#probably because I need to draw them smaller than normal

[quibbs126]

I just saw you’re doing parent requests, and I might as well throw my hat into the ring! Can you do your interpretation of Cherry Blossom and Cherry Cookies’ parents? I’m curious to see what kind of parents resulted in such different cookies.

I’m finally done with these two; took some time but I got them down

Okay now I just want to talk about them

So Cherry Powder is a fireworks technician. She’s very smart, probably has a chemical engineering degree, but she chose fireworks just because she likes them and wanted to make them. She’s also very outgoing and energetic

Plum Blossom on the other hand is a florist. She’s very chill and serene, and really likes flowers, to the point of hyperfixation. Though some times she’s a bit too chill and goes along with things she probably shouldn’t because everyone’s enjoying themselves, if that makes sense

They met when Cherry Powder was looking for flowers to use in some new fireworks, and she ended up going to Plum Blossom’s shop to look for some and asking her about flowers that could work for her research. Plum Blossom started excitedly explaining about all sorts of flowers and Cherry Powder excitedly listened to her. Basically their relationship started because they both would and liked to listen to the other’s interests

During the drawing process I considered making Plum Blossom an actress, probably in part due to the current update, but I tried to keep her a florist because it was the fact that she was one why the two met and I really liked that

I'm realizing I may have drawn them looking a bit too young, they're probably at least 40. I guess because I don't really know how to draw older characters (although I think for Cherry Powder it might just be that she looks young). Ah well, I guess this could have been when they're younger

Also, while I didn't draw them, I imagine that there's also a grandma on one side (to complete the Red Riding Hood look that Cherry has going on), and Cherry Powder also has a sister that's Cherry Ball's mom. Also I've decided that basically this entire family, at least on the cherry side, is comprised entirely of women. Don't know why but why not

Oh also, I have their concept sketches, with PB's eyes open. I think I forgot that they wouldn't be seen so I had them closed

So anyways, on to design stuff

So Cherry Powder and Plum Blossom are named after their respective objects, with CP being the cherry (also I believe cherry powder is Cherry's Magic Candy ingredient), and PB being the flower part that Cherry Blossom gets her name from and also not cherry. Also I believe that plum blossoms and cherry blossoms look very similar, so there's that

Cherry powder and plum blossoms:

So I had some amount of an idea for their head designs (Cherry Powder far more than Plum Blossom), but I didn't really know what to do for the outfits. That was the implied struggle at the beginning, I was dealing with that all day

I mean, I think by the end what I got wasn't bad, maybe it's just that the struggle makes me not see them that great

So I made only CP have the eyelashes because for the sisters it's supposed to mimic cherries, which PB isn't

I also made Cherry Powder's hair red because most of the images I could find of the stuff turned out red or pink. But the white streak is supposed to reference Cherry's hair color, maybe she gets it from a grandparent. Also it makes CP more unique looking

Plum Blossom's dress is supposed to reference the actual plum blossoms, but I'm not sure how well I did. Her outfit was what I struggled with the most

I also have no clue how to draw bouquets

To be honest, I noticed somewhere through drawing that typically with the official designs, they reference the Cookie's ingredient multiple times within their design. Like for example here, Cherry Blossom's pigtails, front bang, and pink part of her dress all reference cherry blossoms in some way, and for Cherry, she has her big cherry bombs. And as I stated prior, their eyelashes also reference the stems of cherries, as well as gives them a similarity between each other since they're sisters

I bring this up because I feel like I don't do that enough in my own designs, and I need to do that more. I especially don't like giving my characters objects, at least not anymore, because it's a lot of effort to try and figure out how to implement those and draw those accessories as well. That's why I gave Plum Blossom her bouquet, to at least give her something to hold (though they're not plum blossoms, just generic flowers). I suppose that's something I need to work on

But regardless of what I've been saying about how I'm dissatisfied with them, I do really like these two, and honestly I want to draw more of them, like them kissing or hanging out or just them with their kids

I hope you like them too!

#I remember feeling like the lineart brush was too big for them #probably because I need to draw them smaller than normal #bc of the formatting #anyways #cookie run #cookie run oc #cherry blossom cookie #cherry cookie #fan parents #cherry powder cookie #plum blossom cookie #my ocs #my art #requests #answers

[theenbyroiderer]

One more tutorial. I think this is the last one I have for now.

Here's how you stitch a 3D jellyfish. This is a more advanced tutorial. Prior experience with most of the stitches is recommended.

Materials: You'll need several needles, at least one shorter and one really long. I've used sashiko needles in three lengths, 4 cm, 5.5 cm and 8.5 cm. As for yarn, I think you can use whatever you have. Most of it can be done with six-stranded floss, but you'll need some thicker woolen yarn for the fluffy turkey stitch. I used fine d'aubusson (a fine wool embroidery yarn) for the body, six-stranded floss (2-3 strands) for most of the tentacles, a shiny silky embroidery floss for the edge of the body and a couple tentacles, and knitting yarn scraps for the turkey stitch.

Stitches: satin stitch, bullion stitch, padded satin stitch, buttonhole stitch, drizzle stitch and turkey stitch. Please look up stitch instructions on youtube, and do a bit of practice beforehand. This project is probably not a good practice run for these stitches.

Time: depends on the size of your jellyfish. I made quite a large one and it took me about 5 hours to complete.

1. Make a sketch of your jellyfish. At least of the body. Fill this body from edge to edge with bullion stitch, make them a bit longer than the body is wide so that they are somewhat loose. You should be able to get a finger underneath the bullion, depending on the size of your jellyfish.

2. Then it's time to satin stitch the body. For this part it's important that the needle goes through the fabric as close to where it came up as possible. The goal is not just to make a 3D body, but to make it a hollow 3D body. Don't just stitch over the bullion, stitch around it. It's also important to not pull too tight. Bullion stitch of this lenght is rather malleable, so it's a bit tricky to keep the satin stitch even. Hold a finger in the hollow underneath the bullion as you pull the thread tight. This will stop it from getting to tight, as well as make sure you keep the hollow. As the stitching gets thicker the hollow will get smaller, but that's ok.

3. When the top part of the body is fully stitched it's time to do normal flat satin stitch for the bottom part, the inside of the body of you will. Leave an opening in the middle though, you'll need some space for the drizzle and turkey stitch later.

5. Now it's time for the tentacles. Start with the drizzle stitch, because the turkey stitch will just get in the way if you start with that... but do remember to leave space for the turkey stitch underneath the drizzle stitch. This is where you need the loooong needle. Pack as much drizzle stitch on that needle as you can. You'll notice that the drizzle stitch wants to rotate around your needle as it gets longer, do let it, that will just help you fit more stitch on there, as well as give the finished stitch a nice curl.

6. When you think you have enough drizzle you can move on to the turkey stitch. You will not need to do a lot of it. You'll probably overestimate how much you need, but that's ok, you can always give the fluff a bit of a haircut later. Do a few looong loops of turkey stitch, a little bit longer than your drizzle stitch. Cut the loops to slightly different lengths, otherwise you'll get a very blocky bit of fluff... tapered is better. Untwist the yarn and separate the strands, draw a needle through the strands to fluff them up.

7. As a finishing touch you can add some long and thin strands around the edge of the body.

#embroidery #3d embroidery #fiber art #needlework #embroidery tutorial #fiber art tutorial #3d embroidery tutorial #tutorial #jellyfish art #theenbyroiderer

[vilevenom]

Hello again @bitterbunny07!! Thank you for your prompt! I love a good fic where one of the bros sticks up for JD! Though, I admit, I've characterized Clay a bit more...aggressive than I'd normally write him. 🤷

Also, I'm sorry if this seems a little rushed. I didn't have time to edit it and I wanted to get this out before I went out for the day, so I didn't read it back over I hope you enjoy!

Bruce didn't know how the argument started. All he knew was that it was John Dory and Clay, and they were being loud. Loud enough that a couple of his kids had asked if their uncles were okay. And that, in and of itself, was not okay.

"ALL RIGHT!" Bruce shouted as he walked around the corner to the area of the bar set up for smaller species, "You two! Separate!"

John scowled, but stepped back from Clay at Bruce's shout, while Clay was having none of it. He shot Bruce a dirty look, only to step right back into John Dory's space, nearly looking like he was ready to throw fists at their oldest brother. John grunted and stepped back again, holding his hands up in a placating manner.

"Bruce said to stop," John growled, losing another foot as he moved away from Clay, only for the taller troll to come after him again.

"And I'm not listening to him," Clay snapped, only to shriek in indignation as Bruce surged forward and grabbed the back of his sweater to pull him backwards.

"Too bad. You probably should have," Bruce stated, dragging Clay away from John.

"Hey! No! Let me go! We are not finished here, John Dory," Clay snarled, pointing at John in what some might consider a threatening manner. John simply shook his head as Clay was dragged away, stuffing his hands into his pockets and hunching his shoulders as he walked in the opposite direction of his brothers.

Bruce continued to drag Clay along as the taller troll tried to struggle free, rolling his eyes as Clay growled curses at him. Bruce was just happy that his brother was quiet enough that his kids wouldn't learn any fun new words from their uncle.

"Okay," Bruce finally said, practically tossing Clay into a beach chair once they were outside and a decent distance from the restaurant, "What was that all about?"

"None of your business," Clay groused, folding his arms over his chest and scowling up at Bruce.

"Oh-hoho, no. You do not get to play this game," Bruce snarked, sitting in the hair next to Clay, while jabbing his finger pointedly into his brothers chest, "You two were so loud that my kids were starting to get worried. It is fully my business when they come to ask me to make sure their uncles aren't going to hurt each other. What. Happened."

Clay, at least, had the decency to look contrite at the mention of the kids being worried. He looked away from Bruce and down to his lap, fiddling idly with his wrist bands, before letting out a long breath. "Tell the kids I'm sorry for making them upset."

Bruce threw his hands into the air in exasperation, before reaching over to shove his brother hard enough to nearly knock him out of his seat. Clay yelped, flailing slightly, and shooting Bruce a glare once he had righted himself. "Tell me, right now. Or I'll go get John's side of the story instead, and I have a feeling you don't want that."

With a scrunch of his nose, Clay let out a frustrated sounding sigh, before giving a short nod. "Fine! But only because John would make me seem like the bad guy."

"Are you?"

"No! I just…John makes me so mad sometimes," Clay admitted, drawing his knees up onto the chair and making himself small.

"What did he do?" Bruce prodded, shifting in his chair to make himself comfortable.

Clay sighed, running his fingers through his hair in agitation. "He was playing with your kids."

Bruce stared at Clay for a long minute, before letting out a disbelieving snort of laughter. "And that caused a screaming match in my restaurant? You will need to elaborate, oh brother of mine."

Clay grumbled quietly under his breath for a moment, only to shoot up from the chair while waving his arms through the air angrily. "He was playing with them like he's some, some…super uncle, or something! He was letting LaBreezey play dress up with him, and reminiscing with the kids about the band. He was telling them how they could be and do whatever they wanted."

Bruce found his eyebrows slowly arching up his face as Clay spoke, sitting forward a little to give his brother an incredulous stare. "And all of this is bad, because…?"

A frustrated yell forced it's way up from Clay's chest, as he picked up a rock to throw it towards the ocean. "Where was this stupidly encouraging side of him when we were kids?! Where was the 'Oh, you can be whoever you want to be! You have loads of time to figure yourself out!' when we were struggling with the stupid personas he forced on us?! Why does he get to pretend like he wasn't a monster when we needed him?!"

The outburst had Bruce a bit stunned. He knew Clay had bottled up resentments towards John, and he wasn't exactly subtle with his little barbs towards their eldest brother, but this was a whole other can of worms. "Clay," he breathed, rising up from his seat, reaching out to place a comforting hand on his brothers shoulder.

Clay only shrugged him off, turning an angry scowl at Bruce, only for his face to crumble into sorrowful tears. "Why weren't we worth changing for?"

Bruce clicked his tongue quietly, wrapping his arm around Clay's shoulders and directing him closer to the water. He stopped as they reached an outcropping of rocks, settling himself on the edge and patting the seat next to himself. Clay hesitated for a moment, before he too sat down.

"Clay…do you remember how old you were when Mom and Dad got taken?" Bruce asked quietly while staring out at the ocean.

