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A nearby stationary store ran by an elder man, this is right on his way home so he applied and thankfully got a position. He loves his job, and lots of art students stop in looking for the assortment of materials the supply store offers for mostly affordable prices. Thanks to Benoit Baptiste (store owner) Maki will attend his first toy convention, his boss thinks that Maki’s potential deserves the support he’s found.

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Thanks to Maki and the others, the front of the store looks very polished and proper, the organized clutter, and artist playground lies to the back. Business in the front, party in the back as they say.

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Cheaper discounted shelves located further from the designer, polished front end of the store.

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Benoit’s art studio has become a fun place for customers to freely try “expired” materials and work on their art.

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All these are donated books, and zines from the past years and student projects, Benoit finds it hard to give away gifts or things, his employees have tried their best to organize the mess. What comes with running a shop for 34 years.

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Zine MACHINE! Benoit is always encouraging all the artists around them, and graduating class usually bring orders to Inkrise for the student discount, and part of profit. THe vending machine is a new idea, but very effective innovation.

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They only serve beignets and two flavors of coffee for 4 hours, but people are welcome to bring their own meals and work at the tables.

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Clothes sewn by him, added textured hair, and made the dog keychain for this blind box toy he got for his bday.

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Toy designs, multicultural and super fun to make. Spent about a month and a half.

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Combining art, business and engineering, designers develop concepts for manufactured products. And in Maki’s case, he is manufacturing said products as well. He will be specializing in toy design, as it interest him most.

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Benoit (Ben-wah) Baptiste. His way of testing out the drawing inks and pens is to journal in his limited edition Acadius x Fabien leather journal. He often invites Maki and his other employees on Sunday evenings (when they’re closed) for their “meetings” at his favorite creole bistro. They all just workshop current projects and spend like 5 minutes planning weekly product displays and events.  

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before being accepted to St.Row University, Maki has attended international school in Tokyo, Japan living with his grandma for the last 3 years of his high school career. He helped out in her pocket convenience store, and the nearby neighbors encouraged his toy making journey, he was often working on toys at the cashier desk. He’s repaired teddy bears, and revitalized classic dolls for friends, fam and local clients, though the work was more so for fun than an actual business. Ever since he was young he was the designated problem solver, between a headstrong elder brother and a precious baby sister, he was the middle child taking care of family. He has always been a self-starter, thoughtful and attentive to those around him, but aloof when there is no sense of urgency or need for a responsible middle man. He did his best in his classes, and was genuinely well liked by his peers. As grandma started needing more rest and supervision, it was Maki chosen to look after her, as well as her house being closest to the school he insisted attending. What could his parents say? He was always independent, his arguments sound, his reasons understandable, his life is his, and he is responsible for the life he wants to lead, even when he was so young, he was so sure of himself. Or that’s how it appeared. Just like anyone else, he had a vague sense of a vision, and steps to get there, but taking that risk? Hard for anyone, but he’s better for it. Especially when he visited Texas a few weeks before settling for the semester? He knew this is everything he’s been planning for. School abroad, a new life in a new place.

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for the year in his Product design 101 class, Maki is making a promotional stop motion pv for his action figure line. Planning to take advantage of the on-campus 3D printers he’s making a limited quantity of his original figurine designs. He asked his good friend Felix, an upperclassmen and a poised creative genius to help him construct the pv, from storyboarding, dynamic shots and perspective, atmosphere, and all the other things to really pack a punch with this project. He’s concerted these folks way before his acceptance to St. Row, infact majority of his portfolio work revolved around this personal passion project that showed immense promise, and his creativity.

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GAKIRACE -  夢ヲ喰ラエ Yume wo Kurai -  Opening 1

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Smallest convenient store built right into the side of the home, always sees its steady stream of return customers. They were the first people to encourage Maki’s toy making ventures.

