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signor-signor · 3 years

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Trending 27th - June 2021

What would be the role of Star Force Enforcement Force in S3?

Let’s do some research.

“In WOY S3 we had a team of space cops called Star Force Enforcement Force whose name I repurposed for Earth Force Enforcement Force [in Kid Cosmic].” -Craig McCracken / @crackmccraigen

“…they were going to be called Star Force Enforcement Force and were an entirely different set of characters all together. Only the name was similar.” -Craig McCracken, on the difference between SFEF and EFEF.

“S3 was less about a new villain and more about an old ‘villain.’” -Also Craig McCracken

When asked if SFEF were going to play a big part in WOY S3, he replied, “Yes.”

>>The following has been taken from @suspendersofdisbelief’s responses<<

“Nope.” (in response to “Is the S3 villain someone we have seen before?”)

“The main arc of season 3 was centered around the arrival of a new danger that was even more of a threat than Dominator, meant to challenge Wander in every possible way. Season 2 was all about a bully showing up. Season 3 was about something worse than a bully.”

“I said threat. I never said villain.”

“Three new mains were to be introduced.”

“Season two was a lot about testing Hater; three would have been about testing Wander in a really cool way.”

“The S3 villain knew how to exploit everyone’s strengths.”

I used to think the threat would be a trio of attribute-enhancing beings or a trio of time manipulators, but taking all this information into account, I came to the conclusion that SFEF are indeed the new threat. This makes sense because most criminals and rule-breakers fear cops. Mind you, they’re not to be confused with the cops we saw in The Prisoner and The Boy Wander.

If I had to guess what they’d be doing in WOY’s third season, they would show up looking for Dominator, only to find that her ship has completely disappeared. They would also accuse those living in the galaxy of harboring Dominator because she’s nowhere in sight (she probably discovered the door to the void where she has tons of fun thinking up countless ways to quench her thirst for destruction). Furthermore, as long as they’re in the galaxy waiting for her to reappear, they’d apprehend every villain they can find and insist that everything they do is for the greater good. Unlike Wander, they don’t look for the good in the bad guys - they would be what you might call ‘Anti-Wander.’

This is some high-quality story material, you guys. It’s a bit tricky to figure out where the space ape might fit in, though. Assuming the leader of SFEF was also a space ape and Hater’s previous best friend, I predict the space ape stuck in the present might have an effect on Hater, the leader, or both.

If Wander is the likable do-gooder, Hater is the likable evil-doer, and Dominator is the corrupted evil-doer, then SFEF must be corrupted do-gooders. In other words, they’re probably bad good guys. One might say they make Brad Starlight look less like a simpleton. Let’s not forget that they might be the “dark-er” side that tempts Commander Peepers by talking him into leaving the Hater empire and joining the team. Whatever their sole purpose in the show is supposed to be, SFEF are a team real Wander fans deserve to know more about. Their appearance (maybe similar to that of the Blue Meanies from Yellow Submarine). Their personalities. The voices. The whole kit and caboodle. Speaking of voices, I’m thinking the leader might be voiced by either Rob Paulsen, Billy West, Jim Ward, Patrick Warburton, or anyone who can do a big buffoonish man voice, but I digress.

Now, to commemorate the 5th anniversary of the second season finale, I have a compilation of my creations... a portfolio of my pictures... a stash of my sketches... everything that says, “Do you think I’m a fool? I’ve seen shows get wrapped up in a satisfying way, and I know for a fact that Wander Over Yonder did NOT get wrapped up in a satisfying way because one more season was planned out. There’s a cliffhanger, for cryin’ out loud!” All the stuff I made/did within the past 5 years - it wouldn’t exist if Disney hadn’t canceled the show early. I still have the one big question mark in my trilogy illustration and three big question marks in my First 5 Years illustration reserved for SFEF.

I know what some of you cynical crushers of hopes and dreams are thinking. “Give it up already! Stop living in the past! Everyone has moved on! The show’s never gonna come back!” Phooey! I know Craig and the WOY crew are working on other things, but that space pod cliffhanger with ominous music is one of those things I can never get off my mind no matter what I do. If they wanted to stop after two seasons, they would never have thrown it in there. Besides, being determined to find out more about the plans for S3 doesn’t count as living in the past if it hasn’t been fully revealed to the public.

I don’t want to see any hopeless, pessimistic comments. I get it, we’re all bummed WOY didn’t get a third season, but just because the higher up bosses of bosses of bosses called the shots doesn’t mean we can’t do anything about it! Why do you think @peepsqueak started the campaign? If you want to know more about Star Force Enforcement Force and all that was planned for S3, for the love of Grop, keep sending letters and emails to Disney and keep watching the show on Hulu and Disney+. And yes, we can watch more Kid Cosmic while we’re at it - I’m curious about what’s going to happen now that *SPOILER ALERT* the café is out in space.

Here’s to another 5 years of keeping the campaign going! Sure, we might have to find replacements for voice actors who might not live longer, but believe me when I say all our efforts will amount to something.

Don’t forget to check out my fan fiction!

@disneyanimation

@disneyxd

#Wander Over Yonder #SaveWOY #Save WOY #Save Wander Over Yonder #Trending 27th #T27th #Star Force Enforcement Force #Long Reads #My Art

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mvnvgedmischief · 3 years

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unremarkable days.

summary: sirius black is trying to be a good man, a good brother, a good person. Sirius has a steady job designing book covers for a publishing house, a flat he never leaves, and a traumatized brother who was just removed from the custody of his parents. All in all, it's wildly unremarkable.

chapter: 4/?

characters: sirius black, regulus black, wolfstar, background marauders

tags: tw: canon compliant abuse, child abuse, social services, abuse

words: 3. 8 k

read it on ao3 here

read the last chapter here

Sirius knew that work was going to be high stress all day. He felt sick to his stomach, thinking about the way he would continuously have to talk to people, when all he wanted was some peace. He wanted downtime. Time when he didn’t have to think about how he needed his paycheck to put food on the table, clothes on his brother’s back, pay bills to keep his lights on, wifi for homework. Regulus occupied his thoughts at all times, protecting him was Sirius’s only priority these days. He didn’t have time for anything else. Not his friends, not his interests, not music. Nothing could come between his focus and his brother’s wellbeing, because if it did, Sirius would never forgive himself. The consequences were too dire. So instead, he just wished for downtime that wouldn’t come, and prayed for the weekend to approach even faster.

The weekend, when he could finally sleep again, albeit not well. The weekend, when he had the time to take a breath, even if it was only brief. Because his weekends were also spent finding ways to better equip his apartment for his younger brother, going to long grocery runs so Regulus had lunch to take to school, meal prepping all of the things he couldn’t bring himself to eat for dinner. He was definitely tired of all of the ways his mind was spiraling out, he didn’t have the time. He didn’t fault Regulus for it, it wasn’t the teen's presence in his life that was causing all this stress. It really was his own fault. A bit of crying at that first hearing had given Walburga and Orion the satisfaction of a victory over him at that first hearing, and they seemed to crave more of that chaos. They wanted to watch their children suffer, and this was how they chose to do that. So instead he spiraled in the privacy of his own home, because he could practically hear the words they burned into his mind whenever he saw them, and feel the ache of old beatings.

But it was only Thursday, and that meant he still had to do this all day, and then get berated by the rest of the team for not attending their weekly bonding happy hour. If he was lucky, no one would ask him to go. He knew he should be less terrified of them asking, most of the people on his team were his friends. There was simply the question of Remus, and Sirius didn’t have the time to be thinking about him in the first place.

He didn’t have time to think about the way his hair curled just the right way to fall into his eyes when he slept, or the way his caramel freckles made him look sunkist. He didn’t have time to think about the pink scars that ran down Remus’s face or how they got there. He definitely didn;’t have time to think of the comfort of his hand combing through Sirius’s own mop of unruly curls. So instead, he needs to put all of that out of his mind. It wasn’t going to help him do well at work. It wasn’t going to solve his problems. He didn’t have the time for this, nor did he have the emotional bandwidth. Perhaps that was why Sirius was conveniently avoiding the idea that he had asked Remus on a date. With some luck, Remus would think he was just an asshole who ghosted him. That was definitely complicated by the fact that they worked together, that he couldn’t just disappear. He wanted to, he really did, because there was simply no time.

He set up his deliverables as though he had made tons of them, because his employment in this company rode on it. Just two months ago, he was pegged to be promoted within the next two cycles, and now he could barely hold on to his sanity enough to handle his workload. He was so fucking tired, and he had so much on his plate. He needed to mentally prepare himself for the long day of meetings ahead of him. He had no true motivation to do his job right now, all he knew was that his exhaustion was no excuse. He knew that his boss, Alice, was giving him a whole lot of leeway right now. She was probably doing more than she should to help him. Being a mentor on the senior design team didn’t mean she needed to keep tabs on his personal life and pick up his slack.

“Sirius–”

When Sirius focused back into the meeting he was calling into, it occurred to him that they’re talking to him. So he did what he always did, blamed it on a shoddy connection.

“Oh, sorry, can you repeat that? My audio cut out.”

“Remus was saying that some of the poems could probably use illustrations, and he was wondering if you had any ideas on which ones needed it.”

“Thanks, Peter.” Sirius was glad that he knew the people on this team, that Peter and James were as close to him as anyone could be. Because otherwise, he’d probably be fucked.

“So I was looking through them, and I was thinking Bite, Magick, and Love I could probably use larger scale illustrations. But at the same time, we don’t want to crowd the book. How attached are you to the current order or page arrangement?”

It felt too close, but he was lucky that he had at least read the titles of some of the poems in the first half of the book. Sirius knew Remus didn’t actually know what his level of involvement was. He thought it was just doodles, but Sirius would be responsible for presenting everything from kearning and font choice within the pages, to illustration and cover art to the design team. He was integral to the success of this book as a product, and he needed to start acting like it.

“I’m pretty attached.” Remus sounded cold to Sirius, and he wondered what exactly he had done wrong in this meeting. And yet, he didn’t have time to think on it. He needed to keep things moving, keep getting valuable information out of the author. Hook up be damned, Sirius needed this book to actually get off the ground.

“Okay, well we should get a meeting on the calender to discuss. What poems and what scale of illustrations you want–”

“Shouldn’t you be deciding what the illustrations look like and the logistics of those. Isn’t that what you get paid for?” Remus really wasn’t making this easy on Sirius. But he had dealt with bigger demons and divas then whatever this attitude was. So he put on a light and airy smile, one they’d never know didn’t reach his eyes over the low quality webcam and nodded.

“If you’d like to take a hands off approach with the design work, that can absolutely be arranged. But in the case of a fledgling project with a new author, the design team, myself included, really hope to prioritize your artistic license so that we can get a better sense of your vision for your literature, should Quill move forward with other publications in the future. We can provide a completely in-house service, with as much input as you feel necessary during the design process, and deliver collateral towards the end of the project when final edits are done, if you would prefer, Mister Lupin.”

Sirius practically wanted to scream. He needed Remus to stop fucking with his job, with his livelihood. He couldn’t lose this project. He needed all of the billable hours he could get if he was going to justify the overtime he needed in order to provide for his brother. This was ridiculous. But his clinical and polite answer must have thrown Remus, because he didn’t get much more attitude out of him. The back and forth had ended. So instead, Sirius pulled up his deliverables for the week, which included new iterations for the covers, and twelve illustrations for the three poems he had mentioned.

He noticed the way Remus looked at his drawings, like he was pained by whatever his thoughts were, and Sirius wants to scream that he’s under no obligation to think that they’re good. But then he remembers that Remus seemed to be nitpicking on purpose, based on his critique of the design system itself. Sirius didn’t have the time to deal with that level of petty, just because he hadn’t been answering. He was too busy. He had too much on his plate. So instead he continues his presentation.

“I don’t like any of these. Maybe you should start over.” Remus sounded vindictive, even mean. Like he was doing this out of spite. Sirius could feel his heart drop in that moment. He didn’t want to start over. He didn’t have the time.

“What do you not like about them?” Sirius is trying to salvage his work while he can.

“The vibe is off.”

“Oh, is there something specific that throws it off or...” Sirius trailed off, wondering what exactly he needed to change.

“No, it’s the whole thing. All of them are just off.”

Sirius needed to think quick on his feet. He didn’t have the time to start from scratch, so he pulled up his original thumbnails that he had discussed with Remus.

“These are the original sketches we discussed. I moved forward with the ones we talked about. I’m happy to rework those sketches,” no, he wasn’t. “But if there’s another sketch that you think would fit your vision better, please let me know.” He felt like he was pleading with Remus not to hate his artwork. He’d be a liar if he said it wasn’t a blow to his self esteem to hear that everything that he did was bad.

“No, I would suggest you start over.”

Sirius nodded, his mind immediately whirring with ways he could start over and re-design this project. He really didn’t want to do it. He didn’t want to do hundreds of thumbnails to get set on thirty, only to be destroyed in a meeting again. Especially when Remus seemed so excited about all of his illustrations before the meetings. It felt like too much. He didn’t have the energy for this kind of behavior.

Luckily, Marlene directed the conversation away from Sirius’s work. The rest of the call went on without a hitch, like the only person who’s work Remus had a problem with was Sirius’s. He knew that it was more likely for Remus to have a problem with him, because design work was usually something an artist thought of as easy; however, this felt calculated and cold. If Sirius had been avoiding Remus before, it definitely wasn’t about to get better. So instead, he listened to the end of the meeting, and started the project all over again. He could do this. It was an unremarkable critique. It didn’t matter.

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weeklyfangirl · 4 years

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Frat Boy Pt. 21

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7 (1), part 7 (2), part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13 , part 14, part 15, part 16, part 17, part 18, part 19 , part 20

HI LOVIES. Please enjoy a Friday update on the Frat Boy universe. This one is a bit of a breather after the TUMULTUOUS ANGST of the last chappie. Shorter than my usual, but it’s all the chapter needed. Tons more y/n and Harry interaction on the way in the next! Have a safe and happy day loves xx

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Things I want:

Live a life that helps others

Financial freedom

Experience a great love

Visit the the Pincio Gardens in Italy

To have more dreams and fewer nightmares

Doodle more

Acquire a first edition book, either because an old friendly man who owns an antique bookshop decides to give it to me in a bonding moment, or because I have accomplished #2 and I am celebrating being a Boss Bitch

To be happy

Please note: not necessarily in that order

It was taped above my desk, waiting for me to bring it in to the next session. I hesitated to write number 6. It was a dream I hardly entertained after committing my scholarly life to pursue medicine. I used to love to doodle. All the time. Since elementary school. I doodled so much my mom dedicated a wall in the house to my illustrations. She hung a sign above it that affectionately said “Y/N’s Doodles.” Seriously, you couldn’t get me to stop. Even if it was gross sappy sketches of my crush Billy who I would NEVER show on the playground at recess.

My doodling stopped how these things normally do. Because life grew busier than anything else, and the sketchpad and easel my dad had bought for me at a garage sale became ignored, collecting dust in the corner of my room. At some point, it’d become a year since I’d drawn anything, and then it was two, and three, and by this point I’d realized I was the one who’d need to create her own stability in life and medicine was the more logical fit. It wasn’t that I didn’t see the value in drawing anymore, I just had other things take up my time. It became a comfort just knowing I used to draw. Paul had paved his way, and now I was on my way to do the same. At least with medicine, my soul felt fed. It was almost comfort enough.

“oH WE GOT A ROGUE ONE.”

A flying toenail hit my eye.

“WHAT THE-” I flailed my arms, as though there were a thousand more coming. Renny’s mouth opened in shock, her guilty body hunched over her bent leg. Clippers in hand.

“Sorry!!” Renny burst up laughing.

“oH MY GOSH CAN YOU DO THAT OVER A TRASH CAN OR SOMETHING?!”

“IT HAD A MIND OF ITS OWN!!” she screamed back.

I blinked rapidly, my left eye watering up and spilling painless tears. “Well I’m going to have conjunctivitis at the studio later. Or I’ll be stumbling in blind.” I wiped it away.

I heard another clip and she put up her hands with another giggle.

“All done. And you won’t stumble, I’m going to be there.” Renny extended her leg, her perfectly trimmed foot nearly touching the ceiling.

“You’re just going to solicit Zayn to be his next subject.”

