#need to get freer in my sketches | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

a-romantic--aromantic · 2 years

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Hi there! I was reading your post for the aro-picnic at pride (sorry I’m sure how else to refer to the post) and wanted to tell you that I think that sounds like such an amazing idea! You’d be making a safe place and slacking conversation that has never happened at pride. I went to two large pride celebrations this year in two different cities in the US and I was the only one I saw sporting anything to do with being aro-spec. And including the other a-spec identities is even better because we’re all a safe place for each other. Honestly, if I would’ve seen a booth like what you’re imagining at a pride event that I went to the I probably would’ve felt so much safer and freer to be myself. A-specs deserve pride just as much as everyone. I’m so sorry someone was treating you like that in the comments section , that was so uncalled for by them. After reading that I just wanted to reach out and tell you how much hope you inspired in me for future pride events. The aspec community is only growing and I have every confidence that wonderful people like you can help us achieve the recognition, celebration , and visibility that we deserve. You’re doing great! I believe in you and your projects!

hdjdkdhjd thank you so much. yeah the idea is in the works, and im lucky enough that an aspec organization walks in the parade every year- but thats not sensory friendly for me and doesnt have resources really for actually teaching people or meeting other people like you? im hoping that i can have little info sheets and a physical aspec + aplatonic pride flag, since i know that no one really has gotten to see that irl. i think itd be really cool.

in case youre curious, heres a rough draft of what a tabling would look like.

[ID: a concept sketch of the setup of a table at a festival. it includes various aro, aplatonic, and ace flags, as well as the new aspec flag. it shows placement of rings, stickers, keychains, ribbon, chairs, and flags. There is text to represent signs. 1. What do black and white rings represent? 2. Aspec symbols and what they mean 3. About the artists. /END ID]

and a picnic draft (which i will get approval for but yes, you can just hang out with your friends on the lawn at the festival and do crafts 🙄 )

[ID: a concept sketch of the setup of some items and 3 people sitting on a blanket. it shows placement of ribbons, stickers, and beads. off to the side there is text that reads “literally just pride flags stitched together” with a small sketch of 9 aro flags sewn into a grid, with an arrow pointed towards the blanket. /END ID]

im ngl i dont care much about including aces but i do LOVE @untitled-google-docs-document flag (featured in the table image!!!) enough that it is genuinely one of my reasons for considering expanding it to aspec in general instead of my original Aro Vision. the other one being I Want To Support Aplatonics And Rep Apls So Bad.

i hope this feeds your curiosity and excitement for me maybe doing this idea. i’m still in planning stages and reaching out to the event coordinators about if a meetup with friends/other aros like this would be okay, and figuring out the requirements to apply for a table. it appears i just need to fill out an application Dec. 1st (or after) but I’m still just waiting to hear back. This has been living in my brain for years as the picnic concept, but im starting to think that a table may be more fun/useful.

i dont plan on partnering with aurea, other than to perhaps add it to their calendar, though i may reach out to taaap as they are located in dc and march in the parade. im not sure yet because a big part of this is just doing crafts and getting aros together, and i dont particularly know if i want a big organization like that involved, and im hesitant after knowing some of their volunteers from when i was first building this community.

there are some local aspec groups and groups at the colleges nearby, and some people ive known outside of that, who may be willing to work together as a “group” if we need to to qualify for a table. mostly for that one i care about cost. i want these crafts and merch to be free because i dont have the ability to go sell and it feels wrong, but donations to make this possible/ to donate to taaap or aurea may be accepted? but mostly im just doing this because i want to.

i hope that getting to see more is exciting for you like it is for me! i cant wait to actually make it happen.

#logistics #yk?#the last post was just for idea sharing #this is more of whats actually going on with it #and thanks for your message it meant a lot #i just? i was sharing it because i was excited and it was shot down by someone in under an hour #treat me like im not already in content with them smh #hey bees #whatd you ask?#they speak #rambles

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bridgertonbabe · 2 years

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if s3 is polin what do you think they'd have benedict do all season?

So here's my reckoning for what Benedict will be doing in S3 now Polin's been confirmed;

In the build up to S2 a lot of us Benophie stans were hoping for disaster!Benedict, and I remember the stills released of him freaking out about what we now know was his acceptance into the academy, at the time we thought it might be him spiralling for whatever reason. In S3 I'd like to see him properly scraping along rock bottom and living the most hedonistic of lives as he falls apart from the revelation of Anthony's donation and the fact that none of his academy buddies thought him capable of being artistically talented. In S2 he was noticeably drinking a lot more and I can definitely see him encroaching on borderline alcoholism as he loses all sense of purpose and passion for his aspiration in life. I can imagine him becoming a bit of a cause for concern among his family, particularly staggering in drunk in the middle of the day and on occasion when he promises not to drink he ends up high on tea instead. Violet desperately tries to get him to open up and even humours trying to matchmake for him, thinking he's simply in need of a wife, but even she knows she can't marry him off in his current state. I can see her turning to Anthony, begging him to try to help his brother out, and it's Benedict being a walking liability that actually pulls Anthony away from his marital bliss and brings him back into the real world to manage his family once more. Anthony would try for the gentle touch at first when dealing with his brother, thinking it's what Benedict needs, but failing that, he gives his brother a kick up the arse by providing him with some responsibility. He sends Benedict off to a property they own in Wiltshire, which of course will turn out to be My Cottage, ergo establishing this setting for (what I can only presume will be) the following season. At first Benedict feels like he's been sent away on purpose and feels sorry for himself that not even his own family want to bother with him; but then he arrives at My Cottage and he realises the quiet and tranquil atmosphere will do him the world of good. He befriends the Crabtrees, perhaps Mr. Crabtree providing him with a father-figure he's been without in his adult life, while Mrs Crabtree is far more of a disciplinarian and scolds and tuts Benedict for over indulging in his drink and tea. As Benedict settles in at My Cottage, he feels inspired for the first time since the academy and begins sketching again. He feels freer away from everyone's judgement and dabbles in art to his heart's content, though he decides to never show anyone his work from now on and doesn't dare to dream of ever submitting any of it to make it as a real artist one day. For now, he decides to simply keep it as his personal hobby, and only when he's tucked away out in Wiltshire. Upon his return to London for Polin's wedding, he's in a far better condition than he was previously, though once he's back in the world of the judgmental Ton, he suddenly feels scrutinised once more and suffocated by everyone and everything. He terribly misses the peace and quiet of the country, but he puts on a front that nothing's amiss with his mother and Anthony, lest he worry them again. While in London he also observes just how happy Anthony and Colin both are with their wives, as well as Anthony's son, Edmund. He's thrilled his brothers have found their happiness but upon his return to My Cottage, as he takes in the empty house, he suddenly feels a pang in his heart and realises how empty he feels in his soul. He wants what his brothers have; he wants to love someone for all that that they are and he wants to be loved by someone for all that he is; to have someone by his side who makes him feel truly alive and at peace with the world... but god almighty, he still despairs at the thought of entertaining his mother and the Marriage Mart, and he flops down on the grass outside, looking up to the stars and wishing for something magical to happen to his life...

#asks #benedict bridgerton #season 3 speculation #my ramblings

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multiple-authors · 8 months

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18 August 2023

It’s my lunch break. I am sat in the park writing - but I left my phone in the restaurant again. I don’t think I’ll need it. I’ll just be surfing the web with no real agenda. I’ll be on Instagram for no reason. The last time I was in this park I was sat with Tommy over there. He’s back in China now with his family. It’s weird to think he’s so far away. I hope he’s ok and things work out for him. A girl just rushed past me chasing a napkin blowing away in the wind. I’m listening to Lana del Rey.

I felt very resistant this morning. I haven’t been to the gym in the past few days as I’d hoped, maybe in the morning if I feel better I will go. The sun is really hot and warm, it feels nice on my skin. It reminds me of Pablo who’s in Portugal at the moment on holiday. I hope he’s having a nice time too. I am letting myself enjoy the sun. I’m glad Ellie is working today, on a double like me. This morning’s shift was pretty busy at times but I enjoyed it. It was with a nice group of people.

I am thinking of what else I want to say. I am not sure. I am content in this moment. I noticed in my body earlier that it would feel good to stop and pause for a moment and drink a cup of tea on the stairwell. It felt good to breathe and let it out. I am thinking of what else I want to say.

Franny drilled the hole in the wall so I can hang the painting to photograph it. If I’m not too tired in the morning I can photograph it. I really should edit that draft.

I’m noticing myself feeling hesitant about sending off those artist applications. I have just redrafted the messages so I can send them on my five minutes break this evening. I should send them off and see what happens. Anything is possible. I also will write to Marcia who I haven’t heard from in a while. Franny and Lily said she’s having a party soon. I’m working a double today 11:30-close, same again tomorrow and 11-7 on Sunday. Next week I’m working less – I will pick up a shift one becomes available – and otherwise I can focus on my own ideas.

Next week I’d really like to have the painting photographed and posted. I also want to finish the other two smaller paintings. I also want to dedicate some time to this other smaller practice. I just need to breathe first and It’s about:

Biro sketches for loose compositional and conceptual drawings (Freer to work through images faster and get to the core of my thinking)

Try drawing / painting from imagination small paintings

Finding a shorthand to draw/paint faster

Build technical and aesthetic reference bank :

Make a collection of painted water in art history

Paint from the forestry of Ida lissner

With a particular time limit how do I elevate these loose drawings?

high-impact, consistent, small and habitual actions.

- Have a project(s) that is a risk

- What daily actions do I take for the art making? The drawings and paintings

Revised:

Risk (easy)

Needs to be high-impact, consistent, habitual. Core of my thinking. Faster.

Use quick biro/ pencil sketches/ drawings to communicate basic idea

Draw/ paint from imagination - elevated

Develop shorthand/ way of painting water and flora and people (use a reference bank but this will build up naturally - look when I need.

Quick and easy actions. The ideas come fast:

Paint on A5

See what happens with shorthand

Take fast photo references if necessary

Work on pieces of paper - need some wood scraps

Line of making that is familiar:

Portraits

Follow line of paintings as I have. Develop with the new concepts I have.

Content: (Just look at soaking wet)

Dead fish* wet bodies *

Hands water running through * and time running through *

Brushes wet *

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drjezdzanyart · 4 years

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The White Wolf of Rivia - sketch practice

#the witcher #geralt of rivia #witcher #white wolf #traditional art #felt like taking up pens and paper for once #ink pen fineliner graphite pencil and chalks #when I say sketch I wished I hadn't spent half a day on this #need to get freer in my sketches #at least I did play with different pencil types

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zulivaris · 3 years

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Art Block tips that helped me

I’ve recently experienced art block after 3 or so months of overcoming my last one. Thankfully this block only lasted a few days thanks to some things I’ve observed and noted down from the previous time. So I’m sharing these few tips in hopes that it might help someone get unstuck :D!

First and foremost if you’re tired, sad or anxious don’t be surprised that you can’t make art, go and take care of yourself by treating yourself with kindness and patience, the sketchbooks and canvases will wait for you :)

The tips are under here:

Separate art studies from the creative time: When you do art studies you’re there to focus on specific things, learn and understand how things work so you can apply them later in your art. Studies take a lot of energy and focus and are the opposite of the creative "flow” of making your own pieces. If you combine the two the results are either unfocused studies or stiff drawings. When you sit down at your desk ask yourself “Do I want to learn something new or do I want to create something of my own?”

When you have an idea don’t be afraid of being messy: Let’s say you want to make a picture of several cats kolo dancing in the moonlight. How do you go about doing this? Well since you came up with the idea you already have a vague image in your mind, sketch it out with simple shapes, stick figures, circle and spheres etc Don’t worry about cat anatomy, or the dancer’s moves, sketch out the essence of it. This method removes the need to be perfect or accurate.

