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factorialsotherfandoms · 3 months

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XCOM au again. A second part/sequel to this - Missa being rescued and recovering, in 100-200-300-400-500 words. It's not exactly a happy ending, but... he's safe, and he's with people he cares about, and he learns Roier isn't dead (which means I need to adjust the timeline on the spiderbit fic but shhh), so... Maybe it'll be okay.

(He's a good month or two off being able to snipe again. This is like... I guess 3/4 years pre-Felps rescue? iiiiish? Which gives them time to settle in and stuff. They have the airship at this point, but it's not quite working yet, and its only once its working that Philza is seriously asked to help out lead things, until then it's just being bugged with questions every so often. What becomes Aypierre's lab is where he's being looked after/ Pac e Mike are probably disappearing a few months later, just after it's finished. Aypierre is actually rescued after they're gone, iirc. Stuff happened which meant Roier had to leave Cellbit alone with the Feds, and he's not happy about that either. Spreen looms over the narrative, but he isn't here. Stuff and things and thoughts and timelines are stupid just enjoy.)

Someone is calling Missa's name. He is cold, and he is hurting, but there is something warm against his cheek, and someone is calling his name.

They are gentle but urgent, worried but kind. The warmth on his cheek is there, then it is gone, and then he is being lifted from the cold, concrete floor. There is warmth on his cheek.

"It's okay now, king, I've got you."

He tries to call out, but his lips will not move. He tries to look, but his eyes will not open.

He tries to hold on, but he slips away again.

---

Everything hurts. Every limb aches, and every organ screams in pain. There is yelling, and chaos, and hands heavy on his body. A needle slips under his skin, pushing something into his veins.

Missa cannot help it - he whines.

Hands brush through his hair, a little too fast and too frantic to be soothing.

"You're okay, you're okay, you'll be fine," someone says. "Just stay with us, Missa, we've got you."

That voice is familiar. A different voice asks something in English, too fast for Missa's slurring brain to make out. The someone replies in the same, and then a third voice joins in.

If he strains he can hear two more voices, one distorted like it comes over a radio.

And, oh, the ground is moving.

The voices sound… Grim.

It takes more effort than it should, but he cracks open his eyes - just a little, just a fraction.

Missa's two eyes meet six.

Six black eyes.

Roier.

… He is dead, then, and Roier is here to collect his soul. Because Missa saw Roier die, so if he is here, holding his head…

"Stay with me, idiot."

Roier is crying.

Missa wants to obey.

His eyes slip shut anyway.

---

A beeping draws Missa back to consciousness. The pain is dulled, now, but he can still tell that it is there. There are points of sharpness under his skin, his throat is dry, and his stomach finds itself in agony.

There is a gentle pressure against his eyelid, rubbing back and forth, and now that he listens he can hear two people talking in… Some language he does not speak.

One of them is holding his hand.

He does his best to hold back, if only for instinct and politeness and the vague knowledge that, whoever this is, they must have something to do with the fact he is on a bed, not in a cell.

There's a gasp, and the thumb brushing his eyelid is withdrawn. Seconds later, a hand cups his head instead.

"Oi Missa," a voice says - English, but uncertain with it. "Can you, um, open your eyes?"

He tries, and it hurts, so he tries to escape. There is a little talking, the language swapping again, and the sound of someone leaving. The two voices continue, one the familiar and the other annoyed.

"You're doing really well," the first voice switches back, probably addressing him again. "Just a little more?"

Opening his eyes is the most difficult challenge that Missa has attempted in his life, and yet it is somehow one he wins. He finds himself in a room with two men, both in lab coats. The one touching his face is sat on the bed, and grins at him. The other, hair obnoxiously pink, gives a smaller smile as he sits down.

"Can Mike ask some questions? We want to check you're okay."

Missa is… not entirely sure which of them asked, but nods anyway; he complies and, once their tests are over, he sleeps.

---

Missa comes to with someone holding his hand. It's much easier to open his eyes, this time. When he looks, he sees Philza, sat at his side and reading a very battered looking book.

Unsure what else to do, Missa watches on, enchanted.

It's a few minutes before Philza notices him staring.

"Hey Missa," he closes the book. "How're you feeling?"

Missa… has no idea how to answer that.

"Thirsty," he settles on, in the end.

Philza laughs a little, but helps him up. Once Missa is safely resting on the pillows, he pours some water into a glass, and holds it as Missa drinks.

When it is empty he sets the cup aside, and rests his hand on Missa's cheek instead. Too tired to resist temptation, Missa presses his face into the warmth.

There's a chuckle, and the other hand comes to rest on his shoulder. "Glad to have you back, king - you scared us for a bit there."

"Sorry," Missa whispers.

"None of that," Philza replies. "You're all good, mate. You're so fucking good."

It's hard to believe. Missa is still tired, though, so he does not argue. At least he is with Philza - at least he is here, with somebody he knows. His brother will never let him back, so… At least he is not alone.

He is alive, and not alone, and it's more than he could ever have hoped for, to be bought back to… Wait.

"Where are we?"

Philza freezes a second, then laughs, and says "it's a moving camp. When you were taken, I got in contact with Fit, and he spoke to the guys he's running with these days - the Order, they call themselves - and here the fuck we are."

"We're not-"

"I'm so sorry," Philza's face twists. "You know how it is. Here they keep alive by moving. They don't need the secrets, so…"

And so Missa's stupidity means Philza has been ripped away from his home. He freezes, tries to pull away, and-

Philza catches his hands.

"I chose this," Philza tells him, voice stern. "Missa, this was my fucking choice, okay? I could have let Fit go himself, but I wanted to find you. Just breath. It's not your fucking fault."

Is he so predictable?

Missa guesses so, when he bursts into tears.

Philza folds him into his arms, and holds him close as he cries himself to sleep.

---

Every time he sleeps, it becomes easier for Missa to wake. He is still too tired, exhausted down to his core, but with broken bones he should likely rest regardless. Philza comes more often than not, and still Missa struggles to understand why he came - the man had everything, and yet he abandoned it all just to save Missa. It makes no sense. Missa is grateful for the rescue, and to not be alone, but it makes no sense.

Even Fit comes by, once or twice. His brother's other ex is a cautious man but still tells him it is good to see him again. Missa thinks he actually came for the doctors - not doctors at all, but engineers with a medical textbook, and it is still more than his home ever had - but the man still says hello. Friendly, but cautious.

Sometimes, Missa thinks he sees something in the corners, in the shadows, or the ceiling.

Sometimes, he thinks that something looks like the ghost of a long dead friend.

One night he wakes, and sees it in the shadows. He pretends to sleep as he watches it come down, slowly scuttling down the wall and to his bedside. He keeps his eyes lidded as familiar fingers press into his neck, taking his pulse.

