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marksinn · 3 years

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Passion Project: Inspiration

I don’t think I’m starting at the beginning with this post. Keep your eyes peeled for later posts that explain what I’m doing and why.

After a month of thinking about, sketching and painting designs, I have finally done something. Essentially, recently watching two films has pushed me into action, and a part of me is ashamed to admit it. There isn’t a word count or any typesetting to curtail my thoughts here, so strap in.

When I created this brief I figured I’d draw a million wee skateboards, colour a few of them in, then fling my favourites into Adobe illustrator and make them look good. From there I would take the 5 best up to the skatepark and ask some of the patrons there which designs stood out to them. Next, I would adapt the three front-runners and create sweet PhotoShop mockups that would show what my designs would look like as skateboards. If I had the time, inclination or money by the end of the project, I would have the design laid onto a real skateboard (I’ve been looking to buy a new one for some time) and then be proud of myself.

So I’ve drawn some wee skateboards. Then I started upscaling the designs onto the floorboards of my loft:

This was an exercise to let me see how small things need to be adapted to be blown up. Skateboards can have any level of detail that you like on them, I hadn’t considered this until I was trying to draw a semi-perfect triangle for the traffic cone, or until I was using chalk to recreate four cubes. It’s also been fun to work with different media on chipboard - I have learned that most kinds of pencil, paint, chalk and charcoal do not like being used on chipboard. Decorating paint, however, has no such issues. Thanks, Dulux!

And so, with a few of these under my belt, I decided to try some digital designs. So I jumped into Illustrator and totally ignored my sketchbook, coming up with three designs that were all inspired by the day I had just had. The top design, I’ll focus on last, for reasons that will become apparent (unless you follow me on Instagram, where you’ll already know that it’s an absolute hit, with over 19 likes already!). I was told by a guy at the skatepark that he likes decks with very basic designs, just a colour or two, nothing overly detailed. Another skater told me that he often likes the basic wood background with one small emblem or sticker just beside the wheels.

The duo-tone design felt nice, I’m usually one for over-complicating things. I definitely have an attitude of “If there’s more in it, there’s a greater chance someone will find something they like”. The first colour choice put my girlfriend in the mind of a hand-bag she had seen photographed in the arms of Carrie Fisher - it was designed to look like a Prozac pill. So I changed the colours up, and added the separating black lines and textures to give it some subtle character. I then went full meta with the Minimal design. And, if I’m being honest, I’m incredibly happy with how it looks like a wee character. Expect to see that making a comeback in the very near future. But the top design is what really got me going.

I’ve recently been watching...

...Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and have been loving Miles Morales’ multiple hobbies of graffiti, mixing beats and saving his neighbourhood from a variety of dangers.

I then went to the cinema to see In The Heights, telling the tale of the Latin community during a blackout in North Manhattan. I found myself wrapped up in the romance, tribulations and music of the cast, and was felt oddly proud of Lin Manuel Miranda - who wrote this as a stage-musical while he was in college, had a modicum of success with it, then went on to create Hamilton, one of the most important musicals of our time. With the success of that particular show taking the entire world by storm, he was given the opportunity to make his old, relatively only semi-popular play into a blockbuster film. You can’t help but be inspired by someone like that.

I often find towards the end of a film I’m inspired by the characters’ journeys: be that from zero to hero, from lonely to loved or from rags to riches. Then I walk out and carry on with my normal life doing normal things. And as the hero of the story’s dreams all came true in the closing minutes (sorry for the spoiler, but it’s a musical, they rarely end in despair), a thought floated across my mind:

I’m utterly sick of being inspired

Now, to my credit, I did figure out in the car home that ‘tired’ would be a far more fitting and rhythmic word to use in this sentence, but this was a mentality that I found resonated really strongly with me. I’m very good at being inspired, I think most people are. We hear stories of people starting their own business, achieving some sporting brilliance or overcoming a personal hurdle and we say “Wow, isn’t that inspiring?” or

“It really inspires you to go out and make a difference!” or

“They are such an inspirational speaker!”

Then we go off about our day, not acting on the inspiration, and, for the most part, remaining uninspired. So I decided to act.

I did some very quick research (/acquiring of images of graffiti) in order to get the right shapes and textures to create a spray paint effect in Illustrator. I did some very quick research (/confirming the colours) of South American flags, taking the blue and red used in flags of the home nations of Miles Morales from Spider-Man and Usnavi from In The Heights. And I created the top design.

YES! I had been inspired and I had drawn a wee picture to show that - I had acted on my inspirations!

Then I looked to my left and spotted three, blank skate decks that I had bought on a whim from Re:Ply (a wonderful wee company who do a great deal of charity work supplying boards to people who need them, selling boards to people who can afford them, and for a very reasonable fee, providing unusable decks to people who want to use them for artistic purposes). I realised I hadn’t acted on my inspiration, I had just drawn a few pictures of skateboards with the eventual aim of PhotoShopping them onto other pictures of skateboards.

So I took myself...

... into the city centre with a shoddily prepared speech: “I’m looking for some cheap, small cans of spray paint. I’ve no idea what I’m doing, or if I’ll be good at it, so don’t want to invest too much into this.” Hiding behind this self-deprecating shield I barged into multiple art-, pound- and model-shops and pleaded with the staff to help a young idiot out. Amazingly, a very kind shop assistant pointed me in the direction of Fat Buddha, a clothes shop I’d always ignored as it seemed a bit to “...” for me. I don’t know what it seemed, but I knew it wasn't my kind of shop. Happy to prove me wrong, the guys in there were super helpful and they helped me buy my first cans of spray paint.

Now I’d spent money...

... and as a skinflint, that meant I had to get use out of my purchases. I had tricked myself into being inspired. Inspiration led me to the drawing, inspiration had led me to buy decks and the paint, now inspiration had to make me spray paint.

I’ll stop yammering on now. Essentially, I had planned on creating some analogue designs then digitising them (I’m guessing I should do a post on my brief, yeah? Might just upload the PDF to save me talking more), but then I found that I was doing the complete opposite. Genuinely accidentally. I had played with a few typefaces from various websites to get fonts that represented the ideas I wanted. The top one was semi-stolen (I can’t use the word ‘inspired’ any more in this post) from the end credits of In The Heights. The larger font is something of a nod to inspirational quotes you see on Facebook or on glittery frames in B&M.

I printed those out and cut them into stencils (very impressed that my digital boards have been drawn to a workable scale, thanks Maths). And after putting down a tack-layer (GRAFFITI JARGON (I think)) I sprayed the whole lot in blue.

Next, I tried to get a little fancy. Using cardboard blockers to create straight lines I added stars* (borrowed from the Puerto Rican flag) and made the bottom stripes vaguely reminiscent of America’s Old Glory.

I peeled the lettering off, and I’d done it. I may have to explain the overtly-negative inspirational quote to people, but to me it’s a clear sign that there’s no point in just being inspired, and that’s all I wanted.

A weight I didn’t know I was carrying was lifted from my shoulders. The plan was to possibly end up with a self-designed skateboard. And now I have one.

*Yes, I know they’re crosses.

#pp_hncgd1 #allhandsondecks #skateboard

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haylanmakesstuff · 3 years

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Living Statue Costume

I always loved seeing living statue street performer costumes in person, or even just photos. When done well, these street performers look so realistic! I think the first time I saw them was in New Orleans. I always wondered if I could make one that would be believable, and what it would be like as a performer in that costume, so in 2017 I made one, but Halloween night was totally rained out and freezing cold, so Austins big street party/show was non-existent. I saved the costume for 2018 and finally got to wear it out. It was a hit and one of the more comfortable costumes I’ve worn down there.

It was hard to get a good quality picture of this one in the low lights of downtown.

The base of this costume is a wedding dress I got off of ebay for $9 back in 2007. I used a thrifted shirt to add the arms and back (the dress was sleeveless/backless) and material to build the hips out. Added a zipper, flowers, lace, etc. to finish off the dress.

The wig, a detail of the front above, is actually two wigs sewn together and some hair extensions added. The Marie Antoinette look I was going for meant the hair needed to be reasonably big, in period style, and have *things* in it, as they did back then. So, I opted for a tiara int he front, and a birds nest, birds/eggs, pine cone on one side, and a flower and hair rolls on the other.

Other accessories included the fan, the gloves to hide my hands (ya know make up like this on your hands is TERRIBLE to deal with). Originally I had earrings and a necklace, but since they scraped the makeup off my skin, i ditched them to keep the costume looking good.

The next step was to make the dress, wig, and accessories look like..well, a statue. Starting with copious, ridiculous amounts of grey spray paint, I covered every surface multiple times, making sure no other color or material showed through. This took some bending and prying since there are folds all in the dress and painting hair to be solid is challenging and time sucking. After that base grey layer, I did a little bit of stone texture spray paint here and there. Then it was time for detail paint, to give the statue an old weathered look; this meant acrylic on brushes and sponges in different shades, both light and dark, all over the costume making highlights, low lights, and distressing. Why stop there! A real statue would have moss and lichen in my part of the country, so i added those, too. I sealed the whole thing with acrylic clear coat to give it a little durability since I thought the paint might chip some. All done! It was a really fun costume and one people really enjoyed. I got tipped for the first time! It made me want to get a buskers permit and wear it out during festivals and much to see if I could make some bucks.

#living statue #halloween costume #halloween #street performer #new orleans #marie antoinette #historical costume #happyhalloween #statue cosplay #statue costume #statue

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nendokiara · 4 years

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Rezo’s Hair 2: Mold and Cast

This is my first time with a silicone mold and working with ‘liquid plastic’.

I am using Smooth-On’s Mold Star 15 for molds and Smooth Cast 305 for resin/ liquid plastic.

Here’s how the silicone mold went down!

It was really hard to decide how to orient the piece! Eventually I chose based on the way gravity would affect the resin pour (and thus where the pour spout would be). I also anticipate a resin seam so I tried to have it end up where it’ll be easy to sand out.

I made a mold box out of Lego (Duplo) blocks and used Play-Doh to mask out the first section. There is an excellent video tutorial on Facebook in the Nendoroid Customs and Mods group by Emily Gomes that I followed for this, so I’m not going into great detail about the process here. In short, press the dough into the bottom and submerge the original part-way so that you can create the silicone mold one half at a time.

The Play-Doh was a bit dried out so I practiced a few times.

I mixed in some water to make it easier to work with. More on that later, but here’s the try I kept for my mold.

The clay cone at the top there will leave a space for me to pour resin. The toothpick is an air channel, so air can escape during the pour and help prevent bubbles. I tried to set them at the crests of the hair because I imagine that will be the place bubbles are likely to be caught. The acorn nuts are registration shapes so the mold will sit together correctly after you’ve taken the original out and are pouring resin.

Here are holes I made as additional registration marks. These didn’t really work out, but more on that later.

Here’s what it looked like when I poured the silicone.

What the...! I’ll bet you can guess what that thing is. ^^;

Yeah, it’s my air vent toothpick. It’s okay; I can just cut a new air vent after the silicone cures.

Does the silicone look kind of marbley to you guys? It did to me. I was pretty sure for four hours as I waited for it to cure that I’d not mixed it enough and I’d come back to a gloppy mess.

Anyway, I waited faithfully and here’s what it looked like after curing time.

There are lots of tiny surface bubbles. There’s no going back to do it better, so I might as well move forward!

It seems to be holding up alright as I remove a row o Legos, and there wasn’t a ton of leakage even though there are spaces between my blocks. But I want to keep my box intact for the next pour, so I leave the rest attached. All the guides say to unbox here and re-box later, but I might as well experiment and see what happens when you don’t because I can’t really riddle out why you shouldn’t.

Here’s the bottom, after removing the Legos there.

The clay has to come out.

It was pretty easy to lift out, and there’s not too much clean up to do. But, you have to clean it up and take out the acorn nuts so the next pour will fill them in and make the inverted side of the registration marks. Leave the pour spout though!

It’s clean and ready for the next pour. Almost. I add mold release spray, brush it in, let it dry, and then do another coat.

You can’t really see anything, except that it looks a little wet. I’m not sure you needed to see this picture but I took it so here it is.

Even though it seems to have set fine, I wanted to be really sure to mix the second pour enough to see if there would be a difference. Here’s the second pour.

It’s just as marbley and I mixed the CRAP out of it this time. So, that’s just how it looks.

UNLESS.

Silicone is reactive to environmental moisture. That marbling could actually be tiny bubbles, and then there are the other obvious bubbles too. There are a few things that might have caused bubbles to form: 1. I added water to my Play-Doh. Perhaps I should have used something else to make it soft instead, or gotten new Play-Doh. 2. It’s possible I didn’t let the mold release sit long enough after adding it. 3. While the weather station said it was dry enough in town, I didn’t have a hygrometer so it’s possible my house was too humid.

Will the bubbles affect the resin casting?

Here’s the mold after opening ( which was a pain in the butt, let me tell you ), removing the original and the pour spout clay, and cutting so the pour spout would be neat, plus adding an air hole. I used rubber bands and Legos to hold it shut tight for pouring the resin. I mixed and poured the resin in.

I manipulated it a little, pressing on the sides and such, hoping to work up any bubbles.

Here it is cured.

There are tiny bubbles in it that I can already see at the top of the pour spout flashing. Bummer, but let’s see how it went otherwise!

Here it is raw out of the mold.

When you powder your mold, it gives the casting a matte texture. That’s great because I need to put clay on this and maybe glue, and the texture will help them hold onto the piece. On a final casting, the matte will help you prime and paint as well.

Here’s the mold inside. Again, it’s powdered, with release spray and then baby powder. I’d like pure talc but the only sources I found offer huge amounts - more than I’ll ever use. So I bought 1.5 oz of Johnson & Johnson’s and I just have to deal with the smell and hope the fragrance isn’t doing anything weird to my process.

See how the acorn nut registration marks are fine and some of the ones I poked into the clay are AWOL? They were sticking pretty terribly and I didn’t want to stretch or tear my mold so I cut some of them as I separated the halves. I think they were too deep and narrow. I’m not going to poke holes again; instead, I’ll press additional acorn nuts into the clay upside-down if I want inverted registration marks.

But let’s look at the casting under the light!

Just beside my grody thumbnail you can see a huge bubble, and another on the other steeple crest. I didn’t aim right with my spout and air vent placement, it seems. But this isn’t a final piece so I can still use it. Oh, and there are the million tiny bubbles too, so I am really suspecting a humidity issue here.

I’ll buy a humidity meter before I cast anything else, I promise!

Here’s the casting beside the original, after I trimmed the spouts and a bit of the flashing/ seams. Sorry about the crappy and inconsistent photo quality, people; I’ll try to set something up for more quality and uniform results.

Anyway, pretty cool! The tips aren’t as sharp as the original because air got trapped there... I really need to figure out how to create reservoirs or something before I cast the final. I can add epoxy clay to this one and shape new pointed ends, but I don’t want to have to do repairs like that every time.

Next post, see me hack it up! Thanks for reading. 😘

Other Rezo’s Hair Posts (Links added as I go)

1. Obtain pieces 2. Mold and cast (you are here!) 3. Fix fit 4. Remove material 5. Heat-shape material 6. Add material with air dry epoxy clay 7. Smooth pieces for casting 8. Mold and cast 9. Clean and prime 10. Paint and seal

#nendokiara rezo

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marvelous-imagines-for-all · 5 years

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“Young Love” Cesar x Reader OnMyBlock

Based on: “Hi I just want to start off by saying that What are you doing mano was my favorite! Can I please request a Cesar or Diego imagine? Maybe where he has been really busy and he doesn’t have much time so the reader goes to surprise him. The whole day is spent inside just relaxing and when she goes to make dinner they just order something cause he finally admits that he needed a break and doesn’t want her to leave the bed. Thank youu!💙💙💙”

Author: Alana

“I promise that I will make it up to you, baby girl! I’m just trying to find time and make time to be with you.” You heard Cesar let out a sigh on the other end of the phone, “Things are just so hectic lately. I’m sorry that I’m putting you through this..” Cesar apologized, his voice filled with guilt.

You smiled softly, stirring the now cold dinner that you had made for both you and Cesar. “It’s okay, babe, really. There will be another time. I’m not upset.” You assured him, grabbing Tupperware for you to put the food into.

Cesar relaxed a little from his end, “Te amo, bebe.” He said, smiling to himself, waiting for you to say the words back.

“I love you more, dork.” You smiled, “You owe me a ton of kisses when I see you, by the way.” You informed him, earning a deep chuckle from his side.

You smiled huge at hearing his chuckle, you missed it.

“Alright, I guess that’s only fair! Have a good night, baby girl.” He said kindly before hanging up.

You bit your lip and set your phone down, wondering what you could possibly do to help out Cesar. You wanted to make this stressful time on him a bit easier.

Continuing to put the dinner away, you got an idea. Quickly you grabbed your phone and dialed the number.

“What do you want, hyna?” Oscar’s gruff voice asked as he answered the phone.

You rolled your eyes, “Is there any work that Cesar needs to do for the gang tomorrow?” You questioned, leaning against the counter.

Oscar arched an eyebrow and scoffed, “Why is that any of your concern?”

You held back a groan of frustration, “Because it has been nearly two weeks since I have seen my own boyfriend. I want to see him and the only way I can do that is by taking care of things that are on his to-do list. So if there is something he needs to do tomorrow, just tell me and I will go do it instead!” You finished, pinching the bridge of your nose.

There was silence from the other end for a moment. You glared at the wall, offended that Oscar might have just hung up, “Did you just hang up on me, you jerk-“

“Cool it, (y/n).” Oscar rolled his eyes, “Cesar has some walls to tag tomorrow, but that’s dangerous for a little girl like you to get involved in. Then he has some errands to run for me. There are some who owe me money and it’s time to collect. Oh, and my grocery shopping.” He finished, smirking.

You silently debated with yourself. His groceries? Really? But it would mean being able to spend the remainder of the day with Cesar tomorrow. “Okay, Fine-“

Oscar cut you off, “On second thought, you don’t need to do the money run. I’ll take care of that. Cesar would kill me if he knew I let you do that. You do need to do the tagging and grocery shopping tomorrow though.” Oscar finished, content with the decision he just made.

You smiled and nodded, “Alright, just text me the locations, I’ll handle them in the morning.” You did a quiet happy dance before hanging up.

You groaned softly and slammed your fist on the alarm clock. You turned over in your bed and read the time, 7:15 AM. Time to get ready.

You yawned while rubbing your eyes. Quietly, you got up from bed and walked to your bathroom. You handled your business and changed into a black hoodie and black leggings.

It would be easier to blend in before the sun fully rises.

You made your way to the front door.

“And where are you going?” Your mother asked, taking a step out of the kitchen and taking a sip of her coffee.

You jumped a little and turned around quickly, “Dear god, mom!” You placed your hand over your chest, “I didn’t know you were up.”

Your mother giggled softly, “Clearly. Seriously, where are you going, (y/n)?” She asked again.

“I promised a friend that I would help them out today. I just wanted to get an early start so that I could hang out with Cesar later.” You told her truthfully.

Your mother smiled huge, “Aww, you both are finally going to hang out again? That’s great, sweetheart! Just please be safe out there this morning.” Your mother pleaded, walking over and giving you a quick hug. “I’ll see you later, Angel!” Your mother waved you off.

You shook your head, laughing quietly to yourself. You began heading to Oscar and Cesar’s place because you needed to pick up the spray paint.

Knocking quietly on the door, you looked around at all the houses with their lights out.

