#also why was it so hard to find a good reference for this pose

[blindecho6]

Just a drawing of my third ever Deleth :v

Lore under the cut as always:

Well, befoe lore, some links:

Her first ref sheet (verly lacking, I need to make her a new one someday) is here: Deleth - Forgotten Queen/The Mad One

For more info about what are Deleths look here: Deleths - what are they?

Some lore of hers is in her sheet, but because I feel so much cringe looking at it I didn't read the description, so I have no idea what is written there. I'll probanly repeat a lot if it here, and maybe even give some more info here.

So... she's a Deleth. She once was a human with ability called "Guiding light", told that with it's help she would bring her kingdom glory, etc. She was also a Princess/Queen of this kingdom called Astoria.

She was supposed to mary a king of neighbouring country (without a name for now), but for some reason (I don't have a reason though up) the king decided to just erase her kingdom from existence. They destroyed everything and killed everyone and made sure any mention of this kingdom from history was also destroyed. They kinda didn't expect her to becoma a Deleth, but since she was a bit (a lot actually) traumatized from everything she didn't do anything at the beggining. The king just went with his plan to erase everything and kill eveyone who managed to surviwe just to make it harder for her to fix everything later.

Well, unfortuantely for her the most loyal knight of this king (this guy, who also need a new sheet, because man, he's ugly) also became a Deleth (which was a big suprise to have two people become Deleths so close to each other). He decided to follow kings order to keep Astoria forgotten many years after the king died and she just wasn't able to go against a knight who literally killed her.

The scar on her neck is her death scar (the only scar that deleths have). The cloth around her waist is the last flag of her kingdom she managed to retrieve from castle's rubble. It's the one and only important thing for her, so you better not even thing of touching it.

She just went and became mad from all of this. You can look at her the wrong way and she might kill you if she's in a bad mood. But if you help her (ex. let her live for free) she will protect you.

She lives in the country that attacked her, mostly because it's absorbed her country inside. And the knight wanted to have an eye on her, so he wouldn't let her leave so easly anyway.

The only records of Astoria are in the Library (the one protected by a harpy deleth), but in a section that isn't open to the public, so no one except the owner can't access them (the kingh basically forced the harpy to make it like that). As for the traveling historian (from one of the ealrier posts), she was basically threatened into signing a pact to keep info about it hidden (She's just waiting for the knight to forget to renew this pact, so she can sneak some information about it into history books again).

I guess that's it for her lore. It was mostly about her country, so I guess it's world lore more than a character lore.

#big wall of text under the cut #so expand at your own risk #also why was it so hard to find a good reference for this pose #there are so many references of people sitting on stairs but nothing like this one (from what i could find) #forgotten queen #mad one #deleth #gamborgia universum #my art #my post #blood #tw. blood #gore #tw. gore #forgot about trigger warnings at first but friend reminded me

[saeist]

it's not living if it's not with you ── s. itoshi

synopsis: if it's meant to be, it will be genre: ex2lovers, arranged/fake dating, celebrity!au, pro!au, fluff, angst with happy ending, sharing a bed, 2nd chances, ... word count: 12.3k warnings: reader and sae aged up 22+, implied sex towards the end, reader has a hint of social anxiety/claustrophobia, i think sae is a little ooc in some scenes, lmk if i missed some notes: THERE YOU HAVE IT SAEISTS.. MY 1K SPECIAL!! THIS IS THE SUPER SECRET SAE FIC I'VE BEEN TEASING EVERYONE ABOUT FOR LIKE A WEEK NOW AND IT'S FINALLY IN FRUITION! <3 here's a lil sae brainrot to show my gratitude to you guys ^_^ fellow saeists who also consume an unhealthy(?) amount of sae content...... this fic is also dedicated to the loml my bae aeri @saerins for taking ur time of day to beta-read and to my angel baby sage @invsu as well <33 ilu guys extras: i made a playlist for this bc i am insane like that and without further a do.. sit back, relax and enjoy! lmk what u guys think either in the tags or comments bc i rlly worked hard on this for like a week and i jus couldn't stop writing! talk abt a sae earworm... ++ if u guys find theres a lot of the 1975 references.. its bc i was listening to their songs as i made this lawl .. tmi!

001.

you didn’t really put into consideration how awkward it actually was to be working on a modeling gig with your ex boyfriend.

the pay was obviously really good that’s why you even agreed to book it in the first place, especially since it was for a famous luxury brand and their fragrance line

so imagine your horror when you walk into set and see your ex posing for the cameras.

you silently hoped that it was just his solo shoot and not with you because your manager did mention that you would be having a partner for this photoshoot

the photographer greets you with a hug and compliments your outfit for the shoot. a white, sultry open neckline dress. the theme of the shoot was it was set on the beach with a sunset background

he instructs you to lay on the makeshift sand and tells you to start posing for your solo shots.

after a couple of clicks, the photographer compliments you on your professionalism on set and then calls your ex boyfriend.

“sae! time for the couple shots i told you about” the photographer calls out to sae who was on his makeup chair. your eyes widened in realization that he was, in fact, your partner for today’s shoot

you tried to look at your manager for some help but it was no use. your manager was busy talking to other people on set. you can feel your heart beating faster by the minute as sae walks closer to you

he was wearing something similar to what you were wearing. dress pants and a white oversized unbuttoned polo. his exposed toned abdomen was probably the main highlight of his outfit with it glistening under the studio lights. 

you bit your lip and looked away. sae has always been eye candy, there was no denying that. you were surprised yourself when you managed to bag him during his rookie days, but now that he was almost, if not an A list celebrity with his elite status in the world of football, you can almost say that itoshi sae was totally out of your league

you come back to your senses when the photographer claps his hands and muses how you and sae have insane chemistry that he has ever witnessed. you let out a little huff at the comment.

‘if only he knew’ you think to yourself, avoiding sae’s gaze as much as possible

the shoot starts and the photographer instructs sae to hover over you while holding the perfume bottle. sae nods and does what he’s told, he’s a professional after all. he wouldn’t let his personal feelings interfere with his work. that was the golden rule in the industry

you locked eyes with sae for the first time in years. he still had those fiery teal eyes that gets you weak in the knees each time. your eyes slowly dart from his eyes to his lips.

“keep doing that y/n!” the photographer cheers, clicking away on his camera. did you do something in your past life that you would inevitably end up in an awkward situation like this. a situation wherein you and your ex lover, in a position where you two are posing like an actual couple

your eyes flicker back from sae’s lips to his eyes again. for a second there you thought you felt a spark, a connection, an old flame that has been rekindled at that very moment.

til it all comes back to you in a flash

you forgot you hated him. you hate itoshi sae and you could’ve sworn itoshi sae hated you too. 

the bitter taste is still in your mouth after all these years. how could you forget the man who broke your little heart in two?

it was childish really. looking back at it now, where you were merely just starting out as a rookie model and sae being the same, a rookie at his profession. just two kids having a similar situation in two whole different industries. it was hard not to get entangled.

you were always known to be sae's long time lover. you were always supportive of his games. present whenever you can, sitting at the exclusive VIP section of the stadiums, wearing his number on your back; and if you weren’t able to attend due to your own schedules, you would still manage to find the time to support him. may it be posting an instagram story that you were watching him on your phone while you were getting your makeup done or wearing his jersey on the day of the game

sae was the same. he would always be seen wearing the stuff from brands you’ve modeled for. from jewelries to exclusive clothing lines, sae would always be seen wearing them, his silent way of showing support in your own craft. 

you were proud of him, and he was proud of you too.

but as all things are, good things come and go. even in the most unexpected times.

there were already rumors circulating that you and sae were ready to tie the knot, some news outlets even stating that maybe you two have gone ahead and tied the knot at some island during your secret little rendezvous. (having been caught going to santorini for more than multiple occasions)

the public has always been supportive of your relationship throughout the years. even earning the title as the nation’s sweethearts with how they’ve seen your relationship blossom from puppy love to what they call as “true love”

with the news that the nation’s sweethearts have parted ways, the public was as heartbroken as you. 

sae suddenly called it quits after almost five years of dating. it was after he has been taken under the wing of real madrid’s division A where his career as a midfielder really took off. to make matters even worse, he broke it off at the same place he claimed you as his.

since then, you’ve sworn to hate him. you’ve resented him. you felt like all those years that you two have built was nothing. you couldn’t even believe him at first when he spat out the words “we’re over” like it was nothing. 

five years, five years worth of unforgettable firsts. five fucking years to unlearn everything.

you were absolutely crushed back then. you even took a hiatus with everything going on in your life. you were a mess. you actually can’t believe sae had no remorse over this. were the five years you were together nothing for him? all those tears you two have shed, the firsts of everything, all those precious memories, were they all nothing? 

it hasn’t even been a year or so but it seemed like sae already moved on, which added more salt to your already open wound. he was flourishing with his career while all of this was going on. sae has been photographed multiple times leaving clubs with lipstick stains all over his neck. 

it stung of course. seeing him move on with his life as if he didn’t just ruin yours. that very night, you swore to yourself that you will never forgive itoshi sae for what he did.

never again would you open your heart to someone like itoshi sae.

itoshi sae, the man who broke your heart into two.

“earth to y/n?” the photographer snaps his fingers in front of you, breaking your little trance.

you apologize to the photographer, your cheeks heating up at the realization that you really got lost in your thoughts the moment you’ve met eyes with sae.

“as i was saying,” the photographer eyes you and sae, “the shoot is over. well done” he bows, motioning the people behind the scenes to clap for you and sae

almost immediately you stood up from your awkward position from sae. intentionally avoiding his hand that was held out for you to take. (you hate how he was still a gentleman to you, even after all these years)

you look around for your manager and strut towards him.

“we’re leaving. now” you say with no emotion in your voice, even walking farther ahead from your now confused manager. 

he takes a look around on what could’ve made you pissed off but sees no one but itoshi sae in the flesh. 

“but y/n, itoshi sae is here-” your manager gets cut off when there was a loud slam of a door nearby. he winces when he realizes it was you. he turns around and bows his head at the people on set.

“i apologize for y/n’s actions” 

with that, your manager runs after you.

sae could only stare at your direction with mixed feelings. a part of him was relieved that he got to see you again after all these years, yet he doesn’t understand why he was feeling off to find out that you still resented him. i mean, that was what he expected for his own actions all those years ago.

with a click of a tongue, he goes back to his own manager so they can finally go home after a long day.

you don’t even know why you were crying. tears blurring your vision as you try to find the exit out of this damned building.

you harshly wipe your tears, opening the last door to your left. you were met with the harsh, cold air of japan. you weren’t looking where you were going, barely even noticing that someone was by the door til you bumped into them.

the steel floors were making it hard to walk in your heels. so when you bumped into the said stranger, you lost your balance. 

the stranger had quick reflexes. they immediately caught you by your waist and your hands flew to their chest to keep yourself steady. you looked up at the stranger to apologize only to meet eyes again with the same teal eyes that belonged to no one other than sae fucking itoshi

you don’t know how long you two have been in this position until you see a bright flash in your peripheral vision.

you have just been papped by paparazzi with your ex boyfriend and sworn enemy, itoshi sae.

002.

the headlines in both social media, news outlets and the such were exactly how you expected it.

it was crazy. 

the general public going wild, thinking that the once famed couple were now back together after how many years.

your phone was blowing up with emails upon emails. calls from friends and relatives to confirm the news themselves that you’ve been seeing sae again. you look at your manager beside you apologetically as he receives another phone call from what you think is another e-news outlet asking if the rumors circulating were true.

you have been summoned by your company for an emergency meeting as the whole situation was getting out of hand.

that was when you realize how big of a name itoshi sae was after all these years of blocking his name on twitter.

your PR team is currently a mess. they are currently working their asses off to put out a good story for your sudden reunion with the famed midfielder. 

“how many times do i have to tell you to be careful being papped after a shoot?” the head of your PR team, pinches the bridge of their nose. clearly this wasn’t the first time around 

“i was!” you defend yourself, “i didn’t even know it was him til i looked up..” you murmured

your manager facepalms at your response. how did you not know it was sae?

“so what i’m getting here..” the head puts their glasses on the table, “you didn’t “know” that it was the itoshi sae, your partner for this specific photoshoot, the famed midfielder of real madrid, itoshi sae?” they quote, looking at you like you just grew another head

you nod in content, “exactly” you grin, putting your thumbs up. in hopes it raises the mood. (it doesn’t, unfortunately)

“y/n, i hope you know this isn’t just something we can brush under the rug. this is not the same situation with yukimiya kenyu where you two were caught being cozy in his car” 

“yuki was literally just driving me home! and we’re close friends!” you defend yourself, yet again. 

“exactly! yukimiya is a close friend! while itoshi sae is not. that’s why this is such a big deal!”

you slump back to your seat. okay, maybe they were right. this was a lot harder to get around with especially since the public knows about your past relationship.

“luckily for you, we have talked things out with itoshi sae’s management,” it was your manager’s turn to talk. he stands up from the seat beside you and walks over to your PR team’s head. they exchange glances before nodding.

“we have come up with a way that this whole issue will be over soon” your manager starts. 

as if on cue, the doors of the meeting room suddenly open. you take a look on who could be entering this sacred room this late. surely it couldn’t be more of your PR team as they were all already present in the room. 

there stood with their hand still on the doorknob is no one other than sae, with his manager right behind him.

your jaw drops as you put two and two together.

you whipped your head towards your manager and the head of your PR team in both horror and disbelief.

no, it can’t be…

“you two will now be in an arranged relationship for the meanwhile. until your situation dies down” sae’s manager finishes, taking a seat next to sae, who took the seat next to you.

you could see your manager squeeze his eyes shut, knowing where this is going. you were about to have a fit right here right now.

“WHAT?!” you let out a loud scream. the whole floor probably heard you. 

sae also winces at how ear-piercing your scream was.

you abruptly stood up from your seat, snatching your purse from the table and stomped out of the meeting room. not forgetting to slam the door shut on the way out.

immediately you called up your two closest friends, reo and yukimiya to meet you at your apartment ASAP.

003.

“so you’re telling me– us,” yukimiya pauses, looking between you, who has mascara running down your cheeks and reo, who was busy rubbing circles on your back as he hands you another tissue for you to blow your nose on, “that you are going to be in an arranged relationship with your ex, itoshi sae.. am i getting that right?” yukimiya confirms, waiting for your response

you nod before blowing your nose and throwing the now used tissue on the rising pile of tissues behind you.

