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bbyhaikyuu · 4 years

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idk how to do these things so 👀

I haven't written anything in like 4 years, so.. Hi? Im taking it easy a bit by doing these hc's(is that what you call it? Or is it called a scenario???? Idk help im a babieee) first before doing oneshots/short fics hehe

: Daichi and Sugawara: Finding out that someone is drawing them.

I did not proofread oops i just wanted to get it over with and finish

Daichi

TYPICAL hallway bump shenanigans eheheheeeee

You were carrying quite a lot of stuff, well of course, being the class rep means that you have to pass the class's workbooks to the faculty room.

Your dumbass forgot that you put your sketchbook right on top of the pile??

Chaos suddenly came and the next thing you knew is that the books were on the floor.

Looked up and saw it was Daichi??

Bumping to this mf feels like walking right into a stone wall

lmAO felt like your shoulder dislocated a bit there eh?

Daichi is a gentleman ofcourse he would help you gather the books. Suga and Asahi was with him too, which made the cleanup much more faster.

Y'all exchanged apologies(and thanks) before you sprinted away like your life depended on it.

The trio was about to head to their respective classrooms, but suga noticed something on the corner of his eyes and picked up a black sketchbook.

They knew it wasn't a typical notebook because the cover was sort of like soft leather??? Damn it felt expensive.

Sugawara quickly found your name written at the bottom center and read it out loud.

"Isn't she from class 3-A?" Asahi asked them, they nodded in reply.

All of the 3rd years knew each other's names, despite never talking or interacting.

The bell rang, lunch break was over.

"Guess she's going to be late because of us. " Daichi chuckled, though guilt was evident.

"Aaand that is why you are the one who is gunna return that to her, personally." Suga smiled before shoving the notebook to Daichi's chest and darting towards his classroom.

Asahi is gone too???

Daichi sighed and went back to his own classroom.

The period turned out to be a study hall since the teacher didn't bother to show himself. There isn't really anything to study anymore tho?? They had exams just last week???

Bored Daichi decided to flip through your sketchbook and found himself at awe and intrigued each time he flipped a page.

He quickly learned that you were into action mangas. Each page was littered with dynamic poses. Though there were some full illustrations here and there.

When he got to the last page with a drawing he CLOSED IT BY ACCIDENT BECAUSE HE WAS SURPRISED.

Homeboy got stared at lmao

Anyways he opened it up again and got an even closer look.

On the upper left, there was a messy headshot sketch of someone. Messy yet you can actually tell who it was yk what i mean????

Daichi smirked because he KNEW it was him 100%

the nowhere finished full body sketch of someone recieving a ball with the #1 below the headahot gave it away.

The facy that it has "?????" beside it is very amusing to him. He knew you had a hard time figuring out the pose.

So when y'all got dismissed, he quickly went to your room and searched for you, holding up the black sketchbook in his hand. You almost died that day because you thought you lost it.

"You look like you could use some help there, wanna come watch me and the boys practice? "

You almost blew a fuse but hey, atleast you finished that drawing of yours.

Sugawara

You're at a cafe, hoping that the change of environment will help you think and draw more.

Wrong. You needed a live reference. Pinterest pics just wont cut it.

How do u draw men???? When its women you can go like swoosh and its already decent and *chef's kiss. But men???? Boink.

So when you looked up and saw a pretty boi (cue sugawara) sat across you, you were like "hell yeah, jackpot".

You started doing sketches on your ipad(and apple pencil), your hands felt like they were moving naturally.

You know how weird it is to draw someone you completely didn't know, based from experience.

Soooo you tried to keep your stares to a minimum and only looked up when you really needed to.

Too bad, Sugawara already had his eyes on you and your ipad. he sounds like a thief wtaf

So he decided to stay still and scroll on his phone for a little bit more casually sipping his coffee.

He observed you for a while, whenever you weren't staring at him.

He would smile a lil bit every once in a while.

You thought he saw a meme. Nah hoe, he's entertained that you thought he didn't know 👀

You did 3 sketches of him???? You're so happy????

You finally stretched your arms and let out a smol sigh

Pretty boi started gathering his things already :(

You were sad that you didn't get to know him, but hey atleast you got these bomb ass sketches of him.

You decided to clean it up a bit and colour it in.

Damn his beauty mark beside is eye is perfection.

Your ass was so engrossed in finishing the drawing you didn't notice him coming to your table.

Him putting the coffee on your table startled tf outta you.

Pretty boi??? Smiled??? Im simping????

He hurried out tho, looks like he's busy.

B U T

pretty boi left a sticky note!!!

"Wanna hang out? I'll be your French girl ;)))"

xoxo Sugawara Koushi

Attached: His number with a heart

H E A R T A T T A C K

Took you a while to compose yourself.

You smiled and thought :

J a c k p o t

So that's all for now!! I accidentally made daichi's a bit longer

I kinda like this writing style???

Im thinking something mafia au related for the next one

Feel free to send me some suggestions! I could def use them hehe 👉👈

#haikyuu #haikyuu!!#sugawara koushi #sawamura daichi #haikyuu headcanons #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu scenarios #headcanons #daichi x reader #sugawara x reader #sugawara koushi x reader #sawamura daichi x reader #inochi writes

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captainscanadian · 4 years

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Love Me Blue | Bucky Barnes x Reader (Janmashtami)

My Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Summary: When you were younger, you had always dreamed of falling in love with someone who would love you like Lord Krishna loved Radha. A dream that once felt as though it was silly no longer felt that way.

Word Count: 4400+

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Tamilian!Hindu!Reader

Warnings: MINIMAL TAMIL SONG LYRICS (I’m more than happy to translate!) & TAMIL CULTURE, References to Hinduism, PTSD, Insomnia, Endgame References.

A/N: This is my entry for @bucky-smiles‘s 3K Diversity Writing Challenge! My prompt was to write a fic with a Hindu reader. I decided to write this fic with a Tamilian reader because I am Tamilian. I was born in Sri Lanka and my mother’s side of the family are Hindu. Although I consider myself an agnostic theist, I do enjoy reading the epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana. I hope everyone had a wonderful Janmashtami. Along with Lord Krishna himself, it’s also @jalapenobarnes‘ birthday this weekend so please go shower Saran with all the love. This one’s for you, my chellam! <3 Pics are off of Pinterest!

Bucky Barnes watched curiously as he sat cross-legged on the tiled floor of your living quarters, splashing a handful of water on the bright green banana leaf that you had laid out in front of him.

Even though your apartment had a designated dining room with an oak wood table and chairs, he wondered why you preferred to be eating on the living room floor. Not to mention the way you had chosen to serve him on a banana leaf than a plate.

As much as he found it bizarre, he was also curious about the traditions that you seemed to follow. Not just through the way you ate your meals, but also the way you honored your dead best friend and the way you had filled your apartment with idols and paintings of your Hindu God. It came as a surprise to him that someone as young and well-educated as yourself could even hold onto the traditions that you had been raised with despite having settled away from your home for years.

Bucky had been surprised to find that as the decades had progressed, traditions had evolved with the emergence of a post-modern society. The way people had practiced religion had also evolved with time, but the way you practiced yours seemed to be the same as the way his own mother had practiced hers back in the day.

You did not conform to modern life for the sake of it, and he found that inspiring. The old Bucky who had always been fascinated by all that science had to offer would probably disagree with you. But having lived a whole century as one of HYDRA’s science experiments made him wish that he could return to the pre-modern society that he had been born into. He hated confirming with the status quo as much as the next guy, but seeing you made him realize that he did not need to force himself to confirm either. He could be himself, as long as he could figure out who exactly he was meant to be.

“According to my grandmother, eating off of a banana leaf is a lot more healthier than eating off of a plate. Apparently the nutrients in the leaf can mix with the food.” You explained to him as you served him some of the rice, careful not to overcrowd the banana leaf. You knew that he was unfamiliar with the dishes, but also appreciated that he was willing to try out a new cuisine at this witching hour. “She said that it’s good for the immune system, prevents intestinal ulcers, skin diseases… soothes the stomach, helps with digestion and prevents kidney stones.”

He nodded, understandably. “Right…” He agreed, not having the heart to tell you that the super soldier serum in his body ensured that his cells would constantly regenerate and prevent him from falling ill. Nevertheless, he found your endearment quite refreshing. You really did treat him like he was Sergeant James Barnes of the 107th and not the Winter Soldier, and he was grateful for that.

“We’re used to eating off of the leaf during special occasions or when we have guests.” You added. “There’s a Buddhist and Hindu philosophy... Atithi Devo Bhava. It literally means that the guests must be given the same respect as you would give to your Gods. And since you’re my guest tonight, you get the banana leaf.”

“I’m no God, Y/N.” Bucky clarified, sighing as he ran his metal hand through his greasy hair. “I’m a human being, a brainwashed assassin, a weapon of destruction who brought so much pain in people’s lives. I don’t deserve to be treated with so much respect.”

“Bucky…” You frowned at his words before shaking your head. “As the one who spent most of my life studying the life of Sergeant James Barnes of the 107th, I beg to differ. I know that you have a lot of internalized guilt about those days and I don’t blame you for that. But you can’t let the Winter Soldier define who you are. You’re more than who you used to be when you were brainwashed. It wasn’t who you were.”

“To be honest, I don’t even think I know who I am anymore…” He admitted, a truth that he hadn’t told anyone else at the compound but felt that he could trust you with.. “But I know for sure that I don’t deserve to be respected like you respect your God.”

“You should let me be the judge of that. My concept of God is actually quite different from the Abrahamic religions that you happen to be familiar with.” You protested with a soft chuckle, crossing your legs to sit across from him. “My grandmother once told me that Lord Krishna… being the God of love and compassion, he’s always present in one’s heart. Wherever there’s love, he’s always there. If there’s love in your heart, he’s there. And that makes you just as Godly as anyone else.”

“I’m the world’s longest prisoner of war who spent most of my life imprisoned in a cryofreezer. There’s nothing Godly about the life that I’ve had to live.” He shook his head. “If anything, I’m a symbol of pain and suffering.”

“Well, Lord Krishna was born in prison.” You remarked. “His life was meant to be filled with so much love… It started on Janmashtami, in a prison cell where his parents were locked up by his own maternal uncle. Even in all that pain and suffering, the betrayal that Lord Krishna’s parents had to face… they were blessed with a child who was the incarnate of the supreme God himself. All that pain and suffering led to some kind of reward, and I’m sure you’ll get yours in due time. Sri Krishna never discriminates, and he forgives those who are truly remorseful of their sins. He’s the God of compassion after all.”

Bucky could not help but chuckle softly at your words. For every word of self-hatred that came out of his mouth, you had your own rebuttal that was rooted in your faith. He was left with no choice but to accept his defeat and give in to being treated as your guest for the night. It was the least he could do other than make use of that computer he had been given to catch up with the world by looking up Lord Krishna. “So, what’s on the menu for tonight?”

“Okay!” You exclaimed, pointing to the rice dish that you had placed in the center of the leaf. “Ven pongal, basically made from rice and yellow lentils. It’s also got some peppercorns, cumin, turmeric, ginger, curry leaves and cashews that I fried in some clarified butter. That’s why it smells so good. Don’t worry about the spices though. This is probably the mildest dish I’ve ever eaten in my life.”

Bucky nodded as he looked up at you. “Do you make this often?”

“It’s a traditional breakfast food in South India, but it also makes for the ultimate comfort food when I’m missing home.” You replied with a shrug of your shoulders before grabbing the bowl of sambar and pouring it over the rice. “Now this might be a little spicy for you. But it’s the side dish of all side dishes. Sambar, basically a mixed vegetable stew with lentils and spices. Great with most South Indian breakfast foods.”

“And what about the rest?” He asked as he eyed the remainder of the delicacies that you had laid out before him. He could not deny that the warm aroma that wafted up his nostrils made them much more appetizing. Despite it being past midnight, he was starved.

“Medhu vada… deep fried lentil fritters, coconut chutney to dip ‘em in… and kesari, dessert made from semolina.” You pointed to the items as you placed them on the banana leaf. “I hope you don’t mind eating with your hand. We don’t really use utensils and I kind of forgot to pick some up. If it makes you feel any better, the right hand is commonly used to eat so…” You motioned towards his hand. “Dig in?”

He raised his eyebrow at your words. “I guess that was very convenient for me.” He joked before looking down at the food and back at you. “Aren’t you going to eat with me?”

You chuckled softly before shrugging at his question. “It’s alright, Bucky. I can eat after you. It’s not polite to eat before the guest.”

“Y/N, come on… you just said that you made all of this food because you were feeling homesick. I can’t eat all of this without you.” He clarified with a smile.

You looked down at your lap in embarrassment as you felt your cheeks heat up. “I kind of only bought one banana leaf because I thought I would be the one eating all of this food.” You told him, shamelessly. “I didn't think I would have company, not that I don’t want you here or anything. I invited you to eat but… my grandmother says it’s rude to eat right out of the serving bowls if you’re going to be serving the food to someone else. I don’t mind waiting until you’re done and helping myself to your leftovers.”

A part of him could not believe how bound you were to your grandmother’s words, especially when it came to your dining etiquette. Despite the fact that your grandmother had been someone to hold you back from your potential, he admired that you still respected her enough to follow through with the culture that she had taught you.

“Fine, then if you don’t mind…” He reached down to grab a dollop of the pongal and sambar with his thumb and two fingers, carefully holding his hand up towards your mouth. “Let me at least feed you.”

Your eyes grew wide at his gesture and you found your cheeks heating up in embarrassment once again. “Um…” You gulped, not knowing how to react to that. A part of you wanted to accept his offer, but the pitter patter against your heart mimicked the rain against your window and caused you to become very nervous.

As much as you had denied it when you were around the rest of the team, you knew that you did have a slight crush on Sergeant James Barnes of the 107th Infantry Regiment when you had first watched through the archival footage from the war. After all, who wouldn’t. At that time, you had believed that he was dead so it didn’t mean much. But now he was very much alive and sitting right before you. He was certainly a good looking man who’s smile could light up the world, and unbeknownst to you he had just lit up yours.