The door slowly cracked open, revealing a tired Oscar “Spooky” Diaz. “I wasn’t expecting you this early.” He grumbled, bending down to grab a backpack full of spray paint. “Try to be careful and not get caught, kid.” He advised, handing you the backpack and closing the door.

“Yes, sir.” You replied sarcastically after Oscar shut the door in your face.

You looked down at the list of alleys to tag The Santos symbol on. Let’s get to work, (y/n). You mentally encouraged yourself.

You hated to admit it, but you were pretty sneaky and creative at graffiti.

Cesar took you on one of his tag runs before. Granted, the Prophet$ caught you both in their territory and you had to run for your lives, but you enjoyed the thrill of the event.

You smiled to yourself, thinking about that memory.

You stepped back to look at your work on the final alley wall. You couldn’t help the smirk that made its way to your lips. You did a pretty amazing job at tagging.

Maybe I should join the gang. You joked to yourself, picking up the backpack and placing it back on your shoulder. You looked down at your phone, “It’s already 8:30?” You asked yourself out loud, “I better get grocery shopping.” You concluded, starting your walk again.

Cesar yawned and slowly got out of bed, glancing at his clock in the process. It was already 8:30 AM and he had a to-do list to tend to. The sooner he could knock this list out, the sooner he could maybe see you in two days.

He hated all of the gang related stuff that he had to do. Not just because being in a gang isn’t who he is, but because it took away from his time with you. Whenever Cesar found himself getting severely overwhelmed with the gang world, he would just come to you and you were his peace. He could just be himself and not have to worry about which gang is after him, or when the next money run was. Cesar just enjoyed having you by his side.

I’ll see you soon, baby girl. He thought to himself at he looked at the picture of you on his lock screen.

It was a picture of you with a serious face and ice cream all over your mouth and nose.

FLASHBACK

Cesar had thought it would be funny to shove his ice cream in your face while you were talking to him about how hot you were.

You fanned yourself gently with a napkin as you and Cesar sat outside of an ice cream parlor. It was a hot day and you both decided it was the perfect time for an ice cream date.

Cesar sat across from you, eating his mint chocolate chip ice cream cone. “Babe, it’s too hot to be sitting outside.” You whined out for the second time, continuing to fan yourself more vigorously.

Cesar arched an eyebrow at you as he took a bite of his ice cream. Who bites their ice cream? “You keep complaining about how hot you are, mama.” He smirked, “Maybe you should just cool down?” He suggested, causing you to tilt your head.

“Well duh, that’s why we got ice cream-” You were cut off by Cesar pushing his ice cream into your face.

You squealed in surprise and stared at Cesar with a serious look. He grinned and quickly took a picture of you while chuckling, “Look at my baby, all cooled down.” He gushed at the picture, leading you to roll your eyes and wipe your nose with a napkin.

“And you’re welcome by the way.” Cesar smiled and kissed your ice cream covered lips, breaking your serious look into one of happiness as you kissed back.

END FLASHBACK

Cesar smiled and relaxed, feeling motivated to get through his tasks for the day because of you.

Oscar knocked on Cesar’s bedroom door before walking in, “Hey, you don’t gotta do the tag run. I had someone else take care of that. You can chill for a bit today, mano.” Oscar told Cesar, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Really??” Cesar asked quickly, not believing Oscar’s words.

Oscar nodded, “Yeah, but you still gotta stay home, fool. I’m expecting a delivery that you need to be here for.”

Of course I can’t leave to go see (y/n), Cesar thought. “Okay, thanks, I guess.” Cesar smiled softly, laying back in bed and sighing.

You stopped at home to have a bite to eat before delivering the groceries to Cesar’s house. Now that you’ve got food in your system, you’re ready to drop off the groceries.

You hummed quietly as you approached the house with two bags of groceries. Carefully climbing the porch steps, you gently knocked on the door with your foot.

Not long after, Oscar opened the door and looked down at you chuckling. “The things kids do for love.” He commented, lifting the groceries from your arms. He motioned for you to come in by gently nodding his head to follow him.

“He doesn’t know you were coming over, by the way.” Oscar said, beginning to put the groceries away. “And I have some things to take care of. So you can stay here and keep him company, (y/n).” He said, glancing over at you with a smile barely gracing his lips.

You smiled huge and quietly snuck towards Cesar’s door. You peaked through his door and smiled huge at him laying in bed and singing to himself. Aw, my love..

You pushed open the door and hopped in, “Boo!” You hollered, throwing your arms in the air.

Cesar jumped a little, “Dude-“ his eyes got wide, an excitedly smile coming to his lips. “(Y/n)?!” He let out a happy chuckle, picking you up and hugging you tightly. “I’ve missed you, baby girl.. wait what’re you doing here? How’d you know I was trapped at home??” He questioned, setting you on his bed.

You gently kissed him and trailed your thumb along his lips, “Don’t worry about it. Just be happy that we are finally together, Ce.” You smiled up at your boyfriend.

Cesar smiled down at you, taking in your appearance. He really missed seeing you daily. Letting out a sigh of relief, Cesar leaned down and kissed your forehead tenderly.

You closed your eyes at the action and smiled to yourself, a hum of contentment escaping your lips.

“Since we are finally together again, how about we go out on a date?” You asked, opening your eyes and taking Cesar’s hand.

Cesar laid down beside you. “Mi amor, the past couple of weeks have been beyond exhausting on me. Mentally, physically, and emotionally.” He began, placing your knuckles to his lips and giving them a ginger kiss. “So I would rather just stay in with you today, if that’s okay.” A blush crept to his face as he finished.

You laid on your stomach, next to Cesar, and laid your head on his chest, “Of course that’s okay with me, baby... I know you’ve been stressed..” you ran your fingers through his hair. “Besides, we can just watch Netflix and cuddle!” You suggested enthusiastically, causing Cesar to smile more.

“I would love that.” Cesar turned on Netflix. Both of you changed your position to get more comfortable on the bed.

Cesar’s left arm was now over your shoulder as you laid your head back on his chest. He gently fiddled with a piece of your hair, watching you as you began watching a show.

“You know,” Cesar started quietly, “I never really paid attention to how much I need you in my life, until you were barely in it for two weeks..” he admitted, letting go of your hair and gently trailing his fingers up and down your back.

“All I found myself thinking is how I needed to call and hear your voice. Or how I wanted to FaceTime you, but no matter what there was never any time. I just wanted to be with you, (y/n). I always want to be with you. This makes me realize that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He said thoughtfully, staring off into space.

You looked up at Cesar surprised, “Um.. are you proposing to me, babe?” You asked, flustered.

Cesar smirked and looked down at you, “Not at the moment, but I definitely will make you my wife one day. That’s a promise.” He booped your nose and kissed you gently.

You melted into the kiss and wrapped your arms around his torso, “I love you so much.” You whispered against his lips.

“And I love you more than Chinese food.. speaking of which!” Cesar reached onto his dresser to grab his phone, “Let’s order takeout.” He suggested, giving you his famous goofy grin. “That way we don’t have to move from bed and we can catch up on two weeks worth of your cuddles.” He kissed your cheek, “Oh! And those tons of kisses that I owe you! I didn’t forget.” He winked.

You laughed quietly to yourself and shook your head, how did I ever get so lucky?

#marvelous-imagines-for-all #alana and jade imagines #reader insert #jadana #on my block #imagines #imagine #on my block imagine #(y/n)#omb #omb imagines #omb imagine #cesar diaz imagine #cesar x reader #cesarxreader #cesar diaz

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ambereyesandwine · 4 years

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We’ve Got Soul: Chapter 2

WC: 2416

Warnings: Cursing, Sass, that’s all for this one

Beta’d By: @teaspacebar

Notes: I don’t actually know much of anything about spray paint and graffiti, so if I sound like an idiot, whoops. This part is 90% Gavin and Fantasia being assholes to each other while they work on a case. Markus is not in this one, but I assure you he will be back shortly :)

Chapter 2:

July 11, 2036

7:24 A.M.

Fantasia arrived at the police station to find the parking lot was mostly empty except for a section of five parking spots against the wall that had been blocked off with cones and a ‘Do Not Cross’ projection line. “That must be the space I asked for.” She entered the station and showed her temporary access badge to the reception android so she could go straight into the back. The lights were on, but the only occupied desk was that of Captain Fowler. She knocked lightly on his open door, “Captain?”

“Miss Jacobs, good morning.” He didn’t look up from his computer. “I had the workspace you requested sectioned off this morning.”

“I saw that, thank you.” A pause filled the room. “Did you want me to get started?”

He made eye contact with her. “Yes,” he stated with a finality.

“Yeah, alright.” Fantasia nodded to herself as she made her way back outside. “That was kind of a dumb question.” When she got out to the parking lot, Fantasia set her bag down on the concrete and pulled her paint cans out. “Okay, it’s been a little while since I did this.” She looked at the reference photos again, put in her earbuds, and started painting. She had six of the same symbol up on the wall when she was interrupted by a figure at the edge of her vision. She paused her music.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Officer Miller asked with a smile.

“It’s going,” she sighed. “I don’t think these were all painted by the same person.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well look,” Fantasia grabbed the photos of the graffiti that had been left at each of the crime scenes and fanned them out. “I got a couple of them to match the photos you guys gave me, and-”

“Talking about my case without me?” Detective Reed strode up with an unwarranted amount of confidence.

“Ugh.”

Officer Miller intercepted, “Fantasia was just telling me that she doesn’t think it’s one person.”

“Oh, yeah? And what lead you to that conclusion, smarty-pants? It’s the same tag.” He cocked his head expectantly at her.

“This one was painted by somebody left-handed; it’s heavy on one side” She flipped to the next one, “This one was done by somebody who doesn’t drag the can fast enough; the paint is dripping. This one,” She pulled another, “used something as a shield so there’d be clean lines even though the paint is so thin, and this one, was the person who designed the tag; it’s the only one that doesn’t have clear hesitation or mistakes in the paint movement.” She shoved the stack of photos into Detective Reed’s chest. “One tag, four artists, smarty-pants.” She stared him down, and Reed bitterly returned the look until Officer Miller broke the silence.

“We should go report this to Fowler.” He said it timidly, like he was afraid they’d turn on him if he spoke too loudly.

“Thank you, Chris, I’ll get right on that.” Detective Reed spoke through his teeth.

Officer Miller hurriedly walked back into the station, leaving Detective Reed and Fantasia to stare each other down.

“You plan on reporting to your captain anytime soon?” Fantasia cocked her head at Reed.

His eyes narrowed. “You better watch the attitude, or-”

“Or what?” Fantasia raised her eyebrows and extended her arms outward, “I’m the expert the DPD called in. You can’t touch me.”

“Keep it up, I’ll figure something out,” He looked enraged.

Detective Reed turned and walked back into the station while Fantasia stayed outside for a moment to clean up her paint. When she went inside, Fantasia heard Detective Reed talking to Captain Fowler about her findings. She sat down in her usual chair by Reed’s desk and pulled the stray pencil and stack of sticky-notes over to her.

“He shouldn’t miss these too much.” Fantasia started to doodle angry chibi versions of Detective Reed on each of them, sticking them to his desk wherever she could fit them. When he finally returned, there were only three of the neon-colored squares left in plain sight.

“What the hell is all over my desk?” Reed questioned.

Fantasia shrugged, “More doodles of you being a prick. I got bored.”

“It still isn’t funny.” He crumpled them up and threw the drawings into the trash.

“It’s still hilarious.” She stated with certainty.

“Will you quit bickering and just get your shit done?” Lieutenant Anderson called out from his desk. “Jesus, it’s like every time you two are in the same room, the whole world gets a migraine.”

Detective Reed rolled his eyes and grumbled to himself, which made Fantasia snicker.

“I’m gonna start rerunning through footage from the scenes now that we know we’re not looking for the same guy at all of them.” He said it more to himself than to her.

“Does that mean I’m good to go?” Fantasia’s tone was laced with indifference and boredom.

He huffed, amused, “No. You can sit there and stare at these pictures of spray paint until you can tell me more about ‘em.” Detective Reed tossed the stack over to Fantasia with a ‘get on it’ hand gesture.

Fantasia only sighed before spreading out the stack and looking at each of them more closely. After a few moments of scanning over them again, she quirked her head as a realization hit her. “Reed.”

“What now?” He groaned.

“Do you want me to tell you or do you want to keep being a dick?”

“What is it?” He managed a slightly calmer tone.

“I’ve seen this before.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Or at least a version of it, hang on.” Fantasia pulled her phone from her pocket and pulled up her photos, scrolling until she found the one she was looking for. “I knew it was familiar. I did a piece over top of one of these, look.” She pointed to the photo where the tag was partially visible under her work.

Detective Reed squinted at the screen. “I know this one.”

“Yeah, that’s cause this is the piece you arrested me for the first time.”

He laughed, “Oh, yeah. So?”

“So, I know who painted it, or at least who they belong to.”

“What does that mean?”

“There’s a gang downtown that uses a tagging system for initiation. It used to be a dragon or some shit, but they just changed leadership. This one is a kid…” She trailed off in thought and snapped to herself a couple of times “Joseph Palmer.” She leaned back, satisfied with herself. “This was his tag before he was in the gang, he must have taken over.”

“Wow,” He looked absolutely taken away by her answer.

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just the first time I’ve ever heard you say something useful.”

Fantasia’s fists clenched and her nostrils flared, but she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“I’ll be back in a minute, try not to miss me too much.” As he rose from his chair, Detective Reed gave a wink and finger guns before he walked away.

Fantasia sat quietly for a few minutes until Detective Reed returned. “Well?”

Reed grabbed his jacket from the back of his desk chair. “We got a hit, and we’re gonna go get him.”

“We are?” Confusion clouded her tone.

Reed’s features contorted as if he’d heard the dumbest thing in the world. “No, stupid, we are.” He gestured to himself and Officer Miller. “You’re not a cop, you don’t count when I saw ‘we.’”

She rolled her eyes.

“You hang out here, we won’t be gone very long, and we might still need your help.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

“What?”

“Did you just say you need me, Detective Reed?” She smiled cunningly at him.

He scoffed, “No, I said you’re not allowed to leave. We’ll be back in a little bit. Stay here.” Officer Miller followed him out of the station, leaving Fantasia alone at Reed’s desk.

After she was sure he was gone, Fantasia moved to sit in Detective Reed’s chair behind his desk. She checked her phone to find a text from Carl that read ‘How’s the “not in trouble” thing going?’

She laughed to herself. ‘It’s going well. I’m pretty sure we know who’s been leaving the graffiti tags.’

‘Oh yeah? Maybe you should be a detective instead of a painter.’

‘Are you firing me?’

‘Only if you miss another dinner with less than two hours of notice.’

Fantasia audibly scoffed. ‘Not my fault. Besides, wouldn’t you rather me be called ‘The Expert’ for the first time than be ‘The Arrested’ for the fourth time?’

‘Very true, at least you aren’t in handcuffs this time.’ The text came through immediately followed by an upside-down smiley-face emoji.

‘Rude.’

‘Get back to work, I’m sure you have things to do.’

Fantasia shook her head as she put her phone down and looked around to see if she could find where the smell of coffee was coming from.

“Lieutenant Anderson?” She called out.

“Hmm?”

“Where might one find coffee in this place?”

He barely looked up from his computer when he replied, “Down that hall and to the right, help yourself.”

“Awesome, thank you.”

When Fantasia returned to the desk area, steaming cup in hand, Lieutenant Anderson called her over.

“Yes, sir?”

“Please don’t call me that.”

She took a small sip of her coffee before asking, “What would you prefer me to call you then?”

“Just Hank is fine. Take a seat.” He gestured to the chair by his desk.

“What’s up?” She sat down with one foot tucked under her.

Hank looked her over once and saw the inside of her cup. “I have some- wait, is that straight black coffee?”

“Yeah, why?”

He looked surprised for a moment before shaking his head and getting back on his previous train of thought. “I have some questions for you.”

“I will answer to the best of my ability. What’s on your mind?”

“What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a painter.”

Hank squinted, “Actually a painter, or you just like to think you are?”

A laugh left Fantasia’s chest. “No, I’m a real painter. I have an apprenticeship with Carl Manfred.”

“Oh, he’s pretty good.” He nodded to himself for a moment. “Then why do you do graffiti?”

Fantasia sighed lightly, “I don’t anymore. I had to quit; It was part of my deal to get the apprenticeship.”

“Oh, that’s why we hadn’t seen you in a while. A couple of us started taking bets that Reed had buried your body somewhere.”

“Nah, he couldn’t kill me. I’m the closest thing he has to a friend.”

Hank chuckled and the two enjoyed a moment of quiet before returning to their own space and tasks. Fantasia pulled some paper from her bag to doodle and found herself drawing Detective Reed. She occasionally sipped on her coffee as she drew his resting grumpy face, until there was a commotion at the door of the station.

Reed waltzed in with one Joseph Palmer in handcuffs and escorted him directly to the holding cells around the corner. They were quickly followed into the room by Officer Miller, carrying drive-thru bags.

“So, I see you got him.” Fantasia commented as Officer Miller approached Detective Reed’s desk.

He had a smile on his face. “Yeah, we did. You were right about it being more than one though.”

“Oh, yeah?” She did her best to look surprised as she took another sip of her coffee. “I’m shocked.”

“Hey. Tiny terrorist.” Reed called out as he walked over to his desk. “I found this,” He pulled a crumpled sticky-note from his pocket, “in my jacket. How many more are there?”

“Several.” She thought for a moment. “At least 20 more.”

“Where?”

“It’s a surprise.”

He gave her a glare. “Get out of my chair.”

“Gladly.” Fantasia rose from the seat and sat in her usual place, sliding her notebook across the desk.

Reed caught a glimpse of what she was working on. “What was that?”

“Absolutely none of your business, is what it was.”

A dissatisfied hum escaped him. “That’s for you,” He said with a gesture to one of the bags Chris had left behind.

“You brought me food?” She quirked her head. “Is it poison?”

“What? No. It’s a burger.” He shook his head as he started into his own food. “Eat. I know you’ve been here for hours.” He took a bite slightly bigger than he should have and pretended it was fine.

“Wow. That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.” Upon receiving a middle finger and fake smile from him as a response, Fantasia threw a napkin at Detective Reed. “Gross, you have sauce dripping down your face.”

“Leave me and my sauce alone.” He wiped his face with the napkin and continued to eat.

The two ate in relative quiet while Detective Reed filled out paperwork and Fantasia continued her drawing, sitting with her knees propped up in front of her on her chair.

“You’re good to leave if you want.” When he didn’t get a response, Detective Reed peaked out from behind his computer to look over to Fantasia, who was hunched over her sketchbook, scribbling away. “What are you doing?”

“I’m drawing.”

“Can I see?”

“No, you always hate my drawings.” She clutched the book to her chest.

“No, I hate it when you draw me as an angry cartoon.”

“Is there any other way to draw you?”

Detective Reed scoffed.

“Thank you for lunch.” Fantasia’s tone was hushed.

“What was that?”

“You heard me.”

He smirked, “I don’t think I did, would you repeat that?”

“I said I prefer chicken nuggets,” she said as she stood up from her chair, “just for future reference.”

“Oh, good to know, for the never again that I buy you food.”

Fantasia made an affirmative hum, “Yeah.” She shook her head with a small smile.

“You know, if I liked you more, I might say good job today, and thank you for help.” Reed turned back to his computer. “Good thing I don’t like you.”

