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aylacavebear · 2 months

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Stockroom Antics - Chapter 23

Maria had changed jobs numerous times over the last five years, more to keep herself safe than anything else. Her mother had told her she was a fairy but she thought it was just her mom being weird. Honestly, though, she had no other way of explaining what had happened to her that stormy day before she'd gone into a coma for two weeks.

Please don't take my work. I'll post warnings for each chapter. Will probably be 18+ I haven't decided yet!

Word Count: 2295

Pairing eventually Dean Winchester x OC

Warnings: Angst, Self-deprecating thoughts, Insecurities, Depression. (Please, if you suffer from these things, seek someone trustworthy to talk to. You really aren't alone.)

A/N: This one's written a little differently than my last one. Let me know what you think. It's the first time I've tried this type of writing. Chapters will alternate viewpoints as well. I also looked into an actual area so this one could feel more realistic. This one is taking on a life of it's own in a turn I hadn't anticipated, so adding a new tag.

----------------------------------------- Stockroom Antics Chapter 23

You looked around the bunker for at least half an hour before finally checking the garage. The Impala was gone, and you figured that meant they’d left and taken Bubbles with them—or that was what you were hoping for. After grabbing your cell off your nightstand, you called Dean but were surprised when Sam answered.

“Hello?” Sam asked, sounding confused.

“It’s Maria. I’m uh, I’m at the bunker. Where are you guys? Is Bubbles okay? Is she with you?” you asked him, leaning against the library table.

“Who is it?” you heard Dean practically growl in the background, making you roll your eyes with annoyance.

“It’s Maria. She’s at the bunker,” Sam told him, then began answering your questions, “Bubbles is with us. We’ll be back in a couple hours.”

“Is she alone?” you heard Dean in the background again. He sounded pissed, and you figured it was somehow because of you. Then you heard the screeching of tires.

“Yeah, I’m alone,” you answered Dean’s question, sitting down in the chair closest to you.

“I’m gonna put you on speaker,” Sam told you and did just that.

“What happened? Are you okay? Did that witch do anything to you?” Dean asked you quickly. To you, he sounded as though he was pissed.

“Slow down. All she did was talk to me. I’m fine,” you said, trying to control your emotions. The things Rowena and Crowley had said were still jumbled in your mind. Plus, there were the things the brothers had said. And all of it was conflicting at the moment.

“What did she want?” Sam asked in a much softer tone.

At least Sam seemed not to be mad at you, “She just wanted to talk,” you answered.

“What did she want to talk about?” Sam asked, and you felt the burn of tears in your eyes.

You took several slow, deep breaths, forcing the tears to go away. You really didn’t want to cry while on the phone with either of them, “She said she could do the spell to awaken my powers.”

“What did she want from you?” Dean asked, and he still sounded angry. Why did you feel like it was your fault every time he sounded angry?

“Just a vile of my blood,” you answered as if it was no big thing. You hadn’t understood at the time just how dangerous that really was.

“Please tell me you didn’t agree to that,” Sam said, almost sounding worried.

“No. I told her I wanted to think it over first,” you replied, slightly annoyed. Part of you felt like they were treating you like a child like you couldn’t think for yourself and would just agree to anything without thinking first.

“Look, Sweetheart. We’re not trying to tell you what to do, but that is the last woman you want to give your blood to,” Dean said to you.

Something about his tone got on your last nerve. You did well, though. You didn’t completely go off on him, but you did give him a mild piece of your mind.

“I just called to tell you I was back and I’m fine and to find out where you all went. I’m gonna get something to eat and head to bed. Since it seems that you require to know my whereabouts now,” you said flatly, then hung up the phone.

At least you were alone in the bunker, and you yelled in utter frustration. Then, you went to the gym, locating the punching bag. You desperately needed to hit something, and at the moment, you wanted to hit Dean. So, you just pictured his face on the punching bag, letting it all out, hit after hit after hit. You’d never had something to hit before when you were angry, and this was helping far more than you ever thought it would. Then, though, as your body began to get exhausted, the tears slowly streamed down your cheeks.

Out of habit, you ran to your room. It was a long-embedded thing from childhood; if you were emotional, you did it alone in your room. For a while, you were curled in a ball, lying down crying, then sitting up and hugging your legs, your face buried in your knees, crying more. Everything hit you again.

You’d always been independent, taking care of yourself whenever you could. You hated feeling like a burden to anyone or that someone else had to take care of you. Now you felt like more than that, being at the bunker with the brothers. Then there were the things Rowena and Crowley had said about them. Everything felt so confusing, and you weren’t sure what or who to believe about any of it. Would the brothers really do anything for each other and let someone die to save one of them?

The tears wouldn’t stop. Sometimes, they were slow; other times, they were hard, making your whole body shake as you sobbed. Now, there was this entire soulmate ordeal, and it was supposedly one of the three men you’d recently met. You still were having a hard time believing it was even possible that there was someone out there for you. Any normal person would have found you to be some kind of freak. At least, that was what you figured.

No matter what Astaria or her partner had said, you were still having a hard time thinking about it. The things they had both said about soulmates and how happy the two of them seemed to be only made you cry more. You had figured you’d never have something like that, and attempting even to consider it now only hurt more.

When you felt Bubbles nudge your arm as well as the bed dip, you didn’t even look up. You knew who was there. You didn’t want to see anyone or have anyone see you, even telling them to go away, but at this point, there wasn’t anything you could do about that. You figured they wouldn’t, although you partially couldn’t understand why. You were a mess. Even the touch of his hand on your arm through your flannel made you feel like crying again. It was soft, gentle, welcoming, and all you wanted to do was crawl into his arms and bawl your eyes out.

