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slothgiirl · 2 years

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an understanding

morpheus x reader. 5k. no use of y/n. yearning. the only thing i know about video game development comes from mythic quest. dont feed ducks bread (its bad for them) morpheus.

“You know feeding ducks bread is bad for them right,” you pointedly tell the stranger in black. The man was wearing 30 layers of black under the midday sun. You had no clue how he could bear wearing a wool coat in this heat. Sweat was already gathering around your forehead and you were in a gauzy shirt.

“Oh.” His voice was deep, an alluring quality that would’ve made him a perfect audiobook narrator. He doesn’t look up, still hunched over his loaf of french bread: the good kind that was made fresh in store at some local bakery.

“Mind if I sit here?” You didn’t want to sit on the grass. Lugging a towel on top of your laptop and bag was bad enough so you were really hoping for a bench, even one with no shade. It was just too nice of a day to spend working indoors.

He doesn’t respond. Tearing another piece of bread, he pops it into his mouth, finally looking up, looking out at the park contemplatively.

You decide that it’s okay. He didn’t say no.

He was obviously incredibly awkward or maybe didn’t get out much judging by his pasty skin. It was rather unfortunate too. Now that you’d gotten a good look at him he was cute in a way that would’ve thrilled you at twelve when you were wearing studded belts and obsessed with Mary Shelley and Trent Reznor. His hair was a hopeless mess: it’s color so black it seemed to destroy any sunlight that shone on him.

Too bad he was about as interesting as a pet rock.

Even the beta testers who were chronically online, still figuring out women at the ripe old age of twenty six (which you understood as your dating life was no better and all your hopes rested on Hinge) were livelier to talk to.

You were probably being too hard on him, you thought as you opened up the company issue computer. It was the fancy type that bent completely backwards. There were so many dialogue trees to work through. So many paths.

Sitting cross legged on the bench, you get back to work and try not to think about the man on the other end of the bench.

He managed to make eating bread an incredibly depressing act; gaunt as he was, with a forlorn expression in his clear blue eyes.

Clearly the guy was going through something.

Refocusing on your work, you turn up the screen brightness and pull up your saved files for Project: Dracul City.

There were notes.

Bottle: get sent to old lady Constancia and gain +1 luck token

Newspaper: uncover school turned shelter LORE

Right.

“Thirsty now, are we dearie,” you utter under your breath. You worked best like this, saying the lines out loud. At the office, no one batted an eye, but you’d gotten plenty of looks at cafes.

No. That was too fairytale-esque. This was more survival horror. The words rich and velvet were also on the moodboard.

“A bottle of wine to soften the blow eh?” You frowned. It sounded too young, too flirty. Old Lady Constancia ran a black market shop in the game.

“Well then, a bit of liquor for the road? Better than anything in the tavern.”

Again, it was wrong. The wrong feel for the setting.

“No need to ask how your night is going then.” There. You grin a little, reading over the dialogue tree that led here, skimming over Lady Constancia’s lines. There’d be no voice actors for this so the diction would have a lot to convey.

“What.”

“Huh,” you look up from your screen. You’d completely forgotten you were sharing the bench, speaking too loudly.

“You were saying.” The man looks over at you for the first time. His gaze is no longer distant as he studies you. It was obvious you held his full attention in spite of how cold his demeanor was.

“Nothing,” you laugh nervously, “I just-it’s something I do while working. Say what I’m writing to see if it makes sense. It’s a really good trick for dialogue. Sometimes what sounds good in my head sounds really awful to my ears. It was advice I got years ago in school. Really fucking helpful though.”

“You are a writer?”

“Ha, I wish,” you scrunch your nose feeling yourself blush. “Well, sometimes. I don’t know. I always wanted to work in video games and thought writing for them would be cool. And yeah, every now and then I think I’ve got a novel in me but I like my job. Sure-I’m not lead in anything yet but it’s fun to flesh out these characters and help build a world where people can escape into. Just look at early fallout, Kentucky Route Zero’s a really good one. . .” Your own sincerity embarrassed you. “I know,” you look down at your screen, the blinking | waiting for your next words, “most people play to blow things up and kill lines of code but, I really do think it means something to people. Give them a world to play in, create, dream. . .yeah.” God you rambling so bad. “I can stop if it bothers you?”

There’s the slightest hint of interest in the subtle relaxation of his expression, “Not at all,” he replies, putting aside the bread he had left, “There is nothing frivolous in striving to inspire people.”

His words catch you off guard. He’d been so distant before, you were expecting a brush off. “Well maybe this line won’t impact someone but you never know what characters players latch onto.” Mariska Lutz’s tapes haunted you for months after playing Bioshock for the first time.

The man does not reply again, watching the ducks hop into the murky water.

You return to your work, making an effort to keep your mumblings quiet.

It’s not until the battery low notification pops up on your screen that you look up again, shutting your laptop and stretching your legs out. Your left foot tingles hellishly, having fallen asleep.

You look over, only to find that the man had left without a word, without making a sound. It was unsurprising. When you worked you got tunnel vision. That was the reason your pot of pinto beans had burned before. No enfrijoladas for you that day.

Well, he had certainly been a character.

*****

You escape a hectic office where you’d spent the past week during crunch time as the demo went live, a short teaser of the gameplay for corporate who would never even play the game but wanted to see evidence that money would be made when the game released in time for October aka when everyone would be over school and the spooky month would fit the game’s design. You’d brought a tote bag with your lunch and snacks from the office. Nothing hit the same as lays with salsa valentina though you would like to know who kept using your bottle. You’d labelled it. As a last resort you’d taken to stashing it in your desk when you knew you’d be working from home.

July.

Kids were chasing the poor ducks back into the pond. A woman in leopard print roller skates took on hills like a pro.

You liked the warmth of sunlight on your skin.

You still wore sunscreen though.

It’s Thursday but the park is packed. You try to look for any spot that has some shade, an open seat so you can enjoy a hard earned lunch. Your fingers have cramped from all the typing you’ve done in the last few days. You haven’t checked in the mirror but you feel like roadkill.

It was about three in the morning when you’d started using eye drops to keep going, but the meeting was happening. You’d done everything you could for your team.

No luck.

The moms were out in full force today, phone in hand as their kids ran wild.

Then-

You spot the same man from your last visit to this particular park. He looks the same, only his coat is longer. It was like he was trying to get heat stroke.

Well, the trick to adulthood was just going for it. Sharing a bench wasn’t the end of the world.

You walk over.

“Hello again,” you wave, “mind if I sit here?” You could always keep looking. There was plenty of time before you had to rush back to work.

“No.”

You plop down, leaving space for not only Jesus but all his homeboys too. “Thanks. I feel like everyone keeps having the same idea as me, but I guess it’s summer and unless you take the ferry west we don’t have the best beaches.” You open the bag of chips and liberally pour salsa on them, “want one?”

You hold out the bag, offering up your snacks to the man. He seemed less morose than last time, but was for sure managing to sulk under clear skies.

He doesn’t acknowledge you. Instead he reaches into a white paper bag and slowly grabs a pinchful of birdseed to toss over to the ducks.

You’re left holding the bag of chips long enough for it to be awkward before you shrug and dig in, sucking the salt and salsa from your fingertips.

This is why you’ll never have a flat stomach. Five minute abs workouts from tiktok were not enough and you sure as hell were not giving up gansitos. There were some in your freezer waiting alongside a pint of ben and jerry’s.

“You got birdseed,” you note, amused. He had been listening to you. A thrill of excitement bubbles up in your chest.

He nods, the motion small.

Your companion was not an expressive man.

“No fat pigeons,” he states neutrally.

You’re puzzled but shrug it off. “I’ve heard you can feed them oatmeal. But I’d probably double check that.”

Finishing your tiny chip back, you fold it up neatly into a square and pop it back into your tote bag until you can toss it into the trash. Your actual lunch was a cold tomato and fresh mozzarella pasta.

Nothing exciting.

You’d been at the office for practically a week, only going home to have a quick shower and pick up food. You were overtired. Food was fuel. You’d treat yourself tomorrow to breakfast at your favorite cafe.

You idly eat as people bike by.

It could use some more sauce.

Your melancolic acquaintance continues to feed the ducks, lost in his own thoughts.

You stab a grape tomato, deciding to make conversation because what was there to lose. “I didn’t catch your name last time.” Last time, ha. You were really going on like there would be a next time. What was the chance you’d see him again? There’d been students in your same major you’d never shared a class with.