“Maybe,” her grin grew devious. “But also because I want to see if he captured the angelic beauty and complex nymph nuances of my best friend.”

I put a hand to my chest, still aching from uncertainty. “Honored.”

“Want to watch another episode until it’s time to go?”

This whole lazy morning had been an OC Housewives bingefest. She’d seen it on my homepage and had a complete spazz, twitching whilst proclaiming but i’ve been trying to get you to watch this show for YEARS!! When she saw the old season I was on, though, she didn’t have to question why her pestering had miraculously worked. She didn’t mention him aloud besides giving me a pointed look. And so, we watched it, even though I wasn’t really in the mood to see anything about Harry right now. It’d hurt more than I thought to walk away from him last night, and to see how sad he looked when I did.

After last night, he hadn’t posted anything to social media. He’d called, twice, but I knew he was drunk, or worse, and I was tired, and whatever he would say he could tell me in the morning. Even though I knew he wouldn’t.

And he didn’t.

And therein lay the problem.

It hurt to see his family on my little box of a computer screen, weird to see his life and get glimpses of his childhood. I felt like a hacker spying on home videos. But then I reminded myself that thousands of people had already done the same. At this point, it was just… morbid curiosity.

“Nah, I don’t know if I can handle any more of that right now. Dr. Rhinecuff is going to yell at me if I don’t return these scanned copies to him by Monday.”

“Ew, he smells like meat.”

“RENNY!!”

“I’m just saying. That one time I went with you it smelled like pastrami in his office. He has a PhD, but isn’t with-it enough to buy air freshener.”

“He likes pastrami sandwiches, let him live.”

She scrolled on her phone, not bothering to respond, and my gaze turned to the window.

“Hey Renny?”

“Hm.”

A bird flew close to the glass, halting just before it hit it, then zooming off in the opposite direction. “What’d you do when your parents were fighting?”

“Ummm…” I knew the question registered in her mind when she stopped scrolling, suddenly concerned. “Are your parents okay?”

“Yeah. I mean, kind of.” I glossed over it, not caring to get into the bitter details. “I was just curious.”

“Uhh..” She plucked at the soft cotton of her cotton candy pajamas that were fraying at the knees. “I lost my virginity to Zach,” she half-laughed.

“Zach? Neighbor boy Zach?”

Renny nodded. She always sounded a little sad when she talked about him. Zach was the hot college boy who shared a backyard fence with Renny, the girl who may or may not have used her kitchen stool to peak over and see him workout on the grass every summer he came home. I’d known they’d slept together. I just didn’t think he was her first.

“I just tried to be out of the house as much as I could,” she said. “Found my true love Mary J.”

“Oh.”

“It was shitty, but I’m glad I got it over with.”

“The divorce or your virginity.”

“Both,” she chortled. “Why what’s up? Are you sad or something? I have a j in my drawer.”

“No, no, I’m fine.” Mostly I was just wondering what it must be like to feel so sexually liberated. In my house sex wasn’t talked about. At all. The inevitable sex scene in every other movie would result in my dad blaring out “WHAT KIND OF MOVIE IS THIS!” in an attempt to make it less awwkard, but having it backfire and only make it horrendously more awkward. I wasn’t saving my virginity for anyone in particular, but after all those romance novels, I wanted it to be… something. I wanted to feel something towards the person where it would justify something I’ve kept to myself for so long. I wanted it to be intense. I wanted it to be like the books. Like a Frank Sinatra song that swept up your heart and transported you back to a time of gentlemen and cigars and women in long evening gowns with fur coats and martinis.

“I wish I could just get it over with,” I confessed. One half of me screamed YOU’RE IN YOUR TWENTIES HAVE ALL THE SEX while the other half said YOU’VE WAITED THIS LONG DAMN IT HOLD OUT A LITTLE LONGER. I didn’t know which part of me was compromising more.

Renny leaned in, quick. “Would you do it with Harry?”

Like the flip of a switch, I remembered the sensuous heat of his body against mine, wrapping me up and pressing me against him where we just fit. And I couldn’t imagine how much better it’d feel to be even more connected to him.

“Maybeeee…?”

But then there was last night.

I cringed. No matter how with me he’d seemed… he couldn’t have been present after mixing whatever the hell he took and a handle of alcohol. Did I really want someone like that? Someone who could only give a shell of themselves?

“No, I wouldn’t. Or- ugh, I don’t know. I don’t know if it could ever mean as much to him.”

Renny nodded. “I mean, don’t let him pressure you, obviously. If he does, I’ll kick his baby maker smack into his prostate. Prostate. See, anatomy. You taught me that.”

“Haha, no, he’s not like that.” My brows stitched. I was confused why he wasn’t more like that, actually. We’d known each other for several months now and he hadn’t even put a finger in me. When I thought about it, it actually frustrated me. Don’t pressure me to do anything, but I wanted to be pushed to do something. I was never the bold one in areas like this.

Not that I should be so willing to do anything with him anymore anyways. Something shifted in me when I’d seen him last night. It wasn’t a shift I could easily describe, but it’d set me a foot apart from my heart. A bit of me was shocked that it had happened so suddenly.

But this shift was new, and my heart still wanted what it wanted. I knew that if I watched any more OC Housewives with Harry’s toddler curls and surfer tan, I’d be sucked right back into speculating about what our future kids could look like. And if I saw him?

You were right, Harry. You are fucked.

I cringed again. That was harsh. That was very very harsh.

I didn’t know if I’d have the courage to apologize. What if my pheromones went berserk and magnetized me to his side??

Renny was right.

I needed therapy.

The clippers were tossed back on my desk.

“Thanks,” she said. “Have you started on your DG Double P yet?”

DG Double P = Renny Speak for DG Pretty Please.

I groaned. “No. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, honestly. I have to-”

“NO!!! Don’t tell me. We’re not supposed to tell each other.” Her hand extended in panic.

“Fine. I can keep a secret.”

I was getting a little too good at that lately.

She moved onto her belly, splaying her arms out in a dramatic fashion, face squished against the comforter. “Isn’t it just killing you inside.” She was dead serious.

“Yeah, more than you know.”

And I was serious, too.

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I wasn’t expecting people to dress up as much as they did. Donned in my only pair of yoga pants and a chunky white sweater, I walked arm-in-arm with Renny past girls in cocktail dresses and guys in button-downs.

Something that sounded like a baby’s cry filled my ears, but it was gone as soon as we walked through the doors to the on-campus gallery. .

“Woah did you hear that?”

Renny nodded, tossing her head back. “There’s a baby somewhere.”

It reminded me of the bodiless screams in my nightmare. In my chunky sweater, I shivered undetectably.

The on-campus gallery rotated exhibits throughout the year, but this time, student sculptures were on pedestals, nightmarish portraits hung on the walls, and red and orange tapestries swooped down and across the ceiling in a cirque-du-soleil moment as if to secure us beneath fire. Some students had separate booths, but other pieces of work trailed seamlessly into the next.

A tree made from photographs and newspaper took up the center of the space. Zayn had been so adamant about his muse having life, I wondered if that was the focus of this exhibit - to capture natural life. But I suppose all art did.

“It’s the circle of life exhibit,” Renny stated, as if reading my thoughts.

“How’d you know that?”

She held up a pamphlet she must’ve grabbed from the entrance.

I quickly scanned the room, hoping to find Zayn quickly so I could skip out just as quick.

Several of my professors were here, including Dr. Rhinecuff. When he saw me, I raised my hand, but he raised his cup of red wine awkwardly and looked away.

My hand wavered.

Odd.

Zayn was standing by the tree, speaking with an older woman. Her skin was a rich brown, short hair hidden beneath a chic scarf. The man beside her looked around the same age with graying facial hair, a pocket hanky, and beaded bracelets. Art professors.

I caught his gaze, and he gestured me over.

“Y/N, these are my instructors. David and Ebony.”

Their eyes lit up in recognition. “He did you a great justice,” David said, gray moustache twitching with the words.

Ebony beamed. “Oh yes, a piece was already sold. He’s going to be the next big wig before he graduates,” she gushed. “Zayn, I’m sure you’ll be splitting the profits with the heart of the piece.”

She gestured to me and his smile widened, but my stomach sank faster.

“I didn’t know these pieces were going to be sold.”

Ebony sensed my concern. The wine in her glass swirled. “We thought allowing the pieces to be shown and auctioned was a good way to replicate what many of them should be doing once they graduate. The whole department gets involved, and these kids put in a lot of work, and the reputation of starving artists isn’t something we want to buy into here.”

I nodded. “I mean, that’s great. That’s… really amazing.”

Zayn couldn’t meet my eyes. He knew. He could sense my hesitance, too.

“Now he can finally afford a nice dinner to take you out!” David proclaimed.

We were all quiet for a minute. “You know, for a thank you dinner,” David covered up. Zayn’s brows scrunched and he shook his head a bit, not knowing where David’s comment came from.

“Do you do this regularly?” Ebony asked, steering the conversation away from an awkward moment.

My ears pricked up when I realized she was looking at me. “Excuse me?”

“Well I was just thinking…” a light laugh lifted as if her idea would be outrageous. “Would you mind sitting in for one of my classes on Monday? Our model had a sudden death-”

“My God,” David proclaimed.

Ebony waved her hand. “-in his family. I haven’t called to replace him yet.”

It quieted as they looked at me, waiting for a response. “Oh, I don’t… I don’t usually do this. At all. It was a chance thing.”

“Luck be the artist.” David raised his glass.

Ebony followed suit, looking at my empty hand. “You just going to let her stand there without a drink?”

“Yeah, Zayn. What kind of treatment is this?” I teased.

He did a slight bow. “Apologies. We’ll walk to drinks, immediately.” He pulled us away, leading us further into the showroom as his head dipped low to my ear. “Renny just passed us to meet Felix and them. They’re through here.”

We stepped under an archway that led into a darker-lit room, but his hand stopped me beneath the nook. “Did yeh notice anything?”

Yeah. I was noticing how close we were in this archway. He saw my eyes start to squint in thought and he turned me around to face the room we’d just left.

“Look closer.”

My eyes roamed the crowd, trying to find some sort of person, or pattern he could be referring to. With a brief seize of my heart, I expected to see somebody from the gang.

“Look at the artwork, Y/N.” His breath warmed my skin.

The paintings all seemed to be bright, though sticking to red, orange, blacks, and grays. Wait, forget a pallette pattern. The next painting had blue and purple, too. One sculpture looked like a writhing ghost, twisting and reaching for something above. Or maybe it was an unearthed tree root. Despite all the bold colors, there was something off-putting about how bright they all were. It wasn’t a soothing brightness. It was almost violent. The orange and red writhing tapestries warped the ceiling into something hot.

“Is it hell?” I chortled, but quickly quieted. I expected him to take offense, but his hand went lightly around my waist with a small smile.

“Could be. See-” his arm extended out to scan the perimeter “-all this art is supposed to represent death, but challenge the notion of it through color.”

“How so?”

“Yeh know it’s usually your blacks, and your grays, s’depressing shit. But we’re born from death. Before life, there was nothing, but something. It’s bold and necessary and there, and no one really knows whatever comes before. Or after.” He looked at the room, taking a sip of wine. I watched as he swallowed, and I imagined the wine running down. “What is death but an uncertain existence.” He said the thought almost happily, looking at me with a slight smirk. “Could be anythin’.”

He took a deep breath, letting his hand touch the top of the archway. It was then that I noticed it wasn’t just plain drywall. A collage of photographs ran all along the inside.

He wasn’t as tall as Harry, but his hand still reached the top, scuffing across a picture of an African landscape taped over a toddler eating fruity pebbles.

“They’re pictures. Everyone donated one,” he said.

A strand of words were painted over the collage, running from one end of the archway to the other, and I tilted my head back to read it. “Things... that…. make... m..e …...feel alive.”

“Everyone was able to design their space in order to control, to some extent, how their art was perceived. Everyone was a part of the transition space.”

“Very nice,” I noted, slightly put-off. I hadn’t been expecting this art show to be so… professional. “Zayn, this is amazing. Like, really, truly, professional-grade stuff is happening. The presentation, the pieces, everything.”

His smile grew wider, putting cool hands over my eyes. I flinched, but let him.

I felt him come closer.

“Listen now,” he urged.

I listened, but I wasn’t sure for what. There was the familiar busy rumble of people mingling, parents visiting their kids, and professors droning on about the talent of their students. But it was chatter. I couldn’t make out one conversation over another. I shrugged up against his other hand that was atop my shoulder.

“Sometimes you need to change where you’re planted to understand.”

I hoped he could see my cross expression because I couldn’t tell if he was bullshitting me right now. It’d been a day. It’d been a night. And I wasn’t in the mood for more philosophical ramblings - especially about death. “I don’t know what you mean,” I sighed.

“Meaning I have to move you closer to the speakers.” He let out a breathy laugh. “Jus’ keep your eyes closed, okay?”

I nodded. His hand moved, tilting my head to its side. Eyes still closed, I became self-conscious imagining people trying to move past me, and here I was, planted, eyes closed in the middle of the archway. My cheeks heated. It was unnerving knowing people could see me when I couldn’t see them. And anyway, I must’ve looked ridiculous.

“What do you hear?” he urged.

“I hear a lot of people talking,” I griped.

But right when I was about to open my eyes-

I heard a familiar chirping through the chatter.

“Birds?” I opened my eyes.

“Observance can be taught, sometimes.” Zayn leant back, looking mighty proud of himself.

“Why are there birds?”

“We’re entering life,” he smiled, backing into the space. I tipped my wine back, several long gulps lightening my step as I followed him. Immediately, I noticed much more natural, earthier tones. For being a room of life, it was surprisingly darker than the prior room.

Renny, Felix, and Andre were huddled in the center where a makeshift wall-on-wheels covered in vines divided the room in half.

My eyes widened, trying to adjust to the dimness. “It’s a lot darker in here.”

“All intentional. They decided to play with light in here. People usually think of life being bright ‘n that, but it’s also when we experience varying degrees of darkness. There’s a balance to things and the trouble is finding it.” Understanding laced his voice as his dark eyes bore into mine, almost completely black. One look from Zayn and I was reminded of all the weight I’d been carrying. I fidgeted, uncomfortable seeing myself in his eyes.

“Y/N, get over here!” Renny called. My shoulders visibly relaxed. My saving grace. “You didn’t tell me you did this,” she said lowly as soon as I got close enough, shocked excitement barely contained. Her giddy smile gave it away though. “Miss sexy secret keeper over here.”

“What do you mean?”

She playfully poked my sides, but Andre and Felix avoided my gaze. Something wasn’t right. And it stirred my stomach, my body already knowing, somehow.

I turned in slow motion, the charcoal drawings in my peripherals stopping me in place. Framed amidst the vines, my face was etched onto paper, scrunching and twisting in various expressions. But my body was attached and twisting, too. And it was bare, bent over, spread out, laying down… My eyes scanned over them a dozen times in a second.

I was naked.

In all of them.

One was titled “21st Century Love.” In this one, I faced the viewer, but looked past them, sorrowful eyes, brows furrowed, breasts I’d never shown on full display. A hickey or two on my neck. A painful sting gripped my chest. I looked sad. I looked so sad.

Tunnel vision, a blurred Renny rushed down to the floor, and a distant part of me registered something wet splatter on my feet.

The wine had dropped.

I’d dropped it.

I was trapped in a shell. My body was numb.

“Babes, you okay?” Renny asked, her voice somewhere far away. Somewhere outside the shell, her voice drowned in the busy rumbling, with the birds, with the watchers. People were watching me now. I was being watched. “Felix, grab some towels!” she barked.

I looked horrified, towards Zayn, but changed my mind just as fast. I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t even breathe.

He didn’t know me at all. He could stare at me for a thousand sessions and paint every crevice, sunspot, blemish, and mole and still not see me. How was an artist this blind? How could he not know that this was the last thing I could ever want? How could he picture me so… intimately?

The paintings seemed to swirl into one before bouncing back out into their separate exposees.

Because that’s what it was.

An exposure.

A stranger could pay to have me in their home.

The floor spun, vision spotting.

My lungs tightened, tearing me away from Renny, from Felix, from Andre. From Zayn, the artist who painted a confused girl so unashamed. So honestly. Savagely and Unabashedly.

“I didn’t want this.”

