#i think the blues present contrast v nicely with the pinks though

[oh-boy-me]

Casual Outfits Discussed

@themarchinghare Ok >:3c

These hot takes analyses and opinions are based entirely on the concept art of the demon brothers’ casual outfits.  So any in-game features not present in the concept art aren’t discussed.  We’re looking at the outfit as a whole, but occasionally we do talk about individual features.

Also please don’t take this seriously, we just had a lot of fun shitting on the Seven Power Avatars of Sin, Rulers of Hell Itself™’s questionable fashion sense.  I would still die for these boys, terrible taste in shoes or not.

Participants in the discussion were

Jo ( @jodaneko ), my roommate and an art major with storyboarding and character design experience

Justin ( @justinlester0629​ ), my go-to fashion expert for at least a decade and very possibly a future male model

Noodle (Me), untrained eye and resident fashion decade disregarder

With the exception of a few choice quotes, our thoughts and conclusions are all mixed in with each other.  Quotes are mildly paraphrased.

Lucifer:

The colors are good; the blacks and grays are all in the blue-gray family, and there’s a pop of color with the gold belt and red vest.

But he paired a black suit with brown shoes????  SIN

“You should always match your belt with your shoes and those shoes are not gold.” —Justin

Justin on the coat: “I love it, the pattern of the inner lining is throwing me off but it’s not bad, and the fur is perfect because it’s associated with power.”

Me on the coat: “I don’t know about you but I bet that coat looks dumb as shit if you put your sleeves through it.”

WITHOUT the coat though his cuffs scream “I am dealing for blackjack and rolling craps.”  Lucifer looks like he could walk into and out of a casino whenever he pleases and everyone would assume he works there.

“Dress shirts don’t work like that.  He got a size too big.” —Jo

The belt isn’t doing anything functionally, but it’s very important because it balances things out from being too top-heavy.

Out of the belt, shirt cuffs, and coat cuffs, two of them should have matched.

We’re nitpicking because in general it’s a good design.  Lucifer has no taste in shoes but that aside is capable of dressing himself.

Mammon:

“That’s western Danny Phantom if I’ve ever seen it.” —Justin

Very nice coat 10/10 would wear.

The colors are odd, he mixes black and brown too, but the other colors mixed in makes it work in a cute way.

“The only things that clash are the shirt and jeans, he could replace the gray shirt with either a black one or a lighter one to match the boots.” —Justin

He’s got a cat toy on his belt.  I admire his preparedness for feline encounters.

The cat toy also balances out his rings nicely, since the toy is on his left hip and the rings are on his right hand.

The yellows in the shades, belt, and cat toy are placed very nicely and are the best part of the outfit.

Honestly except for the shirt color and the fact that fur-lined boots are out of style we don’t have much bad to say about his design.  Mammon’s casual outfit lives up to his model career.

Leviathan:

“Ugh, god.” —Justin

The headphones don’t match with anything, and ever color he’s wearing is so bright they REALLY don’t match.

Headphones aside he chose ok colors to supersaturate, but also like, supersaturation is very very loud.

It kind of looks like he bought two different tracksuits and forgot they were two different outfits.

The pants don’t match themselves.

“He color coordinated his pant cuffs and his shirt and thinks it makes it ok.” —Jo

The jacket itself is nice, the pins are really good and I appreciate that they’re opposite the stripes in his shirt.

Justin hates the gray stripe though because it looks like either part of the jacket or a girl scout sash.

“That shirt should not be collared.” —Jo

“The shoes look like what Kanye West would design but if they were sold on Wish.” —Justin

It’s kind of just… he took the RGB color wheel and went with it.  It’s just loud.  If he just changed some colors he’d be fine.  Leviathan please I have hope for you.

Satan:

“He looks like a gay prep school person.” —Justin

Satan wore 100 shades of green and said “yes this is peak fashion.”  And you know what, it objectively sucks but I’m kind of living for it?

Rip off jeans that can’t actually be ripped off because of the VERY stylish belt?  Iconic.

Green deep v-neck sweater over a gradient t-shirt and a jacket with the sleeves too short, this man only shops at Goodwill.

The one-shoulder jacket look gives the outfit some personality and I’m really glad he isn’t wearing it properly because looking at it alone I wouldn’t be caught dead in that jacket.

“While good for the design, it’s a mix between business and athletic and I’m not sure how I feel about that.” —Jo

(Jo also said some jackets are designed with sleeves like that but with the color choices it’s just… not good.  Justin pointed out that the sweater and jacket do match though.)

The chocolate loafer-style shoes take away from the rest of the outfit.

“Any other shade of green besides Crayola green would have been better for his nails.” —Justin

Listen it’s so bad it’s good, Satan’s fashion sense is “blue-green.”  We basically ripped into it the whole time but I’m pretty sure it was the universal favorite.

Asmodeus:

“Just from the back he looks like a cool dude and then the front of him screams douche.” —Jo

Asmo’s outfit is actually ok, but he has one fatal flaw: If he takes off his jacket it’s way too plain, but with the jacket it’s kind of too much.

It’s also kind of confusing, because it looks both casual and formal from different angles.  “I’m not sure I like the cut in the front with the t-shirt showing underneath.” —Justin

The shirt is nice but a color that contrasted his skin more would have been nice.

The pants are killer, and the white stitching matches the jacket really well.

The gold accents on the jacket are also good and would match the belt really nicely if the belt wasn’t some ugly mustard color.

This boy is wearing mustard belt and ketchup pants.

Inoffensive shoes which is really the best I can ask for with these boys.

“The scarf.  I like it, but I’m not sure how I feel about it because there’s just so much going on with both it and the jacket.” —Justin

“That’s not a scarf, it’s too long.  It’s like.  A really long strip of cloth.” —Jo

Anyway all in all there’s a little much going on in the front but it’s one of the better looks, good job Asmo.

Beelzebub:

Justin looked at the picture and immediately put his phone down.

“First impression is he looks like Naruto if he got his head lodged in Doritos.” —Justin

“He looks like he’s the carpet of the arcade portion of a skating rink.” —Jo

“He shouldn’t be wearing orange tones.” —Justin

Legitimately we were at a loss for words for a considerable time.  We just kept staring at it.

To start he’s got a lot going on but it feels like he looked in the mirror before leaving his room.  Not saying he did the best job but at least he looked at himself.

The jacket alone is great, but why is it fur-lined?  It throws off the urban design.

But finally some good fucking shirt.  We have mixed opinions on the triangles (I like them, Justin doesn’t but appreciates that the pattern continues on the back) but all like the cut.

Living for the necklace-bracelet combo.

Jo says the biggest problem is that there’s color-matching but in weird places and not enough of it.

Jo hates the pink belt and Justin hates the green suspenders; we concluded that one of them should have been excluded.

His choice in sneakers is not as bad as Levi’s but still not very good.  The laces shouldn’t be green.

This sounds like a lot of complaining but if he cleaned up the belts and ditched the fur it’d be a fine look.

Belphegor:

“Oh shit oh god.” —Justin

“The top half is for sleeping and the bottom half is for riding.” —Jo

Absolutely disgusting, mustard yellow pants tucked into brown lace-up combat boots?  Disgusting.

The shoes alone are nice but the mustard pants don’t work at all.  There’s no cutoff between blue and mustard.

Also he has really broad shoulders, just noticed that looking at this.  That has nothing to do with this but it does affect how his cardigan sits on him.

I personally would wear that cardigan, a hooded cardigan?  Everything I’ve ever wanted.

Justin pointed out that the button lining is weird, and the inside is a weird contrast with the pocket.  He’s right, but I think it’s an endearing mess.

Why do I look at him and feel like he needs to do laundry?  I think it’s the t-shirt.  It would have been better as a collared shirt, taking the hood off the cardigan in return.

You can’t convince me the avatar of sloth laces those boots every day, he sleeps with his shoes on and that’s a worse sin than sloth.

“The pillow’s not part of the outfit?  Oh thank god.” —Justin

Jo said we were being too mean and that it’s not the worst outfit out there, and from the waist up they’re right.

But damn Belphegor the condiment war called and they want the bottom half of their uniform back.

#obey me #obey me one master to rule them all #obey me shall we date #shall we date obey me #obey me swd #swd obey me #obey me! #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me outfit analysis #image

[emsartwork]

i forgot to add: how do design ????!?!??????

So I’m not expert but this is how I think of character design! (also sry if you were asking about clothing/outfit design thats a little different)

under the cut because this is long im so sorry

So in my opinion there are three really important aspects for character design!

AESTHETIC: obviously everybody’s aesthetic is different, but this is more about what vibe the character has, what makes them THEM design wise. 

INTENTION: who is the character supposed to be? this can range from their personality, their back story, their occupation, or their role in the story, but the design need to fit that intention.

COHESION: does the design go well together? or do certain aspects clash too much? obviously you can have disjointed parts of a character design, and if those serve a purpose then thats fine, but if its so disjointed its distracting from the character as a whole you might need to tweak things. 