You had spent years studying his life, along with the rest of The Howling Commandos, in the name of academic curiosity. But you could not deny that now seeing him in person changed how you really felt about this man. Not many people who studied historical figures had the chance to see them face to face. But this had happened to you twice now, and it still felt surreal. Bucky Barnes really was sitting on the floor of your living quarters, about to feed you a bite of your most favourite South Indian comfort food. What kind of idiot would you be not to accept it?

You accepted the bite of food that Bucky had offered you, bringing your hand over to cover your mouth as you chewed. Your lips curling into a small smile as your eyes glazed over, you looked down at your lap.

For some reason, eating from this man’s hand had made you miss your father quite so much. Seven years it had been since he had passed away. You never even got to say goodbye, the last time you had spoken on the phone being an argument that you had ended abruptly by hanging up on him. Had you known what was going to happen just hours later, you would have done things differently. You would have cherished the last moments you got to share with your father. Hell, you would have even prevented him from dying the way he did. But it was all too late now.

Perhaps you suffered from internalized guilt just as much as the super soldier who sat before you, for you did feel partially responsible for your father’s death. Being an agent who was meant to save the world and all, you couldn’t even manage to save your own father. While this did once make you doubt your skills as an agent, you could not deny that you would give anything to be able to do right by the man who had raised you to be anything more than a typical Indian farm girl. But for now, all you had to do was exist for the sake of existing and accept the position that you had been given. Do the right thing, just as your father had taught you.

When you had been five years old, your grandmother had told you the story of how Lord Krishna was married to more than sixteen thousand women. She had told you that he married every woman who loved him. He loved them back just as much too, being the God of love after all. But the woman he loved the most, he hadn’t even been married to her. Radha Rani was the love of his life. She was his soulmate. Despite not being married, their love for each other was so pure and eternal.

It was then you told your father, in your childish little voice, “Appa, I want someone to love me like Lord Krishna loved Radha.”

Now as you swallowed the bite that Bucky Barnes had fed you, you couldn't help but look over his broad shoulders. Up on the wall behind him you had hung one of the many paintings of Radha and Krishna that you owned. But in that particular one, Radha and Krishna were affectionately gazing into each other’s eyes while feeding each other.

It didn’t seem like a sign to you then, but you prayed for some things to be made clearer in due time. After all, you were going to be here for a while. If Lord Krishna was really going to bless you with the kind of love that makes you blue after all of that pain and suffering, then you might as well accept it like you had just accepted that bite of food from Bucky.

“Tell me the truth, Bucky.” You looked over at the man who sat next to you on the couch, his legs crossed as he leaned against the armrest. “Why are you even up at this hour?”

Bucky Barnes looked over at you and let out a sigh, not knowing if lying to you about his insomnia would sell. After all, you seemed to know him better than he knew himself despite the fact that you had met just yesterday. While he feared that admitting the truth would cause you to become weary of him, he knew better than to lie to the woman who was in a position of authority. He had to be transparent with you, mainly because he didn’t have the heart to lie to you.

“I can’t sleep.” He admitted, biting down on his bottom lip as he sat up straight, his elbows resting against his thighs as he covered his face with his hands. “I haven’t slept properly in a while, ever since I moved into the compound really. Every night I go to bed at a reasonable time. But I still end up waking up at this strange hour because of some nightmare.”

Leaning over to rest your hand on his shoulder, you wanted to give him a squeeze. But you were quick to realize that his left shoulder was vibranium, so instead you moved your hand to rub his back. “Have you talked to Sam about it?”

Not that you would assume that his friendship with Sam was anything like his friendship with Steve. As someone who had your own demons, you knew that it was not that easy to confide in someone about something like this. But you were well aware that Sam had some experience offering support groups to veterans who suffered from PTSD during his time working at the VA back in DC. He seemed to be much more equipped to handle something like this than you were, no doubt about that. But since you were now the boss around here, you knew that something needed to be done to address the mental health of your heroes.

Bucky shook his head. “He’s always been weary of me, Y/N. I don’t think I should worry him about this. The last thing I want is for anyone to think that the Winter Soldier is still in me when he’s not.”

“Sam can be an asshole at times… but he means well. He cares a lot about his friends, and that includes you and me.” You admitted. “But I know what you mean. What you’re going through, it’s not easy. You’ve had to deal with a lifetime’s worth of torture under HYDRA, along with the whole thing with the blip. The world has changed so much that it’s not all that easy to keep up with anymore.”

He looked up at you and frowned. “I feel so lost, you know? Like I don’t know where I should start. I’ve missed out on seventy years of… life. The life that I knew before the war is gone and the life that I had since then… is full of torture and bloodshed. I’m just lost in the midst of it all.”

“Bucky, you do know that… if you ever want to talk about anything that has to do with history or what happened in the world during those seventy years, you can just talk to me about it, right? I may have a Master’s degree on The Howling Commandos but I do know a thing or two about what happened in the world after the war.” You offered, finally cracking a smile. “I can definitely help you out with catching up with times.”

He chuckled softly at your words. “Is that how you and Steve… became friends?”

You felt your cheeks heat up in embarrassment at the mention of Captain America, a man whom you had respected and aided in the recovery of until Natasha had decided to set the two of you up on a date. It was a brief fling while the two of you had worked together in DC. But once you had realized it wasn’t going to work, you had ended things amicably. While you had remained friends and you had helped him catch up with the world, things had changed so much around you.

“Yeah, I guess.” You admitted with a shrug. “He needed someone to catch him up to the world and Fury realized that he hired a history major. I think it worked out for all of us.” Looking back now, you only felt blessed to have known Steve Rogers. He was not only an inspiration, but also one of your closest friends. “And that’s why I’m offering to help.”

“But how could you help me, Y/N?” He asked. “What can you possibly do to help me come to terms with who I am?”

“Well, I had Steve read through the Internet a lot and make a list of all the things he wanted to try… like Thai food and Sherlock Holmes. I know that you’re not going on any missions right now. You’re just hanging around the compound and trying to kill time, right? I’d say… make use of the computers we have here, learn as much as you can. We can talk about it. But don’t ever think that you’re alone in this.”

The Internet was a great place to start learning, right? Surely, Bucky had been apprehensive about taking that step. But he needed to be given a little push. Thankfully, he now had you for that. “I guess I can do that.” He gave in, for he was starting to get bored of the facility’s gym.

“There is something that needs to be done about your nightmares though.” You pointed out. “This compound needs an on-site therapist. I need one. You need one. Wanda needs one. We all need one after all this crap that we’ve had to deal with.” You made a mental note to make some calls in the morning, but for now you knew that your attention should be on the super soldier. “But right now, you really need to get some sleep.”

Bucky shook his head in defeat. “I can’t seem to fall asleep in my bed, Y/N. Believe me, I’ve tried… for many nights. I guess I just have to suck it up and kill time until the morning.”

You raised your eyebrow at his words before crossing your arms against your chest. “What? Do you need me to sing you a lullaby or something?” You asked him, teasingly.

He laughed at your question before shaking his head. “As if that’s ever going to work on me…”

“Is that a challenge, Sergeant Barnes?”

Bucky Barnes had no clue how it even happened. Just twenty-four hours ago, the two of you had been strangers who had nothing in common except for the fact that you both shared a past that had been perfectly entwined somehow. But now you were sitting against the headboard of his queen sized bed in the living quarters adjacent to yours, his head resting against your lap as he shut his eyes.

Your soft hands running through his silky dark hair, you sang the words that you had pretty much memorized by now. It was a lullaby that your grandmother had sung to you when you were younger, written about how Lord Krishna himself had fallen asleep after a long day of playing around his village.

Ayarpadi Maaligaiyil

Thaai Madiyil Kandrinai Pol

Maaya Kannan Thoongugindraan, Thaalelo

Ayarpadi Maaligaiyil

Thaai Madiyil Kandrinai Pol

Maaya Kannan Thoongugindraan, Thaalelo

Avan Vaai Niraiya Mannai Undu

Mandalathai Kaattiya Pin

Oiveduthu Thoongugindraan, Aaraaro

Ayarpadi Maaligaiyil

Thaai Madiyil Kandrinai Pol

Maaya Kannan Thoongugindraan, Thaalelo

Pinnalitta Gopiyarin Kannathile Kannam Ittu

Mannavan Pol Leelai Seidhaan Thaalelo

Pinnalitta Gopiyarin Kannathile Kannam Ittu

Mannavan Pol Leelai Seidhaan Thaalelo

Andha Mandhirathil Avar Uranga

Mayakkathile Ivan Uranga

Mandalame Urangudhammaa Aaraaro

Ayarpadi Maaligaiyil

Thaai Madiyil Kandrinai Pol

Maaya Kannan Thoongugindraan, Thaalelo

Bucky Barnes had no clue how it even happened. But as he listened to the melody of your lullaby, he had drifted off into a deep slumber. When he woke up the next day, he found that you were gone. But he knew that you were the one to thank for helping him sleep after many months of waking up from nightmares.

As the weeks went by, you and Bucky had become quite close. As most of the team were gone for days at a time because of their respective missions, the two of you often found yourselves being the only ones remaining at the compound. Despite your loneliness, you somehow found comfort in each other.

Your free time was usually spent cooking up a storm in the common kitchen, and Bucky found himself frequently joining you for your meals. He had taken quite the liking to South Indian cuisine, but he had also kept his promise of making you a completely vegetarian Wakandan meal - something that he apparently prepared by video-calling the Queen Mother of Wakanda herself and asking her for recipes.

“Does this mean you have diplomatic immunity? Being the adoptive child of Queen Ramonda and all…” You had joked. “They call you the White Wolf, don’t they?”

“Did you ever have to use your diplomatic immunity?” He had asked you mockingly. “Being the daughter of an Indian diplomat after all.”

“Bucky, could you please give Queen Ramonda my regards? Let her know that Agent Y/L/N, the daughter of Ambassador Y/L/N, sends her regards and thanks the royal family for all of their help.” You hadn’t been all that familiar with the Wakandan royal family during the reign of King T’Chaka, but it was only after his death did you have the chance to work closely with them. After all, you understood the pain that they had been dealing with all too well.

Bucky was not familiar with why you seemed to know them so well. He had just assumed it must be because of your career in diplomacy before you became an agent. He did not think much of it though, at least not until he had told Shuri that you gave their family your regards.

While the truth behind your relationship with the Wakandan royal family had certainly shaken him to his core, he did not make it known that he knew about it. After all, it was a huge part of your own personal life and you were just his boss. He did not feel the need to let you know that he knew something about you that you might not have wanted you to know. But instead, he continued to learn more about you and the culture that you were raised in.

The Internet was a great place when it came to catching up with the world. He had read just about everything he could get his hands on, from history to literature and science. While he tried to keep up with how much the world had changed, he had also read as much as he could about your religion.

He often joined you on your visits to the temple in the city after noticing that you made it a habit to go there every Friday. When Janmashtami came around, Bucky had offered to help you paint footprints from your front door to your shrine of Lord Krishna.

According to your grandmother, the tradition of painting baby footprints was done believing that Lord Krishna would follow them and enter your home. You had been doing that every single year on Janmashtami for as long as you could remember. But that year, you just knew. It was the first year that Krishna had entered your home for real.

#3kdiversity #aj writes #love me blue #janmashtami #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x desi!reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes fic #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes series

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digitalworldbound · 4 years

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the chosen on social media

this is inspired by @tangledupblue and her wonderful instagram series. you can find those here, as well as other digimon related things! (please check them out - i love them!)

hikari

probably has a cute handle - something like @/light.of.your.life or @/hikariferarri (courtesy of takeru).

is instagram FAMOUS for her photography. she also helps the other chosen take quality pictures for their social medias

she only has facebook so that she can share her mom’s recipes

while she likes snapchat, the updates can get confusing. there have been multiple times where she sent iori a message meant for miyako

hikari loves twitter, but only to find meme to send to the “LIL BABEY MONS” group chat. (in reference to one of her fav vids, THIS).

has a tiktok, but only posts behind-the-scenes shots of photo shoots or asmr day-in-my-life clips.

iori

he has an instagram, but posts once every 43 weeks

he loves using Facebook to keep up with his family members, kendo pals, and school friends. he only posts selfies that make him look like an old man or the shots hikari captures at his matches.

despite being the youngest chosen, he really acts like the oldest. he doesnt really get all of the "twitting" and "chat snapping". why don't people just send emails anymore?

he only downloaded snapchat because miyako threatened him with his life kindly suggested that he be apart of the "LIL BABEY MONS" group chat

yamato

this boy is a twitter KING

he can literally post about his least favorite genre of milk (🤢 skim 🤢) and have thousands of retweets in a few minutes

instagram isnt really his “thing”, but anytime he does post, takeru gives him shit for it

he has to most followers out of anyone in the group, but mimi is a close second

facebook hasn’t been a thing for him since he was eleven and wanted to play farmville

sora

she updates DAILY for her facebook friends

anytime she drinks a diet coke? posted. the horrible incident involving veemon and a lost diaper? written about in detail.

she is a total mom friend, and most of her pictures consist of piyomon and her friends at their extracurricular activities.

she runs a fan account for knife of day on twitter. after the band changed their name, most of their follower-base was lost, so sora...became a fandom catfish to give them clout.

once a month, she has to go on a “social media detox” because she used pinterest more than 3 hours.

ken

tries to avoid all social media because people still tag him in his old interviews. (his hair style? 🤢 🤢 his attitude? 🤮 🤮

he also used to be a cyber bully in elementary school. his old email address was [email protected]

he’s on linkedin,,,,,,it’s not that cool

he leaves everyone on read with snapchat. his philosophy is that if the person truly needed him, they would just call

he LOVES making playlists on spotify!!! some of them even have more than ten likes!!!

also, he updates his goodreads daily and makes sure to review every single thing he has ever read.

daisuke

this boy SPAMS snapchat and his instagram with food pics

“phone eats first”

he also lowkey runs a thirst-trap tiktok account. his motto is “i do it for the girls and the gays, that’s it.”

his snap score is ASTRONOMICAL, and he probably has well over 300 friends.

he often posts those “anonymous message” things, but only posts the nice ones because he wants people to think that he is Super Cool.

he tries too hard on instagram, and the other chosen often tease him in the comments

his favorite pastime is to watch trick-shots on youtube

jou

he doesnt really have the time to divulge in social media, so his phone is pretty dry.

his only friends on snapchat are the eleven other chosen and his “””””””””””girlfriend”””””””””””””””””””

facebook?? who is she??

he only uses instagram to promote local charities, share photos of “interesting” x-rays, wounds, etc, and to post links to informational articles

that’s it, honestly. he is a simple man.

miyako

QWEEN of EVERYTHING, sry about it

instagram? she serves LOOKS daily

snapchat? you KNOW she spams “LIL BABEY MONS” at all hours of the night with obscure memes and questions about philosophy.

she also loves to use pinterest for some of her more elaborate ideas, but leaves the bulk of that to mimi.

she is semi-famous on twitter for starting drama in the “computer enthusiat” community (it isn’t her fault that twelve-year-old boys have the ego of a fully grown daisuke and need to be knock down a peg or few)

miyako is also a life-style vlogger, but her most famous video is titled “day in the life of a japanese student that casually studied abroad in spain but is back now!!! 🌸 💫 🌈 ”

she also invites mimi onto her channel so that they can make disaster-prone recipes together

koushiro

he has snapchat because it is mimi’s preferred form of communication

anytime kou sees a cool flower or something pretty, he sends it to the girls

despite being very proficient in computer studies, he refuses to help the girls change the html text of their blogs to make it ombre

linkedin is his most favorite, and he thinks it is fun to update his resume

he lowkey is the admin of a world-wide digimon discord server along with takeru

taichi

his snap score rivals daisuke’s, but it is mainly used for his teammates and the various...lovely women he meets up with most nights.

his dm’s are always full, and his instagram is full of only soccer pics. that’s it. that is his only personality trait.

he only follows two (2) famous soccer players on twitter, but hasnt logged on since middle school. his profile picture is a stock photo of a dinosaur

,,,,,,,,,lowkey has pornhub premium

mimi

pinterest is her literal bestfriend. she is ALWAYS searching up ideas about home decor, new recipes, etc.

