#I have done more sketches in 6 months this year than I have in like the past 7 years

[rowan-of-waterdeep]

I have a love-hate relationship with the character of Astarion.

I love the depth, the emotion, the sheer humanity that Larian managed to imbue into that little bunch of pixels.

I love that Larian pulled Neil in time and time again over four years to work on Astarion *with* him.

I love that Neil helped to shape Astarion's story. Advocated for him. Pushed for the *right* dialogues. Was the person to say "He wouldn't say that!"

I love that Neil is both passionate about Astarion and vehemently does not want to be him.

I love that Neil did such a wonderful job on Astarion's voice and movement. He deserves every damn award he's received.

I hate that the other actors didn't seem to get the same opportunity to engage with their character and put out the same sort of performance as Neil did. Because yes, he did an amazing job. But the playing field does not seem to have ever been level.

I hate that Neil in particular has had so many issues with fans because a vulnerable hurting character attracts the predators.

I hate that the other characters didn't get the same level of attention and love, and that it shows so damn dramatically.

I hate that Wyll, our only Black companion, got 6 months of Theo shoved into a sound booth with lines thrown at him and often no idea of what would be coming that day.

I hate that Theo seems to have never had the chance to really grasp or understand Wyll's story, let alone advocate for him, because everything was so rushed and he was basically burning the candle at both ends.

I hate that it shows so much in Wyll's story, his interactions, everything.

I hate that I love Astarion and constantly resent this fictional character a little because he gets to be an oil painting and the other characters are a collection of crayon drawings and sketches.

I hate that despite the glaring issues with the characters and questlines, Larian has still done better than most *major* game studios when it comes to thoughtful, considerate representation and diversity, and how far there is to go.

I hope that Larian were using Astarion as a litmus test. That they wanted to see if pulling in the actors at the start and engaging them heavily - instead of worrying about spoilers and leaks to the point of hurting their game - would lead to a better, more real character. If maybe having a single person advocating for each character would provide a better, more cohesive user experience in the end.

I hope they learnt that yes, people will engage far more heavily with a character when they're rich with detail and feel like real people.

I hope they learnt that to do that, you NEED to have someone in charge of keeping the character on track so you don't wander off into the weeds trying to follow every bit of customer feedback, especially when it's racist or sexist or transphobic or homophobic.

I hope they learnt that yes, letting the actors engage with their characters creates a bond that enhances the performance and adds veracity to emotional scenes. It makes the story feel as though it has a flow to it.

I hope that in their next game, they do better.

I hope that we, collectively, expect them to do better.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What do you think about opinions that Chloe’s development was ruined in season 3 finale because Thomas didn’t like that viewers like her more than Marinette? I Don’t think that it’s true, but it gave me idea that Thomas ruined Chloe’s already few character development because viewers liked her more than Gabriel.

I've heard this theory before and it seems like a massive stretch to me. It's always possible, but I don't feel comfortable making accusations like this without some hard evidence and I've yet to see any, though it's not like I follow this guy on Twitter or anything. My knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes is all based on random things that make their way to my Tumblr feed. So if someone has hard evidence, feel free to reblog and add it, but the most likely explanation is just bad writing. Why ascribe malice when incompetence makes just as much sense and requires a lot less motivation?

Think about what this accusation is actually saying. It's claiming that an adult man willfully ruined a major element of his passion project (or even just the show that he's known for, meaning that it will define his future career) because he was salty that people liked a character that he created. That seems like a conspiracy theory take to me.

It's also not like Thomas has full creative control of the show! Head writers have power, but they rarely have total power. They're still employees and a ton of things happen between an episode being written and the final version being aired. Producers, directors, censors, and many others usually okay a script prior to an episode being animated because that's the most expensive element. Plus it's not like he's the only one who wrote Chloe's story. Every season two and season three episode is credited to multiple writers. In other words, it seems like multiple people signed off on Chloe's story.

There's also the issue of the air dates. Queen Wasp and Miracle Queen first aired about twelve months apart (October 6 2018 vs October 15 2019). Production times for animated TV shows are about that long, which would mean that Miracle Queen was probably being written or was even already set in stone around the time that Queen Wasp aired. In other worlds, every element of Chloe's journey was probably at least sketched out before the audience ever saw it start. That would mean that nothing in that story was reactionary. It just doesn't fit the timeline.

While Chloe's season three ending was a total mess, it was hardly out of nowhere. It was glaringly obvious that Chloe couldn't stay Queen Bee from the moment that we met Queen Bee. You can't willfully out yourself to the world and expect to stay a hero (or, at least, that shouldn't be a thing Felix). I was honestly baffled when they gave her back the bee in Malediktator and relieved when Marinette finally acknowledged the problem in Miraculer:

Ladybug: I'm sorry, Chloé. I should've told you this a long time ago. I might never be able to let you be Queen Bee again.

Which was, of course, the setup for Miracle Queen, further complicating this theory because it looks like less than a year passed between the world premieres of Queen Wasp and Miraculer (October 6 2018 vs May 15 2019).

I don't know if this made it to your Tumblr feed, but the Miraculous writing team announced that the writing for season six was done back in late March. The show won't air until sometime this winter, well over half a year later, because that's just how animation works and they've supposedly done things to make the animation process faster this season. I just don't see how this Chloe theory works or why it needs to be a thing when her bad writing falls perfectly in line with things like the absolute disaster that was season five. She wasn't a fluke, she was a warning of things to come.

As best I can tell, the entire Queen Bee plot was just an incredibly awkward and forced way to show how dangerous identity reveals were. Which isn't a bad plot to have, but don't do that plot and then let a bunch of other temp heroes keep their miraculous post reveal! Writers, what are you even doing?

If you want my best guess answer to that, then I don't think that the writers planned to make their story feel massively hypocritical. I think that they just did a dumb writing mistake that I've seen multiple shows do: they wrote a really cool cliffhanger ending without planning how to make that ending work in the following season. And there was no way to really make the ending work, so they end up just kind of ignoring it.

The reason why this happens is pretty simple. Most shows try to end their seasons on cliffhangers so that fans will come back for the next season. It's extremely rare to have a solid happy ending that ties everything together. This can lead to writers making questionable calls because they're pressed for time and have to come up with something that will keep the fans wanting more even if that thing makes no sense. It can also lead to writers making questionable calls because they DO have a plan for how the cliffhanger will play out, but when it comes time to actually put that plan into action, it gets shut down and now they have to scramble to make the nonsense work.

Anyway, what I'm really trying to say is that, as much as I like the concept of a redeemed Chloe joining the team, it was pretty clearly never going to happen in canon. The writing only backed that read for a brief moment at the start of season two where we got a handful of episodes that made Chloe feel less like a cookie-cutter mean girl and more like a true character, but then the Chloe plot really got going and I was just waiting for the inevitable fiery end. I actually thought that Chloe was going to be treated as a tragic character and become a true villain in season four. Instead we got utter nonsense that tossed her character all over the place to the point where I have no idea what they're even trying to do with her.

[storydays]

Radio Killed Video Star P1

(3rd POV)

(Y/N) sat in his favorite seat as he continued drawing in his sketchbook, listening as Charlie paced nervously back and forth, and rant. He snickered as KeeKee paced back and forth with his sister.

"Okay. So the extermination is coming in 6 months instead of a year. No big deal, just a little setback. Nothing we can't handle. Just angels cutting our timetable in half. But who needs a whole year to save souls? Am I right? And next time, when they cut time in half again and again, we'll just handle it, right?!" Charlie asked manically.

"Yes. We will." Vaggie caught Charlie gripped her arms soothingly.

"Oh, please, ya had less than half a chance when you started all this salvation bullshit." Angel waved his hands around. "And now..." he paused as his phone buzzed angrily. "Ain't no silver lining this time, toots." He muttered.

"Sure there is. We just have to look a little harder for it." Charlie tried to remain positive. "Well, while you're lookin', the rest of Hell is going nuts. People are already freaking out about the news." Angel waved his phone in the other's faces. "Look at what's happenin' in the Doomsday District." The tech revealed a demon screaming, as another message appeared on Angel's screen.

"Uh, what's a donkey show?" Charlie asked, squinting her eyes at the message. (Y/N) grimaced as he eyed Angel suspiciously.

"Aah, heh, nothing," Angel wouldn't dare ruin the princess's innocence. Especially not with her brother right fuckin' there! "My boss, Val, is just freaked out about the news, too." He covered his phone from curious, (or suspicious) eyes, before shrugging his shoulders. "Like I said, everyone's losing their shit."

Vaggie looked up from where she was watching (Y/N) sketch. "Yeah, that's true. Sinners are desperate." "Maybe desperate enough to try anything to escape the extermination?" (Y/N) thought aloud, tapping his pencil against his lip.

Charlie gasped, breaking into a wide grin. "This is the perfect time to recruit more sinners for the hotel!" Angel raised an eyebrow. "Cute idea and all, but you really going out in all of this?"

"Well, it's not like people are just going to show up on our doorstep." Charlie shrugged before yelping as an loud explosion disrupted the hotel.

"Show yourself, Alastor!" hissed a snake demon dramatically. "Come and face--" He paused looking for the Radio Demon, before catching sight of him sipping coffee, wearing a giant grin as usual. "Oh, there you are." The snake murmured. "FACE MY WRATH!" He hissed, over the speaker.