AESTHETIC: the contrasting part of the design (white flowers in dark hair, dark trim on dress, and dark shoes) provide interest to the eye. The mixing of round and sharp shapes also keeps the design from feeling “boring” even though its relatively simple. 

INTENTION: so what role would this little doodle character have? according to her design elements, shes cute and friendly with her round shapes (bouncy balls, babies, etc), but could have a sharp/fast/active or even dangerous edge to her with the triangles (arrows, knives etc). of course the design doesn’t limit her possible roles. She could be a bubbly younger sister who teases the older protagonist, or maybe she’s the villain hiding in plain sight. the shape this character design doesn’t really have is squares(think bricks and rocks), which communicates that she might not be really strong, steady, or reliable. 

COHESION: repeating the curves across her whole design builds cohesion, it communicates that “yes, these are all part of the same character”, it also allows the eye to “rest” on a familiar shape or line. 

NOW LETS LOOK AT SOME DESIGNS

(Boku no Hero Academia) so both of these characters are super heroes, but have vastly different design elements. so lets analyze them.

OCHAKO(the pink one) is all rounds, with a few pointed shapes in hair mostly, but a little on her costume as well. Her personality is cute, bubbly, and friendly which perfectly suits her soft and bouncy design. Howevre she also has a very slight edge to her, which is seen her determination and drive to improve herself over the course of the anime. 

KIRISHIMA(the red one) at first glance, seems to be super pointy!! shapes that are usually seen on villains or really dangerous characters, but while he IS sharp(literally sometimes) and sometimes aggressive, he is also made of squares, which perfectly suits his loyal “i gotchu bro” attitude towards most of the other characters in the anime.  

ISSUE AREAS: so the only problems i have with Ochako and Kirishima’s designs is that their costumes each have one area that clashes a little too much for my taste. With Ochako, the belt over the color blocking stripes down her crotch are......questionable taste wise. I think the design would be better if the pink chest ended above the belt in a shallow v. not only would this mirror the triangle aspects of her hair, it would fit the belt outline, and continue the trend her costume has of being “grounded” or “heavy”. Kirishima has those.... gears??? around his shoulders??? and while the gear teeth are technically squares, the gear shape itself is a circle, which is a shape that isn’t present anywhere else in his design. I think changing the gears to something similar to his boots or his mask/headgear would create a more cohesive design(also the gears just look hard to move in)

These two characters are presented as individuals so their costumes don’t have to match at all even though they are still seen as “connected” because of the art style for the face, hair, and body. 

In a group giving the outfits cohesive motifs is an easy way to present a strong team image! In Yuki Yuna is a Hero, the girls all have colored lines(usually princess seam placement), armor or fabric hip accents, covered arms, and similar flower shapes in their hair. The Aesthetic of each girl is strong in a monochrome signature color, but not over whelming as the black+white connects them even in color so they aren’t out of place. 

Speaking of color! if your characters are all similar looking (like same body for all of them) you can communicate their personality and aesthetic just with color! (only gonna talk about a few of the ponies) Pinkie Pie (the really pink one) is energetic and playful, so her color scheme is a variation of the primary colors(happy, child like), and have one of the more saturated colors(high energy, intense) of these characters in a large quantity. Apple Jack (the orange one) is a down to earth farm girl, and her color palette is accordingly, mostly earth tones, its also warm analogous colors, which makes her appear un-complicated and warm personality wise. the pop of red is a nice touch to add interest, but notice that its uses sparingly in her cutie mark and tail accessory. Rarity on the other hand is elegant and fussy, her high contrast scheme of white and dark blue/purples gives her more visual interest and is something that makes her appear more “complex” in addition to the gradient thats included in her hair. the colors are also all cool colors, bringing to mind cool glass or water which both have connotations of grace and beauty.

however all the characters here are unified by their colors being on the pastel side, which is also important for a cohesive cast.

another, short, note on color; making the color/line/shading of your figure different from the background can help them stand out, this is used ESPECIALLY in children’s media, but can be applied to any illustration or animation as needed.

Color can also help your characters “read” quickly on screen, the powerpuff girls are a prime example, of having a distinct color blocking and silhouette. even the color blobs at the top and my crappy hand silhouettes STILL read as the characters despite being broken down into abstract elements. I also really enjoy the thick outline in the powerpuff girls, it really makes the characters pop to the foreground even though they have pretty simple designs and are often in a colorful setting.

Also, for a lot of animation, silhouette is INCREDIBLY important for your characters, some designers sketch silhouettes and then design the particulars its so important to nail the shape. These examples from Coraline are some of my favorites (though Laika wins in my heart every time no matter what lmao) because the simple shapes are SO CLEAR and indicative of the character, you literally don’t need to have watched the movie to know these are each different characters with different personalities and roles. 

silhouette can also help tell the story. In Kubo and the two strings (another Laika film) the above three characters are sisters. One has chosen to leave her home in the heavens to live on earth, and the other two stay in their roles as “heavenly” warriors. This is even shown through their designs, the two sisters are weighted on top and their cloaks don’t even touch the ground, while the first woman has trailing, heavy sleeves, hair, and robes all grounding her and emphasizing her connection with the earth.

another example of shape/silhouette reflecting the story, In The Croods, the family of cavemen are for the most part very top heavy, with large torsos and arms, usually in a more hunched over position, while the newcomer, Guy, is bottom heavy with thin arms and stands more upright. In the plot, the family represents the old ways, the strength and rules that have helped them survive, they look like very stereotypical “cavemen”, while Guy resembles the modern man, and appropriately is associated with new ideas and forward thinking.

MORE SHAPES, in DC super hero girls each girl has a distinct personality emulated by her shape language. Zatana is dramatic curves and edges, Super girl is hard, straight edges against curves, giving her a solid muscular shape. Wonder Woman, though also strong, is taller and leaner, lending to a confident leader type. Green Lantern is slim, her lines all flow into each other giving her a go with the flow look. Bumble Bee is, of course, tiny, but her boots and gauntlets add weight and strength to her otherwise small frame. Batgirl is lanky and has a lot of pointed style lines, reminding the viewer of a skinny cat (ironic what with cat woman i know) or weasel which mirrors her preferred “sneaky” crime fighting style.  (also yes this was just an excuse for me to gush abt how much i love the dcshg designs shut up)

so in my opinion, Cartoon Saloon’s The Secret of Kells is PERFECT in aesthetic, intention, and cohesion. Kells focuses very strongly on creating silhouette WITHIN the larger figure shape via color and line, most of the characters pictured here have no neck, the one who does, Brendan, is the main character and the use of negative space that cuts into his shape is used to draw attention to him. Kells is also very strongly inspired by Medieval Illuminated manuscripts (namely, the book of kells lmao). The characters still manage to stand out against outrageously detailed backgrounds via their simple shapes and strong color blocking. 

Aisling, a secondary but very important character, is not human, and has a totally different shape language from the rest of the characters. She is thin and pointy, while most of the others are round or square. Aisling also has the most negative space making up her silhouette, compare the triangles made by her arms and legs in the above picture to the figures in the first image where everybody’s body is self contained with no negative space. She is also very different color wise, very pale and cool colored, as opposed to the warm saturated colors of the human characters. (yes this was another excuse to gush abt one of my fave pieces of media deal with it)

hopefully that wasn’t too rambley and actually helps? if yall have more specific design questions lemma know lol

#askems #a-magical-human #design #art tutorial #tutorial #Character Design #boku no hero academia #yuki yuna is a hero #yuki yuna wa yusha de aru #my little pony friendship is magic #mlpfim #madeline #powerpuff girls #ppg #coraline #laika #kubo and the two strings #the croods #dc super hero girls #dcshg #the secret of kells #cartoon saloon

[earthfluuke]

summary: individual ohmfong moments i couldn’t get out of my head.

everyone has been writing yearning fics (and i adore them so much), but i wanted to get some fluff out there. i hope you enjoy!

i.

it’s second nature for ohm to slide into any open seat at their group’s table. full plate in hand, he’s just about to dig in when he catches phuak’s questioning eye, and his fork freezes a breath from his food. the silent questioning raise of his eyebrow has phuak shaking his head and motioning a hand to the opposite side of the table.

“sit next to your boyfriend, dumb ass,” he says, followed by the mumble of, “no wonder none of your girlfriends stayed with you.”

eyes widening, he turns to fong who can only send him a forgiving smile. scrambling to move his things, he falls onto the bench beside him with a sigh. head hung, shoulder slumped, he works out quickly, “i’m sorry. it completely slipped my mind, and i–”

“it’s okay,” fong assures, understanding as ever. “it’s…different. but we’ll get there.” he slides a plastic cup across the table to him and knocks their shoulders together. “now stop sulking, and drink that.”

ohm rises a bit, reinflates. he’s only ever remembered fong coming to the table with a signature blue hawaii in hand. there is none in sight, only this. taking a sip, he can’t help but feel it tastes a bit sweeter than any other time he’s had it.

they’re not there yet; but they’re on their way.

ii.