And it was when I was halfway out the door that I realized the voice had come from me, a mantra pushing my shell all the way home.

part 22

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bluebeezle · 3 years

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Art and Fear

I’ve decided (if I haven’t been already) to commit myself to the idea that I should treat this account as a sort of art journal. I didn’t get a ton from my $30K a year education at SCAD, but besides the big one of meeting Ryan Armand, whose voice helped me distill what I was looking for in storytelling for the next decade or so, there was one more incident that helped me realize the relationship I wanted to have with art.

I was at a portfolio review, and professors were busy talking to students. I remember just wandering around looking at the tables the professors were set up at. One teacher, whom I never had, had a small sketchbook open on his table, unattended. It was largely just words, as if he was just using it as a small notebook or journal, except for some small sketches to illustrate what he was talking about. It was a sketch of a group of ducks at a pond. He was writing about what each of the ducks had done that day. He was familiar enough with these ducks that he’d NAMED them and knew their personalities.

I was absolutely in love with this. I remember going to the park with my friend and his mom and feeding the ducks when I was a kid. I remember really liking it, and knowing that one of these days, I should do it again.

But that wasn’t the main reason I loved it. I knew that’s what I wanted. To stop struggling with the ego that’s gotten all tied up with my art because of my decision to make it my career, and just get lost in my own world with it. To enjoy and explore it. Where the art is just for me.

But my relationship with art for a long time has been fear. I rarely draw because I know I won’t like what I draw (to be fair, a lot of it has to do with a dearth of ideas). Even if I do draw, I definitely don't try drawing anything I don't already know how to draw. I just know it won’t be at the level a professional artist should be drawing. I work alongside insane talent, and I feel like a hobbyist in comparison. A karaoke singer. And the thing is... I love karaoke. It doesn’t matter how mediocre I am at it. I still enjoy it. Why shouldn’t I have the same relationship with art?

“That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.“ - Walt Whitman

I mentioned in a previous post that this mantra has dictated my relationship with art for a long time now. My art is my legacy, even if no one ends up seeing it. Even if it’s just an offering to the universe.

“'Artist' has gradually become a form of identity which (as every artist knows) often carries with it as many drawbacks as benefits. Consider that if artist equals self, then when (inevitably) you make flawed art, you are a flawed person, and when (worse yet) you make no art, you are no person at all.” - Art and Fear

After reading this recently, it brought into sharp focus why art was making me so miserable. And it’s still tough to reconcile, because both of these quotes about art still seem right. But maybe it’s like Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. If I think about it too much, it kills the art. Okay, very, very loosely like Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle.

Then again, maybe legacy is wholly just ego, and therefore a petty waste of time. A childish whine about wanting to matter, despite being infinitesimally insignificant to a universe that is probably equally insignificant as a whole itself.

I recently started trying.... let’s just call it, my “muse” again, after probably more than a decade. A different strain this time, which didn’t make me get horribly self-critical. Instead, it brought out the exact characteristics I wanted it to, and I found in myself what I’ve been wanting all along.

The joy of novelty in things I’m reading/watching to inspire my own ideas, but also the self-awareness to realize that I’ve been missing how ideas are conceived. I had a vague idea that when you indulge in a lot of inputs, somehow these stories will coalesce into original ideas. What I finally recognized as I watched it happen (for the second time - the first time I did it sober and still didn’t get that I should be looking to MAKE this happen) is that there are moments I should be looking for that can spawn new ideas more directly than that. I often will get halfway into a new idea while consuming some form of media and my mind will try to figure out what’s going on before I’ve gotten the full explanation. Very often, the actual explanation isn’t as cool as where I THOUGHT it was going to go. I’ve been so terrified of being unoriginal and stealing ideas, that it never occurred to me that what I had just had WAS AN IDEA. And it WAS mine. I can still sculpt it to fit the story I’m working on, and before long, it’s different enough where the source material is unrecognizable. I’ve now found myself getting five minutes into a TV episode or audiobook session before having to pause it because half-ideas were spawning full ideas.

It used to be, when I was... musing, I would make myself use the whole time to work on art, because I was so desperate for ideas. And while I’ve done this while doing art before, I’m pretty sure this is my first time I’ve done it while writing. Now, I’ve been so dependably inspired every time that even though I was on a roll, I’ve decided to stop, just because I’m slightly in the mood to do something else, and I know I’ll just come up with more ideas tomorrow. That’s a completely new concept to me. The idea of trusting and knowing that I’ll be creative. And it's gone a LONG way towards filling a hole I've had in my life.

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indig0tea · 3 years

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Final 2020 Update: 2021 Goals!!

Cross posting from my devART

Also links to all my alts and shit will be at the end of the post if you need them!

So some of these may be unrealistic due to my struggles with ADHD/Depression Combo but. I wanted to get these down somewhere so you guys can see them and be aware..

Please note, my executive functioning abilities are absolutely Butchered on the regular by my ADHD alone, and the various stressors of 2020 have absolutely taken anything else I might have had in that department and tossed it out the window.

Something something something, financial stressors outside of my control sends me into shut down mode and I can't do anything productive or even fun until it's handled, but because I'm not doing anything productive, I'm not making any money, and the stressors gets worse and worse and it just ends up in a horrible cycle where I constantly want to die because I'm not able to create anything to relieve the stress! Which is why you've all seen... pretty much a standstill on my productivity save one or two pieces a month if I'm lucky

That said, I'm going to start trying (hopefully with some outside help/accountability to keep me on track while I'm unmedicated) to put a system in place that doesn't make me constantly want to die while like. maybe actually getting stuff done! So I'm making some optimistic goals for 2021 regarding both my art and ability to make money, so here goes!

I'm breaking this down into 3 parts:

Changes to expect regarding my social media, commissions in general, posting, etc;

Overall Goals for 2021;

and Goals for January specifically.

Changes to expect going forward from here:

I'm going to be making some changes regarding my social media accounts, including this one, mostly concerning when, where, and how I'm posting.

I am also going to be making some changes to my commission policies, prices, and payments in the coming year, namely:

Lastly, I will be making some changes to my art discord server!

Moving forward, I am going to be MOST active on my twitter and tumblr accounts. They're just easier for me to maintain in general, and although I hate twitter's formatting, it's just easier and faster, and frankly after deviantART and Instagram fucked with their websites/algorithms, it just makes the most sense for me as an artist.

I'm also going to be making an effort to make scheduled cross-posts on all my accounts. In the past, I've been really irregular about when and where I post things (most things got posted to my old tumblr account but never here, i rarely remember to post to instagram, etc).

This is going to include commission slots, finished piece dumps, etc.

I will also be making an effort to semi-regularly post sketch dumps, both digitial and traditional. I am also considering at this time offering a monthly digital download of my sketch collections, though I am undecided as I'm not really sure how many people would be interested.

Increasing commissions prices to reflect time spent working on specific commission types, as well as my personal cost of living.

Planning and announcing commission slots in advance.

Taking and finishing regular commissions to cover living expenses on a monthly basis

Payments will be exclusively through paypal invoice, and will be broken up in halves: first half will be taken up front after I have started and given proof of start (base sketch), the second half will be paid after completion, with WIPS given between first and second payment. Fully completed art will be given after receipt of second half. This is both for my personal protection as an artist, as well as for the comfort of the commissioner as my completion time can sometimes be long due to my ADHD/executive dysfunction.

Moving forward into 2020, my discord will be SFW, but 18+ only. This is a personal comfort thing. I'm 25 years old now, and just really don't want to spend time hanging out with teenagers.

I'm also going to start trying to schedule art streams again! Since this is the only place I can live stream due to my art computer's limitations, it just makes sense to like. Schedule them so more people are able to attend. I haven't decided exactly how that's going to look, but once I have I'm going to make an announcement and formatting guide somewhere for people to see so they can make an informed decision about joining the server.

I will also be regularly posting in the server again. This may or may not be cross posts from twitter and such, we'll see, but I DO plan on being more active there since it's been kind of dead.

I may also reformat the whole server again. We'll see!

Goals for 2021

Regular Adopt Sets -- 2-3 per month. Size, price, and number in set will be decided on case by case basis.

I'll be doing a monthly prompt for myself as well. This is just to get me back in the habit of creating things I like for myself to just feel... less bad about my art in general, and about making art. Also it'll be good for my artistic development i think?

Keeping a monthly sketchbook for warm-ups and in-between pieces. May be offered as a paid download at the end of the month, we'll see.

Might start a patreon? This is EXTREMELY dependent on what my userbase looks like. Tiers and rewards to be decided at a later date

Regular traditional sketches + scan and upload of said sketches. May also be offered in the monthly sketchbook.

Draw more self portraits & self-expression pieces! I don't know if any of yall realize how repressed I've been in the last year without therapy, and I did't either until I forced myself to pursue a vent piece earlier this month, and then felt immensely better afterward so. Going to start doing that! Maybe I'll feel better weee

Regular posting to social media! (see changes above)

Drawing less fantrolls bc I'm just bleh about them lately, drawing more original content!

Drawing fancontent that ISN'T homestuck? We'll see but I'd like to. I don't usually draw fan art bc like. Idk in my mind I don't feel like my interpretation of things is important or cool and I think thats a confidence thing and I'd like to change that so! I'm gonna start making more fan content.

Draw more full illustrations & backgrounds in general because I actually enjoy doing them it turns out?

Practice painting more !! Both traditionally and digitally....

Goals for January 2021

Finish at LEAST 1/4 of my art queue. I'm shooting for half, really, because fully completing it might actually kill me but! We'll see! Maybe I'll surprise myself. But I'm setting the goal low to keep my mental health problems in mind.

Finish and release the base set i've been working on, on and off. It's an homage to the old pixel doll days of 2009-2012, and the full sheet will be free to use (with stipulations, as I have some people blocked that I don't want using it). BUT! There will also be a mix and match .psd that will be pay to use (it'll be pay to use a, bc it'll be huge, and b, bc the edits to make it mix and match results in like 6 seperate bases in general so.... yeah. pay to use)

Finish the pay-to-use base pack i started in june (i may scrap and restart though, we'll see)

Possibly release all old p2u bases of mine in one pack on gumroad? price tbd but it will include old iterations as well as unreleased remakes.

Making some dainty-specific bases! One will be f2u, one will be p2u.

I have a whole dainty YCH set for january! I just have to finish the example... (:

Perhaps I'll be announcing a collaborative project later in the month! It depends on where each of us are at, at the time! We'll see! (: You should be excited though! It'll be a ton of fun!

EXTERNAL LINKS

Instagram

Twitter

Tumblr

deviantART

Discord server

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peytonainsworth · 4 years

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/ * { madelaine petsch ☁ twenty-seven ☁ she/her } among the whispers around peach hollow, have you heard of peyton ainsworth? no? well, let’s catch you up to speed. rumor has it, they’ve been seen strolling around olive avenue & have lived in peach hollow for two weeks, seeing as she just moved back. it’s good to have them around because i hear they’re an event planner for a living. recent events must have them trembling because it hasn’t be long since everyone found out that peyton used to escort in order to support herself after disowning her hotel tycoon father’s riches. let’s hope they learned their lesson that the truth always catches up to you. { haley ☁ twenty-one ☁ she/her ☁ est }

hi babies ! i’m haley, twenty-one savage from the est. massachusetts to be exact. like every bostonian, i drink clam chowder through a straw and hold a tom brady vigil by my bedside nightly. some of you may know peyton and her big personality already but for those of you that don’t, here is my lil red lipstick, ginger, regina george queen <3333

personality

character inspo: quinn fabray, santana lopez, regina george, jackie burkhart, blair waldorf, heather chandler, cheryl blossom ofc

HEAD BITCH IN CHARGE

will roast ur entire existence

perfectionist!! detail oriented!!

CRAZY PSYCHO BITCH

the problem child bc her sister is an angel

big bitch but has a heart sometimes

she will not go get mexican food w u don’t even ask but she really just wants a damn burrito

will literally come over and marie kondo ur entire life

evil genius and luvs revenge

a legit psycho when it comes to loving people like has hacked her exes phones even though she seems calm and collected on surface level

will force u to watch home videos of her skating and u will watch

don’t ask to see her sketch books she will blush and change the subject

past

peyton hasn’t live in georgia all of her life. in fact she is one of the town’s newer residence. she moved there a little under a year ago with her mom and sister.

peyton was born and raised in san francisco in a neighborhood called pacific heights, commonly known as billionaire’s row.

she was born into wealth, her father owning a chain of five star hotels that had been passed down through the generations for as long as she could remember. she spent a ton of time in the beautiful hotels her father owned, learning her work ethic from him. her father was stoic man who put more value on a dollar than substantial relationships with his family. your typical rich dad.

her mother was a trophy wife, spewing meaningless side projects like perfume lines and eye shadow palettes that enviably made their way into departments stores alike.

peyton’s fondest childhood memories was helping set up for the weddings in the hotels. watching the flowers be arranged, the chairs be strategically placed, the wait staff setting the champagne flutes. this lead to her taking an interest in doodling wedding dresses and small flower arrangements.

she has a small wildflower tattoo going along the curve of her breast that she drew, fun fact.

when she was three, her little sister was born. the two grew up inseparable, running amuck in their house together, pranking the nannies but most importantly: ice skating. there were obviously no ice rinks in california naturally but their nanny would take them to an indoor skating rink for lessons. peyton and audrey were quite good skaters.

in high school, peyton won a ton of awards in art contests and even got scholarship to attend art schools across the country.

her dad insisted there was no money in being artist (even if money was never a problem for them), he urged her to take over and be a hotel tycoon like him. peyton and her father fought a lot towards the end of high school about this but at the end of the day, she was her fathers daughter and was stubborn. peyton knew the key to happiness was chasing you passion instead of the dollar.

she attended rhode island school of art and design, earning a degree in interior design and a minor in illustrator. after graduating, she returned home and expected to have a job in the hotel that could suit her.

as she expected, her father got her a job in his business planning the events and having creative control over how each other ballrooms looked as well as the lobbies. working in close quarters with her father made their relationship grow quite strong. the two did everything together and suddenly their stoic walls were crumbling, only for each other.

it seemed as though everything in peyton’s life was coming together. she was the head event coordinator at the hotel, her father was her boss and allowed her to have free range. her sister was around so they could goof off at work.

this was until one day peyton was bringing her father lunch from their favorite mexican food truck in the city. she then walked in on her father sleeping with his assistant which put a stake in their relationship.

peyton couldn’t keep the secret from her mother. she’d rather her mother walk away with dignity rather than stay with a man who had no respect for her. but her mother did not have the same respect for herself.

peyton made the decision to take her funds and move to georgia to be near her grandparents, that’s how she ended up in peach hollow.

peyton’s time in peach hollow

peyton moved to peach hollow three years ago per her ultimatum to her mother that it was either her or her father and her mother chose her father.

she moved into a house on olive avenue and visited her grandparents frequently.

being skeptical at first about the new town around her, it took her a while to warm up and make friends.

she owned her own successful event planning business.

after about a year of living in peach hollow, she started dating leo choi and their relationship was rough from the very beginning. around the time they made things official, it got exposed by the peacher that she was an escort. and it also got exposed that leo had a secret child.

but peach hollow made peyton an extremely happy person and even made her a better human being.

peyton and leo were happy for about a year after overcoming their obstacles, just to run into another. leo got busy with work and his son, growing closer to other people as peyton began to drift away herself. it wasn’t until one day when their estrangement became physical.

leo walked in on his roommate lucas and peyton having sex and that was the end of their relationship. this was also the end of peyton’s time in peach hollow.

the last two years & now

after cheating on leo, peyton moved to nyc to take a job offer at a five star hotel planning events and also freelancing other galas throughout the city.

peyton’s been absolutely thriving, becoming a bit of a party girl with the city life but also finding herself as a professional in the daylight.

she’s even had a few relationships in new york but nothing as serious as her relationship with leo. she lowkey still has their pictures tucked away in her manhattan apartment.

she brought her dog mango to nyc from sanfran.

doesn’t talk to her mom or dad, has cut all ties completely.

moved back to peach hollow (olive ave) bc her grandma is sick and she needs someone to take care of her. is not happy ab it. was living her best life.

#peachesintro #about #bio

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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Garbage Pail Kids At 35: The Kids Are Alright

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Presented by:

This story appears in the Den of Geek x eBay special edition trading card magazine.

