#…just realized i’ve drawn a lot of oc stuff and i. have not posted that on tumblr at all i just did it on artfight

[peapod20001]

Gbavag not knowing enough about/ how to draw your oc is such a curse...

Like you draw them, but it’s not THEM y’know? And the you’re stuck in a loop of “I’m not drawing them because I don’t know how to” and “I won’t know how to draw them unless I practice”

[crazyw3irdo]

bro i cannot fucking wait for artfight i’m just so hyped

[sherryrowen]

Update on Hoston (OC)!!

I’ve been working lately on my boy and made a couple of ref sheets for myself for the future. I’ll hit two birds with one stone here and give a little bit of background on who he is and what he does, so keep reading if you’re curious about him!

Here are the reference sheets (they’re still WIPs but I still wanted to share them anyway)

About the reference sheets:

Why I made two references sheets? Well the first one I made was in my regular art style; when I was almost done with the Lineart, I realized that I should have drawn him in a different art style in order for his backstory to make more sense (I’ll explain more in moment), I don’t see why I shouldn’t post it though, since there are some details in this ref sheet that aren’t seen in the other one, like his Mettaton-like arms, and his exposed voice box (more on that later).

The second reference sheet (which is his Official design and art style), is in a “cartoon” art style (which isn’t what I usually do btw), there are two reasons why I decided to go with this style, first: is backstory, you see, he is supposed to come from an AU that is based on cartoons and cartoon-logic, so it just makes sense that he would be cartoonist-looking. The second reason is that it makes him easier for me to draw him (since I have plans on drawing him quite a lot for a certain future project).

About Hoston:

He is a version of Spamton that escaped the Dark world by sending himself to the nearest unsuspecting “computer” that was the most likely to open his spam email, and it just so happened to be Mettaton. Spamton and Mettaton ended up sharing a body for the meantime while Alphys was building Spamton his own body, during that time Spamton learned a lot from Mettaton which made him reevaluate his life, to the point were he admired Mettaton, considered him a mentor, and even mentioned wanting to be a Show host like him, to which Mettaton laughed thinking he was joking.

About his body: he specifically requested Alphys for his face to have a long nose. Before he was transferred to his body he was sent to Alphys’ computer so she could help him fix his um… [spam moments](?), she was able to fix it to a certain extent, he still gets them from time to time especially and specifically when he gets “emotional”, example: when he gets really excited or very angry. When he was finally transferred to his new body and heard his voice, he HATED it, because, to him, it didn’t sounded like his old voice back in the Dark World; so he asked Alphys to change it multiple times, and some times when he thought he had found a voice that he liked after some time he’d end up hating that voice too; he does eventually finds one that he likes but Alphys decided to leave his neck without a cover plate, exposing his voice box, in case he changed his mind and came back for another voice box, that way she could change it faster; because of this he always covers his neck with a huge neckerchief, so in the case of him getting in a battle, the opponent doesn’t take away his voice, since that’s the most important thing to him.

So, things happen, and he eventually changes his name to Hoston and becomes the host of a show (I know, a terrible name, I did mention in my Meet the Artist that I was bad with names).

“What is his show?” You might ask? Well it’s the “Hoston Show”! (Again, I’m bad at names). What is his show about? Well, that we’ll see.

Does he have any powers or special abilities? He does! Because he comes from an AU with cartoon logic, he’s got any cartoon related powers you could think of, he’s got hammerspace, he can create things (like a stage for example) out of nothing, and he’s even got the delayed fall (though idk if he’d consider that an ability), he’s got more stuff but I can’t recall anything else rn, just think of the “Looney Tunes” and ‘Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner”, those pretty much the sums of what he can do.

Despite what you might think he doesn’t do much fighting and uses his abilities for the purposes that benefit his show, though if he’d feel threatened, he with no doubt will defend himself, but that usually depends entirely on if he puts himself in a vulnerable position, which rarely happens.

That’s all for now, here, as a bonus have some Hoston Doodles!

(I kinda feel a little dumb saying this but:) Hoston belongs to me.

[whumpy-wyrms]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

here’s some wholesome Dew art because he deserves to be happy :3 (also his sweater is supposed to look like colorful firework explosions)

now here i go getting all sentimental under the read more…

first off, thanks @mottinthemainpot and @toyybox for requesting New Years art because i wouldn’t have drawn this otherwise!! it was fun and i love how colorful it turned out :D

also here’s the version without the background

anyway, i have to say that making this blog was one of the biggest highlights of my year. i did so many things that i thought i’d never do! like show my writing to people, post oc stuff… make actual friends. seriously, just creating something that makes other people happy is what i’ve always wanted to do, and i did it! writing and drawing are my favorite hobbies and i’m so so happy that i’m making other people happy by doing what i love more than anything.

i know TLLR may not matter all that much to other people, but it had a huge impact on my life. it caused me to start sharing my stories instead of keeping them in my head, it caused me to come out of my shell and actually talk to people online, and make so many amazing friends that i never would have met otherwise. it made it easier for me to be myself and interact with people, instead of hiding or being too shy like i’ve been doing my whole life. i used to be soo scared of talking to people online, because i thought nobody would like me or i’d be too awkward. but all of your amazing support made me able to do that, made me able to express myself and find a friend group that i can relate to and who likes me for me. that’s something i’ve always wanted, so thank you all!!

ever since i was 12, it was my dream to make something- a series and characters- that inspired others and made people happy (aka the same impact that Gravity Falls had on me). i know TLLR isn’t much, and it’s not super popular or anything, but i’m so unbelievably happy that i created something that makes people excited to read and think about and make art for. i’m so happy i created something that inspires people and makes people happy (even just a little bit). that is honestly all i’ve ever wanted and it makes me excited for all the amazing things i’ll do in the future.

to all of you invested in my silly little story, THANK YOU!!!! without any of your support or kind messages or reactions or art, i literally wouldn’t have made it this far. i remember the first ask i ever got (you know who you are :)) and i just wanna talk about how that affected me. because holy shit, back then, that was the nicest thing anyone had ever said about something i made. i can’t even describe how happy i was when i first read it, like it literally made my entire month. it made me realize that i’m capable of making something that makes people happy. and to everyone who has ever left nice messages about my series, thank you so much again!! because wow, it’s just so surreal that people like my creations. thank you

this is super rambly and completely unplanned, but yeah i just wanted to say thanks for the amazing past few months. i’m so happy i joined this community, everyone here is so nice and it’s led me to make amazing things. even if you don’t read TLLR (i recommend it ehehehe /nf), thanks for following me and supporting me with my art. drawing all those tllr drawings definitely made me improve a lot (this year was also a huge year for my art in general. i’m so proud of myself for how much i’ve improved with my art).