The question hangs in the air.

You chew the tomato, the juice spilling out into your mouth. It was tart.

You didn’t think he’d reply and were already considering fleeing. You could finish eating at your desk.

“Morpheus.”

“Morpheus,” you repeat so you don’t forget, “like the Greek god of sleep?” At least, you think he was the Greek god of sleep. It had been a while, he might have been a mythic hero.

“Of dreams,” he pauses, turning to you, his clear eyes peering into yours intensely, “and sleep. Yes.”

It’s only polite to introduce yourself properly now. You wipe the corners of your mouth clean and reply, “Nice to meet you Morpheus,” feeling silly and giddy (flip flopping between the two similar states) as you give him your name.

Blandly he states, “We have met before.” But with his attention on you, you catch the twinkle of amusement in his eyes. The corners of his small mouth twitch in the ghost of a smile.

“All the same,” you beam at Morpheus, and finish your long lunch in quiet companionship.

*****

When you’re exhausted, you don’t even dream. Depending on whatever game you are working on, there’s weeks when you’re so mentally drained that you don’t even get under the covers before you’re out like a light.

You’re pretty sure this is a dream. Your mind rested enough to dream.

It’s usually in the middle of the dream, in the middle of the scenery changing from a party in your grandmother’s house where a bird offers you a peach to you sitting on a trampoline that you remember from summer days at your childhood friend’s house before the trampoline broke and sent you both to the ER where you only had scratches only your friend isn’t there but a programer from your internship and hey maybe this was sign from your subconsciousness that you should text her-

You let out a breath.

The sky turns pink.

Yup, this was a dream.

You lean into it, letting it happen around you, letting your mind wander as the trampoline bounces lightly with Nina’s movements. It jolts your body, your brain swings around in your skull pleasantly like being in those massage chairs.

A breeze runs over your cheeks.

You look at the blue of the trampoline border. Blue like the waters in instagram pictures. Blue-

The black trampoline washes away into dark waves and your favorite aunt lays in an innertube sipping on a cocktail, “I’m really glad we came to Hawai’i.”

“Me too. Though I’m still waiting to see a mermaid.”

“It’s great. I’m glad Lady Gaga approved the highway from San Diego to Hawai’i.”

“And we got to see those sea dragons!”

“Exactly!”

You feel something by your leg and stick your head underwater. The water is so clear, you can see everything around you, including the dolphins swimming around you, leading you somewhere. Minecraft dolphins. You grab onto it’s fin, wondering where they want to lead you. Atlantis? Too see a mermaid.

From under the water you tell your aunt, “I’ll be right back!”

“Yeah-”

And your alarm goes off. Your dream rapidly fades as you wipe the sleep from your eyes and blindly grasp around your nightstand for your phone. “Shut up!” The alarm was so annoying. Shrill ringing in your ears when all you wanted to do was go back to sleep.

You send Nina a heart emoji on discord, followed by let’s grab some shaved ice.

Then, you flop back on your bed and doom scroll for a few minutes before you have to sign in on Slack.

*****

It becomes a habit.

Even as the weather takes a turn as fall sets in, you try and make it out to the park once a week, and without fail Morpheus is there. He’s not always feeding the ducks. But he’s always there and always leaves without saying a word.

You’re not offended when he barely acknowledges your wave as you sit down next to him. That was just what he was like. Morpheus suffered from perpetual resting bitch face because of his pouty mouth. You’d yet to see him smile.

It didn’t matter. You liked his presence. You enjoyed having company as you got fresh air.

He listened but rarely had much of a reply.

“It’s nice to go into the office and touch base with the other writers,” you muse, sipping at your drink, “make sure everything is coherent and I guess it helps to talk to people who are also living with this whole world in their head. It helps. The entire story’s been fleshed out by James, our lead.” You let the words hang in the air. Working from home was nice too. It lets you wake up at noon and crawl down the rabbit hole of your own imagination until three in the morning.

Morpheus’ tilts towards you as he continues to watch the wind sweep through the trees. A trio of teenage girls had brought an entire charcuterie board and flowers for their park day.

“Not to mention James does have to sign off on my work. I’m still pretty low on the totem pole.” This was your first full time gig out of school. Not an internship with terrible pay and long hours or freelance, but an honest to god full time job with benefits and pay that meant you could finally rent your own studio apartment. “Do you game?”

“No.”

You glance at him in profile. He remained as pale as the first time you’d seen him, but the gauntness in his cheeks had receded. There’s lines under his eyes that led you to believe he was closer to forty than your late twenties, closing in on the big 30. The Cut loved to post how everything changed at thirty.

“It’s fun. I didn’t really get into them until high school but that was only because my parents bought into the whole video games cause violence schtick but like, I wanted to play pokemon not Call of Duty, at least when I was nine.” You smile, thinking back on fond memories, “then I started going over to Michael’s house after school and we’d play Zelda and Fallout. His parents were complete nerds who knew Klingon so they were cool about us playing whatever they were also playing.” Your parents would not have approved of Left 4 Dead.

“I will take your word for it,” Morpheus tells you, sitting back against the bench.

You sip your tea. It’s still warm enough that the ice is melting away, watering down the taro flavor. “Or you could come over sometime and play Stardew Valley?” You pick a tree and stare at it. You were nervous about his reaction. But it had been weeks. At some point you had to make plans and grab a burger or a drink. That’s just what friends did and if you left it up to Morpheus it would probably take a year. That’s all. It had nothing to do with how your heart sped up the moment you spotted his familiar head of hair in the park. It had nothing to do with the anticipation that had you smiling like a fool on Wednesdays when you routinely went to the park.

He doesn’t respond, his expression dour.

After a beat of silence, you find it within yourself to look at him.

Morpheus meets your searching gaze with his own. You could see the emotions playing out in his blue eyes, but you could not read them. Like the eyes of a bird of prey, you could see the intelligence, the life and consciousness within, but lacked the ability to understand them the way you could read other people.

The corners of his mouth lift, his smile a precious thing you couldn’t turn away if you wanted to. “Perhaps,” he allows. “Once the image of an avenging Mina Harker fills the minds of dreamers around the world.”

Smiling softly you reply, “Only if it’s successful.” You could never be sure with indie games.

“It will be,” Morpheus states.

“I try not to focus too hard on what happens after it’s released and out of my hands. What will be will be.”

He nods.

You finish your tea.

It was a lovely day. The August sun was not so harsh after four. There were less people as families planned for a return to school. The tourists stopped visiting the Northwest in droves.

And maybe Morpheus would come over.

That was more than you’d had yesterday.

You could even show him the demo of-

You bite your lip, trying to think if you had let anything slip about Project: Dracul City. Developing games came with a strict gag order. Nothing could leak before it’s time, not the gameplay or plot or any of the concept art. Usually, you were pretty good about keeping quiet.

Surely you hadn’t told him.

And yet he’d known.

You frown.

“Do you wish to feed the ducks as well?”

His words break your line of thought. You hadn’t even noticed the crinkling sound of the paper bag as he opened the birdseed up.

“These ducks must be the most spoiled in all the public parks,” you muse, smiling at Morpheus before grabbing a handful of feed and tossing it lightly into the grass.

It was exciting to see the ducks and birds come over. The shyer animals waited to see if it was safe. They all had their own personalities.

You’re not bothered by his lack of response, the conversation stilling. You’d grown to like his taciturn ways. It gave what he did say more weight. He wore black like a uniform and over the course of the weeks in which you had been meeting up with him (undiscussed by either of you) he had become beautiful in your eyes. You wanted to run your fingers through his unkempt hair. You wanted to steal away his smiles for yourself: to know you could make such a dour man smile because he couldn’t help himself around you.

You reach for more birdseed only to find that Morpheus had left.

Figures.

*****

Unsuccessfully, you try to wipe away the number written on the cup of hot apple cider, otherwise known as the perfect fall drink as the leaves grew into vibrant array of reds and oranges with the change in seasons as the days grew cold.

The cashier had been nice, but you were only interested in one man.

The sharpie doesn’t budge at all.

You give up trying to get the sharpie off when you spot Morpheus. “Hey I got you a drink since it’s starting to get cold out.” It wasn’t coat season for you yet, but you’d started wearing a sweater while running all over town.

You hold out one of the cups, the one without the number scribbled on it.

His eyes widen, pink lips parting in surprise. But he makes no move to reach for the cup you’re offering.

