#I think I definitely want to focus on shapes and colours a lot more at least in a more purposeful way

[passports-pls]

gonna try spending 2025 doing more actual studies methinks

[woso-dreamzzz]

Tears II

Alexia Putellas x Child!Reader

Summary: You wander off at Camp Nou

Having you was the best decision Alexia ever made.

You were so sweet and little and you loved to just be in her company no matter what. It didn't matter if you were napping or playing or eating, you just always wanted to be around her.

But, having you was definitely the most stressful decision she had ever made too.

Sometimes, it was like she would turn around and you would be gone.

Sometimes, loud noises overwhelmed you and you just had to leave.

This must have been one of those times.

The locker room was upbeat and loud and Alexia turned around for just a minute to get your ear defenders.

"Mapi!" Alexia yells over the sound of the speakers," Mapi!"

"Huh? What?"

"Where's my pequeñita?"

Mapi shrugs. "I saw her by the door a few minutes ago. I think she was talking to Marta."

Alexia knows immediately that you've run off. You didn't really like talking to her teammates bar very few of them. You were more likely to talk to Caro or Irene than Marta so she knows you've made a break for it.

Her cleats echo through the halls as she goes off in search of you. You're a creature of habit at Camp Nou and Alexia knows to bypass the toilets and the densely populated areas, ducking into one of the rooms that has no lights on.

"Hey, pequeñita," Alexia coos. She spots your darkened form hiding under one of the tables. "Was it too loud?"

You sniffle and Alexia crawls under with you.

"I'm sorry," She says," But here, I've got your headphones. Shall I put them on?"

You nod miserably. The ringing in your ears is terrible but it's dampened when Mami slides your ear defenders on. You take in a big breath before you expel all your air, slumping into her side.

Her voice is muffled as she speaks but if you concentrate really hard then you can still hear her.

"Do you still want to sit on the bench and watch, pequeñita? Or do you want to stay inside and colour?"

You sniffle, wiping your face on Mami's jersey. You like watching Mami play but it's too loud a lot of the time. But this is an important match because Mami's playing at Camp Nou rather than the Estadi Johan Cruyff.

You want to watch her.

"On the bench," You say softly, knocking your head against her collarbone.

"Okay, pequeñita," Mami agrees, her cool hands slipping under your shirt to gently trace shapes on your back," Do you want to stay here a little bit longer or should we go and see the rest of the team?"

You tighten your first in her jersey. "Stay for longer."

"Okay, we'll stay for longer."

Mami's heartbeat is nice. You've got your cheek against her chest and you can feel it thumping as she picks you up after a long while of sitting under the table in the dark.

You stay pressed against it as Mami returns to the locker room.

With your ear defenders on, the sounds are all muted now and you feel like you can breathe again. Your hand opens and closes around Mami's jersey and she holds you just as tightly as you're holding her.

Irene comes up to speak to Mami and she sends you little worried looks as she talks. You're not concentrating so you don't try to focus on what she's saying. You're content to just hold onto Mami.

"Do you want to go straight to the bench or are we having cuddles all the way out onto the pitch?"

"Cuddles."

"Cuddles, it is."

The crowd at Camp Nou is very loud but you've got Mami and you've got your headphones on so none of that matters.

She holds you nice and tight all the way up to the coin toss before she walks you to the side of the pitch.

Irene's waiting for you there.

"Mami," You whine. Today has been a lot and you're regretting not staying inside. You don't want to see Mami away from you.

"I know," She says, cupping your face as you're smoothly placed in Irene's arms," But today we're going to be very brave. Okay? Can you be brave for me, pequeñita?"

"I can be brave."

"Good girl." She presses a soft kiss to your head. "I'll see you in a bit, okay?"

You nod.

You don't leave Irene's arms for the entirety of the match. You don't talk to her either. You just sit there, your eyes tracking Mami.

She collects you during halftime and you just relax into her, pressing your forehead up against hers as you try to match your breathing before you're returned to Irene for the rest of the match.

Once it's over, she comes straight for you.

You slump into her as she makes her way back to the locker room, changing out of her sweaty clothes. You don't want to let go of her but it's only a temporary thing and you're back in her arms again.

Your ear defenders hang around your neck as Mami carries you out to the stadium.

She clips you into your car seat.

"Do you want cuddles when we get home?"

You nod. "Cuddles and sleepy time."

Mami brushes her thumb over your cheek with a fond smile. "I like that plan."

[trappezoider]

i am endlessly fascinated by the way you draw hair. it looks amazing even in your doodles, let alone fully detailed pieces. just stunning. could i persuade you to make a little tutorial? i'd be happy to write a soft sebinis ficlet for you in exchange. 🥰

Aaaaah, I didn't think it looked like anything special xD If anything I struggle with it a lot, so thank you for this compliment😭 I made a lil tutorial of how I do it so you'll know my secrets :D But it's very general and I bet there are a ton of better hair tutorials out there. I didn't include any colour as I focus more on the texture and the shape more. The sketching phase is definitely my favourite rather than colouring hehe... And I would love to read a sebinis ficlet omg!! But I want you to write whatever you're most interested in!! No need for separate gifts just for this!! x) (but I will be staring at AO3 and refreshing the tag lol)

[cherries-in-wine]

I love ur posts on lolita the book- what are ur thoughts on the movies?

aw tysm anon mwah <3

(Made a few edits because my perspective changed a little)

I don't really like the movies- in fact comparing them to the masterpiece that Vladimir Nabokov wrote feels like an insult. Sometimes art can only exist in a certain medium and when you take it out of that medium it loses its integrity. Lolita is art that can only exist as literature. This is what I used to believe but to be honest even as literature it's being misunderstood a lot so it feels as if no matter what medium lolita exists in, it'll always be interpreted wrong.

It took Vladimir Nabokov 5 years to write lolita because writing from the perspective of a pedophile is tough- it's using the abuser to tell the victim's story but in this case the abuser is our unreliable narrator, he had to make Humbert Humbert charming or at least intriguing in a fucked up way enough that the reader would be compelled to read further (lolita will disturb you but you won't able to put it down) but any competent reader would will be able to figure out that Humbert Humbert is just spewing his delusional bullshit.

