It was with clenched teeth that Sam left the Spider’s office.
Well, that didn’t go very well, did it.
He wasn’t all too surprised, though. With everything that had happened, it was only logical for Morgan to be in a foul mood. The young man wasn’t really open to discussions to begin with, but after Bastoff’s outburst, the chances of convincing him had been very, very thin.
And convincing him, he did not. Sam had been expecting it, but he still wanted to try, at least for Lufroz’s sake. The poor twenty three year old didn’t deserve to be strapped in Morgan’s chair, especially for a mistake he had no control on. Or, well, he did, as their Boss had said before, but it wasn’t like Lufroz had done it on purpose.
One would need to be a fool to annoy Morgan on purpose.
The right hand man unclenched his teeth, and sighed. Well, it was too late to go back, now, and he had a new task to complete: preparing Morgan’s temporary room for the merchandise’s pricing. It was pretty straightforward, so he lost no time in doing it.
Finding the room itself was relatively easy. The Obsidian branch had a few spare rooms that were available for this kind of occasions, or impromptu meetings. Then came the furnishing. Here again, easy as well: the whole thing only necessitated a desk, two chairs, and a few torture tools to get the “merchandise” to answer the questions. Those were mostly for show, as they prided themselves in delivering an “unharmed product”, but exceptions happened from time to time. Most of the time, though, this got people to talk without much issue. Once Morgan got all the answers to his questions, he would calculate a price, and the merchandise would be sold the next day. Many people considered this a tedious task, but not the Spider.
The latter was very fond of this process, and refused to delegate it, no matter how much this didn’t fit his current responsibilities. Sam, of course, never questioned it.
It was a bad idea to question his Boss… And he got a reminder of that today. At least, he had been lucky to only receive a slap. Things could have gotten way messier, and while Sam was more muscular, and taller than Morgan, he knew perfectly well that he was no match against the other.
The Spider was… Different from most people. A lot more different, even. Being Morgan’s right hand man meant that he had been allowed to see certain things, things that taught him how much of a monster his Boss truly was. The latter was rather skinny, slightly muscular, not very threatening at a first glance, but under that appearance… There was something much, much more sinister hiding beneath.
Sam would never be able to win against Morgan. Even if he had a weapon, and the other did not, he would still die trying. Not even Bastoff would succeed in fighting Morgan, no matter how muscular the former was. The latter was strong, much stronger than he looked at first glance. But if it were just that…
The older man knew enough about his Boss to know that, should he want to, the other could make anyone disappear from the Earth, without even needing the help of anyone. He could kill someone so very easily that even a room of armed people would face a dangerous challenge against him.
His Boss… Wasn’t fully human. And that terrified Sam to his core.
Ever since Morgan became in charge of the Obsidian branch, business flourished. While the other had no experience, he was a natural and frightening leader, who got a lot of things done. His stubbornness and pride were often a problem, but the results remained nonetheless. His superiors were happy with his work, giving him more freedom to handle the business the way he saw fit. And it worked.
The local human trafficking had never been so successful, and Sam could testify. He had been there for around ten years, which meant he had seen a few people running the Obsidian branch before Morgan came into the picture.
Was the Spider efficient? Incredibly so. Was he a nice Boss? Definitely not, and Lufroz’s predicament was a good proof of that. Mistakes were not tolerated, especially ones as big as the recent incident. Fear was the fuel to Morgan’s organization, forcing people to do their best, unless they wanted to have a chat with him in his sadly famous playroom.
The Boss’s sadism and cruelty had become widely known in the Obsidian branch, of course, but also in some of the other, related branches. People had quickly come to understand that Morgan was not someone to fuck with. The other, of course, relished that to its fullest. This reputation delighted him, and he took pleasure in fuelling it any time he got the chance.
Sam, on the other hand, did his best to follow the orders as best as he could. Like a lot of people, he had had a turn on The Chair, and the first time had been more than enough for him.
The thirty six year old man sighed. He preferred not to think about it too hard. The memories of his time in Morgan’s playroom were painful enough on their own. Pushing that out of his mind, he decided to focus on finishing to prepare Morgan’s temporary room.
Once he was done, his thoughts had become a bit lighter, allowing him to relax slightly. Two hours had passed, which left him some time to pay Lufroz a visit, and help him a little. The young man might be hungry or thirsty… And he probably had to go to the bathroom, maybe needed a shower too. Normally, those on the chair were bound to piss themselves, as it was part of Morgan’s psychological torture, but… Things didn’t need to go this far for Lufroz, whose mistake was entirely genuine.