"Who are you?" asked Alastor raising an eyebrow.

"Who am I? Who am I? I am the great Sir Pentious! Inventor, architect of destruction, villan extraordinare!" During this introduction, Alastor melted into his shadow before appearing next to the Hazbin crew. Charlie looking in shock, Vaggie in annoyance, Angel with a raised brow, and crossed arms, and (Y/N) with a curious look.

"Woo! You tell 'em, boss." came a goofy voice over the loudspeaker.

Niffty gasped excitedly, as she popped on Alastor's shoulder. "Ooh, he's a bad boy."

Alastor huffed, as he gently set her down. "Huh, well if all that's true, you'd think I'd have heard of you. Have you heard of him, (Y/N)?" The prince side eyed the red clad demon, sending him a look that said, 'Bitch...leave me out of this.'

"I attacked you literally last week." Pentious deadpanned, feeling irate as Alastor tilted his head in thought, narrowing his eyes. "We've done battle, like...20 times." the snake prompted.

"Well, you must be really bad at this." snarked the deer demon. "Silence! Now cower! For when I've slain you, the almighty Vees will finally acknowledge me as their equal!" Pentious laughed.

"Ooh!" exclaimed Niffty as she found her way back on Alastor's shoulders. "Wait, who are the Vees?" she asked. "Oh, nobody important." Alastor rolled his eyes, a slight twitch in his brow at the thought of the Overlords.

*Meanwhile in the city*

"New VoxTek designer voyeur scopes. Peeping on the neighbors have never been more stylish. VoxTek. Trust us with your money." cooed the TV announcer as demons ran into the stores. "This week's episode of "Yeah, I Fucked Your Sister, So What? is brought to you by VoxTek. Trust us with your entertainment. VoxTek. Trust us. Trustustrustustrustustrustus...." The phrase continued to repeat a TV demon grinned from the electrical shocks coming from the tech in demons hands.

"Hahaha! Now that's good television!" His laughing fit was cut short by a phone call coming in on his screen. With a grin, he answered the call to reveal a scowling demoness.

"Hello there, Velvette. How are you this hellish morning?" He grinned into his coffee mug, turning away to another screen, working on something.

"Oh, cut the shit, Vox. I need you up here now!" Velvette snapped.

"Whatever could be the problem, my dear?" Vox asked. "Your little boy toy is wrecking my department while I'm trying to pull together a show and--" She was cut off by a male voice yelling, "Fucking bitch!"

Scowling deeper, she turned towards the screen. "Just get your ass here. Now! Dammit Valentino!" Velvette screeched, hanging up.

Vox's smile dropped as he sighed in irritation. "Oh God, here I go. Valentino. Just another fuckin' day with Val." He crossed his arms behind his back as he walked towards the lift. "Hey, hey, hey. Fuck my life." Vox scowled.

As the lift took him up to the main floor, he plastered a fake smile on his face. "Mr Vox! Mr Vox!" called multiple reporters as he approached. "Mr Vox! Over here!" They called before one demoness caught his attention, "Mr Vox, what are your thoughts on the new extermination deadline?" she asked.

"My dear people, we at VoxTek Enterprises have always been at the forefront of innovation. And now with this oncoming threat, we are shifting our focus to your protection. We are pleased to announce VoxTek Angelic Security is coming soon! Trust us with your saftey." Vox grinned, hypnotizing the crowd.

"Sir? Uh, when did we begin working on Angelic Security?" asked an assistant nervously. "30 seconds ago. " Muttered Vox as he walked pass the press, the assistant following.

"Try to get that bitch Carmilla on the books and cancel all my appointments today. I have a fire to put out upstairs." Vox rolled his eyes before disappearing into a camera to travel faster.

*Up on Velvette's floor.*

"Ugh, no. Unacceptable. You're fired." Velvette hissed at the designers, before zeroing in on one dress. "What is this? Wrist ruffles? Is it 1750? Burn it like the witches who wore it." The designer scurried away.

"Oh, Velvette." chuckled Vox as he appeared, watching the social media fashion designer demoness rub her temples. "I can see you're busy.Tell me where's our hot headed friend now?"

"Up in his tower, waiting for a flat-faced prince to calm him down. " She shrugged. Sighing deeply, Vox put a grin on his face. "And uh, what's got him so out of sorts today?"

"Who knows? But he tore up my best female model!" Velvette grabbed a dismembered arm and used to start pointing at the TV demon, making him grin as he watched the pink haired demoness throw the arm. "And you know the show can't wait for that unlucky bitch to pull herself together."

"Melissa, get over here!" she called her next best female model. "No,no. Hideous, I want to do. Eww." Using her magic, she shuffled the outfits until a box with a bow appeared in front of Velvette. She quickly read the card, "Vel, sorry I can't make the show, but here are a few inspirations. ~ (Cute Nickname).❤️"Velvette grinned before using her magic again to put the newer designs on. "Yes, that's the one!"

"Well, it looks like you've got everything under control here." Vox grinned as Velvette playfully rolled her eyes. "Of course I do. Fuck you. Now shoo! Take care of the piss baby." She rolled her eyes again, before opening her phone to send a thank you text to a certain blond prince.

*Up by Valentino's office.*

Vox eyed the two assistants as they opened the door, before walking into the penthouse, raising an eyebrow at the figure sitting in a red cloud of smoke. The figure took notice of Vox's arrival, and sat up, glaring. "FUCKIN' FINALLY!"

The red figure threw a drink at the wall, turning to the assistant , "Kitty, another drink!" he demanded, the robot smiled before disappearing, and returning with a drink.

"Can you believe what that piece of shit did? The ungrateful whore!" He smashed the drink against the wall, making Vox simply step side the incoming glass.

"Um, which whore are we talkin' about this time?" Vox asked, boredly. "Fucking Angel Dust." He hissed. "Who the hell else would I be talking about?" Vox attempted to answer before Valentino stormed off. "That fucking slut walked out on me. Me. I fucking made him." The moth turned towards the window, while Vox pulled out his phone, checking his cameras.

"Without me, he's just a bag of meat with some mildly entertaining holes." Valentino squeaked as he made hand gestures.

"Angel quit?" Vox asked happily with a giant grin.

"No, he didn't fucking quit. It's worse; he moved!" roared the Moth as he threw Vox's phone against the wall, ignoring the annoyed look the TV demon sent at his hand as if realizing what happened. "He thinks he can just walk in here, work, and then go home somewhere else? Can you fucking believe that?"

"He thinks he can run off and shack up with Lucifer's bimbo daughter." Val grumbled as he stalked to a closet. "Angel is living with Lucifer's daughter now?" questioned Vox, as he turned towards the other overlord.

"Yeah, that bitch. Chalkie or Chandler, or I don't know. Something mannish like that. She's got this hotel--" Valentio paused before turning around with a pair of guns in his hands. "And which of these makes me look sexier?" he purred with a smirk.

Vox forced a laugh through his teeth. "What are you doing, Val? You're not going over there." He said firmly, using his hypnosis power.

"That slippery twink is going to remember who owns him. I'm going to fuck everyone on the rancid shithole, I swear to God." hissed Valentino.

Vox snapped grabbing the pimp by his fur, face lit up, a scowl on his face. "VAL!"

Plastering a smile on his face, he chuckled, as they walked together to look out the window. "Think about it: Our brand is perfection. And what do you think chasing whores around town will do for our image?" He asked,snatching the guns from Valentino.

"Uhh...fuck it up?" Val questioned. "Right!" grinned Vox, using a game show sound effect of cheers. "Do you want people thinking you can't control your employees?"

"No!" snapped the moth.

"Exactly. And hey, you still have him under contract, he isn't going anywhere. So you should....?" prompted Vox.

"Do nothing?" replied Val, hesitantly.

"Great idea! Now that's why they pay you the big bucks." Vox patted the moth's cheek, closing his eyes and placing his hands behind his back.

"But I really wanted to shoot someone." sighed Val as he held out a cigarette, waiting for Vox to light it.

Vox peeked an eye open before lighting the cigarette with a heart. "Well, let me call up the lowest earners this month." he compromised.

"Ooh, you know me too well." Valentino purred, chuckling darkly.

As Vox rummaged through the drawers, Val smirked. "You know, Angel isn't the only one spending time at this ratty hotel with the devil's princessa." "Oh, who else is there? Someone who owes you money?" Vox asked boredly.

Chuckling, Val continued, "Someone who owes us much more than money. The Radio Demon is there."

Vox glitched, digging his nails into the desk, before chuckling lowly. "Hahaha, what did you just say?" He asked, darkly, his hypnosis eye glowing, 3 lines on his face, showing his anger.

"You heard me."

"Alastor came back and he is with Lucifer's daughter," Vox started softly, slowly getting angry, "and that wasn't the first fucking thing you told me?!" He screamed, grabbing the moth's fur again.

"Hey, killing Alastor is your thing." grinned Val, as he watched the TV overlord zoom over to his cameras.

*Back at the hotel*

Sir Pentious yelled out in pain. "Arrgh. Oh! Please! Stop!" he begged as Alastor used his shadows to torture the poor demon.

"Um, Alastor?" called Charlie nervously. "I think he's had enough." Alastor continued to laugh loudly. Angel narrowed his eyes as if thinking before smirking, "Nah, he's got a few more hits in 'im!"