It feels as if Vladimir Nabokov predicted the romanticization of Lolita as soon as we started putting girls on the book covers- he intended on lolita being faceless

So much of what makes the book incredible lies in reading in between the lines to figure out what's actual going on. Think of it as Humbert Humbert is forcing his heart shaped rose coloured glasses onto you like "see it's a beautiful tragic love story" and it's your responsibility to take them off to see things as they are, a 12 year old child being abused constantly.

Unreliable narrators in general are hard to portray on screen (it's not impossible ofcourse, gone girl, 500 days of summer and black swan do it really well) but extra difficult in this case because lolita and Dolores are 2 different people entirely. Lolita is the persona, Dolores is the person. Lolita is the nymphet, the seductress that only exists in Humbert's twisted mind, Dolores is the 12 year old child. Humbert sees lolita, he wants you to see lolita, but you need to focus on Dolores.

Lolita 1962 was laughably inaccurate, they made Dolores look like an elegant woman when even Humbert Humbert describes her as a messy tomboy. Lolita 1997 is better I guess, it follows the book a little more accurately. The movie is definitely pretty to look at and I don't have a problem with Dolores being an icon or people taking fashion inspiration from her. In my opinion she is an icon, it isn't fair to reduce a victim's identity to their trauma and abuser. Also she's so funny and is constantly insulting Humbert so mwah love her so much plus I relate to her a lot as I went through similar things. I think some scenes of Humbert Humbert being an unreliable narrator were translated really well, for example this argument-

Humbert gave a short description while the movie is more of lo's point of view, it's all screaming and shouting and absolutely devastating, Dominique Swain did an amazing job.

Both of the actresses were 14 during filming and that's just so unsettling to me. Sure you're using a body double for explicit scenes but isn't that just content for actual pedophiles, the closest thing to CP that's legal?. There are many older actresses that look younger but honestly that scares me more, because now there are no restrictions to the scenes they can film, which usually ends up underage characters in extremely exploitative scenes (think euphoria).

My feelings are sort of all over the place on this, I simply can't reach a satisfying conclusion- I don't think it's impossible to adapt lolita into a good film, black swan is one of my favourite movies ever and nina sayers is as unrealiable as a narrator gets, so it's not impossible to portray Humbert Humbert on screen but it will be difficult. On the other hand I just know that people will find some way to romanticize the movie- no matter how well it's written like in the novel it's so obvious Humbert is a pedophile that he might as well get it tattoed on his head but people still think of it as "aw tragic beautiful love story". But part of me thinks that if they write it kind of like gone girl, you believe nick is the murderer in the first half then amy's scheming is revealed in the second, just like that if lolita is shown in the first half but after dolores runs away her perspective is shown to audience, how she's so miserable and gives an accurate depiction of Humbert Humbert's abuse, maybe showing that horrifying reality of the story will end it's romanticization once and for all.

[worldfullofash]

i would love love love some fluffy romantic headcanons for Penelope Garcia 💜💜 :)

There definitely needs to be more Garcia content on this app! Thank you for your request and here you go <3

Penelope Garcia as your girlfriend

She is THE Office siren

Yet she knows how to include color in her fits, which i looovee

And damn being her lover is a whole rollercoaster

In a good way of course

Let’s talk about being her significant other

She has so much love to give and yet no one to give it to

Until you came along

Don’t get me wrong she showers the bau with love, but she still longs for something more

We all know she is an enthusiastic person

Therefore, she is not one to shy away from flirty banter. When you return the same energy… she is an unstoppable force of love

That means she isn’t ashamed to bury you with her affection

I mean- She’s probably already planning your wedding

In addition to this, she is a great planner. Your birthday party’s are the ones that everyone in the bureau looks forward to

Get her trinkets please

Like that’s the way to get into her heart

She’ll appreciate every little thing. She puts them in her office and takes them with her when she has to consult on a case. As a reminder of you everywhere she goes

Even if you are a profiler and literally a few feet away from her-

She just misses you all the time

Heart-shaped rocks, little notes with doodles and pictures of cats. Everything little thing counts.^^

Speaking of cats, she is definitely a cat person

I’m pretty sure she buys cat food just to feed the stray cats in het neighbourhood

You may have to warn her about the risks.. the illnesses and all that. However, it is endearing to see her care so much about animals most people usually ignore

I definitely think she can crochet. Which means she makes most of her gifts for you herself

Imagine her exited face when you open the colourful packaging to be met with a cardigan or a scarf in your favourite colours

She knows your style so well^^

Happy you = happy Penelope

Btw she also crochets hats and sweaters for the stray cats I mentioned earlier. They never want to wear them, but it’s the thought that counts

She stims a lot. Especially when she feels comfortable enough with you. She starts singing out of nowhere, rubs her hands together and even shrieks to transfer her energy. Later on she also uses your jewellery/clothes to fidget with

She rambles a lot when stressed so you have to remind her to breathe

I really like to see her with a quiet person who loves to hear her talk: the rambler x listener trope

She wears her emotions on her face

This means that you don’t even have to be a profiler to know what mood she’s in. Since she’s so cheerful all the time it is evident when she’s feeling down.

Fortunately, it is very easy for you to make her smile again

She makes her love known by giving gifts

But her actual love language is words of affirmation. She needs to know that she belongs and matters. Especially considering her past

If you don’t like Spencer she’ll won’t like you. Period.

You guys will be a powerful trio btw

If you work for the bau, you always hang out in her office. It’s your own little girlscave

Like Hotch has to force you out so you will focus on your paperwork

You guys share colognes/perfumes and beauty products

All in all, I need her, i want her and i need her to want me

[akookminsupporter]

Hey! A couple of questions for you 😊

AYS, to me, was never going to “confirm” jikook. It was just unrealistic considering society and that they’re serving now. That being said, did AYS reaffirm for you jikook might be real? And do you think if it was your first bts content would you also think that there might be going something on (ie watching with no bias). For me, it showed how incredibly close they are and several moments of intimacy that goes beyond most friendships.

The second one is now 6 weeks out from the car convo, has your opinion on it or its relation to jikook changed? For me still, that car convo didn’t show they broke up or disprove that they may be dating.

One of my pet theories, even before Face and long before knowing buddy existed, was wondering if they took a step back in prep for military service - a let’s focus on solo careers and work on not being as tied together cause we have service a head of us. A practice run if you will. Not breaking up, more let’s try long distance.