“this is the worst day of my fucking life” you cried out, reaching out to reo to cry on his shoulders.

“oh, y/n” reo sighs, pulling you into his embrace as you cry your eyes out. 

you pull away from reo’s embrace, “i mean, why him, why now?!” you rambled, words getting choked up.

both reo and yukimiya could only frown. after all, even with their power, money and status, there was nothing they could do to help with your situation.

your doorbell suddenly rings, catching all three of you in surprise. who could be at your door right now?

yukimiya took the initiative of opening the door, only to be met with the eyes of the itoshi sae. barely noticing your manager behind him.

sae raises his eyebrow at the man in front of him. who was he and why was he at your apartment?

“yukimiya-san! i didn’t know you were over..” your manager sheepishly greets yuki, trying to break the growing tension between him and sae.

“who’s out there, yuki?” you croak out, trying to take a peek at the door from reo’s shoulders.

“it’s me, y/n” you hear your manager call out. you look at reo in confusion. what was your manager doing here?

gradually, you slowly stood up from your kitchen island and walked over to your front door.

now, you just expected a scolding from your manager from your little fit back at the company, that’s why he was at your place or so you thought. what you didn’t expect that you’d see itoshi sae again but this time, in your own space.

“have you lost your fucking mind?” you shot a look at your manager, who only winces as a response. 

“y/n- i can explain-“

“i made him take me here” sae speaks up for the first time. you felt your breath hitched. it’s been so long since you last talked to him, let alone heard him speak. (you’ve done everything you can and blocked every single thing related to sae. that meant interviews, news articles, you name it, you had his name and everything blocked and muted)

sae invites himself inside your apartment with your manager following suit as you stand there at your front door, stunned. 

reo is equally as shocked as you are when he sees itoshi sae casually walk to your living room as if it was his. before reo could open his mouth to say something, you come running in, fuming.

“who the fuck told you you can come inside MY house” you spat. your attitude turning a whole 180. 

sae only raises an eyebrow at you. “our team” he casually says. he then looks at your manager and cocks his head towards your direction. like he was trying to get your manager to tell you something.

“what now?!” this time it was your manager’s turn to get yelled at by you. he winces again before checking for something in his ipad.

“since you um.. walked out at our meeting earlier today… both managements has come to terms that you and itoshi sae would be living together for the meantime”

silence fills the room, the entire apartment if we were being honest

your vision goes dark, the next thing you know and you black out.

as you slowly regain your consciousness, you hear some people talking. well, to you it sounded like they were slurring because you couldn’t really comprehend what they were saying. slowly, you open your eyes. the first person you see is a frantic reo who seemed to be fanning your face with yukimiya holding your hand

“where am i?” you grunt, feeling some dull ache on the back of your head and lower back. 

“you fainted” sae points out. staring at you who was on the ground. you sat up and stared at sae, wide eyed. “what the hell is he still doing here?!” you ask in distraught. you thought everything prior to this was all just a fever dream, or a nightmare as you’d like to call it

your manager, who was getting you a glass of water comes running to your aid. he crouches and tells you to drink up- to which you do.

“we were discussing your current situation with itoshi sae until you fainted… ” your manager starts, you choke on your water after hearing those words but thankfully didn’t start a coughing fit. you motioned your manager to continue so that you’d finally hear the end of this dreadful moment

your manager's eyes flicker between you and sae, “we’ve come up with an agreement that until the time being, itoshi sae would be living with you and you’d market yourselves as a couple. sae has already consented and agreed with the contract and your PR team as well…” he finishes, clutching his ipad close to his chest

reo, who was listening intently, felt like it was unfair for you to be in this type of situation regardless if it was an order from your company

“isn’t unfair for y/n though? she herself didn’t consent to this contract right? doesn’t this violate her own rights of code of ethics?” reo interferes, giving your manager a look. you look at reo and smiled. maybe you’ll ask him to contact the finest lawyers of japan that he knows after this

your manager was about to speak up but sae beat him to it.

“i was the one who suggested this whole setup, not their company. so technically, this isn’t “violating y/n’s rights of code of ethics” as it’s not even printed on a contract because simply, there is no contract” sae states, mocking reo’s tone of voice, giving him a side eye before turning his attention back to you. 

this time it was yukimiya who steps in. he turns to sae with his eyebrows raised. “isn’t there another way to get around this? not just by your means?” yukimiya pauses, pushing his glasses up, “i mean, why does it have to be like this where you’ll live with y/n for an issue that could be squashed with just a single article denying your relationship or involvement with y/n?”

sae sits up straight, staring yukimiya down with an icy stare. “this doesn’t concern you”

yukimiya and reo both stand up, “actually it does. y/n is our friend” reo hisses, glaring at the red head who merely just yawns and rolls his eyes.

was sae even taking this seriously? 

sae sighs, a bored expression on his face. “this is matters between me and y/n only”

finally having enough of his bullshit, you got up from the ground and walked in front of sae.

“what exactly are you planning, itoshi sae?” you narrow your eyes at him. this was the first time in years you’ve looked at him. you note how appearance wise, he hasn’t changed one bit. 

sae chuckles a bit, catching you by surprise. what’s so funny?

“drop the formalities, y/n. you know me better than everyone else in this room” he scoffs, eyeing you from head to toe.

sae won’t lie. he thinks you were still beautiful the day he left you. to him, you were always the prettiest in the room and from the way his heart raced after seeing you for the first time again in years, he knows himself that thought stayed the same.

he watches your eyes soften for a second before it goes back to your signature glare.

“actually, I don't,” you say dryly, crossing your arms. “so, tell me. what exactly are you gonna get out of this?” 

sae sighs. he doesn’t know himself either but he wasn’t just about to say that out loud. he doesn’t know what got into him all of a sudden. was it because he was curious about how you were doing? was he intrigued? did he somehow miss you all of a sudden because he saw you again?

a part of him always longed for you even after you two have gone your own separate ways. it was hard not to, considering you have spent a chunk of your lives together. not to mention, you two grew up with each other and built blossoming careers together hand in hand. 

it was only until he finally got recruited for division a of real madrid where he thought it would be best if you guys would stop what you have in order to be the best version of himself— wrong. 

he realized he fucked up that maybe that wasn’t the best option when he realized he needed you more than ever. you were his best support system. you were always there with him during the hardest times holding his hand but it was already too late. the damage had been done and it was irreversible. 

the day he broke up with you, or the day he fucked up everything was also the last time he ever saw or heard from you ever again. 

sae tried. he tried and tried and tried to reach out to you. he tried searching for your socials, your contact information, literally everything he can get his hands on. but even with his power and money in the world, it was still not enough to find you.

the only updates he had of you was the ads that were plastered all around social media and in the busy shopping districts of the cities he’s in. it was almost like a constant reminder of what he lost. 

so shocked was an understatement when you were his partner for the commercial shoot his manager had booked him for some random luxury brand. 

after all those years, he found you again.

to say the stars were on his side when you two got papped by the paparazzi is a bit selfish on sae’s end. as much as he fucking despises the paparazzi as they tend to ruin things for him, he’s quite glad that for once that they did something right.

they brought you back to him.

so sae couldn’t just let this opportunity of a lifetime slide. even if this so called “scandal” could easily just be cleared out with a simple denying of such rumor. but sae couldn’t just let this end like that. 

he wants to fix everything he broke. sae wants another chance.

“this is pointless” you deadpan, after waiting for sae to speak. he was just sitting there, staring right back at you for god knows how long that you begin to become conscious.

sae looked like he just snapped out of his train of thought as he shook his head before clearing his throat. 

“it’s a win-win situation for both of us” sae blurts, “you get more publicity out of this–”

yukimiya and reo both looked at him like he was crazy.

“excuse you— with or without you, y/n is already famous. hell, you don’t even know how many brands are waiting for her to reach back at them!”

“do you live under a rock or something? how do you not know y/n is one of the, if not the number one top model of the country?”

you were secretly thankful that you called both yukimiya and reo beforehand. not only you got an ego boost, but it gave sae a taste of your own reality that you are where you are now because he left you

a small smirk tugs on your lips when sae frowns. you watch him chew his bottom lip, a telltale sign that he was thinking of something to save his ass

“well, if you aren’t gonna get something out of this.. i have” you say, catching everyone’s attention, including your own manager.

your manager looks at you with his head tilted to the side. mouthing “what do you mean?”

“i’ll only agree to this if after this whole scandal is over, i don’t ever want to see you again” you propose to sae. it was only fair for it to end like this as one, he was the one who suggested this idea in the first place. two, you can never be too complacent with sae who apparently has no motive regarding this. this was sae we’re talking about, he’s bound to plot something and three, you can finally find the answers you’ve been yearning for after all these years. might as well use this as an opportunity to get your well deserved closure.

there was a glint of hope in sae’s eyes.

“deal”

you hear yukimiya and reo yell a bunch of lines like “seriously y/n?” but all you can focus on is sae who’s also looking right back at you.

your manager claps his hands in joy, immediately dialing your company about your decision. sae takes this time to call his own manager to probably tell him to bring his stuff in. 

did you make the right decision? you’re not too sure. only time can tell.

004. 

today was the first day of you officially “dating” sae again.

also the first day of living with sae, for the meantime

just a little after you’ve come to an agreement with sae with the set up of your rekindled “relationship”, both managements didn’t waste a single second on confirming the news that the nation’s sweethearts have gone back together

needless to say, both of your names are trending and is the current talk of the town

so your first agenda (from both PR teams) is that you both post strikingly similar instagram stories as if you were together the night prior. (in which, you two were.. force binded by a non-existent contract)

it was a good thing that you chose an apartment that had a spare guest room because god forbid you’d even dare to sleep in the same bed with your ex. 

you didn’t give sae a warning that you were already gonna post something. just a quick snap of your window, that holds the view of shibuya, with a little sunlight peeking through. you captioned it with a little “good morning indeed” with a cheeky emoji just to spice things up. 

sae, who was in the next room, was casually scrolling through instagram when he sees that you posted a new instagram story. he clicks his tongue in annoyance at the fact you didn’t even give him a heads up. quickly improvising, he took a mirror selfie from the vanity mirror that you have around in your guest bedroom. 

you started your day with making your own breakfast. not even bothering to call sae. hell, he can starve for all you care. after all, he was not your responsibility. you only agreed to do this because frankly you had no other choice from your company.

while waiting for your eggs, it didn’t take you a while to also notice that sae already posted his part of the agenda. thinking of it as nothing, you innocently clicked on his profile. his story loads and wow. resonating with your caption, good morning indeed!

sae posted a shirtless mirror selfie. he was still under the covers but made sure his torso was seen on the mirror. 

“take a screenshot, it’d last longer” sae says flatly, moving past you to your fridge. you jolt in surprise, almost dropping your phone in the process. “what the fuck!” you yell out, a hand over your chest. 

you hear sae chuckling behind you and the fridge opening

“you got all that money stocked up somewhere and yet you don’t even have groceries?” sae comments, noting your almost empty fridge. there were only some milk boxes and some of those edible collagen jellies that help you with swelling when you have early morning shoots and the such.

sae takes the last chocolate milk box you had that was hidden away at the back of your fridge

“well, my manager does it for me and i usually eat at reo’s or yukimiya’s– is that the last of my milk?!” you pried your eyes off your phone to see sae casually sipping on the last milk box you were saving

“so?”

“that’s mine” you argued, getting up from the kitchen island to snatch it from sae. you stomp over to him and tried to swipe it off his hands. unfortunately for you, sae is an athlete and that meant he had reflexes like no other. he raises his arm high just before you were able to grab the milk box from him.

“sae, give it back” you grit your teeth, standing on your tippy toes, trying or attempting to take the milk box from sae’s hold but the height difference is just something else. 

sae leans down and gets all over your face. “come on, you can do it,” he teases, eyes fixated on yours. 

this feeling almost felt too familiar. almost like a wave of nostalgia just hit you in the face. the memories you’ve been trying to suppress all coming back 

you snapped out of your little trance when you realized the position you two were in. 

“my eggs are burning” you lie, leaving sae dumbfounded. you scurry off to your stove to finish what you were cooking while sae goes and sits on your kitchen island. 

he watches you plate your breakfast and sit on the other end of the kitchen island. you actually felt him staring but chose to ignore him. the sound of his stomach grumbling breaks the awkward silence.

“where’s my breakfast?” he asks, voice small

you shrug, “i don’t know”

“you didn’t make me one?”

“why will i?” you raise a brow, happily munching on your bacon while sae could only look at you in disbelief.

later that day you two had your own schedules. he had practice and other stuff to do while you had another meeting about different commercial offers and a lunch date with reo and yukimiya just like you promised the two.

you got home later than sae. you were about to grab some water from the fridge when you notice that it was fully stocked with groceries. you can’t help but smile a little at the gesture. 

you did your usual night routine before getting comfy in bed. just before you were about to hit the hay, you don’t forget to send sae a quick message, thanking him for the groceries. 

[11:43] you: thanks for doing the groceries ig

[11:44] sae: i couldn’t just let myself starve here, can i?

you rolled your eyes at his reply. he’s still so sarcastic even after all these years

[11:45] you: whatever 🙄

[11:46] sae: i also restocked that milk you love so much. call it truce from earlier today

[11:46] you: who told you it was my favorite? 🤨

[11:47] sae: gut feeling, call it old habit

you raised a brow at his text. what did he mean by that? before you could type your reply, your phone notifies you that sae sent another message

[11:49] sae: jk. your manager told me

you didn’t realize you were holding in your breath. you let out a sigh of relief after reading his message. you were not gonna let him get under your skin. not anymore

you ended up not replying to him. instead, you shut your phone off to reflect on today’s events, hoping that this all ends soon. your phone suddenly dings again. it was a notification from sae.

[11:55] sae: i’m going to sleep now. goodnight, y/n

it’s officially been a week of living with sae and pretending to be a couple in front of the cameras and the public. to think you’d even last this long is an understandment on it’s own.  

for this day, both managements wanted you two to be seen out and about in public doing whatever you two wished to do. 

you were debating on what you two should do that won’t involve much physical contact like going out for shopping because that only meant that you two would be forced to hold hands which is something you don’t want to do for obvious reasons. you’d rather die than to be papped with sae holding hands

“what do you want to do today?” sae asks from the couch. you two were already all dressed up. intentionally matching your outits just for the sake of it. sae was wearing a maroon turtleneck with holes in them with a white long sleeve shirt underneath and some track pants? you don't question his outfit much further because why would you exert the effort to do so? 

you were wearing something similar. a maroon crop top with some leggings to match the laid back outfit of your fake boyfriend. 

