#AND THEYRE ONLY HALF RENDERS ?!!!?

[jellyshark-png]

raiden but if he was in F1 + a bonus kung lao celebrating his win 🤭 world champion looks good on him, doesn’t it?

reference photos are under the cut! ofc used max verstappen as a reference :333

[caninecowboy]

24 days!

[arginnit]

FULL ILLUSTRATION COMMISSIONS OPEN

questions about possible pricing, any of the boundaries or if i can draw something that isnt mentioned are more than welcomed, my inbox is open with anon enabled and my dms are open aswell!

you can contact me through tumblr dms or discord to either request a commision or just ask any questions in private!

(discord name is "wadds")

drawings you commission may not be used for merch,nfts or any other comercial means unless some form of compensation is added to the price of the commission. otherwhise theyre meant exclusibly for personal use (EX: phone wallpaper, to print for your own room, icons, fic covers, or character references)

payment through mercado pago would not be done with us dolars and prices would be adjusted to still make sense in that case (en pesos argentinos, pueden esperar un descuento de hasta mas la mitad)

FAQ:

difference between a closeup and a PFP?

a closeup is a zoomed in drawing where any composition, posing or extra elements are present, they can go from half the torso up Generally. while pfps are centered solely on a characters face and have no background beyond simple patterns, elements like "character holding something" could also be present and they dont add to the total

when exactly does the background start costing extra?

rough guidelines are written above in the picture, but I tend to be pretty lenient on them. if you ask for a drawing with a simple background (ie, Not payed) and I later ask if I want to add any details to it they will not add to the cost and you do not need to worry.

how long will this take?

depends on the drawing but it shouldn't take more than a couple of days once I've started working on it, that being said if there are commissioners in from of you in the line it could take longer for me to get to it. but I always try to get every commission done I'm at least one week

why is mercado pago argentina only?

mercado pago doesn't accept international transactions sadly and I am argentinian

can we negotiate the prices?

I consider my prices to be very low to begin with so no. however if you are from a country with a very high dollar price I might CONSIDER it cus I'm nice and all.

what does "obvious fetish content" mean?

it refers to drawings that might not include sex directly but alude directly to an sexual fetish or scenario, ie a girl being restricted by tentacles or someone being gagged and tied while naked. if your fetish is like, feet or smt then it's fine.

what does "predatory pairings" mean?

a pairing where the power imbalance is the main drawn for it. think teacher student relationships, cop / prisoner or similar dinamics. I'm simply not comfortable with it so I won't draw them.

why no background with the clean línes style?

i don't like how my backgrounds look without rendering and don't feel comfortable charging for them in that state

why no profile pic with Ms paint lineless?

the canvas size on those are pretty small and the style doesn't allow much detail, I don't think it'll look too good simply

[foervraengd]

Quick tutorial on how to paint still water?

Whatever idk i just gotta document what i have learned recently before i forget and the best way is to explain it.

What you will need:

- Any art software that have layers and especially some sort of layer mask feature. (i use clip studio paint)

1: (first image) You can start by first adding the core objects of the artworks before adding any water. You can start on a gray or dull brown canvas if thats your thing. The rock here is going to be half-submerged in the water so thats why only the top part is more rendered here. But depending on the setting and your own style you pribably can render the lower half too, just remember to have the submerged part in a separate layer since the reflection of the water will be placed between the top-rock layer and above the bottom-rock layer.

2: (second image) Now you add the color of what the bottom of the river is. Most rivers where i live have muddy bottoms so im going with a brown color. Depending on how deep or shallow the river is, the more objects is visible. Note how i added a darker shade close to the grass but also at the bottom of the canvas. It’s not mandatory but i’ve noticed that it helps to give more depth.

3:

Now i make a new layer (or in my case a layer folder because i never end up using just one layer) and just add a sky! You can make it daylight or evening or lit up by the moonlight probably. Use either your favourite brushes, the default round brush, or some weird custom brushes for the clouds - whatever suits your style and fancy! Just keep in mind that the angle of the clouds should match the angle the overall painting has - but you can also just give the cloud an unspecific shape that works in any angle.

4 and 5:

Okay so this is where the layer masks are your friend. You can probably be brave and just use the eraser but that method is quite unforgiving imo.

In the first image i used a big soft airbrush eraser (you can use a gradient tool as well) to lower the opacity on the bottom part of the water. I have noticed that, in certain angles, the sky reflection on water is more faint the closer it is to the viewer.

This isn’t necessary but i used two layer masks here, the first gradient one is on the layer folder. The second layer mask is on the blue sky layer. I know that not all art programs might have this, so you can just do all of this on one layer mask if thats all you got.

Now technically these are reflections of the rock and the grass that i am masking away. But since theyre so close to the water we dont get much visible details and mostly just the silhouette. If i had just added a 100% mirror-like reflection here it probably would make the water look like liquid metal or something. However, reflections in water can vary a lot depending on the setting, so look up references that match the setting you wanna go for and take notes.

And this is essentially it!! Yes i know the example image isnt a masterpiece, but i didnt wanna expand this post even further and wanted to keep this simple. You can absolutely go further with this and add more vegetation or animals or droplets or rim light or 50000 overlay layers. I hope this made sense and is of any use or help for y’all out there!

[luveline]

𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 | 𝐣𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫

four | chapter list

Finding out you’re a princess isn’t half as intimidating as suddenly acquiring a full-time bodyguard. Especially when that bodyguard is disarmingly handsome, charming, and can’t seem to stop flirting with you. 

bodyguard!james, fem!reader, implied chubby!reader, shy!reader, princess diaries au, all characters in their 20s or older, star-crossed lovers/ forbidden romance, slowburn, background wolfstar

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

You hadn’t realised moving right along your hemisphere would be enough to change the weather. The UK is cold and often rain-soaked, while Genovia has been nothing but sunny. It's a nice change, and the sun on your skin almost removes the insecurity of wearing a dress that isn’t yours. You feel pretty. You feel as yourself as you have in the days since this whole thing began. 

“Sorry,” James says, standing in the sunshine with his hands crossed primly behind his back, “you’re what?”

You sit up properly in the window seat. He deserves every ounce of respect that you can give him, he’s been nothing but caring and kind since you met. You almost regret your decision to leave, if only because you wont get to witness him and his nice friends. 

Who will be separated once again, your brain adds helpfully. Thanks to you. 

“I'm going home.” Your sketchbook is supple under your hands, a thick and expensive leather bending from the force of your squeeze.  

He has the most professional look on his face you've ever seen from him. “If you’ve forgotten something-”

“James,” you say. You'd said quite plainly only moments ago your intentions. “I can't be a princess.” You soften your tone. “I’m sorry.”

“You are a princess. By blood.”

Sleeping on it hasn't made it a truth that’s any easier to accept. You are biologically the daughter of the late Prince of Genovia. He was your father, and now he’s dead. It is agonising to think of, and so you can’t. You look down at the sketchbook pressed flush to your linen skirts, the fabric plain and yet gorgeously rendered. It’s the nicest thing you’ve ever worn. You wonder if they might let you keep it after you renounce your title. 

“I can't do this,” you say quietly. 

You cannot live through your life changing in such a huge way, you aren’t built for it; you've only just learned to function in your tiny flat on your equivalent uni course. You’re finally in a position, as lonely as it might be, where you feel okay with who you are. If you were to accept the task theyre trying to hoist upon you, become a princess, live forever in the limelight surrounded by a better breed of royal, it’ll destroy you.

“You can. Of course you can.”

You look up cautiously. James’ mouth is set in a line. He looked so pleased when he walked in, and he'd given you a compliment subtly and easy as breathing. You worry he wants to take it back now that you’ve thrown in the towel, but he’d never do anything so spiteful. And it’s silly —you’re thinking about a compliment while his life and job are teetering. 

It’s just one of the reasons you aren't cut out for this. 

“It’s your job to be a good judge of character, right? You read people,” you say tentatively. 

“That’s how I know you can do this.”

You set aside your sketchbook and pencil, wringing your hands together as you stand. “You must see it, James. I’m not meant for this, I’m…” Weak, you won't say. There's no use in dramatics. You plaster a smile over your worrying and wear it like you're sure of yourself. “It will be better for everyone if I give up now.”

James looks over his shoulder. Upon his entry, the guard at your side had moved to the doorway to stand with Daniels, and so the room is empty besides the two of you. He takes a step toward you, and he drops his head noticeably, as though worried he might scare you. As if he could intimidate you when he's so so sweet. 

“It won't be better for everyone,” he says slowly. “Not for the people of Genovia, they need an heir to take the throne.”

“Julianna–”

“Julianna isn't eligible.” He shakes his head. “It’s hard to explain. But Genovia needs a queen, a good queen, someone with a good heart. It’ll fall to a Baron. It should be you.”

Your heart leaps into your throat at the idea of ruling. “James, you don't even know me. I could ruin everything.”

