plan b

“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.”

“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

“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.”

“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

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.

“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

“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...”

“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.

“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.”

“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