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home with gran

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his room back home. A mini galaxy of star lamps

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—— Riki Wilhelm Maus “Maki”

—feb.17.2006 — 20 years old

—6’0 — 183cm

—aquarius

—year of the dog

—estj

—japanese half german

—freshman

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when he was young there was this limited edition figurine, limited quantity, much to expensive for the maus family to obtain. It became clear that there was no way he could have it, the thought dawned on him that he could make it himself. After all he had realized that these things don’t just appear out of thin air. And as resourceful as he is, he used a pre-existing dragon ball figure he’d gotten some birthdays ago, they had play-doh, he used the base of the head as a template to then add pieces of play-doh on top, super gluing those parts down to get the dough to stick. For a birthday he got a huge case of sampling paints and oil pastels, and he used layers of acrylic, and his one good black sharpie to make his best imitation of the figurine. His efforts didn’t go unnoticed, his brother mentioned there’s probably books about how to make your own figurines from clay. Which then started Maki on a journey, three years later he was making small designs, his own at that, and though they were just chibi-sculptures the stylized eyes, the color palette, earned him interest from peers, truly impressed he crafted something from clay.

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They offer a letterpress service, as ink and graphic design is the store’s bread and butter

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A pathetic simpy beta lover boy at heart

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—cooking ::: makes a meannnnn risotto, spicy carbonara and apartment king of Japanese fusion foods

—streetwear ::: bape / yohji Yamamoto / acyr’terx/ small luxury brands

—exercise + sports ::: just likes being active and trying out his own stunts for reference photos

—photo gallery curation (selfie-whore) ::: a mix of self-love, documenting his life, and inspiration for this art as he uses himself as reference for most of his figurines and art

— action anime ::: his tastes vary, but not to sound like a broken record but he takes a lot of inspiration for his art from everything around him, art imitates life for him, and Maki intends to live his life to the fullest.

— toy & trinket collecting ::: he loves to see the toys, figurines, collectibles from other companies and artists, and has a few favorites. He loves anything stylized, with a fun story or premise, and that will find a home in space. He usually places collectibles in shelves surrounding his bed and in his closet.

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—negativity ::: people who always look at life and things with a half empty approach tend to naturally clash with maki’s can-do and determined demeanor. Opposites that tend to repel.

—stoic/rigidity :: people who are so rigid and stuck in their ways that its like pulling teeth to get them to loosen up a little. Flow with the current instead of being an eventually forcefully moved object.

—overly bitter foods and beverages ::: coffee, and any root teas. Same goes for liquid medicine, he’d prefer swallowing medicinal pills to going through the torture.

—disorganization ::: he can’t think or perform at all in mess he also has his own organization methods

—controlling ::: he doesn’t like being told what to do, be it teacher or friend, its best for him to feel like he’s maintaining his independence and that he’s collaborating with authority figures and peers.

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Shiloh dynasty - Can i love you (prod Vibexdealer)

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Orientation / heteroflexible, perhaps more hetero-romantic and heterosexual than anything but he’s always open and spontaneous.

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Koza sketch

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Koza figurine

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—The twins figurines

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—yumi figurine +++ older twin

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—yuki figurine +++ younger twin

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—zaiki sketch

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— zaiki figurine + son of luci

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— zaiki figurine

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other short term product projects / black horn, more in the realm of his stylization, streetwear, incorporating mechanical components, expressive faces.

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Portfolio completed works / Absolute Evil Figurine

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beach bum / took him weeks to construct every piece, sewing the figurines clothes, cobbling the shoes, sanding, painting, sculpting. One of his first projects of the school year

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Self portrait project / outfit and a creative homage to his platinum blonde days, turned a frosty white for his creative liberties

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᪥ user err0r ::: refer to me as pup, pubby-chan or my chara’s names

᪥ Writing style ::: 3rd pov is most comfortable, I also enjoy writing in 1st pov! I love comical or silly people and characters.

᪥ genres :::

——slice of life./// silly day to day antics like being late to class because you stayed up partying all night, and mundane topics like that interest me, especially if you put a spin on tropes or subvert them, I’m yours truly. Love good tension and easily resolved drama, kinda staying away from soap opera level angst.

——smut./// honestly love a spontaneous plot based on pre-existent chemistry. Smut plots are welcome, a little planning is fine, if it’s incorporated in a plot even better. But for fun is cool too they’re wild uni students after all.

——romance./// exes, flirtationships are fun, for most romance plots maki will probably be charming yet heartwarming in his romantic pursuits and efforts. More on romance style in the “Cupid’s arrow” section.

