#I drew that I while ago I've learned a lot since then

[agarthanguide]

I love the Essek portrait on the back of the ReAction figure box, is it yours?? Also if I can ask, what the process like for designing something like that (thinking like how they outline what they want you to do and creative license?)

Hello!

I DID draw the packaging illustration on Essek M9 figure. I did not design the figure. I don't actually know who designed him, I think they just credited Super 7.

It was actually a super interesting process, and one that I'm getting more familiar with as I work with Critical Role more. The fig wasn't made yet when they brought me on to the project, so I worked off of mock-ups, mostly. They wanted a dynamic portrait of Essek that reasonably matched the figure, but also they were keenly aware that the design of the fig was constrained by the kind of (imo) very fun, retro style of Super 7 molds.

Because of that constraint, there are choices in those illustrations that I might not have made if I had been drawing Essek from my personal perspective, but I can honestly say that they've grown on me! I sort of wish I had added some elegant scroll work in his greaves, maybe in silver thread.

I haven't actually seen the package art as it appears, yet, so I'm dropping a little snapshot of the final art with the sincere hope I'm not actively spoiling something. I can't see how I would be.

Thank you for the question, and for the kind words!

PS- In the full length art, he is hovering!

PPS- My personal headcanon of Essek is the one by @theminttu

[kaiannae]

It is time- (Or: It Has Begin XD)

Greetings, my dear readers, it has been quite some time. First and foremost I would like to assure you that yes, I'm alive, and no, I have not abandoned my writing. But, I HAVE been distracted by somehing in the last few months, and I think its time to reveal it. I made a game! And not just a game, a Shadowgast game. I would like to present to you:

Beacon Run.

Ko-Fi This game begun its existance as a homework project for a game dev course I took about a year ago. I was supposed to implement a simple chase and pickup game and I thought, "Why use some random sprites when all I can imagine is small chibi Caleb chasing small chibi Essek around while Essek is trying to nom beacons?"

This idea lit a fire in my brain, and I just had to implement it but I had a very short time for the assignment. Iended up implementing something very simple, but I just couldn't let it go afterwards and vowed I was going to finish that small game and get it out for the fandom to play.

It has since been rewriteen, refactored and recoded several times, until I had something workable to show others. This is the place to mention the major contribution the people fo AIFL had on this little game. As I was maing this game, I shared its early stages with the server, and people have been kind in thier enthusasm, gave me ideas and provided invaluable criticism and feedback. They kept me motivated and kept me going through the lows of frustration one gets when coding. I got @bumble-b-goode 's permission to use their designs for the Weezards and drew my own sprites using that as inspiration. I ended up creating most of the assets for this game. Drawing the art assets took quite some time and I've learned a lot in the process.

Beacon Run not big or complicated as a game. In essence, is a tribute and a love letter to the Critical Role community and the CR crew. To the people who brought to life the Mighty Nein and have shared, and continue to share their stories with us on a weekly basis throughout the years. For Liam and Matt, who have weaved the tale of two broken wizards mending each other into better people, and keep their children of ink and paper alive for us to enjoy. The game: You as a player, are randomly assigned a little wizard to play for each match, so you can play as Essek or Caleb. The board dimensions and obstacles and even the flooring art are randomized for each match so each match is different. Your goal: to collect as many Beacons as you can during the allotted time, and end up with more Beacons than your rival which is the other wizard played by the computer. You gain projectiles over time, which are fake Beacons you can throw at the other wizard. If hit, the rival wizard is stunned for a short time, and drops several of his picked up Beacons for you to gather. However, beware! The rival wizard can also shoot you and stun you for a short while, and make you drop beacons as well. (You might notice that Essek gets stunned by sour lemon Beacons, while Caleb gets stunned by hand-knitted wool Beacons XD) In addition, when the rival is hit, he may drop a Magic Abeyance Bead which contains a Chronurgy spell. if you pick it up, it will provide a short time bonus for the match. In short, the game is a small, cozy game, made out of love for the wizards and the fandom, and I hope you'll enjoy it! I it still in the late stages of testing and development, as the feedback players provide is invaluable and lets me find bugs, add ideas and content suggested and tweak the mechanics to make it more enjoyable. So I would very much appreciate feedback, suggestions, con-crit etc. I would be happy to head what you like about it, what you think needs tweaking, ideas of content to add.... you name it! (Note that currently, the game does not work on mobile. I am planing to revamp the input system and add touch suport for mobile in the near future) Also it is worth mentioning that as I fix bugs, add content and tweak things, I upload new versions of the game so its worth following the Devlog and updates. The game is avaliable for play in the embedded player on the page, and also available for download to play offline (Though you might need to redownload it with every new version as I don't have an auto updater for it.)

In addition, if you like my work, feel like enabling me to make more of these or just want to buy me a coffee, It is always very much appreciated as it sure helps me stay afloat! Tip Jar

So, I hope you forgive me for my lack of writing for the last few months. I really wanted to get this out. I am trying to keep writing in my spare time, but the muses haven't been with me lately. I hope that now that this is out I can finally get my mind off it XD Stay tuned!

[milliondollarwomen]

Well Hello

tom blyth x fem reader

word count 1.9k

mature content 18+

https://www.tumblr.com/daemonslover/740468521162653696/well-hello-part-2?source=share

Part 2 ^^^^^

overview: you meet him and the bar and he has to claim you.

hey y’all this is my first time writing like this! so please let me know if you guys liked it.

As you entered the bar, you could hear people talking and drinks clinking. A captivating figure was leaning casually on the counter. His commanding British accent drew you in right away. You decide to head over his way to see if he will notice you and as you stand next him waiting for the bartender he looks at you. "Well, hello," this mysterious man greets me. His smile is charming without being overly cheesy and he possesses dark curly hair that isn't too curly, along with the most stunning blue eyes you've ever laid eyes on. He was probably wondering why I did not react after I stared at him for a while.

"Hi" you responded not knowing what to do or how to act and all he did was say hello but already you felt anxious. "Are you from around here, love?" The way it slipped from his lips, love, was enough to make you melt. "No, I just moved here for graduate school. I'm going to NYU, and you?" When you told him you were a graduate student, he tilted his head slightly, which made you wonder what it was about that interested him; however, you refrained from making too much of it. "Ah well, congratulations, but yes, I am, and I've been here for quite some time,"

you were intrigued and wanted to learn more about him. As he spoke, he sipped from his cup; you couldn't help but notice the way he held it, how it landed on his lips, and how his Adam's apple bobbled as he swallowed. It was enough to make your mouth water. It was puzzling to you how a guy you had only known for five minutes could evoke such strong emotions in you. "so, what do you do for work or are you in school as well?"

With a look of surprise on his face, he shifted his gaze towards you. "I do a lot of things, none of which concern you, dove, but I would love to buy you a drink. So tell me all about yourself." you can't say that you blame him for avoiding the subject; after all, you are just an odd woman who wants to know where he works or if he's in school. In the course of your conversation, you told him that your undergraduate major was sociology, that you were lonely here, and that you had hoped to make some new friends if you ventured out more. After blabbing your mouth for the next 30 minutes, you realized how open you were to this man you had never met. He may be a murderer for all you know. His eyes pierced through you as you pondered why you told him these things about yourself, and then he assertively said, "Tell me what you're thinking about." It jolted you out of your nervous thoughts, "I just told you about myself and I have no idea who you are."

Unexpectedly, he grinned at you. To him, it seemed like you were exactly where he wanted you to be. Before you stepped next to him, Tom spotted you—even though he hadn't planned on meeting a woman tonight. He could tell you were a newcomer to the city. Your awkwardness when approaching the bartender for a drink and your rushed search for someone to talk to was clearly noticeable. He could see right through you. He took pleasure in the idea of dominating others, particularly those who sought out his presence and placed their trust in him. Claiming that you were lonely and in need of someone sparked his interest in you.

He grasped your fingers, entwined them, and rubbed circles around your thumb. "my love, let me apologize for my rudeness earlier I just don't open up to many people but you have made me feel comfortable." This made you feel relieved. "I'm a teacher, but I grew up in Birmingham, I moved here a couple years ago for the job and have loved it ever since" He realized he needed to exhibit his softer side to entice you back, and that is exactly what he did. The way your eyes softened when he discussed relocating here and teaching made him want to do unexplainable things to you. This was so easy for him all he had to do was throw the word love or dove around and you would cave.

After that, you gradually picked up on his flirting, massaging your thumb, and calling you pet names. With the courage of alcohol, you thought you could seize this opportunity. You move forward and whisper in his ear, "Well I think teachers are sexy," and you can see his jaw clench as he realizes how forward you are being with him. He glanced at you with passion before grabbing your waist. You were so close you feared you'd be unable to breathe. "Don't start something you can't finish," his aggressiveness made you weak in the knees. You began to feel the warmth rise between your legs. All it took was you to look at him like you were begging for him to be inside you. he grabbed your arm and lead you out of the bar. "you're coming home with me" this instantly made you regret your decision, you'd thought it be fun to tease him but you didn't think he would take you home.

Before he called a taxi, you looked at him with nervous eyes, "Honestly I should get going, I just moved in and need to get settled I-" before you could finish your sentence, he pulled you to the side and leaned into you, "Oh dove, you can't tease me in there and expect to get away with it" he lightly grabbed your throat and ran his hand up to rub his thumb across your mouth, "You're going to be a good girl okay?" This made you think this man is bad news, but his dominance over you gave you chills. "okay I'm sorry" was all you could manage out of your mouth.

