#enjoy the lumpiness of the lines I think it adds character

[little-cat-showdown]

[ID: a messily drawn podium with transparent images of cats added: manul/pallas cat is in first place, margay is in second place, Eurasian lynx is in third place, and sand cat is in fourth place. end ID]

and that's a wrap on the little cat showdown! thank you everyone for voting and supporting your favorite kitties!!

#results #I did not think to prepare pngs or a podium ahead of time so you get this #enjoy the lumpiness of the lines I think it adds character

[dragonpigeons]

Roommates Part 1

Tags/warnings: Deku x Reader, Deku x Self-insert, Slowburn, SFW, Aged-Up Characters, Roommates AU, Pro Hero Deku, Deku thirst, copious amounts of self indulgence, Deku muscles (ye have be warned! 😂) Other characters to be added in future parts including OCs.

Summary: Riida stumbles upon Deku and his muscles.

A/N: Here we are, the first part of my Deku x Reader/Riida fic. I’m a bit nervous about sharing this so please be gentle LOL. Part 2 is out on my Patreon early if you want to support me there and check it out!

====

There he was in the middle of the shared kitchen and living room space.

"Oh hey," the famous hero named Deku greeted cheerfully. He was doing press ups with arms that were very toned. Very muscular too. And very sweaty. "Don't mind me, just doing my early morning workout," he chirped happily.

And there you were in the doorway. In dishevelled, baggy pjs that made your figure look lumpy, and your hair in disarray like a drawing gone wrong.

"Okay," you quipped and you whipped your stiff legs to the kitchen in order to hide your sorry state.

You couldn't believe it. Two days ago you had moved into this two-room apartment for work, having the whole place to yourself. The landlady had told you that there would be another person coming to rent the other room. You hadn't expected it to be this soon though, much less by the No.1 Hero, of all people.

You wondered if this was a dream. After all this was your favourite hero in the same apartment as you. Somehow you managed to make breakfast and sit down to eat it, focusing entirely on taking big chunks out of your toast instead of the hot sweaty man on the floor grunting in front of you.

“So what’s your name?” asked Deku in the middle of his reps.

You answered him.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Deku," he replied with a smile. "I just moved in last night. I hope I wasn’t too noisy."

Deku got up and announced he was going to take a shower. “I hope we get to know each other over the coming days!” he said brightly before turning to go to his room, leaving a trail of metaphorical sparkles in his wake.

You went to work that morning in a daze.

---

The next morning he was there again, doing sweaty press ups. Only this time he was topless, save for a white towel around his neck.

"Good morning!" he greeted enthusiastically, acting completely at home even though you had only just met yesterday.

"Good morning," you mumbled before scurrying to the kitchen. You felt coffee wouldn't be necessary after that sight. It was one thing to find out you were sharing an apartment with Deku, certainly another to find him half naked in the living room. Was this something you were going to have to get used to? Would you have to face his bare chest and abs every day?

"What you having for breakfast today?" asked Deku, completely unaware of your inner turmoil.

"Uh..." Your mind searched for some meaningful answer. You opened the fridge for inspiration. "Bacon and eggs," you said.

"Sounds yummy!"

Yummy.

The way he said that was so cute and now it was all you could think about as you cooked, ultimately serving as your distraction as you burnt your bacon and eggs, and your toast came out more brown than you would have liked. Even the orange juice you poured ended missing the target completely, landing on the counter instead of in your glass.

You heaved a heavy sigh.

"Everything alright?" Deku piped up like a curious meerkat standing up.

"Everything's fine," you squeaked, scrubbing up your spillage quickly.

“Need a hand?”

Deku’s voice was suddenly a lot closer and you found him leaning against the counter, just inches away. You yelped.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to spook you,” Deku laughed, “but you looked like you were having trouble just now.”

“Oh-- Well-- It’s fine. Everything’s fine. Just one of those mornings, y’know?” You tried to laugh it off even though the proximity of Deku’s pecs was making you nervous.

