#so they have an easier time handing off the iPad if we are in a hurry

[bad-at-metaphors]

my hot take about giving kids screen time was that I pretty much let my kids have as much screen time as they wanted under two conditions: that they put it away when I ask them to (I give them a heads up 15 and 5 minutes before it's time and they have two minutes to save/finish their battle) and that they've eaten dinner/gotten their backpack/lunch packed up for the next morning

There was only one instance that the kids refused to put down their ipads and honestly I don't even blame them too much because I forgot to give them their 5 minute warning.

[jarofstyles]

Indigo- Cobalt

Hellooooo.. Here is part 3 to indigo! Hope you enjoy tattoorry. 

Warnings- tattoos, mention of needles, blood, brief mention of vomit, anxiety, you're going to want to eat harry

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WC- 2.9k

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Y/N felt dizzy.

It wasn’t the prospect of getting a tattoo that was making her so nervous- it was the fact that Harry’s thigh was pressed right up against hers, his body angled towards her as he sketched on his ipad drawing program. He’d said he prefers pencil and paper but it was easier for this type of session to do it there. Faster. She had no input other than the fact that he smelled really fucking good and his leg was warm against her own.

She had indulged some information to him. First and foremost, she wanted a sunflower. A dainty little sunflower with a bit of shading and a longer stem that would go down a bit and twist near her wrist. Her plans for one day having a floral sleeve with her favorite flowers and the birth month flowers of her family had been shared, but she wanted to start off relatively simple with the first one. See how her body reacted, her healing time, all while leaving room if she liked it and wanted to continue with the sleeve.

Harry had been endeared and slightly impressed. It was rare that he got new clients anymore, as most were fairly covered by the time they got to him. However when he did do new clients back in the start, most didn’t have the extensive research she had done, nor the plan. He was all for going for what felt right, but Y/N had been specific and practical in her planning and it made him feel even more fond. She had taken the time to research not only the safety, but the importance of listening to artists suggestions and double checking the work.

It’d been a while since he had done a floral piece, but he was up for it. Truthfully, Y/N could have told him she wanted a rose skull with an infinity symbol in the eye socket and he would have done it for her, but he was relieved it was something that was relatively easy to perfect.

The man knew that he was a perfectionist when it came to his work. Harry didn’t do sloppy- at least not in his work. He kept clean, crisp lines and smooth shading, he did his best to keep any blowout from happening as much as he could on his own end, and he educated each client on the likelihood of the colors they chose longevity and when they’d probably need it touched up. His tattoos were for the clients, sure, but it was also a representation of his work. He was lucky enough now to have his choice on taking clients- there were plenty he turned away or handed off to other artists he thought could better suit them. His hard work had bled into the success he had wanted, leaving him the ability to be picky.

Normally he wouldn’t want to do a first time client because, well…  he really didn’t like doing them. First timers didn’t know what to expect the majority of the time, they didn’t know how to sit still, they would wince and move and complain far too much for Harry to feel at his best. He wasn’t judging them, but now that he had a choice he chose to keep to people who had at least one.

Y/N was the exception to the rule.

He felt honored that she would like his art on her, a bit of that primal satisfaction that it would be his too. No one else would have touched her with the needle, no one else had a shot at marking up her pretty, soft skin. It was a privilege, especially considering their origin.

“What do we think?” He murmured, showing her the second sketch with some of her notes. She hadn’t liked the thickness of the stem originally, and Harry had agreed it had been a bit too leafy so he had taken some off. “S’a bit thinner in the stem and I did a curve at the bottom so it’ll fit with the movement of your arm.”

“Moment of my arm?” She asked curiously, hitting him with a curious gaze. Harry had been extremely patient with her thus far and it made her nervous to ask for corrections, but he had told her that it was going to be on her forever and he needed it to be exactly what she wanted.

“Mhm. Where you’re putting it… The skin moves when you rotate your arm. S’why we don't usually put straight lines there, at least I don’t unless in specific situations. We want it to run smoothly regardless of which way your arm is positioned. So adding a bit of a curve in the stem would make it look straighter when you move it.” He showed the motion on his own arm so she could have an example.

“Oh. I never would have thought of that.” She blinked, watching as his arm moved. He had quite a few tattoos, some she had never been truly able to make out. Now being up so close, she had a front row seat to the anchor on his wrist and the cross on his hand, some of the little doodles that she had been so curious about. He seemed to have different styles of work and she liked that each one seemed to differ just a bit. “How many tattoos do you think you’ve done in your career?”

The question popped into her head out of nowhere but it still remained there. She was increasingly curious as to how he had gotten started, what he did and didn’t like doing. Pure thirst for the knowledge of what went through his head. He’d been a silent shadow most of the time she’d known him, so it was interesting to purely listen to him talk.

“Erm.. I’d say a couple hundred? There are some days I only work on one, some I do none, some days I can do three to four.” He paused, placing his apple pencil down, turning slightly to look at her. Their thighs pressed further together. “When I first started, I did a lot of flash sheets of shit that wasn’t my own. Think of, like, the pinterest stuff. Little hearts and stars, stuff on my mates, myself. They had me practice a ton when I was apprenticing but it made me good.” He brushed the hair out of his face. He really needed to find his hair clip. “Was frustrated at first, because I knew I could draw and stuff, but they were making me do those tiny things for basically no money- but, y’know, It’s harder than you’d think. Especially on someone who’s moving or someone who’s giggling with a bunch of their friends that they brought.”

“Is that why there was that sign out there?” Her face broke into a little grin, remembering the hand lettered sign before you went back to the rooms. ‘No children, No drinking, No plus threes’. “I find it hard to believe that people want to bring three people into the room with them.” That was inconsiderate. One? She could understand. That made sense if you were nervous. But multiple people just made it more crowded and loud. She’d rather be alone and deal with the experience being potentially awkward rather than make herself an inconvenient client.

His scoff took her by surprise, head tipping back in amusement. “Oh, they do. They did. Now it’s limited to one person in the room and you’ve got t’be over 18. Special allowances are made sometimes, but some of the places I worked at before starting my own place had no one enforcing or making those sorts of rules. It’s just unsafe. You’d be surprised how many drunk people come in demanding ink.” It was one of his least favorite clients. Drunk people tended to squirm and vomit, you know, besides getting a permanent image inked into the skin. That’s one thing he would never do again.

“Hm. Well it seems like you’re running a great place. I saw your stuff on instagram.” Her praise made him flush slightly, feeling a tiny bit shy as she continued. “And then the articles and awards you’ve got up front. It’s massively impressive. I’m surprised you’re tattooing me if I’m honest. She said up front I had virgin skin?” A head tilt at the end of her words reminded him of a puppy.

“Well, like I said. Special occasion.” He knocked his knee against hers in a playful attempt. “Just means no ink. Nothing nasty. I usually don’t do people with no ink because they can be twitchy and I can choose the pieces I do now. Usually I do more long and involved ones but, I’m more than happy to be doing yours.” His smile was a reassurance that he was more than happy to do it.

“Are you sure?” Y/N frowned slightly, suddenly feeling a little guilty. She didn’t want him to do a tattoo he didn’t want to do, or even more so do it on her just because he felt bad about the times before. “If you don’t want to do it, I’m happy to go to another artist in your shop-”

“No, I want to do it.” His voice was fast, interrupting hers without meaning to. It had rushed out without his permission, but the ugly twisting inside his gut had started at the mention of someone else doing this. She had wanted him, had planned on him, and if he was being honest? He was a bit selfish. His art was meant to go on people like Y/N. People who appreciated the art, who appreciated the skill. Add in his big fat crush, and it was not something he was going to pass up.

“O-Okay.” Y/N smiled, looking back down at her lap. His jeans were against her leg, and she couldn't stop thinking about how warm he was. How happy she was that he had chosen to sit with her on here instead of the armchair. A giddiness bubbled in her stomach as she felt his eyes on her, a hand coming down into her field of vision and gripping her knee. Her face felt hot, looking down at the fingers that curled over. It felt like she had been shocked at first, but moved into a warm glow.

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.

If she was any less strong, she would have squeaked. The large hand rested there, giving her leg a squeeze before he continued to speak.

“You ready to get some ink, then?”

—-------------

“You’ve had somethin’ to eat today, right?” Harry’s voice spoke to her as she sat in the red leather seat. His back was turned to her as he opened up a few drawers, grabbing what looked to be some sort of tape, vaseline, ink caps, different wrapped needles maybe? A blue liner sat over the tray, keeping it sanitary as he placed the supplies down. There was no reason to doubt he would be, but it only furthered her comfort.

“Yeah, I had a croissant and a pastry. Coffee too.” She peeped, hoping that would be good enough in his eyes.

With the way he turned in his chair, it wasn’t. “C’mon, babe. You’ve gotta eat better than that… but I can say m’glad you didn’t have a heavy meal a few minutes ago.” That would be a nightmare if she felt the need to spew. “Nothing with protein.. If you feel like you’re getting lightheaded, like you’re going to faint? Tell me immediately. This shouldn’t be too bad, all things considered, but there's no shame in taking a break.” He really didn’t mind it. That was much preferred over someone passing out on him.

“Okay. I’ll tell you.” Her eyes widened slightly but she avoided his eyes again, instead choosing to look at his hair. He’d found his hair clip when they’d walked in, saying something about having been looking for it for ages before gathering hair at the front of his face and clipping it back out of the way. He looked fucking adorable.

Tattoos, piercings and all, he looked adorable. Y/N had always thought he was handsome, hot, even, but his little smiles and concern for her had made her feel a little floaty and giggly and she needed to contain herself.

“Good girl.” His hand squeezed her leg again before turning around on the stool to finish unwrapping supplies.

If he heard her squeak, he didn’t let her know it.

They sat in a comfortable silence, the music hooked to his phone playing at a comfortable level as he did his thing. Y/N looked at his back, admiring the broad nature, his strong shoulders and how it strained slightly against his shirt. At this point, she was nearly positive she was just being extremely thirsty over the man who had always been a faraway object of desire- even if she had thought he hated her.

“Alright.” Harry returned, voice making Y/N jump slightly. “Sorry, sorry. I’ve got the stencil.” Holding it up, he let her take a look and smiled to himself as her eyes rounded and she smiled widely. It did that weird thing to his chest as she squirmed, sitting straighter as he approached with it. “Good? We can put it on in a moment. Just got t’prep you.”

“It’s so beautiful, Harry.” Her wispy voice nearly made him fall off his chair. He wished he wasn’t so weak, wished he wasn’t such a soft heart for her, that he could be a bit more suave, but when she spoke like that, looked at him like that, said his name like that? All he wanted to do was scream.