“It’s apple cider,” you tack on, “warm you right up.”

He blinks.

You roll your eyes, “just take it and say thank you.”

It works. Morpheus nods, taking the cup from you, his fingers cool when they brush against your skin. “This was not necessary.”

“I know,” you say, plopping down next to him. “But I wanted to.”

“Thank you,” he inclines his head toward you. The sincerity in his voice is clear as a bell.

Heat blooms on your cheeks. “You're welcome.” Again, you smile at him as you take a sip of your cup, “I can’t wait until the street vendors start having roasted chestnuts.”

“You enjoy winter.”

“Yeah. Some of it,” you laugh, “The snow can get annoying at times but more and more I find myself taking the time to enjoy the little things. It’s not like I’m working towards getting into college, getting a degree or anything anymore. I’m just enjoying life, yeah?” You flush. In your head it sounded wise, but out loud you just sounded naive.

“My sister shares your thoughts.”

You arch a brow, “you have a sister! Older or younger?”

With a slight smile, Morpheus answers, “older.” He must be fond of her.

“Well she’s right. It’s hard at first. I’d pick up flowers for myself and then think about what a waste of money they were but why not. I like having flowers. Or I’d make up excuses not to go out with my coworkers to stay in but if you do that enough times they’ll stop inviting you and you fall into a rut and that’s no way to live. And some people are so different outside of work.” The older you get, the easier being content becomes.

Stop and smell the roses indeed.

Then you ask him, deviating from your unspoken plans, “do you want to walk around?”

“If you wish to.”

“I do, but we don’t have to.”

Morpheus stands, and you take that for the answer that it is.

******

The grass tickles your calves as you wander through the meadow. The sun paints the sky in hues of orange as it sinks below the treeline.

It’s lucky it’s not raining.

On your first trip to this national park, it had rained the entire time. Not surprising. Rain was a constant companion in this city, but it was more than worth it when you got this lovely meadow all to yourself. Wildflowers were sprinkled throughout the grass.

You’d always wanted to come back, splurge on the fancy lodge instead of being in a tent and hoping the rain wouldn’t get through the plastic. Plans to come-

You blink, looking around slowly.

Was this a dream?

You try to string your thoughts together: trying to remember how you got here. It was fall. Not spring. It’s hard, your brain feels like it's sinking into a thick comforter, the way it always feels when you’re on the border of deep sleep.

Taking in the scenery, the solace, you let your train of thought dissolve and you give into the nonsensical logic of dreams, letting yourself fall back into deep sleep.

It’s lovely.

You sit down in the grass as the leaves take flight, butterflies in the air twirling in constellations before settling back down in the branches. These trees were unmatched by anything you’d seen before. It only made you wish to see more, go to more places.

“You are fond of the natural world.”

Turning, you find Morpheus sitting next to you. His long coat is no longer black but a starry night. Stars twinkle in the depth of the fabric as you take him in with wide eyes.

“Morpheus,” you’re delighted to see him.

And because this is a dream, you don’t hesitate to reach out, crossing boundaries without a thought, you brush your fingers over his shoulder, half expecting your hand to go right through and slide into an abyss of night. That doesn’t happen.

Sheepishly, you meet his gaze.

His eyes are black unfathomless pits with a sole pinprick of light for a pupil. At this, you draw back.

Morpheus says nothing, regarding you carefully.

You blink.

And when you can bear to meet his waiting gaze again, his eyes are clear as ever. It must have been a trick of the light.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” you note lamely. The national park wasn’t exactly close.

“I have business to contend with,” Morpheus replies, which leaves you with more questions than answers. You didn’t even know what he did for work. “We will not be able to meet in the Waking world for some time.”

“Oh,” you answer, crushed. It was ridiculous to feel so intensely about someone who was the equivalent of a classroom friend. You didn’t even have his number. Lin, your coworker, would call that a red flag.

His words sink in and, “the waking world?” Now you’re just confused.

His brow furrows with concern. “We are in The Dreaming.”

“I don’t understand.”

Morpheus frowns. “This a dream, your dream.” The sky goes periwinkle as snow starts falling. “And I am King of Dreams, Ruler of the Nightmare Realms.”

“Oh,” you go, “should I bow or something?”

Your words elicit a rare smile from the dour man.

It made your smile grow, to know that you had made him smile.

“There is no need,” the small smile stays on his pink lips.

“No off with her head” you joke, accepting dream logic and not questioning it as you quote the Queen of Hearts.

Morpheus frowns. “I would not be so crude.”

“Oh so I should be worried,” you wiggle your brows.

“Not of me.” He utters softly, his eyes become glassy. “Not while you are under my protection.” Morpheus reaches for you. The back of his hand ghosts over your cheek.

You lean into his touch without a thought.

You meet his gaze unabashed.

He blinks slowly, peering at you through dark lashes. There was a sedate romance to him that the Brontë sisters could only dream of.

“I cannot stay,” he confesses with remorse.

“You did say you had stuff to do.”

“I do.”

His hand is soft against your cheek. Neither of you move, resting in the moment, holding the pause for as long as possible.

Morpheus draws away, standing. Snow falls around you but the temperature remains pleasant. Snowflakes fall on your arms and do not melt.

You stand.

It’s the awkward point where you’re waiting for him to leave but don’t want him to leave and he’s dragging it out too. You’ve been through this plenty of times on friends' doorsteps as you chat and say goodbye and wait.

He stuffs his hands in his coat. It touches the ground, melting away the snow around the hem with its soft red flames, more ember than anything.

Morpheus makes no move to leave.

You wait, taking in the sight of him. Snowflakes fall in his unbrushed hair.

“Here,” Morpheus draws something from his pocket.

“Oh.”

He drops it in your outstretched palm without ceremony. Morpheus looks away as you study the object.

It’s a necklace. The chain is simple gold. It’s the pendant that catches your eye.

Encased in glass are grains of sand. They swirl inside the glass on their own.

“Thank you,” you look over at him.

Morpheus nods slightly. “It allows you to enter The Dreaming at will.”

“A standing invitation then,” you wink.

“Yes.” He has a talent for filling words with a weight beyond their common vernacular. Morpheus’ gaze is heavy on you.

You can’t parse out why this is so important, but it obviously is for him.

You unlock the clasp, wrapping the chain around your neck. With your fingertips, you try to lock it. The clasp is impossible when you cannot see it.

The hairs at your nape get in the way.

“Allow me.” Morphues closes the distance between you.

“Yeah, that would be great.”

He takes the chain from you, his fingers brushing against the back of your neck. He works swiftly, making quick work of it.

The pendant hangs in the middle of your chest.

Your heartbeat is hummingbird quick.

Morpheus’s breath tickles your nape.

You don’t dare move, fearing this is all a dream that will end if you do anything.

“I shall be expecting you.”

“I’ll be sure not to disappoint. Though it’s about to be crunch time and I’m not looking forward to-”

His actions cut you off.

Morpheus leans forward, his lips brushing against your neck chastely.

You draw in a breath.

The moment is over in the blink of an eye.

Something witty, sure to ruin the moment, is on the tip of your tongue as you turn, looking over your shoulder. But he’s gone.

****

The sand continues to swirl, defying gravity inside the pendant, when you wake.

You play with it as you scroll through files, read through work emails, and desperately try to recall the details of your dream.

You’ve never been more excited to sleep in your life.

#morpheus x reader #morpheus x you #morpheus x y/n #dream of the endless x reader #the sandman #an understanding #lmao i love miscommunication as a trope #to morpheus: he explained what he is perfectly #meanwhile readers like: idk whats going on but im into it #unedited as usual

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themetalhiro · 1 year

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Your art is so SHAPED!!!!

I love it <3

Any tips on how you got it so shaped?

Thank you so much!!! Haha ive been getting this comment alot and i THINK i have a grasp on what it means! Ill try my best to explain- using some one piece sketches since thats what Ive got on hand.

My first piece of advice is, dont be afraid to go ugly first! When sketching, youre sketching, and every sketch doesnt need to be finished eventually. This is kinda hard sometimes but i believe if you over work a sketch trying to get the first one perfect, things can come out really stiff!

these are the sketches I was playing with when learning to draw sanji. The 3 in bold I used, but the other ones got tossed - either too stiff or too exaggerated or just didnt match his vibe!