“what can we do without much physical contact?” you pondered, a finger tapping on your chin. sae scoffs at your question, mumbling about what’s wrong with physical contact with him. you almost wanted to tell him “everything” but that would just start another argument today

“how about we get some coffee?” sae offers, unable to think of more activities to do in such short notice. you hum in agreement, coffee does sound good right now. you get up from the couch and grab the keys to your car

“what are you doing?” sae asked. you stop in your tracks and hold out your keys for him to see. “we’re taking my car” sae says, showing off his. 

not putting up much of a fight, you agreed. it was getting tiring driving yourself around anyway.

you two arrive at the coffee shop sae graciously let you choose in no time (by graciously, he meant that he’s good with anything you choose) you then decide on sitting by the window where you know the paparazzi will be in front at in no time to capture this date between rekindled lovers

you sit at your chosen table by the window while you wait for sae to order something for the both of you. telling him that you’re okay with whatever since this cafe was your favorite.

it didn’t take sae that long to come back with your orders. he sets the tray down and you find an abundance of sweets and pastries. you look up at him confused but he simply shrugs. he then places your drink down. you take the receipt that was hanging off the tray to read everything he has ordered.

looks like he ordered everything on the menu with the sweets and pastries, which is not surprising really. when you read what he got you however,

“you ordered me a spanish latte?” you ask, taking the drink from the table. 

sae nods, taking a sip from his own drink. “something wrong?” 

you shake your head no. you just can’t wrap your head at the fact he ordered your usual go-to drink.

“nothing, it’s just i'm surprised that you still remember what i usually order in coffee shops” you shrug, finally sipping on your drink. spanish lattes does always hit the spot for you

“do you think i have forgotten?” sae raises a brow, a slight frown forming on his lips. you rolled your eyes at his comment. 

“well, it’s been a while, don’t you think?” you retort, avoiding his hard stare. technically, it’s been almost two years since the breakup. one of you were bound to forget each other’s habits and the such. 

there was silence again after that. an awkward one at that

“let’s take our post now so we can leave” you say, taking pictures of the food in front of you while keeping sae in the frame. sae simply nods and does the same. the photo you decided to post was mostly all the food sae ordered with him in the background. you purposely cut off his head just for the thrill of it. you do tag sae in the instagram story though with the caption “coffee run” 

sae’s post was a bit different. he simply posted a candid shot of you taking pictures of the food in front of you. for captions, sae isn’t much of a caption person because he thinks they defeat the purpose of photos so instead he just adds a heart emoji with your username next to it. 

it didn’t take much for the paparazzi to find your whereabouts. just like planned, they were outside the window you two were seated in taking photos after photos. 

“do we go now?” sae asks, eyeing the amount of people that were outside the cafe. 

“yeah..” you trail off, not really expecting a whole crowd to form outside. sae must've sensed that you were tensed with the way he stands next to you when you two were leaving the coffee shop

the moment you two step foot outside, it was an absolute frenzy. the press were everywhere on your faces. asking questions from all sorts of directions that it actually made you dizzy. 

you were never one for crowded crowds. especially when they topple over each other just to take the perfect photo or get an exclusive. it was just never your cup of tea

you covered your eyes from the bright flashes that were all over your face, trying to maneuver around the paparazzi to get to sae’s car faster but the paparazzi was too much for you to handle. you instinctively leaned on sae for support as your legs start to feel wobbly. sae immediately catches on and wraps an arm around your waist securely, pushing forward against the hoarde of people in front of you guys

“get out of the fucking way!” sae barks, pushing the people in front of your faces. the group of paparazzi do make way for you guys as you finally reach sae’s car. 

sae unlocks the car and opens the passenger door for you to enter first. he shields any possible camera that was trying to capture your face with his body. even going as far as pushing them away making some of the paparazzi stumble and fall on their asses. 

once you were secured in your seat, he runs over to his side of the car and starts the car before speeding off. not wasting a single second for some short interview.

“you okay?” sae steals a glance at your slumped state, before turning his attention back to the road in front of him. 

“... yeah, just dizzy” you say meekly, rubbing your temples. “i’m gonna rest my eyes for a bit, sae” you murmur, leaning against the window before drifting off to sleep.  

sae sighs and speeds up faster so you two could get home sooner. ‘damn paparazzi’ he thinks to himself, not noticing how his knuckles have turned white with how hard he was gripping the steering wheel. 

the car comes to a halt when the traffic lights beam red. sae couldn’t help but look at your state. he always knew you were bad with crowds but yet you still fulfilled your lifelong dream to be a model. he wonders who took care of you during flash mobs when you were out in the streets. 

was it your manager? was it that reo guy? or was it yukimiya aka that person he doesn’t really like. sae hates how close you are with him. sae will also never forget your scandal with him. he can still remember it like it was yesterday when the news dropped that you may or may not be in a relationship with your fellow model yukimiya kenyu after being papped being cozy inside his car. 

practice was hell that day for real madrid and sae may or may not have punctured a soccer ball out of pure rage. 

the damned light finally turns green and thankfully you were at the last street before the turn to your apartment complex.

sae parks the car and turns to take a good look at your sleeping figure. you look too peaceful to wake up. so he gets out of the car and goes to your side to pick you up bridal style. 

he gently puts one of your arms around his neck (for safe measure) and loops his under your knees to carry you. with the help of the security guards around, he presses the elevator up to your penthouse suite. 

for once in his life, sae is thankful that he was an athlete as he successfully tapped in your passcode to unlock your front door with you in his arms. when he reaches your bedroom, he gently sets you down on your bed. 

sae was about to leave to make some dinner just before you wake up but was stopped by your hand reaching for his. 

“stay..” you mumbled, tugging his arm. sae hesitates for a bit, unsure if you were actually conscious or was just sleep talking. sae watches your eyebrows furrow when you notice he still wasn’t beside you. clicking your tongue in annoyance, you tug on sae’s arm harder so he gets the hint

“okay, okay” sae hums, slowly getting in your bed. he’s unsure himself on what he should do. should he stay still, wrap an arm around you, what?

to his surprise, you were snuggling next to him. your head nestling to his chest. sae lets out a small gasp. he definitely didn’t see this coming. 

coming to a realization that no harm would be done if he wraps an arm around you, he slowly drapes his arm over your waist. sae suddenly feels like he was on top of the world, like everything suddenly made sense to sae. 

sae caresses your cheek, brushing the stray hairs from your face. 

“you still look beautiful the day i lost you..” sae whispers. he debates on stealing a kiss. he weighs out the pros and the cons and figures that it was more of a liability if you ever find out he stole a kiss from you, especially when you were asleep. that’s gonna have to be for another time. 

sae was beginning to feel sleepy. he carefully drapes the duvet across your bodies. not even a moment later, sae is now fast asleep with you in his arms

you find yourself plush against something hard and warm. you try tossing to the other side but you were being held securely around your waist. your eyes shot up, now fully awake and aware of your surroundings.

“good morning” sae rasps, his morning voice sending shivers down your spine. 

“what are you doing in my bed?” you whisper-yelled, actually genuinely surprised to see him next to you. your heart was racing, like it was about to jump out of your chest. did something happened yesterday? you couldn’t quite remember everything after leaving the coffee shop. it almost felt like a hazy dream

sae reluctantly unwraps his arm around you and scoots to the edge of the bed. you almost pout at the warmth that disappears but you internally scold yourself for thinking of such things.

“you passed out in the car and i brought you here” sae explains, now sitting up. “i’ll go make breakfast. stay put” he pats your leg before excusing himself to leave your bedroom. you lay there confused because that wasn’t enough to explain why he was quite literally sleeping next to you. 

just the mere fact that you slept next to him sent you into a frenzy. you grab your phone and immediately dialed reo

“hello?” reo answers groggily, you checked your phone for the time and it was literally 8 in the morning. 

“reo!” you hushed, trying not to catch the attention of sae “something happened yesterday!” 

“what?”

“we slept together…?” your voice going up an octave, chewing on your lip as you await for reo’s reaction

a beat of silence passes by. you thought reo may have accidentally ended the call

“YOU DID WHAT?!” reo basically screams at your ear. you had to remove your phone from your ear from the impact of reo’s shrill scream. “DON’T TELL ME YOU GOT BACK TOGETHER WITH HIM IN JUST A WEEK’S NOTICE—”

“NOT IN THAT WAY, DIPSHIT” you say abruptly, cutting reo off. “i mean like.. we just slept in the same bed after yesterday’s turn of events…” you trail off, trying to remember every significant detail that eventually lead up to you and sae ultimately sleeping with each other.

“my guess is with the paparazzi. i just saw the photos” reo says, typing away on his keyboard. “not gonna lie y/n, you and sae do make a good couple” he adds, giggling

you huff over the phone, earning a hefty laugh from the other end. 

“talk to him. clearly you need it” reo advices. it was like he knows where this was going. “ i gotta go for now, y/n. i’ll call you back later. duty calls. ciao!” reo ends the call before you could even say something. 

you threw your phone on the other side of the bed, groaning as you put your head in your hands. what was happening to you

there was a faint knock on your door, probably sae was gonna tell you that breakfast was ready but to your surprise, he brought the breakfast to you.. in bed.

sae walks in with a little bed tray that you didn’t even know you owned filled with some breakfast. 

“was all this necessary?” you say in disbelief. sae simply shrugs and sits by the foot of your bed.

“i contacted your manager about your state and he says he’ll be coming over to check up on you later” he notes, typing away on his phone with one hand. sae turns to you and motions for you to start digging in. “c’mon, eat up” 

you feel your face heat up at his extravagant gestures. he was a man of service after all. even during your relationship, sae wasn’t the type to be vocal about his love for you. it was mostly through actions may it be subtle or not. you can feel the love with the way he does everything for you.

with a small smile, you start to eat the breakfast he made. 

“sae,” you call. he looks up from his phone, a confused look on his face. 

“need something?”

“come here” you motioned for him to scoot closer to you. to which he happily obliges. he is now sitting right in front of you. 

he watches you cut a piece of your pancake and stabbed it with your fork before holding it up for him.

“here,” you say sheepishly, not even looking at sae in the eye. sae looked at you like you just lost your mind. 

“can’t let you not eat your own cooking..” you mumbled, feeling your face burn in both embarrassment or something you can’t pinpoint. with a chuckle, he takes the fork from you. unintentionally brushing your hands together.

in an instant, you snatch your hand back as he quietly eats the pancake you’ve given him.

things are changing between you and sae and you’re not sure if you like it.

005.

it’s been a few days since the whole ordeal with you and sae in bed together. your management gave you guys a few days off just to keep things at bay with the paparazzi after the whole fiasco of you almost fainting because of the sea of paparazzi outside trying to take photos. 

your manager did end up checking up on you that day just like sae has mentioned. you told him off that you were fine and just needed more resting before you can resume with your work. he reluctantly agrees and goes ahead and reports your status with your company.

reo and yukimiya also came over for the past few days. just to check things up with you after your pictures were published for the public. you had a talk with your two closest friends about your current situation with sae. 

yukimiya was a bit unsure for you while reo advised that they’ll be there with you for every decision you make. he also opted that you two should have an open forum about each other’s whereabouts since the break up. clearly you still had unanswered questions.

sae was out again for his daily practice. although he did tell you that he’d be back around the afternoon. 

you take this opportunity of being alone to actually think about everything for the past week. 

this few weeks has been a whole rollercoaster. not only you’ve been reunited with your ex, you had to be in a “fake” relationship with him again for the media, and now it’s like you and sae were back to your old routines all those years ago. 

a part of you does miss being able to call sae as yours, not just for the sake of the cameras but just because you really do love him and you want to be with him, but this time for real. yet, another part of you is scared that maybe there’s a catch to this. maybe in the end sae was just using you for his own sake. 

you made a promise to yourself that you were not gonna have him play with your heart like that anymore. not again, never again.

but here you are, willing to take the same risk again. the things you are willing to do just to call him yours. 

because at the end of the day, it will always be itoshi sae.

no one else has your heart the way sae has it. 

you barely notice that sae has arrived back from practice til he was waving a hand in front of your face.

“y/n” he jabs a finger at the side of your head, an amused look on his face. “what are you thinking about?” sae hums, plopping down on the couch next to you. 

“nothing much, just about life”you hissed, clutching the spot he just poked you. you leaned back on the couch, stealing a glance at sae but you made eye contact instead. immediately you looked away, feeling your cheeks heat up.

sae snickers next to you, a small smile on his face as he takes a good look at you. 

“having a midlife crisis at your young age?” sae pokes your sides making you jump. you let out a little yelp, causing sae to smirk. 

“don’t even think about it sae itoshi— AH!” you hold your hands out in defense mode. you know that devilish look on sae’s face. sae’s fingers reach your sides before you could even finish your menacing (not) threat. 

your laughter fills the living room. 

oh how sae missed this. how he missed coming home from practice and to have you wait for him. how sae missed you.

sae stops tickling you to let you catch your breath. barely even noticing the position you two were in. he was on top of you, hands on each side of your head. your cheeks painted red, chest rising rapidly as you try to control your breathing. 

“can i kiss–” 

the front door slams open to reveal reo and yukimiya in tow with some food.

“y/n! we brought you some food!” reo happily chirps, setting the food down on your kitchen counter. sae’s eyes immediately widen and rushes to get off of you. he stumbles and falls on the floor, just right in front of reo’s feet.

reo and sae make eye contact. reo awkwardly smiles at the now embarrassed sae.

but sae being sae, he brushed it off like he was in the middle of push ups. 

“... and 50. 50 push ups done” sae puffs, pushing himself off the ground, pretending to wipe the non existent sweat on his forehead and ushers away to his room. not missing reo’s comment before he slams the door shut.

“i’m gonna just pretend i didn’t see you fall right in front of me” reo cackles, wiping a tear from his eye. “anyway y/n, we got you some food. i forgot that athlete was living with you sooo.. it’s up to you to give his share” reo shows you the amount of food he just got you.

yukimiya giggles behind him. he pulls reo to the side before giving you his infamous smirk

“reo, we gotta go now” yukimiya smiles slyly at you. he takes a good look at your ruffled shirt, flushed cheeks and messy hair. 

“what? we just got here!” reo complains, looking back at yukimiya, who points out your current state. he then whispers something to reo that you obviously can’t hear. you stand there with your arms crossed, eyebrows raised as you wait for your two best friends to fill you in

“i’m literally right here” you rolled your eyes.