“M’glad you think so.” He replied gently, taking his seat. “Is it okay if I touch you? I need to adjust your arm.” Touching bare skin was a limit a surprising amount of people had- himself included. He usually preferred his bed partners keeping their hands to themselves, no matter how much they wanted to trace his ink. His actual partners, he enjoyed, but people didn’t have much of a sense of boundary sometimes.

“Yeah! Yeah, of course. You can do whatever you want to me.”

Dangerous fucking words, Harry thought. He couldn’t allow his thoughts to stray at the moment, so he decided to save that sweet tone and double meaning sentence to obsess over at a later time.

It didn’t take him too long, his fingers brushing over the skin as he shaved it to make sure the canvas was clear and prepped her for the stencil. Y/N was quiet, watching his concentration. He got a cute little thing between his brows as he focused on her, making sure the stencil was straight and where she wanted before laying it and pressing down.

When he peeled it away, she audibly gasped. “This is perfect.” Her voice went up in pitch. “It’s better than I imagined, H. Really. I love it.” Speaking like the ink was already in her skin, he flushed again as he placed the paper into the tray.

“You sure? Placement’s good?”

“Perfect. I like it right here.” She nodded, eyes not leaving the blue stain.

“Okay. We’re going to get started then, okay?” He pulled on a pair of fresh gloves, scooting himself and the station a bit closer to her. “We’re starting with the outlining, then we move to shading. It’s gonna be uncomfortable, mostly when I have to go over the lines again but we aren’t going to be too close to bone so It shouldn't be terrible.” He was doing his job now to mentally prepare her. “You can tell me if you need the bathroom or if you need to move at all. Everyone’s pain thresholds are different. Don’t feel embarrassed. I’m sure as hell not going to judge you.” His smile was reassuring as she looked a little nervous, but more so the excited type. It was easy to tell.

“I will tell you. Do you need me to stay quiet when you're tattooing? To keep focus? I don’t want to distract you.” Y/N questioned, big eyes looking at him with curiosity.

Anyone else? Anyone else in the entire world, he would tell them yes. He preferred a quiet environment to work, to get into the zone and truly concentrate. But there was no way in hell he was going to pass up an opportunity to hear her talk and babble. She had been so quiet around him before- rightfully so, considering she thought he would tell her to shut up- but he ached to just get a little bit closer. That yearning of his soft heart was pulsing, wishing to get to know her more. His brain was telling him to relax and be logical, but they both knew who would win out.

“Absolutely not, Sunflower. Chatter away.”

[bangtanhoneys]

SUCHWITA - Yoongi & Grace

Bora Note: SUPRISE! I thought this was going to take a few days but it came out easier than I thought. I hope you all enjoy

As a gift to ARMY who had promised to wait for him to come back from his military career, Yoongi had scheduled a surprise episode of Suchwita to be aired the day after his enlistment. Teasers were posted just as the news came that he had entered the military, causing ARMY and the world to take to social media to shout out their excitement. Finally, Grace Chu was going to be a guest. 

“So,” Yoongi started with a clap. “This was filmed just before I go into the military and I want to give you all a little gift to say I won’t be long and that I’ll be thinking of you. And what better way to do all that than by giving you the episode you’ve waited the longest for. Are you ready?” he asked, turning to each camera. 

“Okay, my guest today is BigHit’s first female trainee, BigHit’s ace, Seokjin-hyung’s world, Namjoon’s trainer, J-Hope’s sunshine, Jimin’s comforter, Taehyung’s translator, Jungkook’s mother and my support. She’s known as Korea’s Noona, ARMY’s queen and England’s rose,” Yoongi read off his iPad, echoing the words of Seokjin all those months ago. “Please give a big welcome to my sister, Gigi.”

The video that played for ARMY was a selection of video clips from the early days of their career to the most recent, each clip with a different member to reflect Yoongi’s words and ending with Grace on stage on her own with ARMY in the background.

“You always say such lovely things,” Grace smiled as she made her way towards the small table as Yoongi stood up, arms open wide with the crew loudly clapping in the background. “You’re also very cuddly these days.”

“I’m allowed to be. I’m going into the military,” he answered as he gave her a quick tight hug then released her. “Now I know you don’t do alcohol so I’ve organised some hot chocolate. But you promised me you’d do a shot of soju so I’ve got the citrus flavour for us.”

“Ah is that the new flavour?” Grace asked, picking up the bottle with an orange top. “Fitting then for the two of us.” She accepted the shot glass with a smile and clinked it against Yoongi’s, swallowing the shot in one go. “You know, not that bad.”

A large white mug with hot chocolate was placed in front of her and Yoongi, as well as finger snacks such as nachos and the like. 

“So,” Yoongi started as he wrapped his hands around the hot mug. “I’ve been told not to talk about your solo career, well I’ve been warned. But I want to ask, for ARMY’s sake, stuff is coming right?”

“Stuff is coming. Everything is planned and ready, sort of, but it’s coming.”

Yoongi stared at her and she grinned, shrugging. “That’s all you’re getting.”

“Gigi,” he almost whined. “You need to give more than that.”

“Nope. All will be revealed in time, you just have to wait.”

She nearly pointed out that he looked like that grumpy cat that was a meme a few years ago but she said nothing, distracting herself by scooping up some nachos and putting them in her mouth. 

“Fine,” Yoongi finally said. “I did kind of have a plan in my head of what I was going to ask you that wasn’t related to your career or anything like that. And I want to start by saying thank you.”

She must have looked completely puzzled so Yoongi quickly clarified.

“Thank you for always being there for me and the guys. If it weren’t for you, I don’t think we would have succeeded. You made sure we went to bed, made sure we were fed and clothed, and looked after us when we were ill. If it wasn’t for that support, I don’t think any of us would be here today. Especially Jungkook.”

“Jungkook was too young,” Grace shrugged. “He was only fifteen when he joined BigHit. In fact, everyone was under 20 when they joined BigHit and I had been there before Namjoon about a year beforehand or whatever it was. I was only nineteen when I first joined. So I felt like I had to step up and be the guide for Namjoon at least and then it just carried on for the rest of you. And then it turned into being the nanny.”

“Mother,” Yoongi corrected with one of his grins. 

“This Mother thing,” Grace laughed and watched as Yoongi poured himself a shot of soju and then another for her, just in case. “This whole thing started on Twitter or whatever. Even Jungkook never referred to me as mother until he saw it.”

“Wasn’t that the time we saw the MILF tweet?”

“Oh god that tweet,” Grace groaned and buried her hands in her face as Yoongi all but cackled. He turned his body slightly, facing more the camera than her.

“So that story, we might as well tell these stories. It was after a performance, I can’t remember which one, but all the tweets we saw were really complimentary and praised us for a job well done. I think it was Jimin, who saw the comment first and took a screenshot, sent it to the group chat. And it was something along the lines of, ‘Grace looks amazing. She looks like a proper MILF.’”

Grace quickly butted in, pointing a finger at Yoongi. “And none of you guys were quick enough to try and shield them or me from any of that.”

Yoongi shrugged, downing the shot of alcohol. “Namjoon was the one to explain it. And ARMY took it from there.”

“I couldn’t look at any of you during that week. It was just awkward,” Grace sighed and emptied her own glass of alcohol down her throat to Yoongi’s surprise. “If we’re going to tell these stories, then I need to get somewhat tipsy.”

The rapper paused and sat back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling for a moment then towards Grace. “The news about your relationship with Seokjin-hyung is out,” he started and laughed when Grace choked on the food she had just put in her mouth. “What? We might as well discuss it.”

“Aish, are we really going there?”

“Yes, ARMY needs to know.”

“You know, Seokjin was commenting on my LIVE after the news was announced and he said there was an R-rated version,” Grace explained as she scooped some salsa onto her nacho. “And since then, that’s all they ever asked about.”

“Well, we know about PG-rating version so what’s the R-rated version?.”

“Are you really going to ask me? Are you even allowed to upload this once this has been discussed?”

Yoongi shrugged, shoving a piece of food into his mouth. “Who cares? I’m going into the military soon.”

Grace lifted her head to stare at the younger man and the subtitles read on the screen, ‘She’s wondering whether to kill him or not.’

“Fine, might as well get it over with.”

She paused and laughed when Yoongi all but perked up, resting his elbows on the table with his chin in his hands as if he were a little child waiting to hear a bedtime story. This was a story very few got to hear and it had never been fully discussed by anyone, including the boys.

“So, Seokjin & I had a discussion around WINGS or just before. I knew I had started to like him more than a member of the group and he had figured out the same, but we had discussed that it was best we didn’t do anything to jeopardise the band, the comeback, the career, etc.” Grace started, folding her arms underneath her chest. She didn’t realise Yoongi, the crew, and even the audience were on tenterhooks waiting for the big reveal. 

“Nothing was done. And nothing was ever said after that. It was just the end. We weren’t going to do anything. However,” Grace stopped and bit her lower lip, wondering if she should go any further. But then Seokjin had left her in this mess so he could clean it up when he got back. 

“However,” Grace repeated with a laugh. “We were the only ones in the dorm. I don’t know where you all were but we were the only two left behind. And we had the conversation again, you know we can’t do anything.”

“But something ended up happening,” Yoongi summarised. 

“On the couch. Twice.”

It fell out of Grace’s mouth unprompted, causing Yoongi to pause as he lifted his glass of soju. “On the couch,” he repeated as if he didn’t get what Grace was telling him. You could see the cogs working and turning until finally something clicked.

“On the couch,” he all but yelled.

Grace nodded and buried her face into her hands, hiding from everything as Yoongi stood, open mouth and a dazed look on his face.

“You and Jin-hyung, on the dorms couch.”

“It was meant to be a one-off to get it out of our system, kind of.”

“But obviously it didn’t work.”

Yoongi sat back down as Grace peeked out from around her fingers.

“You know, I always suspected something happened but not like that. Not you two. Not the father and the mother of the group. We always thought of you two as the stone-cold people who did nothing wrong and yet.”

“Well,” Grace started and stopped when she realised she couldn’t explain it. “It happened and here we are so that’s the truth about the relationship. That’s the R-rated version. The PG version was the one we told the boys which was something along the lines of ‘we like each other, it won’t affect the group and we promise to be careful.’”

“Careful in more ways than one it seemed,” Yoongi stopped and poured another glass of soju. “That took a turn.”

“You wanted to know.”

“But I wasn’t expecting that,” Yoongi laughed and drank the soju. “What’s Jungkook going to think about his adopted parents? He’s going to be horrified.”