"I was, like, nine or ten? Why?" Clay frowned, watching his brother curiously.

"I was twelve at the time. That would make Floyd seven, and Branch was still an egg. John Dory was fourteen."

Clay frowned, folding his arms over his chest with a sniff. "And?"

"John Dory was fourteen," Bruce reiterated, brow furrowed as he turned to look at Clay, "He was fourteen years old when suddenly he had to take care of three children and a baby."

Clay rolled his eyes with a scoff, unfolding his arms so he could lean back on his hands and kick his feet against the rocks. "Don't be so dramatic. We had grandma."

It was Bruce's turn to scoff, scowling at Clay. "Grandma was great, but she was busy a lot with responsibilities she had before we got dumped in her lap, and she worked a lot to make sure we were kept fed. John was the one who finished incubating Branch's egg, made sure we had proper meals, cleaned the pod, and kept us generally entertained. Let's face it, Grandma was also really bad at disciplining us, so that also fell on John Dory. And then we started Brozone, and that just heaped more responsibility on his shoulders."

"Why're you defending him? He practically gave you an eating disorder," Clay growled out, scowling at the ocean.

Bruce sighed, rubbing at his face before flopping back into the sand to stare up at the sky. "Yeah. He did. And that is something I need to talk to him about at some point. Hash out our feelings. But…becoming a dad made me realize a lot of things. About John, specifically. He was a kid, trying to raise kids and doing the best that he could. He had no idea what he was doing, and we didn't exactly make it easy for him. For fourteen years he was just our stupid older brother, and then suddenly…he was our guardian. I don't think any of us even had the capacity at the time to realize that he was forced to grow up in an instant while also grieving the loss of his parents."

Clay opened his mouth as if to speak, but closed it with a soft click of his teeth. He sat up, lacing his fingers together in his lap. "I guess I never gave that much thought," he admitted, "But that doesn't excuse the way he shoved us into boxes and never let us grow."

"No, it doesn't," Bruce agreed, tucking his hands behind his head, "But that should be something you talk about with him in a calm, controlled manner, and not in a screaming match where my kids can hear you. Plus, y'know, he was also shoved in a box."

Clay blinked, turning his head to give his brother a curious stare. "What? 'The Leader'? Please."

"Yeah, 'The Leader'," Bruce parroted back at Clay, "He was. He was our leader. He took care of us for four years, Clay. Did you never realize that he created the band as a way to help grandma with keeping food on the table, as well as keep us from getting into trouble? It was also an extra layer of protection from the Bergens, 'cause if we kept the population happy, it'd keep them 'tasty'. I know we all eventually felt the pressure of the bands success, but John was dealing with it from day one. I think it all just kept building up and building up until he just…imploded."

"Okay, sure. But why is he so different with the kids now?"

Bruce sat up with a short chuckle. "Because it's been twenty years, Clay. Twenty years of decompression and learning about himself. I have no doubt that John indulged in all the things he missed out on in his teenage years in all that time. He's grown up. Got to, properly. And I think he's trying to do better. There's no pressure to keep my kids safe, or fed. He doesn't have to teach them life lessons or discipline them when they're bad. He gets to be an uncle, and I think he's trying hard to be a good one."

Clay fiddled with his fingers in his lap, letting out a slow breath. "Do you think I owe John an apology?"

"For yelling at him? Sure. But I think you need to have a proper and honest conversation with him about everything. About how he made you feel then, and how you feel now. And, please. Try to keep your tone civil."

A quiet laugh left Clay as he gave a short nod. "Yeah, okay. I definitely owe the kids an apology for making them worried."

"Yeah, ya do," Bruce said with a grin, patting Clay on the shoulder.

#trolls #dreamworks trolls #trolls band together #trolls john dory #trolls clay #trolls bruce #trolls fanfic #things that i wrote

[coff-in]

Can I request a headcanon of Andrew and Ashley x doting and kind older sister reader? how would they affect Andrew and Ashley's dynamic? would they cling onto her and heavily depend on her?

This is my first time requesting anything on Tumblr ever so I'm sorry if it's not detailed enough! 😊

note from coff-in: thank you so much for requesting! i hope this was to your liking... looking back at it now i wish i added more of andrew's and ashley's thoughts and feelings about the [reader] in here. i also tried by best to keep their relationship platonic/neutral, just in case you didn't want to read about any incest. if incest's what you want, though, let me know through another ask or a comment in the notes! i'm always willing to oblige!

[fem] reader-insert, [reader] is older than andrew by about 2 years

I'll be the shade to protect you from the sun's harsh rays.

Big sis [reader] Graves would most likely struggle with caring for her younger siblings, Andy and Leyley. She loves her siblings, of course, but it is a struggle being the parent for them.

She’d read stories to them and draw with them and do her best to take care of them. Things that their mother should be doing with them… but oh well.

I think a big sis [reader] would probably try to encourage Andy and Leyley to be more independent from her and also each other. It might've worked on Andy but Leyley would still be very clingy to her siblings.

Speaking of a clingy Leyley, she would probably not be as clingy towards Andy since she has her big sister [reader]; who’s always kind and sweet and attentive to her! She and Andy are her best friends! She doesn’t need anyone else… and they don’t need anyone else but her either.

So yeah… Nina still dies. It would still happen initially between Andy and Leyley but big sis [reader] would have found out and panicked. She helps Andy and Leyley bury the body in the park (or wherever they buried her) and they still make the blood pact, although it’s a little different.

Ashley doesn’t tell a soul what happened that day, Andy doesn’t look at anyone else but her and their big sister [reader], and [reader] pretends that she didn’t hear her little siblings kill and hide a dead girl. Speak no evil, see no evil, hear no evil!

As they get older big sis [reader] does her best to financially support her siblings. Most of the money she gets from any job she works goes to her siblings to get them gifts and treats. She tries her best to celebrate both Andy and Leyley’s birthdays… even if Leyley’s birthday wishes are concerning to her.

Big sis [reader] may be more of a doormat and pushover than Andrew is. She loves her siblings and would probably delude herself to some extent that Andrew’s touchiness and overprotectiveness of his sisters are normal. Just like him sleeping in their beds after having a nightmare is normal…

Ashley being rude to other girls and boys is also normal! She’s just not used to having other friends so maybe she’s being rude as some form of anxiety… and her constantly requiring attention from her big siblings is fine, she’s their baby sister after all!

She stays with Ashley after Andrew goes off to college. Big sis [reader] would’ve gone to college herself but couldn’t bear to leave her little siblings at home with their not-so-great parents. She saved up her money to help pay for Andrew’s tuition and classes.

Once the Graves siblings end up in quarantine, big sis [reader] mostly just kind of vibes with her siblings. I mean, they’re with each other 24/7 now so she’s able to give her undivided attention towards them. Andrew and Ashley revel in this of course.

I can see big sis [reader] eating smaller portions of meals so that her little siblings can have more food for later because that’s the kind of thing a kind big sister does! Andrew and Ashley notice this. Their wonder big sister is starving herself for them! It makes their hearts ache to see her do this…

… so when they kill the cultist and prepare him for a tasty meal, it’s obvious to them that their big sister [reader] gets the first bite!

I’m kinda running out of steam for this sort of neutral look because you can take this scenario down so many different paths! Maybe their relationship could be one-sided; as Andrew and Ashley start growing up they start seeing all of big sis [reader]’s kind gestures and doting in a more romantic light, but to [reader] Andy and Leyley will always be her little siblings.

Maybe Andrew could use big sis [reader] as a sort of weapon against Ashley during the Decay route? Who knows? I currently haven’t thought about a Decay route like that too much, but it is a neat idea to think and fantasize about.

----

coff-in

#cobweb in the coffin #tcoaal #tcoaal x reader #the coffin of andy and leyley x reader #andrew graves x reader #ashley graves x reader #andrew graves #ashley graves #the coffin of andy and leyley

[puddleorganism]

Hey so for your hs au, we're the kids always big dragon things or did they become dragon things at some point via wacky sburb shit? Love the designs they are so cool

Thank you so much!!

The au was inspired by some posts I saw (can’t find them now 😔) that were essentially just talking about how cruel SBURB is, and it got me thinkin a bit.

At this point I’d already had the idea “hey what if godtier let them turn into big monsters” because, and you may notice a theme here, I really like big monsters. There was no lore at all at that point. They literally just. Were big monsters. For fun!

But I got thinking about it more, and kind of came to this conclusion:

Godtiering steals your life, your very humanity from you. It makes you a god, by definition. What if that was very literal?

So the au is everyone starts out like normal, but once you godtier things start to get weird. It starts small, a single pair of wings (which, ironically they don’t actually use to fly. They could, but they still have their floaty godtier powers (and honestly there’s a whole lot of lore around THAT too)). The more you use your godtiering powers and the more time you spend as a god, the less you really… fit inside a human/troll/etc. shape, anymore, and the more your body starts to morph into something larger and grander. Something more befitting of those who have mastered the game.

And that’s basically it, that’s the only way this au diverges from canon. It’s essentially a re-skin of an au lmao

I will say the gods can return to a human shape, but only visually and it’s difficult. They sort of come to embody their aspects - literally - so if they can figure out a way to condense or conceal their aspect, they can in turn condense themselves to be something smaller. Like I said, it’s tricky though. It’s probably something they would’ve only figured out post-canon. That, and it’s something they have to consciously maintain. If they don’t, the rest of them starts to “bleed through” back into visible reality in weird ways. Since it’s all tailored to their aspect it looks different for each of them. I want to draw Dave bleeding through sometime because I have a really cool idea for what it would look like for him.

One last thing, more of a design note than anything. I actually… don’t really like their designs yet. Well, I guess it’s more that they’re not really what I want yet? I do like some of them (especially Dave’s, Dave might not need any revisions actually). While designing them I really want to model them after two concepts:

1. Illuminated manuscripts and heraldic beasts, because the classes are based off of medieval fantasy and I think it’d be sick to reference that.

2. Eldritch/cosmic horror, because that more than anything emphasizes that they don’t really belong in any one universe anymore, and also emphasizes their loss of mortality and thus, in a way, life.

I feel like most of them lean too far towards either one, and aren’t balanced between them like I want. Hence why I’m unsatisfied with them atm! I am very glad you like them though :)

#long post #homestuck

[wordsandrobots]

I was sorting through a few things today and realised I never actually shared the sketches I did from when I was trying to work out what grown-up Shino looked like for To Catch a Falling Star. Mostly because they are not great. But hey, let's call this back-matter for the fic!

[EDIT: OH RIGHT THAT WAS WHY I DIDN'T POST IT. Tumblr objecting to his having nipples. Right, OK, I guess we're censoring that and not the actual signs of massive injury. Cool.]

Things to note:

The scars I explicitly stated in the text are: scarring up his neck but not extending to his head, a large burn on his left flank , an oval-shaped burn around his whisker (yes, exactly the shape you're thinking), and a strip of replaced skin taking up most of his right thigh. The rest are generally covered by 'there's a fuck-ton of them'.

(I mentioned this in the fic notes but the reason there are no scars on his face is because his helmet sealed shut right before Flauros depressurised, protecting his head from all but superficial damage. This saved his life but didn't do much for the rest of him, which was injured by the explosions and the normal-suit attempting to self-repair damage.)

Shino starts out in the fic with his head shaved but when he grows his hair back, he's (at least initially) somewhat shaggier than he was as a teenager.

He is also considerably less hench than he used to be. He's still roughly the same dimensions, but not nearly as defined and is even a bit gaunt-looking in certain lights. Traumatic everything injuries will do that to a person.

His new ear-studs are all gold; unlike Kudelia's, there is no jewel.

When I was originally thinking about the prosthetic connector, you can seen that my ideas tended a bit more Trigun-esque than is perhaps warranted. That's because I hadn't yet seen this picture of Argi Mirage's arm from the manga:

The cap on the end should therefore probably be a lot smaller and flow more cleanly into the flesh, ala a whisker, and so the outline should more resemble a real-life residual limb.

His prosthetic should also be closer to the above than I drew it -- or rather, closer to Derma's, since they're made by the same person:

I imagine there being a greater amount of plastic and otherwise non-metal sections than Moon Steel shows with Argi. Certainly, from the shot above, it seems Derma's hand is inside a flexible glove instead of just being nakedly robotic (which makes sense, he works with children whereas Argi mainly hits people for a living).