“You said it yourself, Princess. I’m a good judge of character.”

You grow quiet. You don't want to argue with him, you don't have even an ounce of malice for him. 

"You're a princess, you– you haven't even tried," he says pleadingly. 

You trick yourself into thinking James wants you to stay because he wants to be your friend. You know you're desperate for one. Back home, the closest you have to friends are the people who wait at the same bus stop each morning and each night, or your classmates at the college. James could be your friend, you know he would be if you stayed. He's remarkably kind. 

But James wants you to stay for a myriad of reasons. For Genovia. For his friends. 

"I just want to go home," you confess weakly. 

Heat rises to your cheeks and throat, a lump you can't swallow. 

"Okay," James says. "Alright." 

He nods at you, a picture of a perfect professional, and turns to leave. You open your mouth to say something but you don't have a clue as to what, and by the time he's left the room you've drummed up nothing more than a pitiful, "James." 

You're part way to unexplainable tears when Remus appears. He looks startled at your expression, and you can't make any sense of it yourself, so you mumble, "Please don't ask." 

"Do you want a tissue?" he asks sympathetically. 

You shake your head. 

Remus looks unhappy again, as he had on the plane. His pale skin is nearly grey. You debate asking if he's doing okay, but you've just told him to leave you alone. You assume from his expression he'd prefer the same. 

"Do you want to come have some dinner with me?" he asks. 

"That's okay, I don't think I'll be in need of any etiquette training after all," you say. 

"As friends," he says. "Please. I don't like going down to the kitchen by myself, Marlene harasses me." 

Marlene, a dark haired, dark-eyed girl with a sweetheart shaped face and hands covered in tiny burns, does harass Remus, but not in the way you'd thought. 

"Eat up, Moony," she says, placing yet another plate in front of him, bringing the total to ten. 

You sit thigh to thigh with him on a small bench set aside in a room just off the kitchens that says 'Staff Only' on the door. Despite this, no one has objected to your sitting down. At least, not yet. 

"Marlene, I physically cannot eat all this." 

"Ah, but the Princess will help." Marlene smiles at you. She seems genuine. "She needs to get used to our cuisine." 

You can't endure the awkwardness of explaining your situation. You smile 'til your eyes crinkle in the corners and take a big mouthful of some mysterious soup rather than speak. 

"Ah, Remus, we've been making bone broth for Her Majesty, it's supposed to do wonders for your heart," Marsha adds. She's the opposite of Marlene but no less beautiful, pale and blonde as cornsilk with fine eyebrows and translucent lashes. In the sun leaking in from the window, she's quite golden. "We can set you some aside whenever we make it for her, love." 

Remus smiles. "Thank you." 

Marsha and Marlene both sequester themselves again behind the huge silver ovens. You've never seen anything like it, a marvel of modern machinery in the industrial instrumentation that heats the room. The windows have been thrown open to combat the thick and fragrant air, but you're still sweating. 

"D'you need a drink?" he asks. 

"I can't get them." 

"Please, Princess. I don't need another person trying to take care of me."

"I wasn't trying to patronise you.” You frown at him. “Sorry.”

"I know," he says, standing up. "Trust me, I know. You're just being polite, because you're nice." He smiles. "I'll get us a carafe, okay?" 

A carafe. Of what? Do royals drink only from carafes? Is it weird to ask for a coke? You turn your gaze back to the rich foods that have been laid out in front of you and pick up a fork. Then, upon reflection, you swap the fork for the appropriate one, and finish the small portion of chicken ragù you'd set aside. 

"Ah-ha!" a familiar voice calls. "Y/N! Here you are. Is my Remus with you, or are you very hungry?" 

You twist on the bench to face him. "Your Remus?" 

Your question slipped out, really. Sirius grins and sits down to your right. "We have to talk funeral." 

"Oh. Alright." 

He clasps your forearm for a gentle second.

"Sorry. Truly. I'm so sorry for your loss. I promise I'll make this as easy for you as I can, okay? You'll be in the public eye, and I want to make sure you do nothing that anyone can fault you for." 

He has a strange mouth. Not ugly, a million miles from it, but unexpected. It pulls down into a grimace as he talks, his hand patting yours. 

"I won't have to speak, will I?" 

He shakes his head firmly. "No. All you have to do is look pretty and dress well. You're already doing the first part beautifully by yourself, and I’ll make sure you have plenty of options for the second part, yeah?" 

"Oh, hi, Sirius," Remus says, back with a carafe and two glasses.

"Hello," Sirius says, "did you get asked about the bone broth yet?" 

Remus sits on your other side and huffs. "Yes. Did you put them up to that?" 

"The opposite! I told them not to bug you about it because bone broth sounds a little…" 

"Old-fashioned?" 

"Inhumane." 

You laugh and fail to smother it with the back of your hand. It feels weird because it hadn't explicitly been a conversation involving you, but neither tell you off or give you a funny look. Remus laughs at your laughing and pours your drink for you, a pale amber liquid topped by slices of orange, blood orange and white flowers. 

You take a cautious sip. 

"Have you seen my darling James this morning?" Sirius asks Remus from behind you. 

"Not since he left my room."

You choke on your drink. Hands smashed to your mouth, juice drips down your arms and ruins the bodice of your dress, sticky orange and spit everywhere. The boys either side of you splutter in shock, though Sirius begins to laugh as Remus presses a tissue into your hands. 

"You okay?" Remus asks, patting your back. 

"I'm fine," you say hoarsely, wiping yourself down with impressive speed as the heat of embarrassment rises. 

"Something go down the wrong pipe?" 

You're honest by accident, extremely startled by your choking and the subsequent question, "I didn't know James and Remus– That you were– Sorry, I was just surprised–" 

"No, no," Remus says, sounding almost as embarrassed as you, "no, we aren't. I mean, he's my best friend. He's like my brother." 

"Oh," you say, squeaking, wishing the ground would open up and swallow you.

"We aren't romantically involved," Remus says, and you get the sense that's where he plans to end this conversation. 

"Yet," Sirius whispers in your ear. 

Remus shakes his head at you solemnly. 

Desperate to get away from the bubble of your embarrassment, you stand up from the bench and duck your head at both of them. "Um, I'll just go get some paper towels. Sorry. For spitting." 

"Forgiven," Sirius says easily. 

You rush away from them both out of the alcove and into the main body of the kitchen. Heads turn as you walk, and some staff even take the time to incline their heads to you like a small bow, but you ignore them all and head straight for Marlene. She smiles when she senses your approach, full lips cherry red and shiny as she asks, "Is there something I can do for you, Your Highness?" 

"I'm so sorry, I've made a mess, could I get some kitchen towel? Sorry." 

"Of course! Can I have someone come and clean it up for you?" 

"No, please, it's my mess, and you've been nice enough to let me in your space. I couldn't have anyone else do it." 

"It's really no problem," Marlene says, but she walks to the utility cupboard south of the pantry and produces a roll of kitchen towels for you. 

"Thank you." Then, because you might be leaving soon, and she should know, "I– I've never had so many nice foods at once. I can't cook, at home. Everything I eat is from a jar or a tin and it's nothing compared to all of this. You guys are amazing." 

Marlene's smile softens. You hadn't realised she was being diplomatic until genuineness welled to the surface of her expression, her eyes suddenly brighter, her smile unrestrained. "We work hard, and we love what we do. Thank you, Your Highness."

You rub your lips together and nod. Spinning on your heel, you navigate out of the kitchen as quickly as you can without running clean into someone and return to the staff alcove, where Remus and Sirius sit with their heads together, in the middle of a conversation you can't hear. 

You hesitate a few steps away. Remus smiles widely, so widely his face changes completely, and Sirius' hand drifts to his elbow. His thumb presses into the crook, and they both giggle together like kids. You're paranoid that they're laughing at you, and wondering how you could think for even a second that Remus was sleeping with James, when Sirius tucks his hair behind his ear and says, "I can't believe we're finally in the same place again." 

You back away. Not sure what to do with yourself, not sure if what you've already done is the wrong thing. You're guilty, and you're afraid of making the wrong choice, having already made it.

A hand pats your shoulder. 

"Sorry, Mikkelson," you say. 

It's not Mikkelson. James' hand lingers on your shoulder for a half second before he takes a step back. 

"Walk with me?" he asks. 

—

James takes you out to the gardens. You insist on walking side by side. He agrees, because here is where you're best protected.

"I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly. I had something to do. How are you feeling?" he asks.

"How am I feeling?" you ask carefully. "I don't…" 

"You had some very big news yesterday. So, how are you feeling?" 

You squint in the sun. James supposes you aren't used to it, living in one of the rainiest cities in the UK, and one of the greyest countries in the world. 

"I feel fine," you say. 

Truth or lie. Probably a lie, but James can't call you out on it, considering your relatively new relationship. A professional relationship at that, the lines of which he has already begun to cross.

