#and imagine what all the characters look like if they were more realistic-ly drawn

[heliphantie]

Happy 1st anniversary of Encanto!

Sample of several Brunos drawn during October. Tag yourself, as they say.

Under ‘read more’ – small selection of art through the year + some ramblings:

Back in the middle of 2021, I’ve got interested by couple of things about it: implication that Disney – or animation in general - does something inspired by Gabriel García Márquez, and also being Latino-inspired Disney musical movie, which I wanted to see since listening to “Snuff Out The Light” from what became “Emperor’s New Groove”. Wasn’t expecting a lot, neither, to be honest, got in result, except some surprising consequences. I admire a lot of work, classic and more contemporary, by Disney animation and its creatives, even if nothing in last decade or so impressed me on the level Golden Age, Renaissance, or even early 00s production did.

To be fair, in the end I only stay intrigued by its concept and production art more than by actual movie, and it’s realistically more than I would expect. That, and fact Disney happened to create character catering specifically to me in a lot of aspects, which is unfathomable (but it’s a talk for other time).

I would like to collect all my thoughts about the movie to make thorough writing on it, but it calls for motivation and time dedicated to it. In one or another form, I still consider to do it sometime, not necessarily in consecutive form…

What is significant to me, it has triggered my long-tarred decision to resume drawing, which I had on hold for literal years. For now, beside of continued efforts in building skills, I feel almost obligated to put on paper (or digital canvas) all ideas thinking about the movie sparked (and I’m not even over a quarter of it currently).

I’d like to do one another big thing for its first anniversary before the end of year, but being on low energy and not wanting to rush through it, I hope I finish it to Christmas. Anyway, there is some of my work of that year which, out of all artistic attempts, I find satisfactory, considering my current level.

Sort of digest of the (not complete, given I started in April) year of art, dedicated mostly to one subject.

Julieta Gets All Kisses Returned (April 2022)

One of very first, early pictures. In fact, I drew it in pencil on very first day, April 1, along with couple of other small doodles. Idea for it was also quite old, from February, and it was supposed to be birthday-related, before official birthdays were revealed, and it turned I have to wait for half of year😊 Or draw it regardless, because it still worked out of that context and was small and simple enough for first steps. With all its simplicity, it *could* have been better, but I’m even fond of its roughness. There are some drawings I realize liking only for having low expectations for it, but as time goes, they look crappy to me, but not this one. (May be fun to re-make it too next year, to look at progress/improvement, assuming I’ll reach any.)

Teenage Bruno (April 2022)

This one I did in pencil on the *second* day. Piece of wisdom to myself: comics, even short ones, are trickier than regular drawing. It’s consisted of small frames, but you have to figure out composition and make character designs in each panel consistent. It takes twice time to make everything right and without a hurry.

Whole thing barely fits into any context of canon, I just imagined young Bruno interacting with children similar to Mirabel, and this conversation sprang to mind. I had to come with context to support it (Bruno had his gift kept in relative secret til late adolescence), but in general, main connection with my personal headcanon is just that he always was more resilient and lighthearted than given credit for.

On this note, I’ve had intention of exploring my headcanon about characters and Bruno in particular via mini-comics (lot of it had comic scenarios in its roots), and there’s bunch of scripts for it lying not processed into work yet, and as I said, I’m going to finish them because I don’t want for this spurt of inspiration to go to waste, even if it takes time.

On the comic itself, I also like how it turned, given all imperfections. Having to figure look of younger Bruno was fun, and it had some amusing by-products as well I’ll show other time😊 People online seem liking it, too, maybe because it has some narrative. And, frankly, I ought to make narrative things more often.

WDTAB Reenacted (April-May 2022)

Another fun early idea, WDTAB musical number with only Mirabel and Bruno. Two challenges: full-body figures in dynamic poses and drawing with references (without tracing, purely from eye), putting some spin on it. Curious realization: no matter how I try to keep body proportions accurate, all people I draw look like hobbits… except Bruno who does look like hobbit by design already.

My favorite is middle-bottom fragment, dynamic pose construed from scratch.

Bruno & Toni (July-August 2022, fragment of mini-comic)

It’s just this, a fragment of another (rare) mini-comic, but somehow in the end of it, I unexpectedly liked this one panel enough to single it out. I still struggle conveying emotions and mood of characters, but this one turned fortunately in that regard. It’s “sparking joy”, to use meme-speak.

Dolores (August 2022)

I wasn’t exactly determined to draw something to every official character birthday, only when I had idea in mind and it happened to align with date, but since May I was going (almost) steady providing something to each, small or bigger, like that one. It was first full-page picture with background and multiple elements, I wasn’t sure I’d finish it on time, but I managed to, and for most of it, I like the result. It’s not always that vision of thing is clear from beginning and gets exact realization, it’s interesting to see what I get in the end. Layers of background and decorative elements are all over place, it’s accidentally looking like sort of collage, but popping up quite vividly. It got some attention on Twitter, and frankly, I’m pleasantly surprised with it, the work paid off.

Also, how I pointed while presenting it for first time, I was inspired by production art and lines from script depicting Dolores as “weird cousin”, and to lesser extent by fan song “Turn It Down”. When someone mentioned she looks Tim Burton-esque, I was glad I nailed that association.

For further note, Dolores and Pepa are two characters with very attractive color design, I like every opportunity of drawing them.

Bunch of small things drawn during September-October – see samples in header image of post and under ‘encanto fanart’ tag in the blog by yourself, they’re all recent.

Despite smaller goals, I feel like it’s biggest improvement of the year: slowly getting expressions, shadow and lighting rendering, figuring out consistent personal style for characters, etc. I may get slowed down for now (and it affects my work), but I realize there’s long way ahead, and it’s encouraging to see I already have progressed a bit. Fanart is legit good starting point for working toward artistic aspirations, both fun and productive.

So, this post turned into one about personal achievements rather than one about the movie, but in the end, it’s all thanks to inspiration it gave me, so my felicitations to it!

#encanto #disney #encanto fanart #disney fanart #la familia madrigal #phantieart

[sevendeadlymorons]

hello! can i request for the brother and undateables (if you don’t want simeon is just okay) headcanons for seeing mc sketches book and mc drew some positions with them? thank you! (sorry if i bothered you and my english is not will)

Sorry for the delay in writing your request, i really like this idea and I will get right on it for you :)

You absolutely did not bother me whatsoever and your English was great btw x

Brothers + Undateables Reaction to Seeing MC’s Sketchbook

——————————————————

Lucifer

Saw it lying on your desk when he came in to clean your room

He was never one to pry but he eventually found himself flicking through the pages of the book

Each page was filled with sketches of flowers or scenery or the cats that wander outside the house

He was so intrigued by these intricate drawings of yours, finding himself rather impressed by the skill you had

Around about the end, he notices sketches of his brothers, each in particular poses, drawn in such beautiful detail

He smiles to himself as he continues to flick through multiple pages of Asmo, not really surprised that he’s the main model of your drawings

That’s when he came across one of him

It was him sitting down in his study, enjoying the sound of one of his records. He didn’t even know you drew him.

It looked so real, like it was a photo. The way the shading was so perfect and how you drew his small smile so delicately. Incredible.

He was so taken back, he had to see more

Walks past you in the corridor with your sketchbook behind his back

I’m sure you wouldn’t mind if he borrowed it for a little while

Mammon

Bust into your room to tell you about this massive loss he had gambling again but you weren’t there

He looked around but all he could find was a singular book lay open on your bed

One peek couldn’t hurt, he thought, already flicking through the contents of the book

His eyes widen as he saw more and more of your art, each drawing so filled with detail

Since when was his human so talented, and when were they planning on telling him?

He kept flicking through until he saw his brothers in several different poses

He felt kind of hurt that you’d never asked him to model for you before

Each page that went by, the more impressed he was

This has gotta be worth a lot with how incredible these drawings are

Suddenly, he reached one of him. He was surprised since you’ve never asked him to model for you so when did you draw this?

It was him smiling while counting his money in his room. He didn’t want to know how you got this to be honest

But he was amazed by the detail put in. The amount of time you must have put into this makes his cheeks blush like crazy at the thought of you drawing something so time consuming for him

He ran out, notebook to chest, flicking through the pages with a goofy smile on his face in his room

Leviathan

Didn’t mean to snoop, just casually found it open on your desk so how could he resist...

His jaw dropped as he flicked through, admiring the never ending sketches of scenery or animals

Literally woooaaahhh’s in his head after looking at each drawing

Gets to his brothers drawings and he’s amazed

You can draw realistic too??!

His mind is running wild at the thought of you drawing all his favourite anime characters

Wonders if there’s any of him but he can’t remember you asking him to pose for any so he gets sorta upset

Who’d want to draw a yucky otaku like him anyway

Continues to flick through, still trying to get over how good the one before was until he sees the one on the next page and he’s starting all over again

In complete awe at how incredible they all were, each detail perfect and the facial features were sharp and precise every single time

Onto the next page and he felt his heart beat out of his chest. No way, could it be...

It was a drawing of him, focused on his game with this concentrated look on his face. When did you even draw that?! He feels his entire face burning up as he stares at himself. You drew him so well...

Clutches the book to his chest, very very close to tears, and runs off to find you to ask you to draw him and Ruri-Chan

Satan

Walks past and sees you drawing in this little book so peeps over your shoulder to see what you were doing

He’s overcome with surprise as he stares at your beautiful drawing of the flower that was sitting on the table in front of you

He crosses his arms on top of your head and laughs as you jump out of your seat, holding the notebook tightly to your chest

He apologise for snooping but tells you how incredible he thinks your art is, watching your face closely as it turns red

He asks if he can see more as your current drawing had intrigued him, and held out his hand to you

You hesitate but happily hand it over, sitting back down and patting the seat next to you

You watch as he flicks through, his eyebrows raising every few times, then looking over and flashing you a smile

Why didn’t he know about this? These drawings were incredible

He especially liked the drawings of the stray cats outside, as his face lit up, pointing and telling you the names of the ones you drew

When he got to his brothers, he couldn’t help but be massively impressive at the intricate detail you put into them as well as the unique poses you put them in to

He doesn’t remember you asking him to pose for anything but he continues to flick through, hopeful

As he flick the page, he comes face to face with a drawing of him. His eyes widen as he scans over the drawing of him holding a book between his fingers as his face looking tranquil and calm.

He looks over at you who had a nervous face, obviously trying to figure out if he liked it or not, to which he smiles widely and tells you he’ll be borrowing it as he’d really like to see more

Asmodeus

You left a book in his room after he’d finished paining your nails

He went to go return it to you when he felt the sudden urge to take a peek inside before hand

Maybe it’s something erotic, he thinks, as he begins to open the book on his bed

When he first sees your drawings, it’s so much better than anything erotic he’s ever seen

His lips twist into a sweet smile as he flicks through the book, his hand resting on his chin, making small humming noises every few seconds

He never knew you were an artist!

The drawings of his brothers were beautiful and he felt sorta jealous that he hasn’t seen a single one of him yet

He desperately turned page after page, searching for drawings of him

At the final page, he finally saw himself. He was speechless as he stares at the incredibly drawn masterpiece of him.

It was of him sitting sweetly on the couch, looking at his freshly paint nails with delight, the drawing perfectly capturing the mood of the moment

He squeals as he hugs the book to his chest as if it was his prized possession

He goes running after you to ask if he could model for more of your art as it was love at first sight

Beelzebub

On his daily snoop around in your room for snacks when he saw a small notebook on your desk

He didn’t want to invade your privacy but he was just too tempted, one peek wouldn’t hurt

He opened it and was greeted by your incredible art. He stopped eating and stared at it, completely in shock at how good they were

He kept flicking through all your little quick draws. Flowers, animals and food. He especially liked those ones

When he came across his brothers, all in these complex poses, he smiled wide and began flicking through to find him, quite excited to see what you drew for him

He went past Belphie’s and a sweet smile spread across his face as he imagined you trying to keep him awake so you could draw him

He kept flipping through but there was still no sign of him. He felt sorta left out at that thought but kept on going through hopefully

Finally, on the very last page, was a drawing of him. It wasn’t like any of his brothers tho, it was him completely in his zone

He had a burger in his hand and was going in to bite down on it, a grin plastered on his lips as the perfect detail showed joy in his eyes

He stares on, wide eyed. This was amazing. He wanted to keep it and store it somewhere so he could look at it forever

Picks up the book to go find you, wandering around like an excited puppy

He was going to give you the biggest hug you’ve ever experienced

Belphegor

Was asleep on the sofa opposite you when the sound of a pencil sketching on a piece of paper woke him up, so he opens his eyes and begins to sit up, rubbing his eyes and looking towards where the sound was coming from

Immediately sees you drawing away into a book, to which he raises his eyebrow and walks behinds you to take a peek

You didn’t seem to notice him getting up as you were completely focused on your sketch so he looks over your shoulder to see a sketch of... him.

Were you just drawing him sleeping?

Thought it was sorta cute actually

He admired how you delicately put in extra minor details that made the drawing look so realistic to him

He couldn’t take his eyes off it, your drawing was incredible

And you drew him lookin good too

You felt something tickle your neck so you turned around quickly to see Belphie peering over your shoulder, staring straight at your art, a big smile plastered on his smug face

Your face burns up in embarrassment as you realise he saw you drawing him sleeping but he just responds with a small laugh and a pat on the head as he jumps over the couch to sit next to you, offering out his hand in a way of saying “let me see”

He flicks through all your nature sketches and the ones of him and Beel, not really bothering about his other brothers, a persistent smile on his lips and a hand glued to your thigh

He was impressed, but surprised he never knew. He really wanted to take it so he could look at it more

So he did just that. Stood up, sketchbook in hand, straight towards the attic to binge through every single drawing in there

Diavolo

You came over to him and asked him to hold your book while you went to go do something, to which he agreed and carried on with his work

He kept eying it on the desk next to him. He’s never been one to snoop, but he couldn’t help but look at it

He flicked through the pages, each one filled to the brim with sketches, doodles and beautiful portraits

He couldn’t believe his eyes, you drew these?

The artwork was captivating, so stunning and detailed with each one he flipped through

He chose well when he picked you to be his exchange student, so talented

He couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought of you putting the brothers into these poses and making them sit still for hours while you drew them

He found that a smile appeared on his face as he looked at all the antics the brothers get into which you skilfully drew to savour the moment

That’s when he found himself. Sat graciously on his throne with a huge grin on his face. The detail so incredible it looked almost real. His jaw dropping slightly at the mere sight of it

When was this drawn?

But he didn’t care, he was smiling giddily at it. Honoured you’d spend your personal time drawing him

He knows who his next royal artist is going to be

Barbatos

Diavolo had a little party organised for you and the brothers and when he saw you enter with a book lodged under your arm, he was rather intrigued

Watches as you walk out mid way through the event to an empty room, book still in hand, and so he decides to follow you in case you wanted company

Walks in to see you, pencil in hand, scribbling away at the book

He sits next to you and you jump, startled at his sudden presence

He asks what it is you’re doing and stares down at your open book, watching his eyebrows raise in surprise at your art work

Your face flushes pink as he offers out his hand, asking to see more. You nod and hand it over to him, watching him flick through the pages

He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Your art was excellent and so detailed. Even the small sketches were near perfection

He looks over at you and flashes you a small genuine smile of delight

When he sees the drawings of the brothers, he chuckles and compliments you on how well drawn they are

When he turned the next page, he didn’t expect to see himself though

He was sat cross legged with a cup of tea in his fingers, his face visibly delighted

He clears his throat in surprise, hiding the obvious grin on his lips, and hands it back to you, giving you a small pat on the shoulder as he exits the room

He was amazed. He’ll be mentioning this to Diavolo for sure

Simeon

You honestly come to the angel whenever you need peace from the brothers, so he’s seen you sketching away in that little pad of yours several times, but never actually seen what’s inside of it

One day, you got up to go get something and asked him to look after the book for you, to which he nodded and held the book in his lap

Now... Simeon never snoops, but looking down at your sketchbook, curiosity took over him

He opened it and lay it on his lap, staring down at the multiple little drawings you had scattered on one page

He smiles and turns to the next page, once again greeted by more of your amazing drawings of cats, birds, trees, followers and the House of Lamentation

He keeps turning the page, drawing after drawing, each one seemingly getting better than the last

When he saw the little drawing of Luke he couldn’t help but chuckle at how sweet he looked. He’d have to ask you if he could keep it later

Then he saw the brothers and he admired how well you drew them all, each detail drawn to perfection. He most enjoyed their demon forms and how beautiful they all looked

As soon as he flicked to a drawing of him, he stopped in his tracks, staring down at your sketch in disbelief

He didn’t care too much about when you drew it, all he cared about was how astonishing you made him look

He was stood with his hand on his hip, a small smile displayed on his face as his cloak carefully draped around his arms

He put the book back before you re-entered the room. He’ll ask you if he could take another look later

Solomon

Couldn’t help but notice you sketching something in class, since you share a lot of them together and it happens almost every lesson

He doesn’t really care at first but when he finds it laying on the table after you’d forgotten it, he couldn’t help but look

First couple of pages were filled with small sketches and he was pretty impressed. He does a bit of doodling and draws his summoning circles himself so looking at your art was pretty intriguing to him

When he sees the drawing of the brothers, he realises you’ve actually got a hell of a talent for drawing

He decides to go find you and return it, but he’ll keep flicking through as he walks, because he’d really like to see more

As he’s walking and flicking through, a smile begins to form on his face as he sees sketches of Luke and Simeon having a tea party together, something he knew went on weekly with the 3 of you

He stops walking as he stumbles across something he never expected to see

It was him, practising his spells with a focused look on his face

He has absolutely no clue when you drew you and honestly, slightly creeped out

Ignores it though since the drawing of him came out pretty good and the details you put on his face were incredibly done. He felt himself blush slightly at the fact you actually took the time to draw him

Eventually found you and yelled out your name, waving the sketchbook in his hand as he watched you rush over, your cheeks burning red as you cover your face. He smiles sweetly as he walks off

This guy couldn’t get any more sketchy even if he tried

Luke

Simeon needed to talk to Lucifer, so he brought Luke along since he was bored. He started wandered the house when those two began talking about things he didn’t understand.

He reaches your room and knocks on the door, but there was no answer, so he let himself in

Kid can’t keep his hands to himself, he’s touchin everything he sees. So when he sees a book on your desk, he can’t help himself

Sits on your bed and opens it, his eyes widening as he’s greeted by several incredible sketches

He’s having the time of his life flicking through them all, going through flower after flower, the stray cats he sees outside the house and of course, the demons

He thought all the drawings were the coolest things he’s ever seen in his life

He had to show Simeon

He was about to go running to show him when one of them caught his eye. It was a drawing of him?

He was stood on a stool baking his cakes. The intricate details standing out, making him gawk in awe. He didn’t know when you drew this, but he didn’t care. You made him look amazing

The drawing of him made his eyes tear up, he was so so happy that you drew him

Wiped his eyes and clung to the book, running into the room where Simeon was so he could show him your beautiful drawings too

This was so damn fun to write, but fuck did it take days to do :,)

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me headcanons #obey me leviathan #obey me mc #obey me mammon #obey me lucifer #obey me satan #obey me belphie #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #obey me simeon #obey me solomon #obey me luke #obey me dateables

[1899-newsboy-strike]

The Unexplainable Pt 2 - A Twilight Love Triangle

The Unexplainable Masterlist

A/N: Just a quick disclaimer, if you see this story on Wattpad under the same title, it is not a copy or I’m not trying to copy it, it is my story from over three years ago that I am just rewriting and actually finishing Also rewriting this made me realize I used to never use punctuation for dialogue and always used the word “said” and I also always tried making my characters clairvoyant for some reason. This part also just has so much self projection from younger me

Warnings: bullying

Summary: The back stabber

-------------------------------------

Once you got home you got your things from your car and went straight up to your room. You got your homework done as quick as you could, and started working on your art project. You had to be done by the end of the month, and you wanted to work as much as you could because you wanted it to be perfect. The teacher said that it had to be something from our imagination, and it could be anything you wanted, so you chose a wolf. You didn't know why, but you felt like that's what you needed to draw. You heard Bella's truck pull up in the driveway, and you quickly got up to lock your door. You sat down again continuing to sketch the wolf, when you heard your door knob jiggle followed by a knock on my door.

"Hey Cassie can I come in?" You heard Bella ask from the other side of the door. 

"No Bella, I'm kind of busy with something for school and I can't have any distractions, sorry!" You called out, continuing what you were doing before.

You technically weren’t lying, because you really did want to get a lot of detail into your project, but you also didn’t want to talk to her if she's going to talk about you behind your back, and act like she didn't do anything when you are at home. You were almost done with half of the sketch, and by that time it was already one in the morning, so you decided it was time to go to sleep before you had to go to school. You woke up four hours later, getting lunch ready for school and dressing in whatever you grabbed out of your closet. You grabbed an apple on the way out the door, eating it on your way to school. 

You’d always been the first one there, which you were more than okay with. You usually stayed in your car reading a book, so you didn’t mind not having the chaos of a crowded parking lot. You got out of your car and went to your first class when you heard the bell ring, pulling your attention away from the book in your hand, and you couldn’t help but hope today would be better than yesterday. You couldn't help but notice Bella with her group of friends when you walked by her car. She didn't even give a second glance at you when she saw you, and you felt like you shouldn't have even been there. If your own sister couldn't even accept you in front of people, then maybe you were a mistake.

You walked by the Cullen's and couldn’t help but notice Jasper staring at me with what seemed like pity. You couldn’t help but feel confused, knowing it must have been your imagination. When you were about to look away, you felt a tear run down your cheek and whipped it away quickly, looking down and continuing your walk to class. As usual you sat down in the back and just listened quietly while the teacher was talking about equations you already knew the answers to. You heard laughing and whispering before suddenly there was a paper was thrown on your desk. You unfolded it and it read, 'No one likes you, you freak go kill yourself. You're just a mistake that your parents probably didn't want to make.' As the day went on you got more notes, and your mood just got worse by the time lunch came. You were sitting at the lunch table, picking at your food, thinking about what everyone had been telling you today. You suddenly felt a wave of what felt like happiness or joy wash over you, but just as soon as it came, it was gone. You shook your head to clear the confusion, putting your head in your hands.