Oh, yes, for those who haven't read the fic: Shino's prosthetic having five digits is *very much* significant and plot-relevant. Actually, thinking it through now, that would explain why (per my descriptions) Shino's fingers have exposed metal parts over a softer bed of tactile sensors: to better protect them given that they're more vulnerable to damage than standard three-finger manipulators.

Anyway, there we have it. Character redesign thoughts! I should probably have another go at drawing him at some point, though I would need to get back into the swing of sketching first. Maybe when I'm done writing! (On top of everything else I plan to do when the last fic in the series is finished . . .)

#norba shino #gundam iron blooded orphans #gundam ibo #g tekketsu #tekketsu no orphans #spoilers #fanart #fanfic #my fic #my art #is fanfic back-matter a thing? #well why not

[chaos-and-ink]

!!!

Since you like drawing anatomy is there a part you like drawing most or least?

How did you get a hang of drawing certain things like hands, feet, faces etc?

What phase of the art process in your favorite? (Sketching, lining, rendering etc)

How many layers do you usually have on a piece?

Do you find people, objects or animals easy or harder than one another? (Rephrased, which is easier, which is harder?)

Do you often add backgrounds to pieces if so how simple or how complex to they normally get?

Do you prefer simplistic drawings or do you like adding details/making detailed pieces?

How'd you find your style?

-sparrow

Since you like drawing anatomy is there a part you like drawing most or least?

I love drawing hands. It's such a weird thing to like but they're just so posable and they really hold a lot of information. It's also just so satisfying to add each finger lmfaooo. One thing I don't like drawing is the torso. Like oh my goddddd, I get way too confused trying to figure out how to move it around. ALSO FACES. I hate faces with a burning passion.

How did you get a hang of drawing certain things like hands, feet, faces etc?

I used to absolutely hate drawing hands. I'd hide them every and any way I could lmao. But I started using LineOfAction and did the hands practice photos and eventually started to get the hang of it. The more I drew them and stopped hiding, the better I got. It also helps to really break the hands down so you're thinking smaller instead of bigger. Each section of the palm is a shape vs the entire hand as one shape. It makes it easier to tackle.

As for feet, I never understood it until I watched this one video by DrizzleDrawing. It basically breaks the foot down into three shapes. The heel. arch. and toes. You can layer/foreshorten these shapes and it makes the foot look a lot more dimensional and accurate. I don't really know how to explain this in writing haha.

And for faces... I have no mastered faces at all. I'm still hiding from them. But if I've learned anything from my past experinces, I need to just face my fears (pun intended) and start drawing them more instead of hiding.

What phase of the art process in your favorite? (Sketching, lining, rendering etc)

SKETCHING!! I love sketching so much oh my goddddd. I have millions of sketches. I swear they always look so much better than my finished pieces. As soon as I do lineart or add colours my art just goes downhill lmfao.

How many layers do you usually have on a piece?

I like to combine layers as I move along. Normally I'll have my sketch layer. A line art layer. A layer for each base colour. Then a clipping mask layer on each of those base colour layers for shading. After that I kinda just add layers whenever I need them and start merging them when I can.

Do you find people, objects or animals easy or harder than one another? (Rephrased, which is easier, which is harder?)

Objects are the hardest because I'm horrible at understanding dimension and perspective. I've never been formally taught the theories of it so I just make shit up and hope it looks okay. Animals are some of my favourite things to draw though I don't do it often. I love cats in particular. They're probably the easiest for me to draw.

In fact, I used to only draw animals and never draw humans. I just started branching into humans a few years ago so I'm still getting the hang of it. I'd say they're relatively easy to draw until I get to the face. Then I'm screwed haha.

Do you often add backgrounds to pieces if so how simple or how complex to they normally get?

Because I don't really get perspective much, I try to avoid complex backgrounds. However, if I'm up for a challenge, I love making detailed pieces with backgrounds or settings. It's super fun to decorate and create a space. I need to work on my perspective and object drawing so I can do better at it.

Do you prefer simplistic drawings or do you like adding details/making detailed pieces?

I like a good mix of both honestly. I think too much detail can clutter and too simplistic can be 'boring'. So when I make a piece that's simple with just flat colours, I try to compensate by adding lots and lots of content and flow for the viewers eyes to move around. But if I make a really complex rendered piece I try to simplify the subject so there's not too much going on. If I have a very very simple subject, like painting a single flower, I try to compensate by adding something unique or creative. Like a slash of black paint and a value change or something like that. I think it's really just a balancing act and I like to stay towards the middle.

How'd you find your style?

Honestly still don't feel like I have a style. It changes so much. But the more I drew the more it developed.

I think the other biggest thing was taking in as much information as I could. I would watch my brother draw ever since I was a little kid. I observed the techniques he used and I took what I liked and kept it, and I modify what I didn't like, and discarded what I hated. I watch a lot of artists on YouTube too just to see how they do different things and pick up random miscellaneous tips that all combined to develop my style. I think it's also really important to immerse yourself in art. I follow literally like 400 artists on Instagram and I'm constantly being bombarded with the curated art I love and it helps inspire me. Just examining and appreciating the art allows me to find things I like and try to replicate it.

Finding your art style is just as much finding what you like as it is finding what you don't like. You gotta observe first. Then develop by drawing.

Thanks so much for the questions!!! 💜 I hope all of this made sense lmfao if you have any more questions or what help I'd be super happy to help. :)))

#chaos #art tips #ask box #art help #art questions

[heartbreakgrill]

kol mikaelson; best friend’s brother, pt 1.

“cause he’s such a dream. and you know what i mean. if you weren’t related...”

a/n: dividing this into multiple parts because it will be well over 20k words when i am done lol 

"y/n! come in, come in!" rebekah's bright smile appeared as she pulled open the front door. her grin was infectious, and i felt my cheeks dimple in response. she stepped aside, ushering me in with her hand.

i'd been to her house before, though it was a short visit to pick damon up one time when he had been vamp-napped. but that didn't stop me from admiring the architecture of the beautiful building. it was a wondrous mansion, full of gorgeous marble carvings, scooping staircases with rounded edges, and windows, none smaller than i was tall.

"hurry, before my brothers come to terrorize us," rebekah snapped me out of my longing gazes, bursting a giggle from my throat.

she pointed to the stairs with another wisp of her hand, and i followed her up it. "my room's the first door up here."

when we reached the landing, i took in a new part of the house i'd never seen. the continued modern elegance theme of the house took up the second floor, as well. rebekah's door was cream, matching the color pallet, but it was hanging wide open. she had probably raced down the stairs the second she heard you press the doorbell.

she shut it tightly behind the two of us, and clicked the lock for extra security. "so, did you bring it?"

rebekah watched as i dumped my purse and book bag on the bed. i had promised her a few weeks ago that she could borrow the copy of my favorite book. having missed out on the last century of the universe, rebekah was somewhat behind on her reading. and she was a sucker for romance novels, which was part of the reason we got along.

i revealed the bent and torn copy, a sly smile growing on my face. "one copy of the duke and i for miss rebekah mikaelson."

everyone thought rebekah was a bitch. she could be- i had seen my fair share of it over the past month that we'd been friends. when i'd disagree that leo dicaprio was the hottest 90s actor, and instead argued that johnny depp was, rebekah didn't speak to me for three days. and, sure, in the past she had tried to kill your friends. but, everytime was a testament to her ability to survive. she was fervently loyal to her family, to me as her friend.

everyone was beyond shocked when they discovered i was hanging out with her. caroline threw bitch-fit- as always- and bonnie tried to talk me out of it in a sensible, respectful manner. but i ignored them.

rebekah just needed love. she needed someone to spend time with, someone to talk to. she needed humanity.

i could relate. sometimes- most times- the supernatural mess i was involved in left me constantly feeling lonely. being one of the only humans in my friend group felt like being a black sheep in the herd. plans were constantly cancelled, elena was always prioritized because of stefan and damon's tunnel vision; friday night football games turned into picking up extra shifts at the grille because of your messy schedule, or running across virginia looking for some ancient spell.

i had lost my identity as a teenage girl throughout the mess.

and rebekah was helping me feel normal again. except for when she'd substitute soda for blood bags. that was always a laugh.

we'd become friends after the most recent supernatural conflict, wherein elena had dug a metaphorical knife too deep into rebekah's back. she had brought up rebekah's constant failed connections, the fucked up dynamic of her family, while trying to make rebekah help them with some campaign against klaus.

it had been in the middle of a restaurant downtown, where we were having dinner with caroline and bonnie. just trying to have dinner with Caroline, bonnie, and elena at a restaurant downtown. i thought if we went to a different place than mystic grill, we'd avoid any entities. but, low and behold, elena always managed to draw out the crazies.

after she smeared rebekah, i watched the blonde turn on a sharp heel and retreat to the bathroom with tears falling down her face. i excused myself, and snuck off to the stalls, feeling a tug on my heart. i was always the peace keep in my friend group, the one to comfort people when they cried, whether it be after a breakup or after they turned into a vampire.

she was at the sink, attempting to clean up her mascara with a paper towel. she didn't hear me come in- but saw my frame appear in the mirror. rebekah tensed up, a dirty look on her face.

"come to twist the knife?" she sneered, balling up the paper towel tightly in her fist.

"no, i-" i hesitated, unsure of what to say. maybe she wouldn't believe me, but i wanted to help.

i stepped up to the counter beside her, set my purse on top of it, and began rummaging. i brandished a small plastic container of on-the-go makeup wipes and held them out to her.

"i always care these with me," i offered, attempting to smile.

rebekah eyed me skeptically, but took them from my hand. she tugged one out of the lid, and began to clean up her eye makeup. "you know, i'm on a date."

my heart shrunk a little at the sad revelation. "is it going well?"

"it was," rebekah laughed darkly. "elena ruins everything."

i gave a sad nod of understanding, "i know it's not her fault, but sometimes she can put a damper on things."

it was wrong- but we bonded over the fact that elena managed to always rain on either of our parades. i spent ten minutes talking to her, helping make her feel better after the awful interaction. unfortunately, most of the conversation was cracking jokes about situations we maybe shouldn't have laughed at, but it helped. it felt normal, more normal than the dinner i wet back to. i managed to hype her up, too, and sent her back out on her date with a bright smile on her face.

a day later, she'd texted me asking if i wanted to go shopping. i realized how lonely she must be- every man she'd ever loved completely betrayed her, tried to kill her, or died. she'd spent thousands of years running from her villainous father, with brothers who constantly caused problems and picked on her.

she didn't have a single friend in the entire history of time.

so i went shopping. and to lunch a few days later, to a movie, then i spent the night for the first time. she always came to my house- considering her brothers were always home, wreaking havoc. and it ended being so much fun, that she spent two nights- the entire weekend- at my house.

that was two months ago. this was the first time she was letting me stay at her house. she'd told me last week about the various rooms in her house- a pool, an in-home movie theatre, a game room. i practically jumped on her in the school hallway, threatening to stab her with a dagger to stay the night. she laughed ecstatically at my  joke, but said yes.

and here we were- sitting on her bed, holding out my copy of the duke and i. she quickly took it from my clutch, squealing at the sight of the half-naked boy on the cover. i laughed, giddily, commenting, "isn't he hot?! i mean, wait till you read it-! he's so posh, and-and, ugh, he's so mean to her, but-"

"you're going to spoil it!" rebekah shoved my shoulder lightly.

we shared another laugh at the exchange. rebekah kicked off her heels and sat on her knees beside me on the bed. "i want to send you home so i can read it now," she admitted.

i scoffed at her remark, taking the book from her hands and tossing it on the back of the bed, "bitch, i want to swim! and watch a movie and play pool. so, if you do that, i'm never hanging out with you again."

rebekah giggled, "okay, okay. fine. do you wanna swim now, or later, when the sun goes down?"

"oooo," i pursed my lips in thought, "later! night swimming is so much more fun."