“Horrified? He’s been singing about fucking people in his songs lately, I don’t think he would be that horrified.”

“He’ll be horrified because it’s you. His noona. That kid absolutely adores you and would do anything for you, you know that.”

Grace smiled and nodded. “I know he would. You all would.”

“I want to talk about that - you and Jungkook because I don’t think many people realise what you do for him. Well, what you’ve done for all of us really. Because you’ve been there for everyone’s shit, especially mine.”

She finished off her hot chocolate and set the mug back down, leaning back in the chair. “Is this going to get emotional?”

“I don’t do emotional.”

“Says the man who broke down on stage.”

“That,” Yoongi pointed with his chopsticks. “That’s the stuff I want to talk about.”

“So,” Yoongi set the chopsticks down on the table and turned to the camera once again. “Obviously I broke down crying on stage on the last day of the tour. Everything just came tumbling out and I knew, if I couldn’t get the words out, Gigi would be there as backup for me. Adora as well but this woman here, left the audience and ran backstage to get ready to be my backup. And you’ve done that before for me, you’ve done that for everyone.”

“With Jungkook, you became his mother and I don’t mean that in the literal sense but you did. You saw a young man, with his big doe eyes and you protected him. You got him through the worst parts of his life and stood there with him, with all of us, without any judgement. He’s got his kindness and his sense of worth from you because you made sure to teach him that no matter what happens in life, as long as you know how important you are to yourself then nothing matters. And I took that to heart as well, dealing with my own trauma. I was angry with the world, angry at everything. I was putting everything I had into BTS, into AgustD, into Suga. And you said to me but what about Yoongi? What does Yoongi get? And I had to sit back and think about what do I want for myself?”

“Only because you had gone through so much in the beginning before we had even debuted. Like your shoulder, your mental health, and your relationships. The fact you were looked down on by the underground scene because you were now an idol rather than a rapper. And I remember when I heard The Last, how you spilled it all. I remember sitting there, feeling proud because you were breaking down these barriers slowly and on your own terms,” Grace interrupted. “Because I’ve always felt that no one should tell you who you are. I’ve come to realise that. It’s nice to be known as Korea’s Noona but who am I? At the end of the day when I get home to my cat and I sit down on the couch, turn on the tv - who am I? Because at the end of the day, I need to believe in myself.”

Yoongi sat there and took a good look at the woman in front of him. There had been many times when he knew Grace struggled with her identity. She was never meant to last more than two albums but Hitman Bang took the risk and extended her contract and then she became the greatest idol there was but she never felt right. There was always something missing. And he knew she had started to work on that and work on her identity, finally finding something for her to stand in and claim as her own. 

Her solo career was going to do all that for her. 

“And I tried to do that with Jungkook since he was so young and he was going to be easily moulded by what he saw, who told him what. And I wanted to treat him like Jungkook, not JK. He needed to be treated like a fifteen year old. Not an idol. So if that meant he needed a bedtime or he needed someone to make sure he had his uniform for the day, then that’s what it was going to take. Same for Tae and Jimin, they needed that. It was a structure that needed to be placed at home, in the dorm. And if I was seen as the mother then that’s what it was going to take,” Grace finished.

“You were the mother who looked after the boy's needs, Seokjin-hyung was the father in a way he controlled and scolded and cooked and woke us all up,” Yoongi started ticking off his fingers but he was interrupted by Grace again.

“You are also the father, technically. Because you do what Seokjin does but in a different way. You’re the protector and the fixer as well."

“Well yes, I do all that. So Hobi is next, he’s the first child then?”

“Hobi’s the first son,” Grace started then suddenly laughed, almost leaning backwards. “Oh, this is going to be turned into a meme.”

“What? You, me and Jin-hyung as the parents and the rest are the kids?”

Grace nodded, still laughing.

“Sounds like some weird threesome parenting,” Yoongi laughed as well, showing off his gums as he clapped with his laughter. 

“So Hobi is the first child. He’s the cleaner as well, technically. Namjoon is the second son who is the voice of reason. Jimin is third and is the kid who is just parenting gone right. Taehyung is the middle between Jimin and Jungkook, nice but a bit naughty. And Jungkook is the baby.”

“Jungkook is the baby,” Yoongi agreed. “But also a little shit.”

“He is that. But then I can say the same thing about all of you.”

“But you and me are too alike,” Yoongi pointed out with another glass of soju.

“We are. What are we called, two cats in a pod?”

“Ironic since you’ve now got a cat.”

“Min-ji,” Grace grinned as a picture of said cat was shown up on the screen.

“Did you name him after me and Jin-hyung?”

“No, though it seems like it. I was googling Korean names and that one just happened to catch my eye and the meaning fits him well.”

“But back to you and me,” Yoongi started then laughed. “I watch YouTube videos sometimes of the relationships between the members and you and I had to stop watching ours because it was hilarious. We are two cats in a pod. We are very much alike.”

“It’s more the mannerisms than anything,” Grace agreed as she took the plate of food from him. “And me and Namjoon are kind of like that,” she added. “You, me and him have known each other the longest.”

“Well, you trained him for a year and then me and Hoseok came along so it became a natural quartet though you lived with your parents, right?”

“I did until I got told by Bang PD that I needed to move into the dorm down the corridor when they had assembled the group. He didn’t want me mixing.”

“He treats you like a daughter though. You are the favourite, even Namjoon says so.”

Grace smiled and shrugged, giving nothing but everything away. 

They talked for another hour or more, reminiscing about the past and the future. How they were all waiting to come back together in 2025 when they could be a group again even though Grace knew she would have to finish off her solo tour first. 

“There’s one thing I do want to ask though, before we finish.” Yoongi said, pouring the last of the soju into the glasses. 

Grace nodded her head as if to say go on, holding up her glass of soju like Yoongi was doing.

“When are you going to make us uncles?”

Her immediate reaction was to sigh loudly and stare at the man in front of her.

“I’m joking. I promise. But I do want to say though, I’m proud of you. And I know what’s to come is going to be amazing and ARMY is going to go mental when they see what’s coming. And even though I can’t be there, I’ll be watching and I’ll be there if I can.”

ARMY would later say Grace’s smile in return to Yoongi’s words lit up the whole room.

“And I’m proud of you. And I hope you stay safe, don’t get hurt, make sure you look after your shoulder and you come back to us in 2025 because we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

They clinked their glasses together and downed the shot, putting the empty shot glasses back onto the table. The moment was broken by Yoongi clapping his hands once.

“ARMY, I hope you’re happy now. Gigi is going to take great care of you and I hope you look after her and support her all the way. I won’t be long and I’ll come back to you all when I can.”

The last Suchwita episode ended with the two hugging, Grace’s face buried into Yoongi’s shoulder as he held on tight. Almost as if she didn’t want to let him go just yet but had to. 

However, ARMY was left with one more surprise. 

It was a black screen with the words ‘She’s coming. May 14 2024.’

[piedpiperart]

Can We Keep Him pt 3

Chapter 2

Jason was laying on his bed with the little rascal next to him, playing a cute little puzzle game on Jason’s ipad. It was a bit surprising to find out how smart the kid was. Even though he didn’t know words, the kid was good at following patterns and puzzles. Angry Birds was a favorite so far, and Jason got to see the kid swish his tail to the music. It was adorable.

The two elder residents spent the day keeping the kid occupied, whether with games or snacks. It was harder to keep him occupied without food, and Jason was glad to discover that ipad games were a hit. He didn’t risk leaving the kid alone yet, too afraid he’d wander off and they’d lose him in the gigantic manor. Absently, he wondered if they should get him one of those child leashes.

 After a scare with the kid trying to climb out the window, Alfred figured out how to teach the kid how to use the toilet. He’d told Jason that the kid caught on pretty quick, even looking around for a step stool to wash his hands. The man speculated that the kid might have memories from before he was abandoned that he recalled, such as having a step stool under the sink. Jason hoped that was a good sign, considering they might have an easier time acclimating him to indoors.

Surprisingly, the kid let Alfred trim his hair, but screeched and cried when they’d tried to de-tangle it. Both Jason and Alfred had scratches on their arms from trying to hold the kid still, and not even grapes calmed him. He’d only been soothed when Jason gave him a few cookies in apology. The little guy’s hair turned out to be straight and jet black now that it wasn’t a tangled mess. Jason had thought the kid’s hair was curly before, but turns out it was just knots and tangles, some of the hairs even had twigs attached.

Jason looked up from where the kid was sling-shooting pigs to the door when he heard a knock. Alfred stood in the doorway with a fond smile. “I’ll be starting on dinner in a moment if you’d like me to watch the little one,”Alfred said,”Master Bruce will be home soon if you would like to get started on any homework you may have.”

“Alright,”Jason groaned, rolling off the bed. He did have homework, and had asked his teachers to email him anything he’d missed today. “Can he keep playing?” 

“Perhaps a bit longer,”Alfred nodded, coming into the room to scoop the baby up. He growled a little at being disturbed, but stopped when he realized he could keep playing the game. He leaned his head on Alfred’s shoulder as they walked out to the kitchen. “You’re welcome to join us,”He added, and Jason shot him a smile and a wave as they left. 

Bruce was happy to be home after a long day of doing paperwork. He felt himself relax unconsciously when he opened the door and stepped through. Taking a deep breath, he smelled the beginnings of dinner. He was pretty sure it was spaghetti, and Bruce was suddenly overwhelmingly grateful for Alfred. He didn’t know how he’d be able to function without the man. 

Pulling off his jacket, he hung it in the hall closet, catching the umbrella inside before it hit the floor. That one never stayed in its spot, so he was always ready to catch it. Closing the door, he hummed to himself, thinking about what Jason was up to. He was almost to the kitchen when something on the floor caught his eye,and he paused.

“Alfred,”Bruce called out, a little strained as he kept an eye on the raccoon tail disappearing behind the kitchen island. The thing was dangerously close to the elder man as he turned from the stove to look at Bruce.

“Ah, perfect timing Master Bruce, you-”Alfred began, but was cut off by the other.

“Alfred, don’t move,”Bruce cautioned, holding his hands out like he was trying to prevent the butler from freaking out. “There’s a raccoon in the kitchen. Just come towards me, slowly.”

“Oh,”Alfred blinked. He looked down to the ground and back up to his son. “You mean our guest. Master Jason found him last night in the dumpster and brought him home.”