YOUTUBER STATUS!!!! she is so chaotic and edits her videos to the max, but the public love her.

her insta is filled with plants, cute outfits, scenery, and candids of her friends. she also highkey loves having a social media theme!!

she has 86 profiles on facebook because she keeps forgetting her passwords and doesnt know how to delete the old ones

takeru

he LOVES goodreads! he makes all kinds of friends that like the same stories!!

he loves moderating the digimon discord server because he can learn all kinds of language and ways to tell hikari he loves her

he posts aesthetic pictures of books and coffee shops on his insta and odd snippets of his friends (hikari's hand in the corner, yamato's hair poking about, whatever strikes his fancy)

#digimon #digimon headcanons #taichi yagami #yamato ishida #sora takenouchi #ken ichijouji #takeru takaishi #hikari yagami #miyako inoue #iori hida #mimi tachikawa #koushiro izumi #daisuke motomiya #jou kido

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butterfly-winx · 3 years

Note

Hi, This isnt about the butterfly au but i was wondering do you use any apps to draw your art on and if so which ones due you use? also do you have any tips?

Hey there! No worries I'm happy to talk about art in general as well!

I use Procreate (I think currently V5) on a first gen iPadPro to do most of the art and photosh*p cs2 for any edits, or compiling files when my layers overflow. (I'm not gonna lie, that is the major bummer with Procreate, but the app is well priced and I got no complaints about it otherwise.)

As far as art tips, go I wanted to acknowledge that these are tips I would and also do give myself, so it I am not an expert in any of these, but they are cool things to strive for.

1. Find the workflow for what makes sense for you. Not everyone has to do 2 sketches a lineart, flats and render in that order in every single piece. Experiment around, find what works for you, which parts of the process you enjoy, most importantly. I do very clean sketches on top of loose pose puppets and hate lineart. So I usually don't do that, but I get away with it bc I like doing the detailed sketch phase and "line sculpting" so I just go straight to colouring most often. Maybe you don't either, but for you a lineless style would work better. This is also how you can build style very easily!

2. Experiment with programs and find the one that supports your workflow best. I started off with a pen-tablet and PS/Corel painter and that didn't work for me for the longest time - I guess I never had the necessary hand-eye coordination for laptop and pen-tablet setups. Drawing ON the screen however, whoo boy my improvement skyrocketed. So I would urge everyone to look at what they struggle with while making art bc it might not be you, it might be the setup you use. Sure I could have spent a million hours fine tuning my lines to be straight, but I cold have also switched to a program that supports stroke stabilisation, you know? Also look into available shortcuts and pre-sets: the better you know your program the faster you are, the less likely you are to burn yourself out on a piece.

3. Build skills, but let your interests dictate what skills to focus on. Sure practice is key and you need to draw a thing a 1000 times to understand it, but I'm saying you are only going to draw something that many times if you like it. When I was into series that featured many male characters I beefed up on male anatomy; when I was crazy about a live action show I practiced copying the features of real actors; now I am neck deep in fashion refs and drawing different types of fabric. Find your passion and let it drive you! It does make sense to identify shortcomings and get comfortable with art basics like shape, light and colour, but if you don't find a way to apply it it a way that sparks joy, you risk your hobby turning into a chore (so this advice is mainly for hobbyist), so try not to do that and instead focus on eating your "veggies" and "dessert" as well if you can. Do sketches all day if you want, but you will need to face drawing the other eye or that hand on the hip if you want to see eventual improvement.

4. Collect inspiration with a goal in mind. It's fair and well to have endless lists of inspiring art and photography saved in your likes, pinterest or wherever, but it is good to sit down sometimes and examine why you saved a pic. (This is not for direct references btw). Ask yourself what you like about the individual piece and whether what you like about is something that just appeals to you as a beholder or whether that is something you would like to reproduce in your own art? It's actually a huge difference. I am drawn to stylised shapes and bold colours in art, but I like to paint like that? No. On the other hand I like looking at guache paintings and really taking apart how they were painted, bc that is the rendering style i like to push for in my art. It's a good idea to go cross-media in your inspiration: from traditional art to photography to industrial object design, you can find a lot of things to learn from outside your native art medium. If you found something you really like, you can do a master study of it (absolutely fair to share with public domain, classical pieces, if you copy a contemporary artist, do it for the sake of study and don't post it).

5. Don't compare yourself to others. Yes, I know this is the hardest. If you find yourself unhappy with the reception of your art online, it impacting your joy in creating art in the first place, it might be worth taking a step back. That's what I did. I was doing winx doodles for almost a year for myself only before I made this blog, (and this is far from being my first art blog on the internet btw). This may not be the right decision for everyone, but I wanted to say something other than "just don't give up", bc when you are in that spot it feels like utter bulsh*t. Social media has us comparing our skills and success to a million other people every day, and as harsh as it sounds, it's just not worth breaking yourself up over it. There is also no need to monetise every hobby you have and become the absolute best in it, especially when you are young.

So, to sum it up:

#art tips #art suggestions #art tipp: draw a fuckton make it make you happy #wow I even used that tag before see I really do mean it #locally sourced art #adjacent #procreate

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ninevillains · 5 years

Note

so i'm trying to draw a picture of a dude in a bathing suit... i was wondering if you could give me some pointers? especially in the anatomy lol

Sure! Excuse me if I go into too much detail. Or not enough! Feel free to message me again if you still have questions after this.

Short version:

1. Find a reference picture or two

2. Copy or analyze/reconstruct the image(s) to the best of your ability. (If you’re going to share your art publicly, you should use a license-free image, or credit/ask the owner – assuming that your art and the reference are clearly similar.)

3. ???

4. Profit

Long version:

1. Gather good reference

Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram, Youtube, Google… the internet is full of attractive people. Find some pictures that look close to the result you want. I like workout videos or TV/movie scenes because it’s always useful to see your subject from multiple angles, and I can select the exact frames that look best to me.

Sometimes I use little action figures, or 3D models in apps like Skelly or Handy, when I’m trying to figure out a pose. You can also use pics of yourself or friends. A big mirror or a smartphone is all you need to be your own model.

Don’t hesitate to take inspiration from art you really like. Instead of copying it, analyze why it appeals to you, and see how you can apply that in your own work.

2. Draw the pose first!

One of my favorite general principles in art is to work from big to small, or general to specific.

Try to capture the basic shape and position of the pose before you consider individual muscles. Place the head, torso, and limbs as flat boxy shapes using straight lines or simple curves.

At this stage it’s still easy to make changes and correct things. Don’t rush ahead to the muscles before you’re satisfied with the pose.

This is more or less how I start a figure:

(Both of these dudes are missing a cranium, and there are other proportion issues, so don’t mistake this as reference for anything but the overall drawing approach.)

3. Think of muscles as flat shapes

Muscles are complex interlocking 3D forms, but you don’t have to think of them that way in the beginning, especially if you’re sticking close to your reference. It’s easier to map the positions of the muscles onto your blocked-in pose with straight lines and basic curves, just like you did for the head, torso, and limbs. (See the chest of the second figure I posted above.)

This step is all about creating a clear guide for your final lines.

4. Final lines (or) additional steps

At this point you can make the contour more realistic, get the muscles just right, and add in more details from your reference, because you’ve got the pose established and you’ve figured out where all the major shapes are placed. If you tried to do this all at once, without blocking in the pose, you’d probably end up with a figure that’s way out of proportion.

For the final lines, work on top of your sketch. If it’s a traditional drawing, erase the sketch with a kneaded eraser until you can barely see it. If it’s a digital drawing, just lower the opacity of your sketch layer and make a new layer for your final lines on top.

If you’re familiar with constructive drawing (using perspective knowledge to translate your 2D drawing into basic 3D shapes, like wireframes), now is a good time to take your sketch further, using cross-contour lines and more accurate forms to define the figure in 3D space. Then you can do the final line work, or move on to the lighting or coloring phase.

Art is hard, so try to keep things simple and focus on one thing at a time. I try to think in a step-by-step way even when I ignore my own advice and rush to finish a drawing.

Generally speaking, the pose and overall proportions are much more important than detailed anatomy. Anatomy is the icing on the cake.

Resources for learning!

I should say that the main thing I covered in this post is an approach to blocking in a figure from reference. I left out a lot of the form building stuff that I rely on for most of my work, because it’s a huge subject, and you can get great results without all the complications if you use good reference.

To get the most out of your reference, it helps to learn observational drawing. Dorian Iten’s accuracy guide has some very useful tips.

In addition to observational drawing from reference, I use a constructive drawing approach, which I learned from resources like this:

Draw a Box - A great intro to constructive drawing. Highly recommended.

Figure Drawing: Design and Invention by Michael Hampton - Great to study after you know basic form construction, and before you dig too deep into anatomy.

My all time favorite figure drawing teacher is Steve Huston. Brilliant teacher and equally good artist. His book, Figure Drawing for Artists: Making Every Mark Count, is the single best guide to figure drawing that I’ve found. Also check out his lessons on New Masters if you want to get really serious.

Bryan Lee has posted a lot of great figure drawing tutorials and notes on his DeviantArt page. You can dig up most of the good stuff in his Tutorials section, and by searching his gallery for notes.

—

My ego is forcing me to add a disclaimer: More experienced artists will see that the work I post here doesn’t really do justice to the principles I mentioned. Trust me, I know my doodles are a horror show of errors. This is my fanart blog for chillaxing and trying very hard not to be the perfectionist who hates everything that’s not fit for a professional portfolio.

#my asks #art advice #not art

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fate221 · 5 years

Note

Hey! Do you have any advice for people new to digital art!! I started recently but I'm having a really hard time especially with lineart and colors ;-;

Well digital art is such a huge and scary beast and it’s more than normal that you have difficulties with it. Tbh I still struggle with it a lot because I’m always afraid that i could do it better or that I should have been to choose absolutely another style for myself. Now my main struggle is a choice between more simple coloring with more sharp shadows and some kind of volume and more realistic lighting. I doubt very much now about all of this and wonder if my arts would be better and audience loved them more if I’d draw with sharp lineart and simple coloring.

Idk if I’m the only one who thinks that lol. I think that’s mostly because you have a really large amount of possibilities in digital art. Thousands of brushes, effects, instruments - all of this use to scare and make you confused. You don’t know where to start from or what you want from your style and how it should look like. And it’s normal, especially if you only started getting used to it. And you should be ready for that it’s gonna take a while before you finally feel comfortable with your style and digital art at all. However it all depends from the person.

So I would like to write some basic tips based on my own experience and thoughts and maybe it could help someone.

Find yourself a nice software you’d feel comfortable with. I wanted to make another post about my software but it’s for another time. I would recommend SAI or Sketchbook Pro for those who start. I still love them more than Krita and photoshop tbh because of simple interface and configurations.

Find tutorials for anatomy, expressions, all that stuff. Learn color theory, because that shit is really important in good illustration. Same goes to the laws of composition, lighting etc. Youtube has a lot of this things, also you can search on Pinterest.

Probably the most important tip: Don’t try to start from some difficult kind of drawing. And go to some kind of realism. Instead try to make a lot of pics with simple lineart and coloring, it will help you to get used to the pen and brushes and feel more confident. Many artists who only start try immediately to draw some very cool difficult idea with cool lighting and volume and details (trust me I was lterally that person) but I think it’s better to make just a lot of simple colored pics probably even with lineart + solid colors + blush for example instead of one big and “detailed’. I failed with that so much.

Make studies. Make a lot of studies. Of everything - poses, faces, environment. Just try to copy screencaps from shows or cool pics on Pinterest with trying to analyze how lighting and stuff works or which instruments are better for you. Plus studies often help to understand how color theory and composition work especially when you make them from someone’s already made pieces such as photos and movies. that’s just like in real life when you sketch smth or smb from real life, or make gestures drawings. It’s easier in digital because you can train yourself in coloring too without a need of thousands of coloring art stuff.

Make a lot of observation. Open an acc of your favourite artist. What features of their style do you like the most? Maybe they have a certain way of drawing eyes or noses, or maybe they usually add to line bright colors or make those good looking outlines with lighten color? Try to note these features and use in your drawings so you’d feel more satisfied with final result. Go watch their speedpaints so it would be easier to understand how stuff works. Don’t try to copy, just note some things you love the most about them.