Ok after the messy sketch then what? Well now that you have sketched out the essence of your idea (and hopefully had fun doing so) now you go on to look for references! You put the creative process on pause and you can do a few brief studies if you need to: anatomy, color schemes, values, poses. Pick out a few of your favorites but don't obsess over them, they are a guide, a tool.

You know much more than you think. You’ve probably been drawing for a few years now. You’ve probably done some studies and drawn more than one type of subject. Then you have already internalized some of that information. I used to be obsessed with capturing the minute detail of the subject, and not be able to draw ANYTHING without reference. Instead of a useful tool, references became another obstacle to my creativity. That’s perfectionism my friend, and that’s no good. Here is an exercise a good friend of mine offered: Draw a few characters, animals and objects from imagination. Make sure that the subjects have no personal value to you (no ocs for example) so that if you make a mistake you won’t feel bad about it. Make the process relaxed and comfortable, pour a nice cup of joe, listen to your favorite music ... You will notice that you do indeed know how to draw some things without reference, and it’ll help with your confidence.

The more you do studies the more you understand This seems evident but the more you understand your subject the freer you can be and the easier it’ll be to draw it from imagination in the future. If you really struggle with something to the point of frustration (as in you can’t get it right even with reference) It means you have to study it. Have a study list, for example: hands, perspective, color theory etc. And one of those days you want to study pick something from the list, and look for videos on youtube or useful sites like line of action etc. Only study one thing at the time. You can go from studying hands to studying arms since they’re more immediately connected, but you can’t study hands and then jump to learning perspective right after. Trust me you can learn perfectly fine with the resources online, and I’m sure you’re clever enough to do it :D

Mistakes don’t mean you “suck” I’ve noticed that the two most common causes for art block are perfectionism and lack of self-confidence. The two can often go in tandem which is worse :’D But let me remind you of something, you can fix your piece along the whole process. Use erasers, lasso tools, liquify , select, paint it all over etc If something looks off to you then you also know deep inside how to fix it. Useful ways to see what clunks: flip canvas horizontally (helps with placement, proportions), turn the image to grayscale (helps to check values and where your eye tends to look), look at your image in thumbnail size and ask yourself if it’s clear, see the pose’s silhouette and ask yourself if you can tell what the character is doing etc. Don’t fret, everything can always be fixed :)

Perfectionism, sometimes it stops you before you begin Perfectionism causes you to overwork a piece, it makes you draw less, it makes art stressful, it brings insecurity. Let’s remove it with a simple exercise. It can be combined with the “draw things from imagination” once you’ve drawn something you like: dont do line art, don’t shade it, keep it as simple and crude as possible and then...post it. Yes, post it. You’re not at your best? You’re only human, this will help you embrace that very human side of you. You make mistakes. So what? The more mistakes you make the more you know what you need to study and the better at art you become. Mistakes are there to show us what we need to learn. See them as another tool and not a sign of failure.

Make the process as enjoyable as possible: You like art. You love drawing. Never forget this. Otherwise why are you drawing if you don’t enjoy it? It’s easy to fall prey to the mentality of those relatable memes that “art= suffering” or “I can’t even draw the other eye”. No no no my friends, these messages are fueling your insecurities instead of overcoming them. Let me tell you what, art is fun. It is. Art is fun, because I decided to make it fun again. And you should decide on that too. Personally I adore lineart but my hand-eye coordination is lacking to do it digitally, so....I just skipped it. Yes. I skipped it. I do the sketch, I clean it up a bit and then jump onto color which I adore. It allowed me to draw more and more freely. When I draw I listen to music, make strokes with the rhythm, I take breaks often and I drink my favorite iced teas. If you don’t like coloring do it in grayscale, if you love lineart then do that etc It doesn’t mean you won’t learn your weak points in the future with studies and practice, but you won’t let your weaknesses prevent you from drawing at all. No no, you won’t let them. You draw because you want to, despite of them.

Don’t wait for inspiration, provoke it Inspiration is not a divine and capricious muse. You make inspiration. It’s easy just collect all the things you like, music, artists, objects, characters, animals, patterns, plants etc Make boards on pinterest or similar sites, combine things you like. You like suits? You like birds? You can draw a bird in a suit, or a bird-inspired suit design, there is frankly a lot of ideas that can spring up from little things like these.

When a project stops being enjoyable either pause it for now or move on to the next thing. Pieces aren’t precious. They’re not “the one time I got x right” they are one of many. This advice goes mainly to hobbyists who can afford the luxury of passing to a new project. I have a WIP of a character who is overly complicated (I enjoy a challenge from time to time) sitting for half a month. I sometimes come back to it and add something... but as soon as it starts to create discomfort and insecurity instead of enjoyment I move onto something else. In the meantime I created 3 or 4 new pieces. If I had waited on finishing that piece I would have been severely creatively and physically exhausted. The art comes from you, not inspiration. The more art you make the better you become.

That’s about it :D I know it’s long but I prefer to be thorough and cover all the possibilities. If you have read of this: Thank you so much I hope this helps you at least a bit, if it helps only 1 other person I’d still be very happy. Have a nice one, and kick art block’s butt!

#art block #art block tips #art block advice #art advice #art help #BloggityDiary #art reference #I hope this will help someone out #This will also help me remember my own advice sksksk

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flyoverkushtaka · 2 years

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Our modern world does its best to make sorrow and solitude the default state of existence. There is no perverse dictator of misery at the helm (not directly anyway), but the incentives of the machine-structure of capitalism prioritize individual struggle and accomplishment (or, more commonly, the Sword of Damocles of the lack thereof) above all else, above the needs of the many, above mutual goodwill, above true liberty, equality, and brotherhood free from the iron chains of profit and exploitation.

Things can be different. Even at the relatively small interpersonal level, a better world is possible.

I found my big bro at a time when I was alone and the world was turning. I glimpsed him through a glowing screen, his words so scintillating, his physiognomy so distinguished, his virtue so evident and gleaming. With merely a slight adjustment to the processes of my mind, I think I would have reached out and pressed my fingers lightly against the thin glass to feel our kinship like a curious octopus exploring a foreign yet intriguing phenomenon with its chemoreceptive suction cups.

January had come and once again I had made the mistake of trying to drink French 75s to celebrate the doorway-god’s resurgence. As part of the recovery regimen, I sat in a warm bathtub and considered all the facets of my life, what I could do differently going forward in order to improve, in order to evolve into the type of animal I wanted to be.

Courage came to mind. That emerald of the forest. “Courage is called for,” the master declares as the party winds down in Luzi’s poem. “Go straight for the goal, be bold.” Obvious rhetoric, but the truth often hides in plain sight. No longer would I stand to shiver in the wind of the past, not when a beautiful river stretched out before me in seemingly endless wending, its delta naught but a speck of sapphire dust far on the latitude of some merely dreamed horizon.

As my body absorbed the standing water, I thought many things.

Cheerfully, I picked up my notepad and pen, and began to sketch out a message to a stranger I knew only paratopically. I adopted a new voice, synthesized from the prompts of his texts and my own fantasies. I evoked adequate images: the fang & talon, the limbic system, Apollo & Dionysus. I hoped my introduction contained the right mix of erudition and jocularity to come off as charming and not too affected. My courage had to be tempered with wisdom as well, for the swirling and harmonious combination of verdant green and watery blue has always suited my visual palate.

I sent my greeting off into the electric ether, and this turned out to be the correct choice.

Time passed, and miracles happened. I became acquainted with the man who would become my big bro in multiple, progressive ways: we spoke, we exchanged ideas, we learned from one another, we both grew. He began to encourage me, to take charge of my doubts, to shore up my weaknesses. He understood my insides almost perfectly, before myself even. Online chatter turned to plans of physical encounters, a plane ride, the exploration of a lacustrine islet, myriad footsteps, wine. In a hotel room overlooking a luminescent boulevard, I held him, pressed my face into his powerful chest, and made my confession, my resolution, my vow.

Now he is my big bro, and I, his lil buddy. Our bond is unshakeable. His power over me is undeniable, a fact of my vastly improved life now. I owe him my allegiance uncompromisingly. Under his guidance, my body has grown stronger, leaner, more lithe and agile in accordance with my inner waterdog nature. Despite or because of my obedience, my mind is freer, I feel more at ease, less tightly wound. I fetch all sorts of jewels of knowledge for big bro, and in return I get the best and most exciting headpats. Every task he sets me to fills me with purpose—like this essay, for instance, which he told me to write in order to demonstrate his ownership of me, and for me to demonstrate what a good boy I can be. Big bro takes me up and down the tree of consciousness, from keen-eyed scribal knight to goofy water himbo, and I thrill at every moment of the journey. My body quivers, the hairs on the back of my neck tingle erect, just imagining his touch on me, his guidance through workouts and inscriptions and wanderings through vast, ancient forests perfumed with the heady scent of cedar and musk. He whispers into my ear how I belong to him, intones the secret words he’s placed deep in the seat of my chakras, and my entire form tenses, slackens, buzzes with untold pleasures, groans assiduously, makes noises I did not think myself capable of, then releases, wildly and gloriously in oblation to the man who nacres my soul.

I love my big bro, I love every way he takes charge of me and sets me on the right path through the thorny labyrinth. There is a god germinating inside me, and with big bro’s cultivating care, it will erupt with life, joy, and eternal meaning etched upon the astral firmament and reflected upon the face of the boundless deep.

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sophieakatz · 3 years

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Thursday Thoughts: My Top Ten Muppets

Listeners of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour recently cast their votes to rank the best Muppets – an impossible decision, really. And yet, once the top ten list was read aloud on the podcast, I found myself completely unsurprised. It’s a list that made sense, a list of safe bets. It’s also an incredibly Muppet Show-heavy list, even though the competition was open to Muppets of all properties, including Sesame Street and my beloved Dark Crystal. The full top 25 list, available here, reveals that a few Sesame Street Muppets ranked in the teens, but still. We all know the top ten is where it’s at, and this top ten was neither creative nor representative. It struck me as a list of popular Muppets, not a list of the best Muppets. Most of my favorites weren’t on that list at all!

So, here’s my take on the ten best Muppets – and because I don’t believe in objective Muppet rankings, I want YOU to reblog this post and tell me your favorites!

10. Swedish Chef

The Chef came in ninth on NPR’s rankings, and I gotta be honest, I’m on the same page with them on this one. Maybe it’s the fact that when he comes onscreen, there’s no way to predict how the sketch will end. Maybe it’s the bizarreness of human fingers on Muppet arms – and knowing that those arms indicate a frankly superhuman feat of teamwork going on under the table. Maybe it’s just the Popcorn video, which always brightens my mood. Whatever it is, the Swedish Chef is definitely tenth best.

9. Fozzie Bear

I like Fozzie. He’s an underdog, never giving up in his pursuit of fame and audience acclaim. And even though his whole shtick is that he can’t succeed – Statler and Waldorf always get bigger laughs during his bits – he objectively has succeeded, because he’s still around and making us laugh after all these years.

What puts Fozzie in the top ten for me, though, is that I genuinely find his jokes funny. Honestly. I really do. So maybe Fozzie Bear sketches don’t really work for me, but Fozzie Bear himself does.

8. Rosita

I mentioned my disappointment before in the “official” ranking’s lack of Sesame Street characters. Sure, the cast of The Muppet Show has had a notable cultural impact, but it would be a disservice to Muppetkind if we ignored the impact of their friends on Sesame Street.

I could never forget Rosita. She’s not the most popular Muppet; she’s never had a super catchy song or a roll-on-the-floor-laughing one-liner to rival the others’ success. But her “Spanish Word of the Day” segments have a permanent spot in my memory. She’s sweet, she’s sincere, and she’s an excellent friend to her more famous fellow Muppets. (And as a bilingual Muppet, she’s really hecking important – there’s an episode where she deals with some kids making fun of her accent, and it’s equal parts heartbreaking and heartwarming!)

