R2
The Wannabe Artist
By Rosehill
Mandrake was reading in the library when someone coughed. He lifted his eyes and saw Kshinn looking at him.
"Hello," Kshinn said. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
"Of course! What's going on?"
"Well, I just took a big decision. I want to be a comic-book artist."
Kshinn braced himself. He expected Mandrake to protest but the magician just nodded.
"Why not?"
"Aren't you disappointed?"
"Why would I be disappointed in you?"
"Well, all the people close to me are awesome," Kshinn said. "You have these cool magic powers and you save lives and all the Defenders have something extraordinary about them. Isn't drawing a bit… disappointing?"
Mandrake embraced his adopted son and said:
"I will never be disappointed in you. If drawing comic books makes you happy, just do it! I'm sure you will do great."
"Thanks, Mandrake!" Kshinn said. "It means a lot to me."
So Kshinn sat at his desk and thought about. He needed a good plot. And interesting characters. And it had to look great. OK, to be honest, he didn't know where to start.
"What would you write about Zuffi?" he asked. "Any idea?"
Zuffi jumped onto his lap. Of course, he wanted to be cuddled. Kshinn patted his head and asked:
"Would you like me to write about you? Hey, I could create a zuffoid hero with awesome zuffoid friends. One of his friends would be a science genius, another one would be a martial artist and another would have cool telepathic powers and…"
Kshinn started drawing enthusiastically. His characters were going to be awesome! Hours passed and he eventually sat back happily. Of course his drawings were not perfect but he liked the way they looked. Then he remembered an art database on the internet. Maybe he could create an account.
He needed a username. He didn't want to use his real name so he thought about and decided on FriendlyIndianBoy10. He entered his birth date and a pop-up appeared.
You are underage. You will only have access to the children section.
So? Interacting with artists his own age was going to be fun! He entered his email address and eventually managed to create an account, scanned his drawings and downloaded all of them.
Then Kshinn realized he was very hungry. He went down to the kitchen, grabbed a banana and a drink and ate. He went back into the computer room and jumped. Someone called DarkNightmareDeath had sent him a comment! He read and felt puzzled.
DarkNightmareDeath: You draw like a twelve-year-old.
So? What was wrong with this? He decided to reply:
FriendlyIndianBoy10: I'm ten, actually.
He waited. Then DarkNightmareDeath commented his other drawing.
DarkNightmareDeath: Lol your zuffoid girl looks funny.
He rolled his eyes. Zada Runner was not supposed to look funny. She was an awesome action girl! What was going on?
Wait. Maybe that guy was playing a game on him. Maybe he wanted him to comment his own drawings. Kshinn clicked and had to look away. DarkNightmareDeath had drawn the most disgusting thing he had ever seen: a half-naked woman with giant breasts lying on a prison floor, crying, with a huge man whipping her.
Suddenly, Kshinn felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and saw Jedda.
"That's not what you're thinking!" he stuttered. "I was…"
"You were looking for something else?"
"Yes! And some guy sent me a comment, I had a look and there's that disgusting image! It's not my fault!"
Jedda looked at the screen and sighed.
"I'm going to report it!" she said.
"You can do that?"
"Look at the rating! For kids? It's totally inappropriate! It belongs in the adults section."
So she filed a report. Then she glanced at Kshinn's bed, saw the drawings he had spread onto it and smiled.
"Did you draw this?" she asked.
"Yes!" he said proudly. "Nobody helped!"
"Impressive! You have a great imagination."
"Thanks. I want to be a comic book artist."
"You should take drawing lessons."
His face fell.
"Do you think I'm bad?" he asked.
"No but all artists have to work on their drawing skills. I think you can do better."
He sighed and sat onto the bed.
"I want to be great," he said. "I mean, everyone I know is great. You see, your whole family is a legend, Rick is great at science, LJ is an awesome martial artist and I'm just, well…"
"You're a great friend and you're, like, the little brother I never had!" she said. "Everyone loves you."
"Thanks. But I want to be great."
She sat down beside him and put an arm onto his shoulders.
"Do you love drawing?" she asked.
"Yes," he said.
"Does making art make you happy?"
"Of course! I love it!"
"Then just do it. Just be happy."
She ruffled his hair and got up. Before she left the room, he said:
"You are, too."
"I'm what?"
"You're the big sister I never had."
The day after, Kshinn had two more comments on his drawings.
Lililalalola12345678: I like your zuffoids
KanePorterBrushman: the karate zuffoid looks a bit screwed up to me, looks like you did it in a hurry. But the science zuffoid looks great.
He frowned. Screwed up? How dared him? He had worked hard on his art and he was so proud of it!
On the other hand, KaneporterBrushman had a point: Karate Zuff wasn't perfect. Right. Maybe he should work on it again. Maybe this person was just trying to help him.
Then he decided to have a look at DarkNightmareDeath's profile. To his dismay, the disgusting drawing was still in the kids section. He decided to send a comment. He thought about a lot and eventually wrote:
"Hello. Your drawing is completely inappropriate. Put it in the adult section. Also, you should learn to respect women."
Kshinn waited. The comment disappeared ten minutes later. It seemed that DarkNightmareDeath was too immature to cope with criticism.