He can't help it. You're not weak, you aren't in need of his protection for lack of character —you're quite obviously very brave considering the insane pressure of your situation. Brave, but it's James' job anyhow to be your shield. 

You get this look on your face like you're deep in thought. He's seen it each day since he met you five days ago, and it reminds him of his melancholy friends. He wonders how he's going to get rid of it. 

"I've spoken to the Palace doctor,” James says.

It’s not his job, but James has taken on the majority of your care. Your lady in waiting has yet to arrive, and Sirius is rather busy arranging your presence at your father's funeral (and hounding Remus, having missed him dearly). As far as James is aware, no one’s actually in charge of you here.

James slows his pace, and you follow his lead. “She would love to have an appointment with you, to assess you, and to adjust for your medical needs. But it's not the physical that I'm worried about, it's your head." 

"My head." 

"Yes. I would love for you to talk to a counsellor, or a therapist while you're here." 

"What's the point?" you ask. 

"Your father just passed away," he says softly. "That takes a toll on anyone.”

"I didn't even really know him." You speak so quietly to him, like you're worried your voice will disrupt the summer air. 

"I know. That doesn't always make it easier. I want you to experience the compassion and care that you deserve, that's all. If you don't want to talk to anyone, I get it. But if you'll humour me, I'd appreciate it." 

"When… do you want me to see her?" 

"The doctor?" James winces at his own surprise. "You can see her whenever you want to. She's completely at your discretion." 

"Oh, okay. Well, when is best for her?" 

James doesn't smile, but he wants to. "I believe she goes home to pick up her kids at six. So before then would probably suit her best. But she's on call twenty four hours a day and paid well, I promise." 

"Okay. Um. Well, how do I do that, then? Make an appointment, or?" 

"I can make it for you. Or Sirius can."

"I can't make it myself?" 

"No, you can. Do you want me to call for someone to get her? Or you can ask the phone to connect you?" 

You stop walking, turning your body to the beds of flowers lining the path. Small and dainty buds much like a Californian wildflower bloom contained to rows. 

"Would you mind doing it for me?"

"No, I wouldn't mind. When do you want to see her?" James asks. 

"Not today, please. Maybe tomorrow." 

James makes a mental note to ask you about it tomorrow. She really is on call —there's no need to make an appointment. But there's also no need to correct you and no need to worry about it now. 

"The Prince, may he rest in peace, will be buried in three days. You're sure you don't mind staying until then?" He doesn't want you to leave, but the memory of your plea twists his guts. I just want to go home.

"I–yes. Of course. I owe it." 

James doesn't know about that. But the Prince never did any harm to you, though he never made any efforts to take care of you, and so it won't hurt for you to attend. Still…

"You don't have to go if you don't want to. I know that Lily and Emmeline stressed that your presence was desired, but that's political. It's the image of the country, of our country. And the UK, who's royal family, as you know yourself, are deeply embroiled in scandal and, ah, what's thought to be empty rhetoric." 

You're starting to look rather frazzled. James decides to pull back his professionalism a touch. 

"Genovia protects the image of the Royal family because they've seen how ire builds in other countries. Deserved ire. They want it to seem as though you are cohesive, cooperative, and not–" 

"A secret." 

"Yes. If you'd gone to Oxford, they would've lied," —he shouldn't be saying this, for the record— "and said you'd been extradited for your safety. Or spun some tale about a normal childhood." 

"But I'm a dropout who lives in a one bedroom flat." 

"Yes." He watches the side of your face. Your eyes are glued to the flowers and unwavering. "I don't think there's any shame in that." 

"Thanks," you mumble. 

You don't believe him. He doesn't mind. He has plenty of time to convince you of your worth. 

"Do you want to pick some of the flowers?" he asks. 

"I don't want to ruin anyone's hard work." 

"They won't mind." 

You crouch down, reaching for the flowers. Your fingers weave through the dark stems of gorgeous purple and pink flowers, their colours so marvellously vibrant yet their shapes elegant enough to suit. You choose a purple flower with white edges and pick it gently. After a moment, you pick a second. 

You stand, holding the flowers between your thumb and forefinger. 

You clutch your flowers like small lifelines as he walks you back into Bellaverden House. You worry audibly about the location of your new sketchbook, and don't seem to like it when one of the guards who'd been watching you this morning seamlessly removes himself from a wall with the book in hand. 

James asks you what you want to do and you don't know. You aren't hungry, you aren't in the mood for movies or music and it might seem disrespectful for you to be seen at the theatre —not that James thinks you would spend much time there anyhow. You don't want to do anything at all, so James suggests that you retire to your private quarters and have some time to yourself. 

He takes up station by the door, listening to the dull scratching of your pencil for a good hour. He wonders if, occasionally, you're talking to yourself: there isn't much to go off of, the suggestion of your voice rather than the reality. You could be humming. You might be clearing your throat. 

An hour later and there's silence. 

James pulls his radio from his shoulder. Guarding you when you aren't up for talking is, unfortunately, rather dull. And he worries what it is you're upto; quiet is indicative of absence. 

"Sirius?" he asks the radio. 

Sirius does not often wear a radio, and he has his pager even less. It's a wonder he gets anything done. 

"James?" Remus asks, his voice crackling over the channel. 

"Hey, is Sirius with you?" 

"He's not. He's assembling a potential funeral wardrobe for Her Highness. Do you want me to go look for him?" 

James almost laughs. "I have people for that. Mikkelson?" 

He can practically hear Mickey's groan at being picked on before the man picks up his radio and says, "Yeah, sir?" 

"Find Mr. Black, won't you? Thank you." 

Hoping Sirius is on his way, James knocks your door. 

He, professionally (and he is trying so hard to be a professional), should call you Princess or Your Highness. But both titles make your skin crawl now that they're fact, so he opts for neither. 

"Are you okay in there?" he asks. 

You don't answer. James sighs and eases open your door. He wouldn't usually, not every silence is ominous, and your privacy is a right, but your safety is the priority and at the moment you're a high level target whether James agrees with that assessment or not. If he were to ignore protocol, and you were annihilated, he would go to prison for a long, long time. 

You're asleep at the desk. 

It can't be comfortable, and your bed is probably one of the comfiest in the world with a state of the art orthopaedic mattress and duck-down pillows and quilts. What's worse, your desk chair is solid wood and likely fifty years old. The crick in your neck and the damage to your back will be extraordinary. 

James should leave. He should go back to his posting at the door. He has no need to wake you. 

You're frowning in your sleep. When you wake, he imagines you'll have graphite rubbed into your cheek. 

James sighs and leaves the room. 

"You wanted to see me?" Sirius asks, sounding spritely as he walks down the hallway toward him. 

"Hello," James says, and if they were in school he would stand up from a slouching pose against the wall and collect Sirius into a bear hug, slapping his back, maybe pulling a lock of his hair while saying something flirtatious. 

He stands at rigid attention. 

"Drop the stance, Prongs," Sirius says. James snorts. "There's no one here to see you." 

"It's not the point." 

"I know. What did you want? I'm quite busy." 

"Could you start carrying your pager? Or better, a radio? Then you wouldn't have to cross the entire building to find me." 

"You could've called me?" Sirius suggests. 

"I don't have a phone while I'm working." 

"Well, that's silly."

He lowers his voice. "I'm worried the Princess is lonely." 

"Then go talk to her." 

"I can't. You know as well as I do that the point of my being here is to protect her to the best of my ability, and that requires an unaffected point of view. I can't give her my full attention while giving her safety my full attention, that doesn't add up." 

"Then grab a couple of other men and then go speak to her." 

"This is my job, Sirius. I'm paid to do this." 

"Not paid to make sure she's in company," Sirius says. He smiles at James like he's won the argument and James, brimming with brotherly affection, wants to chop him in the stomach. 

"Her mental health–" 

"Yes, I know. Just as important as physical. And while you wear the badge with pride, James, it still isn't your job." Sirius leans against the wall opposite. The hallways here are huge. It is quite the gap. "I was thinking I'd make her an appointment with Cindy." 

"She said she'll make one tomorrow." 

"Oh, brilliant. You know Cindy's getting a divorce?" 

"I didn't know that," James says. "How do you know that?" 

Sirius taps the side of his nose before crossing his arms tightly across his chest, looking smug. "She's very single now, Jamie. And very pretty, she's a redhead." 

"Sirius…" 

Sirius stands, stretches and meets James at your doorway. "Okay, fine, I can see you're not in the mood." 

"It's not because of you." 

"I know that, thanks," Sirius says, stepping on James' steel-capped boot as he pushes past him. 

"Sirius–" 

Sirius pulls his hand back from your door handle. "What?" he asks.

"She's sleeping. Try to wake her nicely." 

"If she's sleeping, why does she need company?" 

James nods toward your door insistently. 