Unknowing to you, the Cullens were sat across the cafeteria, their full attention on you. Jasper could feel your emotions the most out of anyone in the cafeteria, and it caught the attention of everyone sitting around him. Rosalie had also taken a liking to you, despite your blue and red eyes, you had reminded her of her younger sister. It had been her idea for Jasper to use his gift on you, but when they saw it backfire, every single one of them was even more confused by you than before.

You couldn't take how you were feeling anymore and shot up out of my seat getting your stuff hurrying toward the trash can throwing your things away, going to my last period of the day, art. You had debated whether or not to skip that period since you had already finished the sketch, and just needed to paint it, but you decided to stay. You let out a sigh when you sat down in your spot, and got out black paint, painting the wolf as realistic as you could. Once the bell rang you had surprisingly finished and handed the finished piece to your teacher, turning in the assignment early. After you were done talking to the teacher you headed home the day never leaving your mind.

***********

It had been almost a week and everything had gotten worse, and you didn't know how much more of this you could take. You’d been dealing with it for too long, and you didn’t have any control over it. You’d been crying yourself to sleep every night, trying to keep quiet so your dad and Bella don't hear and ask questions. You've had depression ever since middle school when everyone started bullying you about your eyes. You wore sunglasses most of the time which was weird because Forks wasn’t sunny, but you thought it was better than people seeing your eyes. 

You let out a sigh, getting up from your bed since you couldn't get any sleep the night before and when you looked in the mirror and your eyes were still puffy from crying so you splashed water on your face hoping that would do something and started heading down to school. Once it was lunch you sat down eating and drawing whatever came to mind. After you were done, you looked at it and got confused. You’d drawn two sets of eyes, one was red and the other was a sort of golden color. You looked down at the picture confused before turning the page, drawing something else. This time it was a picture of someone but you couldn't really tell who it was. 

"So Bella, your sister seems to be getting weirder lately." You heard one of Bella's friends say. You had been fed up with them talking poorly about you, but you were too scared to ever say anything so all you could do was sit and listen. 

"Yeah she just doesn't fit in, she belongs in a circus or something am I right?" Bella joked and that got all her friends laughing. You looked down at your lap feeling the tears start to stream down my face.

Before you could even think about what to do, the bell rang and you headed off to art. Instead of going to art you just sat on the steps outside of school and rested your head on the side of the steps. You silently cried to yourself because you knew the bell would ring soon, and you weren’t going to let anyone see you cry so you hid your face. The stairs were pretty long so you weren't really taking up space, and if you wanted to go home you could just get up and walk to your car since you were right in front of the parking lot. You heard the bell ring and you let out a quiet squeak shaking. You heard footsteps from people walking by and heard various comments. 'Freak' 'Weirdo' 'Mistake' 'Go kill yourself' etc.  

You heard what sounded as if they were walking together not like the bundle of kids earlier. You moved closer to the side of the wall, shaking trying not to let out a sob waiting for whoever was walking to tell you something. You heard some of the footsteps continue but one stopped and stayed. You waited for whoever it was to tell me something but to your surprise they didn't. The person suddenly sat down beside you making you flinch when they put a hand on your back. You looked to your right a little to see who it was, and saw Rosalie. 

"Hey, why are you crying?" Rosalie asked. You just stared at her, not knowing what to say. You just shook your head, looking forward, not wanting to say anything. "Well Y/N, my family and I were wondering if you would like to come home with us because we wanted to talk to you about something." She explained. You thought about it for a while and you guess it wouldn't hurt. 

"I g-guess so" You stuttered out, and as you said that there was a screeching making your head shoot up to see what was going on. 

Your sister was about to be hit by a car and you didn't feel worried one bit. You actually didn't feel anything. You felt numb and you just laid your head on the side of the brick wall closing your eyes. Before you knew it you were in a house you’d never been in before, and were surrounded by the Cullen's. You looked around and the room alone was huge and you couldn’t help but wonder what the rest of it looked like.

"Hey Y/N, you fell asleep and you were coming here with us anyway so we just brought you with us." Rosalie explained, making you look over at her. You nodded and looked around at the Cullen family silently, not being able to find your voice. "What we wanted to tell you will have to wait until my dad gets home from work. Don't worry, I texted your dad and told him that you were going to spend the weekend with us and he was excited that you were making friends, so he said that it was fine and that he'd see you when you got home on Monday." Rosalie continued and you nodded again. 

When Jasper sat down on the couch next to you, you looked up at him. You looked in his eyes and suddenly images flashed before yours. It was of Jasper, but it looked like it was a long time ago. When you saw an image where he had been bit by something you flinched, and suddenly saw that he had red eyes, along with the many people around him. You almost felt crazy, feeling as though you were seeing things. 

"You're not seeing things." Edward explained, popping out of nowhere. You jumped from surprise, looked at him not knowing what he’d meant. 

"What do you mean?" You asked, looking at everyone around the room. 

"Let's sit down Y/N." Carlisle explained when he walked into the room, taking off his coat before sitting across from you. "We’re all vampires, and we may or may not know why your eyes are different colors, and we’re trying to figure that out. I'm looking into it to see what I can find out. Some of us have gifts. Edward can read minds, Jasper can feel and manipulate emotions, and Alice can see the future." Carlisle explained, making you nod in understanding. You couldn’t have helped but think it was cool, and Edward laughed making you glare at him. 

"Don't go through my thoughts or..." You paused for a little thinking. "I'll try to find a way to kill you if you do." You continued, laying back on the couch, looking up at the ceiling closing your eyes. You felt eyes on you, and looked up at everyone staring at you. "What?" You asked. 

"Well you took us being vampires pretty well." Alice explained making you shrug. You laid my head on the side of the couch closing your eyes once again. 

"I'm weird, you're weird. We're all weird here." You explained not being bothered. 

"Come on Y/N, you're sleeping in Emmet and Rosalie's room since that's the only one that really has a bed." You heard someone say making you sigh. 

"But I don't even have any clothes to sleep in." You mumbled tiredly as you started falling asleep on the couch. 

"That's fine, we'll find something, come on." Alice said excitedly. 

"Give me a minute." You mumbled, falling asleep before you could stop yourself.

-------------------------------------

Tag List: Let me know if you would like to be tagged in this series

@kettnerjanea @itsalonelygirlinalonelyworld @autumnpauley20 @thot-for-mikehanlon

#twilight #twilight imagine #twilight x reader #bella swan x sister reader #swan reader #swan!reader #seth clearwater #seth clearwater x reader #seth #alec #alec volturi #alec x reader #alec volturi x reader #seth x reader #the unexplainable series

[elaz-ivero]

Poetry Fieldnotes ||Broken Artists Collective||

[image description: a block print with a bright red border around a greyish blue grainy image. Atop it is a pair of discoloured hands, palms facing forward, red and outstretched. Above the hands in white Garamond font are the words, Broken Artists Collective and in smaller font, and other poems. /end id]

Over the past week, I may or may not have fully embraced the concept of a broken artist finding myself unable to conjure up a single creative thought unless I'm lying on the floor surrounded by scrawlings and broken-spined books. For a long time, I have been trying to cater my work to a series of magazines that clearly yearn for a very specific 'type' of poetry that I am incapable of producing. These poems are ones that applied pressure, the ones that were crammed into inattentive submission boxes and were returned in empty emails.

Here are the poems,

[image description: a photograph of a boy laying down looking upward, a lit cigarette stands upright in his mouth and his features are overlayed with the shadows of ferns and other plants. He wears an orange collared shirt and around him are the words in white Garamond font, Floor Bound Echo Location. /end id]

Floor-bound Echolocation is a disjointed 403-word prose poem that is a coalesce of liminal spaces, chaotic ingenuity and a reversal of grief. Like many of my poems, it describes a series of small events and feels more like a corrupted scene from a novel than a stand-alone poem. It's a short tale of a brother and sister cleaning out the garage-workspace of their genius, estranged and recently deceased cousin. It opens as follows...

All the lines are in lowercase and of sporadic length, every so often a single random word is isolated and highlighted. These are the words that were isolated throughout the poem.

//enigma //a test of patience //satisfied //memorized

I adore this poem and it feels strangely personal (my own experiences often slip into my work unconsciously like fears finding their place in dreams) as a creative I fear the idea that a lot of my work and unwritten ideas will never be read or known. The poem focuses on one of the cousin's creations, a geometric pattern drawn in chalk on the concrete floor. This pattern, its design obsessive and laid out like a triggerless trap takes over the narrative of the poem. The characters wash it away and the pattern, the physical manifestation of this dead cousins genius clings to the idea of being appreciated, recognized.

[image description: a boy sits up against a wall in a barren green and blue-tinted room, to the right of the image, is a window showing trees outside and beneath it a gas heater is attached to the wall. The boy's wearing a similar orange shirt and on the wall beside him are words, 'it blends and swirls with the oiled water and tidals along the length of the driveway to passer-by's what remains of it asks, begs, to be, memorised.' /end id]

I wrote 'floor-bound...' in a day and made subsequent edits over the course of a couple of days, I tend to write out my ideas and make minor changes to word choice and sentence length before I add in the details that make each poem unique. The isolation of individual letters was a way to almost mimic the process of looking in a cluttered space you'll see something recognizable and latch onto it.

Status: Submitted

[image description: A girl with long black hair, olive skin and a tired solemn expression face forward, an unlit cigarette held loosely in her mouth. She stands in a red elevator, the doors are closed and on the left on the image is the metal switchboard showing she has reached level 12. On her right is the word, 'Peephole'. /end id]

Peephole is a mirrored poem and is split into 'Inside', and 'Outside' with Inside, aligned to the left and Outside, aligned to the right, they are reflective of each other, mirrored. Peephole is about a young drunk woman staying inside her boyfriend's cramped apartment inspired by the 43-Square-Foot rooms in South Korea and an image from the article below inspired the entirety of this poem.

She, aware that the apartment seems to reject her, steps out into the hallway, the 'Outside' which feels apocalyptic with a burning wining sun and a ghost standing by the elevator, a personification of her sickness silently assessing how she is still alive and if she could find her way home in this state. The women in turn assess how this hallway faintly reminds her of the one from 'The Shining' leading into a breaking of the fourth wall.

[image description: A photograph that looks similar to a corrupted piece of film, tinted red and showing a woman's profile looking toward the right. Words on the left of the image read, 'I take an imaginary drag as if setting the scene of some ninety's horror, slasher, mounting suspense with the final girl, alone, a lonely lamb how easy would it be to just end a film right here.' /end id]

The tone of the poem is gritty, realistic and almost elusive in its design. I love writing poems without intending to care about its audience, with no closure, no clarity, no kindness. This poem is an amalgamation of all the recent media I've consumed, 'The Shining', Final Girl, Wikipedia dives into the housing crisis and psychological horror. I love writing poems that reflect a blend of culture, using language as a way to implement distinctive voices in my writing.

[image description: Another room tinted green, on the bottom of the image head barely in frame is a women looking off into the distance, above the cigarrete she holds red smoke reflecting in the shine on her face twirls and unfurls. Text reads, 'Tiger balm and salt, "kapuahi ahi" his whisper hurts my ears and sounds like, toungue on velvet, tooth in cheek.' /end id]

Status: Submitted

[image description: a close up of a brides face covered by a sheer veil in front of a black background, her eyes are tinted with red eyeshadow and she looks forward with a bored stare. Large text in the upper left-hand corner reads, 'Chekhov'. /end id]

Chekhov, my most recent poem is- as the title suggests- from the perspective of a gun, a woman on her wedding day is left at the altar by a cheating groom and hunts him down in the orchard venue with an heirloom of a gun. I love the perspective of this poem, the way it slowly reveals the origin of the 'voice' and grows darker and darker as the wedding dress soils and darkens with dirt and blood. Few of my poems spur from ideas rather than images but the idea of a furious bride filled with anguish and horror brought this poem to life.

[image description: a young bride looking behind her as she runs toward a patch of dark trees in the middle of a field. One hand holds up the edge of her white dress, it's evening. Text on the left-hand side of the image reads, 'Darling when my steel feels soft, revoke your vows and kiss something just as cold and cocky. /end id]

This poem is split into three stanzas, before the wedding, during and the evolving aftermath. I feel like I could extend this into a short story saving the strange gunpoint perspective till the final scene.

Status: Completing

[image description: A black and white image of a boy looking up, his expression a mix of horror and fear while blades point down at him and hold steady inches from his neck. The image is a still from "Ivan the Terrible" by Sergei Eisenstein. Text aside it reads, 'The Sound of Hamlet Rehearsed. /end id]

The sound of Hamlet Rehearsed, inspired by my own recent exploration of scriptwriting and theatre. The sound of Hamlet Rehearsed is about a boy being held accountable during a faux court hearing, on stage on opening night. The narrative slowly switches from fiction to reality as it dawns on him that the punishment is about to be dealt and he struggles with understanding how much of his reaction is performance or authentic. It's structured in a sporadic unbroken series of words and moments.

Tone-deaf touchtone tipping point Ziplock bags and scented zip ties off script the boards atop the trap door tremble imagine the conductor beneath torch amongst teeth briefly making out direction from diction.

Status: Editing

Those are the poems I've been working on! I'm not going to write any more poetry until I come to my poetry course next trimester and instead are going to focus on short stories (I'm developing two right now, three-course meal and Wren versus the Russian Government) and continuing by Worldbuilding Diaries series.

-E

#poetry #brokenartistscollective #wip #bac #amwriting #writeblr #poems #poets on tumblr #writing #writeblogging

[nofliight]

THE POSITIVE & NEGATIVE; Mun & Muse - Meme.

fill out & repost ♥ This meme definitely favors canons more, but I hope OC’s still can make it somehow work with their own lore, and lil’ fandom of friends & mutuals. Multi-Muses pick the muse you are the most invested in atm.

tagged by: stole it from @sternenteile​ and honestly others tbh tagging: TAKE

my muse is:  canon / oc / au / canon-divergent / fandomless / complicated

Is your character popular in the fandom? YES / NO. [ for better or for worse, he’s THE face of kid icarus, after all. he’s a dork and funny and likeable and even if the fandom tends to get him WRONG (thanks smash bros) there’s no denying his popularity ]

Is your character considered hot™ in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. [ i don’t??? think so??? most people are too busy talking about how they think he’s like 5 ]

Is your character considered strong in the fandom?  YES / NO / IDK. [ EVEN THE FANDOM AIN’T GONNA MESS THIS UP. MAN FIGHTS GODS. CALL THAT WEAK. ]

Are they underrated?  YES / NO / IDK. [ make no mistake - pit’s got fans and plenty of them but he’s so MISTREATED by the fandom. his character is a lot more complex than he gets credit for and smash bros in particular is a big reason people think he’s just Big Dumb Baby Man ]

Were they relevant for the main story?  YES / NO. [ HE’S THE MAIN CHARACTER, THE CENTRAL FIGURE UPON WHOM THE NARRATIVE IS STRUCTURED AROUND, YEAH HE’S PRETTY RELEVANT. Uprising is literally made to tell the story of a war exclusively through the perspective of a single side and Pit (and Palutena) are the EMBODIMENT of that whole side. ]

Were they relevant for the main character? YES / NO / THEY’RE THE PROTAG. [ and a perfect one at that. he’s literally a perfect protagonist don’t tell me i’m wrong cause i’m not ]

Are they widely known in their world? YES / NO. [ pit is beloved by humans... and mocked by the Gods. seen by most as a spineless extension of palutena’s will, most “respect” of any variety goes to palutena while he gets treated as a joke 99% of the time... and it’s not like Palutena gets too much respect either ]

How’s their reputation?  GOOD / BAD / NEUTRAL. (????) [ Uhhhhhh... it’s an odd one. Short answer is that Pit’s a good samaritan who’s done a lot of good BUT most of the gods think protecting humanity is a Folly and a Joke and that Pit’s just a pawn of Palutena’s and while the humans do hold a lot of respect for him, uh............. let’s just say, some humans on the surface have reasons not to be too happy with him. ]

How strictly do you follow canon?  —  about as much as I need to to respect one of my favorite video games of all time. while kid icarus uprising is a comedic game most of the way through it has a lot more nuance and depth to itself, its world, and its characters than one can see at first glance, even after a full playthrough. if you let yourself get invested in the characters, take a closer look at the dialogue it provides, and acknowledge the central, core storytelling message of the game for what it is, there’s a lot more to pull out than one would think. that being said, it’s still a comedic video game and one that I think could use some more expansion. though the game is inconsistent there seems to be the consensus that pit is like a child and I’m not into that, mine’s a bit more showing in his cynical and snarky side after all he’s been through and overall there’s a lot of expansion on the base while building it into something unique.

SELL YOUR MUSE! Aka try to list everything, which makes your muse interesting in your opinion to make them spicy for your mutuals.  —  imagine your typical bootstrapped anime protagonist. someone who, when younger, was a runt who couldn’t meet the expectations of others, was looked down on, and found himself crushed and hurt and near-killed by a great tragedy that he was forced to claw his way out of to make himself stronger. Now imagine all of that with a character who comes out still able to have a very real smile and ultimately comes out of it a self-assured, chipper goofball with a good heart. now put that together with all of the darkness and depth you would have expected to be there, but scattered realistically throughout the attitude of someone who does genuinely want to keep a positive attitude. someone who is sincerely an optimist who’s grown past his weaker days, but isn’t quite so simple as he’d like to believe. all of that combined with someone who can’t read, is willing to eat ice cream off the floor in times of duress, is extremely easy to fluster and can channel his goddess’ power to slay GODS? you got one strong man.

Now the OPPOSITE, list everything why your muse could not be so interesting (even if you may not agree, what does the fandom perhaps think?).  —  his positive attitude is what most people will see when speaking to him, because for what it’s worth, he’s not actively lying about his depth. he’s a cheerful, jovial man with a big smile and a love of the world around him - which is all well and good, but his depth is something you have to find, even if it is reasonably clear if you’re willing to look. he’s also portrayed as a bit unreasonably dumb at times, and though I personally justify the worst of it with proper explanations, I can understand reducing some of the value of the character in favor of seeing all of his Jokes

What inspired you to rp your muse?  —  i made my original pit blog, flightlesswarrior, on a total whim after playing kid icarus uprising. cute character, fun premise, why not? but over time, and with numerous plots I was able to take part in exploring the serious, not so serious, shipping, tragedy, and going back through the game to keep my muse rolling, it occurred to me more and more with time just how nuanced and interesting pit and co. really are. pit embodies many of the things i really, truly love in a protag, falling firmly on the side of good, having a heart of genuine gold, and having nuances and parts of his personality that are less than savory without making him seem like a contradiction. he’s got depth, he’s got story, there’s a lot to explore and flesh out... and he’s also just a nice, friendly guy who gets along well with others. plus, i’m drawn to dorks.

What keeps your inspiration going?  —  a) love for Kid Icarus: Uprising. a game that helped me gain a deeper and more insightful understanding of character development, subtle storytelling, optimism still tinged with legitimate and healthy cynicism, and overall something that changed my understanding of character development and storytelling forever. and b) spite. the fandom treats him like an idiot baby and smash DOES NOT help matters so i have to remind others that he is a veteran of a war, a socially inept loser with few real friends, and someone who’s kindness and optimism was shaped and molded by its hardships in a way that doesn’t require a near-breaking point or a reminder that “this guy could be evil you know” to show how someone can still keep a positive attitude in spite of all the shit life throws at him.

Some more personal questions for the mun.

Give your mutuals some insight about the way you are in some matters, which could lead them to get more comfortable with you or perhaps not.

Do you think you give your character justice?  YES / NO [ i’d like to think i have?? but i also acknowledge that he’s become something of his Own in some ways that do intentionally diverge from sakurai’s intentions. ultimately though, even though i may not play him completely true to text, i try to be as loyal as i can be to the spirit of the character. ]

Do you frequently write headcanons?  YES / NO / SORT OF? [ when i can!! but??? the problem is my mind really, really likes to reiterate the Same Damn Points i have to make with characters that draws me to them - and you know, writing the same hcs over and over is generally considered poor form?? ngl i also prefer to let the writing do the talking unless it’s something that’s not gonna show so 90% of the time pit’s open enough that all but the darker sides of his mind are lain out before you. ]

Do you sometimes write drabbles?  YES / NO [ maybe??? once or tWICE???? but i need to write more ]

Do you think a lot about your Muse during the day? YES / NO [ I REALLY DO, HOO MAMA. i have a lot of thoughts about him, his depth, potential relationships, goofy thoughts, more serious fanfic ideas im never gonna write and don’t get me started on how many SHIPS i have to think about for him ]

Are you confident in your portrayal? YES / NO [ my portrayal is made out of spite for portrayals in the fandom and some supplementary material that gets him wrong - it’s kinda hard to do that without the confidence ]

Are you confident in your writing?  YES / NO / ??? [ it’s uhh........ complicated??? i don’t think writing is my expertise, tbh. but it is the best way i have to show the passion i have for characters, by putting their nuances into actions, by allowing them to shine from who they are their core, by exploring relationships and scenarios and struggles and hope and everything that can flesh a character out. whether or not i’m a good writer is something i’m still sorting out - but i’m proud of my ability to develop a character, and to that end i feel like i’m doing fine ]

Are you a sensitive person?  YES / NO. / SORTA. [ on one hand......... very. i have a tendency to overthink everything i do and look back at moments i made an ass of myself that keep haunting me throughout my day - they haunt me. i only have two fears: what my immediate friend group thinks of me and the crushing existential weight of worrying one day i’m gonna ruin everything i am SOFT. that being said, i’m also hardheaded and stubborn and i’m not afraid to go off on someone i don’t have much respect for if it comes down to it. i’m easy to anger when it comes down to it you know i guess that proves the point huh i’m not stonefaced at all ]

Do you accept criticism well about your portrayal?  —  i try to? it’s a bit touchy for me I admit just because I do take portrayals and try to make them my own, but i am willing to listen if someone has any points they’d like to make that i haven’t acknowledged properly. if criticism IS had, lemme know, i do wanna hear it!