Thats the first step. But when it comes to the literal *shapes* picking the right shape has to do with not only their personality, but how they move as a character. And I think this should be applied *after* getting flow down first. I feel sometimes when an artist tries to stick hard to drawing nothing but x character in x shape things come out sort of stiff. (NOT pleased with the way i drew Zoro in the bottom right.)

But the actual shapes… thats up to what you think works on a character! I went with triangles with rounded corners on Sanji. I felt it would flatter his hair nicely, as well as his slim build and pointy ass shoes. Usopp felt more round and oblong to better suit his nose and the curves in his outfit- and zoro is all squares baby! Sturdy and built like a brick shithouse. But these are just my interpretations!

Anywayssss,,,,,,, hope this was somewhat helpful and not just a huge wall of text, lol! Thanks for your support! :]

#chatter #one piece

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fangswbenefits · 8 months

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Spicy chocolate:

Okay imagine this…

You have Miguel have been dating for a while now, and let’s just say the sex is….*chefs kiss*.

And you guys usually can’t go two days with out fucking, but you and Miguel haven’t fucked for TWO WEEKS NOW.

And so you’re going crazy, and Miguel would be a piece of shit like he is sometimes and just not say anything nor try to make a move, KNOWING DAMN WELL YOUR A BOTTOM WHO CANNOT MAKE THE FIRST MOVE TO SAVE YOUR LIFE!

So you go your best friend for some advice, and they tell you, to go get that chocolate that turns people on.(I forget what it’s called sorry)

You think they’re crazy but after a while of thinking about you realize that this might be the only way to help you out,

So you go and buy a pack, and when you get home you wait around until Miguel gets home, when he gets back you tell him you guys are watching a movie and that you went to the store and bought everything,

And he seems so happy about it, and when you get up to get everything he grabs your waist and starts kissing you and apologizing for not getting to tuck you, and so he wants to make up for it.

And you blurt out “for crying out loud I bought that stupid chocolate for what?”

Miguel looks at you confused, but slowly picks up on what your talking about, so he lets go of you and rushed to the kitchen as you try to stop him, but by the time you get to the kitchen, HE ALREADY ATE MORE THE HALF THE BAR OF CHOCOLATE. (DONT ACTUALLY EAT THAT MANY GUYS OKAY!)

And he just gives you a smirk before feeding you two pieces, it take a few minutes to finally kick in, and by that time.

You and Miguel are all over each other, and during him fucking into you and rubbing your clit, he whispers in your ear “You wanna know why I haven’t fucked you for so long?” He goes fast as you nod

“It’s because if I did I couldn’t stop myself for fucking you like this until I got you nice a full amor, until your you are wobbling like a penguin around the house swollen with my children. And tits full of milk, only for me and and the baby(‘s)

Y’all would not be leveling that bedroom for a WHILE, only to get food but you had to stay there only Miguel could leave.

RUBY IM LITERALLY ON MY PERIOD DO NOT JUDGE ME OKAY AND BEFORE YOU ASK HOW I KNOW THIS, ME AND MY EX HAD GOTTEN IT AS A JOKE FROM A FRIEND AND WE MELTED THE CHOCOLATE AND HAD CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES, OKAY!

(Also if you want to use this I’m 100% okay with that I would love it actually, but ya if you just give me some credit though, anyways much love <3)

👀

#answered ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

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burnedwriter · 1 year

Text

what type of roommate they are

A/n:college has been kicking my ass lately.These are small headcanons of what type of roommate they would be

warnings:fluff,mention of fighting,mentions of smoking weed and a bit of angst on zhongli’s part

🐋Childe/tartaglia

🐋Let’s start with that he’s the worst out of everyone on this list,not that hes moody or anything along the lines but because hes one of the messy ones,not only that but he also loves teasing you

🐋he will leave his stuff everywhere in the apartment and then you have to go pick them up one by one or else they will be left there for week upon on weeks ,you learned that lesson the hard way when he left one of his plates in his room and it got spoiled.

🐋He will always come back extremly drunk after he comes back from the parties he usaully goes,you will hear him stumble across the kitchen,the first time that happened you thought you were getting robbed.You usually help him with his hangover as you see him curled up in a ball.

🐋He is suprisingly a very good cook,he usually cooks for you if he sees that you are really tired and to make up for all his teasing as he says.

🐋Even if hes a little teasing piece of shit,he will always be there for you,if you need a shoulder to cry on or complain to him about your problems

🐋‘‘come on Ajax’‘you said dragging him in the apartment.

he was out on one of his usual parties when he called to come and pick him up since he was too drunk to drive himself back.

‘‘you are so heavy’‘struggling to carry him as you pushed him on the living room couche so he could la down and relieve the pressure from your should as you felt that you were going to get crashed by his weight.

‘‘my fucking head hurts’‘he groaned in pain covering his eyes with his forearms as they were too sensitive to the light.

‘‘stay here im going to bring you some water,do you need anything else Ajax’‘you asked him,as you marched towards the kitchen pouring him a glass of water and getting him a painkiller and returned to the living room.

Sitting up,he reached for the glass,taking small sip,he swallowed the painkiller before putting the glass back on the table.

His eyes still looking foggy from the headache still.

‘‘can you keep me some company untill the pain goes away?’‘he questioned,placing his head on your lap using your thighs as a pillow,looking up at you with puppy eyes to convince you to stay with him.

‘‘fine’‘you signed holding his head softly on your hands stroking his cheeks.after sometime passed you went to check up on him,looking down you were quickly greeted with an asleep ajax on your lap sleeping calmly.

🐉zhongli

🐉the best roommate someone can have

🐉Hes super clean and quiet the perfect combo,he usually studies in his room,and if you need any help with your assignments hes always there to help you and share his knowlage with you.

🐉Hes a clean freak,he cant stand things not being in their place or out of order,if he sees that you forgot something where it shouldnt be,he will always drop hints like ‘’i think you forgot something on the table’’ for you to come and pick it up

🐉Hes also an amazing cook,he cooks for the both of you,unlike the other people on this list ,zhongli has an expensive taste,you still dont know where he gets all this money from to make those expensive dishes.

🐉Hes also an amazing emotional support but unlike childe,he will actually give you good advices or help you through your tough times.

🐉zhongli was standing right outside your door,he was going to ask you if you wanted to go shopping with him when all of a sudden he heard crying coming from your room.

‘‘are you ok dear, can i come in,so we can talk?’‘ ’‘zhongli asked,knocking softly

‘‘no,but you can come in’‘you said from the other side,your voice still shaky from crying.

Entering the room,he sat next to you on your bed,placing a hand on your back trying to calm you down.

‘‘what happened may i ask?,if you want to of course, i will still stay here until you calm down’‘he said,reassuring you that he will still be there for you no matter the answer you give him.

‘‘i studied for this exam and still failed’‘tears creeping up from your eyes,as you explained the situation to zhongli.

‘‘its not the end of the world im sure you will learn from your mistakes,there is always a next time,im sure you will do better next time’‘he said with a soft smile on his lips,stroking your back softly.

His small speech giving you back the onfidence that you need,as you wipe your face with the sleeves of your shirt clearing yur vision.

‘‘you are probably right zhongli,there is alway a next time’‘you answered back at him with the same soft smile.

‘‘i was going to ask you if you want to come shopping with me,are you still up for the idea?’‘he questioned,waiting for an answer from you.

‘‘sure let me get ready first and we can go,i actually needed some new shoes’‘

💀xiao

💀Xiao is a unique roommate,hes not bad nor good,hes more like neutral.

💀he will lock himself in his room for hours upon hours on end and come out only if he needs to eat something or go to the bathroom.

💀he smokes weed,sometimes when you pass by his room,you can smell it through the door.You want to ask him to try some but you are too scared to ask him.

💀Hes not the best person to talk to but he is there for you if you need someone to talk to,just dont expect him to give you advices like zhongli does.

💀Both of you have smoked weed together,after finally gathering up the courage to ask him if you could smoke with him which he suprisingly shared with you.laying on xiaos chest his hand wrapped around you as the both of you passed the joint back and forth

‘‘wow take it easy there,its your first time and i dont want anything bad happening to you’‘he aid cautious,taking it quickly away from your hand before you could take another puff.

‘‘i will be fine dont worry’‘you said looking up at him.

‘‘no’‘his answer short and swift,as he took a puff.

‘‘i didnt know you were so chill’‘you stated

‘‘and what did you though about me’‘ he asked confused at your sentence as he continued to smoke.