7. Rowlf

While other Muppets have one-note personalities – see number 10 on this list above, and number 5 below – there’s also Muppets like Rowlf. He’s not an “Anything Muppet,” by any means – he’s a character in his own right – but Rowlf is a dog who rises to any occasion. He sits at the piano to bring both beautiful classical pieces and hilarious parodies to life, and it’s all music to my ears. He can be the Straight Man to more chaotic Muppets’ antics, but just one clip of “Veterinarian’s Hospital” proves that he’s got enough silliness in him to take center stage.

And all the while, no matter what role he’s playing, he’s still that chill dog I adore – calm and adorable, with that round black nose, those big fluffy paws, and those floppy ears just begging to be scratched.

6. Deethra

As much as I love the original Dark Crystal film, the Netflix prequel series Age of Resistance has one big thing going for it: its characters. The protagonists of this show draw me in and make me care, quickly and continually. And best among them all is Deet. Deethra the Gelfling – small and beautiful, kind and powerful. She cares wholeheartedly about the world around her, and that care begets a wisdom that balances out her naivete in fascinating ways.

Muppets are so often silly, and we love them for it. But Deet embodies the Muppets’ potential to tell a serious story, a potential we would be remiss to ignore.

5. Animal

Oh my god, Animal. If you want to talk about the sheer silliness of Muppets, you need to talk about Animal. There’s just no way around it. He’s loud – in both sound and color scheme. And he’s absolutely bonkers. I know every drummer has an Animal in them, and it’s likely that all humans do. We’re just not all comfortable with letting him out to play.

That’s what’s so great about watching Animal do his thing. He has no inhibitions; he is freedom, he is chaos. And he lets me feel a little freer by association.

4. Hup

I talked a bit about underdogs in the Fozzie Bear section above. There’s an essay to be written about the Muppet as underdog; it’s an essential Muppet quality. Muppets are characters you logically wouldn’t expect to succeed, but they persevere, nonetheless.

Hup is the underdog of Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. He’s the Podling who wants to be a paladin. Dear god he’s adorable, dear god he’s funny, and dear god do you root for him (and his spoon) to save the day! Of all the characters in this show, he feels the most Muppety – and that’s why he’s higher on the list than Deet. He’s still a serious character in a serious story (when he cries… my goodness), but he’s got that classic Muppet spirit to him.

3. Elmo

You know, I just don’t get why Elmo gets such a bad rap. Is it that people think he’s annoying? Sure, he is! Muppets are objectively annoying characters – they all are. Yes, even the one you’re thinking of right now. But I fricking love Elmo. He’s joyful, he’s spirited, and he’s exploring the world around him in that carefree way only a child can – and he brings you along on that adventure! “Elmo’s World” is your world. “Elmo’s Song” is your song. Elmo’s laugh is fricking infectious. And yeah, I’m probably biased by nostalgia (my dad’s Elmo impression cracks me up to this day), but Elmo is a darn good Muppet and he deserves our respect and admiration.

2. SkekSil

On a completely different note… let’s talk about the Chamberlain. There aren’t really that many Muppet villains. There are plenty of Muppet henchmen, providing comic relief for a human actor who isn’t supposed to be seen as that much of a threat anyway. The Skeksis of Dark Crystal are a notable exception, and SkekSil, better known as the Chamberlain, stands out among them. He is evil and he is smart. I hate him, and at the same time, I am fascinated by him. He knows what he wants and how to get it, even though he’s nowhere near as strong as the other Skeksis. He is, in his own way, an underdog. He believes in himself, and he wields that confidence as a weapon, calmly explaining to his enemies why they should do what he wants. You just can’t look away. He’s an amazing character, embodying the dark side of Muppethood.

1. Cookie Monster

When my mom first shared that episode of Pop Culture Happy Hour with me, in which the hosts talked about their favorite Muppets, I first thought, “How could you decide?” And then Stephen Thompson said his favorite was Cookie Monster, and I shouted “YES!!!” out loud. Because he’s right – Cookie’s the best.

Cookie Monster is eternally funny, whether you’re five or fifty-five. Everything that comes out of his mouth is pure gold (“Why me not get royalties?”) He’s got the best songs – not only the classic “C is for Cookie,” but also “Me Want It (But Me Wait),” “Me Am What Me Am,” and the “Healthy Foods” rap. All the stuff I love about other Muppets on this list – the unpredictability, the ability to fit into any role a sketch requires, the lack of inhibitions, the confidence, the chaos, the unexpected moments of wisdom – he’s got it all. He’s irreplaceable, he’s lovable, and he’s the top of my Top Ten Muppets list.

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youmustbestrongernow · 4 years

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Ok so here it is the tattoo post, throughout writing the story Matteo was always long-haired and tattooed it’s just such a look and one I can imagine for him as he starts to feel more comfortable in his self, freer. So I wrote about him being tattooed and then as I wrote I had ideas for the specifics and every time I saw something or imagined something I wrote it down. Maybe they’re a bit sappy but then he never got them to look cool, he got them because it’s David’s art and the kids’ art and he wants it with him always.

Matteo wanted the bird tattoo since David first drew it on his shoulder, it took him a couple of years though. David drew on him a lot with markers, paints etc it was just something they did. One day he asked Matteo why he liked it so much. Matteo said it feels really good on his skin, to be marked with his art. David said he should get it tattooed not really meaning it but Matteo fixated on it until he asked David if he'd mind his bird being inked on his skin. David was so flattered he redid it with the flourish of the cage behind it, and that's how it started. He got that on his left wrist and it felt so good he knew he needed one more

Shortly after that on his other wrist, he got David to draw him a dandelion after reading about dandelion children, then he got it tattooed. He added another for David after seeing try harder and knowing what he went through. Later on, he added one for Jake and Jammy too.

On the top of his right arm, he has an infinity hourglass with all the time in the world written around it. Because they still say it when one of them is stressed to remind them they’re there, they’ll always be there, there’s always time, the bad times always pass

Once David drew a little set of vampire fangs, just a doodle, on his hipbone and Matteo kept it. Only David gets to see that.

Once, when Matteo was still in Uni he fell into a depression where everything was so heavy, David stayed with him in bed a lot and one day Matteo told him he felt so disconnected from his body, so David just grabbed a marker, just doodled all up his right arm, just mindless happy stuff, silly things like beautiful flowers, trees, vines, birds, butterflies because Matteo loves plants and nature. All in David’s style. Words and phrases like Home and I’m here and you will be free again. The first thing he did when he came out of it was get it made permanent, David didn’t even question it, he knew now how it comforted him and he liked it too.

On his ankle, he has a fancy looking compass that he saw in David’s sketchbook, when he got it he said it would lead him home (to David) always

On his ribcage on the left-hand side (the most painful one he’s had done) he has a crooked house with equally crooked writing underneath that says: this is my home, i am safe here which Jamilah made on her first day of school after moving in with them to the new house.

Jake's cat is on his left forearm on the inside and is like very much drawn by a four-year-old but it was the first thing he drew on the whiteboard they made his wall into because he was brave and he started to realise he was safe, Matteo immediately took a picture because he wanted that forever

One time he described to David how his depression felt, a cage around his mind, so David sketched out a shadow of a head with a cage around it, but coming from the cage are butterflies and the bars of the cage has vines around it with small flowers blooming, that was a comfort to Matteo, it’s on his left upper arm, just above his elbow

On his right upper arm, where the doodle sleeve ends there is a hand reaching out of the water (Matteo’s) and another hand grabbing it (David’s) that’s how Matteo described it once when he came out of an episode. That David just being there with him, felt like he had something tangible to hold onto to stop him floating away, drowning

Those are just the ones I had in my head, the ideas, like i said I imagine them separately to how I imagine him with tattoos but I think they all fit (i did that doodle!). Also he’s not going to stop whenever David draws something particularly cool or beautiful he usually wants it, of course Alex is creative too, as you’ll see a lot more of, and Matty could be the absolute worst at drawing but Matteo would love anything he made him.

#i did write this last night #but i was too tired to read through it #i checked it over this morning #i think it makes sense #i just really like the idea #he loves david's art of course #but also it just feels really good for him to feel marked like that

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missgarnet · 4 years

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Scars to Your Beautiful

pairing: jungkook x reader

word count: 2.8k

Genre:tattoo artist au / fluff

Part One of Yours, Mine, & Ours

Part Two Part Three

Summary:Y/N has struggled to feel beautiful in her own skin, but Jungkook is determined to change that.

Link to ao3

You paced back and forth outside the tattoo parlor, trying to work up the nerve to go in. The appointment was made weeks ago, but you became a nervous wreck every time you thought about meeting with the artist and having them see the mess they would have to cover.

The door creaked on your way in, but that was the only noise in the room. You checked the time on your phone, only five minutes until your appointment, but there wasn’t anyone there. You sat in one of the waiting chairs, bouncing your leg and checking your phone to pass time. As you were getting up to go back outside, you heard a voice coming from the back. Someone was singing from the back of the shop, their voice creating a calming melody. You can’t help but stay, wanting to hear the rest of the song. Their voice was so clear and filled with emotion, and as you listened you could feel your eyes beginning to water.

The guy singing turned the corner, and immediately froze as the two of you made eye contact. His doe eyes made him look even more like a deer in headlights as he stepped into the room. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear the door open.”

You started fiddling with the edge of your skirt, trying to steady your voice and speak up. “No, I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure if I should’ve called before, or knocked at the door, or...” you felt your face growing warmer with every word as you rambled on, constantly apologizing for interrupting him.

Jungkook scrunched his nose and gave a bunny smile while he listened to you going on and on, eventually the sight became too much and he started laughing at your reaction.

Your rambling came to a sudden halt when the sound of his laughter finally registered. “You know, it’s rude to laugh at someone,” you snap, looking up to meet his eyes. “Here I am, apparently making a fool out of myself by apologizing for walking in five minutes early, and… and you don’t even care enough to just stop and listen to me. Instead you just stand there laughing and make me feel like even more of an idiot, as if that were even possible.”

He starts to blush and picks at his hair as he mumbles something under his breath.

“Excuse me?”

He glances up and tries to avoid looking at you as he speaks up, “I said I was only laughing because you look cute when you ramble… and when you get all angry.”

“Oh,” your anger begins to soften at his observation. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to act angry or rude, especially when you were nice enough to make this appointment on short notice. I’m just going through a lot and I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. If you want I can go, I’ll still pay for this appointment time.”

“No, please stay,” he says this in a soft sweet voice as if he were asking a question. You can’t bring yourself to respond yet, afraid that one word will cause you to break down and start crying already. After a small nod of your head, he leads the way into a small glass office with sketches framed on the back wall.

There’s a petite young woman sitting in one of the chairs next to the large black desk inside. It was almost comical how large the over-sized headphones she wore looked on someone so small. The artist tapped her foot along to whatever music she was listening to and was more focused on her sketch than anything else going on. She lowered the volume for a minute and said, “Hi! I’m Mina, one of the other tattoo artists here. I’m just working on sketches and keeping an eye on JK, so feel free to just pretend I’m not here.”

Jungkook perches on the edge of the desk and grabs a sketchpad and pencil from behind him. “So you said on the phone that you were fine with just being an open canvas, but I want to make sure you're completely happy with the tattoo you’re getting. I want to get to know you, your style, any interests that might change what kind of tattoo I sketch.”