ALSO WRITING!!! my writing has definitely improved thanks to tllr. before this, i just wrote for fun about my other ocs and never showed ANYONE. it wasn’t in chronological order and i didn’t care much for mistakes or perfect grammar or anything. don’t get me wrong, i love the other stuff i wrote for myself, but tllr is by far the best in my opinion. it challenged me to write something not only for myself, but something other people would read. it put me out of my comfort zone at first, when i posted the first chapter. my writing has improved so much because of that and i’m so fucking excited for what i’ll be able to accomplish in the future.

oh yeah! thanks to the whump community for inspiring me to post my stuff in the first place! tllr specifically is something very important and personal to me, but something that i’m able to share with other people so easily. tllr isn’t just mine anymore, it’s everyone’s who’s ever read it (don’t take that too literally)

anyway, i know i’m forgetting something but yeah i just wanted to say thanks!! you are all so amazing! i’m not gonna tag all of the friends i made but you all know who you are, thank you!!! 2023 was amazing for me and i’m so excited for what 2024 will bring (besides me literally graduating high school this year)! big things are coming up with tllr too, new characters, twists and turns, crazy stuff. i’m so fucking excited

OH YEAH! i usually don’t make new year’s resolutions but this year i definitely want to draw more of my friends/mutuals’ characters. all of you are so creative and drawing art for other people is something i realized i love to do!!

i don’t know how to end this, it got longer than i planned loll. thank you all for the amazing year!! thanks for all the support!! :DDD

[user1286]

Ough sorry for disappearing whoever is still here lol I hated tumblr for a bit and I can’t write for shit 😭.

Uhhmm I got a lot of life stuff, and I’m ngl, I’ve moved on from my lil Magni and modi resurrection au story of them in midgard, and past this point, they’ve turned into my own ocs and I’m doing a lil story where they’re gathering an army as mentioned in the prose (?) or poetic edda.

Idk if I’ll keep posting writings and art here, I’ve been thinking abt Instagram bc It’d be more convenient in general with sharing bits and farts of my current hyperfixation. (I love the music function iykyk lol)

And uhhhh if anyone wants to follow my art and such, jsyk, expect nothing from me, bc I realize I can NOT hold up promises/hopes 😭😭😭 (sorry to disappoint lol)

Just a lil more rambling:

Bc I just wanna get this off my chest, I’ve finally enlisted to college, I’m learning to drive and hope to get a job soon, and worst of all, my (most likely) adhd has been CRIPPLING with executive dysfunction, so I haven’t really drawn much at all as of late, and I’ve been more focused on that stuff, u guys know how it is 😒.

Either way, ty for all ur support and kind words to my old hyperfixation, I’m genuinely overjoyed that others enjoyed the ideas that I WAS ABLE to get out :]

(This is NOT a goodbye, just more like, putting things to rest so I can figure out if/what/when/where I wanna share my thoughts and ideas next ;3)

If anyone wants to see what I HAVE managed to make btw for my current hyperfixation, here’s a lil ol look >:3

She’s very special tew me 😚…

[andlatitude]

Hey! I've been wanting to do this for awhile, but I could never figure out how to say what I wanted to. I've come to the conclusion that I probably never will, fully, so I'm gonna take a stab at it— it's long, please bear with me.

I don't usually follow blogs like yours; most of the art you post is of OCs or fandoms I'm not a part of and I generally find it hard to be invested in original non-concept art (I really enjoy world-building concepts, but individual characters are harder for me). OC art tends to be snippets, bits and pieces; the random points of a developing character which makes them difficult for me to connect with even when I like the concept or design because they are often smatterings on a page that maybe even the artist doesn't fully comprehend yet.

Your art always connects.

Something about your way with expressions and body movement weaves so much intent into your work; every character conveys so much emotion and personality that I'm immediately drawn in. I can't accurately describe with words how much your art moves me, I don't know how. It sounds so silly, but the best I've come up with is that your characters look really People. They look alive in a way that I haven't quite experienced in art since the 101 Dalmatians era of Disney sketch animation, where the linework always made it feel like the characters were moving even when they were standing still; like they could breathe.

I look at your artwork and I feel the characters in my chest. You did a piece not long ago of two of your OCs sharing a microphone and I felt the awe; that feeling of the world melting away except the other person onstage— that feeling like maybe they are singing the song just for you.

Your art captures the casual intimacy of people just being; scenes like painting nails and other normal, quiet moments that only show when someone feels safe, comfortable. Your work makes 'nothing' moments have weight; there is an artist I discovered recently, Francine Van Hove, who specializes in these types of scenes and some of your work reminds me of hers.

Of all your works though, my favorite is the truth-or-dare comic and it's sequel. The smug satisfaction of calling a bluff, the casual scoff of dismissal of the dare, the confusion then realization, the weight of anticipation— the build-up, the inevitable conclusion. Whenever I see you pop on my Dash I go look through your recent work then hunt through your OC tag for those comics. It doesn't matter how many times I see them, I get hit with the same level of emotion every time.

Whenever I see your work it speaks to me; it makes me think that this is what art is supposed to feel like. I felt like you should know.

God help me if you ever draw a character from one of my favorite shows.

Hopefully this gets through okay; I've been on Tumblr since like 2012 and I still don't really trust the Ask system not to toss messages into the void haha. I hope this message finds you well and that you have a great day.

-Milli :)

Hello!! I really hope it’s okay that I post this. I want to keep it. This means a lot to me, I think it’s way more praise than I feel like I deserve as someone who just draws silly self indulgent stuff for fun. However over the years, the most important thing to me with those drawings has always been conveying emotion. For me it all comes from a place of wanting to express myself and how I feel rather than wanting to “be good at art”.

A message like this telling me that everything I’ve been pouring into my stuff all these years has come across to someone I’ve never met is huge, and incredible, and I don’t even know what to say. I’m really passionate about having that “life” in what I draw, it is what drives me to keep creating, and doing so is such a huge part of who I am. Thank you so much for noticing and for telling me this and for caring about it.

I think those little human moments are the most beautiful, I’m glad I could begin to do a few of them justice. Stuff I make speaking to someone else in any way is the biggest compliment I can get.

Thank you again, I hope your day is wonderful!

[sanekibeko]

Soft-reboot (LATE) update post

Sorry lots of text but the TLDR is I'm back posting twice a week/focusing mainly on OCs/Hellverse. Anyway... Hey everyone. Sorry for the constant pop-ins and outs. I really needed more time for myself, and been in a bit of a slump. In the last update post, I said I wanted to soft-reboot all my socials. So I’m addressing that before doing anything else. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “Saneki, it’s been 3 months! Where you been? What you been doing?” Well, I’ve been all over the place trying to figure out my next steps since I graduated. I realize I have a talent for capturing the heart in storytelling and in a year-long storyboarding mentorship, hoping it can lead me to greater opportunities. I’ve been working on areas I can improve, like rough and clean-up hand-drawn animation, drawing from life, illustration skill sets, and After Effects. I’m also on the path of getting fit for my physical and mental health. One step at a time, and I’ll get there. ^^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My artwork will focus on Hellaverse, Viv’s Timber concept, and my original non-fandom OCs and their worlds. I’ll still do other nerd content like Pokemon, indie shows, Zoophobia, heck I’m looking at more humanoid stuff, however, it won’t be as often but things can always change! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’ll post at least two draws by the end of every week. They’ll be WIPs, doodle boards, stills, rendered scenes, animation bits, etc. That way, I can stay active no matter what I have to share. I really need to break my perfectionist habit of not getting anything done and months going by. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’ll support as many platforms as possible, but I only do so much for each, and I’m experimenting with Glazing too. The main ones I’ll be more active on are BlueSky, Instagram, and Newgrounds. Others are Threads, DeviantART(yeah I know), Tumblr, and Cara, but I may be less active on them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Well, that’s all I have to say. I have stuff in the background I’ve been working on. It’ll be a slow start but a fresh one as well! I really appreciate everyone supporting me through and through. Now, it’s time for me to step up and stay in the saddle. Thx 4 readin! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Oh yeah, Merry Spookmas! This wasn’t intentional, I just forgot what day it was. :P

[bonefall]

Helpful Info for the Family Tree

Just because I realized that I keep posting terms I came up with and I don’t know if I’ve explained them. I’ll probably be linking back to this post a lot when I mention the Three Strict Rules, Changed Cultural Concepts, Definitions, and Guiding Principles

Rules

These are the three hard rules I work with for the family tree rewrite stuff.

