#031
NOVEMBER 7, 2024

well, it's been a while. let's skip the pleasantries and get into the graphics portfolio post for today (for the second half of the year? LOL) which features graphics made for my loves metalbenders and elfaouly's respective fics, somebody i used to know and saviour complex. saviour with a u, mind you.

we'll start with taryn's!

somebody that i used to know, also known as some kind of disaster 2: electric boogaloo, is the sequel to taryn's iconic oliver wood fic. i had followed the original skod for some time, skod being one of the first fics i read fully on this site, and followed from its early days to its eventual completion. the story as well as its protagonist sawyer meant, and still means, so, so much to me. so does taryn, who i feel like i've known a lifetime. (wattpad ages you.)

i made the graphics for skod as it exists now on taryn's profile; i was extremely lucky and grateful to make them for somebody that i used to know, too. see the cover above, which is an inverse of the skod cover; skod's is darker in tone with yellow accents and white text for the title treatment, whereas stiutk's is of course almost fully yellow and white with black text instead. both covers also feature vintage astronomy illustrations, which is a nod to sawyer's father.

it's actually been so long since i made the original skod moodboards, easily like two or three years now that i don't have any meaningful commentary regarding the growth displayed in these ones for sawyer's character. instead of fixating on making them all connected in some way (that's me, always searching for meaning) i just tried to make them suit sawyer as i understood her now in stiutk. of course, hufflepuff's yellow and black recurring throughout her moodboards (as well as the story itself, in general) and the motif of stars.

i actually kind of hate making graphics for harry potter characters because so many of the images that characterise the universe—broomsticks, wands, shots of hogwarts itself—are so overfiltered and janky or otherwise too high-definition because they've come straight from the films themselves. oliver is difficult, because it would be easy to make everything for him graphics-related about quidditch. #Unforch that is not for me. i had to force myself to put that broomsticks picture in the first moodboard. god forbid i ever have to make graphics for a main character in that universe. i do not fuck with wands.

all that said, if you've read skod i highly recommend you read its sequel. if you haven't read skod, i highly recommend you Get On It Right Now! stiutk can't really be read without all the context provided in skod (which i think is a good thing!) i think the growth sawyer undergoes in skod will make any reading, however late to the party you might be, worth it.

🗝️

now, onto my best friend kat's criminal minds fic saviour complex, which is a spiritual successor to my beloved sinners and saints which featured a romance between one sam riggs and aaron hotchner. saviour complex follows luciana reyes instead, who is maybe the only woman on earth who can go toe-to-toe with my dearest sam... LMFAO i'm just being annoying on purpose. saviour complex is a banger and so are the graphics, which i'm especially proud of.

me when i am the skeleton praying begging for a chance with aaron hotchner:

i love this cover so, so much. i intended it to coordinate somewhat with the cover i made for kat's 9-1-1 fic, crush, but went for an overall darker look for this one. for tonal reasons, re: the differing genres of the shows the fics are written for, but also to complement. this cover was relatively easy to make; i find i spend a lot of time ruminating and freaking out over what i make for kat (since for kat, everything has to be perfect!) but saviour complex was pretty stress-free, which is good. no shit, sherlock.

i also made a matching opening gif, which... lowkey doesn't match the vibe of criminal minds at all, but i couldn't resist upon finding the resources i ended up using: hotchluci forever!

if you love criminal minds, if you love aaron hotchner, if you love women, i definitely recommend saviour complex to you! get on it!

thank you to taryn and kat for allowing me the opportunity to make you graphics for your amazing stories. and thank you to everyone reading this, even after all this time i appreciate your ongoing support 🫂