“Um, well I have a pretty plain sense of style, my ex didn’t like when I wore flashy things. I love flowers a lot and I like art, not Picasso or anything like that, but I really love Starry Night and Van Gogh’s sunflowers,” you started to smile as you thought of all the beautiful things you adored, and took a shaky breath before you continued. “But I don't really care what I get, I just want to feel pretty again."

He tilts his head, “What do you mean, why would you think that you're not beautiful?”

You glance at the girl in the corner, nervous to show not one but two people your biggest insecurity. Your hands shook as you pulled the bottom of your skirt high enough over your thigh for him to see the scars he would have to cover. He didn’t say anything at first, just started sketching the paper in his hands. When he glanced up at you, you couldn’t see pity in his eyes, he was more focused on his sketch than any imperfections you felt.

“Miss, I don’t want this to come off the wrong way, but I think you’re really pretty just the way you are,” he glances up from his work and gives you another sweet bunny smile. “But I know that sometimes it takes a little bit of change before you can see yourself that way. So, I’m gonna work really hard and draw something new just for you, and maybe when it’s done you could see yourself the way I do.”

Jungkook had a more appointments that day, but finished those sketches in only a few minutes. Meanwhile now matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t find something that covered your scars and looked as beautiful as he wanted to make you feel. He rushed to the cafe as soon as his shift was over, wanting to go upstairs and get help from Taehyung on this design.

The little bell on the door jingles as he stumbled through, slamming into Namjoon and almost sending them both to the floor. Namjoon drops his mug on his way down, leaving bits of broken glass all around the coffee spilled. The two men burst out in laughter, drawing the attention of the entire cafe and an irritated Jimin.

He huffs and makes his way over to where the broken mug lays, shaking his head at the mess. “Joonie, I thought you said you were going to start looking at where you were going. You can’t keep breaking all of my coffee mugs.”

“But… but,” Namjoon stammers, “But it wasn’t me this time. JK was the one not paying attention.”

“Sorry,” Jungkook mutters. “I was just in a rush because I need Tae’s help with a design for Y/N, this really pretty girl that came in the shop today.”

Namjoon’s head jerks up at this, “Y/N, like my neighbor?”

Jimin smiles and runs a hand through his hair, “I think I’ve seen her in here before, she’s cute, but not as cute as our little kookie,” he says reaching out to pinch the youngest’s cheek. Jungkook blushes at his remark, and Jimin begins to tease him even more, “I think someone has a crush. You don’t like her more than me, do you?”

“No, I just think she’s nice,” JK says in a pouty voice, “I just wanted to make her happy, but that doesn’t mean I like her more.”

“Jimin that’s enough teasing,” Namjoon laughs at the two of them carrying on. “Especially when you and Hoseok were sitting in here saying the same thing yesterday, and trying to hit on her.”

“Shhh,” he giggles, “he doesn’t need to know that. Also you were doing the same thing, and you’re always in that apartment next to her. I swear you only go there to avoid us while you flirt with your hot neighbor.”

Namjoon rolls his eyes, “No, I go there because I can never get any work done with all of you at home. Besides, us sitting here arguing about who’s flirting with her the most isn’t going to help JK. Tae’s at the flower shop filling in for Hobi today, he can probably help you design something.”

You were admiring a display of roses when the door to the flower shop was flung open once again. The shop was pretty popular, but you expected it to be a little busy, but today there were more people than usual and they all seemed to have some urgent problem. However, you didn’t mind waiting around for the owner to finish up with everyone else coming in, it gave you more time to look at the new layout of the store.

What you didn’t expect was running into your tattoo artist… literally. He was the one to throw the door open and run toward the owner, knocking you to the floor. “Are you sorry?” He yelled, springing up from the floor.

“What? Why would I be sorry, you ran into me?” You asked, wondering how this guy could go from being sweet to rude in a matter of seconds. He was probably only being nice earlier because you were paying him then.

He started nervously pulling at his hair and looked at you in shock, “No. No, I didn’t mean… I- I was trying to ask if you were okay and then I thought I should say sorry. It’s just that girls make me really nervous and I don’t really know what to say so everything gets mixed up.”

The owner began chuckling at the spectacle his friend was making. His shoulders shook as he tried to stop laughing long enough to ask Jungkook what he needed. Jungkook just backed away from you sheepishly and pulled Yoongi to the back room with him. You could hear them muttering back and forth, but before you could see what was going on the other owner came out to run the shop.

Unlike the first owner, Hoseok was far from reserved and the two of you chatted as he picked the flowers from Yoongi’s list for you. The arrangement he made was beautiful, but it was also a much freer style than the ones Yoongi created. He smiled and waved as you left the shop yelling, “Bye bye little blossom, you’ll be back soon!”

“Goodbye sunshine, see you next week!” You said, spinning around to shout as you left the store.

You couldn’t stop smiling when you got home, there was something perfect about the warmth from your hot chocolate and the way the flowers were filling up the room. There was excitement all around you as you began to write down your plans for the next few weeks. Even though you were all by yourself in the apartment, you didn’t feel alone anymore. You were looking forward to going out again, buying flowers and baked goods for yourself, and even getting the tattoo you’ve always wanted.

JK wanted to be sure that everything was perfect with the design for you. The guys had never seen him so focused on anything before, but after long nights of sketching and reworking the designs, he finally got Yoongi and Tae to help him create not one but two options that were perfect. He couldn’t wait to see the look on your face when you saw them. When the day finally came for you to come back in, he was a nervous wreck and kept checking the clock all morning.

You were a little early for your appointment again, but you didn’t have to wait like last time. As soon as you walked in, Mina walked you back to the office where Jungkook was trying to hang up two colorful sketches on a display board. On the left was a bridge and cityscape that looked like a Van Gogh, and the other had groups of flowers from your favorite bouquets.

“Both of these are for you. I wanted you to have a choice on what goes on your body. The left one is the Pont des Arts in Paris drawn like Starry Night. And the other is a cascade of flowers, it starts with birds of paradise, then a rose, a tiger lily, and finally yellow violets. It’s a bit bigger than the scaring, but it overlaps in a way that uses the scars to add definition to the petals.”

Your hand traced the design and you couldn’t believe how much attention to detail went into each line. You could see the tattoo itself, but you could also see lines that moved in the same spots as the scars. “It’s perfect,” you whispered in awe. “I want both.”

He raised his eyebrows, “Both?”

“If it’s possible, could we do the flowers on my thigh, and use the other sketch somewhere else? It’s so beautiful and I don’t want all of this work going to waste.”

He went to the computer and started tapping his forehead as he messed with something on the screen, “What if we take the bridge piece, make it a little smaller and use it as an arm piece on the other side. We can start on the thigh piece today, and do the other one in between sessions for that. Then I’ll have enough time to adjust the sketch and you can get both around the same time.”

Weeks went by, the arm piece was finished first and you were in awe of how well it turned out. You kept wearing short sleeves and showing it off every chance you got, but you still hadn’t felt comfortable enough to wear shorts that showed your thigh yet. The scars were almost all covered at this point, but there were still a couple spots to be filled in at your last appointment.

By this point you and Jungkook had settled into a routine, he got used to you being early each time and would let you sit in his office talking as he finished up with other clients. The two of you would put on music and then you would get settled in the chair while he got the machine set up. The first time was a bit of a shock when the needle touched your skin, but by now the hum of the machine was a comfort and the feeling had dulled.

The end of the appointment felt too soon, when he brought you to the large mirror to get a final look you couldn't bring yourself to open your eyes. Tears started running down your face as you tried to turn away from Jungkook and the mirror. Your hands felt warm as he wrapped them in his, “Y/N? What’s wrong?”

“What if I look in the mirror and I still see them? What am I going to do if I look and I still don’t like what I see?”

“You were perfect even when your scars were visible. That and there’s no way to know if something is better if you don’t look. You were so confident after seeing your arm piece, and I promise you’re going to like this one even more. If you want, I can close my eyes and we can count to three and look together.”

You nod your head and feel him shift the two of you towards the mirror as you start counting, “One… two… three…” The piece before you was even better than he had described, you had seen the sketch and the progress each time you visited but it was different this time.

He looked at you with that little bunny smile you had grown to love and said, "I wanted this to be what I saw when you first walked in the shop. The flowers all have meaning to them, I asked Yoongi hyung to help me pick which ones to use. The top one is for freedom or joy, and the others all mean love in one way or another. I thought that maybe they would help you feel that way about yourself."

You smiled and pulled him close, "I love it, thank you."

He mumbled something and looked to the side. You reached up and placed your hand on his cheek, guiding him to meet your eyes. He clears his throat and repeats himself barely loud enough for you to hear, "Y/N, will you please go on a date with me?"

#bts fic #jungkook fic #jungkook x reader #bts fanfic #bts fluff #bts ff

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onifere · 5 years

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An Idea on the Kwami Swap

Edited

After watching Reflekdoll, I realized that this episode is why I tend to resent shows that are made so their episodes could be watched in every order. Such a choice implies that plotlines must be extremely simple and easy to follow. By doing this, we lose many possibilities for important character development. And, I think with this episode, we did not lose an important possibility for Cat Noir's character development, but a critical one.

Reflekdoll was the perfect episode to show us that, yeah, as of how Cat Noir's currently acts in battles, Ladybug doesn't really need him. He's not that huge of a help. She could do without him. She could have saved Paris countless times without his help. I'd even say, if she really needed support, she just could have asked others miraculouses holders like Queen B(ee?) or Rena Rouge/Carapace without ever asking for Chat's help.

When I look back on Ladynoir's use of the Cat's Miraculous in Reflekdoll, she makes it looks so strong… Which it is! She uses it so well, that Reflekdoll basically gets pummelled and send in every direction. Compare that to Cat Noir's use of the miraculous’s powers, you would think that his miraculous's powers are on the same level of a support miraculouses (like Rena Rouge's, Carapace's etc). When it isn’t, no, it one of two most powerful miraculouses there is! And Plagg showed that when he destroyed a major part of Paris along with the Eifel Tower in “Style Queen”! Of course, you could say that it’s to not make Adrien OP, but I’d say not OP YET, as he would need training and all to master such a Cataclysm. Then we could have such uses of it. But the point stands, the cat miraculous is far stronger than what Adrien’s use allows. Marinette even at her kind of “beginner” level Ladybug does a much better use of her miraculous strengths and capacities.

It has always been obvious that Cat Noir's fighting style is reckless, almost as if he does this to "have fun". And it has been established many times that he acts with a selflessness that I’d qualify virtuous but too dangerous. (for me it’s the bioproduct of a lacking feeling of self-worth but we’re not going there yet!) So, it comes to no one's surprise that Adrien's use of the Cat's Miraculous is lacking in skill. As it doesn’t seem that he cares at being skilful. He sure wants to be helpful, yes, but it does not seem to translate in him making skilful use of his miraculous.

SO, to get back to Cat Noir's character development, this episode could have been perfect for him to see:

1) The Cat's Miraculous true strength when properly used.

2) Not how useless he is, but how more useful he could be.

And it would have been great if Adrien reacted to Ladybug doing so well as LadyNoire if not BETTER than him with some shame. You know, this feeling you have when you realize you’re nothing special, although you thought you were? Adrien realizing that, truly most of the time he is useless to Ladybug, as now he is showed by LadyNoire how much more useful he could be?

It could have been a great way to kick off Cat Noir's character development as he then tries to train himself, to stay more focused in battles, just to change for the better. For his Lady, for Paris.

And perhaps these changes could have helped Adrien in his daily life! In perhaps feeling less unimportant. (I get the feeling that Cat Noir acts the way he does because he feels as if it's not a big deal if something happens to him. Perhaps I’m wrong (again the idea of selflessness)). Perhaps such changes would help Adrien into realizing that "YES! I do matter.” "YES! People are interested in me!”, and "YES! My friends value me!”. And perhaps he wouldn’t have to be so huh… Lifeless? I also think it would make him less oblivious to how he is seen by others.

