descriptive as you need to be.

If you add more information to the design after I have begun drawing it will be charged as a revision.

3. I set a price.

I cannot give a price

until I know EXACTLY what you want.

I do not have a list of rates for different commission types.

4. Once we settle on the price, you send the starting payment to my PayPal.

I don’t start any commissions until I receive payment.

Split payments are an option for commissions over $100, but a $5 fee will be added.

 5. Upon request, I can send a rough draft for approval.

If the payments are split, the first payment is made before the rough draft and the second payment is made after its approval.

After three revisions additional charges will be added.

 6. After the rough draft stage I go on to complete the final piece.

At this point any major changes to the work will bring additional charges.

Minor alterations and color changes are fine until they become excessive.

 7. I send the final image file.

If you would like the PSD for changes that should be made clear from the beginning and will cost extra.

My Work Process:

 My work process is essentially broken in to three stages: Commission Briefing, Rough Sketch, and Final Illustration.

Commission Briefing

 Before I begin any sketching, I must know what it is that the client wants me to create. There is an entire universe of possibilities so the chances of me guessing exactly what you want are slim to none. For this same reason the information given must be clear, concise, and preferably aided by visual reference. If I base an idea off the information (or lack of) given in the commission brief and you change or add things afterwards then I was essentially doomed to fail from the beginning. Let’s not doom me to fail. I hate being doomed.

 This is not to say that you must give overly-detailed descriptions (I’m not reading a book about your character) because at the end of the day it will all be filtered through my perspective and the point behind commissioning an artist is to let their skills and creativity speak. But if you want Sally to wear a pretty red bow tell me that Sally wears pretty red bows; simple as that.

Rough Sketch

 This phase is when the first ideas are being applied to a canvas and by this point I should have a pretty clear idea of what you want. After some research, a few sketches, and some good ol’ decision making I will send a rough sketch of sketchy Sally and her sketchy bow to you for approval. At this point in time you can say something like, “that’s perfect” or “could the bow be a little bigger?” The purpose of this stage is to refine a concept not completely change or add to it, so Sally should not suddenly be driving a Mustang. That’s called a revision and revisions cost.

Final Illustration

 At this point, the rough sketch has been approved and I start to take the piece to the promised land. This is where the clean lines are made (if that’s what you payed for) and colors and values are added and polished. This is the most laboring part of the commission process so if Sally didn’t get the Mustang in the Rough Sketch stage she damn well isn’t gonna get it here. Color changes are welcome and other little edits like giving Sally gold earrings but when the little changes become excessive revision fees will be applied and even then, I will eventually have to call the piece finished.

 Refunds?

 The only time you are entitled to a PARTIAL refund is if you back out at the rough draft stage. At that point I’ve already done several sketches and put my time in to research and developing the illustration, so I deserve pay. And only time you are entitled to a full refund is if for some reason I am unable to complete the work. It’s never happened but it could. 🙃

Commission Related FAQs:

1. Q. How much for a commission?

    A. I need to know what you want first.

2. Q. What are your rates?

    A. I do not have a list of rates.

3. Q. Can you draw me?

    A. If a portrait is not being commissioned then no.

4. Q. Do you want to collaborate on a comic I’m writing?

    A. You don’t even know what you’re asking.

5. Q. My business I’m starting could use an artist. Would you like to parter up with me?

    A. No.

6. Q. Could you do some artwork for my new project? When it’s released it will be great exposure for you.

    A. It won’t be. It never has been.

7. Q. I’m starting a clothing line that…

    A. That will predominately rely on the marketability of my free art to succeed. Nah bruh.

  Also, be clear with your intentions with the work. Simply commissioning art is not the same as owning the copyright. If you have intentions to sell my work on a t-shirt, blanket, hat, etc or to use as advertisement let me know because a different type of deal will need to be made. Any and all personal use is fine.

Feel free to copy and paste/edit this and use to your liking if you want.