She snorted. “Yeah, otherwise I might’ve told you to have a good rest of your day.” Fantasia ripped the finished drawing of Detective Reed out of her sketchbook and slid it across his desk. “See you around, Detective,” was all she said as Fantasia left the police station to head home.

#markus x oc #dbh #detroit become human #markus #gavin reed #dbh markus #dbh gavin #detroid become human #rk200 #gavin reed x oc #We've Got Soul

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chasma-cos · 6 years

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Raven Branwen’s Sword: Omen

So I’ve finally got around to posting how I made an Omen prop for my Raven Branwen cosplay (from RWBY)

Details under the cut! (will be fairly long and pic-heavy)

For materials I used foam core, paper towel rolls, corrugated cardboard, 3mm craft foam, a length of baseboard, jewellery wire, masking tape, high-temperature hot glue, plasti-dip/flexidip, metallic red and silver spray paint, a semi-gloss clear sealer and various colours of acrylic paint for details and weathering.

Tools used were a high-temperature hot glue gun, a belt sander, a heat gun, a utility knife to cut the foam core, and a scalpel to cut the craft foam.

All craft foam used in this project is 3mm thick, and all glue is high-temp hot glue.

I started out with a screenshot taken from RWBY that I (tried) to edit into a semi-decent profile for Raven’s weapon. I then scaled it up to the size I wanted it to be in real life and printed it out to use as a proportion guide.

I then traced the pattern out onto foam core (foam board) and cut out all the pieces, angling (beveling) any edges so I would have a “seamless” fit when assembled. I then test fit the pieces together with some masking tape to make sure everything lined up correctly. I then glued one side together with high-temp hot glue, while leaving one face off so I could later add in the “rotary chamber” part, as well as taped any open foam edges with masking tape.

(sorry for the tall pictures) For the rotary part, a pop can ended up being the perfect reference size, so I took two paper towel rolls, cut them to the correct length, and then cut a slit down one side of each of the paper towel rolls, so I could interlock them. I taped them together and slid a pop can through to make sure I had the correct circumference, and then Very Carefully glued them together with hot glue to make a single cylinder.

I then measured out where I wanted the dips to be on the rotary chamber, and cut out some 3mm craft foam and glued that on with hot glue. The dust cartridge part (the coloured part on the chamber in the next photo) is a strip of corrugated cardboard with the top layer of paper cut off so you could see the corrugations.

I then sealed the rotary part with plasti-dip, and then painted the dust cartridge part with acrylic paint and dry-brushed silver paint on the edges to weather it.

The blade is made from a piece of baseboard I got from a local hardware store. I used a belt sander clamped into a workbench to sand down the baseboard until I got the blade shape that I wanted.

I then measured and cut out some 3mm craft foam, test-fit it around the wood using masking tape, and then glued it (with hot glue) around where I wanted the hilt to be.

(I painted the inside of the sheath black just in case you would be able to see inside but it turned out that it probably wouldn’t have mattered much)

The hilt was measured and patterned out in relation to the sheath, so that the faces would match when the sword is sheathed. I cut out each panel out of foam core, and then test fit the pieces together with masking tape, angling any edges that needed to be angled to achieve a nice fit. I then glued it together with hot glue.

By this point the rotary piece was fully dry, so I was able to glue it in place inside the sheath, and then glue the other side of the sheath closed. I also finished off the pommel on the hilt of the blade. On both the sheath and the cross-guard I taped any edges where the foam from the foam core was showing with masking tape.

Adding the finishing pieces. The “trigger” part on the hilt of the blade is a piece of thick jewellery wire covered in craft foam, and then poked into the cross-guard and glued in place.

The handle on the sheath is 3 pieces of foam core cut out and stacked together. I covered the top of the handle with a piece of craft foam, and the bottom with masking tape. It was then glued on with hot glue.

The flat end covers for the rotary chamber are an almost-semi-circle piece of foam core with a strip of craft foam and glued in place. The curved end caps were a bit more difficult. I used the top of a plastic toy baseball bat I found (that just happened to be the perfect size) to pattern out a rounded end cap. I then cut the pattern out of craft foam, and glued it together, and then glued it to the sheath.

The little cone shaped part on the end is some craft foam shaped into a cone with a circle foam core glued onto the end, filled with hot glue, and then glued on.

The rectangular panels on the top and bottom of the sheath are strips of craft foam that are glued on.

(I don’t have as many photos of the painting process, as I was a little rushed while doing this part especially) Time for sealing! After heat sealing the foam parts with a heat gun, I masked off the rotary part since it was already painted, and then sprayed everything with multiple layers of FlexiDip, which I ended up not liking how it was reacting to some parts of the build, so I then switched to plasti-dip.

Once everything was sealed, I very lightly misted the black sheath and hilt of the sword with silver spray paint. I then masked off the hilt of the sword, and painted the blade with the red metallic spray paint. I also masked off the sheath and painted the panels on the top and bottom and the little cone on the end with silver metallic spray paint.

After the paint dried, I weathered the sheath and hilt with silver acrylic paint on the black parts, and black acrylic paint on the silver parts. Then I gave everything a couple coats of clear coat.

Overall I took me about a week to make this, mostly because I left it until the week before the convention to finish it. Here’s some more photos:

#raven branwen #raven branwen rwby #raven branwen cosplay #rwby #rwby cosplay #prop making #prop #rwby prop #cosplay #raven branwen prop #raven branwen weapon #sword #morncrist #prop build #build guide #chasma cos

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river1983 · 5 years

Text

Prompt #38

Requested by @thatdaughterofabitch , thanks for the request! :)

Ship: Destiel

BACKGROUND: Dean Winchester was a renowned serial killer, responsible for the deaths of 23 innocent lives just this year. His total death count was at 104, and he’s been on the FBI’s Most Wanted list for two years.

Castiel is also a serial killer, with a death count of only 47, but the method of murder was something out of a TV show.

A/N: I’m really sorry if this is completely not what you were looking for.

TRIGGER WARNING: Graphic depictions of violence: murder, mutilation (cutting) PLEASE don’t read if you are uncomfortable.

I’m going to sound like a physco with the descriptive words and overall dialogue of this fic...so DISCLAIMER: IM NOT A MURDERER, JUST A WRITER...WE WRITERS HAVE TO ACCESS THE INNER KILLER SOMETIMES WE’RE WEIRD BUT THIS IS TUMBLR EVERYONE’S WEIRD

DISCLAIMER 2: THIS IS NOT A FLUFFY FIC! It has a lot of violence and overall not good things. Destiel is in it, but there’s a lot of murder.

The language is a probably-translated-wrong version of Enochian. I will put the English translations up here.

**when spelling, Enochian is spelled backwards. So, ‘dean’ would be ‘nead’**

ELASA BIAB ADAGITA BOLAPE VIRUDEN: You are to be beautified

A A DOOAIN DE ELO: In the name of God

Prux, Med, Don: Ron (Spelled backwards)

Ur, Graph, Gon: L, E, I

Gisg, Fam, Un, Veh: T, S, A C

Ome gahalana ooaoana el manada: We will see one another

“Serial Killer AU”

Dean stares at the TV in anger as he saw this infamous Castiel appear on the screen again. The headliner read: INFAMOUS SERIAL KILLER BRUTALLY MURDERS FAMILY OF 4. Dean rolled his eyes as he sharpened his blade, listening to the newscaster as she spoke.

“This just in, the death count increases due to the infamous killer on the loose, named Castiel, who recently murdered and mutilated a woman in Lebanon, Kansas. The pictures and footage are disturbing, viewer discretion is advised.”

The pictures appeared on the screen, and even Dean had to admit, it was art. He paused the screen to look closer at the carvings. They were just like the ones before, on other victims. He had found the language, Enochian, but has yet to be able to translate them.

The screen changed to a video. Finally! Dean thought as he leaned closer.

He’d been hunting this Castiel for weeks, trying to kill him so he could add to his reputation. Yeah, he could kill an ordinary, insignificant human, but why not another serial killer? And no, he wasn’t obsessed...at least that’s what he told himself.

He had yet to find out what Cas looked like, which made him so hard to find. The guy was a real genius, even though it pained Dean to admit it. His carvings were so clean you’d think he was a doctor.

The video showed a man in a entirely black outfit. Black trench coat, dress shirt, dress pants, and tie. His dark, tousled hair looked unkempt but not necessarily bad on him. He had piercingly blue eyes, and a malicious smile. Dean was intrigued.

Castiel whipped around his victim, who was tied to a table, stretched for minimal movement. “Elasa biab adagita bolape viruden.”

He took out a weird looking knife, pointed at the end but expands outward, almost like a detailed cone on top of a handle. The victim’s arms and legs were exposed, and Castiel poised his blade on top of the exposed flesh.

“A a dooain de elo.”

Then he started to cut into the flesh, carving out one of the letters shown in the pictures.

The video cut off after that, but Dean had the mental image in his head of this man, so he cut off the TV. He got up and sat at his desk, picking up his notebook dedicated to Castiel. He stared at the pictures of the carvings on a different victim, trying to piece what the letters meant.

Castiel cleaned his blade as he stepped away from his latest victim. She had died quickly. He set his blade down and picked up a rag to clean the wounds he created, making sure no blood seeped out the dams of skin he severed, that his cuts stayed clean and precise.

When he was done, he left the body there for the cops to find--for Dean to find.

He first heard about Dean on the news when he murdered a group of skateboarders/graffiti artists. He had poured the spray paint into their mouths, causing them to choke on their own form of art. Not the way Castiel would have done it, but he fascinated Castiel.

He knew Dean was after him, and the reasons. His death by Dean’s hand would do great things for his reputation. Cas didn’t mind--it saved him the work of going after Dean himself.

He got back to his home and immediately went to his desk and opened his notebook dedicated to Enochian language, looking over the notes he accumulated over the years.

He first found the language while he was researching for a paper for his English class. It was an ancient dialect, thought to be the lost language of the angels. He fell in love with it, studied it until he became fluent in speech and writing. In fact, it inspired him to kill.

Castiel did not have a bad childhood. He was not an abnormal kid. He played sports, excelled in school, and wanted to be a entomologist. He was, however, a little weird, per say. He had been intrigued with the concept of death at a young age, found studying nonfiction murder mystery books and listening to podcasts about famous murders and murderers. H. H Holmes intrigued him the most. He thought it was genius using a house as a place of murder. He loved the concept of sneaking around a building in secret corridors with different rooms for different murders, no one ever suspecting anything. It was genius.

But Enochian and learning it was the final push for him. He was 26 at this time, and found his first victim at a park, simple and easy. Followed him until he got home, and killed him in his house. He lived alone, so it made no sense to drag him out of a perfectly fine place of death. He had written three Enochian Letters: Prux, Med, Don. The victim’s name. So, ever since, that’s what he did. He found ordinary people and did this to them, sketched their names into their bodies. He didn’t find joy in it, per say, but more of a feeling of content.

This was his calling.

Sure, it was ironic and cliché to used God’ s name while he killed, but it wasn’t because he was a believer. It was because of the language. Nothing about what he was doing should be credited to God.

Subconsciously he muttered his name in Enochian.

“Ur, Graph, Gon…”

He traced the picture of Dean he had gotten from the news. “Gisg, Fam, Un, Veh.”

He smiled. “Ome gahalana ooaoana el manada, Winchester.”

Dean’s childhood was full of abuse and being thrown into a role of responsibility too early. He had three siblings: Adam, Sam, and Jo. His mom died in a fire when he was only six, Jo was four, Adam two and Sam only six months. His father was not the same after the incident, leaving Dean to care for his siblings when he was only six. His father drank and hit him all the time, calling him worthless and the cause of his mother’s death. Dean never said anything, just bottled up the anger and pushed on--he had three kids to look after.

After Sam finally went to college and Dean was on his own, his anger towards his father finally surfaced. He had killed his father by forcing him to chug six bottles of whiskey--not that it was that hard. No one had ever suspected he had anything to do with his father’s death.

Dean was hooked. The adrenaline he felt from taking life from another human was almost like being high. He couldn’t stop.

So, that’s what he did. He didn’t have a day job, but had enough stolen money to last him the rest of his life. He didn’t kill for the money, or the reputation. He killed because he was addicted to it.

Dean ran his hand over his notes with a sigh. If he wasn't trying to murder Castiel for the rep, why was he after him? He didn’t even know of he had money or not, though its unlikely that he wouldn’t.

Dean knew the answer to that question, but he hated it.

He felt drawn to Cas somehow. Maybe it was the way he killed, carving ancient letters into people’s skin. Maybe it was because his devotion to his art of murder. He didn’t know what, but it was something. He wanted to kill him because Castiel was a distraction, and Dean Winchester couldn’t afford distractions.

He skimmed his notes again, looking back and forth between the scrawls of Enochian and the precise, beautiful carves in the picture. He looked back and forth again, then smiled. “Found it.” He muttered to himself, grin on his face.

He quickly scrawled the English translation onto the picture, then stared at it.

He stared at them, not able to make sense of them. What would “edaj” mean?

He looked at his notes again, seeing the small note he had written.

Enochian is spelled right to left.

He looked at it again, and got it.

It was a name, presumably of the victim. If he translated the rest of the victims he would probably see their names too.

Dean spun around to get his laptop. He would research Jade and see if he could find where she lived, and hopefully this could lead to Castiel’s location.

Dean turned on the news after 4 hours of research. Jade’s location was in Chicago, but her murder took place in Lebanon. The most recent victim’s death was also in Lebanon. He wasn't able to find out more, but he decided he would start there. He would pack a bag and ride to Lebanon, which wasn't too far from where he was now.

Dean laughed. He had sworn he would never go back there, not after he murdered his father. It wasn't because of his father’s death, but because it was where his life went to hell.

But to meet Castiel...it’d be worth it.

The newscaster came on the screen.

“There seems to be a message from Castiel, infamous murderer, to another well known serial killer, Dean Winchester here in Lebanon--”

Dean’s mouth dropped open as he paused the screen, processing that information. Castiel knew about him? And left a message? His brain was trying to process it, and he hadn't even seen the message yet. He unpaused the screen.

“--Kansas. It seems to be in the same ancient language seen in his mutilations. Here’s the message:”

Dean scrambled to get his pen and notebook then paused the screen on the message, reading it first.

WINCHESTER, I KNOW YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR ME. LET’S MEET.

GRAPH FAM VAN MED NA FAM’TAL MED TAL DON VAN MED GON

A/N: I can’t copy and paste the actual Enochian letters--so sorry about that!

Dean reread the message. The letters telling him where to meet Castiel was in Enochian letters, so Dean got to work translating. It didn't take him as long as he thought, only thirty minutes, but he got the message. He stared at it for a significant amount of time before taking a deep breath, grabbing his bag, then getting in his impala.

The message?

YOUR MOM’S HOUSE

Castiel sat in Dean’s old house, his victim tied to a chair at the moment, gagged because he wouldn't stop pleading. He was sure Dean would be here soon, he had to have learned Enochian by now if he was following Castiel all this time. He didn’t know why he cared so much about Dean, but he did. He had researched him, the brief semi-bio written by his sibling, Sam. He assumed that his siblings knew of Dean’s murderous tendencies, but haven't turned him in because of sentiment. Castiel had found out about this house from his biography, learned about his upbringing, and numerous facts that led Castiel to invoking Dean. He wanted to meet the man.

A few hours later, he heard the door open. He took his blade, them stood in the hallway, meeting a pair of bright green eyes staring back at him.

Castiel was taken aback. He’d seen Dean numerous times, but something about seeing him in person hit him like a truck.

“Hello Dean.”

Dean Winchester met his eyes at the same intensity. “Cas.”

Castiel cocked his head at the nickname. “Cas?”

Dean shrugged. “Your name’s too long.”

He walked down the hallway, standing right in front of Castiel. “So,”

“So.”

“Why’d you call me here? How did you know about it? About me?”

“I’ll tell you soon...first I have to deal with someone.”

He turned and went back to the room with the victim in it.

Dean followed him. Cas stopped in front of the man in the chair, taking out his blade.

“Your victim?” Dean asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Dean rolled his eyes. “Is it okay if I watch?”

Castiel nodded. “I want you to.”

Dean stepped back, getting a good view of Castiel as he did his work.

Cas pressed the tip of the blade onto the skin of the victim as he screamed behind the gag, but not moving.

“Elasa biab adagita bolape viruden.”

Dean recognized the words. It was on the last video shown on the news.

“A a dooain de elo.”

Then Castiel started his work. He looked like he was in a trance, focused only on the skin underneath his blade and fingertips and the language he was etching into them. Nothing else existed. Dean understood that.

It took an hour, but Cas finally finished, stabbed the man cleanly through the chest, then turned to Dean, cleaning his blade.

“You’re a genius.” Dean blurted. “I mean, clearly an artist.”

Castiel smiled. “Thank you Dean.”

He turned examining the cuts he made. “I don’t have much to clean up--we can talk afterward. Here, if you’re comfortable.”

Dean nodded. “I’m fine.”

As Castiel cleaned, Dean took a moment to take in his whole appearance. Every thing about the man screamed dominance. He had a certain aura around him that drew Dean in. It was impossible not to be drawn in. he was like a black hole.

Cas turned. “Follow me.”

Dean nodded. “I know this house, Cas--I lived in it for a chunk of my life.”

Castiel shrugged. “You have a point.”

They arrived in the living room, and sat across from each other. they stared for a while, not saying anything.

“I read about you.” Cas said suddenly.

Dean raised an eyebrow, asking to elaborate.

“Your brother, Samuel, had a small biography about you. I also saw you on the news. Your method of murder...it’s fascinating. Brilliant, though not my personal method.”

Dean scoffed. “There’s no thought behind my methods. You, however, have such precision...I was watching you now. It’s a bit of an honor.”

Cas laughed. God, he had a beautiful laugh...what?

“The language...I fell in love with it. It’s interesting.”

Dean huffed. “That it is. How’d you learn it? I could barely decipher your message.”

Cas smiled. “It took several years...I’m surprised you learned as much as you did so quickly.”

“Yeah well, I wanted to meet you.”

Dean blushed a little. “So, is my method the reason why you called me out?”

Castiel seemed stopped cold by the question. “I...I just...wanted to meet you.” He said. “I felt, drawn to you, to be completely honest.”

Dean sucked in a breath. He couldn’t believe this. “Well, the feeling is returned, Cas.”

“I like that, Cas. It’s much easier to say than ‘Castiel.’”

The two men looked at each other, unsure what to say. This wasn’t turning out how he imagined.

Castiel didn’t know what to do. to be honest, he really wanted to kiss the man. There was no use denying it--Dean fascinated him. No one’s captured that Castiel’s interest in all of his life. But Dean...he was truly worthy of attention.

Castiel debated with himself whether he should so something about it or not. He hated how he was acting like a high schooler about this, but he had just met the man.

“Fuck it.” Castiel said.

He leaned in towards Dean, and met his lips. Dean’s eyes widened, but he didn't pull away. He relaxed, and kissed back.

Cas leaned back into his chair, meeting Dean’s widened, shocked eyes.

“I--Cas--”

“That’s the the real reason I reached out to you. I...want to consider a partnership.”

Dean laughed. “Actual partners in crime, in both senses of the phrase?”

Cas laughed. “I guess so.”

Dean smiled and looked down. “Sure, Cas.”

Castiel stood up, kissing Dean again. “Anyone who says serial killers are emotionless are wrong.”

Dean nodded. “We’re still breaking the law.”

Castiel shrugged. “Do you care?”