“oh!” he hears ohm exclaim as they’re walking out of their classroom towards the football field. just as he turns to ask what’s wrong, he feels a hand grab onto his.

eyes shooting down to the space between them, fong takes notice of how ohm’s fingers fit between his and curl over more than half of his knuckles. he soaks in the warmth ohm’s palm presses into his own and the feel of his thumb stroking up to his nail and back down again. he’s never held someone��s hand before, save for his parents a long, much younger time ago, so he doesn’t have much to compare to. even so, he doesn’t think any other hand would feel as nice. this is the hand he wants to hold forever.

allowing his fingers to close and rest between the ridges of ohm’s knuckles, he tightens his hold when ohm gives their arms an experimental swing.

“we’re boyfriends now,” he explains. “that means we get to hold hands.”

 it’s so innocent, so simple, but knowing that doesn’t help in slowing fong’s heart.

iii.

fong knows he has a very handsome boyfriend. it’s difficult to ignore when they’re meant to be studying in the library. ohm has a hand in his hair, head rested against his palm as a finger taps in concentration. his lips move with each word he reads, tongue sticking between his teeth when he gets to an exceptionally difficult section.

it’s too much sometimes, to just sit there and stare. actions have never been his strong suit; observations are more his style, but it’s not enough. leaning past the edge of his chair, he smooths a hand under ohm’s chin and up the cheek farthest from him. he pulls him the small distance he needs to in order to press a gentle kiss to the cheek facing him.

he hides the laugh that’s building in his throat when he moves back to find ohm wide eyed and stunned. the hand in his hair has slid down to where fong’s lips just grazed, and fong has to turn away from him to hide his pink cheeks and silly smile.

“i’m going to get some snacks. do you want anything?” ohm is too dazed to respond, so fong pushes back his chair and scurries off to the vending machines. it’ll give him the chance to calm down.

(and if he comes back with a few choice snacks he knows to be ohm’s favorites, then that’s just a bonus).

iv.  

when fong is fast asleep, ohm can’t help but prop himself up on his arm and admire him. his bangs curl over his brow, and his cheek buries further into the pillow when there’s an especially cool breeze from the air conditioner. dark lashes fan over tan skin, full peach lips puffing out calm, even breaths. one hand clutches the blanket closer to him while the other lays on the sheets as though it’s looking for something.

he’s as gorgeous as he always is, but there’s something more special about a beauty that only ohm gets to see. there is a constant pull of wanting to grab onto that hand, remind him that what he’s reaching for is right beside him. but he cannot will himself to disturb him and instead resigns himself to only stare. he’s done enough to last him a lifetime, but he doesn’t think he’ll ever tire of it; not if he’s staring at fong.

v.

“beautiful. sweetheart. babe. love!”

“um,” tine clears his throat, looking from ohm’s wide, hopeful grin to the top of fong’s head, the only part of him visible from behind the pages of the book he’s using to hide. “what are you doing?”

“trying to figure out which name i like the most,” fong mumbles from behind his book, clutching the binding a bit tighter when ohm throws an arm around his shoulders.

“the secret is that he likes all of them,” he says, continuing over fong’s protests, “i just need to find out which one he likes the best.”

it picks up again from there, in front of their friends no less. all fong can do is let him go on and on, each name more blush inducing than the last, and hope his novel does a good enough job masking how much he’s enjoying this.

vi.

“i’ll see you for dinner after my group meeting. okay, tilak?”

“yeah, sure – wait, what? hey! fong!”

vii.

fong is always a vision, but this. this. this is something completely different and so very far from even his wildest of dreams.

his sweater – a light beige with a v-neck that dips lower without the collar of the shirt he normally wears underneath it poking out – hangs loose around fong’s smaller frame. the shoulders pool upwards, the sleeves drape over his fingers, the hem hits far past the bottom of his torso. it doesn’t fit at all, and yet it does. there is something so right about coming out of the shower and finding fong lying on his bed, homework papers strewn out across the sheets and ohm’s sweater pooling up around his hips.

“i’m sorry,” fong is quick to say, fingers scrambling to tug it over his head. “it got cold, and it was the first thing i saw. i can give it back.”

“no.” he holds his hands out to steady fong more than himself. when the neck of the sweater stretches back down and he can see him, ohm sends him a smile. “it’s…it’s good. nice. it looks nice.”

“nice,” fong repeats. the very tips of his fingers, the only parts that peek out from beneath the sleeves, smooth over the fabric. his eyes soften, the tips of his mouth curving up. ohm can’t the tingling feeling that spreads through him.

viii.

that single strand of hair. it’s as lovely as it is distracting, for fong at the very least. he supposes ohm must have gotten used to it, takes notice of it the same way he does to the air around him. but it’s so out place and somehow so perfectly put that fong cannot help but admire it.

it’s a flame, stark black and contrast to his skin, that draws his hand towards it like a moth. ever so carefully, with just a graze of his fingers, he pushes it back into place. brushing over his ear, his hand buries beneath the hair parted against his scalp, dark locks blanketing over it.

only then does ohm look to him, realize that there had been something out of place he hadn’t seen. what he does see – feel, sense, know – is fong. and what a wonder that is, to be more noticeable, more important, more vital than the air. to be what ohm needs to breathe.

ix.

ever changing lights flicker across the concert venue. sarawat’s band is on stage, but they’re impossible to pay attention to when fong has all of his focus. he’s beautiful in every color he bathes in, but ohm can’t help but be partial to the mixture of yellow and orange.

fong has always been a bright light, a beacon, an ever-present warmth. the colors paint him as the sun he’s always been, the very center of ohm’s universe. head back, ears turned up to the music, his eyes reflect gold when he turns to ohm to tug him close and sway them along to the bass beneath their feet.

purple and blue remind him of late nights where they’d forgotten to close the blinds. green brings memories of lying in the grassy field in the back of their high school, when all ohm could rely on was stolen glances and accidental hand brushes he’d hold nearer and dearer to his heart than he should have. pink and red mix together, and all he can see is love coating over full cheeks and a fuller smile that he is lucky enough to have directed at him. and then it’s back to yellow, back to orange, back to warmth so hot ohm could burn.

it’s a heat like no other. all he can do to cool is curls a single arm around the small of fong’s back and pull him close enough for their foreheads to touch. his heart still roars with flames, engulfs him in a love hot enough to melt.

wrapping himself around him, fong comments, “you really like this song.”

and all ohm can do is hum, hold him tighter, and soak in his warmth. “i think it might be my favorite.”

x.

“how did you know?” fong asks. the two of them are staring up at the ceiling, peeling paint their replacement for stars. “that it was me, i mean.”

by all intents and purposes, it should be an easy enough question to answer. but it becomes difficult when it hits him that…it’s always been fong. there isn’t a moment where anyone else has taken refuge in his heart and made it their home.

“i don’t remember when it started. but i remember when i realized it couldn’t be anyone else.” the memory flashes behind his eyes in vivid detail, kept clean and clear from how many times he’s brought it back to the forefront of his mind. “new years eve of second year. after tine and phuak ditched us to find pretty girls to kiss at midnight.”

mouth agape when he looks to him, fong says in startled disbelief, “in your backyard when i almost burned my hand on that sparkler? that wasn’t as special as i was expecting. more embarrassing.”

“it wasn’t. and that’s why i knew. there didn’t need to be some big sign. i just knew that even in those simple moments, i wanted it to be you there with me. and,” ohm catches his eye, looks at him so he knows how much he means what he says, “it was the first time i got to see you smile. it wasn’t because of something stupid phuak did or something sweet tine said to you. it was just… because you were happy. i hadn’t seen anything that beautiful before.”

fong says nothing, only reaches down to grab his hand. but when he smiles – that smile – he tells ohm all he needs to know. it’s another one of those not so special moments; the two of them lying flat against the sheets, their hands twisted together between them. but that in and of itself makes it special.

#2gether #2gether the series #still2gether #still2gether the series #ohmfong #ohm x fong #my writing #i love these two so much #it's only been a few days #but they have my heart #also i'm so sorry that gif is SO shitty

[suncatchr]

some updated designs!! lots to say about these!!

Emilia and Mateo’s “Imaginary” Designs

I have a plot update for them ;w; I thought, since their whole motif is arts and performance, that it would be cute to write in a playground roleplay element to their story! Besically as kids, they make up a fantasy world that they play in together whenever they get a free second! In off-time, Mateo writes stories and makes art of their characters, and Emilia starts learning to play music so that she can compose theme songs for them. Emilia’s character is a fire witch who’s able to comfortably use her powers bc they live in a more magical world. Mateo’s character is a healer who follows Emilia on her quests to save the places she defends. I thought it would be a nice place to kick off their obsessions with creativity, and also that it would be kinda fun to do a plot within a plot and kinda try to make up a story that two kids would.

These outfts are the designs they thought up in their game. Mateo later drew up the designs, this being most obvious from the rose on Emilia’s belt. Her gloves keep her magic in when she doesn’t need it, and the cloak is fireproof. Mateo’s outfit is based on a plague doctor’s, but for ease, the mask is just a piece of thick fabric that can be lifted up over his nose when he needs it. The rest of his body is covered to prevent him from contracting infections from fluids.