After the two of them left, Bubbles stayed with you. Since your anger was gone at this point, you were a little more receptive than usual. Bubbles again nudged your hand, and you looked at her with sadness in your eyes.

“If you like Dean so much better, you could just go hang out with him,” you mumbled sadly to her.

The look of compassion in Bubbles’ eyes made you want to cry again.

Don’t cry.

You furrowed your brow in confusion, hearing those words in your mind. The voice was comforting, and you felt concern as well.

You’re not alone.

“I’m scared,” you whispered, feeling fresh tears.

Bubbles seemed to smile a little up at you. Trusting someone is scary. They’re nice, safe. Rowena is evil. Don’t trust her.

You shifted your position, crossing your legs, as you attempted to fully comprehend what was happening at this moment. This was the most she’d ever communicated with you. More questions flooded your mind, and you had difficulty figuring out where to start.

She tilted her head at you, like she was debating something. Talk to Astaria again. She can help you understand. Your soulmate is important. You need to let him get close to you.

You rolled your eyes, “I don’t even know where to start to believe that’s possible,” you grumbled.

It looked like she rolled her eyes at you, and you couldn’t help the small giggle, which was when Dean and Sam returned to your room. Your smile instantly faded when you saw the sandwich Dean had brought you. The slight burn of fresh tears stung your eyes again, and you couldn’t look up at him.

When Sam spoke though, you looked at him, still fighting the tears. All you could see was what looked like pity, like they saw you as a wounded animal or something, and it hurt. You gingerly reached out and put the hex bag in your flannel pocket after Sam set it down. It was something that somehow made you feel safer.

Not pity, concern. They are worried about you.

The words in your mind made you want to cry again, but you couldn’t, not with the two of them in your room. There were things so engrained in you, like not crying in front of anyone, that you just couldn’t do it. The gentle way Dean told you to eat something also hurt in a way, although your brain took it wrong. So, when the two did leave your room, you waved your hand, closing it behind them.

Bubbles went over to the plate and pulled it closer to you. Eat. It will help you feel better. They care about you.

“I’m a burden,” you mumbled, and she sighed, but you picked up the sandwich. Even if you wouldn’t admit it, you were hungry. It was surprisingly tasty.

When you finished eating, Bubbles took care of your plate. Now, having a full stomach, though, and after having cried as much as you did, you felt beyond exhausted. You didn’t want to talk to Astaria. Hell, you didn’t want to talk to anyone. You curled up under your blankets and hugged your pillow. Sleep found you quicker than usual that night.

You were in the forest again, although closer to the little community than last time. Bubbles was hovering near your shoulder. A depressed sigh left your lips. You still weren’t sure how this was even going to help. Bubbles began flying further down the path but stopped and turned around when you hadn’t followed her. “Come on. She’s waiting,” the dragon spoke. “You can talk now?” you asked her, puzzled. “Sort of. It’s thoughts in other dimensions. But here it is words. Since our bond is stronger, you can hear me,” she explained. “Can others hear you, too?” you asked, raising an eyebrow in mild confusion. “Only your bloodline,” she answered plainly. You rolled your eyes and followed her as she flew to the community. Astaria was at the same table you sat with her at last time. Bubbles landed on the table between the two of you as you sat down across from Astaria. “Well, now. This is a surprise,” Astaria said. “What do you mean?” you asked her, more confused now than you were with Bubbles. She sighed, “I can tell you didn’t exhaust yourself. Your familiar brought you here. That means that you are having some deep-seated issues, and your familiar needs some help.” You had to think about that, although you were still confused, “I still don’t get it. She likes Dean more than me, though,” you mumbled. “Wait, is she talking to Dean?” Astaria asked you quickly. You looked down at the table. Bubbles had just been looking between the two of you the entire time. “He knew her name before I did,” you said quietly, feeling the sadness again.

That was when she lost it laughing, and you looked up at her. You didn’t find any part of this funny. At first, you wanted to yell at her. Anger was always easier for you. Then the sadness came, and you looked away from her. “I’m sorry,” she said between fits of laughter. Then, she gently scratched Bubbles on the head, looking down at her, “You got a stubborn one, didn’t you,” she chuckled again. You sighed and finally looked at Astaria again, “Can someone please clue me in whatever is going on?” you asked, attempting to keep your emotions in check. Having her call you stubborn only reminded you of the piece of paper which Bubbles had written that word on and handed to you earlier that day. Astaria caught her breath and looked up at you, “Lemme guess. You still don’t want to take a chance on that soulmate thing I told you about last time? Plus, you've just pulled away from everyone due to your life getting turned upside down.” There was a compassionate sincerity in her tone that brought fresh tears to your eyes, and you quickly wiped them away, attempting to compose yourself. On your last visit you’d shared a lot of your life with Astaria. Plus, you remember her telling you that she had gone through this before, helping others who were like you, non-believers. “You know, if you keep living your life through fear, you’ll be miserable for a really long time,” she said softly, reaching out and gently squeezing your hand. “But… what if it’s Crowley?” you whispered, not trusting your voice and fighting back tears. You did notice how Astaria was holding back her laughter, “If it was Crowley, I’m pretty sure your little familiar here wouldn’t be chatting it up with Dean,” she said, giving you a wink.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” you asked, still confused. With everything that had happened, your mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, and your emotions weren’t any better. All your nerves felt exposed and you felt stuck with the conflicting information and emotions. “You’re gonna have to make a choice, Maria. You can either keep going the way you are, or you can decide to take a chance and stop being afraid of all those what-if’s,” Astaria told you plainly but bluntly. She sighed, “For now, though, you should probably sleep. Your mind and body desperately need it.”

With that, the dream ended, but you slept, as did Bubbles. She was curled up against your chest above the blankets.