Do you like questions, which help you explore your character?  —   Y  E  S

If someone disagrees to a headcanon of yours, do you want to know why?  —  not that everyone who disagrees with my opinions has to explain themselves of course, but i do sincerely like the chance to learn if something i’m doing doesn’t quite feel right. even if it’s one-sided and i’ll come to disagree, i’m happy to listen! even if i don’t agree with the disagreement head-on, i like to keep them in mind and see what i can shift around to acknowledge them if necessary

If someone disagrees with your portrayal, how would you take it?  — neutral?? i mean don’t be mean about it, but if you just think my pit doesn’t seem right or it doesn’t click right with your muse i’m not gonna throw a fit about it. everyone’s allowed to view a character in their own way - and even if i may get salty about those who oversimplify him, it IS anyone’s right to view him how they will.

If someone really hates your character, how do you take it?  — agree to disagree tbh. i can’t pretend it wouldn’t disappoint me, but it’s not like, worth ending a friendship over or anything. everyone’s got their own viewpoints to run on

Are you okay with people pointing out your grammatical errors?  —  sure, within reason! i take pride in my grammar but i know that with my fast typing and often running on only a few hours of sleep some problems do slip in through the cracks. while i generally either catch them or just Die with them i’m all ears if i mess up

Do you think you are easy going as a mun?   —  uhhhhhhhhhh well i’m?? kind of a socially anxious mess honestly which DOES make being easy going a bit difficult BUT i do try and be friendly and sociable as i....... can. i’m too scared to talk to people and CAN say some dumb things but i’m not a hardass or anything!! i like to talk and Yell and shitpost and pretty much do anything but write tbh DHFLKSJDF

#about. #ooc. #hi! i Die for Pit #god this has been in my drafts for MONTHS thanks to my dash for finally reminding me to post this hsdfdfs

[t4t-lumpygrab]

Lemongrab 1 headcannons (long)

(I tried to group these around the theme of free time/hobbies)

🍋 After like… 3 days of not being in the candy kingdom after he was relocated to the earldom he was bored out of his mind and did all sorts of bonkers stuff to entertain himself. Like try to build a parachute out of old sheets and jump out of the highest window, or go surfing down the stairs on an ironing board. Does he seem like the sort of person who should be left unsupervised? No. It’s a wonder he didn’t die doing all the dumb things he got up to.

🍋 at some point Lemongrab probably built himself a playground in the empty courtyard in his castle so he could entertain himself and have fun but either lost interest half way through building it, or burnt all the things down one by one in anger after he hurt himself playing on them. Like he fell off the swing and decided the only way to make it pay for this humiliation is to blow it up, and accidentally Ka boomed everything else along with it.

🍋 Too Young showed that Lemongrab is far sighted and can’t read properly or see things clearly up close, so he didn’t read books at all and instead preferred to watch films. And if he did read books he’d have to use a magnifying glass as his reading glasses didn’t seem to help him much (he still squinted and leaned forwards).

🍋 His infallible recall meant that after he’d watched something he could recite it off by heart, so he would destroy any film copies he has, which is why his castle is empty. Libraries and dvd rentals hate him. He is banned from every single dvd rental in Ooo.

🍋 he probably went through a phase where he tried to make his own films but none of them were very good and he didn’t have the focus to finish anything. All of his works such as the Comedy film “man with phobia of food gets job at a restaurant” which is just Lemongrab wearing a chef hat standing in his kitchen screaming at different vegetables for 2 hours straight, are all lying somewhere in the attic. 

However it was a lot of fun for him and as he made lots of films he became pretty good at it. This is why he has the necessary equipment to make his propaganda in the Lemonhope arc, and why his propaganda is pretty good in terms of actually film quality. I mean we have a slow panning scenic shot at the beginning, flawlessly executed voice over, and fast cuts of the lemon people set against him talking as well as text overlay, fading shots, and background music. Fella clearly had film making talent if nothing else. 

🍋 When the lemon people were made he would force them to star in his films alongside his brother. 

🍋 On the subject of art, Lemongrab 1 also seems to be a pretty talented artist. I mean in one of the advtime comics Marceline organises a zine made up of comics drawn by the other characters and Lemongrab’s submission looks like this. 

And as you can tell from the shading and the composition and his colour choice, while he definitely has a bit of a way to go, he’s actually really good at drawing. So I imagine lemongrab 1 really liked drawing pictures though given his horrible eyesight he probably had to use a magnifying glass to correct his vision. 

I’d also like to add that Lemongrab 1 using sound effect symbols in the third panels implies that he knows what those mean, which he’d only know from reading comics. So he’s secretly a comic book fan.

And when you think about it his infallible recall would give him a huge visual library. If he can remember a map from just glancing at it then he can probably flawlessly copy it, and was therefore a really good realistic artist with a bit of practice.

🍋 One of the other hobbies he picked up was engineering and science, which he mainly attempted in the hope of making his mother proud of him. He designed the sliding doors and reconditioning chamber in his castle,and  also made the torture devices in his dungeon as well as various robots that do completely dumb and pointless things.

🍋 One of these was a soft cloth robot that was designed to be physically affectionate with him and act as a surrogate mother of sorts but couldn’t get it to fulfill his precise demands so he destroyed it in a hissy fit.

🍋 he generally got a lot of his engineering ideas from Pb’s experiments and inventions that he’d seen lying around her lab or seen blue prints of when he went over to spy on her. He’d copy her but put a lemon twist on her stuff.

For example, the pink lemonade lemon sea 

we see in the lemon sea comic was made using the same technology as the butterscotch lake Pb made for uncle gumbald. But with a bomb instead of a grenade.

🍋 Because he made the pink lemonade sea he was the one who made all the aquatic lemon creatures we see in that comic. He was really excited that his lemon sea would finally have an ecosystem he forgot he had only a vague idea of how fish work, so there’s penguins and lemon coral reefs in the same place and it’s all very inconsistent.

🍋 He also quite enjoyed gardening and growing trees. Mainly because lemons are the only food he can really eat properly, and also because trees... are fun. He was especially interested in tree sculptures (which is when you grow trees into certain shapes) which is what the tree in his throne is all about. 

The reason it looks like that is because it’s a sculpture in process- the finished thing would be a tree throne. It was, however, never finished as he cleared most of his projects out before Too Old. 

🍋 Lemongrab actually quite likes a lot of music, he just hates harps as he has upsetting memories associated with them as I’ve explained here.

Lemongrab's favourite types of music were genres that had "screaming" in them. So stuff like heavy metal, opera, yodelling. He had pretty eclectic tastes but punk music was his favourite because the defining mood of that genre is anger, which he can obviously get behind. 

Also Punk vocalists tend to not have conventionally nice sounding voices when they sing. Like screaming, snarling, and ranting more than singing are typical punk musician features. In other words, kind of like Lemongrab. So the first time lemongrab ever heard someone who sounded like him was listening to punk music, and I imagine it brought him a bit of comfort 

🍋 On the subject of music, as  he liked punk music he would’ve run into Marceline and the scream queens sooner or later. While he has mixed feelings about Marceline due to her being his mother’s ex girlfriend he really enjoyed a lot of her music 

Lemongrab’s favourite Marceline song was I’m just your problem as it’s as a song about dealing with not being enough for someone- that someone being Pb SPECIFICALLY. Lemongrab heard the line “I’m sorry I’m not made of sugar and I’m not sweet enough for you” and became a groupie on the spot. 

🍋 He even went as far as to write his own fan cover called “I’m just your problemon” which bore no resemblance to the original song beyond the title and was just Lemongrab yelled about his mummy issues for an hour with out of tune guitar in the background. There is still a very poorly made recording of it up in the attic. 

#lemongrab #lemongrab 1 #atimers #atimes #fan theory #lemongrab theory

[thecorteztwins]

Well, these are some headcanons that I have for some of my favorite minor Marvel characters that I don’t have a blog for-- Aireo, Aqueduct, Catsye, Darkstar, Fantasma, and Skein. Under the cut in alphabetical order!

AIREO AKA SKYBREAKER - Aireo was originally imprisoned in Attilan for rebelling against Black Bolt’s rule. And after he had been exiled into the human world and became a criminal there, he was imprisoned in a superhuman jail, where he said that it was even more regressive than his fellow Inhumans. Based on this, I think he probably had a lot of problems with the shittier aspects of how Attilan was run, like the arranged/forced marriages and control of who could reproduce with who. He clearly thinks Inhumans are still superior though, as evident by remarks he makes to Firestar. - He’s frequently sick due to the pollution of the human world. This is also why he has to only eat organic. - He’s a vegetarian, since Attilan doesn’t have animals that’s what he’s used to. He finds the idea of eating meat to be barbaric. - His skinniness might be unhealthy on someone else, but it’s how he’s SUPPOSED to be, to facilitate flight easier on the winds he summons. - His brother is HELIO, another villainous minor Inhuman with long hair and wind powers. - He connects with his teammate Terraformer over their respective lack of humanity (in the sense of literally not being human), with Firewall over their mutual anger at regressive systems, and yet it’s Aqueduct, who has the LEAST in common with, that he’s ended up being best buds with...even though he won’t ADMIT that he’s FRIENDS with a HUMAN. - After being exiled from Attilan, I think he just kind of fell into human crime because it was all he could do? He has no human identity, citizenship, or documentation, he has no job skills or degrees, he wouldn't even understand human culture or money when he first started. I imagine he was probably manipulated and exploited a lot for his powers at first, which didn’t help his opinion of humanity. - It pisses him off EXTREMELY how his former boss Maximus gets all the second chances just because he’s Black Bolt’s brother. AQUEDUCT aka Peter Van Zante! - There are SO MANY Peters in Marvel already that I always refer to him by his codename, so I would write him as strictly going by Aqueduct, Aque, Van Zante, Van, or Zante  because calling him Peter just makes even ME think of other characters...and after typing that I nearly called him Peter instead of Aque during every point of this list. - He fought in Vietnam so of course he’d be much older if he aged in real-time, but this being comics he gets to eternally be 30 to 40. I picture him as like....33. Maybe 36 max. - He just seems to be a real loser in canon no matter what he’s doing and who he’s fighting, and I like that. Being an aquekinetic should theoretically be an INCREDIBLE power, especially when he gained the ability to instantly dehydrate someone to death, but the poor guy has just never managed to be anything above a D-list threat. He doesn’t seem very smart or imaginative in how to use his powers, and he also just has terrible luck in terms of the heroes he winds up going against (who often end up being immune to water powers in some way) All of this makes him super endearing to me because of course it does. - Heterosexual. He’s had three steady girlfriends in his life, none of which worked out, and he’s not great with women. He’s visited strip clubs and even paid for sex before but he’s not proud of this, he’s just lonely. -His self-esteem seems very easily influenced by external events. For instance, when he's suffered a setback or defeat, he becomes insecure, pessimistic, and dumps on himself terribly. All the insecurity vanishes, however, the moment he has the upper hand. He becomes a gloating megalomanic, drunk on his own sudden rush of self-esteem, certain of his unbeatable supremacy. - I think he feels much better when he's working with a group; he hasn’t left Force of Nature since he joined up. I think it’s because he can enjoy the mental high of success, but escape the lows of defeat by deferring the responsibility for it on to whoever is in charge. But I also think he genuinely enjoys having friends and comrades. -We never see or hear anything about his family so I headcanon they’re estranged from him due to his being a loser, like he probably has borrowed a lot of money from his parents over and over that he never paid back, that kind of thing.

- He's moody, and not very bright. He's not bad socially, definitely the sort you could have a beer with, but he's also not the most sensitive or astute. He’s probably the nicest person on the Force of Nature squad, though of course he’s shown to hesitate to kill at all during his job as a merc for exco-terrorists. - While I see the rest of Force of Nature as genuinely having some degree of personal investment in Project Earth (the eco-terrorists who hired them) I don’t think Aque does. He doesn’t hate nature or anything, just the usual limit of his “environmentalism” is that he’ll put his beer can in the recycling bin if one is around. - He’s listed as rather overweight for his height. That’s probably meant to be muscle mass, especially given how he’s drawn...but his teammate Aireo/Skybreaker is listed as drastically underweight and drawn the same way, suggesting more to me that the artists just can only draw one body type for men. Because muscles or not, there’s a 100 pound difference between these dudes, they should NOT look this close in size. So my headcanon instead is that AIreo is super skinny and Aqueduct is kinda hefty, and I draw them that way. While there can be many reasons a person is fat or chubby, I admit I do go the common cliche route with Aque---he just doesn’t have a great diet, I picture him as mostly eating at greasy cheap diners and fast food and probably having one too many beers at times. - He’s pretty much trapped in villainy at this point, he can’t really get any kind of legitimate job anymore, so he’s just go to keep doing what he’s doing. He’s not opposed to it, he doesn’t have a moral issue or anything, but he doesn’t like not having a CHOICE, or the knowledge that he put himself here. - He doesn’t seem to have any issues from being in Vietnam, but his encounter with the Ghost Rider and the effects of his whole hellfire-stare thing messed him up so badly he had a mental breakdown and spent time in an asylum, and loses his shit whenever the Ghost Rider is near or even mentioned. So I don’t think it’s even a headcanon to say he’s traumatized by that, it’s just canon. All of Force of Nature also gets a little unhinged from the weeks they’re trapped fighting in a Trans-Sabal war zone, and I imagine there were effects of that afterwards for Aqueduct too. - He’s introduced with SHORT HAIR when he’s the solo Water Wizard, but gets a LONG HAIRSTYLE when he joins Force of Nature that later changes to a MOHAWK STYLE...I draw him with the original short hair, I like it best on him and I think it suits the personality that I read into him. - We never see him in civilian-wear, but I picture him as in just like...very basic working-class guy stuff? Like flannels over t-shirts with jeans and work boots, that kind of thing. Probably leans towards blues and greens with brown neutrals. CATSEYE aka Sharon Smith! - Fanart often depicts her with collar-style necklaces and chokers, but I headcanon her as hating these, since a lot of real cats actually can’t stand them. - She had to be taught to wear clothes, of course, and that was a battle for Emma, but now that she does, she picks her own out. She has a preference for things that are comfy and allow for a lot of movement, without being too restrictive or too loose. A lot of her stuff is therefore athletic-wear, and she always has a swimsuit-like garment underneath that is made of unstable molecules so she can transform without being naked when she resumes her human state. She’s developed a surprisingly good eye for what colors look best on her, such as yellow, orange, pink, and teal. She even knows to limit the purple she wears, and to not wear it close to her face lest it clash with her purple hair, despite purple being her FAVORITE color because that’s what color she is! -  According to Emma’s files, Catseye could detect lies and hated them, but it’s never explained HOW she knew that someone was lying. My headcanon is she could smell them, or more specifically, smell the subtle physiological changes that accompany someone lying. So if someone is lying and THEY KNOW IT, she’d smell it. If someone thinks they are telling the truth, these changes wouldn’t take place, and thus she’d believe them. Likewise, these scents won’t accompany things like billboards or commercials, so she would believe those, hence one issue where Jetstream explains to her that television is a bunch of lies. - Emma’s theory is that she was abandoned at birth for her mutation and adopted in a feral cat colony, but my theory is she was actually abandoned at an older age, around five, at which point she’d have already learned how to speak English. She just forgot it, along with her formal life, after years with the cats as a cat herself. So it’s not that she LEARNED English after never having known it, she REGAINED it. This is much more realistic for a feral child; if a child isn’t exposed to language by a certain age, it is pretty much impossible for them to learn to talk at a later age like Catseye did. I looked up a bunch of real feral child cases, and age five is the youngest at which they could be abandoned and still regain speech later. Obviously, telepathy from Emma would help too, along with Sharon’s own ferocious intelligence, which is probably how she managed to do it so quickly instead of it taking years and years! -  Catseye was a lesbian. She only ever remarks on the appearance of girls (Amara, Angelica, Rahne) and if she finds them pretty or not. I just think it would take a long time for her to come around to it, not because they are girls (she doesn't care about THAT, she never absorbed any homophobia to internalize from CATS) but because they're HUMAN, which she does not see herself as being, so feeling attraction to humans is super weird for her. -  I think that Jetstream really looked out for Catseye. He does things in canon like stopping her from jumping on Magma when she's in flame mode, or explaining to her that she can't trust what the television tells her. I think they were total bros and he was always making sure she didn't hurt herself or get in trouble as best he could. And while Catseye didn’t think she needed the help, I think she was affectionate to him right back, there’s a panel where she rubs against his hand in feline form, which we never saw her do with anyone else to my memory. - Sharon same allergies and dietary limits as a cat (such as lilies making her very sick), and is vulnerable to feline diseases along with human ones. But she also has the feline resistance needed to do things like eat raw meat without fear of illness or parasites. - We know animals have their own languages in Marvel (see: Squirrel Girl talking to squirrels) so I headcanon she can communicate with cats, they just don’t give a shit what she says because they’re CATS, they’re not going to do what she says the way dogs or squirrels do. So what if she’s another cat? People don’t do what another person tells them just because they’re both human! - She’s not afraid of water, nor does catnip make her go crazy, but the laser pointer does! She also has a big collection of things like milk bottle rings, hair bands, and other things pet cats love to play with. DARKSTAR aka Laynia Petrovna! - At the board I write her at, I write her as a lesbian. There is admittedly NO canon evidence for this, but there’s also very little against it? She’s only had ONE boyfriend, when she first showed up, and none since. There could be a LOT of other reasons for this, of course, but I also think it’s totally beieviable that a teenage lesbian (I estimate she was like 19 at that point) who was in the employ of the SOVIET UNION (which was not nice to gays) to have a beard (and probably believe herself she was straight) and to stay closeted as an adult since because Russia is still...not great, to the say the least. I think she’d be cute with Monet, so based on that I’m going to say her type is good-but-dangerous women with shoulder-length-or-longer hair who have toned arms/biceps and are moderately-to-high femme like her. - I estimate her age as around 33 now? Like probably close in age to the O5 X-Men. - Based on a remark she made to Iron Man in one issue, I see her as viewing anyone she fights beside as automatically being her friend, even if they don’t feel the same way. - We rarely see her in civilian clothes, I think only once, so my fashion headcanons are all based mostly on her costumes. I think she bases her outfits around a dark, cool color scheme, like black or blue, then adds bright accents/accessories. Due to coming from cold Russia, short bottoms aren’t in her wardrobe and most of her sleeves are long. She favors high-necked blousy belted tops with sleek pants and functional but pretty boots. Her long blonde is eternally pushed back. by some sort of headband. Cloth, plastic, wood, plain, pearls, bejeweled, patterned, she has them in near every variety possible and they are her most common accessory. She also owns a large assortment of stylish winter coats, scarves, gloves, and hats. Because, again, Russian. She's not much one for bracelets, preferring brooches and pendants more, typically in oval or starburst shapes. She has a love for black velvet, and it will show up for dressy events in forms such as a rhinestone-dotted envelope handbag or round-toed pumps with ankle straps. - Laynia collects small antique music boxes and crystal glass figurines of pretty things like ballerinas and swans. She likes black velvet jewel pillows, gemstones (clear, black, or yellow) all sorts of museums (but especially art, astronomy, and natural history) and the sight of pure white snow under the street lamps at night before people can ruin it into dirty slush the next day. Laynia likes sweet delicate desserts like rock candy, powder candy, jujubes, marzipan, and bliny or oladyi with varenya style fruit preserves. She likes classical, romantic, disco, pop, and synth music. Her favorite animals are white weasels/minks (because they're so pretty and cute) and wolves (because they're beautiful too, but also such social animals with strong family dynamics) Laynia likes “slice of life” fictional media, such as domestic drama novels or family-centered sitcom shows. These are fantasies for her, these are escapes from what’s “normal” in her life. For the same reason, she avoids spy thrillers and similar genres, no matter how unrealistic they are in their depictions. She delights in mundane tasks. Likes working in small groups, dislikes working alone or large groups. Black flowers and butterflies