“oh!” reo gasps, eyes wide as he seems to put two and two together. he covers his mouth like he just witnessed something scandalous. 

you were about to open your mouth to say protest against what allegations yukimiya has of you but both reo and yukimiya bolt out the door. yelling about how they were sorry for disturbing something while cackling. 

“those bitches..” you muttered, shaking your head. you walk over to the kitchen to go through what reo just got you. of course it was his favorite steak with some side dishes. 

“are they gone?” you hear sae call out from his room, his head poking out the door. 

you laugh, “yeah. you can come out now” 

you hear the door open and sae comes walking in the kitchen with nothing but sweatpants. you let out a squeak as your hands fly to your eyes, covering them from seeing sae’s half naked body.

sae scoffs at your reaction. “you’re acting like you aren’t used to it”

“was used to it” you correct him. sae’s mood drops a bit. you awkwardly fiddle with the hem of the plastic. taking out the plastic containers to at least lift up the now sour atmosphere. 

sae looks at the meals you’ve settled down on the counter. “from reo?” he asks, going ahead and taking out some chopsticks. 

he must be starving from coming home after practice.

you slid the plastic container that held reo’s favorite steak to sae. his eye widens and shakes his head. he pushes it back to you. it becomes a silent tug of war. sae ended up losing because you were starting to get upset and he can tell by the way your lips are jutted out and you were pushing harder, causing some of the sauce to spill out.

“okay, damn..” sae mutters, accepting his defeat. you let out a victory cheer by dancing a little in your seat. sae couldn’t help but smile. now here you were, watching him chomp down the food reo initially got for you.

“let’s head out somewhere” sae says, poking you with his chopsticks. you swat his hands away as you scowl at him. going out all of a sudden after he just ate?

“where are we going?”

“places” 

you look up at him unsure. you didn’t really want to go anywhere this week knowing that paparazzi might be up on your asses again. you weren’t gonna risk your health again for just some dumb post

“but we’re on break with posting though” you protest. was sae really serious about heading out? 

sae pouts and looks at you with pleading eyes. something he only pulls when he really wants to do something or get his way. something you couldn’t resist. you guessed old habits really die hard

“please?” 

you avert your gaze elsewhere because those teal eyes are only trouble for you. you hear sae sigh beside you and you realized that was your last straw.

“fine”

you look back at sae who had a small smile on his face. his face screaming “i know you still can’t resist me” and quite frankly you wanted to punch the living daylights out of his smug face. 

“i’m not gonna get dressed up or anything though. just a hoodie and a hat to keep our identities hidden” you say, getting up from the barstool to head over to your room to get an oversized hoodie and your hat.

“wasn’t counting on it” sae says, humming to himself that he got you to agree.

it didn’t take long for you guys to get moving. you two were now on your way to wherever sae was taking you. even if you kept asking where you two were going, sae simply shushes you and tells you to just sit back and relax

you were leaning towards the window, watching the city skies fade as you two drive aimlessly around the city. your phone connected to his aux, softly playing some tunes in the background.

your eyes peer over to sae who had one hand on the steering wheel, while the other was used to prop himself up against the window. you find yourself smiling at the memories going back to you. 

the old late night drives with sae just to clear your minds. 

the route sae was taking you felt awfully familiar. you sit up straight and looked outside to see that you were going up a familiar hill. you snap your head towards sae. sae catches your stare and winks at your direction.

the car eventually comes to a stop. sae silently turns off the car and gets out with you following behind him. there you realize where he took you. sae took you back to your favorite spot to get away from it all. the hilltop where you can get a whole view of the ever so busy city of shibuya. 

the same place sae asked you to be his,

the same place sae broke things off with you,

“what are we doing here, sae?” you ask, sitting on top of the hood of his car. sae follows suit. he sits next to you, observing the view in front of him.

“to unwind” he says flatly, putting his hood on. you can’t help but look at him. what did he mean by that?

“you looked pretty occupied today, so i just thought i’d bring you here-”

you furrowed your brows, “then why here?”

sae stays silent. the sound of the city filling your ears. you can’t help but think that it was now or never. it was the perfect time to get things across. for your own peace of mind, and for the sake of it all. 

it was silent between you and sae all of a sudden. you almost wanted to laugh at how ironic it is that you’d end up in this place again for the third time in a row with the same person. 

‘how nostalgic’ you think to yourself. you get up from the hood of the car and walked towards the wooden fence. just to get a clearer view and to get some air that you so desperately needed before talking to sae. 

“you know, this reminds me of the time you took me up here for the first time,” you start, kicking the rocks just by your feet. sae’s ears perk up at the sudden mention of the memory.

“i was so happy that day. to think we’d last for over five years. i was the happiest when i was with you, sae” you continued, smiling to yourself as you recalled everything.

sae can’t help but feel there’s more to what you’re saying. he can’t help but anticipate the bomb that you were about to drop.

“til one day, you brought me out here again. this time, to break up” you turn around to face sae who had an expression you can’t comprehend. his hands were stuffed inside the pockets of his hoodie

“you broke me that day, sae” you breathe out, looking up at the moon. “and to think not even two weeks later i see you with someone else” you let out a laugh. to sae it sounded forced. 

“i hate you, sae itoshi” you finally look at him again, sae averts from your hard gaze. 

“i hate how you took all my firsts, i hate how you talk to me with that voice, i hate how i know your morning routine better than anyone else, i hate how you always opt to cook because you know i suck at cooking, i hate how you know me like the back of your hand..” you list off, with every list you say, you take a step forward. 

“i hate how even after all these years, even after you hurt me, even how you broke me to pieces, i hate how i can’t ever find myself to hate you” you finish. a teardrop running down your cheeks. 

“i hate how i still love you..” your voice was shaky. your hands were trembling, here you were, confessing your heart to the guy who initially broke it. 

you broke your promise to yourself. 

with a deep sigh, you fixed your composure. you harshly wipe the tears that were running down your cheeks before turning your back on sae again to face the city you live in. 

“i just have a question for you, sae…” you take a deep breath. finally. you were gonna get the answers to your questions. those times you’ve doubted yourself, those sleepless nights wondering where it all went wrong, nights where you ask yourself if you were ever enough for sae.. 

you were finally gonna get your well deserved answers. 

“why? what did i do wrong? was i not enough for you?” 

sae silently moves towards you. he pulls your head to his chest where you freely the tears fall. 

you push him off of you, you were not gonna let yourself be fooled much longer.  

“was it worth it, sae? was throwing away our years together worth it?” you seethed, tears pricking your eyes.

sae’s eyes widened, “i–”

“you know sae, even if i was in a room with all the people i love the most. i’d still choose you and you all over again. i will always choose you, sae” you cut him off, trembling. words shaking as you are basically spilling your heart to the guy who broke it into a million pieces.

sae’s heart breaks at the scene before him. it was too late for him to realize the damage he has done to you. for you to act like this.

“that’s why i agreed to be in this fake relationship with you. i wanted to find out why you did this to me, to us” you admit, tears now fully flowing. “i just..” you weren’t able to finish what you were trying to sae as you sob in front of sae.

“why sae?.. just, why?”

you barely notice sae approaching. the next thing you knew, he pulls your head to his chest. 

“shh… let it out” he says, his free arm rubbing your back as you cry your heart out. finally, after all those years, it felt good to release everything. like a million bricks has been lifted off your shoulders. 

sae pulls away, cupping your cheeks as he wipes the tears pouring down your cheeks with his thumb. his eyes flicker from your eyes to your lips. 

“don’t look at me like that, sae..” you say in a low voice, almost like a whisper. peering away from sae’s eyes. 

sae slowly leans in and before he knows it his lips are just ghosting over yours. without a second, sae smashes your lips together.

your eyes widened. you wanted to push him away. you put your hands on his chest ready to push him away, but something in you is stopping you from doing so. 

how you missed this. how you missed sae

how sae missed this. how sae missed you

you pull apart, catching your breath. you look up at sae to see him crying too. he cups your cheeks, caressing them with his thumb.

“i’m sorry” was all he could say. he puts his forehead against yours, teal eyes fixated on yours. you can tell with his eyes that he was sincere. sae was also shaking as he holds you, his whole body language screaming guilt.

“i was young and stupid. i thought i’d be better off without you but i realized that i wasn’t. it was too late by then.” he explains, looking down at your feet instead of meeting your eyes.

you put your hand over his, squeezing them. relishing in the moment of two ex lovers putting the past behind them.

“i tried reaching out for you, you know?” sae brings up, laughing to himself at how stupid he sounded. “but knowing you, i knew you’d probably act like you never existed. i had to find out the hard way” he scoffs at the end. 

“eventually, the stars brought me to you again” sae finally looks at you in the eye. “i took that as a chance to try and redeem myself. i think it failed though,” sae admits sheepishly, “i was persistent. i wanted you back and i did everything i can just to keep you with me” 

you listen to sae stumble with his words. he’s trying. he’s actually proving that he was genuinely sorry for everything.

“i never stopped loving you, y/n” sae admits with a sad smile, “i never did” 

you tear up again at his confession. because frankly, you were the same. 

sae opens his mouth to say something but instead, you crash your lips against his. sae doesn’t move for a second but relaxes as soon as he realizes what was going on. he instantly wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you close as he can. 

“i love you,” 

“i love you too,”

you two find yourselves basking under the moonlight once again. fixing and treating each other’s wounds as you two try again. this time you two are sure that whatever you two have planned for each other, you two will make it right. 

006.

the sound of an alarm blaring through the room wakes you up from your sleep. you feel some shuffling behind you and suddenly the room turns quiet again.

“did i wake you?” you hear sae’s morning voice ring through your ears, sending a shiver down your spine. you let out a small whine, nodding your head yes. 

sae chuckles, and tightens his hold around your body under the covers. “good morning to you too, baby” he kisses your cheek. 

you open one eye before twisting your body around to face him. 

“morning..” you yawn, leaving a trail of kisses from his jaw to his adam’s apple.

“still didn’t get enough from last night, hm?” sae teases, rubbing circles on your hips. you feel your cheeks heat up. you slapped his chest before turning your back on him again. 

“our managers will kill us if we’re late” you remind him of your schedules for the day. you sit up, slipping on his shirt that was lying on the floor, recalling last night’s events. you looked at yourself from the mirror to see some love bites all over your neck up to your chest. a gentle reminder that you were now his again.

“they can wait,” sae murmurs, slipping his hands under your (his) shirt. you let out a giggle before pushing his hands off of you. 

“sae come on!” you tug on his arm as you two head out to your bathroom. 

after what seems like an hour or so due to sae’s rowdy hands. you two finally arrive at the red carpet of the luxury brand you two have modeled for. 

the screams of fans fills your ears as you wait in of the car and onto the red carpet where a line of reporters were waiting. 

sae, being the gentleman he is and a marketing genius, he obviously makes a scene for your entrances. he gets out of the car first and holds out his hand for you to take. the audience goes crazy as you two make your entrance. 

“sae, y/n! over here!” you hear a bunch of reporters yell out. lights, and flashes all around. 

you and sae stop at the first reporter on the line. he greets you guys with a smile before starting his short interview. it was the usual questions about the brand and you guys feel about being the new faces of it.

“well, clearly they have a good eye for casting both y/n and i as the new faces for their brand” sae answers for the both of you, his arm wrapped securely around your waist. 

the interviewer gushes at how cool his answer was and proceeds to ask you another question.

“my, my, my, miss y/n. you look lovely as usual but i can’t help but wonder, what does it feel like to be back together with sae itoshi?” he asks, intrigued, his microphone on your face. 

you look at sae for approval and he simply smiles and motions for you to say whatever you want to say. 

“well, it still shocks me til this day that i got back together with sae” you joked, making the interviewer laugh at your response and sae who fakes being offended. you laugh at his reaction before answering seriously, 

“but seriously. i guess it’s true that if it’s meant to be, it will be” you smile, showing off sae in front of the camera to which the interviewer loves.

“what an answer from, y/n! well you heard it here first folks!” the interviewer beams in front of the camera, “i wish you two never ending happiness. thank you for letting me interview you guys!” he waves off, finding another celebrity to interview. 

you and sae both smile and wave him goodbye as you two continue along the red carpet.

“do you really mean that?” you hear sae ask beside you. he was busy waving for the cameras. you let out a little giggle before waving around for the paparazzi and cameras around. 

“mean what?”

“what you said about if it’s meant to be, it will be” he quotes you, tucking a stray hair behind your ear sending the audience and the paparazzi in a frenzy again. 

“it happened to us, didn’t it?” you smile, motioning to your current situation. 

sae was yours again, and you are his. 

just how it should be. 

bonus!

you didn't consider how awkward it actually was to be working on another modeling gig with your boyfriend.

especially when the poses instructed by the photographer and way too intimate to be imitated in a semi-public setting for your liking.

“what are you being stiff for?” sae holds in his laugh, seeing how motionless your poses are with him. “it’s awkward when theres people around..” you say through gritted teeth, praying to the gods that this shoot will finally be over

“it’s not this awkward when we do this alone though..” sae seductively whispers, lowering his head just right at the shell of your ear.

the photographer squeals in joy at the amount of shots he got from that pose alone.

you feel your face burn up in embarrassment.

“sae!” 

#blue lock imagines #blue lock x reader #bllk imagines #bllk x reader #sae imagines #sae x reader #sae itoshi imagines #sae itoshi x reader #saeved

[formulakatya]

BLESSING IN DISGUISE | TAA

"maybe it's a blessing in disguise, i see my reflection in your eyes"

summary: where you and trent are childhood friends, you find yourself in a difficult situation, clueless on what to do, you call trent for advice.

pairing: trent alexander-arnold × freestyle skier!reader

notes: i'm back! i've been out of ideas recently but on a whim, i decided to write a story to the first audio i get on my tiktok for you page which just so happened to be reflections by the neighbourhood :) this is unedited work and a rather short story so im sorry about that!

warnings: none that i can think of, just really bad writing.

—

holding your skies tightly, you waited nervously for the score. you had given your final run your all, landing the prestigious and tricky 1620 jump. “come on,” you mumbled underneath your breath. your heart pounding, you held your breath as you glanced at the score board nervously.

93.50

you could’ve swore you felt your heart break right there and then. falling down onto the snow, you looked down at the ground as you tried to compose yourself together, desperately trying to hold back the tears threatening to flow.

it wasn’t enough.

composing yourself, you stood back up as you tried your best to smile as you congratulated the winner before walking towards your coach who engulfed you in a hug. “it wasn’t good enough,” you spoke through shaky breaths, tears spilling out.