Alastor tilted the blimp so the snake fell out and on the floor. "Thanks for another forgettable experience." Alastor swung his can around before leaning on it, looking at the snake mockingly.

"Thank you...for letting your guard down! Haha! Yah!" laughed Pentious as he snagged a piece of the Radio Demon's coat, before cowering. "Oh shit." He yelped seeing Alastor's shadow grow.

An explosion sent Sir Pentious flying, his scream echoing. "Arghhhhhhh!!!!"

Alastor watched with a grin before turning towards the rest of the Hotel members.

"Well, it looks as though I need a visit to the tailor. Best of luck, chums." He waved before walking away.

"Wait, you're leaving?" Vaggie asked, "Alastor, we need your help! We need you to do your job."

"We need a wall." Angel deadpanned, gesturing to the broken wall.

"Of course. Can't let my new project fall into disrepair already. What would the papers say?" The deer asked, snapping his fingers before walking away. In his place, were a bunch of shadow demons with tools in their hands.

(Y/N) perked up, seeing the shadows. "Yo, Tommy, wassup, man?" He grinned, fist bumping another shadow who grinned back.

"Oh!: Angel giggled, shoving Vaggie to the side, before sashaying over to (Y/N) and the shadow demon. "Hey, sweet cheeks, who's your friend?" Leaning on the shadow's shoulder, he grinned. "Whatcha doin' later? I love me some men with giant....tools." Angel used his second pair of hands, to caress (Y/N)'s waist, and pull at his belt loop, suggestively, and his upper hands resting on Tommy's shoulder.

(Y/N) squeaked, cheeks a bright red, matching Charlie's before teleporting somewhere else in a vortex of shadows. Angel smirked to himself, 'Prince-y is so easy to rile up; and he's so cute when he's all flustered.' Angel didn't even realize how his own cheeks were a faint pink.

*Back at the Vs tower*

"See? Look how he flirts with those guys, and their not even paying! Who is that shadow dude? I'm gonna fucking kill his whole family! And the Lucifer's bastard son is there too? What the fuck?! Vox? Vox?!" He snapped, slamming a hand on the desk.

Vox continued to ignore him, as he buzzed with electricity, as he watched the Radio Demon walk away.

"That fucker is back!" He hissed.

"Yeah, I thought he was gone for good, too." replied Val as he continued to rile up the TV demon.

"It's been seven years." Vox growled.

"You still pissed he almost beat you that time?" cooed the moth.

"Uh, fuck you." spat Vox.

"Just saying," sang the heart themed pimp, as he leaned against the desk.

"Things have changed a lot since he left town." monologued Vox. "That's for sure." Val agreed.

"I've gotta send a message of who's really in charge now." Vox and Val chuckled darkly.

*With (Y/N)*

Hidden away in his bedroom, (Y/N) stood, staring at nothing before grabbing a pillow and screaming into it. (Y/N)'s dog, Rocco, watched lazily from the prince's bed.

After his screaming fit, (Y/N) grabbed one of his sketch books, and leaned against his bed, and flipped through the pages, smiling at the multiple sketches of Angel Dust, and just thinking. (Y/N)'s dog, Rocco, barked happily before curling next to his boy.

(Y/N) would rather have his wings cut off with Vaggie's angelic spear then ever let the spider see this journal. Even with all the sexual innuendos and comments, (Y/N) was still intrigued by Angel, and wanted to see what was underneath.

He just wish he wasn't so damn easy to fluster. Angel 100% took advantage of that fact, but he couldn't help it. Yes, he grew up in Hell, and always had admiring fans wherever he went, but they only wanted the tittle.

Angel hadn't even known he was the prince until he'd appeared at the hotel after the failure that was the interview Charlie had with Katie Killjoy.

At the thought of the bitch, (Y/N) scowled.

Charlie told him what she said about the gays, and the next day, Katie's hair was burned off, and she was missing a few limbs, (they'll grow back...eventually...painfully 😈 ). When Charlie found out, she cast a look at her brother, who gave her a devilish grin, briefly showing her his demon form he kept carefully hidden.

It sucks that people don't give Charlie the respect that they give (Y/N); but Charlie also knew her brother had a darker side that an even greater respect to his name.

But Charlie introduced him as (Y/N), and Angel treated him like a normal person. Well, normal as it is for Angel. Even when Alastor greeted him as 'Prince', Angel continued to talk shit and flirt with (Y/N).

"Just because you got dat crown on your head, don't mean that's all you are. You'll always be (Y/N) to me." The Italian explained, seeing as (Y/N) was confused. When people realize who he is, they act completely different. But Angel acted like they were long time friends....(Y/N) hadn't had that since he was a helling himself.

Ever since then, the Spider had slowly made his way into (Y/N)'s heart.

When Angel didn't think anyone was watching, he would reveal a softer side, especially when it comes to his beloved pig, Fat Nuggets.

Sighing, (Y/N) curled on his side, Rocco, rumbling lowly before curling in (Y/N)'s outstretch arms, snuggling closer for warmth.

"One day, I'll tell him~❤️."

*A/N: Sorry for the delay! My dad is in the hospital, so I went to check on him and hang out; will keep you guys updated and see y'all next time!*

@avatar-lover

[tadbitsketch]

I haven't done one of these in forever but welcome back to Sketch Rambles About MCSM Stuff at an Unreasonable Hour of the Night 🎉🎉🎉

Tonight, I'm gonna discuss one of my favorite songs from the Minecraft: Story Mode OST, "Redstone Baby," and the potential lore that it holds. And why that's very Sorengaard related.

Disclaimer: this is me interpreting silly block people. Unless otherwise stated (or in the game), it ain't actually canon. Also, I am a teenage girl. I am not versed very well in the specifics of how music theory works and how it's used in media. Also also, I wrote most of this like two months ago and completely forgot about it.

(In case you needed a reminder of how it sounds)

This song appears twice in the season 1 episode 3: when you arrive in Soren's lab area, and again in the end credits. It can also be heard through the closed secret entrance wall in the Wool World™, and it gradually becomes clearer as you approach the door to Soren's lab, where a music disc is playing the song inside.

The instrumentation of "Redstone Baby" consists of guitar, piano, and violin. It feels comforting and cozy, whilst also giving a sad, longing sort of vibe. According to a comment written 6 years ago by Antimo on the linked video, they were going for a sorta "Fallout: New Vegas" vibe when they wrote it. The song holds an air of nostalgia, of better times. An idealized dream of how the world could be.

To get to the point: it's cute, it's cozy, and it's a love song in a game where they weren't allowed to explicitly write any canon ships (if I'm remembering correctly). Also one of the few songs in this game to be given lyrics. So, of course, we're gonna talk about this. Or rather I'm gonna write about it and you're gonna read it.

The lyrics go as follows:

In a marshmallow world, you're my sweetheart.

In a marshmallow world, you're my sweetheart.

You're the bed to my rock,

The flint to my steel.

My redstone baby doll...

My redstone baby doll.

(music)

In a marshmallow world, you're my sweetheart.

In a marshmallow world, you're my sweetheart.

My sugar baby...

aaaah ladada, awoah...

The lyrics are pretty strange, right? It seems nonsensical at first, but I (and many others) believe that it has more meaning than meets the eye.

This is a love song addressed to a someone proficient with redstone. Funnily enough, Soren's old friend group did have one of those. A brilliant Redstone Engineer: Ellegaard. And quite interestingly, these two were pretty close, as is said multiple times in canon. I think Magnus mentions their little "Nerd Club," in episode 3 at some point. Another fact to back me up on this: Soren calls the song "Symphony in E" in-game on the little radio-disk-program-thing.

And for whatever reason, Soren and Ellegaard didn't stay close or end up together. There's not really a way to know for certain what went down between them. All we do know is that Soren wishes it was different.

The "marshmallow world" that is talked about in the song is Soren's perfect world. It's safe, sweet, and fluffy. I am of the opinion that it could possibly be an indirect reference to the wool world that Soren built. It's bright. It's safe. No monsters can get him there. He can just build things and be happy. In a perfect, marshmallow world, Ellegaard is with Soren.

The metaphors Soren uses here, "the bed to my rock, the flint to my steel," they're both iconic, inseparable duos: bedrock, and flint and steel. In Minecraft, bedrock is the unbreakable foundation beneath all else in the Overworld. Flint and steel is used to set things on fire, and is most often used to light Nether portals, which is way less symbolic (unless someone can find something? maybe the whole flaming heart being a metaphor for love thing?) but still iconic and the phrase has a very nice rhythm to it.

When we first hear the song, it feels like normal wishful thinking. It's more just fluff and poetry than full-on wants and desires.

But when we hear it in the end credits of episode 3... We just saw someone die after sacrificing their safety for Jesse's. The monster that they died to help kill isn't even dead. Someone we thought was dead is actually alive and doesn't remember anything. It's loud, dark, and burning. A sickening storm of death and destruction. Anything but the marshmallow world.

Without considering which of the two died, this song is already quite jarring in comparison to what was just witnessed. This "marshmallow world" that seemed somewhat close just a moment ago now feels implausible, and thus it'd be worth so much more if it were real.

I will never not love when something in a piece of media is treated as a good sign or motif or something and then it gets recontextualized and hurts ya right in the feels.

And with Redstone Baby combined with Ellegaard dying, it's just that extra brutal.

Because now it's not just, "in a perfect world, we'd be together." It's "in a perfect world, you wouldn't be dead, and we'd be together."