It had only been a month since Lufroz had been forced to work for Morgan, of all people, but Sam had grown slightly attached to him. Unlike most of the staff, the twenty three year old man was not here by choice. He was here out of pure survival. If things had been different, the other probably would have had a chance to go to university, to meet a lot of friends, to spend more time with his sister…
Unfortunately, fate had decided otherwise. And if Sam could help the guy a little… Then he would do what he could for him.
Introduce yourself
Hello! I am a university student studying geeky drawings and how to make them, sometimes including doodles of games like Night in the Woods, Stardew Valley, and, more recently, Maplestory 2. I love drawing cute beasts and other humanoid-monsters and their individual melodrama with routine. Also I worship chocolate covered raisins and hope that doesn't negate any cool thoughts you might've had about me until this sentence.
When did you start drawing? Are you a digital or traditional artist?
I started drawing about 3 years ago when I decided I wanted to pursue art as a career (and worked mad hard to build skills to feel "worthy"). I work mostly digitally, but I adore doing traditional work for sketches and conceptualizing.
Do you use any traditional mediums? If so, which are your favorites?
I'm very simple, I mostly just use graphite and the occasional markers and ink pens. I love cartoony looks, so it works well for me!
Why do you prefer traditional over digital? (or viceversa)
I get a lot cleaner colors for digital and overall the crisper look I yearn for. I prefer to sketch things out traditionally sometimes, but digitally allows me to save multiple renditions of sketches for me to compare to very easily within the same file without mess or struggle with color picking/matching! I also adore the ranges of doing more dramatic lighting and comparing which I like better haha.
What do you think is the most challenging part about being a traditional/digital artist?
With digital art, it is harder to maintain loose sketches or lines. I hate using smoothing in Photoshop because of the inherent (and purposeful) lag that comes with it, but with the tablet I've got it's necessary or else the lines jitter insanely due to the nibs for the tablet not exactly working (especially since this isn't exactly a drawing tablet). On that same note, having your medium being expensive but durable (as opposed to traditional being over time) isn't the most convenient or adaptable.
What inspires your pieces?
Goofy mishaps in day-to-day life. When I or other friends tell silly, seemingly small stories about their day or my day I feel a melodramatic urge to be romantically artsy with their/my entertaining 5 to 20 seconds!
image source: [X]
Explain your "everyday" drawing process
My first thoughts are usually "What would be bouncy fun" or "What's something this character would do odd in a normal situation" to at least get the ball rolling. If neither of those work for my goal then I ask what has happened to me or someone else similarly that I can draw from, and then I make 3 thumbnails.
Do you have an artist you admire (or more than one)?
Saira Vargas (https://www.instagram.com/sairasays/) is a huge inspiration to me due to the fluidity of all of her character drawings. They all swoop the viewer in and follow them out of their form with amazing line-less grace I wish to have! Jewel Suan (https://www.instagram.com/swansgarden/) also has stunning art that conveys human body motion in such dramatic and silhouette-perfect ways, it's like feeling a good stretch!
Is there an artwork you are most proud of? Why?
I was in my first zine recently and I finished this piece https://www.instagram.com/p/BxHeJLUlfWq/ for it. I feel like I colored it exactly the way I want to continue doing so, and as something that matches my style. I was also really proud of the lineart being crisp, since I had struggled to find a brush that I was comfortable enough with the maintain a look like this. I did it within a couple of weeks, and though I'm disappointed I didn't try shading it very much, I love the overall mood and movement of it!
Do you listen to music (or tv shows/films/anything else) when drawing?
I often listen to Jenna Marbles podcasts or video game soundtracks, such as Night in the Woods or Pokemon Colosseum!
image source: [X]
What makes art interesting for you?
The fact I can make silly thoughts comprehensible in an organized way! Sometimes in a goof-infused organized way.
What do you do when art block strikes?
It's not often, but when this happens I try and take breaks so I can focus on my surroundings and genuinely absorb all the things I appreciate in life. This knocks me out of my funk, but I always take an extra minute to realize my art is from people whose hearts I love and remember it's not all for the art, but for those who watch/look at it, so I can make sure I don't forget the reason I make it.
What’s the most valuable art advice you’ve ever received?
Make multiple iterations of everything you do! Your first idea will always suck, your second will have already been thought of, and your third can be the rock ready for polish.