----------------------------------------- Chapter 24

Tag List: @djs8891 @deans-spinster-witch

Link to the series Master List

A/N: If you'd like to be tagged in future chapters, leave me a comment, and I'll make sure to tag you

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doubledyke · 5 months

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hey, i’ve read some of your writing and i really like it. do you have any tips?

aw dude that's really sweet. i'm really self conscious about everything i write so i appreciate hearing that. i'm still learning myself, so my advice is probably gonna be kind of obvious yet nebulous (much like my writing). oh and im not great at following my own advice, but we can ignore that.

first and foremost i'd say try to have fun. get weird with it. don't stress too much about it. it's supposed to be an enjoyable pastime, so write what YOU like, how you like. the "rules" of grammar and composition are helpful, but you're allowed to be a lot more lax with creative writing. i know i am 👀

in my humble opinion, you can never have too many details, even- or especially- oddly specific ones. personal experiences are a great way to inject some minutiae, and i enjoy the insight they provide into the author's perspective, background, thought process, etc.. there are infinite other tools at your disposal too. like the number of times i've found myself browsing ancient, niche forums just to confirm one insignificant bit of information is ridiculous.

don't be afraid to take your story as seriously or unseriously as you want. sometimes i'll be snapped out of focus with the thought of "am i really writing this rn" 😂 but i just try to remind myself that i'm (usually) having fun, i'm not hurting anyone and someone might even enjoy the final product.

for eene, try to listen to the voice acting as much as you watch the animation. and don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone when writing a character. i'm neither comfortable, nor very good at writing for ed, but i nutted up and gave it a shot recently and yeah it's nuclear level cringe but i suppose it can't get any worse, right? RIGHT???.... i love learning new words, so when i'm writing for edd (and in general) you know i keep that thesaurus tab open. with eddy, there's always room for more irreverence. i'm also one of those people that cannot help but drop almost every g when i write eddy. and it's just as important to get their idiolects down, which can be tricky. BUT that's mostly if your goal is to stay close to the source material, which is definitely not necessary. i'm just not a very creative person 😂

if you're in a rut, skip to another section, or hell even another chapter. the fic i'm working on rn was hatched from a simple premise several months ago, so i started at the end and have been building on that. an unconventional starting point can be really helpful when you're struggling to start at all. because i'm me, it's turned into a nightmare beast that i can't seem to contain, but i still have a general idea of where we're going and we'll get there eventually lmfao. to that point, outlines, bullet points, notes, etc. are all very useful.

take breaks, let her sit for a while. i'll write a whole bunch, leave, come back to review and be like girl what the hell is this. fresh eyes make a big difference! however, don't be like me and get too caught up in the weeds. i make compulsive little tweaks of my shit up to the point and even after i hit post. more often than not, it's more stress than it's worth. i just can't help it 🥴

and then of course, read other people's stuff. i'm not much of a fiction reader but i make exceptions for the sake of my hyper-fixation. it truly does help to see different perspectives and styles of writing. everyone has a unique voice that really comes through in creative writing, which i love. i've gleaned a lot from reading other people's work as well. i frequently come across new and creative ideas for changing up sentence structure, dialogue tags and narration by reading stuff from fellow fans.

aaaaaand yeah idk what else really. like i said, i'm not the best at writing but i think as long as you're getting your ideas across in the way that you want to, you're golden. anyone who makes shitty remarks about someone else's writing can sit and spin honestly.

#thank you again for the kind words #i have not even the slightest clue what i'm doing but we're rolling with it ✌️

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emmys-grimoire · 3 years

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Lesson 57 analysis + 58 predictions

It's less exciting than anticipated, probably.

tl;dr Summary

We start asleep, but overhearing Satan + Belphegor plotting to prank us. You can choose how to surprise and foil them. They're just here to tell you breakfast is ready. Belphegor finally rewards you with the star of diligence: MC is one star away from completing the exam and earning their sorcerer's license.

Lucifer is eager to make MC a full-fledged sorcerer because he could use them to ward off Solomon's advances, which apparently he's still making. Asmo tells us that Solomon is very picky, and driven, when he's choosing who to pact with.

And he's apparently very adamant about getting Lucifer.

The others note that Mammon and Leviathan are acting unusual, and they clearly are very distracted. We decide to ignore the strangeness for now and answer Barbatos's summons to Hotel Corvo.

And guess who is also being summoned!

We arrive, and Diavolo informs us that there's an evil phantom now haunting the hotel. Not just any ol' phantom, though: a bogeyman.

Apparently they're pretty tough and might have the upperhand against demons. They take the form of what their victims' fear most. They put several hotel guests in the hospital.

We find out that the reason why Mammon and Leviathan are being so weird is because they know they're responsible for the bogeyman being in Hotel Corvo: they went wild with Crowe upgrades and summoned it accidentally, then ordered Crowe to teleport it to Hotel Corvo after it transformed into Lucifer and scared them out of their wits.

Obviously, Lucifer's not happy! Barbatos assigns him to "fix" the problem. The brothers want to leave Mammon and Leviathan to do it on their own, but of course we can't have that.

Diavolo also seems keen on joining, but Barbatos turns on the scary fake smile and Diavolo relents.

Then the others show up! It sounds like it wasn't a planned get-together, but Solomon is eager to make the best of it. He wants to make our quest to banish the bogeyman MC's final trial.

Simeon is initially reluctant, but MC convinces him to join.

And then we're off down a creepy hallway in the hotel. The lesson ends on a cliffhanger as the creature at the end of the hallway suddenly attacks us.

Don't worry, Lucy will save us, probably.

This is the start of the trial of humility.

Analysis

Barbatos's Plan

Probably the most noteworthy thing about this lesson is how clearly Barbatos is setting all this up, even though he has no visibly obvious motivation to do so. He's summoned everyone to the same location under different auspices and he's making sure Diavolo isn't around. We still didn't get any insight on what he and Lucifer talked about, but I think Lucifer's being deliberately steered by him in this direction, too.