If only Soren wasn't so much of a coward. How differently things could've gone.

[aurenflare]

my 2024 art summary 🫶🫶

for me, this year was the first time that i really tried out digital art, which has definitely been a journey! i think i’ll always feel more confident with traditional art (and there are a couple months where i didn’t do digital art at all! april has a sketch bc i was SOO busy that month, and october has a fun little marker piece) but it’s so interesting to explore digital!

i think i’ve really started to get the hang of it, especially in my november and december pieces — but i also think i’m going to make an effort to get back into posting traditional art. my alcohol markers are rotting over here …

anyways because i’m actually incapable of not babbling here’s a little explanation for each month

january, february, and march: all drawings i did for a mental-health oriented small business in my area — basically each one represents a different cognitive function. these were literally my first rendered digital art pieces ever but yk … there are 6 in all but these i feel are the best ones lol

april: i had ZERO time on my hands due to aps but luckily i was still sketching! my style has evolved a bit since then but what hasn’t changed is my love for coloured pencil sketches ILY COLOURED PENCIL SKETCHES

may & june: these are a couple of oc ref sheets that i was intending to use for artfight! except i never finished the full set and so never participated in artfight. next year i swear. this was also from my phase where i used the crosshatching pattern brush for every single background ever

july: so this was actually a design for a screenprint! the stippling made me and my art teacher miserable in the end but u know it’s about the experience … this was also inspired by kiki’s delivery service my 3rd favourite ghibli movie … i love u kiki

august: this is a wip that i will never ever finish (and i actually posted it on tumblr here over a month after abandoning it 😭) but it’s also the only kotlc thing i’ve drawn in like a year and a half (at least until the unravelled release) and i think it’s cute

september: listen i Love Laufey and every september 8th she does a little fan celebration called a very laufey day! so this was inspired by that, specifically the song “dreamer” — there are a lot of little details that reference various aspects of the lyrics or official video! super fun to draw and one of the digital pieces that i’m the proudest of 🤭

october: okay this one was sooo fun because i hadn’t touched my alcohol markers in a longggg while … it was inspired loosely by the inktober prompt “nomad”

november: this was a piece for one of my school’s publications, and was loads of fun to draw! one of the digital pieces that i’m proudest of tbh simply because there’s so much going on but it still feels fairly cohesive

december: this was my kotlc secret santa gift and also the first fully polished kotlc piece i had done in a VERYY long time — so while i was deathly sick while creating it (literally i was and still am On My Deathbed) it was super nostalgic and fun :)

if u made it to the end of this I LOVE U. why did u read all this u mean more to me than i could ever possibly articulate. have an amazing day u icon 🫶🫶

[outeremissary]

2023 Wrapped!

This is my first ever time doing a year end art summary (using this template)- I always wanted to when I was younger, but never felt I was creating enough work or that it was "serious" enough or good looking enough to be worth compiling. It's been interesting to reflect on a year that included so many creative ups and downs (and life ups and downs in general). If you'll permit me I want to do the little reflection ramble too, even if it's an inadvisable 5 (or now 6) in the morning where I live.

Some of you who followed me on Twitter probably know that I only "learned to color"- or rather found a way that worked for me enough to finish things consistently- in 2022, and rather late in 2022 at that. This is pretty much the first year where work I considered "finished" or "polished" included things that weren't greyscale, and it's absolutely the first year where I had attempted to do something in color almost every single month. When I look at this and see the range of hues it has, I really feel an incredible sense of achievement. I would not have imagined 14 months ago that I could stitch something that looked like this together, and 12 months ago I can't say I'd have felt confident either.

Despite having a huge artistic slump in the back half of the year (along with a sharp downturn in my mental health in general) I was astounded to find that for the first six months I had so much work that I loved and was proud of that it was hard to put this together because I constantly felt like I was leaving favorites out- works that I thought were iconic or were huge milestones or I just really loved. That was unbelievable. And that was only sifting through the "nice" stuff- I didn't even consider a mountain of sketches and doodles that I adored! Even in my busiest months and the months I was recovering from a major medical procedure (I got top surgery!!!) I had something to show, and May being a WIP is less because there was nothing in that month than because Aurien and Vio were the only ones who were fitting in the damn frame (side note: I'd be more thoughtful with template than aesthetic if I ever did this again).

Even in the five months I was convinced I had done absolutely nothing, I found again and again that I had more than I thought for every month (except November, where it turned out everything I thought I'd done was early December. you've been spared DUrgetash). I was creating even when I was convinced that I was never going to be able to draw again. And I was creating enough that I got to be picky filling this thing out and choose Tristian for October just for a laugh when other options were out there, and enough that I had options when I was struggling to fit something I wanted into the template frame.

Side note: Miss Leonelle, you were tragically robbed by the damn frames.

In making this I also saw again and again the connections that I made throughout the year. I have had the incredible fortune to make wonderful friends this year and to build on bonds that I already had- even some where I perhaps didn't deserve the chances I was given. @mountainashfae is all over this summary- in April, May, June, August, and November- and I've often felt I spent as much time on Vio as Balthazar this year, but there were at least seven other baronesses, KCs, and other incredible OCs I had the privilege of drawing this year who I desperately wanted to fit onto this and was not able to for one reason or another. I'm so happy to know so many creative, passionate people and to be allowed so close to the things they hold so dear. To everyone who has shared their creations this year- not just with me, but with anyone on the internet or in real life or quietly in DMs or in a Discord or wherever- you're incredible, and I hope you're proud of what you've done. And if you struggle with that, I hope you can be proud of the way you're growing even now.

If you've stuck with me this far, thank you. Sincerely. I really appreciate that there are people who enjoy looking at my silly little drawings and reading my occasional rambles, even if I'm a little erratic on putting things up and usually a bit distant by choice from fan communities. And if you continue to stick around, I hope that you continue to have a good time.

I don't know what to expect from 2024 when I've got a laundry list of projects from 2023 I haven't finished, but I'm hopeful about what it'll contain. There's a lot I want to do- more full illustrations, working on other media, trying more ambitious projects- but for now it's enough to just think about picking up the things I've left off and continuing to tie up those loose ends.

Here's hoping we all can find something we want in 2024, as terrible and unknowable as the new chapter is.

[clarktooncrossing]

DUMPSTER DUDELZ III: Revenge of the Dumpster

HEY THERE PEOPLE OF TODAY AND ROBOTS OF TOMORROW!

IT'S ME, CLARK!

Happy New Year, weirdos of the world! The last year might've been a mixed bag in most regards, but in terms of artwork I was riding a creative high. Like, holy crap, the amount of artwork posted is surprising. You better believe the goal is to keep that streak going well into 2025. What better way to start then looking back on what didn't make the cut in 2024? By now showcasing my leftover sketches in these compilations has become sortuv' a regular tradition. Not that you'll ever hear me complain about it. I hate seeing artwork go unused, plus it's fun seeing how my skills have improved over the last twelve months. So what awaits us in the dumpster?

(1) ABBY K. DABBY

Y'ever wonder why rabbits are considered sexy? Lola Bunny, Jessica Rabbit, Judy Hoppes, even Playboy loves dressing their models up as the small critters. Why is that? It was while pondering this, looking up artwork of Zatanna, and watching clips of Penn & Teller: Fool Us that this feisty sorceress came into mind. Meet Abby K. Dabby, the resident magical mistress of the Clarktooniverse. At the moment there's nothing there outside of a cool design, though my plan is to further fill out her backstory so she's more than just eye candy with a quirky name.

(2) BLOOD ON THE SADDLE

Disney fans everywhere rejoiced when Disney finally renovated the beloved Country Bear Jamboree in Orlando. Less so when the show finally opened and prioritized shoving tracks from the company's library down our ears in favor of maintaining the oddball humor the show's known for. Personally I just counted my blessings, especially considering the fates of Dinosaur and Muppet Vision 3*D. You could say D23 was a real disappointment. At the very least, I thought Big Al singing "Remember Me" from Coco was funny as ever. Oh Al, you are truly the bluest bear we've ever met. Never change, buddy!

(3) ROSIE STARDUST

This was quickly sketches after looking at a commission done by @zernna. Like a lot of my characters, Rosie looks better when drawn by somebody else. Regardless, the cosmic cutie is always fun to draw.

(4) JACKIE'S WARDROBE

Speaking of commissions, my buddy @burningthrucelluloid commissioned me to create a sweet picture featuring his two space characters, cosmonaut Jackie Valentine and wasp princess Exa. He left it up to me what the former should wear, thus several options were offered. The three presented here include the heroine's regular spacesuit, a sexy pair of space undies, and something more akin to what she wore before leaving Earth. In the end we decided on something fancier to better fit the romantic mood. Anybody interested in checking out the final result can click here.

(5) FREDDYS OF DIFFERENT LANDS

Along with Abby, Freddy Fox's walk through Whimsyland is the result of a failed Sketch BOOM. Or more specifically, one that never got finished. It could easily be finished now since nothing went wrong with its production. Still, I'd prefer just to scrap it and move on. Not without saving what's already been completed first. This depicts the theme park's mascot walking through each land with an appropriate attire to match. From left to right we have classic Freddy walking down Whimsy Warf, crossing into Cowboy Country, jaunting towards Jungle Junction, frolicking through Fantasy Forest, making his way into Monster Marsh, and finally trotting through Tomorrow Town. It's the last outfit I'm particularly proud of, calling back to the campier costumes parading through other parks. Let's hope a trip to Whimsyland is in our foreseeable future.