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Status — single

On romance — maki is rarely thinking about romantic connections for himself, but not-so-secretly loves a good story or show with romantic themes. Once he’s comfortable and familiar with someone he develops feelings, Demi-romantic in that regard, and most times he will initiate and pursue. Actually in all cases he prefers it. Lighthearted yet can be intense, rose-tinted glasses for his person, genuinely clingy with them, and occasionally jealous.

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tanuki (tanii)/ little ragdoll stray kitten that his sister took in but loves sleeping with maki the most

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He stayed 3 weeks with friends in Texas to capture a sense of what living long term would feel like. He didn’t like the dorms, so he knew he’d have to get roommates and attend. He didn’t want to be apart of administrative purposes in both his fraternity and the school so he sought a stable, but freeing job outside of his passion projects and campus life. That’s when he landed on the Inkrise Atelier, an art store that’s been in the heart of the campus town for the longest, art students singing its praises for years to come, and its been in business for 34 years. This is where he found family, he enjoys the work, and intends to create something similar in the future, hoping it’ll bring similar joy to future students and clients.

Starting the school year, he’s found his roommates, he’s furnished his room from all the money he made working at his grandmother’s convenience store in high school, and some toy projects he did for profit. Though distantly, a discomfort rests in his life, he’s apart from family, from the hometown he’s always known, a new culture, new people, a new him. Sometimes it doesn’t feel real, he goes to school in a foreign country, he’s made friends just as easily, he’s making a new family of peers and mentors, he’s working more seriously on his toy line Gaki Race, and there are people who believe so much in how far he can go. He spends most times at his desk trying to keep on top of his grades, its pretty easy because he has a slight obsession with completing art projects, and sense he’s already at his desk, why not knock out that paper, or do the math equations. When he does go out, it’s mostly because he’s being dragged out, or to keep up with his physicality in the gym. He has always been athletic, and he finds the gym somewhat therapeutic, and plus arthritis and stiff joints suck ass to work through when he has figurines to sculpt and sew clothes for. He was appointed to PR member because of how easy going he tends to be, when he’s not at home he’s a social butterfly, talkative, attentive, detail oriented and laughing with everyone else. It almost seems like nothing phases him as he doesn’t much voice dislikes or discomforts, he has an appearance to keep up ofc, but if pushed, he does become more direct if needed, otherwise he’s pretty unassuming and mindlessly having fun. He loves updating the socmed pages, and takes great pics, with a fun caption to add.

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Way more clothes in his closet, these are just his current rotation. Mostly only uses the tv to listen to music while doing other things like exercising, or working.

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Record collection largely inspired hanging out with his friends Felix and Taehyung, both who’ve given him great musical recs.

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Character design sheet / collab with a friend who’s obsessed with futuristic cyberpunk designs

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Where the magic (homework and projects) happens

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estj ::: considered the Executive of the mbti, this paints someone who is a self-starter, a natural-born leader, good management and administrative skills, the model citizen who helps the common person, who do things as lawfully necessary, and big on community and being present for those he loves and protects.

[ not going to label traits as bad or good, but it will be evident his strong points and his weaknesses or “flaws” ]

Strong-willed ::: true to himself and his visions, often does not back down, and as long as he advocated for himself (or others) he feels like he did his best.

Doubly his stubbornness creates conflicts at times, nothing he can’t diplomatically solve of course.

Natural born leader ::: he concedes to areas and subjects where he doesn’t know everything, and he can take directions well, often his problem lies in being lead by people he doesn’t implicitly trust or he thinks are great leaders. Tying back to before, it’s best if he feels like he’s collaborating with other humans regardless of age. Upholds fairness, and likes to hear all sides of the story.

Loyal ::: stays true to his people, promising them best of him that he can give them, and expects reciprocation in that regard. The ride or die, whether you’re right or wrong, Maki will be right at your side.

Charismatic ::: most impressions people get from Maki is his silly and easy-going nature, most of the time he has no need to be overly serious, so what you get from him is someone with a bit of rbf (resting-bitch-face) until he starts smiling, dimples present, and softness in his gaze.

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Fantasy sword design in red ink, on his right forearm. His mom grumbles about it

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First tattoo a starburst on his left hand to match with his friend