1. Three generation separation.

Cats MUST have more than 3 generations of separation to be eligible partners. This means that a hard line is drawn if two cats share a grandparent; no 1st cousin pairings.

 - Addendum: This rule applies to an extra generation if the great-grandparent is still alive, or has two or more living children to remember. This is Onestar’s Exception, named for a very uncomfortable scene in his Super Edition.

This is the chart I use for a visual to double-check.

2. Two reproductive kit maximum.

TWO kits of a pairing at maximum can go on to have reproductive grandkits of their own, even though there is no limit on the amount of litters a pairing can produce.

 - Exception: A third kit can leave their home clan and have kittens elsewhere. 

3. There can be sireless litters.

Queens do not have to reveal the sire of their litters. It’s normal for litters to not have a sire. There are other changes to who can or can’t be the father of a litter, see changed concepts.

Changed Cultural Concepts

1. Queen’s Rights

For an in-depth lesson on this in-universe concept, GO HERE

These are Rights that a queen invokes to not reveal the sire of her litter. It was formed in response to the Mapleshade incident; and is an addendum to the law that all kits must be protected regardless of origin.

The reasoning is that if it’s known that a litter is half-clan, it could force the Clan to enforce consequences on the mother, which could punish the kits for the circumstances of her birth. If a queen has violated the code, it is up to StarClan to judge them.

Sometimes even the suspicion of having half-clan kittens can be detrimental to the parents or the children. The Queen’s Rights replaced and outlawed an older tradition; Kitten Stealing.

2. Honor-siring

It isn’t uncommon for respected warriors or leaders to be asked to surrogate a litter. This does not make the two warriors mates; the two cats might co-parent the litter, or it might just be one.

3. Apprentice/Mentor pairings

Are eliminated in-universe. Completely gone. I will never allow one. Mentors are trusted with an apprentice that they’re supposed to guide into adulthood. For a mentor to take interest in their apprentice, even later in life, is taboo for good reason.

Definitions, Guiding Principles

An Orphan Warrior is what I’m calling canon characters that have no parents, siblings, or kits. Ultimately my goal is to un-orphan every warrior post-Mapleshade’s Vengeance.

I try to limit massive age gaps as much as possible. The acceptable range is 0 - 5 years; more than that usually looks like an honor-siring (such as with Pinestar and Leopardfoot).

I do not create OCs for this rewrite. I either save kits that would have died, shuffle families, rearrange litters, and so on. For example, Fernsong has been changed into an ex-kittypet, Onestar is no longer the brother of Ashfoot and Morningflower, and several of Su Susann's Missing Kits have been repurposed.

I like to diversify sibling dynamics, to make sure there are more older/younger siblings of varying ages, just because it’s more interesting like that.

I rename ‘duplicate‘ warriors, and the more important warrior gets priority. For example, the Dark Forest’s Frecklewish keeps her name, and SkyClan’s Frecklewish becomes Frecklewing.

I will try to preserve existing families, within reason, if it still works out that their descendants won’t conflict within the 3 generation rule.

[chipper-asks]

Any tips on how to grow your own blog by chance?

Aah man I've written a response to this kind of question many times but I always delete it because I'm afraid of coming off as self centered or arrogant, but I definitely have some tips on what works and doesn't work (on tumblr.)

I will say that I never believed I would get to the "Big Fandom Artist" stage. I've seen people drop my name in conversations or descriptions and just assume other people know who I am and that's still incredibly wild to me. I never really pushed to get a big blog it really just happened.

But! I do have rules and personal guidelines that might help if you are thinking of actively building your blog!

1: Keep personal information and vent posts to a minimum

It should go without saying that its not a good thing for your personal information to be on the internet. Once its out there its near impossible to erase. This is for your own safety.

Vent posts give out more information than you might think, but also some people who are following you may be going through difficult times themselves. I go on the internet to get away from my stressors and problems and i've specifically catered my dashboard to reflect my desires. I have no doubt others are the same.

I've unfollowed mutuals because they vented too frequently. I enjoyed what they made! But it stressed me out to read their vent posts because I couldn't help. I realized it was taking a toll on my mental health and I made the tough decision to unfollow.

It is very tempting to vagueblog because its nice getting out all the angry feelings, but a blog with thousands of people following it is not the place to do it.

2: Shitpost vs Quality Foley

I could go into a massive essay on this alone (ive even written out an outline already) but i'll keep it as brief as I can.

Throughout my time on Tumblr I’ve seen a number of posts of artists complaining about the lack of notes on their serious work compared to the abundance of notes on their shitposts.

This is because Tumblr IS a place of shitposts. It's like squeezing a clown nose and expecting it not to honk.

However! It's more complicated than that and i've broken it up into four parts organized by importance.

A. Relevance/Meta: Is it something that people are already familiar with? Is it something that's currently going on?

People want to enjoy things they're already familiar with. For example, people getting into Hollow Knight are more likely to follow a blog that posts HK content regularly over a HK blog that posted a picture of Grimm once and then is full of original content. It's not that people don't like your original stuff, its just not what they're looking for.

If you like striking while the iron is hot, meta jokes are the way to go. Making references to games like Among Us during the height of its popularity for example would get you lots of notes.

B. Hilarity

Is it funny? Does it subvert expectations?

Shitposts will always be more popular than a well drawn post. People like to laugh and share things that laugh. A cool, well drawn post is more often than not met with a "hm, cool. scrolls down."

This is a polished comic I made 10 months ago. I'm very proud of it and i'm pleased with the amount of attention it got. It took me 2 days to finish.

This is a shitpost I made 3 years ago that I still haven't been able to top. It took me 30 minutes to make.

That's not to say a well drawn post can get popular! It's just that people enjoy a good laugh over something shiny. This is a factor of knowing your audience. Some things land better than others and you'll be better off if you just roll with what you get.

I will say tho I appreciate the people who reblog my oc posts 200x more than people who reblog my shitposts and fanart. Those are quality followers and you must cherish them.

C. Appeal

Is it cute? Is it fluffy? Is the design easy to understand? Does it make people emotional? Is it angsty? Is it relatable?

People like cute shit. People like things that make them hurt (albeit not too much). People like things that they can see themselves in.

D. Skill

There is some merit in being good at what you do. People do like funny things more than shiny things, but shiny things are cool too.

If you post things that are funny? You're normal horoscopes.

If you post things that are well drawn? (its really telling that I can't think of someone right off the top of my head)

If you post things that are funny AND well drawn? Well then you're iguanamouth

3: Know your boundaries.

There's a difference between being understanding/tagging things correctly and catering to people who want you to be someone else.

I know that many people get upset with others who gender the vessels in Hollow Knight. While it doesn't bother me, I can recognize the misgendering of vessels as a source of dysphoria and I tag accordingly.