Use references. It really can help with understanding what atmosphere you want from your piece, lighting, environment => it would be easier to imagine it in your head and I think that it’s already a half-finished work if you have a really clear imagine of the final piece in your head with poses, lighting and stuff. I always spend a while for imagining what I want from drawing, often while being on my way to university in a subway, listening to some themed music. Also I used references for my latest Halloween and autumn pieces. It’s not that you copy stuff - more like try to analyze how to make your drawing more realistic and detailed.

Use different modes of the layers. That’s honestly the best what the God of Digital Art could gift us. My leaders are definitely Glowing and Overlay. Also I would recommend to use rather Multiply mode for shadows than trying to draw them with just same color but darker. You can draw shadows with just purple or brown and than just use Multiply so the they would look more natural. The same goes to everything else - from backgrounds to lighting. These modes can become your true saviour in tough times.

Flip your canvas horizontally all the time to see the mistakes in anatomy, faces and stuff.

Don’t use too much texture brushes. Seriously they are good but sometimes you only need the most simple ones to create a decent piece.

And of course the very-very main advice. Without it everything I told above loses its sense completely. PRACTICE! Just practice-practice-practice, draw thousands of pics, sketches, try different styles, experiment. It’s the best way to get used to digital art and understand what is comfortable for you and what is not. Experience is really important in this field. Don’t expect that it would turn out immediately perfect and remember that with every piece you become better and more confident. Every finished drawing makes you closer to success and satisfaction from what you do. The most important thing is to not give up. Look for inspiration in songs, people, everything around you, try to make drawings of it, sketches, whatever. Just make a lot of that. Really a lot. Of course with analyze and permanent observation. That’s the only valid way to success.

These are very rough and maybe I forgot some important parts but tbh I wish someone told me these while I just started to draw digitally. Honestly a really good observation and practice make perfect and I understood it pretty good for these months.

#tips

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svpcrnova-blog · 5 years

Text

( genderfluid ) haven’t seen MARS NOVA around in a while. the AMANDA ARCURI lookalike has been known to be UPBEAT & ADAPTIVE, but THEY/SHE/HE can also be MISCHEVIOUS & DISHONEST. The 20-year-old is a SOPHOMORE majoring in ASTROPHYSICS. I believe they’re living in AUDAX but I popped by earlier and no one answered the door. ( ral. 21. gmt+1. she/her. )

hi hello it is i, ral, let me entertaaaaain uuuu introduce myself and my idiot child, mars: im from belgium, the land of chocolate and fries, an 21, the age of anxiety and tears, and am v excited to join y’all!!! under the cut you can find (a lot of) info about human garbage can mars also here you can find their pinterest board and here some wcs!!

anyways hit me up if you like what you read and you wanna plot!! i’ll complete the first task and post a starter soon (also the second task bc mars’ secret is pretty integral to their whole character lol)

mars’ real name is not mars, it’s a nickname and a fake name too, they change it every few years; they picked a space related one because space is awesome

so mars is genderfluid, but they don’t make a big deal about it; if you ask them, they’ll say you can use whichever pronoun you want, she, he or they. most people just use she, which is 100% okay. they won’t announce it or anything, if it comes up in conversation, they mention it.

also they’re pan but they usually just make a pun about it and that’s it

(tbh i’ll probably change their pronouns as im writing mars is a v inconsistent human when it comes to lol everything but also pronouns. just. chaos!!)

they got adopted when they were around 4 years old after their family was accidentally involved in a shooting. john was around because he was involved as well, felt guilty, and took the kiddo in since they had no other family.

mars is v used to change, they travel around a lot since john does a lot of small jobs here and there, some of them legal, most of them kind of dodgy. ofc no one knows this. (more about this in task nr. 2!)

has lived in a lot of weird places: a boat, a mobilome, a trailer, on random people’s couches, etc. has developed the ability to fall asleep everywhere, in every position

john started saving up for college for mars because they wanted to give them a chance at education and a stabler life and mars said yes when john asked bc a break would be nice. they transferred to lockwood after their first year after starting a year late.

mars is a very upbeat and happy person, they bounce around and babble enthusiastically whenever they meet someone new. they're very sociable and friendly, honestly, they like most people they meet. to be honest, the grumpier the human, the more morph likes them. since their dad is quite silent and broody, they’ve grown to really like that kind of person. but they aren’t picky honestly. if you can put up with their shenanigans, everything is a-okay

at the same time they’re very closed, which means they answer every slightly personal question with a wild, uncoherent story. even their birthday no one knows. like they’re not your typical secretive broody human, you just realise that at the end of the day, even though mars talks a lot, you barely know anything about their personal life

they didn’t know tatiana very well but were still shocked when they found her dead. they didn’t pick her name though so they feel like it’s not their fault

mars loves loves loves pranks. combined with the fact that they have no sense of people’s boundaries and a lot of slightly shady life skills means they’ve pulled up some crazy shit. sometimes they go a bit too far which makes people upset but they pester them with love until they give up.

space is their big passion, also aliens are reals, mars will fight you about this. they study astrohphysics and man nasa better get ready to offer them a job or mars will be….Sad

mars changes their hair and personal style like,,,, every week? one day they have blue hair and wear all black leather, other days it’s bubblegum pink and flowers everywhere, other days it’s just brown hair and oversized t-shirts with ugly 80s prints. karma karma chameleeeooon

listens to a lot of music, a lot of styles, it changes with the day, has many Opinions™. their fave however will always be david bowie

mars is a big ol’ coward, even though they and their daddy-o have done some truly shady stuff, they will avoid confrontation at all cost. like, they could totally fuck you up if you wanna fight but…..they don’t want to fight they’d rather hide until the coast is clear

v weird studying habits (reading upside down works for them okay!!) has marker all over their face 50% of the time. likes to stick pencils in their space buns. once filled in an exam with a glitter gel pen n got excellent marks. procrastinator but pulls everything together at the last moment. gets distracted by………..everything (omg look at that fat pigeon!!)

100% meme trash. will send you pics of funny looking dogs at 3am. speaks mostly in vine references

#(lol the gif is v mars)#water:intro #(also pls hit me up i swear im friendly!!)

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empressxmachina · 5 years

Photo

Welcome Home, Sasha - One. by Imperial-Radiance (aka me)

To set the mood:

Alexa, play this video containing simulated spaceship bedroom ambiance and featuring a fairly complementing background fitting for the first half of this part.

As for this preview pic that resembles the helm in the second half of this part, it's this picture off Pinterest, I think.

Now, the story...

“So, can you tell me anything about why the hell they were getting emulsified by Commander Martin back there?”

“Yes.”

“Uh, will you?”

“In due course, sure. But everything you need to know, for now, you already do.”

“Well, fuck.”

If you oversleep, then don’t expect to get work or pay during the day. That was one of the general, unspoken rules aboard the space station Novis, and Lieutenant Sasha Keeling had prayed that the team with whom he was meant to scout would be as apathetic as usual and not catch him arriving late to training. Or, they would at least allow him to pull some sort of overtime to make up for the time lost: not much, considering all he had done for them already just trying to fit in.

Washing up and putting on his suit in record time, Sasha had zipped out of his quarters and through the space station’s corridors, hoping to catch up with his presumed partners before they made any bold decisions without him. But they had.

Where he had expected to find them in Hangar C, conversing by and packing gear into the eldest’s parked spaceship, he instead found an empty parking space that had run cold. Any other day, Sasha would’ve just figured that its owner was out for a test run with his partners being elsewhere in Novis doing other things. But, the lack of message left for him, them not answering his calls for verification, and the teasing expressions and chuckles from those in the hanger that caught sight of him set in stone that they not only left him in the space dust but used him, never going to bring him along in the first place.

Sasha hadn’t had much time to wallow in his embarrassment, though he definitely lived up to his given nickname of Sasha the Sheepish. As he turned around to head back to his quarters to nap and drink his shame away, he was stopped by a familiar but a nowadays not-so-frequent face.

He, a superior on various levels except for height, had known all too well that Sasha had no business being in the hangar. He wasn’t enlisted for any mission at the time, yet there he was, ragged looking with his auburn locks going in all directions and his deep-set chestnut eyes no better but everywhere else suited up like it should’ve been.

Sasha easily saw the judgment on his senior’s face, watching his facial muscles squirm and lift the textured, ebony hairs above and on it. But rather than being scolded on the spot as he and all the now silenced onlookers expected, the higher-up just guided him away from all their eyes to his haven with no questions asked, where he could take him in all for himself.

It wasn’t the first time Tshepo Azikiwe, a Novis admiral, had brought him into his laboratory, finally greeting the shy subordinate with a “Glad You’re Back” upon arrival, but Sasha never thought that particular meeting then – one predicted to be another one-hour lecture on how he shouldn't be so susceptible to first-time kindness – would eventually lead to him taking the role not of just a passenger but of his Mission Specialist and potential copilot in Tshepo’s own ship, the Demeter, light years away from Novis and headed to… to…

“Can you at least tell me where we’re going?” the now lackadaisical lieutenant probed in the present from down the hall, voice floating through the cracked open, milky glass doorway dividing the helm from the rest of the dark and dim ship.

As far as he could tell, there was a blur on all the windows, and all the mapping systems in the Demeter except those in the cockpit were shut down. Sasha had no way of detecting where they were in the caverns of space, and there was no way he was going to be able to get Tshepo's lenses off him that did.

To combat the boredom and Tshepo’s silence on the matters ensued, Sasha wondered to himself, lain with one foot on the bed of his cold cabin, twiddling and examining a miniature of a NASA Space Shuttle from years – decades, a century – past he’s had since childhood between his fingers. He gazed at it intently, still enamored by its attention to detail and maintained quality for something so small and ancient. He could even imagine almost undetectable, tiny navigators inside the orbiter, fiddling with the controls at the helm.

As fun as it was to wonder, it wasn’t long before a wave of angst came through, making him reminisce of its and thus his own origins: his home world he hadn’t seen for over a decade.

Every day, he wondered what his life could’ve been if things didn’t go as they did. Perhaps, he would've been an Earth-based astronaut for NASA rather than the distant affiliate he was now, helping and being a part of humanity directly rather than perusing the galaxies for the unknown just to keep the peace. It would sure be less hectic than potentially starting a war every moment solely by existing.

“Have you finished setting up the mods on your suit?” Tshepo tested back from the driver’s seat, glancing at the rearview mirror propped to aim back toward the lantern-lit dormitory.

It was a simple yes-or-no question: one of the few static binaries in the ever-expanding universe. So, how would a non-answer such as the one Sasha gave for a duration fit into the equation? The jab-less silence from Sasha was telling enough on its own, but with the distant footsteps and rustling and creaking of the bed that followed, along with another verbalized “Fuck”, Tshepo knew his authority still held its strength.

“I thought so,” he chuckled, focusing back on the expanse in front of him. “I figured you would’ve at least tried to get it calibrated, but there’s no use worrying about that now.”

Sasha set his toy down on his bedside table with a groan and hoisted himself off the bed to do as he had been instructed (after volunteering) to do. He began to stretch, attempting to revitalize his limbs and loosen his muscles, simultaneously scanning what practically was his second home – third, counting his quarters on Novis.

A quaint hovel, his cabin was: a mobile, cup-sized, soup can of a capsule containing bits and pieces of him, old and new. Although the technological intricacies of his intergalactic escapades were worthily glorified – the inner, emerald luminescence and trackers of his spacesuit, prototypes and mockups of Tshepo’s various experiments, including those to which Sasha contributed, cycling through a Holo-Display and its cyan figures on his desk, the marvel that was the Demeter itself, etc. – the images of the relatively domestic side of his life overshadowed them through their simplicity and wholesomeness.

Many scoffs and looks of confusion were always sent Sasha’s way about his suit and all of the old-school references and icons of Earth-centric media scattered on its chest plate via decals, but he never batted an eye at them, not ashamed of his roots one bit. Those sentiments spread to more than just absorbed culture, exemplified by all the pictures and video clips of Sasha’s various achievements, large and small, Tshepo pasted across the walls, ranging from his first time completing the Zero-G Hero’s Course as a wee kiddo with bruises for days to the recent ceremony locking in his promotion to Chief Atmospheric Engineer.

Being just twenty years old and hand-picked by the commander, it was an honor in numerous aspects. He had quite a lot for which he could be celebrated, even if his so-called peers took heed to never acknowledge it. Tshepo had every right to be proud of him, but Sasha always wished for the recognition from someone else: two specific people, actually.

Right next to the head of his bed, now behind the Space Shuttle model, was not a hologram or 3D print but an actual paper-printed and framed photo of a preschooler-aged Sasha and his parents together back on Earth. A smaller print also found itself pinned by his heart in his suit, adding to the tradition of having one within every uniform he had had over the years. Looking at the picture, no one would’ve been able to tell the magnitude of the global chaos lingering in its background and out of the frame that eventually led to Sasha’s relocation: just a sweet, happy, space-loving family unit he dearly missed.

Although Tshepo was great in filling the void of his needs and most of his wants, Sasha knew it wasn’t what he wanted deep down. He was never totally sure why his parents couldn’t come with him, let alone why he had to go in the first place. With the fancy gadgets, doodads, and documents they kept around the house as far as he remembered, they had to have been qualified to study the stars and all they held, much more than where he was now. But, what could he do about it, a galaxy or several away? All current worries about them would be produced in vain.

Eventually, his stretching session ended, his eyes shined from familial remembrance, and his hands went for his helmet sat at the foot of the bed. Upon grabbing it and staring into its innards, though, Sasha’s humility toward his abilities and its complementing worries were reignited and heightened as a recollection of Tshepo’s remark burrowed itself deep into Sasha’s consciousness, not for what he said specifically but what was inferred.

“Wait, what?” Sasha muttered to himself, looking back and forth between the helmet and the rest of his suit, trying to remember how to even do the procedure. “If the calibration should’ve been done before landing, then why shouldn’t I be worried about doing it now?”

“Because we’re here.”

Before he could combat Tshepo’s sudden statement, Sasha could sense the truth enveloping under him, feeling and hearing the vibrations and power of the rockets and engines transitioning into the settings needed for a soft landing. As gravity began taking effect on the ship with its descent, Sasha took the moment to look over his shoulder to whatever he could see through his window. Out of all places to which they could’ve been headed, Sasha was shocked to find primarily warm reds, oranges, and browns in view: a spectrum of a hazily familiar planet that usually didn’t require any secrecy to reference.