More so now, and what I haven’t seen people talk about, is I was thinking about how for the other guys and jikooks prior relationships, they would know how hard dating as an idol would be. I’m sure Tae and Jennie had a lot to contend w being so busy as idols and on differing schedules. Same thing for dating a non famous, dealing w the insane hours and workload, rarely being in Seoul. And that was never a reality jikook faced - for a period they would’ve both lived and worked together. They were in the same schedule, the same places. And that would’ve been for a majority of their relationship. So no wonder post October 2022 was an adjustment, when they truly did not have any schedules as bts. And they’re both human, and Jimin has said both he and jk get lost in their work (from that colouring live). Sometimes we aren’t the best and prioritizing work and relationships, especially when it gets busy. You hear stories about loving couples going thru phases where they’re just roommates before making the effort to not just be living together. It seems like Jimin got incredibly busy and focused with Face and Muse. And jk is allowed to have feelings about that. Doesn’t mean them not being able to see each other to hang out is any deeper than that. Doesn’t show that they broke up or couldn’t be dating. I also wonder, since we may never get the background on it, if that period of time solidified the decision to enlist together. Where before it was a ok well enlist it will suck, became after that period of time nah we’re not doing 18+ months apart.

Ahhhh sorry for the long post, a couple questions and a couple thoughts for you haha

Hey anon, sorry for taking a bit to post your ASK.

“Did AYS reaffirm for you that jikook might be real?”

Yeah, definitely.

“Do you think if it was your first BTS content, would you also think that there might be something going on (i.e. watching with no bias)?”

Oh, absolutely. I think if I'd seen AYS without much context, I’d be sure they’re a couple, no doubt about it.

“The second one is now six weeks out from the car convo; has your opinion on it or its relation to jikook changed?”

Are you talking about Jungkook complaining that Jimin never reached out? Honestly, no, I still hold the same opinion I had initially.

I think one of the reasons why that time they talked is confusing for us is that we don’t have the context for a lot of things. For example, when did they decide to enlist together? I think that decision shaped many of their choices, like focusing on their work and perhaps on other friendships, because their relationship wouldn’t just pause dramatically come December 2023.

Honestly, I think that period in their relationship solidified whatever they have and made them want to be together, which is why they ended up enlisting together through a system that guaranteed they'd be together. Even if Jimin and Jungkook took a break—assuming they really have a romantic relationship—the fact that they decided to film a show together and enlist together in the army shows they’ve overcome whatever was separating them or that they’ve just realised they want to be together.

So, I think it’s a bit tiring and unnecessary to speculate about what might have happened during that time in their relationship because, first of all, we have no context, and second, they’re still together. The fact that they enlisted together through the buddy system is the biggest “proof” they can give that their relationship is solid, whatever that may be.

[vhstown]

writing neutral readers; a guide

(neutral = unspecified gender, race, appearance, etc.)

hi hi here's vee, the one of (hopefully) many neutral fic writers for atsv, showing YOU how to write a neutral reader for your character x reader fic!!!!

this is mainly about romantic x reader fics!!

lil disclaimer: you don't have to write neutral readers if you don't want to! this is just for people who do and might want some advice :) all of these are what works for me — there are plenty of ways to write a neutral reader!

contents page for your sanity:

avoiding white-coding

being gender-neutral

re-direction / re-phrasing

my general thoughts and opinions

before we get started: why are neutral readers great?

inclusivity! a lot of the times it can be hard to find a fic right for you especially if they tend to be for a certain demographic

forces you to think outside of the box — you can't rely on describing the reader, so you have to describe character interactions more creatively (as you'll see me try to do a lot in this post 😭)

helps with immersion! a lot of the time overly-descriptive reader inserts can make it hard to... actually insert yourself into them

your fics can reach a lot more people if they're neutral (though this is just an added bonus lol)

some colour-coding for your wellbeing: blue = general advice + examples, pink = my personal input

1. avoiding white-coding

this is a big point i'd like to address first because it doesn't get talked about enough! and all of this is in reference to a post i saw like a week ago lmao

i haven't seen this term being used a lot but the general idea is when a piece of writing is catered towards a white reader (usually implied through description)

this is usually done unintentionally but avoiding white coding is an important part of writing totally neutrally!

general things to avoid

describing physical attributes such as hair + skin tone

for example describing hair as silky/smooth implies that it is straight + excludes the majority of other hair types / styles etc

also things like running your fingers through your hair can be impractical w certain hairstyles

i tend to just avoid hair in general ? if you want you can focus on other gestures (hand holding, cupping readers face or sumn)

or just reverse the roles entirely and have reader do the comforting gestures to the canon character

skin tone is definitely more subtle however it can be implied especially through things like blushing

people with darker skin tones DO blush, but it generally tends to be less visible or not at all

instead i tend to describe the feeling rather than the outward changes (face getting warm, getting flustered, heart rate increasing, sweating, stuttering etc)

2. being gender-neutral

okay this admittedly can be difficult to write sometimes

the general rule for a gender neutral reader is to avoid referring to the reader as male or female AND any physical description specific to a certain sex

gendered terms

some people like to use they/them when reader is referred to by other characters

instead of boyfriend/girlfriend you can use partner

i personally don't do these things as you'll see in my next point about re-direction!

there are PLENTY of gender neutral pet names in english

for languages like spanish which have masc and fem versions of words i tend to use nouns (usually non-living or abstract) which have a set gender (such as my heart, my love, etc — one of my favourites is cariño (darling) because it doesn't change based on gender)

though again i rarely write terms of endearment in other languages so i suggest you do your research!

physical terms (sfw only)

also for body inclusivity

again this mainly to try and avoid implying fem!reader but also body types just a tiny little bit

i tend to avoid mentioning body shape but if i do then i use something vague like "shape of your body" rather than "curves" or anything specific

you can just write down the body part without describing it physically (chest, waist thighs, etc)

eyelashes are ... unisex! no way!

you might want to avoid makeup but this is just a *general* suggestion

i tend to NOT describing clothing choices unless it's relevant to the premise of the fic — usually vague references like your school uniform, pajamas, shoes, favourite shirt, etc

you can also cheat this if reader is wearing the other character's clothes 😭 next point re-direction WOOO

3. re-direction / re-phrasing

(a personal choice of mine + totally optional)

re-direction is when you change the focus of a sentence in order to get rid of any words descriptions that may take away from the neutrality of the reader (as you see me talking about in the little pink text everywhere or in the little suggestions in blue)

Re-direction can be used for anything! I think there's a book that exists that uses no words with the letter e and a book that uses no pronouns at all (but don't ask me what they are because I have no clue)

It's not particularly easy or straightforward all the time and you might have to change more than one sentence but re-phrasing your writing can be a good challenge! (if you choose to do so)

for me i tend to re-direct to avoid using any sort of third person pronouns (he/she/they etc) or gendered terms and to avoid using insert tags like y/n

example on pronouns & gendered terms

for pronouns i usually change "he/she/they" to "you" or a noun

"She's not welcome here" could become "Your friend isn't welcome here"

Or the sentence may change entirely to convey the same meaning. The woman turned to you, speaking one simple command: "Get out."