Holly and Masei

Nothing too new about these designs, their original designs were just way too simplistic bc i didn’t have much of an idea. Holly is a warrior, so his outfit is very lacking in layers and fabric. On the other hand, Masei is a prince, so his clothes are dumb layered and the little translucent piece is supposed to drive home just how extravagant he is.

Khauai, Haven, and Hakeem

I wanted their outfits to be more like their animal motifs! Cevon didn’t get a redesign because his current outfit is civilian clothes which. suits the fact that he gets his power taken away. Khauai is an owl, so his cloak is meant to reflect his wings and the puffy pants + slim boots mimic the legs of an owl. Haven is a selkie, so I gave him his seal coat to wear over his human form. I left the sweater, though, since it kinda melds both worlds for him as opposed to him only wearing his seal coat and Yearning for the Sea. Hakeem’s outfit is supposed to be lionlike, so I gave him the furry collar to be the mane and the furry boots to be his paws. It’s also a little more form-fitting bc he steals Cevon’s powers and as such becomes an incubus. I think he’d embrace that fully.

The Major Arcana

These characters have 3 things each that are part of their designs: an album, a Tarot card, and their name. I decided that the Tarot card would be more involved witht heir demeanour and how they present themselves, so the outfits are based on their album and their name.

Crow, obviously, is named for a crow. His clothing is layered to represent the feathers of a bird’s wing, and his cloak is ruffled to be shaped like the wings themselves. His album is After Hours. His heavy layers also represent him often blocking people out because he feels like he’ll just let them all down (a la Save Your Tears). At the same time, his outer cloak is open, because what he really wants is to be better, but it’s hard to make that go to the inner layers of himself (a la Faith). His clothes are all black.

Harley’s name means “meadow of hares.” His spikey hair is meant to represent windswept grass, while his inner vest is meant to be a little white bunny tumby and his boots are white at the toes to represent paws. His album is Beauty Behind the Madness. BBTM is a little sluttier than AH, so I had to kinda work around that, since Major Arcana generally wear old-fashioned clothing and lots of layers. Underneath his jacket, Harley’s arms are bare and his jeans are high-waisted so that when he’s free to do so, he can shift into hotboy mode. BBTM’s narration is also more smug and more detached, so I felt like that it made sense to give Harley a more modern outfit than everyone else, because he couldn’t care less about the customs of Major Arcana dress or how anyone feels about it. His clothes are brown and white.

Nakoa’s name means “warrior.” I gave him the harnesses on his back and leg to look like he’d be carrying weapons around, even though he never would. His album is Transmissions. The ablum gives off a very aching, yearning vibe, with the narrator sounding alone throughout the whole thing. His mission seems to be to find and protect someone else, while sticking staunchly to one’s ideals and values throughout the quest. Nakoa dresses like Major Arcana should, with his clothes being the most traditional of anyone’s. The lock necklace represents his loyalty to the Major Arcana (as in, he’s locked in) and the heart necklace (while in canon it represents his card: The Lovers), represents the person that the album’s narrator is talking about. I wanted to make him look very “tied up” in his clothes, so everything runs across him. This represents the loneliness at the album’s core; Nakoa is tied up in himself and effectively has no one but the cause to be loyal to. His clothes are purple and blue.

Sunday’s outfit is supposed to contrast Nakoa’s heavily. They don’t wear all of the ties and layers he does. Their design is meant to be open and welcoming, because their album is Dreamland. The narrator of Dreamland describes a troubled past in an expressive and upbeat way, and I thought I’d reflect that in the fact that Sunday is the eldest and effectively the most responsible for the whole group, yet they remain open and their layers stripped despite all that. Their name obviously reflects the sun, so the main colours of their outfit along w the sun at their collar represent the sunrise. Their outfit is iridescent (another ref to Dreamland’s aes), with bases of pale pink and yellow.

Arwen’s name means “royal maiden.” Her outfit is based on the most practical layer of mediaeval royal clothing, with her hood able to pull up to look like a victorian maiden’s bonnet. Her album is Hozier, but I’m going to be hinest and say most of her outfit was designed before this, so I couldn’t find a place to mix in the album..? So the colours of her clothing are the album cover’s colours: orange, blue, and brown.

Elio means sun. I have enough characters designed after the sun, so I went entirely album-based with him. His album is DIVISIONS, a rebellious, anticapitalist love letter to no one. The album is about adventure, love, and the future, so I wanted to give Elio a v futuristic and punky outfit. His outfit is my favourite out of all of them, but I don’t actually have much to say about it? I think it looks exactly how I envisioned, like Elio’s a punk from the future. His clothes are black, white, and silver.

Dawn’s name meaning is obvious, and again w the sun. I went all-album with him too. His album is Meteora, an album that’s essentially about hating yourself, your past, and everyone around you. I wanted to go more emo with Dawn’s design bc of that, but emo style actually doesn’t... appeal to me, plus it’s not very Major Arcana. I gave him some gay little boots to be his choice piece of emo clothing, and then emo’d up a regular outfit instead. His clothes are layered, again representing him building up walls. He has lots of elements that are tied around him, this time to look like he’s sealed himself in, hence them all being horizontal. He burned the edges of his cloak himself and also sliced into his pants so that he looked imperfect and everyone around him would know that he’s imperfect. His clothes are, in contrast, pink, yellow, and blue.

Dovey’s name obviously means dove. Her cloak, like Crow’s is ruffled at the edge to represent bird wings. Doves are much fluffier than crows, though, so in her outfit, feathers are represented by the ruffles in her dress. Now, uh, her album is Wasteland, Baby! and the outfit very much misses the vibe. Dovey is another character whose outfit I had planned before hand, and it wasn’t desidned with music in mind. The one song I did think of while designing her was As It Was, which reminds me of Red Riding Hood bc of the way it opens?? I feel like even though I can’t pinpoint any one vibe that matches her look, I can see her as the narrator slash star of all the songs in this outfit. So IDK, it vibes w me, fjkdshdsfd. Her outfit is grey and brown, like a mourning dove.

#i will never draw them in colour #that is a PROMISE #ough i’ve had these ideas in my head for *checks watch* since last night #they were burning holes in me so i finally sat myself down #im REALLY proud of these outfits even if i dont love how some of the doodles themselves came out hfjkdsf #character design is my fucking PASSION #ill do the minor arcana and everyone’s battle outfits another time. for now i sleep #alex art #my ocs #the hibiscus flower #the little rose #the glass oracle #the golden prince #the spirit of justice #the son of the sea #the consumer of lies #the solitude of stars #the silence of snow #the voice of love #the colour of sunset #the spellbound archer #the spirit of revolution #the fury in judgement #the dream of serenity

[telesthisia]

“Dear my beloved hero, my dear friend, Link, Champion of Hylia... hello, are you well? I am uncertain whether or not this letter will reach you... perhaps courage will find me this time and I will not hide it away with the others but. 

I miss you. I hope that you are well... I hope that you are enjoying your adventures outside of Hyrule...”

ALRIGHT Y’ALL NOW IT’S MY TURN WITH DEPRESSED CRYPTID PRINCESSSSSSSSSSS!!! If you haven’t already might I suggest checking out Blue’s post about how her Zellie is a swole 172 cm aka 5′8″ GODDESS!!! It’s quite the read but as with all her headcanons, it’s a fun read so def check it out if you haven’t already. BUT LET’S DO THIS!! For this pose I went with a simple cute one with Zelda holding a letter that’s addressed to Link. She has two years worth of unsent letters all to him, while the penmanship is neat in all of them there’s a lot of crossed out sentences in each one before she folds it up and places it in a small box that she hides under the bed. The one she’s holding in her hands is the last one before giving up on ever contacting him and wishing him all the best on his journey. It hurts how the only time they could ever have that same connection is when darkness strikes her kingdom, believing that the happiest she ever was is that dream sequence she has with Link in the manga... for their connection was the strongest she’d ever felt. Lining up with the 90s comic bittersweet ending, she feels lonely now that Link is no longer by her side since their duties keep them apart, but she believes in the future and believes it’s best to move on. ;v; alright more things under cut because I tend to ramble!

Midway through drawing this, I realized that my notes on the draws wouldn’t be easy to read, so I’ll put all my messy thoughts on Zelda’s appearance after the events of Oracles and ALTTP! My post won’t be nice looking, I tend to get a bit distracted when excited, blame the ADD and super sorry for that!! Keep in mind that Zelda’s main verse canon is three years after the events of ALTTP and a year after Oracles!

This is more of an art thing if anything and part of the messy notes I can’t add, but Zelda has a petite-pear shaped body. The shoulders and back are smaller than the hips which are wider than her shoulders. It’s something I gotta keep in mind when doing full body draws aaaaa! But her rare blood disorder has affected her growth, which is why she’s tiny (5′0″ my dudes but she’s 5′0″ full of love for you) and so freaking pale too. The paleness of her skin is meant to show that she looks a bit on the sickly side. I try to give her kind looking eyes that are big and wide!! And dark blue in color!! She has a bit of a sleepy look to it to make them look more calm and gentle!! Sadly, she’s physically weak and doesn’t have the stamina or even the heart power (Without triggering a fainting spell) to go body building for that sweet eight pack. The complexion she has is blemish and scar free because when you rich you get only the best skin care..... aside from the freckles covering her face. Makeup does make it appear lighter but when Zelda’s not wearing her royal get up the only makeup she tends to wear is eyeshadow and the blue lipstick! So those freckles? They’re there for the world to see! They cover her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, her shoulders, and back!! Noble kids used to make fun of her for her freckles but Zelda found a way to refute their teasings by insisting that her freckles were from when children of the fae would give her small kisses for luck! Her ears a little longer than most Hylians, it comes with being from the royal family and yet another hint to her divine origins. 