When we arrived at his place, all you could see was how immaculate and tidy it was. Coming from college, most boys/men's homes are awful. After scanning the room, he observed how interested you were. Simply adoring you. You look over at him as he sits on the couch, straight passion in his eyes. This made you want to puke since you knew what he wanted. "Come here" he said, making your stomach drop. you cautiously approach him, and he places his hands on your shoulders and forces you to your knees. "Now I just met you and I understand you may not know how things work but teasing me and then trying to back out isn't going to work dove" As he reprimands you, he effortlessly puts his thumb into your mouth. He moves it around, gets wet, and rubs it against your lips. Your eyes were wide and large, ready for his next move. This makes your panties soaked for him.

He keeps a close eye on me, knowing that you have no idea what his next move will be. With that, he unbuckles his pants and removes his boxers, revealing that he is very well endowed. His cock is extremely hard for you. You observe how the veins transport so much blood to the tip. It's crimson with precum. "Now be a good girl and suck my cock," he demands. You shove him into your mouth and beginning to bob your head back and forth. He immediately begins to grunt as he watches you suck him off. "Fuck, you're being so good for me," he says. It makes your pussy ache for him. Looking up at him and seeing him appreciate your lips around him only makes you desire him more.

You get bored of giving him head, which makes him angry. He grabs the back of your head and fucks your mouth till you are unable to breathe. After he is pleased, he pulls you up and clutches your neck, "You will stop when I tell you to stop." This instills terror in your eyes, which turns him on and uses to fuel himself. He pushes you onto the couch and begins pulling your clothes off left and right. He hovers over you while you lay there naked and exposed. "Please touch me" you implore. "Please what?" he taunts you, as if your pussy isn't throbbing to be touched. "Please, sir, please touch me" and he begins to rub circles on your pussy, causing you to jerk and squirm. He enjoys witnessing how easy it is to fulfill you.

"Oh fuck, don't stop," you moan, and he promptly stops. "You don't tell me what to do, I've been too passive with you; you need to learn a lesson," he says as he flips you over and shoves his cock inside you. His size made you shout out, unable to adjust. After a few strokes, pleasure begins to surge in your stomach. "Sir, you feel so good." Those words caused him to slam into your tight pussy even harder. "You're such a good girl, taking all of me in your tight pussy." Hearing him speak to you in such a humiliating manner turned you on. His cock began to twitch inside you, eventually spilling all of his seed. He pulled out and watched you collapse on the couch, watching all of his sperm run out of your pussy.

"you are mine now"

Two weeks later

It had been two weeks since you last saw the man you met at the bar, and you still hadn't gotten his name. You awoke this morning ready to begin the day because it was your first day of graduate school. You were worried but eager to begin courses. You'd gotten up, showered, blow-dried, and styled your hair. You wanted to make a good first impression because you did not know anyone yet. You put on light makeup and got dressed.

Fortunately, when shopping for apartments, you discovered one close to campus, so you could walk to your first class. Today, you had your first class at 9:00 a.m. Walking through New York, you simply absorbed everything in, watching people and soaking up your surroundings. You had a feeling this was the right place to be, and you were excited for the journey to begin. When you arrived on campus, you entered the building and found your classroom. You arrived a little early, so you decided to walk in and take a seat. There were a few students already in the room.

The girl sitting next to you looked over and smiled, "Hi, my name is Emily," which let you relax even more. "Hi, my name is y/n." With that, we began talking about where we were from and what other classes we were attending. The class became larger, and it was finally time to begin. The professor strolled in and said the normal hey, my name is yada yada. After reviewing the curriculum and taking notes, a man walks in. "I'm sorry for being late, professor; it won't happen again." Before lifting your head, you knew that British voice. It made you shiver in your chair. "Sorry for the interruption, class. This is Tom Blyth; he's been working for me for two years and will be assisting this semester." You cautiously raise your head, hoping it's not who you think it is. And there's the man you met in the bar, smirking at you.

[raziiyah]

okay i'm shocked i've never posted anything about my mi/mu oc before bc i've literally had her for over a decade, so i redrew an old drawing of her mi design! this is from may, it's the last thing i drew on my ipad before it died forever :') she had a cringy name for a long time so a couple years ago i changed it to liane or just lia! it's sounds more normal and has a slight resemblance to the old name and part of my own name :]

she first appeared in a dream that i still vividly remember sometime around mu's release, i still remember trying to draw her after waking up before just immediately redesigning her bc her hair was too hard for me to draw lol,, but now i feel like i'm actually happy with her design; it looks much more balanced than her older designs and she still looks like an mi/mu character while still resembling the vision i had in my dream

uh here's some info about her, i'll just share some post MU/pre MI stuff for now, lots of her story is a mix of ideas i had as a kid that i build on or adjust every once in a while

after graduating, lia applied to monsters inc. and scare industries as a scarer. she just barely doesn't get accepted at MI but gets accepted at scare industries. she is slowly working on improving; her goal is to advance her scare score and eventually transfer to monsters inc., but she enjoys working at SI so she stays for a few years until she feels ready to take her career to the next level

randall boggs, her partner since university, is very supportive of her and often likes to give her scaring tips and things he's learned working at MI. they live in an apartment in downtown monstropolis, which they bought after finding steady jobs at scare companies. outside of work, lia likes to paint landscapes and is inspired by the bits of nature between the industrial buildings of monstropolis

later on, lia reapplies at MI and gets accepted! she's set to transfer in a few weeks. randall and lia go out to celebrate, unknowing to the fact this is one of the last times they'll see each other for a while

by this point, lia has long noticed that randall has been arriving home later and later nights, saying he's been really occupied with "work stuff." he gets more and more defensive whenever she brings it up, and lia can't help but think he's hiding something

[gamebunny-advance]

Let's Just Rip Off This Band-Aid (Kliff Doll Repaint)

I still haven't finished adding the fringe to his scarf, but at this point, I don't think y'all will actually care that much. It's a personal project anyway, so I'll just finish it on my own time. Right now, I want to be released from the shackles of this project.

Once again, my poor camera and lack of editing do him no favors (he's got a real bad case of jaundice in that first pic. I PROMISE he's not that yellow-orange IRL ;o;), but he is (mostly) done.

Well, he was (mostly) done like a week ago, but just yesterday I decided to redo a few things to try and "fix" what was really bothering me about him, so I really made recursive progress. That said, I do like him more now than I did a week ago, so I'm not mad about it.

A little backstory: Alongside Kun3h0, I've been working on him for the past month, so I've been pretty occupied with this project for a while. Now, I do wonder to myself why exactly I thought making this would be a good idea. All I can really say is that my impulsive tendencies drive me to do things against my better judgement.

But, I will still give y'all my documentation and thoughts on the process + more pictures.

(I'll talk a little more about it later, but for those of you that aren't going to go through the long-ass readmore, the Neon J. mask is a reference to an old comic I drew.)

(It's so old, I was still writing everything by hand~)

So, the "real" answer to "why" I made this is really as simple as "because I could." As I said in the Kun3h0 post, I've been wanting to repaint dolls for a long time, years even, so in the back of my mind, I'm always thinking of ways I could finally start one.

Well, recently I just finally put together the ideas and motivation I needed to start. And of course, that was with Kliff.

I don't remember *exactly* how I stumbled across everything, but I do recall looking at doll clothes online and stumbling across this trench coat (pictured with the other clothes for this project).

(I took this pic mostly because I thought I was going to take pics of every major step of the process, but that didn't end up happening).

I thought it was pretty darn close to Kliff's coat, and I got the horrible idea that, "I could def make a Kliff doll to go with this coat as long as I can repaint it."

I feel like usually people would think the other way around, but that is basically the truth of this project: I didn't find clothes to fit the doll, I made the doll to fit into the clothes. Because for me, customizing the doll wasn't really the intimidating part: it's making the clothes. I don't know how to use a sewing machine, and currently lack the patience to learn (and due to some personal trauma that I don't really want to get into), but I can hand-sew, so starting any project that involves it requires me to be willing to set aside a lot of energy for me to do it, which I don't often have.

But, if I could find ways to cut down on the sewing, then I'd be more willing to start. And somehow, I was able to find just about everything I would need for a potential Kliff doll without having to sew anything. In the end, I only sewed together one thing, and it's the one thing that isn't actually finished: the scarf.

So, I blame the trench coat for the entirety of this project: if I'd never seen it, I would have never made a Kliff doll. In fact, I got the clothes before I even had the doll.

Since I was brainstorming this project, one of the most important parts is of course the base doll, which was tricky. Male doll repaints are fairly uncommon, especially of older men, so there weren't a lot of resources or places to get inspiration for this project.

From what I found, most male (fashion) dolls were very youthful, and the ones that weren't usually took heavy modifications to achieve, which was out of the question. Kliff was supposed to be an "easy" project, so on top of not wanting to sew any clothes for him, I also didn't want to have to alter the doll that much to make it look like him. This was a lot to ask for without putting in any personal work, but in a way, this goal was supposed to keep me from actually starting this project: really this whole thing was supposed to just live in my head as a fantasy as most things do, but then I just stumbled into the right set of things, so I couldn't stop myself from going through with it.

The doll I landed on was a BTS Mattel doll. Now I've said before that I know basically nothing about BTS, and that is still true, but that's beside the point. In my research for finding a suitable doll to work with, I found out that a popular base were these BTS dolls. At first, I wasn't into it because I was still running into the "youthful face" problem that I was with other brands: most of them had pillowy lips and nice soft faces, but I did eventually find one that I thought was close enough: J-Hope.