Dean picked up Castiel’s blade and handed it to him. “Nope.”

that’s it! I got stuck on this story a bit lol. I know a little bit about Enochian letters, but I couldn’t transcribe the actual letters in this story, so the language in this is probably completely wrong. Anyway, hope you guys don’t think I’m a serial killer now hahaha. thanks for reading :)

-river

#destiel fanfic #destiel #destiel fanfiction #serial killer au #au #alternate universe #fanfiction #fanfic #fic #otp prompts #writing prompts #prompts #im not a murderer i swear #jada writes stuff

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mizmahlia · 5 years

Text

This request was from @rolodexthoughts:

For the sappy prompts can I touch you for a Marvel ship I can't remember who ship for them but just whoever Pops in your head

The prompt is #16 from the Super Sappy Prompts list.

“Why haven’t you kissed me yet?”

I’m a little rusty writing Steve and I’ve never written Darcy, so I beg for your mercy. That and the actual prompt didn’t quite fit into what I started writing, so I tweaked it a little.

Thanks for the request, Kat!

It was just after four pm and the natural light in the penthouse of the tower was fading fast. But the cozy glow of Christmas lights made up for the dimming sun.

Darcy groaned and tilted her head back, closing her eyes. Her arms ached, her shoulders were tight and her fingers felt like pin cushions after hanging what had to be at least 800 feet of Christmas lights and garland.

In actuality it was probably more like 100 feet, but still. That’s a hell of a lot of stuff to hang.

She climbed off the ladder and sighed in relief. It felt good to finally put her arms down. She stretched her neck back and forth to work out the knots and stood back to admire her handiwork. There were colored lights and tinseled garland wrapped around all the railings. The windows were frosted with fake snow around the edges, lit from the floor by white lights intertwined with olive leaf and myrtle garland. She’d arranged vases full of white roses, sprigs of holly and pine cones spray-painted with gold paint and glitter on the end tables framing all the couches. There were candles everywhere, ready to be lit and fill the room with spruce, peppermint and vanilla aromas.

And at her feet was a box of mistletoe, a dozen bunches in all, ready to be hidden all over the room.

Darcy glanced down at the box and grinned. She couldn’t wait to catch people standing under these. She’d have to make sure her phone was fully charged so she could take pictures. It was her goal to get Nat and Bucky to kiss in public. Everyone knew they were an item, but she wanted confirmation.

She rubbed at a particularly tight knot on her shoulder as she calculated how long the remaining decorations would take. It would likely only take another hour or two and then she’d have plenty of time to get back to her place to shower and get ready before the party started at eight-thirty. As she worked her fingertips into the knot, she spaced out for a moment and didn’t hear footsteps enter the room.

“Wow, Darcy. This is incredible.”

Darcy startled and spun around. Steve stood in the doorway with his hands jammed in the pockets of his jeans as he stared up at the decorations. She kicked the box of mistletoe with her heel, sending it under the couch behind her.

“You like it?” She looked around, pride bubbling up in her chest and making her smile.

He entered the massive room and climbed the stairs, stopping a few steps from the top so they were eye-to-eye. He was smiling that insanely charming smile of his, the one that made it hard for her to think, let alone talk. (Rendering her speechless wasn’t an easy thing to do. Even she could admit to that.) His gaze was focused on the curls next to her left ear. As he raised his hand she held her breath.

“I love it,” he said. “You’ve really outdone yourself.”

She felt his fingers gently work their way into her hair and she fought the urge to shiver when they brushed her ear. If he picked up on it, he didn’t show it. His hand came away with several strands of tinsel. She recognized it- she’d last used it on the small tree next to the bar.

Steve grinned and held it up between them so he could get a better look at it. As he studied it their eyes met and suddenly Darcy was able to speak again. Just barely.

“How do you know I wasn’t gonna use that for something?”

“Do you still want it? Because I can put it back.” He reached toward her hair and she caught his wrist, her small fingers barely able to wrap around his arm.

“Too late now, Rogers. It’s yours.”

He took it and held it to his chest, the silver tinsel twinkling against the charcoal fabric of his sweater.

“I wonder what I should do with it,” he said playfully, looking around the room. “I don’t want to ruin the theme you have going.”

His eyes stopped on the enormous tree over her right shoulder and Darcy heard him gasp.

The tree was a balsam fir standing just over nine feet tall. It was wrapped in multi-colored strands of lights that twinkled softly and there were dozens of vintage glass ornaments hung on its branches. At the top was a silver star covered in glitter that caught the lights from the tree.

He quickly glanced at her before walking over to admire it. She turned and watched him, suddenly worried something was out of place or had triggered some sort of awful memory. The tinsel slipped from his fingers and fell to the floor as his eyes wandered up and down the branches.

Their flirting instantly forgotten, she approached and gave him a moment. When she’d managed to gather her nerve, she put a hand on his back and rubbed gently.

“You okay?”

He nodded and looked down at the floor, smiling softly.

“Yeah. It reminds me of the trees we had when I was a kid,” he said with a chuckle. “Except this one is a little bigger.”

Truthfully, it had been part of her design aesthetic all along, the vintage ornaments in particular. But she hadn’t realized she was doing it for Steve until Bucky’s comment the day before after he saw one of the boxes of the ornaments Tony had delivered. He’d laughed that contagious laugh of his and told her how excited Steve was gonna be when he saw the tree. At the time she’d internally squealed in delight because Steve’s opinion, for reasons she didn’t care to discuss with anyone (not even Jane), was the one that mattered.

Darcy shrugged and pretended she didn’t notice how moved Steve was. The moment they were having felt incredibly intimate and she didn’t want to ruin it. They were standing just a few inches apart and she could smell his aftershave and feel the warmth his massive frame gave off.

“How did you know?”

Darcy blinked and turned to look up at him. His eyes were somehow an even more brilliant shade of blue in the light from the tree. It was distracting. And beautiful.

Oh, god. He was talking to her.

“What?”

“How did you know that these ornaments were my favorite?”

She felt her cheeks grow hot and she glanced away from him to hide the blush she knew was blooming across her face.

“Honestly, I didn’t. I’ve always liked the way they catch the light.”

Steve nodded and gently bumped her arm with his elbow. The glint in his eye and the subtle smirk on his lips made it clear he didn’t entirely believe her.

“Well, it looks beautiful.”

Darcy smiled and nudged his arm in return.

“Thanks.”

He turned and scanned the rest of the room. There were several unopened boxes sitting in a somewhat empty corner of the room.

“Do you need any help finishing up?”

He watched her shoulders sag in relief.

“Yes, please. I’m about out of energy and have the corner where the buffet will be set up left to do.”

He smiled widely and stepped behind her. She had to stifle an absolutely obscene moan when he squeezed her shoulders and steered her toward one of the couches. She didn’t bother to hide her disappointed frown when he let go.

“Then have a seat for a few minutes and I’ll unpack the boxes that are left.”

Darcy sank back into the couch and propped her aching feet on an ottoman.

“Yes, Captain.”

Steve rolled his eyes and smiled, but said nothing.

While he began opening the few boxes and totes that were left, Darcy planned what to do with the decorations he laid out. She had a pretty good idea what they would do for the table and with Steve’s help, she would be done in half the time. The thought she would have time for a hot bath made her smile.

“What’s got you so happy?”

Steve was looking at her from the bottom of the stairs with his hands on his hips. There was a gentle concern in his gaze and she suddenly felt very self-conscious. She blinked and felt her cheeks get warm again. It’s not like she could just blurt out he’s the reason she’s smiling like an idiot.

Damn it.

“Now that I’ll be done sooner, I have time for a hot bath. My neck and shoulders are pretty pissed off at me right now.”

Steve frowned and began climbing the stairs. He sat down next to her and she sat forward, swinging her feet to the floor.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

Darcy shrugged and rest her chin on her hands. There was a tired smile on her face that made Steve’s heart beat faster in his chest.

“It’s not a big deal. Everyone has stuff going on right now and this was my way of contributing.”

Steve acknowledged her answer with a nod and brought his hand up to rest on the back of her neck.

“May I?”

He watched as Darcy’s cheeks flushed pink again and bit his cheek to hide his grin. She barely managed a nod.

“Yes, please. That would be amazing.”

He worked his thumb and fingers in small circles up and down her neck, finding each and every knot before applying just enough pressure to get them to loosen. Once he was satisfied her neck felt better, he got up and stood behind the couch to work on her shoulders.

“Hey- if the superhero thing doesn’t pan out for you, I think you have another career option.”

Steve laughed and worked his thumb into a particularly tight knot. The quiet groan as she melted into the couch made him squeeze a little harder, but not hard enough to hurt. He felt the knot give way under his thumb and he gently tugged Darcy backward until she was leaning against the couch again. She let her head fall back and she closed her eyes.

“How am I supposed to get anything done now? I’m too relaxed.”

“I can take care of it. Just give me an idea of what you were aiming for and you can supervise.”

He circled the couch and was about to sit next to her again when he spotted a box under the couch across from them. He knelt down and grabbed it.

“What’s this?”

Darcy opened her eyes and instantly sat forward.

“Uh, nothing. Just an empty box.”

“Doesn’t feel empty to me.” He shook it and Darcy hurried over to him and reached over his shoulder to try to grab it. Her cheek was only inches from his as she leaned forward. It was Steve’s turn to blush as Darcy stretched even further.

“Really, it’s empty. Hand it over.”

“If it’s empty, then why do you want it so badly?”

They both stood up and Darcy crossed her arms over her chest. The mistletoe was supposed to be a surprise. Then again, conspiring with Steve to get Bucky and Nat to make out would be more fun. She watched as Steve opened the box and grinned.

“Mistletoe, Darcy? Really?”

“What? It’s tradition.”

“I never guessed you the type to follow a tradition like this.” He took a sprig and held it up. “Wait. This is real.”

“Thank Tony for that. But it’s also blackmail material so let’s get it hung up before anyone notices.”

Steve looked at her and back to the mistletoe.

“Bucky and Nat, right?”

Darcy threw her hands up.

“Yes! Thank you! I’m not the only one who needs confirmation.”

“Not at all- he won’t even tell me they’re an item.”

Steve put the box on a chair and stepped closer to Darcy, still inspecting the mistletoe in his hand. He stopped in front of her and held it between them. She noticed Steve fidgeting a little at the almost non-existent space between them and fought the urge to smile.

It was now or never.

She took his wrist and raised his arm until he was holding the mistletoe above her head. His gaze shifted from the mistletoe to her face, a knowing smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Well?” she asked expectantly.

“’Well’ what?” His tone was coy, but his smirk was anything but.

“Are you gonna kiss me or what?”

Steve gave the mistletoe to her and she frowned. She was about to open her mouth to protest when his thumb once again brushed against her cheek and his fingers threaded themselves into her hair. His other hand settled against her hip as he leaned down. She could feel the warmth of his breath on her face and was only focused on the fact his mouth was mere inches from hers. She was snapped out of her reverie when he somehow managed to out-sass her.

“And if I chose ‘or what’?”

“Too late to back out now,” she muttered as she leaned forward to press her lips against his. She felt him smile as he kissed her back, and she sighed softly as his tongue met hers. He broke the kiss for a moment and slid his other hand down to her waist, tugging her against him. His gaze was different this time, more sentimental than playful, and the thought she may have put it there made her smile bashfully.

“Merry Christmas, Darcy.”

“Merry Christmas, Steve.”

There was a brief pause before she managed to get her wits about her again.

“Hey, can I get another one of those before we get back to decorating?”

He grinned and kissed her again, this time leaving them both breathless and flushed.

“Think we’ll actually catch Bucky at Nat under this?” he asked as he glanced around. “This place is enormous and that’s a pretty small box.”

“I think they underestimate how much I want this and how long I’ve been planning it.”

Steve threw his head back and laughed.

“I can’t wait to see this. Just tell me where it should go and I’ll hang it.”

“Deal, just as long as we manage to corner each other under it later.”

Steve leaned in for one last kiss before stepping back. Darcy brought her fingers to her lips and blushed when he winked at her.

“I think that can be arranged.”

#Steve Rogers #Darcy Lewis #Steve x Darcy #Captain America #MizMahlia's fanfiction #Shieldshock #Fic Request

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akechi-kikyou · 6 years

Text

Long Goodbye: Chapter 2

AN: Oh god, I hope this is ok. I always get nervous when I make up characters to pad things out. Plus, I spent a fair bit of time researching places in New Mexico. Now I kinda wanna visit and stay in this hotel that I referenced.

Fury built up quickly in Hanzo as he rushed outside of his hotel room and down the hall. Then it occurred to him that he actually didn’t know where he was going, and this stopped him in his tracks. Anger died down to bitter resentment as he returned to his room and opened his phone to see if his brother had at least thought enough of him to text where he was going. There was indeed a message from Genji saying that he was going to “see the sights”, but it didn’t say where to find him. With a sigh, the elder brother closed his phone and put it on the charger. Then he started to unpack while his resentment devolved even further into sadness. He wanted to call their father and tell him that they had arrived safely, but what if the patriarch asked to speak to Genji? Hanzo supposed he could lie and tell his father that the younger brother was sleeping, but a guilty conscience would nag him for the remainder of the trip. Not calling was the best option until he found his brother, but he didn’t even know where to look.

Once Hanzo had his things put away, he returned to his phone and texted his brother a simple threat, “Be here on time or prepare to smell dirt.”

He had only gotten a few steps away in the direction of the bathroom before his phone’s text message chime sounded. Genji had wisely replied, “I will. Promise brother.”

“Must be nice to have fun,” Hanzo muttered to himself as he put his phone down and started for the bathroom again.

About halfway there, it finally hit him that their father was not there. Genji was already gone, and so it was too late to worry about stopping him from leaving. Since he didn’t even know where to find the brother, it was also impossible to closely monitor his behavior. He COULD sit here and wait for him to come back or he could enjoy his freedom just this once. After today, he could knuckle down and keep a close eye on the younger Shimada. In the meantime, he was beginning to think to himself that he might as well take this chance to have some fun of his own.

To start off with, he took a very long shower. Back home, cleaning himself was almost constantly a rush either to get ready for the day or because he was carefully rationing his very limited free time among all the things he wish he had more time to do. But today, he didn’t have to race the clock in order to spend as much of his last hour before bed as he could reading or rush because his tutor would be arriving soon. For a good while, he stood under the spray of water and enjoy the feeling of it running through his hair.

When he finally grew bored of showering, he took his time with getting dressed while watching a television documentary about a girl whose mother forced her to pretend that she had cancer. By the time it went off, Hanzo managed to dress himself in a blue button up shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, a pair of blue jeans, and tan boots. He geled his hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. Then he retrieved his phone from the charger before setting off.

The good thing about the men that their father employed to watch over them was that they never asked questions. When Hanzo stepped out of his room, he was immediately met by two men who shadowed him in silence as he took the stairs down to the lobby.

Hanzo had been dead to the world tired when they had first arrived, and so he had not paid much attention to the beauty of the hotel, but now that he was wide awake, the first thing to draw his awe was the giant chandelier hanging from the ceiling at the center of the lobby. Along the cone shaped structure was what appeared to be candles. However, the “flames” were actually bulbs shaped and painted that way. Directly below it was a fountain that was surrounded by more electric pillar candles, and there were more near the front desk, which was made of the same wood as the wardrobe.

As he walked, his footfalls sounded lovely echoing off of the shining floor. Truthfully, he didn’t know where he was going, but when he spotted a family coming from a corridor to the far left, he got curious and headed that way. His reward was a heavenly scent that made his stomach growl. Following his nose, he found himself in the hotel’s restaurant. The interior, being mostly lit by sunlight coming in from the large windows around the room, was a beautiful sight to behold with many round tables covered in crisp white table cloths and beautifully folded napkins next to crystal clear wine glasses. But Hanzo, after taking note of the sign directing him to sit anywhere, wandered out onto the patio, which looked and smelled lovely. All of the tables out here were arranged so that they would have a good view of a calming fountain at the center of the area. The outer walls of the hotel were covered in beautifully fragrant leaves and vines while planters along the perimeter were filled with lovely blooms of hyacinth.

Immediately after Hanzo seated himself at a table close to the fountain, a waiter filled his glass with water and then promised to give him a few minutes to look at the menu. But the young man already knew what he wanted and ordered right away. Once the water had gone, Hanzo opened his phone and let his thumb hover over the camera button as he pondered. Should he take a selfie? This place was so beautiful that he wanted to preserve the memory, but what would his father think if he discovered the picture of his eldest son having fun while Genji was nowhere in sight? He bit his lip for a few moments in contemplation before finally pushing the button to switch to camera mode. Then he took a picture of his very serious expression that was carefully framed to include the fountain and the hyacinth in the background. There. It was done. Hanzo put his phone down on the table next to his fork, but then quickly picked it up again and went through all of the necessary actions, only pausing when his phone asked him if he was sure that he wanted to delete his picture. Sighing, he closed the device and sat it down again. No, he wouldn’t. As much as he hated the idea, he decided that if things came to it, he would lie.

With this decision made, he started to think about his agenda for tonight. While his father wanted Genji to be present at the meeting, a guilty part of Hanzo hoped that his brother would screw up and not make it back in time. Then he wouldn’t have to deal with the anxiety of worrying that the punk would embarrass him in front of a prominent gang leader. Speaking of, his thoughts wandered to that person as he imagined how all of it would go. While his English was fluent, he was told at least once that his accent was heavy. Hopefully, this McCree would understand him alright.

While he mentally rehearsed things he might say, his food arrived to momentarily replace his anxiety with joy. He had ordered something that he would have never taken the occasion to eat back home -- a cheeseburger and fries. Hanzo was in awe of the fact that the burger itself took up half of the plate, while the rest was occupied by fries and a single pickle slice.

“Wow,” he remarked to himself as he stared at his meal. He couldn’t possibly hope to eat all of this himself, but as he picked up a fry and dipped into the provided tin cup of ketchup, he silently vowed to do his best.

Hanzo made it a little more than halfway through the burger and finished a good portion of the fries before he finally couldn’t take any more. His plan was to end his meal there, but then the waiter started to talk to him about desserts. A short while later, he was presented with a sundae composed of coffee ice cream garnished with cinnamon crisps and a drizzle of Mexican chocolate. Despite his full stomach’s protests, he finished it, but not without consequence. Getting back to his room was torture, and when he arrived, it was all he could do to set an alarm for 6 PM before falling into a delightful food coma.

-------------------------------

Instead of his alarm waking him at 6, it was Genji to wake him at 5:30 by gently shaking him and calling, “Brother? Brother, wake up!”

The sleepy young man moaned as he sat up, “What is it, Genji?”

“I’m back in time for tonight, brother!” Genji was beaming with pride in himself for having done the right thing for once. Still, Hanzo found himself in no mood to praise him for something he should have been doing all along. The younger brother didn’t seem to mind, though. He continued wearing his smile as he put a small plush Pikachu on his brother’s leg. “I won it for you, brother!”

“You did?” Hanzo was caught off guard by this. Picking it up, he gently pressed down one of the character’s long ears and then poked at its nose. It wasn’t often that Genji gave him gifts. Birthdays and Christmas were a given, but he could recall only one time where the younger sibling had presented the elder with a present for the sake of it. Turning back to Genji, Hanzo rose his brow, “Thank you… but if this is a preemptive apology for something you’re planning to do later, I will still beat you.”

Genji slightly pouted at his brother’s mistrust, “I’m not planning to do anything. I’m sorry that I left without telling you as well, but you were so tired. I covered you with the blanket and stayed with you for a while, but I got too excited to get out and see everything.”

