Oh excellent! I’m really happy to hear that! Ooooh, that sounds intriguing, I’ll definitely be looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

Well, let’s hope the intrigue helps boost my grade a little bit. How are your finals treating you? Any better than mine?

That’s because it’s always literature snobs who lead the discussions on what makes a good book; now, maybe as an art snob I can’t say much because I’m sure I’m just as pretentious when it comes to my thing, but still. And phew, good. Not that I don’t want to explain myself to you, but I’m more used to using images to express myself than words anyway. I see. Remorse is a strong one but it’s also heavier than it is strong sometimes, I can’t blame you for not wanting to get weighted down by it. The “to me, you are perfect” cards are iconic! And so so self-destructive honestly. Watch and try not to cry or cringe challenge.

It’s your thing, I think you’re allowed to be a little pretentious. Besides, some art calls for it. Like a classic Monet? Be pretentious about it. There’s a reason they’re classics, not exactly the same thing I can say for the books people praise these days. Maybe if people got excited about older books that deserve it, I’d pick up a book more often. Hey, pictures are worth a thousand words, right? No reason you shouldn’t use them instead. I told you! It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, I might need a refresher. Really sounds like I need to rewatch, so I’ll take that challenge. I’ll even Zap you during to prove that I’m not crying.

Oh right, because as we all know, artist’s block is the easiest of all problems. At least it always passes eventually, right? I love The Little Prince’s simplicity, some stories think they need to be a thousand pages to explain what a better book could do in five. And I don’t know, old texts can hold memories of old times and even if nothing was really happening at the moment… it’s hard to explain. Just suffice to say personal internal interactions are quite inspiring. Arguments with your dad sound good! Anger is a powerful feeling! But if you don’t want to go back to those, don’t. I don’t mind hurting myself and reopening wounds in the name of art but I’m aware that that’s not, uh, healthy. And all of if? I guess? The part with the “to me you are perfect” cards make me cry, mainly because I don’t know how that dude could lower himself and subject himself to that. What a bad friend. What a jerk move to do to Keira Knightley. And what, all because he couldn’t hold his feelings in?

Yeah, eventually. It just sucks when you’re stuck in the middle of it. Okay, thank you! More words and pages doesn’t always mean better, and I always feel like it’s the thicker books that get all the attention and praise when it comes to “good books.” Sometimes a big book is just too exhausting to really enjoy! Hey, I get it. It’s more of a sentimental thing, not really anything you can explain. You don’t even have to try. Anger isn’t always a bad thing, like when it comes to social injustices and that sort of thing. But for this kind of thing? It’s something I want to be proud of, and I’m not exactly proud of that time in my life. I’ll be the first to admit that maybe I was a little bit childish in how I handled things, and the texts remind me of it. I guess it’s more the remorse hitting me than the anger. Okay, and you telling me this just tells me how little I actually remember the movie. Might be worth revisiting because, wow, I thought I was better at remembering movies than this. Like I remember liking the movie, but details? Not a one.

It is, in a way! It’s just focusing on what the people are really wearing versus what established fashion designers are saying we should wear. Which is refreshing! But also a tad frustrating when you just see freshman boy after freshman boy wearing ugly running shoes and jean shorts. I really like people watching around the theater and music department buildings! Most people there have very interesting tastes and my own designs lean to the more… eccentric side of fashion. So it works best for me. But, what works for me might not work for you, so I’d say go wherever you think would be best!

No, I totally get it. Art isn’t a one size fits all solution, but honestly the direction helps more than anything. And you know what? I think you might have just given me an actual idea. No spoilers, though. I’ll be sure to share the finished product, just so you can see how much your advice has really helped.

See? Told you! This is why I’m Auradon’s most underappreciated genius.You should always go along with my pranks, they’re fun and awesome and and hilarious and liberating and did I mention fun? Fiiiiine, if you want to get all intense about it, we can. I’d rather save that for stealing something cool, but we could dress in all black and spider-man climb up the wall of someone’s parent room and do barrel rolls silently across the floor and hide under their beds until we see them to go the bathroom and then pick locks to their fancy liquor cabinets and then have my dog ding-dong-ditch them while we zipline out of their windows, does that sound more dare-completion-worthy?