Garbage Pail Kids gave birth to my anti-authority streak. I was in fifth grade waiting for art class to start and showing off my prized Ashcan Andy to enraptured classmates when my teacher walked in the classroom, sighed, confiscated the card and proceeded to rip it up. “This junk has no place in an art room,” she stoically declared as Andy was transformed into sad confetti before my eyes. Years later, I came to realize that this demonstration was all about jealousy – these cards had instantly engaged students in art in a way that her years of teaching never could.

And let me be clear here: Garbage Pail Kids are most definitely art. Often grotesque and always eye-catching, the unfortunate children showcased on these cards fostered an interest in painting, illustration, and design for generations of kids since Topps first introduced them back in 1985 (their pun-heavy names also were a gateway for subversive humor). After 35 years, Garbage Pail Kids have become a cultural institution—not to mention schoolyard contraband for nearly four decades, an unexpected bonus that would make the creators of these cards—veterans of the counterculture themselves—beam with pride.

To trace the origins of Garbage Pail Kids, a brief history lesson is in order. Although they were best known for their baseball cards, the Topps Company also had huge success with bubblegum cards based on popular films and TV shows. Further expanding their creative pallet, Topps released numerous humor card lines, the most popular of which was Wacky Packages. Like Mad Magazine before them, these stickers showcased parodies of contemporary products with bitingly accurate focus.

In the early 1980s there was no bigger consumer frenzy than the Cabbage Patch Kids. These dolls from Xavier Roberts and Coleco featured an elaborate backstory and cloyingly adorable looks that became the stuff of toy legend (news reports featuring near riots as parents tried to get their hands on the damn things were commonplace in the early 1980s).

Naturally, then, Cabbage Patch Kids were an ideal target to get the Wacky Packages treatment. But the decision was wisely made by Topps execs that Garbage Pail Kids could be a card line of their own. Spearheading the project was underground comics legend Art Spiegelman (who would go on to win a Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for his groundbreaking holocaust graphic novel Maus), Raw comics anthology contributor Mark Newgarden, and artist John Pound.

Pound, a veteran of painting fantasy and science fiction book covers, was brought by Spiegelman to illustrate the original Wacky Packages “Garbage Pail Kid” card (featuring one of the dolls pushed into a trash can and touting orders to send the unfortunate soul to the Department of Sanitation). Though this Wacky Pack was shelved, Pound single-handedly painted all the characters featured in the first Garbage Pail Kids set. “They liked the idea sketches I sent in,” he says, “and asked me to do all 40 paintings in two months, which was faster than I was used to, but I got organized and made the deadline.”

Working with Spiegelman, Newgarden, and Topps creative favorite Jay Lynch to craft ideas, Pound’s early characters included the now iconic Adam Bomb, and remain some of the most beloved in the line (for the record, Pound names Adam Bomb, Up Chuck, Jolly Roger, and Mona Loser as some of his favorite creations).

Looking back over three decades later, Pound sees several reasons why Garbage Pail Kids have endured:

“The original concept had strengths: doing a parody of the famous Cabbage Patch Kids, and a name that was both clear and familiar sounding,” he says. “The concept’s rebellious attitude and shock value gave it initial attention. Also, in the ‘80s, Topps products were widely distributed, like in drug stores, variety stores, convenience stores.”

Although he freely admits that “I wasn’t expecting it, but Garbage Pail Kids became a huge hit,” Pound says aesthetic concerns were foremost on his mind when painting these garish figures. “On my end, despite the abundant gross humor and shock value, I simply wanted the art to feel good to look at. And I tried to put love into the paintings.”

The care with which these outlandish cards were created was appreciated by consumers. Fifteen different series of Garbage Pail Kids were produced between 1985 and 1988. There was spinoff GPK merchandise too, ranging from folders emblazoned with images of popular characters to the on-brand/subversively named Cheap Toys. The Garbage Pail Kids Movie was released in 1987 with The Facts of Life co-star Mackenzie Astin in the lead. On that topic, The Toys That Made Us and A Toy Store Near You creator Brian Volk-Weiss sums up the flick perfectly: “That movie is so bonkers even seeing it is not believing it. It reminds me in a weird way of a low budget Batman and Robin in that it was like a ton of people were involved with the green light and execution and seemingly had no oversight on any matter.”

But as far as Volk-Weiss is concerned, a new motion picture has plenty of potential. “I would love to see them do a ‘serious’ reboot that would be similar to the first Guardians of the Galaxy film in that they take the characters and the world seriously,” he states, “but the fun and humor and oddness stays intact too.” While there may be a future on screen for New Wave Dave and company, whatever it turns out to be must avoid the mistakes of the infamous 1987 cartoon series – which was produced for CBS but never aired due to the then-ongoing controversy surrounding the franchise (it eventually landed on DVD, and the less said about it the better.)

Despite a lull in any new products that lasted from the late 1980s until 2003, Garbage Pail Kids never really left the public consciousness. If anything, they were inspiring new talent. Enter Buff Monster. The Hawaii native and prolific street artist known for his upbeat, ice cream-inspired work was so inspired by Garbage Pail Kids that he created his own line of sticker art cards, The Melty Misfits. With names like Mind-Blowin’ Owen (featuring a cameo by a very Adam Bomb-esque character) and Bam Bam Sam, these intricately designed stickers—created on the type of antiquated machinery that Garbage Pail Kids were made on—come complete with a retro-styled wax pack and showcase Buff Monster’s own unique aesthetic as they pay homage to the Topps line.

Talking about why he personally connected with Garbage Pail Kids, Buff Monster makes a salient point on why these things were so memorable in the first place.

“If you look at most trading cards, they are less than what they’re about. Having a baseball card is a ‘less than’ experience than watching the game. If you’re watching a baseball game in person, that’s great, but watching a baseball game on TV is actually better because you’ve got commentary, and you’ve got playback, and all this sort of stuff,” he tells us.

“But Garbage Pail Kids stand out because the art was made for the cards, so the card was the thing. The card wasn’t some sub-version of something else. It was the point of making the art in the first place. And so that has always stuck with me. And that is really kind of what it comes down to for me.”

Buff Monster’s The Melty Misfits stickers are a burgeoning phenomenon for the 2020s, just as Garbage Pail Kids were for the 1980s. It’s understandable that he is partnering with eBay for a special pack of The Melty Misfits, some of which will come packaged with a random “Golden Ticket” card that will entitle the recipient to have Buff Monster create a character of their choice.

“This pack that we’re going to do is a nice little introduction to me and eBay working together,” he says. “This is a very easy thing for the completist to get. And that’s good.”

It’s clear when talking to Buff Monster that Garbage Pail Kids continue to inspire. And the cards themselves feel more vibrant than ever, way more relevant today than the doll that inspired them in the first place. Case in point? Recent political and horror-themed Garbage Pail Kids sets (which are really one and the same when you think about it) have brought old fans back into the fold.

Another example of booming Garbage Pail Kids interest is the 2017 documentary 30 Years of Garbage: The Garbage Pail Kids Story. The film’s writer and (with Jeff Zapata) co-director is Joe Simko, himself an accomplished artist and graphic designer who has worked on the card line and IDW’s spinoff Garbage Pail Kids comic, as well as his own series of The Sweet Rot graphic novels and his Cereal Killer trading cards. Simko vividly remembers when Garbage Pail Kids entered his life.

“I first discovered Garbage Pail Kids when I was 10 years old while riding the school bus. A couple of kids were sharing them,” Simko says. “It was the second series, and I just remember that artwork jumping out at me. Never had I seen such appetizing visuals on a trading card before. I knew instantly they were an attack on the highly successful Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, which dominated the kid’s market landscape at the time. Garbage Pail Kids were such a great middle-school kids protest to that cutesy Cabbage Patch world.”

Simko has been a part of Garbage Pail Kids lore since 2009, and during that time has given the Garbage Pail Kids treatment to everything from Stranger Things to Universal Monsters. “I think my favorite Garbage Pail Kids projects are the licensed product paintings I get to do,” he says. “For instance, the Garbage Pail Kids cereal for FYE was just so great to work on. Doing cereal box signings at the FYE pop-up shop during San Diego Comic-Con was an overwhelming experience. Greeting Garbage Pail Kids fans, when I too am a fan, is amazing.”

When I mention the brand’s longevity to Simko, he is quick to sum up their continued popularity. “Garbage Pail Kids have lasted this long due in part to the dedicated group of collectors who grew up on the series in the ’80s. Yes, there are younger kids buying them today, but the nostalgia it brings to those grown-up kids keeps the spirit and revenue of the Garbage Pail alive.”

Bringing things full circle, he also vindicated myself and everyone else who was ever frowned upon for appreciating the cards’ artistic merits.

“They are a true form of art. To pass judgement on them and reject these cards as ‘art’ because of the subject matter, is to have a narrow perspective of what art is,” Simko says. “Credit goes to the original creators of the Garbage Pail Kids cards during the 1980s, Art Spiegelman and Mark Newgarden. Art and Mark knew the ingredients to make GPK work. And of course the artists, John Pound, Tom Bunk, James Warhola, and Jay Lynch, were the ‘cooks.’ They made it taste and look perfectly gross. Without any of these creative minds, I believe Garbage Pail Kids would not be the success it became at the time.”

Despite being anchored to a fad from the 1980s, Garbage Pail Kids are ultimately timeless. Children of all ages will always take to the goofy grossness that is embedded in the line’s DNA. Nostalgia is a potent thing too, but as recent years have illustrated, Topps is always looking to evolve the IP, be it through virtual Garbage Pail Kids, high-end collectible figures, or just by continuing to bring in great artists to keep the bread and butter of the franchise—the card line—going strong. These Kids may be pushing 40, but in the heart of fans, they’ll never age.

Garbage Pail Kids eBay x Topps Exclusive

The 10-card set created by Joe Simko is the first exclusive from eBay and Topps. Each card is representative of buying and selling on eBay. The set will be available for $19.99 on eBay for one week starting on August 10.

The post Garbage Pail Kids At 35: The Kids Are Alright appeared first on Den of Geek.

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prorevenge · 5 years

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Power hungry president sucks the joy out of a local artist collective, ends up having to leave town.

A warning and an apology: this is long.

For background, my older sister, who I'll call Beth, is married to her high school sweetheart, who I'll call Craig. Beth is a pretty laid-back person, but she has one hot button trigger that causes her to have zero chill: anyone treating her beloved Craig poorly. Craig is very quiet and kind, just in general a mild-mannered, good-natured guy who's not great at standing up for himself, so he often attracts bad actors who view him as an easy mark, and because he alwaysassumes that other people have good intentions, he's not great at realizing when he's being mistreated. Beth is usually pretty relaxed about things, but she will basically turn into a howling, vengence-seeking banshee if anyone takes advantage of Craig.

Which brings us to ~2-3 years ago. Craig works a white collar job remotely, but he's an amateur artist/craftsman as a hobby. He does wood carving, a little bit of light metalwork, and 2-D art (mainly pencil sketches and pen-and-ink illustrations). He joined an artist's collective/makerspace where he could work on these hobbies around likeminded people, and he absolutely loved it. Whenever I hung out with him and Beth around this time, Craig would excitedly talk about the space and his projects there with infectious enthusiasm. His eyes were practically beaming out of his head whenever it came up. Beth joined too to learn/improve on her own hobby of fiber arts (mainly weaving and dyeing), but she was way less into it than Craig.

Some time after this, the president of the makerspace stepped down. It was essentially a volunteer position, though it came with a small (mostly symbolic) stipend. Since the makerspace had no actual staff, being president of the makerspace was a huge undertaking that involved being a one-man show for everything--for a start, coordinating with the board, keeping day-to-day operations going, and chasing the grants that kept the lights on. The current president just couldn't do it anymore with his full-time job, and announced his intention to vacate the role. Craig had come to love the makerspace, and he figured he had the resources to be an effective president. His job is entirely remote and deliverables-based (he can work whatever hours he wants as long as he's meeting his objectives), so he figured he could work out of the makerspace on his laptop and be available there if anyone needed him, and then do the heavy lifting of the role outside work hours. So he threw his hat in the ring.

Enter Jamie, a recent industrial design grad. Jamie was known to be flaky and very dramatic, but he'd been a member of the makerspace for a couple of years, almost as long as it had existed, and he felt entitled to be handed the presidency because he had seniority. He lost his damn mind when he heard that Craig had the audacity to go for the same role and complained to several members about how Craig was massively overstepping. This got back to Craig, who didn't really take it seriously, and it also got back to Beth, who, of course, was already irritated that Jamie was shit-stirring, but kept it to herself.

Long story short: Jamie won the member vote by a small margin, which Craig was very gracious about. Craig congratulated Jamie on the victory, then settled back into business as usual. Jamie... was not so gracious. He was enraged that Craig had gotten so many votes, and made it known to everyone that he was trying to figure out who had voted for Craig, and that they "would pay." Many of the members who had voted for Jamie passively because he'd been around forever and they didn't really know Craig were shocked by this behavior and started privately expressing regret to each other. But it gets worse. The makerspace had always offered members the perk of sponsoring workshops, meetups, and classes that anyone, members or non-members, could attend; all you had to do was sign up for the space on a first-come, first-served basis and kick up 20% of any profits to the makerspace if you charged a fee. Jamie started preemptively cancelling classes and workshops sponsored by anyone on his shit list by blocking off all available reservations during the regular times certain classes would be held. So Craig had traditionally sponsored a popular casting workshop on Wednesday evenings, and suddenly all Wednesday evenings were booked solid before the sign-up sheet was even available. He tried switching to Thursday, but after just one rescheduled workshop, suddenly Thursday evenings were out too. He tried Tuesdays, but because it was so early in the week, no one could come. Craig was bummed, but was still too good-natured to realize Jamie was intentionally sabotaging him out of spite, despite a righteously angry Beth trying to paint the picture for him of what was going on.

Beth. Was. Pissed. But she wasn't banshee pissed yet. Not until...Jamie selectively told the people on his shit list that member fees were going up. By almost double. He presented this as a makerspace-wide policy, but he made one crucial error. Somehow, Jamie never picked up on Craig and Beth being married, probably because he was never around both of them at the same time. So Beth flew under his radar, and he didn't raise her member fees, just Craig's and some of Craig's known friends, which confirmed to her that he was intentionally retaliating against Craig.

At this point, Beth had steam coming out of her ears and went to go talk to the board, since they have the power to cite or even throw out the president. They were uneasy about what she told them, but they said the president was technically allowed to set member fees, and they'd keep an eye on things.

Beth didn't really believe the board that they'd be keeping an eye on things, because Jamie was already dropping the ball all over the place, and the board wasn't making a peep over it. He wanted to be president because of the prestige, but he was never willing to do the work, so he just--didn't do it, and things were falling apart. The makerspace was getting late notices on unpaid bills, basic maintenance of the space wasn't getting done, materials weren't being restocked as they ran out, and the record keeping was nonexistent. It got so bad that the previous president who had stepped down because he couldn't handle the time commitment anymore (who had run the makerspace from its inception) quit as a member altogether because he was so saddened and disgusted by how bad things had gotten. He'd put his blood, sweat, and tears into this place, and stepped down from a role he treasured because he believed it was in the best interest of the organization, and now he had to watch Jamie run this place he loved into the ground out of sheer laziness. Craig was also losing his excitement over the makerspace, because he no longer had the space or resources to do the things he enjoyed there.

Beth, at this point, had gone from furiously angry to strategically angry. Suspecting that Jamie was being shady in more ways than one, she spent a few days being friendly to Jamie and sucking up to him, and then sprung on him the offer to help with the organization's bookkeeping and records. Still not realizing that she was Craig's wife, but knowing that she worked as a project manager in her day job, Jamie saw a chance to get some skilled work done at zero effort to himself, and he happily agreed, and gave her access to the makerspace's Google Sheets (not the most high-tech operation). For a little while, Beth bided her time, bringing the financial accounts up to date and continuing to be diabolically friendly to Jamie.

After a while of this, she calmly pulled together six copies of documents comparing the official organizational income that Jamie was reporting to her with the actual income, which Jamie was completely unaware she was tracking. These documents proved that Jamie was not only skimming money off the top of class and workshop fees, but was actively stealing money from the grants the makerspace was receiving, which is highly illegal. Beth gave the six board members her impeccably compiled proof of what was happening.