- Dislikes: Being asked about Putin or the Romanovs or things like that, just because she’s Russian. People not knowing the difference between Russian and Belarusian, zhurek and tukmachi (too fatty), any kind of preserved fish dish (fish should only be served fresh or not at all!) Getting her eyelashes in her eyeball when they fall out . - In one comic, she anthropomorphizes the Darkforce, calling it "she" and believing it has feelings or at the very least is capable of pain. My headcanon for what she actually feels when she feels the Darkforce in "pain" is due to simply her mental connection to her own Darkforce constructs that allows her to create, maintain, and manipulate them. When they are attacked, dissipated, or changed against her will, she feels that as pain, and interprets it as the Darkforce being in pain "herself" - Based on a comment she makes at one point, I think that though not religious aside from a vague conception of Heaven and its goodness/judgement, Laynia is a strong believer in the supernatural, in particular of ghosts. She is not, however, a fan of them, and would prefer to stay away from anywhere that is rumored to be haunted, had a tragedy occur there, or simply feels creepy to her (based on another comment she makes in another instance) - Because Laynia was brought up not to complain, she often won’t express that something is bothering her or that someone has offended her. She thinks she’s doing the right thing, but many people would in fact far prefer that she speak up if she’s got a problem. -Laynia lacks a lot of basic life skills because they simply weren’t taught to her in the “school” she was raised in. For instance, what outfits are appropriate where, car maintenance, budgeting, cleaning, and cooking. She was taught how to find and prepare food in the Siberian wilderness should she ever be stranded or stationed there, but not how to go to the supermarket and make a normal meal in a normal kitchen. She knows to turn to Google for most of this stuff, she's not stupid, but it can be surprising to some people what she doesn't know, and she often doesn't even know it's something she needs to know until it comes up. - Laynia is automatically inclined to trust and obey doctors, professors, and similar people, as well as military personnel. It doesn’t mean she’ll do or believe absolutely anything they say, that depends what it is, but she gives their opinion and approval more weight than she does other people. Laynia also takes criticism from her superiors very personally, but doesn't show it. Crying every time you get reprimanded of course wasn't something you're allowed to do when being trained by the State, so of course she'd never show it, but she would FEEL it because she was taught that her entire purpose was to serve said State, thus her self-worth hinges on it, and a failure hurts that self-worth. This need for approval from authorities means she’ll try to evade blame when something goes awry, and is loath to step out of line. This can make her a snitch, a suck up, and disliked by her peers for it. Laynia does her best to put up a kind and cordial demeanor to all, and retain a polite decorum even when it’s not returned. This is more to avoid making waves in the team than anything else. If there is discord in the ranks, she refuses to ever be the one to blame for it. It’s not that Laynia doesn’t question orders ever. She does. And she does sometimes find her moral conscience at odds with them. The problem is that she seldom acts on these thoughts, instead proceeding with her missions despite her misgivings. FANTASMA sometimes called Fantasia (all for her PRIOR to finding out she’s a Dire Wraith and resuming the evil ways of her kind) - Given the name Faina Neizvestny (Neizvestny meaning "unknown" rather than the usual patronymic Russian surname) and the codename Fantasma. She thought this was a reference to how she was essentially a ghost, someone with no past and no paper trail. In fact it was someone's idea of a joke---a phantasm is a ghost, and another word for ghost is wraith. She didn't know the implication, but she felt far more connected to her codename than her civilian name, perhaps because it wasn’t a human name at all. She quickly grew to only introduce herself as Fantasma whenever possible, and to only answer to such. What’s more, she leaned towards preferring codenames for her teammates well, finding it somehow infantile that they kept their human names when they had earned something grander. Nicknames: Fanny, Fanty, Fan, Tas (all disliked) - Likes elegant perfume bottles that are as much decoration as container, beluga caviar and raw squid, The Conet Project recordings (it's basically music to her) as well as Imogen Heap/Frou Frou, ethereal darkwave, and some trance music, the cold Dislikes confined spaces (we see this in canon) When one first meets Fantasma, she gives the impression of being cool and aloof. Despite her unfailing and prim politeness even in dire circumstances, her manner is cold, brusque, and impersonal, even among those she counts as allies and friends. The best way to describe Fantasma might be a sociopath who is trying not to be a sociopath. In fact, that’s exactly what she thinks she is. Fantasma does not have an internal sense of empathy or morals. She wants to, and she does her best to compensate for this lack, but it's not something she naturally has. Her bio-fields allow her to recognize the pain of others, to share in it, but she doesn't actually feel anything when she sees people hurt or danger. Not without the aid of tapping into her bio-field. And while she will do her best to save innocent people from being hurt, that's because she knows as an intellectual fact that it's what a "good person" would do, and she desires to act as a good person would. All her good actions are exactly that, an intellectual choice to be what she deduces from the norms of society is "good"; she has no internal guiding sense of goodness whatsoever. She wants one. But it's not there. So she just does her best, trying to learn what's "good" from outside sources---books, television, the actions and reactions of other people--and act accordingly. But her heart isn't in it; she knows logically that murder is worthy of greater punishment than jaywalking, but she doesn't feel greater ire at one or the other. She simply understands both are wrong by the standards of law and society, and one is considered more wrong, and should thus be treated as such by a "good" person. Fantasma often feels disconnected from the rest of humanity, like she's a monster or at least not normal. Partly, it's because of her aforementioned lack of "human" mental traits. But it's more than that. She has a constant, distinct sense of simply not belonging, like she's perpetually a stranger in a strange land no matter where she goes, no matter how long she's been there. She doesn't even feel comfortable in her own body, no matter which form she takes. When she's in her true form, she feels like a hideous monster, because that's what it is. But when she's in the beautiful human form that she's so painstakingly crafted to be perfect, she feels what almost might be called dysphoria. She hates both states, and also craves them equally, wanting to be herself and wanting to be a beautiful normal woman. It's torment. It's this feeling of alienation that drives her to try to be as "good" as she can. She feels that she can "fake it til she makes it" in terms of being a normal person, that if she just ACTS like a person with normal empathy and morals enough, she can eventually be one, or at least indistinguishable from one. She'll be like everyone else. And then she won't have the horrible feeling of NOT being like anyone else. Her feeling of not belonging has also made her desire acceptance, and she's learned that her natural personality doesn't win her any favors from most folks, she feels that she can instead be loved and accepted for heroic actions. This has the added bonus of letting her be loved and accepted from a DISTANCE, by society as a whole, rather than having to develop an actual relationship with another person. One can imagine how someone like her might have trouble with that. And she doesn't really want it anyway. She doesn't want to be close with anyone, not anyone she's ever met anyway. She just wants to feel she's one of them. She wants to feel comfortable in the world she lives in, like she belongs in it. Maybe once she does, she'll feel comfortable in her own skin too, or at least one of them. And...she really does want to be good, to be a person. She's aware she's missing something, she's aware she's probably little different than many of the evil individuals she's encountered. But she can be different in her deeds, at least if not her soul. And doesn't the DESIRE the be better than what she is, in itself make her better? While she has an intellectual understanding of how to be deceitful, and will do so in the service of the greater good (ex: lying to an enemy), she cannot understand how to be truly manipulative, as that requires understanding of the normal human thought process and emotions that she does not have, and Fantasma’s feelings are mainly loneliness, irritation, and resilient acceptance. She doesn’t feel affection and love but knows when she should and based her relationships on that. Her sense of pleasure is mainly physical, though she’s never found any food or drinks she actually LIKES, nor is she sexually attracted to humans. Might seem odd that someone essentially asexual dresses as she does, does so for approval, desire, to show off her body and be wanted and seen as beautiful. She's proud of what she's made, and wants it to be admired. She also of course perceives the negative emotions that her attire elicits---the scorn, the the scoffing, the catty comments, the raw animal lust and sexual presumption--but she has decided it's an acceptable cost for the right to display herself as her own living work of art. Her feelings seldom run hot even in the height of battle, and when she's angry, it's an icy cold anger. When not merely coldly polite and cordially distant, she'll often use her bio-field abilities to simply tap into the other person's mood and reflect it back at them. Fantasma prefers cold climates She innately respects female authorities more than male. She’ll obey a male commander because she’s supposed to follow who’s in charge, but dominant “alpha” females in positions of power give her an actual URGE to obey them and seek their favor (based on Dire Wraiths being matriarchal and serving a Queen Moher) Fantasma can be loyal if she chooses to be. And she does choose it. It's a deliberate choice, not a feeling. She selects what organization she will be loyal to (she has an easier time with these than with individual people) based on how ethical it is and the opportunity it will allow her to use her powers for the good of others. She knows that she herself may not be able to find these opportunities on her own, nor always make the right ethical decision on her own, and thus prefers being able to look to an official authority, such as the state, for instructions. She's savvy enough, of course, to realize that a government-sanctioned team will be given instructions with the government's benefit in mind, but so long as that also involves protecting and serving the people, she's willing to do as she's told either way. Thus, she chooses to be loyal by simply acting as a loyal person would, taking orders and carrying them out, and taking a bullet for her teammates even if she feels nothing for them personally. Fantasma knows when others dislike her, but never feels hurt or angry about it. She's the definition of not taking it personally, even when it's very personal. Because of this, she is never one to fuel a feud or participate in petty squabbles. She does feel vindictive when slighted, but since she believes good people don't seek vengeance over personal slights, only justice against real evil and wrongdoing, she does not act on these feelings. Not many things give her joy. But she sometimes feels an urge, something deeper and far more primal than a daydream, of pieces of herself spreading far and wide, taking over everything, overtaking all life like a fungus covering a forest. And that...feels so right. Overall, Fantasma is basically a humanitarian robot, going through all the motions of goodness and compassion as dictated by the norms of society, without any of the internal drive normally behind such actions. She essentially encapsulates the philosophical question---does one's motives for doing good matter, so long as one does it anyway? SKEIN aka Sybil Dvorak - Her backstory is that she was always a loner who kept to herself by choice, til she fell in love with an American movie star who took her back to Los Angeles with him. Because she was an illegal immigrant (and he wouldn’t marry her to make her legal) she ended up confined to the house, and she suspected he was having affairs. After she got her citizenship and he mysteriously died, leaving everything to her, she started a “cult” in which she provided drugs to junkies in exchange for them worshipping her and bringing her soft things. Now, the thing is, drugs are going to cost more than fabrics, feathers, and even some furs. If she JUST wanted soft stuff, she could have bought it directly herself. I think what she really wanted was the people. Despite how much she came to hate her late lover, she was lonely after his death, something she had never experienced before, having always previously been a loner by her own choice. She wanted people around for the first time. But this time, she wanted the control. Hence, the use of drugs to keep them wrapped around her finger as their provider. - She has a cold, haughty, almost emotionless affect when she first appears, and for awhile after, as well as speaking very formal English and wearing a very modest costume. In the 90s, when she takes the new codename “Skein” as opposed to G****y Moth, she also takes on a new thrill-seeking and hypersexual persona, a revealing costume, and a much more casual way of speaking. My theory is that as she became more exposed to wild and criminal lifestyles through the junkies and through the other supervillains she worked with later, she began to find that thrillseeking hedonism made her feel “alive” in a way she hadn’t previously been, hence her change from a cold personality to a very hot one. I feel like engaging in lots of sensual pleasures is all an extension of her sensory fascination with soft things. As she spent more time in America, her English also just naturally got more casual since that’s how most people around her would be speaking it. - Problematic representation though she is, I do indeed agree with the fanon opinion she’s hinted as bisexual. - She’s from Romania, but her surname (Dvorak) is Czech. As it happens, Czech Romanians are an ethnic minority there numbering about four thousand, so my headcanon is that’s what she is. - Her canon backstory is that she was “raised by Roma” (except of course Marvel uses the g-slur) which...implies she’s NOT Roma, and that they just raised her, which begs the question of what happened to her family? It reminds me of antiziganist myths about Roma stealing children, not to mention that given how Roma are stereotyped as thieves (and the women as hypersexual) I decided to minimize her connection to anything Romani in my headcanon, and say instead that she came from a Czech Romanian family and she just TOLD other kids she was “raised by Roma” because they seemed cool to her, being the little loner she was. - I headcanon that her love for softness extends to people, that she’s most attracted to people who are “soft” in some way, be in physically or in their personality. Case in point, I headcanon her with a crush on Haven, because like...curvy body, soft hair, soft clothes, soft-looking eyes, soft voice, gentle personality. Total package right there as far as Skein sees it...aside from not being sexual at all or at all into women. Drat! (I feel like Aqueduct is kinda sweet on Haven too, though I feel weird about making TWO characters attracted to her but I mean...shit, I would be, and she’s not even my typical type!) - I think being overtly flirtatious might be the only way she knows how to connect with people. I don’t mean to pathologize her sexuality, like women can just BE sexy and flirty without there being some deep reason, and I think that’s partly it here too, but also in the context of her larger personality I think this is partly it as well.

#marvel #marvel comics #marvel villains #marvel headcanons

[screamingatanemptyroom]

Baby’s First Revenge Part 4

Continuation of the Baby’s First Revenge story. A little bit of development for Brandon (the boy playing the role of her childhood friend, that’s based off of Peter).

PART 1 / PART 2 / PART 3  linked here. 

Hope you all enjoy! 

Something’s missing.

Brandon leaned back in his chair, sighing with boredom as he waited for his next scene. They had just started filming, and so far all of his scenes had gone very well. He should have been happy, or at least satisfied… instead he felt frustrated. His gaze naturally was drawn to where they were filming, where a short girl wearing ragged clothes was pretending to fight a man twice her size.

Her face was distorted, filled with terror and pain. Every action seemed desperate, as if she was fighting for her life. It was terrifyingly realistic. If he hadn’t known he was watching a movie scene being filmed, could see the cameras pointed at her, he might have thought she was fighting for real.

Maybe that’s why she doesn’t fall for it.

Brandon had always been a blessed child. Born to wealthy, intelligent parents, he had everything he ever wanted just within reach. He was small for his age, despite being seven years old he looked two years younger. That along with dark hair that was curled just enough to never looked combed and a face that looked innocent, many people upon meeting him assumed he matched his appearance, and was a sweet, weak child in need of protection. Most tried to help him out because of it. Others tried to take advantage of him. All ended up playing right into his hands.

Brandon knew his personality was different from his appearance, but he also knew that if he smiled and acted innocent, then he could quickly get what he wanted. It worked surprisingly well. The director, the adults on set, even his own parents were fooled by the childish façade he hid behind. It made him laugh sometimes, watching people treat him like a naïve child, unknowingly being used by him instead. It made him feel powerful, in control.  

But it didn’t work on Charlotte.

Brandon had thought she would act like everyone else. That she would fall for his smile, his innocent act, and instantly think they were friends. He assumed that this was the fastest way to achieve a good atmosphere between them, to allow them to act naturally together on set. He had no concerns about his performance, he’d been acting since he was a small child, but an unknown kid… it was better if he brought her to his side. He had smiled, introducing himself and holding out a hand towards her. Brandon expected she would smile back, grab his hand and chatter happily, just like everyone else did.

Instead she had stared at him as if he were a ghost. She had called him by the wrong name, and when he corrected her, although the dazed look in her eyes had faded, the expression with which she looked at him with was even worse.

It was a look of disgust.

Since that time she had avoided him. Sitting as far away from him as possible, ending conversations with monosyllable answers, Charlotte had done everything possible to limit their interactions while still remaining polite and professional. It was a little embarrassing, as it hadn’t been subtle that she didn’t want to be near him. The commiserating looks from the staff, that “you poor thing” attitude from the acting coach and other children made him want to vomit. They were all acting as if her behavior were normal, like any small child afraid of “cooties”.

He knew better. Brandon saw the look in her eyes, the understanding behind it. She saw him for what he was. And she hated being near him.

Surprisingly, it didn’t affect her acting when they had read scenes together.

“Don’t worry, I’m here to protect you.” Charlotte had smiled at him, so brightly that he felt himself believing her, wanting to trust her.

“I’m scared.” Barely remembering his lines, he continued practicing the scene.

“Want to know a secret?” She then leaned forward, a conspiratorial smile on her face, whispering. “I’m scared too.”

“Good job you two!” Lacy, the acting coach, had stopped the scene, breaking Brandon from the part. It was like waking up from a pleasant dream, and facing an uncomfortable reality.

Charlotte, despite having looked at him kindly, the sincerity on her face perfect for the protective friend she was pretending to be, changed. Now she leaned away from him, not wanting to see him.

Brandon sighed. Seeing the disconnect between the times of sweetness when they were acting and her normal disgust was demoralizing.

Now that filming had started, his discomfort had only grown worse. Her presence when they were acting together was overwhelming. It pulled him into his character, making it harder to separate himself from it even after the word “Cut!” was heard. 

He was playing Jordan, who in the script was a young boy living on the streets with his friend Edith. Depending on each other, looking out for each other, they faced all sorts of terrible, life threatening situations. Their situation was pitiful. But, despite that, Brandon felt himself envying Jordan.

What would it be like to have someone care about you so much they would be willing to risk their life for you? He couldn’t help but wonder as he studied the young girl who flipped a fully grown over her shoulder, stepping on his throat with a snarl. The scene was almost over, and then it would be his turn.

“Hey, you’re the producer’s kid, right?” 

An angry voice broke him from his confusion. Looking over, Brandon saw one the teenage actors who played thugs in the next scene. If he remembered correctly, this actor was playing the role of the bully who would have to pretend to beat him up.

The key word here being “pretend.”

So why was the guy glaring at him so hard?

“What can I do for you?”  Brandon kept his voice neutral, his face only showing naïve curiosity.

“My parents paid good money to your folks to get me onto this movie.” The teenager stepped forward, poking Brandon’s chest with a finger. “So why am I stuck in such a tiny role like this?!”

In the face of the other boy’s fury, Brandon wanted to laugh, but kept his expression controlled.

Because even money can only do so much for trash like you.

“I don’t know what you mean!” Brandon blinked a few times, bringing up tears. “If you’re mad at my mommy and daddy…” He trailed off, sniffling a couple of times for dramatic effect. This was about the point where most people would write him off as a weak, innocent child and leave him alone.

Most people…

“Stop crying, you little twerp! We paid you, so get me the part I deserve!” Brandon’s collar was grasped and pulled, bringing his face closer to the angry teenager’s. “Otherwise I’ll make sure you and your lying parents regret this!”

With that last threat, the boy threw him down and stomped off, obviously still furious.

This… isn’t good. Brandon clenched his fists, his fingernails digging into the palms of his hands. He knew his parents weren’t the most honest people, but still, did they have to cheat the actor that would have a chance to “accidentally” do him physical harm? He thought about calling them, but knew at best they would just ignore the call, at worst not believe him, or tell him it was his own problem. Brandon knew from bitter experience that there was no one to help him, he could only depend on himself.

He stared down at the script in his hand, once again wondering what it would be like to be someone like Jordan, who had a friend like Edith.

Someone who could see through me. Who I could be myself around.

The script crumpled in his small fist.

Why even bother imagining it? The truth won’t change. I’m on my own.

He sighed quietly, thinking about the threats from the actor before.

Hopefully he won’t beat me up too badly.

It was almost time for his scene.

 Charlotte crouched on the ground, ignoring the sweat dripping into her eyes as she stared down her three opponents. They circled around her, looking for any opening, hands outstretched to grab her and hold her down.

Just like old times.

She worked hard to suppress a vicious smile.

It had been a pleasant surprise that her skills from her past life hadn’t gone away. The knowledge, the muscle memory was still there. It only had to be tweaked for the smaller, weaker body. Even accounting for that, however, she had more than enough ability to participate in the movie’s many fight scenes. Of course, convincing the staff of that…

“Now Charlotte, I know it might be scary, but you just have to pretend to fight these men for a few seconds, and then stunt doubles and CGI will do the rest.” Lacy had instructed her with a concerned expression, a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“I can just fight them, that will be easier.”

“… That’s a… very nice offer, but we need it to look real. A little girl like you can’t actually beat up grown men.”

Charlotte had grinned in response. “Watch me.”

She then proceeded to take down three grown men in a practice fight, ducking under their reaching arms and targeting their weak points. Going up against trained stunt men, even they had to concede that in a real fight they weren’t sure who would win.

“I’d win.” Charlotte had answered them with such confidence, and given her abilities, no one else wanted to argue with her.

 And so they had decided to let her perform the action scenes as well.

“I’ll kill you!” One of the men, snarled at her, a bat in one hand. Charlotte jerked her head up, at the sound, and targeted the man who spoke. Moving quickly along the ground, she almost seemed as if she were sliding across the floor, she dropped down on her back, slipping between the man’s legs while she kicked the back of his knee, knocking him to the ground. Clambering onto his back, she pulled the bat from his hand and raised it above her head.

“Not if I kill you first.” She grinned, and brought the bat down towards his head.

“CUT!”

The directors words were like breaking a spell across the room. Charlotte and the actors froze in place, and then sat on the ground with sighs of relief, relaxing.

“Holy crap, little girl!” The stunt man rubbed his knee with a complicated expression. “I know I told you to go all out during our fight, but I honestly thought you were going to kill me for a second.”

“Don’t worry so much!” Charlotte smiled at him sweetly, “If I actually wanted to kill you, you wouldn’t have time to worry about it first.”

“…”

“…”

The three stuntmen stared at each other silently for a few moments.

“Scary.”

“Yep.”

“Don’t piss her off.” They all nodded in unison, shaking her hand with respect before retreating quickly.

“Charlotte!” Her mother called out, worried, and so she moved closer, smiling and turning around to show she was alright.

“Don’t worry, Mom, I got this!” She ran her fingers through her now short hair, having had it cut to a close crop to help her portray her character in the movie.

Her mother reached out and touched her hair as well with a sad smile.

“You don’t like it?” Charlotte asked nervously. She didn’t know why, but despite never having cared in the past about other’s opinions, she wanted her parents in this life to always be happy.

“You are beautiful, short hair, long hair, all of it.” Her mother grinned. “I’m just a little sad that I can’t put your hair in braids or pigtails anymore. That was mother-daughter time.” Pouting, she hugged Charlotte against her chest tightly.

“It’s okay, Mom, we’ll do something else together instead.” Charlotte patted her mother’s head gently, having no choice but to grin at her parent’s cute behavior.

“Okay, don’t forget that you promised!” Her mother agreed with a bright smile.

Chuckling, they both settled down in chairs to watch them set up the next scene. Her costar, Brandon would be threatened by a few thugs, even getting “punched” by one of them. It would eventually lead up to Charlotte stepping in and saving him, but only once the little boy had already gotten beaten up a bit.

“What an adorable little boy.” Her mother muttered quietly, almost unconsciously as she hugged Charlotte closer. Carefully concealing her feelings on her face, Charlotte smiled, but her eyes were cold as they studied the boy preparing for his scene.

He reminded her of Peter.

There was no way around it. Sweet when he wanted to be, cute when he had to be, no matter the interaction, he always came out on top. HE had been the same way, in her previous life. She noticed it, even back then, how could she not? He used other people for his own gain on a daily basis. But back then she made excuses for him.

It’s to help us survive. Just like how I fight with my fists. She would argue to herself.

He doesn’t pretend with me. We’re always honest with each other. That delusion had hurt more than any other. She had thought she was different. That his smile for her was genuine. That even though everyone around them was a pawn to Peter, she was family.

She had been wrong. She not only was a pawn, but an easily disposable one.

So she avoided Brandon, as much as possible. Seeing him made her uncomfortable, like looking into a window of her past. It confused him, irritated him, she knew this. She even felt a little guilty, as it wasn’t like the kid had done anything to her yet. But it was the safest option.

She relaxed on her mother’s lap, and enjoyed the scene as they acted it out.

“L-leave me alone.” Brandon was doing a good job, he looked pale, frightened. He backed away slowly from the two teenage boys who approached him, glancing around desperately as if looking for a route to escape. Charlotte was impressed by his skills.

“You’re not getting away this time, brat.” The teenage boy stalking him grinning like a maniac, a violent atmosphere surrounding him. Charlotte felt herself tense up. She had seen him practicing before. He had been tense, uncomfortable, and unable to act at all under pressure. At the time she could only assume that his parents had paid a lot of money to secure him the role, he certainly hadn’t earned it through skills.

Watching him now, however, she felt she might have judged him too early.

If I didn’t know better… He really looks like he’s planning to hurt Brandon.

Something seemed wrong.

“No… please.” Brandon fell to the ground begging, still looking around him wildly, as if hoping someone would show up to save him. For one brief moment, their eyes met.

And the world slowed to a crawl.

She didn’t see the fear he was pretending to show.

Even the cute and naïve mask he often wore was gone.

What she saw was a hopeless fatigue.

Those were the eyes of someone who knew that no one was coming to help them.