They are cold, but not as cold as they should be.

The figure stays there a bit, breath shaky. Once it steadies it withdraws its hand, and makes to leave.

Missa reaches out, and traps the spider in the web.

It freezes.

"Roier?" Missa asks, wishing the hope did not linger on his tongue.

"Missa," a voice he knows replies. "Go back to sleep."

"Are you a ghost?"

"No, no I'm not a ghost. It's fine. Rest."

"A dream?"

"Missa."

"I watched you die."

Finally Roier does something. He peels Missa's fingers away.

Still he hesitates to leave.

"I'm just as dead as you," Roier replies.

"It was a trick?"

"No. I just survived."

And Missa does not know how someone would survive such injuries, but he will take what he can get. Injured and half-asleep is perhaps the worst times for such conversations, but he is not sure he will ever see Roier again if he fails.

"They saved you too?"

"No then," he replies. "I met them later."

"I'm sorry," Missa says, haunted by everything that came before. "I… I'm sorry. I was there, and… And I'm sorry."

Roier turns, and finally looks at him

"And now we're both here," Roier frowns, but holds eye contact. "It's fine. Go back to sleep."

"Roier!"

"Later. We can talk about it later," he says, breaking eye contact finally. "You're… You're hurt, Missa, hurt badly. Please, just… just rest."

Roier is afraid.

Missa hesitates, and relents, and curls back up as best he can.

"Good night, Missa."

"Good night, Roier."

Roier tucks the blanket around him, and vanishes back into the night.

They don't talk about it in the morning; it's long years before they do.

#qsmp x xcom #qsmp missa #qsmp philza #qsmp roier #people in at least 2 scenes get tags #there are more #rescue #hurt/comfort #my rambling is at the top this time woo #now back to youtube videos and i'll ao3 this later #these are hard to edit because exact word counts

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loopy777 · 5 months

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Yeah, the brutal demand for quality and excelence in the japanese weekly grind for Manga artists means that even the best of them experience burnout at some point or discover their plans didnt quite go as they wanted it too.

Because of this, even excelent manga tend to have at least one terrible or subpar arc, when things just did not come together.

As i said, i think there are plenty of better manga and animes that FMA, but there are very few of them that doesnt have such a dip in quality at some point.

And thats the series that are overall good, plentyu have a bad arc and never really recover. Naruto pre timeskip was better than FMA, and the peak of what shonen could be... Post timeskip it eventually fell off a cliff.

Bleach had a very interesting world, and peaked during an arc where it essentially was a giant murder/political mystery... With a spectacular plot twist at the end... But it never managed to reach that level of quality again, and meandered through to a finish line, where both anime and manga got cacencled at different points(despite what some like to argue) for shitty quality. Hell the manga was cut short during the final battle itself. Thats really bad.

The list goes on and on.

To be fair, one bad arc isn't exactly limited to manga, or shonen. You'll find it in many excellent series.

Hell, while not really an arc, even ATLA, amazing as it was had one episode which almost all fans utterly despises.

Also about the peanut gallery... Us talking about it, actuqlly reminded me that one of the best Fights Luffy ever had, actually had the Villain, Katakuri, basically go:

"Damn this peanut gallery is annoying... Lets get rid of them before we kick things into high gear."

And then he knocks them the fuck out so that him and luffy can have an epic battle in peace. It's not the funniest scene in the world, but when i actually look at it on a meta level, yeah, this fight is so much better speciffically cause Katakuri removed the damned commentary track.

Okay, that's almost worth going through all of One Piece to get to, considering my gripe. XD

I have to wonder about the weekly grind for manga compared to American comics. Sure, you can cover a lot more territory in 50 issues a year compared to 12, but in practice, does that hold up for most action manga? Is having a single writer-artist superior to having a writer who works with a rotating artist team?

I would argue that having a full writing team is inferior to a single writer, and American comics seem to agree with me as writers these days seem to stick around for an uninterrupted run for at least a year before leaving and never looking back, and that's when the book isn't writer-owned. But considering manga art is a group effort, anyway, it seems like it would be a simple shift to having a larger team who do every other issue or something like that.

And a shift to every other week as a standard probably wouldn't be hard to accommodate. It still gets installments out fairly frequently, and I'd argue that manga has largely decompressed in order to manage its update schedule, so I think we'd see a natural speed up in pace and the storytelling wouldn't be any slower. I suspect that even the writers who don't fumble things just learn how to stretch things or tread water with their stories in order to give themselves time to recharge or resolve creative issues, so giving them that week's buffer would just result in things tightening up.

But I'm just speculating as an ignorant Audience. I can't draw, I've never written anything professionally, I've never even worked on an amateur comic, and I know very little about the manga industry except that they come out bundled in weekly anthology magazines and about 15,000 mangaka die every year from overwork. As someone from an engineering background, my solution when a machine is burning itself out is to run it slower or stop covering up the vents. And I have no idea what that second option would look like in the comic industry.

#thekingofwinterblog #loopy doesn't read one piece

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yelyahnaloj · 8 months

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As a student and most likely some flavor of AuDHD, I have to ride the waves and spikes of attention. That one afternoon I could be drawing models of histones and trying to visualize through obscure Youtube videos how exactly the... er... whatchamacallit, the cytoskeleton thingys that pull the chromosomes apart during mitosis... move. And another afternoon I could be trying to find out what happens to the other organelles during mitosis.

But then, other times I could not do my reading at all, and space out through lectures, and only get as good as a test score as I did on cellular respiration because it was an open book test, so I had to open my book to find the answers to each question.

Like, I grew up with the idea of my "potential" where things like the first paragraph happen all the time, and I hyperfocus on a single sentence, or use google maps to locate all the locations mentioned in a short story or look up all the plant species mentioned so I know what is being described. But that delicious slice of focus comes at a price because I don't have time to finish things, and I tire out earlier. So, most of the time I try to play the system and do the minimum I could get done and meet all the requirements to turn in. I usually put my best effort early in the quarter, and spend the remaining quarter just trying not to flunk the class because I feel tired and disengaged. My credit loss tends to happen in the second half with the missed assignments.

But I don't think it is realistic to think you can put your 100% all the time, and beating yourself up because you didn't absorb as much as you wanted to from the class wouldn't help. My main focus has to be to be functional on my worst days, and count on my best days for doing the most growth in the shortest amount of time. It's like my streak in Duolingo, there with be the occasional freeze streak, then several days of barely doing anything in order to get a practice in, then the occasional burst of energy when I meet an entire months goal in a day and then some.