Bruce paused. “You let him keep a pet raccoon? Alfred-”

“Good heavens, no,”Alfred cut him off, shaking his head. Before Bruce could protest,  the man bent down to pick up the animal. He came back up, cradling-

“Is that a child?” Bruce nearly gasped, approaching the two. He couldn’t take his eyes off the little black haired boy who closely resembled a raccoon. His blue eyes were bright against the black marks around his eyes. 

Bruce reeled back as the child hissed at him, tiny fangs on display until Alfred shushed him with a few pets to his hair. “He responds best to food,”Alfred said,”Do pick up the bowl of orange slices on the counter there. He’ll get acclimated to you faster if you give him snacks.”

“I.. what?” Bruce says, still staring at the child glaring at him. 

“Do I need to repeat myself?” Alfred retorted, raising an eyebrow. Bruce shook his head, still confused but mind running with theories and possibilities. 

The kid perked up when Bruce picked up the bowl of fruit, switching from glare to puppy dog eyes faster than the Flash. Despite his confusion with the situation, he couldn’t help but give a fond smile at the little guy. Alfred set the child down when he started wriggling, and Bruce was amused to see him scurry around the kitchen to stop at his feet. 

Little claws hesitantly latched onto his pant leg with big blue eyes pleading up at him. He dutifully handed a slice to the kid, who snatched it with a chirp. “Alfred?” Bruce pleaded. He didn’t see any signs of comprehension when he or Alfred spoke, and the child was clearly food-motivated. 

Taking pity on the man, Alfred explained,“Master Jason found him.”

“He wasn’t patrolling,”Bruce cut in, much to Alfred’s exasperation. He felt a tug on his pants and fed the child another orange slice. 

“No, the young master went out exploring on the premises,”Alfred said fondly,”Something about a treehouse. He found the child in the dumpster out front, eating trash.”

Bruce squinted at the kid, examining him. He doubted the kid was plant for Batman if he was eating trash. He assumed Alfred and Jason to be the reason he was so clean and clothed with what Bruce was sure to be his old baby clothes. He frowned when he thought about the reason why the kid was all alone in a dumpster of all things. It wasn’t hard to speculate from the kid’s appearance. 

“I can hear you brooding,”Alfred chimed in, making Bruce sigh. “I hope you’ll be able to help Master Jason find the boy’s name, and perhaps a call to Dr. Thompson is in order.”

“I’ll call Leslie,”Bruce grunted. After a moment of consideration, he bent down to meet the little guy. Cheeks puffed out and orange juice on his face, Bruce couldn’t help the warm feeling in his chest at the way the kid brightened at the sight of him up close. He stayed dutifully still as the kid poked his cheek with a clawed hand, rubbing his slightly stubbly jaw before turning his attention to Bruce’s colorful tie.

“After dinner. If you would bring the young one to the highchair, Master Bruce, I shall fetch Master Jason,”Alfred said, leaving the two alone in the room. 

Brief panic overtook Bruce for a moment before he shoved it down. He passed the boy another orange slice that was immediately accepted, and carefully picked the kid up. His heart swelled when the boy seemed content in his arms, eating the orange slice and stroking the flowery tie. Bruce held the boy carefully, feeling the soft fur of his tail and brought him over to the high chair.

Bruce didn’t quite want to let the boy down just yet, especially when the kid seemed perfectly fine in his arms, so he merely sat in the seat next to the highchair with the kid still in his arms. “You met Baby Bear!” Jason exclaimed, sliding into view. He came up to the two of them, ruffling the kids hair before climbing into the other open seat next to the highchair. 

Alfred came strolling in behind him, eyebrow raised to Bruce. “I assume you need assistance with the high chair if you are still holding him?”

Bruce was sheepish, but moved to put the boy into the highchair while Jason snickered. “You know, I’ve always wanted a little brother,”Jason hedged, and Bruce shot him a look. 

“He might have parents,”Bruce argued weakly. “With his… attributes, he might be better suited with someone with similar abilities.”

“Aw, but he already likes us,”Jason bargained, watching Bruce feed the kid another orange slice with glee.”And we’ve made a lot of progress! He’s not eating trash and he's not covered in dirt. I even got him to wear pants!”

Bruce winced at the image, but looking at the adorable little ears on the boy he couldn’t bring himself to argue with Jason more. “We’ll see,”He hedged.

Truthfully, he was still processing the information and making plans to get the boy medical exams and blood tests to find his parents. There was no way the boy had been left in Bruce’s dumpster on purpose. If anything, the boy had been living in the woods around the manor for a while, and either regularly went to the dumpster for food or recently discovered it. He’d have to check the security footage to see when the kid started showing up. 

Bruce was brought out of his musings when Alfred placed a plate in front of him.He gave a smile in thanks at the plate of spaghetti and meatballs, with a side of garlic bread. A bowl was given to the toddler, and a plate to Jason. It would be a lie to say they weren’t all watching the kid skip over the fork to grab a handful of noodles and sauce. He was obviously delighted at the taste, even if they cringed at the sauce decorating his hands and face as he munched.

“Aww,”Jason cooed when the kid found a meatball and held it with both hands to nibble on it. “He’s just so cute, isn’t he B?”

Bruce hummed neutrally. As of now, the boy’s placement with them is only temporary. Just as long as it took for Bruce to find him a better home. A home more suitable to a feral boy with raccoon traits, not a billionaire’s lifestyle constantly in the eye of the media. It wouldn’t be fair to the boy to subject him to that or the nightlife. He just had to ignore the wry smile from Alfred and Jason’s knowing grin.

Chapter four 

[messydiabolical]

@dandenbo asked me for the art asks: 🎠What is a typical 'workflow' for a piece from idea to finished? It turns out to be a long answer so here's its own post, under the cut to save your dash! How I go from screenshot to painting: (This is not intended to be a 'this is how you do it!' kind of guide. I absolutely don't do an optimal route, this is just how I go about painting and what works for me! I've done a workflow for a screenshot to painting as I do a few different things but this is one I could explain somewhat coherently. My comics tend to be created pretty chaotically lol)

1) I take an ungodly amount of screenshots while playing. Also pester friends for their screenshots or stalk the group discord for interesting shots.

2) Go through all those screenshots cursing why I took so many, looking for those great moments that I want to paint. I’m particularly looking for nice poses/captivating moments, dynamic lighting or interesting expressions, and they don’t need to have all 3 as we can fix some of that in the next step. Here’s the screenshot I chose for my Keahi x Thane piece:

It was a cute, soft moment between them and I liked the highlight at the edge of their profiles. 3) Refine the screenshot. I don’t use anything fancy for this. I game on windows PC, so I open up the screenshot with windows photo editor. I crop the image, play around with saturation, exposure, contrast, just basic editing until it looks tastier. For this piece I wanted it to be hyper colourful and vibrant, leaning towards warmer tones.

4) Decide what I will change, then gather references for those changes. In this case I was fortunate that not a lot needed changing. I knew I wanted to move Thane’s eye position to looking at Keahi rather than the way he is slightly off focus, do a more realistic ear with earrings for Keahi, make Thane a little more smiley and lower his eyelid and give Keahi nicer eyelashes. I keep a whole bunch of art guides and tutorials on my PC so I grabbed the necessary ones and sent them to my ipad ready to have on hand for the sketch stage. I have Thane’s character model in XNApose, so I can check things like his eyelid specifically in that (this is actually for a different project but shows you what I mean)

If I was going to change up the lighting/shading I would also gather references for that. For example sometimes i’ll take screenshots of lighting schemes I love from films/tv shows (think the strong teal and orange scheme in Mad Max or the neons of Blade Runner). Or for precise shadows, I can again use XNApose. I also have a little 3d printed Thane head I can shine a torch at and take photos of to get shadow ideas. For humans there’s lots of reference to be found with online searches, I find pinterest more useful than google for this. For specific expressions or body parts, i’ll just take photos of myself (hand poses, smiling from the right angle etc.) My camera roll is an interesting place. I have drawn drell frills on my neck and on my chest before to see how the lines would fold at certain angles. 5) Setting up a canvas I work in procreate. For a piece like this I try to go pretty big, say 5000 x 4000 pixels, then i’ll crop down later as needed. 300 DPI. As I work, I’ll make duplicates and continue on the copy each fresh session. When i’m finished I make a backup save of the PNG and .procreate files on an SSD. I immediately turn the background colour down to a more muted colour to not burn my retinas. If i’m using a textured background like an oil board i’ll insert it, and any overlays like canvas effects. Set up my layers from the start basically for easy toggling throughout. I try to be good and label things to make life easier, it doesn’t always happen though. I don't wear a digital glove or use paper effect screens but I do have a bottle of screen cleaner and a microfibre cloth handy at all times. 6) Sketch. I’m still very much learning to draw. I tried for a long time to do the classic ‘ball for a head, draw the planes/lines etc. It was a constant struggle and never clicked for me, the ball especially always made things much worse, turning a circle into a 3d image in my head just does not happen. I find it better to just start drawing and work things out as I go (I use procreates reference window to see my screenshot). So I’ll have my sketch in one canvas, and i’ll also have a second canvas with the photo ref on it at the same size, and if I feel like something is really wonky and off i’ll test my lines over the photo to see what’s gone wrong, then go back to the sketch and correct the areas that revealed. Sometimes I’ll use the grid feature if i’m getting stuck.  Here's a few of the sketch stages:

Here I tried out the lines on the photo and noticed that Thane’s frills were a little too far to the left, and Keahi’s eyebrow needed to arch down towards the nose.In the next pass I correct these:

Also, and I know i’m gonna get side eye from some people for this but I really could not care less to be honest. On some pieces i’ll just trace the screenshot. Sometime I just want to get to painting, am not in the mood or mindspace for a learning experience, and this is a hobby. It’s my screenshot, no one is getting ripped off. My latest Javik piece was done this way 🤷‍♂️ 6) Painting. I’ll start by blocking in the background and the portrait flats, usually on separate layers. I try to have an idea of the background colour from the start as this can effect the whole piece overall, but sometimes you just gotta change it as you go so having it on a different layer makes this much easier.

The painting itself I’ll lay down wider areas of colours, then start going in and refining bit by bit, I tend to work on one area at a time, and sometimes I’ll get pretty well rendered on a small area before moving on, other times work on a wider area. It really depends on my mood and what i’m vibing with that day. Like you can see here I’ve done some general messy colouring all over Keahi, but done a lot of refinement on the eyeball:

7) Finshing the piece, uploading and testing: When I’m sick of rendering the painting and don’t think I can add anything more to it without gnawing my own wrist off, it is time to finish up! I make sure I toggle all the layers I want on, add a top signature layer (lol I lie I forget this all the damn time). Then i’ll upload the piece to my google drive and open it up on my big 4k monitor on my PC, and on my phone, and see how it looks (my ipad is a 9.7inch air). I find that once off my ipad, it often looks a little less saturated and contrasting as it does in procreate. So I might go back and change the levels if it’s too big a difference until it looks decent across devices (it’ll never look perfect on them all though, just gotta find that happy medium).