Again, Hanzo was caught off guard. Why was his brother being so… like this? It was hard to fault the younger for wanting to go out and explore a little, especially when Genji had kept his promise to come back on time. And his gestures of brotherly affection? They were melting right through the cold exterior that comes with being an aggravated elder sibling. Right now, Hanzo couldn’t even be threatening because he was thinking to himself that he really did love this punk despite all of the trouble he caused.

Despite all of these positive feelings, Hanzo still made a ‘pff’ noise as he sat the Pikachu aside. At this, Genji’s face fell and he started to look down at the floor. “Brother, I…I know this is important to you, so I want to behave properly. I know you didn’t want me to come…”

Hanzo felt an urge to hug his little brother, but instead, he rolled his eyes and walked right past him to the bathroom. On the way, he spoke over his shoulder, “Are you hungry? Did you eat?”

The question seemed to be enough for Genji, who picked himself up and followed, “I had pizza. I’m sorry I didn’t bring back any for you, but I wasn’t the one who paid.”

Of course, Hanzo thought. It was only their first day here, but his brother had already found a girl who was willing to spend her allowance on him. How typical. While Genji leaned against the doorframe, Hanzo started getting ready for tonight with brushing his teeth. The younger seemed to get the hint that they needed to get ready and so he started undressing. At the moment, the younger brother was wearing sneakers and black jeans with a black button up short sleeve shirt and a green tie, but he started with undoing the latter while stepping towards the shower.

“Oh,” he paused in his actions. “Should you go first? I usually take longer…”

“I showered earlier, so go on if you haven’t,” Hanzo removed the toothbrush from his mouth and replied with a mouthful of foam. He rinsed his mouth afterwards and then headed back to the bedroom to get dressed.

As he laid his planned outfit on the bed, he found himself wishing he had saved the pinstripes for tonight instead, but once he was dressed, he felt reassured that he looked just as good in a grey figure flattering waistcoat, a crisp white shirt, black slacks, and a blue and white striped tie. While he rolled up his sleeves, he sat down on the bed and stepped into his new shined up black shoes. Then he grabbed the remote and began flipping through television channels, hoping to find something as interesting as the documentary from earlier.

Hanzo was usually quick to get ready, but Genji was another story. It was 6:30 by the time he finally exited the bathroom clean and with his hair all styled up. The younger brother dressed in a waistcoat as well. However except for his shirt, Genji was all in black, including the tie, much to Hanzo’s surprise. If he was not wearing the green tie, Genji must have been really serious about behaving tonight. Wanting to show the boy just a little affection, Hanzo stood and tied his brother’s tie for him.

“Father would be proud,” he remarked as he worked. “You look like a true Shimada heir.”

Genji didn’t have a quip for once, but his smile said everything. Once his brother finished helping him with the tie, the younger sibling looked at the time on his phone and then started for the door. “We should go now, Hanzo. Better to be a little early than late. Isn’t that what father says?”

The elder’s face lit up with pride as he followed out. “Yes, that is in fact what our father would say.”

“Because then we can scope out the place before they arrive,” Genji added enthusiastically as they started down the hall with their men falling into step behind them.

At this, Hanzo chuckled, “Yes, that as well.”

He was in a good mood right up until they got into the car and started rolling towards their destination. Genji behaving so well was a positive, but he was beginning to become suspicious of it in the belief that if his own brother didn’t pull some stunt, something else would go wrong. Again, he thought of his Japanese accent. Americans can be rude, especially when it comes to language barriers, or so he had heard. There was also a scenario that he had not considered until now -- what if this McCree had an accent of his own? The only thing worse than the other party not understanding him would be himself not understanding the other party and looking like a fool for it. Nervousness made his fingers want to be busy, and so they picked at nothing on his pants and checked the knotting of his tie several times.

“Brother, tomorrow we should go shopping,” Genji spoke up, breaking the silence.

“Why should we do that?” Hanzo’s tone sounded very cold, but it was all he could do to mask his anxiety.

“The weather here is very hot. My legs sweated and made my pants stick to them. That’s why I needed to shower again.”

Hanzo considered it and then nodded, “If you behave properly tonight, I will take you tomorrow. Also, after today, don’t leave the hotel without getting my permission first.”

“Yes, brother,” Genji obediently nodded. Then a smile appeared on his face. “After today, you said. That means I could leave later tonight.”

“Do it,” Hanzo spoke flatly. “You must like how dirt smells.”

“No! I just… thought I should confirm.” Genji inched away from Hanzo towards his window and started to look out at the scenery. That was the end of their conversation.

-------------------------------------------------

“Brother, are we going to a train?!”

The car ride here had been a short one into what was known as the Railyard Arts district, if the writing on the water tower that loomed above the place was to be believed. They were met in a parking lot across the way from a brewery by several men who immediately made them feel that they had stepped into a western. At least two had shotguns slung like yokes around their necks, but Hanzo couldn’t take his eyes off of the tallest man he had ever seen. This burly lad had on a leather vest with knives that definitely weren’t tucked into it for decoration.

Hanzo and Genji had been told to meet the Deadlock Gang here, and so they assumed they were going inside of the brewery, despite all of the weapons that the gang had. However, they found themselves being led in the opposite direction of the building to the railroad, where a train with two cars waited.

The eldest brother didn’t need to answer the whispered question as they were all escorted onto the last car. In here were even more men and a single girl with long dark hair leaning against a rifle that was as tall as she was. Unlike the cowboys she was surrounded by, she wore a tan Native inspired top, short denim shorts with frayed edges, a necklace and bracelet of turquoise and a single long feather tied in her hair right above her left ear. Genji tried giving her a flirtatious smile, but she responded by switching the rifle to the other side of her body and turning up her nose.

Both brothers, Shuichi, and one other man were escorted into the first car, leaving behind the rest. When they arrived inside, the brothers were frisked by two of the gang and then directed towards the comfortable looking passenger seats at the center left of the car. This would leave two of their men guarding the door along with two of the Deadlock Gang’s men.

Upon arrival, both brothers stood before two seated people and bowed before sitting across from them with Hanzo allowing Genji to take the window seat. The younger brother had sat across from someone that Hanzo noted to be a rather scrawny lad. He didn’t give that person much of a look, as he was more focused on the man directly across from him who appeared to be in his mid twenties. This person was wearing a red flannel shirt and blue bootcut jeans over boots and had brown slicked back hair under his brown stetson. Hanzo was about to address him when the silence was broken by the drawling voice of the one across from the youngest Shimada brother.

“Genji, good to see you again.”

Confused, Hanzo looked at the young man and then at his brother, whose face lit up as he replied, “It IS you. I thought so, but I didn’t think I would see you here.”

The scrawny youth smiled and tipped his hat, “Well, I had a feelin’ I’d be seein’ you.”

Now this person had earned Hanzo’s attention. His baby face didn’t have a single follicle of hair that didn’t belong to his eyebrows. Wisps of brown hair underneath his black cowboy hat stopped just above of his collar. He was wearing a red bandana over a white shirt and black vest, and his long, twig-like legs were clad in black denim and leather chaps.

“The two of you know each other?” Hanzo questioned the duo near the window.

“We met today,” Genji answered. “At the arcade, and he bought me pizza. This… wasn’t what he was wearing, though.”

“You weren’t dressed so nice either,” a sly smile graced the other’s face and remained as he turned to Hanzo and tipped his hat at him. “And you must be Hanzo.”

“I am,” Hanzo nodded. He was being very polite when he really wanted to outright ask who the hell this kid was. They had been told that they would be meeting with the boss of the Deadlock Gang and given the name McCree. There had been no description, which was why Hanzo kept looking to the stoic character directly across from him. Surely, the leader of a notorious gang couldn’t be…

“Heard a lot about you, mostly from Genji,” the kid continued to talk. “Can I get ya’ll somethin’ to drink? We got water and Coke. Nothin’ strong. ‘Pologies.”

Before Hanzo could say a word, Genji answered, “Coke!”

The other young man turned to the older at his side and held up three fingers. Then, much to Hanzo’s momentary surprise, that person stood and headed to the seats behind them. While the sounds of fishing around in ice could be heard, Hanzo thought to himself that he should have known things would go this way. Their father had insisted on sending Genji along -- he had trusted them with this because they were meeting with a child. Though McCree’s voice had enough bass in it to be worth something, Hanzo still couldn’t see him as a man.

“How ya’ll likin’ Santa Fe so far?” McCree was asking them.

Genji immediately piped up, “I’m enjoying myself. Thank you. Thank you.”

The last thanks was for the man who had returned with three Cokes. He gave one to each brother before handing one over to their host, who further displayed his position by dismissing the older man with a few whispered words. Hanzo watched him go and then turned to look at McCree again. Salt laced his words as he asked, “So you’re the Gunslinger? You.”

Genji nearly choked on the Coke that he was drinking. Hanzo was going to just let his brother sputter, but McCree was the one to reach over and pat the hunched over boy’s back. “Take it easy now. Guess American Coke’s got a little more bite to it.”

“I’m sorry,” Genji apologized when he could stop coughing like an idiot. “I thought that other guy was the boss.”

Well, at least Hanzo could agree with his brother on that. When he turned his attention to McCree, he found the other one smirking. “Who, John? Nah. The only boss of Jesse McCree is Jesse McCree unless someone’s gonna pay Jesse McCree real nice to do somethin’. Then, maybe that guy’ll get to be Jesse McCree’s boss for a while.”

“Do you always refer to yourself in the third person?” Hanzo shot out and then regretted it. Even though he couldn’t take this kid seriously as the boss of anything, he reminded himself that he still needed to be respectful for the sake of the deal.

“S’a bad habit of Jesse McCree’s,” McCree replied and then winked. “I get it. You’re serious and wanna get down to it right now.”

“You can get us guns,” Hanzo started.

McCree interrupted, “I can get you anything. It really just depends.”

“On what it is, I’m assuming.” Now that they were actually talking business, Hanzo started to feel a lot more comfortable. Grabbing the cap of the Coke bottle, he twisted it off and had a quick sip.

McCree, in the meantime, left his untouched and resting between his crossed legs. He nodded, “On what it is, and on who’s askin’. If it’s for you, I can definitely get anything ~”

Hanzo’s face began to feel a little hot, but this only aggravated him. After a self reminder to stay polite, he spoke again, “We could always get guns ourselves…”

“Oh, I’m sure you can,” McCree folded his arms behind his head and leaned back. “There’s a Walmart we can drop ya’ll off right in front of. You can go right in ‘n grab yourselves coupla guns right now. You shoulda been told we don’t get children’s toys. If ya’ll want water guns, go to someone else. If ya’ll want military grade hardware, you’re hangin’ around on a train with who’s gonna get it for ya. But if ya’ll think I can’t cuz’a my cute face…”

Hanzo wanted to punch that cute face, but instead, he turned and gestured to Shuichi, who brought along a black briefcase. The elder Shimada waited until his man was gone to place the case on McCree’s lap. With a quirked brow, the young man sat up and opened it. Then he closed it with a grin.

Hanzo wouldn’t give him a chance to say something annoying. Instead, he spoke quickly, “That’s a retainer fee. You’ll get the rest when you deliver.”

“Nice,” McCree smiled, opening the case again and taking out a stack of rubberbanded American cash to smell. “Smells real nice. You can tell your boss that we’ll be deliverin’ in a week or less. Until then, I’m gonna put a chunka this to work tonight. Let me show ya’ll a little hospitality. Steak’s on me tonight, boys.”

He had a polite decline all ready, but before Hanzo could say a word, Genji was already saying, “Great!”

Hanzo wanted to strangle him then and there, but it wasn’t worth it. If the damn cowboy wanted to treat them to free dinner, why not? What was the worst that could happen?

#Overwatch #McHanzo #Hanzo Shimada #Jesse McCree #Genji Shimada #Overwatch AU #mitsu's fics

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after-skies-ananthology · 5 years

Photo

I'm a member of the President's new space force, here's what I've seen so far

BLACK SKY WARS

the second part

approx. 5 yrs ASE

You ever been inside a Colorado police station before? Here’s a better question, have you ever had to pick up your troubled brother from a Colorado police station before? If you have, then you may be able to sympathize with my plight that day. I had been waiting there since 1300 for him to be released. Our parents died about a year after I left for the Army. We have very few relatives who cared about us (my parents were pretty much the blacksheep of their families), so it was of course down to me to take care of him. It’s probably for the best that it happened this way I suppose. Being in the military, I get all sorts of benefits and on-base housing necessary to help raise him until he’s an adult. Which makes one side of that equation easy. The other side, the actually parenting him side, well, I just don’t know. He’s about 16 now. Gets in fights all the time. I think he may be apart of some anarchist punk gang that spray paints public property and vandalizes abandoned areas or some shit like that. I can’t really keep up with it. We barely see each other. He’s never home. I think - well, I mean, I’m never home.

I had volunteered for an earlier transition into the Space Corps than the rest of my unit after being offered a lucrative bonus. I’ve been an E-6 for three years now. And I’d say with confidence that I’m pretty good at my job. My military job, not my parenting one, that is. I suppose the military offered me that bonus for my skills in tracking space objects and directing joint partners against spaceborne threats - not my skills in guiding my brother through life and giving him a chance to feel like a happy, successful adult. I apologize for how depressing I must sound. But I’m doing the best I can. And I’m starting to think the best I can do is not good enough. I feel like the more successful I am in the military, the more I fail my little brother as his guardian.

The cops had called me while I was at work. Me and the newest member of my section were going over Counterspace Academics, which is the term we use for the death by powerpoint sessions we put our people through every now and then just to make sure they still know their job. It is ungodly boring stuff sometimes. Basic shit everyone knows out of tech school. The NCOIC for our flight was droning on about one of the first anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) tested by the United States back when women still wore shoulder pads. The ASM-135 Bold Orion II. Basically a converted nuclear cruise missile with it’s warhead taken out, and replaced with a hardened micro-satellite that would detach from it once in orbit and then proceed to smash into its target like a hockey player. The Air Force was even successful in taking out one of its own failed satellites with the 135, proving it could work. However, due to the death of the Soviet Union, and increasing skepticism surrounding the Strategic Defense Initiative, the project was quietly cancelled. That was until defense industry executive and weapon designer “extraordinaire” Frank Monterrey stuck his nose in it.

Mad Monterrey cried foul before the ink even dried on the cancellation orders. He then proceeded to cry foul for over a decade after that. In the 90s and early 2000s, he would even buy late night air time on a few of the major networks to present his case for renewed ASAT development and even - you guessed it - an independent space branch of the military. Today, my unit is responsible for the direction and employment of the fruits of his ‘labor’. The General Systems ASM-270 Orion’s Revenge. This one is not only faster than the 135, but it has more destructive potential as well. After passing through the mesosphere and into the thermosphere, its first stage detaches allowing its second stage to engage briefly for several seconds in a wild fireball. After this initial burst of flames is over, the rotors attached at the nose unfold from the missile’s remaining fuselage like a parasol. Small angled tip jets located at the end of each rotor blade then ignite, allowing the weapon to adjust its velocity as it enters orbit.

As it approaches the vicinity of its prey, the tip jets deactivate. At this point, the missile’s rotors (made of a special hardened alloy) can be used to permanently damage or completely destroy whatever they impact. After a few goes, whatever rotors remain can be used to steer the ASAT to its final target using its last bit of fuel - killing the adversary space object with a kinetic blow via the tungsten encased cone that constitutes its nose. Using this method, the 270 is capable of targeting a small constellation of targets (usually three to five objects, depending on size). Because of how it unfolds after launch, those in our unit have taken to calling it the The Killer Umbrella.

Sorry, I feel like I went off on a tangent there. We’re supposed to be talking about my brother. His name is Jerry. Our mom named him that because... Um, well, I’ll be honest I can’t remember now. She told me once when I was younger but, I don’t seem to have soaked it in. Let’s see, I know he skateboards. And, well, I think he likes to vape (maybe?). I know he listens to that genre of music on the internet, vaporwaver, or something like that? That’s... probably why I think he vapes. This is kind of embarrassing to admit but - I’m supposed to take care of him, and I’ve been taking care of him for quite some time now, and yet I don’t know a thing about him with any certainty. I can talk for days about this missile I’ve only seen pictures of in a class room, give you every little detail of its development and even the politics surrounding it, but I can’t be bothered to even invest a minutia of time into figuring out who he is or the kind of young man he’s developing into. I guess I shouldn’t blame anyone other than myself when he gets in trouble like this.

It took me about thirty minutes to leave base and arrive at the police station. I walked up to the sheriff’s deputy sitting at the front desk and asked him my question, “Hi there, my name is Wesley Fervek. I received a call telling me my little brother Jerry has been arrested?”

The deputy looked me up and down, dressed in my OCPs, with new Space Corps regalia adorned upon it. He replied, “Uhh yeah, the little skater asshole, spat at me when they brought him and his punk friends in.”

I scratched the back of my head and tried to save face, “I’m really sorry he did that. I think he may just have a lot of adrenaline and peer pressure going through him right now. He’s really not like this.”

“Right.” The deputy said as he rolled his eyes, picking up the phone at his desk. “Ray, its Diaz, skater asshole’s brother is here to pick him up...“ He looked back up at me, noticing the name tape on my left chest that read U.S. SPACE CORPS. He joked to his friend over the phone, “Oh, scratch that, Buzz Lightyear’s bottom bitch is here to pick him up.” He began to chuckle as he threw the phone back down into its place, forming a shit eating grin as he looked at me and said, “Hey man, relax. I’m just having a little fun at your expense. He did spit at me after all.”

I kept back the urge to throw my fist through the glass that separated us. “Right.” I said back to him. “So I take it he’s not being charged with anything?”

He said, “That’s right, one of his little friends was the one that actually assaulted someone. With a knife no less. From what the victim told us, your brother tried to calm things down. Anyways, you can have a seat over there while my friends finish questioning him.” He pointed to rows of wooden chairs behind me, arranged to face the bulky box TV that belonged to some other era of history.

I furrowed my brow and said “Thanks” under my breath, trying to prevent my anger at this prick from swelling out of control. I sat down in one of the front chairs and checked my phone, I saw that I had received a text from one of my troops. Her name was Space Specialist First Class June Alvarez, and she was one of many to be the first to attend Space Corps basic training at Lackland Air Force Base. Her text read, “Sergeant, I know you had to go to the police station, but could you hurry back? The powerpoint is over and we’re back to work now, but I’m still pretty lost on some of the telemetry stuff you were showing me earlier and no one really wants to help me at the moment.”

I texted her back, “I’ll be as fast as I can but these cops are being assholes right now. Go get Sergeant Flores, I know she’s studying for her 7-level test, but if you really are in dire need of help right now she shouldn’t be too mad that you’re interrupting her.”

I sat back and stared at the blurry, horribly antiquated machine in front of me as it spewed out ad after incessant ad. One featuring a beautiful young bikini-clad blonde sipping a Sodaco amidst a conga line on the beach - Introducing Sodaco Lime, the voice-over said, the familiar taste that America trusts with a refreshing twist. Another featuring footage taken from the Armstrong moon base, with the ERAS logo in the corner, finally centering on the company’s CEO with a drink in his hand as the music from 2001 plays in the background. This time the voice-over said - Mental is now the official soft drink of ERAS CEO Hood Fisher, what’s yours? Get Mental or get out! Finally, a less annoying one appeared after that was over. This time featuring supersonic airliners elegantly passing through clouds set to the tune of a soothing score. The voice-over asked, With a safety record and time to destination like ours, just remind us again - Why wouldn’t you fly Air Virginia?