(It's not the worst match up.)

I don't have pics of my doll before I started working on him, but it was pretty close to the stock photo. He has much thinner lips than the others, and a taller, more angular head shape that I thought would work best for Kliff. I did worry a bit that the nose wasn't "strong" enough to really be Kliff (and IMO, it wasn't XP), but it was the closest I found yet, so I decided to bite the bullet and get one, and if I had one, that meant I needed to start gathering everything I would need for this project.

So, no backing out now.

Now, actually acquiring this doll was a whole other song and dance, but here's the part that's important for how the process went:

Due to a miscommunication with the seller I eventually got him from, there was a delay with shipping, so I didn't actually get him until weeks after "officially" starting this project. In the meantime, the clothes and things for Kun3h0 (who I started as an impulse project within the impulse project) had already been gathered.

The original plan was that I was going to work on and subsequently post about Kliff first since he was a comparatively simpler project. All the things I was avoiding for Kliff: sewing clothes and making modifications to the doll, were all going to be incorporated into Kun3h0, so she was theorhetically going to take longer and be posted later, thus telling a small story of "starting simple, ending complex." But since I didn't have his doll, but didn't want to delay working on Kun3h0 just to wait on him, I started on her and repainting his clothes anyway.

So, I don't have any pics of the doll or his clothes from when I was working on them, unlike the sparse ones I had for Kun3h0, I only have pics from after he was finished.

But I'll still tell y'all what I can to at least preserve the story.

For starters, repainting this coat was probably the most time-consuming part of this process.

I really thought that it would take one or two days maximum to turn this coat bright yellow, but I think it actually took over a week. And I really should have known; the coat was a medium tone, and I know that yellow takes a while to build up on anything that isn't light. I lost count at some point, but I swear that thing has over 20 coats of paint on it. Mind you, the first 10 or so coats were watered down with the textile medium, which also contributed to how long it was taking for the coat to take color, but at some point I just got so frustrated that I stopped mixing in the medium and painting directly onto the coat to get the color to layer faster. This is a huge no-no for painting acrylics onto fabric, lest the paint crack from creasing the fabric, but I just couldn't be bothered anymore. I needed this thing to be dandelion yellow NOW or I was gonna lose it.

There were consequences for taking that shortcut, such as the paint cracking in high motion areas and the coat getting stiff, but it's not terrible. In the end, I accepted the trade-offs or else I might still be painting the coat. Perhaps one day I'll reverse engineer the pattern for the coat and make him a new one, but I wouldn't count on it. In retrospect, I wonder if I would have had an easier time if I had thought to bleach the coat first?

As you might notice, I contoured/shaded part of the coat in orange. That's something that I actually *just* added yesterday and added another couple of hours to the work time. It was just bothering me that the doll was essentially a giant slab of yellow, and was part of the reason I didn't like it very much. But I got inspired by this repaint to try contouring the coat to give it more depth.

(I also used this person's videos to modify the hands. He has one deidcated to just reshaping the BTS hands.)

In the end, I'm pretty happy with the results.

The rest of the clothes weren't as difficult to deal with.

The pants took the paint a lot better, likely due to being dark paint on a light surface. Since I used less paint, it's not as stiff as the coat and still go on very easily. Though, they are VERY high waisted, and I'm not sure if that's normal XP

The shoes are also painted (and slightly modified), though I had to paint them twice because the first time, the paint got stretched off when I tried to put them on the doll's feet: the shoes were just *slightly* too small for the feet of the doll, so they really get stretched to fit his feet, and his heels don't actually go in all the way XP.

He's still capable of standing on his own, but I try not to remove the shoes, so I can avoid having them crack again.

In my "initial clothes" pic, I put down a different shirt than the one he's wearing. The original plan was to repaint the shirt black, but my work space is very limited, so I couldn't really repaint three pieces of clothes at once without significantly risking that I would stain other things. In the end, after getting scarred by how long it was taking for the coat to take color, I decided to just give him one of the black shirts that came with the coat. This does make him somewhat inaccurate since the current shirt has flowers/plants on it, but I'm gonna say that they make up for the lack of flowers on his scarf. Maybe someday I'll make him a new shirt from an old sock or something, but for now, I don't think it's a bad look.

Other clothing of note is the scarf, but since it's not technically finished I didn't take any close pics of it. It's actually made of an old headband of mine that I just cut and painted to look like his scarf.

Originally, I had actually glued on ribbon to it for the stripes, which took a couple days for the drying, but because I couldn't flatten out the scarf to easily glue the ribbon, it turned into a mess and bulked it out too much: since the scale of the doll is already small, I really needed to keep the fabrics thin. This was especially important for the scarf since it was going to wrap around his neck: if it were any thicker, it was going to practically eat up his face, which it still does, just less so.

Speaking of face...

When I finally got the doll in the mail, I started working on him right away, so I don't have any "before" pics of the doll.

After I did the usual "wiping off the face and pulling out his hair," I started with repainting the entire body and head.

Despite Kliff being ambigously "WHITE 🫵," Kliff isn't as pale as the original doll. I'd say even the stock picture I posted above has more warmth than the actual doll did. So, I got the base to be "coral" all over, dusted him in light orange chalk pastels for contouring, and most of his details are outlined in shades of burgandy. I didn't take any nude pics of this doll, but he is countoured all over his body and you can rest easy knowing I gave him some nips XP. But maybe someday I'll show y'all doll!Kliff's washboard abs XP.

TBH, I did want to detail some tattoos and some body hair too, but I just didn't trust myself to do either of those well with the tools I have (my brushes aren't thin enough, and my hand not steady enough for those kind of intricate details). Maybe someday I'll at least get his tattoos in (and after I've actually designed them XP), but we'll see. I don't plan on having the doll in short sleeved clothes very often, so details like that are the least of my concerns.

TBH, I was pretty proud of how the face paint originally went on. I really took my time to make sure it went down flat. It really was beautifully smooth~

But disaster struck.

I had painted the head while it was still separated from the body, and when it finally came time to reunite them, the paint on the head cracked and peeled when I shoved it back on. And, foolish fool that I am, instead of accepting my losses and starting over from a perfectly clean head, I just peeled the lose ends and repainted the exposed parts, which of course made the paint uneven. I somewhat justified this with the idea that most of it would be covered by other details, but in retrospect, I really should have just started over properly.

But, after that ordeal was over with, it was time to actually work on the face.

I can't clearly remember if I worked on Kun3h0 or Kliff's face first. I think I worked on them simultaneously because it took me a LONG time to actually get the courage to work on Kun3h0's face.

I thought I did a decent job on Kun3h0 since I really only had the 1 eye to repaint (the hidden eye is painted, but it's basically just a void with no details), and it was a bigger "canvas", so it was easier to paint. Besides having 2 eyes that I would need to make nearly identical, they were also a lot smaller, so it took a lot longer to paint them in a way that satisfied me (and since it's not easy to "redo" acrylic paint, his eyes lost a lot of smoothness too).

Again, I don't have any "before" pics, so it won't be easy for me to convey my troubles about it, but I do want to say that I think Kliff with a closed mouth is very cursed.

:I

He just looks like he's itching to say something heinous and that is no different for the doll.

It was so difficult for me both match his expression on a face that wasn't *completely* his and still look like him. Although I chose this doll because he most resembled Kliff, he was never gonna be a perfect likeness of him, but despite knowing this, it still bothered me that the face was still just very "young" looking.

Granted, I don't think the original Kliff looks *that* old either (if I didn't know any better, I would assume he was in his 30s, not his 50s, especially compared to other characters around the same age), but still not as *smooth* as the doll is (even with my paint mishaps).

If you can believe it, the face actually used be worse. I don't have pics of it, but like the coat, I actually repainted his face yesterday to again try and fix what was making me dislike it before. I think the problem is that I didn't outline the eyes as much as the final one (like, I don't think I lined his undereye at all), so he was lacking depth. The mouth was also a little more off. Instead of being like "<--->" it was more like "|-|"

(A rough illustration of what I'm trying to describe.)

So, while it's still not perfect, I do like him more today than I did a week ago.

I think the only things left to talk about are his accessories, starting with his wig:

I'm not actually a big fan of the color. When I started this project, I wanted to try and make him as accurate as possible, and the original Kliff design has a very "cherry jolly rancher" hair color.

However, how I draw him and how he appears in Encore Edition gives his hair a more red-orange tone which isn't as intense. In the end, I opted for accuracy towards his first design since that's the one I was technically most familiar with and wanted to replicate, but in retrospect, I should have realized that I was never gonna be able to seperate my personal quirks from this personal project, so I should have gone with a color that was more accurate to how I interpret him. (I dunno if I would have gone as far as to give him triangular eyes, but one of my biggest takeaways from this project has been that I should have just allowed this to be "my take" on the character instead of trying to be "accurate," meeting in the middle, and satisfying neither condition.)

I don't think I really got across how much I HATED brushing out yarn for the wigs when I posted Kun3h0. It was just such a tedidus process, from brushing it out, to straightening it, to gluing it down. It was such a mess. I'm still finding loose wisps of yarn hair floating around my home since I made them.

Since I had more than had my fill from making Kun3h0's wig, I once again started taking shortcuts when it came to Kliff: I really should have made more wefts for him. I figured since his hair was (compartively) shorter, that I wouldn't need to make as many, but in the end his wig turned out both too thin and too thick.