Going to college is really teaching me to try to have consistency when there isn't really consistency. To turn in assignments even when I am off grid or abroad. To get full credit in between emergency room visits and panic attacks or multiple jobs. Because behind my superficial flakiness is a stubborn focus that always keeps its eye on the target regardless of where I get oriented, and school helps me hone that in. Maybe that part is the autistic side, the side that has a hard time truly letting things go, even if I get sidetracked for a bit, I keep coming back to things and trying to make it work. It's my magical move mountains side, where I get full credit in a class, while still leaving early to go abroad. Or doing a class a state away, partially online, but taking a plane to get to my labs, and doing one of my labs with my professor on a table outside a store. That part of me that gets an idea in my head and where other people would shrug their shoulders and say that it didn't work out or that they are flexible and would wait for another opportunity, I try to make it fit in any convoluted way I can.

#biology #college life #off grid #audhd #focus

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vaporbossflavors · 2 years

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illyaana · 3 years

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Homebound to you - Sasha Blaus

I can't find the artist on Tumblr (again (＞人＜；)) but this is the twitter post!

Synopsis: You are childhood friends with Sasha. This part is on how you grew up with Sasha and how she told you how she's joining the Training Corps. (if I tell anymore, it isn't a synopsis welp-)

Tags: Sasha x Binaural Reader, Fluff, SFW

Word Count: 2226

⋯⋯ ⫍ SFW Masterlist ◍ Navigation ⫎ ⋯⋯

Fanfiction Masterlist

The lush meadows of Dauper Village - the place both you called home.

It wasn’t one that you’d see written in the papers about its beauty. It was a hidden gem known by those who were willing to venture out and seek it. The forest welcomed you - the sounds of the woodland creatures and the wind against the bushes reminded you of life when you believed the world was much more peaceful than it was. The scene of an ocean blue stream of water surrounded by small animals was vivid in your memories.

“You don’t want to join me? It isn’t that dirty, trust me,” a 6-year-old Sasha said, gripping tightly onto the ends of your shirt.

Sasha Braus - the girl you’ve known ever since you were a kid.

No one could imagine the daughter of a hunter being friends - close friends - with the child of a scholar, but you both proved them wrong.

Sasha was your first ever friend. She was the one who made the introverted you more social with others.

She was the first person you truly cared for - nothing could’ve changed that.

Sasha played along a stream of water right beside the willow tree you both found the first time you ventured into the forest. She’d jump feet first into the stream, diverting the flow of water into multiple small streams before converging in the front of her feet. She loved seeing the small fishes play with each other as if they were racing to meet a bigger water source.

She’d beg you to join her in the small game - but you never did.

You wanted to steal every single moment with her in your eyes - to let it sink into the deepest parts of your brain.

“I’d rather stay dry, Sasha. My mom would kill me if I go back home with my clothes all wet,” your younger self said, trying to reason with her.

Sasha’s face immediately paled the minute you finished that sentence. She looked to her now soaked trousers. A ring of dried mud formed on the top half of her trousers decorated with dried leaves and vines.

“Why didn’t you warn me earlier?” she said, anger stricken on her face, “Mama is going to kill me now. I didn’t expect it to be this dirty.”

You chuckle at the red-faced girl in front of you.

This girl was meant for greatness - no one could deny that.

The adventurous side of hers could never be tamed.

It was wild and relentless - and you loved it to bits.

“You’re wearing shorts underneath, right?”

She nodded.

You sighed.

“Take off the trousers. I’ll wash them as best as I can and you sling it on your shoulder so that it can dry. That’s the best I can offer,” you told her.

In an instant, she ran to the bushes, took off her trousers and tossed them to you.

“You’re only 6-years old - how can you think like an adult at such a young age?” she said, an inquisitive look painted on her face.

“I grew up surrounding playful 6-year-olds, that’s why,” you said, teasing her, “I basically became their mom - looking after them, making sure they behaved well in public - I did it all.”

As time passed, Sasha became more than just a friend you used to look after.

You both became each others’ rocks - the very thing that kept each other from falling.

Sasha learnt how to hunt - to survive in the harsher world of the forest.

You learnt knowledge - to create and to move the world with a pen and paper.

You never saw Sasha hunt but you’ve pictured it billions of times.

You pictured her hazel-colored hair dancing in the air as she rode her horse. Her golden-brown eyes would focus solely on her target - they would force her victim to shudder and slow down, to become hers. Her muscles would flex under her thin shirt as he pulled the arrow in her hands against the bow - the tip fixed exactly at the weak point of her target. Then, with one swift release, her victim would fall and a rush of happiness would surge within her.

You could only draw it and picture it in your head, but how you wished to see her in action.

She’d always bring a huge portion of the meat she gained for your family. She’d say she caught more than she expected, but you could hear the rumbles from her parents.

Eventually, your families decided to move into one house to reduce the problems faced by the Braus family.

Your family would provide the income - the money to buy resources. The Braus family would help in gaining food and rationing out how much from the resources to use.

Even though your parents hated the idea of moving in with hunters, you were ecstatic.

You imagined a life with Sasha, and you were going to get a glimpse of it.

Every night, she’d come into your room with a cup of tea and talk about her hunt. You, on the other hand, would talk about what you’ve learnt for the day. Even though she never understood what you spoke on, she’d try her best to listen and even ask questions when she didn’t understand.

You taught Sasha how to use a quill while she taught you the wonders of the wild.

Sasha entered your room in the middle of the night. She had her blanket wrapped around her as she held two mugs of tea.

She saw how you continued to study throughout the night. You’d use an oil lamp as a light source as you crammed for all the future tests and exams you were going to face.

She hated the sight of you slowly losing energy. The eyebags under your eyes intensified each day. You didn’t smile as much as you used to. You lost the energy you had when you were younger.

Yet Sasha managed to keep hers, just like you wanted.

“Tea break?” she suggested, pushing a mug into your hands, “I caught a deer today! Tomorrow, you’re eating venison - get ready!”

You shook your head in denial as you placed the mug on the table.

“I swear, Y/N,” she started, agitation clear in your voice, “I will burn all your books if you don’t stop and drink tea with me right now.”

You knew Sasha’s threatens were to be taken seriously. She seriously once burned an essay you needed to hand in the next day.

You immediately closed your book and placed the hot cup of Chamomile tea in your hands. The mug itself gave you warmth, making you sigh in content.

Sasha hopped on your bed, dropping the blanket to her sides. She closed her eyes as she brought the cup of hot tea to her nose, taking it in.

You swear that she almost looked like an angel at that moment.

Her soft locks now reached her shoulders - messy and tousled. The pale moonlight against her skin highlighted her features. The gold flecks in her eyes against the hazel shined - it even showed against the steam wafting from the cup. The scar on her left shoulder from one of her hunts showed through the almost see-through shirt, showing how strong she was as a warrior.