Almost immediately, the board "fired" Jamie and issued a lifetime ban from the makerspace. They were afraid of losing their grants if news came out about the gross misappropriation, so they didn't report Jamie to the authorities, but instead gave him 48 hours to return the stolen funds, the implication being that they would report him if he didn't. He panicked and complied, selling his car quickly to do it and scrounging up the difference in a ton of quick loans from friends, many of whom were makerspace members not aware of what was going on (no, he never paid them back). He's now persona non grata with all of his former friends, and while he still has a clean criminal record, word traveled pretty far in the local artist community, which means he was black listed from most of the industrial design jobs in the area and couldn't use his degree if he wanted to stay in town. As far as Beth and Craig knew, he moved away about six months after all this went down, but they haven't kept up with him, and don't know where he is.

The makerspace board realized their setup was bad, so instead of a single president, they restructured to have a panel of volunteer officers running the operation. Craig is one of them, and has happily thrown himself back into wood working and metal casting. Beth still helps out with the books.

TL;DR: Power hungry industrial designer tries to sabotage my brother-in-law's hobby; gets his life destroyed by my protective sister, who reveals that he's embezzling.

(source) (story by SisterSist)

#prorevenge #by SisterSist #pro revenge #revenge stories #pro revenge stories #pro #revenge #revenge story #last10

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roradraws · 4 years

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Looking to get into digital art. Any advice/sources/beginner tips you could share? Thanks a ton

Heyo! Thanks for your question! It took a while to get back to you, I know, but hopefully this lengthy post makes up for it, hehe. :D

Here’s some general advice/mini tutorials I thought might be useful for a beginner (some of it is just general art advice that I think is useful to remember when getting into digital art). Hope this helps and let me know how you go!

***

The boring important stuff

What kind of digital art do you want to create?

Might seem kind of redundant, but knowing what kind of art (highly realistic, illustration, manga etc.) will help you develop the right skills for you.

Focusing on one, maybe two, big styles/techniques/skills at a time will help you improve faster rather than focusing on a bunch of little things at once.

So just pick something you know you want to learn/improve etc. and go from there.

Draw. draw, draw. Play around and experiment.

The best thing you can do to learn and improve your digital art is draw a lot. When I first started there weren’t a lot of resources, especially the kind of stuff I wanted to do. And the tutorials I did find were so complicated I couldn’t do them anyway. Because of this, I think I did something like five drawings in three years. Pretty sad, huh? My work hardly improved at all and it felt demoralising. Sometimes I think back and wonder how much I could have grown if I had practiced regularly.

Resource: https://youtu.be/emcO79uteN4 (drawing advice)

Learn how to use your chosen tablet and program.

You don’t have to become a master at it, but learning the basics will go a long way. There’s a lot of tutorials for most of the digital art programs. You can just do a quick search and find videos explaining the basics. This will make your life easier!

Now for the basic digital art, mini tutorial stuff:

Linework basics:

Pen pressure

Each tablet will feel different, as will each program, so it never hurts to play around with your pen settings to find what’s comfortable. You can find quick tutorials that will show you how to adjust your specific pen pressure.

Stability

“Everyone has such clean, smooth lines! Except me! Mine are wobbly and terrible! They suck!”

No, friend, they have their pen stability adjusted to suit them, or have downloaded a brush set that helps them. Stability settings will depend on what program you’re using.

There are heaps of brush packs out there, but for linework specifically you’d want something that has a kind of slanted tip.

I often change what brushes I use, but some I like are:

https://gumroad.com/l/JYdba

https://sellfy.com/georgvw (lots of stuff here but costs a little. Inktober set it good)

They’re for procreate, but you could easily find some for photoshop or other programs too.

Inking/Line weight

This can be a little bit difficult to explain, and I’m not sure of any tutorial in particular that I think explains it completely. Your line work will add depth to your piece (unless the kind of art you’re doing is without linwork, then feel free to skip this).

The basics are:

Thicker lines are generally for things that need to be bolder, materials/substances that are more coarse or dense (e.g. thick jacket, boulders), for objects that are closer to you, and also for things that are more in shadow.

Thinner lines are generally for things that need to be more transparent, wispy (hair, for example), for light materials/substances (e.g negligee, leaves), objects that a further away or less important, and things that are in bright light.

Small example:

(yeah I couldn’t help but add a little she-ra to this post...)

The exception to the rule:

Overall, most people would agree that they want their art to look good/be compelling over something that is technically accurate. If this means making bolder lines on something that would typically be thin (maybe someone’s hair, for example) because it adds extra depth and an interesting look -- then you should do that.

Example, what I generally do with my lines:

Shadows/Light Source

This can make your art go up a notch, and give greater depth to your illustrations -- even if you’re doing just some sketching. Knowing where your light source is will add more depth to both colour and black and white works. It can be tricky getting them right sometimes, but here are some general examples/rules.

(also, I’m no expert at this. these are just some things that I find generally useful).

Light source/Shadow examples:

Depending on the direction of the light source, will depend on where the shadows are.

(and of course I had to use zuko too because the dramatic lighting is perfect on him)

Shadows will change depending on the object, and the direction of the light.

Some things to keep in mind:

Things in shadow will generally have less detail (unless you decide you don’t want to do that for certain effects).

Interesting shadow shapes will usually win over making things technically correct.

Even googling “light source references” shows some decent results:

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBAU805AU805&biw=1536&bih=754&tbm=isch&sxsrf=ACYBGNQPqF22f6P5Fsz2VnrUFzOJ-RV8TA%3A1574554362929&sa=1&ei=-srZXfmuOPSH4-EPwOWouAs&q=light+source+refernce&oq=light+source+refernce&gs_l=img.3...568.1258..1376...0.0..0.274.1470.2-6......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......0j0i5i30j0i8i30.X4dgUAjeEVQ&ved=0ahUKEwj5k-2LyIHmAhX0wzgGHcAyCrcQ4dUDCAc&uact=5#imgrc=_

Also, this is a good resource too:

https://youtu.be/ZJkIaMECW6c

Basic Colour Theory/Colour Tips

Complementary colours are those that are found opposite one another on the colour wheel. They go great together in work because it can add contrast, drama, intensity, and just some great colour design.

When using complementary colours, it’s easy to just pick two colours opposite each other and decide to colour with them in equal amounts.

While this can be nice, if it’s the look you’re going for, it can also be overbearing if that’s not the look you wanted. One of the things I was taught by an artist friend, was to try and use the complementary as an accent colour -- to make things pop and come to life in the work.

These are just some things to keep in mind, and either way is good.

Resources:

https://youtu.be/Qj1FK8n7WgY

Colour theory continued -- Building Palettes:

So, building palettes that work/using only a few colours (something I’m still trying to learn!). There are many ways to do this. You can use a complementary pallet, an analogous palette for a harmonious effect, or even a monochromatic palette .

There’s also a triadic approach (plus a few other ones I don’t often use), but I honestly haven’t thought much about this so I’m not sure what advice I can give.

It’s basically three colors that are equally apart on the wheel, for example: red, blue and yellow. If you find this interesting and end up using it, show me the results -- I’d love to see!

*I’m a big fan of doing things either complementary or analogue when building colour palettes, but monochromatic paintings can have an amazing effect and it’s something I will definitely be trying in the future.

note: colour theory is in-depth, and a lot more complicated than this (largely due to most of us being taught incorrect colour theory as children -- technically some of the colour theory above is not quite correct but a comprehensive colour theory guide would take tutorial of it’s own). So if you’d like to know more just let me know.

Resources:

https://www.google.com/search?q=color+palette+ideas&rlz=1C1CHBF_en-GBAU805AU805&sxsrf=ACYBGNQJtnt9SzKjFpxC-HXzuivXPW6vGg:1574906679811&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjViNHJ6IvmAhUv6XMBHaaHAp8Q_AUoAXoECAwQAw

Over Saturation

Saturated work can look really great if that’s what you’re going for, but a lot of the time this is something that happens by accident when learning how to use colours and it can look quite garish.

There’s a few things you can do to help with this.

Make a colour palette or guide before you begin to colour so don’t accidentally over saturate

Find a colour palette that suits your work and use them as your palette

If you’ve finished a piece, and it’s already too late to change it you can play around with the colour settings in your program (photoshop and procreate both have some settings you can toy with that can reduce saturation intensity)

*just like using complementary colours as an accent, you can use minimal bits of saturated colour to draw attention to certain aspects of your work you want noticed

A few other little things

● Another thing to think about is composition -- planning how you want your art to look (which could be something like: including negative space, using the rule of thirds, making a specific feature the anchor of the piece, line of sight etc.)

● Make a pinterest board (or whatever else might help). I make boards for things that inspire me, tutorials I might like to try, references, and even separate boards for individual projects. It can be a great place to store your ideas!

● Also, remember that you don’t need to start doing all these things at once. Start small. Small is good. :)

● Every once and a while go over the things you think you know well. You’ll be surprised how much a little revision can improve your skills, even with something you’re good at.

● USE REFERENCES!!!

So how was this? If you’d like me to go more in-depth in a specific area, I can sure try! Excited to see how your journey goes and I hope this helped! ^_^

xoxo

Rora

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jarenka · 5 years

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Some tip and tricks to write an artist Grantaire

(I don't sure about correct terminology since I don't use it in English, and I'm sorry for bad English as usual) Also disclaimer. I don't live it USA or Europe so there can be differences, but I tried to cover only basics or things that don't depend on country . Also I'm not an art critic, I'm just a person who loves casually go to art museums and have a basic knowledge of art history.

First important note. It's not a choice between working in McDonalds (enter any unqualified job here) and being super cool modern artist with abstract paintings. There are plenty of different jobs for people who can draw.

Second important note. Art supplies. Traditional art is expensive as hell. Professional art supplies for artists are expensive as hell (well Koh-i-Noor is not extremely expensive when you live in Europe, but it is not super cool, for Russia (and Europe I guess) it mostly student's art supplies) especially everything for oil painting. Oil painting is a financial black hole.

I don't know how obvious it is but regular art supplies for kids\hobby are not suitable for professional drawings. They are done from the worse materials, their colour pallets are poor, and some painting made with non-professional materials can be easily destroyed by the day light. Regular office paper and relatively cheap pencils are ok for sketches.

What can we do with it? Buy a graphics tablet of course. Some Chinese graphics tablets are very cheap and they work good but I have no idea how long they last. Wacom tablets are more expensive (but even a basic tablet in M size is suitable for professionals) but they can easily work for 10 years if you will be careful with them. You need a good laptop (unfortunately displays of cheap laptops can be very shitty and unsuitable for drawing) or a PC to work. PC is preferable if you don't have tons of money (you can easily upgrade it by yourself and fix some minor malfunctions). For luxury drawing: Wacom Cintiq for your PC and iPad Pro.

Also if Grantaire paints something not very big (A5, A4) with watercolors, markers and so on, he will need a proper scanner to scan pictures and post them in social media (Epson Perfection V370 or something like that, not a regular cheap scanner of MFP - of course you can scan pictures with this shit, but you better not, it has bad colour reproduction and messes with textures).

Part I. What Grantaire can do.

A LOT.

By the way you can make him an awful graphic designer who has to make disgusting st. Valentine cards with fifty shades of bright pink, hearts, and birds to earn money.

But let's go straight to drawing (it requires a lot of hard work sorry Grantaire).

- Gamedev. Plenty of different specialities. You can do concept art for games, promo art, drawing some elements of interface and so on. Only digital painting, can require very high skills of academic drawing but not always. Also you don't need to finish an art college to work in gamedev, you need a good portfolio with suitable works. Like if you want to be a concept artist you need a portfolio with your concept arts, not with your random pics.

- Illustration. For books, magazines and so on (everything you can find). There can be both traditional art and digital art. It'm not completely sure but I think you need to have a very recognizable style to be a successful illustrator. Also you need a portfolio here too. Actually you need a portfolio for every job as an artist\designer.

- Comics industry. Cover illustrations, drawing, inking, colouring.

- Drawing for stocks (shutterstock and so on). I don't know if it count as a normal work, because I never heard about a regular artists doing reasonable amount of money from stock pictures (it wasn't a good income even for Russia). But it could be good as a side business if you can draw trendy pics.

- Comissions. Deviantart, instagram, tumblr, furaffinity. Porn is paid better. You need to promote yourself in social media to have orders.

- Original works on patreon. You should be a popular artist with fanbase to make some real money from it. Not like super popular with over 500 000 followers but noname artist (like me) hardly can earn anything from patreon.

And there is an important thing. You don't need to be extremely good in this to get a job. Grantaire can be mediocre illustrator and make shitty covers for trashy romantic YA novels or illustrations for a bad child books. He can draw cringy furry porn and earn money on it.

Also another note about portfolio. It is super valuable and it should be collected for a specific position you want to have in company. It even more tricky with gamedev companies, because some of them have preferably aesthetics, and you portfolio for the same position in “Blizzard” and “Nintendo” should be completely different.

Part II. Modern art.

Modern art =/= abstract paintings (also abstract art isn't so modern, it's 100 years old Russian thing). I'm not an art critic but from what I know modern art is mostly about self-expression, ideas and concepts. Artist uses techniques that suit their ideas. Also the meaning can be created not only by paintings themselves but also by the way they are placed in exhibition (a lot of modern artists do the whole exhibitions as an installation, so you need to perceive each painting\sculpture as a part of this installation).

1) Modern art can be pretty realistic actually.

For example Pavel Otdelnov, a well-known Russian modern artist (well at least I saw his paintings at a different exhibitions in different cities and I'm not a huge fan of a modern art). http: //otdelnov .com/en - here his site (please read the text, it explains this concept I was talking about earlier)

This Russian artist does installations that includes detailed realistic paintings and very stylised sculptures: http: //egorplotnikov. pro/en/page-about-me

2) Artist can use very different materials in their works. I've seen an exhibition where all the works were done on the remnants of old wooden houses (traditional Russian architecture is wooden, it's a significant part of our cultural heritage). I've seen exhibition centered on a book (not a real book, of course, it was an art in a form of an illustrated book) that pedantically describes non-existent world in a way you can't fully understand it. I've seen knitted art, embroidered art (it was an exhibition of a German artist I visited with @erlenwein by the way), gigantic carpets as pictures. Go in a local modern art museum if you have one, you will see a lot of weird shit there.

3) Realism and non-figurative abstract art are two extremes.

Firstly there are figurative (you can understand what are you looking at without commentary) and non-figurative (you have no idea what the fuck is it) art.

Figurative art can look very unrealistic (cubism) and it still a figurative art. Also a lot of artists inspired by folk arts of their homeland or kid's drawings (both these things usually have undertones of something naive, genuine and simple).

https: //www.instagram .com/lucyvoronova/ - there is no English version of her website so look at her instagram. Her paintings highly inspired by traditional Russian folk arts like Dymkovo toys, Palekh miniature, Gorodets painting.

4) Exhibitions of modern art usually have a theme. It can be very simple like "Russian realistic art of XXI century", but all works carefully selected by curators of exhibition. Individual modern artist's exhibitions are usually focused on some aspects of their works. For example Lusy Voronova's exhibition I visited couple of days ago was focused on her painting's strong resemblance with Russian folk arts and crafts. Beside her paintings there were display cases with Dymkovo toys, Pavlovo Posad shawls and so on. And there was Russian folk music playing.

I hope it is useful and will help someone with their fics/headcanons.