(6) AN-D SHARK (DOO DOO DA DOO DA DOO)

In case you missed yesterday's post, a Secret Santa was held on my Discord server this year and I got Void-Android Anybody doubting his present wasn't drawn by hand can now kiss dirt and eat my rubber! They can also check out the final product by clicking here.

(7) BAT BARNEY

@princessofDisney27 wanted me to check out Waiting for Santa was a part of this year's Christmas Specials Special. Obviously that review didn't get finished in time. That's a story for another time. For now, Hannah unlocked my purple-tinted nostalgia before sending me down a rabbit hole of odd finds on YouTube. Learning who Bob West and David Joyner were, seeing the dino rock an epic drum solo whenever not purse snatching, watching the theatrical movie a thousand times over, that tyrannosaur from Texas found a way back into my heart. It's the only explanation I have for this. Why Batman? Blame Barney, he encouraged my weird-ass imagination.

(8) HELP WANTED

Many tough decisions were made this year. Cutting 3K was one of them. The story of ERN-E and the Knights of the Square Table never came together quite the way I had hoped. So now the plan is to work certain elements into other stories. As we've established, throwing away ideas isn't my cup'a tea. Especially not when Candy Banger's ready to shoot me if she's not given a new job. Rest assured folks, this won't be the last you see of this android assassin.

(9) SO, NO HONEY?

Did you know that Popeye and Tintin enter the Public Domain this year? Along with several other Mickey Mouse shorts? Can't wait to see them all be turned into horror media produced by lazy douchebags. Yes, we get it, the joke is seeing these family friendly franchises going dark and disturbed. If we pretend it's funny will you stop telling the same, unoriginal joke? Regardless, I decided it'd be fun to include A.A. Milne's cast of beloved characters for Whimsyland as a nice parallel to certain other theme parks. Their colored sketch actually debuted earlier this year on my deviantART account. Hopefully you all love'm in black and white too. And here's hoping something more creative is made with these characters other than trashy slasher flicks.

(10) STEAMBOAT WILLIE

Did you know that Mickey and Minnie Mouse entered the Public Domain last year? Of course you did! You couldn't go anywhere without hearing about it, no doubt to Disney's dismay. Granted, it was only these characters as they appeared in Steamboat Willie, Plane Crazy, and Gallopin Gaucho, but this was still big news in the world of animation. No longer could Mickey be locked away in the vault. Anybody was allowed to use the rodent as they see fit. Immediately I wondered what a Clarktoon version of him would look like. Designs are still being worked out, but as you can see, some liberties have been taken.

(11) TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART

Hey, anybody remember that eclipse that happened earlier this year? Wild times. Rosie certainly remembers it. This was the sketch that eventually became this picture:

(12) SUPER-DEE-DOOPER

Back in my early years, Barney was all I bothered drawing. Or at least what could charitably be considered a crude approximation of the character. Honestly, he looked more like a stop sign wedged into the top of a potato. Gimme a break, I had yet to refine my artistic skills. Years later it was decided to see if my skills really had improved at all. The results more than speak for themselves. Although Little Clark is a lot taller than he ott'a be. Gimme a break, this was drawn at 2 AM while watching Expedition Theme Park's video on the Universal stage show. For the record, that show would've been the only reason Little Clark would've preferred a trip to that park over Disney World. Nothing you tell me could convince me that wouldn't have been the greatest hug of all time!

(13) TEENAGE MUTANT FREELANCE POLICE

deviantART making dumbass decisions? Stop the presses! By now I think it's safe to say we've become accustomed to the media sharing site changing things for the worse. This includes removing sta.sh from the platform. It was a convenient place to store your art until it was time for posting. My Studio isn't terrible, but it pales in comparison to its predecessor. At least it's not frustratingly redundant like the updated messaging system. Nope, still not over that. Still, seeing as sta.sh was about to get the ax, I elected to remove any artwork still lingering there. Included was this sketch from 2014 featuring a Ninja Turtle from the original Mirage comics meeting Sam and Max of the Freelance Police. You could say it was oddly fitting considering both started out as independent books with odd senses of humor. Though it's up to you to decide who's crazier; a Mirage Turtle or Max?

(14) SANTA'S BUDDY, THE ICE CREAM BUNNY

Suddenly, a siren starts to wail! And you'll never guess who's coming down the trail! Or will you? Meet the Ice Cream Bunny, star of 1972's Santa Claus and the Ice Cream Bunny. It's a hilariously awful Holiday feature filmed at the defunct Pirate's World theme park, a precursor to Walt Disney World. Many factors led to its downfall, one of them being pictures produced on the cheap at their property. This is made especially evident by the lackluster costume made for the titular rabbit. Most folks find him incredibly creepy. I am not most folks, then again clowns don't scare me out either. People are weird. Oddities like that aside, here's my attempt at making the character cute. Why not? He's also public domain! How else would you explain all the times Rifftrax tore this movie apart?

(15) EASTER BUMPER

Less creepy are the lagomorphs surrounding Bumper. @foxhatart has tried convincing me to sell Bumper stickers before and this was my attempt at making them. Granted this sketch is still useable, but like the aforementioned BOOM, it's better to start fresh. Still, you lot would kill me if something this cute went to waste.

(16) WANDA ZIGGY

Meet Wanda, wife to alien grease monkey and Clarksburg's resident cinephile, Wonder Ziggy. His design was based on Robot Monster from the similarly named movie. Wanda was based on Virginia Leith as she appeared in The Brain That Wouldn't Die. Originally my exposure to this movie came in the form of the Whose Line game Film Dub, where the cast basically pulls an MST3K by providing their own commentary over footage of public domain B-Movies. Never mess with a winning formula, folks. Even back then, the image of this hauntingly gorgeous woman's head kept alive on a mad scientist's table stuck with me. All of that was before I discovered the bonkers plot of the movie. In this story, the head doesn't die, Ziggy saving her and the two sparking a romance. She comes off as cold and detached only because of how her last marriage handled her. Really she loves Ziggy and is just laser focused. Fingers crossed I can do a full-fledged color picture of the oddball couple soon.

(17) BUMPER & BUTTERFLIES

Yet another remnant from a failed Sketch BOOM, albeit a different one. There's not really much to say here, it's simply another excuse for Bumper to look cute.

(18) WONDER ZIGGY & PIZZA MONSTER

Speaking of Wonder Ziggy, here he is alongside the always hungry Pizza Monster. Made these with the intention to use'm for something Christmas relayed. Obviously that didn't happen. Both ended up looking better than expected, so expect to see them again in the future.

(19) THE ORIGINAL XENA

Turns out 2024 marked a major milestone in the Clarktooniverse. Around ten years ago, I decided to finally check out the Alien franchise. Like most things horror, exposure began slowly by first checking out Markiplier's playthrough of Isolation. Seeing how passionate he was for this freaky franchise led me to finally watching the movies, the first two being excellent masterpieces rightfully loved by audiences. We don't have to discuss the sequels. Point is, my obsession with xenomorphs quickly grew. For some reason I wondered what would happen if my best buddy Crocie came into contact with one. Cue this crude sketch of a xenodile which eventually became the basis for Xena. Yes folks, Croc's daughter turned 10 last year. Happy birthday, kiddo! Here's to 10 more years of absurd adventures!

(20) MALEFIDOT

I know you, I waltzed with you once upon a dream. Or rather, once upon an absurd suggestion by @burningthrucelluloid. Couldn't tell you how exactly this idea came to be, other than it combines my favorite character from Steven Universe with my favorite Disney villain. Like I said; weird-ass imagination. XD

(21) CONFUSED COW

No doubt this was the look on Jim Cummings's face when Mr-Herp-Derp asked him to sign my Supercow pic at Comic Con this year.

(22) APES TOGETHER STRONG

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes was all my mind could focus on back in 2014. Rise was already a fantastic film when its sequel surpassed every expectation. And then some! The fact that Andy Serkis was never nominated for an Oscar is a sign that humanity really is screwed. If nothing else, it's leagues better than this year's Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, which felt like a soulless retread of themes found in prior entries. Still, I'm not here to bash on newer sequels. For now this was yet another drawing from 19 year old Clark rescued from sta.sh.

(23) TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA BUMPER

Ninja Turtles turned 40 last year. By now it's safe to say their teenage years are long gone. My wish was to draw some spectacular piece celebrating the occasion. This was the closest I got. Ah well, maybe when the Turtles are 50.

(24) ZOMBEAGLE

Rounding things out is this psychotic pooch plush toy for a yuletide one shot held during December. Years of Alec badgering me to give Dungeon Mastering a try, I set up a short seasonal story loosely based on Jingle All the Way for my friends. On the final week before Christmas, everybody and their grandmother is out looking for the Holiday's hottest toy, Zombeagle. Whiny parents forced it's recall back in the 90s before vit became viral on ClockFace. Now our players must fight to see who leaves Barney's Toy Box with their prize. Said players include Alec as the cyborg goblin Vrellunk, @Foxhatart playing her ponysona Autumn Scribble, @JetProject portraying the multiversal menace Pic Shell, @Mr-Herp-Derp dealing damage as the hyper-evolved dino Stokes, and @princessofDisney27 thinking outside the box with her magical princess turned mother Heather Heartland. In the end, Fox won the battle but Hannah left with the toy. All got a happy ending, myself included. Plans are already set out for a sequel and a full-length campaign, though that's a discussion for later this year...