Since his hair is so messy, I didn't follow any kind of guide for his hair like I did Kun3h0. I basically just glued around the perimeter of the cap, horizontally on the inside, and made sure it would fold over in the front.

Part of the problem is that I made the wefts too thick: instead of just gluing down what could actually touch the surface of the work area, I wound up gluing layers on top of each other, so the wefts would be like a mm thick when they should have been less than half of that. So, I barely got enough coverage for the scalp, and the parts that I did get down are very thick. I think it makes his head look bigger than it should which kinda adds to the uncanniness of him.

I did try to style it as close to canon as possible, but there are some things that just aren't (easily) possible in certain mediums, and Kliff's wild hair is one of them.

In retrospect, I probably should have just sculpted his hair with clay or something: it probably would have been more accurate, but I don't have much confidence in my sculpting ability, and again, I didn't want to modify the doll that much, so I stuck with the yarn.

I might suck it up and try and make him a new wig, I still have a LOT of red yarn left over, so maybe I can make him some new styles too. But the tedium of going through with it makes it very unlikely that I'll follow through~

(The wig from other angles.)

Since the beard is made from the same yarn, I'll lightly talk about that. There aren't too many resources about bearded dolls, but I've seen people root it, glue it, and even just paint it if they weren't supposed to be thick. In the end I used this repaint for reference (suggestive content warning) and glued it on.

The scarf covers most of it, but I think it turned out okay. I need to add just a *little* more to his left cheek, but otherwise I feel like I was successful.

Next, it's usually hidden due to all the crap that's on his head, but I did give him an earring.

I didn't think about it until way too late in the process, and I tried to poke a hole through his ear so he could actually wear it. However, when I tried to do so, I almost ruined his head paint a second time. Saying, "fuck that," I decided to just glue it on.

If I had been more brave with modifying this doll, I might have just resculpted his ears entirely, because, being based on a real life human being, the doll's ears don't flare out that much, so they're easily covered by other things.

His glasses are just a piece of painted plastic that hold to his face using some plastic cord. They fit well while his wig is off, but putting them on with everything else is a goddamn nightmare.

Since his ears are so small, and his hair is so short, there's nothing for the glasses to "grab" onto without the cord, but the cord is too short to fit around the wig once it's on, but I can't make the cord longer to sit over the wig, because the glasses need to go over the headband, and it's a pain in the ass trying to layer everything like that.

So, I have to put the glasses in place first, TAPE the cord to his scalp so they don't move, put on the wig, then put on the headband. It's really such a hassle, but I don't think I can truly convey the annoyance of having to do it all without showing you. So, unless I absolutely have to, I'm never taking any of those things off him again.

I think the last things are the headband, mask, and tablet.

The headband is just a spare scrunchy that I have. I don't have one in the *exact* same color as the real one, so I went with the closest one I had, which was this teal color.

I didn't feel comfortable repainting one since it's essentially an elastic band, I don't think the paint, even with the textitle medium, would be able to hold up to all the stretching I have to do to even get it on his head.

If I happen to find a white one somewhere in my stash, then I might try dyeing it using water and acrylic paints to see if I can get it green, but for now, I think this works. A little thick, but it works.

The tablet is just a piece of foam painted with paint markers and the mask is a piece of cardboard. I wasn't planning on really recreating any scenes with this doll, but since I remembered that comic, and thought it would be easy enough to make, I went ahead and made it as an in-joke to myself.

Honestly, I think it's the most charming piece of the entire ensemble. Plus, he can wear it without me having undo/redo any of his other head accessories, so it's easy to make him wear it whenever.

My final comments about the doll itself are that he's fucking huge. I should have taken a pic of him next to Kun3h0, but he is too tall to even fit on my display shelf without sitting.

(Please ignore any mess you might see in the reflection. This is just one of the only flat pieces of furniture he can stand on without me standing on something to take a pic.)

Despite my interests, I don't actually collect dolls (I'm more into figures and plushies), so I wasn't expecting him to be so big. In fact, Kun3h0, who would be considered a small to medium doll in collector's spaces, was also bigger than I thought she'd be, so you can imagine my surprise when I got my hands on him.

So... I don't really know where I can put him. He obviously can't live in front of my TV, but beyond being too big for my shelf, he also doesn't fit in with any of my other collectibles. And I'll be honest, the contrast of him "clearly not belonging" among my more "kawaii" items was a motivator in starting this project, I live for the gap moe after all, but in practice he really just sticks out like a sore thumb. (This is also why his first pics are in a slightly different location without many props. I just couldn't put together anything from my collection or find a spot among my things to take a good thematic pic with. The magazines/CDs he's with are from my dad's collection.)

I do have space at higher elevations in my room, but it's kinda off putting to have him staring down my room, looking like he's plotting something (my space is too small to ignore it). So I dunno what I'm gonna do with him. I did have plans to make him some... cuter outfits so he wouldn't stick out as much, but that requires sewing, and I'm kinda worn out from this project.

In conclusion, despite my troubles with this project, I'm not entirely displeased with the results. At the very least, it was an experience, and one that I might even be willing to do a third time 👀...?

But for now, I'd like to rest and maybe go back to drawing again. I feel like I haven't drawn anything "real" for a while now. We're inching closer and closer to the next follower milestone (4 digit number BA-BY!), so I'd like to at least get back to being good enough to sketch some stuff for y'all soon~

[aransmind]

How did you get into digital drawing and did you already draw and have artistic ability beforehand? I wanna get into it just for fun because I need a hobby since I’ve been going through a tough period but I’ve never been an artist.

I started drawing on digital a year ago. I have been drawing since I was little but my style was realism so having a semirealism style like the one I have now took me a while to get used to it because I've never had a weeb phase and never drew anime style. You should totally get into it!!!! Drawing relaxes you a lot and you'll have so much fun. You never stop learning and that's what I love about art, you never get tired of it.💗💗💗

[kraaico]

Where/how do you get the ideas to make these super cute art? I love art but I basically copy others and I wanna have my own style.

What a nice question!! I could honestly write a book about this, but for now I'll keep it condensed. (maybe uhhhh a blog post later or smthn) ....Sorry it's long anyway lol

These are my thoughts as an independent illustrator/artist that has the time and freedom to create what I wish, keep that in mind. I can't vouch for what it takes to get through art school or build a portfolio for <specific thing X> cause I don't know shit about that, this is just for creating art that you love making.

✨️Developing a style ✨️

A lot of people talk about 'finding your style', but I'm personally an advocate of developing a style - and most importantly it being a process that never stops. Now I don't know how old/experienced you are, but especially when you are just getting into art (and with 'just' I mean years) it'll change a lot because you will be improving a lot!

Now for me personally, I've been busy ~finding a style~ since I was 10. And up to like 2 years ago (I'm now 28) I was frustrated I just wasn't able to find one. Every half year or so I'd try to get back into art "for real this time", stick to one medium and general style and/or subject, and within a matter of weeks become frustrated and then not draw for a good while. That style-mentality really took a toll on the fun I had in making art, but also stunted my own artistic development. I was restricting myself at a stage where I should be everything BUT. I told myself I wasn't good enough, not cut out to be a professional, wouldn't be able to sell myself if I couldn't stick to one thing, yada yada. Great mentality. I'm now in therapy!

Anyway, what broke me free of that was a promise I made to myself back in 2020. I told myself I would get back into making art, but this time, just do what feels fun *at any given moment*. Let go of the pressure. I didn't post to socials and just shared with my friends, and eventually started posting to my then very humble Twitter following. I liked Twitter, cause there wasn't the pressure that Instagram always gave me of having to have a perfect feed. So I drew digitally, I drew with pencils, did some painting, got oil pastels, tried collage. And those experiments all influenced one or another. That's been key for me. If I feel like I hit a creative wall, I just try another medium or another CSP brush or another app on my tablet. Just experiment with lines and colors and not worry about what ends up there. (it's usually cats) Creating like this kept the fun in it for me and I've created nearly every single day since then, and that too is key to style development: Create A LOT. Don't hyperfocus on one perfect piece when you can also create 4 good-enough pieces in the same time.

Now on the topic of copying: it's a natural thing to do. Just be responsible about it! (don't share on socials if you blatantly copy something. While it's a good method to learn certain techniques, it's something that should stay in your private sketchbook) Also be sure to study from many different places, don't fixate on just a couple of artists! Find what inspires you in real life: be it buildings or nature or animals or people or objects, and try to capture them in different ways: from realistic to just the basic shapes. You'll find out what kind of style and level of detail you're naturally drawn to soon enough. Creating your own visual library in your mind by drawing many different things is ultimately what will allow you to put your ideas to paper in a quick and intuitive way. Having a (cheap!) sketchbook that you don't show anyone but just goof around in and explore everything and anything is a very helpful tool.

✨️ Generating ideas ✨️

I get my ideas from SO many different places. Many of my cat paintings were actually created to deal with a strong emotion or feeling I was having at the time.

Now externally, I get a lot of inspiration from nature and from the place I live in. I used to live in a fairly urbanized area, but it wasn't until I moved to the country side with wide and far views that I saw daily that I started getting interested in drawing landscapes. I didn't draw a lot of cats until they were chilling in my garden everyday. When I lived at home I drew a lot of fish, cause my dad had an aquarium. What you see and observe everyday matters. Taking your camera or phone on a walk in the neighborhood and capturing small details is a great way to gather inspiration, even if the area is a bit boring. I have a Fujifilm X100F that I try to carry to most places I go, cause I can quickly photograph things and I like it better than phone photography.