Perhaps, his eyes were deceiving him, trying to give him a sense of comfort being thrust into what would probably be a challenge. After all, there had to be some reason why Tshepo chose him over someone else with more experience in, well, anything. To see if he truly earned his engineering chiefdom? To test his accuracies as the biogenesist he had been building himself to be through years of lab and class study? Just because he’s a favorite, more or less like a son or brother? With the almost missed plop and anchoring of the Demeter’s landing gear onto an apparently land surface, boosting his hypothesis of their location, it was time to find out.

Feeling confident in where they were, Sasha didn’t bother putting on the helmet just yet, walking out of his cabin with it in one arm while the other tapped his breastplate right above his tucked-in family portrait as both a goodbye and a wish for luck to himself. However, rather than seeing Tshepo doing the same with his suit, approaching him from the helm, Sasha found him still sitting there in the pilot’s chair, not having moved and looking as though he wasn’t going to move, either.

“Uh, are you not coming, Ki?” Sasha queried, stepping across the metal flooring past the lavatory and little lounge area for eating and through the foggy-glassed doorway to his friend/mentor/caretaker with a knock upon entrance.

Tshepo perked up at the polite signaling along with the endearing nickname. While he didn’t feel that Sasha’s feelings toward him had changed since boarding the ship, it was still nice to hear them being as strong as ever, even if they had a sheer veil of sadness over them. The youngling’s sideward approach, leaning close by on the copilot’s chair – his if he wished to contribute – to see his doings hammered their veracity in deeper, making keeping the confidentiality alive all the more difficult with him right there.

“I will if necessary,” he chided, not looking at Sasha as he adjusted the switches, buttons, and screens at the helm.

Only seconds later, Tshepo felt Sasha bend toward him, breaths passing along the bushel of hair across the underside of his chin as the young adult gazed, trying to comprehend anything in sight. He was nervous momentarily, but the worries subsided when Sasha admitted defeat, ultimately sighing and returning to standing position, unable to read the respectively alien language everything was set to. Luckily, their orientation allowed for Tshepo to pull a smirk without notice, glad that his translation scheme actually worked.

“But, right now, I have to make sure levels stay in order,” he continued, finally glancing up at his youthful familiar. “The connectivity to Novis, the Demeter’s power bank, the mods on your suit…”

“And, why can’t you come with me to do that?” Sasha considered through an almost childlike whine. For one, his Ki to the cosmos wasn’t as locked down as he usually was. Or, maybe he was too much so. Either way, it was weird. “Surely, this mission of yours, whatever it is, isn’t time sensitive. You would’ve brought more people with us if that were true.”

“Well, you’re right about the timing. This is a mission searching for accuracy and detail of the ecosphere rather than time being of the essence. Though, being punctual is never a bad thing. After all, your current timeline would be totally different if you had followed that rule, wouldn’t it?”

Sasha caught the reference of petty, partner neglect immediately and couldn’t hold back an audible groan, earning a giggle from Tshepo.

“Anyway,” the youngster tried putting the conversation back on course, “I can wait for you to do your domestic thingies first or even help you with them, and then we can do whatever bio-survey we need to do with you moderating the mods as needed.”

“My suit can only protect me, not monitor you,” Tshepo prompted him, “and the mods are only on yours. They’re still on a test run for which you’ve accepted being the lab rat, so I can only do my part from here.”

Completely disregarding the lack of protection implied, Sasha conceded,

“Fine. Whatever you say, Ki.” He tossed and spun his helmet in the air, catching it like a basketball and observing it like a crystal ball. “I did say ‘Yes’ and all, so I don’t want you to turn me in for insubordination or some shit like that. Not that you would, but I’m not risking it with this secrecy schtick you’re playing right now.”

Tshepo expelled a moan of disappointment, hearing his apprentice of sorts somberly drag him through the ground for what had to be one of the biggest miscommunications in the universe. “All I ask of you is to trust me when I say that everything will be clear as soon as you get out there. Okay?”

Rather than addressing him back directly, Sasha, against his instincts, started setting and securing his helmet on its proper place on his collar, hearing the clicks and suctions of locks and beeps of computer systems turning on to standby, waiting for further instruction. He then turned his gaze away and resumed his ranting through a mutter to himself, given Tshepo’s new, closer proximity,

“You’re already delaying clarifying stuff I was a witness for – what I saw and heard, so I guess it’s not that much of a stretch to think you’d hide stuff I don’t know, too.”

“Sasha, you know I always try to have your best intentions in mind,” Tshepo reminded, rising from his seat and setting a gentle hand on Sasha’s shoulder with an equally endearing soft, russet stare.

Doing so kept the youngling from walking toward the entry latch and expanding both the physical and emotional distance between them just yet. The young man already had enough to be sad about as is, and while the truth would just make it worse, Tshepo didn’t want it holding him back until it was right in front of him with no yield.

“I didn’t think I had to explain how this actually wasn’t a mission for you,” he added with a lecturing cadence, “and I wasn’t supposed to bring you with me but did anyway.”

From the gasp and look Sasha made back, it was obvious to Tshepo that his apprentice wasn’t aware of the helmet’s microphone’s immediate powering on upon placement along with that tiny truth. His slender suit may have been built fully in crimson with an almost radioactive glow of green in every vent and sliver inside and out, it didn’t dampen out the blushing that crept on Sasha’s cheeks through the viewing window.

“Really?” Sasha finally replied after a pregnant pause, to which he received an authoritative nod. If his helmet wasn’t mushing his wispy locks down, then he would’ve been combing through or twirling the ends of them with a hand out of embarrassment: a habit burned into him since he was tween-aged. “Then, why in the fuck did you bring me? Why am I here at all?”

“I already said I can’t test and check at the same time. I have my other reasons for breaking my binds, but don’t tell me you can’t do something as simple as making sure the mods work on the field?”

“Whoa, hold up,” Sasha breathed, not expecting an interrogation, let alone one so seemingly lighthearted. “What are you implying?”

“I don’t know, perhaps that your savant-like styles of science and surveying are bounded by walls.”

As quickly as it came, Sasha’s shame was soon lifted, catching the challenge within Tshepo’s now-apparently friendly berating all the fatherlier. Little did he know that his eventual acceptance of it was falling right into Tshepo's plan. When fitting in a place of comfort, Sasha's cockiness and confidence weren’t hard to pop out.

“No, no. You and I both know that's not true!” Sasha announced, playfully scoffing. “If the commander himself had enough faith to get me promoted – something I'm still not sure I deserve but am grateful of, nonetheless – then I can do a little scan or two. Watch me; I won't let you down.”

“I never thought you would,” Tshepo smiled, patting his youngster's back as he headed for the entry latch to head out. “Just make sure the mods are functional.”

Silence filled the airwaves as Sasha loosened the suction of the heavy latch and trekked down the pebbly path of the exit. He expected to hear winds or animals of the environment or voices of technicians waiting for his arrival, but, surprisingly, he heard nothing on the outside. There was only him, his thoughts, and the beeps and dynamics of his suit. If they weren't the medley of sounds that he was used to on the daily, having never really been talkative with anyone except those of the few positions higher than himself, then he would've thought it was weird.

The young engineer had just made it to the external opening, just about to be exposed to the mystery destination one-on-one, before he heard Tshepo’s voice again.

“One more thing before you go,” he directed through the microphone. “As much as I want you to be quick and correct…” He struggled to find the right words, not wanting to give away the truth about their reason for usage prematurely. “…tread lightly.”

“I, uh…” Sasha caught the hesitation in his voice, frazzled by the strange instruction, but not wanting to restart another uncomfortable back-and-forth, he brushed it aside. Instead, he looked to the metallic, light tessellated walls and ceilings for the camera Tshepo had to have been using to see him, found it, and acknowledged him with a promising salute as he signaled for the doors to open and the exit ramp to be unraveled. “I’m on it.”

Before either of them knew it, the sensors were set off, and the Demeter opened its maw to reveal its insignificant, human inhabitant and release him to the vastness of the unknown, outside world.

#my writing #welcome home sasha #there's no g/t yet but you know there will be #space fic

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nothliu-blog · 4 years

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Art Games (Independent Study)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfH64wUC8-IW1,2 Task:

1.find references about Art games.

2.Pinterest.

3.Five ideas for midterm.

4.Ten good game examples (video games or traditional).

5. Readings: works of game p1-8, Pound-stone pdf.

6.150 words thoughts on the reading.

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My note Below:

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1.Game of memory: involves mnemonic principles and techniques used to organize memory impressions, improve recall; includes the association of emotionally striking memory images within visualized locations, the chaining or association of groups of images...

2.Conclusion of Game theory: Game theory started as a mathematical exploration of human behaviors.The point of game theory is to understand decision making.

What needs to be considered in game theory: Does a certain player always have an advantage, no matter the behavior of the other players? Or is the game always balanced, as long as the players involved make intelligent decisions most of the time?

Emotions:

3.Game theory in Game Design: https://www.gamedesigning.org/learn/game-theory/

The point of game theory is to understand decision making.

If there is a choice players can make in a game to give themselves an unfair advantage, a few players will find it and start abusing it.

{Tips for me: It’s possible to use a game theory decision matrix and build backwards to reverse engineer a game. You’ll probably want to start simple with this one, because the more decisions you add, the exponentially more complex the game can get.}

4.The Chinese Room Experiment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0MD4sRHj1M

5.Turning test: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test

6.Prisoners' dilemma: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkXI-zPcDIM&feature=youtu.be

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Tasks:

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I.References about art games:

https://vimeo.com/127253695

College 1:https://vimeo.com/94303542

College 2:https://vimeo.com/40505337

Big keyboard:https://vimeo.com/232666774

Group work and shared results:https://vimeo.com/106589895

II. Ten good games (I analyzed their advantages):

1.The Magic tower (strategy game): Players have very limited resources (HP MP keys etc.) to make their way upstairs to the top of tower (50 floors). So players have to make very wise decision each time. This kind of challenge motivates players eager to get to the tower top.

https://www.solitaireparadise.com/games_list/tri_towers_solitaire.html

2. Traditional magic cube & Chinese puzzle rings: Players need to memorize each of their step very well, and sometimes need to think backwards.

3.Paper fortune teller: Super easy to play with, but gives complex and interesting results. The strategy is to do a good math about odd and even numbers. However, it still involved a lot of randomness. Also, the game designer (2nd pic) have the complete right to decide the probability of “good and bad” things, which attracts players curiosity.

4. Pick stick game: It needs some physical skill, and involves lots of randomness. Unlike most strategy games, It’s mostly unpredictable. It’s a slow process that good to kill people’s time.

5. The Jungle game: It’s an animal chess. The most interesting part is that the food chain design. It’s an endless circle: because mouse seems the weakest animal in jungle but it can actually kill elephant, who seems at the top of the food chain. Maybe because of this, the chess is super playable.

6. Drop the Handkerchief and Musical chair: This two games are all team games which force players stressful and afraid of “die” because of inadequate resources. The way for them to “make a living” is to rob other people’s resources directly or indirectly. Players can only take actions on certain moment or complete actions in every limited time. In my opinion, these games are more like “limited time robbery game”.

7.Maria Stella: For players, the trigger behavior is super easy, just spin the plate, and there will be maybe hundreds of possibilities of the result. But it’s a lot of work for game designer the design the “events”. But they get the right to decide the probability. It’s a game of chance.

8. EUCLID’S ELEMENTS and the FEZ game: The two games all “play trick on 2d and 3d”. EUCLID’S ELEMENTS is taking advantage of 3D to explain 2D stuffs. But the FEZ game as a game, it does the opposite: it blokes players’ 3D vision, and tell them to finish task that only can be done in 3D. But there will be clues provided to help players to solve seemingly impossible tasks.

In my opinion, it’s like solving puzzles in a creative way.

FEZ - Game designers’ vision - players can see it (If players see it, all the puzzles will be solved).

FEZ: Players’ 2D vision.

9. Untitled goose game: https://store.steampowered.com/app/837470/Untitled_Goose_Game/

As a narrative game, there’s no demo gameplay instructions or text instructions for players (which is rare). It only provides players with some simple “emoji like” conversations between NPCs.

This kind of direction of interaction is what I appreciate most. It’s an easy and efficient way for understanding what’s going on.

10. VR Chat:

https://www.vrchat.com

You can immerse your whole body into the virtual world. It’s based on the VR device set Oculus Quest. You play a virtual character that customized by you. The device track your body gestures and positions. So, your interactions among people are very close to reality. However, the real fun is still hide your real appearance and most importantly - emotions. I feel like this “game” can become the future way of life.

You can join realistic events in the community.

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III. Thoughts on Readings:

My biggest reflection is, “Human beings being mortal, no recreational game is intended to go on forever.” I find some parts the reading boring (about a half), especially when author explained some mathematic field in game theory. Unlike games, most of the game theory examples just don't have enough rewards for participants’ efforts. Most strategies are charts of probabilities, just like the basic model of Prisoners' dilemma.

1. Poundstone Game_Theory:

I strongly agree with: Jacob Bronowski , he wrote "You must see that in a sense all science, all human thought, is a form of play. Abstract thought is the neotenyl of the intellect, by which man is able to carry out activities which have no immediate goal (other animals play only while young) in order to prepare himself for long-term strategies and plans." So I think that’s why I sometimes feel most human activities involve game theory.

Borel posed the basic questions of game theory: for what games is there a best strategy, and how does one find such a strategy? This question really burns my head off.

In the Cake Division example, game theory is mostly about fairness.

“Chess is not a game, von Neumann told Bronowski. He meant that there is a ‘correct’ way(s) to play the game.” Therefore, in some cases, other than game designers, designers of interactive installations aren’t designing a games, because they expect audience to accomplish a task in only one predictable way. For example: For my thesis, in my anticipation, only when the two audience show the same facial expression at the same time, the shards image they see will become an image of complete object.

“Unfortunately, the complexity of games, and of the necessary com- putations, increases exponentially with the number of players.” “Von Neumann and Morgenstern point out that a zero-sum n-person game is in effect a function ofn variables, or alternatively, an n-dimensional matrix.” This two sentences warns me the difficulty of my thesis, but also tells me is solvable using game theory.