Kshinn decided to send him a private message. One minute later, he got an answer:
"CAN'T YOU READ?! NO FLAMES! IT'S ON MY PROFILE AND ALL MY PAGES! NO FLAMES! NO FLAMES!"
What was wrong with him? Why was he overreacting? Kshinn was puzzled and decided to show Mandrake his messages. The magician frowned.
"Why didn't you tell me you had an account on this website?" he asked.
"Well… I thought it was no big deal."
"It IS a big deal. You're underage. I'm supposed to know what you're doing on the internet."
"I didn't mention my name or my location and I'm in the children section only!" Kshinn protested.
"That's great. But I still prefer to know what you're doing."
"I'm showing my art to the world," Kshinn said simply. "By the way, what do you think of this person?"
He showed him his history with DarkNightmareDeath. Mandrake was silent. He didn't say anything but Kshinn knew what it meant when he had this look in his eyes.
"Let me guess," the boy said. "We need to report him?"
"Let me take care of this," Mandrake said.
"I'm confused. I was polite. Why is he so angry?"
"Because he has the emotional maturity of a four-year-old. Don't become like him."
"Is there something I should tell him?"
"No. Just block and report. Don't waste your happiness and energy by interacting with that kind of person."
"OK, then. What do you think of my art?"
Mandrake had a look and smiled.
"Did you do it yourself?" he asked.
"Yes! They're called the Zuffoid Heroes and they save the world together! I plan on writing stories about them."
"You really have a lot of imagination."
"Thank you."
Kshinn sat happily. It meant a lot to him when someone complimented him on his imagination.
Mandrake never told Kshinn what he did but the day after, all the adult-rated drawings had disappeared from the children section. Kshinn created and downloaded more art. He also befriended Lililalalola12345678 and KanePorterBrushman, who turned out to be two talented artists and two kind and interesting human beings. He was really enjoying it. Maybe he was not a superhero like his adopted dad and his friends but it didn't matter that much. He loved drawing.
One day, Rick came back home and gave him a leaflet.
"What do you think of this?" he asked.
Kshinn took the leaflet and read aloud:
"The New Little Artist Contest. Our new comic-book contest for kids aged 6-12? Rick, are you serious?"
"Of course! I think you're going to be great!"
"Thanks," Kshinn said politely. "But I won't do that."
"Why? I thought you loved drawing!"
"Not anymore."
Then Kshinn walked to his room and lied onto his bed. Zuffi cuddled him and he pat his head.
"Can you believe it?" he asked. "A contest! Do you really think I can do it?"
Doing it or not was not the problem. Deep down, Kshinn knew that he didn't want to just take part. He wanted to win. Most of the time he didn't mind living in the teenage Defenders' shadow but for once in his lifetime, he wanted to be the best at something. Drawing superheroes was his thing.
Someone knocked at his door. He said: "come in!" and Mandrake entered and asked him what was going on. Kshinn looked away sadly.
"I don't think you would understand," he said.
"Why are you saying this?"
"Because you have always been awesome and successful! I'm just… me!"
The magician laughed and Kshinn got angry.
"Why are you making fun of me?!"
"I'm not making fun of you!" Mandrake said. "Actually, I relate to you. May I show you something?"
Kshinn nodded and followed Mandrake into the living-room. The magician turned on the TV and a very young black-haired boy appeared on the screen. He was standing in front of a dozen younger children and performing card tricks. Suddenly, the cards fell from his hand and everyone burst into laughter. The black-haired boy looked mortified.
Kshinn was confused. Did Mandrake really believe that watching another kid being humiliated would make him feel better?
"Who's that poor boy?" he asked.
"That was me when I was nine."
"What?! But you looked so…"
Little Mandrake looked awkward and insecure, just like him. Yet he had grown into an awesome magician. How was that possible?
"Just look."
The boy on the screen picked up his cards and managed to finish his magic trick. He was red on the face and he left the stage. Kshinn thought he had run away in shame. Then he came back with a big black box.
"I'm going to make something disappeared!" he said.
Kshinn knew about this trick. Mandrake had shown him: there was a mirror in the box so people would believe the box was empty. He watched the little boy perform the trick. The kids didn't look impressed. Then young Mandrake made a bunny appear and everyone applauded.
"I guess they like bunnies," Kshinn said.
"They liked them so much that the birthday boy threw a tantrum when I told him he couldn't keep it!"
Kshinn burst into laughter.
"No way!" he said.
"Yes! Thing didn't turn out the way I expected but do you know what I learned that day?"
"Don't give your bunny to a brat?"
"Of course but best of all, I learned that I love performing magic. Do you love creating comics?"
"Yes."
"Then just do it."
Mandrake left the room. Kshinn remain silent for a moment, and then he sat down at his desk and started drawing again.
Two months later, the results of the contest were announced. Kshinn's comic was sixth. He spent the whole day smiling.
He liked his prize, a one-year magazine subscription but most of all, he liked the way he had managed to challenge himself. He was Kshinn, a Defender and a brave person who dares leaving his comfort zone. And of course, he had an overactive imagination and he loved drawing.
He was going to work on his drawing skills and maybe next year he would get the first prize...
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