“Okay. I’ll leave you to it,” said Deku. “But don’t hesitate if you need any help!” He beamed at you before leaving to go to his room.

After he went, you sighed and slumped on the counter in relief. You weren’t sure how many more topless Deku mornings you could handle before you died.

---

"So what's your quirk?"

Deku was moving his arms and turning his body in a very focused manner. He looked like he was doing tai chi. Fortunately he was wearing a hoodie this time to cover up his upper body. Unfortunately his legs were on show, thanks to his shorts, and they were very chiseled and very determined to get you hot under the collar if you stared too long.

"I can see infrared and ultraviolet waves," you answered, sipping your tea too quickly and burning your mouth. You covered your face up so your pained expression wouldn’t be noticed.

"Oh? What does that look like?" Deku asked, interest piqued.

"Well," you said, after you recovered a little, "infrared looks like a reddish glow around things that emit heat. Ultraviolet by itself is like a white-blue or white-violet sort of colour. But it actually makes things look different? It gives more colour and more contrast. If that makes sense."

Deku nodded, making humming noises. "Interesting. Do you use it in your line of work?" He stretched out his leg high in a kicking stance, the shorts riding down to reveal more of his thigh. You took a very deep breath.

"Not really," you answered, trying not to visibly sweat, "I just do a simple office job. It's not a very useful quirk actually. It makes everything look rather overwhelming when I turn it on."

"I see," said Deku, moving into another stance and thankfully putting his leg down. He started rambling about all the ways your quirk could be useful in rescue situations for detecting missing people trapped under rubble or seeing through walls during recon missions. You listened dutifully, gradually pulled into his words.

It was something you genuinely liked about Deku. All his ramblings, though he sometimes got carried away in interviews, made for an interesting listen. They showed just how knowledgeable he was, especially where quirks were concerned. Sometimes he went into very complex things which you didn’t understand but you didn’t mind it at all. It was a joy to listen to him.

“You’re smiling.”

“Huh? Yes?”

“What are you smiling about?” Deku asked, pausing in his stance.

“Oh, nothing! Just… I think it’s nice to hear you being so passionate about your interests,” you answered sheepishly.

Deku chuckled and resumed his movements. “I’m glad. Usually people just get annoyed or look at me funny when I go off on my ramblings."

"Oh. Well. I don't think it's annoying."

Deku gave you a big grin as he said, "That makes me happy to hear! You’re such a nice person. And you have a nice smile, by the way.”

You blushed and thanked him. You were sure you would take his compliment to the grave.

====

A/N: End of Part 1. If you’ve read to the end, let me know what you think in the comments! Drop a like if you enjoyed it :D Feel free to add any feedback you have regarding the story or the tags/warnings I’ve used - if they are sufficient, if they should be replaced by something else or if I should add any. I want to be sure I’m doing it right for everyone who comes across this.

Also another reminder that Part 2 of Roommates is up early on my Patreon if you would like to support me there :D Thank you so much!

#dragonpigeonswrites #roommates fic #deku x reader #deku x riida #deku x self insert #i welcome any and all feedback including critique! #but no offensive or hateful comments. those never helped anybody #not that i'm expecting to get any but one can never know #hope you enjoy part 1 owo

[elegant-etienne]

Fashion, pastel goth, and glams in Eorzea

When I returned to Balmung about a year and a half ago, I fantasia’d Etienne with a very specific sort of soft grunge / pastel goth look in mind. While the definition of pastel goth (much like ‘goth’ in general) is vague and not very agreed-upon. In the case of Etienne’s design philosophy, it is, at its core, an embracing of elegant, feminine lines and shapes with a heavier Victorian/gothic fashion sense, while embracing a spring and summer color pallet. I classify Etienne as a pastel goth just as much because of their attitude as much as their look. I do not consider pastel goth to be ‘goth lite’, as some might categorize it. Also, I’m more of the philosophy of creating an aesthetic rather than following one, if that makes sense. Since I can’t define what pieces turn up in the game and not everything I’d like Etienne to wear is available to them, it’ll never be exactly what I’d want or imagine. But I find that to be part of the fun and the challenge.