If someone comes into my inbox and tells me to stop drawing a character because they're "problematic," I'm just going to block them and go about my day.

4: This is your blog, its your rules.

I'm apologetically myself on my blog. I post what I want and what inspires me. The reason why I have so many AUs is because its my blog and I like AUs. If a large portion of the fandom doesn't like my AUs, its their loss, I make great AUs.

In fact, its just a good mindset in general to have. If some people don't like what you make, its not your problem. It makes you happy and it makes hundreds of others happy then continue to do what you do. It's impossible to have a large following and not have someone who dislikes you purely out of spite.

Make stuff for yourself, not because you want numbers.

5: Don't feed the trolls.

If someone sends you hate, take a picture of it, share it with your friends, laugh, block the person, delete message, move on with your life.

It's really fun to feed the trolls, but feeding trolls attracts more trolls and soon its not fun anymore. Just laugh when you get your first anon hate, maybe frame it in your room, and don't even acknowledge them with a "fuck you."

6: Recognize your position.

This is more advice for when you do get a big blog. You get to a point when you realize you have a portion of your audience who value much more than a regular human being and are willing to take up arms for you.

Do. Not. Weaponize. Your audience.

It's incredibly shitty and can ruin peoples lives.

7: Post Frequency/Schedule

Now this is one I can't do. It's normal for me to become incredibly active for 2 weeks and then end up posting nothing for a month. I don't have the patience to build up a queue of new things.

However! If you have more discipline than me, posting daily or twice a week builds up anticipation for your next post. You're dependable and people have the chance to look forward to seeing something from you on their dash on Friday.

Thats all I can think of so far.

There's no TL;DR you'll miss my important advice within these tips.

[franeridart]

Anon said: Would you draw SukuFushi? (Sukuna x Fushiguro)

maybe? *thinking face* if I ever got an idea for it, why not. I find sukuna’s obsession with fushiguro entertaining so I don’t count fanarts for it as impossible haha

Anon said: I looked and I couldn't find if you've answered this already, so apologies if you did, but how do you draw your faces? I always struggle with face shape and yours are always super good with really expressive features! Anyway, thanks so much I love your art <3

HMMMMMMMM how do I do that indeed, the basics are honestly what you’d find on any basic tutorial about drawing a face (circle, cross in the middle of it, build the face around that - I really still can’t avoid that step and probably never will). As for the expressions, to be honest with you my way of going about them is thinking them up in emoji/kaomoji form first and then go from there. Emojis and kaomojis have to simplify expressions to the max since it’s such a simple format, right? But they’re still super expressive and convey exactly what they’re trying to say with one single glance, so using them as some kind of reference sheet has helped me a lot in figuring out what’s essential to express what I’m trying to say - still working on it though! I’m rarely satisfied with my expressions, they really do make or break a drawing don’t they............ you never stop learning, I guess!

Anon said:  Ahhhhhhh I just spent like hrs scrolling thru ur oc tag and they’re all amazing I love them so much but I keep confusing the everloving SHIT out of myself cuz I too have a child who is Leo and he’s literally so different from ur Leo lol. Anyway tho ur art is amazing and it honestly just makes me so happy so ty and hope have a good day!!

OHHHHHHHHHHHH MY LEO! It’d been forever since I’ve last drawn him, I kind of miss him............... glad you like my stuff, by the way! Especially about you liking my ocs, that means the world to me!

Anon said: hi there !!! i was wondering if i had ur permission to ur ur itafushi art in one of my edits ! i wanted to be sure before using it <3 total respect if its a no !! thankyouuuu

Sorry but I’d prefer if you didn’t do that!

Anon said:THERES A OCTOPATH TRAVELER LIGHT NOVEL AND ITS SO COOL BUT ITS ONLY IN JAPANEESE ! ;^;There's four stories with centered around pairs of characters and alfion is one of them !Idk if itll be transleted but i hope itll be cuz it sound awesome

OH I KNOW!!!!!!! I saw the art for the alfion one a while back, it looks so soft!!!! ;;;;; 8path is kinda niche as a game though, so who knows.............. let’s cross our fingers!!

Anon said:  hello, i am here to recc Skeletons by New Years Day because i think it might fit a few of your ships<3

Thanks anon now I’m emo ;;;;;

Anon said: bakubro gives the best hugs. kirishima is the only one who knows this. everyone is absolutely incredulous when the question "who gives the best hugs" goes around and kirishima answers bakugo. (bakugo thinks kirishima is the best but he benefits from kirishima bodily hugging him and he's biased)

Definitely!! He’s strong and warm after all, bet hugging him would feel the best.... the only one who shall ever know is kiri though, as I bet his hugs are only that nice when he really likes the person he’s hugging hahaha

Anon said: Hi! Just wanted to say that I absolutely love your JJK art! The colors and style are absolutely stunning.

Thank you so much!!!!!!! I feel like I’m mostly drawing for myself lately ngl hahaha so knowing you like it means a lot!!

Anon said: Hi!! This isn't a request I just really like your art! I found you from Pinterest on a kiribaku thing you drew! Your art is so cool! I wish I could draw like that!!! I'll keep looking for new art you've made :D

Aw pinterest.......................... glad you could find your way back here though!! And thank you!!

Anon said: This happened a while ago, but i wanted to say it anyway. I remember when I started watching jujutsu kaisen and I was looking for content arter finishing the first 10 episodes in less than a day and I found your first jujutsu kaisen post (it was posted that dame day) and i was like ???? One of my favorite artists got into jk at the same time than me!!! I just thought it was a neat coincedence to share! I really love your art too, you're amazing!! Happy New Year!!

It’s!!!!!!!!!!!! a pretty dang neat coincidence for me too, since it’s always nice to know at least some of my followers are still into the stuff I make hahahaha

Anon said: i think a lot abt ur art and how ive been seeing u since middle school and now im graduating highschool and we're still in the same fandoms, i hope this doesnt make u feel old but rather VERY cherished qwq

No anon this makes me feel amazing you’ve been around so long!!!!!!! I can’t believe you’re still here with my thank you so much for that!!!!!! I think I’m gonna cry a little here.......... ;;;

Anon said: Hi! I love your art so much!! 🥰 Have you read a KiriBaku fic called The Pit??

Probably not, haven’t been reading krbk fics in a while by now! I’ll add it to my for-later list, thank you so much for the rec!!

Anon said: can u believe that (sans sero) the entire bakusquad can be put into some form of punk/goth fashion? the realization was a galaxy brain moment for me. also realizing that tokoyami, kirishima, and tamaki are all varying levels of goth/emo (some more concerning than others)

Sero’s the hippie friend every punk friend group needs, he balances things out and that’s why he’s very cherished and necessary!!!!

Anon said: your bakugo drawings convinced me to finally start stretching my ears and tbh i'm extremely excited (i've had off and on thoughts of stretching my ears (again) before this so it's not as impulsive as it sounds haha)

Anon that’s so cool!!!!!!! I love gauges so much.....................glad I could give you the last push for it!!

Anon said: uhhhh, i love the style of that top left goge drawing dude!!