You smiled, leaning against your chair while taking in the beauty in front of you.

“Y/N?” Sasha called.

“Yeah?”

“When are you free?”

“I should be free by this Friday, my exams end then.”

“Oh...” she said, trailing off.

You walk to sit beside her and place your head on your shoulder. You felt her relax as he placed her head on top of yours.

“Is everything good?”

She begins rubbing her head against yours.

“I’m good. I’m just worried about the future, that’s all.”

“The world must be ending,” you joke, “You’re actually thinking ahead.”

Sasha flicked your forehead, “Stupid - of course, I need to!”

A silence formed between the two of you as you both stared at the sky from your windows. It was pitch black. Stars twinkled against the black canvas, dancing to a song only they knew. The clouds tried their best to hide the beauty of the night, but their efforts were in vain.

“I’m thinking of joining the Training Corps,” Sasha said, cutting the silence.

Your face paled.

“What?” you froze.

“I hate hiding in fear, Y/N. I hate the fact we stay hiding away from the thing that threatens our lives. We should be killing it rather than just killing animals for meat,” she said with a serious voice.

You put both of your finished mugs on the floor and grab Sasha’s hands, forcing her to face you.

“Sasha, you might die. You might never see your parents again, you might lose everything,” tears form in your eyes, “I can’t lose you, Sasha - not now, not ever.”

She smiles while wiping the formed tears in your eyes.

“Bold of you to assume I’ll die the minute I see Titans,” she says.

She pulls you out of the bed, dusting off her shirt.

“We’re going out for a while. Get ready for an adventure after so many years, Y/N L/N.”

You both snuck out of the house and got on her horse. With one nudge from her, you both rode off into the forest. Through the dark greens emerged fireflies that lit the view before you. You spotted the eventful stream, the sleeping woodland creatures and the plants that reminded you of your childhood.

You turned to face the back of Sasha, and you were in awe.

She looked exactly like how you pictured her to look.

Her dancing hair, her flowing skirt, her smile - everything - it was what you imagined.

You wrapped your arms around her waist, pulling yourself closer to you. You pressed your head against her back, earning a chuckle from the horse rider.

“You better come home to me, Sasha Braus. I will never forgive you if you don’t.”

“As if I won’t.”

She signaled the horse to stop at the willow tree you used to spend most of your childhood days at.

She gets off the horse and runs to the tree. Her fingers slowly graze the tree, reminiscing all the memories you both have made right here.

“You know,” she started, “I used to stare at you reading those books of yours under this tree. The wind would blow softly for you when you perched yourself under the tree, but the vines of leaves at its branches would move so much. It was as if they were dancing for you. Even if I brought a drink or a snack, you’d just give me your portion and continue to read those books, but when I wanted you to talk to me, you’d instantly put the book down and give all your attention to me.”

“Well,” you say, “I’d always look up once in a while and see you play with the animals in that little bush there,” you point at the bush covered by fireflies, “I’d see you try picking up squirrels and capture butterflies wondering what goes on in your head.”

You get off the horse and walk towards Sasha.

“I’ll miss this the most when I leave, I think. This small haven we made from trees will always be my first home.”

You hug Sasha from behind, gripping onto her loose shirt.

“It’s happening, isn’t it? I can’t talk you out of it, can I?” you say, sniffles stopping you from speaking clearly.

She shook her head and you sigh, feeling defeated.

“Y/N, pass those exams and get into the Royal Capital. I will enter the Military Police and I’ll meet you within Wall Sheena.”

“I’ll try to get everyone to move. Then, we all will be together again,” you say, building your resolve.

Sasha turns to face you. The minute she sees you, she begins to laugh hysterically.

“You look like a lost puppy,” she says as she touches your cheek, “I’ll miss you, Y/N.”

You press your foreheads against each other. You both instinctively close your eyes, enjoying the small moment you two were sharing.

You couldn’t imagine how your life was going to be without the bubbly presence only Sasha could give. To think there would be no more random rendezvous, no more jokes and no more stories from the girl in front of you made you feel the pain you didn’t want anyone to feel.

But you knew that Sasha had aspirations and dreams - you were in no place to stop her, even if her life was on the line.

The only thing you could do was to cherish this little moment with her before years without her begin.

Soon, a swarm of fireflies surrounded the two of you, giving you a clear view of the woman before you. The bright, flickering lights enhanced the raw beauty only Sasha exemplified. Her eyes stared into yours, begging you to say something.

It was only fair to do this now. If it didn’t happen now, you don’t know when you’ll have the chance again.

“I love you, Sasha Braus. Ever since I was kids I-”

“I love you too, Y/N.”

Your lips met under a firefly-lit forest under the willow tree in your safe haven.

Wanna request something or just wanna talk? Go ahead and send me an ask here! If you want to send a request, please check my guidelines to see what I am comfortable with. Thanks for reading <3

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thewolfmanslayer · 3 years

Text

Honestly the amount of people who say artists and writers should do stuff for free, or try to rip them off on comissions still royally piss me off.

I think the worst part of it is the entitlement, I dont want to make this too much about generations but a lot of commissioners are millenial/Gen z's who grew up on the "steal and pirate everything" mentality, take everything that you can because no one else is going to hand it to you. which I can get behind, when you are screwing over MULTI BILLION DOLLAR COMPANIES. NOT THE STRUGGLING ARTISTS AND WRITERS who are trying to keep food on the table as desperately as you probably are!

It's simple, you wouldn't walk into a restaurant, order food and tell the server "sorry I don't have any money, but I've got like a few thousand followers on social media, I can get your name out there, get the restaurant some exposure" NO! They don't need "exposure" they need you to pay the damn bill!

On top of that, most of these artists and writers ALREADY HAVE FOLLOWINGS. They already have thousands of people following them, waiting for the chance to get a commission, who are willing to pay for said commission, they don't need "exposure" when they're already out there! He'll even the artists and writers with a few hundred don't need it, they'll get more followers as time goes by, their skill alone will see to it.

And what is with people trying to get free art and writing? It's not going to work! You can't harass someone until they cave, trust me, you'll be long since blocked before you even have the opportunity. I don't do comissions, online anyways, but my own friends and family, people who actually know me STILL PAY ME whenever they ask for me to do art for them because they KNOW it takes TIME AND EFFORT.

How many times do we need to have this discussion???? Like when is it going to finally click that people who need to pay their bills just as much as you do AREN'T going to do this shit for free!?

Here's the thing about art and writing, that you've heard a billion times but still aren't getting; IT. TAKES. TIME. AND. EFFORT. TO. GET. DONE. the art isn't going to magically appear and the writing isn't going to suddenly write itself, if either were so convenient YOU WOULDNT BE ASKING AN ARTIST OR WRITER IN THE FIRST PLACE!