She is almost never seen without the little tiara she wears when in commoner clothing, the one with the three stones hanging from it! In truth, it’s a gift given to her by the oracles and their colors correspond with the oracles rather than the goddesses, which is why she’s wearing it all the time as a means to remember them. She loves those girls :’) while the bracelet is the same one we see in ALTTP! That one is a bit of an important piece of jewelry. It was a present from her father on her sixth birthday, when exploring the stalls of a nearby town yet affected by the sudden onslaught of plagues and droughts, she’d been fascinated with it and her father bought it for her because how can you say no to baby Zel??? It’s a simple fool’s gold bracelet with no design to it and you can find it anywhere, really, but she loves and wears whenever she can when wearing commoner clothes. Sadly, the maids in charge of dressing her up in her stuffy royal dresses would never let her go around the castle wearing that due to how cheap it is. And finally, the earrings and pendant of courage... I’ve mentioned it before but she’s always wearing the pendant. It was given to her by Link before Link went away on his journey and since then it’s become an important symbolic thing where it gives her courage she lacks. Hence why she wishes to give it to the person she marries so that they too can feel the same courage. With the dress I’ve designed for her, it’s more noticeable, but sometimes she’ll wear it under her clothes if she feels it wouldn’t match her outfit! And the Triforce earrings? Her mother’s!! She’s never seen without them, that’s like seeing Bayonetta without her glasses with the earrings pft. 

So something that’s fun to point out is her shade of blonde! Originally, she had a more golden tone to her hair color, hence why the close up with her eyebrows the color is super darker than the blonde (I tend to color them black but that’s the actual color of them, only reason why I color them black is because I love the contrast with light hair and dark eyebrows ;w;) we see in this draw! So, why’s her hair lighter? Well, Zelda suffers from a little something called Marie Antoinette syndrome. What the hell is that??? You may ask yourself and it’s more or less where the hair turns white from extreme fear and shock, it’s used in the realm of fiction since irl something like that can’t really happen. Due to the various stresses, traumas, and extreme fear she’s endured by witnessing the death of her father, the priest and countless others as well as being kidnapped twice and being used for sacrifice one time and nearly a blood sacrifice to revive Ganon another... well, it affected her mentally giving her trauma and physically all that stress poorly affecting her already bad health. So, the lighter her hair, the more stress she’s been through and that’s probably why whenever you see me draw Zel you’ll see her with pale hair... (I kinda want to make it white because that’s peak Ambercore BUT PLATINUM BLONDE IS CLOSE ENOUGH WE GOTTA KEEP THE BLONDE!!!!!) As always, the hair floofs are very important to her design! It’s what makes her friend shaped!!! That said, I just think it’s a very cute design choice hence why I kept it here! Her hair is longer than in oracles and ALTTP, growing it out to her hips and just above the tailbone! It’s super long, there’s no meaning behind why she grew it out this much aside from failing to keep up with it due to how fast it grows. The public, naturally, believes differently and as common with the mindset of those times believe that she has long hair to show her status as a member of someone who comes from wealthy background. She’s a little hurt by this assumption, really, as it implies she does nothing but brushes it all day as well as showing off her status when it’s actually neither of those things. The floofs, shows that it’s a bit on the messy side as proof that she doesn’t do that at all... but instead spends her days exploring ruined places of decay and death! 

The dress she wears is one of her favorite ones, she has dark boots underneath that goes up to her shins because I think that’s peak character design. The dress is two layers!! The first being the blue overlay and the second a plain old white dress with the collar showing off her shoulders, the cut of the collar is almost reminiscent to nightgowns, the sleeves are short and poofy and in the back is a ribbon, no real reason for that aside from me thinking that’s cute. In truth, I based her outfit off of historical dresses worn in those times for commoners. Their clothes tend to be more simple and Zelda much prefers to wear the dresses of commoners than her silken royal gowns with the heavy gold regalia. Though the pink dress she wears in alttp (and SSBU) is for more important events such as when she was crowned as the next ruler for the throne, she also has a wide wardrobe of various dresses which I will be basing off of Tudor era and a little later in 17th century.... 

In short.... I tried to make her as friend shaped as possible. 

#headcanon. #about. #headcanon 019. #eyyyyy i'll add more to this once i can think of more BUT THAT'S MORE OR LESS THE HEART OF HER DESIGN!! #blue's post ninspired me ;v; nintendo hire us we make amazing zelda designs OK?!?!?! #this post is a mess but more or less notes to keep track of with my zelda's apperance it differs a bit!! #amber's crap crap art.

[bettycooperthefirst]

If You’re Looking For a Sign

Betty is supposed to go on a blind date, but when he doesn't show, a stranger steps in in his place. (Ship: Bughead)

Read on Ao3 

Betty didn’t even want to go on the blind date that Veronica had been prepping her for all week. The dating world wasn’t worth it- she was sick and tired of kissing so many frogs and she was starting to think there was no prince. If she had to sit through another meal where some pretentious man took over the conversation to discuss his social climb up the work ladder or go off on a tangent about how he was a sensitive painter- if she had to suffer through another date where the grown adult sitting across from her treated her like a piece of meat- she might just walk out of the restaurant and never date again. It seemed like that was what the universe wanted. All signs were pointing to Betty never finding a good guy.

But Ronnie had been raving about this guy for weeks now, so Betty had sighed and put on a nice skirt, made her hair look presentable and applied some pink lipstick. She would give it one last shot and so help her god, if this one was a dud, she would probably lose her mind.

Walking up to the Italian restaurant where they were supposed to meet, she smiled at the hostess, trying to convince herself that it would be a good situation. Smiling releases endorphins to make you actually happy. I am happy right now.

She was a few minutes early and decided to sit down at a table and wait there. She had the guys number, so she sent him a quick message to let him know and took a look at the drink menu.

“Water?” A waiter appeared next to her and she nodded and thanked him as he poured her a glass. “Waiting on someone?”

Betty looked at her watch. 6:00 sharp. “He should be here any minute.” The waiter nodded in understanding. But he wasn’t there any minute. He wasn’t there 20 minutes later and he wasn’t responding to her texts, but Betty had ordered a lemonade and knew deep down, somewhere in the pit of her stomach, that if she paid for it and left, she’d walk out the door and emotionally close herself off. The last straw in a long line of crappy dates and crappy guys. She felt her chest tightening as she ran through her head the possible reasons he was late.

Stuck in traffic. It is a Friday night- traffic is busy, parking can be rough.

Maybe his car wouldn’t start- but then why didn’t he let her know? The excuses poured in as the clock ticked ahead.

A family emergency.

A personal emergency.

A veterinary emergency.

The couple one table over had eaten their meal and were starting to glance her way. Betty could see it in their eyes that they felt bad for her, this girl sitting alone in a nice restaurant, clearly waiting for someone, having glanced at the door so many times. A group of college aged girls were glancing her way too. Betty had graduated a year ago herself, but these girls looked younger. She saw one girl, all strawberry blonde curls and dark eye makeup, look at her and then talk to her friend and laugh. The girl she spoke to turned around, blatantly looking in Betty’s direction.

Betty could imagine the conversation. Don’t look now but there’s a girl over there who has clearly been stood up. Pathetic. No don’t look now, she’ll know we’re talking about her!

Betty felt a spiral coming on. Her fingers curled into her palm, the way they unconsciously did anytime her anxiety kicked in. She had decided that this date would work out if the universe wanted it to. Well obviously the universe wanted her to sit alone in Vivaldi’s on a Thursday night. Betty looked at the empty chair across from her.

If you’re looking for a sign this is it.

Betty started to look around for her waiter when someone suddenly dropped into the seat that had been empty moments before. He had dark, messy hair and smiled at her like he knew her.

“Sorry I’m late sweetheart. Got caught up in traffic and then couldn’t find parking. I hope I didn’t worry you.” He gave her a sincere look of apology, taking off his jacket and putting it over the back of the chair.

She blinked back at him in surprise. “Excuse me?”

The boy opened his eyes a little bit wider, looking at her like he needed her to understand something, as he continued. “Making you wait on me like that. So rude. Can you forgive me?”

Betty had seen pictures of the guy she was supposed to be meeting tonight. He had red hair, an all American type. This wasn’t him. So who was this boy across from her, still smiling at her, waiting for a response?

She only had a split second to process all of this make a decision.

“That’s okay.” She said carefully. “I forgive you.”