I also tend to use more masc / neutral terms in casual settings like "dude" or "bro"

I also avoid the use of "partner" (though this is just nit-picky) ex. "Is this your partner?" might become "Oh, [character] talks about you all the time!" (entirely dependent on context and if you care enough lol — one of the less clear-cut redirections)

while you could obviously use they in this scenario i personally don't out of preference (to me they/them is an nb set of pronouns if the gender isn't ambiguous and blah blah blah) but it doesn't really matter

example on insert tags

"(Y/N), wait!" can become "Hey, wait!"

Or you could use "your name" rather than a placeholder. He called your name, running behind you. "Wait!"

like i mentioned before things like clothes and favourite foods all tend to revolve around the character rather than the reader. in a lot of cases writing about the foods the character likes or wearing the clothes the character owns can actually be more immersive than inserting your personal preferences into a pair of brackets (in my experience at least)

4. general thoughts and opinions

one big thing i wanted to point out is that it's actually good for your writing to "ban" yourself from using certain terms and descriptions. i find that i focus a lot more on describing events, emotions and character interactions rather than being caught up on the reader.

fem!reader and masc!reader are GREAT too! amazing beautiful wonderful keep writing those — but i think gender neutral readers help to avoid a lot of biases that might (albeit unintentionally) come with a specific gender

and being inclusive for all kinds of readers when you're writing a neutral reader is so important!

to conclude

if you exclusively write one type of reader that is absolutely fine :) write what you want and be happy doing it

neutral readers are GREAT but so difficult to write so pls don't worry if u mess up sometimes 👍

i am still figuring out ways to make my writing more inclusive and i wouldn't know without other people's input! so please feel free to drop ur personal gripes or advice

this post is subject to edits (cuz i always forget to add something and it is very ranty spammy random lol)

this post can be found in the "favourite posts" section of my navigation (pinned)!

reblogs r appreciated if u found it useful <3

[richerlandtv]

So last year when the 15th Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver was revealed...

A lot of people were going on about how it doesn't look enough like a screwdriver. It made me think "well, what does a Sonic Screwdriver look like?" And the more I thought about it, the more I thought, ultimately, you can get away with a lot with the Sonic Screwdriver so long as it's at least cylindrical.

So I opened up Maya and made a bunch of pieces and swapped them in and out until...

I had designed my own Sonic Screwdriver. Quite proud of it, too!

But to fabricate it, all I could really do was 3D print it, and while it's lovely for a hunk of plastic it just doesn't do anything.

So I asked a wizard.

Custom Sonics are absolutely amazing at making Sonic Screwdrivers. I sent them 3D turnarounds, photographs, and design documents and good (time) lord did they knock it out of the park.

Look at this!

It's absolutely beautiful!

Machined in real metal, with brass accents and durable resin grips, and fitted with lights and sound. Its weighty but light, feeling good in the hand.

I feel like it certainly measures up to other Sonic Screwdrivers!

I am so happy and so proud to have this in my collection.

If you want your own Sonic Screwdriver, definitely consider Custom Sonics for replicas, original designs, or to get a quote on your own custom design! (I'm not being paid to advertise, I promise lmao)

About the design:

I wanted this to look like the original Sonic Screwdriver had been built upon over the years, rather than simply being replaced. So there are elements of the Sonic Screwdriver seen in the Classic series acting as a base for the design, with everything else added on over the top.

Thinking of how the Doctor might improve on that original design in-universe, I thought about its weaknesses as an item. The Doctor could easily drop it and it might roll away, so I added a flat-edged grip. It also gets used a lot, so I thought it should have a ventilation system to prevent overheating. There are two sets of vents: the round ones near the top, and more subtle square ones near the grip.

The War Doctor uses the original Sonic Screwdriver but with the emitter head removed. We're never told why, but I like to think this, along with the additional piece added to the base, was done to give it more power. With that in mind, I thought perhaps an even more powerful Sonic Screwdriver - without an emitter ring - would need something to focus and stabilize the sonic waves. The Eleventh Doctor's and Fourteenth Doctor's Sonic Screwdrivers have "petals" which may or may not serve that function. This design has two additional emitters mounted on antennae to focus and stabilize the beam. The emitter head has a screw thread so a new emitter ring can be screwed on. I did design an emitter head, but with the stabilizers, the shape wasn't very satisfying, so that went unfabricated.

The base was left with an opening, which I imagined would allow it to plug into the TARDIS. This worked out well as it left room for Custom Sonics to install a charging port.

The brass rings were inspired by the Dalek Time Controller and The Rani's TARDIS console.

The silvery metallic blue colour was inspired by K-9.

The emerald and brass colours were chosen simply because it's my favourite colour combination. The use of brass was also inspired by clockwork, with its obvious relation to time travel and my own personal enjoyment of clockwork.

So that's my custom Sonic Screwdriver!

[pennys-fic-reviews]

For today's fic, we have an absolutely amazing one called Meet Again by @northpen.

I got introduced to this one by some gorgeous fanart by @teircetea. (Reblogged after this post on my blog). They're a wonderful artist and the way they use colours is the Thing that made me want to read this fic. If someone with such fabulous art read and loved this fic, then it must be a good fic.

And it was MORE than good by a long shot. It was so fun to meet all the new versions and learn about them. The world building in this was so good. It tackled mental health so well. I loved the characters and how they interacted and how they viewed the world.

(more under the cut)

I think the one thing that stuck with me was Nya's struggle with chronic pain. It made me have to put down my phone and breathe a few times. I had to take breaks and dry the tears from my eyes.