“you tried your best,” he spoke on his attempt to comfort you. “at least you landed the 1620, first time in competition!”

“yeah,” you nodded before going back to the other two medalists, shaking hands with them as you posed for a picture.

“well done on that 1620!”

“thanks,” you smiled at eileen, your training partner and also the skier who had came in third. “well done on yours as well.”

“wanna go out for dinner later?”

“sure,” you nodded, trying to think about what you would do at dinner and during the few days extra you had in austria in a pathetic attempt to cheer yourself up.

but all you could think of was the silver medal.

—

staring at the ceiling, you wiped your tears dry as you let out a sigh.

why was it still not good enough?

turning your head, you picked up your phone to check the time before going through your notifications. you had put your phone on ‘do not disturb’, no doubt missing a couple of texts and calls.

trent: congratulations! what a performance!

staring at the message for a minute or so, you hesitated before opening the message, typing a quick ‘thank you’ and sending it before closing your phone and going back to staring at the ceiling.

what if you had done a different jump? what if you had executed the 1620 a little better?

looking back at your phone, you noticed trent had replied to your message as you unplugged your phone from the charging cable.

trent: if you wanna talk about it i’m free to call.

he knew you all too well.

deliberating whether you should take him up on the offer for a while, you finally decided to, dialling his number and putting the phone on speaker as you waited a response.

“hey,” trent’s voice could be heard from the other end of the line. “you okay?”

“could be better, honestly,” you replied. “how did you deal with it?”

“deal with what?”

“y’know…” you replied vaguely, not wanting to bring up the dreaded loss.

“oh,” he responded, picking up on what you were referring to. “not well to be honest, but talking to someone helped me. and lots of crying as well. i guess it was easier because we won the champions league and fa cup. seeing the fans at the parade helped as well.”

trent paused for awhile, nothing but a slight sigh being able to be heard on the other line.

“second place always feels the worst, i get that— especially losing by one point as well. but don’t be so hard on yourself, there’s no point y’know? you did everything you could’ve done and it was one hell of a performance,” he continued speaking. “i know you’re probably beating yourself up over it so don’t. there’s nothing you can do to change what happened and knowing you, you tried your best. you tried your best and that’s all you could really do. take a few days off, pick yourself up and come back stronger, y’know?”

“mhm,” you hummed in response. “it just hurts. it hurts a lot.”

“it’s only natural,” he responded. “you’ll bounce back, though, i know you will.”

“thanks, trent,” you smiled, taking in the words of advice. “you really helped.”

“no problem,” he laughed. “i’m always here if you need anything, alright, love?”

#trent alexander arnold #trent alexander arnold x reader #footballer #football #football fanfic #football x reader #football x yn #football fluff #football angst #football smut #football one shot #trent alexander arnold one shot #trent alexander arnold fluff #trent alexander arnold fic

[crystalreydraws]

Hello hi I just found out you're the artist of my favorite pic of Jamil from all time 🥹 I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEE SO MUUUUCH his bday art from 2020!! It's my favorite one from every art and he looks so pretty and hot and cool and like he's in a music clip and about to drop a fire verse!! I LOVE your painting style so much, as a baby artist, would you one day show us how you color? I'm sure you put so much blood, sweat and tears into your hard work and it would great to get a little bit of that wisdom. Please keep drawing, keep doing what you love because it makes the world a better place to live!

Sketched my sleepy and tired oc to do a very quick demonstration but it covers how I color when i render things:

Start with rough greyscale first, it's a good start to roughly decide light direction and value of your overall work. Especially if you have no idea on your shading.

Next, apply base color to greyscale. I'll use gradient map if I want to keep the details of my greyscale. But if not, I'll just start with a flat base color, and try whatever I can to apply color.

Rendering phase. Add layers and just paint on top to refine it. Merge all layers if it's too messy. Then add layers again. My rendering really depends on how much time taken because it's just a loop of paint over and refining. Thats why i do more simple fanart cuz I sometimes get bored of rendering Also at this stage when doing lineless style, I merge lineart with layers and cover up the lines.

Final touch. Merge all layers and use [filter gallery > paint daubs (brush size 1, sharpness 2)]. It will sharpen your work and look detailed. Or add some very fine noise texture, it will look detailed too.

Another very rough demonstration on how i apply color mood. This will be after step 2. And same will be more refining and even paint over to ensure the colors look ok.

Other tips:

Add warm and cool colors especially on skin.

Use pinterest. Always find more than one reference for a subject if you want to draw better than yesterday. Pure ref is a nice tool to gather reference on your pc. When i draw a single hand I had a lot of ref. (pose, color temperature, lighting, photos, artwork, all diff ref)

Color theory is so important I still struggle a lot. I highly recommend beginners start from practicing Marco Bucci's ball practice. After that slowly change to adding character into movie scene and photographs, the purpose is to adapt different color moods and learn the lighting from the image. Learn more from famous movie and cinematic. They did their best to nail the colors.

Anyway,

this is a long answer about how I color. My previous job influenced me so much on coloring so there's a lot of thinking and struggle on my colors.

So, I suggest you be more experimental and try new ways, at the end what remains is what fits you.

#crystalreydraws

[bianc0re]

In all my years of being an artist, I've never had the courage to ask someone this. However, I'm having an ✨existential crisis✨ and figured "eeehhh why the f not". Anyway, I adore the way you draw anatomy. Any tips / tutorials / favourite references or books/ etc?

Welcome to the ✨existential crisis✨ club,i’m still currently learning anatomy in school and one of my professor gave me this useful advice to make a habit of sitting down and sketching at least 15 minutes daily from photographs on either one of these websites (it’s timed)

http://reference.sketchdaily.net/

https://quickposes.com/en

or even from ones you find on Pinterest, just keep them simple at first and try to not spend too much time on each pose.

If you find it too hard at first focus on parts of the body (ex. hands) then once in a while try to draw from imagination.

I also still always use references and when i don’t it shows 💀 so if i can’t find any good ones for a pose i have in mind i either take a picture of myself or make it in Magic Poser, an app to pose models in any way you want. I even bought the full version so you know it’s that useful.

As for tutorials i used to religiously watch on youtube Sinix Design and Ethan Becker, as for books i liked Point Character Drawing by Taco and art books of styles i like.

just keep drawing and if you can get some critic from someone skilled to point you in the right direction, i used to get it from art discord servers as there’s some channels just for that.

as i said before i still don’t think i’m at a level to give actual good advice so try what’s good for you, good luck! don’t be afraid to ask stuff, it’s what the internet is for

goofy example:

[feelbokkie]

💜Purple💜

☀️Feelbokkie M.list ☀️

Purple: Creativity, Royalty, Wealth

genre: heavy angst, unestablished relationship

pov: 2nd person

description: life can be lonely when everyone thinks you're perfect. Hyunjin knows that first hand.

pairing: idol!hyunjin x reader

warnings: swearing, reader is a bit of a shitty person

word count: 1,580 (unedited)

©feelbokkie (2023) — all rights reserved. reposting/modification of any kind is not tolerated.

🖍️Crayon Box M.list🖍️

“You truly are a prince.” You stare in awe as you examine Hyunjin's face mentally talking as the sun lights his face. You managed to sketch out his face onto your canvas, not that it did any justice to the demigod of a man sitting in front of you. Thankfully you took a picture of him earlier so you can reference it later. And you're thankful that Hyunjin took his turn painting you first, your nerves alone would have definitely cut into his painting time if you had gone first. He's busy enough as it is, you know it would be hard for him to find another day off again so you two could work on your project.

When Hwang Hyunjin himself walked into the community center for the local painting class, you thought that it was an accident. And when he took the only open seat, which happened to be next to you, you froze, not sure if you were dreaming or actually alive. You vaguely knew who he was. You heard his music before and seen his ads around the city, but with those looks and that talent, you weren't even sure he was a real person.

You heard whispers from other classmates about how he was nicknamed a prince. You could see it, although you found his features more godlike than anything else. As your classes went on, Hyunjin stuck to you and you had no idea why. You definitely didn't want to deal with the negative attention from your classmates. But you didn't mind working with him.

He was quiet and kept to himself. His work seemed perfect, you weren't sure why he was even in the class. You spent more time staring at his art rather than at him. It always seemed sad. And maybe it was the fact that you never engaged in any of the gossip and that you also kept to yourself that drew him to you. So when you were assigned to find a partner and paint each other's portraits, he asked you. What shocked you even more is when he asked you on a date as well. Before that, he hadn't spoken more than two words to you.

“Please don’t call me that.” He hums quietly, careful to keep his pose perfect for you. His long, dyed blonde hair framed his face perfectly. His eyes focusing on the prop rose that he brought with him. With the way he looks now, you're so tempted to add a crown on yourself.

“What, a prince?” You question as you dig into your bag looking for a color to start the background. Maybe literally working from the outside in might intimidate you less and you can start painting Hyunjin.

“Yes,” He answers shortly.

“Why not? I think it’s a perfectly good compliment.” You pull out a blue and green, debating if you should stick with the colors that are very visible behind him.

“It’s not,” He scoffs, rolling his eyes. He's quickly reverting to the Hyunjin you see in class. The quiet, easily annoyed man who always looks like he would rather be anywhere else until he actually starts painting.

“What’s wrong? Why are you acting like this?” You set the paint down and peek your head past your canvas.

“Like what?” He hisses through his teeth.

“Angry. Annoyed. A jackass.” You roll your eyes. Before this, he was so much happier. The two of you had several deep conversations. Hyunjin speaking more than you so you could keep your pose for him. He even laughed a few times. You couldn't help but watch him speak from the corner of your eye. His mouth twitching upward as he spoke about his work, groupmates, and all of the things he loves. That Hyunjin has clearly left the park now.

“I’m annoyed," He squeezes his eyes shut, taking a deep breath, "I'm annoyed because people often call me a prince and belittle my accomplishments based on my appearance.”

"Got it," You nod pressing your lips together and disappearing back behind your canvas. You pull out a larger bottle of green paint and put a bit in a cup before diluting it with water for the underpainting.

The two of you sit in silence as you mix the paint and water. The tension in the air unsettles you. You feel like how you did on your first day of class.

"You agree with them, don't you?" Hyunjin asks, breaking the silence and your concentration. You furrow your eyebrows at him, even though you know he can't see you behind the large canvas.

"I didn't say that," You say quickly, hoping to calm the nerves that no doubt were brewing inside him.

"But you're thinking it. Or at least you thought it. That's why you're being quiet." He says accusingly, his voice getting louder. You look around the park. It's nearly deserted, which is why you chose it. You wanted to avoid a fan spotting him and alerting fellow stay of Hyunjinn's whereabouts.

"Hyunjin, let's not--"

"Oh my God, I was right!" He shouts. You once again turn around to check the park as you put down the diluted green paint and walk over to where Hyunjin was posing. He's now cleaning up his stuff and putting them in his bags.

"Hyunjin, we were having a good time, let's not get into this right now." You try to calm him down as he haphazardly throws small tubes of paint into his bag.

"No, I think we should get into this right now before we even think about going on a date." He spat.

"I didn't mean anything by it when I called you a prince. It was just a compliment." You pause and look at him, really look at him. His face is twisted in anger. His jaw clenched, lips curled in disgust, nostrils flared, and eyes shooting you a warning glare. Daring you to elaborate.

"It's a backhanded compliment at best." He scoffs again. You step closer to Hyunjin. His fist clench, crushing the flower he was holding oh so delicately moments ago.

"I did not mean it like that." You breathe calmly, placing your hand on his.

"Yes, you did. Everyone always does. Everyone always overlooks my hard work and dedication and dismisses them because--what? I'm attractive? 'Blessed by good genes and god?' They don't see the countless hours I've spent in dance studios going over choreography until I felt like my lungs were going to collapse and bones were going to break. Or how many times I sing or rap until my voice is raw and sore before I even have to record and still not be good enough. Everyone just sees my face or just thinks I'm naturally talented so of course I'm an idol. I am sick and tired of it, Y/n. I'm tired." The anger quickly leaves his body. His lips fall slack, head falling forward as he squeezes his eyes shut. His chokehold on the flower loosening.

"Hyunjin, I didn't mean to dismiss your hard work. Honestly. It's just that, you're so beautiful, like living art, that you can't expect people to not comment on it." You close the gap between the two of you, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"But?" He mumbles.

"But?"

"Your voice. Something is missing in your words. I can hear it in your voice. Like there's something you're not saying."

"I'm not hiding anything."

"Bullshit," He scoffs. "I spent an entire hour studying your body language as I painted you. I can read you like a book now. If you have something to say, say it already." He lifts his head and opens his eyes. His red, sore eyes meet your concerned dry ones, piercing into your soul.

"I don't have anything to say." You lie.

Because, how can you tell him that he's partially right? You don't dismiss all of his hard work. You've seen him dance and hear him sing. You can tell that he has some sort of natural talent, it's impossible not to. And you also know that he works hard to maintain that talent and grow as a performer. But you also know that his princely looks helped him get to where he is today. If he looked average--if he looked half as attractive as he does now, he might not be as successful as he is now. But you can't tell him that, you don't have the heart to.

"Good talk," he sneers, pushing your hand off of his shoulder and stepping back, "I'm so glad we had this little chat. Now I know that I'd be wasting my time dating you."

"What? I didn't even say anything," You're taken aback by his sudden change in attitude. You can't help but stare at him as he finishes gathering his things.

"You didn't have to Y/n, I could see it in your eyes. It's another one of my princely talents, I can read everyone like a book. And I read everything I needed to in your eyes. And I want no part of it." He says as he starts walking away, dropping the crumpled rose on the floor.

"Wait, Hyunjin!" You call out.

"That's the thing, Y/n. It's fucking lonely at the throne. But I'd rather be miserable and lonely than surround myself with people who genuinely do not give a shit about me or how hard I actually work. See you in class."

—

Buy me a coffee?

—

Permanent Taglist

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[prince-kallisto]

Larry’s Suit Style Analysis

After making my Tucked-In Tie post, I started to analyze Larry’s suit because I’m not normal for him. Long story short, it’s a cheap average suit haha. But if you want a thorough analysis and some suit facts, continue!

Quick disclaimer, I’m not an expert at suits, fabric, or tailoring. This is an analysis based on the in-game models, official art, and my own knowledge. If I missed something or got something wrong, please let me know!