The boy across from her broke into a bigger smile and Betty felt the eyes of the girls from the other table fade off of her and find something else to talk about. The couple one table over ordered their dessert, seemingly moving on from their glances in Betty’s direction. She let out a small sigh of relief as her fingers stretched back out from her palm.

The boy continued to smile. “Saw you sitting here the last 20 minutes and got worried.”

“People were staring at me. Those girls at that back table were whispering.” She nodded to where the girls had just received their second round of drinks.

The boy- Jughead- nodded.

“I went to school with them. They feed off of drama like succubus. It’s nothing personal.” He gave her a small smile and she noticed that his eyes smiled too- a calming blue sky to contrast his dark forest of hair. “Still sucks though.” He added. “You don’t have to tell me why you’re here alone. Just wanted to relieve some of the pressure of it.”

For whatever reason, she decided to just tell him the truth. “I was stood up.”

“Really?” His face showed no indication of what he thought of this.

“I didn’t even want to come, but I did, and he didn’t even show. Another failed attempt to be a person in this world.” She didn’t know why she was saying this, she didn’t owe him any explanation and she definitely didn’t need to detail her overall life situation. But there was something about the way his eyes crinkled a little bit when he smiled, the stray curl of hair falling in front of his eyes, his easygoing smile, that made her feel comfortable with him, like he wasn’t going to judge her at all.

“Well it sounds to me like this guy blew it big time. How could be possibly stand up…” he trailed off, waiting for her to fill in the blank, and she realized that she hadn’t even introduced herself.

“Betty. Betty Cooper.”

“Jughead Jones, at your service.” The side of his mouth quirked up in a half smile and he nodded in joking deference. Cute. Her mind noted this against her better judgement.

“Well Jughead, thanks for stepping in, but you can get back to whatever it was you were doing before my pity party distracted you.”

He held up three fingers and ticked them down as he spoke.

“Three things. One: I didn’t come over here out of pity, I came over here because I’ve sat where you’re sitting. Empathy, not pity. Two: I wasn’t doing anything of any importance. Three: Aren’t you hungry?”

Betty had eaten a light lunch, knowing she’d be getting a nice dinner tonight. Her stomach had let out a few soft growls already.

“Yeah. I am.”

There was that smile again. Infectious. “Good thing we’re at a restaurant.”

Betty ran through her options in her mind. She could get up and go home, scrounge through her fridge to find something edible. Or she could stay here, with this person she knew nothing about, and eat dinner at the restaurant that had been the one thing she’d been looking forward to tonight.

“Yes. We are.”

Her waiter showed up at that moment and before Betty could say another word, Jughead was speaking again.

“A bottle of your finest wine, sir.” He announced with a dramatic flair that made Betty giggle.

The server just eyed Jughead suspiciously.

“Okay. Two glasses of your cheapest wine, please?” Jughead tried again.

The server nodded and turned to Betty. “Are you ready to order?”

She’d had twenty minutes to think about what she wanted to eat. She looked at the boy across from her, surprised at the twist the night had taken. Turning back to the server, she ordered her dinner.

“Okay. Fall Out Boy or Panic! At the Disco?” Jughead said 45 minutes later.

“In middle school, Fall Out Boy. 100%.” Betty had eaten all of her food and downed her glass of wine. She felt like she was in a different universe than she had been in and hour ago when she sat down. She and Jughead talked so easily- she’d never been so quickly comfortable with someone in her life. They’d somehow skipped the basics- job, education- and covered topics such as salad v. soup (Jughead argued that soup was the only option), an embarrassing date story of Jughead’s (“to even the playing field”) and a lengthy discussion of Brooklyn 99, before somehow landing on the topic of music they used to listen to between the ages of 12-16.

“Favorite Fall Out Boy song?” He asked this like it was the most serious matter he’d ever encountered.

“Sugar We’re Goin Down.”

Jughead nodded. “Acceptable.”

“And your favorite song in middle school was…?”

“Mr. Brightside. Still one of my favorites now.”

Betty raised her eyebrows. “Do you sit in your room and brood about girls who don’t like you while you listen to it?” She said this knowing full well that she loved the song herself.

Jughead groaned and put his hand over his chest.

“That hurt.”

Betty laughed, and glanced down at her phone. Veronica was calling her, for the second time in 10 minutes.

“I should answer this.”

“No worries.” He picked up the dessert menu. How does he still have room after the amount of food he just ate?

Betty walked over to entry way of the restaurant where it was a bit quieter and answered the call.

“V?”

Veronicas voice was laced with concern. “Betty, where are you?”

Betty sighed. “I’m at the restaurant. Your golden boy never showed.”

“What are you talking about? Which restaurant are you at?”

“Vivaldi’s.”

“Which Vivaldi’s?”

“The one on 2nd.” Betty said this carefully, afraid she already knew where this was going.

Veronica let out a loaded sigh.

“Archie went to the one on Brady St. He waited there for you for a full half hour.”

“I texted him.” Betty remembered. “He didn’t answer.”

Veronica rattled off Archie’s number, and Betty checked to find that she’d put it into her phone 1 digit off.

“I’m sorry Betty.” Veronica said. “I sent it to you wrong, and now you’ve sat at that restaurant alone for an hour. Archie went home but I can let him know about the mix up. Call him, I’m sure he’d still like to meet up with you.”

“Actually V,” Betty paused, looking back at the table to see Jughead looking over the dessert menu. “I had the best night I’ve had in a long time, even without a date.”

“Alone in a fancy restaurant?”

She watched as Jughead furrowed his brow, looking at the cake page. “With a really great guy who sat down with me when Archie didn’t show.”

As she finished her call with Veronica and made her way back to her chair, she realized that she might have gone on a fantastic date tonight after all. But did Jughead think of this as a date? Or was this just a new friendship to him?

As she sat down across from him, she wasn’t sure how to find out.

“Everything alright?”

“EVerything’s great.” She suddenly felt some nerves pooling back in her chest.

Jughead continued.

“So I’m thinking the tiramisu. What do you think?”

“I’d get tiramisu too.”

Jughead shook a stray curl of hair out of his face and smiled. “It’s the best isn’t it?”

The waiter that Betty had had all night approached their table with a look of irritation on his face. He gave Jughead a pointed look as he said “Can I interest you in dessert?”

“I’m going for some tiramisu, please.” Jughead said it cheerfully, ignoring the look on the other boys face.

“Are you alright?” Betty said cautiously. The waiters demeanor had been going downhill over the past hour and she wasn’t sure why.

“Oh I’m fine.” He plastered on a clearly false grin. “We’re just a little short staffed tonight. A guy went on break an hour ago never clocked back in.” He shot daggers at Jughead, who just smiled in return.

“That’s unfortunate.” Jughead said. “I’m sure he’ll make it up to you somehow.”

“Jughead.” The waiter sighed, as Betty put the pieces together. “C’mon man, I gave you your hour, but Toni’s gonna be back soon and when she finds you sitting out here instead of working she’s going to lose her mind.”

“Wait a minute.” Betty interrupted. “You work here?”

Jughead nodded.

“And you’re supposed to be working right now?”

“It’s fine, it’s a slow night.” Looking around the room, Betty could see that this was true. “And Sweet Pea here is my best friend in the world so I cut him a deal.”

Sweet Pea snorted. “A shitty deal.”

“Calm down. You’re serving us and one other table. Well worth my night’s pay.”

“I don’t get much pay if you don’t clock back in.” The waiter- Sweet Pea- shot back.

Betty was even more confused. “You gave up your nights pay so that you could come sit with me? What if I had told you to screw off?”

“I was really hoping you wouldn’t.”

“You know, he doesn’t do shit like this.” Sweet Pea said suddenly, turning to put his full attention on Betty.

“Sweet Pea-“ Jughead tried to cut in, but Sweet Pea put his hand in front of the other boys face and continued.

“He has never missed a shift, never shown up late, never played around. But you came in here and sat down and it was like an alarm went off in his head.” He mimicked an alarm sound. “Pretty girl pretty girl pretty girl.”

“Are you trying to embarrass me?” Jughead whisper shouted at his friend.

“Yes. I am.” Sweet Pea delivered the words directly to Jughead before turning back to Betty. “This guy has been moaning and groaning for weeks about how the world is crap and then you walk in and he tells me this is it. This is the last chance he’s taking and if the universe-“ Sweet Pea threw his hands in the air at this “he loves talking about the frickin universe- doesn’t want it, then it won’t let it happen. Apparently the universe wanted it, but I need to confirm that with you because our boss is going to be back any minute and this loser is about to lose his job if he doesn’t get back to work. So fuck the universe, do you like my lame ass friend?”

She looked at Jughead, the boy who she’d only known for an hour, who apparently thought about the same things she did, who made her laugh, who’s smile made her feel warm inside.

As she looked at him, that smile quirked up on one side of his mouth. If you’re looking for a sign, this is it.

“Yeah. I like him.”

The smile increased. “I like you too.” “Adorable.” Betty heard Sweet Pea say. “Now I will pay for your meal if you’ll just exchange numbers and make him come back to work.”