She had seen that kind of gaze only once before.

Peter’s eyes had looked like that. Right before she died. When the mask had come off, as he waited for the poison to do its job.

The only time he was ever truly honest with her. 

He’s actually in trouble.

She didn’t trust Brandon. Didn’t even like the boy. Hated that he reminded her of Peter. Reminded her of a more naïve version of herself who trusted and was betrayed.

But as soon as she realized he was going to be hurt, her body was moving before her brain could catch up.

“DON’T!”

Brandon had closed his eyes, not wanting to see the blow aimed at his face before it struck. He thought to that moment he had met eyes with that girl. The one who never fell for his lies. Tired, scared, he had forgotten to keep up the act, and just looked at her with a single thought:

I wish I was Jordan. I wish she was Edith.

I wish I didn’t have to be alone.

There had been a brief look of the surprise she had shown in that moment, but he knew better than to expect anything. She hated him. Saw him for what he really was. A fake. And so he closed his eyes, hoping that he wouldn’t be injured too badly.

“DON’T!”

BAM!

Brandon heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh without feeling any pain. Shocked, he opened his eyes, and couldn’t believe what he saw.

Charlotte crouched over him, stubbornly protecting him. One hand clutched her face, where a red mark already was blooming on her cheek where she had taken the blow for him. Despite the fact that it should have knocked her off her feet, she had braced herself on the ground beside him, her body blocking his own.

Protecting him.

His wide, shocked gaze met her steady, sad one.

“Why…?” He heard himself whisper.

“Old habits die hard.” She gave him a grin, not showing any pain despite the fact that it must have hurt to move her mouth, and Brandon felt his breath stop at the sight. 

“CUT! Charlotte, what are you doing?!”  The director, Mark, ran over, his face stern. “Why did you jump into the shot like that?”

Charlotte stood tall, still blocking Brandon with her body, her back unyielding. “He was actually going to get hurt.”

“No, sweetie, it’s just acting…” Charlotte’s mother tried to jump in, but trailed off at a glare from her daughter, who gestured to her own cheek.

“Does this look like acting to you?” Her face was already swelling, it would be badly bruised by the next morning.

The director’s face stiffened. “What the… What’s the meaning of this?! You were supposed to pull the punch and stop before you actually hit him! We were going to shoot the actual blow from another angle! Why in the hell did you swing so hard?!”

Everyone’s attention turned to the teenage boy who had struck Charlotte, who turned bright white with fear. “I- I…” 

Brandon decided to help him along, bursting into tears. “He threatened to hurt me because my parents didn’t get him a better part in the movie!” He sobbed into his hands, feeling a small comforting pat on his back. Charlotte’s hands. He glanced up at her wry smile, and not wanting to lie to her, gave her a quick wink before pretending to cry again.

“See, you scared him!” Charlotte hugged Brandon tightly, surprising him. “Fortunately I stepped in! How could you try to hurt him? He’s just a kid!”

“…” Everyone stared at her for a moment, thinking the same thing.

What about you? Aren’t you a kid?

 “I’m sorry!” The teenage boy backed away from her glare, only to run into Lacy, who looked ready to tear him limb from limb.

“You hurt that wonderful little girl’s face. Sorry won’t cut it, I’m afraid.” Her grin was vicious. “How about I show you what it means to be hit by someone stronger than you?”

 The director coughed uncomfortably. “Lacy…”

“Don’t worry, Mark… I won’t kill him.”

“That’s not the point.”

“Just maiming should be enough.”

“Someone hold her back.” He sighed loudly as a couple of stuntmen pinned the acting coach down before she could make good on her threats, turning his attention instead to the teenage boy. “We’ll call this an accident, and not press charges. But you’re officially off this project.”

“But-“

“Leave before I change my mind.”

He was dismissed with a wave of the director’s hand.

Brandon had stopped pretending to cry, and looked up to see the teenage boy glaring at him.

This isn’t over. Is what that look said.

Brandon turned away, ignoring him.

“Umm… for what you did. Thanks.”

The girl who had been pretending to comfort him stepped away quickly, as if unwilling to be any closer to him than necessary. “Don’t thank me, it was more instinctive than anything else.”

“Well I’m sorry that you got hurt.”

“Why? You didn’t do it to me.”

Faced with her coldness, Brandon lost his composure. “Just accept the apology dammit!” His voice was low enough that no one else heard them, but her eyes widened with surprise.

“That’s a little out of character for you, isn’t it?”

He shrugged. “Not much point pretending when it never worked on you in the first place.” He hesitated for a moment, and then continued. “Besides, sometimes it’s nice to be able to be… myself.”

She shook her head. “I don’t trust you.”

“That’s probably for the best. I lie constantly.”

“Is it really okay for you to be saying this?” Charlotte held her head in her hands, looking confused.

“Probably not, but I’m going to anyways.” He stuck out his hands once more. “How about this: I’ll be nothing but honest with you, and in return you stop pretending I don’t exist?”

She stared at his hand, her delicate features twisted with suspicion. After a long pause she sighed. “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”

Charlotte reached out and shook his hand.

Brandon smiled. “Probably.”

“Ugh.”

“See, I’m being honest!”

She rolled her eyes. “That’s not something to be proud of, idiot. That’s baseline human decency.”

“Baby steps.”

“So says the five year old.”

He glared. “I’m seven and a half!”

“Wow, so impressed.”

“You’re younger than me!”

Her smirk irritated him. “Only in physical age. Mentally I’m a decade ahead.”

“I don’t like you.”

“Likewise.”

For some reason, despite the argument, they both turned around and walked away  with a smile on their faces.

As Brandon walked away, he heard a dark mutter from the corner of the room.

“Disgusting.”

Surprised, he looked up, it was the writer of the original work, Peter McAllen. He was glaring at the young girl’s back, with eyes filled with hatred.

Seeing the look on his face, Brandon turned away, a chill of fear running down his spine.

#writing #baby's first revenge #part 4 #reincarnation #revenge #acting #friendship #less revenge in this part #but its coming #and now she has a friend

[homespork-review]

Homespork Act 2: The Racism of the Conductor’s Baton (Part 3)

BRIGHT: Also, the prompts in John’s head are back and are making increasingly strident demands. Namely, they want John to follow Nannasprite to the cookies. John isn’t too keen on this idea. He’s so not-keen on it that he fails to notice Rose whacking him in the head with a box. Frustrated by his lack of compliance, the voice devolves into insults. I’m not sure why the Wayward Vagabond is so insistent on this? It’s not like he can eat the cookies.

On the whole this is a really good sequence, I think. It lays out some basic background information for the reader and John, and it’s paced pretty well.

Back in the future, an agitated slip of the finger causes a cupboard door to open in the Wayward Vagabond’s hideout. Out fall a few tins of food and a heavy tome of HUMAN ETIQUETTE.

Rose has updated her GameFAQs walkthrough with the new information from Nannasprite. We’re getting something of a motif here: Cut-aways to the Wayward Vagabond are followed by a walkthrough update. It’s a nice little pattern.

Rose also speculates on the prototyping process and on why the prototypings of other players worldwide have not affected John’s foes, and comes to the conclusion that each client/server pair -- or daisy chain -- spawns its own copy of the Incipisphere, or ‘session’. She’s also caught up in rewriting her work. Couldn’t the reader go somewhere else? Or somewhen else?

Why yes, the reader can. Namely the reader can jump back to Rose’s birthday, where she’s having a conversation with GG.

This conversation reinforces that there’s something funny about GG. She asks about John’s present the moment Rose opens it, and Rose isn’t surprised by this. GG also knows without being told that Rose’s dead pet is a male cat, and she’s been working on her birthday present for John for years.

Finally, she asks what Rose would say if GG told her she knew a game that could bring said cat back to life.

TT: If someone told me that, I would regard the remark with a great deal of skepticism. TT: If that someone was you, on the other hand, then I would have to ask preemptively: TT: Is that someone you? GG: yes that someone is me!!!!!!!! GG: i just thought you might find it interesting TT: So what is this game?

Whatever strange abilities GG has, Rose is familiar with her knowing things she shouldn’t, and trusts her even when she makes claims that sound impossible.

CHEL: Note, also, that here GG is the one who brings up the game, while in an early convo with John set chronologically after this one she asked “lol! whats sburb?” This is not an inconsistency. Again, it comes up later. We end up saying that a lot. Sorry.

BRIGHT: Also: Rose knows John well enough to guess that he was wearing a disguise when he talked to her earlier -- but still interprets his gift of knitting needles and yarn as a subtle jab at her habit of making analytical comments, much as her mother. GG points out that he probably didn’t mean it that way. Later, Rose says she’ll make him a gift with strong sentimental value as a dig at him, but admits she doesn’t really mean it that way when GG points it out. Then again, this takes place some months before the comic starts, and may show how Rose and John’s relationship has evolved.

Back in Dave’s home, the sun is beating down. Meteors pepper the city, and smoke is rising. Dave captchalogues his katana, and sets out in search of his brother’s copy of the game.

Dave elaborates a little on the concept of irony that he and his brother live by. His brother is awesome, apparently. Dave can only hope to one day reach those heights of irony.

The puppet theme from earlier continues, with puppets strewn around the living room where Bro lives and sleeps. Among them are a Mr. T puppet, which is wearing a leather thong and handcuffed to a pantsless Chuck Norris puppet. What makes it a little disturbing is that this is just lying out in the living room, which Dave presumably goes into all the time. Dave’s narration here sounds a lot like he’s trying to convince himself that these things are totally cool, no, really. He can’t see Lil Cal anywhere, though...

CHEL: Other puppets are the iconic Smuppets, possibly a portmanteau of “smutty puppets”, vaguely humanoid nude puppets with enormous behinds and phallic noses. There are implications that they are intended for non-PG purposes. Further implications are that the leaving of obscene material around the home has been going on for all of Dave’s life. For the record, intentionally showing pornography or sexual aids to children is classed as a form of sexual abuse. Casually leaving them lying around the house in front of kids long-term, well, the motive may not be malicious but I doubt a jury would care. It certainly counts as neglect. The popular fanfic Brainbent explored the damage this kind of thing could inflict on a kid in a realistic setting.

Also note, there is no hint of Dave having or ever having had parents, not even a photo in the background or something. The immediate assumption would most likely be that they’re dead, but Bro’s strangeness might also suggest estrangement - behaviour like that would probably result in one’s parents not talking to one anymore, though they most likely wouldn’t leave a child in a place like that if they were around. We find out the truth later, and it’s even weirder.

BRIGHT: Between one panel and the next, Lil Cal appears atop a speaker box. Dave is fine with this. Totally fine.

CHEL: For the record, this is Lil Cal:

Not something one would be very happy about finding behind one, is he?

BRIGHT: He plays a bit on the Xbox, gives Cal a fistbump, and then checks out his brother’s computer. It’s password-protected, but Dave knows the password, and Bro knows he knows it, and Dave knows this, and it’s all totally cool.

One of Bro’s websites is a puppet pornography website. Apparently this is popular enough to bring in thousands of dollars a month, and Smuppets are a multi-billion-dollar-per-year enterprise. Time for our next point:

Magic-onomics - wherein characters’ funds issue from nowhere Half-baked attempts to justify a protagonist’s mystery money can also backfire. Explanations should amount to more than “Somehow Rain had lots of money.” Giving Rain an inheritance, or explaining that she recently gave up her job at a top law firm to pursue her art, will work only where these things feel like part of the world of the novel.

Bro and Dave live in a crappy apartment in which Bro doesn’t even have his own bedroom, instead sleeping on the futon in the living room where he works. Yet they have the funds to spend on swords (not cheap) and expensive turntables. The Con Air bunny prop Dave bought for John sold in real life for almost $1,300.

And how the heck do smuppets bring in multiple billions of dollars a year? That’s a niche market, even if Bro is the only supplier. (Which he wouldn’t be — if it’s worth that much, someone else would want in on the market.)

CHEL: Even if said market is fairly disturbing. If there’s enough people who like it enough to buy it, there’ll be people comfortable with supplying it.

BRIGHT: Their income shouldn’t be anywhere near that high, even with puppet pornography adding to the revenue stream. If we grant that in this universe it is that high, then they should be living somewhere more comfortable.

HOW NOT TO WRITE A WEBCOMIC: 13

CHEL: In order for this to actually work as stated, not only would the puppets have to appeal to everyone on the planet, but there would probably have to be a lot more people on the planet than there actually are. I’m pretty sure it’s an exaggeration for humour, but considering the inconsistencies with their income status as presented, it’s still a bit shaky.

It’s also worth another count, because this is basically a handwave to mean the characters presented aesthetically as poor are still as financially secure as is necessary for writing the scenes Hussie wants to:

WHITE SBURB POSTMODERNISM: 6

If the comic was presented as a non-serious cartoon for the whole story, this would pass without comment, but when one’s trying to be dramatic and include real stakes, I think one needs to apply real stakes to everyday things too.

BRIGHT: Then again, it’s possible that their financial status is higher than the apartment would suggest, and Bro just chooses to spend his money on katanas and expensive equipment rather than upgrading. (And/or is lying to Dave about their income.) That might not be out of character given what we see of him later. But overall, this is a mess.

FAILURE ARTIST: Maybe the Smuppets is a money laundering business.

CHEL: A lot of people would read that fanfic.

The theory that the guardians knew the game was coming might explain why he chose to spend so much on swords, at least. He’d know Dave would need them. Not so much of an explanation for everything else though. Considering the weirdness that’s going on, I could imagine Bro not wanting attention drawn to it, but wouldn’t hiding weirdness be much harder in a flat than in a house set off some distance from neighbours?

For that matter, where’s John getting the money for movie memorabilia? Later reveals show the Egbert family originally came from money but they don’t seem to have that much to throw around now.

BRIGHT: Remember how Rose said earlier that she quite enjoyed Bro’s websites? I think that counts as a point for CALL CPA PLEASE…

FAILURE ARTIST: I question how pornographic the site really is. It might just literally be puppets being mashed together with no human body parts. A thirteen year old can surely see that.

BRIGHT: Fair point -- the page we see is teen-safe, at any rate.

CHEL: If it isn’t actually sexual, that possibly makes the supposed popularity level even sillier. Fetishists need constant fresh material and there are probably people who don’t have a specific puppet fetish who would ignore the puppets to look at the guy, but to keep up that level of popularity the viewers who don’t have a puppet fetish would have to keep finding it funny long after most people would think the joke had worn off. Both options say disturbing things about the world this comic is set in and their tastes in either pornography or humour. At least Veronica Chaos appears onscreen with her puppet… (Link contains no porn but you probably don’t want it on a work computer.)

For the record, I think Smuppets would actually make pretty bad sex toys. Plush is a porous material, so it would be hard to clean sticky substances out of it properly, and the phallic noses seem to be too floppy to use for penetration of a human orifice. Maybe that first point is why he brings in so much cash - the smuppets are single-use? People do use plush toys for masturbatory purposes, but usually when they can’t find anything else to use, specific fetishes for them being rare, and generally don’t use the soft parts as penetration toys.

Personally, I quite like the theory the kinkmeme brought up years ago; PlushRumps is actually an elaborate multimedia webcomic a la Homestuck itself. Now that I can see bringing in that much cash. Or possibly it just looks like this, which was made by the guy who wrote Thirty Hs (warning for eye injury and surreality): "Jumping!" (Watch on YouTube)

I could see Bro being that dude.

BRIGHT: And Dave admits, again, that he finds the puppet thing unsettling.

This is a pretty good depiction of someone trying to convince himself to be okay with something that freaks him out. He pesters John to distract himself from the puppets everywhere, and when he doesn’t get a response, he pesters Rose. And Hussie once again repeats the entire blinking pesterlog we read fifty pages ago instead of just linking back to it.

GET ON WITH IT!: 6

CHEL: Just occurred to me; why is Dave so bothered by the puppets? I can’t imagine that Bro suddenly started leaving them around when he hadn’t before - in fact, I believe a later flashback shows infant Dave using a Smuppet’s nose as a pacifier (eww, god I hope it was a freshly-made unused one). Dave really ought to be used to the things by now. Then again, now he’s reaching his teens, he’s probably old enough to start realising this is weird and creepy on a deeper level. But then that brings up the same problem we had with John; doesn’t he have any local friends he could have learned this from sooner? Though I could picture Bro not bothering to send him to school, and we do later learn there is quite possibly magic afoot in hiding the oddness of the Strider household. That’s a complicated theory and requires much more setup than we have here, though, so pin in that for later.

Also, the puppets thing counts for a point of ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY?, and Dave is in fact the reason we created that count. A kid in Dave’s situation in real life would be messed up, but so would a kid in the situations of the others (or at least the girls), and Dave’s situation seems to be taken more seriously than theirs, at least later on.

ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY?: 5

BRIGHT: Back to Rose, who’s beating John over the head with a box in a futile effort to get his attention. She eventually gives up and deploys another piece of equipment called a Punch Designix, using the Shale John collected. Since she doesn’t know what it does, she pesters John and asks him to experiment.

Unfortunately John has bigger problems to deal with: His garden is by this point overrun with imps, who are climbing on his tire swing and wearing his disguises. This is enough to snap him out of his Wayward Vagabond-induced state and get him to respond to Rose. They need to get those monsters off his pogo ride!

Fortunately, Rose is able to help by picking up the piano and dropping it on the imp. Less fortunately, the piano does not survive the experience. Neither does the imp.

The pogo ride seems fine, though.

John is reluctant to risk Nanna’s ghost cookies to go retrieve the grist, so Rose uses the pogo ride to transport it up to his room. Then she tells him to go find out what the Punch Designix does, while she works on building the house up to the gate. Apparently stairs cost a lot of grist to build. John makes a SBaHJ reference while Rose recoups the grist she used to build the catwalk earlier, sending an imp tumbling into the depths.

In the kitchen, Nannasprite has produced a lot of cookies. An imp tries to sneak one, and is blasted into grist by Nanna as a result.

John sets out on a hunt for imps and useful items, grabbing some shaving cream and his pogo ride, and launching his telescope out of the window. Amazingly, this proves relevant only a few pages later.

CHEL: Dad apparently keeps an entire cabinet filled with nothing but shaving cream. Rule of Funny, I know, but how fast does this guy’s beard grow?

BRIGHT: His living room is full of imps, who have taken a shine to the Cruxtruder and left cruxite dowels lying everywhere. Armed with hammer and shaving cream, John mounts his trusty steed and pogos his way to victory, which works amazingly well (read: works at all), until he slips on a cruxite dowel and lands flat on his back.

This is incredibly dangerous!

Acting on a polite prompt, John absconds into his Dad’s study, and Rose covers his retreat with the refrigerator, which levels up to FIVESTAR GENERAL ELECTRIC and earns 285 Boondollars.

Further extremely polite prompts ask John for a can opener. Despite the presence of two imps in the study with him, John stops to consider where to find one, while Rose takes out the imps with Dad’s safe. I don’t think that counts as HURRY UP AND DO NOTHING, though, since it’s clearly supposed to be the joke.

Back in the future, the Wayward Vagabond munches on a few pages from the etiquette book. Rose updates her GameFAQs walkthrough with a series of images of John’s house in the Medium. She does refer to Colonel Sassacre’s as racist in one of these, but it’s not really much of a rebuttal.

CHEL: She experiments with building a bit more on John’s house; ladders prove cheaper to build than stairs, albeit harder to use safely. John eventually stops contemplating can openers to examine the Punch Designix, while Rose answers Dave’s angry rant about being buried in Smuppets. I think this may be another point for ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY, because in the context of a kid ranting about his brother’s annoying hobby and his friend snarking back it’s hilarious, and it seems at this point to be presented as funny, but as discussed above the nature of Smuppets makes this rather creepy.

ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY?: 6 TG: i am enrobed in chafing, wriggling god fucking damned puppet pelvis TG: an obscenely long, coarse kermit cock is being dragged across my anguished face TT: Let's put this into perspective. You put up with the puppet prostate because you love it.

Okay, this I think could be a point for CALL CPA PLEASE. A child probably would make fun of another child’s discomfort with non-consensually being surrounded by sex toys on the grounds of not knowing better, but it’s unsettling to read.

CALL CPA PLEASE: 2

John discovers there are codes on the backs of his captchalogue cards, which can be entered into the Punch Designix to make punch cards. Punching the captchalogue card itself renders the item irremovable from it, but the punch card can, he guesses, be used to recreate the item via the Totem Lathe and Alchemiter. Before he can test this, Rose hurls a bathtub through the wall to kill some nearby imps; to be fair, when he checks his PDA, he sees he missed a message from her warning him about it. He messages her back and she says the precarious staircase up to the gate is ready. John is nervous and asks why she didn’t build straight up through the hole in his dad’s bedroom ceiling.

EB: oh come on. what's the big deal, i'll just climb up and go right through! TT: Will you? EB: yeah, why not? TT: Are you saying you've never wondered what's in there? Or why it's been kept a secret from you? EB: well, i mean yeah... TT: Then trust me. You won't be going "right on through." EB: wait, are you saying there's something, like... EB: troubling in there? TT: I don't know. EB: what do you mean? what do you see in there? TT: I can't see in there. EB: oh. TT: But I don't have a very good feeling about it. EB: pfff... EB: whatever! EB: i think i can handle a few more stupid clown paintings.

Well, that’s ominous.

Examining the destroyed safe, John finds a book about shaving, several old newspaper clippings about meteor strikes, and a much older copy of Colonel Sassacre’s book, possibly the one involved in the mysterious accident which caused Nanna’s death. Behind where the safe was, he finds an empty captchalogue card and a proud fatherly note from Dad, praising him for now being strong enough to lift the safe; presumably intended for several years in the future at least, since the safe is big enough to fit John inside it. The note further explains that John is now entitled to the contents of the safe, and provides the now-useless combination for the lock. Further sylladex shenanigans launch Sassacre’s book, killing an imp, and John heads up the stairs, but slips. As he precariously clings on, the hands and jester’s motley of something much, much bigger than the imps start to emerge from the chasm...

Cut back to Dave, still searching for the beta and/or his brother, finding only that one of Bro’s swords is missing. A brief shadowy flash takes the second sword from the wall too.

You know this drill all too well. Trouble's a brewin'.

Dave heads for the door, finding one of Bro’s “ironic” comics pinned to it. The comic in question:

Erm.