Personally, I have my own chronic pain struggles and permanent nerve and bone damage in my right ankle. And seeing Nya struggle to do the things she loves, to be scared to do the things she loves, because of her knee injury hit me. I understood. I know what it's like to be frustrated because you can barely walk. I know what it's like to feel incapable because of your pain. This fic had one of the most impactful depictions of chronic pain I've seen in a long time. Amazing job.

ANYWAYS BLAH BLAH BLAH who cares about the feely emotional stuff. What really matters is Kai's whole character. Oh my god I literally can't even get over how much growth he went through. Getting to see his character start off as a rebellious teenager who matures into a father figure and emotionally mature adult who cares about people was so cool. It happened gradually and didn't feel forced. He felt like a real human being.

Amazing job to the author for writing the characters so well. I absolutely fell in love with every single one of them.

The storytelling in this was so good. The villains felt more natural than even some of the canon villains. The plot made sense but the plot twists were still shocking. It wasn't predictable, but it also wasn't bizarre. It was a perfect balance.

Anyways. Overall. This fic was absolutely heartbreaking but also so funny and humorous. It has an angst sandwich with angst sprinkled in, but most of the filling is fluff and humor. It was an amazing and natural piece of writing on life and death and how to cope with all of it. It appreciates grief and understands it comes in all shapes and forms and knows it's unavoidable, but it accepts it and shows you that you can ease your grief with a lot of healing. It was beautiful. Had many moments that made me pause and giggle and kick my feet or cry or laugh or stare in shock or reminisce or just feel and focus on the writing.

Beautiful fic, would definitely recommend to anyone who's looking for a fantastic longfic with many different feels and a connection to the characters. Don't let the lack of tagging scare you lol 😂

Amazing fic, 10/10, thank you for birthing it into the world, author.

[tehri]

Hello there-- I have been quasi-browsing your blog, and especially your "previous-generation" hobbit stuff, Saradoc, Paladin, Ferumbras (<3), the whole lot! And I've enjoyed it especially because it's not the lore that is generally appreciated a whole lot. But since there is next to nothing in regards to fanart/physical descriptions of the figures of that generation, I am curious-- How did you imagine them?

Hello!

I've gotta admit, this is the nicest message I've received in ages. Buuuut it's also been quite a while now since I did any hobbit stuff, so bear with me while I dig up the memories and headcanons a little bit.

Putting the rest under a read more because this, uh, this might get long.

There are so many hobbits of that generation (and of the generations before them) that I'm going to choose to focus on particular ones here - in particular Paladin, Eglantine, Saradoc, Esmeralda, and Ferumbras. Leaving out OCs this time because... well, because.

And I know these are going to be really vague descriptions, but that's also because it's been quite a while since last... Things like face-shape or nose-shape are proooobably going to be left out here.

Paladin - I imagine that he's a fairly tall hobbit, and built like a damn bull. Years of physical labour and good living does that to a body, and Paladin is no exception. Think a strongman-build, kind of, with slightly paler skin and freckles. He definitely tans very easily. As a young hobbit, I imagine he had ruddy brown hair, which has definitely gone quite grey by the time of book-canon. I don't think I ever really considered eye-colour for him, but I'd imagine he has either brown or hazel eyes. Definitely laugh-lines around eyes and mouth.

Eglantine - A fair bit shorter than Paladin, with a stout build. If I think shape-wise, I'm thinking roughly pear-shaped. In my head, she used to have very dark brown hair when she was younger - on the verge of it being black, I'd say - while it's definitely gone grey or at least heavily grey-streaked by book-canon. She definitely has brown eyes, and her skin-tone is fairly dark.

Saradoc - You want a short hobbit? This is a short hobbit. By the time he was born, Brandybucks had both Stoor and Fallohide and Harfoot blood in them, and Saradoc got the Harfoot height. Short and quite stout, but definitely with signs that he is not an overly idle hobbit. He works, and he works hard. He's got the darker Harfoot and Stoor skin as well. When he was younger, his hair was a chestnut brown colour, but it's gone grey now that he's older. Eyes are a fairly dark brown. Also gets that little worry-crease on his forehead as he gets older.

Esmeralda - Much like her brother Paladin, she's a tall hobbit with a sturdy build, though not as sturdy as him. Very much an hour-glass shaped body, with fairly strong arms and shoulders (I did say she learned archery). She had darker hair than Paladin when she was younger but is similarly paler in skintone, and she got their father's green eyes. She's got plenty of laugh-lines on her face, and a crap-load of freckles.

Ferumbras - Shorter than Paladin or Esmeralda, and definitely broader in build (although not quite as, uh, strong). He's got a proper barrel-chest and a generous waistline - very apple-shaped. Paler skin (he really should go outside more) with plenty of freckles, and plenty of laugh-lines on his face. Used to have red hair when he was younger, it's definitely gone white as he's gotten old. Sharp green eyes.

That's... very bare-bones, but it's about what I can manage at the moment. Please do feel free to shoot me a message if there's something else you wonder about!

[lychgate]

Oh heck, my apologies (for not proofreading and/or being specific)

I was thinking more about like how do you figure out lighting, colour picking and the methods you use to finish up a piece. I was also really curious about your favourite anatomy tips and how you do so many dynamic poses.

Uhh tl;dr

I am fuckin stupid and I'm sorry

Lighting, colour picking, methods for putting the colours down, anatomy tips, and how do you do dynamic posing so well??

I only draw busts and it's making me mad :D

HMM lets see: I don't color pick unfortunately, it's not a method I use so I can't help u there sadly. As for lighting and shading, I don't really use any tutorials but I just apply the same types of questions to it that I would to any other part of my work while drawing, which are broad question types like : - where is my light source - is this piece calling for any unique light source? (universal/generic lighting is just fine to keep using!) - how MANY light sources do i have, and what are their distances to my figure - what's the MOOD of the piece, is dramatic lighting necessary - if im just here to have a bop and do an art what light source do I want to play with for practice If it was something like a more polished and finished piece I'd definitely be thinking on these questions harder, or multiple revisions and potential references would be pulled up. But normally for references I just refer to my memory of shows that I've seen, since it's a LOT of visual library, and animated or live action, light source is heavily calculated. So you'll get a good display of these ranges you can apply. Lately I've been watching The Bad Batch and I'll always recommend that and clone wars as good examples of environmental lighting, especially given the style of animation they do with how shapely their figures are. It's a good simplified breakdown of the planes of a figure, so paired with their hard lighting choices u get an even exaggerated easier format to look at for guessing light source. (very reminiscent of comics like the more stylized/cartoon you get in art the more u can push and pull these dynamics. or like easier to spot then live action)

