beelikej: (BigBang2011)
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Within five minutes after staking my claim in the [livejournal.com profile] spn_j2_bigbang I got a message from the author and I got even more excited about the fic I had been able to grab! I already loved the summary but when I found out who wrote it, I didn't have any doubts that the whole story would be great. She's one of my favorite fanfic authors who always adds extra layers of thinky thoughts to an already exciting plot. I had a blast squeeing behind the scenes and tried to capture some of the awesomeness of this story. I'm all giddy that I can finally share this collab with y'all:) Enjoy!

StoryHeader_MetInc_J2-600.png

Title: Metaphysical Inc.
Author: [livejournal.com profile] blackrabbit42
Artist: [livejournal.com profile] beelikej
Art Rating: G | Medium: Papercutting & folding + Photoshop
Fic Rating: R | Pairing: Jensen/Jared [RPF AU] | Word count: ~21K
Warning: Slight gore in an opening scene that involves a labor and delivery room.
Summary: Loosely inspired by Monsters, Inc. Jensen works for the Life Department, Jared works for the Death Division. When they accidentally bring a live human baby into the metaphysical world, they need to work against the forces of Time and Fate, as well as that little shit from Chaos, Misha, to return baby Bee to her rightful place in the human world. Doing so might involve sacrifices and changes neither of them ever imagined.

Additional artworks & animations
Did you notice the optical illusion in the story header above? The portal may appear to move if you avoid looking straight at it: stare a little off the side to the swirl to see the effect.

I also made digital animations; beware if you are sensitive to moving gifs and/or spoilers! The two animations follow the dividers below. The second gif contains scenes from the fic. You can skip all artspoilers by clicking through to: the WIP section

DIVIDERS
Dividers_MetInc_Y.png
Dividers_MetInc_B.png
Dividers_MetInc_G.png

ANIMATIONS
MetInc_PortalAnimation.gif

MetInc_FullAnimation.gif

PROMO
PromoMetInc.png
Inspired by this running gag on Monsters, Inc promotions;)

CHARACTER CARDS
Jensen-MetInc.png Jeff-MetInc.png
Okay, fine, this is not a Jeff/Jensen fic. Indulge me :-p

Misha-MetInc.png Jared-MetInc.png

EXTRA ART
StorkReaper_PaperBLJ.png
An homage to one of my favorite exchanges between J2. (Their insults seem to say it all at first yet then we get layer upon layer of insight into their work which I loved deeply. This one's for you, [livejournal.com profile] blackrabbit42 <3)

End_Banner_MetInc.png
This concludes the artsection. Next up is a peek behind the scenes!


The Making Of
I'll try to keep the babbling to a minimum. If you have any questions about the process, let me know!
IMG_8870_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9162_WIP_MetInc.jpg
First sketch after reading and the template for the antlers.

IMG_9164_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9166_WIP_MetInc.jpg
One idea that got stuck in the sketching stage and the set up for the portal swirl.

IMG_9167a_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9167b_WIP_MetInc.jpg
Reference/base pictures for digital fiddling with J2.

IMG_9221_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9222_WIP_MetInc.jpg

IMG_9226_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9236_WIP_MetInc.jpg

IMG_9243_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9244_WIP_MetInc.jpg

IMG_9250_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9252_WIP_MetInc.jpg
Cutting and then manipulating the paper antlers with my bone folder to create a 3D effect.

IMG_9264_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9283_WIP_MetInc.jpg
My original cutting plan to cut the full circle swirls turned out to be too demanding for my patience (so much curvy cutting...) and I had to change course. I ended up cutting a double swirl in three colours that I digitally copied to make the final shape.

IMG_9293_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9297_WIP_MetInc.jpg

IMG_9309_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9313_WIP_MetInc.jpg

IMG_9314_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9319_WIP_MetInc.jpg
I got so frustrated by having to double cut the delicate thin black swirls I grabbed a marker in desperation. I was so relieved that worked out; can you tell the difference in the photo between a papercut black swirl and the two I drew on the blue swirls? It saved me so much time, I could cry.

IMG_9322_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9328_WIP_MetInc.jpg

IMG_9333_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9335_WIP_MetInc.jpg
Without and with backlight. In the end I had to digitally brighten it.

IMG_9353_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9362_WIP_MetInc.jpg

IMG_9363x_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9364x_WIP_MetInc.jpg

IMG_9365_WIP_MetInc.jpg IMG_9440_WIP_MetInc.JPG
Photoshoot!


Credits, sources & Thank yous
FONTS: Monster AG (Title) & SF Slapstick Comic (Names)
  • J2 faces from a photo-op of [livejournal.com profile] amberdreams at JIBCon2017, more of her cool pics with the guys here!
  • Jensen's outfit: see reference photo's in WIP section:)
  • Jared's outfit: from outfittrends.com
  • MC from EW's Halloween Photo Shoot by Finlay MacKay.
  • JDM in Rampage; Image via Warner Bros.
  • Antlers reference from NY Times 2019/10/15, credit: Klimkhamer et al., The Royal Society.
  • Batwings based on non-copyright image on Festivalclaca.cat.
  • Portal optical illusion inspired by Pixers.us.



  • Thank you, [livejournal.com profile] blackrabbit42 for this glorious fic; I am still in awe about the universe you created (and that goes so far beyond the film it was inspired by). It was funny and lovely and it made me think about life and death! <3
    Last but not least a shout out to BigBang's trusty mod [livejournal.com profile] wendy and everyone who participates in this classic fandom event. *grouphug*

    J.

    Previous animation experiment: Parallel Synchronized Randomness

    More of my other artsy fiddlings: Artmasterlist 2010-2018 | Artmasterlist 2019 and beyond

    SPN_J2_BigBang 2020 - Artwork the first

    X-posted from https://beelikej.livejournal.com/560994.html

    May 2025

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