TIER: Now that is, as the folks would say, unsettling.

FAILURE ARTIST: This is another work that Hussie created pre-Homestuck and decided to add. It was part of this drawing battle on a forum.

CHEL: It took me an embarrassingly long time to realise that was supposed to be Kermit. I was seeing it as a teddy bear, with the spiral cheeks as eyes and the eyes as ears.

TIER: . . . I was “literally just now” years old when I realized that was supposed to be Kermit.

BRIGHT: Ditto!

CHEL: Me too, actually, it was after I saw it while posting it here. Before I thought it was Fozzie, drawn even worse than the rest of the comic.

Dave is fairly mellow about the comic as compared to his reaction to the puppets, but thinks that he “[doesn’t] need to see this shit right now”. It looks like something a kid his age would either draw themselves or like (I know I would have loved it), but having things like this pasted randomly about your house would definitely be unsettling even so. He understands it as further irony, and thinks Bro is trying to annoy him with it as “some weird gauntlet he's throwing down to see if you will "GET IT"”.

Worse than the comics, however, is what’s in the kitchen. Weapons are piled up on every counter and the sink is full of fireworks. Dave considers this “awesome”, the implication again being that this has been normal for his whole life. He’s really lucky he’s a cartoon character, there’s no way a real kid would still be alive here. When he turns on the blender, a green puppet in it is shredded to pieces, releasing fake blood; inside the eye socket of a Jigsaw puppet on top of the microwave is a webcam, broadcasting the incident. Okay, again, we need to consider how “pornographic” PlushRumps actually is to determine whether this is a problem. Videos of a kid shredding a puppet are harmless in and of themselves. If it’s actually being marketed as fetish material… ew. Dave appears just as unsettled by this as I am, enough so to behead the cam-puppet, so the implications aren’t good.

More Smuppets spill out of the microwave, and then we go back into fucking sylladex shenanigans as Dave tries to collect every dangerous object in the room

GET ON WITH IT!: 7

Distracted by same, Dave fails to notice a silhouetted figure which is presumably his brother appearing briefly behind him, dropping Cal on the stovetop, and disappearing. Dave’s expression doesn’t change on seeing it but he literally leaps a foot in the air. Poor kid, that is freaky. We also discover why Dave had juice in his closet way back; Bro uses the fridge as storage space for swords instead of comestibles, and cherry bombs in the icemaker.

… Okay, where does Bro keep his own food? Both humorously and actually abusive/neglectful guardians still require energy intake, you know. There are later hints that Bro himself is someone’s puppet, but only in the figurative sense.

TIER: Dude probably has spots around the apartment to stash stuff, like how Dave has apple juice hidden away in his closet.

Figuring out how seriously we're supposed to be taking things can get tricky, especially with the Big Thing way later on in the comic putting earlier events in a new light upon rereading (well, mostly just stuff related to Dave).

CHEL: And if we are supposed to take it seriously, how the fuck is Dave alive? A real kid in this situation wouldn’t have lived long enough to be traumatised.

#homespork #homestuck #homestuck meta #homestuck reread #homestuck review #let's read homestuck #literary critique #sporking

[weirdochick56]

Screen- Bucky Barnes Song Imagine

Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Explicit language (like one curse word) 

Disclaimers: I don’t own any MCU characters/plots mentioned. i also don’t own “Screen” Twenty One Pilots and the team behind them do.

Word Count: 1, 825 words

Summary: (Requested)

This was requested by @whxtsablurryface 

“Hi! Could you do a song based off of the song screen by Twenty Øne Piløts where the reader and Bucky are friends and the reader is shy? And Bucky at the end, asks her out and she says yes? Thank you!”

A/n: I love this song ❤❤ Hope you like it!

Listen To “Screen” by Twenty One Pilots  Here!!

***

I do not know why I would go In front of you and hide my soul 'Cause you're the only one who knows it, Yeah you're the only one who knows it

James Buchanan Barnes was a mystery. 

To everyone but you that was. 

He was a quiet person, keeping to himself most times and only speaking when spoken to. It was quite the challenge to get to know him. But still, you tried, despite yourself. 

You yourself were quite the timid gal. It wasn’t like you wanted to be so shy, you just...were. Social events made you nervous and talking to people was the most dreaded activity in the world. You always felt so...judged.

And Bucky, you thought, felt the same. He tried to hide it, seem strong and ready for anything the world threw at him, and everyone believed him. Not you though. He wasn’t okay and he sure as hell wasn’t ready for anything the world threw at him. You don’t come back from hell and are expected to be okay. It just wasn’t realistic. 

So one day, one of your braver sides came out and you timidly tapped on his shoulder. He turned and looked at you with those bright blue eyes of his, and that was it. You might as well have signed a contract stating you and him would be best friends forever.

Eventually, you had chipped away at the wall he’d built and although you were quite possibly the shyest person to have ever walked the earth, something about Bucky had drawn you in. It was much more than his glorious looks.

And I will hide behind my pride Don't know why I think I can lie 'Cause there's a screen on my chest Yeah there's a screen on my chest

Bucky’s heart-wrenching screams were the first thing you heard. Granted they were what had woken you up in the first place, but it wasn’t that that bothered you. It was the fact that he was screaming at all.

You sit straight up, pushing the covers off you and running to Bucky’s next door room. Throwing the door open your heart racing and fear taking every fiber in your body captive, you glance around for your best friend.

“Bucky?” you call out into the dark room. Cautiously, you walked further in when, out of the corner of your eye, you see a slight shifting in the darkness. More groaning.

It was pitch black and you had to rely on your senses to guide you. The room was familiar enough though, so it was fairly simple to make your way to the light switch. You were worried about him. Was he hurt?

Turning on the light, you let a small gasp escape your lips. Bucky was laying in the middle of his bed, under a mess of blankets in a fetal position. He was shivering and as you quietly approached him, you could see sweat dripping down the side of his face.

“Bucky,” you whisper, gently shaking his shoulder. Your hand was now damp with his sweat. He frowned, still sleeping, and continued screaming, tossing around in bed.

You were becoming increasingly disturbed by his behavior. “Bucky.” You shake him again. No response, more tossing and grunting. 

“Bucky!” You swat his cheek lightly. 

Bucky jolts awake, grips your arm with his metal hand, and flips you onto his bed all in one motion. You grunt when your back makes contact with the mattress. “Umph.”

Bucky is panting, his grip on your arm tightens significantly. It seemed he was still dazed by his initial reaction and hadn’t recognized you. Or maybe even in a trance. His fingers press on the skin of your arm even more, causing you to hiss and release a small ow. 

You suck in a painful breath, trying to keep yourself leveled. Reaching up for him, you decide not to last minute. It wasn’t a smart idea to do that when he was this shaken up. So you decided to use your voice instead, hoping the familiarity of it was enough to snap him out of it. 

“Buck, hey it’s me, Y/n. I’m not here to hurt you. Just,” you reach up with a shaky hand and stroke his sweaty hand gently. “Just let go.” 

Slowly but surely, you see the murderous look in his eyes fade and he raises his brows tenderly. “Y/n?” his voice is groggy and you gulp, nodding. 

“Yeah. You were uh, having a nightmare.” Once he hears your quivering voice, he completely releases you, inhaling lightly.

“Did I uh,” his voice breaks. He clears his throat. “Are you okay, doll?”

You can’t help but blush at the familiar pet name. You always did. You decide not to respond, slyly taking your arm slowly away from him. Instead, you get on your knees, staring at him with furrowed brows. 

“You’re burning up Buck,” you whisper, pushing his damp hair away from his hair and resting your hand on his forehead. All the while ignoring your humming heart or the fact that you weren’t normally this bold. You would’ve never been the one to initiate any physical contact with Bucky.

Bucky swallows, closing his eyes at your touch. “Doll,” he opens his eyes back eyes and you repress a shiver at his longing blue gaze. “I asked you a question.”

You sigh, avoiding his gaze. “You didn’t hurt me, Buck. Are you okay?” 

“You’re lying.”

“I’m fine Bucky it’s nothi-”

He suddenly takes your wrist in his hands, exposing your arm. Five blue, greenish and purple bruises are forming.

He stares at it for a minute, letting the silence engulf him as you held for your breath for his reaction.

“Leave,” he whispers hoarsely.

“Wha-”

“I want you to leave Y/n. I want you to get as far away from me as you can.” He looks into your eyes, his own filled with pain. “I’m a disease and I don’t want you near me when it begins to spread.” He releases your arm from his gentle grasp and you stare at him with your eyes wide. 

“Bucky, I’m not-”

“LEAVE!” his voice is so loud, you swore you felt the ground move. You flinch back from him. He glares at you, but you know he isn’t as mad at you as he is at himself. He needed space. 

You relent, sliding out of his bed and slipping quietly out of his room. 

He wanted to be away from you. Not because you had hurt or pissed him in any way, but because he felt guilty. It broke your heart to hear him say that.

Did he really think he was poison?

Oh, Bucky.

Not only that, but he was full of pride and even though he knew you’d be there for him he wouldn’t accept your help. It irritated you to no end.

You knew James Buchanan Barnes like the back of your hand. Every thought that passed through his head and every emotion he felt. All except one.

I'm standing in front of you I'm standing in front of you I'm trying to be so cool Everything together trying to be so cool

The next morning, during breakfast, you try to evade Bucky. Give him his space. You really, really do. But you could practically feel the anxiety and reminiscence of his nightmare last night coming at you in waves from across the living room in the Avenger’s Tower. 

It was concerning the fuck out of you. Sighing, you settle on the seat next to Bucky and fiddle with your hands at the silence. “Are you okay?” you finally ask in your usual, timid voice.

Bucky looks over at you, but you refuse to meet his gaze, looking straight ahead. “I,” he huffs, rubbing the sleep off his eyes. “I’m...fine.”

You hum thoughtfully, not wanting to mention that you knew he was lying because it would make you look bad and scare him off. Darn shyness.

You shift awkwardly, fiddling even more with your hands as the silence grew tenser. “Bucky?”

“Yes, doll?”

“Do you think I could ever get married? Like, have kids and a husband and stuff?” Your voice is but a mere whisper. You had no idea where the question had come from. Maybe you were finally tired of his obliviousness to your feelings or your hiding of them thereof. Either way, you hoped he wouldn’t catch on to what you really meant. (But then again, you did.)

Bucky snaps his head over to you, his eyes wide. “W-why? Do you have some- are you with someone?”

You burst out laughing, then blush, pausing your loud laughter. You thought it was obnoxious so Bucky must find it so as well. “Yeah sure. Because men are just lining up to be with me.”

Bucky lets his shoulders drop in relief then stares at you with a small frown. “Y/n, you’re beautiful,” he says with all seriousness. 

Your cheeks immediately heat up. Oh God, why did he have to make not loving him so hard?

You shake your head. “I’m not.”

Bucky releases a small, humorless chuckle. “Y/n,” he takes your chin in between his forefinger and his thumb turning you to look at him. “You’re the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

Well, shit.

Oh oh oh We're broken We're broken We're broken We're broken people, oh We're broken people, oh 

You’re blushing so hard it’s hard to figure out whether you’re a tomato or a human being. Still, you’re bewildered beyond belief by this idea he’s made up in his head. “Bucky, you can’t possibly mean that. I’m hideous.” 

Bucky looks at you incredulously. Like your words were the most ridiculous things to have ever been uttered. “Why do you always bring yourself down Y/n? I’m literally telling you that you’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. And I mean it, doll,” he smiles softly.

“Buck-”

Bucky doesn’t let you finish, leaning over, glancing down at your lips for a split second and pecking them lightly. You freeze, staring at him with wide eyes. “Did you just-”

He starts freaking out, a blush slowly creeping its way up his neck. “I-I’m sorry. I thought you felt the same. Y-you just know me so well and I felt like we had chemistry and- Oh God have I ruined our-”

You cut him off, in a completely new and bold move, and lean closer to him, engulfing his lips in your own. He froze for a split second, taken aback, then melted into the kiss, burying his fingers into your hair. Your lips moved completely in sync against eachother and you find it hard not to just stay like this forever.

Especially when you have to break away due to human’s irritating need for oxygen.

You gulp, looking into his eyes with a timid smile. He smirks in return to your farouche gesture. 

“Well, that was...unexpected.”

You blush, hiding your face in your arms. “Oh God,” you groan.

He pries your hands off your face with a small smile. “Don’t be embarrassed Y/n. I...liked it, a lot.” You press your lips together to hide a smile.

He grins. “I was also wondering if maybe you’d like dinner?”

You tilt your head sideways, frowning. “Of course.” A big smile spreads over his face and his eyes light up like a kid on Christmas morning. 

“I think Tony’s cooking something for us, when have I ever turned down dinner.”

Bucky ‘s smile fades and he smacks his forehead. “Y/n, I didn’t-” he sighs exasperatedly, looking at you. “I meant, would you like to go to dinner. With me. Just you and me alone. Having dinner.” his ears are red.

You flush, catching onto what he meant. “Y-you mean like a...”

Bucky smiles softly. “Like a date, Y/n. I mean like a date.”

You don’t hold back a smile this time. “Of course.” 

***

Hi guys! Here’s another one for you. @whxtsablurryface I sincerely hope you like it!!!

I actually kinda like this one, lol.

Anyways, as always leave replies, REQUEST, send me asks about ANYTHING and let me know if you want to be tagged in any shape or form for ANY of my fics. 

Also, I’m currently working on chapter two of Mr. Evans (which you can find here) which will be out sometime this weekend. So stay tuned my loves!!!

Your feedback whether purposed to be constructive, your personal opinion, or just to say something nice is so very appreciated and encourage me to continue writing, so please, do so!

A special thanks to:

@jessikared97 @lilypalmer1987 and @sherlockedtash88 my lovely forevers!!

#bucky barnes #bucky #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes oneshot #bucky barnes fanfic #sebastian stan #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan imagine #sebastian stan x reader series #sebastian stan aesthetic

[camachameleon]

Cam’s Voltron Fic Rec 3/∞

VLD Rec Lists:  [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Here’s a Fic Masterlist for my other fandoms. ( ** =  favorites )

    **Recoil/Release by Cheshyr

Word count:  22,387 (13/13)

Summary:  When Keith is bitten by an alien creature with venom that causes your dominant emotions to be amplified, the team is ready for a day of dealing with an incredibly angry paladin.

Which means they’re not ready at all for what actually happens.

Comments:  The almost stream-of-consciousness writing of Keith’s parts are really gut-wrenching because it’s as if you are experiencing it with him. (Warning for panic attacks- if you are triggered at all by that sort of thing you may want to sit this one out, it gets pretty graphic). A couple good song pairings for this fic to set the tone are Broken Crown and World Gone Mad.

    **Synergy by Kokochan & Spanch

Word count:  74,064 (10/10) 

Summary:  The vines were large, stiff, gnarly, and thick-stemmed, with blue leaves as big and round as dinner plates, but Shiro’s battle-arm was able to sever several long straggles with ease. The vines draped easily enough over the shuttle and hid it quite handily from view. “Good enough, I suppose,” Shiro said, glaring at the empty greenish-blue sky. “Come on, let’s… Hunk? What’s the matter?”

Hunk was staring at something behind him. “Shiro, don’t make any sudden moves just now, but there’s a really big lizard thing standing right behind you. Um. Two of them.”

Surprised, Shiro turned, albeit carefully. He’d never even heard them approach. That was rather impressive, considering the size of the beasts. It was as though someone had taken a pair of Arizonan horned lizards and rebuilt them more on the lines of a tiger without leaving out any of the spikes, then expanded them to about the size of an Indian elephant and added six large, intelligent blue eyes. Understandably, Shiro froze in place.

Comments: OH. MY. GOSH. OK. SO. This bad boy is Part 1 of 3, so far, with a total series word count of 241,404 at the moment. This beautiful titan of a series is named Of The Pack, and it updates with great speed, considering it has two top tier authors working on it. The several OCs in this story are so lifelike and realistic and fit so well into the universe that I forget that they aren’t actually canon and I kind of miss them when I’m reading other Voltron fics. My favorite part is the world-building it does. Everything about this fic is so dynamic and multi-dimensional, from it’s characters to the epic plot - this is the exact opposite of lazy writing. I am so here for badass Pidge, and the matriarchal Galra culture and the dragons. I👏LOVE👏THIS👏FIC👏

Also there’s magic! (with a scientific explanation, of course)

A cool song that I think goes nice with this fic is Heroes by Måns Zelmerlöw.

  The Kids Are Alright by pugglemuggle

Word count:  10,430 (3/3)

Summary:   Three Garrison Cadets Missing After Freak Satellite Crash

By Mara Garrett, News Editor | The Guardian | Monday, June 13, 2103 7:40 A.M. ET

Two seventeen-year-olds and a fifteen-year-old went missing Friday night after a rogue satellite crashed into the desert a few miles away from the Galaxy Garrison Training Facility, reports say. Garrison officials were quick to cordon off the area, claiming many of the remaining satellite fragments were dangerous and unstable. Government search parties have been sent out into the surrounding desert areas. Details are forthcoming.

—

Her brother is missing. Lance’s sister isn’t about to sit quietly while the Garrison keeps lying to the press. No—she’s going to get to the bottom of this.

(Or: The paladins’ families team up to find their kids and overthrow the corrupt Garrison regime. Told through news articles, prose, the internet, and art.)

Comments:  The format of this is very intriguing and fresh. We get to see scenes of our favorite paladins through the eyes of their friends and families, from before they disappeared and the aftermath. The open ending is still satisfying and leaves you with a sense of determination and hope for these characters that you just couldn’t help but get attached to. If you’re big on government conspiracies then this is the fic for you!

  **Patty Cake by Froldgapp

Word count:  7,829 (6/6)

Summary:  Quiet, aloof, and alone, Keith is distant from the rest of the team. Hunk begins to suspect why, and it’s only when the red paladin pushes himself too far, the Voltron gang realise he’s just as vulnerable as the rest of them.

Comments:  Aaaaahhh this fic. Something about this one has me coming back to reread it all the time even though I always cry. It is just so angsty but in a more poignant, sharp, breathless kind of way. Some of the things the characters say send painful stinging jolts into your chest and you can feel your heart cracking and then you get angry because how dare (I mean ch4 tho holy sh*t). I just want to hug Keith so much ugh. Hunk’s protectiveness of Keith gives me the strength to finish this masterpiece every time. Also, this can kind of be Sheith if you squint (or not, if you don’t).

  The Message by Shipstiel

Word count:  132,787 (45/45)

Summary:  (4:07) okay, but considr this, and hear me out here (4:08) so like, a photobooth u can do with ur pets like there’ll be lil costumes that u can dress them up in, and u can do liek, period costumes and shit with them (4:09) omg, can u imagine, u and ur cat/dog, and theyre in a lil 1800s dress and one of those lace umbrella things omg so cute

(4:15) Why the FUCK are you texting me at four in the morning with this

— 

Keith is texted by accident by some idiot one day, and honestly he’s not even sure why he responds. Or why he keeps responding. Yet somehow he finds himself drawn in, and okay, so maybe this fool is mildly entertaining after all. Who would’ve thought.

Comments:  Slowburn Klance Wrong Number AU. These two are so cute I just can’t. This is the perfect story if you are looking for something effortless and relaxing to read. Even though this contains some softcore Langst, it is still a very cute and heartwarming story about two dorks slowly falling in love. It features Lance’s mother who I fell in love with here, and the kind of supportive nosy best friends that everyone wants in real life (i.e. Hunk, Pidge, and Allura).

  **The Quiet by MilkTeaMiku

Word count:  66,700 (32/32)

Summary:  Does he not realize he’s dead?

Keith can see ghosts. As a part of his Garrison training, he’s sent to a hospital to do one year of medical clerkship - it’s there that he meets a charmingly irritating chose who definitely needs to learn what boundaries are.

Comments:  Modern Ghost AU with eventual Klance. This fic is the most suspenseful story I have ever read in my life. Idk if it’s just me, but I just have this feeling building up paragraph by paragraph of an impending… something. And it has my heart racing which is crazy because it isn’t even particularly fast-paced. There’s just a heaviness to the words that have the hairs on the back of your neck prickling. I literally have to take a breather from reading sometimes to calm down. 

A couple cool songs I think set the mood for this fic is Smother and Mirror.

  Finding Home by spacegaykogane

Word count:  26,966 (6/6)

Summary:  After the wormhole collapses, Keith finds himself stranded on a strange planet. Alone. Until Lance comes along. With their lions dead and resources limited, Keith and Lance need to put aside their differences and work together to get home. Wherever that may be, now.

Comments:  Klance. I love Stranded fics where they have to work together to survive and bond over that. So yeah this one has some whump obviously, bc you know, crash landings aren’t very fun. This one is angsty but its balanced out by the fluffiness in the end.

  Cuddle Puddle by nothingwrongwiththerain

Word count:  46,782 (6/6)

Summary:  Unexpectedly, Shiro’s hand landed on the top of his head. Apparently with Lance and Hunk taking up all the shoulder real estate, Shiro would settle for ruffling Keith’s hair.

Keith was fairly certain his soul was about to detach and abandon his shaking body on the couch. He was surrounded, in the complete and total sense of the word, by other people. Not once before, not in his whole life, had he dealt with a situation like this one.

Or, five times Keith found himself too close for comfort and one time he couldn't get close enough.

Comments:  Klance featuring ace!Keith. Don’t be fooled by the fluffy summary, this is a very angsty fic with lots of Keith whump. Basically, as stated by the author, this story is about ‘Keith struggling with physical contact and learning to accept people care about him’. I love touch-starved Keith stories, like this one. I love the scenes with Kidge bros, featuring a super supportive Pidge. 

  At the Beginning by Sakuraiai

Word count:  64,203 (12/12)

Summary:  Inspired by Anastasia

King Zarkon of the Galra empire lost his only way in to the Kingdom of Altea. In his anger, he put a curse on the royal family. The young, adopted half Galran prince Keith disappeared when the palace was overrun, never to be seen again -- or so it seemed. The only surviving princess, Allura, grieving for her child, offers a reward for Keith's safe return.

Con artists, Lance and his best friend, Hunk plan to pawn off a phony to the princess, hoping to reap the rewards. They hold auditions and choose an orphan man who has a remarkable resemblance to the missing prince -- all the way down to his fluffy Galran ears.