THANK YOU I LOVE DRAWING IN THAT STYLE THIS ASK MEANS THE UNIVERSE TO ME

Anon said: i sent the dragon!kiri and bakugo tug-of-waring over a piece of meat and honestly your response is exactly what i thought

Great minds!!!!!!! hahaha

[shadowandjoltdev]

Jolt Inspirations

Hey! My bad on the radio silence here. While I was working on Heater’s design process mentioned last post, I realized a lot of the decisions made for the supporting cast are so dependent on how Jolt and Strike turned out that I’d need to start on those two before diving into the other guys. Hope that didn’t put too many people’s hopes up. ^^’

Anyway, I did a little social media challenge to choose three images of things that inspired your oc. Of course I chose Jolt (wow). But for here, I’m gonna expand a little more on these and why I chose them as influences.

Let’s touch on why I went with these and how I came upon them. (Keep in mind, I went through much trial and error to find the right influences to draw from. We’ll go into that another time)

Power

My choice to do an electric theme for Jolt came from a pretty anti climatic process:

“Hm, this oc (side note: she had no name at this point) is pretty boring without powers and feels like the scales between her and Shadow is way too tipped out of her favor. She needs something that pairs with him better. What hasn’t been used as a power set yet?

.....Electricity?

....Yeah ok. I could have fun drawing that.”

Riveting stuff, I know.

When S&J was first conceived, I was living in the historical city of Boston. If you’re from the New England area, one thing it’s well known for is the very boisterous thunderstorms especially in the summer. After deciding on her powers, the super dramatic storms served as further inspiration for how to depict it.

One day, a storm brewed outside my window where I saw this astonishingly beautiful display of pink lightning dancing in the sky. I was so entranced by how pretty it was, I just sat there watching it. That’s how I landed on that color.

Hair

It’s tricky to design something based on an established franchise. They already have a style and specific guide for what they want for any new addition. How do you add something that feels convincingly like a part of it?

One thing I learned that was quite helpful was immersing myself into the the media popular for the time of it’s original conception. Since Sonic’s a product of the 90′s and early 2000′s, there’s a ton of material that the original creators could’ve drawn from in movies, anime, music and so on.

I was going through a list of 90′s anime (I do love that era anyway so it was a real treat for me) and got into G Gundam, which is so over the top and out there it wasn’t tonally similar to what I wanted to do for S&J. However, you never know what might influence you! I really liked the look of Rain and in particular her hair. I struggled with finding out how to draw Jolt’s spikes in a unique fashion so when I incorporated Rain’s hair flow to her, it just fit well! Sometimes older works can be repurposed for new ideas. Never forget the classics!

Main Colors

This was decided on before her lightning was pink. As noted, I lived in Boston which has lots of historic buildings topped with copper rooftops and motifs that have long since oxidized to become the infamous Patina Green.

But the idea didn’t actually sink in until I was in a meeting at work discussing products painted with a metallic ink. We were trying to come up with a third metal to use since we already had Gold and Silver. I offhandedly said “copper” and everyone ended up agreeing. A co-worker then said:

“Hey, why don’t we match the copper with Patina Green on the product? That’ll look really good!”

The passing remark hit me like a bolt (ha....ha) and I realized that not only could it work for Jolt, but it would functionally make sense since copper is highly conductive to electricity!

Inspiration strikes at strange times. You never know when a good idea will hit so be exposed to lots of things and be observant!

(And then the whole bus clapped)

Overall Silhouette

I’ve mentioned once how important a strong silhouette is for character design. Bold shapes help define and set a character apart from the rest of the cast.

I had the colors, I had the hair shape and things were making sense....but drawing Jolt in different angles proved super difficult without an idea of how that silhouette changes as she turns her head.

While perusing for inspiration, I thought back to my original “Rules of Design” I set for myself before starting this project. These were more self-defined and meant to help me stay on track in case I get lost and in need of a direction.

One of these rules is that Jolt is meant to be, thematically and visually, a foil to Amy. She needed to suit her in a way similar to how Sonic and Shadow are foils to one another. One of Amy’s main motifs is the Rose, a symbol of her strong romantic drive and femininity. I wanted something similar for Jolt that’d suit her and wouldn’t be too overt.

The Lotus came to mind! It’s construction helped me see how I could draw her at multiple angles and still convey that “lotus” shape in her hair. This was tremendously helpful for making her both easier to draw and also add some depth to her design.

Influences don’t always need to be super prominent but can instead be subtle and a good accent to the main ones. So after much mixing and matching, these were the core pieces that fit the best for the kind of character she’s supposed to be.

Whew, we made it! Thanks for reading this far. Stay tuned for more posts like this in the future. I’ll be sure to make them for each of my characters when I have the chance of digging deeper into them. Until then, take care! :>

[carbootsoul]

erika+ephriam+lyon for ask game 👀? and a witch hat character of your choosing if you like as well :3v

omg clint you're spoiling me :) also this is mostly unrelated but i was listening to kat flint today and a) her music is so good thank u for introducing it to me years ago and b) VERY witch hat atelier vibes which was fun. im putting my answers under a cut bc i am sooo verbose about characters

eirika: a song that reminds me of them: this is just the first that came to mind but oh what a world by rufus wainwright! oh what a world my parents gave me / always traveling but not in love. the rly interesting mix of idealism and pragmatism that she embodies- both being in awe of and in love with the world and the people in it but also not hesitating to accept that they are in a war and the tragedies that come with it what they smell like: i think for most of the game she smells like sweat and dirt an otp: eirika and l'arachel is actually the best ship in the whole entire world they're sooo funny. they keep meeting and every time eirika is like ???? and l'arachel is just falling head over heels in love a notp: eirika and lyon romance honestly very textually relevant in the game and adds to the story and whatever but they're both so absolutely homosexual that i can't conceptualize it favorite platonic/familial relationships: eirika and ephraim 🥺🥺 but also eirika and seth he's such a good big brother figure!! but also eirika and colm and eirika and tana and eirika and lyon. it's like.. rag tag army as family.. a headcanon that is popular in the fandom but that i disagree with: there are like two posts about her on tumblr dot com but her fire emblem heroes characterization makes me insane shut up about your brother shut up about your brother the position they sleep in: on her side one leg curled to her chest

ephraim a song that reminds me of them: omg lies by marina abt his relationship with lyon. you're too proud to say that you made a mistake / you're a coward till the end i really wish we had been able to see more of ephraims reaction to the true story of what happened with lyon, since he obviously forgives him but also seems to be angry about it and that's such a good dynamic. also oc can't let you go / i just want it to be perfect / to believe it's all been worth the fight. they make me... ugh what they smell like: he has also been living in tents for months so he probably also smells like horses and sweat an otp: ephraim and lyon do get to me... 🥺 also he and innes as a like teenage fling is hilarious to me they're so funny to each other i can't believe they don't have supports a notp: if i ever see another incest joke i'm killing someone favorite platonic/familial relationships: he and his sister are so good!! they're so siblings! a headcanon that is popular in the fandom but that i disagree with: again i have never rly interacted with the fe fandom but something from canon i disagree with is the assignment of the sun to him and the moon to his sister he is so obviously the lunar twin im furious abt this the position they sleep in: absolutely sprawled out. he takes up as much space as is given to him