2. Works of Game 1-8:

I love the phrase “new ways of using games to think about the rest of the world”. And Bill Viola’s work “The night journey” has more concerns of artistic practice. Also, I find some other works of Bill Viola has been used of “game strategies”. For example, “Catherine's Room” isn’t like a game at all, it’s with pure art elements, but the composition of the visual remind me of some video game settings. It’s one certain character in different situations that may be the different results of players’ decisions.

“Catherine's Room”

The second example is “Mártires”, which is my favorite one. The best strategy Bill uses is to make viewers confuse about time. There’s 4 events below. Each event has two possibilities: the video is played in normal real life speed, another possibility is the video reversed. For example, viewers may think: Is the man being burned by fire? Or the man escapes from fire? Moreover, 4 events link with each other in some kind of narrative tension. So Bill really grabs viewers interest and make them busy of comparing different events with each other.

“Mártires”

At the end of the introduction, “Chess is an idea space and a material from which art can be made.” This make me begin to think what “material” I need for my project.

At first, I need to know what’s my goal. My goal is hiding some information away from players’ view, and lead them to find something that I’m hidden. Or the result can be unknown.

I would like to use a “puzzle-like-game” form, because before the puzzle is completed, people don’t know what the “game” creator wants to say. The need some kind of instruction to complete the puzzle. So, what I need to think of is the instruction part. I’ll make the instruction not so directly so that players can devote more time spending on my art game. But the instruction should also be attractive to ensure that people won’t feel bored while interacting with it.

And I’ll be focused mainly on visual instructions other than texts or sound.

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V. Midtterm ideas:

1.”A Soft Murmur” - Guess the mood of each random sound mix.

https://asoftmurmur.com

The result will be in form of record of the guessing and the analysis of sound components. Then I’ll infer the impact of each sound component on our moods.

2. Transparent puzzle: each piece of the puzzle is transparent, instead of putting them together by the edge (horizontally), players can put them together vertically. The result may be only one or multiple ones. Material: transparent acrylic (pattens will be engraved on them), software: Photoshop/Illustrator.

3. Create my own game wheel/target kit. And assign my own possible events by dividing them into even areas. Record the result of playing each time.

4. Create colleges of “random food generator”: https://www.randomlists.com/food?dup=false&qty=3. Form of results: images. Software: Photoshop/Illustrator.

5.Make a contradictory space like "FEZ” game - let players successfully get through left to right on the screen (maybe in limited time). But put fewer and fewer clues, until players can’t get over the space. Form: screenshot of unity (the space will be switched between 3D and 2D visual effect, but they’ll still be made in 3D form). The result: show the image when players fail.

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W3 Midterm ideas and reading:

1.Reading: Radical game review

I’m interested in The sim game. And I found something interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWaULYGNRiE

I’m shock to see the workflow of designing the prototype of this game.

But as a player, I feel pretty nature to be immersed in the game.

However, for board games, I’m not every into it. It take much time to finish one

round, and if you fail, it sometimes not that fun. Too me, I want to design one kind of game that doesn’t have the result of win or lose. And unpredictable is the key (weather it’s random or in orders). But at least, it has some certain rules to follow.

“The authors are also interested in how games are emerging around the news, beyond the “doing” of traditional news tasks. Literacy news games seek to educate journalists and the public.”

So, Instead of doing traditional tasks, give players more free will to explore new staff, new different ways to achieve sth.

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W4: Midterm

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0330: zoom

Links to look at:

1. The case for video games:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afjbOpnJni0

2.https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/03/27/video-shows-cell-phones-on-florida-beach-during-spring-break-and-where-theyve-travelled-during-coronavirus-outbreak

3. 2D game into 3D game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_S3fX4F9nU&t=112s

4.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_S3fX4F9nU&t=112s

5.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfH64wUC8-I

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Final Project:

dsfsfsa

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tipsycad147 · 5 years

Text

Five hard truths about magick

Posted by Michelle Gruben on Mar 29, 2019

Of the many laws of magick, there are a few that you’ll never see on a T-shirt or affirmation board. Here, we’ll cover some of the tough stuff: The harsh, the unsettling, the ambiguous facts of living an enchanted life.

This article was inspired by some recent discussions of false positivity—that is, the habitual repetition of encouraging words and images. In short, false positivity means well, but it does harm by shutting down discussion of anything problematic. You can’t hide the truth forever—and when you try, it seeps out in sneaky and unexpected ways.

There are certain aspects of magick that are difficult to come to terms with. The purpose of airing them is not to discourage anyone from their path, but to counter some of the shallow advice and empty promises that the witchy blogosphere churns out.

It’s time for some straight talk about magick—some Swords to go with your Cups, some Rue with your Roses.

1. It's not for everybody.

Can anyone become a Witch? Any honest answer to this question is complicated. In some ways, yes—the magickal arts are open to all who seek them. In other ways, no. Some people lack the gifts, the learning—but most often, the dedication—to become effective practitioners of the Craft.

These two are the fundamental magickal skills: The ability to alter reality through will. And, the ability to perceive things beyond the normal senses. These experiences are part of our natural state of being. They are, in a sense, the birthright of every conscious creature.

Yet these abilities are constrained on our earthly plane and must be located and cultivated. You need a strong will to accomplish this. It takes repetition. It takes humility. It often requires help from others—partners, spirits, plants, disparate parts of self—whose cooperation you must earn.

In short, excelling in magick is just like excelling in business or music or athletics. Not every aspirant will have what it takes. Talent only gets you so far. Hard work isn’t always enough. Sometimes you do everything right and still don’t get the results you want.

It’s not easy. It’s not for everyone (or at least, not all of the time).

2. Real witchcraft isn't photogenic.

Thick black eyeliner, a bespoke cloak, moon tattoos, and a table full of Amethysts—that’s what magick is made of, right? Sure, if you believe the internet. Like so many other things, witchcraft has been co-opted in recent years by lifestyle bloggers and taste makers, advertisers and influences. Super-stylish, just-edgy-enough witchy pics go hand-in-hand with the idea that magick is a piece of cake.

What’s wrong with enjoying all these highly preformative images of witchcraft? Nothing! There’s no reason a person can’t be genuinely magickal and also extremely good at self-presentation. Visual art is a kind of magick, too. However, let’s not make the mistake of confusing Instagram witches with the real thing.

It’s even possible for personal magick and social media to work at cross-purposes. Oversharing violates the principle of magickal silence—the idea that talking about your workings can dilute or disperse their energy. People who endlessly photograph their working tools, altars, and ritual garments are arguably siphoning off some of their power for the sake of likes and followers.

Thinking back about the most powerful magick I’ve witnessed, much of it has been in the dark, among old or shabbily dressed people, with nary a smartphone in sight. The most eye-opening books I own are crappy dog-eared paperbacks that would look terrible in a tableau with a crystal pendant and a sprig of Rosemary. Pinterest offers no altar porn for the third eye…you’ll have to find those goodies on your own.

3. Magick is dangerous.

The Satanic Panic of the 1990s was in full swing when I first embarked on my magickal studies. The media often reported on the addiction, insanity, and death that were the obvious consequences of dabbling in the occult. Religious tracts and books warned against the dangers of “gateway” activities like drum circles and Harry Potter books. I used to hoard these writings and snicker at them. What a quaint idea—that devils stalk the earth, seeking the ruin of souls through Ouija boards and zodiac pendants!

With more experience, I see a grain of truth in those zealous warnings. It’s not all rainbows and butterflies out there, folks. Different magicians have different opinions about whether spirit entities have an external reality or only dwell within the mind of the magick worker. I can’t prove it either way, of course. But my own instinct says that entities are real, they have independent consciousness, and not all of them have your best interests in mind.

Not scared of spirits? Fine—let’s go to the energy model of magick. Playing with spiritual technologies—meditation, invocation, astral travel—can cause extreme and rapid shifts in your energy body. They can wreck your appetite and mess with your sex life. They can effect changes in your mood and sleep cycle that will disrupt every aspect of your daily existence.

Other hazards of the occult are more pedestrian: You can become arrogant (common!). You can turn into a colossal bore who only talks to plants (and even the plants wish you would shut up). You can invite the scorn of people who don’t approve of your path, people who formerly respected you. It’s hard to keep your spiritual and mundane lives in balance—but it’s absolutely necessary if you want to make magick a lifelong quest.

Anything worthwhile carries some risk. With magick, we are talking about nothing less than the rapid evolution of the soul…so it only makes sense than the risks would be commensurate with the reward. Only you can weigh the dangers and decide if it’s worth doing. (See #1: It’s not for everybody.)

4. You (probably) need tools for effective spellwork.

“Cast spells without tools!”

“The secret of mental magick!”

“Advanced witchcraft!”

There’s a whole slew of authors and teachers offering instruction in tool-less spellcraft. And yeah, technically they’re correct: The only tool you really need is your focused, unadulterated Will.

But therein lies the problem. How many of us actually possess a focused, unadulterated Will? We’re human! Our thoughts are always mixed with distractions, mental noise, memories, and misgivings. Magick without tools is theoretically do-able…but in practice, it’s rarely as effective.

It’s true that intention is the most important component in spellwork. It’s true, also, that the more practised you become with certain skills (visualisation and trance induction), the less you tend to rely on the externals. However…

Magickal tools—and I’m not just saying this as a shop owner—tools play a very important role. Several roles, actually. That’s why Witches—yes, even “advanced” ones, have employed them for centuries.

What do tools accomplish that thoughts alone do not? Here’s a sampling:

1. Anchoring: Tools link your intention in the physical plane (which is where you want the results to manifest, right?) Most magick spells can be conceived as a kind of cycle—from earthly need to thought/will and back to physical action. Tools complete the loop by grounding your petition in the present time and place.

2. Distraction: Tools subvert the less-magickal parts of the brain (mental chatter, worries, skepticism) by engaging the older, more primal parts. Tying knots, lighting incense, and dressing candles are all classic ways to activate spells. You could say these actions let your magickal self do its work by keeping the mind and body busy.

3. Correspondence: Spell ingredients like herbs and candles contribute allied energies to your spell. The magickal brain is both literal and sensual. To a person who is very familiar with lemons, the thought of a lemon is enough to invoke Solar energy. But if you have an actual lemon—bright and yellow and soaked in the summer sun—that’s better, you know? I refer to Randall Garrett’s maxim: “The best symbol for a sharp knife is a sharp knife.”

4. Effort: The extra work of using tools is a gatekeeper that separates the worthy spells from the unworthy ones. When you go through the trouble to acquire and prepare materials, you’re signalling to your unconscious that this spell actually matters—and that will generally translate to better results.

Magickal tools don’t have to be complicated, and they don’t have to be expensive. (See our list of cheap and free witchcraft tools.) A candle and some oil. A pen and a piece of paper. Keep it focused: An over-encumbered spell is just as a bad as a flimsy one.

Unless you are a super-adept—like, the kind of master that comes along once in a zillion years—you probably can’t just speak or dream your desires into being. Spells without tools are more akin to…wishes. It’s fun to make a wish, but they usually don’t come true on their own.

5. There are no experts.

“We’re all apprentices in a craft where no one becomes a master.” Ernest Hemingway was referring to writing, but the same can certainly be said of the metaphysical arts.

Magick is a vast and mysterious topic. There’s a natural instinct to look up to people who have been at it longer than you, or who seem to be more sure of themselves. But while some people are objectively more accomplished, there’s nobody who’s got it all figured out. We are all grappling with the inexplicable mystery of consciousness. We are all grasping at forms we can’t possibly see the shape of.

It’s scary to realise that everybody else is basically flying blind. But it’s liberating, too. When you stop relying on others to show you the way, you can begin to truly explore your own power.

And there you have it...five tough nuggets. I don't expect that this will become one of my most popular blog posts ever, but I'm happy that I published it. What are your hard-won magickal truths? Share with other readers in the comments!

https://www.groveandgrotto.com/blogs/articles/five-hard-truths-about-magick

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doodlewash · 7 years

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My story is not typical of many of the artists who have been featured here. I came to art late in the game. I didn’t draw and doodle much as a child. I didn’t study art in school or college. My path was very different.

I grew up in rural northern Indiana. I love the rural Midwest landscape, especially trees and fields. I went to college in Utah, where I learned to appreciate the desert landscape and mountains. I graduated and came back to Indiana and earned a Ph.D. in linguistics from Indiana University, where I taught for 26 years. During that time, we moved to forty very rural acres in Solsberry, Indiana. We had two children, made a beautiful garden, and I learned to weave and dye.

In due time, I started a side business selling hand-dyed yarn and handwovens. In 2011, I started blogging about our rural life and all the crazy things that happen out here. Those disparate activities taught me a lot of important things. As an academic, I learned to study and ask questions. To be a better dyer, I learned everything I could about color theory and color mixing. To be a better blogger, I learned photography and composition.

One day in 2014 on Facebook, I was tagged in one of those memes where you have to answer 20 questions about yourself and one of the questions was: If I had the time I would _____________. I found myself answering: If I had the time I would study painting. I had recently turned 50 years old and it had always been a secret dream of mine to be a painter.

I thought about that for a long time and then decided that just studying painting was a great way to start. I still study all the time: many different artists, styles and mediums. I study color. I study composition. That Christmas I got myself a little ‘how to watercolor’ book and did a few of the exercises. I let myself paint a lot and didn’t worry if it was bad. I painted the same scenes again and again. I took a few online Craftsy classes in watercolor and got a lot of encouragement. I took a watercolor class offered through the local community college and again got a lot of encouragement. The instructor invited me to join the local watercolor society, which I did.

I kept painting and painting and sharing my work with others. Someone suggested that I submit one of my pieces to the juried member show of the Watercolor Society of Indiana and it was accepted. At that point I got serious about watercolor. I took multi-day workshops with nationally known artists. I painted and painted.

What I like best about watercolor is also what is most challenging about watercolor. It’s unruly. The truth is, a lot of my life is that way. Our forty acres are big and messy and vulnerable to the caprices of nature. I spent years photographing and blogging about our life out here but I could never quite express the feeling of all that sky meeting all those trees meeting all the rest of rural Indiana until I started painting it. I love it when folks look at one of my landscapes and say, ‘Oh, that reminds me of home!’ I try to put as much home as possible in every painting. Things may not be tidy out here, but they sure are interesting. That’s what I paint.