And even if it only helps Adrien as Cat Noir it would be something interesting, to see him try… And struggle! As such changes take time! It takes times changes, and some time you go back to your old ways without wanting to, so you keep fighting to maintain your progress. Of course, it shouldn’t change him too much. Keep him lively yet keep the puns and funny cat things for when the akuma is dealt with. A proof of his evolution, of him trying to mature.

NOW

COMPLETLY ANOTHER SUBJECT BUUUUUUT

AM I. THE ONLY ONE. WHO THINKS,

That the show would be all over better if the kwami swap was like, permanent? I mean, obviously the show was never built to unable such an important event. But imagine if it were… I see that swap moment as one that would have defined the show! Like One Piece’s two years’ time skip which served as a big step in the series! I see how us, fans, would call it “the great kwami swap” or some shit like that… I would be a point in the show when everything changes!

By seeing Marinette with Plagg and Adrien’s with Tikki, I was quite taken aback to see how they look so much more… Compatible?

To me Plagg and Marinette, Tikki and Adrien, both are better matches. To me, it seems like these matches “push out” something from the characters themselves. They feel more natural. A good step, taken, in the right direction. The next evolution. I personally have never been happier to see Marinette fight as LadyNoire! It looked as if she was born to be Ladynoire and her interactions with Plagg, it looked they'd be a greater harmony between the two! And again, to me she acted freer than ever, and was even more performant.

I think that Plagg would be a better influence for Marinette as he always looks like he's the "cool" dude going with the flow? I'd see him cheering Marinette on, pushing her to be freer minded, less stressed (as he’d teach to care less about trivial things that don’t matter), open her up to new possibilities. His "Everythin's fine, man…" attitude feels like it would be a much better help on the long term for Marinette.

Edit: Plagg’s influence would be even better as he’d teach her to “Go for it” something that is indispensable for a designer/artist, you know? Not being afraid to show your work, not being afraid to be more “aggressive” even more creative perhaps?! Like he would tell her, encourage her to go wild as fuck and even if her art/sketch would not amount to any creations it would be experiences that shape her? He would push her to try everything!

For Adrien and Tikki, the connection seemed much more subtle yet as good as Marinette’s and Plagg’s connection. Both having soft personalities, both being kind of reserved and quiet/calm. (even tho Tikki is far more optimistic and uplifted than Adrien). Basically, being permanently Mister Bug, we would start to see an Adrien whom starts kind of dumb and useless. Yet he would not give up. (He would be kind of “meh” in the start as there is a lot of work to do but hey! With experience it would come, and he would then one day surpass Marinette’s Ladybug (as Ladynoire would Surpass Adrien’s Cat Noir).

And same for Ladynoire’s better use/compatibility of the cat’s miraculous! It seemed bizarre how it felt more right for me to see Adrien as Mister Bug. (it might all come down to my preferences) The fact that he guessed he’d get a mirror is for me proof he used a kind of logic that we never saw Marinette use. She almost always receives her lucky charms and appears dumbfounded for a second, then looks everywhere on how to use it. But Adrien guessed what he would get. He didn’t know how to use it, and acted dumb because It’s his first time, but also (I think!) because he didn’t want to put in the effort of thinking (again, his recklessness is showing). And AGAIN, throughout the fight against Reflekdoll he was acting recklessly, like he does as Cat Noir. (well yeah, duh.) Swinging his yo-yo like a moron. (Nobody should mock him for that as Marinette’s own beginnings with the yo-yo weren’t glorious either).

I was talking about how it would have been cool for Adrien to have with this episode the start of an arc where he questions his usefulness in battles and how he wants to get better, how he wants to be of greater importance in fighting Akumas with Ladybug, but hey! Being Mister Bug would solve all these problems! As Cat Noir's problems for me all boil down to a lack of focus, lack of self-worth = "doesn't matter what happens to me she got this" kind of crap.

So being Mister Bug would make him more patient, focused, on the lookout for details, would make him think more, be more aware of his surroundings and the people around him. It would fix his self-worth issues! Not like the lack of self-worthiness is Adrien’s defining trait, but it would surely help! Moreover, I feel like Adrien would be better off with Tikki as a kwami as she could provide a sort of replacement for motherly care/attention that Adrien seems to lack and seek, making him feel more balanced, important, secure. And he would feel more useful, he would feel necessary (closing the arc to him feeling useless in battles. AGAIN, I must stress this he could start to feel useless, train as chat noir, yet his training makes him more useful, true but he’d want to be even more useful, he would want to feel necessary, there is nothing wrong about wanting to be necessary.) (I say that, because in Reflekdoll he seemed so happy, no fond to catch & release the akuma. Like “YES, the fight is over thanks to me purifying the little bug) like it was really cute, HE was really cute gimme a break xD)

There are holes in my ideas of course, but I think these holes could be patched, but looking how the show is made it’s clearly impossible. As of how I see it, it all comes down to how the show was written (duh) and prepared. Now, it’s obvious they don’t want to pull off this “permanent kwami swap” but they simply… Can’t… Such a swap should have been prepared… Prepared from the start as "THE Great Miraculous Swap". They would have made the swap the result of a long arc for both Ladybug and Cat Noir. And of course, the show should just have been named: "Miraculous', not "Miraculous Ladybug" or "Miraculous tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir" so they would have been no problems with such a swap (with the title I mean) .

The idea of a swap could have been the result of a long arc. I can see this arc taking place over the three first seasons of the show! Being a long, slow realization that something is off, that “Maybe, things would be better if I… Changed?” as the two realize that the problem lies within them… The third season would have been about the two characters understanding that perhaps, all would be better if they were to just, swap kwamis and miraculouses. But much m, they would understand that the swap IS needed. More than being needed, the permanent swap could have opened the gates for deep character development. We could have explored their fear regarding things changing so greatly, their apprehension over “What is the public going to think, they’re going to get confused!” (it would be Marinette that would worry over that.), or the “Would I be a better Mister Bug/LadyNoir that I am Cat Noir/Ladybug?” Moreover, they could have used the idea of the miraculous swap to deepens the two heroes relationship with master Fu as they would tell him how they feel, their struggle with their hero purpose/identity. He’d try to help them but to no avail.

Reflekdoll could have been a first taste of such an idea. I see the episode light the little of spark of “Yep, it feels right, better, can’t go around it now… We need to do it.”. Especially for Marinette as she would have felt freer as Lady noire. Losing her apprehensions “This isn’t so bad…” and Adrien as Mister Bug would have felt kind of dumb and rather weak but being Mister bug would have still felt righter than being Cat Noir. He wouldn’t know why, but he would feel as if things were in a better order (don’t get me started on how we could have seen then resent the idea to give back the other’s miraculous, HMMPF.THE.ANGST.). And the part that “Historically women are better with the Ladybug miraculous and men with the cat miraculous could have been challenged etc! And you know, the fear of the routine, what you’re accustomed to disappearing etc…

Then, we’d have tearful goodbyes with their first kwamis as it’s a chapter of their lives that ends, just like real life! You make great friends, but even though you are great friends you sometimes need to let go and let the wind of time blow… Which they would have done by saying goodbye to their first kwamis and embracing the next chapter it would have been so deep! (and since Adrienette is probably endgame they would still have endend back together so…) The show could have been themed over growing up, realization, big changes and just the way teen just mature, by making those big changes. And with that the greater problems would have been fixed already, the three first season Adrien would have spent time with Plagg, Marinette with Tikki and they would both have learned from their first kwamis, then they swap and realize how right it feels to be the other!

We could have had an even better team! Them understanding each other! Helping each other just after the miraculous swap by giving each other tips in the middle of fights, not sending each other jabs like Ladynoire did to mister bug (although because of how the current show handled its narrative, it is understandable that Marinette jabs a Mister bug being like “ain’t that easy, uh bitch?”) and even think of the possibilities! What about the others in the team thinking that things were better before? (Like Queen B(ee?), Carapace, Rena Rouge, Viperion thinking that Ladybug was better than Mister bug and the swap was foolish etc it could have created tension, made possible important character interactions, development etc!) And to people who really want a Ladybug and a Cat Noir, the show could have been shaped to Star with Ladynoir and Mister Bug then swap! (although I personally find it better to go from Ladybug/Cat Noir to LadyNoir/Mister Bug (because the connections between the new bearers and their new kwamis feels more right to me). But again, the show was never built so it could plan, even handle such an event. To me it’s a shame…

Finally, I must stress that they would still both learn from their time as Cat Noir/Ladybug! They would have developed and grown but not as much with their second miraculous. I certainly wouldn’t want the show to play the first assignment as a plain mistake/waste of time, make it feel needed, and make sure the two characters remember this time of their life as them learning, figuring stuff out as best as they can, don’t make them bitter over “lost time”!

I only wish it was this way, just because to me, the character and their struggle would have felt more real… But the show was made this way, who cares? Not me, I’m sure I can find many swap AU on the internet! (And I’m Looking for it now :} )

#reflekdoll #mister bug #ladynoir #ml spoilers #ml spoiler #ladybug #cat noir #kwami swap #ladynoire #lady noire #mr bug

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wenhaoji · 4 years

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UI Design requires scientific concept of sustainable development

Hello everyone！ I'm Wenhao who a UI designer work in Beijing, this is my first post to meet you. I hope to cheer up my learning path here and meet guys who also love in design.

Get Ready

As a UI designer, I use Sketch to create my pages of a project (the current version only supports Mac), About the animation effect demonstration software, I use AE (AfterEffect) and Principle. It is an amazing tool for cooperation with other designers who work with you in the same one project---Abstract (Paid software, you can download the desktop application of mac), real-time, convenient and clear logic are its advantages.

About design websites that I often browse, the most commonly used Dribbble, Behance, UI CN, UI Movemen , Site Inspire,OnePageMania, Pinterest. I always collect some excellent and trendy navigations for searching for the latest trend and different design thoughts.

Inspirational or resource websites (Images/Videos/Fonts/Color/Texture) are essential,such as Baubauhaus,Booooooom,ArtStation,Lapa, Shutterstock, AllTheFreeStock(you also can check its CSS), Mixkit(images&videos), Colors&Fonts, Pond5(Free video editor & Templates).

About mobile illustration drawing software, I recommend Affinity, or you just use Procreate on iPad(It should be noted that it draws pixels, not vector graphics). There are some mobile and HTML illustration websites, such as Isoflat ,404 Illustrations (HTML), unDraw(Mobile), IRA Design .

About C4D modeling material website, you can go Tfmstyle have a look.

About the mockup or kit of the Sketch, sketchappsources , Ui Store Design.

The above are my recommendations for design tools and websites, I hope to help. You can also click my personal website wenhaoji to browse the related websites I recommend.

Thanks Giant’s Shoulder

I really want to thank the rapid development of the Internet. The professional design software has gradually made the designers feel that the work is convenient and efficient. How to collaborate with other designers at the same time without missing resources and omissions, and how to communicate with developers in real time, these can be solved through the great Internet, just need to find application tools suitable for the team. It can help designers save the time of “find materials”, “modify pages” and “organize resources” in the past, so that designers can spend more and more time on combine business needs, design inspiration, page planning, interaction effects, color matching, etc. So choosing the right production tools can increase our productivity.

Set Up A Scientific UI Design Concept

I always think that the designers of interfaces and interactions are subordinate to computer art workers. This requires us to have a scientific and efficient working concept at the beginning. It is not freedom as artistic work, but I still believe that each art has its own norms and framework, I called "the more self-disciplined the freer". The scientific and efficient working philosophy is reflected in the fact that you need to manage each element of the page scientifically. Assembling components(Symbol) is the charm of UI design. After componentizing each element inside the page (Note that components are also divided into basic components and applications components), your page can achieve efficient changes, and at the same time, the update and replacement of products can achieve scientific sustainable development.