"i have some wine," rebekah pointed to the bar cart in the corner of her ginormous room, "and we have speakers outside."

i was finally able to take in her room, and began gushing about the decorations, there wasn't much, considering her and the rest of the mikaelson's had only move in two months ago. but, what was in the room was expensive, luxury furniture. "i'm so poor!"

we spent the next hour in there. rebekah had managed to collect things through her life- small knick knacks, favorite sweaters, hats, a few journals here and there. klaus was a back stabber- but every time he killed his siblings, he'd store their things for later. rebekah said so with a distant smile, a faraway look in her eyes. she loved her brothers.

it was a silly detail, but it made my heart so happy.

after she showed me the whole room, i felt my stomach growl. "i'm starving," i huffed, patting my stomach.

rebekah shook her head with a smile, "wanna order a pizza?"

i quickly brandished my phone, and i found the local pizza shop's contact. i okayed the order details with rebekah before clicking the dial button. i ordered a large pizza with extra cheese, and a side of break sticks. they gave me an eta, and i hung up.

i went over to my  purse and dug around for my purse. "i got it this time."

rebekah grabbed my hand, "no way. this ones on me."

i knew that meant she'd compel the pizza boy, which sometimes made me uncomfortable. it wasn't fair, or practical, and bit the pizza shop in the ass. but, sometimes being with rebekah let me feel dangerous in an empowering way. like we were sneaking beers from her fridge. with bonnie ,caroline, and elena, all of my other friends, i always felt coddled. looked down upon for being human. in dangerous situations, even in ones where i could help, i was always laughed out for offering my hands.

while we waited for the pizza, rebekah said she'd show me around.i'd never gotten to see the whole layout. it was three stories tall, the mansion, but rebekah said the top floor was basically klaus' weird torture dungeon, and i laughed that maybe it was a sex dungeon. she shoved my shoulder with a high-pitched, "ew!"

rebekah shivered at the gross thought, and continued with a small grimace. "that end of the hallway is finn's room," she pointed her manicured finger to my left. "and that one is kol's."

i glanced towards the former, and then to the right. my eyes lingered on the latter, at the cream-colored door, shut tight. i had met finn, but never kol. i heard plenty of stories about his psychotic vampirism, but i had seen a picture of him on rebekah's phone. apparently, he'd stolen it from her a few weeks ago when he discovered what a selfie was;

rebekah had shown with annoyance lining her tone, but she giggled when she pulled it up to show it to me. i laughed, too, but my eyes lingered on his own for a moment. he was kinda cute. i

i shook the memory from my mind. there was a thin line of light streaming from underneath the door. but, there wasn't much movement. what did original vampires do in their off time, anyways?

i asked, "what does everybody do all day?"

rebekah shrugged, "i think finn wants to get a job in town. history reservation or something. elijah writes, as you know. kol plays video games. he's just discovered call of duty, whatever that is. he might go back to college. i go to school, obviously. and klaus just tortures."

i tittered slightly, "sounds fun."

she shrugged with a small laugh. "okay, first floor."

i followed her down the steps. she'd long since switched her signature pumps to house slippers, red, glittery ones that scraped against the floor as she walked. i was just in your socks- ones with little puppies all over them. the floor was cool against my toes, but it felt good.

as we reached the landing of the first floor, rebekah began talking again, "this is technically the foyer, though i don't know why it's so big. that's the kitchen over there, attached is a dining room, sitting room, and the library. this way is the living room, and elijah's room. there's a bathroom off the kitchen and one next to his bedroom."

i perked up at the mention of the library, and rebekah looked at you sweetly, "would you like to go see it? klaus is an expansive collector."

thirty minutes later, the doorbell rang. i was on top of the ladder in the library, running my fingers over the spines of the collection before me. the entire shelf i was wondrously gazing upon were first editions klaus had collected. anything from pride and prejudice, to a tale of a two cities. i wasn't the biggest fan of classics, but the history seeping from these novels, with a rustic cloud of smell, was engaging. my head tilted towards the sound of the doorbell, and i glanced down at rebekah.

"i got it," she nodded, waving me off. "keep looking. you seem happy."

i grinned at her retreating back. then i turned my attention back to the books. i stopped on the spine of an old classic, gently tugging it from its spot in the shelf. . i looped my arm through the ladder to balance myself as i began to open its pages.  a voice sounded from the doorway.

"hello, darling."

i jumped slightly, and i gripped the ladder tighter. my heart thumped on my chest at the possibility of falling. with a hitched breath, i looked to the voice and saw a familiar boy standing there, hands in the front pockets of his sweatpants. i offered a gentle smile, "hello," i spoke quietly, shyness lacing my features and stomach. my heart rate steadied, but it still ran quick.

rebekah has always made sure kol was never around. she said he was flirtatious and obnoxious, and that she didn't want me to get caught up in his advances.

kol held my eyes in his own, a burning stare glinting in his brown eyes. he nodded towards the book in my hands, "which ones that?"

i glanced back down at the cover, then looked to him, "alice's adventures in wonderland."

"ah," kol stepped down into the room, slowly making his way closer. he continued, his eyes burning into mine, "'tis love...tis love that makes the world go round.'"

i furrowed my brows, a flurry feeling enlightening my stomach, and the corner of my lips lifted in a short smile. "you've read it?"

"when you live forever, you manage to read quite a lot of books," kol laughed lightly.

i turned from him, hoping if it broke eye contact, it would steady my heart. i slipped the novel back between the books on the highest shelf. "i'm not a fan of it, to be honest."

kol scoffed, "what! how?"

i began to ramble, turning back to face him, "i just don't like it. it's chaos. i know it's supposed to be- but there's no moral for me to connect to. i-"

amidst my rambling, i lost your footing on the ladder. i yelped as my felt your body tugged down by gravity, and my arms reached out, trying to grab the ladder. i was falling.

i heard a whoosh beneath me and, suddenly, i landed gently in someone's arms. i threw my arms out, holding tightly to their neck, and shoved my head up against their shoulder. my eyes were squeezed shut, an attempt to look away from the ground as i fell, but i slowly peeked one open. my heart was beating out of my chest.

i turned my head to the side and caught kol's eyes. his breath was warm across my face and a worried look creasing his brows. "you okay, darling?"

i immediately blushed, and shoved myself out of his arms. i found your footing on the ground, and put some distance between myself and him. i shoved my back agains the book case. "i'm fine," i breathed outwards, with a hand against my thumping chest, "thanks. i'm- fine."

kol went to respond when rebekah's voice sounded from the hallway, her slippers making that scuffing sound across the flooring. "that delivery boy was cute, y/n. i'm going to get his number for you next time-"

as she turned the corner into the room, her voice cut off. "kol! leave y/n alone!"

i blushed a deeper shade of red, feeling embarrassed that i was interacting with her brother. it wasn't like it was a crime, like she had banned me from doing so. but the situation felt secret, scandalous. i pressed my lips together in a thin line, staring at the floor beside rebekah's slippers.

the air was tense.

kol crossed his arms over his chest, "oh, sister, im just trying to introduce myself to your friend. you never let me meet her."

rebekah set her hands on her hips, "because you're creepy."

i wanted to laugh at the sibling rivalry, the funny quips and remarks they shot at each other. but, knowing their short tempers, i minded my business.

"ah, that's not true," kol replied. "don't make me look badly in front of your friend. y/n, is it?"

he met my eyes again, and a heat ran through me. i nodded, but rebekah interrupted the moment.

"well, you've introduced yourself. now, get out. don't you have some slaughtering to do?" rebekah's voice got a little higher, annoyance thick in her tone. she was losing patience.

i smiled politely, "it was nice meeting you," i turned to rebekah and began making my way to the door. "let's go watch a movie. i'm starving still."

rebekah sent another glare in kol's direction before giving in, following me out of the library. "just try to ignore him, please," she spoke.

i shrugged, "it's okay. he didn't bother me too much."

rebekah, a quick walker due to her impatience, quickly got ahead of me. i trailed behind, and almost stopped dead in my tracks to glance back over my left shoulder. kol was in the doorway, watching our retreating figures with a simple gaze, one of curiosity.

i sent him another smile, and waved my hand. kol's smirk grew.

he winked at me.

—

i was barely watching the movie. i kept staring the door with anticipation, wondering if he'd crash through them with that same smirk on his face. i knew it wasn't realistic- why would he? but i was craving his gaze.

i could feel the heat of his hands lingering on my thighs, on the curve of my back. i wanted to touch him again, just his arm or his cheek, to see if he was really that warm, or if i had imagined it. it was like he had burned me, and it was lingering on my skin.

i peeled my eyes from the door, and refocused onto the pizza box on the coffee table. rebekah flicked her eyes at your movement, but her wide-dough eyes were mainly yearning to consume the entertainment on the television. i took a big bite of the pizza slice, swallowed, and reached for my soda can. i almost rested it's opening to my lips, but the weight of it felt extremely light in my hold. i shook it, and heard the remnants of the soda rattle at the very bottom of the can.

here was my excuse.

i sat up, body stiff with anticipation. i cleared my throat, ran my tongue over my teeth to clean off the pizza. "iiiiiiiiii...m- im gonna get more soda..." i dragged out my words, trying to be careful. "you want some?"

rebekah flicked her hand in my direction, murmured something denying the offer.

i slyly set my pizza slice into the box and, with the empty can in tow, slipped out of the room. i practically tip-toed through the halls, towards the kitchen. every time i passed a doorway, i extended my neck to look through it. to look for him.

i felt foolish and silly- but giddy with excitement. what would i say if i ran into him? what would i do? he was probably in his room, playing call of duty. but what if he was waiting for me, too? there was that look in his eyes-

oh, my god. i'm pathetic. i want to be a typical teenager, but this is extreme. i shook my head of the cheesy thoughts, finally reaching the kitchen.

i dumped the trash into the garbage can. i didn't know where the cups were, but i really wanted a glass of water. i placed my hands on my hips, glancing around the cupboards before. i didn't know where the glasses were, so i began rummaging through every cabinet in search of them.

all of a sudden, within the moment of a small gust of air being interrupted, and the ruffle of the hair on my shoulders, i felt a presence engulf my back. my breath hitched, for the second time this evening, and i watched from the corner of my gaze as an arm reached around my head, pulling open the cupboard above me.

he closed his fingers around a glass, and brought it down to in front of my face. the moment lasted much longer than 10 seconds- but in actuality, it felt like the single blink of an eye. i let out the breath that filled your stomach, shaky with a curios ruin. my heart rate spiked.

"looking for this, darling?" his voice was hot as it breathed past my ear. it spiraled goosebumps down my body, tickling every sense along my spine.

i tried to steady my hand, but it was shaking as i took it from his grasp. "t-thank you."

i turned to face him, sure he would step back, but he stayed at his sultry distance. i backed up against the counter as much as i could, hugging the glass to my chest.

the corner of his pink lips curled into that signature smirk. he leaned in further, pressing both of his palms into the counter beside my hips. i finally got a good look at his eyes- and they were brown.

a golden hued, chocolatey brown that oozed warmth, radiated comfort. and bled desire.

my eyes flickered away from his. i remembered what rebekah said. he was a flirt. this is what he did. and i felt silly for thinking it was because of me.

i made my eyes refocus on the collar of his shirt. attempting to ground myself. "i-i've gotta get...back. to rebekah."

"bekah won't miss you too much if you stay here a moment longer," kol shrugged. he tilted his head to catch my gaze again.

i went red-hot all over my body- the blood rushed to the surface of my skin, as if to embarrass me in this moment. man, he was great at this.

i averted my eyes again, and pulled my body back further. i hugged the cup to my chest in an attempt to shy away from him. maybe he would back off if he saw i was uncomfortable.

though that was a lie.

kol did. his smirk faltered for a single second once he noticed i was shrinking away. he took the glass from my hands, fingers barely grazing my skin, and filled it up at the fridge.

i caught my wrist with my other hand and nervously wrung it for a moment. watching as he filled the glass, my heart rate began to steady and the heat dissipated. distance was good.

"here you are, love," he presented the cup like a golden apple, "one glass of water."

i cracked a small smile, managing to elicit a cheeky response now that distance was between you. "are you a waiter now?"

"might take up that profession," kol leaned back against the island, making a questioning face with a pursed, deep frown. it was silly.

i giggled, "have fun with that. and thanks for the water."

kol sent me another wink as i headed for the exit, "anything for the beautiful damsel in distress."

i laughed again, but quickly sped out of there.

he was really good.