MAY THE GLASSES BE WITH YOU!

BlueSky || Cara || deviantART || tumblr

[wolfieworld]

4/6 Diary: Dead Projects

it's hard to acknowledge why something isn't working when you're in the middle of it, sometimes it's hard to even know why. There's a few plots that have been in my brain for years that I've rewritten and rewritten and rewritten with little success. I think a big part of failed projects is actually over-estimating ones own capabilities, for example I plan out mechanics that I don't have the experience to achieve, or characterization too far from my own experience that its not fun to write. I often plan out stories that require a lot of research and I feel like I can't write until I know everything-therefore most writing doesn't get done and what does is full of holes. It's kind of embarrassing to look back at stuff and just think "I didn't know what I was talking about at all."

Sometimes shit just doesn't work out. In the words of Pretty Boy Detective Club giving up on a dream can be more beautiful than achieving the dream itself.

Probably 90% of everything I try doesn't work out and it's been on my mind lately that that's a good thing. Of course in an ideal world we learn from finished works bc there are things from those you can only learn by sharing with others and by wrapping up a story and by saying goodbye to your characters but there isn't such a thing as an ideal world and everything we do we learn from whether other people see it or not. There is something special you learn from unfinished projects, the types you choose to put down forever, which is you are forced to acknowledge precisely why it could not get done.

These are all images from 2 retired vn/comic projects.

These projects are prisons for some of my best and worst writing, full of ideas with no through-line or real objective, and no real thorough understanding of these characters who I loved just collections of feelings and images and facts I thought were cool.

What is improvement? I'm not a person who looks at my old art and feels like I've gotten better at drawing, and when I look back at old writing I only really get the sense that I've become less cringe but not become a better writer. I think improvement is more esoteric than becoming better at the skills you use to express, maybe it's just knowing yourself better and playing to your strengths, and crystalizing what you want to say (or finding it in the first place). Aesthetics form naturally from writing and drawings that plainly express what they need too and they are drawn like blood from stone from work that is trying its hardest to be clever.

Personally I find these digital pages from 2020(21?) to be better drawings than anything I've done in the last two years in a technical way but it doesn't matter, I couldn't finish it, and I didn't know the characters. It's just portfolio work, it took me months to do five of them. They're just "cool shots" even though I didn't know it at the time.

As I get further into working on Youth Who Was Killed I'm noticing that cutting corners produces better results, there's more emotion in sketches so why finish a drawing, why design a logo which I'm not good at when I can use a font, why color grade the images myself when limiting the palette to one or two or three colors provides an unmuddied result? This is the kind of laziness you would think would harm 'improvement' but I've found that too much brute force is a highway to burn out, and then you're not learning anything at all.

Making art is a war against human nature I think, cavemen definitely weren't built too instinctually develop a five year plan every new years. However it becomes like less of a war when you work with your nature rather than against it. Maybe. I don't know. I really hope I don't make a blog post two years from now about why I couldn't finish YWWK. If that happens blame ren'py.

i drew my ocs in funny t shirts for the first time in my life so maybe all that stuff i said about improvement being that you become less cringe is untrue, maybe you get more cringe. thats ok with me i guess.

[bliamapriori]

Before lexember season is officially upon us, I suppose I should update the progress I've been making with my conlangs.

Regarding the Faerûnian Elven (the conlang I've spoken about the most on this blog), that's going fine and I'm slowly chipping away at putting in dictionary entries into my personal worldbuilding wiki.

The Infernal lang I used in the 2023 lexember has finally had its backwards evolution done and I'm in the process of creating the Supernalese Language Family from it.

The language family has a pseudo-proto-language (Supernal) and I say pseudo because it's technically still in limited use in some contexts.

Two daughter languages (Dark Speech) and (Light Speech aka Words of Creation), though I feel like I should mention I really do not like the implications of Light/Dark Speech and I'm trying to find an equivalent name for Dark Speech along the lines of Words of Creation, but I haven't landed on anything that's stuck yet.

And of these daughter languages they both have two granddaughter languages respectively. Infernal and Abyssal, and Celestial and Planar respectively. From what I understand, Planar is entirely homebrewed on my part, and I included it to complete some symmetry in the family. I don't really have a logical reason for this other than I plan on having balance and numerology be of some cultural significance to the Supernalese speakers and I wanted to ensure I had enough linguistic wiggle room to have fun with interlinguisitic family loanwords. Which is to say aesthetic and functional reasoning was my priority.

Of the granddaughter languages there are currently two major diaspora Faerûnian dialects of Infernal and Celestial (of which only one is of true concern to me), though I have made space for more dialects on the assumption there would be.

I've done little to expand upon the Celestial dialect, but the Faerûnian Infernal is markedly different from the more fixed High Infernal (spoken on an entirely different plane to Faerûn) and more influenced by surrounding languages such as Faerûnian Elven, Chondanthan and other Thorass languages including the ever in flux Trade Pidgins/Common. Of these influences, this has resulted in adapting the traditionally base 12 number system to be more in line with the more common base 10 and base 20 systems.

This year I was really hoping to be able to work on refining the scripts I have made but unfortunately I do not have better crunchier typefaces to share ready for Lexember, but what I do have... is a Celestial relative of the Infernal script. At some point I will force myself to sit down and sketch out each goddamn character by hand in one (or more) of my several grid-lined journals, but to be perfectly honest this year has been extremely draining and neography is not what's currently scratching the itch in my brain, so it's okay how it is for now I guess.

Overall I'm pretty happy with where I am at. I had kinda hoped that I could blast all this out in 6 months and return to my own personal project unrelated to dnd but it's been so much of a learning experience it's hard to be disappointed in everything I've done up until this point.

[hotroadkill]

saw this and wanted to make my own post real quick bc i’ve gotten some questions abt my art before & now that i feel a bit more secure in my style i thought i’d give a few tips to anyone who wanted that :)

first i have to address how the submission is phrased: i'm sorry & i know no one wants to hear this but “keep practicing” is not a platitude that is always going to be the best advice 😭 the real question is:

how do you make practice fun?

1. challenge yourself in a way you find enjoyable/fulfilling :)

i liked doing things like art prompts from inktobers, and to draw comics of the stories i wrote, but mostly the answer for me was “set random number goal, meet random number goal, inject the validation from completed goal directly into my bloodstream, repeat.”

i worked on things kind of systematically, which just made my brain happy; i spent one summer when i was 14 doing nothing but drawing 10 full bodies a day, all with references of course. did the same throughout the fall with hands, then eyes, then expressions, then clothes, etc etc. it always had to be 10 diff angles and positions.

i did a repeat of this 10-drawings-of-10-angles rule throughout quarantine in 2020. failed all my online classes cuz i was drawing 6-10 hours every day and ignoring my homework but still passed the year in the end 💀 i got the idea from yumeii-art; it's been over 7 years since, so idk if i remember right, but she had given a similar rule of thumb as a response to someone's question about drawing without a reference, i think.

is this the Best path? probably not, idk. and it definitely lead to awkward phases where i was much better at drawing bodies than faces, for example — but it worked for me. i liked breaking things down like that, it felt more manageable.

the other number goal was. in 9th grade i saw this post:

and i was like. y’know what? yeah. i keep feeling bad abt my art, how about i put that feeling on pause until after i’ve filled 14 sketch book. i hope this user knows i owe all my achievements to the phrase “fill 14 sketch book” powering me through years of depression and art block.

so i did fill 14 sketch book!

i met that goal between ages 14 and 19. obv this doesnt include the doodles on my homework, on other random surfaces, or the ~150 digital artworks i’d done in that time, so maybe it was more like 16 sketch book? but that doesnt matter, i had 14 labeled & organized sketchbooks that were full, and i did feel better about my art by then. this was my anime training montage. this was 90% of my improvement. this was the best art advice i’d ever gotten.

so i guess what made art the most fun to me was numbers? which sounds lame but i guess since i’m competitive & love competing against myself the most, it just worked for me.

comparisons, with 2016 on the left and 2020 on the right:

(the new sketches are still rough and lack some detail ofc but i have terrible ADHD and always found it hard to sit down and keep working on a sketch once it was “done enough” — for some reason i dont rlly have the same impatience with digital art & have less of a problem completing pieces on my ipad now) (the point is. 14 sketch book level complete. 1000% worth it)

then my 2021-2024 improvement, when i had bought my own ipad and again spent most days drawing instead of doing my schoolwork (i.. did end up failing that first year of uni):

2. try out different mediums aimlessly!

what i mean is just go ham with some charcoal or whatever you have on hand, without the determination to Make It Good. i can’t say if this helped my actual art get better but what it did do was keep the joy of it alive & i had fun which lead to more practice & therefore improvement. color pencils weirdly were my favorite. hell, my school had us do a project with linoleum printing (is that how u spell it idk) and it gave me months’ worth of art inspo.

i also recently got a gift card for a stationery store and got some nice markers and those also gave me a ton of motivation. markers r good

3. if u do digital art, find ur fave brush; it will be ur familiar ur trusted companion ur lover in a past life

for lineart i mostly use the IGB office pack, favorite ballpoint. you’ll have to buy & download it online tho i think it was like $7? but yea it was worth it. (i did a lot of work with the gesinski ink brush in past years but i think it’s a bit too “sharp” now)

but also go crazy try them all it’s fun!