Comments:  Can anyone say Anastasia AU?! I waited with baited breath for each chapter to come out and I was not once disappointed. I love the integration of the different alien races in this timeless story, it all works out so well. Keith just wants to find his mommy and I just want to cry. Also Kidge bros are still my fav as always.

  out of orbit by rbillustration

Word count:  78,135 (19/19)

Summary:  Dragged apart by Haggar’s attack on the wormhole, the paladins and Alteans struggle to survive and find one another again. Luck has placed them all within the same galaxy… but their fortune ends there. Lance is stranded with a badly-injured Shiro and his relief at finding their leader still accompanying him soon turns to terror. Keith may be the only who can rectify the situation - but the Galra have him in their grasp, and they don’t want to kill him. They want him as one of their own.

Comments:  ANGST. SO MUCH ANGST. A brainwashed Galra!Keith plus a Possessed!Shiro. This is the perfect recipe for disaster if I ever saw one. If lots of blood bothers you proceed with caution. I love stranded fics.

A good song rec for this one is Darkside.

  VLD Rec Lists:  [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Here’s a Fic Masterlist for my other fandoms.

#voltron fic rec list #Klance fic #sheith fic #keith whump #VLD #galra keith #langst #in your orbit #slow burn au #fanfiction #psychic au #wrong number au #highschool au #Cam's Voltron Fic Rec #mine #Moonset Deep #magic #fic: recoil/release #fic: synergy #of the pack series #vfr

[leftnipsdoodles]

almost got ‘em all! thanks everyone for asking! answers are below~

1. What age did you begin getting into art? Why did you get into it? hmmmmm im gonna try to answer this as interestingly as i can. so ive been drawing all my life and i think it was just bc a) there was always art supplies lying around and b) i just had so many things in my head and wanted a way to express them or just get them out. like when i played with my toys i was always completely quiet bc i was imagining everything in my head. sound/speech/words just weren’t as interesting to me as a way to put my thoughts out there as visuals were. also i rly liked ranma 1/2 and wanted to draw it.

4. Do you make merchandise? Favorite kind of merch to make? i don’t. i did think about making charms once, even if just for myself. you know, those cute, chibi-esque ones everybody makes? then i remembered i couldn’t draw sth cute if you put a gun to my head.

5. Who/what are your art inspirations? I listed some of my favorite artists the last time i answered questions like this so i guess this time i’ll go with the ‘what’ rather than the ‘who’. to me, the most inspiring thing are atmospheres. it could be a garbage container with 1000 stickers stuck and half-way teared down on it. the way the colors and rips in the stickers look and how it adds to the mood of the location. or sometimes it’s listening to a certain song at a certain time in a certain place that creates a unique mood and inspires you. but looking at art has never been an inspiration. so there’s that.

6. What is something (a technique, behaviorism, etc.) that you do with drawing that you think is unique to you?

ok but in seriousness, i don’t think there’s anything. any uniqueness comes from a lack of skill and knowledge so i don’t think it’s worth mentioning. like what do you even want me to say?? that i edit pictures i drew in clip studio in ms paint?? bc i do.

7. Describe your style. What would you change? neither here nor there. i feel like you can tell i’m a bit scatterbrained bc my drawings always look like they were done without any kind of direction lmao.. in general, i’d like to draw more realistically. i’d like to look at my own drawings and think ‘this pose looks rly natural, the way the clothes fit, the way the face looks, the perspective, the way this character interacts with the environment; it all looks right’. i’d also like to be able to use colors better but it’s hard when you struggle to name more than 3.

8. How do you get out of an art block? well, usually, I don’t. i’m pretty sure i’ve been in one for the past 3 years or so lmao (lamenting my anguish online) but i’ve been told that just working through it is the best way to go. just drawing. even if you hate everything. future you will thank you for it, bc you’ll probably be learning things while doing so, even if you can’t see it at that moment.

9. Does your style reflect who you are visually or your personality? both tbh. if you saw a pic of myself next to a drawing of proto danny you’d definitely see a resemblance in a way. (things like the clothes i draw him in are a given i think. ive probably drawn 90% of my wardrobe at this point) but my personality too. the things i spend more time on while drawing, the colors i choose, the mood in my drawings. that’s all a part of me. im pretty sure my oc tags are fairly accurate documentation of my mood swings and general attitude towards life throughout time lmao also, this thing i summed up in my tags a few years ago

10. What do you find easiest about drawing? getting the ideas for it

11. What do you find hardest about drawing? actually drawing said ideas. look, the moment i sketch the idea down it’s already 50% worse than i imagined it, then when i go to actually draw the thing it turns into sth so bad that i can’t even come up with a forced joke about the scenario. but anyway, lately the thing that scares me the most about drawing (and why i can hardly do it) is heads. heads heads heads. faces faces faces. i just cant do it man lmao

12. Is art part of your career or a hobby? What is your goal with art in life? my goal is to get a better hobby and to never have to return to drawing ever again. but that’s wishful thinking. i guess it’ll always stay my biggest hobby but i’d consider my life a failure if it ever turned into a career.

13. Advice to give to beginning artists? draw your ideas. never limit your creativity bc you don’t have the skill to express it to its full extent. a crappily drawn picture that conveys a cool idea or creates a cool atmosphere is just as good as an expertly crafted painting that has a lame subject. there’s a reason ppl admire the mona lisa but would rather read 90s manga than stare at that portrait all day. god. i guess motivational speaker is another career that’s out of the question lmao but you get what i mean!!

14. Advice to give to your artist peers?

also don’t take advice from me.

15. What have you drawn recently that you are proud of? ‘recent’ is relative, and so is ‘proud’, but i still rly like how this pic turned out. i just feel like it looks very decided, like i knew what i wanted to do and did it (i didn’t)

16. Show something you drew in the past that shows your improvement. 2017 - 2011

ahh tbh.. looking at this i don’t feel like i’ve improved a lot at all lmao..

17. Show something you drew in the past you’re still proud of. this pic might just be one of my favorites i’ve ever drawn. it’s still alright art-wise and it’s probably the most from-the-heart thing i’ve drawn so obviously, i have a soft spot for it lmao but i also just found this again and i still love it, even tho it’s ugly. also this bone which, infamously, is my crowning achievement

you know what i find funny rn? that it’s hard for me to decide which pic to choose for this question. i mean i went through my old art and cringed a LOT but there’s so many pics that im rly fond of, now that i’ve gained some distance to them. i wonder if it’ll be like that with the stuff i draw now, too.

19. Share a tutorial or reference that helped you. nothing concrete but i’ll mention ‘blind drawing’ again. it helped me get a different feel for the lines i’m drawing and, theoretically, would have made me better at drawing from life too

20. Plug time! Where else can followers find you? in the woods around 3am. don’t make eye contact.

#buff arms reply #no proofreading. also as always: good luck reading this on my blog theme lmfao #(highlight the text) #(then curse me under your breath)

[rowanismybae]

Unexpected Visitor - chapter 3

A new chapter is out! This time it’s Fenrys’ POV again! Enjoy! Tagging @my-life-is-a-drama-book and my wife @deathbytitanium !!

--

It’s been 4 days since the girl had awakened. Finally, she was transferred to her chambers this morning and now he was walking towards her bedroom to escort her to dinner with the Queen and her court. He had accepted the job since his bedroom was fairly close to hers.

As he walked he remembered the talk the Court had the day after she woke up.

Aelin’s eyes were puffy and red. Her face was… indecipherable. Rowan had his arm around her and his fingers trailed her ribs gently. She had a book in front of her at the table and her eyes were glued to it. Rowan kissed the top of her head and she looked at him with a small smile on her lips. We all sit and Lorcan, as usual, was the first one to speak.

“You can’t be seriously thinking about letting the girl stay here, Aelin,” he said and neither of the royalties seemed to care about his tone. Elide, on the other hand, poked him and frowned.

“I do, actually,” Aelin said with a low voice, but strong. “She was speaking the truth. I read the first book yesterday… it was so accurate: every thought, every piece of clothing, every move, smirk and… just everything. Plus I asked Yrene to read her chapters and she was astonished. She said it was true to what she thought and felt as well. So I believe her.”

Lorcan started to protest and Aedion followed him with his own fears and stuff, but she cut them off.

“It doesn’t mean I trust her. We don’t know her, who she is. Her story is true and she swore to not harm anyone, but we - I don’t know her. So she’ll stay here where we can keep an eye on her. And that’s why you’re all here. I’ll need help with that. Oh, and Lys, you should definitely read this after Rowan finishes. You’ll get why I hated you so much.” she said grinning.

Lys rolled her eyes as Lorcan made a movement to leave the table, but Elide held him in place. She was starting to show her pregnancy belly; Lorcan still didn’t look pleased and he started to murmur indecipherable things. They all ignored him and started to talk about the ball in two months. There was a lot to do actually and the meeting ended up taking longer than they anticipated.

Today, Mia was shown to her room. The maids said she was stunned by it, and she jumped in the bed and almost cried when she noticed that the mattress wasn’t bouncy and since she had a bad back, a dense mattress was better. The maids also said that she asked to be shown to the kitchen and she asked Emrys if she could help. Apparently, she stayed there until the dishes and pots from lunch were cleaned and then she went to her bedroom and stayed there until now.

Some said they heard her singing or humming and some stuff being pushed around, but two hours ago all sound stopped. So, Fenrys was on his way to her bedroom to take her to dinner. As he reached her door, he stopped and listened. No sounds and saw no lights coming from under the door. ‘Huh, that’s weird’ he thought with a frown.

He knocked three times. He heard her moving in the bed, some blankets being moved and her yawning. He knocked again. She moved in bed again. He heard footsteps and the door opened. He took a step back.

She had a messy hair, she was rubbing her eyes and yawning again. She was using a gray cotton nightgown with something drawn in the front and the words ‘BB-8 ASTRO DROID” under it. He had no idea what that meant but said nothing about it. Weird humans...

“Hey… what’s up?” she asked looking confused. She glanced the hallway towards the clock on the wall and looked back at him. She was blinking from the light. Her bedroom was totally dark, except the light coming through the open doors of the balcony.

“I’m here to take you to dinner.” He said gently and her expression went from confusion to surprise and then scared.

“Am I late? Oh God, I slept too much?” she looked at the clock again.

Fenrys chuckled. “No, no. I’m early. But considering you’re still in your nightgown, I might say I arrived just in time.” he smiled and she blushed twisting the fabric with her fingers.

“Yeah, I was feeling tired after working in the kitchen and organizing my bedroom after it so I decided to take a nap. Thanks for waking me up.” she looked inside her room and back at him. “Come in, I’ll change in a sec.” He hesitated and she rolled her eyes. “I’ll change in the bathroom, I’m not sexually assaulting you or trying to seduce you,” she smirked and he went in. “Can you light up the candles, please? I always forget about the lighting. I’m still suffering the absence of my phone, internet, energy, using my notebook and stuff… I guess you don’t know how addicted you are until you’re deprived of those things...” she shook her head while closing the door.

Fenrys always enjoyed being inside someone else’s bedroom, you could find out a lot about the person just looking at it. He tried to play cool like he wasn’t checking everything out and went for the candles. “How is the lighting system where you come from?” he asked while working with the candles. He could see few changes here and there in her bedroom like the position of the desk and the chaise, a small table and some weird paintings here and there. She was going through her wardrobe picking up what to wear.

“It was electrical lighting.” she paused as if struggling with the words. He had no idea what that meant. “It’s hard for me to explain… it’s like… imagine an electric eel. It’s like that energy that runs through wires and stuff and we had light bulbs that when that energy is on it light up the bulb… I don’t know how to explain, sorry.” she looked at him with a pained expression and shrugged. The movement made her nightgown go up to her legs a little more revealing more of her thighs. What? She had nice legs.

“It’s okay. I was just curious.” she nodded and looked at her clothing choices and then back at him.

“Is this a formal dinner or…?” she asked biting her lip.

“No, I don’t think so. She just wants you to know everyone and vice versa.” he shrugged and she nodded.

“I’ll be right back.” she said entering the bathroom.

He looked around more freely now and could hear her in the bathroom changing. He tried not to think of her naked. Why was he having to restrain himself from thinking of her naked?? She wasn’t gorgeous like the females or males he bedded before or his Court friends… but still there he was thinking of her.

He shook his head and walked towards one of the paintings and took it in his hand. It was small and very, very realistic. Who did that was very skilled. In the painting, he saw Mia and an older woman. There were not many similar characteristics between them, but he knew it was her mother. The smile and the eyes were alike and the laughter in Mia’s mouth was so genuine he just knew she was her mother. The way she spoke of her before just made clear how much she loved her and missed her.

He placed it on her nightstand again and went for another one on her desk. This one had more people in it, and among them, her mother and Mia. They were smiling and joy irradiated from all of them, except a small boy around his 8 or 9 years and his smile was forced; it was funny to watch. Fenrys couldn’t stop a smile to form on his lips. He took another one with Mia and other females with her. One had only another girl, both making weird faces. The other had two other girls smiling. He felt like the one girl with a grim was closer to her than the other two. She also had another one of two cats and another one with three other people: a man, her mother and a child. They were all smiling.

She also had another one of just the girl as a baby and one with her and the girl. Then Mia and a baby boy. And almost hidden on her bookshelf was a picture of her and a man very, very similar to her.

“That’s my father,” she said and Fenrys almost jumped out of his skin. He was so focused on the small paintings that he didn’t ever hear her coming out. She was on the bed putting on her shoes.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to go through your stuff like that..” he was being honest, the paintings were so vivid and realistic and they all held so much love that he couldn’t stop himself. She smiled as she stood up and went by his side.

“Don’t worry. It’s here on display. So you weren’t actually doing something bad or anything.” She shrugged and put her hands on the pockets of her pants. They were made of a blue material that seemed different from everything he saw before. She smiled and said softly “They’re called jeans. It’s a kind of fabric from where I come from. Very useful and it doesn't wrinkle.”

Fenrys nodded and looked back to the picture. “You two are very alike.”

She nodded and released a sigh. “Yeah. I got my explosive side from him too… but he doesn’t know that because he doesn’t care.” Her voice was soft but was pained. He placed the painting back and looked at her. Her hair was partially pulled revealing her round ears, she had put on a glossy something on her lips that smelled like… berries? And she was wearing a blue shirt and a black jacket over it.

“Your nightgown has a weird drawing in it… what was it?” he tilted his head while looking at her and she blushed. It was adorable. Wait. What?

“It’s a character from a movie that takes place in the future and on other planets… it’s a machine that is alive… or something like that” she shrugged. He had no idea what the actual fuck a ‘movie’ was but he said nothing. Must be weird to come from a place where things were so different.

“Mhmm. I see…” he said and sighed. “Ready to go?” she nodded and he went to the door. As they walked he kept asking her about her stay and what she thought of the work in the kitchen. He was surprised with her answer.

“I always loved to cook. So working there with them was a pleasure. Though I can’t say the same about the dishwashing. That I always hated. But the company was good. Luca was very nice and very interested in my story.” she let a small laugh come from her lips. “He talks a lot too…”

Fenrys could not disagree with that. They kept making small talk until they reached the dining room. She tensed and chewed her cheeks.

“Relax,” he said to her “they won’t bite.” and he winked and she made her best effort to smile.

He opened the doors and everyone was there. She was still at the door looking at all of them, probably recognizing them from the books. Her hands were twisting in front of her and she was still chewing her cheek.

“Mia! Come in, please and take a seat! We were only waiting for you!” Aelin smiled. The girl looked at her and bowed slightly, kind of confused if she should be doing that or not. “Please, no need for that,” Aelin said softly and Mia blushed. Yeah, she blushed a lot.

She took a seat beside Fenrys and Lysandra that analyzed the girl with her feline eyes. She introduced herself and the girl nodded telling her that she already knew who she was and what a pleasure was to meet them all. Fenrys could tell she was trying to control herself; trying not to cry or act like she did when she saw him, Yrene, Aelin, and Rowan. Rowan made the proper introductions and told everyone to eat. Lorcan, the crazy shit, left as soon as the meeting ended three days ago. He said he didn’t trust the ‘outsider’ especially with his pregnant wife there; they received the news that they were already in Perranth well and healthy.

“So, Mia, we need to discuss a few things before you start walking around Orynth,” Rowan said with his low voice. Aelin nodded. He saw from the corner of his eye that Mia was red as wine when she looked at Rowan and he talked to her. Huh, the girl had a crush on the King! Interesting… He supposed it should be expected.

Aelin continued for Rowan. “You can’t say to anyone beyond this castle where you came from. We were discussing and the best story is that you came from a small village in Wendlyn and is a distant lost cousin of Lys. So we took you in here when you decided to look for your family. Okay?” Aelin paused and the girl nodded vigorously. “And you can’t wear your items of clothing outside this castle either. Or shoes. Except for the heels, of course. That will become common after we show up wearing in the Ball. And we’ll need your help to learn how to walk on those.” she smiled and Mia agreed.

“Now, I’ve been told you wish to work for your stay, is that true?” Rowan asked.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I already talked to Emrys and Yrene and they let me work with them. 3 days in the kitchens until after lunch and 2 days with Yrene until the same time. But if you wish for me to do something else, I’ll do it.” she said looking at them with expectant eyes.

Aelin smiled softly. “You may do whatever pleases you and I’m very impressed you already took the lead in that. Especially with Emrys… he’s a tough one. And I hope you find happiness again here in our home.”

Mia smiled and nodded. The rest of the meal was nice and pleasant, some questions for her about her life and the books. Aelin told her how accurate those were and she smiled. She told her about other books she brought and started to talk about them. Rowan said he was very glad that the book didn’t describe Aelin and Chaol’s sex. He wouldn’t stand it. Reading about them falling in love was too much already. They laughed and he drank, not thinking it was so funny as others thought.

After dinner, they said their goodbyes and Fenrys took Mia back to her bedroom. At the door, she turned to him and smiled softly.

“Thanks. You didn’t have to bring me here, but I know I’m being watched, so… it’s kind of your job.” she shrugged. She was smart and he decided to play dumb.

“What do you mean?” he asked cocking his head to the side.

“I’m an outsider. She trusts my story but she doesn’t know me. I get it. And even if she didn’t ask for everyone to keep an eye on me, Rowan would. He always puts her safety first” she shrugged - and blushed when said his name -  and placed her hand on the knob.

“Well, you’re smarter than I thought.” she rolled her eyes. “And I’ll pretend I don’t know about your crush on Rowan.” Her eyes went wide and she bit her bottom lip.

“It’s not like that! I - I was in love with him because come on, the guy is hot and devoted to Aelin. But I always thought he was a fictional character, so no problem in falling in love with a mated male. He is hers and hers alone. But I can’t help to blush. He’s hot.” she giggled. “And it’s not like you don't have a crush on Aelin.” She crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow. Fair enough.

“It’s not like that. And I got over it.” He said and she smiled.

“Right.” she said trying not to laugh.

“Hey, it’s true!” He said defensively. She raised her hands up in surrender.

“Okay, Okay. I believe you. And I’m glad you got over it. And I bet a lot of other females are happy about it too…” she opened her door and stepped inside.

“What you mean?” he asked smiling at her.

“Well… you’re smart. I think you already know the answer.” She winked and smiled. “Goodnight and thanks again!” and she closed the door.

He chuckled and went to his bedroom. She was right, the females loved to see him at the bars and if he was up to, he never left empty handed. He pondered going out tonight… but decided to stay home and read a book. His soul was getting old... He had accepted the job since his bedroom was fairly close to hers.

#Unexpected visitor #fanfic #Fenrys/Mia #chapter 3 #Fenrys #ToG

[drink-n-watch]

  Genre:  Romance, yuri, drama

Episodes: 11

Studio: J.C. Staff

  When Fumi was a child she was tiny and quick to cry but her best friend Akira (A-chan) was always there to save the day. This is why it was so devastating for Fumi when she had to move away from everything she has known including her dearest friend. But ten years later and Fumi is back. She’s become very tall and very beautiful but beneath it all she is still the same fragile young woman. Thankfully, although A-chan may be the little one now, she’s still just as spunky and energetic as ever. And a decade later, these two best friends are rediscovering their friendship. Everything that’s the same as well as all that’s changed.

Maybe you read that Yuri tag and the description above and you deduced pretty much everything that happens in this series. I don’t blame you. That’s what I did. Childhood friends reunited is such a cliché premise in the romance genre it might as well be a trope in and of itself. By the way, I was wrong. Completely and delightfully wrong.

the excitement starts here

Visually, Sweet Blue Flowers is a series that I would qualify as calm. In the sense that looking at it was relaxing and calmed me down. The colours are subdued and give the impression of aquarelles. The backgrounds look like beautiful pencil drawn cells. The simple character designs really grew on my (this may have something to do with the fact that I gots feels for one of them so take my impressions with a grain of salt) and little details like how Fumi’s long hair became intricately dishevelled when she collapsed in bed were actually impressive in their quiet and understated way.

I mentioned this once or twice before but speckled sunlight is one of my favourite effects in anime and Sweet Blue Flowers is full of it! Every other episode has scenes of bright sunshine filtered through leaves. Watching the series gave me the impression of walking through a beautiful green park on a lazy afternoon where it’s neither too hot or too cold and for some reason there is almost no one else around. It was calm. And I mean that as a compliment.

see!

There isn’t much movement and as such the animation can’t be considered particularly impressive but the story doesn’t really call for it. What animation there is, is very good and the art remains very consistent. The voice acting is charming. It’s difficult to imagine that the girls I’m hearing haven’t really been friends for years or aren’t really going through strange and confusing times together.

As for the story, Sweet Blue Flowers lives up to its name. It’s extremely sweet, a little blue and full of delicate flowers. Yeah, I was waiting to pull that line out…

In all seriousness, if I could define the story in one word, I think I would chose “gentle”. If I got a few more, I would go with down to earth as well. This may be the most realistic Yuri anime I have ever watched for all the ups and downs this implies. It’s a little slow and sometimes can feel aimless. High school romances don’t generally last forever. There isn’t that much high drama or huge exciting events. For the most part, it’s just a bunch of girls going to school together and trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be.