I also draw a lot of ideas from the media I consume: shows, movies, games, comics, music... Sometimes it just hits that inspiration button and lights a lil flame that'll turn into an idea. I love the magical worlds Studio Ghibli creates for example and the soothing calmness that games like Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley have. Things like that just work their way into my art, often subconsiously.

I also draw what I yearn for: be it a doodle of a comforting hot bowl of soup when I crave it, or a beach scene cause I want to go for a beach walk. It's fun, and lets me daydream a little about things I maybe cannot have in that moment.

Another big thing is worldbuilding and storytelling: I have this fictional world in my mind that I desperately want to get out, and it will, piece by piece.

So yeah. There's many places to grab inspiration from. Writing down what inspired you is useful. Doing it every year or so is too, cause then you'll start to see trends and get a better understanding of what drives you. Cause in the end that's what's most important, I think: Find the things that ignite a flame in you and then let it out in a way that is fun and comforting to you. Don't worry about what other people are making or that you're not making what you 'should' make!

I hope this was somewhat helpful - it was fun to write at least, I have many thoughts about this :')

[chzdavmpr]

Delicious in Dungeon Reading Diary Vol 5

Spoilers below, obviously

Oh so we are getting right into Falin weirdness off rip.

I called it that this person was the mad mage.

Hmm. So they recognize Laios, but know it's from within a painting that they recognize him. I'm surprised but I think that actually fully explains how the painting work. I guess it's time for a big rant on my guess as to how living painting work. If you don't care skip this paragraph. Ok so the mad mage made the paintings to trap people and it seems like whenever someone enters them a scene starts playing like a tape, except that people trapped inside can interact with things. These recordings are of things that actually happened, and the people within them act roughly how they actually did. However the mad mage is the exception to this. It seems that they can either perceive through the scenes of their painting counterpart or just know everything that happens in the painting. It also seems that they can choose to override their painting counterpart's recorded actions and take control of them, allowing them to know that laios was in all the paintings. This I'm a bit iffy on because if I recall they seem to think Laios is some kind of kingdom infiltrator in the painting which wouldn't quite line up but it's the best I got. Additionally you can draw/paint extra stuff onto the painting and it will be sentient but won't be in the painting proper, just kinda in a plane on top of the painting, or maybe that's just because Laios drew bad. Either way that is a lot, but hopefully this is the last time I should spend way too long talking about living paintings.

Very funny how the label follows them. I also love Senshi's face of "what the hell man those are my hams"

Oh so since Falin was made with the dragon's flesh and blood she is the dragon. Wait does this mean Falin is dead forever? I sure hope not.

I'm skipping over most of the next 3 chapters, I'll get to them in my final thoughts.

Wow this samurai guy is having just an awful time.

So senshi probably got the cheese from the orcs. But I should mention I've also been watching the anime with some friends as it comes out. And one of them has a huge pet peeve about every time they have oil in the dish, since he says they should've run out forever ago. I'm not bothered by it at all, and find it very funny how he reacts every time oil is on screen. The reason I bring this up now is if this cheese is seen more then just this once he is gonna blow his gourd and it will be very funny.

Senshi giving Chilchuck "the talk" is so funny that I literally got light head from laughing.

It's very cool that Laios is learning magic. I feel a lot of stories wouldn't do that just because he's "the fighter" and Marcille is "the wizard" and they would have to stay as those archetypes.

The art in this whole series is great. I love the way the cockatrice is drawn here.

It may have been fine if it didn't come right after another whole chapter where Chilchuck recaps the story so far like there's been a hiatus and they wanna make sure you remember everything.

Man this chapter is on a roll with these A+ panels

I somehow only just now, while taking the above picture, that the chapter called cleaners has the characters dressed up as cleaners. That's cute and I may be a little stupid.

Ok so I was gonna say this this guy may be Delgal hiding, since we saw that the mad mage is looking for him.

But then I remembered; isn't the whole backstory for the golden city that it's king told of the mad mage and then died? Cause that would make it kinda hard to find him.

But then now when I'm composing this I'm remembering that the dungeon doesn't allow people to die, so either he died right outside or that story was wrong. Hmmm.

Seriously every panel with Shuro has him look like the worlds most depressed man.

He's practically sinking into the earth.

You know in retrospect, if the Dungeon Gormet Guide was a bunch of lies and guesses it's awfully lucky that it's happened to be right about what is and is not poisonous. (Or which tentacles' swelling can be reduced with vinegar)

To conclude my thoughts on this volume, that first chapter is great. I was a little worried about what the next plot hook would be but it delivered. They just show straight up that the elf is the lord of the dungeon. And they introduce the mystery of "what is going on with falin." But then it spends 2 whole chapters just telling us stuff we already know. Like it was kinda cool seeing the B Team piece together who A Team is with limited knowledge, but other then the stuff about Shuro there wasn't much new or interesting.

And then the party is just trapped on the 5th floor the entire volume, I imagine because next volume their plans will change and they won't want to go back to the surface and the author wanted to avoid too much backtracking. Which I get, but it ends up feeling like a bunch of these chapters are just kinda killing time until the B team shows up.

That being said, still a great volume of manga. Probably the weakest so far, but only because it's a like a 4.5 instead of a 4.75 or 5.

[gornackeaterofworlds]

did you know that it’s hard to get anons when you have anon turned off lol

but. when did you start drawing? writing? what’s your creative journey? 👀

I do, I turned them off when desceros did and for the same reason. I tend to see "anons" and "asks" as interchangeable. I can turn them back on if you'd like

Oo that's so funny actually. I was writing before I was drawing, funny enough. I mean, I've drawn traditionally forever. But digitally it was very sparse and usually tracing, and I'd never post it

I got into call of duty in the fall of 2022, and started writing fic for it soon after. I orphaned everything. A few headcanons, some fics I immediately deleted but the ideas are still very tempting....and a long fic called If I Could Be Vulnerable. I had forced myself to write every day for it, and lost steam pretty quickly. I got really embarrassed of how bad I think it is and orphaned all my works. The fact it was ever popular astounds me and I'm proud of my numbers, even if I still absolutely hate the fic

I drew nsfw of CoD here and there, but deleted it all soon after out of embarrassment. But then an incredible artist and friend convinced me to put my OCs on artfight last July, and I drew almost daily during artfight. This was massive for me, I only drew like once a month at most before this. I didn't really color my AF works then, despite coloring past works, because I didn't really know how to render and was afraid. But after art fight, I watched tutorials. I learned things about ibis paint. I found the brush I use for rendering to this day. I started coloring, then rendering. I slowly stopped using references(nothing against them, but I was very dependent on them for a while).

These are pieces from a year ago, and surprisingly I hadn't used references for these, I didn't use them for a lot of my old AF attacks, which confuses me why I grew dependent on them after this.

I started drawing backgrounds sparingly a few months ago. I only learned what clipping was maybe two months ago maximum. I found lens blur, which I use for rendering also and allows me to be lazier

I tried to force myself to write fic since I moved into a hotel a year ago, and it's just not happening. I don't think it'll happen for another two months at least. My comics are also on hiatus until that point, despite how tempting it is to get the arc over with, I just can't do it. I love to write, so so much, even if it's really hard for me and I don't think it's good. So no hiatus will be permanent unless things are truly at their lowest

I think my art has grown a lot 😭 that is my journey, and I'm proud of it

[vidreview]

VIDREV: "Tim Burton's World of Sadboys" by Infinite Snow Productions

[originally posted april 29 2023]

Not only are you the exact brand of person who Neon Genesis Evangelion is about, you are also the exact brand of person who would completely and confidently miss the point of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

sometimes you come across an essay that says everything you've always wanted to say about a thing but could never quite work out how to fit together all in one place. this is one of my those. like a lot of film-loving millennials who went through an emo phase, Tim Burton holds a very special and deeply complicated place in my heart. the bizarre gothic aesthetics of his worlds brimming over with eccentric freaks captured my imagination as a deeply closeted trans teen who didn't feel normal anywhere [she] went. yes i wanted to be Lydia from Beetlejuice, no i never sat down and questioned what that might say about me personally! some of my earliest childhood memories are of playing with a plastic action figure of Catwoman from Batman Returns. that's not really related to anything, i just wanted to mention accidentally stabbing myself in the hand with one of her ears so hard it drew blood when i was a toddler. so obviously as an aspiring writer with dreams of maybe one day directing movies, Tim Burton felt like the perfect role model for the kind of creator i wanted to be back in 2002.

but as the years went on and Burton revealed himself to be maybe the biggest sellout of his generation, i stopped really thinking about his films and kind of felt embarrassed for having liked them as much as i once did. i think people who grew up with his stuff had this feeling that, like, Edward Scissorhands or whatever was their own personal secret, this little missive from Burton to you that no one else understood, that only you were smart enough to get. but then time happened and suddenly you realized that actually most people liked his stuff, you just didn't get out much. it's sort of like how when you're a teen in 2004 Neon Genesis Evangelion is this niche special interest no one's ever heard of that people would make fun of you for liking if their eyes didn't glaze over halfway through the title, and then you grow up and learn that Eva is the eighth most financially successful anime franchise on planet earth and you're like what

narratively Burton's films are about as socially conservative as you can get while still retaining a veneer of liberal plausible deniability. a couple years ago Maggie Mae Fish did a video dissecting Burton's work that helped clarify a lot of this stuff for me, and ever since then i've been waiting for someone else to pick up that ball and really barrel down into the psychology of the man. don't get me wrong, psychoanalytic media criticism can be dangerous and should only be deployed with excessive caution (and please for the love of god Do Not Quote Freud Jung or Lacan), but Burton's own brand is so surface-level personal and his work far too juiced up with extremely telling themes not to merit at least a little bit of psychoanalysis. i've often idly considered doing it myself, in that "this would make a really good video essay" kind of way when something isn't really in your wheelhouse but maybe would be a fun challenge if you could motivate yourself to care enough, knowing you never will.