—

rebekah was in love with julia roberts.

as i picked up your trash from the movie room and hauled it to the kitchen garbage, she ranted on and on about the actresses portrayal of the woman in notting hill.

i tossed the pizza box, a few paper plates, and two more soda cans into the trash. distantly listening, my mind began to wander. again. what was wrong with me?

it was like his very presence in this house was putting me on edge. it felt like i was playing cat and mouse- only i was a not-so cautious mouse with a death wish. every time i heard a door close, every time footsteps shook the ceiling, my heart jumped out of my throat.

rebekah poured a blood bag into a glass, decorating it with a pink straw that had an umbrella on it. she began to go on about julia roberts purse, but i interrupted. i knew it was a bad idea, to plant this conversation, but i needed to know something.

"so, what's with kol, anyways?" i asked, distant.

her mouth hung open slightly, "what?" rebekah furrowed her brows.

i shrugged, sliding up onto the bar stool. "what's his deal? like, i know about you, elijah, and klaus. but what about kol?"

"he's a psycho, y/n," she took a sip through the straw, manicured fingers holding onto the end. "he throws temper tantrums and runs off to kill dozens of people constantly. he's the most problematic of all of us. he was wreckless before he turned and it's only enhanced by his immortality."

i nodded along to her words, my fingers playing with one another atop the counter. i couldn't say you were happy to hear that the one original vampire you thought was cute was a murdered. but the information helped ground me more. there it was; another reason to snap the hell out of it. "oh, joy...do you guys not get along well?"

rebekah continued drinking, and as she swallowed, she thought. "depends on the day. i can't say that we always do. sometimes. he's just very- closed off, i guess. sometimes i try to bridge the gap, but he doesn't let anybody in."

the hurt was evident in her eyes, and she tried to play off his discomfort by staring into her drink. i quickly changed the subject, settled on dropping him from my mind for good. he could flirt as much as he wanted, but i wasn't going to let him toy with me. i was better than that. "let's stop talking about your brother and go swimming. it's finally dark out."

rebekah glanced over my shoulder, to the sliding patio doors. the back yard was completely pitch black. she thought for another moment before a smile lit up her face. rebekah walked over to the doors. she slipped a switch, and the porch flooded with light.

"now that sounds like fun."

i perked up at the sight of the ginormous pool. the deck extended out over the yard, providing a direct drop off into the pool. there were lounge chairs, couches circled around a fire pit.

"hey, can we have a fire later?" i offered. "we can make s'mores."

rebekah looked at you with a bewildered face, "what the hell is a s'more?"

"just say yes," i tittered with a tease, jumping off the stool.

we quickly went upstairs and changed into our bathing suits. rebekah offered a beach towel, still with the tags on it. i laughed at its newness and ripped the tags off. i wrapped it around my shoulders, chilly from the stale air of the house. vampires didn't need heat, or air, so the cold virginia night seeped through the cracks in the molding between windows and doors, sending shivers down my spine.

"the pools heated," rebekah noticed the goosebumps trailing my bare skin. "let me go ask somebody about the house, though. don't see why we can't cater to you considering we can't feel much."

i nodded with a smile, and followed her down the stairs, again. though it was magnificent, the house was like a built-in gym. to get from any point a to any point b, we had had to cross numerous football fields worth of space. i took a deep breath as we hit the first floor landing, feeling silly and human at the fact that i was out of breath.

rebekah took a sniff, which was strange, but after she turned her head to the kitchen and made a determined march towards it, you remembered that's how she operated. she located people by smell. klaus, finn, and elijah were all sitting around the island, just...hanging out? all the warnings my friends had given me remained more and more untrue every single day. this was a family- a normal, old, ordinary family.

sometimes they hung out in the kitchen, drinking beers and playing a game of rummy. finn must have still been learning, because he looked distraught and confused.

"oh, little sister, perfect," klaus waved her over with a finger.

rebekah rolled her eyes, but stepped closer to his shoulder. "yes, nik?"

"tell me; does this look like a worthy risk to take?" klaus smirked, though it was not as menacing as his others have been in the past. it was simple mischief. brotherly cheating in a card game.

i smiled slightly as elijah slapped his cards into the table with a groan. "you cannot cheat, niklaus! we've been over this!"

klaus looked offended, "it is not cheating if i ask someone not in the game!"

"that's literally the definition of cheating," the words slipped from your tongue with a giggle. i expected them to be angry that i bugged into their conversation, but elijah simply looked to me with comradery.

"thank you! it's the definition, klaus," elijah took a swig of his beer.

"if anyone gets to cheat, it should be me," finn groaned. he looked up at me with these puppy dog eyes, tilting his cards slightly towards my gaze.

i stepped closer with an encouraging grin. "let's see..."

elijah groaned even louder, slapping his cards to his face this time. "oh, i give up!"

i helped finn pick out a set of hearts, 9-J to play off of elijah's 6-8. finn was so happy, he stood from his chair and hugged me tightly.

rebekah finally got annoyed by her brothers and cleared her throat over the rowdiness. "can someone please turn the heat on in this house for y/n? the poor things freezing."

everyone looked to me, concern lacing their features. elijah set his cards down on the table and stood up, "let's see. i think there's something called a thermostat."

klaus looked to his brother curiously, but finn was focused on his hand. "what's that?"

rebekah pulled out of her phone, "i'll look it up."

a laugh burst out of my chest, and i went red as everyone looked to me again. i padded over to elijah, saying, "i know how to do that."

there was a vent beside your feet, and a warm shiver trailed your body as it burst open and air trickled out. "ah, there we go," i sighed in content. "thank you," i nodded up at elijah.

he smiled kindly. "are you two going swimming, then?" he pointed between us, glancing at the lit-up pool.

"figured we might as well get some use out of those dreadful house," rebekah commented as she leaned against the counter.

klaus set down the cards in his hands, and fumbled with his beer. he looked thoughtful, "swimming sounds intriguing."

finn looked up, "swimming is an activity these days?"

rebekah shrugged, "it's strangely fun."

"well, enjoy yourselves," elijah spoke, sliding back onto his seat.

rebekah pushed off the counter and grabbed two wine glasses from a cupboard. the bottle of wine she brought from her room sat in her other arm. she looked at me with raised brows, "oh, we will, brother. let's go."

bubbling with excitement, i moved to the sliding glass doors and opened one for rebekah. she stepped out into the night, and waited for me to close it. "okay, you probably know how to use this better than i," rebekah said as she neared a set of speakers. "it's bluetooth? whatever that means."

i laughed for the millionth time, "don't worry. i've got it."

i slumped onto a lounge chair near the speaker, fiddling with the buttons and volume in order to connect my phone. rebekah set the wine glasses and the bottle onto the outdoor dining table. she opened the bottle without even using a wine opener, and poured it into the two glasses.

she brought one over just as the speakers beeped, indicating my phone had connected. i put my playlist on shuffle, and rebekah cheered as a one direction song came on.

"oh, i just love harry styles," she gushed, taking a large gulp of her wine.

"me, too," i swirled the wine around in my glass. "you know what i love even more? swimming. so, peace out."

i stood from the chair and padded over to the pool. i crouched down, setting my wine glass on the concrete siding, and plopped onto my butt. i dipped my feet into the water, and with my palms pressed against the ground, pushed myself into the pool. it came up to my stomach, and i yelped at the cold.

rebekah laughed at my response, tip-toeing to the water with a giant pink pool floaty in her hands. she went around the to the steps and carefully balanced onto the float. as she passed me, i grabbed my glass of wine and downed a large sip.

"this is amazing," rebekah commented, her head lolling back as her eyes fell shut.

i took another sip of my drink before setting it down. "i know, right? this is peak luxury."

rebekah snorted at my comment. "you really are poor."

i scoffed and splashed her with water. her face scrunched up as she flinched, and she kicked her floaty away from me. using the hair tie on my wrist, i pulled my hair up into a very messy bun.

"not all of us have spent eternity, dining with kings and queens," i mocked the last part in a faux-accent.

"i've never dined with a king. a few queens, yes. an emperor? yes. the president? sure. but never a king."

i rolled my eyes, "whatever."

rebekah's floaty spun away from me slowly. she was humming to the one direction song, looking fully content with the relaxing moment.

turning from her, i took a deep breath, shut my eyes, and dove into the water. i swam down to the deep end, and when my hand met the wall, i came up for air. i wiped the water from my eyes, holding onto the edge of the pool so i didn't have to tire my kicking feet. i spun to face the doors to the house, planting my elbows onto the side of the pool.

then, i spotted kol. he was walking through the kitchen, a beer in his hands. he was obviously teasing his brothers, based on the smirk he wore and the annoyance seeping from his family members' expressions. my eyes followed him while he peered over klaus' shoulder, and a chuckle fell from my throat as klaus shoved him away. kol put his hands up defensively, but his ear perked up at the sound of my laugh. his eyes met mine through the glass, his lips lifting further into a grin.

i quickly turned away, taking another breath to dive back under the water. but, i heard the sliding glass door peel open within the span of seconds. i watched rebekah lift her head off of the back of the floaty and glare at the new presence on the patio.

"kol, leave."

i faced him, anticipating a cheeky response. "oh, but beks, this looks like fun. let me join!"

elijah stood from the island and stepped outside, "kol," he spoke, firmly, "leave them alone."

kol raised his hands defensively, again, "i'm not trying to cause anything, 'lijah. i honestly want to swim, as well. look, they've got music, drinks. it seems like a great time."

elijah looked to rebekah, who was glaring at the exchange. he gave her a knowing look and she drew back, beginning to yell out a no, but elijah said, "if we can't swim in a pool together, what kind of family are we?"

elijah, kol, and i looked to rebekah expectantly, awaiting her permission. she glanced at me and i shrugged, "i don't mind. maybe we could play chicken."

"kay," rebekah furrowed her brows, "i don't know what the hell that is. but..." she paused, stared deeply into her wine glass, took the biggest gulp, and said, "what the hell!"

elijah, klaus, and kol changed into bathing suits. finn went out. klaus tried out the diving board and showed off an insane front flip into the water. elijah took the steps, carefully and skillfully entering the water. i held onto rebekah's floaty, laughing with her at klaus' flip.

i reached for my glass of wine on the side of the pool when, all of a sudden, we heard kol yell from inside the house. he came running out, yelling all the while, in a pair of pineapple swim trunks. he jumped into the middle of the pool, cannon-balling. i let go of my wine glass and, instead, braced myself on the concrete. the water shook us all around, mini-waves swirling from his jump.

rebekah groaned, while elijah and klaus shared a laugh. i smiled, and watched as kol popped out of the water. he flipped back his head, his wet hair sending a splash towards klaus. the former brother pounced in response, tackling kol into the water. they wrestled for a moment, laughter ringing in my ears, before kol pushed klaus away.

"so, what is this chicken game, y/n?" kol said, through heavy breaths from the exertion. "does it involve chickens?"

i looked to him, the grin never leaving my face. upon meeting my gaze, his lips lifted up a bit. i faltered, but pushed on, "i don't know why it's called that. there are no chickens involved. basically, two people sit on two other people's shoulders and each tries to push the other off. its really fun."