After that hell of hokey commercials was past, the news returned. The commentator was grey-haired, bespectacled, and wearing a dark blue tie, signifying his well-known outspoken support for the Alliance Party. “Breaking at the top of the hour, our coverage continues on the situation in the Indian Ocean as it now appears attack boats belonging to the New Indies Construction Front have besieged a Navy hospital ship attempting to relieve wounded and dead from evacuated American and allied forces that escaped Diego Garcia last week...” He then proceeded to go into a long rant about the President and the Homeland Party while talking over a reporter who was live from the scene. The TV signal must have become distorted somehow, because eventually I couldn’t understand a word he was saying. It was as if he was mumbling. The picture on the screen blurred out even more, making the images depicted indiscernible. I began to feel weird physically. Light headed. I’m not sure if it was the stress of the day or the fact that I had been sitting there a while or what, but I had this gnawing sense of danger in the pit of my chest. The room became bright, and for a second, I thought I saw some sort of indescribable shape appear out from behind the TV.

All of the sudden, I heard a voice speak to me. not from any direction, but as if from all directions.

“You must wait to hit your target until 1935. No later. Do not let the girl with the long legs see what you are doing.“

I woke up out of my trance, shouting “What?” as I realized nothing was behind the TV. I was in a cold sweat now. I felt as though I had just woken up early in the morning. I looked outside, the sun was beginning to go down. How long was I out? Was I ‘out’? The program I was watching was over now, the blue haired woman with the FPML button on her lapel was on instead. Knowing that she comes on quite a few program slots after the old guy with the dark blue tie, I inferred that I must have napped for... four hours? “What the fuck?” I said out loud as I quickly took out my phone. It was dead. “Not good.” I said to myself.

Just then the door to the detention area opened. I turned my head and saw Jerry. “Alright, we’re done questioning the little punk.” The deputy from before said, pushing Jerry forward into the waiting room. He was holding his favorite skateboard in his hands, gifted to him by our dad many Christmases ago, now broken in half.

Jerry turned around a gave him the middle finger. “Lick my ass, pig!”

I shouted at him. “Jerry! Knock that shit off. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He turned and saw me, now becoming even angrier. Everything became silent for a moment. Finally, he spoke up and said “Can we just get the hell out of here? I’m tired of smelling pork.” He looked back at the cop and gave him a scowl.

I grabbed him by the shoulder, “Be quiet so we can leave, moron.”

He flinched and brushed my hand off. “I don’t need your stupid ass advice.” He said angrily, and walked threw the doors outside to the parking lot. I followed him.

As he approached my truck, I unlocked it for him so he could get inside. But before he did, he slammed the remnants of his board into the bed of the pick-up. I yelled at him again, “Could you not throw shit around like that? This is my truck! I paid for it. It’s what gets you to school!”

He yelled at me in turn, “Could you shut the fuck up for once? Goddamn you’re so fucking annoying.“ Slamming the passenger side door on me before I could say anything back.

Not wanting to take this any further, I walked around to the driver’s side. As I started the engine, I realized from before that my phone was dead. I plugged it into to my car charger. I noticed then Jerry had a tear rolling down the side of his face. I know he must have been upset by the whole ordeal. I tried to speak to him, beginning to verbalize his name, but before I could get anything else out my phone reactivated and alerted me with a series of text message and missed call alerts. My attention was fixated on that now as I realized I had missed over thirty text messages from seven different people and eighteen phone calls from Alvarez, Flores, and my NCOIC.

I opened Alvarez’s most recent message. “Sergeant, where are you? The NCOIC has been trying to call you for two hours now. He needs you to get down here quick! I’m not gonna say why because OPSEC, but get down here! Please!”

I let out one long “Fuck!” as I read that. Jerry wiped his face with his shirt and asked “What now?”

Without answering I bolted the truck out of the parking space and started driving back to base twenty or thirty miles over the speed limit. Jerry kept trying to ask me questions on the way there, realizing there was something wrong, but I refused to talk to him. I just kept dropping F bombs over and over as I swerved in and out of potential car crashes on the way back to the squadron control room. We finally got to the gate, and I hurriedly took out my CAC card and gave it to the Security Forces guy standing outside my truck. The airman scanned it and said, “His too please.” Pointing at Jerry.

I screamed at my brother, “Come on give me your goddamn ID!”

He screamed back “Alright! Calm down. Jesus.”

The airman looked calm as I had my episode. I gave him the ID to scan, and he let us on our way. Arriving at my unit’s building, I cut someone in a muscle car off before they could take the space that I wanted. I left the windows rolled down, turned the engine off and hopped out. Jerry was still inside. He shouted at me, indignant, “How goddamn long are you gonna be?”

I cringed, turning to him as I took my wallet out, removing my CAC card and security badge from it. I threw it at him and said “If you want dinner, walk down to the BX and get something from the food court!” I booked it into the building.

As I ran up to the polarized bullet proof glass doors protecting the world of my profession from prying eyes outside, I saw the sign placed just before the steps proudly displaying our squadron’s battle cry below our new service’s motto. The former read “WE MAINTAIN THE BALANCE”, with the latter exclaiming “SECURE THE HIGH GROUND”. I pulled on the door handle, rushing inside as I was met with another Security Forces airman who needed to check my security badge before letting me through. After being let inside, I sprinted down the hallway to the control room where my work station was. There were five people crowded around it. The NCOIC, Alvarez, and two women in Class B uniforms who were unfamiliar to me. There name plates read “Hayek” and “Hayek-Song” respectively, which made me wonder if they were siblings or something. The one with the hyphenated surname was an E-6 like me, which is called a Color Sergeant in the Space Corps. The other one was an officer, O-3, a Captain. They were almost twins, I thought to myself. And extremely attractive to boot.

The NCOIC looked at me and yelled, “Where the hell have you been?“

I tried to explain, exasperated. “I’m sorry Sergeant my phone died and somehow I got knocked out-“

He cut me off. “I don’t want to hear it right now. I’m frankly shocked you’d display this kind of behavior. We’re gonna have a long talk after today, I can tell you that much. Sit down and help Alvarez out. She needs it.”

“Roger Sergeant.” I said, defeated. I sat down next to Alvarez in my swivel chair as he walked up the steps to where the commander and the other higher-ups were. Sergeant Flores was at the work station in front of us tracking something else.

I asked the Space Specialist, “So what the hell happened?”

Alvarez explained, “Well after I texted you, me and Sergeant Flores started tracking one of those Chinese space flights they’ve been doing for awhile now. I know they’re just testing, but this time they went near New America. Two of them in fact. It was kind of like that thing they did last week when they overflew Armstrong, but not as bad as that time when they almost smashed into that damaged MS-1A we were monitoring.”

I asked, “Ok, so... what happened? Did they do something belligerent?”

“No,” she said, “they’ve just been sitting there doing some EVA. Sergeant Flores is still tracking them. I think they’re about to pack up and leave right now actually.”

I was confused. “Ok, then what’s the problem exactly?” I demanded to know.

She groaned, “That!”, pointing at the big screen in front of the entire room.

Depicted on it was an amorphous object. I can’t really describe it effectively. But it looked strangely familiar. It was black, resembling a cloak without a wearer maybe. I’m not sure. I was looking directly at it, but it was also as if I wasn’t at the same time. Like how things blur out in the periphery of your vision, only this was smack dab in front of me. I asked, lost for words, “What is that Al?”

She responded, “After we were able to get a fix on them Pine Gap contacted us. They wanted to know if we could check to see if there were any foreign space assets near one of their surveillance satellites that had become unresponsive. That’s when we found it. It wasn’t doing anything really, it was just sort of, near it. We gathered some basic information about its position and size as it moved on towards a commercial satellite in the vicinity. It stayed there for a while, but then it just darted out of view towards L5 without any warning.”

“Towards the Chinese?” I asked. She nodded her head. “Well, what is it then? Some PLA weapon we’ve never seen before?” I asked again.

“No, I-” She stuttered. “I-I think they’re as confused as we are. As soon as it showed up behind the construction site for the orbital settlement, they stopped doing maneuvers and started observing it. It detached... something just before you got back and one of them got out to capture it we think. But whatever split off from it seems to have disappeared somehow. I don’t know. This all very strange Sergeant.“

I looked up at the two women with the similar last names. I leaned over to whisper in Alvarez’s ear. “Who are those two?”

“They’re from Virginia, or something.” She said under her breath.

“What?” I said. I began to feel as though this was too much for a day like today.

“That’s what I said. I think maybe they’re Intel people, but I’m not sure. But the thing is they showed up with all this data on the object. It’s usual orbit trajectory, flight path history, more detailed dimensions, frequencies it operates on, tons of stuff we would have never figured out ourselves. It’s almost like they’ve been tracking it for years.”

That’s when the Captain interjected. “Talking about us kids?”

My eyes widened. “No Ma’am! I mean... I’m sorry, I forget my rank.”

She reassured me, “It’s quite alright Sergeant, I know this must be a lot to take in. I don’t blame you.” She turned to her friend next to her and said “Constance, go chat up the commander for a bit I think he feels left out. I have this handled over here.”

“Yes Ma’am.” The Color Sergeant affirmed, and walked off.

The captain sat down in an empty chair next to me, crossing her legs and planting her heels on the desk in front of us. For a second, she managed to distract me. Alright, cut me some slack. I am a guy after all. But she didn’t distract me for long. Her voice broke my concentration. “Specialist, we’re probably going to need you guys to start making some calls to get something scrambled here pretty soon.“

“Yes Ma’am, I’m sending a request out to NORAD right now.” Alvarez responded.

“Good girl.” The Captain complimented (or belittled) her. I could tell it irritated Alvarez somewhat. “Sergeant could you double check something for me?“ She asked.

“Yes Ma’am, what?“

She went on, “The commercial satellite the object interacted with earlier. Could you find out who it belongs to?“

“Roger that Ma’am.” I typed away at my keyboard, collecting the information for her. I pulled the satellite’s designation up on my screen. “ERAS-1212-0“ I said aloud. I crosschecked its name on the government’s registry of civilian-owned space assets. “It says its owned by ERAS ma’am, but it has some sort of note under its listing... let’s see... Here, it says its a broadcast satellite operated by ERAS and contracted out to a television provider.“ I lingered on those last few words. Television provider. My mind went back to what I saw earlier before. I wasn’t sure if I should tell anyone or not.

“Hmm... Thank you Sergeant.” The Captain said, and pulled out her government phone to begin texting someone on it.

Just then Sergeant Flores spoke, pointing at the screen in a panic. “Look!” The object was suddenly in front of one of the Shenlongs she had been tracking. The other Shenlong, it seemed, was running away from the situation - leaving its comrade behind.

“How the hell did it get there?“ The NCOIC said out loud. “Flores are they still doing EVA?“ He asked.

“I can’t tell Sergeant, that thing’s messing up all our sensors. I can’t even contact the other monitors we have nearby... Wait! Look what it has!” The Sergeant blew up what she was referring to on the big screen. It was a tungsten rod, used for construction of one of the orbital settlements. It wasn’t holding it, but it was as if it were orbiting the object itself, like it was its own planet or something.

The Captain stood up from her seat and started to sound a bit panicked. “Holy shit. Sir, it’s what I said before. It’s going to conduct a kinetic strike. Probably for here!”

The commander nodded at her and took control. “Alright people, it’s the fourth quarter, and this is the ten yard line with our backs to our own end-zone. Sergeant Fervek, what’s going on with NORAD?”

Alvarez butt in before I could respond. “They just got back to us Sir. There’s a couple of F-15s out of Oregon that can be ready to go in 90 minutes.”

“Not good enough, we need something in less than 60 or we aren’t gonna make it out of this alive.” He informed her.

I looked at the information NORAD had supplied us with, and interjected. “Sir, there’s a pair of Aggressors out of Nellis on TDY flying back from Miramar right now.”

“Yeah, so?” He questioned me.

“Well Sir, they’re less than 10 minutes away from Edwards at the moment. We could have them land there to be fitted with the 270s Edwards still has on hand. They could be armed and back up in the air within 40 to 50 if everything goes right.“ I explained.

He looked unsure. He gave a skeptical glance to the NCOIC. Just before he could say something back, the Captain intervened. “Sir, this sounds like the best option we have at the moment. If the information I briefed you on earlier is right then I don’t think we have a lot of time on our hands to play footsie with NORAD all day.”

He looked over the room contemplating her answer, reading all our faces. “Alright... Alright, call them up and get it going. No more screwing around with this thing.” He said with a cautioned tone in his voice.

About 60 minutes later we were ready to go. The F-15s had taken back off from Edwards, and headed towards Death Valley at supersonic speeds. An AWACS from NORAD patched in their position to us, and relayed a comm link with the flight lead. I had everything at my station ready to go. Alvarez would keep tabs on the object’s movements, while I would guide the F-15s into position and provide them with the necessary targeting information to input into the ASM-270′s ‘brain’. Captain Hayek would continue to observe and advise us from behind. I looked back at the commander for a quick second, he saw me and said “You got this Sarge. Take this bastard out.“ I nodded to him in affirmation.

I put the headset on and keyed up the comm link with the pilot. “Breaker 11. This is Bighorn Control. Do you read me?”

“Roger that son, this is Breaker 11 and 12, we’re packing heat now and ready to enter our climb.” The pilot explained.

“That’s perfect Sir. Object hasn’t moved so far, and if it stays that way we shouldn’t have to waste a second shot.“ I brought the object up on my screen, taking note of the information Alvarez had just collected on it. “Alright Breaker 11, Bighorn Control says you can initiate your climb. Please notify me when you reach angels 30.”

“Copy that Bighorn. We should be there in about 15 to 20 mikes.“ The pilot radioed back.

The wait for them to get into position was shorter than expected, but grueling all the same. We were at 75 minutes now with a gun pointed at our head. The object stayed in place, tungsten rod still circling it like a late night mugger with knife in hand. My chest was pounding, throat lumpy, head splitting open from all the stress of the situation. Finally the pilot radioed back in. “Alright Bighorn Control, angels 30. Awaiting orders.“

“That’s great news Breaker 11. Pulling the target’s orbital position up now.“ I then gave him the necessary numbers. After a small conversation between him and his wingman I could hear through the headset, he responded again.

“Alright Bighorn, Breaker 12′s telling me he’s locked and loaded.” He said.

“Alright Sir. Hit angels 32 and fire away!” I informed him.

The aircraft climbed a bit more. The sky must have been the darkest shade of blue anyone could imagine at that point, I thought to myself. The wingman screamed over the radio, “BREAKER 12, FOX 5!“ The missile detached from the centerline pylon of the aircraft, the F-15 breaking away and turning around back towards Earth as its first stage ignited. We picked the missile’s location up on our side, tracking it on the big screen. At my work station however I had more specific information about the weapon’s speed, velocity, its ultimate target, and when its first stage would separate. I looked at the clock on my computer. 1908 hrs.

Again I thought back to the events earlier that day. Something was gnawing at me again, deep in the pit of my chest. At this rate, the object should be struck before 1935. That should be good. But why do I feel like it’s not? Perhaps it’s just the stress again. I’m sure. But... God, oh God. I can’t. Something isn’t right. I can’t let this continue. I can’t let it happen before... Before. Before 1935. I looked over my shoulder at the Captain, she was acting as though she was watching the missile’s flight path on the big screen like everyone else. But I knew she was taking glances at what I was doing here and there... Why? Did.. she know? How could she know? I hovered my cursor over the control for the missile’s first stage. I typed in what I knew to be the incorrect separation point. My ring finger glided over to the enter key and stayed there. I looked back over my shoulder again. She was locking eyes with me now. I looked past her, glazing my eyes over, as though I let something inside of me take over my actions.

“Sergeant?” She questioned softly. I don’t think anyone else could hear her. “Sergeant!“ She said again, under her breath.

I pressed the enter key.

The first stage detached before the correct altitude could be reached. No matter what the second stage tried to do at this point, it would never be able to reach orbit, and was thus a failure. Everyone in the room began to scream, questioning what happened. I threw Alvarez under the bus, saying that she must have given me the wrong altitude. She looked confused, and upset that I would betray her like that. Why was I doing this? What was wrong with me? Could it really be the stress? Captain Hayek didn’t say anything, or call me out. But somehow, I think she was well aware of what I had done.

I radioed back to Breaker 11, letting him know the shot was a failure, and ordered him to turn back around in order to reach 32,000 feet again. He affirmed and proceeded, but before I could relay the targeting information to the pilot like before, Captain Hayek spoke up. “I think Specialist Alvarez should take this Sergeant. Give her your headset.”

“I...“ I didn’t know what to say.

The officer narrowed her eyes. “I said... Specialist Alvarez should take this one. Sergeant. I don’t want anyone interfering with our little game.” She said it softly but forcefully as though I were her errant child. I didn’t say anything back, and handed Alvarez my headset.

The Specialist took the reins, guiding the flight lead as I had done before. “Breaker 11 that should be it. You’re cleared to fire as soon as you hit angels 32.“

And as before, the pilot called in his shot as he reached the requested height. “BREAKER 11, FOX 5!” We could hear through the speakers in our control room. I checked the time again. It was 1929 hrs. Good. I thought to myself, though I still couldn’t figure out why. The missile detached its first stage at the correct altitude this time. As it was designed to do, the second stage ignited and boosted the weapon into the necessary velocity for the rotors to take over. The tip jets guided the Killer Umbrella towards our anomalous hostage taker. We watched on the big screen as it tracked the kill vehicle’s jaunt to the object’s position near New America. I fixated my eyes on the feed we were still receiving from the surveillance satellite that had it in view. Just what was it? I looked back at the time on my desktop. 1935 hrs. I felt relieved somehow. But again, I didn’t know why exactly. Just as I took a sigh of relief, Alvarez spoke up.

“The rod! It got rid of it!“ She screamed.

Indeed, the monster loosened whatever invisible grip it had on the piece of tungsten and it floated away back towards New America. It wasn’t threatening us any more, thank God. But we were still threatening it. “We’re not giving up this kill. That thing tried to fire at us. Continue with the trajectory Specialist.” The commander ordered.

“Yes Sir.” Alvarez responded. “Second stage kill vehicle is within range, icing tip jets. I’m going to go for a direct strike with this one. 3...2...1... Out. Tip jets deactivated. We’re still on the money, one more minute to kill.” Alvarez had obviously paid attention this morning in Counterspace Academics. I was proud of her, as was everyone else in the room. Captain Hayek beamed at her, while giving me the cold shoulder. A cold shoulder I suppose I deserved. But then everyone’s joy at Alvarez’s accomplishment quickly dissipated with what we saw happen on screen. The object... was back behind one of the hollowed out asteroids of New America. It just suddenly wasn’t where it was. The remaining Shenlong however, not so much. The missile was less than 15 seconds out now.

The commander interjected “Fire the tip jets! Reorient! Move it out of the fucking way!”

Alvarez panicked, cracking her voice “I-I can’t Sir! It’s not accepting the signal! I can’t move it! It’s going to hit!” She was beginning to tear up.