enter Tim Burton's World of Sadboys, an essay which does all of this and more. i'm not sure i actually have a whole lot to say about this one, besides that it's everything i hoped it would be from the thumbnail. host Delaney Jordan very succinctly conjures the eternal specter hanging over the Burton oeuvre: that he's one of the vanishingly few directors this century who has had carte blanche to make just about anything he wanted, yet he's consistently chosen to make films about lonely white boys who are sad they can't wear their The Cure t-shirt into the office, and who are honestly quite sick of being unfairly associated with those freaks in the goth scene. the sad truth about Burton that we all had/have to come to terms with is that he's just another boring rich conservative suburbanite, except he wears black and doesn't pay anyone to touch his hair.

this essay does a couple of really smart things structurally. we kick things off with a legendary Orson Welles quote tearing down the scoundrel Woody Allen (read by the hosts of Oddity Roadshow and Critical Bits, the only actual play podcasts i still listen to), a choice that works even if you don't really know anything about Welles or Allen or Burton, and only works better the more you know about them. of course the thumbnail and section titles invoke Evangelion, but you don't really know how this could be relevant until later on when Burton is explicitly framed as a Shinji Ikari type. making that specific historical connection to Welles, within this specific overarching intertextual connection to Evangelion, is just so smart. it's such a galaxy brain framework for an essay and it's why i decided to write up this review.

it works because it gets out of the way. Jordan wastes almost no time hedging bets, making apologies, clarifying asterisks-- i spent most of my time nodding along, delighted for once to be the choir she's preaching to. sometimes i think essayists can let The Point They Want To Make eclipse the simple joy of deconstructing someone else's art. if there's any crime i've committed most as a video essayist myself, it's probably that one. what i appreciate here is, again, Jordan gets it. she gets that it's fun to rubberneck a career like Burton's. he's an easy target that you don't have to feel bad about being kind of mean to, and his work is popular enough that you don't need to waste any time doing recaps. somewhere in the middle i was disappointed to realize she wasn't structurally devoting time to Every Single Film, but by the end i was glad of it. the compulsion to Say Absolutely Everything You Can Possibly Think To Say is strong in the video essayist's heart, and let's be real most of the time that makes for pretty fucking boring essays. maybe it's weird to talk about pacing and flow in the context of a video essay, but here we are. this one just scratches an itch for me with its front to back competence. you can always tell when an essay has been brewing in someone's head for a long time, likely practiced in chunks at parties and social gatherings for years and years until the day of its final refined delivery, and oh how sweet it is when that's an experience you share.

i guess i'll end this on a serious note.

nostalgia has engulfed Hollywood. nothing new can be made because nothing new is a sure bet, so all the big developments in creative tools these days are about composting the culture that already exists. deepfakes, chat-gpt, algorithmic image generation, things of this nature. given this moment in history, i think it's more important than ever that we as adults seriously interrogate the media we're nostalgic for. Disney's place at the center of all this can't be ignored, because it's spent the better part of a century embedding its products into american childhood and thus today has an army of devotees who will defend their frankly kind of mid fairy tale cartoons to the death. Tim Burton, on a much smaller scale, has done precisely the same thing: equating his art with himself, equating loving his art with being on Tim Burton's side rather than simply, you know, enjoying a movie that you saw on tv once. and god, oh dear god, please for heaven's sake let us not even Begin to conversate on the matter of Harry Potter. we live in a moment when the average human person has been so thoroughly dispossessed of any material influence on or connection with the systems and bodies that actually drive civilization, that fiction is the only thing that feels like it belongs to us anymore. it quite demonstrably doesn't, of course, but that's the illusion Disney et al deliberately peddle in order to maintain public acceptance of their monopoly.

given all this, i'll never fail to appreciate an essay that cuts right through the blinders of nostalgia and isn't afraid to dig deep into the core of the issue. i think it's good to be a hater sometimes actually. i think it's good when a critic refuses to humor our culture's simpering deference to corporate robber barons of intellectual property and their endless stable of lazy sellout toadies like Tim Burton. idk man, there's a reason these ghouls want you to love them unconditionally and i really don't think it has anything to do with filling your life with selfless wonder and joy de vivre

anyway it's a good essay with some good laughs, go watch it

[slow-slug]

(not) lonesome practicalism

AN: Okay first of all, the person who forced me into making tumblr account, please do not look at this post lmao I want to save my dignity, let's pretend it's not here. Second of all it's all @angelchigiri fault that I've written it, and thirdly it was not suppose to be that long but my hand slipped. And at the end I want to mention, english is not my first language and I do not have a beta, so yk, probably a lot of mistakes, sorry :,) Enjoy!

Its all fluff I promise! Oh and it's Chigiri x Reader ofc!

🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀

🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀

You pouted as the ball you just had kicked rolled not into the direction you wanted it to go. You had to admit it was a very pitiful picture, the net of the goal waved slightly with barely noticeable breeze, and the ball was, well, not in the middle of it as you wanted it to be. 

It was really frustrating, you were on the field that belonged to your old school, for quite some time now. Long enough that the sun started to set, and the hot summer temperature was slowly but surely becoming a chilly one. 

You felt like a fool, despite the fact that because of summer vacations no one was nearby, you still were feeling rather embarrassed. How was kicking a ball into the right direction so hard? It just never went the way you wanted it to go, honestly it was so silly, all you wanted to do was learn some basic football movements. That’s all! Was it so bad wanting to be more invested in your boyfriend's activities and passions?

You flopped down on the hard ground, feeling the artificial texture of it beneath your fingers. 

Sighhhh.

Honestly, Chigiri was so amazing in every way. He was caring, a gentleman in always asking about your mood, and making sure you were comfortable in everything you two were doing. Since you started dating, two months ago, suddenly your world felt a lot brighter and colorful. You spent so much time together, and when not, you were texting and sending stupid photos to each other. A true honeymoon phase in all its glory.

But the most important thing to you that he was doing was the way he was so invested in your hobbies and interests. You never had someone so, so genuinely interested in your passions. It was such an amazing feeling, when he sent you links to silly videos that he knew you would be interested in, and what's most important was the fact that he was never scared to spend time with you doing those activities. No matter what it was. Baking? He would research the best recipe that there exists. Dancing? Bring it on, with his coordination skills it was a lot of fun twirling together. Drawing? He wasn’t really good at it, but you still had the portret he drew of you, hanging up proudly above your desk. Hell, he even went shopping with you for new makeup products you needed and later, when you got back to your house, he did face masks with you and cuddled while watching some cheesy kdrama. 

And you wanted to return the favor, so, a whole week you spent walking to the field and practicing the damned football. It was your favorite thing, watching him being all excited about matches and scores. He smiled so widely and his eyes sparkled with such a real passion. And you wanted to be part of this world as well. 

You understood the rules of the game, knew the professional and more inside terms used for different moves, you were there for Chigir’s practice when you only could, you were watching matches with him and engaged in long discussions about them. 

The only thing is that, well, you kindly speaking, sucked at playing the actuall game. 

And it was so embarrassing! 

You heard your boyfriend's wishes that you could play some nice and short matches. He had never said it outloud, but you could read between the lines well enough that you understood his shy smiles and quick looks on the field when you were passing by it. So you did the only reasonable thing. Decided to learn this sport, at least a little bit, so you could surprise Chigiri and see his beautiful smile when you would show him the skills you had. 

You observed the slowly moving clouds. Well, you must admit that the practice you had, everyday for the whole week, was really effortless. Sadly. The ball never went in the direction you wanted it to go, you couldn’t run with it without losing it or falling on your face. You didn’t even attempt dribbling. 

You covered your eyes with your arm sighing quietly, and felt the frustrated tears to prickle them. This isn’t fair, you’ve seen so many matches, and Chigiri’s practices, so why couldn’t you repeat any of the things he did? 

The moment you decided to stand up and try again you felt someone laying down next to you also sighing quietly. Your tensed muscles relaxed as you felt your boyfriend’s comforting smell enveloping you. Dammit, you didn’t even hear him creeping on you.

You laid in silence for some time, breathing quietly. Then you felt his pinky touching delicately yours, and you smiled softly against your will. 

“Are you gonna tell me what you've been up to this past week?” He asked quietly not breaking the tiny physical contact he had with you. 

“It’s stupid” you’ve murmured. 

“It’s not if you spent so much time on it” he responded gently. 

That made you uncover your face and shift it so you could take a better look at him. Pink hair spilled around him, and tickled his perfectly looking skin. His pink eyes blinked at you, patiently waiting for your answer. 

“Promise you won’t laugh?” You’ve asked uncertainly, it was so stupid now that you looked at it. He nodded softly, enveloping your hand fully and giving it an encouraging squeeze. “I just wanted to learn some basic football I guess…” you turned your eyes to your hands observing the color of your skin. You heard a quiet oh, and your face flamed red. 