4. in my opinion it’s fine to do redraws of ur fave artist’s work now and then — as long as u keep it to urself and dont take credit for it

i’ve had ppl ask to use my art as a ref and my answer is always Not Sure Why You’d Want To Bc It’s Not All That, But Yes Of Course. as u can see most of my 2021 work was redrawing panels of the “gangsta.” manga; it didn’t even end up influencing my style much, my style was already based on all the manga shit i drew at 13, but it was the only thing i was motivated enough to draw at the time, and it was valuable practice.

art teachers still stress that the best reference is to draw from life & yeah thats true maybe but idc sometimes ur just not feeling that! so mix it up, whatever works. obviously respect it if an artist says not to reference their work and don’t only reference ur art from one artist but generally i think it’s harmless.

especially when there’s a specific thing an artist does very well that’s hard to find other examples of; personally i was fighting for my life trying to find how to best translate references of dynamic movement into art of dynamic movement. and i think the bnha mangaka does this wonderfully so i often referenced thise action panels as practice. and i think it helped loosen up my art style. (and… i was extremely ridiculously mentally ill about hawks so that…. contributed…. my fave ask to date is still the person who clocked hawks as my old fave character based purely on how i draw eyes 😭😭)

tracing is a diff conversation and my advice there is it is not actually helpful and it's. idk it feels very Against Artist Code. sometimes, and i havent done it in a couple years, but if a piece REALLY isnt working i've done the thing where u trace the general movement of a pose then go from there but i've never posted completed works where i used that method bc it felt wrong. but yeah that's a separate thing that i don't wanna go too deep into

5. another fun thing that motivated me to practice was doing speedpaints!

if you draw on procreate, it's probably set up automatically already. i don't have the storage to record everything, but when i do have it on, the knowledge that i'll have a speedpaint of the finished piece pushes me to put the last necessary touches on it. (if you'd like to see some of my speedpaints i have a few on my instagram)

some more technical advice:

1. flip your canvas flip your canvas flip your goddamn canvas i KNOW it hurts i KNOW it’s like ripping off a bandaid that’s superglued to ur skin i know but YOU HAVE TO FLIP YOUR CANVAS

(when i didn’t have an ipad i’d do this by taking a picture of the drawing on my phone and flipping the image in the photo app)

IT IS THE WORST THING IN THE WORLD AND IM NOT ASHAMED TO ADMIT I’VE RAGE QUIT SOME PIECES OVER SEEING THE CANVAS FLIPPED BUT LOOK AT THIS ART BEFORE AND AFTER I’D FLIPPED IT AND FIXED HOW WONKY IT WAS: desaturated so tht the colors dont distract so much

like it's the BEST and honestly often the ONLY way you're going to catch things that were off/out of proportion/etc. flipping your canvas gives your brain a "new eye" and it's invaluable.

2. until you have color theory figured out…. i honestly depend on adding layers and setting them to color dodge, divide, multiply, overlay, etc…. i am cheating, perhaps, but it works

3. this is how i draw front-facing noses because it's what a czech woman in an extremely bad mood taught me in a cramped overheated stuffy classroom in germany when i was 12

it was our only meeting but she changed my life. i do not know how common this method is but it's possibly the only thing i can concretely give you a tutorial for. after a few times you won't need to do step 1 anymore

anddd i think that's all the advice i have that wouldn't be a repeat of every other art advice thing you've seen. i do know it boils down to "keep practicing" but again you won't get around that, and i just hope that concretely showing what's motivated me might help motivate someone else.

as an ending note, please take this sentence that motivated me just as much as the 14 sketch book rule: (via graveweaver, author of the webtoon "i'm the grim reaper")

[literaticat]

Hi, Jenn! I was wondering: I know supply chain issues are still a thing, but how much lead time do publishers usually need for a YA book? I heard you need to finalize everything a YEAR before publication? Is that still true?

This is not a supply chain issue per se, it's always been the case that there needs to be a long lead time. Typically the due date for a (non-illustrated) book is around a year before pub date. Ideally, it's then able to be made into galleys/ARCs around 9 months before pub date, and it's ready to print, absolutely no more changes, around 6 months before pub date. A typical timeline might look something like this:

Book sells in mid-late 2022 with a mid-2024 pub date. Contract comes late 2022, and edits ensue in January 2023. There are a couple back-and-forths, final draft is due June 2023. Book goes into copyediting in June, and there are a couple rounds of pass pages where mistakes can be fixed, etc, in July/August, and it is proofread and absolutely done by October 2023. Then it goes into the long queue for printing. Once it has printed, sometime in early Spring 2024, then the final books get shipped back to this country (literal ship. very slow boats.), sent to warehouses around the country, and then distributed to bookstores and wholesalers, each step of which is a whole weeks-long process, and god help us if something happens to a ship or a truck or whatever along the way.

And then in June 2024 - Happy Book Birthday!

Meanwhile also in January/February 2023, the cover is starting to get talked about, the author gives input, they choose an illustrator (or whatever). By June there are sketches, by the end of summer the cover is final, by September the ARC is being distributed (the ARC is generally made from first pass pages -- ie, there still may be some mistakes -- they can't wait for the final-final. That's why they say "NOT FINAL" all over them).

Why does the ARC need to be done 9 months before the book is out? For two reasons: Bookstores need a lot of lead time. The catalogue for Spring/Summer 2024 probably comes out in August/September 2023, and the publisher's sales team is selling Spring/Summer 2024 titles to bookstores in Fall 2023. So all that marketing material (like ARCs, the catalogue copy, the cover, etc) all needs to be in place BEFORE the sales reps get out there and bookstores start placing their orders. Also, review outlets want at least 6 months lead time as well, and we REALLY want reviews!

It might vary a bit by publisher, but this would be what I'd consider a perfectly normal, average timeline for a novel. It *could* certainly be LONGER — and probably WOULD be longer — for a picture book or anything illustrated, and the supply chain issues and whatnot of last year did mean lots of things got pushed because even with a generous timeline they simply were not ready when expected.

It couldn’t really be a SHORTER timeline and still be a normal book: If it were to go faster than this, it'd be a "crash" book -- this can happen for sure, I've had books come out and be on shelves the same year that they got offered on -- but it adds a layer of expense and drama that publishers are not undertaking unless there's a very good reason.

ETA:

Also bear in mind: Yours is not the only book. So while all this is happening for your book, it's also happening for dozens of other books at the same time -- and still more books are at some other stage in the process while this is happening for you. I think it's easy to think like "ugh, why does everything take so long" -- and this timeline might give you some insight, but it still feels like a very long time! -- but remember, it's not like "oh, we have this one book we are working on, let's take three months getting it from point A to point B because we are slowpokes who like to screw with authors" -- rather, it's "we have dozens (or for a huge publisher across many imprints, HUNDREDS) of books coming out in the same season, and ALL of them need to be ready and to a place at a certain time, and it keeps happening, month after month" -- it's like a whole logistical dance that takes many people to pull off, and frankly it's amazing to me that it works as well as it does as often as it does.

[cuprohastes]

Hills to die on

If it's a JPEG or PNG it's not HDR. It's just tone mapping.

JPEG needs taking out back and euthanising. There are better formats and have been for like 15 years.

In any situation where there is a clearly better option, someone will contrive a way to fuck the situation up so massively that everyone will just keep using the shitty scenario. That someone is usually Sony.

GIMP and people who promote GIMP to unsuspecting would-be artists has done more to harm digital art than the cost of buying all the hardware.

Discord sucks ass. It won't ever not suck.

It doesn't matter what Android can do or how customisable it is, if you e.g. get a Samsung it's going to be so larded down with crap and cruft that any benefits over iOS will be lost.

Windows is not better than MacOS.

MacOS is not better than Windows.

Both are better than any Linux install that isn't running on a tablet.

For drawing, sketching, painting and generally enjoying things, an iPad with a ludicrously overpriced stylus is way better than a full PC with a Wacom...

... and the tablet's a better way to enjoy media.

Customer service agents are not paid enough

Customer service agents should be allowed to say "Jesus fucking Christ I asked what the problem is, not 'Tell me about your day' Shut. The. Fuck . Up. Now what is the problem. 6 words or less, or I'm hanging up and blocking your number".

CSATs and NPS are astrology anti-vax conspiracy theories for middle management. They're deeply flawed, harmful to everyone involved, a huge pain in the ass, and nobody wants to deal with them... apart from some middle manager who firmly believes they can boil down a human being and their entire job to two numbers every month.

Billionaires and politicians should be tried every year and if found guilty of being utter shits, be wired up for life support and encased in amber, and displayed to the public along with a list of the bad shit they've done. I firmly believe that these dinguses will see their comerades frozen mid scream in a big block of resin, while a machine keeps them alive in permanent hellish torture and still do the stupid things they do.

Nobody likes soft mozarella as much as block mozarella.

UBI and free cheese would probably solve almost all problems.

Nestlé are now so evil they're just doing it to see how far they can push things before anyone actually does something other than tut-tutting.

Most politicians should be guillotined.

[humblegoat]

🎨🖌️ Artist wrapped 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣3️⃣🎉: 1, 5,6, 7, 11, & 18

Love your stuff :3

Tysm!!!