Since this doesn't seem to be something he's coordinating with Solomon, it leads me to believe he's either doing something to foil Michael's plan or he's setting up some kind of trap for the guy. For whatever reason, he doesn't want anyone else to catch on just yet.

Simeon's reluctance to stick around and help us is also noteworthy: he probably has Michael plans on the brain, and his intuition is probably trying to warn him. Alas, he can't say no to you.

Also, the BG being a bunch of doors and keys probably means something. Barbatos's room has multiple doors which lead to multiple places, I think: can't remember if they're just portals to different parts of the three realms or different points in time, but if I was a betting gal, I'd put my money on the latter. It doesn't look like his room (it looks like an old hotel), but I wouldn't be surprised if these doors lead to "flashbacks" similar to the ones we ran into back in the fake House of Lamentation.

The Bogeyman and Lucy's fears

It's implied that the bogeyman has powers that may make it difficult for demons in particular to cull. It sounds something an angel might be effective against, though, because Solomon insists Simeon accompany the group just in case "things go south". Though Simeon seems unsure if he can actually be effective against it.

Who do you think is stronger than Simeon, who is an archangel who was once a seraphim? He could just be downplaying his power, too: he's less threatening that way.

The bogeyman also has the ability to take the form of whoever or whatever his victim fears the most: we discover that Mammon and Leviathan fear Lucifer the most when they initially summon it.

This trial is 100% going to involve Lucifer facing what he fears the most. My guesses: it'll be either Father or Michael. They can do the former if MC doesn't necessarily see the same form Lucifer sees (they likely fear something different)... but if whatever form the bogeyman takes is noticeable to everyone observing it, then it's going to be Michael because I don't think the devs are going to give God a tangible form for reasons.

Why Lucifer could fear Michael? Simple: not only was Michael the one capable of bringing him low during the Great Celestial War, but he may know Lucifer better than anyone. All his strengths, but more importantly, all his weaknesses. Lucifer fears being exposed as flawed and imperfect, particularly by those he considers his lessers. It's also not the first time he's expressed something akin to fear re: Michael.

Another possibility is Lilith. He could fear facing her after failed to protect her. That'd be difficult to manage on-screen, though, for obvious reasons. They haven't given Lilith a canon appearance yet and it's in their best interest not to because they've been using MC as the Lilith expy in the Celestial Realm flashbacks.

Whoever or whatever it is, it'll be fun.

Solomon and his pacts

Another thing this lesson did was remind us that Solomon really, really wants a pact with Lucifer. We found out a couple lessons ago that his whole motivation behind forging a pact with Asmo was his interest in Lucifer.

Up until this point, Solomon has been pretty upfront with his desires and usually backs down when they deny his request to make a pact. He asked Belphegor back in Season 1, and he hasn't brought it up again after he was rejected.

This doesn't seem to be the case with Lucifer, though. His rejections have been ignored.

He's being unusually cavalier about this whole situation so maybe he would try to manipulate the current situation to wring a pact out of Lucifer, since he hasn't been deterred yet and something needs to change in order for him to get what he wants.

I don't know. Lucifer might be his blind spot, and something he wants badly enough to step over the line, so to speak. Why he wants Lucifer so bad is another head scratcher, but it could very well be because just because the guy is incredibly powerful.

Or this is just another red herring meant to make us suspicious of Solomon again. I guess we'll see.

Predictions

We have only three lessons left, and they set this lesson up as the lead into the climax, which is going to be later than where it was in season 2. But it can't afford to happen much later. 58 will give us the first half of the climax at least, and I won't be surprised if it wraps it up entirely in one lesson so we can have both 59 and 60 to say our goodbyes. It'll feel pretty rushed otherwise.

Michael's showing up in some capacity. I'm much more willing to bet on a face reveal now than I was at the beginning of the season: we haven't heard anything from him directly since the first flashback -- not even another chat -- and he hasn't even officially introduced himself yet. But we've been hearing all about him this season, and they've made it a point to let us know he's working on something behind the scenes. It feels like most of this season was softening the ground for his arrival, and he'll drop in to get us hyped for the next season.

I think we're headed back to the Celestial Realm, baby!

Luke's not with us at the haunted hotel, so he'll likely remain oblivious about what happened during the Great Celestial War until next season. Simeon's not gonna fall because he'll probably need to be our tour guide, and we have a bunch to explore about his background, too.

I was hoping we'd get some kind of conflict with the Sorcerer's Society as a part of the completion of the exam but I'm not sure if they can fit all that in now. Kind of disappointing: trying to smooth things over with them sounds much more interesting than Mammon + Levi just letting out a literal boogeyman. I don't think they're using their story themes as effectively as they could be. It's just Levi's tech going awry again, like it always does.

How I'll rate this season will depend entirely on what the climax actually turns out to be, but so far I'd rank it higher than season 2 but lower than season 1 because of the re-used tropes. Stop teasing us and just give us meaty conflict already.

#obey me #obey me!#obey me lesson 57 #obey me lesson 58 #obey me lucifer #obey me solomon #obey me barbatos #obey me michael #obey me simeon #obey me season 3 #obey me spoilers #analysis

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jengarie · 3 years

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#showyourprocess !

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES — When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag up to 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

Thank you, @rinielle for tagging me! She chose the piece above (original post), and oh boy this one was a whole ass rollercoaster ride! Unfortunately, I hadn't turned on the timelapse feature for this but I'll try to go through each part of the process as best as I can!

The photos I'm gonna upload are gonna be a mix of screenshots and literal photos of my screen, because I'm taking some of them from my updates to friends, since a lot of the steps got lost in my painting process.