I was very flattered recently to receive a message asking for tips on what items dye well for a pastel goth aesthetic. I’d say the Heavensward gear is best for goth stuff in general, there are a lot of gems in the leveling gear, and people are moving away from that for the time being which will give you a more standout, if possibly quaint, look. I wouldn’t say there’s a particular color or dye that works better. I bought some of the pastel pink dye for my wedding and have used it on a few other items and found it quite satisfying, but you can get a good look out of everything if you follow through with your colors and it happens to be shades that work on your character. Even the ice blue and rose pink dyes you get in the early game could be put to good use in the right context.

Siince I realized I had a ton of things I wanted to say on the subject of glams, pastel goth and fashion, as well as wanting to use visual aids. Here’s some basic ideas and philosophies that help me dress Etienne in all their pastel goth glory. All of these things are purely my opinion, every single one of them, so feel free to disagree. Preferably far away from me. I’m only an amateur when it comes to fashion. I like it a lot but I have not taken a single class or cried over a dress form or anything like that. If I get something wrong, I hope you can at least get my gist.

1. The Character Creator, Hair, Makeup, And Other Considerations

Everyone’s got that POTD haircut these days, right? But I love it!

When it comes to character customization your mileage can vary by races. I won’t begin to tell you what looks good. Aside from retainers, I’ve heardly touched any of the character creators aside from mi’qote and elezen. I’m a little obsessive about trying to make sure that my characters don’t look like everyone else’s, and that’s something that’s only brought about by long-term experience in the game. Remember that shades look different between haircuts, and if you think a skin tone or hair color looks good in the character creator, you probably want it a shade or two darker. The swatches are liars and things IG tend to look more washed out than in the CC. This shade of lavender looks like pink in the swatch, lavender looks gray or silver, etc. You can waste a lot of time, and potentially gil or fantasia on experimenting with this, but I’d say 98% of the time I’ve gone back to redo a character’s look it was mostly rectified by darkening up my color choices. So you may want to simply pick what you like instinctively, and then go a shade or two darker. I happen to like to highlight with a lighter shade of the hair’s original color to give some illusion of depth and texture, but this doesn’t work with every hairdo. Paler eyes give an illusion of life and depth to characters, but wash out very easily in screenshots or may give a lack of distinction.  Lip color you can take a bit more risk on. Darker purples, reds, and even greens or blues depending on what you’re going for / your character’s skin color (the latter look great on gray and blue skin tones) look pretty awesome, and again, better to err on the darker side. A brown can be an excellent choice for a ‘neutral’ lip color that still provides a made-up, polished look.

Bright colors look best on warmer and/or darker skin tones, so if that’s part of your character, you’re in luck.

One of the best pieces of advice on creating a customizable character to RP was to simply make it and walk away, and return to it the next day. This requires a lot of patience, but I think the results speak for themselves. You may otherwise wind up playing your character and finding you dislike your choices - or you made some very basic mistake.

2. Building A Silhouette

Shh... I know this isn’t pastel.

Shape of an outfit is, in my opinion, just as important as the colors you choose. This, like many other aspects, has many factors out of your control as we cannot have items custom made and builds have little variation. It’s a video game, and frankly it’s not like most of us are getting our IRL clothes bespoke either. Just as much as you want to think about what colors you should be wearing (and if you’re a RPer like me, why your character might wear it) but if the lines look good. I tend to build an outfit around one specific, notable piece of gear. Usually it’s a coat or something like that, but it may also be a hat or boots. I take a look at the shape of the item and consider the overall silhouette of the outfit. The Thavnarian bolero is lop-sided and worn with pants beneath, as the bloodhempen casting robe.  The ‘real’ bottoms for these sets are pants. I’m not fond of the way that breaks up the great line at the waist of these items and makes things look a bit lumpy and uneven. I thought a skirt was a great way to rectify this, plus it adds an interesting motion when you’re moving.