8) Posting online I really don’t have any strict steps for this. I know some people go for optimal posting times, and will make multiple copies of their pieces in different sizes to fit better on different sites (damn you instagram and your need for everything to be square). I… do not do any of this lol. I post when I’m done whatever time or day that is. I do tend to reblog/retweet etc before I go to bed, as I live in the UK and that will at least be getting into evening time in US. I reblog my own stuff a fair bit.

[jargonbyjulia]

“It’s impossible!”

I’ve heard the saying, “Mums get no days off.” It’s true and it isn’t. I know a couple of mums that get plenty of days off, with health retreats throughout the year, child-free holidays, and so on. Sometimes days off seem IMPOSSIBLE. Even getting through some days seems impossible. I get a few hours to myself; I like to get my nails done, and tomorrow I have a first hair appointment in six months - shock horror!

I have a two and a five year old, and I work part time. On Thursdays I work at home, and I like to think of that as my day “off”. I work in peace, I play my own music, I answer only to the ding of Teams’ notifications, emails and my stomach rumbles. Today is Thursday, and I had my two year old home sick from daycare. It’s barely just winter, and we’ve been knocked out at least twice already. I did my best to keep her entertained while I caught up on the work I started Tuesday, where seven meetings had me pretty tied up. We were doing fine, and she was enjoying being home with me, watching Peppa Pig on repeat, and eating through the snack shelf of the pantry.

At 11:00am, my daughter’s school called asking if I could pick up my preppy as she had a headache, fever and sore tummy. So I alerted work, bundled up my toddler and ran to the rescue. She wasn’t well, at all. We made her warm and gave her medicine, and suddenly it was 11:30am, which means nap time for the little one. I quickly answered emails, started writing an article and reviewed some work. I made sure miss five was comfortable and then put miss two down for her nap. After that, I made a quick couple of sandwiches for us, and ate at my desk. While answering 785 questions, including “How do you spell chicken?” and “What is 78 plus 802?” (from my child, not a colleague), I worked through my list for the day, trying my hardest to focus on the tasks at hand. Suddenly it’s 1:45pm and my two year old is awake, and I break my focus. Now it’s time to prepare her food and get her playing happily with her sister. It’s much easier than I had thought, so I can get back to my work. By 3pm, she’s sitting on my lap tapping away at the keys on my computer, asking why I have a spare TV (my second computer monitor) and she just has a lousy plastic phone with dead batteries.

The dog is whining as he hasn’t had a walk all day. My husband left for work at 8:30am, and he won’t be back until we are asleep at 10pm. Miss five goes downhill as suddenly as Melbourne’s morning temperatures, and needs her fever brought down, so there’s no leaving the house. I’m starting to think getting through this day is impossible, but we push through with more snacks, YouTube kids and a cranked heater.

At 4:30pm I’m cooking lamb chops from Monday and drafting my weekly wrap-up for work.

My phone rings. My husband asks, “How was your day?” I sigh and say it was busy. I read some feedback about my work as the kids eat dinner in front of the fire I made by rubbing two sticks together because everyone is “SO COLD!” and I take a breath. Only a quick one though, as I need to run the bath for two girls who identify solely as mermaids and then hit send on one more message before the end of the working day. COB they call it; Close of Business. (Mums don’t really have a COB though, do they?!)

I haven’t had a shower all day, and it’s 6:20pm. My youngest just shut her head in the fridge trying to make imaginary apple pie for the dog, there’s a full basket of clean laundry waiting to be folded on the kitchen table and I think the wombok I was relying on to substitute as salad leaf for my dinner is growing babies. But gosh, somehow I feel accomplished. There’s ice cream on the couch slowly seeping into the earth under our home, the iPads are dead and I am tired, so tired. But I’ve nearly ticked everything off my work to-do list, and, apart from fridge-headgate, the girls are now content, warm, full, laughing, and nearly ready for bed.

Mums do get days off, but not me today. And that’s ok! We got through it. I’m forever grateful for an extremely supportive workplace who understand what people, and mums, go through on a daily basis. No one pressured me to hit unrealistic deadlines, and everyone understood what I was going through, or at least sympathised or empathised with me. And in the end, it just makes me want to work smarter, and harder. In all aspects of my life.

There will be a glass or four poured tonight, and I’d say they are well deserved. I’ve just realised baby mermaid is due for her antibiotics, so I’ll end with one of our favourite Peppa Pig quotes, “It’s impossible!”

But really Peppa, NOTHING is impossible.

[huggybug]

for dilf day can you y/n and their daughter going to visit trevor on the road but they went back to the hotel before the game was over and so when trevor gets there their daughter is super excited to see him and she’s like “ we need to wake up mommy she wants to see you” and trevor tells her that they should let mommy sleep and they she will see him in the morning then when trevor is getting ready for bed their daughter is just talking about what’s been going on scene trevor left ( OMG this is so long i’m sorry but i think about this a lot) also can the daughter be like 3-4

okay… i totally thought somewhere in the ask i saw it was for poppy?? obviously it doesn’t but i didn’t notice until after i wrote it so i’m sorry but it’s about poppy😭😭

When Trevor finally got back to the hotel, he walked into a dark room to find Poppy sitting on the small couch, watching a show on her ipad while you were fast asleep in bed.

“Daddy!” Poppy jumps up, throwing the ipad down as she runs to Trevor who lifts her in his arms, dropping his bag as he carries her away from the door. 

“How was the game baby? I thought you’d be asleep by the time I got home” It was late, close to midnight and while it wasn’t exactly a problem that she was awake, he figured since they weren’t there after the game, it was because Poppy was too tired to stay the whole game.

“So fun! Mommy’s tired” Poppy says loudly, pointing over to where you were asleep on the bed. 

“Shh c’mon babe, let’s let Mommy sleep while we get you ready for bed” He walks into the washroom, shutting the door quietly behind them so that Poppy’s loud voice doesn't wake you.

“Mommy was sad” Poppy says after brushing her teeth (like a big girl!).

“Oh? Why baby?”

“She wants to see you. You weren’t at home” Trevor’s heart pounds. He hated leaving them, even if he had been for years now, that didn’t make it any easier.

“You know Daddy has to work though, right? That’s why I can’t always be home” Poppy was smart for her age, she understood that Trevor had to leave. That he plays hockey and sometimes that means he can’t be home.

“I know and Mommy knows but Baby Lu doesn’t know that. He’s sad too Daddy” Poppy explains like Trevor’s silly for not knowing that her unborn brother was upset about it all.

“I’ll have to tell him then” Trevor smiled softly. “I’ll do it tomorrow okay? But I missed you P, tell me what you did at home this week” That sets her off, she talks about the baby store you took her to and all the baby boy things you bought. She recounts the visit with your mom, the day at the zoo with Grandma and how you all went for ice cream afterwards. She talks the whole time Trevor’s getting ready for bed and all the way over to her bed.

“Okay, bed time P” Trevor sets her down, tucking her in. Poppy wiggles out from under the covers to get her arms around his neck, pulling him down into a hug.

“I missed you Daddy. I wish you didn’t have to leave to play hockey”

“I know babe, I missed you too. We have all day tomorrow but you’ve gotta sleep now so it’ll come quicker” That's all it takes for her to flop down into bed and she's asleep before Trevor can get into bed himself. You feel the bed dip and roll over to see Trevor carefully maneuvering himself to try and disrupt you as little as possible but being in your second trimester, any movement was enough to wake you.

“Shit sorry baby” He whispered, pressing a kiss to your forehead.

“Sorry we left early today”

“I heard it was because you were tired, didn’t know my playing was so boring these days” Even through the darkness, you could see the smirk on his face.

“Hm I wasn't tired, it was all Lu” You smiled tiredly when you felt his hand land on your belly.

“Can’t be mad at that then can I?” Trevor whispered. “P told me you were sad, that’s why you guys left” 

“Just missed you” You were still half asleep so it all came out mumbled together.

“I missed you too baby” Trevor wrapped his arms around you as best he could, in a form of a makeshift hug. “Season’s almost over though, then we get four uninterrupted months of each other”

“Oh aren’t I lucky?” You say sarcastically and he pokes your side in retaliation.

“The luckiest” He winks and kisses you before saying goodnight and passing out with you following close after

[pynkhues]

25 and 28 (brio pls!)

Thank you!

25. What projects are you currently working on?

I'm working on a pretty massive original project, which is actually making me have a lot of fun with prompt fills again. They're such a great warm up exercise for me, and I have so many old ones in my inbox that it's a bit of a smorgasbord, haha. In particular, I'm messing around with a couple of Succession ones - a gen one I'm even hoping I might post today which is kind of a four + 1 fic about the kids with Logan's clothes, and a meatier Kendall x Stewy one.

I do actually have a Brio one though too I've been playing around with, which has been so fun, and even an Ava x Deb Hacks one, which I hope I might one day actually finish and post.

28. Share a piece from one of your current WIPs! (Brio)

The camping lighter click-click-clicks, but there’s no spark, no flare, no hint of anything that might make this night any easier. Beth cusses beneath her breath, squinting back down at the box of Dean’s old outdoorsy-things, barely able to make out anything that isn’t barbeque tongs or a dusty, unopened box of fishing tackle in the darkness of the garage. Back to Plan A then, she thinks, grabbing her 23% battery cell off the top of the shelves where she’d tried and failed to angle the flashlight in a way that still let her use both of her hands.

Portable charger, that’s gotta be first priority, but then, didn’t Kenny ask to borrow it for the iPad?

So batteries for the flashlight then. The drawer had been empty earlier, but she figures she can empty a few remote control cars / dogs / light-up Barbie disco floors from the kids’ rooms.

She pads back into the house, the thin stream of light from her cell the only thing to illuminate the path ahead, and she manages to step over the vacuum cleaner she’d been halfway through using on the clippings of a bad batch of the counterfeit cash when the outage hit, only to see a figure hunched over her couch.

It’s instant, the way she can feel the thrum of her pulse in her neck, throat, mouth, a scream trapped like a hummingbird behind her teeth, and she’s thinking lamp, she’s thinking vase, she’s thinking Kenny’s algebra text book, cracked on the back of a head, when Rio’s slow drawl slips like a knife through butter in her head.

“Hey, darlin’,” he hums, and Beth exhales a rough breath.