"i'm game," klaus raised a finger.

i glanced at him, then to rebekah, "how about you?"

she shrugged, "i wanna relax. that sounds stressful."

elijah, of all people, swam over to her. she looked at him warningly as he got too close, "don't be boring, sister." suddenly, he lifted the bottom of her floaty and flipped her off of it. rebekah screamed as she went, her wine glass falling in beside her.

i gripped the side of the pool, laughing my ass off at the exchange. i glanced around and saw kol was staring at me with the brightest smile. my face flushed red and i stopped. he scrunched his nose at me, as if to acknowledge my resistance, and looked away.

rebekah came out of the water with an angry expression on her face. "oh, you're dead!"

rebekah claimed klaus as her fighting partner instantly. she got onto his shoulders with determination as elijah climbed onto kol. they moved towards a shallower, yet still deep enough, end of the pool. the water dipped beneath kol's chest as it rippled. i let my eyes wander there for the first time, and i blushed red. i was hot- though it was chilly outside- to the very core. kol caught my expression for what felt like the millionth guilty time and he winked.

he had to stop doing that.

i pulled myself onto the edge of the pool letting just my feet sink in the water as i watched them fight. "okay," i caught everyone's attention, "no super strength! it's not fair. and, on 3- 1...2...3!"

rebekah reached forward with all her might and began shoving elijah at his shoulders. kol held on tightly, though, white knuckling elijah's thighs. it took a while for one of them to fall, but, eventually, elijah fell back into the water. kol managed to evade the crash and swam out from under his brother.

rebekah looked to me with excitement. she shook her triumphant fists in the air, before grabbing klaus' head and tugging it around. he laughed at his little sister's antics.

shortly after everyone calmed down, rebekah demanded she go again. "but, i want y/n to play! this was her idea, after all."

klaus nodded, still holding his sister on his shoulders. "yeah, cmon, y/n!"

i lifted myself into the pool, smiling at their encouragement. scanning kol and elijah, i hoped to myself that the former would be the one to hold me on his shoulders. elijah went to offer, but kol cut him off, "i've got you, darling."

kol held out his hand, the one with his daylight ring on the finger. i swam over, trying not to stare at the veins running from his knuckles and up his arms. i delicately placed my hand in his and let him pull me closer. i could feel eyes on us and i knew it was rebekah. she was more than likely pissed at kol, and glaring daggers into his skin. but i tried to ignore that. even if his flirtasious advances were just how he was, i could relish on his skin touching mine.

even if that was wrong, too.

kol placed my hand on his shoulder as he pulled me around, to his back. "ready?" he peered over his shoulder, and when i nodded, he pushed down into the water. i braced my hands on his shoulders, swinging one leg at a time over them. i felt his large hands stable my legs on him and, when he felt they were, he came up.

i squeaked at the easy force, as if i weighed nothing, and gripped onto his hands. his skin really was that warm. kol looked up at me, "you okay, love?"

i nodded, "y-yes. let's get 'em."

i, unfortunately, did not get anybody. rebekah either couldn't not use her supernatural strength, or she was just abnormally strong. she pushed me under twice, and i was not willing to try a third time. each time i fell off kol's shoulders, he'd quickly whip around and fish me out by the hips. it was too much for my little heart, which was beating completely out of my chest.

in the last round, kol spun as soon as he felt me slip, and caught me so my legs were wrapped around his waist, his hands gripping the underneath of my thighs. i gasped as the space between our faces was non-existent. his breath was minty like before, hot and sharp as his chest pushed in and out heavily. kol contemplated my face, eyes flickering between my lips and my eyes.

the world around us felt like it froze in time. as if kol and i were encased in a snowglobe, the laughter from his brothers and sister were muffled onlookers. as if we were sitting on a shelf, in some faraway shop, price tagged for a moment that was forever occurring. just him and i, floating through time.

my fingers slipped through the hair at the nape of his neck, and i felt him shiver at my touch. but, as the moment came to a jarring snap back into time, i twisted my lips into a frowning smile. i slid my hands to either of his shoulders, squeezed gently once, and pushed myself back from him. i slipped into the water and kicked lightly to put distance between us.

whatever that was- whatever was happening here, needed to stop.

rebekah was fervently loyal- so much so that she was territorial. she had lost so much in her life- friends, lovers, parents, and siblings. she made sure that what she had was hers- even if it meant people would die.

if she knew her best friend and her brother had shared as many moments as they had today, that they had both felt a spark, felt a shimmer of something, she would surely dagger kol.

she wouldn't lose to me, especially not to him.

as i swam back from him, kol's eyes downturned with restless confusion. i knew, from the way his hands gripped at my skin, the way his vision desired me, that he meant more than to ruffle my feathers. that he held felt an attraction towards me.

and i had felt it for him, too.

i bit my lip harshly, hoping to bleed out the feelings, and shook my head.

no.

we couldn't.

#kol mikaelson #kol mikaelson x you #kol mikaelson x reader #kol mikaelson x y/n #the originals #the originals x reader #the originals x y/n #klaus mikaelson #rebekah mikaelson #elijah mikaelson #nathaniel buzolic sucks but kol is hot so fuck me

[obitv]

followup to this ficlet

your name is chip, you're 14 years old, and, currently, you're running for your life.

for only the SECOND time this week, you might add, which is pretty fuckin impressive for you. it wasn't as bad when you were younger, back when everyone believed your story and sympathised with you (which was weird as FUCK, having normal adults like you), but somewhere around the twentieth ship you tried to stowaway on and the fourth time you got caught stealin from the market they started to lose their patience.

they went easy on you, cause you were a little kid with a sob story and no family, but once you stopped bein half everyone's height and your unwillingness to settle down in an orphanage or foster home stopped being endearing and started being annoying they stopped botherin.

which is to say, they let the town guards after you as often as they wanted to. and they STILL make all the sailors search their boats for you before they leave, so for right now you're just fucking stuck here.

but. that aside, you're running. you're running as fast as your awkward little legs will carry you, ehich now that you've had years to practise is pretty damned quick. AND you're still smaller than most of the stupid town guards, so you know all the best places to lose them. wasn't even for anything PROPER this time, either! just some fuckin merchant didn't like the look of you walkin around and decided to tattle. loser. and sure, ok, the guard's been lookin for you ever since you raided that woman's yard but that was her TRASH, not like she fuckin needed it!

you manage to lose them eventually, and let yourself have a minute to catch your breath and relax before you have to bolt agsin to find somewhere to sleep. and of course it's as your lying there, flat on your back on some random rooftop baking in the afternoon sun, that shit goes wrong

"oy, kid. th'fuck are you doin' on my turf?"

because, oh yeah. there's gangs now. what fucking else!

you look up at him lazily, like you don't care, even though mentally you're cataloguing every weapon you have on you and the fastest ways to draw each of them. "ain't nobody's turf. s'just a roof. and i ain't doin' nothing but lying down. i'll fuck off when the guards've given up on me."

he's taller than you (not hard), and older (also not hard). he's got dark hsir to his shoulders and what looks like a tattoo poking up from his collar. so, yeah. gang. you probably shouldn't talk back, but all he can do to you is get you kicked off the island, which is what you WANT, or get you killed, which you don't really give a shit about anymore.

the boy stares you down. you honestly aren't sure ehat he plans to do, but you're hoping it's fuck off and leave or push you off the roof and damn the consequences, so you REALLY aren't expecting to hear "huh. what's your name, kid?"

you eye him back. you've never seen him around, but considering most of your time on this island's been spent hiding in alleys and basements it's not that weird even if he IS around your age. he doesn't seem pissed off? more amused, a little smirk playing on his face. so you play along.

"chip."

"just chip?" yep. definitely amused.

"jus' chip. why, you recruitin'?" idiot idiot idiot-

"yeah. yeah, i am recruitin'. the name's reuben, chip."

so, you join a gang.

#this one is shorter BUT i will hopefully be writing a lot more for the price parts bc im fascinated by that era #jrwi #just roll with it #chip jrwi #jrwi riptide #riptide #mypost #myfic #chipfic #<- new tag just for this collection bc i Aim to have it go up to a certain point in canon

[lex-drinks-blood]

I wondered do ya have any headcannons for Authur, I actually started watching the show its pretty good too. The boi is pretty sour tho

the boi is too sour for his own good at times, but we love him anyway 🙄

I actually have wanted to start working on some headcanons so this ask is perfect for me!! so thank you thank you for asking, I hope you like some of my takes on the character! this is also kind of long, I didnt realize how much I needed to get out of my system, but I hope you enjoy it anyway 😭

Arthur Havisham x Male Reader: just some headcanons, fluff, sensual, smut (just dont tell anyone)

Warnings: brief mentions of alcohol abuse, brief mentions of homophobia, some sexual stuff for once

- for starters, man's is not nearly as tough as he wants everyone to believe he is. I mean, he isn't exactly weak, but he's a smaller dude. i mean, he can take a hit pretty well without acting fazed, but he'll be screwed in the morning

- he is very strong mentally though. he has endured a lot of trauma and ridicule in his life, so he has learned pretty quickly how to be self sufficient and take care of himself.

- he is a huge sweetie. you'd never guess based on his normally larger than life and sour personality, but he really really cares about the people he holds dear.

- he always always always falls asleep in your arms. whether you're on the couch, in bed, or literally on the floor, he will probably start to get sleepy if you are holding him. the warmth of your body just draws him in and makes him never want to leave.

- since being with you, he has started drinking less. he says you "make him feel like he's actually worth something" so he tries to take better care of himself now.

- ACTS. OF. SERVICE. if arthur wants to tell someone how much he admires them, he'll do their laundry, was dishes, make a meal, tidy up the house a bit. he normally hates doing what he calls "busy work" but when it's for you or someone else that he loves, he will gladly take on the task.

- he is ALWAYS little spoon. this goes back to the "him falling asleep in your arms" thing, but he just feels so safe when you hold him.

- he's shorter than you. idk why I imagine this, but it just makes sense to me that he'd be a rather small man.

- when you are in public, pda is absolutely not an option if you want to... idk... stay alive maybe? this means you and arthur have to be very careful about what looks like two best guy friends and what looks like two gay men. because of this, arthur has started a habit of linking your pinkie fingers together when you are on emptier streets.

- whenever you give him gifts he is always trying to ask how much it was so he can pay you back. he doesnt feel like he needs gifts because he already knows you love him. you love giving him gifts though because he always blushes as he opens them

- since you and arthur cant get married, you did gift him a ring that he always wears on his left middle finger (that way he won't get questions about the "secret woman"). he definitely teared up when you explained to him that this was your version of a marriage proposal and cried in to your shoulder before you even put it on him.

- he falls alseep first, but hes a very light sleeper. this works out though, because he often wakes up in the night before you even fall alseep. this gives you a chance to have really intimate moments and whisper sweet nothings to each other in the few moments of privacy you have together.

- i like to imagine that arthur and amelia rekindled their relationship upon uncovering the truth about compeyson, rather than ostracizing each other. this leads to you being brought to the estate a lot when theh hold meetings regarding the brewery (arthur says it's for good luck)

- amelia thinks of both of you as her brothers. you are always invited to family meals, family meetings, and meetings regarding the brewery.

- amelia was never told about what your relationship with arthur actually is, she just appreciated that he had someone to take care of him an keep him out of trouble. she doesnt ask about your relationship eithier she just asks you how arthur's been doing lately. you are always happy to update her

- amelia still worrys about arthur after she found out about the abuse he endured, hence why she is always asking about him in private

- he normally keeps his shirt on during spicy times and when he sleeps. he's insecure about his scars from compeyson's abuse. whenever he decides to take it off though, you always kiss his back and tell him how strong he is and how much you love him.

SMUT STARTS HERE

- he is actually somewhat submissive, believe it or not, and not just in sexy situations! he just genuinely wants to make sure you're happy, so he listens to you more than other people. whether it's simple things like "you need to eat," "you need to drink some water, love," "can you help me tidy the house," to spicier things like requests in the bedroom

- you guys are pretty vanilla, as you try not to be too controlling due to his past. arthur always tells you he's fine but you worry, you also just aren't big on trying to control him anyway, you like how spunky he is.

- since we're already getting a tad spicy, arthur is a praise fiend. he loves hearing you tell him how good he's doing, some of his favorites include, "such a pretty boy for me," "my good boy," "just like that," and of course, hearing you chant his name like a prayer and the other little noises you make that tell him he's doing a good job. this also applies outside of the bedroom though. If he's performing a hard task or starts getting stressed out, hearing you call him your "strong boy" immediately gives him motivation to finish his task. Sometimes you tease him by giving him bits and pieces of the plans you have for the day and when he finally puts it together, he loves your almost sarcastic "atta boy arthur"

- when arthur does decide to take more control, you absolutely melt. I mean you love all sides of him, but it's just so rare that he gets the confidence to make you beg for him that when he does it, you immediately become putty in his hands

- hair pulling. arthur loves when you do it, and he (unconsciously) does it to you all the time. he absolutely melts went you pull his hair while he goes down on you.

- when you go down on him, he is very very reactive. expletives spill from his mouth almost as frequently as your name. he is so sensitive and needy, he doesn't even realize that he bucks his hips into your mouth and pulls your hair to get you closer to him. You dont mind tho, you think its hot

- speaking of needy arthur, he absolutely melts at your touch. you could be tracing your finger down his chest to his waistband and he would already be begging for you to touch him.

wow ok, I think I'm gonna stop here for today. I hope some of you like this kind of thing! I especially hope these headcanons were somewhat enjoyable lol. as always, feel free to leave requests in my comments or in my asks!!