Having a lot of really ornate pieces all together at once, as well as potentially your weapons, can create a busy shape which makes an outfit seem muddled. Your admirers won’t know what to focus on. An outfit should, much like the main character of a Shonen Jump series, have a design that is simple, recognizable, distinct and attractive in silhouette.

3. Colors and Dyeing

If there’s one thing I come to again and again, it’s that you shouldn’t wear all one color.

This warddrobe color guide infographic literally changed my outlook on fashion forever, and thus, my entire glam life, and I keep the rules at the bottom for ‘foolproof combinations’ in mind at all times. 

I tend to avoid traditional neutrals, if I must I’ll go with the various shades of gray that are somewhat underutilized IG. Cream yellow and bone white are ones I’ve used a bit on one of my mi’qo alts to great effect, but they are more yellow and ecru than just plain white. 

I don’t have a cap that shows it, but I used to have a glam that was mostly grays with salmon pink gloves and shoes that dyed so that just the socks were that color. Using pops of color this way are an opportunity to cheat and use colors that might not look great in large amounts, or are unflattering on your character for the most part.

Remember that the more colors you have, the more bright pops, the more risk you run of looking busy, or that you simply threw together colors you liked without further consideration. That being said, I tend to enjoy using color families. Most of the light colors have darker counterparts.

When you dye an outfit a light color, many of the details get changed slightly to their darker shades. You can then pull out those colors for other pieces of your outfit and match it up. I was delighted to find out, when I got this hat in a drop, that it bore similar colors to the coat I’d already dyed colibri pink. Just because something isn’t dyeable doesn’t mean it’s going to clash with everything you own. If you like a piece, hold onto it. You never know. This is less of a problem in SB, but... just don’t ask to see poor Neondemon, my fashion retainer. Even his beefy Roe arms can’t hold all of my collection.

Plum purple wound up dying half of the boots that actual bright purple, and half of them a deep purple that coordinated with the trim and the other darker elements of the coat. In any case - dark hat, dark gloves, light shoes with a darker trim, and a very bright coat.

I also think it’s important that your earrings, etc., match the other materials you’re wearing, and that the shape compliments the outfit as well. Don’t let your earrings work against an outfit.

Here we have the combination of light coat, light hat, dark gloves, dark pants and shoes. I loved the line of the Ala Mhigan jacket and its art noveau little hat, so I decided to keep it. Even though this is a set of tomestone gear that basically everyone has, I’ve received a lot of compliments for the choices I made in dyeing this pairing it with the overall look of my character. In spite of it being an ‘ordinary’ outfit with zero alterations, I absolutely loved wearing this and how Etienne looked in these color choices. I don’t think you have to break new ground with every outfit or find the most unique, rare pieces. It may not be realistic to spend your time on that. When you dye things in unusual colors, it brings out qualities others might not have noticed or appreciated about that item. The details on the Ala Mhigan casting set are so much more noticeable in this light color, and it looks very pleasant with the snowy white trim. In spite of doing very little to ‘develop’ this glam aside from deciding on the colors, it’s one of my favorites so far.

Dark jacket, dark pants, light gloves, light shoes + paissa. #aesthetic

4. Take Risks, Get Feedback, Make Friends, And Have Fun

Or just marry someone really cute and stand next to him.

I’ve met so many awesome people because they complimented my look or my glam and I took a few minutes to chat with them about it. Complimenting others has gained me a lot of insight into different ideas, where gear comes from, how it dyes and how to pair it up with things. Allow yourself to be a work-in-progress. The one person you truly have to answer to when it comes to glams is yourself, so there’s no reason to worry to much about getting good.

I dye all my leveling gear.

I just feel like I’m having more fun when I’m pretty.

#ooc #fashion #balmung #reaction gifs

[imadeangirl-butimsamcurious]

Two Rooms

Title: Two Rooms – Warmth Series Part Four

Characters/Pairing: Dean x Female!Reader, Sam (mentioned)

Word Count: 2030

Warnings: Some kissing, implied future smut.

Summary: It’s the final part in the series, I don’t want to spoil anything!