“Thought we agreed you’d knock.”

“Door was open.”

“And the lights were off.”

“Power’s out.”

“All over town,” she agrees, angling her cell light to catch the angles of his face, and she frowns when she sees the graze at his cheek and the pinched expression to his face. She knows it better than she wishes she did at this point. “Thought we agreed next time you’d go to hospital. Do you know how hard it is to get bloodstains out of a linen blend?”

Writer asks

[morphomixz]

Eclipsed in Paris (Miraculous x Reader) Pt 6

"You mean to tell me this is all because she thinks you're dating??!" I partially shout-whispered to Chat. 

"Would that be such a bad thing if we were?" he questioned but soon shut it given my expression showing I was less than pleased with the feline masked crusader.  Then my attention was turned back to Ladybug when her voice broke the tension. 

" A superhero never lies! We won't admit to something that's not true." Ladybug exclaimed which made Chat Noir's face drop. Prime Queen is visibly angered by this statement as she demands, "I want my scoop!" while accelerating the train somehow. In a corner, the three of us huddled to determine our course of action.

"I'll use my cataclysm." Chat Noir said in hushed tones, to which Ladybug replied, "No wait, we might need it for an emergency." which was honestly smart. It's better only one of us risks de-transforming at one time. Though Chat did argue back with an indignant tone saying, "Yeah, like right now!" Clearly trying to play mediator I said, "Calm down, arguing will get us nowhere, and we have to get Chloe off this train. Chat mayhaps Ladybug has an idea. Your cataclysm may do even more damage to the train." Turning to Ladybug, we both listened to her when she said, "We have to lure her over here first or we'll never capture her akuma! So let's just play along with her, at least it'll buy us some time." Now that I couldn't completely agree with it. Breaking one's principles and lying on a worldwide stage isn't the best idea, which is something I learned personally, so I offered another solution. "Or I could always lure her over with the identity of a new super. You know, since I used my special ability a while ago now." I said knowing the likelihood of it working now that Prime Queen has two scoops to go for. 

"It'll be easier for you to slip away and feed your kawami if we do this quickly. You're running low on miraculous energy and Chat Noir doesn't mind," Ladybug whispered to me. So, now we have some form of plan... 

Moving towards the back of the compartment where Chloe was, I stabilize her by holding her upright, while Ladybug "confesses", "Okay Prime Queen" she says while holding a shocked kitty's hand, "You win. I confess, Cat Noir and I are dating like you said. We are.." she starts to hesitate, " in..love." which led Prime Queen to abruptly stop the windowless train and sending Chloe as well as myself tumbling onto the floor. Ladybug and Chat Noir go flying into the wall with her landing on his chest, and he made a purring noise.

" Did I just hear you purr?" Ladybug questioned him clearly not liking that he was enjoying their predicament. Nervously, Chat Noir answered with a weak, "Uh, no way!" I smirked lightly, and teasingly I said "Oh, he so did," earning myself a micro glare from the cat. 

Anyways, cyber tech crazy lady decided she wanted something more. Typical reporters. "Our two heroic lovebirds are saving their fan's life and their new partner's by admitting their true feelings. Our viewers are going crazy! But, our TV ratings haven't maxed out yet. You must do better!" she said.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THEY ADMITTED THEY'RE IN LOVE BUT YOU STILL NEED MORE PROOF?!" I yelled at the screen only to be ignored by the crazy lady with the iPad. Stupid iPad adults. 

"Then come and join us, Prime Queen. You're the host and the star of the show after all. Then you'll have your ratings." Ladybug taunted the cyber lady. I dare her to come here, I'll kick her halfway to Lousianna if she does. Then a purple butterfly surrounded her eyes, and a voice quiet enough to talk to her only, but hearable if you have ultrasonic hearing gave her instructions, "Order them to give you their Miraculous!" the sinister voice commanded. Then Mrs. Roboto said, "My show, my rules, Ladybug! To prove that your feelings are genuine, you're going to have to take off your masks, which means you must all give me your Miraculous! Even you newbie." 

"Yeah, that's not happening lady." I said nonchalantly, which was followed by Ladybug's "Not a chance, Prime Queen!" I just happened to glance over at the kitten, only to see a strange smile on his face. Does he know how creepy he looks when he does that face? He grabs Ladybug by the shoulders while exclaiming, " Wait, I know how we can prove our feelings." giving her a wink, while I step away from that situation, "Pucker up!" which has Prime Queen at the edge of her seat. Again, typical reporter and fangirl behavior. Though Ladybug was thoroughly unimpressed by Kitten's antics, she declines with a, "Not a chance, kitty." I'll admit, he tried, and his disappointment was evident so I gave him a quick hip bump with a small demure smile. Then the screen turned black. "Is the show over?" Chat asked while knocking on the previously lit-up screen. This is bad...

"If we can't get to her, we'll never be able to capture her akuma!" Ladybug exclaimed in a worried tone. Just then, the screen turned back on, and displayed Prime Queen in the Louvre., particularly, she was with a sarcophagus. "My dear viewers, you are in for the reveal of a lifetime!" she said with a cackle opening the sarcophagus to reveal a tied-up Alya within.  Or at least I think her name's, Alya. "Ladybug, help me, please!" she pleaded despite not seeming all that scared. Just how messed up are Paris teens if situations like this don't give them PTSD? Then the robo-chick started asking facetious questions, "Oh wait, isn't this the girl who started the famous Ladyblog? The first one who ever filmed Ladybug?"

I turned to Chat and whispered, "What's a Ladyblog? Is it some kind of women's health forum?" I don't quite understand why he laughed at first, but then he blushed before he explained it to be a blog dedicated to Ladybug mostly, but sometimes showcases himself as well as other superheroine content. So, I guess it's not a women's blog... Anyways, back to the battle, seeing Alya bound in the glittering tomb, Ladybug clearly was distressed given her cry of "No, Alya!" I guess she cares about her fans.

"Next trial, your Miraculous! Or else your biggest fan will be mummified!" the cackling cyborg-esq woman declared, then the screen turned bright like it was devoid of anything. Chat almost fell through it, and my miraculous beeped indicating I had a mere few minutes left before I assume I detransform. I really should have paid more attention to Bazoo's instructions. "Ladybug, Chat Noir, I may have to stay behind a few minutes to feed my kwami. Hope you don't mind." I told them before Ladybug turned to Chat to say "Let's leap in before she runs! Come through when you're fully charged!" The two disappeared into the abyss leaving me and Chloe.

"Hey! Ugh, wait! What about me? Someone get me out of here!" Chloe complained. I forced her out of the train, before de-transforming completely while ducking down below the windows, as the train began moving again. 

"Bazoo, eat up. Looks like we're going to have to third wheel this venture," I said handing the bat creature a few blackberries from my bag. Once she was full, it was time to strike. "Bazoo! Spread my wings!" 

It's not so strange the second time around when the latex leather takes over my original attire. Though I will say it feels better to no longer have the mask on. Leather masks aren't the most breathable material. With that, I step through the white screen only to be met with Chat Noir and Ladybug in a freezer. 

"What'd I miss?" I asked aloud. "Not much," Chat replied. "She hasn't said anything since we arrived, so I assume she was waiting for you too," Ladybug informed me. "Well, clearly we're not at the Louvre," Chat said. While struggling to open the freezer door, Ladybug managed to deduce, "It was a double-cross!" Then the backing returned. Cackling alongside the crackling of the broadcast. "Uh, Cataclysm?" Chat Noir suggested. Ladybug being frustrated wasn't the best at handling the situation, yelling at Chat saying, "There's no point! We're probably far away from the Louvre! By the time we get there, it'll be too late to save Alya!"  

"So, are you two going to kiss or what?" I asked getting tired of this business. I just want to go home now... Huh, home? Do I mean New York or the Grand Hotel? Eh, I'll figure it out later. Chat leaned in closer to Ladybug but she stopped him with a simple "Still not a chance, Cat Noir." which disappointed him causing me to pat him lightly on the back in solidarity which he leaned in to.  

" The time has come to push those ratings sky-high! Let's try this again. Remove your Miraculous and reveal your true selves! The whole world is watching you!" came a command from Prime Queen. Like hell, I'm going to do that. I don't know these people. Then the blue-purple butterfly outline showed up...again. Ultrasonic hearing allows me to listen to the instructions. 

"The perfect plan, Prime Queen. They're cornered! Their Miraculous are mine!" came the gravelly voice. I swear I've heard it before, but who?

Pulling on the sarcophagus holding Alya up, Prime Queen said, "There's no use looking for a way out!" and I think she may have rattled Alya a bit because I heard a faint "Ow." from within. "Unless you want to see your biggest fan in deep water." came from Prime Queen's side of the recording. Little to say, we all gasped at that. "Hurry up, you three. Don't wanna keep your audience waiting." taunted Prime Queen while sliding Alya's coffin further over the water.  

"You're right! Lucky Charm!" called out Ladybug before a red-bespeckled tape roll appeared out of nowhere. I'm guessing she knows what to do with it.  "A tape roll? What am I supposed to do with this? Hmm... " Ladybug said while looking around. You've got to be kidding me... She doesn't know what to do with it yet?! Apparently, she decided what to do because she began pulling out random drawers in the freezer. Anxiously, Chat Noir said to her without regard to my existence, "Hurry up, she's about to push Alya into the water!" "I need a minute" "Give her a minute," we both said to him at the same time as she pulled out yet another drawer only to be met with a whiney, "That's too long!" from Chat.

"Listen to the cat." came the condescending voice of Mrs. Roboto as she pushed the sarcophagus further through the screen. Just then, Ladybug found what she was searching for apparently, as she pulled out... a pizza box? "Voilà! " Ladybug said while handing the box to Chat and taping it over the screen, effectively covering Prime Queen's view. Smart idea, and it draws her to us instead of accepting the ultimatum. Based on the audio, it appears to have worked given the resounding, "What's happening?" that came from Prime Queen's side of the broadcast. 

From behind the blackened screen, Prime Queen hears Ladybug say, "Fine, you win, Prime Queen. We'll remove our Miraculous. The whole world will see us without our masks!" Looking over at Chat, we made eye contact and had one singular thought between the two of us. Teasingly, Chat and I call out "And We're about to kiss! Shame you're missing it!" "And They're about to kiss! Shame you're missing it!"