‘‘well...i though you were one of those moody people that hated socializing,that’s why i was scared to talk to you,i felt a bit intimidated’‘you answered,now wrapping your own arm around his torso,hugging him.

‘‘oh’‘he looked shocked by your answer,catching him off guard

‘‘but i glad i gathered the courage and now we are friends’‘starting to slur over your word as you snuggled on his chest chest your mind starting to go blank as the effects of the drug started to kick in.

💨😒scaramouche

💨😒scara is one of the worst combos moody and sassy.You two fight a lot because of his subtle attitude which ends with you both locking yourselfs in your rooms

💨😒If you leave soemthing somewhere he will tell you something along the lines like ‘’arent you going to pick it up?’’ or ‘’its not going to clean itself’’.

💨😒he is really smart and a good student but refuses to help you if you are having trouble with any of your assignments,he will tell you ‘’google is free’’ and proceed to continue reading his book,you could almost see the small smirk on the side of his mouth everytime he says it.

💨😒hes a good cook but he will ask you to clean the dishes right after he sees you finishing your food.

💨😒if he accidentally hurts you with something he said,he will immediatly apologise to you right after the both of you calmed down,he felt guilt overtake his body as soon as he saw tears threatening to escape your eyes

💨😒You two play a lot of video games together in your free time,one time he dared you to 1v1 him in his favourite game which you ended up winning and then you had a very salty scara asking you for a rematch.

💨😒sitting on the living room couche you both played,games for hours,you tried your best to win against scara but you were greeted yet again win the same scoreboard showing scara at the top and you on the buttom indicating your loss.

‘‘guess who won yet again’‘scara said with his usual sassy tone looking at you with a teasing smile.

‘‘its not fair!you cheated!’‘you yelled in response,pouting angryly.

‘‘i ‘’cheated’‘ sure’‘ he let out a breathy laugh at your angry expression.

‘‘i want a rematch and this time i want go easy on you’‘you demanded looking at him still pissed that you lost.

‘‘fine,but dont expect me to go easy on you either,like i did before,you asked for it afterall’‘he said with a smug expression on his face.

‘‘bet,prepare to loose then’‘

‘‘sure...’‘

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meanbossart · 3 months

Text

Some art-advice asks I've been meaning to reply to!

I use Clip Studio Paint Pro, though I'm not sure what tips I could give just in general. Just experiment with new things often, draw as much as your lifestyle allows, watch how other people do their work but try to avoid "Dont do THIS thing ever" type lessons and tutorials. Use as much reference as you'd like and take your time! To this day a simple sketch can still take me several hours to do depending on what it is.

Thank you so much!!! I didn't do any kind of formal art schooling but I've always been inclined towards arts and crafts, and started taking drawing semi seriously when I was about 17 (I'm 27 now). I draw a lot of inspiration from western comics and my favorite artists are jason shawn alexander and sean murphy.

Oh I'm so flattered to hear my stuff's inspired you to take up drawing again, I have a bunch of little crafty hobbies but art is by far the most fulfilling one to me - largely because you're constantly learning and improving.

You're definitely onto something already, I am constantly looking at other people's art (even If it isn't a style I would want to emulate) and analyzing how the pieces come together to create the final product. In my opinion this is pretty much the best way you can go about learning besides real-life reference drawing. You can even take something into your software of choice/print it out and trace it (just to yourself, of course) to get a sense of hand-motion and line use.

As a beginner I think there's no shame at all in taking heavy inspiration from your favorite artists, as long as you aren't straight up copying things and calling them your own. Your personal style Is likely to come out naturally, with time. That's very much how I started myself!

Also, just be patient with yourself, try to have realistic goals for your skill level while simultaneously being proud of everything you do. Even if you absolutely despise a drawing, you still drew something! And even if it doesn't feel that way you most definitely learned from it. Use learning tools and tutorials to whatever point you feel comfortable with but don't get stuck on people's arbitrary rules - unless we're talking about something tangible like real-life application of traditional art tools, things like anatomy, perspective and light are to be referenced from - but It's not the goal to emulate them 100% unless you ARE going for hyperrealism. As someone who uses a ton of reference these days, I can tell you first-hand that I often find myself straying from it on purpose to make a piece look more interesting.

Lastly, draw things you enjoy! Don't let anyone else dictate what you SHOULD be doing and don't fall into the trappings of wanting to stick to one specific style, process, or subject matter.

Good luck!!!

LOL thank you so much for your very evocative compliments! I haven't ever done a timelapse, not that I remember at least. I'm not sure how they work but I do so much of "I'm gonna try this thing 5 different ways and then decide what I like" that I'm not sure how comprehensive that would be LOL

I could put together a process showcase or something though, I feel like that might be better even, since I get to explain a little of what I'm doing through text and display how I use reference. Something to consider!

#ask #art #advice

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ciearcab · 1 month

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I've been curious for a while now how you draw poses. How do you use references? Everything you make looks so natural but still lively it's so gorgeous

ghghfghn thankyou! i definitely feel like the worst person to ask for advice on this from, but i'll try and explain some of my thought process when working with character-focused art (and posing them!)

(rambling below the cut)

i think that understanding human form in general is probably the best way to feel confident in posing even if that sounds like what everyone says. when you feel familiar with the shapes of a body it's far easier to understand the rules in which they will move/interact with, and then composition in general tends to come a little easier.

When i start a pose (or just. character art in general) i like to try and work with the most bare-bones type sketch possible. I dont visualize things in my head very clearly, so when i do try and copy a reference or detailed sketch 1 to 1, it usually ends up incredibly stiff and boring because i get stuck following all the details. the way i break down shapes is a little off as well, i think in very angular and long lines, so i like to use the chest, knees, and shoulders as my "anchor points" for my figures - they're what i personally consider the most prominent points to focus on visually and i usually will build my pose around their placements. i think it’s good to come up with something like this to help ground your pose early on.

when i draw multiple characters interacting or in the same scene, i like to try and think of poses that feel in-character or natural to them. these two in my recent piece started out kinda cutesy but they argue a lot, so you can see the change as i readjusted the posing to make it feel more aggressive as i went along.

redoing a portion of a character midway through for whatever reason is pretty standard in my process, so i dont stress if i cant quite figure out a limb or perspective at first (this is when i will look for reference if i dont have one or take my own photos).

I dont really enjoy drawing characters just standing around, so doing something that feels more like a "scene" or moment of interaction like this (being scolded at for an injury, chatting, reading a book, catching a falling object, etc etc) is a nice way to try and come up with something at least a little more compelling to draw, and a way to work some body language into the poses too. legs and arms can make great space-fillers while still adding to the mood!

i dont really know how to wrap this up but as a general rule of thumb i try to think of poses that will fill the space of the canvas/image im drawing on, just like any other composition, while still considering the feeling or moment i want to convey. if i’m unhappy with the final full piece, i usually will just crop for a closer image (posting on other platforms usually makes me do this anyways, so i consider it part of the process at this point ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ )

#ciear answers

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zvdvdlvr · 1 year

Note

hey you should some dating johnny cade hc

Dating Johnny Cade HCs

➳ 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐢.

-> warnings: foul language, pet names { baby, honey, sweetheart }

-> pairings: johnny cade x reader

{🤍}

sweet boy ong.

PLEASE he loves to cuddle with you !!

"c'mere cuddlebug" <3

M E L T S when you compliment or praise him

is really really really really really really really really shy before you both start dating

100 fucking percent asked dally for advice b4 asking you out

look, if you have a RBF, johnnycake is kimda scared of you (at first)

until dall strolls up to you and offers you a blunt, johnny might think youll jump up and bite his fingers off lmao

ok so but i

johnny loves watching you smoke????

watching the smoke seep from your lips?? hes purring.

but when you shOTGUN?!?!?!?!? he's feral.

if johnny ever gets hurt, expect to be one of the first person he looks for to clean him up and give him shelter

if he ends up in jail for participating in one of Dally's stunts, he doesn't want to call

bc you'll be worried and want to spend ur money on bail for him 🤕❤

but its ok in the end bc hes in love w you

PICNIC DATES QUESTION MARK

i feel like johnny would be so down for these

i also think johnny's lowkey (and i mean low key) a cat person

is that just me? ok ill go away now

AN ABSOLUTE SUCKER for sharing cigs with his partner <3

if you had a good home life, johnny would really want to spend time with your family

because he was robbed of an okay parent/child relationship, he yearns for his partner's parents to like him

would be absolutely distraught if they didn't like him, my poor boy ☹

please tell him he's loved

he needs that

would call you sweetheart, baby, honey or a nickname based off your name or an inside joke or smth

johnny boy likes that intimacy :p

wap so hes a sub switch at best

GO TO THE MOVIES WITH HIM!!!!