How many works of art have you made this year? Oh gosh...So many. On top of art freelance being my full time job, I do my best to draw every day and post my work daily as well - though sometimes my daily sketches are WIPs that pop up again later as finished pieces, I'd have to say I'm still well over 300.

5. What work are you most proud of (regardless of likes/reblogs)? I'll choose a different one from my last answer, since like I said there, I've got a lot of favs!

(con't under the cut)

I'm very proud of this piece done for a podcast called Ten Very Big Books, because I don't do a lot of still life, or semirealistic painting, but this ended up coming out really well despite it being out of my usual wheelhouse!

6. What work of yours has the most likes/reblogs/notes this year? My highest note count is actually by far the image of Juniper with the tigers that I shared in my last post; my second most popular is actually this character sketch commission for my good friend River!

7. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected? I don't know if it got my MOST feedback, but the fervent attitude of the feedback for this piece really brightened my day:

11. What pairing/character/subject did you create the most for this year? I was kinda low on ship art this year, come to think of it. By sheer volume, I believe my OC Loch was the leader. I spent almost two months just sketching him a whole bunch to stretch my design and repetition muscles.

But the character I THOUGHT about the most was probably Juni, whom we've seen several times lol

18. What work of yours do you go back to admire again the most?

This piece, I think! It was a very different process than I usually do for my digital paintings, but the softness and shapes really delighted me. Very happy with this one.

[pine-niidles]

April Project Updates

Hiya! I hope you've had a good April. Me, not so much. The month started still heavy with artblock and outside of art I've also not been feeling great. At the very least I've kept up with regular life drawing but I decided pretty early on to focus on making progress on things I needed to get done unrelated to art. It's possible I did just need that time to rest as in the last couple of weeks the artblock has been going away! I've been able to slowly make progress on my art pieces without hating every step :) In other positive news the tree outside my kitchen window has fully regrown its leaves & there are lots of beautiful flowers growing on my regular walking path to the pool. 

2023 Sketchbook

The finish your project jam helped give me that last boost I needed to finish putting together my 2023 sketchbook pdf, which is a mix of my physical sketchbooks & misc digital art from last year. You can get a copy on itch.io.

2024 Hourly Comics Day

Same as above, I did the last couple of steps I needed to finish my hourly comics day pdf, also up on itch.io. 

There's very little new there, I just wanted to have all the hourly strips together in one easy to read place + share the printable booklet version that I made for myself in case anyone else was interested in printing themselves a copy.

Impractical but Cool Fantasy Swords

I've been chipping away at this zine in my off time for a while, now I just have these last 6 swords to finish shading and then finalizing the layout for the whole zine.

​Hopefully marking this as done will help push the last bit of artblock out of my system and I can get back to drawing new things rather than just finishing old art!

Life Drawing

I don't normally share day to day life drawing in these updates but since it's pretty much all the art I've got to show this month here are a few of my fav sketches from April:

Plans for May:

​Zines

I currently have 4 small-medium zine ideas bouncing around my head, I'd like to finish two of them this month but I'm undecided which two.

Don't Wake the Sleeping Dragon

There's a lot to rework with DWSD mechanics based on feedback from the first playtest, the biggest change will be that I'm no longer trying to keep it to two pages max. That was an ambitious goal for my first ever ttrpg, and letting go of it will give me a lot more freedom to explain the rules a little better and add mechanics to facilitate rp. I'm aiming to get a second playtest draft out this month & to start on some art for it.

[confusedkittensposts]

There is a silver pickup truck in bunkers garage. It has many things some of the most prominent ones being blanket and a the jacket that belong to Nephilim Jack. There are three chocolate wrappers littered in the cabin, near one of the wrappers there is a strap of a bag. the bag is carefully hidden under the seat away from everyone belongs to a angel of the lord who currently resides in heaven.

The contents of bag is as follows

A blue spiral notebook, a blue tie, few chocolates, a notepad, black leather bound journal two blue ball point pens, a graphite pencil, a packet of 7 colour pencils (I don't know what products you guys get in US but the smallest pack we get here has 7 pencils)  a huge handmade sweater of olive green colour, three knitting needles, two crochet needles, a pair of handknit black fingerless gloves, a ball of warm yellow and a ball of orange wool, a ball of remaining olive and black wool, a little box haphazardly warped in green gift wrapping paper, white envelope, two Ziplocs, and a bloody rag.(loose papers and photographs)

The contents of the bag have been collected over last 12 years however they range from 6 months old to billions of years old

Sam looked at the stuff from Castiel’s truck brought in by a new hunter named Riley. He looks up as his brother enters the room. Dean seems much more curious about the contents that Sam feels, still they go through the thigs together.

Sam pulls out the sweater, its soft and warm and easily his size.

Dean recognises the rock as one jack picked up when they were out, “its blue like my eyes.”

The small gift box has dean’s name on it making him feel less guilty about opening it, a necklace of rosemary beads, Sam tells him the beads are carved with Celtic symbols powered with angelic grace, Cas had given Sam a bracelet of the same to help with nightmares in honey Cas era. Sam thinks they give you a general calming effect too, It also has a note . (with the way his brothers hand shake and jaw tightens Sam doesn’t ask him what it says.)

Dean tries to open the leather journal only for a sigil to light up and send electric shock through him, it gets tossed aside easily.

One of the Ziplocs has needles and pens and chocolates, rest of the things that were scattered in the bag join them.

The rose gold and black feathers, not very hard to guess whose are collected in a small pile.

The notepad mostly has notes from cases Cas solved and some loose papers, with doddles or animal sketches.

The second Ziploc h neatly folded pages some of them have cute little doodles clearly made by jack and rest of the pages have sketches on them breath taking beautiful sketches.

Portraits of the brothers, of Jack, Claire, Crowley, Rovena, meg, Charlie, Bobby, Jo and Ellen, some people they don’t even recognise, all the pieces have different level of detailing. Its clear that between everything going on Cas did not get to finish them. Some sigils, and art work done in many styles that are identified by Sam to belong across cultures spanning centuries.

It takes the Winchesters all of 13 minutes to get over their internal debate the argument with each other and open the blue notebook. It was a cheap spiral-bound composition book with lined paper, the kind kids took notes in for school. It had the ruffled, wrinkled look of a notebook that had been carried around for a while and written in pretty often. It also had some photographs pressed between its pages

The book had been started sometime after a human Cas left the bunker, its written in many languages, whichever I felt could express him most at that time. It had Castiel’s questions, questions he had no one to ask, the ones no one cared to answer. It had his doubts, doubts about everything he had done, about his decision to keep going rather than putting his blade in himself. His fears, fears of the world around him, of what would come, of forgetting everything he knew... It had stories, of small towns he visited, of people he met, not just when he was human but even after that, towns he went to for a case, or stopped by, for refills or rest or just out if curiosity. It had random information about animals.

It had sketches too, kittens in a box, or a can longing on a wall, or a dog curled up, a baby they did not recognise, some flowers and birds, bees of course, and them of Sam and Dean, younger ones, the ones who had first met Cas, of themselves then.

There are some empty pages, and the last page of the book has a intricate sigils.

While gathering some papers that fall down  trying to put them back in Ziploc, Sam comes across A old folders piece od paper  with a drawing of him and Dean, standing shoulder to shoulder, defiantly from when they were much younger, towards the top of the page underneath the heavily shaded lead were lighter strokes, barely visible. And they looked like wings. Wings that were spread above Sam and Dean, tips curling down in a protective canopy. Sam keeps it. (pretty sure I read about it in a fic don’t remember which)

Dean keeps the box and its contents, Sam keeps the sweater.

The rest of the bag and its contens are given to Claire after Sam finds out Castiel visits her regularly

She is happy to learn that Cas knits and teases the seraph until he gives her a hat with cat ears.

[agent-darkfest]

Your art is so amazingly wonderful! 😭 Like I could not be more genuine when I say i see your art on my dash and I have to remember to breathe. I do have one question! How long have you been drawing for?

You are such an inspiration! Love your work! ❤️

(Sorry for the messy doodle, I'm on my break at work and don't have my ipad) BUT... OMGOSH, THANK YOU SO MUCH! You're so sweet!!! ❤️❤️❤️ I'm literally blushing!!! XD

As for how long I've been drawing... I've been sketching for as long as I can remember, but I've never done it professionally. But if I had to give it a number...hmm, maybe 20+ years on and off? That being said, I've had a lot of times where I stopped drawing for 6 months to years, and my drawings suffered greatly.

But what I find super effective in helping me improve is literally doodling anything and everything. Even if the doodle looks...kinda not-great, the practice does help you improve subconsciously when you want to do a more serious piece. As a matter of fact, all my finish renders started as little sticky note doodles. I have sketchbook filled with them! It helps because I don't have to feel like the doodles need to be perfect. I just need to get the idea out and then pick one I like and go with it. Also, drawing my favorite obsessions also helps with motivation *cough*Sun & Moon*cough*.

Omgosh, I'm rambling. I can't help it I love answering questions. Below are a couple of pictures of what my sketchbook looks like. The doodles aren't great but the ideas they represent always inspire me and make me smile when I see them. Please excuse the mess

Some of them have some stuff blocked out since the idea isn't quite there. You might find some fanart in there as well. But yeah! This is how I start my drawings. :)

Omgosh...this went longer than I expected. So sorry.