 "So unlucky!" came Ladybug's reply. It was silent for a few moments following our comments when Prime Queen said, " If you're lying, you're going to regret it." she punched through the screen with the pizza box covering effectively bringing her into the freezer with us. She fell right into our trap. Chat broke the screen with his staff while effectively making sure our trap snapped shut saying, "And now you're stuck with us." Like a caged animal she tried to attack us, only to be subdued by Ladybug's yo-yo, hit in the head with my boomerang, and her watch broken by Chat's staff. A little purple-black butterfly flew out of the crack in her watch, which I assume is the akuma.

"Cataclysm!" Chat Noir announces and his hand is suddenly surrounded by black floating particles. When he touches the door with that hand, the particles appear to go into it at a molecular level, destroying it completely to the point where it crumbled right before our eyes. "Ladies first!" I stepped out first saying nothing to Chat but smiled to myself. The Ladybug declared,Thank you! No more evildoing for you, little akuma. Time to de-evilize!" before catching the butterfly within her yoyo, exclaiming, "Gotcha!" She releases it and it had become pure as snow white. She bid it farewell before throwing the tape dispenser into the air where it became millions of magical ladybugs thatput everything back to how it was. I assume Chloe was sent back to her room, Alya to wherever she was prior to Prime Queen absconding her, and Prime Queen herself turned back into the reporter. Though by the sound of it, it appears being akumatized may be like sleepwalking since she was confused when she stammered out, "W-w-what just happened?

Ladybug and Chat Noir held out their fists in the middle, gesturing for me to join in, saying "Pound it!"

Ladybug had to run, though I know she had questions... Questions I think may pertain to my becoming a superhero. She ran off leaving Chat Noir and I alone. "So Rogue, mind telling me how you gained a miraculous?" he asked. "I'd let you know, but it appears you have mere minutes left, kitten" I replied with a smirk before heading out myself. "MY NAMES CHAT, NOT KITTEN," he yelled as I ran away.

 Ducking into an alley near the hotel, I de-transformed. Hurrying quickly through the back stairwell, and back to my room. I requested some blackberries for Bazoo and fell back onto the couch in my room. Scrolling through my phone I note three missed calls, 1 from Auntie which she's likely displeased at, I need to call her back quickly, and two from an unknown number. I called my Aunt back, only to get berated for not picking up when she called the first time. She wants at least one demo song before the end of the month, my appointment to formula-test the makeup line in on Friday, my clothing line sketches need to be started by next Tuesday, and I have a modeling gig for Mr. Agreste's new line in the park on Sunday. I wish she'd understand that things take time and effort to be good. The unknown number left a voicemail the second time around.

"Um, hi Y/N. This is Dante. I know you blocked my number and that you said you never loved me, but I'd like to try to be friends if nothing else. You know, considering we practically grew up together... Anyways, I'll be in Paris in a few months to film a new movie. I'll understand if you block me again, but if you don't, I'll take that as you being open to seeing me again... Um, yeah that's it. Bye."

Seriously? Dante is coming to Paris?! Did Auntie set this up so there could be a huge reunion? Or does he actually want to be just friends? You know after everything I put him through, I thought he'd hate me. Maybe it's time to start a new chapter, one that's real. I turned off my phone, not blocking him, at least for now. It' been a long day, and running around as some kind of superhero burns a lot of calories, not to mention energy. I changed into my pajamas and headed off to bed. Of course, I checked on Chloe first to make sure she was okay. 

A few days later, there was a new version of the reporters show "Face to Face" only this time with Alya. 

 "Don't be bemused, it's just the news! Hi, I'm Nadja Chamack, and this is Side by Side. Today, I'm joined by Alya Césiare, who created the Ladyblog! Together, we'll be looking back over Cat Noir and Ladybug's greatest feats. As well as new hero Rogue's debut." Nadja said. "Hello Nadja! Hey fans! So, first of all, I gotta set the record straight. Cat Noir and Ladybug are not a couple! Well, not yet at least. Sorry to break the news." Alya stated to the camera. 

I think Paris is going fine, though its a bit strange, and now I'm a superhero. Friends were a new thing for me, being a superhero's allowed me to express part of my personality that I've hidden away, but I still don't know if this is home. Huh, Face to Face... I think I may have found a new song idea...

[mental-health-advice]

hi

im currently going through some things and i wanted to have someone else's pov/opinion on it, so thank you in advance for taking the time to read this

im the eldest daughter of a sea household in a foreign country. its just me, my mom and my sister who is 10 years younger than me. i was supposed to go to college last september but unfortunately i did not pass the entrance exam and was not accepted and therefore had to take a gap year (however am set to go to college this fall).

my sister isnt doing well in school mostly because of the language here. we speak in english at home but she was a baby when we came to this country so we expected her to learn it as she grew up. all her friends speak it but since she goes to a bilingual school she does not speak it unless she has to and even when her friends talk to her, she responds in english. so unfortunately until now her proficiency in this language is even worse than mine (which i barely passed my finals with) and she struggles a lot because of it.

shes off to middle school next year and we just learned that she might not be accepted into the school she and my mother wants because of her lack of proficiency in the language and because of other factors like disorganization, not turning homework on time or at all and etc despite the way both my mom and i push and guide her.

my mother has always blamed me for my sisters shortcomings but i feel that it shouldnt be so. throughout our life here i never had support when i struggled through school despite the language difference and the lack of help. on the other hand, i feel i have done a lot of things for my sister regarding school even when i was struggling thru mine as well. though not consistently, when she comes home from school, i sit with her and help her with her homework when she has questions, teach her in different ways, tell her how i did things in school to pass and to study but she never really internalizes them and is still very disordered and easily distracted. she prefers to watch and play on her ipad instead of studying and when she reads she always prefers easier books instead of recommendations i give to her. whenever they have tests we have to push her to study and thats only if she even remembers (+to tell us) that she has a test.

my mother doesnt help with my sisters education. she works long shifts and changing hours and so her schedule never really allows her to help with any of our education.

its not the first time and i doubt itll be the last but my mother came home today after having had a meeting with my sisters teacher who explained that my sister have had no visible improvement in the language and that she still struggles with many things my mother and i push her to fix. she was mad and as always blamed me for not doing enough, for not sitting long enough with her and teaching her and for everything my sister is failing to do. she says that if my sister does not manage to get into that specific school they want then she will not let me go to college (i dont know if she means it or not but she has said this multiple times before)

i dont understand why im being blamed. shouldnt improvement come from my sisters own desire to improve? i can push and tell her to do this, study more, do her homework and so on but if she doesnt do it herself without prompting then isnt it just for naught?

my mother often brings up that she would not be doing this to me if i had gone off to college but she has been blaming for all of my sisters faults even as i was struggling through highschool. she constantly tells me that there are people my age who are working and earning money and yet whenever i bring up the idea of getting a job she always tells me to just focus on my studies.

i just dont understand why my sisters sins are mine as well

am i playing a victim? is my mom right?

im sorry this got so long, i didnt want to leave out details and wanted to be as transparent as possible because leaving out things would make it biased. thank you again, i hope youll have some advice for me

Hey there,

I really believe that when it comes to education, we can only help others so much. We can sit with them, help to explain things, help with studying with them to try to keep the other person focused and on track, but in the end, the will and desire to learn and to do well in one’s schooling has to come from within. I think that your Mum is being really unfair with putting your sister’s failure or lack of improvement in her education on you and especially when you are doing your very best and spending so much time with your sister already to help her. With this being said though, is it possible that given your Mum is working such long hours, that she may just come home really frustrated at your younger sister and you are the easy target to vent or blame her frustrations onto?

I know that your Mum works a lot, but when she, for example, has a day off of work, could you possibly pull her aside and talk to her about this stuff and how it leaves you feeling? I know that you mentioned that your Mum said she wouldn’t put all of this stuff on you if you were at college but given that you are not at the moment it’s hard to know otherwise. By talking to your Mum though, and explain/ let her know/ show her how much time you put aside to dedicate to your younger sister to help with her education then perhaps instead of blaming you she will be able to see that you can only do so much. So again, with all this being said, it sounds as though your Mum is just frustrated and/ or perhaps feels as though she needs to blame someone and especially if she feels judged or under pressure from other family members or members of the public in general and especially if education is of upmost importance to them. If the latter is the reason, then maybe she feels like a failure herself in not being able to give your sister the life she wants too where anything is possible for her, including going to college. Just something to maybe think about and talk to your Mum about if you feel comfortable in doing so.

I guess that perhaps it may also be important to acknowledge that not everyone (unfortunately) finds education as easy as others and yes, they may struggle more through no fault of their own but just because of who they are as people. They may not be being lazy but just find the workload and context of it all overwhelming and just ‘too’ hard that they give up without even trying in fear that they will fail anyway. So perhaps, and I am not sure how things are in your family, but if excess stress or expectations are being put on your sister then she may be feeling this and this may be adding to own stress to do well or be better fit into the mould that your Mum wants her to fit into (doing well and getting into the school of her choice).

Of course though, all that I have said is just in my opinion but sometimes taking a step back, trying to find the root cause of any issues that may be making things so hard for your sister to learn may be of some benefit and will enable you to all move forward in the sense of her improving in her future schooling and studies. Everyone also learns very differently from one another, that it may also be possible that she just hasn’t found what works best for her in learning things.

Either way though, I do not believe you are at fault at all for your younger sister to not be performing to the standards that everyone would like her to at school. So please try to take comfort in that you can only help your sister so much, but in the end it is up to her to take on board all the support and help that you have been giving to her and to have that desire and will to want to learn herself if that makes sense.

I really hope that this has helped a bit and please do let us know if we can help to support you in any other way!

I’m thinking of you, hope that you are going well and I wish you all the best with college!

Take care,

Lauren

[elstreem]

Aroace colors Inkling I made in Procreate for practice!

I've been trying to figure it out so I'm not making any good art to upload yet. This is the first thing I made that looks ok, and it's still pretty rough compared to what I usually do.

My experience working with an ipad below because wow that got long.

My dad got me an Ipad to replace my 2014 Samsung Galaxy because it's getting some battery issues but uh...I haven't used an Apple product in forever. It's been two weeks and using an ipad still feels like someone sawed off my hand and stapled it back on :') I think it's a combination of having to learn to use new hardware and software, but it's been so tough trying to make digital art on this thing.

I wish I could use Medibang since it's what I'm most used to, but for some reason the pen I'm using won't register pressure with Medibang, so I have to use Procreate. I changed the pressure settings to work with Procreate, but it's still weird and hardly works the way I want it to, so I'm not sure if it's something with the 3rd party pen I'm using, or something else. We did order a paperlike screen so hopefully that fixes some issues for me. I never had to use one for my Galaxy even though it had a glossy screen cover, but its stylus and the pen for Ipads have different tips and it's not easy using the pen to draw.