PLEASE

sharing a coke (the drink smh) and fries :')

making comments the whole time and loving his little laugh that follows

play a prank or two 😍

but you might need to take the fall just a warning

if you tend to get in trouble with the law, johnny would be chill with that shit because he's friends with dallas winston

but will always be a lil nervous for his bae

will take you out when you get out of the slammer

diner dinners, late night walks (with knives for safety), dirty jokes, random puns... this is all johnny.

you make him so happy

would have cash set aside for a lil smth for your birthday dont even TRY to argue

cheek kisses, neck kisses, forhead kisses

theyre so... simple

so simple but they make him so happy

dally also likes how happy you make johnny

is protective over johnny, don't get me wrong, but is calmer when he knows its you

i mean, everyone knows you

you have a reputation, of course

dally lowkey admires you, even if ur younger than him

anywayz

is kind of oblivious when it comes to relationships, tbh...

its sweet (for the most part)

loves holding your hand

please

please hold his hand

please hold his hand all the time

two-bit loves you bc johnnys in love with you and you help him (two-bit) with making fun of certain Socs

you also have a rep for dark/offensive humor so two and soda absolutely lose their shit when you make a joke im not even lying

wait but like soda really likes the dynamic you both have

i.e: you act like siblings and poke fun at pony sometimes

but its all good bc ur dating johnny

i mean, dude, its johnny

darry highkey really likes you

the gamg likes you, johnnh is in love with you, we're all cool

imagine: mother darry's reaction to you get into a fight

"hey y/n," darry greeted the teen. they were grabbing a piece of chocolate cake. the curtis household was notorious for its chocolate cakes.

y/n shut the ice box door and went for a fork, strategically avoiding letting darry see their face. "yo," they replied, turning to leave the room.

darry stuck his hand out before y/n could leave the kitchen. "look at me," he commanded, suspicious.

y/n tilted their face up to look at him. darry's eyes widened. they had teo black eyes, a deep lookinh scratch from their temple to their chin, a dried bloody nose, busted lip, and a toothy grin plastered all over their face. "it wasn't my fault, dare, promise," they say.

darry tuts. "the hell it wasnt. you see johnny yet with those battle scars o'yers?"

"nah. ain't wanna wake 'im up yet."

dear god then two bit lumbers in. "hey, y'all heard? shepherd's plannin' a rumble- damn!" he howls. he swiped his finger in the frosting of y/n's cake and got a good look at their face. "damn kid! you kick their asses?"

y/n smirks. "duh."

two bit laughs and gets his own slice of cake while darry leans against the counter wondering how why y/n was so carefree.

"you're such a mother, jeez," y/n commented to Darry.

two bit laughed again.

"missed you, baby"

AWOOOGA BARK BATK BARK PURR MEOW JEIEKJQODIS

the gang totally gags and pretends to vomit when you guys kiss or they walk in go you making out

pony is ur no. 1 supporter

respect, my g 😪✊

if anyone wants more lmk. ill edit this bad boy later

johnny cade taglist:

@paxdawg

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gilded-garnet · 10 months

Text

He Doesn't Even Know You

Sebastian Sallow x F!MC

WC: ~ 2K / Warnings: None

Summary: MC had a boyfriend, and Sebastian was miserable. What made it worse was the fact that he had unwittingly made it happen in the first place.

It had started when his fellow Slytherin, a seventh year boy by the name of Avery, had benignly asked him if he knew what MC's favourite flower was. Avery had claimed he simply wanted to give a gift to the 'Hero of Hogwarts' as a thank you for saving the school during their previous year.

In hindsight, Sebastian couldn't quite believe how naive he'd been, not thinking to question this rather flimsy motive. He had answered truthfully, not thinking of the possible consequences.

Unfortunately, his advice had rapidly led to the development of an actual relationship between the two. A relationship in which Sebastian now found himself an unwilling participant.

Avery had started coming to him for everything, wanting to extract any piece of information he could in order to dazzle MC. With each passing request, Sebastian became increasingly tempted to tell the guy to get lost and learn how to impress a girl on his own. However, just one glance at MC's delighted face whenever she received a box of her favourite chocolates or an item of jewellery with her favourite gemstone, meant that Sebastian couldn't find it in himself to stop helping the useless dolt.

Just half a year more and he'll be gone, he told himself. He could cope for that long, couldn't he, for her sake? It turned out he vastly overestimated his own level of tolerance.

"Oh, it was amazing, Sebastian!" She gushed to him between classes. "Just the other day, he took me to this spot overlooking the hills and river. It was simply divine."

She sighed dreamily in a way that made Sebastian's insides curl. He already knew it was amazing. After all, he was the one who had found the spot in the first place and suggested it to the fool. As if that insufferable moon mind could think up anything like that on his own.

He didn't trust himself to speak with an acceptable level of enthusiasm, so simply grit his teeth and nodded. She picked up on his foul mood immediately, reaching out to grab his arm and stop him in his tracks, a small frown on her face.

"Look, Sebastian, I know you don't particularly like him, but would it kill you to at least pretend to be happy for me?" She asked.

Oh, if only she knew what he was doing to make sure she was happy, he thought bitterly.

"I'm not sure it matters what I think of him; I'm not the one dating him," he replied, trying to keep his voice level and tone dismissive.

Her frown deepened. "You're my best friend. Of course your opinion matters to me," she insisted.

The rational part of his mind knew he should leave the conversation there, but Sebastian had always had a flair for confrontation.

"Fine. I'll tell you what I think," he stated, crossing his arms in frustration. "I dont think he's right for you."

"Why?" She asked, still calm for now.

"Because he doesn't know a damn thing about you, MC!" He snapped, unable to hold it in any longer.

Her eyebrows rose in confusion, "That's ridiculous, he knows lots about me."

Sebastian couldn't help but roll his eyes. "Like your favourite chocolates, lessons, and flower? You think he just guessed all that information? Come on MC, you're smarter than that," he scoffed.

"He just listens to me," she insisted, cheeks turning pink in indignation.

"He doesn't," he replied, flatly.

"And how would you know?" She demanded, incensed.

"Because he's been coming to me since the start for advice on how to woo you. Hell, he only took you to that spot the other day because I suggested it to him!" Sebastian fumed.

Despite his anger, he found immense relief in the admittance, like the ball and chain that had been dragging at his heels for months had finally fallen away, leaving him feeling lighter. That is, until he saw MC's bottom lip quivering, which quickly brought him crashing back down to earth.

"You can be really cruel sometimes, Sebastian," she said, her voice shaking with emotion.

He blinked dumbly, taken by surprise. "What?"

"Just because you're jealous, doesn't mean you can make up stuff like that," she snapped, her eyes brimming with tears. She turned on her heel and sped away, books clutched tightly to her chest.

He was gobsmacked. First, at her thinking he was lying about the whole thing, and second, that she thought he was lying because he was jealous.

He suddenly had the overriding urge to set something on fire, so decided to skip Ancient Runes altogether in favour of venting his rage at a training dummy in the Undercroft, all the while picturing it wearing Avery's face.

----

That evening, Avery cornered him in the Slytherin common room as he made his way to bed. He'd ended up 'practicing' in the Undercroft for hours, and now felt completely drained of energy.

"Sebastian, just the man I wanted to see. MC's in a right foul mood; you wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you? Anything I can do to help calm her down?" Avery asked, concerned.

"She's your girlfriend - figure it out," Sebastian snarled, thinking that Avery was very lucky he could barely raise his wand arm. He barged him roughly aside with his shoulder so he could walk up the stairs to his dorm, ignoring Avery's spluttered protest.

Ominis was already there, sitting on his bed with his legs crossed at the ankle, a book on his lap. "Our mutual friend isn't too happy with you," he stated.

Sebastian only grunted in response, kicking off his boots and falling face-first into the pillow on his own bed, wrapping his arms around it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ominis probed, his voice teasing.

"No."

"Ok."

The silence lasted all of one minute before Sebastian huffed loudly, turning onto his side to face his friend.