The missile impacted the underside of the Shenlong with its rotors, veering off from it and being forced by its kinetic energy into the side of one of New America‘s asteroid habitats - shattering the weapon to pieces and obliterating several facilities constructed along the front end of the settlement. Everyone stood up out of our chairs, a few wincing and others letting out desperate screams as the impact happened before their very eyes. It was over. We had failed. Whatever that thing was, had bested us. I tried to console Alvarez, but she didn’t trust me anymore and rejected any effort I made to let her know it wasn’t her fault. I looked over at Captain Hayek. She just stared at me, not saying anything, and walked away. The NCOIC grabbed me by the shoulder as I sat back down and informed me that my actions from today would likely be investigated by a third party and that I should probably start getting in contact with JAG. Not only had I sacrificed the trust my apprentice had in me, but it seems as though I sacrificed my entire career for this thing. How am I going to be able to take care of Jerry now? I thought to myself. That’s when I remembered that I had left him in the truck outside.

I got outside to check on him. It was just after dusk now. He was gone. With his broken skateboard, and my wallet. “Jerry, I’m sorry.“ I said to myself out loud, and hung my head over the open window on the passenger side. “I’m so sorry.” I heard some foot steps from behind and turned around. It was Captain Hayek and Color Sergeant Hayek-Song, exiting the building and walking towards their car. As I watched them pull out of their parking space, someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind. I turned and saw three men in plain clothes, one of them sporting an Air Force Office of Special Investigations badge.

“Hi there Sergeant. I’m Agent Williamson. These two men are with the National Scientific Intelligence Administration. They have a few questions about the day’s events. As do I.” The Agent explained.

Before I could respond, the one with balding grey hair and wearing a white dress shirt pointed at Captain Hayek’s car as it turned down the street and drove away. He said, “And if you could, I’d like to know exactly everything you saw those two do the entire time they were here. Especially those two.”

I'm a member of the President's new space force, here's what I've seen so far

#black sky wars #after skies

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ccorinnef · 4 years

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Sketchbook Flipthrough: Dec 19 - Jun 20

One of the creative practices I have developed is to work in my sketchbook for one hour every day. It seems that the key to my personal creativity is consistency rather than quality. I have gone through so many sketchbooks in my developing career as an artist but this is the very first one that I have fully completed. I worked in this Seawhite of Brighton A5 sketchbook from December 2019 to June 2020.

This first page I was attempting to finish up my self-made Inktober prompts by drawing a Garden Chafer. I don't think I really did it justice but it got me past the dilemma of the first blank page. On the next page I've drawn a mandala - I love drawing mandalas to practice symmetry and linework.

This next drawing was for a Christmas present for my partner; it is one of his favourite Warhammer characters: The Green Knight. The composition of this piece was taken directly from the reference picture I had from a Warhammer book but I drew it in my style of ink illustration with a bold triangle frame. Next to this I tried my hand at some faux calligraphy by inking the words "lose hate not weight." This is a message that became a personal mantra in the post-Christmas and New Year diet culture frenzy that is so overwhelming and all-consuming.

This collection of small drawings is titled "Some things I found while walking the dog." It features some winter plants and a lot of litter as well as a turnip that had washed up with the recent floods, which my dog thought was the best ball ever.

This spread has a very simplified not-quite pattern of houses of different designs. I was just playing with different shapes and patterns to create the buildings and their features. Beside this we have a baby Yoda - can you tell we started the year watching the Mandalorian?

Next, I've drawn a very fine lined rendition of the Wallace Monument in Stirling - this one may become a print in the near future, I am as yet undecided. On the opposite page I've drawn another mandala, this time taking up the entire page. I love practicing my linework and incorporating more bold black elements is something I am going to work with more going forwards.

This is a random doodle page - I tend to have my sketchbook out on the counter while volunteering with Made In Stirling so I can doodle in between customers when it is quiet. I like to do these random shapes of lines to practice getting the flow and ease of specific line styles more natural. The drawing beside this is of Stirling Castle - this one is definitely going to become a print in my collection soon! I just love the combination of the semi circle and the trees.

On the next spread, I've done a simplified drawing of a local building - I use local estate agents pictures as reference images as they tend to take really good building pictures! The next drawing was another style I have really started to gravitate towards. It's a kind of line practice except in the style of a topographic map. I had great fun doing this and they'll definitely pop up in my sketchbook practices regularly in the future.

This drawing was one of the ones I did while idly watching TV to stop myself from fidgeting. It's just a collection of tiny leaves that look as though they are drifting slowly in the sky. On the opposite page is a weird lined abstract shape thing - I don't particularly like it, but bad art is just as important to the creative process as good art.

This next spread is another that I don't particularly like. On the left, I've drawn a group of tree shapes in a similar vein to the not-quite house pattern. On the right is an attempt at a more structured architectural drawing of a fancy modern style house. You can tell I got fed up of it by the time I got to the shading.

This next piece is actually my first ever drawing from life. I took a life drawing class at my local college at the start of the year to push my boundaries a bit. I just glued it into my sketchbook after class and folded it so it would fit properly. It was drawn in charcoal and I didn't use any setting spray on it so it has smudged a little bit. Beside this is a tiny collection of baby animals which I think I drew at one of the Community Creative Club meets. I will never not love baby hedgehogs - they are the cutest thing on this planet.

Next up, I've got a collection of the local birdlife. These are all birds that I have seen around my home and tried to identify as best as possible. The heron, which I had mentally named Herman and saw every morning, unfortunately died after being caught in the floods of the start of this year. I have since seen another heron take its place in the misty mornings. This spring it was a delight to watch the swan and duck families grow up - we saw the same goosander family almost every day and took great delight in witnessing the mum duck diving under the ducklings and teaching them how to swim and forage.

This drawing is another random linework practice piece - it's kind of noodly. On the right is a drawing of Mooncake from Final Space which we were watching at the time. Chookity Pok!

This is another simplified building drawing using local estate agents' pictures as reference images. Beside this, is another drawing from my life drawing class. In this activity I thouroughly misunderstood the instructions so everyone else in the class ended up with tiny drawings on the side of their bigger collaborative pieces.

Next, we have another topographic style line drawing but a lot more simplified, as well as one of the first of my portraiture practices for the 100 Heads Challenge.

This two page spread is another piece from my life drawing class - this time I drew with materials more familiar to me, using white ink to add highlights and make the figure pop out from the brown of the paper.

On the next pages I've drawn a leafy plant and a Totoro - this was when Netflix started adding Studio Ghibli to its catalogue.

This next drawing is another that I don't particularly like, I think I just got the composition not quite right. It's a kind of composite of a few different trees that formed the view out of our cabin window on our February holiday to Aviemore. Beside this I've drawn a collection of simple fine line mushrooms.

The next page is an attempt at illustrating a map of an imaginary town - I have mixed feelings about it. On the opposite page is an aimless doodle of tiny flowers, for no particular reason.

Next is a page of random tiny doodles which almost looks like a (really bad) tattoo flash sheet. On the right I've drawn a self-portrait.

Next is almost a cartoon board but made up of intricate food illustration. I wanted to really test my textures with ink in this piece to try and capture a sense of likeness of the food items. Also, a pine cone. I have a weird obsession with pine cones.

On the left is a kind of spiderweb doodle which was probably another line work practice. On the right is another piece from life drawing class which I've just glued in so as to keep a memento of my progress.

This drawing is yet another one from life drawing class where I used different colours of ink pens to create depth and shadows in the model. Beside this is a drawing of a monument in Edinburgh called the Dugald Stewart Monument.

Another piece from my life drawing class is followed by a rough sketch of the Falkirk Kelpies.

The next two pages are made up of another piece from life drawing class - I like the way I've used different shades of ink to add highlight and lowlight to the figure.

Here is a monument in my typical style, this one is a part of Glasgow University. And next to this is another very simplified topography style map.

This spread features more monuments of Glasgow - the Duke of Wellington Statue (complete with cone hat, obviously) and the Clyde Auditorium. Both of which will become prints before long.

These next drawings are of another topographic map and the Falkirk Kelpies. These Kelpies took me about two weeks to draw in total because there are just so many intricate details.

Up next is a couple more monuments, the Stirling Robert the Bruce statue, and Edinburgh's Greyfriars Bobby.

The next drawing is another in my usual style of Castle Stalker. I love how this one turned out and it will definitely be in my shop soon! Beside this is an attempt at drawing a building from the Royal Mile in Edinburgh - I don't think it turned out very well, I got some of the angles of walls a bit wrong.

This next page features a simple drawing of a piece of hawthorn blossom that I found earlier this year. Beside this is a cute little Japanese building which I've coloured in with pencils. I was inspired to draw this from watching Midnight Diner on Netflix.

This painting was one of the first that I did during lockdown - it's of some daffodils that smudged a wee bit. On the right is an ink illustration of St Andrew's Cathedral, which also has some smudged daffodil paint.

This spread includes a yin and yang mandala and another colour pencil Japanese style house.

This is some more linework practice. On the left is a drawing of some wintery cow parsley stalks. On the right is some simple lined circles - I really like how when they cross over each other it appears like cross hatching.

This next page was inspired by watching Chris Riddell's IGTV's during lockdown. Beside this is a fuzzy bumble butt grazing on a thistle.

These next two drawings are my first tentative steps into character design - when I'm learning something new I tend to take inspiration from artists that already work in a particular way so that I might pick up some of their tricks along the way.

The next spread features another tiny building and an adorable mouse peeking out of a tulip flower.

Next is another practice of character drawing and an attempt at a fairytale style house, I didn't get the proportions quite right unfortunately.

On the left is a drawing of a treehouse which looks like an amazing place to live. On the right is an illustration of Fenton Tower - you might recognise it as Archie's humble abode from Balamory.

Next is another couple of spaghetti like line practices. I love playing with flow and texture within linework.

This drawing is a local building, the reference picture came from estate agents’ images. Beside this is some triangular line practice with the crossing over crosshatching again.

This is an illustration in my usual style of Dunnottar Castle - it will soon be in my avaible print collection. Next to this is an ink and watercolour drawing of a building from Culross, Fife where they have very distinctive white washed walls and bright brick edging.

This is another spread of linework practice - this time with squares and another topographic map.

This is a funky building I found online and wanted to draw - it's wedged between two sheer cliff faces! Next to this is a random page of scraps really. I started trying to draw some fairytale buildings before abandoning that idea and splashing some watercolour over the page instead. I then added this small watercolour painting of Kate from @kateshappinessjourney, which I tried to paint with a colour palette similar to Fran Menses.

These are two paintings of tiny country cottages done in ink and watercolour. I really enjoyed doing these and will probably do more going forward. Beside this is another bumble butt on a flower.

This is another Studio Ghibli inspired drawing and some character design practice. On the right is a couple more tiny watercolour cottages.

This page is has a random drawing from a reference on Instagram of a person wrapped up in a blanket along with a quote that reads: "I have planted worth, beneath my skin, in all the places, you made me doubt." Beside this is a practice loose watercolour painting of some flowers and leaves in a vase. It's not my usual style but I like to practice using watercolour regularly so that I can continue to develop my skills.

Next up is a collection of tiny drawings taken from scrolling through Instagram - I do this particularly when I want to draw but don't have a specific subject in mind. On the right hand side is a little landscape painting in gouache. I'm still learning how to use this medium so I don't expect masterpieces any time soon!

This is another weird building drawing - it did not turn out how I had envisioned so I am quite disappointed with it. On the adjoining page is a Draw This In Your Style challenge from @moonylux on Instagram. Its a very dainty and glamourous looking mermaid that I quite enjoyed drawing.

Here are some more gouache painting practices of some Scottish landscapes. I really like how my use of brushstrokes makes the paintings more vibrant and alive. Beside this is a little line drawing practice of some ocean waves.

This next drawing is another bumble butt on a flower. I think I might turn these into a print. On the right is a tiny collection of watercolour snails being adorable and curious creatures. I'm low-key obsessed with snails - I always move them from the path after the rain so they don't get stood on. I think these paintings could do with another layer of paint to increase the saturation of the colours.

This is an ink drawing of a Jackalope. I wish I could have one as a pet because they are so freaking cute. On the other side of this spread is another gouache practice piece - this one of a pink flower on a dark blue background.

This is another in my series of mythological creature illustrations. It's a fairy based off of the flower fairy drawings by Cicely Mary Barker in her books. Next to this is my first attempt at creating a repeating pattern for Minnie Small's #minniemission. It did not go well but I like to keep the scraps of my ideas.

This is a series of sketches for a commission for The Kitchen at 44. I often test out ideas in my sketchbook - sometimes completing the whole commission in my sketchbook and other times, as in this case, transferring the drawings over to something more fit-for-purpose (like watercolour paper).

Here is another of the great Scottish mythological creatures - this one is a Kelpie which features in stories across the country. Beside this I've done another gouache practice, of yet another landscape... I miss my studio and my acrylic paints a lot, but I am having great fun learning to use a new medium!

This is an illustration of a bean-nighe, or washer woman, who foretells death when she is seen washing the bloodied clothes of the people who are about to die. She also has breasts so saggy and cumbersome that she throws them over her shoulders to keep them out the way while she works. Next to this is a drawing of a building inspired by Ian Mcque's incredibly intricate illustrations.

This next drawing is another mythological creature illustration - this one is an uilbheist of Orkney and Shetland legend. This three headed sea serpent protects the islands from danger. On the right, is a little gouache seascape study. I really like how this one turned out.

This is another gouache study - I don't like how this one turned out much but there are tiny elements of this piece that I like. Beside this is some portrait practices for the 100 Heads Challenge - the challenge is to do 100 Heads in 10 days but that is way too difficult for me to achieve, so I just practice some here and there when I want to draw something different.

This is an illustration of a Boobrie, another of Scotland's mythological creatures. Beside this is some more portrait practice. I don't think I did these ones very well - but that is exactly why it is called a practice.

Here is a random piece of paper that I was testing pens on when decluttering. Over the top of it I've just drawn a quick flower doodle. Next to this is a collection of some of the Black Lives Matter protestors from June. Please keep this movement alive, listen and learn as much as possible. Only we can make the future better.

This next drawing is a commission I did for a friend who is about to embark on her probation year as an English teacher and wanted some literary themed illustrations to make signposts for her classroom. They are Narnia, Desire St, and East Egg, since they are some of her favourite stories. Beside this, on the right, is a collection of random shapes drawn with a highlighter and then turned into cartoony people. This kind of drawing practice really pushes you to look at shapes in a different way.

Here is some more portrait practices. I'm quite pleased with these. Next to this is some random leafy doodles, just for the hell of it.

This is another simplified house using a reference image from local estate agents. Beside this is another topographic map style linework practice.

Here is a creature by Karolina Plutowska from the book 'Sketching from the Imagination: Creatures and Monsters.' Practicing drawing like this helps me learn new ways of approaching illustration that I might not have considered before. Of course, I would never seek to claim any kind of profit or credit for drawings like these since they are based on someone else's artwork. On the right, is some more portrait practices which I never got around to inking. The pencil lines are very faint but you can see that I use a lot of shapes and lines to get the proportions right and help map out the whole page before I ink.

And this very last spread consists of another creature drawing from the book 'Sketching from the Imagination.' It is an illustration by Ksenia Bakhareva which I am particularly fond of. On the very last page of this sketchbook I've stuck in the finished repeating pattern that I made for Minnie Small's #minniemission. I am really pleased with how this piece came out and I can't wait to turn it into something fun!

And there you have it! That is the entire contents of my last sketchbook - dated from December 2019 to June 2020. It was been a wild few months but I've grown a lot as a person and as an artist, as can be seen from my sketchbook progression.

I hope you enjoyed taking a look inside my sketchbook. I use it basically as a place to store all of my art and treat each page as a new opportunity to practice my skills and talents. Not everything you create has to be a masterpiece but the act of practicing your skills every day will get you so much more creative than you ever thought possible .

#sketchbook #art skills #art #artwork #creative

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adventuringwithrhian · 6 years

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On the road to Sin City

A last hurrah after ten months in the USA.

The final trip on my American adventure; bringing a year I will never forget to a spectacular end.

Until next time, America, stay rad.

San Francisco

San Francisco is possibly my favourite city I've visited in America so far. The quaint houses nestled amongst skyscrapers and perfect bay views were so beautiful. After our 19 hour bus journey through the spectacular Oregon countryside we were able to meet up for brunch with my brother, Gaz and his friend, Charli in the Ferry Building. Heads up, Marketbar does great pancakes!

We then headed over past Crissy Field to The Golden Gate Bridge. Cloaked in mist and indescribably large; we spent an afternoon strolling across, watching the whales swim 220ft below us.

Luckily, the fog held off just enough so the Bridge could eerily show off its crimson towers for us once we got to the other side.

Thankfully, the city wasn't as foggy as the Bridge so the 360° view from the top of Coit Tower, below, was nothing short of perfect.

Check out the restaurants in North Beach for dinner. There’s plenty of good Italian eateries! Make sure to head to Vesuvio Cafe, a quirky hidden gem, for drinks on the way home if you get chance. The next morning, I think the cherry on the cake was that we were able to meet Gaz, Charli and, Ben and I’s friend, Amy to catch the San Francisco Pride Parade.

I’d never been to Pride before and I'll be forever grateful I got the opportunity to experience it. We didn't stop dancing and tapping our feet to the music of passing floats all morning! It was heartwarming to see so many people from all walks of life lining the parade to show their support and solidarity. In the end, the parade, and the party that came with it, lasted well over 3 hours.

In the afternoon, we went back out to the Bay. We took a walk round the Palace of Fine Arts, which is beautiful might I add, with Amy before checking out Lombard Street; famously branded as “The World’s Crookedest Street”.

They weren’t lying! With no less than eight hairpin turns, it’s almost impossibly twisty, and impossible to photograph!

From there, we walked down to Ghirardelli Square; a pretty courtyard with some great bars, restaurants and shops. Eat at Lori’s; a 50’s-esque diner with gorgeous bay views. Skip out on desert though and do the rounds of the numerous different Ghirardelli’s shops to fill up on free chocolate samples instead! If you’re heading downtown, take a cable car back to Union Square. The views at night are unbeatable!

The next day Ben and I took a ride over to San Francisco Zoo. It was such a lovely place but this little pair of cuddling meerkats, below, won my heart! We spent a good few hours taking in the sun, sea views and all the weird and wonderful animals from their different zones.

We then stopped off at The Painted Ladies; lining one end of Alamo Square and providing the perfect mix of old and new.

Relax in the park for a while before taking the short walk to the vintage stores, street art and coffee shops of Castro and the Mission District. Valencia Street, recommended to us by Charli, is a particularly good choice!

Later in the afternoon we met up with Amy again at Pier 39 where we ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Forrest himself would have been proud of the food! We whiled away the evening with some cocktails before heading home via Fisherman’s Wharf.

I left Ben on our last day to take the short boat ride out to Alcatraz Island; the prison on which somehow always seemed to dominate the horizon and had had me captivated for years.

Below, the imposing rows of cells that line Broadway can be seen; although D Block, or solitary confinement, was particularly bleak. Outside you can see the remains of political graffiti from Alcatraz’s rich past while being treated to beautiful views and, at that time of year, fluffy baby sea birds everywhere!

Luckily, I managed to escape The Rock alive, and without a spoon, before meeting Ben and heading back to Pier 39. We found the Crêpe Café; a cute french crêperie about half way along Pier 39. They do sweet and savoury crêpes; great to munch on while watching the sea lions!

We then headed over to the Presidio, finding a beach to sit on in the fading sunlight for one last parting view of the Golden Gate...

Yosemite National Park

The next leg of our trip, from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe, involved a lot of driving, and a lot of Motown (thanks DJ Benji).