Look at that, you see that? The first picture I did back in 2012-13, the picture beside it? I did that TWO YEARS AGO. I didn't suddenly know exactly what to do, or had anything close to a god given talent for drawing (I'm not that talented). The first picture WAS THE ABSOLUTE BEST I COULD DO AT THE TIME THAT I MADE IT. In the time between these two drawings I admittedly took a break from art, but then I got back into it four years ago. EVEN STILL that was four YEARS of starting over from the basics, relearning everything, learning new things, wanting to actually improve my art.

Which, guess what, DID NOT HAPPEN OVER NIGHT. It was HOURS UPON HOURS of my limited free time as an adult drawing over and over and over and over again, every single goddamn day to get to the point that I was able to make that redraw look as good as it does in comparison. He'll, my art now puts them both to shame! Because I spent the time improving my quality!!

Now look at these artists doing comissions, they've probably put EVEN MORE of their time to get that good! They've put in LITERAL YEARS of sweat, blood, tears, frustrations and dedicated hardwork. Some did the same as me, self teaching and lots of practice, others probably had to go to school, which definitely wasn't cheap. But all of us put in that time and effort TO REACH THESE POINTS. Of being better artists, developing our styles, getting faster at drawing.

And maybe you think that this is super easy, right? That I or every other artist can just fire some art off and boom its good and done in like an hour?

FUCK. NO.

Even now it takes me several hours a day OVER MANY DAYS to make something exceptionally good! It doesn't matter how good an artist is, it still. Takes. Time.

Maybe the issue is that you don't understand how much actually goes into art, let me break it down for you, the steps that most people follow to finish ONE drawing.

-Rough draft: general character outline, get a feel for what I want to draw.

-Rough sketch: I start doing a bit of pencil to start filling in details like mouth, nose, eyes, hair, clothes. Ect.

-Penciling: I go over the rough sketch and clean everything up, maybe do some editing, this is when you can start making out all the details.

-Ink: I trace over the finished pencil with a pen tool and actually have the line art, everything looks clean, presentable, it actually looks like a character now. I'll spend time editing this and possibly redoing the inking many times over to get to a point where I like it.

-Flat color: I decide on which colors to use for skin tone, clothes accessories. Ect.

-Shading/highlights: I figure out where my light source is and how strong it is, I then apply the correct amount of lighting and shadows to the color to give it depth, I also have determine the texture of skin, clothes and accessories to make everything look real and natural.

-Blending: I smooth out the shading and highlights so that it looks more natural and isn't too hard (noticeable difference between color) so that it looks as natural as possible.

-Finish: I go over last minute details, finish any editing or corrections that need to be done. Once it's good I call it a day.

Each process is longer in length then the previous, with the exception of the final editing (as long as everything looks good) and even the rough draft can take some time. Over all this is SEVERAL HOURS of work for a SINGLE DRAWING.

So is it sinking in yet? How much is put into doing even a single character drawing? God forbid if its done with background. This isn't a "scratch a pen around and be done with it in ten minutes" kinda deal, no, this is SEVERAL HOURS OF SOMEONES LIFE BEING PUT INTO THIS

And if you still have the AUDACITY to try and wrangle free art from an artist then there's no helping you, you're just a selfish piece of shit, no question and I want nothing to do with you.

Someone might say "But I got free art/writing from.-" look I don't give a shit if someone did something for you THAT ONE TIME, these other artists and writers? Totally seperate and different people. You're one freebie experience does not, and should not apply to other artists and writers.

"But what if I really want this commission but don't have the money right now?" Well, that's tough shit. Save up and properly commission them when you can, it's not their problem.

"But what if I'm in a really bad financial situation and really want it?" That sucks, and I'm sorry, but again, not their problem. Chances are this is their only source of income and they need to make money so that they don't end up in a similar situation.

"They have a gift! They should share it!" What kind of cheap ass- LOOK, just because someone is talented or really good at something does not automatically obligate them to do anything for total strangers in anyway shape or form. These are living, breathing people, the same as you. They need to eat, they need to pay rent/mortgages, they need to pay vet bills, send their kids to college, do their taxes and everything else that YOU YOURSELF need to do. Asking anyone to spend their time doing something for free, when that something is how THEY ARE SURVIVING is beyond asinine. Not only that, this obviously isn't a hobby to them, it is very clearly THEIR JOB. Would you want to do a job where you didn't get paid at all? Doing a shit ton of work for absolutely nothing? No? Didn't think so.

"It shouldn't be about the money!" Well unfortunately, as with almost every other job, it is. We live in a world where we desperately need to make money in order to survive. That's the painful fact of the matter. If money never had to be an issue ever again then this would be a very different story. But it's not, plain and simple as can be.

Look, these people are just like you, artists and writers who are just trying to get by in a shitty ass world, using the one thing they have that let's them have an income. Leave them be, don't try and trick them, guilt them, or cuss them out when you don't get your way. Either properly comission or leave them the hell alone, plain and simple.

#artists #writers #art #writing #rant #comissions #people

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fat-acceptance-dropout · 4 years

Note

I'm sorry to bother you but do you have any scientific studies showing that it's possible to lose weight and keep it off? I'm morbidly obese and I want to lose weight but I constantly see people talking about how there's so much science showing that fat isn't actually bad and it's impossible to lose weight and if you do it'll just come back, and it's just making me extremely upset and I'm terrified I've ruined my body by letting myself get so fat and there's no way to fix it

Hi there!

I actually get this question often, and Iet me tell you, that fear is very prevalent.

It’s exactly what made me leave the Fat Acceptance community and their belief that weight loss is completely out of control.

First things first, you haven’t ruined your body. It’s not broken, there’s no need to “fix it”, but you can lose weight if that's what you want.

Here are a few links I’ve found, they only mention studies, but if you want, I can always dig around for the studies proper; I just need to finish with some work stuff:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/its-not-just-baby-fat/201708/yes-it-is-possible-lose-weight

https://www.vox.com/2016/5/10/11649210/biggest-loser-weight-loss

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4777230/

https://www.pharmacytimes.com/contributor/adam-martin-pharmd-acsm-cpt/2018/04/study-of-10000-patients-shows-how-to-maintain-weight-loss

Here’s the thing, though, and this is what I want you to take away from all of this.

Losing weight, and keeping it off, is hard.

It’s not impossible, but it’s hard.

It’s not complicated, but it’s hard.

It’s not that you’ll magically regain the lost weight.

It’s not that your body fights you.

It’s not that being fat, or failing to lose weight or failing to keep weight off is a proof of lack of willpower or such nonsense.

It’s that your weight, as it stands today, is the result of years, decades even, of habits.