But before that, let me tag some other amazing creators!

@dragonji: this gif art!

@candicewright: this yibo painting!

@wendashanren: this gifset!

@mylastbraincql: this gif!

I haven't been able to keep track of who's been tagged so apologies if you've already done this! Also, no pressure to do it at all if you would rather not! <3

Planning

Sometimes, I get an idea first and find reference photos to go with that idea. But for this one, I sought out a reference photo first, and built an idea on top of it!

After that, I roughly sketch out the base pose. Usually, this looks very messy, but it doesn't really matter as long as I understand which part goes where!

The idea for the background didn't really come until the creation process because I don't think I really planned this to be a full piece.

Creation

Sketching

Honestly, from this point on, it's more of trial and error.

So, I redid the the initial base pose—made it cleaner and a little bit more detailed. See: the added definition in their arm muscles, the rearrangement of Wei Wuxian's legs, and Lan Wangji's hand on Wei Wuxian's back. If you look at the second photo, I also changed the pose a bit midway—I tend to edit as I go sometimes when I change my mind. (For this, I thought, given the Lan arm strength, it would be better to make Lan Wangji look more at ease carrying Wei Wuxian. This gets covered by the robes anyway though, so it didn't matter much in the end.)

I also started adding details to the base! I usually start with the face and then the hair! I usually go for the clothes next, but I dreaded the robes in this piece so I guess that's why I ended up with a basic idea of what I wanted for the background instead LOL I also figured out how I want the final crop to look like, so I blocked out all the other areas with an extra layer!

Okay, onto the part that killed me like ten times: the robes. There are a lot of interactions between their robes here given their pose, and not to mention they also have layers upon layers on each of them! So, to maintain my sanity and to keep track of which part is which, I color coded them into the most colorful sketch I've ever made.

Another reason why I filled in each layer of robe with a solid block of color, is so that all the lines underneath gets covered. Without all of the colors, the actual outline actually looks like the one on the right. What a nightmare!

I also ignored the crop again for this part, because it's always better to draw past your borders, in case you decide to rotate or tilt or whatever your piece later on. I didn't do the feet anymore though, because that I was sure wouldn't show in the final piece anymore.

After that, I did the sketch one more time and then started adding the base colors. (I didn't have a screenshot of just the base colors, and the final CSP file is a nightmare so I copy pasted the layers into a new canvas to show you guys :') )

By the way, I drew their robes flowing this way, because I wanted it to frame the lower arch of the moon behind them for the composition. It was a little frustrating that I couldn't get Lan Wangji's robes a little higher because of Wei Wuxian's legs but I later filled in the empty space with his forehead ribbon anyway, so it all worked out in the end!

Painting

Because apparently, I was a masochist back then, I merged the base colors all into one layer and started adding shadows to the robes. (These days, I add shadows first and then, merge. It's much easier this way.)

And then, I started painting! Again, I did the face first and then the hair, before finally the robes. This was my first time painting side profiles and honestly it was quite a pain to figure out LOL but !!! I think I did a good job and I'm proud of how it turned out. I again used reference photos for this one but I can't link any because they were just several random Pinterest photos that I didn't save.

Another thing to note is that I use the mesh transform tool a lot, especially on faces. That's largely why Lan Wangji's face looks so different in the latter two!

And then I went with the robes. Somewhere along the way, I realized I didn't like how I planned to do Lan Wangji's sleeves and the flowy part of Wei Wuxian's robes and I... decided, with much dread, to do them over. So I sketched on top of the painted layers and redid the robes, again.

It was at this point that I decided to take a break from this piece because it was honestly very draining! I think it took about three weeks before I decided to open the file again and continue it.

When I did, I just finished painting the rest of the robes and their hands. The blue details on Lan Wangji's outer robes were painted on a separate layer that I put on Multiply. I probably did more adjustments to the face and hair and stuff, because my painting process is honestly a mess :')

Final Adjustments

I added some correction layers on certain areas to fix some of the colors. See: Lan Wangji's sleeve becoming much brighter and paler; Wei Wuxian's legs having less contrast. And then I merged all of the layers (excluding the background) and added a bit of blur. See: Wei Wuxian's ponytail; the entire lower part; the flowing forehead ribbon. My reasoning for this is so that most of the detail (and therefore the flow of the eye) goes to their faces and expressions!

And then, I put a blue Overlay layer on low opacity to make Wangxian blend better with the background, added a bit of shadow on the inside and the lower sections and added the glowing details for the added flair. I initially wanted sparkles and/or stars but they didn't turn out as well as this did. I also upped the contrast by a little for the entire piece!

Aaaand, that's it! In truth, I did a bit more color adjustments to the whole piece, but I was a dummy who forgot to turn them back on before posting so ... oh well.

Posting

Before posting, I upload it either on my spare private Twitter account or on a drafted Tumblr post so I can check the colors on my phone. This is because the colors on different devices can look very different, and I would at the very least want all my pieces to look nice on both of my devices!

And then, once I deem it satisfactory, I just try to think of a caption and post! Some artists wait for a certain time where most of their followers are active, but I didn't have a lot of MDZS followers at this point so it didn't really matter to me.

It still doesn't really; I haven't actually been able to figure out when my MDZS followers are awake even now.

#showyourprocess #mine #whew this was so long oops #but this piece took like #maybe 1.5 weeks sans the break i had to take #so !!#LOL #tag game

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thoughtfulpaperback · 5 years

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Spoilers!!!! Charmed 02x04

Okay yall. I love this episode, but this one is actually my least favorite so far. I have a couple of, not concerns, but more than nitpicks, about some things this episode. Overall I'd still give it a 7/10. It was paced well and the added lore was top notch so far and cant wait for more. Anyways, again I will start with things I liked, then move on to the things I didnt, and end with some highlights.

