plan b

[rvgrayson]

rvjamja​:

“i saw a girl on twitter who did great work, but she has so many commissions already and is in school. i didn’t want to burden her with more, especially if i want most of my content to focus around me,” she explained. her eyes lit up when he offered to help her, though, and she nodded. “i would love that! i used to make all my own, and i loved it, but now that i play pro, i don’t really have time anymore! and i was worried about making an open call because i didn’t want to get overwhelmed with offers… but you’re a spotlight graphic artist! cream of the crop! that sounds amazing!”

“that makes sense-- maybe at some point, if you have enough disposable income, you can find a good 3d artist and hire them on as your exclusive employee, if that’s the route you want to go,” he offered, laying things out lightly on a photoshop layer. “you’re pro? that’s awesome!” he commented, looking up to smile at her. “i’m part time-- i’m not that great. do a lot of freelance work in my free time. but i’d love to work with you.”

[rvgrayson]

rvhimari​:

“i don’t think so; he’s a legend for a reason,” himari replied with a nod. “i’m sure you were very excited about andrade’s new debut then?”

“oh god, yeah. wwe did nothing with him-- aew are going to capitalize on his potential,” gray said emphatically

[rvgrayson]

rvscarlet​:

“how’d you pick korean up?” shinhye asked curiously. “stanski…isn’t a very hispanic surname– where’d that come from? unless… that’s like, a super prying question or something. i don’t wanna overstep.”

“uhh, went to international school in scotland. hated it. wanted to do my second term somewhere else, so took a chance on south korea, and have been here every since,” he explained. “i’ve taken a lot of korean language classes, though, and have worked really hard to learn.”

[rvgrayson]

rvscarlet​:

“anything over one language is impressive, dude. don’t let the tiwi’s of the world fool you,” shinhye answered with a laugh. “which languages do you speak?”

“english and korean, obviously. and then i also speak spanish. my mom’s american, but my dad’s mexican, and i grew up with my grandma in the house too. i honestly wouldn’t be able to tell you if english or spanish was my first language,” he laughed

[rvgrayson]

rvjamja​:

she scrambled over to the bench beside him, sitting down and folding her legs under herself as she leaned in to look. “that’s a good starting point! there’s been a trend in the apex community lately to use 3D models of the characters and their skins, and posing them to make thumbnails, but i’m really not fond of that. it looks cheap to me. and i think my personality is half of why people check me out, so i like to make sure i’m prominent,” she explained.

“that makes sense. and i’ve seen those-- i think they can be done really well if a good 3D artist gets their hands on it, but half the time, it’s just guys in blender for the first time,” gray admitted, sketching quickly in photoshop as he talked to her. “honestly.... you can tell me to shut up if i’m being too forward but... if you need someone to help you with thumbnails, i’d apply. i think there’s such a cool science to it, and i mean.... i have a pretty good portfolio,” he offered cautiously.

[rvgrayson]

rvhimari​:

“oh? who are your faves?” himari asked with an excited smile

“is it cheesy to say rey mysterio? because he’s been my favorite since i was a kid. eddie guerrero too, obviously. i like angel garza and andrade a lot too,” gray answered

[rvgrayson]

rvscarlet​:

“that’s two more sports than i played, though– that’s pretty impressive. anything else you have under your belt? besides also being an incredible artist?”

“i mean...i’m trilingual? but that’s not super impressive to you idols, i’d imagine. i know some of you speak like six...”

[rvgrayson]

rvjamja​:

“go nuts!” hyeja encouraged, nodding her head excitedly. “i make my thumbnails myself a lot of the time, but i’m no artist. or designer. i usually wing it. i’d love to see what a pro could do!”

he gestured her over to a bench with his head, pulling out his tablet and opening photoshop. “i’m not too familiar with apex, but i’ve seen a lot of gaming thumbnails. i have some ideas...” he began, pulling up some reference images.

[rvdongwoo]

“have you ever had blue light glasses? are they worth the fuss?” dongwoo mused aloud, rubbing the back of his neck. “my literal career is being on a computer, but the eye strain is fucking ridiculous. if it makes a difference, maybe i’ll cop a pair.”

[rvgrayson]

“if you spend all day on a screen, they’re worth it,” gray told him. “if you aren’t on the computer a bunch, you wouldn’t notice a difference, but my job is being on a computer too, and they’ve reduced my headaches a ton.”

[rvchunja]

“you know, i should dye my hair,” chunja announced thoughtfully. “i just think it’d be fun. and it would annoy my mom, which is a bonus. plus, if people saw me going in and out of the higher building with cool hair, someone would probably think i’m an idol or a trainee and i think that’s funny”

[rvgrayson]

“i’d offer to do it with you and we could both make it a fun statement, but something tells me no one would mistake me for an idol...”

[rvgrayson]

rvscarlet​:

“you must have been on every high school basketball team,” shinhye laughed

“real talk? i played a bit in middle school, but i was more of a baseball guy. i was faster than i was tall, so running the bases was a lot easier than throwing three-pointers.”

[rvjamja]

despite now being a pro gamer, hyeja still kept up her twitch channel and her youtube. they were what got her where she was now– was she supposed to give them up? not a chance. she spent so much time and care on them, and she knew she could find time to keep doing that. “okay, so if you were just randomly scrolling through youtube, which one of these thumbnails would you be more likely to click on?” hyeja asked, running up to someone and holding up her tablet. “this is very important market research.”

[rvgrayson]

“i like the last two but.....you know, i have my tablet-- i don’t want to overstep, but i have an idea that could combine the best parts of both of them,” gray began, trailing off

[rvhimari]

“come on, now, i won’t bite,” himari said, biting back a smile as she saw the person hesitating to sit next to her. “i only play a violent psychopath on television. i promise you, i’m very nice out of the ring.”

[rvgrayson]

“oh, don’t worry-- i know. i used to watch wwe with my dad back home. lucha stuff especially. as fun as it is to buy in, i know it’s all scripted,” gray assured her

[rvgrayson]

rvscarlet​:

“bro, you would have been the cutest kidzbop kid. honestly, why not do it now? i bet you could still pass as a kid! if, you know, the entire screen was blurry beyond recognition…”

“yeah-- we can just say i hit my growth spurt early! and also hit puberty early too!” grayson laughed

[rvscarlet]

“you know, i really like jewel. like, i mean it. i like it so much better than promiss…” shinhye began, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand. “but someone in a comment called us kidzbop reign, and as much as that’s the funniest thing i’ve ever heard, it’s haunting me.”

[rvgrayson]

“hey, nothing wrong with kidzbop! i always wanted to be a kidzbop kid when i was little!”

[rvmirae]

“oh you uh…dropped it,” mirae said, in reference to the phone in her hand, holding it out to the other with an innocent grin. “i was just looking at the screensaver. you know, to figure out who it belonged to! you should be more careful– it’d suck to lose your phone like that.”

[rvgrayson]

“i don’t think that’s mine-- i left my phone at home today,” gray answered. “i can help you find who that belongs to if you want, though?”

[achararv]

“so i left thailand to be in a chinese girl group…..moved to korea when that didn’t work…..and then debuted in a chinese girl group…” achara sighed, wry smile playing at her lips. “i think i have the most convoluted backstory around.”

[rvgrayson]

“i’m glad you finally got to debut though! byulbit seems insane and hard to wrap my brain around, but so exciting too!”