I had an easier time working with my wacom and CSP, but then again CSP and Medibang have similar layouts so it's not too difficult to adjust. Procreate is nice, but it's so different from what I'm used to that it feels like I'm arguing with someone just using its basic functions lol. I found the default brushes so difficult to use, too. My dumb monkey brain isn't flexible enough for this thing.

Kind of a rant, but it's just me complaining and it's a matter of my getting used to it. I did manage to make this, so hopefully I can consider Procreate as my next tool, But in the meantime, I still have my Galaxy and Medibang on it, so that's still where I'm mainly working. I reserve CSP for really big digital works or more complicated paintings since...it's a hassle setting up my pc and wacom tablet lol.

[forsty]

I have a question, what is ur drawing style? Like realism or caricature or something like that? I like to draw cartoony characters more than realism, but that’s because when I was in my art class we had to do realism. Also what’s your fav media to use? Ik that u do a lot of ur works on a program on a sketch pad, but off of the sketch pad which is ur fav?

Hey there! I never really like to define my drawing style, cause I have a hard time doing it. It depends on the drawing itself, or what I feel like drawing (what I feel fits best in regards to what I'm trying to portray/depict). I suppose it would be somewhere inbetween cartoony and realistic, cause I love both. Since I love both, I love mixing them, be creative with it and experiment.

My art/artstyle is kinda all over the place. I like experimenting and having fun with it. So sometimes my art will look more realistic and other times it will be more cartoonish. I don't think an artstyle is something that is set in stone, you can always change it up if you want to. You don't have to pick one artstyle and only do that one. Understanding one artstyle and mastering it often makes it easier to do others, too. It goes kinda hand in hand, you know?

(I also don't like it when art schools force students to focus on ONE THING. Cause art is so much more than just realism. Though I've never been to art school so I don't know alot about that)

As for art media, I mainly do digital art (when I say mainly, I mean only). I don't enjoy drawing traditionally, it just... doesn't do it for me. Some years ago I did some traditional stuff for inktober 2017 where I would line with pens and color with uh... promarkers I think it was? And while that was fun, I prefer digital art way more. I guess I just don't have the patience or attention span to do traditional art or both.

(also in case you're curious, I draw on an Ipad using procreate, I usually do all my sketching there before transferring it over to my PC where I use a Wacom Cintiq and Paint Tool SAI for lineart and coloring and everything else. Sometimes I'll do everything on my ipad, it depends on the drawing )

[characterillustrationoliviap]

Character Illustration: Class 1

I started this class by opening up some of the palettes which Toby said we would be using today. These palettes were the layers palette, colour palette (colour wheel) and the brush palette. I then saved the layout as a workspace by selecting new workspace in window.

Today we talked about line work for illustrations. We were all given a Wacom tablet to plug into our computer and then I played around with it for a bit. It's very different to drawing on paper or an iPad as what you're drawing appears on the screen rather than the tablet.

I tried drawing a straight line and a curvy line. As you can see, the lines aren't very clean and are really bumpy.

To fix this, I needed to increase the smoothing of the brush. Originally it was at 0% so I tried it at 50% and 100%. This allowed me to understand how the tool works and which percentage I should have it on when drawing.

This was the 50%.

This is the 100%.

Since I am use to drawing on paper or onto a screen, it was difficult at first getting the line to go in the right direction. To refine this skill I drew two Xs and practiced drawing a smooth curved or straight line that went from one to another. It became easier time and I found zoning in helped at times. I think this is something would definitely take time to get really good at so I'll just have to be patient.

Using these curving lines we then tried to draw an eye. It was just a quick rough exercise to adjust to the tablet. I added another layer underneath and gave the eye an iris colour. I played around which the sensitivity of the tablet and pen when I made the specks in the eye.

We then moved on to tracing a shape from a template. The first template we were given was this duck. It has a large variety of line lengths and curves so it will be a really good drawing to use to adjust to the tablet. I brought the image into PhotoShop and then added a layer. I placed a white rectangle over the drawing and then lowered the opacity to make the sketch less visible.

I then added another layer and started to draw the outline of the duck. This took we a bit of time as I was trying to make the lines as smooth and clean as possible. For a few sections, I had to redo the line about 10 times until I produced one I was happy with.

This was the final outline I had for the duck. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I think the curves are mostly all really smooth. The eyes are a bit rough but it's the best I was able to do. I decided to go for more of an angry duck so I gave him some big tilted eyebrows.

I then moved on to colouring the duck. I decided for this drawing I wanted to try and get use to the tablet more so I coloured the entire illustration in by hand rather than using shortcuts like fill. I'll use these better techniques in my second drawing.

I started by adding base colours on a layer behind the outline. I coloured the entire duck in a pale yellow colour for a start. This gave me a simple base colour to build off.

I then went and added all of my other base colours using the brush tool again. I frequently went over a line so I used the option key and mouse to select the other colour and quickly fixed it.

The next step was to add some details. I started by adding some detail to the eyes. Since he was angry I wanted to give him some red bloodshot eyes to match his fury. I made my brush a lot smaller and changed the colour to red. I then made a collection of squiggly, branching lines. I then wanted to add a redness around the edge of the eye. I started made my brush a lot bigger so it would blend evenly. I lowered the opacity of the brush to about 10% and started to build up the redness.

I then added some shadows and highlights to the beak. I used the colour wheel so select a slightly darker shade of orange. Shadows typically are under raised points so I added them under lines on the beak as shown in the image. I added a highlight on the top of the beak and a small one on the bottom.

I then moved on to his outfit. I decided to make it so it looks like he was wearing a vest with some sort of shell (bullet) belt. I started by adding the darker grey shadow to vest. I just played around with the shape of the shadow as there wasn't any guide in the template. I then added some shadows on to the neck of the vest. I also changed the colours of the legs to match the darker orange from the beak. I think the yellow was a bit too light.

I then moved on to adding highlights and shadows onto the boots. I made the boots have a massive lip rather than a really thin one. I added a lighter shade of blue so that the darker one became the shadow. It took me quite a while to get the shape of the shadow right as I was trying to make it fit with the rest of the boot.

I then added some highlights to it to make them seems shiny and new.

I then added some shadows and highlights onto the duck itself. I added some shadows on the underside of some feathers and under his eyebrows to help express the anger. I added some highlights on the top of his head and on his wings.

This was first final drawing. I'm really pleased with the outcome as I've never drawn anything on PhotoShop or using a wacom tablet so I think this was a really successful first attempt. Next time I'd really like to try and add some more shading using brushes with lower opacities. I think this would really elevate the illustration. I think tomorrow I'll move on to the Rooster cop template and try colouring in using the proper way shown in the tutorial.

[dausy]

I am sitting here with my index finger at the ready, ready to purchase some new art supplies with my first paycheck in months, tomorrow.

and then, at the same time, I run out to the store to buy hello kitty make up because I have zero control and advertisements work on me so well.

this cost about as much as the art supplies I wanted to buy so..

in the meantime I was asked about the digital art/digital painting capabilities of my phone (the s22 ultra) which was not the first time I've been asked about it but seeing as how I'm now getting adverts on the s23 ultra we can talk about it because I had nothing better to do on my day off.

long story short after all of that rambling..in the future I want to look at the fold phones that can turn into tablets. I think technology in the future will improve that feature and it'd be super convenient and cool. In the meantime, it is really really hard to draw on your phone. Its possible. But I still find majority of my editing, easier on the massive old fashioned desktop. Even easier than the ipad tbh. But its still cool to have such power in my hands knowing its future potential.

I am going out to another army shindig tonight and my husband leaves for the field for the entirety of next month. I hope to have a cool art supply haul to play with before he gets back. Let my collection grow!

[livingwithlosingyou]

Living with Losing You - 12/25/2022

Merry Christmas!

I wish you were here, so badly. Woke up with you on my heart today. I mean, I guess that I do that everyday, but extra today. I woke up and decided that I wanted to run this morning too (in addition to Sadie’s park adventure). I got a little in my head. Was I running like 15 mins late to my family morning event? Yes. No regrets. I also opened the gifts that your mom got for myself, Sadie, and Latte. They were happy campers! I was too. I think it’s incredibly sweet that she buys me things with hearts. 

Anyway, I packed up all of my stuff and headed to my parents house. I left Sadie initially, but they had me go back for her. I love having here there, but she was being so extra. I know it’s cause she was excited, but it was pretty non stop. Anyway, we were celebrating that morning there (as we always do) and then the plan was to go to my uncle’s house for the afternoon. This morning was really fun though. I genuinely had a good morning despite missing you. My gifts were a hit, as I ordered silly fake boxes to wrap them in. For my dad it was “Smart Diapers for adults”, Court and Cailee for “Baby’s First Vape”, Logan got “Makeup for Dogs”, and Dar got “Glass Puzzle”. All of the reactions were well worth it. SO funny. 

I also got some incredible gifts. Court’s step mom and dad bought me an iPad. They were at my show when I dropped and shattered it. I still can’t believe they bought that for me. I will definitely be adding pics to this blog. I also got a new planner (I am that girl), Birkenstocks, Air Pods, Jewelry, etc. I was very pleasantly surprised. Super grateful. We have a tradition of Christmas breakfast, and this year my dad made me my own tray of the breakfast. I thought that was very considerate of my family. Between that and the cranberry cinnamon tea, I was so content. 

When we were done, I packed up all of my stuff and headed home. Once I unloaded my car and slightly organized, I headed to my uncle’s house to see more family. They live all the way in San Pasqual. It’s about an hour drive, but it isn’t horrible for me. I really like long drives to sing and jam out (as you know). It was so great to see my family, and get to enjoy a meal, etc. We even played Pickle Ball. I found out quickly that I was actually pretty decent at that game. This is very exciting for me all things considered. I can sometimes struggle with sports that require hand/ eye coordination. At one point, Logan and I volleyed back and forth for a while. 

I had some great conversations with people about how I was struggling too. I am trying to be open, but I really hate attention. I may have said this before, but I only like the spotlight when I am singing on stage. 

Anyway, Erika texted me that she had COVID, so I packed her a plate and dropped it off for her so she would have food to eat.

Went home, and just relaxed for the rest of the night. I was able to briefly meet up with Bri to exchange gifts since I leave tomorrow for KY. I still need to pack. I am basically not packed. 

James, I did it. I made it through Christmas. Sometimes it can be hard to think about how this gets easier, but I do feel like it becomes more manageable at times. 

I love and miss you so much. 

Rest in Peace, James Burton Nichols 

10/1/1993 - 7/26/2022