Author’s Note: Wow, the final part! I can’t thank you guys enough for all the sweet things you’ve said about this series, I had a great time writing it, and I hope the final part is everything you were hoping it would be! And I’m sorry if the ending feels a little rushed, I was pressed for time this weekend. Enjoy, guys :)

Read the Previous Parts: Two Beds | Two Shirts | Two Keys

If you would like to read any of my other fics please check out my Masterlist!

*Gif is not mine, all gifs used on my blog are from Google Images.*

     After eating another pathetic excuse for dinner with the boys and deciding where you were headed next - deeming it a pointless trip to have come so far and only do one hunt in the area - you gathered your things, the second motel key off the table, and limped out of the room to go find your own. Which was, as it turns out, even smaller and more frigid than the last one.

     The cold air hit you like a brick as you stumbled out of the motel room, using the wall for support and dragging your duffle bag behind you through the freshly fallen snow. Dean had, of course, tried to help you with your bag and get you safely to your new room, but you’d turned down his offer and opted to do it yourself, your newly stitched leg screaming in protest with every clumsy step. When you got to your lonely little room you collapsed on the bed with a groan.

     Ever since you had started hunting with the boys you’d always gotten your own room, every time without fail, and it never fazed you in the least. You enjoyed the quiet, gratefully took the seldom found privacy, and couldn’t imagine a worse fate than having to share an already cramped and more often than not dirty motel bathroom with two men. You were happy with the arrangement – or, as happy as a hunter could be when bouncing around from one dive to the next. But now? You just felt lonely.

     The room was too quiet. You found, to your surprise, that you didn’t mind giving up some of that privacy if you were giving it in favor of being near Dean. Even sharing the amenities was something easily avoidable if you managed to wake up before the Winchesters. You liked sharing a room with them – you liked sharing a room with Dean.

     And you missed him.

     After brushing your teeth, mashing the buttons to no avail on the surprisingly new-looking heater that blew out nothing but cold air, and kicking it for good measure – an action you immediately regretted as you clasped your hand around the wound on your leg and bit back your cry of pain – you stumbled towards the bed and sat down on the itchy comforter. Your eyes flicked over to Dean’s shirt on the other side of the mattress.

     You’d brought it with you, stuffing it in your bag with the rational that it was warmer than anything else you had to sleep in, and now it just seemed to taunt you. You didn’t want Dean’s shirt to keep you warm. You wanted Dean to keep you warm.

     It was stupid, and unreasonable – you knew the risks of starting a relationship with a hunter. But now, sitting alone in your room, the cold he’d protected you from pushing in on all sides, you didn’t care anymore.

     You just wanted Dean.

     So after trying to get comfortable despite your flat pillow, lumpy mattress, and an icy cold that seemed to creep out of the blankets themselves and into your bones, you glanced over to Dean’s wholly empty side of the bed and did something even you weren’t expecting. You grabbed you phone off the nightstand.

     Before you had a chance to think it through - or to talk yourself out of it - you opened Dean’s text thread, pulled up your keyboard, and typed two words. Two words that would change your life forever, two words that could quite possibly be the most important thing you’d ever written.

     I’m Cold.

     Then nothing.

     You waited for two minutes, then three and four, and felt your regret closing in on you like a suffocating fog.

     Why did I do that?! You thought, heart rate speeding up with each second your text went unanswered. He didn’t want this, he didn’t want you, and you were just making a fool out of yourself! What would you say to him in the morning? How would you explain the message? Your friendship was ruined, you may even have to start hunting alone again -

     You were pulled from your frenzied thoughts by a knock at the door.

     You were on your feet faster than should have been possible with your injured leg and across the room in a few lopsided strides. You pulled down the edge of Dean’s plaid – a layer you’d decided to add when you started shivering so much you thought your teeth would chatter right out of your head – wrapped your fingers around the doorknob, and pulled with a forced calm that softened every excitedly nervous line of your body.