"I told MC the truth about Avery. She accused me of making up the fact that I am the sole reason that she and him are together. Then, she said that I was jealous and that's the reason I made it up!" Sebastian disclosed, exasperated.

"And are you?" Ominis asked.

"Am I what?"

"Jealous."

Sebastian scoffed. "I'm not jealous, Ominis. It's more like I'm sick to death of him taking all the credit for my ideas." Sebastian groused, frowning.

"Alright," Ominis said a little too lightly.

"What does that mean?" Sebastian demanded.

"I just said 'alright'," Ominis remarked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, but it was the way you said it."

Ominis huffed in frustration. "Sebastian, I am not going to tell you how you do or do not feel. What I will tell you is that I can understand why she might be upset with you when you basically told her that her entire relationship is a lie."

Sebastian groaned. "I didn't mean for it to go on for this long. I've been meaning to tell Avery to piss off for ages, but she just looked so happy and I couldn't..." he trailed off miserably.

"Give her time, she'll come around eventually. She always seems to when it comes to you," Ominis assured.

"She isn't the only one," Sebastian teased, chuckling when Ominis shot him an irritated look. Goading his oldest friend was one of Sebastian's favourite pastimes.

"Oh please. If anything, you're the one who always ends up crawling back to me. Now, shut up and go to bed, I've had enough of your moping for one day."

---

It had been a whole month and she still hadn't spoken to him. More tragically, she and that useless waste of space were still together, even without his input. The thought left him feeling rather cold, and he felt his mood deteriorating further which each passing day. When he would try and catch her eye during class she would look away, and tracking her down outside of the classroom proved an impossible task. Merlin knows what that girl got up to in her spare time.

At one point, he'd even considered sending her an owl to beg for forgiveness. He had gotten halfway through writing a confession that he had indeed been lying about the whole thing, before he scrunched it into a ball and threw it unceremoniously into the fire. He couldn't bring himself to actually lie about it; it left too sour a taste in his mouth.

The Undercroft had become a necessary retreat, and he frequented the room almost daily to work out his frustrations. He was halfway through casting a barrage of spells when he heard a voice behind him.

"Sebastian?"

He froze with his wand raised mid-cast, turning quickly to face her. Her eyes were red-rimmed and slightly bloodshot, like she had been crying recently. It made his heart clench.

"I'm sorry for calling you a liar," she said. "I - I've realised that... that you were right. Avery and I don't have much in common after all. I ended it with him today."

"I'm sorry," he said, automatically.

She waved her hand dismissively. "I think I was just angry to find out that my entire relationship wasn't what I thought it was, you know? I really thought I'd found someone who truly understood me."

"I shouldn't have helped him for so long and kept it from you. I apologise," he said, truthfully.

She looked up at him then, gaze calculating. "Why did you help him?"

"Well, the first time was a total accident, to be honest. After that...I don't know. I guess I saw how happy you were and didn't want to be the one to ruin it." He laughed sardonically, rubbing the back of his neck, "though I guess I did that anyway, didn't I?"

"It's quite the habit of yours," she remarked, teasing, but it made him feel awful all the same.

"Yeah..."

She smiled softly at him, before crossing the floor and throwing her arms around his middle in a hug. He tensed, surprised, but soon wrapped his own arms around her, holding her close. Her hair smelled of lavender and he realised in that moment how desperately he'd missed the scent.

"I missed you," he murmered into her hair, gripping her a little tighter. The admittance made him feel a bit vulnerable.

"I missed you, too," she answered, the words becoming muffled by his shoulder.

After a long moment she regretfully pulled away. There was a twinkle in her eyes.

"I must say, I never took you for such a romantic, Sebastian. Some of those date and gift ideas were incredibly thoughtful of you," she remarked.

He could feel his face heating. "Oh, don't start. You talk my ear off all day every day; it was easy."

"Yes, but you listened."

"I care about you. It matters to me what you like and what makes you happy," he replied, surprised at his own candour.

Her eyes widened slightly, and he was now absolutely sure he must be blushing. He cleared his throat, the moment suddenly feeling too charged.

"Now, how about we both forget about that idiot and try and hex each other into oblivion. Care for a duel?" He challenged, twirling his wand between his fingers.

She laughed, and it was beautiful. "You always know what to say to cheer me up," she said, withdrawing her own wand from her pocket.

Seeing that smile directed at him once more made his heart beat faster and he felt his own lips turn up in response. Perhaps the rest of the year wouldn't be so unbearable, after all.

#sebastian sallow #sebastian sallow x mc #sebastian sallow fanfiction #sebastian sallow fanfic #hogwarts legacy fic #hogwarts legacy fanfiction #finally I managed to finish one of my WIPs!

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aihaitahm · 1 year

Text

curiosity killed the cat general

jing yuan and mean! cat!hybrid reader

where jing yuan has always been eyeing on you yet you seem uninterested and distant towards him however he stumbled across your photobook filled with his pictures when it fell out your pocket.

gn! reader, pining of some kind. reader is implied to wear lipstick. in celebration for jing yuan’s release ^_^

you are fu xuan’s assistant and you sometimes send out reports to general jing yuan when she is extremely busy. upon giving out reports to him, you couldnt help but feel his gaze. you feel yourself go red because how can somebody like him even stare at you. you cant deny he is extremely handsome and charming, just simply eye candy to look at. you couldnt help that your tail would slightly wag when you talk to him. he is so gentle with you and kind but you didnt want your slight admiration (little did you know you have a big ass crush on him you just deny it )for him to be obvious so you decide to be mean and avoid him like the plague. however it was hard to resist that when he constantly gives you food or any random thing every after report.

your crush for him certainly didn’t go unnoticed by a certain foxian lady and of course fu xuan. tingyun would notice how you look at the general and gently grabbed you aside to tell you she has pictures of him to give you for free. you were opposed to it at first but you took the pictures anyway. she giggled and said “hm. be thankful im not charging you like the others~ keep this a secret okay? afterall, the general does have keen eye on you. only you.”

one afternoon, you were confronted by your overworked madame about your little crush since she found out about your secret. well she knew about it all along, she just didnt confront you.

“your taste in men is absolutely terrible. you’re my best assistant yet… you choose to have a crush on the worst general EVER?” fu xuan sighed disappointingly.

“where is this coming from i-i dont like him that way and could you keep it down. i dont like him!” you denied, cat ears going back, tail going straight up. feeling a bit hissy.

“then why do you keep this then hm? how come i see lady tingyun provide you these pictures? did i mention the lipstick marks all over it. could my dear assistant, who so terribly denies their crush for the general, explain?” fu xuan sarcastically questioned. she showed the photobook and flips through it with her not so evil grin.

“stop! im not gonna do anything for you for a week.” you hissed. blood rushed to your face from the embarrassment and from blushing.

“okay then you fiesty kitten. i’ll give this to your little jing yuan and tell him its from you.” she blackmailed. woah… who knew the cat had its claws.

“i-i apologize lady fu xuan. but please i beg of you not to, please! i’ll do more than i have to. i’ll cook you all your meals. i promise. just dont give it to general jing yuan.” you pleaded. you were internally screaming, he cannot know.

fu xuan sighed and then chuckled. she has never seen her assistant so out of character. she gave the photobook to you as you sighed in relief. she then gave you a pieces of unwanted advice about how to confess yadayada. she also scolded you for overthinking. even though she does not like jing yuan, she wants to support her lovely assistant. you have helped her in a lot of things and it was just right for her to support you.

“thank you lady fu xuan.“ you smiled at her, parting ways as it was already late at night. what you didnt know was that your photobook fell. you were so tired from today’s work, running around to clear errands, all you care about was sleep.

early morning came and the general wanted to clear his mind by getting fresh air to get the morning started. strangely he saw something on the ground and he was curious about what it was. it was a photobook… with cute cat stickers on it. the only cat person he frequently saw was you. he noticed your items were cat themed which he found adorable.

he was even more intrigued when he saw pictures of himself with lipstick marks. his lips formed a smirk when he saw the ‘(name) x jing yuan <888’ engraved in one of the pictures. he always had his eye on you and would frequently ask fu xuan and tingyun about you. he thought you were attractive and loyal and most importantly a cat. he is the biggest cat person he knows. he spoils mimi so much why cant he spoil you? he does get hurt whenever youre so cold and distant. he would do anything to make you warm up to him. he did notice recently you were slowly opening up to him though you still shut him out.

thankfully he found your photobook and is now relieved that the feelings are mutual. with a devilish grin, he sent out a messenger to fu xuan and asked for only your assistance today. his heart is fluttering because all he could think of was you. all day everyday. he wonders what happens if he teases you? if he kissed your hands? if he touched your ears? so many questions spiraled.

afternoon finally came.