SO UHH, im disclaimer: not in any industry and im sure gonna be missing some terminology, but I just nabbed some random images off the google of bad batch to show case a few broad categories of lighting:

Multiple light sources are ur most common type, and to me the most fun especially when it's like Two light sources. U can often play with the fun lighting types like rim lighting, u often have a warm side and a cold side for contrast/directions sake. The distance of the light determines how sharp or broadly lit something will be, and the size of the light can determine how much of that light hits the figures. So Omega here is surrounded by the lights on their ship, there's likely a very broad top light that's gently lighting the entire area, but the reds and blues of the buttons and screens around her are what's shaping the figure more dramatically. You can see the blue is coming from the top/behind her, where the red is more in front/bottom side to her, since it's the way she's facing and looking at you/the viewer. The second one, still on their ship, features the more broad top down lighting, but the screens in front of them are more important as they're all facing it. both lights in this image are broad wide lighting, so there isn't much of a sharp focus.

COMPLEX LIGHTING to me usually just means 'there are many light sources of greatly varying distances and brightness' or that there's a lot of figures in the image so it's got a lot more to organize so that the whole image may look readable at the end. You get a lot of environmental lighting for these types, meaning like hey the SUN is one of ur major light sources. it is super fucking bright but it is also FAR away, it's lighting EVERYTHING. and closer to sunset/sunrise u get more direct, highly saturated light from it because of the angle it's often shining- there's a lot to play with for just an outdoor lighting! The three images I picked here are a more morning shot, a mid day shot, and an evening shot. Talking about the angle of the sun especially at the last image with the grookey on Omega's shoulder, which casts a shadow over her and her friend. But her friend is positioned in a way so that she's not entirely over shadowed, because we're here to look at all three figures, and their faces matter in this shot. VS the middle images which is more about the scene/setting as a whole, and the figures are all more or less equally lit/shaded according to just standing in bright daylight.

there's also this fun lighting type, singular light sources can usually add a WIDE RANGE of emotion to the piece, depending where you flash the light. You've probably seen tons of light study gifs or shots where a face is shown with one light passing around their entire face and it highlighting the different planes that illuminate based on where the light is. So the first image, the classic Morticia Addams eye drama light, is focused hard on the figures, and what they're looking at. The second image of crosshair is another type of foreboding emotion, but instead with the eyes in the dark. Singular light sources aren't always for drama or asking you to focus on one specific thing but I feel like end of the day, the sharper and closer the one light source is, the more the artist is usually asking you to focus on the scene for. There's also some examples here of multiple light sources being used for the same storytelling dramatic effect. There's crosshair's entire front lit up to focus on not just him but by extension the rifle he's holding, with a backlight to catch the edge of his helmet and the barrel, because those are where we want you to look. They're the most important parts of the image, and they wanted to make lighting appropriate for reading that. With the last image there's what's his face (bro i forget my b) looming over him in a common type of dominant lighting. With how the lighting is assigned to this scene his face is shadowed, vs crosshair's who is partially under that shadow. IDK IM RAMBLING NOW i doubt this is the concise easy to read tips anyone's asking for sorrY I am not a teacher. IN SHORT FOR LIGHTING I JUST think about shows I've watched. I won't go into anymore but I think a GREAT example of super well done lighting in all categories of art are the John Wick films. They're both lively, highly direct, and superficially colored to fit the mood of each character and scene. I'll suck these movies dicks i'm obsessed:

Anatomy I always generically recommend people continue loose study/education from skeletal and muscular anatomy cause if you can build a figure from the inside out, the surface is going to be loads easier. And then when I'm too lazy to look up any muscular break down cause I sure don't remember every part at every angle I kind of just fudge it which is super common, like how many of us draw an ear correctly to it's bends and shapes. I sure as hell don't I just like to draw them the way I'm familiar with lining it (unless it's some really polished piece) cause end of the day my ear is still getting interpreted as an ear. So If I can't recall which muscle overlaps the other given a certain angle I just take a guess and usually it's not something blaring if I threw it down confidently enough. Studying not just muscle though, but how all body types sit and tense and move is crucial. Like fat is obviously going to have a much different type of hang and sit on the body, and then there's deciding how much fat to muscle you want on a figure. There's also skin to consider- older skin is looser, scarred skin has a tighter more custom pull to the areas, skin otherwise is just a big elastic band around ur body. So when that becomes overstretched or cut in any irregular way it's going to have a much different look to the muscles and bones it wraps around. Muscle reference I don't have anything specfic to refer other then using actual anatomy charts. Some 3d modelers have made great reference to body parts with full turn arounds i'd suggest. Since big fantasy muscles can be exaggerated so much (and they should!) it's the only reason why id only Lightly suggest for observing other artists individual drawings of buff characters. cause lotta us are fudging parts and u will end up picking up an incorrect anatomical trait (we literally all do it, just a silly unlearning process once ur hand is so familiar and used to drawing something a certain way) I think something specifically that's really helped me slowly gain a very diverse understanding of the fat to muscle ratio is getting into sumo wrestling. (NOT TO PUSH MY FAVORITE SPORT BUT I HAVE SOURCES IF U WANNA HEAR ABOUT IT/FIND A SPOT TO WATCH) In sumo there's no weight division like other forms of wrestling, and because of that you can have a very diverse set of ways to go about your own style of fighting. Entirely setting aside the fighting STYLES, there's broadly the categories of how much fat do you want to put on and the advantages that has against your opponents, vs how much muscle, or where that muscle needs to build on your figure, height and the like also play into it but basically 'what is my body shape, how can i build/ play it to the advantages of how i fight my opponents'

so like terunofuji is a fucking MOUNTAIN of a man, he's the current yokozuna (top banana rank) and his sheer height and weight plays greatly into his fight style. All of them are fucking jacked and watching Sumo has been a great general visual library builder because: - its a huge sport so it has a lot of coverage and footage on high def cameras - they're mostly nude and you're getting incredible displays of muscles in slow mo as they collide, fight, and throw each other. s2g you'll have an entirely new appreciation for the human body and just how many ways it can shape itself from watching this sport.