     And there he was, white flakes of snow scattered in his hair and illuminated under the moon’s soft glow, arms crossed to save his digits from the cold, and a shy smile on his face.

     “Hi.”

     Every rational thought flew out of your head.

     “Hi.”

     You stepped aside and let Dean into the room, holding onto the doorknob for support as he dropped his jacket on the room’s lone chair, exposing his tight gray sleeping shirt that perfectly hugged every muscle on his chest. It was a conscious effort to keep your jaw from falling open.

     Silently you and Dean made your way over to the bed, crawling under the covers with a wordless understanding. Your heart was racing a mile a minute as you inched towards him, as you watched his hand reach out and pull you close.

     Every reasonable part of you was screaming to get away from him, to send him back to his room and put the events of the last few days behind you. But somehow, someway, you managed to crowd out those thoughts and replace them with new ones - with dangerous ones.

     You wanted to know what it would be like to kiss him.

     What would have happened if Sam hadn’t walked in yesterday? What would have happened if you hadn’t let fear get the better of you and pry you away from the man you loved? What would happen now if you gave into the temptation…

     Memories of that first night came flooding back to you - the desperate attempt to keep yourself from Dean, but the complete unwillingness to leave his arms once they were wrapped around you. And now, with Dean holding you against his body, your cheek laying on his chest and the leg he stitched resting on his, you couldn’t resist the pull of possibility. Of love.

     You inched up, eyes fluttering shut as you reached his lips, and then you did what you’d been avoiding since the day you met Dean Winchester.

     You kissed him.

     It was a fleeting moment, barely a brush of your lips, but it was enough. It took mere seconds for the fear to come crashing down on you, pulling you under like a brutal wave. This was it - this was truly it. Sharing a bed you could deal with, a stray text you could explain away, but a kiss? You had no excuse for that. What would Dean say? What would Dean do?

     Your eyes went wide and you tried to pull away from the man beside you, frantic apologies falling from your lips faster than you could think them up. Your heart felt like it was going to beat right out of your chest - if it wasn’t for your leg you’d be half way across the room by now. But before you had a chance to even fully sit up, you felt a large hand close around your wrist.

     You whipped your head around to find Dean wearing a similar look of shock to your own, mouth hanging open and those piercing green eyes watching you in confusion. Then before you could even register what he was doing, before you had a chance to speak a single coherent word, Dean kissed you.

     And your whole world exploded.

     Everything around you fell away until Dean was the only thing left. His hand sliding up your arm and curling around the back of your neck, the feeling of his lips against your own, the way you seemed to melt together like you were always meant to be here.

     You inched forward and pushed your fingers into Dean’s short hair, chest pressing against his as he pulled you impossibly closer. It was like your hearts beat as one, like you didn’t know where he started and you stopped, and when you finally managed to pry yourself away you didn’t stray far, only separated for a few unimaginably long moments to speak.

     “I’ve been wanting to do that,” Dean whispered breathlessly, “since the first day I met you.”

     This felt like a dream - like a wonderful, wonderful dream.

     “You have?” you stuttered.

     “Of course I have, after yesterday I didn’t think I could have made it more obvious.” You blushed at the memory. “But you took the second key, and you wouldn’t let me anywhere close to you after Sam walked in, so … I figured you weren’t interested.”

     Panic gripped you, fast and hard, and you couldn’t believe you’d been so blind. “No, that’s not it at all! I just …”

     Dean raised his eyebrows. “What is it?” he asked softly.

      “We’re hunters, Dean. Relationships never work out for us – nothing works out for us! I guess I was just … I was afraid of getting hurt.” You looked up and locked eyes with Dean, fingers intertwining with his. “I was afraid of you getting hurt … and leaving me.”

     Dean’s eyes soften and he cupped your cheek in his hand. You gratefully leaned into his touch. “Hey, listen to me. I will never leave you. I promise.”

     You shook your head in protest, no matter how much you wished that were true. “Dean, don’t make promises you can’t kee -”

     “I’m not!” Dean cut you off. “Look at me,” he gestured to himself, throwing his arms out beside him, “I’ve survived this long.”