The one thing that has made the biggest difference in my art has been my choice to be confident in my approach. Sometimes this means I paint confident garbage, but mostly it means that I am painting more and more good things. Using professional quality materials is a big confidence booster. I paint on Arches 140lb cold press paper. I use tube paint from Winsor & Newton, Daniel Smith, Mission, M. Graham and Sennelier. A single color can differ from maker to maker. It’s OK to experiment and try several different makers. Right now I really love how M. Graham and Sennelier have such intense colors and easily wetting paint – they are both made with honey and won’t dry on your palette. (As a beekeeper myself, I love that!)

Those are my beehives and I really do paint them bright colors like that!

My process is to gather several reference photos and then start putting together thumbnail sketches of the basic large shapes in my composition. I don’t try to make my painting match any photo. I might do a notan. Then I decide what colors to use. I might do a color harmony swatch or two. Or five. Then I dive right in on a 10 x 14 inch piece of paper and do the first draft.

This first draft is just that: a DRAFT. It’s not going to be perfect. I adjust colors. I take things out. I put things in. I pencil in possible corrections to the composition. I get a lot of feedback. In the end, this draft is usually a mess.

Getting feedback from multiple sources is really important to the process. It’s necessary if you want to find out whether or not you’re communicating what you think you are in your painting. It’s easy to get really focused on something and forget what else might be there. Feedback helps remind you about the whole painting. If they all say, ‘What’s that blob?’, then perhaps you need to work on it. But if one says, ‘Oh, I love that red shed’ and another says, ‘I don’t like that red shed’, then you know it’s fine, it’s just a matter of taste.

Feedback also tells you about the person giving the feedback. I once had someone spend 15 minutes telling me why a ½ square inch of my painting ruined the whole thing for her. It was a reflection of where she was in her life, her own issues and insecurities. I listened politely and she left feeling happy that she had set me on a better path with that piece. I did not make the change she suggested.

A great way to get feedback is to start a critique group. You can meet in person or start an online group. Find people who are interested in improving their art, not just getting positive feedback on any attempt. It doesn’t have to be watercolor – all art deals with color, shapes, value and composition. Find people who can give and take suggestions with grace and tact. Learn how to give suggestions with grace and tact. A good way to suggest a possible change is, ‘What if…’ or ‘Have you considered….’ Often, when I post a piece to my crit group, I do have an idea of what I’m unsure of in the piece and I come right out and say it. That helps focus the feedback on exactly the areas I want to work on.

Once I get some feedback, I make whatever changes I need to and start the next draft. As I work, I take the time to sit and look at the piece. See how it looks from 10 feet away. If your studio space is too small for that, then snap a pic, pull it up on your computer and take a look. If the painting works SMALL, it will work BIG.

Once a piece is finished, I set it aside and move on to something else. Then I come back to it after a few days/weeks to see if something jumps out at me. I make any changes and sign it, photograph it and frame it. Framing is an important step for me. It’s a way to give the piece some polish, to send it out into world, best foot forward. I use conservation quality mats and frame myself using ‘Best Practice’ techniques that I glean from professional framers and museums. Once the piece is framed, it is ready for immediate sale, shipping or exhibition. That saves a lot of last-minute fussing later.

My personal challenges these days are around color (always) and brushes. I try to take regular, everyday type rural scenes and paint them in an innovative way using unusual colors. I’m trying to work larger and that is forcing me to try new brushes and larger ones. My favorite brushes are the Princeton Long rounds, but I just got a size 30 round Mimik and I have to say I’m loving it for the big work. Every once in a while I try a piece using only a 2 inch flat brush. That’s a real challenge for me.

I will continue to study and paint and see where the art takes me. I hope my story has given you confidence to pick up a brush or pencil and just start. Wonderful things will happen, even late in the game. There are many paths to becoming an artist. I hope you find yours. And when you do, I’d love to hear about it!

Robin Edmundson Website Blog Facebook Instagram Pinterest Google + Twitter Etsy shop (hand-dyed yarn)

#WorldWatercolorGroup - GUEST ARTIST: "Many Paths Lead To Art" by Robin Edmundson -#doodlewash My story is not typical of many of the artists who have been featured here. I came to art late in the game.

#WorldWatercolorGroup #aquarelle #art #artist #farm #featured #inspiration #painting #rural #watercolor #watercolour

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wjwilliams29 · 7 years

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12 Inspiring Workspaces from Awesome Digital Marketers

As many of you know, cognitiveSEO likes tackling in-depth, extensive digital marketing topics. We like going all analytical with our blog posts and case studies. There are two reasons behind it. One – to find as many solutions as possible to questions we marketers have. Two – we enjoy to dive deep into research and learn new marketing tips.

We’ve decided to write something out of our comfort zone: an article dedicated to awesome workspaces belonging to great digital marketers. This article has proved to be more than just a novelty for us: it has been a genuine highway to fun.

But one way or another, creating a set of cool digital marketer workspaces seemed a hip idea, therefore we gave it a go. Plus, it is a great way of proving Cynthia Rowley’s theory which goes like this:

I’ve got a theory: if you love your workspace, you’ll love your work a little more. Cynthia rowley Fashion Designer at Cynthia Rowley

Each desk has a personality similar to its owner. So we went hunting for the best workstations in the marketing field. We wanted to find out what type of personality they have based on their workstation.

Stay with us on this journey and you’ll discover:

how we paved our path to delivering the “coolest workspaces in the digital marketing world”;

which marketers accepted the challenge, and disclosed their office spaces/coworking spaces;

who they are;

their pics and must-have gadgets, and eventually;

what to learn from this experience.

These are the professionals who spiced up our “Cool Marketing Workstations” list:

A Down-to-Earth Guy’s Workspace by Jack Meredith

The Minimalist’s Office by Eduardo Yi

The Bold One’s Work Desk by Wilson Hung

The Winner-of-’Em-All’s Workspace by Sean Bestor

The Restless Traveler’s Office by Tomas Laurinavicius

The Practical Guy’s Office Desk by Benjamin Beck

The Rebel’s Office by Sol Orwell

The Artist and Marketer’s Workspace by Ty Magnin

The Marketing Guru’s Office Desk by Derric Haynie

The Champion’s Workspace by Sujan Patel

The Magician’s Office by Benji Hyam

Superman’s Office Desk by Aaron Orendorff

The Roll-out

From the very beginning, the article generated a fun-mode-on atmosphere at cognitiveSEO. Although we were the ones writing the blog post, guess we ourselves were the most eager ones to hear from the digital marketers we outreached to.

There are not tens, nor hundreds, but thousands of people who delight in creating inspiration boards on Pinterest regarding their home, office space, garden and so on. Probably, you are one of them too. Compiling this set of inspiring workspaces from digital marketers around the world was like a Pinterest activity. Which is kinda awesome!

But the cherry-on-top was the sneak peak we were about to be introduced to.

Fellow marketers across the globe, people we admire and look up to, either from wide-known organizations or fresh start-ups, have disclosed the aces up their sleeves when it comes to devices, gadgets and things they couldn’t live without on a daily basis.

It all started from a Slack post:

A few days later, we already had answers from notable marketers such as Sean Bestor, Benjamin Beck, and Sol Orwell. Great! Just a few more to enlist in our challenge and we could call this article a success.

Browsing them you’ll see how different professionals are from one another. Needless to say, their digital workspaces too. Apart from details such as shape, size, or location, you’re soon to notice how diverse these marketers are from one another. Hipsters, neat freaks, minimalists, clutter fans, you name it, they’re all there.

All digital marketers who accepted the challenge had to answer to a couple of questions:

Take a photo of your cool desk setup, upload it to your favorite file sharing service and share it with us.

What’s on your desk? Make a list of items and share your reasons why you can’t live without them.

Without further ado, let’s see the coolest digital marketers workstations in our industry.

1. A Down-to-Earth Guy’s Workspace by Jack Meredith

Roost stand: Getting a Roost stand changes your life. Never be hunched over again. Jack Meredith Senior Growth Marketer at Kettle & Fire / @jvmeredith

Jack Meredith is a Senior Growth Marketer at Kettle & Fire, and co-founder at Open Eye Signal, a web design, and marketing consulting company for SMB’s and start-ups. He is a growth marketing junkie and full stack marketer, with a taste for early stage companies.

These are the items you’d normally see on his desk at work:

Asus VS239H-P 23-Inch Full HD 1920×1080 IPS HDMI DVI VGA Back-lit LED Monitor. Not the greatest monitor but it gets the job done for a marketer;

Roost stand: Getting a Roost stand changes your life. Never be hunched over again;

Logitech K380 Multi-Device Bluetooth Keyboard: Reliable, found via wire cutters;

Logitech Wireless Marathon Mouse M705: Reliable, found via wire cutters;

AKG K 240 Semi-Open Studio Headphones: Cost-effective headphones that give Bose and Beats headphones a run for their money.

2. The Minimalist’s Office by Eduardo Yi

My desk setup is very minimal—and that’s intentional. eduardo yi Lead Content Marketer at Teachable / @eduardoyi

Eduardo Yi is the Lead Content Marketer at Teachable, a job he loves having, as he states in his LinkedIn bio. As a digital marketer, I’m just happy to have found a career path in which work means nerding out, he says. That’s creative thinking, for sure!

In a similar tranquil vibe and with youthful transparency, he told us what he uses at work on a daily basis:

My desk setup is very minimal—and that’s intentional. I have very little stuff lying around to avoid distractions.

A second screen, keyboard, and mouse are all I really have in there.

The standing desk also helps me stop procrastinating, just because I get tired of standing and feel like I should just get stuff done so I can go sit.

I also have a plant, which is not mine…but I water it sometimes anyway.

We already like the guy. There’s much to learn from him. In wisdom, we can all learn how true and topical the saying “less is more” is.

Our mind can make associations in an instant and thus lose its focus, yet if we try to keep ourselves concentrated, we should take the example of Eduardo and try to get rid of every distractor that is standing in our way of having the job done.

3. The Bold One’s Work Desk by Wilson Hung

Airpods: Totally worth it. I can walk around the office or stretch while I’m on calls. wilson Hung Growth Marketing at Kettle & Fire / @wilsonghung

Wilson Hung is in charge with Growth Marketing at Kettle & Fire, and previously with Growth at SumoMe. In addition, he created wilsonhung.com, a growth support company.

Wilson wrote detailed essays on growth featured in Forbes, ConversionXL, SumoMe, and shared by Andrew Chen, Guy Kawasaki, and 500Startups. Were he to talk about his life experience, he would start telling you how he quit his job as a chemical engineer to apply a data-driven and scientific approach to acquiring customers. His life roadmap is quite inspiring; if curious, check here.

When asked about what’s usually on his desk, here’s what he said:

Dual Monitor Setup: this is critical as it allows for increased productivity. Left monitor will normally be Slack, or a data set (spreadsheet), where as the Main monitor will be the “productivity/working” monitor;

Far Right Task Management with Sticky Notes: Segmented based on “Completed This Week, High Priority, Medium/Low”. I can never keep my Trello board updated, but something about seeing it all the time on my desk helps prioritize my workload. Every Monday starts with prioritizing my week/sticky notes;

Bluetooth Mouse + Keyboard: Again, spend extra money on tools you use every day. Don’t settle for using your laptop’s trackpad. Instead, improve your ergonomics and also productivity (mouse set up super high sensitivity will allow you to click/move around that much faster);

Airpods: Totally worth it. I can walk around the office or stretch while I’m on calls;

Notepad + Notebook: I use notepad for one-off things like sketching funnels, pricing, random thoughts. I use the notebook for meetings + keeping organized so I can refer back to meeting notes + action items;

Aeropress + Coffee: Coffee at my office sucks, so I make my own =) Plus it’s a good routine in the morning + after lunch and helps me take breaks;

1L Water Bottle: Gotta stay hydrated, and the bigger the bottle, means less times you have to get up and refill.

4. The Winner-of-’Em-All’s Workspace by Sean Bestor

Air Traffic Control Headphones: No joke, I use these all the time. I write best in absolute silence. $20. Sean bestor Former Content Marketer at Sumo / @sbestor15

Sean Bestor from Sumo was among the first ones to send a picture of his digital workspace and must-have gadgets.

Sean has an extensive experience as a creative digital strategist and marketer. Plus, he has a track history of being a multiple award-winning copywriter.

By the time we collected answers from fellow marketers, he was still working at Sumo, writing the coolest stuff on the web, quoting him from LinkedIn. At the present, he is a Digital Strategist at Whole Foods Market, a company that has been on Fortune’s Best Places to Work List every year for 20 years straight. You should also check his website, it’s pretty cool and info-packed.

And because humor never hurt anybody, he chose to embrace it and make us giggle. See for yourself in the lines below:

My computer – A definite upgrade from the “Speak and Spell” I had in 1st grade;

Notebooks – I sketch landing pages, product pages, funnels and ad ideas in here all the time. Can’t have enough of these;

Tiny Alcoholic Drinks: As a warm-up to my bigger alcoholic drinks;

Beats Headphones: For when it’s time to get creative with maximum base;

Air Traffic Control Headphones: No joke, I use these all the time. I write best in absolute silence. $20;

Camelbak Eddy: A gift because apparently walking to the faucet and putting your face under the spout 20 times a day is frowned upon;

Signed Champagne Bottle: From my initiation at Sumo, everyone signed it;

Cubs Hat: I don’t actually like the Cubs. But on a retreat, we got to watch them play (the year they won the World Series). That was pretty fun;

Autonomous Stand Up Desk: Just a game-changer. Though honestly, I sit on the couch most of the day.

5. The Restless Traveler’s Office by Tomas Laurinavicius

To organize my daily to-do list I use Todoist and physical notebook from Collins. Tomas Laurinavicius Lifestyle Entrepreneur at tomaslau.com / @tomaslau

Tomas Laurinavicius is a digital marketing, media contributor, and writer, but could easily be taken as a wanderer. He is 25 but has checked more things than others could do at this age. He describes himself as having an ENTJ personality, hence his thrive, charisma, and confidence.