#bughead #bughead fic #bughead fanfiction #riverdale #riverdale fic #bughead au #betty cooper #jughead jones #my writing

[jungkookie-saranghae]

The Difference with GCF in Saipan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dFi8mStt2E

Okay I need to talk about this because something extremely interesting came up. I suggest watching the video first and if possible re-reading the Director’s review on GCFs too made by @thebangtankaijuu. The post will make more sense that way. I also would like to thank her for allowing me to quote her post ^^

This is essentially me thinking out loud. I am in no way saying I am right or anything. I just have some thoughts and would love to hear your thoughts as well. I have no problem whatsoever if someone disagrees with me or thinks I am wrong. No bother at all just say it in a respectful manner and we’re good fam.

So I have quoted the video and review here first and talk more towards the end. Let’s just point out a few things first.

At 4:42 Pd says “Jungkook chose a very different path to go with”. This would be in agreement with what our director friend (Dr) has said in his review. He noted that this was completely different than his other works and almost as if there are 2 stories. One he wanted to tell and one he ended up telling.

“It looks like this time he has omitted the story line and focused on the cinematography instead. This is in stark contrast to the previous video he posted.“  - Dr

“First of all, I don’t think this is the video that he originally intended to post. When I saw the preview he released I thought he would be continuing the narrative of his very first video (GCFt). This product is completely different. Looking at the preview, it seems like he had already finished the pre-final cut and was working on the post production, which is when he took the clip and shared it to the views, as a ‘teaser’. Naturally one would believe that the full video would be focused on the narrative he indicated in the preview, so I am quite surprised to see this result instead.” - Dr

He mentioned the significance of the cinematography rather than story line or narrative. I think most of us can agree there wasn’t very much story line, it was a well put together bunch of clips.

So we have 2 professionals telling us that this video is different. Okay.

Why?

1. The colour grading was off, which is his signature and what he knows how to do best.

2. It lacked narrative which all his other videos had and focused on the cinematography instead. Yet still there was an error in that.

“Now with Jungkook the thing I see most is he experiments a lot with colour grading” - Pd

And he indeed does, he said this in his V live. “Other than my colour grading I don’t have my unique thing.” - Jk

“and the colour grading here is a little all over the place, but it’s consistent” - Pd

“So it looks like Jungkook coloured it based on the sky and he wanted to make the sky look as rich and blue and beautiful as possible. But in doing so in certain lighting conditions it looks like he probably didn’t adjust the levels because in certain lighting conditions it either looks too blue ( mentions J-Hope’s car scene)……because if you look at the opening scene with V his skin is a little bit too pink but then when you move to Jimin it’s not that pink anymore”

Now let me fill in that ….. up there. Because I think this is it. This is how Jungkook speaks to us. Through his art.

Firstly I just want to say Jungkook is artistic. Extremely artistic, and not only that he’s shy too. Jungkook most definitely speaks through the medium of art (the Dr even mentioned this in Osaka I believe) and the predominant ones being cover songs and GCF. This is how he gets across his emotions. That is where some of the pushing and pulling comes from with GCF. Some Army’s say it’s just his hobby and to stop reading into it, and there are the others, not specifically just shippers, but they are included who believe Jungkook is trying to convey a message, After all if Jungkook just wanted to edit for fun why edit the way he did. In the comeback show he even said he edits to recharge himself. It’s how he relaxes, it’s his passion. And from watching the video you can clearly see how detail oriented he is. This is very important. Jungkook is no fool. But I digress.

I want you to read this next paragraph very carefully because I think he hit the nail on the head.

“…Jungkook’s colour grading was probably based on the shot with Jimin when he’s outside on the beach, that outside beach shot is much more over exposed it’s brighter so when you bring that colour scale inside the car (referencing Hobi’s scene) it’s a lot different it’s a lot bluer it’s like a harsher teal whereas when they are on the beach the colour looks the most clean, right so I think Jungkook probably graded only one scene and then applied it to the entire sequence. Because if you look at the opening scene with V his skin is a little too pink then when you move to Jimin it’s not that pink anymore you still see slight hints of it.” - Pd

So the colour grading was already decided for the scenes based on Jimin. If he had edited the video with all members first don’t you think he would have made sure that the colur grading suited the whole video and not just Jimins scenes? Is this just another coinsidence? How many are we on now? Four million and twelve? Riiiight. Anyway.

“But given how quickly he busted this out I feel like it was a choice, a deliberate choice he probably didn’t have time to go to each individual different coloured clips and then colour graded accordingly because that would take a lot more time I don’t know exactly what his thought process was but when it comes to editing everything is done with a purpose so I’m sure he noticed that V was way too pink, that in certain scenes the colour grading is off , but in his mind there was some sort of trade off he had to make and I am interested to see what that exactly is.”

I am so shocked with this. Okay so we, the producer and the director thought that Jungkook had made a video just for Jimin like GCFt and it was done and finished. That is why he teased the GCFs clip. It makes complete sense for many reasons. Jimin had the whole first verse and pre-chours in that teaser which would just throw the whole video off if included all members. 27 seconds of one member in an OT7 video? With no b roll seen and no other shots than Jimin? It just doesn’t make sense. Out director friends goes into details about why he thought it would have been a Jimin centric video just like, if not a continuation of GCFt.

I believe Jungkook shot edited and finalized a GCF in Saipan for Jimin. I do. I believe he edited it to make the sky strikingly blue as the majority of the film would have been Jimin by the sea with the sky in the background.

However, for some reason after teasing Jimin in Saipan he puts out GCF in USA…odd timing I have to say and then not too long after posts Saipan.

Now what are we to make of this?

I have 2 reasons. 1. No tinfoil ver 2. Tinfoil ver

1) No tinfoil

Jungkook had not finished editing Saipan. He teased it because Namjoon had asked him on Twitter about that exact moment as he had a video and Jungkook just posted a clip of that moment that Namjoon was referring to.

Jungkook then just felt like putting out a more OT7 GCF maybe as a present to his hyungs or was in the mood. He couldn’t release GCFs yet because it had not come out. So he gave us this to pass the time. Or he just felt like putting it out no big deal. The package was then released and he saw it as a good opportunity to make another OT7 centric vid. Simple.

But things are rarely so simple in life.

Hell it’s never simple!

Now here is a *warning* the next segment is 100% tinfoil. It is my own personal opinion and if you disagree with some or all of it I have no problem whatsoever just tell me in a nice and respectful manner please because I genuinely love to hear different sides to things. We good? okay let’s continue…

2) Tinfoil

Jimin and Jungkook’s black and white performance was taken down and they were more than probably told the behind the scenes would not be shown. Essentially their work is gone. Namjoon also knows this so posts a vid of Jimin and Jungkook innocently playing as a small form of solidarity for them or a little nod to them. The behind the scenes were coming out at that time.

Jungkook then says a big fuck you to Bighit and posts the teaser of Jimin for nearly 30s of a 2 and a half minute video laughing his ass off and Jimin thrusting and shaking his booty.

Now I ADORE Tae. I am not an anti let me make that crystal clear.  I adore Kim Taehyung. I do find it odd though that once that was posted Tae flooded and I mean flooded the timeline with videos and pics for the next 2 days almost as if trying to push the teaser down the timeline. You cannot deny the fact that we got spammed fam. And coincidentally juuuuust after Jk posts that clip.

I think some staff thought it may have been too much, and may and I say may not for definite but maaaaaay have told Jungkook to release something non Jimin centric to calm it down and then release the same vid but with the other members to dilute the seriousness of that video.

I don’t think you understand. That song. THAT SONG. If Jungkook had posted a GCF in Saipan with JUST Jimin, there would not be any questioning anymore. He got away with it being a clip and throwing in b-roll like Dr mentioned.

The Dr even said he did not intend to put out USA and Pd said that Saipan was rushed due the colour grading.

“Now I cannot judge his character for certain, but all of his videos up until now have shown me that he is someone who narrates his story to the truest form. The production of the third video indicates that he may have half-assed it. Despite the 70/20 focus I mentioned, he did not want to put this out. I’m thinking he had this prepared beforehand and released it now for some reason. Comparatively, the first video remains, to me, his strongest narrative. He wanted to show that film to the world. The second one could also be said the same, more or less, but he was clearly happier then than now.” - Dr USA

“But given how quickly he busted this out I feel like it was a choice, a deliberate choice he probably didn’t have time to go to each individual different coloured clips and then colour graded accordingly because that would take a lot more time I don’t know exactly what his thought process was but when it comes to editing everything is done with a purpose so I’m sure he noticed that V was way too pink, that in certain scenes the colour grading is off , but in his mind there was some sort of trade off he had to make and I am interested to see what that exactly is.”  - Pd

So we have an expert saying USA did not want to be put out and 2 experts saying Saipan was rushed. This really fits with the covering up a mistake theory.

And you might ask what is the big deal? It was just a clip its not outting anyone. But you see we don’t officially know if they’re together. When you know or you believe that 2 ppl are together you notice things. Damn you notice everything and just go “OMG could they NOT BE SO LOUD LIKE AHHH glass closet approach much?”. But to others they don’t see any of that. Like, at all.