For designers who have just stepped into UI design, we must first form scientific working ideas, logical thinking of component use, and make preparations and arrangements based on evidence. Note that the logical thinking used by components is not only reflected in the page design of the Sketch. It is also in the motion design, but each software is named differently. In the Sketch can be called a panel and in the AE can be called synthesis,but they all have the same thinking-components constitute thinking.

Sweetheart Summary

Understanding some English is always helpful for UI designers. Whether it is easier to find the target when browsing the web, or when naming design components, it can make development colleagues easier to understand. Therefore, pay attention to accumulating some English expressions of UI interface elements, I believe that will become more and more confident in one's work!

Thanks for you attention!

Welcome to wenhaoji to know more about me!

See you soon.

#ui design #uitrends

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minttoy · 5 years

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all that we lost

CHAPTER THREE

Summary: Five years since the war has passed. Five years since she joined the Dragon Guard. Five years since she saw either of the princes. One of them is a King now. Rayla doesn’t consider herself blessed. How could she lose so much of herself and gain nothing back? The war has come and gone, and still she’s counting her losses. Amidst this fractured peace, she returns to Katolis to make up for lost time.

Pairings: Callum/Rayla

Genre: Romance/Angst

Click here to read on FF.net.

Click here to read on AO3.

For Chapter 1:

Chapter 1 (FF.net)

Chapter 1 (AO3)

A violin plays a joyful and melodious tune in the background.

Streets lined with vendors, music, dancing and games with stuffed prizes. Concession stands catering foods from around the world are found at every corner. Wherever she looks, there’s a joyous atmosphere, reminiscent of the celebrations that took place at war’s end.

They’re standing at the castle entrance. Callum has taken it upon himself to entertain a curious group of kids with an assortment of ‘magic tricks’, the irony being it’s real magic, and they’re not tricks. Rayla watches with wry amusement from the side.

“Again! Again!”

She offers him silent pity as the children start another round pleas to see the trick for the tenth time.

Callum smiles tightly. “Alright, but this is the last time.”

He kneels to the ground, using the bottle of bubbles that has the kids so enthralled to blow another set. Drawing the sky rune in front of him, he whispers the incantation and a small gust of wind sends the droplets gliding and dancing in the air. The kids run in a flurry, trying to pop the most soapy water blobs before they soar too high.

The gust of air magic catches the hem of her pants. For the festival, she’s opted for loose human clothing. If it weren’t for her horns or markings, maybe she could pass off as one of them.

When she looks up again, Callum is doing his best to wave off the kids, promising them another show sometime later. There’s a wave of disappointment, but one kid pulls out a kazoo from his party bag and sputters out noise as he darts off in the street. The others eventually follow and Rayla eyes one girl in particular.

“Hey, little one. Be careful. You might trip and fall with your shoes untied,” Rayla calls out to the small girl that reminds of her of a younger Ellis.

The girl looks down to see that her boot laces have come undone and then she sort of waddles towards the elf. Rayla drops to her knees, levelling herself with the child. “I know you’re eager to join the others, but do you want to know what’s not fun? Getting hurt,” she says, tying her boot laces and then doubling it for extra measure.

Once finished, Rayla notices she’s been glancing between her non-human features, from the top of her head down to her fingers. The small girl soon erupts in a smile, having finally decided. “Miss, I like your hair!”

Rayla smiles the compliment. “Thanks. You can run along now.”

“See you later!” And then she bounces off towards the other kids with energy like the sun, reminding Rayla that kids are freer than anything in the world.

She rises to stand and dusts off her trousers. Behind her, she hears the faint sound of sketching. Charcoal on thick parchment paper. She glances up to catch Callum drafting something in his book. Something he wants to remember. She watches idly from where she is, studying the small ritual and fixed concentration in his eyes as he shades and fills the lines. Callum is so handsome still, and his boyish charm has aged well.

He soon finishes with the drawing, notices her staring and then tilts his head.

She looks away and waves off his silent inquiry. “It’s nothing.”

He arches a brow, but she walks over to him and peers down at his sketch from his side. Back then, he’d always let her appreciate his works, scrutinize them even.

In the book, he’s drawn the busy streets before them, the banners hanging across the rooftops, the food stands, the assortment of flags, a few passerby. She marvels at his talent, even as she’s seen him do it hundreds of times. He could draw in his sleep if he wanted.

“Figured I should remember this day somehow,” he starts.

She nods, because that’s how he remembers. Callum always draws people, places and memories that are important to him. She saw them firsthand, back when those pages were mostly of his mother.

“By any chance, do you still use that…book?” he asks, keeping his voice low.

She’s lost at first, but clues in afterwards. Of course. Her own book, littered with lists it would confuse anybody with no context. He’d given her the first one she ever used.

“I do.”

He doesn’t avert his gaze, instead searches her eyes for understanding. “You…still get nightmares every night?”

She shakes her head. “Not every night. It’s better now.”

They’re silent for a brief moment, but only because it’s a topic to be discussed later. He finally averts his gaze, closing his book and slinging it over his shoulder. He motions her forward, suggesting they go for a walk and the two walk in step.

“You know, I think sky has always been my favourite class of magic,” he strikes up conversation, shifting the tone.

Rayla looks ahead of her, careful to maneuver around passerby. The streets are littered with folks now, but she has no doubt it will be busier later today. “Sky, huh? Why is that?”

He hums noncommittally. “I don’t know exactly. I just find myself using it the most. Maybe I’m biased, since it was the first Arcanum I learned.”

“Well, you’re also good at it,” she says as a matter of fact.

Callum beckons her to cross the street and she keeps close when they pass through a horde of vendors and their moving carts. People stare and steal curious glances. She sticks out in human garbs and it doesn’t help they’re a tall pair walking amongst a crowd. For a second, they glaze over her form or peek at her horns, but sometimes they look over at Callum with a glint of familiarity. He has no crown or regal showing, so maybe he’s not the prince they have in mind.

She almost wants to take his hand.

Make a statement. Somehow show the world that humans and elves can get along. Remove the judgment in their eyes and make peace. She knows he’d go along with it too, even squeeze her hand in steady reassurance, because he believes it too, but instead, she keeps her arms crossed in front of her.

“So is this what humans do when there’s no war?” she pipes up, shifting her thoughts.

He casts a lazy inspection to a particularly loud group across the street selling tickets for a show. “I guess so? I mean, after the treaties were signed, we threw a festival much like this one and the town settled down quietly ever since.”

She tilts her head at him. “And you?”

He looks down to the ground, hands in his pockets. “I sort of became a…diplomat?” He seems to think the title sounds silly out loud, so he quickly waves it off. “It’s fancier than it sounds. Basically, I go back and forth between towns, attend all kinds of meetings, negotiate trade, arrange foreign affairs, deal with disturbances at the breach, make big speeches…it’s not that bad, not so complicated.”

She snorts. “It sounds complicated.”

His lips tug to a small smile. “When I’m here, I like to teach at the school.”

Rayla marvels at the thought. “I had no idea you kept so busy.” She reflects on what she’s done in her last five years. “Is being a diplomat still frustrating as you once said?”

He chuckles. “So you did read my letters.”

“Of course I did,” she says, surprising him with blunt honesty.

They settle for brief silence, letting the sounds of the festival fill the space. When she hears him exhale, she looks up again.

“It’s gotten better, or easier, I should say,” he starts. “It’s a lot of work getting people to agree with each other, but I shouldn’t complain so much. I mean, I get to travel the world and see all kinds of things, right?”

“And attend a lot of festivals?”

He smiles. “Yeah. That too.”

Callum looks at her and there’s a thoughtfulness in his eyes. He’s preoccupied with something beyond this mindless conversation, but she knows him very well and it’s only a matter of time until he comes out with it.

“What’s on your mind?” she presses.

A sighs escapes his lips and he submits to it. “There’s room for one more, you know,” he starts. This time, he doesn’t play it too serious, not like he did five years ago, and she’s thankful for it. “You could still come with me. I’m sure everyone would be interested to hear your side of the story.”

Back then, these had been her choices. Join him or join the Guard, and after three days spent holed up in deep thought and rumination, she left him and chose the latter.

Rayla casts a dubious look. “Everyone? Really?”

“Well, maybe not everyone,” he amends. “Most people. The good ones will listen, at least.”

Her mouth tilts up in a small smile. “I hope you’re not trying to convince me to quit my job.”

Callum shakes his head, laughs it off quietly. “Nah. It’s just something for you to consider. My point is you’re always welcome here. I just wanted you to know that.”

She smiles again, but it fades quick as regret comes back to sting her. A blank expression shapes her features again. “Umm, can I be honest for a second?”

“What is it?”

“It’s about your letters.” Rayla sighs as she runs a hand over her face. “I’m just…sorry I didn’t write back.”

He turns to her, and she finds no resentment or malice there. “It’s okay.”

For a while, they sit at the square, listen to the band play folksy tunes, watch townies perform traditional dances. Rayla taps her foot loosely to the beat, reminded of the ceremonies and traditions held in her hometown.

Afterwards, they join the lineup to enter the town raffle. The prizes sit on the back table, courtesy of King Ezran himself. Baskets of foods, houseware, kitchenware, boxes of wine, stacks of books and smaller gifts stacked neatly. Callum needs neither of these things and Rayla can’t bring back any of the gifts with her on horseback. She think it’s reason enough to opt out of the raffle, but everyone is doing it so they toss their ballots anyway.

They catch the noontime showing for the play re-enacting a dramatized version of the war’s end. She snorts at the interpretation of Azymondias, a name half the performers can barely pronounce. He breathes thunder and has sharp teeth, but years ago he was never as menacing as the play suggests.

Later, Callum somehow convinces her to try her hand in the archery tournament.

She’s not here to gloat, but he pushes for it. Maybe he’s improved over the years and thinks he can best her. Curious, she says nothing of it and motions for him to take his turn.

His first shot misses the bullseye by four markers, the second lands on the outermost ring and his third is the best, just one ring short. He’s not ecstatic with the results, but she gives him some credit. Back then, he could barely figure out the mechanics of the weapon.

“Pretty impressive,” she says as she accepts the bow from him.

Callum smirks. “I’m more curious about you, to be honest.”

He’s not the only one, it seems, as her eyes drift to the crowd. More onlookers have come to watch since they arrived. Families and cliques and tourists watch with wary anticipation. Even the brawny man supervising this tournament ignores the rest of the matchups to eye her with some suspicion. There are no other elves amongst this crowd, let alone this festival. She’s the only one with horns.

The matter is paltry.

Rayla eyes her target, sets her arrow and pulls back the string, releasing it with a deftness taught to her as an assassin, but honed in the Guard. With no moving targets and harsh fogs, she knocks the easy bullseye, and behind her there are gasps of surprise. She wastes no time, lifts the second arrow and launches it with more speed. It lands beside the first, just edged into the middle ring. Her third attempt goes awry, her concentration snapped when the large man in her periphery coughs loud into his mouth and her arrow goes straight into a hay bale behind the target.

She lowers her bow and briefly acknowledges the crowd before spying the burly man a look. Even some of the townsfolk have the decency to quietly applaud.

Raylat tips her head at him. “Is there a problem?”

He ignores the question entirely, getting up from his stool to yank out her arrows. “Sharp shooter, aren’t you?”

She shrugs. “Lots of practice.”

He raises a brow. “Are you trained in combat too? The art of the blades? Magic, even?”

Her expression sours a bit. “Does it matter?”

“You tell me,” he answers vaguely. He follows up with a half-snort, half-chuckle before snorting in ridicule. “Here we are, throwing all kinds of festivals and parties, thinking the war is over. Meanwhile, everyone living across the border act like it’s not.”