Eating habits, sleeping habits, exercise habits, coping mechanisms, relationship with food, etc, etc, etc.

Your weight, as it stands today, is the result of how you were raised, is the result of the environment you live in, and yes, it’s the result of your life choices.

You can always change the way you eat long enough to lose weight, but once you reach your goal weight, it’s so easy, so so easy, to fall back into your old habits.

Why?

Because habits, quite literally, are deeply ingrained in us.

Take me, for example; I’ve been exercising for six years now, as well as making an effort to eat better. I lost weight, I’ve kept most of it off and, generally, I’ve changed my life for the better.

I still can’t order a pizza and not eat the whole thing in one sitting.

I’ll still find myself eating entire ice cream pints if I’m feeling down.

I went from exercising two hours at the gym 5 times a week, to barely pushing myself to exercise a couple of hours a week, with this quarantine business, even though my lifestyle remains almost exactly the same?

Why?

Because those are old habits.

My 5 years of exercise and healthy eating? Those have nothing on the 24 years of not exercising and eating whatever the hell I wanted.

That is what makes weight loss so difficult.

Hell, let me rephrase that.

That is what makes keeping weight off so difficult.

Losing weight? That’s easy. There are millions of absolutely unsustainable and dangerous diets that can help you lose weight fast.

They’re horrible, and unhealthy, but they do make you lose weight.

Weight you will gain back, because again, they’re unsustainable diets.

Not because your body will magically make fat out of nowhere, but because those diets are impossible to keep up for the rest of your life.

And that’s what you need to do to lose weight and keep it off.

Change your lifestyle.

You need to change first.

This is mostly the main reason why I changed my blog approach.

When I first started this blog, I was a very angry woman who had realized that, despite what the FA movement had told me, I could very well lose weight.

I was angry, betrayed and driven. I wanted to push everyone into changing their mind about the goddamned movement.

The more time passed, though? The more I calmed down and realized just how insidious weight gain can be?

The more I realized that, if you want to lose weight and keep it off, you have to be ready to change your lifestyle for good.

That’s why I no longer tell people to lose weight. That’s why I no longer tell people that they’re wrong.

That’s why I simply offer encouragement and tips to people who already started changing.

Because you can’t force people to change, and unless you change, your weight will remain the same.

Think of weight management the same way you’d think of mental health recovery, or the same way you’d think of fighting alcoholism or a drug addiction.

Some people, magnificent unicorns that they are, can go cold turkey.

The rest of us?

The rest of us will have to do it little by little, day after day, making small changes and small changes, changing yourself little by little.

Let’s use myself as an example again; Though I still have to fight some rather stubborn habits, I have acquired many, many more:

- I walk a lot more now, or at least I used to before the quarantine. But seriously, I went from 2000 steps max to at least 13000 on a regular day.

- I actually exercise and I enjoy it. Like, I willingly pay to go to the gym because I like it.

- I eat my veggies, and have started eating a much more varied diet in general.

- I’m far more conscious about what I eat nowadays.

Those may not sound like much, but it has helped tremendously. I’ve managed to keep most of my weight loss off for 5 years now (so fuck those studies), I’ve increased my muscle mass, I’m in much better shape than I was in my early twenties, I’ve stopped needing my asthma inhalers, etc, etc, etc.

Little changes add to big changes if you just give them time and stick to them.

So, ask yourself, are you ready to change?

Here’s the good news.

If you are, then fantastic. Here’s something that you can do starting right now, that will help you get where you want to be.

Start a food diary.

Starting today, grab a notebook, or a post it, or whatever and write down what you eat.

Don’t measure it, don’t cut out foods, don’t change anything about your eating or exercise habits just yet.

Just start keeping track of your eating habits.

Write down everything you eat, even the little snacks that don't count.

Write down everything you drink.

Don’t judge yourself, don’t try to find excuses, don’t give any value to anything you eat.

Just write it down.

If you feel like it, make it a mood diary too. Write down how you’re feeling for the day. Write down what would improve your mood. Write down a few quotes you like, draw a little.

Make the diary yours so that you’re comfortable using it every day.

Here’s the goal of this exercise:

- Form a new habit.

- Become aware of what you eat.

- Have a food log ready for step 2.

Can you do that?

I promise it’ll help a lot, but you gotta stick to it.

If you do it, come back next week and send me a message.

You can also chat with me here: http://fa-dropout.tumblr.com/ (I don’t check that daily, but I’ll start checking it for you.)

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zvaki666-blog · 5 years

Text

Glenn’s story

Glenn's Story

A couple of months ago, I received an e-mail from Gleen, a guy from London.

He contacted me by recommendation from his friend, originally from Croatia.

He was thinking about full sleeve tattoo and was wondering if we could arrange the design and other details by e-mail.

Negotiations by e-mail were never quite my thing. I prefer to communicate with my clients face to face, which turned out to be more efficient and practical. That's why I advised Glenn to book two VIP REVOLT appointments.

If a client lives near, I suggest one VIP REVOLT appointment for the start, but for the ones coming from other countries, I advise booking two.

It's because you can never tell how long will INKDIVIDUAL consultations and planning of tattoo last. Sometimes we can finish it in a couple of hours, but sometimes, believe it or not, it can last as long as eight hours.

And that's exactly what I want to write about.

To make a long story short, I advised Glenn to study my web site Anubis-tattoo.com, read what and how I do, to check out VIP appointments and a gallery of my works, so he could be sure I'm the right choice for what he wants.

A couple of days later, Glenn confirmed he's sure I'm the kind of tattoo artist he wanted and was looking for a long time. He paid part of the cost in advance and I booked his appointments.

For me personally, conversations by e-mail have a big flaw because I can't tell what kind of person is gonna knock at my door.

Why flaw?

Because things work quite differently at my studio.

Most tattoo artists choose their clients by the tattoo they wanna have done, how much they wanna pay or by tattoo style they prefer.

Nothing of those things matter to me.

That's why all my clients pay the same and they all go through INKDIVIDUAL consultations.

I choose my clients by their personality and their approach to tattooing. It may sound bad or even arrogant, but put yourself in my shoes - how would you like to spend eight hours with a person you usually wouldn't even have coffee with?

To paint a picture a bit better, these are the types of people tattoo artists encounter regularly:

• they enter the studio as if they own you, and that's exactly how they proceed to act

• they see you as a tool, not a person

• they set limits but expect you to do wonders

• they're insecure in their decision and submissive to other people's opinions

• have weak intellectual abilities

• they're physically and mentally ill

• they have wrong approach to tattooing

• they're presumptuous, annoying, arrogant, angry, without character...

After 15 years of working with that kind of people, I have no interest in having any kind of contact with them anymore. I believe many of You can relate.

But, let's get back to the story...