Likes:

1. Mel! Overall Mel is a champ and even though she had big romance storylines, and they developed her character in small ways throughout the first season, I still felt we need more Mel. This episode not only did a good job if staying true to the mel that was built in season 1 but adding onto her. Mel seems to detest the idea of uselessness or at least of being powerless. Which makes sense not only as a minority and a woman but as a lesbian. She grew up not having to hide and with a mother who basically told them they were powerful strong and could do anything. Which is wonderful, but breeds that room for those types of insecurities.

2. Hacy

So actually not that much big hacy moments in comparison to previous episoded, but I love how they are the two interrogating abby and the moment they shared with the safe word.

That said I also didn't like the need for one when Macy said she would just know. Although I argue that the fact she even asked for the safe word was because she knew. Because she tells her sisters to go, trusting him, before she looks onto his eyes. Then when he leans in to touch her and orb them out, either she is put off by the over enthused smirk (he was too happy for the situation) or she wanted to get a look into his eyes. Because if you look at her facial expressions as she is looking into her eyes she seems to doubt that he is Harry and then asks for the safe word before he orbs them out.

I also think they missed a hacy opportunity when he warns Macy to be careful

Harry: she's half demon

Macy: so am I

Harry: but you are you

I'll explain further in the disliked section

4. Maggie and Jordan. Okay so I really like these two together. Hold up though. I like it as a slow developing relationship. Jordan is in a different life stage than Maggie imo. If he were single and went after her immediately or they started a romance I wouldnt like that. Him having someone and Maggie growing up and them building a solid friendship first is what I am here for. I'll talk about her powers later. What I was curious about was the ring on Jordand finger since the camera focus for a bit on his hand when he mentioned his family. I hope he doesnt come from a line of witch hunters or turns out to be some sort of creature later on. I mean on one hand that would be cool and a twist, especially if he remains the same (like doesnt change into a villian just turns out has some history) because I feel like it would be a way of doing the Galvin family history right. I mean I think that is what I enjoyed about Galvins storyline, him being able to help out because of his family history. But they didnt do much with it given the limited screen time. So if they could do something similar with Jordan and give it appropiate attention I would love it. But if they tried to use it for drama I wouldnt because it would be too much like parkerita. Let maggie grow up and have a healthy mature relationship without deception and scary families involved!

5. Dark!Harry as a Darklighter and a Hunter

So I mean we still don't know exactly what darklighters are. I mean we know that they are part of the whitelighter (one person split in half) but we dont know if the elders trained them for a specific purpose. I mean Darry got fighting skills and some resourcefulness. For to come from no where, but the fact he is after powerful beings (so far we dont know exactly why) and he has a connection with Harry is really interesting and has so many possibilities moving forward and I especially love the further similarities is draws to Macy.

Harry (unlike macy) has been split in two he has lived with this unknown part of him that differs from everything he was taught and believed about himself. Like macy this side of him appears to be "evil", although I have a feeling is probably more complicated than that since it obviously is for Macy. So harry has this "dark side". Which will be interesting if they ever have to or can merge the two.

Right now it appears that Darry has nothing to do with the Demon wars (unless you believe he and abby are working together).

Now onto dislikes:

1. Abby. Hold up y'all! I actually love this villainess. I just have some concerns about her background. And also have some thoughts about her possible future role.

So I love that she wants to bring down the patriarchy of the demon world. Her being Caine seems unnecessary, and brings up some questions.

Why didn't Parker ever mention her? He mentioned Hunter. She knew about him. So it would seem a fair assumption that Parker knew about her.

I don't mind adding lore to the previous seasons as long as they make sense. So far what they have added doesn't negate what was established last season (season 1 contradicted itself a couple of times), but with Abby as a Caine they will have to make double sure they don't add anything that would contradict season 1.

Abby as bisexual. Like I love when shows give some bisexual representation! But I am always weary when bisexuals are the villians and they are the only bisexual characters in the show. I am not bisexual, so I can't really say whether the show is doing this well or not well. It is just something I try to be considerate of and so when it happens I am always a bit nervous about it.

2. The Vera-Vaugh sisterhood (mostly on Macy's part). Okay so I am treading lightly on this topic and also would like to point out that I am coming at this from my Latina perspective. But I feel that Macy sees her place and he relationship with her sisters from the "Good Mexican" perspective. Meaning she does crave that connection to her sisters but also views herself as the other. More so she view her sisters as thinking over her as "the good half demon" and for Macy that isnt enough. It still feels like a rejection of part of her. Which in some cases is, but I think for her sisters it isnt that way at all. They dont view her as "a good half-demon" they see her as Macy and as thier sister. But I feel that since Macy, given how she grew up and the insecurities we know she has from season 1, isnt getting the memo. She now knows that her sisters actually love her and will stick with her, but she no longer is craving acceptance, she wants understanding and commonality. Which for her, her sisters cannot give her not just because they are different but because they view the situation differently.

Abby is playing to that so well. I was upset that Macy would reveal the way she got her demon side. It seems not only like a bad move as far as trusting someone you claim not to trust but also just common sense given that I would thing you wouldnt want other demons knowing how to create more demons from humans. Anyways, abby's line of having more in common with each other was pretty brilliant given the little amount of time she has spent with any of them.

I think it is possible, from the patriarchy conversation, that Abby eventually would try to recruit Macy to join her in trying to take over the demon world. That said I am not sure so far if Abby would actually like to share power with anyone. We still dont know much about her character. So her development moving forward will be interesting.

Moving back to the sisters. I think if moving forward the show would do little things to address the issue it would help not only to further build the relationship between the sisters but the power of 4. Things like the line I added between Macy and Harry would show Macy that they are seeming the situation differently. It wont allieviate What Macy is feeling or the fact she still has to figure out what exactly it means to be a half demon or if it does have meaning out side the societal implications.