Larry is wearing an American cut, single vented, three buttoned suit with a notched lapel. The American cut suit was the first type of suit to be mass produced and affordable to the working class. It’s a modern suit compared to the traditional British cut and the sleek Italian cut, so most business men wear this type of suit. It’s referred to as the “sack suit” because of its shapelessness. American cut suits are often off-the-rack (OTR), meaning they are cheap and mass produced with ‘average’ measurements. OTR suits will always need tailoring to fit you perfectly.

I love how he wears a three buttoned suit!! It’s hard to see on his 3D model, but the official art confirms its there. Three buttons aren’t as flattering on most people because it isn’t as slimming and elegant as one or two buttoned suits. Tall and thin people are recommended to go for this type to suit if they want to “fill themselves out” visually. I don’t know Larry’s height, I’m terrible at comparing models haha. My guess is near 6 feet because he towers over the player character, and he slouches a lot. No matter his height, it’s an very interesting choice to add that extra button and I love it. A singular button can make a huge difference for a suit.

Edit: In case you’re curious, the BIGGEST rule of wearing suits is that you NEVER button the last button. This rule is so important that modern suits are deliberately designed and cut to not button the last button, or else the suit will be incredibly uncomfortable and awkward looking. Weird, right? But it’s why Larry has 3 buttons, but only 2 are actually buttoned.

He has three cuff buttons, which look nonfunctional. Two buttons is considered casual (Hassel) and four buttons is formal (Geeta), so three is an in-between. It’s expensive to have functional cuff buttons, so OTR business suits will almost never have functional buttons.

There’s minimal padding in the shoulders. It’s another standard for OTR suits because it works on most people’s shoulders. Larry has sloping shoulders, so the padding on his shoulders help support his upper body silhouette a bit.

Am I going crazy (yes), or am I seeing the stitches in his shoulder seams? It’s something that’s caught my eye since I first saw his 3D model. If it’s actual the thread becoming visible, then his suit is falling apart! Whatever it is, I really love the detail of it!

Edit: Notes pointed out his Pokéball throw, which makes sense why the threads are so strained! He has a really aggressive arm movement, so that plus the cheap and old suit isn’t a good combination haha

Depending on his pose and angle, his shoulders look like they have divots. If this is the case, then he probably has a hard time finding suits that fit his shoulders properly. Shoulder divots can happen for a variety of reasons, most commonly with athletic people because their biceps don’t fit the arm hole. But people with bent postures also need to have their suits accommodate them, because their shoulders will likely not match up with the suit shoulders. This is probably Larry’s case.

The suit looks like its made of cheaper polyester/polyblend fabric, which is really textured and very shiny. I love the detail on his model, but his suit immediately looked on the cheaper side to me, which was probably the point haha.

His suit is also a bit wrinkled; it’s not tailored specifically for him. Tailored suits aren’t necessarily form-fitting and slim, but they aren’t supposed to be creasing the way Larry’s is. Although suits can generally fit your size, an OTR suit will never fit you perfectly. His suit in the 2D official art isn’t wrinkled at all, so…I guess this just applies to his 3D model haha.

My theory is that he had some tailoring done to the lapel, which can pop out if it isn’t tailored (a bad lapel is one of the first signs of a cheap OTR suit). Minimal tailoring is a lot cheaper than tailoring the entire suit, especially if the suit was cheap and ill-fitting to begin with. He also has triangle embroidery on the lapel, which I interpret as foreshadowing for his Elite Four status! I wonder if Geeta asked the tailor to do that so Larry’s outfit could have something special about it haha

His dress shirt is way oversized, or at least has bad shoulders for his body type and posture. The shoulder seam is way lower than it should be. It’s really not worth it to tailor the shoulders in dress suits/shirts, it’s pretty much impossible unless you want to shell out a fortune. Your dress shirt and suit should at least have properly fitting shoulders, because every else can be tailored.

Of course, I want to mention how his tie is tucked into his shirt in the concept art! It’s not considered the be “proper” to do this, at least according to suit fanatics. Many people do this when they’re doing something messy or eating, and Larry eats a lot! I love this detail!

Larry wearing quarter-break pants. When the suit pant creases as it meets the shoe, this is considered a ‘break.’ A quarter-break has a very subtle crease and shows a hint of your socks. This style is considered modern but not trendy or flashy, so it’s very fitting for businessmen. Quarter-break also works well for tall and/or thin people! Geeta has no-break pants, which is very trendy and youthful, and Hassel has full-break pants, which is older and traditional. Hnnn the details!!!

He’s also wearing casual business loafers, and they look pretty worn out and dusty at the edges, especially in the official art. He seems to walk a lot between his three jobs, so his loafers probably get a lot of wear and tear.

This could be a coincidence, but in Japan there’s a very well known apparel company called AOKI. AOKI was established in the late 1950s, and their goal was to make suits affordable to the average Japanese man. Even today, AOKI is best recognized for their suits for salarymen. Larry’s name in Japanese is Aoki! Again, it’s probably a coincidence but it’s a fun one nonetheless!

I don’t know what the point of this was haha (*ﾟ∀ﾟ*) I just adore the character designs in Scarlet and Violet, and despite how plain Larry’s outfit is, there’s so much to be revealed in the details! I hope you liked this analysis!

#pokemon sv #pokemon larry #gym leader larry #elite four larry #long post #I’m normal about this man #real talk tho if I don’t make these insane posts who will #i am cringe but i am free #kallistopost #theory post

[feyspeaker]

Hii me again. I'm not sure if I sent the ask I'm talking about on anon, so maybe that's why you didn't see it? It partially got answered with a recent ask you got anyway so no worries. I was just wondering if you use 3d in your process and if so, how? I've seen other illustrators use it to varying degrees and it seems like a really helpful tool to push your work.

Oh that's so weird! No I periodically go through my asks in chunks and I didn't see anything like that. I've had a few people in the past few months send me asks that looked like the second half of something else with no context, so maybe it's Tumblr fuckery. Sorry!!

I recommend learning Blender so you can help sculpt shapes and render lighting onto them in order to get the weirder/more complex shadows right. You can also apply colors onto the things you sculpt in order to see how the colors act in different lighting. It's pretty much an invaluable tool to me as it keeps me from having to problem-solve too much. I did a lot of digging around in my house to build references to photograph but it was just impractical to achieve the things I want to a lot of the time. I still do that, and you would not believe how many goofy photos I have of my husband in the poses you've seen me paint Astarion in lmao...

I do think that it needs to be used in moderation if you are a more beginner artist- I think that using 3D is DANGEROUSLY close to becoming a massive crutch for a newer artist and improper usage or over reliance on it can lead to stiffness or artificial looking colors. You need to be able to train your eye to create compelling compositions by bashing things together, and train your hand to replicate/add/subtract as needed from your references with an organic feel.

I will say this as a total committer of this crime myself in the past, it's VERY easy to tell when an artist relies too much on, for example, Clip Studio Paint posed models as bases for pieces without a good enough grasp on their fundamentals. And I also used to prickle when I saw more advanced artists warn of this, so I do think maybe it just has to run its course sometimes, because I know that using 3D for reference seems like an easy-button.

I've taken a lot of in-person classes for live figure drawing and painting, as well as just totally done drills, basically, on sketching and painting from life before relying too much on static imagery/3D/etc.

I often fret over every piece I do looking too stiff even still.

You have to do a LOT of the boring hard stuff the old fashioned way. And I regularly go back to it over and over when needed.

For example, I recently did a stupid amount of rose petal/flower studies deconstructing and painting ugly little paintings/doodles over and over because I know that I've been horribly weak at painting flowers for years (actively avoiding them). And I've been doing a lot of floral stuff lately due to that.

Whenever I start a new piece in new territory, I know it's going to mean several 3AM nighters where I have two other tabs open on Photoshop where I test out different textures or do a couple of studies. I'm working on a piece of my OC right now that has a lot of gore/medical instruments and I've been working on testing out different methods for shiny metal painting and some anatomical studies. I'll come to a snag in a painting and go "here we go" and work through it one piece at a time.

My Halsin piece, "Secret Spot" in the hot spring, was a massive undertaking with a lot of these moments. The Karlach x Dammon piece took 3 times longer than it should have due to me just having to go back and fix things knowing I could do better after doing some studies.

Ultimately I personally find art tutorials to be quite useless overall once you get to a certain point, unless they are teaching the use of a tool/software because you HAVE to figure out what works for you. And even then I use Blender like a monkey with a keyboard, I suspect, because I've just bruteforced through it, so I could probably use a tuneup from a good teacher on that haha. I hope this helps some, and sorry if I overstepped if I sound preachy.

#ask

[kashmir-smoke]

Some QSMPers as Pokémon trainers.

(Pomme, Richarlyson, Ramón y Spreen)

For Pomme, I obviously had to give her Applin as a starter. Her Applin would definitely become an Appletun and not a Flapple, which is why I gave her more Appletun colors. Speaking of her outfit, like a lot of Pokémon characters, her outfit has a lot of bows and things on her that look like things on Applin or Appletun. Her neck bow is Applin’s eyes, the leaves on her head and her hair ties are the leaf things on Appletun, and her socks are the mouth like pattern on the lower half of Applin. Not to mention, the top of her apple beret has the light pink pattern shine like Applin. All of her colors but her dress and skin tone, and the French flag blue were picked from Applin/Appletun. I imagine she would be a grass type trainer because none of the eggs can be dragon type because they are all dragons. I used Iono as a pose reference because I wanted to get the style (obv no tracing just referenced it).

Richarlyson has Scorbunny obviously because he’s a soccer player! That was pretty much my thought process on it, I did find it hard to incorporate Scorbunny’s colors into his design though so I may go back and rework his design at a later date. Richas has a mooshroom hat usually, but I made his hat a miltank now because that is the most cow Pokémon and a mooshroom is a cow. No kidding, that was my thought process. I think he would also be a Sword & Shield trainer or gym leader and if he was a leader he would be a fire type trainer. Why did I decide fire type? Because Scorbunny is fire type, again, I am very straight forward. And that’s why I made the Brazil flag’s globe into a blue fire type symbol. I think certain parts of this design are good, I think I could definitely rework the colors a bit though.

Ramón was the first design I made and I think it’s the best thought out in terms of Pokémon choice, and it goes hand in hand with his father’s, Spreen’s, Pokémon, Pangoro. I gave Ramón Pancham as a starter. Pancham is a flat fighting type, which I think is perfect for Ramón, Ramón is a fighter and a little gung-ho and I think a baby-stage fighting type is perfect for him. None of the eggs will have evolved Pokémon, I think. I think that Fit would be a fighting type trainer and as I will talk about later, Spreen is a dark type trainer, so Pancham is particularly perfect for Ramón. Pancham is pure fighting but it becomes a dark type when it becomes Pangoro because it is corrupted. I think Ramón would refuse to evolve his Pancham and keep it a baby Pokémon forever because of his father, Spreen. Ramón would associate dark types with Spreen and therefore wouldn’t keep them as Pokémon. I also gave him a klefki because I thought it was cute and I would probably also give him a duskull if I had unlimited time to draw this. I used the youngster trainer from either Hoenn or Kalos…? I truly do not remember which game the blue hoodie youngster comes from, I think it’s ORAS.

Spreen is a dark type trainer and I think he would actually be a gym leader. I think that he would serve a similar role to Norman narratively for a Pokémon game while Ramón would be Brendan (Hoenn/ORAS). I think unlike Norman though, Spreen would be a lot more aggressive, but he would still have that “dad’s working he’s an absent father” rizz that Norman has. I also imagine that he gave Ramón a Pancham to be similar to him, but now Ramón resents him and refuses to evolve his Pokémon because of the dark type which Spreen is annoyed with.

#qsmp #quackity smp #qsmp design #qsmp eggs #qsmp fanart #qsmp ramon #qsmp ramón #qsmp rambles #qsmp richarlyson #qsmp pomme #qsmp spreen #q!ramón #q!ramon #q!pomme #q!richarlyson #q!spreen #qsmp pokemon au #kashmir-smoke art

[aroacemisha]

Thought I'd make a post explaining why I don't believe Huntl0w is canon, or was even supposed to be, and the "shippy" stuff in the show was just allowed as a treat for crew members who shipped it.

The post is a little long, so it's going under read more.

--

In the storyboards, the "Huntl0w moments" were more explicitly "shippy" than in the final show. In the final version, they tend to be toned down or even removed completely, even as late as TtT.

Take a look at these comparisons:

storyboard: Hunter changes his expression and pose, drawing attention to the blush, has stronger implications of attraction

final version: no change in pose, only slight change in expression, the blush is subtle, almost unnoticeable

storyboard: a full-face blush on Hunter (similar to how Amity sometimes blushed at Luz), Willow is looking at him while he nervously looks away, the frame is also a closeup focused on them, with Gus being in the periphery

final version: lighter blush on Hunter, who also looks flustered by the embrace in general rather than Willow specifically, all three are equally focused on in the framing

This shot was completely cut, Hunter neither blushes nor puts his hand on Willow's shoulder, and he doesn't even look at her

This particular one could have possibly been a jokey thing not meant to end up in the final version, but it was included as the final shot with the storyboards that did make it to the final version, so I'm including it here:

I'm not gonna put this last one in, since Hayley doesn't want her art reposted, but I would encourage you to look at her storyboard of the Hunter haircut scene vs. the final version. You'll notice that the final version is less "shippy" and completely removes any implied reciprocation from Willow.

And here's a couple interesting captions from Hayley's Tumblr posts:

(Seeing how I've shown that the toning down continued afterwards, even up to TtT, it seems less like "not yet", and more like "it's not supposed to happen at all")

I find it noteworthy that she referred to her "shippy stuff" with Huntl0w as "highly interpretable" even as late as TtT. (And also that she acknowledged it is interpretable, unlike a good chunk of the fandom)

If the ship was truly intended to be confirmed canon, why were the "Huntl0w" scenes still being toned down and made more ambiguous and interpretable even as late as TtT, the episode right before the supposed "confirmation"? This makes me think Huntl0w isn't meant to be canon, but the crew were allowed to have a treat for all their hard work and insert some fan service.

--

The other reason why I think it's small hints allowed as a treat for the shippers on the crew, rather than an intended storyline, is because all of the "Huntl0w" in the show is very surface-level. It's either not meant to be a romantic arc at all, or it's an extremely poorly written one. There is no written storyline between them, just blushes superficially added on top.