You’ve quickly sat up, and buried your head in your knees. That’s it for you, never coming back nope. And Chigiri was still silent! He did sit up with you, not so abruptly as you of course. He was always so smooth and elegant in every move. 

“You did?” He sounded weirdly breathless. You nodded without looking at him. You sat there in silence for a while. You wanted to go away, to stand and ask Chigiri to forget it, to never mention it again, so you can just skip this embarrassing chapter of your life. Yet, before you could act on those thoughts, you felt arms wrapping around you from behind and his hair tickle your nape when he leaned on it with his forehead. 

“Gods I love you so much.” He whispered in a hushed tone. You felt the warmth on your cheeks and the butterflies in your stomach. Chigiri never really says it outloud, his love is more hidden in gentle kisses and in the time you two spend together. You muffled a groan, his random declarations of love will always mean so much to you.

He stood up, and turned to be in front of you. When you looked up, the last sun rays made up a halo around his hair and the smile that graced his lips was so fond and kind. He put out a hand in your direction. 

“Come I’ll teach you.” And in what world would you say no to him? 

🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀🥀

i feel cringe

[muchmuch-xii]

Morine is a character I created a long, long time ago. I was still in secondary school. Since then, I've grown up, but she hasn't. And I abandoned her for a long time.

I was focused on other things, my friends, my family, other projects. Then during the lockdown I came back to her. I drew her, rewrote her story and drew her again. It was the first time I'd drawn a character I'd created. Before that, I'd only made copies or fan art. I was proud. I realized for the first time that I was capable of drawing something myself.

Well, with hindsight today I find her very ugly, but that's not the point !

Thanks to her, I met a friend with whom I've been in daily contact ever since. She inspired me to write again. She gave me the courage to create other characters that I love do much.

And then I abandoned her again. My studies took up a lot of space and, above all, another character occupied all my thoughts. After rewriting Morine's story, I decided to take on a much older character. I rewrote her whole life, her history, her past, her design, her way of being, her relationships. It took time, a lot of time, and energy. I couldn't think of Morine and this character at the same time. So I left her out.

Then, a little over a year ago, I decided to focus on Morine again. And I couldn't believe how lame the character was ! She was flat ! No depth ! A real Mary Sue... Normal ! She had been written by a 15-year-old girl. And when I rewrote her, I didn't yet have the creative tools I have now.

So I started all over again. I've changed her name : back then, she was called Kabune, which meant "cub" in japanese. You can make the connection with the wolfhound in the old drawings. I changed her character, her story, her interactions with the other characters. As a result, Morine is hardly the same character as Kabune.

There were a few hitches too. For example, I had trouble coming up with a new name. In Noragami, names are important, so the author often plays with kanji to make them interesting and meaningful. But I don't speak Japanese. So I had to rely on online translators... Big mistake !

Morine means Forest + the suffix Ne, which is significant to the Yato group. All his Shinkis have a name ending in Ne. Yukine, Kazune, Tomone. Since Morine has a special connection with the woods, I wanted a name that meant that word. Quite simply ! Except that in French, we have a homonym between the word for wood and the verb to drink, conjugated in the present tense. Can you feel the problem coming ? My translator translated the verb to drink in Japanese instead of wood, so I ended up with a name that, while very pretty, didn't really mean anything ! Nomune…

I realized this when talking to someone who was learning a little Japanese. I was disgusted! So I settled on the word Forest, and here I am with Morine. Which I think is beautiful and suits her perfectly.

Another problem : spoilers at the end of Noragami.

I wanted Morine to transform into a deer. Since Shinkis have the ability to transform into either an object or an animal, I thought it would be interesting in terms of the story I wanted to tell with her ! Except that in the meantime, the final chapters of Noragami have been released, and guess what ? Yukine has unlocked this ability ! This little rascal turns into a wolf. It's very stylish, but I was pissed off. Fun fact, in her first version, Morine (Kabune at the time) also turned into a wolf.

But despite all that, today I think I've found a story that suits me. A story that suits her, coherent and interesting. I'm missing a few details that will come in time, but I know what I want to tell. And even though no one gives a damn, no one reads these posts or cares about my work, I can't wait to write it so I can say to myself again : I did it ! I created her by myself.

[orchideous-nox]

Thoughts on Quibbler's less common ships (like Seabunny!!)? :3

I've been here since before he was yapping about them publically, I was getting all this stuff in my DMs months ago so I've had a while to take in his headcanons and yapping.

That being said, I think I generally feel quite similarly to Alex but he is much more passionate while I appreciate them quietly because I'm still learning and figuring them out.

Anyway, I checked with him and these are the ships that Quib-bitch (< 3) wants me to talk about!

Seabunny - I really enjoy Igor as a character, I always thought he was interesting from what we know about him canonically, so I like the idea that Charity sees this guy and wants to find some good in him and bring out something that he's buried deep down perhaps, but is also just like "he's never going to be perfect, so I'll also just take him as being a piece of shit because he fucks good". He also likes that there isn't pressure to be who he is expected to be with her, he can be gentle without judgement if that's what he chooses.

Starrynight - I have less opinions about this ship. It took me a while to come around to seeing Severus as more than just how a majority of the fandom sees him. That being said, I do enjoy starrynight, I think they're two people who have a great appreciation for each other that spans throughout their school years and into their teacher years. Aurora is so cool to me, I lowkey love her and the way Alex drew her in his yearbook is like chef's kiss. I think they're two people who seem very 😐 to everyone else but they understand each other's tiny little intricacies that other people don't bother trying to learn.

Wiseprince - Okay this was the OG ship that Alex would yap to me about which made me be like "ohhhhh okay this could be cool". Edmund Jr is so closeted and he only lets himself accept that part of him when it's just him and Sev and even then he hates it and doesn't fully understand what the feelings are. They're an awkward mess of unarticulated angsty yearning and deep deep denial and for some reason I vibe with this dynamic.

Crownest - The cupboard scene in GoF. That is all. Like how can you watch those two in that film and not see two exes who are forced into being in the same place after years and spend most of their time talking shit about the other and glaring at each other. I don't see any tenderness between them, it's not some gentle fluffy love, it's low-key toxic and they're not in it for each other specifically, Severus doesn't sit there fantasizing about Igor and Igor isn't writing "Mr Igor Snape" in the margins of his notebooks.

Goldenshower - Sorry Alex, but if you're not coming up with a better ship name then I will continue to call them this. These two are not good for each other. There is a reason Gilderoy (my boy Roy) is the golden part of the ship and it's not all piss related. He doesn't want his reputation tarnished. Igor also doesn't want people thinking he's going to become someone like Gilderoy and actively teases him for being a pristine posh-boy. That being said, I think there is a dirty side of Gilderoy that he only lets out around Igor. But they're still not good for each other.

Aurora x Pandora - Alex hasn't come up with a ship name for these two yet so suffer with that. I feel very strongly about cosmiccreation (but this much is probably obvious on my blog), but I kinda fuck with this I think. Like I could vibe with this but there's not much content about them really.

If you want to know about any other ships specifically then let me know! I'm happy to yap, though my headcanons might be limited depending on ships because I base a lot of my knowledge about the Snape's Gang characters off Quibbler's posts and him yapping in my DMs (which I love, makes me feel special that I get some of this before it sees the light of day).

[inkdemonapologist]

Some Inconclusive Squinting At Wilson And Audrey's Timelines

Probably someone else has already had thoughts on this, but here's some of mine!

WILSON:

World War 1 ended in Nov 1918. Given Nathan was shipped overseas in the final year, it's likely he participated til the end, meaning that if he got busy with Tessa the INSTANT he got home, Wilson would be born in mid 1919 and be, uh, 53 years old by the time of BatDR

No offense to Wilson but he is NOT looking good for 53

Also Wilson somehow sounds approximately a gazillion times older than his dad's audiologs, which, since they're about the death of Joey Drew and the opening of Arch Gate Pictures, are from just a couple years ago.

There's a few different ways headcanon could go on this I think, but I actually have a small speculation/theory on this one: Wilson has been in the Ink Realm for over a decade, thus "removed from the march of time" in reality, but since he's human (the only human!) and not an ink creature, he's been aging while in the Ink Realm.

We know he's been in and out before, and a decade or more could give him enough time to learn about and do all the bullshit he's doing. Henry mentions that he hasn't eaten in years, which could be a mistaken guess -- but if he's correct, would mean he's been captured a lot longer than the 211 days they've been ink-demon-free.

This could also fit with Wilson's weird note about being hidden in plain sight:

"It's been years and my face is still a mystery to my coworkers. They don't know me. They avoid me as if I carried some infectious disease. At first, this was an insult. But now... it is a gift. With the right costume, I can play the part of anyone. I can go completely unnoticed, hidden amongst the shadowed walls. As a clerk, an artist, a producer. Or even... a lowly janitor."

I don't think it's controversial to say that Wilson is eXTREMELY DISTINCTIVE AND VERY NOTICEABLE ACTUALLY, and even the man himself describes being intentionally avoided as if he's diseased, which is sort of the opposite of being unnoticeable. But if Wilson came out of the machine looking over a decade older and was suddenly treated like a weird old man when he's only in his 50s... both his offended confusion and his later realisation that this is an opportunity to be unrecognisable could fit.

(do i think this is intended? tbh probably not. do i think it makes more sense? YES) anyway next up,

AUDREY:

We hear the "tell me another story, Uncle Joey" line in BatIM, which takes place in 1963. Joey describes his previous attempts as those that "came before" Audrey, so most likely he had not created Audrey yet.