I want to be there too

Speaking of which, and this will only make sense to those that have seen the series. Although A-chan may be my favourite because she really stepped up when it matters, I am so so proud of Fumi. I’m not sure I have ever been this proud of an anime character. I was beaming in my living room as though I had raised the girl myself.

I don’t want to give away too much so instead let me try to tell you what Sweet Blue Flowers isn’t. It isn’t a melodrama. Some characters can be a little dramatic, I mean these are teenage girls, but in general people get over things pretty easily. It isn’t a rose coloured romance either. There are as many sad as happy moments and ultimately this is the story of first loves, not last ones. Not everything ends well and some things don’t really get a resolution at all. That’s just how life is sometimes. You just kind of move on even though nothing really happened.

It also isn’t and Ecchi or a fanservice anime. If you are looking for some hot yuri action, you are not going to find this one very satisfying. In fact, I would say that Sweet Blue Flowers is as much a celebration of friendship (if not more so) as one of romance.

sometimes things are less fun

I could sit here and tell you everything that happens. I could probably do so in just a couple of paragraphs at that. It’s not a very complicated story. But it’s an anime to experience rather than understand. And as it is a slow and not that eventful an experience, it probably won’t be for everyone. For what it’s worth, it left a cynical romance and drama hater as myself, a little bit in love. And it’s nice to be a little bit in love at times.

I’m actually curious if anyone else out there has any thoughts on this series. I sort of want to talk about it more…

still hot

Favourite character: A-chan but her mom is a close second. Also Sugimoto is hot, I would be in the fan club too.

What this anime taught me: Heartbreak is a precious thing

If you can’t be happy, at least you can be drunk!

Suggested drink: Berry White (I’m proud of this one)

Every time A-chan saves the day! – Cheers!

Every time Fumi cries – get some water

Every time a family member is overprotective – take a sip

Every time A-chan argues with her brother – take a sip

Every time any girl wears braids – play with your hair

Every time we see those two little girls (you’ll know when you see them) – take a sip

Every time anyone is lying – get some water, you don’t want to kill your liver

Every time Fumi is reading – take a sip

Every time A-chan rides the train – I don’t know why I chose her specifically… – take a sip

Every time we see a nun – hide the booze

Every time we see the library – take a small sip

Every time A-chan is full of energy – take a sip

Every time there is speckled sunlight – take it in

Every time anyone skips school – tsk tsk

Every time A-chan thinks about food – get a snack

Every time hey go to a café – I dunno maybe get an espresso? That sounds bad for your heart, stick to the cocktail!

The images don’t do it justice but it will ive you an idea

Sweet Blue Flowers Lives Up To Its Name Genre:  Romance, yuri, drama Episodes: 11 Studio: J.C. Staff When Fumi was a child she was tiny and quick to cry but her best friend Akira (A-chan) was always there to save the day.

#anime #drama #romance #School #Sweet Blue Flowers #Yuri

[sophronisba]

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

2019 could have been written by Gary Shteyngart. The president tried to buy Greenland this year. Who could have imagined reading that sentence four years ago? In 2019 the septuagenarian president’s staff photoshopped his head onto the body of a young Sylvester Stallone and then got all huffy when none of us believed it was real. In 2019 an Oscar-nominated actress went to prison for paying someone to sweeten her daughter’s SAT score. 2019 gave us an eight-way tie for first in the National Spelling Bee. Twenty-eight different people decided to run for the Democratic nomination for president in 2019.1 In 2019 Jeffrey Epstein–credibly accused of sex-trafficking minors to a number of high-profile men–died while in police custody, spawning a thousand different conspiracy theories that spanned the entire political spectrum.2 Britain and Israel both spent most of 2019 trying to sort out who should run the countries and neither of them seem to have come up with a satisfactory answer, although Britain did manage to find time in its busy schedule to yell at its newest duchess–a biracial divorced American–for various imagined transgressions. In 2019 someone inexplicably agreed to marry Stephen Miller.3 And it wasn’t just the news that was weird: in 2019 my personal life was also extremely–well, let’s just say eventful. In April, right before the Game of Thrones premiere, my husband and I were smugly congratulating ourselves on weathering some family medical storms when we got a phone call that sent everything spiraling into chaos all over again.4 And still there was more: If you had told me on January 1 of 2019 that in less than a year I would be living in a different house in a different city with a different job, I would not have believed you. And yet here we are. And so in 2019 I used reading mostly as an escape: with a couple of exceptions, I responded most strongly to non-fiction that allowed me to imagine a different reality and fiction that held out the prospect of a happy ending or, failing that, that offered me a pleasantly whimsical world to inhabit for a few hours. 2019 was not a year when I went in search of deep character development or narrative realism or emotional truth. In 2019 I wanted to play pretend. Do not take that to mean that my favorite books of the year offered nothing more than escapism. No, the best books gave me everything: a different world, yes, but also beautiful prose and vividly drawn characters and original thoughts that made me put the book down and stare dreamily into the distance. What these books all have in common is that I’m still thinking about them now, weeks or months after I read them. The list, in the order that I read the books:

Bowlaway, by Elizabeth McCracken. It’s about candlepin bowling, and family, and marriage, and love. Some people didn’t like it because it isn’t super-plotty, but I loved hanging out with McCracken’s characters

L. E. L.: The Lost Life and Scandalous Death of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, the Celebrated “Female Byron”, by Lucasta Miller. If you read Miller’s The Bronte Myth, then you know to expect great things from her latest. I have never been a scandalous woman, to my eternal regret, but this book let me imagine what it might be like to be one.

Golden State, by Ben Winters. I have been a Ben Winters fan since his Last Policeman trilogy. In this book he pays as much attention to plot and story as he does to world-building and the result is a captivating thriller in a world where lying is one of the most serious crimes you can commit.

City of Girls, by Elizabeth Gilbert. Look, I get it, Gilbert is not everyone’s cup of tea. But I love her characters and I found this book wildly engaging, a story about a fun, naughty girl who unashamedly loves sex. It reminded me a bit of Sarah Waters’s Tipping the Velvet, but to be totally honest, I enjoyed this one more.

The Impeachers: The Trial of Andrew Johnson and the Dream of a Just Nation, by Brenda Wineapple. Does impeachment even matter if the president is not removed? In this account of the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, Wineapple makes the case that it does. She must have started this book before January 2017, because there’s a lot of research here — but it still made for awfully comforting reading while the debate over the current president’s impeachment swirled.

The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood. A follow-up to Atwood’s classic novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Is there a bit too much fan service in this novel? Does Atwood channel Katniss Everdeen to an excessive degree? Yes and yes. I loved it anyway. I liked the way Atwood bounced off the television series, making some plot points canon while refashioning others, and you know what, the hopeful ending may not be realistic but I’ll take it.

Sontag: Her Life and Work, by Benjamin Moser. There are few things I love more than big fat literary biographies. This one is smart and insightful and well-written, and will make you–as Jamaica Kincaid says–never want to be great. Sontag was a marvelous writer who was also a toxic parent, friend, and lover, and this book will make you consider, among other things, whether the one was worth the other.

Olive, Again, by Elizabeth Strout. OK, this one wasn’t escapism so much. On the other hand I think this is the first time I’ve ever had a best book list with two sequels on it.5 Maybe in 2019 I was trying to travel back in time? At any rate, this is Strout’s follow-up to Olive Kitteridge, a collection of short stories centering on one difficult woman that was my favorite book of 2008. The first book was insightful about love and marriage; this one is insightful about old age, loneliness, and coming to terms with yourself as you approach the end of your life.

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe. This is a pretty amazing account of a murder in 1972 that would only be solved thirty-plus years later. I cared about the victim, and I especially cared about her children, and I even found myself caring for the murderers. Along the way I learned a great deal about the IRA and “The Troubles,” about which I knew virtually nothing before.

The Enigma of Clarence Thomas, by Corey Robin. I have been angry at Clarence Thomas since I watched his hearings in my dorm room in 1991.6 Now that I have read Robin’s analysis of Thomas’s judicial philosophy, I am not less angry, but I do take Thomas more seriously as a thinker. Robin’s argument is that far from being a faint echo of Antonin Scalia, Thomas has developed his own strain of conservatism grounded in black nationalism. Maybe this is not an uncommon thesis among Supreme Court watchers–I don’t read legal journals so I don’t know–but it was new to me and I found it fascinating. Another book that wasn’t really an escape to a different world, but there’s nothing I like more than a fresh perspective on a subject I thought I’d made up my mind about.

1 Although that may seem like a humorous exaggeration, it is the actual number. 2 I have to be honest, you guys, I think he probably killed himself. 3 This seems like a life mistake on par with marrying Anthony Weiner, but the heart wants what it wants. 4 Pro tip: Never smugly congratulate yourself on weathering a storm! It only tempts the universe. 5 It’s probably also the first time my list has featured three Elizabeths, but I haven’t actually checked. 6 I am also still mad at Joe Biden for the way those hearings were run, but that’s a story for another day.

My very favorite books that were published in 2019, featuring two sequels and three Elizabeths. 2019 could have been written by Gary Shteyngart. The president tried to buy Greenland this year. Who could have imagined reading that sentence four years ago?

#Ben Winters #Benjamin Moser #Brenda Wineapple #Corey Robin #Elizabeth Gilbert #Elizabeth McCracken #Elizabeth Strout #Lucasta Miller #Margaret Atwood #Patrick Radden Keefe

[kat650]

  Formative feedback

Student name Kathy Jones Student number  516021 Course/Unit Drawing skills

Drawing 1

Assignment number 5 Type of tutorial (eg video/audio/written) Video tutorial

And short report

Overall Comments

I understand your aim is to go for the Painting Degree and that you plan to submit your work for assessment at the end of this course. In order to meet all the assessment criteria, there are certain areas you will need to focus on, which I will outline in my feedback.

It feels as though you have been grappling with pushing colours and portraiture together, merging ideas and approaches.

What is evident is that you have been generating an overview of the course which is an appropriate route for assignment 5.

When it came to the last assignment I wanted to push myself outside my comfort zone. I could have chosen to draw a portrait of just the face using skills that I am most confident with. Instead I have tried to utilize newly acquired skills and test my ability of putting them into practice.

Firstly, I wanted to create a more complex composition by including a mask and mirrors within my self-portrait, a decision that was heavily influenced by my artist research conducted over the last few months.

Kiki Smith’s and Louise Bourgeois’s symbolic references as well as the works of Matisse, Modiglianni and Giacometti that had been influenced by tribal masks, played a part in my decision. Maybe these influences have not been clearly reflected within my assignment post and I should have included more references to them.

My tutor’s feedback on the online tutorial was that my choice of mask was a bit too specific and a bit too ‘strong’ in terms of colour which made it stand out more than the portrait itself. A toned down mask would have provided a more balanced effect in terms of colour and focus.

To me, the mask  was a reminder of the good times I had had in South Africa, of the culture and of its people. So I didn’t really consider how others would perceive it or interpret it within my work. While drawing and colouring the mask, (which is almost black in real life), I tried lightening it by using brown tones and a few coloured highlights here and there so it would fit in with the rest of the tonality within the portrait. 

Following my tutor’s feedback I drew a few more mask studies, some simpler than others, using less intense colours. I tried to imagine them within my portrait submission and I could see what my tutor meant by saying that the mask was a bit too specific. A simpler mask would have been more open to interpretation without referencing a specific culture. Less colour intensity would have meant that the mask would have blended better within the portrait and not detracted from the face.

Secondly, I wanted to use colours to portray my subject matter since my personal research was about Colour and emotion. My art in the past was mainly in monochrome and it felt appropriate to try and be bold and use colour. Technique wise, I layered my pastels and worked in a tonal way to create depth and bring the form to life in a similar way I would have done with charcoal or graphite.

I agree with the tutor’s statement that my last assignment reflects an overview of the course as I tried to take all my prior learning into account whilst taking a leap forward.

You seem more aware of why you are drawing and thinking and more critically aware of the process. Looking at your research I can see why you have worked in the way that you have, there is a slight whimsy within the images at times especially the assignment piece.

The tutor recommended artist research really inspired me to attempt something that I wouldn’t have done before. It made me look more deeply within myself and try to find out what really interests me rather than just draw what I see in front of me.

The distortion is interesting and at times there is potential within this process for your drawing, the way the hands, or features become enlarged out of proportion.

Having previously questioned the technical drawing skills within the work it is interesting that you have used a technical process to distort and alter your images and self-portraits.

My visits to the Matisse, Modiglianni and Giacometti exhibitions as well as researching Picasso’s work, were an eye opener as they showed me that the face and figure don’t have to be drawn in a realistic way to capture the attention of an audience or to create a compelling narrative. As a result of this distortion and expressionistic approach their portraits appeared full of intrigue and character while generating multiple questions about the stories being told by the artists.

Looking back at part four it appears that I was already playing with ideas relating to distortion; my monochromatic self-portrait submission had elements of distortion within it. The freehand drawing of my self-portrait drawn while looking into the mirror had created an unusual , slightly distorted angle on its own but I also think that Jenny Saville’s and Schiele’s distorted pieces had influenced many of my decisions.

In assignment five, rather than distort or disfigure my portrait using freehand I used a distorted grid as suggested by R. Kaupelis, (Experimental Drawing), so it could be used as a way of measuring and controlling the degree of distortion, (through adjusting the grid lines (as shown in my two examples within the assignment). I could then use my favourite ‘distorted grid’ for future projects to help me achieve a similar kind of effect.

Throughout my experience of drawing I have tried and tested various ‘technical’ methods to help me achieve a more realistic effect within my art. For example I have used a standard grid and a proportional divider to enlarge or shrink images but the most pleasurable and rewarding method of all is to draw using freehand, without a shadow of a doubt. Freehand drawing is what makes everyone’s art stand out and show the uniqueness, a bit like handwriting. (I have noticed certain similarities of mark-making within my quick, preparatory work and maybe I should focus more on that spontaneity to help me develop my signature style).

I have found distorting effects fascinating and it is something I will experiment with in my future art. I will also look into more artists who employ the use of distortion within their work, as suggested by my tutor.

What is so interesting and positive to read is that you have gained so much through the experience so far, the drawing the connections and the thinking.

Here your drawings begin to look like you are underwater the distortion allows the face to wobble as tough in a pool, lying down, submerged. Can you see how the work starts to be driven by the choices you have made through the methods – even if these are different from initial intentions?

Yes, I can see how the thinking process move and can affect the final outcome of an artwork. 

Your technical skills were something that challenged you at times in part 4, trying to marry what you saw and what you drew and articulated on the page was not always as successful as you hoped. However, there is an awareness in this part of the course where you have used certain skills to create images that reflect your thinking and emotional responses.

The seated figure from assignment four had preoccupied me  in terms of depicting its foreshortening in a believable way. I should have submitted the larger, brighter collaged  drawing as my final piece as it had more character and appeared more ‘fluid’.

There are issues with some of the drawing (mask being treated differently to the rest of the work) that you could unpack in terms of your reflection.

You have let the research, personal voice become part of the imagery more strongly and this seems like a positive step for you.

I agree that the research I have conducted throughout the course has had a massive impact on me and has made me realise the importance of not just being able to draw but also having the ability to express thoughts and ideas in a visual manner and in a unique style.

Feedback on assignment

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Quality of Outcome, Demonstration of Creativity

It is interesting that you begin (in earlier versions) with distorting the figure yet the mask remains the same this creates an odd effect and destabilises the image, the mask is more   defined, outlined drawn, and the figure is less significant, and slips and moves through the distortion.

I can now see how this comes across. The squares of the grid the mask was in, were very close to being ‘regular’ squares and therefore the mask’s features appear unaffected by the distortion, (sorry the grid lines are a bit faint). I agree that I should have considered this point which in a way destabilizes the whole image and places more emphasis on the mask rather than the portrait itself. However, I saw the whole body disfiguration as an experimental preliminary study and decided not to develop it further. 

The mask in real life is fairly big and I would probably have had to use a much bigger sized support and work on a larger scale. Alternatively, I could have changed the direction of the grid lines.

Supportive study

The gridded image below was the one I used to produce my final piece for the assignment. When comparing the mask in both versions, (distorted and normal), it does appear to be almost the same and therefore unaffected by the distortion. 

Assignment five, FINAL

You can see you have been informed by recent research and your drawing reflects that as your approach changes with texture and line and narrative (Kiki smith?)

I really like the naivety of Kiki Smith’s drawings and the suggestion of the metaphysical or celestial. Her tapestry of ‘Sky’ is particularly interesting, especially with regard to the way she has portrayed the figure which is surrounded by the textures of birds, butterflies and stars.

Going forward it is important to really understand how you are treating each of the elements in the drawings through the drawing skills, what it communicates and how you can edit back or add more appropriately

There is often a naivety in the imagery that is at times fluid and confident and at other times can question technical skill. If you want the naivety or the expressive components outside of a literal representation you need to make that clear within the work, by knowing those lines, marks and decisions without hesitation.

Reflect carefully on your decision making, outcomes, composition.

You have worked hard to try new ways of working and really consider colour through the practical work and the research.

All above points raised have been taken on board.

I will include an update section in the blog post: Assignment five, The process and self-reflection against the assessment criteria. Please visit relevant post. 

Sketchbooks

Demonstration of technical and Visual Skills, Demonstration of Creativity

The progression of ideas within this

In this part of the course there has been a sense of negotiating your practice and way of drawing, this is seen through different self-portraits and experiments with distortion.

There is a range in the quality of the drawings and observation but more importantly you are trying to find your line, your mark your intention and at times this is beginning to happen.

My way of drawing was very ‘set’ before I started the course;  I used to go with the first idea that would come to mind and focus on drawing my subject matter in monochrome. Nowadays my approach is more open minded and explorative and I would like to think there is a bit more character coming through too.

Research

Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis

In the notes section of your learning log/blog it is clearly evidenced that you are thinking more clearly and thoughtfully about the work of other artists and how they may relate or shift possibilities for your own practice.

It is good to see that these have included your own research, suggested references and seeing current exhibitions.

This has meant there is a better grounding of why you are working and creating imagery the way that you are.

I have thoroughly enjoyed researching other artists and going to exhibitions because they have enabled me to look at art from an objective as well as subjective point of view. I have gained better understanding of critiquing other art and see how it relates to my own practice.

The research around colour has seemed useful and grounded the thinking around your choices for pushing the work that way

That was very useful research especially as I have been working with colour a lot lately. I wanted to better understand the theory behind it, see how other artists have been using it in different ways and to what effect and to help me evaluate its uses within my artistic practice.

Learning Logs or Blogs/Critical essays

Context, reflective thinking, critical thinking, analysis

Your statement starts to set out our thinking for your submission and why certain decisions have been made, I would consider before assessment submission that you extend your statement in term of the following quote from your blog “My way of working with colour is intuitive as I tend to ‘feel’ my way through my drawings.’

It is important to think about what you mean when you say ‘feel’ your way through the drawings. Whilst we may understand this but remember that you have started to make a particular set of decisions with the work you make, and these have developed through the experiences on the drawing course.

I will look into this and make amendments in the relevant blog post; I can see the importance of further elaborating on this point.

You have discussed a potential narrative forming and have chosen elements to draw to try and explore these ideas (wings/mask)

Can you expand your reflection on the final image?

My initial chosen composition for development had been of just me holding the mask. However, the background seemed a bit too plain. Having played with mirror ideas in my earlier sketches, (as a follow on from assignment four), I drew some curved lines behind me which I thought resembled oval mirrors, (my other half insisted they looked like wings!).

I thought of the mask as a symbol for identity, (it is thought that African masks have spiritual significance). The fact that I was holding it symbolized that I had finally reached the destination of finding my artistic voice. In my mind, I interpreted the mask as the newly found, more confident me in terms of voicing my ideas and expressing my artistic preferences.

Mirrors are seen as symbols of reflection. They show us our reflected image but can also be used symbolically to help us look deeper within ourselves, on a spiritual level. In my drawing the mirrors’ edges appear to be fluid, radiating energy, waiting to be consulted but my back is turned on them as a way of signifying that I have found what I was looking for, which the mask that represents me.

I guess the finished piece represents my journey within this course, the constant looking into the ‘mirror’ and searching for myself, my style and my artistic voice. The mask on the other hand represents that I have made a connection with my artistic self and have found a way of expressing it. 

I realize that the image can be interpreted differently by others depending on their views and individual experiences. 

Suggested reading/viewing

Context

I have added some references here that look at the ideas of playing with distortion whether through scale/water/colour. Whilst you may not have time to research these before your assessment submission they may be useful going forward.

Michael Andrews.

‘Melanie and Me Swimming’ (1978-9) by Michael Andrews at Tate Britain

Dan coombs http://www.dancoombs.co.uk/

Daniel Coombs. Nude, 2014. Oil on canvas, 60 x 45 cm. © the artist.

I will not have the time to research the above mentioned artists before my final assessment but thank you for the suggestions! I will look into these artists’ work see how they use distortion and to what effect.

Pointers for assessment

Reflect on this feedback in your learning log.

Remember to think about the work that represents your journey and that it is all clearly labelled in order and referenced and evaluated on the blog/learning log.

Remember to think carefully how you have evidenced your process and ability through reflecting on the assessment criteria.

Well done Kathy.

Many thanks for your continuous support and invaluable feedback!

Strengths Areas for development A deeper understanding of your personal voice through the work has emerged Keep working on what you want the work to communicate and how it does this through choice in method, and approach. A greater connection with how the contextual research has impacted and informed the work This can develop further now by understanding how you can apply what you have gained through the research as the practice develops. A step forward with the drawings that means you have considered your connection with the work more than in earlier stages of the course. The drawings are beginning to develop differently and with more confidence. There needs to be careful attention on how they are made and all aspects of the images need to equally be considered as a whole image. A more defined critical position that anchors the development of the next stages of the work, Now you state that you have an awareness of voice, narrative, colour that is emergent – you can discuss how you critically understand the work. Continue to think where you need to develop so the approaches you choose are seen as  conscious decisions beyond  technical ability.

  Tutor name redacted Date 23rd May 2018

  Assignment five-Tutor feedback and reflection. Formative feedback Student name Kathy Jones Student number  516021 Course/Unit Drawing skills Drawing 1 Assignment number 5 Type of tutorial (eg video/audio/written) Video tutorial…