They barely interact on screen between ASiaS (the episode where they just met for the first time) and FtF (the episode where they supposedly "got together", or at least were "confirmed as mutually in love"), and the entire "buildup" to the "romance" is a handful of small, quick blushes from Hunter. I didn't even notice the blushes/realize they were inserted as a "shippy" thing until King's Tide, and I'm not the only one, I've seen other people say they didn't notice either, some didn't even notice the one in KT.

And Willow didn't show any interest/hints of a crush at all before FtF. No blushes, no unusual behavior around Hunter, nothing.

The only arguments claiming she did show hints of a crush are varying degrees of stretches, or even outright insults to her character if you think about it. Because, for example, they imply that she would be fine with seriously injuring a friend, or letting a friend fall to their death, if they weren't secretly her crush.

You may say, "but they stayed at the Noceda house for a couple months, they probably got closer/Willow developed a crush then!", and to that I will point out that there's no change between how Willow and Hunter interacted at the end of season 2 and how they interacted in TtT, so it seems that there wasn't much off-screen development either.

(Also! If all of the important relationship development for two major characters happens off-screen, they should not end up in a romantic relationship together, that is bad writing)

Additionally, neither were shown or implied to be trying to spend more time with specifically each other, they're mainly shown interacting in a group setting with all of the Hexsquad, and the one time it's just the two of them is incidental, Willow just happens to pass by the bathroom while Hunter is cutting his hair and happens to notice it.

Even in FtF, the episode that went harder/was more in-your-face with the "Huntl0w" moments, it remains pretty surface-level. All you'd have to do to completely cut it is remove the blushes. The story/plot or the way they talk to/interact with each other wouldn't have to change at all. There's no written romance, just superficially added blushes.

(And while Willow does finally blush in this episode, it's only after Hunter gets powers and saves her life, which makes it come off as either her feeling like she "has to" reciprocate now, or her only finding him attractive now that he has powers. I'm sure neither is intentional, but just because it's unintentional doesn't shield it from criticism)

And now, let's do a comparison to Lumity and Raeda, in both development and confirmation.

Luz and Amity's relationship was developed on screen for about 10 episodes or so from the start of their friendship to them eventually becoming a couple. They ask each other out on screen, and after that point, they are referred to as girlfriends and kiss on screen several times. They're as explicit as you can get.

Raine and Eda are implied to be exes in Raine's introduction episode, and it's confirmed later, so they have an established romantic history, and after several episodes with on-screen development of their relationship, in the finale, Eda kisses Raine several times after getting them out of Belos's corruption.

As mentioned before, Hunter and Willow barely interact on-screen between ASiaS and FtF, so there's no development to speak of. And in the supposed "confirmation" scene for Huntl0w... All Willow says is that Hunter is important to her too, as a response to the earlier scene where he said "You guys mean the world to me", referring to both her and Gus, and she holds pinkies with him.

Saying someone is important to you is pretty unspecific, and it's especially so here, since she says it in reply to him saying both she AND Gus were important to him (as if to imply they're important to each other in the same way), and hand holding isn't inherently romantic. I don't know where this idea came from, and it really needs to stop.

[Side note: I've also noticed that people who insist that Willow holding hands with Hunter can only be read as romantic don't have the same energy for when Willow holds hands with Amity. It seems that either a) certain people just take whatever position suits their current argument, and take mutually exclusive positions at different times, or b) they are just being heteronormative, or c) possibly both]

As for the epilogue, they do interact again, but there's no blushing, or kisses, or anything like that. They're just hanging out. Again, hand holding is not romantic.

The one "shippy" thing in the epilogue is a single picture hidden away in a dark corner, like an easter egg, and the blush is also once again one-sided from Hunter. Willow looks like she's teasing him.

You may say "but the ending where they're all saying goodbye!!".

And to that I will point out that while it starts with just Hunter and Willow holding each other, Willow also pulls Gus in. This is an Emerald Trio hug, not a Huntl0w hug.

Additional note: the TOH Wiki acknowledges that while the ship was hinted at, it was never confirmed. And those are people who still list Hunter and Willow as each other's love interests, despite the admitted lack of confirmation. Take it from them.

[Edit: I've been informed that apparently users of the Wiki acknowledge that the ship isn't canon, and someone has actually tried to remove the "love interest" bit from the character pages, since it isn't confirmed, but it was reverted, and when they asked about it, they were told that since it was hinted at in the show, it can stay. The insistence on still listing them as love interests, despite it only being speculation/headcanon, is more of a higher staff problem than a userbase at large problem]

As a final note, Dana has done plenty of Lumity and Raeda art, but I'm still yet to see a Huntl0w drawing from her, even though she has posted drawings that feature both of them. I've only seen Huntl0w art from other crew members, but not Dana herself, and I feel like that's worth mentioning.

(She has also explicitly encouraged "death of the author", which, for those unaware or misinformed, means ignoring what the author says outside of the work, and interpreting and analyzing said work based only on what is in the work itself)

--

TL;DR: The "Huntl0w" stuff in the show is toned down compared to the storyboards, it never got confirmed, unlike Lumity and Raeda, and is likely in the show mainly as a treat for the hard work of the crew members who ship it. What we have in the show gave just enough fan service to shippers, while keeping it ambiguous enough that you don't have to read it as romantic.

#toh #the owl house #owl house #huntl0w negative

[fakemonexperiments]

fakemon concepts

so, you’re still thinking about making one of those pokemon creatures: the question is, what kind of pokemon creature do you want to make?

how to concept

before we get to actually designing the pokemon, you’ll first want to come up with a strong concept. this is what your pokemon is actually about, its core conceit, what makes it special! a strong concept will guide your design and tell you exactly what your pokemon should look like, in terms of physical characteristics, pose, and personality.

disclaimer: pokemon concepts have evolved over the generations, which is really only to be expected from an almost 30-year-old franchise. pokemon concepts will continue to evolve over time. I’m not going to be the judge to say “this looks like a pokemon” or not, mostly because they release new and surprising pokemon every year and I always find myself liking them anyway. these are just a few frameworks that will hopefully help you navigate fakemon design.

anyway.

the fundamentals

pokemon concepts are often made up of multiple parts: where the skill lies is in pairing parts that go well with each other. for example, bulbasaur is a bulb-frog that evolves into a flower-dinosaur. confusing? yes, when I put it like that. but what makes it work is the narrative that ties the pokemon together (a rafflesia growing and bursting into bloom). so,

pick a base concept. easy tier would be an animal, plant, or object (1), but feel free to go further! many of the more anthromorphic pokemon are based around ideas or professions rather than a specific animal. think of snorlax (hungry sleepy animal, not actually a bear) or kirlia (a ballet dancer). pick a base that’s evocative and flexible. the base should be something that would be familiar to a child, if not in specifics then at least in general. (2)

find a secondary concept. the secondary concept does not need to relate to your base concept, but it should have synergy with it, IE they should resonate with each other and make it easier, rather than harder, to understand your pokemon on first glance.

marry these concepts together using a narrative and personality. your pokemon should tell its own mini-story. how does it function in the wild? how does it behave in relation to humans? what are its likes and dislikes? at this point, you may start filling out the laundry list of pokemon traits (post upcoming), like their typing, evolution stage, pokedex entries, stats, and so on. (3)

does this pokemon go with other pokemon? if so, you might need to think about those pokemon too! like real life critters, they can have a variety of relationships, be it mutualistic or antagonistic or anything along those lines. if this pokemon evolves, think about how its core idea evolves through the different stages (as opposed to just getting bigger and more complexly designed). you can go through this process for those guys too!

happy with your fakemon concept? good! now is time to refine your concept further. here is a DIAGRAM I have made for your reference.

pokemon graph 01

you’re probably looking at this like. what the hell does THAT mean??? but you also probably get it from looking at it. all pokemon fall on this diagram somewhere. you should try to stay within the pale red diamond, otherwise known as “the pokemon zone”. here are why I labelled the axes as such:

a zoo animal is a pokemon that’s too familiar for anyone’s liking. it does not necessarily need to be an animal, that’s just the name I’m using for it. this often happens if you lean too hard on your base concept and make your pokemon wayyy too specific. like if you made a mantis shrimp but it’s just a mantis shrimp. yes, it’s very cool, because mantis shrimp are fundamentally cool, but at the end of the day, it’s still basically just a mantis shrimp with no other significant traits. again, “zoo animal” can also apply to more humanlike concepts - this happens when you make a pokemon’s assigned characteristics too clear in its design. remember: timburr has a vest and carries a steel bar, but it does NOT wear a hat and its vest is not high-vis. try simplifying and abstracting if this is you.

a furby is a pokemon that is unearthly to the point of unfamiliarity. I mean, yes, strictly speaking all pokemon are unearthly, but this is a pokemon that’s so unfamiliar it’s hard to parse on first glance what’s going on with it. often this has to do with missing the mark on pokemon design conventions, but the existing pokemon I’d place close to this are actually ultra beasts, which are like this by design. they do this by doing things like having uncomfortably and satirically humanoid silhouettes, missing faces and facial expressions, being full abominations and so on. there are some really interesting things you can do in this space, but you want to still make sure this pokemon is interesting and likeable to a child.

a digimon is, well, a digimon. there are plenty of theses on why digimon are different from pokemon, but personally the main difference is in the scale of design: digimon tend to be much more anthropomorphic and also much more complicated, with the addition of armour and clothing. when a pokemon (such as lucario or gardevoir) is anthro, they aren’t straightforwardly so - they mess with the proportions, they disrupt the silhouette. they also don't straightforwardly add clothes; usually the clothes are baked into the pokemon's fur or skin to give an impression (such as with gumshoos). people fall into the digimon trap when they overcomplicate their design by adding too many elements into it.

a neopet is also, well. a neopet. unlike digimon, neopets tend to be undercomplicated and oversimplified. instead of having the secondary concept, they tend to have a single concept with a personality tacked onto it. not all cute pokemon are neopets, and not all neopets are cute pokemon. for example, eevee looks like it could be a neopet, but is specifically designed to be no particular animal, as well as having a unique concept behind its evolution and relation to other pokemon. if you’ve got a neopet-looking pokemon, try to make its concept more complex (although not necessarily more convoluted).

you might have noticed that I’ve mentioned that certain existing pokemon lean one way or another, but are still considered pokemon. this is because pokemon changes all the time and is constantly pushing the definition of what it means to be a pokemon. as I said, making fakemon is meant to be fun! do whatever! but pokemon official is able to do this because they are aware of pokemon design conventions to begin with. that’s why ultra beasts are Labelled As Ultra Beasts, it’s because they don’t fit the design conventions. keep this in mind when conceptualising your pokemon!

appeal to children

think your fakemon sounds like a fakemon? cool. now you want to make sure your fakemon hits the right tone, and for that, it must be parseable to a child.

like, a kid should be able to listen to your concept and be like oh that makes sense and not get lost along the way. this is because despite the ageing fanbase, one of the cornerstones of pokemon remains being accessible to new and young players, rather than just old veterans. if it’s too complex, streamline your ideas! if it’s too simple, buff up the narrative! every pokemon should, theoretically, be able to become some child’s best friend and companion.

if you’re struggling to figure out how to do this, one thing I’ve found very helpful is actually relying on the frameworks pokemon already gives us in game. that is, your pokemon’s condition!

in-game, pokemon are used in contests, and their condition is part of their judging. for fakemon, this means you can use these stats to guide the appeal of your pokemon:

tough

cool

beauty

cute

smart

or any combination of these! most pokemon (I find) tend to lean on 2 of these characteristics. a pokemon can be large and brutish, but it must be scary in a cool way. in an exciting way! in a “wow that’s so sick I wish I had one of those” kind of way. note also that conditions tend to lend themselves to certain kinds of moves, builds, and stats, but if you’ve been following along with a fakemon in mind that should probably make sense to you anyway.

now that you’ve thoroughly refined your pokemon concept, it’s time to put your pokemon in context.

cultural concepts (and appropriation)

okay, listen. if you are making a fakemon, there’s a good chance you’re thinking of making a fakemon region, or pokedex. like the pokemon company, you’re probably considering basing it on a real-world geographic area and culture. and that’s not bad! but you need to be careful!

I’m not saying that you should only write or make art about cultures that you personally are familiar with, but please for the love of god do not make racist fakemon. I have seen enough racist fakemon for a lifetime. think about the appropriateness of the story you’re telling. are you the right person to tell this story? is this story yours to tell?

as a creator it is your responsibility to research thoroughly any other culture you seek to represent, especially their mythology. this includes being sensitive to their perspective on said culture, which may have religious or otherwise implications that you aren’t aware of. I am once again asking you to be, at the bare minimum, respectful. (4)

if you’re working on a culture that isn’t yours, look into getting a sensitivity reader! I assure you that this is not as scary as it sounds, and could be as simple as asking a friend from that culture to look over your work and point out any blind spots. (if you don’t have any friends from that culture, this should doubly make you question why you’re making fakemon about it, of all things.) please also thank your friend for their time - sensitivity reading is also a job that people get paid for, if you’d like to hire someone instead.

anyway, key points:

if you’re representing a culture or background that isn’t yours, do your research

part of that research may involve speaking to people from that culture or background to actually make the pokemon work

this is not a bad thing and will in fact help you make better pokemon

ultimately the goal of any culturally inspired pokemon should be to celebrate that culture! not to perpetuate racist stereotypes lol

conclusion

a lot of people think that pokemon is often X + Y = Z. they’re not wrong, but it’s actually more like A + B + C + D + E = Z, where A to E aren’t just different things, they’re different categories of things. A might be your base concept. B might be the weird riff you’re putting on it. C might be a personality trait. D is the narrative role of the pokemon. and E is probably the completely broken unique move or ability you’ve concocted for your pokemon that would make it horrible to play against competitively.

make your pokemon rigourously! make them robust! make them fun! and ultimately, please make them a child’s best friend, to go on their pokemon journey with.

footnotes:

(1) I guess a sort of riff on animal, vegetable, mineral, except that pokemon objectmons go far beyond minerals. grass types aren’t all strictly plants, and vegetables do encompass mushrooms though.

(2) a child might not be familiar with the specific parasite that orbeetle is based on, but they do know ladybugs and they do know UFOs. and they’d be like, wow, so cool!

(3) please know that even though I’ve labelled these steps 1-4, you don’t have to actually do them in order. you could start with a typing you want to fill or a narrative in mind, then come up with a pokemon to fill the gaps. start with a design and then make up a personality for it! I’m not the boss of you.

(4) I’m not going to pretend pokemon doesn’t have its own history of cultural appropriation and racism (cc xatu, jynx, etc.). but that doesn’t mean you have to do it.