lyon a song that reminds me of them: ache with me by against me just happened to be playing rn but it's very him. do you share the same sense of defeat / have you realized all the things you'll never be / ideals turn to resentment, open minds close up with cynicism / i've got no judgement for you / come on and ache with me. what they smell like: roses but in a fucked up revolutionary girl utena way like the roses symbolize something sinister an otp: lyon and ephraim.. admittedly lyon is kind of carrying why this ship is compelling with his tragic backstory but ephraim is such a boy so he's important too a notp: see eirika :/ favorite platonic/familial relationships: he and eirika and ephraim as a unit are so important to me they are so [unintelligible] a headcanon that is popular in the fandom but that i disagree with: i haven't rly seen this much but i guess any tendency to soft-boy him bc of his character design like this guy sucks a lot and he has a lot of flaws that almost ended the world :/ the position they sleep in: hugging a pillow

and for the wha character.. agott bc she's so girl :) a song that reminds me of them: pretty little things by the crane wives! but trust is now something i make people earn / so i'm not inclined to just give it away / to a pair of blue eyes with some nice things to say what they smell like: grass in the best way possible! an otp: she and coco are SO !! im in love with them. sasunaru dynamic but better in every way. all the panels of coco hugging or complimenting agott and agott blushing furiously are the new wonders of the world. shipping kids in media always feels a little weird but i think they're a rly cute like first crush dynamic a notp: i dont think she's been shipped with anyone else lol favorite platonic/familial relationships: agott and olruggio are rly interesting to me! i've probably just drawn lines between them because they're both grumpy but i could definitely see agott becoming for coco what olruggio is for qifrey and i love when children are friends with their adult narrative foil it's about helping the younger generation overcome the things that they couldn't! it's also about olruggio being able to connect with agott because they're both grumpy :) a headcanon that is popular in the fandom but that i disagree with: not a headcanon bc again the fandom is tiny but so much of her tag is ppl being mean to her about what she did in the second (?) volume like yeah that was mean but she's like 12! 12 year olds do fucked up stuff all the time they're still learning what interpersonal relationships are the position they sleep in: on her stomach clutching her pillow a crossover au i’d love to see them in: anything that would allow her to say swear words my favorite outfit they’ve ever worn: the like single panel where tetia is getting mad at her about not liking wearing costumes and it shows her dressed as a prince! she looks so good

djskflj i feel like i wrote a novel about each of them and tbh i do not know if u will make any sense out of it but thank u for sending this it was super fun to think about them for a while!!!

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

Horikoshi: This will probably not be super popular, but it’ll be fun!

Us: Oh, well that sounds nice!

Us, 290 chapters later: This Isn’t Fun Anymore Horikoshi

Horikoshi: :)

Anyways, welcome to the beginning of - hopefully - a long term and engaging project. I am basically aware of all of canon, and am up to date with the manga, but I haven’t actually read from the beginning of the series, and I’ve only watched the series up to the Deku v Todo fight in the sports festival. However, I’ve been curious as to how the manga portrays stuff that I’ve seen in anime gif form, and so I figured, hey, make this a project!

If you have questions or anything, the ask box is open for now. Meanwhile, I am going to head into the first chapter proper!

[No. 1 - Izuku Midoriya: Origin]

Wow, you’d almost think this kid would grow up to be a villain or something, with that kind of attitude, huh? No way that this kind of attitude would ever come to bite him in the ass and force him to reevaluate his entire character and kickstart his character development.

(Before you say anything, I like Katsuki as a character, but DAMN did he have to do a lot of growing up. I suppose when one is at the bottom, the only way to go is up… unless you have a pickaxe.)

One thing I actually noticed right away, and I dunno how much it’s used in other manga (seeing as I currently am not reading any other manga and the last ones I read were… a long while ago…) is the shape of the text boxes in order to convey emotion! It’s actually hella neat and a little detail I wouldn’t think about adding if I were in his position (not that I can draw all that well, but that’s not my point). You can practically hear the warbling in Izuku’s tone and the rougher edges in Katsuki’s!

(Also, question for the English sub while we’re at it, why the fuck does Katsuki sound like he’s a goddamned adult when he’s fourteen. What the fuck.)

Interesting little thing here, Katsuki not actually using his quirk here against Izuku; his hand is trailing smoke from his explosion, but it’s not a direct burn wound. Not that he should be doing this at all, but with the number of fics I see where Katsuki literally gives Izuku second or third degree burns, I think this is a reminder that canon Katsuki has some modicum of restraint, even this early.

Before I forget, hello winged kid who definitely has no plot significance whatsoever. No siree.

(If you are new to the manga/show and are reading this as among your first introductions to the fandom, first off, I am so sorry. Secondly, expect me to be… definitely making a lot of sarcastic quips to things in the future.)

Onto the second/third page, which is supposed to be a full spread, but is split up into two pages on the online reading site. RIP, but I will not complain about free access to the whole manga. 

Lookit this green bean. I love him so much. I can’t wait for him to suffer.

Izuku: wait, what?

Anyways, a few things to note:

Who the fuck is this guy? I looked into the wiki but he apparently doesn’t warrant a page or even a mention as one of the background faces of the series, but look at that fucking claw, man! And those boots and jets! He’s very obviously themed after a baseball catcher, so I’m going to guess that he has some kind of quirk that deals with either drawing projectiles to him, or perhaps in throwing projectiles… in either case, it’d be something like Snipe’s quirk, so maybe this is his less howdy-happy sibling.

Oh right, the chapter. The other heroes we see on the scene in this two-page spread are Death Arms, Air Jet, and Kamui Woods. 

Also, something I want to point out that I’m sure others have but just struck me while looking at this spread - multiple people are recording / taking pictures of this. I wonder if part of the reason for the villain industry to be as strong as it is is because the villains, even if they know they’ll lose, still get their own sort of fame in being in the news? That… might explain a lot about how there can be enough villains to even run an entire damn industry.

(Well, that and a lot of sociopolitical commentary on BNHA society, but we don’t need to get into that now. Maybe wait two hundred or so chapters first.)

Not gonna lie, I had to double take because I was like ‘wait, what is Ochako doing here?’ but then I realized it was just a random civilian; she doesn’t have those side bangs Ochako does. But now I almost wonder what sort of world we could have had, if they’d met a bit earlier.

Onto the fifth page (fourth is just a filler page, nothing on it), and we get treated to this gem:

Tag yourself I’m the guy who’s slackjawed because his kid is fucking glowing.

The first four examples of quirks shown in this flashback are the luminescence, telekinesis, ice, and that flame-headed(?) mutation. Of them, we actually see hints to the fact that quirks have drawbacks, as the girl with ice is drawn with the same frostbite backlash as Shouto, while the flame-headed kid is… well, I have no idea, but they do not look to be happy.

Also, I love the nod Hori does to the heroes of our era as silhouettes! This is just more evidence to me, along with the fact that the first quirked kid is born and presented in a modern hospital, that this series takes place sometime in the future. I… even calculated the years it could technically be, based on information we get in a few chapters, but I’ll save that for then.

Onto the sixth page! A nice shot of Kamui Woods getting into position, and man is that giant quirk unnerving.

What the fuck is with those feet, Hori. Those aren’t feet.

Next we see how the crowds are reacting, basically with no panic or concern. One guy is just casually letting his boss know he’ll be getting in late. And Backdraft! That is some serious water manipulation, but it seems like it has to be the water they’re in contact with? Also, is it just me or is that a portable pressure hose on their back?