     “You’ve died, literally hundreds of times!”

     “Yeah, and I’m still kickin’, aren’t I?” Dean rubbed his calloused thumb over your cheek, pushing his fingers further into your hair. “I promise, Y/N, I will always find my way back to you.”

     You knew this wasn’t a guarantee he could make, knew that nobody could know the future – not even Dean – but to your joy and surprise, you couldn’t care less. You were done being scared, done living your life by a set of unreasonable rules that only served to make you miserable. You were going to spend the rest of your life sleeping beside Dean Winchester - no matter how long that life may be - and you were going to enjoy every damn second of it.

     So with a deep breath, you steeled yourself and gave in to your new, brighter future, whispering, “Okay,” like the word was your last chance at salvation.

     Dean’s face lit up as he pulled you closer, lips a hair’s breadth away from yours. “Okay?”

     You nodded and smiled, squeezing Dean’s hand and sliding your fingers up his arm. And then you pounced.

     You pushed Dean down to the bed, crashing your lips into his and releasing years of pent up desire in a few breathless moments. His hands traveled up your sides, carefully pulling you to straddle his waist. Your leg throbbed with a dull pain but you ignored it, tuning out every touch, every feeling, that wasn’t Dean’s work-hardened hands sliding along your body.

     “From now on,” Dean rasped through a heavy breath, “we’re always getting two rooms.” You raised your eyebrows in silent question. Dean grinned broadly in response. “And I’m staying with you.”

    It felt like hours before you finally pulled apart, lips swollen and pink, cheeks flushed and eyes blown wide with lust. You never got further than a few desperate kisses, the white gauze around you leg a constant reminder of exactly what you couldn’t do until you were healed, but it didn’t matter anymore.

     You had the man you loved, you were never going to let fear stop you from living your life again.

     And Dean always wanted to get two rooms.

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Q&A Write Up

Q: What was the inspiration for this work?

SHANNON: Ben and I wanted to work on this project, and do it together, mostly because both of us were motivated to produce a completed comic to end this class. Comics are pretty time-intensive projects, so we were trying to come up with a story idea that could encompass a short ~10 page comic that both of us would enjoy working on. As we were perusing through each other’s sketches and previous work for inspiration, we found a character design that I had created in high school. We thought that this space explorer character would be a good subject for a short comic, because she is fairly simple to draw, yet expressive. We thought that we could come up with a similarly simple, yet fun and expressive story to go with the character.

BEN: I think we both wanted to make something that would have been difficult to do on our own with the time we had available. Working together allowed us to put more effort into individual work while making a more finished final product. We were able to come up with some shared interests while brainstorming together on the first day and the setting of space just came through as a combination of being the most fun to do and the most practical. I’ve always liked the aesthetic of outer space and alien wastelands so the topic was easy to agree on. Not sure that counts as “inspiration” but that’s kind of how things came to be.

Q: What was the collaboration process like? What were the things that you enjoyed, or did not enjoy about collaborating?

SHANNON: Our primary concern with collaboration was keeping a consistent look throughout the comic. We decided that the best way to achieve this while still working together was to divide the labor not by page, but by tasks. Basically, the way this worked was that after we came up with the story together, I provided the rough sketches, Ben drew the line work, and then I finished off with colors. Something I admire about Ben’s art style is his precise, detailed line art. I lack the patience for such things, so I was excited to have him be a part of that process. I got to do the fun, sloppy stuff, like in the thumbnails and the colors.

BEN: We developed a kind of pipeline where we would each work on a specific aspect of the comic before handing off our work to the other person. I thought this was nice for a project of this length since it was pretty efficient and it allowed us to keep the look consistent without much additional effort. I honestly didn’t dislike anything about collaborating. It was a good experience and I would like to do it again.

Q: How did you know that you would be able to work successfully with each other?

SHANNON: Even though Ben is pretty shy about his art, and I’ve only recently seen more of it, I have always respected Ben as an artist. In class, his works are always hilarious, and have a flair for the fantastic. I thought he would bring a lot of unique style to this project, and I hoped that he would have fun working on this story together with me.