#fakemon #pokemon #fakemon tutorial

[4pplec0re]

mostly bodies. hair and faces and anatomy. maybe coloring, but i don't usually color my work so don't be obliged to answer that

i appreciate the help :)

alright i’ll try my best 🙏 just for u anon

my biggest tip (kind of general. but yeah) is to not let yourself get to the point of absolutely hating drawing. sometimes i won’t be able to figure out how to draw something and genuinely get so upset that i have to walk away for a while, and that’s okay! after i calm down (and maybe have a snack LOL), i go back to it. sometimes i even restart my sketch entirely if i think it’s beyond saving, and usually the next attempt comes out good :)

you’ve heard this a million times before, i’m sure, but references references references. they were Not lying when they said you should use references. i use them all the time even now. a big thing that helped me was sketching over top of a picture of someone doing whatever pose i want to draw, breaking it down into shapes, and doing a second sketch on top of that one of the actual anatomy. if you’re interested i have quite a few references on this Pinterest board of mine!

adding onto above, the “simple shapes” in question are typically a very very simply shaped skeleton. like this fellow!

(sorry the image is fucking massive idk why it does that) also good to note that typically, your elbows should meet your waist, and your hands should meet your mid-thigh, but don’t be afraid to play with that a bit 🙏

i was stubborn and didn’t do this for YEARS and years but flipping your canvas is actually so so helpful… sometimes i flip my canvas and suddenly i notice that my character is doing that fuckass micheal jackson pose and im like why are you literally italic

i have started to not think too hard about it when im drawing hands and my life has been bliss. idk how else to explain this one… might just be from drawing hands so many times. but yeah. i do Not do that whole finger segment thing anymore i just don’t have the brainpower to make it work personally

as for hair just remember how you want it to be shaped mostly. idk. i love drawing hair so it’s just muscle memory at this point for me 😭🙏

faces… i don’t know i just don’t use that many lines. enough to convey the expression you want, i suppose. but that could just be a stylistic thing!

SKULLS ARENT CIRCULAR… they’re more like ovals. this tip saved my life when it came to drawing side profiles

ALSO ALSO IF YOU WANTyour character to look more up or more down their ear should like. be above their actual face for looking down and below the face if they’re looking up. like this

all i did here was move her face (+bangs) down or up depending on which way his head was facing!!

in conclusion please remember im literally just some teen who likes to draw i haven’t even taken any professional classes so take this all with a grain of salt… i am seriously not lying when i say my process is fuck around and find out LOL but i hope this helps!!!

#digital art #al's doodles #??? #al's thoughts

[twotangledsisters]

New Dream Appreciation Week Day 3: Fitzbabies

"Plants are the new pets and pets the new babies!" - Somebody from my generation, but I use it every day.

Find rambles about the drawing and process of getting here (plus a bonus sketch!) under the read more!

Thanks to @autumn-sundrop, @the-writer1988, @seadrreams for organizing this appreciation week!

This one is my least favourite.

I love the background, I love Rapunzel, I love the fact I thought this one would be a pass because I can't draw children or babies and had no inspiration until I remembered that phrase and that I had a sketch similar to this one in a notebook.

I don't like Eugene's face... digital painting can be hard.

But I think there's still more good than bad!

Program: Procreate

Tracked Time: 4 hours and 40 minutes

And for an idea why digital paintings are soo exhausting, here's a sketch I did later cause it stressed me out I can't draw kids so a study was in order:

∘⟡˖* Do not repost ∘⟡˖*

I used Mellon_Soup's poses for references! (great resource for any artist)

Also done in procreate but this only took 1 hour! That's fifteen minutes per sketch! Compared to almost four hours to digitally paint a piece xD

Anyway, enough rambling.

Look at Eugene and the babies!

Thanks for reading and enjoying!

#new dream appreciation week #new dream #new dream fanart #eugene fitzherbert #rapunzel #rapunzel tangled #eugene fitzherbert tangled #eugene tangled #eugene fitzherbert fanart #tangled fanart #rapunzel fanart #rapunzel tangled fanart #tts #rta #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #tts fanart #rta fanart #my art #digital art

[jxthics]

hello! love your trans art, and I was wondering if you use any references for the bigger trans dudes you draw or if it's all from your head at this point? mc in a project im working on rn is a fat and strong trans dude and it's SO hard to find references to practice!! (or I just don't know where to look for them; even if you have ideas for where to find pics of big cis dudes w/o hollywood six packs and a tiny waist i'd be most grateful!) P.S. If you don't, no problem!! still glad i could jump in here to tell you your art is fire and makes my trans heart so glad to see it on my dash, always a guaranteed +50 HP

hi there, tysm <:) that means so much to me!!

as for what i use -- a lot of what i draw is from my head, but that's not completely from memory. i use anatomy books and look at how they break down fat + the human form while i work. i like this better than using just references because it means i'm able to see someone else break down WHY it looks like that, instead of just having to reverse engineer it myself. getting in the habit of looking at it like shapes has helped when i didn't have any references for a specific pose. i recommend the morpho series for this alongside whatever references youre using!

but if you're looking for references, i like using scans from lgbt magazines, photoshoots, and the like! studying them helps a lot. they can be harder to find but archives are definitely your friend here. & if you have a specific fatter actor you're really attached to but the photos are too edited, maybe look at them in interviews or how they move in tv? motion is a lot harder to heavily doctor like that.

also for practice, draw your friends! draw people you see on the news, draw outside, draw people you see around you in public. itll get you used to how people Actually Look, and it helps you unlearn a lot from drawing only models.

good luck with your project & i hope this helps!!

#jacasser

[shjiyemis]

can you share some of the refs you use for your art? specifically the anatomy ones

I really use whatever I can find! I also tend to play around with my pose that kind of differentistes from the actual reference sometimes as well. I also sometimes frankenstein poses if im having a hard time with BS'ing the pose from the ref too.

Rennaissance paintings and other painting similar to them are also really helpful when trying to make accurate anatomy poses and stuff too! I also recently started taking pictures of myself to get a quick ref instead of searching online for one.

I also recommend looking at music videos and scenes from movies and screenshot poses you like rather then finding an already set up pose picture! sometimes those are too stiff but in music videos and movie clips theres much more movement so their poses feel more fluid!

Practicing different bodytypes help a lot too! I find myself being able to draw anatomy much better when I learned multiple types of body shapes bc it made it easier for me too understand that ppls bodies are very different and all you need to do is take away any strict rules about the body and build the pose and character without those limitations!

Another thing that helped me with anatomy is tracing!! Whether its poses or other art it helps A LOT! Especially if your having trouble with stuff. Honestly the way I got best at anatomy is from tracing and being more open minded about bodies and their individuality. For me I got really good at building fat on to a body when I learned how to properly draw muscular figures! Not sure why but it helped!!!

Examples:

^^^Love this sheet bc it shows so many different bodies, shapes, and sizes! You can easily find bigger/better pictures on google of you search "olympic athlete(s) bodies"

I also sometimes use those 3d models in clip studio, but thats a rarity, others use them a lot tho.

I also simply BS poses and body types until im satisfied, I do just NOT use references a lot of the times bc sometimes I just need to do my own thing without a blueprint. And a lot of the time it turns out good!! Trust ur gut and ur eyes bruv GYVBHJNK

#shye speaks #anon #anonymous #art tips #art help #anatomy tips #IDK LOL

[pancake-breakfast]

I've lost track of what migraine day I'm on, but Trigun Book Club persists and so shall I.

Stream-of-consciousness thoughts for TriMax Vol. 13, Chapters 4-6 below.

Chapter 4: Black

Voiceover Narration: Little did Livio know, but both the hat and the cape provided him with a +10 bonus to strength in addition to the moral boost. Someday, he would open up the stat screen for both and discover this, and then he would weep grateful tears that those who had so little gave him so much.

Oh, Elendira's got her own stat boost outfit, I guess.

I love how much tone she has in her voice. Between her body language and the translation, she's just a very easy character to hear in your head.

Ok, this panel is badass.

Ooh, she actually landed a hit on him. Hasn't done that in a bit.

Why's she sizzling? Is it because she's on fire right now?

(Also, she might be in full badass mode, but goshdarnit, she better not seriously injure my Livio. He's important to me and needs to live!)

Aaaand we're back to Legato's monstrosity.

Dude. He has to save some for fighting Knives, dummy. He's not Gojo utilizing Limitless and being able to just go forever. He's going through his Last Run. There's a hard stop to his power and it's coming up quick.

Hahahahaha, these poor guards. Space ships are, like, history bordering on mythology nowadays. They'd be more mythological if their bones weren't scattered across the planet. Seeing an actual functioning one that came from actual space would be quite something.

That's RIGHT, Luida's the one in charge!

Vance? As in advance? I mean, I know it's an actual name, but it's not a very common one and Nightow really seems to like just making names up, anyway....

Ok, so... Knives has always been a bit OP, but what I'm gathering from the Earth Fleet presentation is that this is a bit ridiculous even by the standards of a culture used to Plants.

Ok, I already have questions about how they know about any particular individual. I'm guessing they gleaned a lot of relevant information out of the remnants of Domina, but yeah.

Goshdarn, of course they were hoping to find Vash....

Dramatic Legato pose!

Man, why'd he get so sweaty all of a sudden? That can't be comfortable.

Awww, Legato's little toy got wrecked. TBH, that looks more like Knives' work than Vash's... but that's only because it's hard to tell the curvature of the cut. Knives tends to do straight cuts while Vash destroys things in orbs.

Ugh, Vash might look badass, but he does not look good. Someone get him a sports drink or something to perk him up. Do Plants love electrolytes in this world?

I wonder who the other two were. Knives and pre-bagworm Legato?

Uh, oh. Guess who's back. You done threatened Livio too much, Elendira.

Chapter 5: Battle of the Mystics

Yeah, Raz doesn't fuck around....

It's weird seeing Raz with short hair. Like, Livio with short hair? Not as cool as if he'd cleaned it up but kept it long, but it was so uneven I get it. Raz with long hair and that undercut? Good for his level of chaos. Short-haired Raz? Just feels too restrained for him.

"Some dumbasses," huh? That's a rude (but perhaps not inaccurate) way to refer to Wolfwood and Vash.

I do appreciate how much more intense and unhinged Raz is compared to Livio. Even Elendira seems a bit taken aback by the mood switch in her opponent.

Oh, that's right. He's used to wielding full-out punishers rather than the double-fangs.

He's gonna burn through ammo so fast using them like that. It's a good thing the guns in this series have ammo in plot amounts.

LOL, Elendira is already sick of Razlo's shit.

Uh. That's a lot of nails. I don't like this. She's being mean to my boy.

Oh, gods. I'm not sure even he can survive this.

OH GOOD IT WASN'T REAL. Dammit, Nightow. Don't scare me like that.

Oof, he's still not in good shape. :/

Chapter 6: Tag-In A Person

I feel like... Livo and Razlo are gonna tag-team this fight somehow....

Mmm, seems like Raz can't deal with Elendira's bloodlust.

Elendira! He needed that leg!

Oof, tiny Wolfwood memory....

The way Elendira says this makes me think she has some experience being on the receiving end of this herself.

Look at him. Pumped full of nails again, but still going. He's a freaking machine.

Ok, I love how Nightow has used the dialog bubble to let us know that Livio is back in control here. It's a small thing, but excellent use of the medium.

I love this conversation between Livio and Razlo. It's Livio making peace with himself, with him recognizing his alter and... sort of validating Razlo's existence, I guess? That Razlo is him and isn't him, and that's ok, and they are part of a tandem structure?

Oooh, are they both fronting? Or... like... Livio's fronting, but Razlo's kinda there, too. I'm not sure how much that works with DID, but it's interesting from a narrative perspective.

Again, wonderful bit of paneling here.

Hahahaha, he didn't even bother to remove the nails. I realize this is a way of telling us that someone is a badass, but... like... having holes in your muscles and/or tendons seriously mucks with your range of motion. If you have a healing factor, get that shit out of the way so it can kick in. Otherwise, you're limiting yourself pretty severely. Like, he shouldn't be able to stretch out to his full wingspan with stuff popping through his back like that. Ok, I'll stop. I know I shouldn't expect realistic anatomical consequences in this series.

Wait, where's Vash? I'm worried about babygirl....

Heheheheh, backwards-firing gun trick shot. Again.

Oh, this is lovely. He's fighting right now with a balance neither side of him generally displays.

Ooh, he got a solid hit on her.

Heheheheheh, mind Razlo still has the mohawk. As he should.

Elendira's got her priorities straight. Kill first, ask questions later.

There's something very satisfying (and maybe very important) about Livio praising Razlo. Not just leaning on him when he's afraid, but honoring Razlo's skill and technique and complimenting him on it. Raz wanted so bad to be needed and to be praised, and now he's getting the praise from probably the person he needed it from the most.

Wait. Wait, is Razlo going somewhere??

What's coming next that's so bad that Raz isn't sure he can keep up with it??

Archive

Trigun Vol. 1: Covers + 1-3, 4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 || Vol. 2: Covers + Extras, 1, 2-4, 5-6, 7-8

TriMax Vol. 1: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 2: Covers + 1, 2-4, 5, 6-7 || Vol. 3: Covers + 1-3, 4-5, 6-7 || Vol. 4: Covers + 1-2, 3-5, 6-7 || Vol. 5: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 6: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 7: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 8: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5 + Bonus || Vol. 9: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 10: Covers + 1-3, 4-5, 6-8 || Vol. 11: Covers + 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 || Vol. 12: Covers + 1-3, 4-6, 7-9 || Vol. 13: Covers + 1-3

Extra Credit: Trigun Vol. 1: Nebraska vs. Vash's Motivations, Vash's Loneliness, Vash's Depression (pt. 2 of post), Soupy Brains || Vol. 2: Coin Factoids || TriMax Vol. 1: Lina, Vash, and a Haircut || Meryl, Vash, and the Pursuit of Happiness || Vol. 5: Knives, Vash, and Hatred for Humanity || Vol. 6: Coping Series: Wolfwood, Meryl, Vash || Vol. 8: The Uncoordinated Counterattack || Vol. 9: Justice, Punishment, and Mercy, The Tolling of an Iron Bell || Vol. 10: Crucifixion Symbology (pt. 2 of post), Merging of Families, Being Childlike (And Why God Hates Chapel) || Vol. 11: New Hair, New Outlook

#livio's a good boy and i'm glad he's here #trigunbookclub #trigun maximum #volume 13 #pancake thoughts