“good afternoon general jing yuan. you asked for me?” you politely said. aeons. you were anxious but you didnt know why. you couldnt stop staring at his figure so you looked down. he finally turned around with something familiar in his hands, you notice his majestic fingers flipping through the pages. wait is that your photobook… your photobook!

“hmmmm my dearest kitten, seems like you dropped your precious belonging. can you give me a full explanation for this photo album? i assume its yours since it said in one of the pages ‘(name) x jing yuan’ what? are just you going to deny it even though i have proof?“ he stood up walking towards you. going nearer and nearer.

you look down and closed your eyes. he then slowly grabbed your chin. you could feel the tantalizing electricity in his hand. you feel his presence tower you. you felt like a mouse.

“eyes up here.~” he cooed. oh how devilish.

you were speechless and exploding. you were flustered. tail twitching, ears cowering.

“hm what happened~ cat got your tongue?”

#honkai star rail #jing yuan #jing yuan x reader #jing yuan honkai #jing yuan fluff #honkai star rail fluff #pt 2?#hsr #hsr jing yuan #hsr x reader

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umbrvx · 20 days

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i like ur art. its great and interesting!! i really like your artstyle and i really like the way u draw hsy, yjh, and kdj. you captured them so well in terms of vibes/character. also i was wondering do u have any advice to improve on drawing anatomy/poses/faces?

wahh thank you so much...!! i feel like im still trying to figure them out in a lot of ways but i do really like ironing out my visual interpretations of them so im really happy to hear if people like what im coming up with

also anon you super activated the part of my brain that cant help but yap about art theory... i spent some time writing as many tips as i could think of. unfortunately i dont think i have the time currently to do a fully illustrated guide, but ill still try to include some visual examples:

[incoming wall of text lol]

ANATOMY:

to preface i think that like 100% of the time you should reference a real life photo for anatomy rather than other artwork or drawn references. the best way to learn the body is by… well, actually looking at the body! but also artwork is informed by a person's own artistic ability/stylization choices/sense of idealism, so while looking at art can help give you an idea on how to break down forms, i think you would be best served observing real life references. i labor on this point because i do think that having over relied on drawn reference material and avoiding photographic references on the basis of not being interested on realism hindered me as a largely self-taught artist as a kid, so i want to encourage live or photographic reference since anatomy is one of the foundations from which everything else is built on. that being the case, all of my doodles i'm doing for this are going to be for the sake of example rather than to strictly say how you should or should not be drawing something

-> when you are doing a study of a photo, just try copying it as best as you can. pay close attention to the natural lines and shapes of the body -- the S-curve shape of the leg, the triangular shape of the forearm, the trapezoid shape of hips/thighs when they sit, and so on. note where the body folds or squishes or pulls; how mass will shift to accommodate a certain position. if a form is hard to visualize, focus on the negative space and carve that out, rather than strictly drawing the positive space.

don't expect to get it perfect the first time. in fact, iterate on it multiple times to build understanding. try doing it to a timer of 15, then 10, then 5 minutes. doing this will force you to have to prioritize the most important shapes. you can help reinforce this by using a thicker brush or a brush with no pen pressure (no joke ms paint works great for this) to force you to be loose and not become preoccupied with details.

-> pinterest is a great resource for finding and compiling photo reference material

-> organic shapes are curved, so embracing/emphasizing that (particularly for the extremities) can help make your drawings look more natural or fluid

POSES: -> it all begins & ends with contrapposto… you've probably heard of the line of action, which is related. if you're offsetting the shoulders & hips, it: makes poses more natural, more dynamic, and helps the pose sort of "draw itself" -- the legs will follow the direction of the hips, and you can use the arms to reinforce the angles

-> context is key. don't ask: what pose should i draw? instead ask: what do i want this character to convey? what does happiness, anger, sadness, and so forth look on this particular character? how do they express that? consider these drawings: these are both ostensibly the same pose, but look at how changing just the shape of the spine recontextualizes it.

for more on pose design i recommend watching Tracer & Pose Design 101 - The Animation of Overwatch by New Frame Plus (i promise this is a genuinely super informative video).

to expand on this, in general, all of the components of a piece (background, composition, pose, etc.) are best considered in conjunction rather than separately. it is difficult to choose a pose and then choose a background because they are missing the context that would make a piece cohesive. when you are planning a drawing, try to begin with your general concept/idea/prompt and then do several thumbnails -- small and quick doodles that should take no longer than 5 minutes each -- developing it: you may find that the pose and bg will naturally fall into place.

-> silhouette: the degree to which you need to push this varies by style but generally speaking the pose needs to be readable; i.e. instantly recognizable. try to keep important elements of the gesture outside of the silhouette. for example, if the character is pointing, keep that arm out of the interior of the body. the same pose can be more or less readable or dynamic depending on where the character is pointed in relation to the viewer

-> exaggeration!! goes along with the previous point. push the pose as much as you can (and what makes sense for your style) to communicate your pose as clearly and as intensely as possible.

FACES: -> i highly recommend the app Handy Art Reference Tool by Belief Engine for all things related to drawing hands/heads/feet. its on both android and ios. it isn't free -- it costs around $3 -- but that is seriously such a small price to pay for the amount of utility you get out of it: the hands models are fully poseable (there's also pose presets), you can rotate the head models however you want, and there is 3-point customizable lighting. it is really helpful for getting those super tricky and hyperspecific head angles that you just can't find a real life reference for. that being said given that there's only a few different head model variants, bear in mind how differences in features can affect what exactly a face will look like in those angles.

-> i still recommend doing studies of real people. as with anything else, learning generalized proportions is important, even if you are going to later on bend or break this depending on style

-> as for my own approach... it kind of depends on the style i'm doing at that particular time. for my paintings (what id consider my main style) i approach a character with a few real-world features in mind and then apply them to the best of my ability. it usually will take a few iterations to land on an interpretation i really like as i try out different things. a lot of the face also gets developed during rendering rather than through my initial sketch too, as i adjust for lighting and correct proportions on the fly

(look how much this image changes between sketch and render lol)

if i were to recommend anything, i think it would be to nail down your most distinct features first -- the ones that will make your character's face recognizable, and could apply regardless of art style. in my case with kim dokja, i knew when i first started drawing him that i wanted to give him a longer face and down-turned eyes. when i decided to do the disco elysium inspired set, in which i was breaking out of my comfort zone by letting go of any idealizations focusing on conveying characterization/making them feel "real", i landed on some more specific traits (defined lower lids/perpetually tired eyes/eyebags(?) the crease there idk how to describe it) which i continue to try to evoke even if im drawing something much more cartoony

(pictured are my first kdj -> disco elysium style -> my post de-style kdj)

as a side note, this very same process changed yjh much more dramatically

(^ that first guy is mad someone else)

those handful of key features will be the thing that you can then take into a simpler style and simplify or exaggerate to whatever degree suits you. you can also play with shape theory (square = sturdy/solid, circle = natural/smooth/welcoming, triangle = energetic/dangerous). shape theory doesn't necessarily need to be so rigid -- you can combine shapes as you please to convey whatever vibe you're going for -- so please think of it as a tool that may help rather than a rigid law you must abide by.

-> expressions: exaggerate them. thats kind of it!! make it big!!! you wanna be able to really feel those emotions. the principles of squash & stretch help here: think of how the muscles move when you, say, open the eyes or mouth really big. as one side of the face stretches open, the other side squashes to accommodate it

even without changing the position of the jaw here, moving the nose and scrunching the eyes will sell the expression

you can also play with squash/stretch to break proportions to sell a feeling more

since expressions are just, well, poses for the face, everything else for poses applies here (and facial expressions & pose should also be considered in tandem). while the term contrapposto itself just refers to the offset of the shoulders & hips, the similar principle of asymmetry also carries here as that will help make the expression a bit more dynamic.

and i think... that's it!! all i can think of at least. i hope it helps anon!!!

#umbrvx.ask #sorry the reply took a minute i have been writing this post since i got the ask im so serious #i tried to determine what advice i could give that would be the most immediately actionable #also sorry its a huge wall of text im a little crazy about learning and discussing art theory . oops (the yapper)

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