BEN: I’m not sure how one would “know” such a thing but I was pretty excited about making the collaboration successful. I’ve kind of been aware of Shannon’s work for a while (since freshman year) and I think that a lot of our visual/aesthetic inspirations overlap without being overly similar. It felt like a good balance. I think overlapping tastes allowed us to collaborate more smoothly, and the differences between us were things that I wanted to learn from. Also Shannon is cool and trendy and a good storyteller.

Q: What were some difficulties that you ran across while creating this comic? What are some things that you might do differently?

BEN: I think storyboarding is often the most difficult step for me, but I got lucky this time around and didn’t have to worry too much about them. Other than that, I had some trouble drawing circles that were not lumpy.

SHANNON: I think the chief difficulty for me was having to stage the scenes in a way so that everything would make sense, even without words. There were many times when I was tempted to add some words to make my life easier, but in the end, I decided to commit to the wordless thing. Also, I am sorry if I was ever too insistent on my own decisions, Ben.

Q: Why do you think that you are drawn to graphic novels as a medium?

BEN: I like pictures because I don’t know words too good.

SHANNON: I love any type of visual storytelling, and I especially love cartoons and comics, because I feel that the creator has so much control over what they are communicating to their audience. The level of abstraction and exaggeration that you can get from cartoons can many times communicate more truth about a human experience than pure naturalism. I love the symbolism that you can access just by a certain combination of shapes and colors--how you can tell our little space explorer is a good guy by all the roundness that makes up her design. I’m not sure if we were really reaching to communicate anything that complicated in our comic, but I hope that we have been successful in designing a largely benevolent, fantastic universe.

Q: How do you feel this final project fits in with the rest of the work you have been doing this semester?

SHANNON: This semester, as we’ve been reading many graphic novels, I’ve been trying to develop my ability to just produce content. I feel like I have a lot of ideas, but little practice in actually getting them down to paper. The assignments of this class helped me to practice combining my thoughts in words with my thoughts in images. I am not sure that this project is very similar to anything we have read over the semester, but I have definitely been inspired just by understanding the process and labor behind comics.

BEN: I’m not really sure. I’ve been making a lot more stuff this semester for various school and personal projects, and I’ve also been exposed to a lot of new ideas (mostly through this class). I guess in many ways the things I’ve been doing have been an exercise in digesting new content, learning from others, and trying new things (in addition to plain, physical practice). This project has been a nice culmination of a lot of those things. I was able to do a lot of digital linework, which I had been practicing all semester for my senior design class. I was able to collaborate with Shannon, which was a nice ending to a class where I was able to be exposed to other people with similar interests. I don’t if this project deals with any societal or personal issues on a conscious level, but I don’t doubt that the works we’ve gone over in class have helped develop our storytelling abilities. I think being able to make your own comic after reading and learning about them for a semester is a nice way to end things.

Q: Are there any lessons learned or plans for the future that you would like to share? How did your experience in this class change things, if they did at all?

BEN: Before this class I had not given much thought to the value of being near people with shared interests. Being exposed to people who cared about some of the same things I was interested in this semester was refreshing, maybe even validating and eye-opening. I think my experiences this year definitely made me realize that I would regret it a lot if I didn’t continue trying to make things (of some form). I think making stuff is something that motivates me greatly to learn, which feels like a pretty important thing. I hope that I can find a way to make that a focus in my life post-graduation, whether it is through work, hobbies, life philosophy, or whatever.

SHANNON: I definitely want to keep on making comics after I graduate, even if they’re really simple, like diary comics. I really appreciated this class, because it kept me exercising my creativity. I understand that once I leave college, there will be less opportunities to take these sorts of classes. Going forth, I must carve out time in my adult life to devote to art and stuff. And if Ben is willing to collaborate again, I think that would be really fun! If I’ve learned anything from this class, it’s to just make stuff. It doesn’t matter if it’s good. Creation itself is a triumph.