This would mean Audrey was created in 1963 at earliest, and is a young woman by the time of BatDR in 1973

This does not look like a 10 year old:

So Joey didn't just create her as a ten year old and then by BatDR she's 20; Something weird happened with her aging. ...this isn't like, a plot hole or anything; she's an ink creature and she can grow up however quickly she wants/Joey wants. BUT IT DOES RAISE SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT EXACTLY HOW THAT WENT DOWN, especially considering that Joey died only 2 years ago, describes having a pretty significant relationship to her, and then in BatDR she has completely forgotten he's her dad. There's so many pieces;

Wilson (dubious trustworthiness) says she'll forget everything, implying that on entering the ink realm she'll lose her memories -- though afaik none of her other actions or comments seem to reflect a loss of memory on any other topic (for example, confidently telling Wilson "I've never done anything to you!" rather than a question of "What did I ever do to you?!")

Similarly, her "Well, newsflash! I didn't even know my father!" line does NOT sound like she suddenly can't remember her dad -- the emotion in it sounds like something that's been kind of a sore spot for a while. Even a new, fudged memory wouldn't have the time to build up this frustration in the Ink Realm... it feels pre-existing.

Joey (dubious trustworthiness) asserts that she's chosen to forget.

With her age being weird we have no idea when she left home; she could've been out on her own for a few years, and depending on the circumstances, may have had reason to forget/dismiss the memories of a very anomalous childhood.

Nathan never mentions her and does not have any explanation for Joey's boosted spirits (when you would think "apparently he adopted a child!" would be a pretty reasonable guess), so she does not seem to PUBLICLY be known as Joey's daughter

With absolutely no information there's space for a lot of speculation -- since she's his creation, can Joey tweak her memories? Can he give her a different backstory? Or did Audrey just end up in a different living situation and her brain decided her "ten years of growing up crammed into 4 years of time" memories with Joey didn't make sense? Did Joey have to give her up for some reason? Or did she and Joey have a huge argument/falling out that led to her leaving home? Did Joey try to demonstrate the truth to her and it was so weird that she just blocked it all out? etc etc etc

She still has the animation cell signed by Henry, and the TioL book with Joey's storyboard notes, which I feel like, she must've been given by Joey? So like, does she know Joey raised her, and she called him "dad" with the assumption he was her adoptive father, and she just wonders about a birth family that must exist but that she never knew? This one feels the most sensible to me, but also doesn't track with Memory Joey making the assumption that she's "chosen to forget" -- though it's also possible he's just being dramatic, or that Memory Joey just didn't know. Or, combine this with the one about Joey telling her the truth and her just repressing that because it's too weird, so she remembers her relationship with her father but not the origin story??? And like... I guess also this would mean the machine DID scramble her memories some so that Memory Joey wasn't shocking to her to meet?

Anyway, I haven't been able to cobble together a SATISFYING THEORY about Audrey's timeline so much as a bunch of really interesting headcanon fodder, depending on how you want to interpret Joey.... Just feels like there's a big space there where SOMETHING Obviously Happened but absolutely no clues towards what it might be.

[josephlikesmusic]

The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess - Chappell Roan (2023)

Um, can you play a song with a fucking beat? Chappell Roan's debut album is a fun look at both queer and midwestern culture, with themes of self-discovery, lost love, and the deep connection to one's home. The undeniably catchy tunes caught my attention, but the goofy yet relatable lyrics truly reeled me into the album. I've known of Roan since she started promoting her single HOT TO GO! on TikTok, with many of her videos appearing on my for you page about a year ago. I enjoyed seeing Roan's performances of the song, and the memorable dance that went along with it, but kept her on the backburner of my mind. That was until the beginning of this summer, where I started seeing her all over social media. Every snippet of Roan's music that I heard drew me in more, and I've finally gotten around to giving the full album a listen.

Naked in Manhattan and Hot to Go stand out to me as fun, memorable songs that have been playing on loop in my brain for days now. Both of these songs make you want to just get up and dance, especially Hot to Go with it's cheerleader-esque beat. I also love how raunchy the lyrics are, especially for such upbeat dance-pop songs.

As I mentioned before, Roan's lyrics are incredibly relatable to many queer people, especially those from America's midwest. As one of these midwestern gays, I never thought I relate so much to a song called "Pink Pony Club". Pink Pony Club tells the story of a girl from Tennessee, who dreams of being a part of the Californian drag scene but fears rejection and disappointment from her mother. While I may not have this same dream, I am a music major so I also face a lot of rejection and disappointment from my mother. This song is not only lyrically beautiful, but sounds just as great with an amazing vocal performance by Roan. She has such an incredible emotional range in her songwriting, making hits that are simultaneously fun to listen to, and interesting to learn about. Songs like Pink Pony Club, Casual, and Redwine Supernova excite me for Roan's future work, especially now that she has captures the attention of the public.

Midwest Princess was such an entertaining album to listen to, with such great songwriting that I was shocked to find out that this was only her first full album. Chappell Roan is one of a handful of modern pop artists that have re-engaged me with current pop music. I wasn't liking a majority of pop music that was being released from 2020 to 2022, but projects such as this one or Brat have let me know that not only is some incredible pop music coming out, but that people are loving it! It has been great seeing people support such a new and experimental artist as Roan. Her music stands out as bold but fun, a fresh new sound that I adore. I can't wait to see where Roan goes with her next project, but her career is definitely off to a great start.

[mintmoth]

Hi! I'm a super big fan of your art, everything is so pretty and amazing and I just wanna consume it every time I see one of your comics or illustrations. I just wanted to ask (cause I looked around a lil but didn't see anything covering this, if I missed it so sorry haha) what art program/tablet do you use to draw? Also, do you have any tips for beginning artists? I'm trying to get into drawing but I'm not too sure where to start TwT

AAAAA 😭😭 you're too sweet!! Thank you so much!

Also omg personally I use an iPad with the program/app procreate on it to draw!

I'm gonna put everything else under a read more since I got a little wordy oops

Honestly if I were to offer any beginning artist tips I think the biggest one is to just have fun. I know it sounds silly but really like just have fun and don't worry about what you're drawing being perfect or exactly what you had in mind or anything like that. As long as you're having fun and doing your best and not stressing about what you're creating you'll find yourself wanting to draw and create more- and it's within time and persistence that your skills develop

Also while it's good to draw every day since you do need to actively draw more to improve, don't stress about making sure you do! Just go at your own pace and draw when you feel like it!

I think I stress both of these points since they're things I've been working on and struggling with off and on too, realizing I don't have to be constantly drawing and that what I do draw doesn't have to be perfect, and honestly my comics have been a great exercise in letting myself make things "imperfect"

Relating to actual drawing skill sets, I do think that doing figure drawing is incredibly important since learning anatomy is crucial to drawing, even if it's not the most fun thing. Really if you see someone in a cool pose- typically real life photos- if you just try to see the shapes the human body makes and just loosely sketch a messy version of where their body shapes are can help. You don't have to break them down super basically like some tutorials do, unless that helps you! Everyone draws differently so there's no Right Way to do anything. Here's some examples from some I did a while back! I used highlighters since it made it so I couldn't erase, so I had to be more purposeful in my lines, but you can use any medium you want!

And don't worry if it doesn't look exactly like the photo you're drawing from- you're learning!

Another thing is that references are your friend, looking at things and figuring out how to draw them is incredibly helpful so don't be afraid to look up anything you're trying to draw for help

Something I used to do specifically for learning, was looking at photos or even pieces of art I thought were cool and then trying to draw something how I saw it, to understand someone else's use of shape and form. These were things I kept in sketchbooks to just figure out how to draw things like hands and feet and legs, using real life and other's works as a reference to teach myself

Then later while drawing on my own, if I couldn't figure out how to draw something I would go back to my own references and practices to help myself by using my own referenced art as a reference- here's a whole page of hands I drew a couple years ago while looking at photos of hands and also some art (uhhh I believe it was from GinjaNinjaOwO on youtube- if you DO post anything you've referenced poses or elements from, be sure to credit the original artist you've taken reference from!)

You can see I've got a lot of mistakes and scribbles and wonky forms- because I was just trying to understand the shapes and practice drawing hands on my own time, this wasn't anything I had ever drawn with the intention of posting lmao

But! You can do this for any kind of thing you're trying to learn, from arms to facial shapes to hands- just learning what kind of shapes and forms bodies or anything else you're trying to draw take

As far as the side of what kind of stuff to USE to draw, really I'd say to not be afraid of pencil and paper, I know digital art can have a nice and clean polish to it, but especially if you're learning it's really nice to just have a sketchbook (any kind work, just find paper you like! I've been using dot grid notebooks lately!) and a pencil or pen or really anything you feel comfortable with, that you can just loosely draw with and use whenever you like

For digital hardware while I do LOVE the iPad, I know they're pricier and not everyone jives with them, so I'd recommend drawing tablets by the brand Huion, since I've had a great time with them in the past when I used my laptop with Paint Tool Sai, which I also highly recommend as a drawing program, but keep in mind you can use anything! I have a friend who makes AMAZING works just using mspaint lmao

Honestly! In the end, like I said, just focus on having fun and drawing things that you want to without worry for being perfect or 100% anatomically accurate or anything. There's fundamentals that are the best base to build off of but never stress too much about it. Have fun creating! 💙💜