#les mis #grantaire

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cheetagonzita · 5 years

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Announcement about Mountain Dew-Commissions

I apologize in advance for this wall of text. I don't want to have to do this, but I feel like I have to make something very clear. My Mountain Dew Commissions are a silly offer I came up with 4 years ago; you bring me a bottle of Mountain Dew, I would draw you a tiny sketch. My regular Commissions (at cons) are €15 for a one character sketch, so this was meant as some form of courtesy for people who may not have the money to get a full commission done, some sort of reward for people who actually go through the trouble to bring me something I enjoy. Just a little something to make people happy in return for making me happy. Since people have increasingly made attempts to abuse this offer of mine I will have to lay down some ground rules which I thought were obvious, but apparently, were not to some. 1. Bringing me a shit ton of Mountain Dew will NOT make me your art slave. Repeatedly, people have been asking me how many Sketches they'd receive if they got me <insert ridiculous ammount of Mountain Dew> bottles of soda. Needless to say, I am more than willing to draw two sketches for you if you bring me two bottles/cans at a convention, or maybe one slightly bigger one. Even three bottles. I can be bargained with! But repeatedly now people have been promising (and occasionally even came through with said promises) to bring me whole palettes of Mountain Dew, containing about 24 or more cans of the stuff, both to conventions and to meet-ups. This is obviously TOO MUCH! If I were to stay true to my offer I'd now owe you 24 tiny sketches, or the equivalent of bigger ones. This was not and has never been my intention when offering these commissions! If you're willing to bring me some soda, please keep it at a reasonable amount! I also have to carry the drinks back home eventually, and carrying all that is NOT fun! (Yes, I speak from experience...) 2. If you want a regular commission from me, you CAN'T pay me in Mountain Dew. I've been asked how many Mountain Dews someone had to give me to pay for a full colour digital illustration in the past, or similar requests. As much as I wish it was that way, but Mountain Dew does NOT pay my bills. If you want professional work from me, you will have to pay me like a professional. It's as simple as that. Don't abuse my kindness. 3. Mountain Dew Commissions are an offer that is exclusive to conventions. It may have been different in the past, but here's why: Having to deal with the above problems repeatedly is nerve wracking as it is, but having to deal with this outside of conventions is even worse. Occasionally, if a stranger or a friend offered me a bottle of Dew in exchange for a sketch at a meet-up, I may have said yes. When people asked me in the past if the offer was exclusive to conventions, I'd answer that it was, but I definitely wouldn't say no to some Dew if they got me some (and therefore a sketch for them in return). That has led to the first two problems occurring more and more, to the point that I have to put a stop to it like this. If I ever told you that you could bring me Dew anytime and get a Sketch for it, that is no longer an option. Sorry. 4. If we're friends, then please, PLEASE refrain from doing any of the above!!! I shouldn't have to say this, but a lot of times, people that abused the Mnt Dew Commissions were people I considered to be friends or good acquaintances. By nature, it's very hard for me to say no to people, even more so if I care about you in a way. If we're friends, then it's likely natural that we sometimes spend money on each other, that also includes friends offering me free Mountain Dew. More times than I can count it has happened that I received a bottle of Dew from one of my friends, only to be told afterwards "Well, that makes one sketch for me!", "How many more until I get a whole commission from you?", "Guess you can put me on your Waiting-List, haha!". It's important to note that not all of these are 100% honest, but even if said jokingly, it hurts an awful lot. I have a lot of trouble with detecting sarcasm at times, and saying those things I dislike hearing and framing them as jokes after makes me feel incredibly insecure, stressed and partially used. I WANT to draw things for my friends, I WANT to give my friends special offers and discounts, because I LOVE my friends! This whole Mountain Dew affair in particular has just riled me up so much, has proven to me time and time again that a lot of people are ungrateful for generous offers and all too willing to exploit artists, that I just don't find it humorous any more. Please don't joke about this if you care about me. So after all is said and done, why do I still offer these if people keep abusing these special sort of commission? Simply, because it's fun. People bringing me a single bottle to get a tiny sketch in return at cons and seeing them get excited, that's what I love. Not to mention that I get some Dew in return! (Which is rather hard to get where I'm from) So I would really love to keep doing these Commissions, but if people keep using me like that, I will have no other choice but to stop offering them completely. tl;dr: Don't be a dick to artists.

#announcement #mountain dew commissions

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bigskydreaming · 5 years

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Blech. I’ve pretty much officially finished writing, editing and revising this standalone epic fantasy novel I started years and years ago and only just recently got around to finishing. Which is good, for sure, but also....blech. LOL. Because now I have no more excuses for putting off making a decision about the cover.

Like I always intended to self-pub this particular novel for personal reasons, and I can make my own covers just fine. I’ve done epic fantasy covers before for other clients that turned out well, even working with stock art and photomanipulation, its totally possible to make something that hits all the genre expectations and sells the right tone and feel to readers who come across it. BUT I’ve always loved the illustrated covers of a lot of fantasy novels I grew up with, and always kinda wanted something similar for this particular work, even though I have other fantasy projects I wouldn’t care as much about that one way or the other.

And so years ago when I first started the book and was only about a third of the way in, but still had a solid sense of the world and story and where it was all going, I happened to stumble across a fantasy artist whose work was like...exactly the right tone and aesthetic I’d always been picturing for that novel’s setting and vibe. And he was a freelancer, and open to commissions at the time, and you never know with freelancers if they’ll still be taking commissions a year or two down the line or if they’ve gone to work for like, a video game company or studio or something like that by that point, so even though the book was nowhere near done I hopped on that and commissioned an illustration from him to be used for the cover at some future point when I was ready for it. I just needed the illustration, I was fine doing typography and all that myself when the time came.

And I mean, I’ve literally been on the other side of the author/artist interaction tons of times, lol, so like, I know from my own experiences where its helpful to give an artist or a designer room to breathe and exercise their own creativity, make use of their own particular skillset and interpret the story elements you tell them are most important to see conveyed in the final cover, in like...their own way, like what feels best to them, what they’re most inspired to do with the foundational info you give them to build off of.

Like I mean, visual design is its own skillset, and often completely separate from the kind of visualization most authors do of their own work while writing it....and with self-pubbed authors especially, as artists or designers you often run into authors who get really hung up on relatively minor details that they feel really need to be on the cover in some capacity and in really specific ways. Which is often to the detriment of the cover in the long run because like....what looks right in your head as a writer, totally familiar with your own world and story and its every minutiae and the implications and context of every single element....is not always going to come across the same way to readers who happen across your cover while browsing. Because they literally have ZERO context for what they’re looking at, and thus it really needs to stand on its own two feet and sell itself, not....loop back around to some hidden significance that will really only resonate with readers who end up buying the book and only once they reach this one scene in chapter 27 or whatever, you know?

So I really didn’t want to do that with this artist. I was only commissioning him because I loved what I’d seen of his work and the style he seemed to default to naturally was the perfect fit for what I wanted, IMO, so I was more than willing to let him take the broader strokes of the setting/themes/storyline in whatever direction inspired him most, as long as he hit within the general framework I provided him.

BUT, that said, for all that I tried to give him as much creative freedom to work with as possible, there are of course always a FEW things that as the commissioning party, are really important to see in the final product, and so yeah, I did have a couple of areas/elements that I did stress were really important to strike the right tone with, or it could make or break the whole illustration.

Specifically, I was concerned that he hit the right feel with the main character. My protag for this novel is a woman, and the one area his portfolio samples didn’t have a ton of variety with and thus had me slightly worried about what visual tropes he might default to...was female characters. He had tons of gorgeous settings, fantasy creatures, architecture, knights and sorcerers and monsters, but not a ton of women in the samples I saw. He did have some, for sure, and like there was nothing super concerning about the way he’d drawn/painted them....there were some priestesses, sorceresses, that kinda thing, and their anatomy and wardrobes weren’t like....glaringly cheesecake-y or anything like a lot of fantasy artists’ portfolios....so I knew he COULD get the character right, the way I hoped he would, I just wasn’t SURE. Like, I wasn’t concerned about specific details, beyond like....not outrageously contradicting the character description and scenes I gave him to work off of, I wasn’t worried about nitpicking minutiae. But my protag is a warrior-magic user archetype, and warrior women is like, the one female archetype he didn’t have any samples of, and I was more concerned about him defaulting to like....the old fantasy standby’s of ridiculously impossible and unnatural poses for warrior women, not to mention totally impractical armor, that sort of thing.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but this was the ONE thing I stressed, lol. I didn’t really care about the finer details of her armor like in terms of decoration or filigree or even color schemes, I honestly could just adjust my own descriptions in the book to match what he came up with if need be. Stuff like that, so not a big deal to me. ALL I was concerned about was like....she not fall into those trope traps that ensnare so many women on fantasy covers, like....just make her look like she’s a fucking warrior who knows what the hell she’s doing, and I’ll be fine with everything else, you know? I even sent him some covers of published fantasy novels to use as comparison comps, like ‘this is the kind of feel or vibe I’d ideally like to see her capture, something like these women in these covers here’ as well as ‘this is what I really really DON”T want to see, like, I shouldn’t have a better sense of how good a contortionist she is than whether or not I believe she can swing a sword.’

Soooooo.....what happened?

Did he prioritize as I’d really really hoped he would and strongly expressed my desire for him to, and take care to at least avoid the more obvious problems, even if the end result was’t 100% what I was hoping for? Nooooooope. She might as well be mid-yoga pose. Sigh. Like, the guy has a damn near perfect grasp of anatomy and proportions on every other human figure I saw in the many samples I looked through before commissioning him, but somehow, despite this being of utmost importance to me and the ONLY thing about the entire project I stressed about and made sure to emphasize, lol, he ended up painting her in this weird bent at the waist position that throws her lower body proportions off entirely and like, her hip is angled or arched in this weird way that’s incredibly distracting and off, and like also, of course her armor is....pointless, in all the specific ways that happened to be the ONLY details about her armor I was concerned with. Y’know. Like. Its effectiveness. As armor.

And the absolutely obnoxious thing about it all, is that everything else about the illustration? Absolutely gorgeous. Everything I’d hoped for, even as I deliberately tried not to build up too specific an image in my mind ahead of time. Hell, BETTER than anything I’d have come up with on my own, and totally validating my impulse to have someone with different skillsets than my own do this instead of just making a cover out of stock art the way I usually do with my other projects. He absolutely captured the specific MOOD I was aiming for with the setting and general atmosphere, like, the very reason I’d been drawn to his style in the first place, he totally nailed that. Couldn’t have asked for a better fit to the general ambiance of the piece. The colors were just the right shade of otherworldly, a great mix of light and darkness that sold the gloom of the surrounding environs without drowning in dark palettes that make it hard to pick out individual details and differentiate between figures. So on and so on.

EVERY SINGLE OTHER THING ABOUT THE DAMN ILLUSTRATION IS PERFECT LOL.

Except for the only fucking part I was worried about in the first place, lmaaaaaaaaaao whyyyyyyy.

And I mean, because his style was a combo of illustration and painting, there was never gonna be a ton of room for revisions or tweaks to the final piece, I knew and understood that going in. He showed me what he had when he was done with the initial pencilwork, before he painted over it, but with the understanding that it could still change from that point, if he needed to shift things around because of the way the colors and lighting and shadows were all coming out once painted. And the pencil work lacked the finer details that he added into his painting in the final stages, so like, I did see a rough draft before he started painting, and could ask for tweaks or adjustments at that point...except at that point, I didn’t NEED to! LOL. In the rougher sketch, her general position was just shifted enough from what it ended up being that like, it wasn’t my ideal pose for her but nothing I’d say I actually had a problem with, like her upper body was elevated just enough and at just the right angle compared to what he ended up with that at that point, there was no unnatural hip thrust or any of that stuff, and there was only a rough sense of what would come to be the final armor. So I mean, TECHNICALLY I had an opportunity to pump the brakes and be like whoa wait dude, this isn’t what we discussed, can I get you to go back to the drawing board just in this one specific area right here and maybe even just take another look at those comps I sent you, see what I mean about what I’m trying to avoid and how that’s kinda sneaking in here anyway....except, I didn’t think I had to say anything at that point lol, because it all looked on track??

I mean, its not like I think he deliberately misled me with that initial draft or anything, nothing as dramatic as that. I’m fairly certain that like most artists and designers will tell you, in the process of like, the actual drawing/painting/designing, you have to make adjustments as you go to account for the little unforseen speedbumps where you were juuuuuust off enough in your prediction of how this would look when working in your ultimate medium, that you have to like...keep nudging your initial outline little by little as you go to account for the slight shift in direction...with gradually that adding up to a fairly significant departure in the end. Ultimately, I think we ended up with what we ended up with because he was good with focusing on my specific concerns when drafting in pencil and just mapping out a general intent, but the closer he got to finishing up his piece, the less and less focused he was on the stuff I prioritized rather than his own innate prioritizations and so he just kinda figured ‘is it really gonna be THAT big a deal?’ instead of sacrificing a direction or angle that played into what he thought was a more important design element. Stuff like that. Like, you know me, I’m def not saying that makes it A-Ok in my book, lol, I just mean to say I honestly don’t think it was...a willful, conscious effort on his part to leave me with something as far removed from what I was hoping for as what I got.

So again I say blech. Its just super frustrating and obnoxious and I’ve been trying to decide what to do with it for like, months now. Because again, EVERYTHING ELSE is perfect and gorgeous and like, yes, good, this is what I wanted, what I was hoping for. Like, I literally could not come up with a design using my own go-to mediums that would come anywhere close to capturing the general feel and tone and mood of the story and its setting better than the overall vibe of his piece.

Its just the protag, front and center, is absolutely driving me fucking nuts. And I keep going back and forth endlessly because I’m like is it really THAT bad and noticeable or am I hyper-fixating because I specifically tried to avoid this end result and ended up with at least a version of it anyway? And then I’m like psst, remember how much fucking money you spent on this, like yeah thats long gone and doesn’t change your current situation one way or another so it doesn’t really matter except oh yeah its totally gonna fucking haunt you if you don’t use this lol and all that money was spent for nothing lmfao you dumbass. And then I’m like, just to weigh my options, what would I design for this cover myself, if I ended up scrapping this and making my own from scratch, do I at least have anything in mind that’s for sure not any worse than my dissatisfaction with this? Except lol I literally can not seem to come up with ANYTHING, like, total blank, because again there’s just enough that I LIKE about the piece that its like, now that I’ve seen THOSE aspects of it, I’m not gonna be content with any cover that doesn’t contain them and I just literally have no way of replicating those effects via my own design medium.

Ugh. So its really annoying, and I keep going around and around and around in circles and making no progress on what to do about it and like...ugh. I hate being so anal about shit like this, especially when I am usually pretty good about dodging the hyper-fixation tendencies on this front specifically.....but I just got whammied but good by the way all of this unfolded and came together and now I feel stuck and lmao I’m really not fond of the fact that I’m really fucking proud of this book and how it came out in terms of the writing and story but like, covers ARE actually a pretty big deal as they’re literally a reader’s first impression, and I feel like no matter which route I go, a big part of me is gonna be doomed to be like NO YOU FUCKING IDIOT THAT WAS THE WRONG CHOICE, UGH WTF DUDE, TURN AROUND, UNDO, UNDO, U’LL REGRET THIIIIIIIS.

ANYWAY! That’s my much ado about nothing. I was kinda hoping that hashing it all out in a post and working my way through it as I wrote it all down would like....magically reveal the Right Decision to me and everything would click and be so obvious by the time I got to this point in the post, but alas.

Fix-It Machine broke. This accomplished nothing. UGH. RUDE.

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lokibug · 6 years

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Thankful...that I didn’t die trying to thank you

Pairing: Steve x Reader

Summary: Steve finds a family owned bakery in the “bad side” of town and to get away he goes there often. He notices you there and can’t help but feel drawn to you somehow. Meanwhile, you are completely shocked when you see that the man who saved your life a year ago is attending your friend’s parent’s bakery often, just as you do. You can’t muster the courage to speak to him and thank him so you begin to think of ways of how such a shy person like you could.

Warnings: None

A/N: Okay! So I didn’t base this story off this song entirely but, “I Think I’m In Love” by Kay Dahlia, inspired it and got me out of the writers block I was having. Also leave requests, feedback, anything, I live for that stuff haha

As Steve entered the vintage looking bakery, he took in his surroundings. The aroma smelt of coffee and fresh baked muffins, vanilla amongst the rest of the smells being the most evident. Being his first time there, he wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted but everything within the glass case looked extravagant. He was greeted politely and served with what he finally decided on, a raspberry muffin and a cup of coffee.

Carrying his to-go bag he made eye contact with you from across the room. He couldn’t help but stare, you were just so beautiful in his eyes. There was something familiar about you that he noticed. Maybe it your hair or even the clothing you wore? Despite not figuring it out, he couldn’t help but feel he’s encountered you before. The way your shy eyes looked away from his finally snapped him back to reality. He resisted the urge to ask you and gave a simple smile instead before leaving a dollar in the tip jar and exited the bakery, the bell ringing as the door shut behind him.