Always a ton of fucking leg muscle but Takayasu is one of my faves i gotta show him.

with no weight limitations not only are you seeing all the different levels of weight to fat, but you're getting an excellent display of how fat builds and forms on different people. there is no one way to gain fat, its pretty cool how diverse it can form, where it prefers to store fat, how quickly someone might gain weight vs overtime, genetics, what types of fats you're storing, lots of shit to look up on! this last image is ichinojo vs enho who are like usually one of the biggest and the smallest wrestlers, and both play to their size and shape and have become very high ranked. ANYWAY THIS POST REALLY WENT PLACES HUH idek if i answered the questions right i think i gave more questions back but i tried to touch a little on my thought process and where ive specifically gone in the art study journey. For poses I really don't look up anything I just try to think of the figure and do a lot of preliminary sketches. No i don't have the 'picture a perfect apple in my head' noggin i too suffer from looking at a blurry void when i try to think of shit so yes im hitting a brick wall by not utilizing all the model posing references that are probably out there hsuogjdhk

[pico-digital-studios]

Mini IAB! update for the Poppy Playtime fans

Hey, people. Hope you're having a lovely day/night so far, and if you're not, I simply wish you the best.

Now, I've been seeing the very positive reception this post for my takes on the Smiling Critters for Sonic: Into, Across and Beyond! got over the past few days, and I'm really happy for that new support. You should go check out the original artist (whose work was not made solely FOR the project, of course), as they did a wonderful job integrating the crew into Mobians.

Of course, the Smiling Critters are going to be the ONLY thing representing the game for all of IAB!, and I don't want that to detract away from the main focal points of my project. That means none of the other Poppy Playtime characters (e.g., Huggy Wuggy or Mommy Long-Legs) are going to show up in any shape or form; only alluded to on rare occasions.

While you're browsing this, I'd like you guys to come along and check out IAB! more as a project. It's my massive love letter to all corners of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise (both official and fanmade), and contains a whole array of colourful characters and storylines, just like its major inspiration, the Spider-Man: Spider-Verse trilogy. And to think one idea from a friend evolved into a diet Spider-Verse, eh? 😅

You guys definitely deserve to stick around my profile to see what there is to offer. I've done backstories for a lot of the cast thus far (with supporting characters and villains as my next focus), as well as some general lore tidbits and full-on scripting posts if any of those peak your interest. I know I can't force you to look at it, but please do take it into consideration. I do want the other posts to gain a similar level of traction as the Smiling Buddies post.

(Plus, I've got the game counterparts of Sonic and Shadow in all their glory, if that interests you too!)

Well, that's all for this update. Catch you in the next one!

[0m3g45n1p3r4lph4]

For the ask game, marvel superheroes? If not, metroid

Thanks for the ask! Gonna try for Marvel here first but I'll gladly do this for Metroid again! Not limiting myself to heroes cause 1. Can't think of too many that catch my focus 2. The breadth of characters on any end of hero-villain spectrum gets me

Blorbo: Spider-Man is my real one. Always has been, always will be! This dude was a fave before I could even pronounce Spider-Man

Scrunkly: can't think of a particularly shaped one but closest coming to mind is Gwen/Ghost-Spider. Adore her colour pallette and especially the stylization of her world

Scrimblo Bimblo: I don't pay enough attention to general community stuff to know who really counts as underrated. But! I feel like Sandman has a lot of potential with how often he's depicted not wanting to cause trouble or just a guy dealt a bad hand. Any media exploring that side gets good stuff going and it's always unfortunate to see him reduced to "evil guy #4136"

Glup Shitto: Power Pack my beloved. These kids were included in some Spider-Man comic pack back in the day and I just. These kids stuck with me. Never heard anyone talk of them. Never found enough of their comics to know if they had any longer plot lines than "a dimensional rift opened in the basement while mom was out" or "a skull crashed in our backyard" or "a mutant kid keeps teleporting to bright lights so we carried him home" but they always had a great charm to them

Poor Little Meow Meow: the Spot, specifically the AtSV depiction. Textbook definition of sad wet beast that embraced the sog and became all-powerful. Such an intriguing villain, can't wait for BtSV. Can you tell I really like Spider-Man significantly more than the rest? Lmao

Horse Plinko: any good depiction of Eddie Brock is already in the torment zone. Either deserved (rudeboy) or rooting for escape (goodboy) but knowing he can only find moments of peace

Eeby Deeby: fuck Tony stark. Cool robots to not absolve you of ruining MCU spidey by making it all about you. Superhell. Fuck EIDITH

[di0rkisses]

manifesting journey

I'm going to update this weekly (if I can), I'll be revising my df and listening to subs for my df and tell you my results! This is just a little diary to see my results but i think it could be helpful to others.

"past " i was super insecure after the age of 8 to the point i was really suicidal (there 's more to it but id rather not share ) until their was covid which really hit me , i suffered wid depression and was still insecure, last year i found my purpose/will to live but i feel that my appearance is preventing me.

START ( 1 may): (honestly, i have always had my desired face so there's no need for me to do this but imma tell u my mini journey anyways 😉)

I've set my face as my lockscreen and my side profile as my home screen , I've been listening to subliminal instead of music and I can't lie when I went to the bathroom today I looked like 10% of my df already I'm not even joking .

plan : imma be revising every morning and night, I'll persist then I trust the universe and I'll let the universe do its thing

(7may ): so like ive been bare busy so I haven't been able to stick to what I want to do however I have been listening to subliminal,

ive noticed that i do look a bit different , my skin looks like its clearing up and I noticed I have attracted people and money without realising .

imma try and stick to what i wanted to do !!

(14 may) : i haven't been quite consistent cus I'm a busy girl but I have been listening to subliminal. Plus I also affirm random times lol .

What I have realised whenever I look at my reflections I find my features so pretty! Last night i had a dream where i saw myself as my df but with colour (i set my lock screen as black and white ) ? Additionally i kept remembering a dream i had ages ago of my df (at that time i didnt even know what my df would look like woah) basically i was with my friend (who i recently got close with ) and everyone was complimenting me or something . crazy my dreams probably giving me a sign. I also asked for a sign and as a sign to see butterflies and last week i saw like 4 butterflies and saw constant angel numbers . Also i always affirm that i have clear skin and whenever i use something my hair grows 20x more and woah my skin has been getting clearer that my parents noticed it and people keep telling my hair grew longer !!!???? I'm going to try to manifest my df in 3days or less and ill update you on may 21 . I'll try make time for me to revise my df .