#arthur havisham #arthur havisham x male reader #arthur havisham x reader #arthur havisham x trans male reader #dickensian #joe quinn #joseph quinn #arthur havisham headcanons #arthur havisham fluff #arthur havisham smut

[legionaberrations]

Got any Julie headcanons to spare? From general stuff (like appearance) to more... Specific stuff (like gender identity and voice). I would love to read them mun. Plus your art is wonderful and very cute to look at (I truly mean that)

(I have quite a few Julie headcanons! As the universe of DBD is functionally a multiverse where characters can have small differences between iterations of themselves it's fun to play with those kinds of alternatives and differences.

For my Julie's appearance I draw heavily on greasy 90s aesthetics and in particular Billy Loomis - the Legion is at its core a Scream reference and I personally thought making Frank "the Billy" is a little too obvious, too easy. That's why you'll see I often draw her with short greasy brown hair lol.

Gender-wise the version of her seen on this blog is a trans woman (and Frank in parallel as a trans man). I think a lot of the "horror" in suburban horror comes from feelings of isolation or even persecution in your community and as a trans person who was once an edgy and angry teenager I think it's fun to explore the Legion from that angle.

I'd never really thought about her voice! I think the female Legion voice in the game sounds a lot more like Susie to me than Julie, though. For me I'd really look to female vocalists from the 90s like Courtney Love or Donita Sparks.

I do imagine Julie's parents would be relatively supportive if ignorant (since it Was the 90s) and that acceptance would be a bright spot in an otherwise very distant relationship. Julie hides a lot of herself from her parents, as seen in the comics, trying hard to make them think she's just a normal girl. But smothering those parts of herself is obviously very painful and isolating for her too.

I think Julie projects a strong air of confidence but actually has a lot of negative views of herself. Not in being traditionally self-hating but I think in a truly teenage way she thinks there's something wrong with her, that she's evil by nature. Obviously she's just a troubled kid who needed her emotional needs acknowledged instead of being ignored, but that's something she was never mature enough to realize (and never will be, now! It's very sad).

At the time of being in the Entity I think she strongly believes that without her push and her influence, the other members of Legion probably never would've killed anybody, but that she was always going to end up here. It's kind of a moot point because she also realizes they were all too enmeshed and were never going to split up and she was always going to corrupt them (and I think this is an anxiety she shares with Frank, who probably sees himself as a violent rot that tainted all his friends).

Other smaller headcanons: I like to imagine that Julie has an older brother, but there's a large gap between them so he was already out of the house by the time she was in elementary school. He's a successful and well-adjusted man which just makes her feel more fucked by comparison.

Her family isn't rich or anything but is relatively well-off. She has a car (in some canons?) and unlike Joey didn't need to work to buy it for herself. She gets a reasonable allowance and is kinda the "friend who rents movies" and "the friend who buys dinner" when other people don't have the money to do it.

She likes gothic metal, favoring bands like Tiamat, Type O Negative, Lacuna Coil, etc.

Thank you for the compliment!! I appreciate that you like the blog. I should probably post more haha but I've been burnt out of late. Asks like this are very encouraging!)

#ooc

[inventors-fair]

Second Name: Named Common Runners-Up ~

Our runners-up this week are @grornt​, @helloijustreadyourpost​, and @izzet-always-r-versus-u​!

@grornt​ — Affluent Adopter

Oh, to be a single and carefree jazz musician surrounded by metal dogs. This card calls to mind a great vision that’s more interesting than it is flavorfully cohesive. I mean, there are indeed dogs around the Cabaretti, and I feel that they could be taken under someone’s wings. Jinnie Fay makes dogs, which is awesome, so maybe in the future the Cabaretti can have more Dog support. And for the general Dog-species decks, this card’s a slam-dunk. There was that cat/dog couple—Rin and Seri, right? Something like that. A great addition.

In limited, you could have fun with the Goldhound reprint for mana acceleration and then let them loose in the world. It’s not going to do anything a normal Treasure isn’t going to do, and it’s a suer specific form of mana “acceleration” that’s not out of the question for artifacts, treasures, etc. I really just don’t know what to think about the question of whether or not Goldhounds specifically need adopting? I don’t want to think about that, though—I want the warm fuzzies of Jazz Musician With Puppy Posse. And that comes across quite well!

@helloijustreadyourpost​ — Llanowar’s Fury

What’s up with all the awesome green cards this week? But I digress. Llanowar Elves in constructed formats are always a popular staple and there’s nothing wrong with having strong constructed-oriented mana acceleration. Limited payoffs mean that people have to hope something like this wheels—but it won’t, heh. Hoping for a common later in your packs can totally work, and wow, in sealed? Incredible work. People making casual elf decks will love this, too, no question.

Flavor makes sense on Dominaria! I like the way you tied the elves and the old fantasy spirits into each other. This is the kind of card that I really click with? Like, sometimes there’s a super-specific story to a card, and that’s fantastic when something can be so self-contained. A card like this that’s expanding upon a world—and upon known information about the world, with a callback—feels like we’re part of something greater that doesn’t need to be solved per se; it’s the existence of Llanowar, the layout, the customs, the ‘other’ under our control. I dunno, there’s nuance I’m not really able to get out right now, but I still think it’s a good card.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u​ — Vengeful Spirit

Now that cycling is more or less evergreen, this card got a lot more awesome. The creative use of templating (for those wondering: Diligent Farmhand) makes sense, and ooh, the spookiness of having this creature be one of the lost family members from Ancestral Anger? Awesome. It’s a great callback. I think when Magic was smaller, it was easier to do these sort of self-contained cards. Muscle Burst isn’t exactly, well, bursting with story, but this card? Really nice on that front. Wish the name was a little less...sorta-generic. It makes sense and it’s not bad for a card; I’m seriously surprised it hadn’t been used before.

I like how cycling is utilitarian here, but additionally, if you’re constructing a deck, you can cycle it for a lethal burst of Anger for another Spirit that’s attacking. In limited, the double-draw is awesome because it plays into so many archetypes that can use that aggro. UR or RW would probably be the best ones, which is rad. Overall? Lots of angles approached here. Top-notch design.

Commentary’s being written slowly but surely. Be good in the meantime! @abelzumi​

#mtg #magic the gathering #custom magic card #named common contest #runners up #inventor's fair

[ellen-shame]

Do you per chance have a link to steel heart 🙏🏻🤲🏻🤲🏻🤲🏻🤲🏻

I do not because only a small amount of it is written and I'm not sure it will ever be published! But here is the opening of it for you!

-

Geno was supposed to be back at 8, but at 8.06 he texts Sid sorry late. 

No worries! Sid texts back. It’s odd, maybe, that Geno apologises to Sid when he gets held up. Technically it’s impossible for him to be late for Sid. It’s literally Sid’s job to wait around for him.

Geno doesn’t arrive until 9. He’s exhausted, Sid can tell instantly: his shoulders sagging, his face lax. He kicks off his shoes and drops his briefcase in the hall. Sid hands him a vodka gimlet and he makes a grateful noise, reeling Sid in to press a kiss to the side of his head before taking a gulp of vodka. 

Normally Geno prefers to relax in the smaller sitting room, but the drawing room is nearest the hallway and Geno just seems to want to collapse onto the nearest sofa. He pulls Sid’s legs across his lap and they drink in companionable silence, Geno petting Sid’s ankle and staring into the middle distance as Sid strokes his hair.

When he’s two-thirds of the way down his cocktail Geno stretches hugely and turns to Sid.

“Everything finish. Now we vacation.” 

“Yeah,” Sid smiles. “I’m glad you could get it all done.” He doesn’t ask any questions about the business when Geno’s relaxing. If Geno wants to talk about it, he will. Personally Sid thinks that the whole point of taking a vacation is somewhat negated by the fact that, before he leaves, Geno always works himself to exhaustion to get the company into a position where he’s happy to take his attention off it for a few days. But that’s another thing Sid doesn’t bring up. 

Geno shrugs out of his suit jacket, leaving it crumpled up between his back and the sofa.  He smells of stale sweat, of thirteen hours in the office. Sid doesn’t mind.

“What you do today?” Geno asks.

Sid realised a few months into this arrangement that Geno takes pleasure in hearing about the ways Sid fills his time when Geno’s not around. Some of the guys Sid’s worked for over the years didn’t like to know about Sid going to the grocery store or the dentist; they wanted him to pop in and out of existence for these moments of pleasure, disengaged from the real world of daily chores and minor annoyances. Some of them wanted to hear that Sid spent every day eating oysters and drinking champagne, so they could get off on the idea of bankrolling him. A few of them wanted to hear about all the other guys who paid to fuck him.

Geno actually likes to know the truth.

“Went to a spin class just after you left,” Sid tells him, and Geno pats his thigh appreciatively. “Picked out some stuff for you to pack - it’s on the bed in the blue bedroom, you can check if you’re happy with it. Saw Kris for lunch, we went to that Greek place with the octopus you liked. And then went to the library and did some reading for my German economy paper.”

“Mm? What you read?”

Sid rambles, sharing his not-particularly-remarkable thoughts about hyperinflation in the lead-up to World War II. Geno hums and nods in the right places, stroking the hair on Sid’s ankle against the grain and then smoothing it back down. Sid knows he’s not really listening; Geno sure as hell doesn’t need Sid to explain international economics to him. Geno just likes to hear Sid talk. 

“Did you eat at the office?” Sid asks, when he’s finished outlining his argument for the paper.

“Little bit. Leftover meetings food.” 

That makes Sid smile. Meetings food is one of Geno’s particular turns of phrase: he means mini sandwiches, fruit platters, pastries.

“Masha left some stuff in the fridge, if you’re hungry. Varenyky, I think.”

Geno groans happily. “Yes. Two minute, I change.”

He slides Sid’s legs off his lap and heaves himself off the sofa, his suit jacket crumpled and forgotten behind him as he ambles out of the room. That jacket probably cost more than a thousand dollars. Sid picks it up and folds it over the back of the couch. Masha will hang it up tomorrow. 

Sid pads through to the kitchen, and Geno reappears a minute later, looking much happier in sweatpants and an ancient hoodie from the hockey club he played for as a teenager. 

“We’re match,” he says, plucking at the hoodie Sid’s wearing; a memento from his own high school hockey club.

“Rimouski would have kicked the Foxes’ asses,” says Sid on principle. Geno scoffs but doesn’t argue back, too busy hunting through the fridge.

Sid’s junior hockey career is one of the things Geno shouldn’t know about. When Sid unofficially moved in, he made a token effort to avoid wearing his old merch around Geno; but the Rimouski gear is his favourite lounging clothing, and that resolution only lasted a couple of weeks.

At least Geno doesn’t know about how Sid’s career ended. Although Sid has to accept that Geno might have looked at the scar on his knee and put two and two together.

Geno’s found the varenyky, and makes a borderline pornographic noise as he shoves the first one into his mouth. Sid watches him eat.

It’s odd to think that Geno’s thirty-five, practically the same age as Sid. Often he seems so much older: responsibility for an international steel company resting largely on his shoulders. But sometimes Sid can see with startling ease the kid he was: standing around in a hockey club hoodie, eating leftovers out of a tupperware with his fingers.

“You want?” Geno asks through a mouthful of mince, and holds the tupperware out to Sid. Sid opens his lips and lets Geno hand-feed him.

When they’ve demolished the varenyky Geno suggests, “Bed?”

“Yeah,” Sid agrees, leaning against Geno and stroking his lower back for a moment. He knows they’re not going to have sex.