She doesn’t twitch. Her face is wooden. She silently hands him back the bow when he comes to get it. At his size, she guesses maybe he’s a retired guard. He speaks like a hard-bitten man, not necessarily contemptuous. Perhaps he served under the liege of King Harrow, now hardened having failed to protect his principal. Maybe he was there that fateful night and he’s seen firsthand what she’s capable of.

She stops herself from overthinking and swallows uncomfortably. “Umm, thanks for letting me play.”

He scoffs. “You can thank the prince.”

Rayla turns around, finding Callum in the corner speaking with a family across the fence. She stays nearby and tries to shake off the slight, but she’ll need something strong to forget that happened. Idly her gaze falls to the other matchups, where archery is done in good fun, but she knows when she returns to her post things will be different.

She hears clapping from her side, flushes with mild embarrassment as Callum walks over.

“Amazing as always,” he says, and her cheeks are noticeably pink now. “To be honest, I kind of underestimated you back there. I thought you were a swords-only type of warrior and maybe I could best you with my mediocrity, but I was wrong. Well, lesson learned.”

She sneaks a glance to the brusque man, unable to help herself. He’s still looking her way, curious of her relations with Callum. “Thanks,” she says absently.

“Is everything okay?”

Her mind reels back to what Callum said before. About how the war should have ended. What could have been done to end the persistent prejudice and bigotry. Suddenly, she stands to block Callum’s view of the archery tournament. “Everything’s fine.”

But she knows that face. Filled with question, concern and disbelief – he sees right through her. After years of separation, maybe he no longer feels obligated to act on it.

He doesn’t.

Instead, he tips his head towards the streets and she sighs in relief.

In truth, she hadn’t anticipated spending the day with him. She’d resolved to watching a few festivities from a rooftop and then spending the rest of the day in the forest. Instead, Callum takes her to the bakery for the afternoon. This place is famed for their jelly tarts, but today they’ve cooked up all kinds of delicacies, treats and pastries she’s never seen. All pretty and glittered with extraneous icing and sugar dust. Ezran would love it.

Rayla looks up from the glass counter and eyes Callum at the register. He’s on friendly terms with the baker behind the counter and they exchange smiles as the older man hands him a box of sweets.

She walks over curious. When she tries to get a peek, he just hands her the box. Inside is a dozen of bare cookies. A concoction of butter, sugar and flour mixed together and baked to golden perfection. Plainer than anything displayed in the counters.

Out of age-old connections, the baker lets them head into the back kitchen. Callum goes straight for the piping bags with a strange child-like eagerness.

“Something you probably don’t know, when Ezran and I were kids, we always snuck in here,” he says, making a frosting bag with a tip for her with leftover icing. She takes it with hesitation, having never done this before.

“You two would sneak in here? What kind of castle lets their princes do that?” she asks idly, trying to figure out the bag.

“Well, the guards were always busy doing something else, or guarding someone else. And the bakers would let us sample the treats so it was well-worth it,” he explains, chuckling at himself. “Back then, the palace was always…tense, and sometimes we needed a break. Things never really settled after my Mom died.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”

He waves a hand. “Don’t feel so bad. That was years ago, and now this place holds good memories. Ezran got his jelly tarts and for me, the bakers were always nice enough to let me try my hand at decorating. I always looked forward to that the most.”

It makes sense, she thinks, because Callum always had a knack for art. She watches his demonstration on how to write with frosting, outlining a neat ‘R’ for Rayla on one of the cookies.

She tries to frost the primal moon next. It comes out as a sloppy oval. She doesn’t even try attempting the smaller details and moves on. She figures she should try something easier, but the next cookie she pipes out too much on the first squeeze and the most she can salvage out of it is a blob. She sprinkles chocolate bits to cover it up before deciding she has no affinity for the art and instead, leans on the counter to watch Callum instead.

She marvels at his concentration and studies the way his brows furrow when he connects his lines. He makes anything from snowflakes, trees and precise swirls that look like roses. On the last cookie, he sneaks a glance at her pair of sprinkled blobs before tracing the moon rune himself with more care and attention than she will ever obtain.

He slides it over to her and she thinks there’s a hint of smugness on his face.

“Well, you win this one,” she says, standing straight and glancing over the array of frosted cookies.

“I had no idea we were competing.” His smirk is still smug. “Does that make us even?”

She snorts. “Well, I’m not sure how much your cookie decoration skills would help you in a fight. I think I could still knock you down.”

He raises a brow. “What if I use magic?”

Rayla tilts her head in interest. “Is that a challenge?”

His smirk disappears and he hesitates, considering it over. “Err, you know what? I take it back. I already underestimated you once today. I’m not looking to embarrass myself again.”

She smiles and before they know it, they run into a silence. Eventually they would run out of things to talk about. She’s not going to recount the days they spent apart or their days spent in war. Unfortunately, there’s hardly anything in between.

The silence is interrupted and she’s glad for it. The baker walks in at the right time, beckoning Callum over. She makes a quick guess, like a small game, and she’s right on track when after their quick exchange, Callum looks over apologetically.

Peering over at the storefront, she catches a couple of guards whispering to each other. They’re looking for him. Her guess is he’s needed elsewhere, maybe due for some big hero speech.

“You go on ahead. I’ll catch up with you later,” she says for him.

He nods. “There’s going to be a dinner celebration at the castle later,” he brings up. “I’ll see you then?”

She sends him off with a nod. When he’s gone, she packs up their snacks to go, not missing that the baker has chosen to stay nearby. She shoots him a second-glance over her shoulder in acknowledgement.

“You’re a friend of the prince, huh?” the old man pipes up. “What’s your name, lassie?”

She turns around, finds the baker appraising her. “Rayla.”

“You’re in good hands, you know,” he says for some reason.

“Why do you say that?”

He shrugs loosely. “The prince. He doesn’t judge. I mean, I don’t either – you’re welcome anytime here – but it’s different with him.”

Rayla raises a brow, unsure if that made anything clear.

He motions vaguely in her direction. “I’m guessing he met you through work?”

She hums noncommittally. “Not quite.”

“Well, I think he kind of likes you. I’m no expert, but I’ve known the kid his whole life,” he starts. She’s starting to wonder if this is some cautionary warning. “But hey, if you don’t like him back, that’s okay. Just – let him down easy. Rumour has it he had his heart broken by an elf a few years back.”

“Oh,” she says. “How…unfortunate.”

The man is only protecting him, it seems.

“I’m not worried. He’s got plenty of years ahead,” he says before sauntering towards the work table where a lump of dough waits to be kneaded. “It’s nice to meet you, Rayla. I hope to see more of your kind around.”

#rayllum #rayla x callum #tdp rayllum #tdp rayla #tdp callum #angst #romance #dragon prince fanfic #Dragon Prince #Rayla #callum #fanfiction

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amamblog · 5 years

Photo

Jean Kondo Weigl, Untitled, 1974, Gouache collage, Art Rental Collection Fund RC 1974.3.

Elka Lee-Shapiro ‘18, former curatorial assistant in Asian art, conducted this interview with artist Jean Kondo Weigl in July of 2018 as part of her exhibition, Centripetal/Centrifugal: Calibrating an Asian American Art.

On March 12th at 3:00 p.m., Lee-Shapiro will return to Oberlin to give a Tuesday Tea lecture on the exhibition. For more information, visit the event page on the Allen’s Facebook.

EL: I was thinking that we could start by talking about the work we have of yours in the AMAM's collection. It was created in 1974 and you mentioned that you were working with hard-edge abstraction at the time.

JKW: Right, after completing the MA program in Studio Art at Oberlin I was working as Assistant to the curators at the Allen Art Museum. At the time, Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, Conceptualism and Pop art were primary avenues in the New York art scene. I had studied those movements as an undergraduate in a contemporary art seminar at Scripps College while also taking classes in figure drawing and painting, and wanted to explore acrylics and non-figurative or formal compositions, probably influenced by artists such as Frank Stella. I’m not sure if I was aware of Sol LeWitt at that point, but there were a lot of artists, painters, and printmakers working with the grid format.

I chose to use the format of the grid in this work because of the regularity and the rationality of the grid, which could be juxtaposed with something else—something freer, looser, more subjective, more organic -- while still retaining the organized structure of the grid. I experimented with some loosely conceptualist formats where I might, for instance, devise a sequential order for what was going to go in each unit of the grid, and so on.

EL: The work we have in the Allen’s collection has a repeated pattern like that… is that where that idea comes from?

JKW: Yes, I began with an abstract design painted in gouache on paper that I cut up into sixty equal squares. Next, I cut the squares, four at a time, into curved strips, which I then recombined to form new squares that I then arranged in the final composition. I couldn’t have foreseen or visualized the end product of my process the first time I tried it, and was surprised to find the resulting sense of rhythmic movement, advancing and receding space and lively qualities of color and light to be so effective. You never know what's going to happen when you try out an idea.

EL: What was it like doing this type of work in Oberlin, because a lot of the discourse surrounding formalist painting was rooted in New York City? How was it being in Oberlin engaging with these types of investigations surrounding painting?

JKW: Becoming interested in a more formalist approach to painting was a natural response to the influences I encountered at Oberlin as a graduate student and as a member of the staff at the AMAM. Ellen Johnson, Professor of Modern Art, and Athena Tacha, Curator of Art since 1800, were powerful forces in promoting current trends in art from New York in Oberlin through their scholarship and involvement with regard to the museum’s acquisitions, exhibitions and visiting artists program.

Also, as a Graduate Assistant, I worked under Forbes Whiteside, Professor of Painting, assisting in his painting and color theory classes. In Mr. Whiteside’s color theory class, I learned a lot about color relationships and color interaction, and wanted to explore some of the ideas that I was learning in my own work. I think that's what pushed me towards nonobjective imagery, so that I could focus on color schemes and variations on the different characteristics of color. I probably know one hundredth of one thousandth of what there is to know about color theory, but I can get deeply engaged with what little I know, experimenting with all the different possibilities and variations.

EL: You mentioned the idea of objective and subjective painting in relation to the grid. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about that, especially because your recent work does incorporate more narrative or figural elements.

JKW: I'm really equally interested in formalism and narrative or figurative art, and equally emotionally moved by both. Even with narrative art, the story is definitely part of what I respond to, but a large part of what I respond to are the formal elements of the work—the paint, color, and surface—and the power and skill of the artists. I remember before I ever cried to a painting, the only kind of art that I would respond to emotionally would be film or music—I can easily cry when I see a sentimental commercial on television—but I was never moved to tears by a painting until I saw a Pierre Bonnard painting. It was a small landscape of a spring day and I was overwhelmed. I don't know how you identify the core idea of a single work of art or a body of works of art when there are multiple elements that are constant throughout. The meaning of a work has a little bit to do with the imagery and a whole lot to do with the composition and the treatment of form—but you can't have the imagery without that. So, you can't separate them.

EL: We touched on this a little bit but I was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about how your personal background influences your work, and whether biographical or politicized identity comes into your work?

JKW: Well, how can we separate one’s background and identity from one’s work, either? That's another thing, right? You are what you are. I am what I am because of my background. So, it’s impossible to ignore it, but I don't think you have to worry about making it clear, because it is clear. It just comes out anyway. Everything that’s influenced me as an artist is because of my background.

I'm probably drawn to Asian art and the history of Asian art for that reason. I might not have taken courses in the history of Japanese art at the University of Utah, but in a way I felt obligated to know more about it. I might have been interested in Asian art as an undergraduate but it’s my memory that, at that time, we didn't have a lot of exposure to Asian or other non-Western art history; it wasn't automatically built in to your art education. For example, I knew that I liked ukiyo-e, but the topic of 19th century Japanese art was mainly touched upon in the context of its influence on 19th century French art. Today, if I get stuck in the process of sketching or painting, one source that I may turn to for direction is 19th century Japanese art. I really relate to that period as did many 19th century artists in Europe who were being exposed for the first time to a lot of Japanese and Chinese art.