This teaser however was flat out dangerous. I have seen Taekook stans being converted and that was because of the edited version of GCFs. Imagine a whole video of Jimin with THAT SONG!!! GO AND RE READ THOSE LYRICS RIGHT NOW THAT IS AS BLATANT AS YOU CAN GET.

So it is my opinion that as a mini revenge or more likely a substitute for Black or White not being released Jungkook released a teaser to a Jimin centric GCF in Saipan he had already finished.

This was much more dangerous than he expected and he was told to put out something to calm the waters and then edit that particular video to dilute the situation and cover his tracks. That matches up with Dr and Pd comments also.

And in this video in order to get across what he wanted to say he left the colour grading matching Jimin. He left is signature matching Jimin  to let us know in his own way this is not the video I wanted to make, look closely thiiiis one is. By allowing Tae’s skin to be pink and Hobi to be too magenta he is indirectly telling us that these clips don’t belong in this video. These people don’t. It is really for Jimin.

Now you might ask “well what about Namjoon and Hobi at the end? The colour grading was fine for them? What’s that mean then?” Well firstly it’s midday so the lighting is perfect but also because Jimin was in that scene too. Evey scene that Jimin was in was coloured perfectly to match. Namjoon and Hobi just happened to be colour graded right because of the sun and the fact it was the same place as Jimin.

Jeon Jungkook is using his skills in editing and in particular colour grading to let us know he had intended a video for Jimin like GCF on Tokyo. He is so intelligent wow.

#jikook #kookmin #gcf in saipan #jeon jungkook #park jimin

[lmfmp2021]

Creating A Sticker Pack - Choosing Contrasting Colours

Here, I will now be starting my task of creating my own stickers to go along with my chocolate spread products. I think I did mention in my previous post, when I was linking my own thoughts with the inspiration I found, that I was going to use illustrations from the repeat pattern. I have chose to do this as it would mean that I don't have to draw out any new illustrations. Additionally, this would also help to keep my concepts simple and understanding to the viewers. So this would now mean that, I only really need to think mainly about colours as I discovered in my previous bit of research, that this is a very important factor for making stickers attractive to the customers. 

To start experimenting with the colours of my illustrations, I will firstly need to gather all individual drawings from the file where I created the patterns. This step is very simple as it just means that I have to copy and paste each one to my new file I have created. I decided for the file size to A4 as I feel this makes sense due to the fact that sticker packs aren't normally any bigger than this. I would even say that they are smaller than this in most cases, but to be on the safe side, I will keep with this for now as it makes it easier for me to work with. Once I have done this, I then clicked on one of the illustrations, to which I chose the biscuit and then went to ‘edit’, ‘edit colours’ and ‘recolour artwork’. I have used this setting before, to which I found it very easy and quick to do as it just means I can recolour certain sections all at one time. After doing this, a tab will appear, to which you will need to select the ‘advanced settings’ at the bottom. Doing this will show an area in the middle of this new tab, where it shows the colours that are currently in the illustrations. When you double-click on the smaller end box, the colour picker will show, to which you can choose a new colour to replace the old colour. Next, you can click ‘ok’, where this will now show the new colour in the drawing. You can then just repeat this process for all the colours you want to change and then select ‘ok’.

As you can see below, the stroke going around this illustration is currently white. I decided to try and change this to white instead of black as I thought that the overall look might have had a more modern and cleaner look. I think this did work, although the only problem is the fact that the details now doesn't really show up that well as it just blends in with the background. 

When looking at the colours I chose, I tried to go for really bold colours that have a strong contrast between one another, as doing this would make the sticker more impressive to the viewers because it should catch their eyes. I decided on the colour yellow as this reminds me of the true colour of this food. Obviously its not exactly right but I feel that people would be able to see how this colour is slightly similar. Next, I thought of having the edges/broken off sides as being blue as I felt that this would very much be an opposite colour of yellow. To me, I think these two colours have this really astonishing effect. The last gap to fill was the little shapes on the top of the biscuit, to which these are meant to be oats from the biscuit. When thinking of a colour that would work well with yellow and blue, I thought of either a red or pink as this could work well. I knew that the shapes aren't very big so I needed a striking colour that would stand out against the other two colours. 

After that, I moved onto the orange as this illustration has always been my most effective in my opinion. So, like before, I went to ‘edit’, ‘edit colours’ and ‘recolour artwork’, where I then went through all the gaps and changed them to a new colour. I started by selecting the main section of the orange, where I chose an orange colour. I thought to keep it as the realistic colour as I feel that if I would have had it another colour, it would have been very confusing to the viewers. Next, I went onto the section where it would chnage the leaf and the underneath of the orange on the right. I wanted this to be green as again this is a normal colour for a leaf, although I was aware that this wasn't normal for the skin of the orange. I didn't think this mattered though as you can still easy see what it is as the main area of the drawing is the orange colour. After this, the rest of the gaps was the centre section of the cut open orange, to which this is where I decided to go for more wacky colours. My reasoning behind this is because I feel that the viewers will be able to tell what it is just from the orange, and I want to keep my them of having unusual colours on my stickers. So I went for a purple on the orange segments and a light purple/pink for the centre and the other couple of details that still needed to be filled. This is now the orange completed, to which I feel this looks really striking as the colours are so bold together. 

Then, I went onto the salted caramel, where I again thought to have one or two colours that were similar to the true colours of this flavour. So, I chose for the top of the squares to be this light brown shade as this is the main colour showing the realistic colour. Next, I then thought to have this lime green colour for the sides of the salted caramel. To me, I thought this colour achieved such an engaging attraction to the sticker. This could be down to fact that the brown and green compliment so well, but also how striking the colour is by itself. I feel this could be because I don't really see this colour used much in graphics, so it appeals me as its more unusual. Then the last colour I added was this baby blue shade. I chose a blue as I feel this is a different colour to the other two, but I chose for it to be this pale, as these gaps are showing the highlights. 

Another thing is that in this sticker, I have chose to keep with the black stroke around the design as I wanted to see whether this shade would work better than having white, where it doesn't even shop up. After changing it, I could straight away see that it was much more effective as the details actually stood out now. Also it was so much more easy to understand as to what I was looking at this way too. The reason behind deciding to do this was because I looked back at my research, where I said that i was going to make the strokes really bold and slightly thicker than they were at the start. I did increase the thickness of the stroke like I mentioned as this make the lines a lot clearer, which they also stood out more. 

Above is now showing the last flavour to which it is mint. There only needed to be two colours in this one as there wasn't as much detail as others. So, I went on the recolour artwork option again, where I firstly chose a light blue for the main area of the leaves. Next, I went for a red as I thought that these colours would contrast nicely. This sticker design didn't take long at all as it was very simple, to which I think it looks quite effective. 

When looking back at my research, I remember saying that I was going to take the concept of placing bold colours together on the same sticker as this way they would be really striking towards the viewers. Although I didn't take the same colours they had positioned together, I did take this idea forward, to which I’m glad I did as I would say this is the main element that stands out about them. 

Here is now presenting my page, where as you can see I have added in three more elements. I decided to do this as I knew that just the flavours weren't going to be enough, and I still had quite a few more drawings from my pattern that I hadn't yet included. So I looked back at that file, where I thought the drawings that would make the most sense as stickers was the axe and palm fruit. I also remembered that I wanted to include the slogan too as I thought this was very catchy. Like the previous times, I have gone through changing the colours again, to ones that are going to standout. I tried to pick colours that I hadn't already chose for the other four, as I wanted each sticker to standout individually so they couldn't be the same colours. 

As you can see in the top left sticker, I have created a stroke going around this one only. At the time I took this screenshot, I had juts started to move onto placing these on each sticker. The reason I’m doing this is because this is what makes them seem more like stickers, when doing so, as you will find this on them. Also this will help me in the future when it comes to cutting each one out so I can just cut around them using this guide. 

The way in which I have done this is the same process that I have already used in one of the typography workshops. Although this time, I will only be going through the process two times, whereas before I would probably have done it around 10+ times. To start, I selected the illustration, and pressed CMD C and CMD, shift and V to paste in place. This just simply means that I have pasted the same drawings on top of the first one. I then have to change the fill colour to white. Next, I would select the ‘fx’ icon in the appearance tab on the right and then go to ‘path’ and ‘offset path’. After that, I changed the ‘offset’ option to 4 and the ‘joins’ to ‘rounded’. After doing that, I would then repeat the same process, but change a couple of things this time round. Firstly, when you paste in the new layer again, you would change the fill colour to black this time. The other thing to do differently is when your on the offset option I would change the number to 6 instead of 4. Once you have done this step, you will then need to rearrange the layers so that the original coloured illustration is at the front and the other two are behind. 

This is then what you would then do for each of the illustrations, to which I have ended up with my page looking like this. I feel they look really professional now and I’m really pleased with them too. 

Now that I have got to this stage, next I will be moving onto the composition of the stickers when on the A4 page. The reason I will be doing this is because you can sometimes have stickers that come on a page and you would just peel them off from there. Although for my own, I will be having them cut out as this would then mean they can fit in my exterior packaging a lot better.  

#outcome