Sirius does as he's being asked because he's a sweetheart with entirely too much time for James, despite also being on the clock. James can't see anything from his position, but he can hear your conversation. 

Sirius lets himself into the room. He likely shakes your shoulder with care as he says, "Princess Y/N, poor darling, are you alright?" 

"Sorry," you say scratchily. Here James thinks you might've lifted your head and discovered the crick in your neck. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I supposed to be somewhere?" 

"No." There's an unmistakable fondness in Sirius tone, hiding just beneath the practised facade that comes with working for Royalty. "Do you want me to help you into bed? Or call for an attendant?" 

"No, no, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… Sorry. What did you need?" 

"I have some clothes picked out for you to wear to the funeral. I want your opinion, but I don't need it right now. You can go back to bed if you want. You look poorly." 

"No," you say. James feels for you. No, no, no. "I can do whatever you need me to." 

"Why don't you freshen up, first? James stole you at dinner, I'll go have him order something sweet to the fitting rooms, alright?" 

"Yes. Thank you." 

"You're welcome."  

Sirius emerges from your room and gives James an elbowing. "You could've woken her up. You're not heartless." 

"I'm technically not allowed in there if she doesn't permit me." 

"She doesn't know that, and I'm sure she'd prefer a wake up call than to be left like that." Sirius rubs one of his eyes with the heel of his hand. "Sorry, I'm not shouting at you. But I really don't think you need to worry about permission and not speaking to her, James. She's not Julianna," his voice drops to a murmur, "she doesn't think she's above us." 

"I don't care if she does," James says honestly. "Mary's back tomorrow. If she catches even a whiff of how I've been behaving–" 

Sirius holds James' gaze. "Poor girl had pencil on her face." 

"Yes." 

"They're going to eat her alive." 

"Probably." 

"But we won't let them," Sirius says. 

"Not willingly." 

Sirius nods. "Are you coming with us?" 

"Yeah." He checks his watch. "Couple hours left yet 'til six. Are you off at the same time?" 

"No, are you kidding? I finish at three like a normal person." 

"That's not normal. Ever heard the phrase nine to five?" 

"Normal compared to the royals, who work never to never." 

James shushes him. Sirius shushes James back. 

"Are we ready to go?" you ask. 

James grins at the shock on Sirius' face, as if to say, What, you didn't hear her? Even though he'd barely heard your approach himself. A picture of politeness, Sirius ushers you down the hallway with him. 

You trek down onto the first floor, through the huge foyer and into the main section of the house hiding behind the grand banquet hall. Here resides the fitting rooms, not too far from the servants quarters in case the tailors or maids are required. 

Sirius calls for an attendant despite the horror on your face at the suggestion as he leads you into the biggest fitting room. It's almost like a shop, in that it houses racks upon racks of clothing no doubt loaned in for Sirius' perusal. 

He drags a smaller rack to the centre of the room. 

"How do you feel about trying things on? Do you need a partition?" Sirius looks at you for a few seconds. "I'll call for one." 

You look like you've been slapped. 

James clears his throat. "He knows you're shy," he says. 

You take that much better. "Yeah. I do want the partition. Please." 

James weighs up the possibility of your possible murder and decides the chances are still too high to offer to leave. Baron Riddle hasn’t ever exactly played by the law, and James truly won't be able to see you behind the partition. It's not worth the administrative hell in any case. He hates how his job makes him constantly aware of how you might be harmed, but he likes knowing he could protect you with force. It evens out. 

"A fancy education may have helped me be where I am today, but it doesn't account for style or taste." Sirius smiles, propping himself on the arm of a suede armchair. "Which is my saying that you don't have to like what I like, and if you hate stuff just say. I won't be offended, Your Highness. Much." 

"Please, no Your Highness," you murmur. 

"James says I dress like a socialite with too much money and not enough taste." 

"I do say that," James says.

You laugh under your breath. "Well, I'm sure you have better taste than me. I've never been to an event like this, I don't want to embarrass myself, so, um, don't let me." 

"I won't," Sirius says. 

Sirius understands the fashion tastes of the elite even if he doesn't personally enact them. He passes you an outfit, and you disappear behind the propped up partition to change. With the windows closed and the curtains drawn, only the overhead light is in play, and your shadow is reflected onto the floor to the left. James averts his eyes. 

You try on a couple of outfits. James tries to look as though he's not paying attention to your squirming unhappiness at the fit and look of your clothes. You get more and more embarrassed as time moves forward. The attendant Sirius summoned, a tailor named Melinda, offers suggestions of alterations and what she thinks would suit your silhouette most. 

"Do I have one?" you ask.

"A silhouette?" Melinda asks, a push pin in between her teeth. "Sure you do." 

"My stomach–" 

"Is that a problem area?" Melinda asks. 

"I thought so–" 

"If you're worried, we can find something that fits the to the chest and loosens at your abdomen," Sirius says, "but I don't think you need to worry." 

James agrees. You aren't skinny and James isn't stupid, he knows the immense stigma surrounding your body type must have battered your self-esteem growing up, but he thinks you're pretty and that you've a lovely shape to you. The idea that you have to hide certain body parts when there's nothing wrong with them in the first place has him biting his tongue, wanting to comment and knowing he definitely should not. You've looked nice in everything you've put on, smart and proper for an unfortunate event. 

"I don't know," you mumble. 

Sirius has amazing crisis averting senses, having micromanaged a spoiled narcissist for years. You don't require nearly as much petting or fawning, and you aren't throwing a tantrum either way. 

"Let's finish for today," he says. "We can look at everything with fresh eyes, and I'm off at three."   

James cringes and Melinda looks at him like he's grown a second head; you don't mention the end of a shift in front of the royals. He knows this, and he knows that you don't know this, so Sirius is absolutely pushing his luck. You're a thoughtful girl —you immediately agree. 

Though that might be on account of how you look like you've been thrown a life raft. "Okay, thank you," you say, beginning to put clothes back on their hangers. 

Sirius waves you away. "Leave some work for the rest of us, Your Sweetness." 

Again, second head. 

James opens the door and takes you back through the maze of the Palace before Sirius can commit a sackable offence. You're as quiet as you've been all day, your footsteps the only proof that you're present as you climb the steps to the second floor. 

Professionalism, James thinks. 

"I think you looked nice in everything," he says. 

The opposite of professionalism. Oh, he could vault over the bannister. 

He just wanted to see you smile today, a real smile, or at least hear something sure in your voice that proves he's made the right decision. That you won't be totally miserable if he convinces you to take on the mantle. 

"Yeah?" you say, though you don't give him any time to answer. "I don't– I don't want to look good for a funeral, it's a funeral, but I know it'll be on TV, and maybe in the newspapers, so I don't want to be badly dressed and I don't have a clue what I'm supposed to even like…" You nibble your lip for a while before heaving a big sigh. "Sorry, I'm doing this again, I'm giving you jobs that aren't your job." 

"It's relatively easy to tell you that you looked good. It's not a job." 

"You don't have to comfort me, is what I mean." 

"That's also easy… and it will definitely be in the newspapers. For a long time."

"Oh, sugar." 

James holds his hand out as you trip up a short step, but you don't fall, and you don't need his offered help. He tucks his hand behind his back again and follows your lead. 

"Newspapers, the news in general, people, they can all be very, very horrible, but I think the focus will be on your DNA, rather than your outfit. I mean, the gossip rags and tabloids will absolutely pick you apart, but they do it everybody, and I won't let you read those." 

People are cruel. They don't even realise it. 

"Whatever outfit you choose, you'll look good, and people will hate it anyway," he says. 

"That sounds awful." 

"It is. But… they can't stop you from being you. It's better to do what you want to do without worrying about how it'll look to everyone on the outside. You should do what you think is right." 

Okay, he's not exclusively talking about clothes anymore, but his point stands. 

"What if I look like an idiot?" you ask him quietly. 

"You'll look like an exceedingly well-dressed one." 

A sharp veer. Even the word 'professionalism' is starting to annoy him. 

"Don't stress, yeah? We'll work it all out tomorrow." 

You rub your elbow as the two of you approach your room again. "Thanks, James." 

He's on a knife's edge here. Break the rules and face Mary's wrath. Stick to them blindly and drive you further and further from the crown. 

James, selfishly, needs you to want this. And if you need a friend, a real friend, to do that, then he can toe the line. He decides it right there on your door jam.

"Princess," he says, "I have to talk to you about something." 

"Okay… what is it?" 

"When you go home, I'll be coming with you." 