It’s my first crime! Of course I’m gonna be intense! I don’t know what else to be when planning my first act of burglary. All I know is it’s not really stealing if you just get it from your sister who would literally just let you have it if you asked. That’s more like borrowing without permission. Can you really do all that though? Like even coordinate with the dog to ring the doorbell? How do you plan on that without someone hearing you?

Hey, no worries. I completely understand- I suffer from writer’s block heavily nearly every time I sit down to write a paper. Outside of a deadline? I could write for hours. Were you able to complete the project and get in some much deserved relaxation? 

Don’t you love how it works out like that every time? I got a good start on it, and hoping to finish it up within the next couple of days. And once that’s done, I hear the beach callin’ my name.

Fresh air? That’s hilarious. Half of my shots are outside so I can confidently say fresh air does squat for creativity. The novel is short too which is good! It means you can’t use it for procrastination for too long like I’m tempted to do all the time. I’m honestly more of the read-over-old-texts-and-watch-people type, and failing that? Love, Actually makes me cry by the end every time.

Right? And then he went on to say that simple problems have simple solutions. I'm just... over it to be honest. No point stressing over it when he had no idea what went into it all. Oh, okay, short is good. I'll be honest, the longer the book, the less I wanna read it. Your old texts gotta be more emotion provoking than mine, the only emotion I get is anger if I scroll far enough to see all the arguments between my dad and me. And I dont want to go back to that you know? I think me and him are finally getting in a good spot. Okay, wait. Which part of Love, Actually is that? I dont remember anything like cry worthy.

Scary? All those ideas were fun! And I always feel the most creative after I’ve done something different – like, the adrenaline rush! It’s great for your design work. Or at least it helps loosen you up so you’re not so in your head and there’s room for the creative thoughts to creep in. And why not? Chad’s obsessed with himself and he kind of looks like a Ken doll, it would be an attack of the funniest proportions. But suuuuure, we can do it your way. Alcohol’s kind of boring to me but I heard there’s like, cupcake vodka or something, I guess I’d be willing to try that. And we can probably steal some out of my sister’s room or something, mission basically already accomplished before we’ve even begun.

Okay, now that makes sense. Not really all the activities but the end result makes sense... guess that's just me in my own head again though, huh. Maybe I should go along with one of your pranks... I dont want it to be easy! I need it to be an actual mission that takes time to accomplish. Kovu kind of dared me to and I'm not about to back down and say I'm not up to it.

No problem! I’m glad that I could be helpful! I’ve always just enjoyed people watching and I realized it’s where I get a lot of my design ideas pretty early on.

I guess it's kinda like getting inspiration from magazines and things like that, just right in front of you rather than on a page. Where's your favorite spot to people watch?

Ooooh, ooooh, if it’s not too late, I have some go to ideas for this exact thing. I like to go people watching out and about around campus. Like, there are some really interesting fashion choices that people from the Isle make that have been super helpful for me in spicing it up. I usually don’t have a problem going up to people and asking them for a reference picture because most everyone likes being complimented on their style.

That’s actually not a bad idea. And probably something I never would have thought of. Thanks, I might actually hit up a park or something near campus and put it to the test.

Right, my bad. What about music? Pull designs from what the lyrics and melody make you imagine. Honestly, I’ll take no offense if none of my advice works. None of my classes deal with design, but I know how much a time crunch can disrupt the thought process. 

Hey, any advice is better than no advice. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, it’s just the stress of it all. Creativity isn’t always cooperative, it has a funny way of stopping when you actually need to get something done. It’s actually annoying. But I guess taking a day off thinking about it wouldn’t hurt...

Don’t worry, I’ve heard my share of bad advice too. Someone once told me to just take a long nap and that I’d probably be ready when I woke up. The Little Prince is so good - the drawings in the original novel were so minimalistic and so evocative. Sadness doesn’t immediately equate to badness, I don’t think. The best things comes from feeling, any sort of feeling. From there you can channel it into something else, but you need the initial power, don’t you?

Okay, what is the deal with that? You know someone legit said fresh air helps. Maybe helps me breathe, don’t do a damn thing for getting something down on paper. I haven’t actually read the novel, I should probably pick that up and check it out. Minimal can be hot when done right, I might actually get something there. Yeah, I guess that makes sense... what kind of things do you watch or read? Not trying to steal your inspo, just curious.