3. Whitelighter lore. Don't come for me! I love the added lore. I just have some nitpicks.

Alpha. So if the first whitelighter was from Salem then how is there and Egyptian hieroglyph for a whitelighter? Unless the elders just to a hieroglyph and decided to make that one the one for whitelighter? ("Hey what's that" other elder: "I combined two hieroglyph want to use that for our new whitelighters?" First elder: hell yah!)

Okay so if these two are one person made into two and are connected. Then how connected are they? I mean I assume we will get more detail as the show progresses so I am not made about it, but the alpha is always kept near the split part. So in the beginning was it that they couldnt be too far apart or else something bad would happen? Or is it that what happens to one happens to the other. Dark!Harry tried to kill Harry so we could assume that that isnt the case because it would be a death sentence for both (unless dark!harry didnt know and just lucked out be the fact that Harry and him are now immortal because Harry's tie to the elders was severed). Lots of questions regarding what exactly dark!harry knows or doesnt know.

4. Maggie's powers. Dont get me wrong, I love the foresight and its relation to premonitions and Marisol, but it is gonna need some careful explaining. They established that witches are traced through these powers and that the sisters were stripped of them. So then what is this foresight? It cant be a part of her old powers because those were stripped. But if this is a new power can it be used to track the sisters? Or is it something else? A power but unrelated to the powers and triggered by an outside agent (not necessarily a person). Will Mel start to develop new powers as well or again is there something going on with Maggie?

Highlights:

Mel chugging like a champ!

Maggie's constant touching of Jordan when trying to trigger her new powers. Not awkward at all Mags...

The satisfied look on Darry's face when he is about to orb Macy and him out (I still cant believe the girls werent suspicious of how Harry found orbed to them when none of them called for him)

(I was gonna give credit to the gif maker and had written down who it was but lost the paper and cant remember which of the people I saved this from. So if this is your gif let me know! So I can edit and give yah the credit you deserve! Sorry about that! If I find the paper before yah recognize the gif I will edit)

Abby's recount of being attacked by Darry. I was enjoying the steaminess.

Anyways that's all on my part! Comment, send asks or message me, if y'all want to discuss something I mentioned or didnt mention about this episode or the series in general! Not looking forward the the inevitable break that will occur but cant wait for episodes 5 and 6!

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arethereanyoriginalusernames · 5 years

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Top 5 underdeveloped ZP characters

Requested by @pink-wants-to-die

Disclaimer because yes. Zoophobia is owned by our Lord and Savior Vivziepop. This list is my own bothersome opinion. If you disagree, that's great. If you can, tell me your thoughts on the topic. All I ask of everyone is that they be civil to one another, no matter how they react to this list.

First, let's define what I mean by underdeveloped. By this statement, I mean that a character feels like they were rushed or lazily made with not much effort. Now, does this mean that this was actually the case? No. I'm sure some of these characters Vivz believes she's put a lot of thought into them. I'm just saying these characters feel lazily done. Either they didn't live up go hype and expectations encouraged by Vivz, or they underperformed for their role. We good? Let's go....

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DM 1: Mackenzie

Look, I love Mackenzie, she is a pure child who needs a god damn hug, but I can't dry she's mainly just the stereotypical bullied girl character. I've said in the past that tropes aren't a bad thing on there own. However, as with many things, there are was to do them right and ways to do them wrong. The best way to go about them is to add your own flavor to them, give them something that stands out. Mackenzie, however, lacks this. While I admit she's cute and all, I can't deny that a lot of Mackenzie's traits have been copy pasted from other characters like her. If I had to name something I think could end up making her a little different is have her be a rival to Addison somehow. Anybody else notice the parallels going on between her and him? They're both adopted, they're both good at art, they're both introverts, they're both considered freaks, except for whatever reason, Addi gets a bunch of boyfriends and he isn't put down as often as Mackenzie. I feel like this could make for an interesting idea and give Mackenzie more depth beyond "the bullied cutie".

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DM 2: JayJay

So, I'm basically parroting what several have said on JayJay, so I'll keep this brief. For the poster child of zp, JayJay is pretty underwhelming. She's mostly just a party girl with some sprinkles of characters depth. I suspect that JayJay was never planned to be the poster child. She was probably just a character Vivz enjoyed drawing. However, after Die Young sky rocketed her popularity, the demand for more JayJay got high. One thing led to another, and here we are. I'm willing to bet that JayJay was simply meant to be a side character. However, Vivz could at least tried to flesh her out more as she started trying to push Jay to be the poster child.

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5. Kiki

Shout out to @pink-wants-to-die for suggesting this. Also, everybody go follow her and her other account @rzphhs She's a treat.

Ok, so I wasn't around when this character was introduced and hyped up by Vivz. Fortunately, my aforementioned buddy was. She basically summarized what the deal was. So, KiKi was propped up as this super cool, transgender character. That's right, we had a trans character and, from what Vivz was babbling on about, she'd have a solid role in the story, it was gonna be great. At least that was the plan. Then the comic came along, and anybody excited to see this character do some cool shit collectively decided " RIP that dream". For an LGBT character so hyped up to turn out to be nothing more then a gossiping lackey for a school bully is disappointing. Hell, as someone who never heard of KiKi before reading the comic, I didn't even realize KiKi was there the first 5 times. I can only imagine what some dissapointed readers must of felt. Look, if you're going to hype a character up, hype up those that actually have 3 dimensional personalities and aren't card board cutouts is what I'm getting at here.