˗ˋˏ ♡ ˎˊ˗

thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed! if you did, I’d love it if you let me know <3 also sry the next part should hopefully be delivered faster lol

[juni-ravenhall]

im thinking a lot about "what i want to do with my art" lately and i also have many years of figuring shit out already as an adult so i will post some general advice stuff that might help ppl

art should be fun. if you hate doing lineart then stop doing lineart. if you hate rendering and shading then stop doing it. if you hate anatomy then stop doing it and just draw funky shapes. if you love one color then use that color. if you love doing complicated detailed patterns then start doing those more. if you love drawing circles then make art with lots of circles. do what is fun to you, with the only exception being someone giving you good money to do something not fun, if you need the money.

u dont have to have 1 art style, consistent art is only relevant for commissions/jobs where u are supposed to deliver a specific style/quality/etc that u were paid for. if ur not getting paid or making a portfolio for a specific type of job, then draw however the fuck you want and dont care about anything. have 500 different styles and techniques, or just have 1 if thats how you work. it doesnt matter and everyone is different

the way to develop and evolve quickly is to draw as crazy as possible. push yourself as far as possible and dont care about anything dont worry about anything. fear holds you back. actively choose to draw crazy and push things far. no cringe no limit no rules no anatomy no perspective no color theory fuck everything and go crazy.

dont think "i dont know how to draw a ball room full of dancing people with fancy clothes" "i dont know how to draw a gallopping horse" just start drawing it and see what happens. when you get stuck you look up reference and tutorials. this is how you find out what parts you struggle with so you can then get specific help.

try to draw as bad as possible half the time. think, im going to draw this really fucking bad and ugly. im going to make the worst fucking horrible drawing. do it on purpose. fuck the concept of beauty and quality and perfectionism. draw bad on purpose. draw crazy on purpose. it will help you find freedom.

when looking at other ppls art for inspiration, separate between "i like this thing" vs "i want to draw more like this thing". all art that you like doesnt have to be relevant to how you draw stuff yourself, you can appreciate x type of art without your art being anything like that at all. this is especially important about things like clean lineart, rendering, amount of detail, """correct""" anatomy or perspective or shading, etc. just bc you like some art with beautiful shading doesnt mean you have to want to do beautiful shading. or maybe you do want that! thats why you figure out which ones are aspirational to you and which ones are just amazing and cool but not what you enjoy doing with your art.

the "2 cakes" concept - it doesnt matter whatsoever if someone else drew the same thing as you "but better" (in your eyes). your thing is still unique and has value existing because only you are you and your art is your art. ppl are happy theres now 2 cakes instead of just 1.

i already said this but Just Try. Just Go For It. some of my favourite comics are actually "badly drawn" from a generic perspective. but theyre unique and interesting bc every human is unique and interesting. you can draw stick figure drawings, comics or animations. you can draw simple or complex, good or bad, or go back and forth between styles and techniques, draw good one day and bad the other, make a comic where every page is a surprise in quality and style, nothing matters, do whatever you want forever.

the things you think are "bad" or "boring" or "cringe" or whatever other negative word might not be that to other people. someone might see your "ugly doodle" and love it so much they want it printed out on their wall. and even if some ppl dont like something, other people will like it. the ppl who like it are the ones that matter. not everyone has the same taste and thats how it should be.

draw for yourself. or draw for other people if that makes you happy, but do things that make you happy. draw your favourite things and your obsessions and express your feelings and draw your favourite characters and use your favourite colours or brushes. draw things that your friends like and send it to them. do things that make you smile. draw things that youre thirsty about for that matter. happy pride month. cringe is dead

if you have a hard time picking up the pen dont start thinking "i cant draw". youre probably suffering from some stress, mental illness or ND symptoms or something. try to find out how to solve problems in your life that are making you stressed and overwhelmed and not able to have fun making art. get help, talk to a counsellor, talk to a doc. and make sure you aren't pushing yourself to make art that isnt fun for you, bc that in itself will make you unhappy.

if you feel stuck, aside from looking up references and tutorials, try different techniques and materials. try a new software. try drawing on paper or on a tablet or paint on a canvas or try new pens and papers. make a collage. do papercrafts. sculpt. do something different than what you usually do

CLEAN YOUR ART AREA whether its a desk for your tablet or a table for your paper or stand for a canvas. make it EASY to pick up the pen / brush / whatever and start drawing. dont put objects on top of your tablet / papers / easel / whatever. make space for your art and keep it organised. it should take 1 second to start drawing without having to clean anything first.

if you feel like youre just bad at drawing, like i said, draw bad on purpose. draw crazy on purpose. fuck all the rules and perfectionisms and what you "should do". dont worry about anything just draw the worst and craziest you can. you can do this. i love your art. you exist. youre unique. you are you

[pawseds]

My writing project @sparrow-flight has finally taken off!!! I was meant to finish/post this and launch the project 2 days ago to celebrate Hrodwyn's birthday (they've existed for a year now!), but even if I didn't make that, it's still exactly a year since I first painted them. Expecting myself to finish a painting with 4 characters with a technique I've only used once in my life a year ago in 4 days was kinda uhhhhhhhh.......... clown. (It took 5 and a half days)

Some symbolism stuff:

I intentionally wanted a very blue and desaturated colour scheme because, despite the happy/wholesome family scene, I didn't want it to feel happy -- i wanted a layer of sadness to it. Cuz that's the birdfam in a nutshell, little everyday happiness strung together with an unspoken grief that runs deep

The sparrow Gavrill's looking at is/represents Leyna, his wife :) and the other 4 are the children the two have lost (Leyna has the adult white crowned sparrow plumage, but the rest have juvenille plumage since they all died as kids) (the gambelii subspecies btw!!)

Gavrill looks directly at a ghost sparrow/notices it because, unlike his kids who ignore it/can't see it, he's the only one left in the family who witnessed all 5 deaths and has intense trauma + grief directly from it

The kids (left to right Hrodwyn, Hygd, Merethel) keep looking forward and up because, unlike Gavrill, theyre capable and willing to grow from grief/trauma

Process shots are the rough sketch (drawn while zoomed out so it's tiny), the normal sketch (I didn't mean for it to be that neat lol) + underpainting, and everything else I painted on top of the underpainting on one layer. I did keep a duplicate of a sketch for reference + just in case, like when I did the clown thing of not painting the background first before merging the sketch layer.

You can see me strugging with Hrodwyn since they're the first guy I painted and, again, I'm very new to this painting style so I didn't even know how to execute it LOL they're rendered kinda differently from the rest but if you squint, it's close enough...

[pictureday2005]

📬we just got a letter🎶

or...well. a package. something ive had my eyes on for a while! its been sitting in my cart on ebay for about a month. eventually i caved and send the seller an offer, they accepted, and UGH IM SO HAPPY. look how cute!!

im not sure of the year. they all have the viacom copyright dated 2000, but copyright dates arent always accurate for this sorta stuff. im guessing its closer to 2003? could be joe era. cant find much info online.

i got it MOSTLY for the light switch cover. look how cute!!! its since been put up in my room and i love it so so much. theres really not a lot if merch involving periwinkle too, but hes my favorite, so that was half the motivation here tbh.

these hooks are great. i have them up by my window seat holding up a couple leis i got at a work party, but they also hold my ipad up sometimes LMAO. ive seen this exact render before on other merch, including the bedtime cloth book that the queue kicked through recently. theyre absolutely adorable.

lastly, the picture frame!! of course featuring peri again. i only just noticed that it says baby blues clues? which seems to have been just for merchandise and books targeted towards, well, babies. rather than big kids, that is. they all kinda have this very specific "soft" art style to them that i enjoy quite a bit.

but yeah the stars/moons/clouds fit my rooms vibe super well and i love them. im so glad i actually bought them, having more vintage blues clues in my collection is always exciting 💙🐾

[pupuyvs]

Words aren’t the easiest thing especially since she renders me speechless half the time (or dying of laughter) but omg yunjin is everything. Shes just so silly all the time like there is literally never a moment where she isnt being goofy asf and the high energy is just so infectious it makes me happy seeing her happy and having fun with the other fimmies.

Shes so pretty and her visuals are just amazing. Girly pulls off red, orange, black, brunette and blonde hair so well its crazy. (SHES BLONDE AGAIN RARGH) Yunjin also manages to be simultaneously sexy/hot and cute/adorable. Like at one point itll be like omg shes stunning wtf and the next itll be omg why is she such a loser. Her personality is lowkey one of the best parts abt her, shes seems so genuine and sweet and just an amazing person overall. But back to the loser thing istg she is the biggest loser idol ive seen so far, she really puts the HUH in Huh Yunjin 😅🤣 Actually her and kazuha in particular are the most loser duo in the whole group (Shinez my beloved 💕) i swear they only have one braincell when together but omg they both fit the loser in a hot body description so well. (Exactly my type lmao 🤭🤭) AND THEM IN GLASSES 😫😫 We love a hot nerdy loser gf moment

But aside from how entertaining and beautiful she is, she deserves kudos for even being here. Yunjin is literally (like every other idol) just a person with a dream. She could’ve given up when she got kicked off p48 and got all that hate just bc the public favored someone else at the time. (which btw her performance was great and those vocals 😮‍💨 she deserved the position) She could’ve stayed in america and finished business school but she got up and gave it another shot. I legit wrote about her im my english exam bro im not even joking. The question was something to do with celebrities being good role models or something and guess who got a fucking A? Me. And i hate english (mostly the writing) Its just the effect of Huh Yunjin 🤪

And for the record shes doing fucking amazing. She helps compose and produce not only songs for the group but also for her solo songs too. Shes got 4 solo songs in which shes done basically everything herself and theyre all very good. The lyrics are well written as well, each with their own meanings behind them and she can play multiple different instruments. Basically shes talented asf. Also i read somewhere shes in the top 10 kpop soloists with the highest spotify streams or monthly or something (dont come at me if this is inaccurate) and she hasnt even properly had a solo debut album or anything yet. Oh and the solo songs have had little to no promotion either so what does that say about how great she is?