Two months later, Glenn's calling: Hello! I'm in front of your door, can You let me in? I came for my appointment.

Glenn traveled almost 2000 kilometers because he was sure he wants to work with me, but even at this moment, he still didn't know what he was getting himself into. I already had great respect for him because he put so much effort from the start, and when I opened the door and saw him, I was sure he was my type of client.

I showed him the way to the kitchen, made us some coffee and we started talking.

Getting to know each other

I don't like going into details right away. Instead, we talked in general about ourselves, what we do, how was his trip and about tattoos.

The more detailed conversation comes later, during the process of tattooing.

Whishes and ideas

I got comfortable in my chair and asked Glenn to tell me more about his idea. Not because I could put it into practice later, but to see the level of his expressing, his expectations, understanding and knowledge of tattooing. If I hear something unrealistic or something I'm not in a position to offer, I like to say it right away so we wouldn't waste our time on something that's not gonna happen.

Description of the idea

Glenn put about 20 pages of paper on the table. They were all covered in coloured drawings of mythological creatures he wanted to put on his arm. In addition, he wanted to have silhouettes of people fighting each of those creatures.

What is so great about our brain is that it can imagine unimaginable. But once we got back to reality, we started seeing flaws in Glenn's idea. To make this happen, and to transfer all the creatures credibly from the paper, we need a certain body surface. We can put a couple of the creatures on his arm, but not all 20 of them. Maybe if he would agree to tattoo his whole body...

Tattooing is therefore limited by style and technique, the medium it is performed on (skin), and artist's skill and experience.

Glenn quickly realized we had a problem and started worrying because that was the only idea he had.

INKDIVIDUAL consultations

I told him to relax and that it's normal for everything to crumble right at the beginning of the process because a person who isn't completely familiar with tattooing and it's possibilities, can't make tattooing plan all by himself. It's kind of as if you draw a house and take it to the construction company to build it. Can't be done. There is a whole team of people, from architects to builders, who will help you with the idea, design and construction.

Well, when it comes to your tattoo, I'm your architect, builder and everything in between.

People don't get this, and that’s why I designed INKDIVIDUAL consultations.

I asked Glenn what is important to him when it comes to tattoo, and what isn't. I explained when it's OK for him to dictate the direction we’re gonna go, and when it's better to let me be in charge. Simply put - we agreed on what is his, and what is my role in the process of making his tattoo.

I explained it on everyday life examples and Glenn offered all the right answers by himself.

Once we found a mutual language and he understood how to approach tattooing, Glenn clapped his hands and said: OK, I'm ready, let's move on!

The beauty of INKDIVIDUAL consultations is that they allow you to create something you're not able to imagine by yourself. They help to create a symbiosis between a client and the tattoo artist. You become an extension of me, a fresh source of ideas and creativity, and I become yours - source of knowledge and experience. Together we create unthinkable.

Fresh start - reference

Trough INKDIVIDUAL consultations Glenn understood what he was actually paying for, and what is in fact completely irrelevant. One of the most important things in the process is the reference. We spent next hour searching the Internet looking for as much material as possible to work with. We're still at zero and don't know what we're gonna do and how. But, if we only have one reference, we have only one choice. That reference is supposed to fullfil all our wishes and combinations we imagined, what is as possible as winning the lottery. More references for one character offer us more possibilities and more combinations, which also means a greater chance of success.

Process of elimination

So we collected about a hundred references and Glenn was once again stunned. What now? Everything looks great, how to decide how to proceed?

We began the process of elimination which is actually pretty short because I lead you trough it using your emotions and taste. In the end, you get the tattoo you want – the one you'll want for the rest of your life.

Every day I hear or get messages 'I want to have this tattooed', and my question is always the same: how do you know you want something for the rest of your life?

By eliminating things, we're getting rid of stuff you don't want. Once you've thrown away a whole bunch of stuff, you start realizing what you actually do want. What is left is the right option in which you are certain because you have just eliminated everything that's wrong for you.

Styles and techniques

Every reference is doable in more than 20 different ways and each of them demands minimal size and sets certain boundaries. At the moment we have a huge amount of options, but we'd spend too much time if we started trying them all out. That's why I have prepared a folder with different styles and techniques for my clients. I explained all their benefits and shortcomings to Glenn, and we started eliminating once again.

As a result, we now have great references, style, and technique we're gonna use. We're ready to start planning the tattoo.

Planning

We've been working for three hours and we still don't have tattoo design. But Glenn isn't disappointed. In fact, he's full of adrenaline and excited about the next step. He understands the importance of preparation and that tattooing is not simple nor should it be treated as such.

Great thing is that I use a tablet so clients who aren't visual types can see and understand what I'm talking about, how's tattoo supposed to look like and direct me to their desires.

As I have already said, ever style demands minimal space and sets certain boundaries. At the same time, every reference has its own shape and position. Once again we have a lot of options and it's impossible to try them all. We have to eliminate some of them, but this time, I choose which. I have no feelings towards Glenn's references, so I can see the situation from a different perspective.

I put my focus on the appearance of the tattoo and offered Glenn options with the references and style he chose. I explained what is possible to do and how - I offered him the simplest, more and the most complicated execution. I never force my clients to choose the fastest or the most complicated process. Instead, I offer a couple of options and explain them step by step, so a client knows what to expect.

And as most of my clients do, Glenn chose the most demanding execution.

And why shouldn't he, when all of them cost the same? That's the point of VIP appointment.

I asked him to take his shirt off so I could photograph his arm and place a sketch of a tattoo on it.

And there it was - a whole new set of problems. Glenn has many moles which would ruin most of the images he wanted to have tattooed. Even though this new info could seem like an unsolvable problem, it's just another challenge which allows us to demonstrate creativity and resourcefulness of client-artist symbiosis.

Brainstorming

We poured ourselves a new cup of coffee and started brainstorming how to carry out our mythological creatures without ruining them.

Half an hour later, we had a new idea how to adjust style and technique in a way that won't be affected by moles. We decided to do our best references in semi-realistic style, cb technique, and position them in places where moles won't ruin them. Around references, we'll place the Polynesian tattoo.

Polynesian tattoo is made of symbols which clients choose from book. Each symbol has it's meaning so it allows them to create their own story. I always do it freehand so I can adjust things during a process if necessary.

We both loved the idea about Polynesia, but I was a bit restless and I could tell Glenn was feeling the same way.

'Buddy, I love where this is going, but don't you think it's wrong to mix mythological creatures from every civilization with Polynesia? It's like we're putting them into the same basket, but Polynesia is not a myth. It's real. I do want this tattoo to be great, but I wouldn't like to destroy certain values in the process', I told Glenn and he agreed. Meaning of Polynesian symbols has nothing to do with mythology which was Glenn's primary wish.