EL: Do you think of the Asian influences in your work as relating to your personal identity?

JKW: Sure, not consciously, just automatically.

EL: Thinking about your identity, would you identify as say, an Asian American artist, or a woman artist, and does that play into your work at all?

JKW: Asian American over woman artist?

EL: Or Asian American woman artist... I guess in terms of these labels.

JKW: That's an appropriate question because the women’s movement was in full bloom in the seventies which is when I was at Oberlin working on as master’s degree and coming of age as an artist. Oberlin’s master’s program required a written thesis and an exhibition, and I wrote my thesis on the women's movement in art. I was reading Linda Nochlin, Simone de Beauvoir, Shulamith Firestone, Judy Chicago, and anyone I could find who wrote about the role of women as artists or the image of women in art. I joined the women's caucus of the College Art Association and participated in a couple of their collaborative projects. They organized a book project and a box project, and my work was included in their traveling shows. But I don't put gender at the front of how I identify myself as an artist. And the Japanese part, well, both the Japanese and the female parts were given to me, but I don't necessarily feel that I put myself in either category, as much as lot of other people need to or choose to.

I'm aware of my race and gender on a certain level. My race and gender are important aspects of my identity, but my identity and how it plays into my work is more just individual—having to do with my personal experience and relationships. One key to how I identify as an Asian American woman artist may be how I identify with other Asian American women artists; if it’s difficult for me to relate to another Asian American woman artist on some level of aesthetics or politics, I think it would be difficult for me to put myself under the same label as her. On the other hand, I would probably relate more completely to an Asian American woman artist, compared to a non-Asian, non-American, male artist, if her art and politics were aligned with mine.

EL: We probably have time for maybe one more question. I'd love to hear more about your approach to teaching and what teaching is like for you.

JKW: I don't think of myself as being really articulate or able to explain some more complex issues or concepts in a particularly clear or elegant way, but sometimes in the classroom I find myself getting really excited and at no loss for words. Especially when I’m talking about the process and how it’s important to let go and not be afraid—I’m trying to encourage students to let go, loosen up, and not worry about whether their assignments are going to be successful. I work very hard to be the best teacher, but some students stand out as being so talented, perceptive and intuitive that I can only step back and admire them, deserving little credit for their achievement.

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tryingthisfangirlthing · 5 years

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Love, I’ve Missed You In A Million Different Ways (How Is It We Keep On Writing Tragedies Together?) 1/14-ish

So. My @bering-and-wells-exchange gift for @dapperdorian kind of exploded. As in this will be long, posted hopefully over the course of the next two weeks. You requested unrequited love, all the sad/loving feels. I hope this delivers, and Merry Christmas! Basically I couldn’t quite decide on one story so I set myself to writing them all. (Because Rinari is totally crazy, it seems. What else is new?) Each chapter is more or less a self-contained story, but they do more or less tie together (I hope).

1. In The Beginning

She read science fiction. It was the first week of junior year, and Myka Bering was sitting in the corner of the lunchroom, Journey to the Center of the Earth open in front of her, glasses pushed up her nose and her curls tumbling in her face. And she read, flipping the page every now and again, not at all seeming to care about who did or didn't pay attention to her. “Tracy.” Helena nudged the freshman beside her with her shoulder, tilting her head towards the corner. “Isn't that your sister?” Tracy glanced over her shoulder, quickly, a little furtively. “Yeah, that's Myka,” she murmured, hunching her shoulders, her attention focused on the others at the table — Kurt, Giselle, Megan, Zack, Taylor — as if checking to see if they'd heard. “Why don't you invite her to sit with us?” Helena wasn't above taking advantage of the social privilege her “cool new foreign student” status gave her. And she wanted to know this girl better. But Tracy shook her head. “Trust me,” she muttered, “My sister is happiest just as she is.” She didn't look particularly happy, Helena thought, as she glanced back at Myka again. But wouldn't her sister know her best?

They had sports together — “P.E.” as the Americans called it, “physical education.” As if there was anything particularly educational about getting shoved around a basketball court for forty-five minutes. (It wasn't as if Helena had anything against being skin to sweaty skin with another girl. She would just have preferred it be during something useful, like Kenpo, or in a decidedly different and much more appealing context.) Helena was competitive, by nature. Myka was not particularly good at the sport, despite her height. But then came the laps, and Myka took off, leaping ahead like a gangly gazelle, all awkward grace. She looked a little freer, in that moment, free from something one only noticed had been haunting her once it was gone. Helena's breath came hard and fast and she watched Myka run.

Myka's locker was three down from Helena's. Three down, and Helena caught a glimpse of the inside of the door. No photos, just words: Pablo Neruda, and “Do not go quietly into the cold dark night,” and “By their fruits you shall know them,” in an elegant cursive hand Helena was almost certain belonged to Myka. She looked at the inside of her own locker, sketches of imaginary planetscapes strewn in between the magnetic chessboard Caturanga had given her and several pictures of Buffy and B'Elanna Torres. When she looked back, Myka was walking away, fencing épée in hand.

“Is this seat free?” Myka started, stiffened, and then tucked her hair behind her ear, glancing sideways at Helena. She lifted one shoulder, hunching down like a turtle retreating into its shell. “Yeah, I guess.” “Aces.” Helena grinned, setting her tray down and sliding in next to her. Myka blinked, with wide, startled eyes, and shifted a little further away, to give her more room. “I'm Helena.” She picked up her fork to stab at what the cafeteria called lasagna, wrinkling her nose. “Though you can also call me H.G. Most everyone does. You're Tracy's sister, aren't you? Myka?” “Yeah,” she responded, after a moment's hesitation, and minutely inspected the contents of her lunchbox. “So you're a fan of H.G. Wells?” Helena nodded towards The Time Machine lying on the table. “My mother was a great admirer of his. Hence my initials.” “I guess you could say that,” Myka murmured. “My dad used to read me his novels, when I was younger.” “H.G.!” Giselle stopped in front of the table, with a bemused wrinkle to her nose. “Why don't you come sit with us?” “The table here is free, so far as I can tell.” Helena shrugged, gesturing to the empty space. “Kurt!” she called over to the quarterback. “Join us, why don't you?” Turning to Myka, she asked,“You don't mind, do you?” Mutely, Myka shook her head, pressing her lips together. Kurt trotted over like the hulking puppy dog he was, and sat opposite them. “Hi, uh, Myka, wasn't it?” Myka squeaked, then cleared her throat and tried again. “Yeah, yeah, that's me. Myka Bering, right here.” “Is that for English?” Megan sounded a tad horrified, as she set her tray down beside Kurt's and pointed at the book. Helena only just suppressed a sigh. “No.” Myka looked down at her food again. Tracy shot Helena an exasperated-embarrassed-helpless look as she slid in beside her. “Our father owns a bookstore,” she offered, as though one needed some sort of excuse for liking to read. Giselle finally settled in at the end of their row, combing a finger through her red curls. “I would write an essay on how annoying it is so few ‘classic’ books we're supposed to read have women in them, but I'm already swamped with Trig. I should not have taken that AP class.” Kurt made a face. “I’ve done geometry, but coach says if I don't pass algebra this year I can't stay on the team.” There was a round of appropriately sympathetic noises. “I could tutor you,” Myka said suddenly, unexpectedly loudly. Everyone quieted and looked at her. Her cheeks colored. “I got an A in it last year. I mean, if you want. You don't have to —” “No, that's — that's real sweet of you, Myka.” Kurt was tilting his head, as if looking at her in a new light. “You wouldn't mind? I could find a way to pay you a bit, if you wanted.” “No!” She shook her head. “No, I'm happy to help.” “Well, then, thanks. You want my number? We'll have to work around football practice, but let me know whatever time works for you and I'll be there.” He was already pulling out his phone, apparently oblivious to the way Megan tossed him and Myka suspicious, sulky glances, and Giselle and Tracy held themselves stiff with discomfort. “Of course! I — I have fencing practice after school anyways, so it's not like — I wouldn't be waiting.” Myka was fumbling with her phone, too, taking the number down as he dictates it, offering hers right back. This wasn't — this wasn’t how it was supposed to go, and Helena floundered in the disappointment welling up in her throat. She'd never had any problems with school, but now she almost wished she had. Myka tucked her phone away, biting her lip on a happy little smile. “I, uh, I have to head by the library before my next class, but I'll see you around.” She zipped up her almost-untouched lunch, tucking The Time Machine to her side. “Let me know when you have time, Kurt.” Helena closed her mouth, and watched her go. “Told you so,” Tracy muttered around the straw in her milk carton.

Helena tried again, the day after. “Do you mind if I sit here?” “If you want.” Myka shifted over, not even looking up from The War Of The Worlds. Halfway to setting down her tray, Helena stopped, suddenly exasperated. “Would you prefer I not? I have no desire to force my company upon you.” At this, Myka finally looked up, looked her in the eyes. A melancholy sort of fire flickered in her gaze, sucking all the air from Helena's lungs. “Look, your crowd isn't my thing. I won't be taken advantage of, and I don't want to be some kind of social charity case. So whatever you're trying to do, you might as well just, not.” Helena rolled her eyes against the sting of those words. “Yes, because heaven forbid someone might actually want to get to know you.” Giselle was waving her over towards their usual table, so she went, bristling and disappointed.

Megan complained into the girls’ chat that Kurt had blown her off after practice, because Myka hqd been waiting. Helena could only imagine: Myka sitting on the bleachers, hunched over the book in her lap, fencing foil at her side to complete her awkward-solid-ethereal aura, the way she'd look up when the coach called for them to finish... Helena wasn't telling Megan she'd have done exactly the same.

The next day, Helena headed for the little group's usual table. She could tell where she wasn’t wanted — though she couldn't think of what she might have done to deserve Myka snubbing her like that. Yet that twinge of bitterness did nothing to dampen her curiosity. “How was your first tutoring session?” she asked Kurt, sliding into the spot next to him. “What's she like?” Kurt paused for a moment, forehead wrinkling, obviously having to think it over. “She's all right, I guess. She's really smart. It took a little while, like she had to explain things a couple of times before I got it, but then, like, we just clicked, you know? She said I could pay her in Twizzlers, you know, the red kind?” Helena assumed he wasn't actually looking for a response, and at any rate she wouldn't have trusted herself to give one. “She’s got a sense of humor, too, once she loosens up.” Slowly, Kurt smiled, in his bright-charming-handsome way Helena was beginning to fucking hate. Like it was a sudden realization, he added, “I guess she’s actually sort of hot, in a cute, dorky kind of way.” You don't bloody have to tell me that. Helena stabbed at one of her chicken nuggets, and the plastic fork snapped.

The next day, Myka had Sense and Sensibility with her at lunch. Silently, Helena cursed. She might just be in love, bloody weakness for bloody gorgeous girls with bloody adorable glasses and my bloody favorite books.

(She took Giselle to the winter formal. She was proud of herself, for only tossing three — fine, four — longing, envious glances at the way Myka rested her head on Kurt's shoulder during a slow song, rested it there with a joyously contented smile Helena wanted to fucking kiss off her lips.)

#bering and wells exchange #bering and wells #dapperdorian #rinari is categorically incapable of limiting her gift fics to any reasonable length apparently #rinari's fic #love i've missed you in a million different ways (how is it we keep on writing tragedies together?)#angst #unrequited love #high school au #(yes yes i know it's overdone but some stories in this series will be less clichéd — promise!)#and some just kind of wrote themselves and _fit_ so I had to include them

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