Tunnel View, above, was our first main port of call and is probably one of the most recognisable views of the Valley and rightly so. Somehow one viewpoint manages to capture almost all the main attractions. El Capitan towers above the valley floor on the left and as you pan round you find Half Dome and finally Bridalveil Fall glistening in the sun. We then carried onwards and upwards to Glacier Point; clambering to the top of a large rock where we were just in time to be treated to the most beautiful sunset. The shadow slowly moved up the face of Half Dome and the surrounding mountains turned a candy floss pink! One of those moments where no description or photo will do it justice...

The next day we set off into the Valley and arrived at Bridalveil Fall. Even though it was early the spray from under the waterfall was welcome in the heat. We then carried on to meet Martyna, who we had met whilst in San Francisco, and went to Yosemite Falls together. The Falls are the tallest in North America but as we walked closer, the Upper Falls crept out of view until most of the 2,450ft was out of sight by the time we got to the bottom of the Lower Falls.

Before saying goodbye to Martyna and the Yosemite Valley, she offered to take us on one more short hike to one of her favourite spots in the park. She called this The Couch and the view was spectacular!

We sat a while and shared a couple of beers while taking in the view of the Royal Arches and Half Dome, both standing proudly before us. We then regrettably said our goodbyes and got back on the road, heading north for the sequoias of Calaveras Big Trees.

Calaveras Big Trees State Park

After a minor incident involving 1) our entire food supply being in cans 2) our lack of can openers and 3) the apparent lack of can opener merchants in California, it was late when we arrived so we were in the dark when it came to the beauty of our surroundings, literally! We woke up the next morning to glorious sunshine and uninterrupted views of the forest. Gold star for us for blind tent placement!

Spending the morning walking amongst giant sequoias was humbling. They are the largest living things on the planet and many of them are well over 3000 years old.

Also, the sugar pine cones that were everywhere were bigger than our heads, so that was cool...

The tree below is know as the Empire State Tree. It is probably the largest tree in the North Grove at 18 feet in diameter and so tall, even lying on the floor wouldn’t fit it all in the photo!

We spent a couple of hours following the winding North Grove trail. Pick up a guide at the beginning of the trail if you can so you can spot all the major trees! Sadly, we were only able to spend the morning wondering the trails and were unable to make it to Louis Agassiz, the largest tree in the park at 25 feet, down in the South Grove. We set off once more, this time bound for the crystal clear waters of Lake Tahoe!

Lake Tahoe & Sacramento

We arrived at South Lake Tahoe in the mid afternoon and headed straight for the lake front. Before leaving I’d scouted out a kayak rental place and before we knew it we were on the water whiling away an hour. The snowy mountains helped us at least try to hold on to the cooler weather before we hit 43° Las Vegas...

We headed over to Sugar Pine Point State Park, our home for the night, and the drive up was stunning! Stop off at a viewpoint overlooking Emerald Bay if you can for picture perfect views. For the first time, we had the luxury of getting to our camp site in the light! Finally we were able to have a relaxing night with a few beers and campfire chilli!

The next morning we headed down to the Park’s lake front for a quick paddle before embarking on the final leg of our mini road trip back to San Francisco. The water was unbelievably clear and as blue as you can imagine. They high altitude means pollution is at a minimum. We stayed a while and watched the waves roll in until we finally had to set off.

On the way back to the airport we took a quick stop in Sacramento, California’s capital. We only had a couple of hours so we stopped off in Old Sacramento; an old timey Wild West style area of the city with boardwalk lined streets and quirky shops and speakeasies.

Here, we found possibly the best looking record store I've ever had the pleasure of browsing in; right in the heart of Old Sacramento. If only I’d have had space in my bags for some of the gems in here... Alas, I did not, and our journey continued!

Las Vegas, Hoover Dam & The Grand Canyon

We arrived in Las Vegas to blistering 43° heat! Brilliant; unless like us you decide to walk half of the 6(ish) mile strip in the middle of the day...

At least our walk wasn’t in vain; culminating under the Eiffel Tower in a place called Beer Park. Dare I say the best bar in Las Vegas? Certainly one where we spent the majority of our time! The view of the Bellagio's fountains across the road is almost as good as the beer selection.

That evening we managed to catch Caesar’s Palace’s Independence Day fireworks with some friends from OSU before introducing them to Beer Park too!

Day 2 in Vegas saw us taking the three hour trip out to the Grand Canyon. I’ll admit, I’m more of a PNW forest kind of girl but there’s a certain charm to the Nevada/Arizona desert in high summer, so the views along the way were more than enough to keep us entertained on the drive!

Our first stop was the Hoover Dam; an awe inspiring feat of engineering and a certain novelty in being able to walk between two time zones...

Sadly, we didn’t have the time to travel out to the National Park on the south rim but the views on the west rim were, I hope, just as spectacular. Below, Ben models a very hazy Grand Canyon in the mid afternoon heat. Haze or not, the size and beauty is indescribable and the fact it is all there due to the forces of nature is hard to comprehend. My only regret is that we were not able to spend longer taking in the sights...

The next day was 4th of July, Uncle Sam’s birthday, and a day we mostly spent drinking with new friends at our hostel’s pool! We were so lucky to meet so many amazing people from all over the world on this trip, and the majority of them here in Las Vegas! Later in the evening we all headed down to the Strip. Possibly the most memorable experience of the trip was spending 4th of July on top of the Stratosphere with everyone and watching the entire sky light up with fireworks. Being our second to last night, we really ended our trip with a bang!

We ended the night on Fremont Street in downtown Vegas. Head to the neon lights and zip lines of the Fremont Street Experience if you want to see a more casual side of Vegas. There are some good bars and restaurants so you can have a great party without the expense of the Strip’s big casinos! This was the second time Ben and I had been now. We all got drunk and danced in the street. People filmed us. It was great. The next morning it was time to say our goodbye’s to Vegas and to America.

Of course, we headed back to Beer Park for some hair of the dog and then explored the rest of the strip with Baer from our hostel. You’d have thought we’d have learnt our lesson on the first day but I guess the heat had finally fried our brains... Time to go home.

Instagram: @rhianlaaa

LP Trips: trips.lonelyplanet.com/ontheroadtosincity

#san francisco #yosemite national park #calaveras big trees state park #las vegas #lake tahoe #hoover dam #grand canyon #california #nevada #arizona #usa #america #travel #adventure #road trip #adventuring with rhian

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lindyhunt · 6 years

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The 27 Best Instagram Accounts for Design Inspiration

Instagram has become a finely curated destination for gorgeous photos, videos, and visual content that all clamor for the best Likes and comments. It's as if the urge to visit a modern art museum can now be satisfied from the comfort of our own homes -- or bus seats, or lunch breaks.

That is, if you follow the right people. As social media generally provides a platform for individuals to become brands, so it goes for the artists and designers who have found Instagram to be a method of building a miniature, digital art gallery -- a social portfolio, if you will.

And as for the people seeking remarkable design work? Jackpot.

But to help you narrow your search, we've done a bit of our own curation of the best Instagram accounts to follow for design inspiration. We've broken the list down by category: illustration, graphic design, pop art and installation, color palettes, street art, photography, typography, and calligraphy -- although, you might notice that some of the work below could fall onto more than one list. notice some of their work could fall into a number of different lists.

Check out how these artists are sharing their work with the world -- we're sure you'll find them as inspiring as we do.

The 27 Best Instagram Accounts for Design

Click on a category below to jump to that section:

Illustration

Graphic Design

Pop Art & Installation

Color Palettes

Street Art

Photography

Typography

Calligraphy

Illustration

1) Steve Harrington: @s_harrington

Steve Harrington is a Los Angeles-based designer who describes his own style as having a "psychedelic-pop aesthetic." His Instagram is full of his brightly colored, playful illustrations, many of which he's created for brands -- most notably Nike, for which he's designed sportswear, including shoes.

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2) Rachel Ryle: @rachelryle

Rachel Ryle is an illustrator, an animator, and a storyteller -- and she combines all three on her Instagram account. Most of her posts are beautiful, clever, and often super cute stop-motion videos like the one below. She told Mashable that each animation takes 15–20 hours from the beginning concept to final editing, on average. If you like her work, Instagram is the place to follow her: It's her most dedicated channel for showcasing her work.

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3) Mikey Burton: @mikeyburton

Mikey Burton, based out of Chicago, calls himself a "designy illustrator" -- his way of saying he works part time in both. Burton has done work for clients like Converse, ESPN, Target, The New York Times, TIME Magazine, and Esquire. He's been working on a lot of editorial pieces lately, which he posts proudly on his Instagram -- along with other, often-whimsical illustrations both as sketches and as final, published projects.

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4) Jamel Saliba: @melsysillustrations

Jamel Saliba, a.k.a. Melsy, is equal parts artist and entrepreneur, having quit her job in her mid-twenties to become a successful, full-time fashion illustrator. Her sketches are beautifully done and cover themes like fashion, friendship, and love -- all in the style of contemporary chic. Since her initial success on Etsy caught the eye of consumers and brands alike, Melsy's done client work for Hallmark, T.J.Maxx, and Home Goods.

On Instagram, she posts a combination of illustrations added to her portfolio, as well as those celebrating events or holidays, like the illustration she posted for Halloween.

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Graphic Design

5) Neil A. Stevens: @neil_a_stevens

Neil A. Stevens specializes in poster design, and he's particularly good at creating sharp, dynamic pieces. He's created posters for many cities and countries around the globe, including a handful for the Tour de France.

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6) Hey Studio: @heystuxdio

Hey Studio is made up of three designers: Ricardo Jorge, Veronica Fuerte, and Mikel Romero -- and is one of Spain's most popular graphic design studios. A lot of their work features stunning geometric shapes, which they post to their Instagram account in combination with pictures of their team during the creation process (and when they're just fooling around).

Tip: Shuffle through the entire carousel of images in the post below to see the full dimension range of work.

instagram

7) Luke Choice: @velvetspectrum

Luke Choice is an Australian living in New York whose work covers graphic design, illustration, and typography. His style is very colorful and very unique -- I especially love the 3D illustration work he does, some of which are crazy cool animations. Check out his Instagram feed to see his latest work, from his own personal projects to collaborations with brands like Nike.

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Pop Art & Installation

8) Jessica Walsh: @jessicawalsh

I'm so inspired by Jessica Walsh, both as a designer and as an entrepreneur. She joined the design firm Sagmeister & Walsh, Inc. at age 23 -- back when it was just Sagmeister, Inc. Two years later, the firm's founder Stefan Sagmeister took her on as a partner when she was only 25, and the firm eventually became Sagmeister & Walsh. They've designed work for very high-profile clients, such as Levi's and HBO.

Walsh's Instagram account is a gorgeous display of her own work, the firm's, and design inspiration from others.

instagram

9) Daniel Aristizábal: @darias88

Colombian Digital Artist Daniel Aristizábal's talent is transforming regular, everyday objects into surreal, colorful renditions that are full of character. His work is "saturated with science references, retro hues, strange imagery, bold geometric patterns, and a playful sense of the absurd," reads his SkillShare bio.

Follow him on Instagram for a peek into how he sees the world, including the collaborations he's worked on with clients like Toy Nail Polish and Refinery29.

instagram

10) Dschwen LLC: @dschwen

Dschwen LLC is a creative studio based in Minneapolis that employs collaborative designers throughout the United States. Their design projects are created mainly for brands -- including some big names like Amazon, Apple, Juicy Couture, General Electric, Uber, Twitter, and more.

They've won a plethora of awards, including a Design Gold at Cannes Creativity Festival for the second image below, "traffic cone in disguise," which they created for Twitter and Niche. Their Instagram page is chock full of creative, surprising, and clever designs -- including some sweet animations.

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11) Leta Obierajski: @letasobierajski

Leta Obierajski is a New York-based art director and graphic designer with an eye for bright colors, angles, and curves. What I like about her Instagram account in particular is that she writes descriptive Instagram captions that give her followers a behind-the-scenes look at her thoughts and processes, making for an incredibly interesting read.

For example, in her caption for the image below, she describes her collaboration with a fellow designer on this installation for local restaurant Le Turtle:

instagram

Color Palettes

12) Design Seeds: @designseeds

The folks behind Design Seeds' Instagram account do a wonderful job of showing their followers just how important color schemes are to beautiful design. They use Instagram to create color palettes inspired by images submitted to them on Instagram using the #SeedsColor hashtag. This is a fun way to share their passion for nature's beauty while encouraging engagement.

instagram

13) Canva: @Canva

As a design tool, it makes sense that Canva's Instagram account would be centered around design. Not only do they post gorgeous photos and design work, but I especially love their color palette series, where they create color palettes based on photos, much like Design Seeds.

As an added bonus, they include the names and hex codes of each color and prompt their followers to punch the hex codes into their Canva color wheel to use them in their own designs.

instagram

Street Art

14) Jaime Rojo: @bkstreetart

Jaime Rojo isn't a street artist; he's a photographer of street art. One of his goals, which he articulates on his website, is to photograph new public art, street art, graffiti, and urban art as they're created, not just in Brooklyn, but all over the world (thanks to a partnership with Urban Nation Berlin). He keeps an eye on developing trends and strives to lead a worldwide conversation about how these trends affect popular and art culture. His Instagram is a live collection of his photographs, in which he credits and tags the artist when known.

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15) Biafra Inc.: @biafrainc

Biafra Inc. is an anonymous Minneapolis-based street artist who creates his work via spray paint, screen printing, stencils, stickers, and posters. As he tells it, his work is often "a visual retelling of stories that are apart of his life." As a self-proclaimed news junkie, he also incorporates socio-political themes in his work from time to time. His Instagram account is an inspirational showcase of his work in a variety of urban environments all over the Midwest.

16) Fumeroism: @fumeroism

"My art is an extension of my character, bold and uninhibited, assertive and unorthodox." That's how anonymous street artist Fumeroism describes his colorful, expressive, contemporary street art. His designs are often caricatures of real subjects, like his portrait of fellow street artist Sebastien Waknine in Barcelona in the image below. Follow Fumeroism on Instagram for colorful, bold, and energetic street art in locations all over the world.

instagram

17) Banksy: @banksy

Unsurprisingly, the famous British street artist Banksy often goes for long peiods of time without posting to his Instagram account. And yes, it is his official account -- Banksy's publicist Jo Brooks confirmed it in a tweet:

@hookedblog Hey Mark that IS the official instgram account and the only official account

— Jo Brooks (@brightonseagull) February 25, 2015

But when he does, it's not something you'll want to miss.

For example, in February 2015, after almost a year and a half of nothing new on Instagram, Banksy posted a caption-less photo to his Instagram account of a brand new, never-before-seen piece of street art that Paste Magazine theorized appeared to be "done over a door. The location has not been discovered or revealed as of yet." Follow his account to scroll through some of his great work and to stay in the loop in case a new piece appears.

instagram

Photography

18) VuThéara Kham: @vutheara

When it comes to beautiful photography, there are a whole lot of Instagrammers to choose from. One of my favorites is Paris-based photographer VuThéara Kham, who actually started his career on Instagram and became quite popular in the Instagram community. Follow his Instagram account for gorgeously framed photos of Paris' (and other European cities', as per below) landscapes and people.

instagram

19) Hiroaki Fukuda: @hirozzzz

Instagram is actually the basis of Hiroaki Fukuda's photography career, which is why his posts on there are so darn good. Like Kham, Fukuda started as an Instagram hobbyist in Tokyo and ended up gaining a huge following.

When big brands caught wind of his talent and began hiring him for different projects, he became a full-time Instagrammer. Now, he travels all over the world taking photos for companies like Nike and Christian Dior. Side note: He told CNN in an interview that he likes when people comment on his photos ... so comment away!

instagram

20) Dirk Bakker: @macenzo

Although Dirk Bakker is an Amsterdam-based graphic designer, he likes to take photographs of art, design, and architecture -- and post it to his Instagram account. He has a keen eye for taking something "normal" -- like cranes or a staircase -- and transforming it into a stunning image with a great sense of depth. He's especially talented at capturing repetitive patterns like lines, geometric shapes, forms, and colors, making for striking images with strong visual impacts.

instagram

21) Max Wanger: @maxwanger

Max Wanger is a Los Angeles-based photographer who specializes in portraits, including wedding photos. His Instagram posts are a combination of his personal photography and the work he's done for clients. What I love about his photos is that they have a romantic, personal touch, and often make beautiful use of negative space.

instagram

Typography

22) Erik Marinovich: @erikmarinovich

Erik Marinovich is a lettering artist and designer and an entrepreneur. In addition to drawing letters, logos, and type for big brands like Nike, Target, Google, Facebook, Sonos, and Sharpie, Marinovich has also co-founded Friends of Type, a collaborative blog and shop, and Title Case, a creative work space that runs workshops and lectures. His Instagram account is a great showcase of his impressive lettering work, from branded design work to impressively cool doodles.

instagram

23) Ahda: @misterdoodle

Ahda, the man behind the Mister Doodle pseudonym, is a hand letterer who's done design work for big brands like Element Skateboards, The Sunday Times U.K., Citizen Apparel, and more. His specialty is incorporating his beautiful, curvy hand lettering into shapes and illustrations. Check out his Instagram for photographs of his lettering work, including t-shirt designs and creative showcases of his projects alongside relevant props.

instagram

24) Cyril Vouilloz: @rylsee

Cyril Vouilloz, a.k.a. Rylsee, is a Berlin-based designer with a fun and experimental take on typography. His unique hand-drawn lettering work plays with lines and dimensions -- and what makes his Instagram posts so cool is that many of them show his fingers "interacting" with his illustrations, enhancing the optical illusions in a way that'll blow your mind a little bit. Browse through his crazy cool work on Instagram, and follow him to see what original artwork and distortions he comes up with next.

instagram

25) Arabic Typography: @arabictypography

Beautiful typography doesn't just mean Latin letters. In fact, some of the most beautiful typography in the world comes from Arabic script. There are many features that make Arabic lettering so aesthetic: It's written from right to left, it can include accents and dots or lines, and its letters can vary in shape depending on their position in a word.

The Arabic Typography Instagram account, run by Egypt-based Noha Zayed, is a collection of beautiful Arabic typography -- from signage to street art to tattoos -- that's crowdsourced from all over the world.

instagram

Calligraphy

26) Seb Lester: @seblester

Artist and Designer Seb Lester is one of the most famous calligraphy artists on Instagram, with over one million followers (as of this posting). The vast majority of his posts are actually videos -- and for good reason.

"So much of calligraphy is about movement and rhythm, and a short video can capture the beauty and the magic of calligraphy in a very Internet-friendly format," he told The New Yorker. "Recurring words in people’s comments are 'mesmerizing,' 'hypnotic,' and 'satisfying.' For reasons I don’t fully understand, people clearly enjoy watching the process of something perceived as 'perfect' being made from start to finish.”

instagram

27) Lindsay Oshida: @lindsayoshida

Lindsay Oshida is a Los Angeles-based graphic designer who posts beautiful calligraphy work to her Instagram account. She gained a lot of attention on Instagram for her "Game of Thrones" quotes, which she posted once per day during the ten days leading up to the 2015 season premiere.

For example, she did her piece "Kill the crows" (the image below) in black letter with walnut ink, according to The New Yorker, and the black crows were sketched using a crow-quill nib -- "a calligrapher in-joke." She's since posted quotes both from "Game of Thrones" and other popular TV shows, and claims other calligraphers have followed her lead.

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We hope this list helped you find some new designers to follow. May your Instagram feed be much more beautiful for it!

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