And of course, Izuku being excited over hero stuff, as one does. He’s so babey faced, going back to current chapters after this is gonna be fucking wild.

Onto the seventh page, and here we are with the ‘you’re pure evil’ speech to someone who’s… just a robber. Seriously, dude? I get that you’re still fairly new to the scene (I think he might not be from a hero high school, but a late join program, but that’s another post), but like. You can’t just call random people ‘pure evil’ and correlate petty crime with like, actual mass murderers, or else people might start to see things in black and white and, you know, create the idea of ‘villainous people’ and so push even more innocents down the path of desperation and criminality.

Wait, sociopolitics later. Izuku being a hero fanboy now. Even able to utter Kamui’s attack call as he’s calling it out, with some seriously cool visual effects-

And on the eighth page, we have Mt. Lady crash the scene. Literally. She just fucking shows up outta nowhere and fucking leaps up and delivers a kick right to the villain’s chin, throwing him back through the train bridge wall and sending debris down to the ground below. Sure hope there weren’t civilians there!

Also, hello to that random guy on the roof watching this. I think in Smash they made that guy her manager or something.

I love how Izuku and the other guy are like ‘what the fuck’ while the press just shows up out of nowhere and is like. Hyperfocused on her. (I’ve heard some issues with the portrayal of media/reporters in the series, but since I have no experience with that sort of thing, I can’t say much on it.)

The last panel of this page shows that, fortunately, there were no civilians on that part of the street (even though it being rush hour and the huge crowds on the other side of the bridge should have suggested otherwise… but what do I know?)

With page nine, we get to see our first case of villain apprehension, which to note does not include any sort of quirk suppressors. Because those don’t exist. Otherwise Aizawa and the Eight Precepts’ erasure bullets would not be such huge deals to everyone. I mean yikes, though, the guy is fucking muzzled. And you can see the damage done by Mt. Lady in the background, both physical and emotional. Not to mention…

What the fuck is that face.

But yeah, this notes that performance in heroics determines not only what they’re paid by the government, but also how much fame they get. No way a system like this could backfire in any capacity, right? Right? (cough).

I love how Hori uses Izuku’s muttering habit as the border for the text bubble when the kid zones into his little world. Also, gigantification is noted to be a common and strong quirk, so we really should see more OCs with size altering quirks in fics in the future, you hear me? Honestly, with it being common, I would almost expect there to be entire buildings, or maybe even neighborhoods / blocks dedicated to catering to size shifters… wonder what those places look like.

Also aww, the guy saying good luck on the heroics dream to Izuku and Izuku just sparkling. What a cutie. Can’t wait for him to suffer. :D

Izuku: No seriously, what-

Anyways, I’m cutting off here since we then transition into the next ‘scene’ and this is a long chapter - 55 pages! Besides, this has already surpassed 1700 words, I don’t need to ramble on too long in one post. 

Lemme know what you think, and I’ll be back with more soon!

[safflowerseason]

I just stumbled across your blog after finding your Marissa Cooper metas (thank you for those, btw!) and now that I'm older I'm definitely drawn more to Ryan and Marissa as characters over Seth and Summer (well, mostly Seth, Summer is still great) and it's interesting to see that my tastes have changed. I'm doing a rewatch and I totally went into it assuming to be charmed by Seth like my 15 year old self was, but now I'm just finding him grating and selfish for the most part. I'm also drawn to the Ryan/Marissa pairing more in general, I used to be a huge Seth/Summer fan but they're the less intriguing relationship this time around to me. I'm not sure if you or others can relate to those specific aspects, but it's really been interesting revisiting a show my teenage self loved and realizing the aspects I'm drawn to have changed (as well as recognizing well deserved criticisms like the handling of Marissa's character).

Thanks so much for writing in! I’m glad you’re enjoying the marissa discourse™️. I had something of a similar experience as you....I was also a lot more into Seth and Summer when I first saw the show as a teenager, but rewatching as an adult I was really surprised by how compelling and interesting I found Ryan and Marissa’s relationship. That’s part of how the marissa discourse™️ was reenergized on Tumblr, because I was posting all my Ryan/Marissa feelings and then more and more Anons started writing in with all their Marissa thoughts, as everyone was stuck inside with nothing to do but rediscover The OC. I’ve been really struck by the empathy that people have for Marissa, and how often people note that their opinion of the character has evolved with time. It’s honestly been a joy to discuss the character on this website with a more compassionate lens in place, even as we also critique the show’s major blindspots and prejudices. 

I also have come to suspect a lot of what’s going on with Marissa’s character isn’t as immediately accessible to a younger teen audience (at least not teens in 2003)...her youth and beauty, her family dynamics, her social status...a lot of that stuff becomes clearer and more sympathetic to the viewer with time and experience. Marissa makes a lot more sense to me now that I’m an adult (and I’d say the same goes for Ryan as well, thus making their relationship a whole lot more intriguing to me). As flawed as the handling of her character, there’s still such a complexity inherent within Marissa Cooper that makes the show (at least the first two seasons) very watchable and relevant in 2020. 

[mcrmadness]

Madness draws: my dä fanart from when I had my (arts) comeback in 2018

For years I didn’t draw anything because of a personal (art crisis) and because I simply was studying and working so much I just had no energy left for arts.

In 2018 I was done with schools and studying and dropped out of the school I was in at that moment, and also the horse stable I was working at (school related stuff) was sold and closed its doors so also my work ended. For the first time in almost 5 years I was actually free. The longest holidays I had has was 3 weeks summer holiday in 2016, I think. I had another in 2017 but of that I actually was having health issues (nothing serious) for 2 weeks and then had to be in school for the 3rd one, after which I even got the flu.

So I was SO excited when I finally was free the first day of November in 2018. After I had got enough sleep and rest, I started to find my creativity again. And I started to “daydream” before falling asleep every night, I started to write fanfictions in my head and I started to draw, too. Partially it was also because for the first time in years I had an online friend I enjoyed talking with and we had similar interests, aka dä and Bela/Farin, and that inspired me a lot to draw even more - but unfortunately that friendship did not work out in the end and we’re no longer friends.

Anyway, most of these drawings are very much Bela/Farin related again because I talked about that a lot with this person and I often asked what they’d want to see and then drew it if the idea was something I could carry out.

This is not the first one I drew but maybe the 4th or so. I’m just putting this here first because it’s the most “innocent” aka not too much shippy stuff rubbed into the faces of my followers who don’t care about that. There’s 5 different drawings + 1 comic behind the read more link. All of these, apart from the comic, where drawn into my old sketchbook.

About the drawing above - I didn’t use pencil for these first ones at all yet, I just drew them with the fineliners as I was still a bit rusty as the last time I REALLY drew anything was in 2013 aka over 5 years ago from 2018, so I had to actually look at my old comics and drawings to even figure out how to draw these characters anymore. And I think the last actual time I drew in this style was in 2011 even. And that is very visible from the first 2018′s drawing I did! ↓↓↓

This is the one - and wait, I have an explanation!

So with this person I mentioned, we just constantly had this playful debate over whether Bela is “bottom” or not - and honestly I couldn’t care less about that because I no longer read any fanfics. I do write fanfics - or a fanfic - but only for myself and as an asexual I have never been interested in writing about certain themes so I never need to think about the whole top/bottom stuff anyway. I used to read smut before until I one day just realized it’s SO BORING and uninteresting to read, started skipping all smut scenes and wanted to read fluff but all the fluff was so quickly and badly written because everyone wanted to write smut only, that I was left with absolutely nothing to read. So it was the old story again: I started writing/drawing the stuff I wanted to read and see.