At that moment, I had an idea - to do Polynesian style tattoo but with symbols from mythology.

Glenn loved it. He never saw something like that before and he got a new rush of adrenalin. We were brainstorming once again.

The process of inventing symbols from mythology

We agreed on four motives, realistic style, which seemed most doable and would look good (Eye of a dragon, Medusa, Manticore, and our favourite - Cockatrice).

There were couple more of them which we wanted to fit in this big story about mythology, and for which we also had to invent symbols (Fenrir, Scylla, Hydra, Kraken, Cyclops, Griffin, Basilisk, Naga, Golem...).

We studied narrative about each of them, drew inspiration from there and invented symbols which reflect their story.

What that actually means?

Let's take Cyclops for an example.

Cyclops are mythological giants known for having just one eye. Best known are the sons of Uranus and Gaea. They made weapons for gods (Poseidon's trident, lightning bolts for Zeus, helmet for Ares...).

What we did is we invented the symbols for Cyclops, Uranus, Gaea, forging weapons, trident, lightning, helmet... We could go even further, but 7-9 symbols for every creature was just fine for the beginning (at the end we had about a hundred of them 😊 ).

Glenn also asked if that's not a bit too much, but it's always good to have more options.

It took us two more hours and three coffees to finish this part.

Next big step was to present mythological symbols in Polynesian style.

I've been working with Polynesian symbols for years so I'm quite familiar with the topic.

I told Glenn to get comfortable and enjoy, it was time for me to do my magic. The only thing he had to do is say 'yes' or 'no' to my drawings.

I drew each symbol in Polynesian style on paper. I could tell Glenn was thrilled while the idea he came up with, got real. He saw what it means to create your own tattoo. Creativity was all over the place, so it took me only half an hour to finish everything.

Brainstorming, planning, talking from 10 am to 4 pm got us pretty tired, but it was totally worth it.

We were ready for the next step.

Size and position

We printed our references to decide on their size and position on Glenn's body. Once again we had to adjust our plan so all the mythological creatures would be perfectly set on his arm. I told Glenn what needed to be adjusted and where I wanted to put which character. He agreed and we could proceed.

Freehand drawing of the whole hand

Polynesian style and the way I do it was completely new to Glenn. He had no idea how I'm gonna merge realism with Polynesia. His curiosity was at its peak and he couldn't wait to discover this unknown area.

This wasn't the first time he was getting a tattoo. He did his homework researching tattoo artists, their work, he visited many tattoo studios, but still he was experiencing something completely new right now, something he couldn't imagine he'd experience when he chose me, and he was fascinated with what was happening.

I told him to enjoy the process and that I'll guide him all the way, telling him exactly what I'm doing so we can react right away if there's something he doesn't like.

After I washed and shaved Glenn's arm, I drew the contours and size of the surface with markers. He approved and we moved on.

Combination of mapping and freehand drawing is always tricky. If I drew full mythological Polynesia and start mapping after, images will ruin many of the symbols, which I really don't want.

Another way is to use mapping first and draw symbols around. But, this way symbols won't look like the background as I want them to. It would be obvious I drew around images, and it would ruin Polynesian style which always has to follow body contours.

As long as I'm combining styles, I thought, why not combine the way I'm gonna position images.

As always when I do Polynesia, I started drawing fields in which I was going to place symbols. I always draw them on muscle or curves of the arm so they are positioned in the best possible way. But again moles got in the way. If I try to bypass them, the tattoo will be discontinuous and it won’t look good.

F..k it, I said and explained to Gleen we are once again in an unknown area. Once again I had to improvise.

The poor guy looked at me and nodded in approval, pretty much exhausted from all the changes.

I decided to do double lines between the fields following the trajectory of moles, instead of curves of the hand. Glenn was confused but aware of kind of the skin he has, so he completely put his trust in me. When coming to my studio, he was scared I would turn him down because of the moles. But that was not an option because my clients are open-minded and creative, so together we always find the way to the final goal.

After this, I mapped the references and started drawing the symbols. First I sketched where I wanted to place them and got another approval from my investor 😊

With a marker, I thickened all the lines and sketches, polished everything and finally finished the design.

It was already 6.10 PM, end of our appointment.

Usually, when I finish the design, I outline it with a light colour so I can see shapes and can continue at a second appointment. But we were so tired that we decided to wrap it up for the day. I explained Glenn how to preserve the design for next two days when we had the second appointment and sent him to his apartment.

If something gets wiped out, we'll draw again 😊

Second appointment

Two days later Glenn returned rested, smiling and ready to continue.

We had coffee and talked about how the first appointment wore us down, how he smeared all the bed sheets and about methods he tried to keep as much design intact as possible.

After half an hour, I couldn't wait anymore, I had to see how much design we had left.

The result was much better than I expected. To be honest, I expected it all to be ruined, and was ready to spend another five hours drawing. Lines of mythologic Polynesia were smudged, thick and sloppy, but I still had what I needed the most - position, symbols and ratio of the sizes.

To end my short story, which turned out to be a long one - I drew back missing symbols, fixed smudged lines, connected my equipment and finally started tattooing.

I outlined the whole design with light colour so we can continue next year. I also started tattooing the image so Glenn can get the picture of what it's gonna look like, but the most important thing is that we set the grounds and there'll be no more complications when we see each other next time (or at least we hope so 😊 )

To conclude...

Usually, the whole process is not this long or complicated, but you have to be prepared for everything if you want your own unique tattoo.

I just wanted to show you a couple of things that you might encounter on your way of getting a tattoo no one else has.

I wanted to show you why my clients change their minds once they step into my studio.

Explain what VIP treatment is.

That at my studio you don't pay for a tattoo, but service.

Demonstrate the effort both by my clients and I invest in this process.

Getting a tattoo for me is everything but simple and it doesn't work by the principle 'I want that, how much?'. I'm sure you'll find someone who operates in that manner, but I've specialized in creating your stories, designed and made only for you and in line with your standards. The only thing that is important to me is that your tattoo is beautiful and that you love it.

Glenn's story is not in class by itself. I had many situations like this one, but I wanted to use Glenn's story as a symbol representing experience my clients and I go through in the process of getting a tattoo.

How much all of this is important to me is supported by the fact that I've spent four hours writing this article. And it still has to be edited and translated 😊

If you want a tattoo that's only yours, that is unique, pretty and it suits you - I'm here for you.

Žvaki

Questionnaire

1. Have I managed to demonstrate how much effort we invest during the process?

2. What impression did Glenn's story have on you?

3. How important it is for you to create a symbiosis with your tattoo artist?

4. Have you ever encountered this kind of work?

5. How much did you invest in planning your tattoo?

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