While finally having some free time due to missions not being as consistent, this was becoming a normal thing for Steve. This is where you would reside for a few hours before the subway would take you to your interning job at the New York Times. Seeing him was a surreal thing to you. You knew exactly who he was. The great and shiny captain America, a hero to those in need. He was a role model to people and children all over the world, especially in New York City where Avenger’s Tower stood. His record was no secret to you, you didn’t doubt the hero he was. After all, he had been the one who saved your life during the invasion. Seconds away from being crushed to death by tons of concrete, Cap had rushed in and tackled you out of the way.

Ever since that incident you wanted to thank him for doing this. There was only one problem, you were undeniably shy. You never believed he would be in a hole in the wall bakery a few feet away from you, so simply imagining the day you would encounter him was easier than it actually happening.

Every day you said to yourself, “Tomorrow I’ll go talk to him before he leaves,” but of course it never happened. Steve rarely stood in the shop to long, he didn’t eat the same muffin he ordered everyday inside, he would leave the warm bakery instead. The owners happened to be your best friend’s parents. They loved Steve since he consistently came and left a tip. Your friend’s mother never hesitated to mention to you how much more sparkly his eyes were up close without the mask on. That was another factor that made you even more nervous. Steve was incredibly attractive and the way you interacted with beautiful people you had never spoke to before was, well nonexistent.

Finally deciding you wanted to meet him, you did what you do best. You drew. Without his knowledge, you snapped a side profile of Steve’s smiling face and slowly every day you would sketch more and more of him. Not leaving out one detail you made sure it looked amazing. Of course you would have your doubts, worrying he would see you as a stalker but, you were determined to just try.

—————

Today was the day. Today you would muster up enough courage to take the hero by his shoulder and ask to speak with him before he made his way back out into the city. Okay, you didn’t plan on grabbing him at all, but you would most likely just tap his shoulder?

Then, there it was. The ring of the bell on glass door. His tall figure paced towards the counter standing behind a few customers. You chewed on your bottom lip and you began thinking of what you would say to start off the conversation.

While you were thinking and looking at the table, Steve was having thoughts of his own. In the same spot you sat everyday, Steve admired your stature. You were beyond any woman he simply ran into on the streets, you looked like an actual person. He knew you had a story, a life, thoughts that were completely your own. He knew this because every time he had stepped foot inside this place, he analyzed you from a far. He always noticed you hard at work and it sort of intimidated him. Despite being the image of strong Captain America on the outside, he was still scrawny awkward, Steve Rogers on the inside.

With it being a bit more chilly outside, he decided he would take the muffin and coffee he had ordered today to a table by the window. He was directly in your view as his was out the window. You mentally argued with yourself before taking your sweaty palms off your knees and marched over to him. You had your drawing in your left hand before practically slamming it down in front of him. Another problem, the words became jumbled in your mind and you kind of just stood there.

Steve looked up at you and smiled softly trying to keep up a “cool” act. He gazed at the paper you had just placed in front of him and was in complete awe over your work.

“Hi.” You said finally. Rubbing your arm you swallowed the lump in your throat waiting for him to say something—-anything.

“Hi, is this me?” Steve questioned as he was bursting from happiness on the inside. He was realizing that you had noticed him just as much as he noticed you.

“Yeah um...” you blink a few times composing yourself, “it is...I hope that doesn’t make you uncomfortable.” He shook his head quickly, “No,no. Not at all. This is amazing. You even got my buttons right. Sit down, please?” He chuckled lightly, almost nervously.

You accepted and sat down on the black metal chair across from him. Your friend’s mother was right, his eyes did seem sparklier up close.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why me?” He questioned, taking his eyes away from the paper and placed them on yours.

You looked at your lap since his gaze was making you a bit more nervous. “I just wanted to say...thank you.” You looked up him again and he now had a puzzled look across his features.

“Thank you?”

“You may not remember...but um, last year I was walking to the classes I was taking at the time when the invasion had happened—I was going to basically die. When I was running, a part of the building was falling and well, you pushed me out of the way.” Suddenly Steve had a look of realization. He hadn’t felt crazy anymore, he had met you before, well briefly. Your image had been engraved in his mind in some way.

“Oh my, yes. I completely remember you now,” he was a bit shy himself at the crush he had developed on you, “you’re welcome—and thank you for this.” You smiled a bit at him and looked at the paper that was between you two.

“I’m sorry, I never really introduced myself. I’m Y/N...Y/L/N.” Your fingers tapped the top of the table near your delicately laid arm.

“Nice to you meet you miss y/n. I’m Steve, Rogers.” He held his hand out for you to shake. Your eyes shot down quickly and you mentally cursed at yourself for not shaking his hand first. As he shook your hand he smiled once more then at your things. “Would you maybe...perhaps want to join me?”

You had an almost look of disbelief. He actually wanted you to stay. You chuckle out loud. “Um...yes. Yes, I would love to. I’ll just go get my things before someone steals them.”

After gathering your items and coffee you came back to the table where Steve sat. In front of you was half of his muffin on a small plate. He had cut it in half so he could share it with you. Noticing you looking at the muffin he spoke, “They’re my favorite, I insist you try it.” The look on his face mimicked a child. He seemed so delighted and excited that you had joined him. He was.

“I know...well, you’ve been here every day for the past two weeks. I don’t believe you’re the quietest person at ordering.” You teased him.

He playfully gasped, “I’m sorry to interrupt your coffee drinking. I suppose I’ll just have to make it up to you.” Hearing his voice alter to one that hinted a bit of flirting you blushed softly.

You two had been sitting at the table for two hours already. There was never a dull moment or silence. Your conversation was more exciting to the two of you than anything you could ever encounter on the streets of New York.

The things you two discussed consisted of Steve admitting how much he loved reading the paper and seeing the illustrations in the back and you admitting that you’d do anything to be able to wear his armor due to how cool it looked.

“No way! You draw those? They’re hilarious.” Steve boomed throughout the shop. You would erupt in laughed before nodding.

“Yes yes, that’s me. I make those. I adore art.” You replied.

“Really? I’ll have to show you the sketches I’ve made...if I hadn’t joined the army, or become who I am now, I would’ve probably been aiming for what you are.”

“I’d like that.”

Moments later the suit conversation had played out.

“Please say it’s comfortable, it looks so cool! I feel like I would let a bus hit me because I’m convinced the suit is just that good.” You admitted. This time Steve was the one in a fit of giggles.

“Ah, well I’m not sure the suit would allow you to do that. Perhaps the shield would be more to your liking.”

“If you let me touch the shield you’re going to regret it. I’ll probably just hide it in my bag.” You teased back.

“Y/N I don’t think it’ll fit in—“

“Shhhh don’t crush my dreams.”

Once the time came for you to catch the subway, Steve had walked you out of the bakery. The wind brushed through your guys’ hair as you stood facing him.

The conversation of his life prior to the serum being in his system had come up a few minutes before you realized you had to go.

“Really? This was you?” You asked as your eyes scanned the photo from Steve’s wallet of himself in the 40s.

“Yep. Little ol’ Steve Rogers, the kid from queens with a big mouth and not the exact body to back it up.”

“You look adorable.” You smiled. This made Steve’s heart warm. He rocked back and forth on his heels a bit.

“Yeah?,” he chuckled, “not many girls were lining up to dance with me back then.”

You looked down at the photo then up at Steve handing it back to him, “Well, I would’ve loved to hop on the chance to dance with smaller Steve Rogers...the kid from queens with the big mouth...and big heart.”

Steve couldn’t help but smile as he slipped the photo away. A blush was evidently displayed upon his cheeks and it wasn’t from the cold.

“Is there any chance you’d hop on the chance to go dance with Steve Rogers, the much taller version...who had a great time with you today?” You smile and grab a pen from your bag.

Without a word you grab Steve’s hand and begin to write your phone number down upon it. He laughed lightly.

“I’d love that. Here’s my number, don’t leave me waiting—I know your morning routes.” You playfully threatened.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” You continue to smile in his cheery eyed direction.

“I’ll talk to you later Steve.” You turn on your heels and begin walking to the subway while Steve remains standing in front of the shop feeling like a kid on Christmas.

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dragonthunders01 · 6 years

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Imaginary titans

For some time I had an idea to make a series of draw comparison related to the idea of doing a “before and after” of certain prehistoric animal reconstructions, something similar to what users here on deviantart has done with draws or silhouettes, however, instead of being just one animal comparison, these would be properly chart showing the changes of such animals over the years, based on a specific topic or a specific documentary.

Here, I chose a particular topic to begin with, the case of the oversized animals, creatures that once were considered to be beings of massive length or mass by the paleontological community or in most of the cases, in the popular media, and have been changed over the years with new discoveries or re-interpretations, some of the estimations are quite light in changes which some can still be considered as giant creatures even with the slight reduction, others are really marked such measures changes to the point it seems like a joke that once was considered to be giants at the first place, and some are in the brink to change with a new discovery in any moment.

I must say that I have tried to collect only estimations made in the scientific field both popular (e.g., documentary) and professional, so there will not be estimations made in common entertainment media such as movies (Jurassic Park), fictional books (Kronos Rising) or video games (Ark)

If anyone has any complain or critic about the information, size, species or anything else, and even some suggestions for others oversized prehistoric animals, you’re welcome to tell, especially if I’m wrong, all for the sake of accuracy.

1) Pachycephalosaurus It seems from many years since its discovery, this large Pachycephalosaur was considered to be 8 meters long, at least the original upright kangaroo posture interpretations which was common in many book illustrations, toys and old media that I guess was based on original ornithopod proportions looking that the head was smaller in comparison with the body. (If anybody knows a better reason you’re welcome to correct me)

Current estimates In recent years there was a reinterpretation of the proportions of Pachycephalosaurus this based on several more complete specimens of others species, giving it a change of look and also of size, now being a 5 meters long herbivore, still being the largest of its group.

2) Ornithocheirus (Tropeognathus) This very fragmentary genus of pterosaur first discovered in UK, was featured in the documentary walking with dinosaurs as a flying giant of around 12 meters in wingspan and weighting 100 kg, being one of the largest pterosaurs ever.

Current estimates To explain a little why I added two pterosaurs, the actual Ornithocheirus (a) which had a very problematic taxonomic history with many fragmentary remains classified to this genus, with around 28 species in total named, but at the end many of these were considered to belong to separate genus, some from the same family and some others from different affinity, with only now one type species, O. simus, being this one around 5 meters of wingspan, and never being 12 meters.

The actual pterosaur which the WWD refer as “Ornithocheirus mesembrinus” was actually Tropeognathus mesembrinus (b) from Santana formation, but this wasn’t estimated to be 12 meters in any point either, the largest specimens so far know in that time were about 6 meters, and the specimens which the documentary were suppose to be base on (MN 6594-1 specimen), is calculated to be about 8 meters of wingspan, being not a giant, but still a pretty large pterosaur, one of the biggest non-azhdarchid pterosaurs known.

3) Amphicoelias fragillimus This species was described in 1878 by Edward Drinker Cope, Being the holotype specimen a vertebra of 1.5 meters in length (AMNH 5777) and a femur, this get lost in some point to never to appear again for unknown reasons (probably due to poor care that destroyed the holotype) and only leaving as a record the existence of these notes and sketches. Throughout the years, based on what has been left, attempts were made to make possible estimates of the size of this specimen, the majority being inferred that this species has the same proportions of more complete specimens of Diplodocids, giving a size estimation of 58 meters in length, with a weight of 120 tons, making it one of the largest dinosaurs that ever existed.

Current estimates There have been debates about the possible length of the specimen AMNH 5777 over the years, this mostly because the only thing left of the original are only notes which It has been suggested that could contain typographical errors in the measurements or even be completely wrong, and taking proportions of smaller species not always turn out to be accurate or even plausible, so make an length estimation of this species based on the original vertebra turns out to be a complicate challenge. Of course as the chart is about originally oversized animals and then were downsized, I had to see if someone had tried to make an Amphicoelias smaller version with a plausible interpretation to be part of this chart, good thing there is one.

In this case I used thus Amphicoelias reconstruction, being 48 meters long.

4) Leedsichthys problematicus The great Jurassic filter feeder ray-finned fish pachycormid discovered in the Oxford Clay Formation, was subject to many size changes, over the years it was difficult to give an accurate or plausible size estimation because of the poor remains found, at first estimated to have a measure of about 9 meters in proportion to the Hypsocormus genus , but around the 80 the discovery of a new pachycormid, this called Asthenocormus, led to new interpretations of the possible length from 13 meters to 27 meters, based on an extrapolation of the gill basket size, in some cases in popular scientific media mentioned to even be around the 30 to 35 meters long.

Current estimates Some years after the discovery of many new specimens, like “Ariston” (PETMG F174), Dr. Jeff Liston in his studies estimated that Leedsichthys wassmaller than what was thought, being about 9 to 10 meters in first estimations, and in later specimen comparison it give lengths between 7 and 12 meters, also pointing out that linear extrapolation of the gill basket would be flawed because gills grow disproportionally in size for the oxygen demand of a huge body. The most plausible estimations now are around the 16 meters.

5) Kaprosuchus The unusual “boar croc” was discovered and described in 2009 by Paul Sereno and Hans Larsson in the monograph "Cretaceous Crocodyliforms from the Sahara" together with other specimens of Saharan Crocodyliformes. Being the holotype a well preserved skull (MNN IGU12) of about 50 cm, Sereno give an estimated length of around 6 meters.

Current estimates As far I can found, there aren’t any background affirmation for the original Sereno estimations, even more there are been some counterarguments for such size estimations based on comparisons of actual crocodilians with a same head size, as well with more complete relatives like Mahajangasuchus, the most plausible estimations for the actual holotype put the length of Kaprosuchus in 3.3 meters.

6) Quetzalcoatlus After the first fossils were discovery in the Javelina formation at Big Bend National park, Texas, it was estimated 3 probable wingspan size extrapolated from the proportions of others pterosaurs, being 11, 15 and 21 meters, being the middle one choose, but very light in weight being estimated to be less than 100 kg.

Current estimates After subsequent discoveries of small specimens of Azhdarchid and a better known of the morphology of these ones, there were quite a few changes in their proportions, resulting in a more compact animal than previously believed; now it is estimated to have an 11 meters wingspan.

7) Allosaurus maximus (or Saurophaganax maximus depending on how valid still it is) This Allosaurid named by Daniel Chure in the middle 90s, has gone through an interesting history of genus validation based on several specimens since the early 30s for what belongs to it, and even now the legitimacy of this genus is in dispute and with consideration of most of the specimens belong to Allosaurus (As well Epanterias). Something remarkable about this theropod has been the estimates of its length, which would make this Jurassic theropod the largest of all from that period, being at the same level as the Cretaceous theropods in size, with a length of 14 meters in length.

Current estimates It seems that there is no evidence supporting such lengths as the original estimates is considered to being incorrect, the specimen which belongs is probably an 11 meters long animal. Based on Allosaurus reconstruction

8) Spinosaurus The enigmatic African spiny theropod, for many years this Spinosaurid had been one of several contenders to the title of the largest theropods in history thanks to several estimates made over the years, being first at least 15 meters long and with a weight of 6 tons, but by the end of the 20th century and in the beginning of the 21st century this creature get its highest estimations, being the largest based on Suchomimus body proportions in relation on their skull lengths, making it a great theropod of about 18 meters long and a weight of 7 to 9 tons, although some posterior mass estimations give it a body mass of about 11.7 to 16.7 tons. Spinosaurus in this form became a very iconic image for many years in popular culture.

Current estimates Over the years there were quite a few counterarguments about the methodology used to make a reasonable approximation of the length of Spinosaurus, even some making new size estimations giving to this theropod a body length between 12 to 14 meters and a body mass of 12 to 20 tons, although these were criticized too for the theropod choices.

In 2014 things took an unexpected turn with the announcement of a new specimen, the FSAC_KK 11888, a partial subadult skeleton from Kem Kem beds, North Africa, which presented quite different proportions from what was estimated or speculated, showing Spinosaurus as short legged theropod of semi-aquatic habits, However, in the following years the veracity and validation of the specimen as Spinosaurus has been doubted, althouth being asserted in several cases, but not described properly and in full format, even to complicate more the subject, with the confirmation a second spinosaur genus in the region, Sigilmassasaurus, is difficult to assign the neotype specimen to a specific genus.