27 may : school was in the way and now its half term so imma start manifesting if not imma kms atp.

alr alr update (jun 20) i wanna be honest !! i havent been revising due to a busy schedule but i freed up sooooo much time so i defo would get stuff done. i set my lockscreen as my df and my side profile for home screen and like I'm trying to affirm and listen to subs as much as possible (this not necessary) so far not much difference but i feel my face morphing and l i look already 5% of my df , I'm hoping to revise my df at least before summer finished ! my nose is starting to form and so are my eyes , my face is a bit more rounder and my lips are definitely getting bigger and to shape the biggest change i noticed (my mum pointed it , i didn't even realise!) is my eyebrows , they gotten darker and thicker just like my df crazy ! 12 july

I've been BUSY! However, I've gotten my life together so i have plenty of time to revise now and summer holiday is in a week so i have more time. Right now, my main focus is going to be my df. i

mini update: I changed a bit of my df and i have been listening to subs when i can't be bothered (not a lot of times :/ ) and i randomly affirm throughout the day , i see angel numbers CONSTANTLY. From what i see, i always feel like i look different, my eyes look a bit bigger and more upturned, my nose looks like its forming, my lips are definitely bigger.

last night i also had a dream of me looking in a mirror with my df !! half of my dreams always end up happening in real life .

Tiny update (26 juy) : ITZ FINALLY SUMMERHOLIDAYS . so i listen to music when doing anything. I have replaced music with subliminal and will set dedicated time each day to revise.

if you see i havent updated this after september/november i probably have kms <3

It's already been 2 months but manifesting is was never like my first priority that's why it seems like its taken long , but i do look a bit different from the tiny things i have been doing.

LAST UPDATE: (25 aug)

ok. it's coming towards the end of summer and omgollygawd hehehhehsgahjsdhgxj i legit have my desired face!!! What the ACC fawk , I'm literally so pretty !! I am so overwhelmingly happy, i got my desired face finally !!!!!!!!! my features literally morphed into my desired face :D

[space-blue]

I wanted to let you know that I am super SUPER excited for your recom picrew 😩 it looks beautiful already!! I've got two questions. I wanted to ask how difficult the process is for creating one, I've thought of trying to make a na'vi one myself. Is it complicated with all the layers and all of that? And wanted to also ask if you have any more avatar-related picrew projects planned for the future!

Ahaha, thank you Anon!! I'm excited for it to be over as well tbh. I wanna play with it and more importantly move on with my life lmao. I truly believed it'd be 3 days work... And I was wrong.

Yeah, gotta be honest, it's a massive bitch.

Mostly the issue that is costing me a ton of time is the stripes. Picrew does not surpport blending modes. You only upload normal PNG files. Because of that, I can't have a single stripe pattern for every skin colour.

No : I must export as many stripe colours as I have skin colours. And the stripes MUST match the colour of the ears for better transition... AND there are 3 types of faces in what I've done, that means that for EACH design of stripe, I need to export 3 shapes x 4 colours.

Another issue has been the noses. Entirely my fault mind you... But hiding part of the eye with broad noses, like here :

Meant I needed to have painting INSIDE some of the noses. Which I did on a single file. And uploaded. And matched to skin colour so you don't see my ugly patching up job.

But the nose needs to be on top of the eyes... The stripes must be under the eyes and on top of the nose... Which can't happen... So I have two options, and I've opted for redoing all my stripes better... And then realised fixing the noses instead would be so much easier.

I do wanna cry a little sometimes lol

But they look better now. I have 3 styles of stripes and I want to do 3 or 4 more, because I really love striping and it makes characters really unique. Next up is potentially eye colour (if y'all suck my metaphorical dick hard enough because what A PAIN).

Sanhi/Tanhi whichever spelling it is, is giving me grief and I'm looking for a CSP brush that would sort of automate it for me.

It's a LOT of tedium. Drawing is easy and has been very fun! I was dreading making the hairstyles and get ups for Na'vi, but I think I'll revisit the picrew itself later and add them as new options rather than making a separate one.

File uploading on the website is such a bitch. Here's the tutorial I use btw. I also use a firefox add on to auto translate the page.

Will I do more? Definitely. In time. I lost the one job that pays for my food, so was thinking of opening a few comms and focus on that rather than just faffing about, but I'll definitely be returning to picrew, either for more Na'vi stuff or simply to try my hand at some other style. I'd love to see more people do their own Na'vi picrews!!

I made this one simply because the options are so limited!! There's two and one is full bodied and chibi. That's nice but doesn't scratch my pfp or OC needs. Feel free to make more, I'd love to play with it!!

[blueringart]

Hello! I've been following your art for a while now and wanted to let you know that you are really amazing and that your art really inspired me to draw! Would you mind if i asked you how you ended up with your artstyle? its so cute!

Thank you for saying this! I'm very flattered to hear I've inspired someone! I don't really have words to explain how flattered I am every time someone says something like this to me, but it's a lot!!

As for my artstyle: I've never really pushed myself towards a particular aesthetic. I think my artstyle can best be described as "I figured out what sort of shapes my hand naturally likes to make when I draw, and then I leant into that"; there are certain sorts of shapes, or certain angles/curves which I easily default to, and most of my artistic development has been in figuring out how to work with my natural inclinations.

That said, something I do a lot is to temporarily pick up certain techniques from comics I've been reading, and see how they work for what I like drawing. A solid 90% of the time they don't work for me and I end up dropping them after a couple attempts, but sometimes I end up vibing with them and they stick around long-term (some examples are my coloured internal lines, or the way I'll often leave "breaks" in the internal lineart, or even the way I like to draw little cheek blushies on characters). There are definitely things I'd like to do more of - as an example, I super admire artists who make use of heavy spot blacks to define characters and I'd love to do more of that myself - but overall I've never specifically pushed myself towards a particular aesthetic because my focus has always been on what I find enjoyable to draw.

So uhhh tl;dr I guess my answer for "how [I] ended up with [my] artstyle" is that I chased my joy? I did what I found fun and then kept doing that super hard, and apparently I eventually ended up with something distinctive and which people enjoy looking at. I think the most important thing about art is to make yourself happy while you make it, and everything else is secondary.