Yunjin is so adorable and precious to me i have no idea how i got so attached but shes my ult bias without question.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

Yunjin i love you 🥰

[I wrote this last night lmao dont judge. Its 540 words btw]

wow….i think u may be in love with yunjin 😭😭

[clock-onyx]

Abbadon being silly!!!

Gave the guy a redesign for the second time because he looked too plain 😭 and for other stuff (Click photo for better quality!!!)

I really tried to color him and render him similarly to how i did a few months ago, the diffrence is that the drawing isnt THAT bright as it used to be

I also tried to give him a poofy outfit with the almost comically large sleeves but i accidentally made his hands super tiny, my bad 😭😭😭

I dont think i actually properly introduced him!!! So ill like be silly rn...

Abbadon (he/him)

One of the five main characters in the story Void Light, Abbadon is the main advisor of the group, helping the others form strategies, escape routes and distractions to help in their missions. He is a charming man, working as an artist and musician before "The War" started. Once it did, he worked as a watch guard in towers, not being able to join IN the battlefield itself because of the lack of back wings, being considered useless as a soilder.

Once the team formed and he got to meet Enzo, Zerachiel, Floryn and Uriel, he finally entered the battlefield on horseback, having either a sword or an angel's bow as weapons to take down enemies.

OK I WOULD WRITE MORE BUT THERES GONNA BE SPOILERS WAHHHH... so ill just give facts now about the silly guy

Abbadon facts

• He has the most bird-like apperance wise out of the rest of the angels, sure the other may have wings and more classical angel / biblically accurate angel characteristics, but hes the only one with bird legs and a lot more feathers on his body than the whole team! He also has 6 fingers on both hands rather than 4 or 5 fingers like the other, his hands also resemble how a birds legs look, but theyre covered by gloves

• He usually plays the banjo, but has also mastered the piano and violin, he also did oil paintings

• He has the most sensitive hearing, Angel head wings are a part of their faces and help with expressions but also hearing far away (angels without headwings are NOT deaf, they just have normal hearing like us!), and the more you have the more sensitive your hearing is, and he has the most with 6 headwings

• Zerachiel and Abbadon are half siblings! Both having the same mother, Abbadon being older by 2 years. (Zerachiel's 45, hes 47 years old in HUMAN age!)

• Abbadon always refused to cut his tail for the war, a protocol most follow so they cant be detected easier nor get hit easier because of their tail. This choice benefited him my making him more balanced and agile than the others

• His favorite color is green (I think its obvious 😭😭😭)

• he is 5'9", one of the shortest in the team (subject to change!), hes also the lightest out of all of them in weight

• He is sadly, the most underdeveloped out of the rest of the cast story wise but no worries!!! He will be more developed soon!!!

Heres a baby picture of Abbadon from like... a year ago LMFAO, look at how my boy grew up...

Stinky old Toyhouse that will get remade!!!

OBVIOUSLY most people here dont recognize the rest yet, but ill draw them each one bit by bit!!! He just needed to have some light on him right now as he deserved <|:3 thank you for reading all of this ily guys /p

[roarshackle]

I want to ask about all of them but I have to choose 😔

The “RESTORED” makes me think that this wip went through an adventure xD Could you tell us more about the GLEE_Calendar2025?

(PS: I don’t know a lot about Danganronpa but your Gundham and Sakura are DELIGHTFUL *O*)

Augh yea this file almost gave me a heart attack a week ago T-T

It's actually something im making for a calendar project Riyako from twitter is organizing! (if u haven't seen their gaalee drawings u should! Theyre so cute they feed my soul) jahdka I actually was having a hard time trying to come up with something to make for it (i got naruto burnout atm u_u), but when i finally did I banged out most of the drawing in a few nights, only for my laptop to freeze up on me. When i rebooted I tried opening my file to keep working on it, and that's where clip studio told me it was corrupted ;-;-;-;-; I spent half an hour feeling like my heart was boutta frekin kill me from dread trying to figure out how to restore it (which thankfully i did, or else i would've committed). Now i keep making copies of the file every so often while I'm working on it

And it also has another drawing in there of a dude from that one game nu carnival waow

(PS: also THANK YOU dude you're always so sweet in the tags n I love seeing your art on my timeline - how the heck do you render stuff please teach me) <33333

[ryuseitai]

i love how most mv outfits in enstar have sm details on the shoes and even the soles of them bc i love shoes and. i thikn its so fun but also its annoying bc theres no super easy way to Look at it. If it doesnt show in the card at all then u need to actualyl Have the card and try the fitting room and usually theyre doing some fuckass pose w their feet completely flat on the ground so u can see NOTHING of the soles Or sometimes its that one where theyre like. one foot is on its toesbut then u can only see half, and if they have that animation thing where they stretch and like kick their leg back u can see But only for a secondn. Why r u putting details on the soles of the shoes and making me go through these trials and tribulations to even see it. if i have a mv outfit i should be allowed to access like a t pose render of it that i can view from any angle.

[j1r4ch2]

I'll admit that my opinion is probably colored by the cynicism of never succeeding at making money being a creative and instead constantly scrambling back and forth from various min wage entry level industries just to make ends meet, but i think that the way artists are conceptualizing AI video rendering as the end of the world is kind of ridiculous.

Obviousely the possibility of artistic jobs being downsized is very real. There is a present reality of AI taking good jobs from real people. It sucks. It's awful. Real people are suffering; I'm not denying that.

But at the same time this technological paradigm isn't going away any time soon, and as it is now, is way too resource intensive to replace every artist making a living with thier work.

Maybe someday down the road enough GPU farm services will be widely enough available where it is feasible for companies to use generative AI for all of their media needs, thus eliminating countless jobs for artists who spent decades of their life honing a skill, but if being demoted from a professional artist to a hobbyist is the end of the world for some people I seriously question why they practice their craft in the first place.

If it was always for the money, then let the robots take the burden of performing the role of a artist from you, and please relearn creating just to feel something inside of you.

We've had knitting machines and mass produced clothing and textiles for ages, yet in this day where my car can drive itself, people spend hours learning to do fibercrafts etc. And you aren't hearing about etsy fiber artists making 60k/year from their work yet they still enjoy the creative process of it!

This is a nuanced conversation, and a lot of people in poverty situations are going to lose access to their jobs as it becomes automated away, in a more exponentially growing version of what's been going on since 2008 and even back to the 90's.

Its a real problem, but the majority of creators i see whining about this on tumblr, YouTube etc. are middle class or higher individuals who's only experience in blue collar work is the half year they spent working part time at their university campus Starbucks.

A lot of people think they're mad because automation is threatening the validity of their job, but they're actually mad because they think learning a creative skill makes them better than your average blue collar worker and they're appaled at the idea of being the same as the people who run their electric grids, clean their sewers, and stock their supermarkets.

Theyre just using the cultural backlash against explotative machine learning (which is a justified backlash, it's fucking wrong for these generative models to be stealing existing work of art and incorporating it into its training, that's not what I'm defending here) as an excuse to dodge the awareness that they don't think anyone should be doing blue collar work because surely they never dreamed of doing it.

As it stands now generative AI models are too resource intensive to truly replace the scale of workers people act like they will, and the advancement of ML algorithms has enough real potential to better people's lives that its not going away, so I think aside from doing the work of protecting our existing art with things like nightshade etc, it's important to be realistic and give up the fantasy that we are at war with AI companies, and must win, or even more delusion at war with the very concept of machine learning.

Its reminiscent of people who were afraid of computers in 1995 and now can't function in their daily life without the help of their gen z loved one to help them navigate the most basic of user interfaces.

Society will advance, regardless of how we like it, all we can do is be resourceful about it, and find ways that the advancement benefits us.