#my fic #steelheart

[autobotmedic]

[ more thoughts on if-combining/fusion-was-really-possible-for-average-bots but this time with all of team prime because i would love to draw all of them but i do not have the time and energy for it BUT I CAN RAMBLE ABOUT MY THOUGHTS FOR HOW I WOULD DESIGN THEM:

ratch and arcee- honestly not that much bigger than ratch because she is just smol and there isnt that much of a mass change, but they are more elegantly shaped than ratch. pretty and sassy. also angers easily due to combined trauma and bottled emotions, yet finds stability in those shared feelings and damage. four arms, two primary and two smaller secondary, all four able to form blades to wreck you.

ratch and bulkhead- they are not only very strong but so stocky and huggable it's illegal. four optics, as they do not analyze or see things the same. also due to ratch's controlling personality trait and bulk being fine and trusting him to lead, their stability is partially due to ratch-half being the main guide and decision maker. the other part of their stability is due to their shared big protective hearts.

ratch and wheeljack- pretty stocky, but not as big or stocky as the previous. combining probably only happens one time and ratch swears never again (but he would if he had to). four arms (two of which wield swords and two of which are blades) and four optics. not very stable, can only keep together for a limited period. debates or reacts to themselves out loud repeatedly, unpredictable behavior, but when they CAN synchronize for a minute, they are incredibly lethal.

ratch and bumblebee- the second to smallest fusion and the second most agile to combining with arcee. pretty stable due to mutual trust and care, despite their other differences. they appear not to have any extra anything, but in truth, they have two intakes (mouths). one is just usually covered by a face guard. ratch is glad that, in this form, he can give bee a voice again, even though he cannot fix his normal one.

ratch and optimus- the most balanced, the most stable, no extra appendages, optics, or otherwise. they balance each other, or trust the other for certain topics, leading to easy transitions between which half is dominating when they aren't synchronizing equally. really heckin big truck. soft. and wise. and protective. will hold others in his arms contently. but will also beat your aft with two large sword arms if you try to take others' lives.

ratch and ultra magnus- very similar in size as the previous, but less stable, debate a bit with themselves on how they view certain situations (which results in four optics), due to medic caretaking vs tactical commander priority differences. mature and focused enough to work together decently if needed though, even if not for long periods.

ratch and smokescreen- they don't really WANT to combine with each other and if they tried the maturity/reckless level difference would be instability point #1 with ratch's knowledge and personal trauma levels being overwhelming as instability point #2. unsuccessful if attempted.

bonus:

ratch and shockwave- surprisingly stable. like, definitely more stable than expected, concerningly stable. has one extra optic, and two hands override the gun hand just so they can work faster. could combine for rapid-fire thought sharing and knowledge/problem solving in a very serious case, not likely for combat. so intelligent combined with occasional, unpredictable emotions emerging from a very cool demeanor, kinda scary ngl.

ratch and starscream- can't see that ever happening because ratch doesnt want him in his head but also they are NOTHING ALIKE and ratch would not cooperate hfksjhdfsd. unsuccessful if attempted.

ratch and knock out- honestly i dont know, probably unstable with four arms and four optics due to priorities and ethical differences?? proBABLY???? but on the other hand if they could focus on the things they have in common, they might also make a really beautiful somewhat stable sassy fellow, I'm really not sure.

#literally woke up with this still on the brain so here #[BLUE SPEAKS] ooc #[TEAM PRIME] just close your eyes you'll be alright

[amplifyme]

@randomfoggytiger @tygertygerfoggybright

Here I go again on your latest ask, pickin' and choosin'.

Perlman was so much more "class clown" than I was expecting-- having a ton of fun, a ton of energy, bouncing off of the audience quite energetically. Roy and Jay were great, too:

Like he said, not a straight man on the set! I'll bet that show was a blast to work on. If you can carve out a good chunk of time, it's worth watching the entire Q & A. It's one of my favorites of all the cons that were filmed and shared. I believe it was the first one after the show was canceled but everyone was certain that another network would pick up the show, and Koslow was pushing hard for a least one movie, and it was looking like we'd actually get one. Oh, well...

More below...

Also, everyone (including Perlman) not hearing Vincent's voice at times was side-splitting. XDDDD

Right?? 🤣

Unfortunately after this con, Perlman made appearances at a couple others where he encountered some of the more, ummm, fanatical and aggressive Classic fans, in ways that soured him on doing any more of them. He finally relented and made the surprise appearance in 1995 at A Distant Shore in LA, which just happened to be the only con I was able to attend. I got lucky. We all did. He did another one in 1999, but I think that was it as far as BATB appearances.

Nan's thoughts on Diana were fascinating--

Yes, they were. She had such an influence on the way I learned to consume media and analyze aspects of a character that I might've missed. We didn't agree on everything re: Diana, but we shared a brain when it came to Vincent. Were you able to watch the full panel with Nan? It's well worth it.

recognizing why Vincent kept Diana a secret from Father for a bit and doesn't admit to her until there is a chance Diana fill find a way Below,

He wasn't going to share her until he absolutely had to. She was his little secret, and I love that about a character who's normally so open with his father.

noting what drew Vincent to Catherine (courage/beauty/warmth) vs. what draws him to Diana (imagination-- and smiles talking about it) and that he highly values imagination from people,

That's because his own ability to imagine things has been so vital to him. If you can't ever see the mountains, it's important that you be able to fully imagine them. One of the smaller details in Nan's writing that I appreciate so much is that she has Vincent sucking down all the movies and travelogues Diana rents for him, pausing a single image to study it, sometimes for so long that the VCR shuts off. It's the little things like that that make her writing so memorable to me.

Diana used her own status/experience to argue against Vincent's wrong path he was pursuing ("human standards apply to you, too; and you're WRONG")

This is so hugely important to their dynamic.

understanding that killing is a moral choice to Vincent (not a matter of expediency-- wait, wasn't killing an expediency to Catherine, especially in times of danger? Morals certainly took a backseat when it came to her rescue; but to V a life was a life),

Well, it was a moral choice and a matter of expediency. I think V believed that anyone who threatened an innocent with violence (not just Cathy) didn't fall within his own moral standards of where one might deserve a second chance. They were being an active threat to people he loved, so he eliminated that threat. Easy peasy. I kind of think he probably didn't give a whole lot of thought to those he'd killed until this toxic alchemy was created when the desire he felt for Cathy became hard to distinguish from his desire to protect her. When the one need began to feed the other, and vice versa. That's when things started to get sticky and eventually led to his downfall.

But Diana has been able to see things from both sides in a way V hasn't. She knows and is able to crawl inside the minds and emotions of both victim and perpetrator, so her moral authority is different from his - more highly refined, perhaps. And she expects him to operate on her level, not his. And, by God, he does it! He learns to see things differently, to make decisions more with his head than with his gut. She tells him flat out that he can't keep going around slaughtering people just because he's half out of his mind with grief and anger. Because that makes him operate in ways that betray her own moral standards and she knows he's better than that.

Sorry, I went on a tangent there, but the fic I'm working on right now explores a lot of these same issues, so it's up front in my mind.

emphasizing that the rules that applied to Catherine do not apply to Diana

Yes, sir, because the last thing D wants is for him to see her as someone else he has to kill for. She doesn't want that. She's determined that he not get caught up in that cycle of violence again. She making it clear that she's not Cathy, she's her own person with her own thoughts and needs and he has to accept that and respect it.

On your sister and Helper:

Her overall impression: “Man, Nanverse is hard mode.

Yeah, buddy, Nan never pulled any punches in her writing.

Speaking of, it's time to go back to my own. Until the next time...

#beauty and the beast 1987 #south of oz convention #perlman and gang #nan's panel #discussion

[vees-strangeworld-omniverse]

COMMON DINOSAUROIDS OF THE OMNIVERSE

(NOTE: descriptions copy-pasted from DA where i normally/originally post my works. any context that is missing here on tumblr can be found on my DA [linked here and on pinned post] )

so, like, idk one day i was just in the mood for drawing some of every speculative evolutionist's favorite paleo-related topic. then I realized I had a bunch of dinosauroids I've create in my pre-strangeworld days, and though i'd redesign them as well. thus, all of these guys (except for the ornitimen) are basically just redesigns of mspaint drawing. so, here are a sample of the various sentient archosaurs you'll come across in the omniverse.

a thing to note is that usually all these guys would be wearing clothing or accessories of sort, but i omitted that so you could have a better look at their design.

[tumblr note: also, two of these guys will make mention of Reptilians, or at least this omniverse's version of it. the one linked here is my second rendition; i may end up doing a third rendition, or at least do some minor updates on their descriptions]

troods     troods are your pretty average troodontid-descendant dinosauroid, and they're more specifically a descendant of troodon itself. their universe is your usual non-kpg extinction timeline, though instead of the asteroid missing earth it hits mars instead. being 3ft at the hips, they don't look too far off from your average troodon, either, probably because their ancestors were already smart animal and only needed till the late Oligocene to evolve into a fully-fledge sophonts.     the trood's colors ranges between black, gray, silver and blue, and have darker topside which gradually becomes lighter towards the bottom. they also have a little poof of feathers on their head, which similar to us the females have it more fuller than the males. not much is known about their original culture, say for the fact they were between a hunter-gatherers and permanent civilizations.

ornitimen     contrast to the troods, ornitimen are'nt a naturally-evolved species, rather they're an uplifted sophont that's kinda a weird mix between different small ornithschian species (dryosaurus, kulindadromeus and hypsilophodon being some of the major contributors). they were created by the reptilians, initially being their servants. however, over the century they became less of servants and more of free beings. still, alot of their culture clings onto what they did as servants, especially the arts and labor.     ornitimens have different races, which were created for specific jobs. they stand between 2ft-4ft tall, with the smaller ones being used for art and delicate tasks and larger ones used for hard labor and transportation of items. their colors come in the varying shades, hues and markings of neutral colors, yet always have a colorful neck, which is most vibrant in males.

bevornis     bevornis comes from an alternate version on the trood's universe, in which instead of the troodons becoming the sophonts it was a species of oviraptor. unlike the troods, their initial culture is pretty well known for it's "No bullshit" kind of deal. most bevornids, even females and children, focused on their strength and ability to fight in battles. the children are taught from a young age how to fight and defend themselves. even as their culture expanded beyond battles and wars, they still are often proud of their physical strength.     bevornids look similar to other existing oviraptors, say for their more upright stance. the males have a magenta-ish color on their tail, arms and crest, while the females and children lack those colors. they're roughly the same size as a grown human, if not slightly more robust. their colors can vary depending on race and location, but for the most part it's usually slightly different shades of beige and blonde, still having the dark brown stripes on their face and rear end.

kavoids     kavoids look like one of those generic fantasy feathered dinosaur, with the green body and vibrant feathers. they're some kind of coelurosaur descendant, most likely a compsognathid or something similar. the come from an alternate early-cretaceous period from a small island continent, and they're culture is also a bit of a mystery aside from the fact that females are often more dominant than males.     kavoids stand 4ft at the hips, and are very lean and fast. they have varying hues of green with a yellowish underbelly and darker stripes. they have display feather not only on their tail and arms, but also their spine and head (which is more of a frill). these display feathers are very colorful and vibrant, and are an indicator of individuals and gender; females have their display feathers consist of warm colors, while the male's are more of cool colors.

sapiotyrannus     much like the ornitimen, the sapiotyrannus is an uplifted species created by the reptilians as heavy-labor servants before eventually becoming free beings. unlike the ornitimen, they're not a hybrid of various animals, rather they're a yutyrannus descendant given bigger, more dexterous hands. both sapiotyrannids and ornitimen tend share their civilizations together, since the ornitimen and expert farmers and the sapiotyrannids are vital guardians.    the sapiotyrannus is roughly the same size as it's yutyrannus cousins, and is covered almost entirely by feathers. they're always brownish in colors, with "faun"-like spots going down their back. they're very little difference between sexes, and the only real indicator is that females are slightly bigger than males.

senjias     senjias are the only ones here that aren't actually dinosaur, rather instead they're a descendant of rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur (possible kunpengopterus). coming from an island, they're mostly hunter-gatherers, foraging for both fruits and whatever the ocean gives them. they also go out to sea on little boats so they can fish for whatever they can find.     senjias aren't that big, only standing about 2ft tall. they not only have an opposable thumb, but also an opposable tail. they're also still capable of gliding, which is necessary since they live in the trees. all of them are solid shaded of brown, with a darker mane going on their back. females have red eyes, and males have blue eyes.

man, i need to make more of these guys sometimes.

#sophont #troodon #dinosauroid #pterosaur #sentient #troodontid #tyrannosaurus #feathered dinosaur #ornithischian #oviraptorosaur #tyrannosauridae #coelurosauria #speculative evolution #speculative biology #rhamphorhyncoidea #yutyrannus