Tomas is a lifestyle entrepreneur and blogger from Lithuania, writing about habits, lifestyle design, and entrepreneurship on his blog and weekly lifestyle newsletter – tomaslau.com. Simultaneously, he is a contributor to many renowned media, business, and marketing outlets in the world, such as Forbes, Observer, Huffington Post, Influencive, Creative Cloud and The Next Web. He enjoys sharing his knowledge and coming with effective solutions that inspire others.

His latest ambition and desire is to travel the world and empower 1 million people to change their way of living life from that day on.

But getting back to cool digital marketers workspaces, let’s see his:

MacBook Pro 13″ is the most important machine I use daily to run my business, write, learn and plan my travels.

To improve my posture I recently invested in STANDapart, a featherweight laptop stand, Magic Keyboard and Magic Mouse to keep things clean and wireless.

To organize my daily to-do list I use Todoist and physical notebook from Collins.

Most of the other time I use iPhone 6s Plus, for reading Kindle, Scribd and iBooks. Alternatively, I use my iPhone to take quick digital notes, get directions for coffee shops I want to try next and take photos.

For the last 2 years, I kept my workspace extremely minimal and portable while traveling to over 30 countries.

Lessons to learn, you ask? Needless to say we need more courage to do what we dream of. There’s not much you need to know about Tomas to see his thrive towards making his dream a reality. He put effort in achieving this, but more important, he put ambition. And we guess this works as a marketing tip too.

6. The Practical Guy’s Office Desk by Benjamin Beck

Mouse – With my laptop being so high I need a mouse and I like to game so I like a wired mouse more than a bluetooth. Benjamin Beck Founder of Link Building Class / @ben_beck

Benjamin Beck is one professional that likes things to be clear and straightforward, but never leaves quality and client satisfaction out of topic. He is the creator of the free email course Link Building Class. The platform sends you comprehensive lessons on link building techniques deployed by top professionals to rank higher in some of the harshest industries. All for that nerve racking way of increasing organic rankings and traffic.

Beck is set on helping businesses succeed online, thus he came up with benjaminbeck.com. As an online marketing specialist, Benjamin comes with an enviable set of skills meant to solve start-ups, charities, and small businesses’ problems in connecting with customers and growth.

Guessing you’re anxious to find out what’s on his desk, we shall proceed further with the list:

Roost Stand – Portable laptop stand that saves my neck!

Bluetooth Keyboard – Portable so I can still type fast;

Mouse – With my laptop being so high I need a mouse and I like to game so I like a wired mouse more than a bluetooth;

Headphones – I just got some Bose noise cancelling headphones which are nice;

Messenger Bag – I use a Timbuk2 bag to carry all my gear wherever I go. Have had it for 4 years now.

Beck usually works remotely, which undoubtedly has its perks. Nice background! Should one ever want to take a break and do some fun exercise, the climb walls are right at hand.

7. The Rebel’s Office by Sol Orwell

I like pictures. On the left is a pic at my sister’s wedding, in front of me is a pic of my woman and I at NYE, and on the right is me as a baby with my grandparents (my grandpa was a badass – literally born on the streets, rose to become a Supreme Court Judge). Sol Orwell Co-Founder of Examine / @sol_orwell

Apparently, traveling has become a real phenomenon. Interesting enough is that traveling is not just a medium to escape the ordinary work life or procrastinate duties, but it’s more of a boost to your inspiration and fuel to your work binge.

Sol Orwell, 30, is just the right match to this trend. One thing Orwell couldn’t live without is traveling. For him, having independence is paramount, and he doesn’t let anybody control his time and freedom of movement.

Sol Orwell is a well-known digital marketer, mostly known for co-founding Examine.com, a site selling reports on nutritional supplements, and for speaking about entrepreneurship. Over 15 years of entrepreneurship, 6 companies, over 8 figures generated – all these surely must point to an inspiring professional.

He likes to say that he is semi-retired, and we can see both the sense and the irony, as we know his free lifestyle. He says he’s living the immigrant dream, as he likes creating companies in different niches and then hand them over to someone else, people who are able and entitled to make the most out of them. If curious for more, you should check this.

Here’s what he wrote us about his work essentials:

It’s my work space, so I like to keep it simple and clean.

I have my Field Notes (every time I meet people I take it with me – I never use my phone for any notes), and my Productivity Planner (which keeps me on track).

Otherwise, I Just have trinkets I have picked up from travels and others have given me. Eg the little toy “dog” on the left was given to me by my buddy Andy Morgan, who flew all the way from Tokyo to Toronto because we invited him to a potluck we were hosting. It reminds me of all of the crazy connections I’ve made through the Internet.

Not only he is a valuable, inspiring marketer, but also a great story-teller. He made us dive deep into visualizing the people, places, and objects mentioned by him.

8. The Artist and Marketer’s Workspace by Ty Magnin

MacBook Pro with 16gb ram. I spend so much time on my computer. Having a fast one with a big screen is worth the investment. Ty magnin Director of Marketing at Appcues / @tymagnin

Ty Magnin is Director of Marketing at Appcues, and previously first marketer at Work Market, with extensive experience as a digital and content marketer. Having roots in poetry and film production, he is one authentic fellow marketer.

Simultaneously, Magnin built tymagnin.com, where professionals can learn how to boost upvotes on ProductHunt, build blog audiences, and scale self-services. He is talking big numbers, in support of his tips and tricks, all experienced by himself at first hand with his marketing strategies.

His philosophy is “fewer but better”, which has greatly impacted the way he approaches blogging, email marketing, customer stories, and life in general. His experience as a video producer and writer helped him shape both his lifestyle and skills. One thing he learned is this: “Most of marketing is writing. I think if you have a love of writing, you get focused on the particulars. That attention to detail plays out when you’re writing marketing copy and orchestrating campaigns”. More on his career roadmap as a successful digital marketer here.

Because we particularly enjoyed reading his list and the little stories attached to each thing on his desk, we’d like to share it with you:

Macbook pro with 16gb ram. I spend so much time on my computer. Having a fast one with a big screen is worth the investment;

Sticky notes with frameworks/themes. I need constant visual reminders to make an idea a habit. These sticky notes help remind myself of the important frameworks I’ve set for the marketing team to keep us aligned;

Matcha tea. I can’t drink coffee. It makes me tense. Matcha green tea has let me switch off of it, and it’s great for you;

Headphones. I often listen to the same song on repeat all day when grinding it out. Music helps me focus sometimes;

Second monitor. I like using this because it helps my posture. I’ve had this background image for years now—it’s the New York Public Library and always inspires me to work and study hard;

Off to the left you can see my standing desk. Sometimes it’s great to extend my legs;

Hat from Bali. No real reason this is here other than I like wearing it.

9. The Marketing Guru’s Office Desk by Derric Haynie

Business cards, 23 inch monitors, speakers. Derric haynie CEO at Vulpine Interactive / @SixPeppers

At present CEO at Vulpine Interactive and Co-Chapter Director at Startup Socials, Haynie manages to rock that work experience as a marketer. With several high positions as CEO, Head of Growth, Co-Founder, or President, Derric Haynie is the entrepreneur to go to when in need of counseling and effective solutions. In addition, he enjoys working with his wife, Shana Haynie, in running events on marketing, entrepreneurship, and startup growth.

Vulpine Interactive is about social media marketing, in terms of content, branding, engagement, and analytics. It helps professionals across the globe to manage and grow their teams, innovate their social media strategies, and build powerful brands and passionate fans.

As for Startup Socials, this one is a global events company meant to connect and empower people in the startup ecosystem.

Eager to find out what Haynie’s workspace looks like? Brace yourself, as you’ll be surprised:

Business cards.

23 inch monitors, speakers.

I have this button that says “Fuck” on it, and when you hit it, it says something ridiculous. It’s for stress relief.

Mic stand and camera are very important as well.

Don’t know about you, but we love the sense of humor marketers display nowadays. After all, that’s all life is about – knowing how to deal with things and situations. Interesting, though, how much you can grasp from a concise snippet as such.

Talking of humor, we have a challenge for you: Spot the button in the picture!

10. The Champion’s Workspace by Sujan Patel

Batman Clock. I’m a big batman fan and even have a batman tattoo on my arm. The clock reminds me to have a life and help people as the clock was a gift from someone I helped through a tough time. sujan patel Co-Founder of WebProfits / @sujanpatel

With a vast experience in digital marketing in general and SEO, content marketing, PPC, social media in particular, Sujan Patel outruns many marketers with his knowledge. He is a data-driven marketer, entrepreneur, and avid writer for publications as Forbes, WSJ, Inc., and Entrepreneur Magazine.

His hobbies are growing companies and helping others solve problems. Sujan is the Co-Founder of WebProfits, a growth marketing agency. He says he enjoys sharing everything he knows and usually creates more content than most consume.

Our advice is to check his website, and join his weekly newsletter or get in touch with him, as you’ll benefit from a lot of rich, useful information.

Although he usually works 80 hours/week, Sujan Patel loves hitting the gym in the early hours of the day when most of us are snoring out loud. If he’s not there, you’d most probably find him at the race track racing cars and motorcycles, or conquering the skies while skydiving. Interesting though how sometimes hobbies emerge from fears – at least that’s what happened to him and his fear of heights.

Getting back to workspaces and must-have tools that change the world, here’s Sujan’s workstation:

Batman Clock;

Macbook Pro 13inch;

iPad Pro 12inch used mostly as a 2nd monitor;

Unicorn Pen;

Notebook;

I’m a big batman fan and even have a batman tattoo on my arm. The clock reminds me to have a life and help people as the clock was a gift from someone I helped through a tough time;

Macbook Pro & iPad Pro are perfect for travel and working anywhere;

I use a pen & notebook to write down things that I need to remember, brainstorm and doodle. I also use evernote but I haven’t been able to replace goold of fashion pen and paper;

I hate clutter and things. I try to keep my life simple as all I really need is a computer, phone and internet connection to live 90% of my life.

11. The Magician’s Office by Benji Hyam

Nothing. Benji hyam Co-Founder of Wordable / @benjihyam

Benji Hyam is the Co-Founder of Wordable and Grow and Convert, with massive experience as a digital marketer, having also previously run marketing for two VC backed startups. His experience in the marketing industry has lead him to successfully outrun fellow marketers, and leave a mark in each company he worked with.

Wordable, previously Postable.io, is a SaaS web app where professionals can import posts from Google Docs to WordPress in one click. Content managers, blog editors, and solo bloggers love it and call it a revelation. Nevertheless, their motto stirs your curiosity: Try it. It feels like magic.

Grow and Convert is here to offer articles, training, and services for you to become a top 1% content marketer. Featured in publications as Entrepreneur, The Huffington Post, Growth Hackers, and ProBlogger, Grow and Convert is a content marketing agency and consultancy for growing businesses. Benji makes the magic happen on the content strategy and promotion side of the company.

And because magic is simpler than most of us think, Hyam told us about his secret tools for making wonders happen:

Nothing. I’ve been traveling for the last year and half doing the nomad thing and it helps me write when I have a computer, a nice view and no distractions.

Undoubtedly, you’re dead curious to see for yourself what nothing really looks like.

12. Superman’s Office Desk by Aaron Orendorff

Books, books, and books — most notably, behavioral economics texts like ‘Misbehaving’ by Thaler and ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ by Kahneman, along with ‘The Customer Challenge’ because that book continues to blow my mind when it comes to content marketing. Aaron orendorff Founder and CEO of iconiContent / @iconicontent

Aaron Orendorff is an inspiring digital marketer, the Founder and CEO of iconiContent, Content Marketer at Shopify Plus, and Communication & Philosophy Faculty full-time member.

Orendorff was featured in Forbes 25 Marketing Influencers to Watch in 2017. With extensive knowledge and experience in content marketing and communication, he contributed on many occasions for business, tech, and marketing publications such as Mashable, Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, Lifehacker, Inc., Fast Company, Business Insider, Success Magazine, The Next Web, Content Marketing Institute, Copyblogger, MarketingProfs, ConversionXL, Unbounce, and more.

His motto is “Saving the world from bad content”, and aims at helping professionals improve their content strategies, content marketing, and copywriting techniques.

One way or another, his career path is amazing. Curious enough to see what his digital workspace looks like? The photo will just make you regret your desk isn’t sending a similar smart vibe as Aaron’s:

Two MacBook Pros to separate my work for Shopify Plus from personal projects;

A horizontal monitor for writing — always on Google Docs — and a vertical one for taking screen shots and doing research;

Microsoft’s Natural Ergonomic Keyboard and Mouse to save my wrists from all the hard, hard work of being a full-time writer;

Flexible cell phone tripod and camera remote for taking non-selfie selfies and posting them to social media — the engagement on those is crazy;

Books, books, and books — most notably, behavioral economics texts like Misbehaving by Thaler and Thinking, Fast and Slow by Kahneman along with The Customer Challenge because that book continues to blow my mind when it comes to content marketing;

Beats Headphones for high-quality remote meetings and calls;

Picture of me and my girls to remind me what matters;

A figurine of the Three Little Pigs a former college student gave me because I use that story over and over to teach my one great, educational love: outlining.

Conclusion

After such a rich array of photos and smart gadgets to empower you in your quest of changing the digital marketing ecosystem, we ask: What’s to learn from these millennials?

Apart from triggering a fun mode-on atmosphere and giving food to our restless curiosity regarding fellow professionals in the industry, we believe situations like this create bonds.

Nevertheless, it is inspiring and challenging to see how others perform at work, what they do, where and how. Witnessing digital marketing influencers at work can empower us, fellow marketers, to strive for more.

In another train of thoughts, it’s interesting how most digital marketers have attached stories to the enlisted tools and gadgets. Objects often trigger memories and once you share them you let others be inspired. There’s a lot to learn from these stories and life snippets, and we’re glad we’ve come to learn them.

Charlie Chaplin said once that a day without laughter is a day wasted. We can all agree on that. Digital marketers sure know the perks humor has. This is one of the many and main reasons we enjoyed reading their list and researching about them.

We created a set of snippets both from websites bootstrapped by the above-mentioned marketers, and from their Twitter accounts. They prove the rule that a fine sense of humor can sometimes indeed make the difference. Enjoy!

Sean Bestor

and

Sol Orwell

Derric Haynie

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