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4. Rusty

Sooooo, do I even need to ask how many people have already depicted how Rusty is going to progress in the story? It's the same problem with Mackenzie, but it's even worse here. Lemme guess, he's an orphan, secretly gay, takes out his anger on others through bullying, and Will eventually go through a character arc that makes him not a bully? Boom. 5 bottles of maple syrup say I've just accurately depicted Rusty's entire story in zp. Unlike Mackenzie, I can't even predict something that could make him interesting. He's a stereotypical bully just there to make other characters look sympathetic or better.

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3. Tom

I've discussed this guy before, so I'll keep it brief. This guy is litteraly Damian, except with some character traits deleted. And it doesn't work to parallel the characters or anything. Addi and Mackenzie clearly have different traits that makes them unique to one another. Tom does the following : feels lonely, is flirty, possessive, considered creepy, plays a guitar like instrument, has a parent who is an important figure in hell, and is possessive over Addison. All of these Damian also does. Even Tom's design feels lazy, looking like the love child of Ink and Bozzwick. The only unique thing I could find was....he sews. Ok then. I dunno about you guys, but I'm calling lazy on this one.

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2. Cameron

Ok, so Cameron isn't nearly as bad as the previous few, but I put her higher because. ...well, she's the goddamned main character. I feel like we should get to know more about Cam. For instance, why don't we see what's she's like when she's not afraid? We see her being scared and nervous in every appearance she's in. Even before she gets to Safe Haven, she's stressed and worked up. Why not spend some time with her outside of Safe Haven? Is she always neurotic? What do her friends and family think of her zoophobia? I also wished she played more of a role in the comic, as for the most part, she's either forgotten or hidden in the background. Have her actions and decisions affect the story more! Otherwise, why is she there?

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1. Zill

Oh look, salt.

Look, I've gone over several times why Zill annoys me. He's mostly uninteresting. I get it, he's not emotional or anything, he's a laid back bro who plays straight man to several characters. The problem here is actually one he shares with Cam. Despite being important (he's apart of the main cast, he'll be one of the characters we follow most), he doesn't really affect the plot in any way. In his introduction chapter (arc 2), the main conflict isn't his fault. Yes, he's forgetful, but the problem mostly arises from Damian being a sociopath, and everyone just deciding not to mention the anniversary until the day of. It doesn't really come from any fault in Zill's character. He doesn't even really solve the problem either. Kayla just has a convenient change of heart, and Vegenza just randomly shows up. It seems like there are definitely things planned for Zill, what with his species being a mystery, and the story questioning his and Kayla's relationship, but he doesn't have any real character beyond cool bro. His stories come from stuff just happening to him out of contrivance, and he doesn't really affect it. And since he's someone we're going to follow for a good portion of zp, he needs to be better.

So what do you guys think? I hope you enjoyed!

I apologize for wasting your time.

- ATOUN

#zoophobia

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percymakesgamesnow · 2 years

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First day!

I got this new laptop all up and running; all the keys work and it doesn't wheeze like an asthmatic pug so that's awesome and helpful. Installed GameMaker Studio 2 and started working through their Little Town tutorial to learn to make adventure games.

I really enjoyed the entire process, honestly. It took me the whole day to get through the first module, but to be fair I kept procrastinating and doing things like making this tumblr and stuff. The code was surprisingly fun, but the moment it started to feel like math I definitely felt my brain cave in a little bit. Today I covered making objects, sprites/spritesheets, rooms, and all that cool basic jazz. The product at the end of the day is a little girl running around a field whose sprite changes based on movement/idle and direction! The camera follows her, keeping her centred until she reaches the sides of the field where it'll stall which is cool. There's also several barrels in the world that AREN'T floating, they're always on the correct side of the player and it's sweet! There's also a very cool feature where reality has no borders and the little girl can run endlessly into the void without the camera following her, lost in the aimless unseen abyss: endlessly free and neither living nor dead.

I'm really really excited to get good at this stuff. I predict that I'll struggle most with art, and then code. I think I have a good brain for code once I get the fundamentals, but it'll definitely take a while. My background is in music and I've been into game design since I was a wee lad so I'm very excited to get into those aspects. Genuinely game development has been one of my dreams since middle school and I couldn't be happier to finally be getting into it. I'm such a goddamn tryhard I took physical notes in a notebook as Tutorial Man was talking. We'll see how long that holds up.

I have no concrete goals for games I'd like to make, but I think that's honestly a good thing. I'm definitely the type of person to get a vision and be a perfectionist about something, and that feels antithetical to learning this stage of the game. I have ideas for games all the time, and my brain is full of "oh shit would that be cool" ideas every day, but when it comes to actually applying them??? Whose to say. I'd definitely like to make some kind of dumb iPhone game to pay tribute to my adolescence spent reclined in a Junji Ito spiral playing MegaJump and Cut The Rope on the bus ride to and from school. I'd also like to make a roguelike since that's probably my favourite genre. OH also I'd love to do an adventure game with snarky charming writing and a million little details I get to procrastinate with making and the player gets to explore, I love that shit and that's what I made back in my RPGMaker days. Definitely gonna do a horror game someday too, though I'm a big ol' baby and scared to make one bc I don't want to playtest it lol. Also I've had an idea for a few years to make a stealth game where you're trying to get your shopping done while someone you know from high school is in the store, which isn't fleshed out beyond that idea but could be fun. I have so much excitement in my bones to get into GameDev, and I'm sure as I become more proficient I'll be doing it nonstop; my biggest hurdle right now is not knowing what tf I'm doing.

Anyways, not sure what I'll do tomorrow but I'm trying to make time to practice art more frequently, since that's definitely gonna be my biggest obstacle for solo development. Art is such a huge part of how a game feels and is received, and it's possibly the thing in this world I'm worst at. I'm very excited to get into this leg of my life, and I'm nothing but optimistic about the future. I get excited and obsess over a new hobby probably twice a month, but this really feels different.

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