[iiota]

i find it very shocking that pokaymon fans are like 'if only devs had more time to fix the graphics and glitches the game would be one of the best' and that the game isnt busted to its core...(granted this would be solved by having more time)

sorry i have to elaborate or ill die bc i have quite a few qualms with it (long)

one looking at its selling point is that its open world + that you go to school thats why u have to wear that stupid outfit the whole time. The open world is..so bare there are no unique spawns like arceus and like 4 cool spots in the WHOLE MAP. its so easy to get lost bc its big just to gloat that its big, theres No landmarks and the map is very unhelpful orienting urself...also ur bike moves so slow and it Cannot move faster bc the game almost dies when ur boosting as is (and half of the time ive seen the climbing Does Not Work bc the mountain areas are terrible) not to mention in area 0 they take ur map and let u loose in this open world and its so hard to find anything..esp if u want the paradox pokemon u search for hours only to find out they have semi unique spawning points. also the legendaries are the coolest ive seen i will admit but theyre sooooo detached from the story which could be cool if the school wasnt so ass to be in b cthats where u learn about them. oh btw theres really only two things u can find on the whole ass map and its gimmighoul coins(bc u need 999 of them for a pokemon bc ofc u do) and random items/tms so if u dont want either of those things exploring just..wont be on ur radar its also impossible to know if ur getting a potion or a rare candy only tms are marked yellow which isnt Really a problem i actually like it but there are still like no rewards for exploring.

also the items u find almost render stores useless AND trainers are pretty hard to find u could consider them ur reward for exploring but again. the game puts little effort into making ur want to fight them bc all u get is an item for doing it in each area and u can just grind with the visible spawns that way And since theres no rubberbanding its like..what point is there once u beat the game to get all trainers in a lvl 20 area unless ur training up pokemon (but in that case ur probs just doing tera raids to get the rare items)

another qualm is that u go into like. 4 buildings the whole game. and the building insides are the best looking thing in the game besides the school main foyer..ugh. the town design to me felt very hollow bc its like..bc the gyms all look the same and are business-y a big part of the town lost its personality. also its very noticible that theyre trying to bounce off how cool the galar gym fighting was with the song and having a crown but it um Really ended up being pathetic its like the base part of pokemon games was an afterthought(actually it felt really obvious that everything in this game was super split up so instead of focusing on a coherent pokemon game it was section off into bits that strained the team) i have a lot of issues with how ur friends only exist within their storyline until the post game..there is no way to talk to arven unless u do one of his story quests. i think running into nemona just on the roads would have been fun or anyone that you can catch up with really! that or just have them at the school when ur back..

THE SCHOOL. GOOD LORD. the song that plays when ur in the town and school sucks so bad i cannot imagine listening to it longer than like 5 mins. now functionally i do think the idea of the classes having helpful tips for pokemon would be kinda cute esp for newbies but um. ok if a game is like omg u went to school and now u get to get WHEREVER U WANT freeroam are you gonna remember to come back to the school whenever u beat a gym(specifically i think gyms unlock more classes) are you. are you really. i think the only push to go back is one of the teachers being like 'try my class ^_^' yes i am completely convinced. the school itself is like. pathetically trying to be persona and giving u motivation to come back by having stuff locked by classes or telling ppl about ur adventures so u cant speedrun it(unless u decided to do school stuff last) literally could be so easily fixed by having to report back to someone In the quest to the school forcing u back so ppl r like well since im here ill take an art class. also dont lie about the classes if u say its a math class name it..something that its actually about (technically Math but its in relation to how pokemon deal damage)

also a lot of the gym leaders are um. boring. it doesnt help they lost a gym to customize and only get a challenge thats like a few mins of ur time. their designs are ok but only like rhyme, grusha, larry i can remember the names of LOL. i think rhyme, larry and maybe the art guy are the most compelling bc they have like. interactions with other characters. the elite 4 is pretty cool but i dont..really like that they had a kid. objectively its a little funny but im like oh god ppl are gonna be weird about that. um was extremely disappointing fighting them in a plain ass room. and u just fight geeta on the roof. ok at least xy had STAINED GLASS BITCHIN ROOMS. interview was fantastic tho. part of the questions were stupid bc it was grading u on something objective.

i do like the idea of getting to know the ppl around the school and encouraging the nurse to get a teaching degree again was cute..but it has little impact when half of the conversation is blacked out bc they dont want to show u explaining ur journey to here bfhdskjbkf. like no choice in the game matters is it that hard to have a couple of prompts of what to tell her. honestly i also think for classes itd be cooler if they happened randomly and you had a prompt to auto join them ie 'an art class is starting would you like to fly back to school?(Y)' also a good reason why a lot of the school stuff falls flat is everything in this game is in neat little categories that have no relation to each other its like im eating dinner and i dont want my peas to touch my mac n cheese. i dont mind that ur set up to fail some quest lines w not knowing where to go bc u Can ask for advice on where to go but also most of the playbase probably took advantage of do whatever u want but ALSO the progression makes no sense bc it wants you to go back and forth throughout the entire map...i do think pausing the gym fights to do team star and then do more gyms then do arvens stuff would have flowed a bit better..sometimes letting the player decide what to do is bad.

team star is probably my fav storyline bc it involves something other than ppl being focused on u so it stands out a lot also i do think it was cute for them all to have banded together from bullying. that being said the running around and throwing ur pokemon out to fight was . stupid as hell. just make it a gauntlet, maybe some double battles. that way the camps didnt have to be so ugly and Open. they have the best music tho

tera raids are objectively the most thought out and best looking but they need help for 5 or 6 star unless ur really good and its..so hard to do them online bc everything fills up so fast ive heard the game also gives u little indication of whether ur running towards a 3 star or a 5 unlike swsh. the more real timeish battle does uh. make ppl think the game is crashing bc some actions are forced/scripted but dont tell u so ur game is just frozen for x amount of time..

a more petty thing but the clothes suck ass and theres no little fun customize thing like the trading cards from swsh..u can just change the photo on ur trainer card...ok anyways this is already too long <3

wait i need to say i dont mind arven now but i think him suddenly losing his backbone when his ai parent said his parent actually loved him and being like omg woah really was. boring and stupid. he should have told them that he didnt believe them THEN after been like 'i am not sure if that ai was only telling me what i wanted to hear or if it was actually what (parent) believed but there is no way for me to know i can only move on and focus on whats really important. I am going to (enter job title here on something he wants to study for) and take care of someone who was really there for me (pans to mabosstiff). And also you! My friend thank you!'

rika rules tho. my only complaint about her is no mudsdale

[cybertron-after-dark]

(tags from prev reblog)

We have officially breached containment from the greater tf fandom into the Tumblr ecosystem outside it. I feel a degree of explanation is warranted so the non robot obsessed crowd can understand the chaos happening here.

So Transformers as a franchise likes to reboot itself a lot. To the point where it's not really assumed that two different shows exist in the same continuity unless it's explicitly stated, most only tangentially related by a multiverse that we only take half-seriously. There was, however, a chunk of time from roughly 2010 to 2016 that hasbro attempted (and largely failed) to make a bunch of media that was supposed to be in the same universe, in (roughly) the same timeline. Most of the time it was pretty shaky and the only throughline was similar story beats about how the civil war that rendered Cybertron uninhabitable went down.

The exception, however, was the link between the shows Prime and Rescue Bots. The two shows ran around the same time and events in one show made tangible impacts on the other. Characters from Prime would show up in Rescue Bots for special episodes as well (though we never got the other way around, which I will never stop being mad about). Their interconnected nature is honestly unprecedented for tf shows that aren't direct sequels. The funny thing, though is the wild difference in vibes.

Prime was intended for their more mature audience. Heavily detailed 3d animation with complex, angular mech designs, a darker tone than most tf series, heavy casualties and more robo-gore than your average episode of samurai jack. (Also a lot of robot designs that both fans and Hasbro employees alike consider CRIMINALLY sexy).

And then there was Rescue Bots. With the youngest target audience of any tf show, and an animation budget of like $35 and half a turkey sandwich (but a writing team that refuses to stop being funny, characters that have me in a chokehold, an ost that does NOT need to go that hard, and an unnecessarily banger voice cast that includes tim curry for some reason. No I WONT stop shilling for this show.)

Rescue Bots, being geared towards a younger crowd, was allowed to play in a much sillier space than Prime was, emphasizing wild technology and it's fantastical applications (and, more often than not, how it can go so very wrong when safety precautions are ignored), but also occasionally delving into outright fantasy (hence the ghosts and the fairies).

So there exists a whole coherent timeline between these two shows where the Decepticons are having their Edgy and Serious political drama where everyone's trying to grab power, the Autobots are struggling just to keep their faction alive and keep the human kids they've adopted as their own safe, and then at the exact same time on Bumfuck Nowhere Island, Maine, there's a little group of four autobots Optimus is keeping very very far away from the war because Megatron would fold these goobers like lawn chairs at a barbecue, and theyre playing monopoly with the human family that adopted them before the next terrible accident at the explosion factory.

Also, just so you can see how the crossovers are handled.

Here's Optimus in Prime

And here's what's supposed to be the same version of this dude in Rescue Bots.