From these actual proportions if are trully confirmed to belong to Spinosaurus, it is believed that some of the largest specimens could have reached 15 meters in length as was estimated early, and not being the tall creature as the Suchomimus original proportions suggested.

9) Rhamphosuchus This great Miocene Tomistominae (False Gharial) from India, only know by fragmentary tip jaw remains, was once considered to be one of the largest crocodiles ever, with a size estimation of about 15 to 18 meters for many decades.

Current estimates After a re-study in 2001, it was downsized to a length of about 8 to 11 meters.

10) Bruhathkayosaurus This supposed sauropod titanosaur was discovered in the region of Tamil Nadu, in the district of Tiruchirappalli, around 1989, being the remains a part of the pelvis and the tibia, these were referred to as belonging to a theropod by the shape of the Ilium, however, a later opinions determined it as a sauropod, probably a titanosaur around 1999. The measurements given at that time put it as a gigantic animal of around 35 to 40 meters in length, with an estimated weight of 175 to 220 tons, turning it into the heaviest terrestrial animal ever to have existed, aside of Amphicoelias.

Current estimates Did you ever hear the tragedy of Bruhathkayosaurus the giant? Seriously speaking, the history of the discovery of this "sauropod" could be said to be a tragedy since the only known remains discovered by Yadagiri and Ayyasami (those who were behind the discovery and identification of the supposed "stegosaurus" Dravidosaurus which is recognized now as a plesiosaur) were not properly recorded or conserved, these were described poorly, they took terrible pictures of such specimens, they made quite terrible sketches and to make it worse after the discovery they did not bother to collect those remains and the most terrible thing, they left them at the mercy of the Indian monsoons and erosion for the next 15 years after the discovery.

So there are 2 ways to see this in a speculative way given the situation: Option a, in the case that this genus has been what was suggested, a sauropod, the size of this would not have been the one that had been suggested years after its discovery, if an estimate can be made based on the measurements given of the remains, the length that could be obtained would be much less than the proposed 39 meters, being something approximately an animal of 28 meters in length or less, and probably with a much lower weight than previously estimated, probably being with a mass close or less than for example, Giraffatitan.

Or Option b, is just a 2 meter long tree trunk remain and a bunch of rocks with the shape of an eroded Ilium.

So pick one.

11) Kelmayisaurus This theropod carcharodontosaurid from the early cretaceous was discovered in the early 70s in the city of Karamay, Xinjiang, western china, is known from a very fragmentary holotype formed by a complete left dentary and a partial maxilla. The main peculiarity of this theropod came from another specimen mentioned in the book “The Dinosaur Project: The Story of the Greatest Dinosaur Expedition Ever Mounted”, being the species called “K. giganteus”, being referred from a fragmentary giant vertebra column, it was estimated to had a length of about 22 meters, making it one of the largest theropods known.

Current estimates The mentioned “K. giganteus” is considered to be a nomen nudum and the actual vertebrae column remains probably belongs to a sauropod. The original holotype specimen was estimated to be 9 to 11 meters of length making it a medium size carcharodontosaurid.

12) Mosasaurus hoffmanii At first I wanted to introduce estimations made to the Tylososaurus made by "WWD: Sea Monsters" because was emphasized that these reached a length of 18 meters in length, being quite exaggerated with the current estimates that said that they reached 14 meters at maximum, however, I saw that it was more appropriate to introduce a much more recent size estimation mentioned in a scientific article, in this case of the specimen CCMGE 10/2469 discovered in Penza, Russia, being estimated to have a size of about 17 meters long based in a head-body radio of 1:10 by Russell (1967), making it the largest Mosasaur ever.

Current estimates Giving the point that for such proportions make people draw Mosasaurus with Tylosaur bodies, one person (mention below) took the time to do their research, and as a result, his detailed research revealed that Mosasaurus was quite robust and bulkier in comparison to its relative, giving it a different body ratio and making the 1:10 body-head radio inaccurate. The current estimates make the Penza specimen around 12 to 13 meters in length. Based on M. hoffmanii reconstruction

13) Megalosaurus It would seem strange to put a very outdated reconstruction in this place, however, at the time it had been considered as real by early paleontology. So, Megalosaurus could earn the title of not only being one of the first dinosaurs identified, but also for being the first oversized dinosaur ever, in their first reconstructions created by William Buckland considering him as a massive quadruped lizard with an upright posture of amphibious habits, based in estimations given by Cuvier, this was calculated to be a 12 meters long creature with a weight of an 7 ft tall elephant.

Current estimates After the lizard model was abandoned, the original size estimations were considered to be quite exaggerated with new reconstructions, so most of the later estimations calculated Megalosaurus to be about 9 meters in the beginning and being in recently decades calculated to be 6, 7 or 8 meters long, with a weight less than a ton. Based on Megalosaurus skeletal reconstruction

14) Iguanodon Like with Megalosaurus, at first Iguanodon was estimated to be a massive lizard like animal being extrapolated the proportions at first from an iguana because the resembles of the Iguanodon teeth with these ones, giving a size estimations of about 18 meters long.

Current estimates Again, like Megalosaurus, the lizard model disappeared and over the time this animals has gone through several alterations in their body shape interpretations, varying in designs over the years until they reach their final form (?) being a semi-quadruped herbivore with disproportionately huge hands, with a length around 10 meters and a weight of 3.4 tons, with inferred specimens that can reach 13 meters long. Based on Iguanodon skeletal reconstruction

15) Megalodon Formally Carcharocles megalodon, It has been a shark with problematic size estimations thanks to its many fragmentary fossils being thousands of teeth and some vertebrae, which has given several measures, from the original 30 meters long Bashford Dean estimation in 1909 based on a jaw reconstruction, being downsized to 13 meters to a time later being estimated with a size of 24 to 25 meters long as maximum length.

Current estimates Actual estimations give a length of about 16 meters to a maximum of 18 meters.

16) Liopleurodon The biggest size estimation given to a pliosaur ever, the genus Liopleurodon had been described as a giant 25 meters long and weighing around 150 tons in the WWD series being based to fragmentary fossil teeth remain, it becomes one of the documentary's most iconic animal as well one of the most iconic pliosaurs next to with Pliosaurus or Kronosaurus.

Current estimates The history of the Liopleurodon oversize case is already one the most known around the paleontological community both amateur and professional, that has caused wars of discussions and lots of defenders as well as opposites, and at the end letting a legacy and the perpetual idea of super pliosaurs, but as far is know, there hasn’t been any super pliosaurs and less super Liopleurodon discovered so far, although there has been wild estimations of 15 meters long specimens of others species, which at the end these became very dubious for how fragmentary the evidence has been.

The estimations made by the documentary were not in some points supported by some scientific article or any authority in the matter like with "Ornithocheirus", just made to get the attention of the public, as well, such measure was doubted even for being a maximum size, and most of the estimations made after based on the original remains in comparisons with others Pliosaur suggested that the actual Liopleurodon was 10 meters long, at least at first, and from here Liopleurodon gets smaller and smaller. Studies of other specimens such as Kronosaurus and the discovery of a complete specimen of L. ferox which shown that the skull was 1/5 of the body size gave an approximate length of 6.9 meters, based on the largest specimen found.

#paleoart #paleontology #liopleurodon #sauropod #theropod #megalodon #pachycephalosaurus #walking with dinosaurs #pterosaurs

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twasallyellow · 5 years

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Spice and Inspiration

Prompt: Write a piece about someone who can’t handle spicy food (from @dropkickwritersblock )

Author’s Note: I’ve decided that along with my sucky poetry I’m going to try to get stated on some short stories and try to wake up my love for writing again

I never thought I was the type of person to wear a silk red dress to a first date, but then again I never thought I was the type of person to go on a blind date set up by a close friend so I guess tonight is full of lots of surprises. And as they say, fortune favors the bold.

Cautiously sliding into the backseat of an Uber, I give the driver an address my friend, Audrey, texted me and try to calm my nerves as the car started along the crowded streets of San Fransisco at night.

Leg bouncing restlessly the entire ride, I franticly text Audrey about my date.

Me: Are you sure this is a good idea? What if he’s crazy? Or a serial killer or something?

Audrey: Relax, Viv, this date will be good for you. Sure, he’s pretty much the exact opposite of the guys you usually go for, but I think it’s time for a little change, don't you think?

I sigh, knowing she’s right. These past couple months have been nothing but immense boredom after I moved into my new apartment. I have my degree as an artist that I’m not using because my motivation and inspiration had plummeted after graduation. Now, working as a children's book illustrator, I can’t bring myself to sketch anything outside of a silly elephant or anything only a 6 year old would appreciate.

Hopefully, this date will bring back some of that inspiration. As I noticed through my rollercoaster life, my best inspiration for art comes when I’m around love, whether that’s at Audrey’s wedding or on a date. So maybe, meeting this guy who Audrey says is different than my usual type with strike up that urge to paint and draw and sketch that I’ve been missing lately.

All of these hopeful thoughts disappear as soon as the Uber pulls up to the mystery restaurant that I’m meeting my date at.

“What a bitch,” I mutter under my breath, seeing that the restaurant is a popular Mexican place that is known for having the spiciest menu in all of San Fransico. Audrey knows I can’t handle spicy foods at all, so this must have been some kind of gag joke to her.

The Uber driver gives me a funny look, “Well it was nice driving you, Miss. I wish your date the best of luck.”

I pay the Uber, hop out, and walk into the restaurant hoping I have time to let my nerves settle. Not really knowing where I was going, I wandered into the restaurant, looking around for a guy around my age sitting alone.

“Vivian?” I hear a voice call from behind me. I turn quickly to see a tall red haired boy with dozens of freckles giving me the biggest and goofiest smile I’ve ever seen.

“Hi,” I say, a little shocked. Usually I only date the mysterious brooding type, which has led me to lots of heartbreak in the past, so seeing this smiley goofy boy in front of me is a bit of a surprise.

Confidently, my date takes my hand in his and leads me to a secluded booth in the back of the room. This bold action was also different, he was the first guy I’ve ever met to break the awkward touch barrier within the first 5 seconds of meeting someone.

He took a seat across from me as I squeezed into the booth across from him, extremely aware of how little space was between our legs which were already touching underneath the small booth.

I pick up the menu, already nervous about what I should order and hoping it won’t set my mouth on fire.

“Do you know if anything here isn’t spicy? I’m really bad with spicy food,” I confess quickly, nerves getting the best of me.

I don’t see my date behind my open menu, but I can hear the sound of a smirk in his voice.

“Yeah, I know the perfect thing, I’ll order for you,” he says.

We carried on small talk until the waiter arrived with chips and salsa and took our orders. When he left, the red head across from me dunked a chip into the salsa, pilling loads of it onto his chip, and popped it in his mouth. His cheeks turned the same color as his hair, and he took a huge gulp of water. I have to admit, seeing his cheeks flush like that made my stomach fill with butterflies. Even though he’s not my usual type, he sure is cute. Thank you, Audrey.

“Damn, that’s hot,” he laughs after draining half his water glass.

I nodded, “I hate spicy food too. It freaks me out because sometimes you can never tell what has a hint of spice in it. All those surprises of not knowing what level of spiciness is going to hit you stresses me out.”

He smiles and replies, “Surprises can be good sometimes.”

Right then the waiter arrives with our food, setting the plates in front of us. My food looked delicious, some kind of burrito with lettuce and cheese that smelled so good I was afraid the boy across from me could hear my stomach growl. I took a bite of the food, and immediately my tongue felt like fire.

My face burns as I tried to spit my food in my napkin as politely as possible, grabbing for my water to fight the spicy taste in my mouth.

“What the hell,” I say angrily after recovering from the spice. My date is sitting across from me almost falling over with laughter after seeing my freak out.

“You told me that wasn’t spicy!” I exclaimed, throwing a chip at him across the table. All he did was continue to laugh, burying his head in his hands to muffle his giggles. Although I was pretty pissed at him, that giggle sent another butterfly loose in my stomach.

“Some date you are,” I say sarcastically, but giving in to a little laugh anyways.

He lifts his head, side smile still etched into his face and raises an eyebrow. “Oh I’m the bad date here?” He asks, eyes a little watery from laughing so hard.

I nod, taking another sip of water, still with red cheeks.

“Ok,” he says, losing the grin and scooting his face closer to me. Naturally, I draw in towards him. How could I not, with those freckles and red curls of his?

“What’s my name?” He asks, face inches away from mine.

I feel my face get hotter than it did when I ate my spicy burrito.

“Oh my god,” I say, utter embarrassment overcoming me, causing me to hide my head in my hands. I had been so nervous about the date and the food that I completely forgot to ask his name.

This exchange set him off on another fit of laughter, this time drawing attention from other people in the restaurant to give us funny looks.

“I am so sorry, I was just so nervous I forgot to ask,” I say, trying to redeem myself. He continues laughing, but once he calms down he wipes his eyes again and leans closer to me again.

“It’s Daniel, thank you for asking” he says. At this moment, he notices I haven’t touched my food after the spice incident.

“Here,” he says, reaching across the table and switching our plates, “I actually did order something you would like, I just gave you the spicy one after you never asked my name.”

I laugh, and the rest of our meal goes smoothly as we talk casually for the next hour. For the first time in a long while, Daniel’s stories he tells actually make me laugh and the butterflies in my stomach never settle down. I find out that he’s a high school english teacher, which at first takes me by surprise but now makes sense as I picture him in a white button up and tie teaching about the works of Shakespeare and I can’t help but think how lucky some of those high school girls are to stare at him for a whole hour long class.

“So, I hear you're an artist. Are you any good?” He asks after we finish eating.

“Sometimes I am, sometimes I’m not,” I confess.

“What are you right now?” He asks, seeming genuinely interested in the conversation.

I consider his question before responding honestly, “Before this date, I wasn’t any good. But now? I’m a good artist.”

“What makes you better?” He asks.

I shrug, “I draw inspiration from interesting people. And you’re one of the oddest people I’ve ever met. So right now I have tons of odd ideas bobbling around in my head, thanks to you.”

He grins, hops out of his seat, and slides into my booth until he’s sitting right next to me, arm touching my arm, leg touching my leg. “Draw me,” he says, giddy with a childlike tone to his voice.

I smile, grabbing a napkin and pulling a red pen out of my purse, and I begin sketching the shape of his face on the napkin. He remains motionless as I sketch, and the pen flows under my hand like magic, that wonderful feeling of happiness I get while creating art making me feel giddy.

“I really like your dress,” he says after a couple minutes of me sketching silently. I’m starting to learn that this guy is a natural talker and never silent, but for some reason that seems very charming to me.

“Thanks,” I respond.

“Is red your favorite color?” He asks, motioning towards the red pen in my hand and brushing a freckled hand over the side of my dress, which causes my breath to catch in my throat.

“It is now,” I say, looking at his red curls, giving him a flirty smile. I’m usually never that forward but something about this guy pulls the confidence and inspiration right out of me.

He grins, his smile getting even larger than before.

I finish my drawing, scooting it over towards him to see, even though we are sitting so close he’s already got a pretty good view of it. He looks over the thin lines of red ink, shaping into unruly red curls and little red dots to reflect his freckles that cover his entire face.

“Damn, this is really good,” he says, seemingly genuinely awe struck by my work. I smile, feeling a warm feeling build in my chest.

“Keep it,” I tell him.

He shakes his head, passing it back to me. “You keep it, as a way to remember me.”

I laugh, “Trust me Daniel, this is a date I will never forget.”

Daniel grins again as I scrawl my phone number on the back of his picture and hand it back to him.

“Well now I have to keep it,” he confesses, “How else will I get to keep the phone number of a beautiful girl?”

A blush spreads across my cheeks and I don’t have any time to think before he is leaning in and giving me a kiss on the lips. It starts of nice, but then I recoil from him, tasting the spice on his lips from his food.

I grab my water, and he laughs once again.

“Sorry,” he says, a little embarrassed. “I promise the next kiss will be a thousand times better, and I won’t have spice on my breath.”

“The next kiss? Aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself?” I ask playfully, already excited for our next kiss.

“Vivian, after forgetting to ask my name for almost all of dinner, you at least owe me a second date,” he responds.

I roll my eyes jokingly, “Fine.” I respond, already excited for my next date with the odd boy that is Daniel, ready for my next dose of spice and inspiration.

#short story #writing #writings #writingprompts #romance #romancestory

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