However, back to the top/bottom topic, I always base my opinions with everything over how things are in real life and with these guys, if you look at how they are in interviews and on stage, the dynamics are not just plain black&white. I’ve never seen there anything that would indicate that just one is “top” or “bottom” whatsoever which is why I kept saying imo they’re more like just switching if you listen to their jokes. Remember: I don’t read any fanfiction and don’t give a fuck about smut (lol at the pun) and honestly, even tho I understand those jokes they do and say on stage, I wish not to have any visuals about any of that “activity” in my head.

So, to support my “they switch!” opinion, I drew this, just for fun. And it is the official first drawing I did in 2018. I just needed to fire back bigger than I could do with simple text messages :D

***

Moving on. The person in question was very fascinated by the idea that Farin would be a vampire and not Bela (to support their top/bottom views...) which is why I drew this:

Also a very quick one, without sketching anything before drawing with fineliners. This and the first image of this post both are very small in real life actually, the signature is about the same size in every drawing so you can see from that that they are actually pretty small.

Talking of the signature: The funniest thing to me about this IS the signature. Because I was so rusty I didn’t even know how to write it anymore :DDD You can compare it to the signature in the other drawings because in them it’s better. Why it’s so funny to me is because it should say “Aada” but it looks more like “Hella” which means “stove” in Finnish.

***

Next one was something I saw in my head and wanted to draw - I think this one was also done without sketching it at first:

Kinda simple, right? :D I just wanted to draw something with heavy shadows and they’re meant to be watching TV at night. I guess it came out pretty okay.

***

The next two I drew based on one of my old fanfics I wrote years and years ago. I’m a bit annoyed that I decied to draw these into my SKETCHBOOK when I could have used just paper I use for drawing but I guess I didn’t know yet where I was going to end up with these and drew them into the sketchbook because of that. I thought I didn’t sketch these at first but I have found photos of these with sketched with pencil so that means I started sketching my drawings at this point.

So, back to the fanfic, it’s one of the longer ones I wrote (but still not that long even) and set to happen in the late 80s. There was some drama in the story because of Bela’s drug use and Farin was very harsh and Bela left altogether. For some time they had no idea where each of them were but then one very rainy night they both were on a walk at the same time and happened to stumble upon each other for the first time in weeks or so. I can still see those scenes so vividly in my head and here’s my artistic view over those scenes:

Yes. I love drawing stuff like BRICKS.

I have used my Promarkers with the second image, the paper was not the best for them which is why the black looks awful.

What comes to the image... it really annoys me to look at that because how the FUCK that is something I have drawn? And it’s legit based on something I have written. ME??? Like wtf. My aroace ass just can’t handle me writing/drawing fluff like this. I have days when I need to see fluff more than anything and then have to produce the content because can’t find it from anywhere else and my brain is simultaneously like “flufffff 8))))” and “boohoo whyyyyy how staaaaaph D:” because I am so afraid of being connected to what I draw. Like. If I draw or write fluff, it doesn’t mean I would be a romantic person nor allosexual nor alloromantic, right? Because I can also draw a comic or write a story about a murderer and it doesn’t make me a psychopath either. It’s the exact same thing.

And in fact: I had a comic book character who was called Micro the Insane Murderer because that’s what he was. Also I once wrote a story about a serial killer but she was also insane. But for whatever reason it’s much harder to show people fluff I have written or drawn than my fictional serial killer stuff... I guess people just easier assume that you’re an allo, thanks to anormativity, but usually don’t think you’re a psychopath just because your OC is :D

***

The last one is the comic that has a Halloween theme as it was around Halloween and the person I talked with still wanted to see/read something where Farin is the vampire instead. So here’s something that was my first B/F comic in 7 years. I didn’t remember how to do pretty much anything anymore and the coloring is a bit off, and I was really still just trying to figure out how to do all this again :D

At that point I think my head was still filled with fanfiction stuff so the comic also is full of (hurt/comfort) drama - and a long-ass “backstory”. You can see that from this on I have moved to more humorous stories. Sometimes I draw occassional fluffy comics when I’m really on that weird mood (usually 1-2 days/month thanks to the uterus and hormones), but my main focus is on the humour and I wish to make people laugh.

But that’s about it. I think I have now posted everything here, the newer ones I have posted here after drawing them since 2019 but this post is the “missing link” between those old old comics and the newer stuff :D Then I of course have all the other traditional art like potraits and such I did in 2009-2012 which I have never shown here. Maybe I should post those too?

[radbeetle]

i posted this as a thread on twitter a while back, and I’ve been conflicted about posting it over here because I try to keep this a positive blog, but this has been weighing on me for... well, months really, so I think it’s probably worth speaking about here, too. 

It’s not negativity, not in the usual sense. Moreso just... musing. I don’t want anyone to think i’m whining, or complaining, or anything. I just kind of want to get these thoughts out there, I guess?

anyway i know i shouldn't try to judge my worth based on notes or activity or whatever but. you know, most of my creative stuff re: my characters is done via screenshots cos i can't draw (that’s the short of it - its not about ‘oh my art isn’t good’ its perfectly serviceable, but i am completely incapable of visualizing things in my head - learned recently there’s a term for it, aphantasia. and its just an enormous hurdle towards drawing)

but what this means is... i don't tend to see a lot of activity? i know oc stuff is always less popular but i see even less. commissions i get of my characters get way more notes than stuff I make like screenshots or writing.  and i don’t begrudge the artists for this at all!! because they are very talented and do wonderful work and deserve it, but it does make me notice drawn art gets more notice than the screenarchery i do and i think that people just kind of assume 'oh the game does the work for you’  despite the fact that i'm frequently creating additional content - models, textures, poses - some of which only gets used for specific scenes - there's not a single shot of mine that doesn't have a mod I made in it.

even ignoring the hours that go into making those things in external software, a collection of a half dozen images can still take me several hours to make. lighting, ENB setup, posing, scene setup, etc etc etc. there's a set i'm working on that has equipment in it that i spent several hours making over three or four days and it's not going to appear again because it's so specific to the story in those shots. but it feels no one seems to realize the amount of effort that goes into this kinda stuff, and i feel like it all just gets kinda brushed off.

Especially when i see things like... blogs focused only on sharing people's ocs (good blog concept that i support) that reblog commissioned art from me, but never screenshots and thus never anything i actually make. and that just kinda sinks in over time.  like, the only other creative output i really have re: ocs is writing and I've always known that’s gonna be something that gets skimmed over by a lot of users and I’m okay with that, but when i started figuring out screenarchery i was so excited with what i could do! I could make the game world as it should be with mods, and then as I learned screenarchery I could show others that world, the stories and characters as they deserve to be seen.

But i think it still gets overlooked. i'm so glad about the things i can make for myself and i will keep doing that no matter what because that's WHY i do it, because it makes me happy, but this entire post just kinda covers why it doesn't always feel worth it to put together a post and to share the things i make. it's... it's tiring, is what it is, really.

anyway... gold star sticker for you if you've read this entire damn thing. i won’t get rambly like this very often.