This guy will be in one episode of Prime, somberly contemplating the future of Earth, wondering how he could have done things differently and how less people could've gotten hurt, spend an episode of rescue bots having a wonderful little cave adventure and actually having fun for once, and then come back home in another episode of Prime only to get stabbed.

Also in one crossover episode he got a third mode as a T-Rex but his brain wasn't really meant to handle organic instincts, so he temporarily went feral and almost ate a guy alive. This was never addressed in Prime.

The vibes are insane and I would simply not have it any other way.

Things that canonically exist in the same world as transformers prime because they also exist in rescue bots:

-fairies

-ghosts

-time travel

-still-living dinosaurs

-optimus's third mode, the fucking t-rex

-a machine that cheats death and reverses the aging process

-skyrim, if blades making the arrow to the knee joke is to be taken at face value.

-mass displacement tech the way the fandom's been portraying it for ages

-the exact same altmode-locking paralytic virus from beast machines

-full-on mind control, effective on both humans and bots

-lycanthropy inducing fake meat

-a hal-9000-esque rogue AI intent on turning the world comatose to keep humanity maximally safe

-freaky Friday mind swapping

-time loops

-machine that forces you to sing in full musical numbers

-Allspark day, which is basically cybertronian new years day

We need to start subjecting the prime bots to the weirdass facets of their world.

[kedreeva]

Im so fucking lucky my graphic tablets been rendered unusable by my stupid fucking laptops operating system because pretty people in skirts are one of my Top Weaknesses and i wouodve fucking considered NOT ONLY DRAWING IT but possibly attempting to fucking animate that shit (the hat throw too, becayse YES I HAVE UNFORTUNATELY READ THAT POST) and i absolutely DESPISE animating i am absolutely TERRIBLE at it

LISTEN SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU LITTLE SHIT at least like,, only one of them has ever been at my actual flat,, and i only ever made or bought food or otherwise financially or materially supported like,,, half of them,, and only ever played therapist and Adult To Come To™ for like 25 of them,, they mainly just see me on the street and ask me to play with them or stay with them for a bit or whatever anyway now that i think of it depending on how lax our definition of unofficial adoption is i might have like 5 to 10 more but i dont think those count if theyre in a different country and ive completely lost any way of communicating with them,,, right,,? Actually no do Not answer that

YOU DO NOT GET TO COME IN HERE AND BRIBE ME WITH A FUCKING FIC SO I DONT FAIL MY CLASS GODDAMN IT KEDREEVA

Anyway so i know just about NOTHING about the shop except for like 5 mentioms of it in fics but i do have Thoughts on the interpersonal relationship that robin and steve appear to exhibit and i absolutely fully declare that they EMANATE platonic soulmates vibes (maybe qp even if anyones feeling generous just sayin) anyway they are so fucking stupid and they are so fucking smart and they both have one braincell but they can only use it for the other person like one of them only gets to use their braincell if its in place of the others braincell using it for said persons benefit (robin maybe gets tk use half of hers for herself the rest od the time steve only gets a quarter) anyway they strike me as both so very codependent but also very much capable of taking care of themselves but yk yk like thoughts like wheres the line between codependence and relying on another so much simply because they are so Close to you emotionally that they are kind of a part of you anyway is there even a line is there a line and like just idk mate theyre such dumbasses (esp steve) and steve is such a fucking lost puppy (part of why he end up with a full litter of pups ig)

Anyway i do not know much about hopper but i was really rooting for him in this ine fukcing fic where steves parents are being abusive shitheads and hopper gets him thr fuck outta there and him and wayne lowkey fight over custody of steve for a split second but then i found out hes a cop so i was instantly like ehhhh yk what maybe lets not put so much faith in him right away and then i was checking out that cws last night befire watching out of curiosity (NO IS TILL HAVENT SEEN ANY OF IT I GOT DISTRACTED BY AO3 AGAIN TILL 4 AM) and a commenter said that hes a bit of a dipshit to eleven at some point so like hmm mixed feelings dont know enough (ie dont know shit) abiut canon to have any opinions i could back up with aby sort of argument on him specifically

AND YES I DO KNOW WHO DMITRI IS AND I HAVE ONLY SEEN HIS NAME ONCE IN YOUR DAMNED POST KEDREEVA

I know a teeny tiny bit about the russians doing some fucked up shit at some point in the series and steve and robin getting tortured or something (because there was this scebe in this one fic where steve would constantly sneak in through the windoe and sleep eith robin in her bed after that debacle cause neither could sleep or something alomg the lines of that it was SOFT ok it was H/C OK but anyeay ive got NO clue who that fucker really is i imagine him as eithe some average stereotypically russian looking man or like fucking dartagnan but like that twink version of hik dont ask me whats going on in my brain but as i said THOUGHTS and OPINIONS™ (which i am so very unqualified to give)

ALSO I JSUT NOTICED THE FUCKING TAG YOU USED FOR THE ASKS TOU FUXK YOU FUCKER YOU MOTHERFUCKER THATS VERY SWEET YOU FUCKKING FUCKER

And apologies for the novek length ask (hope tumblr doesnt eat it cayse it usually eats any long asks i try to send) and the immense amount of misspellings but i have been outside in the cold for about 5 hours in a thin leather jacket so my fingers are kinda freezing and its also drizzling so ohone slippery

I cannot believe your computer's operating system hates me, specifically, like this. The hat throw is essential I'll have you know. Like he actually really loves the outfit except for that!! fucking!!! hat!!!

I think it's sweeeeeeet! You adopted many children because you are kind and good to them!! You are loved by small innocent beings that recognize you will help them!!

I am justified in offering any bribe I want, tyvm! It's on you if you want to accept it after doing well. I will be proud of you finishing such a big task either way!

Steve and Robin are definitely platonic soulmates! If you watch nothing else of the show, you simply MUST see the bathroom floor scene between them, you will cry over them with the rest of us. I can also advise you see the scene where they're tied up in the Russian holding room, lying on the floor confessing things to each other. Breaks my heart. I love them so much. They deserve cuddles. They DID totally get captured by Russians but I think you're missing the important part. They got captured because they were down in that base on ACCIDENT. Dustin got them into this mess, with help from Robin, and Erica. Steve was practically just along for the ride. And then the Russians CAUGHT THEM wandering around the base, and Steve took 1 look at the situation, decided that not all of them were going to make it, SOMEONE had to get caught and it sure as hell wasn't going to be His Children, so he purposely stayed behind. And when he called out to Robin, because he knew he couldn't hold the door the Russians were trying to get through by himself long enough, Robin (who you MUST understand, she is brand new, she's known Steve for like... a month, she's known Dustin for a day or two, she's known Erica for a few hours, she doesn't even KNOW about the Otherworld Shenanigans yet, as far as she knows this is just about commies in the basement) takes one look at Steve, at Dustin and Erica, and she bolts to his side knowing full well she's gonna get captured, too. But they are gonna make sure the kids don't. together.

Hopper is COMPLICATED. He's an asshole, no mincing that. He was a child soldier, or close to it, who was experimented on w/ chemical warfare bullshit that ensured his military-group companions either couldn't have kids or their kids were messed up and died as babies. Hopper fell in love and had a child, a little girl, who died when she was little (five or six-ish?), and it broke him, and him breaking also broke his relationship with his wife. Over the course of the show you get to witness that he desperately, desperately, just wants Family (and by god, who does THAT sound like) and to make sure no kids are ever harmed if he can help it. He was serving as chief of police because he didn't really know what else to do with himself, and then The Horrors happened and he realized oh fuck my mission in life is to protect El (and what that looks like varies, because what he WANTS and what he is CAPABLE of doing are separated by a canyon at times, he is a disaster of a human being but he's trying and they love each other even when they're screaming at each other) and make sure none of these dumbasses get hurt around her. And then he goes and falls in love with the mom that loves her kids more than life. Like, don't get me wrong he's still a dick. He's just also full to the brim with love. And they killed him in season 3, but he's fine now.

Dmitri, my beloved. he was the prison guard that was trying to save Hopper and help him escape the russian prison he'd ended up in due to nonsense.

I went and personally grabbed this screenshot from my own copies of the show, just so I could show you his smile upon realizing that Hopper starting a fight w/ him so they could beat the shit out of each other was actually NOT because he hates Dmitri, but so that he could grab things off the guards that separated them, so they could use those things to fight monsters with together. Oh!!! They are still friends!!!

anyway I want them to have upside down shenanigans instead of russian prison shenanigans. they deserve to fight each other and monsters. I want married couple bickering. I want them to hate each other for a while, but band together to fight off worse threats, but fall back to fighting each other after. I want... one of them to be injured and the other has to take care of them because they don't wanna be alone. "I'm the only one that can kill you, dickhead."

I'm sorry I didn't get to this sooner, I went and did responsible things like write my nanowrimo story and tend my birds and clean some stuff. But you gave me smiles all day, and I appreciate that, you are lovely <3