#I think creating this piece was the most fun I’ve had with art in a while!

[kuulpenguin]

And they all lived (mostly) happily ever after! <3

@infinityroom thank you so much for creating such an incredible world! I’ve loved getting to participate and come up with my own theories, and getting to see your amazing art in each update was awesome <3 (I’m going to miss these little guys so much haha!)

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @themetalhiro

Hi, I’m Metal! I’m a freelance artist from good ol’ New Jersey. My favorite things to work with are a lot of bright colors, exaggerated poses, and candid scenarios. I try to farm sensible chuckles whenever I can, so I’m also big into comics. I love making them about my life, and the media I’m into, and one day I’d like to publish my own series!  Thank you to everyone who has gotten me this far!!

Check out Metal's interview below!

Did you originally have a background in art? If not, how did you start?

I guess so! It’s funny, I don’t remember a single time in my life that I wasn’t drawing as a hobby… somewhere in middle school (a little late, I know.) I put the pieces together that animated movies were made by artists, and that it wasn’t just for fun, they were paid to do it. The moment I discovered people could be paid to make art, I decided I would do that, too. Now I’m here!

How has your style developed over the years?

I think the best way to answer this would be with an example! Over the last few years, I have made more of an effort to draw more intentionally, which sounds silly. Now, I put more thought into my poses and step out of my comfort zone with shape language and composition. I had a phase where I drew everyone with a huge, perfectly circular head and no nose. That definitely did not lend much variety...

Which 3 famous artists (dead or alive) would you invite to your dinner party?

Ack! I’m so terrible at history! I’d love to give a well-thought-out answer about fine artists of old, but I don't think we’d have much in common… Most artists I admire and who have driven me forward creatively are the people behind comics I’ve read. Andrew Hussie, Bryan Lee O’Malley, Eiichiro Oda... these guys have inspired me greatly and had a heavy influence in developing my art style and sense of humor. I’d love to ask them questions about their processes and upcoming projects. I think it would make for an entertaining night!

Over the years as an artist, what were your biggest inspirations behind your creativity?

Outside of pure aesthetics like searing bright colors, layered clothing, and loud noises…. the best and most inspiring moments in my life were those surrounded by friends and loved ones! I cherish the hell out of memories of hanging around in fun locations, trying weird food together, and impromptu midnight walks... so I try my best to capture that atmosphere and my own memories in my work when I can, even if I’m imposing fictional characters on top of them. That’s always the core of it.

What is a medium that you have always been intrigued by but would never use yourself?

I would never permanently refuse a medium, but every time I pick up clay, I’m like a baby using its hands for the first time. Absolutely dreadful. If one day I could make and paint a figurine like the ones I admire in videos, that would be awesome... But for now, I’m not counting on it.

How do you want to evolve as a creator?

I’ve had an absolute blast drawing fanart over the years, and it’s certainly played a massive role in my growth as an artist. But my dream has always been to publish my own stories for y'all to enjoy! I have lots of worlds I want to introduce to you before I’m old and gray. I want to get faster, work harder, and get better at drawing interesting settings so I can get the wheels turning as soon as possible. I also want to stop avoiding the color blue like a coward.

What do you wish you knew when you first started out creating art that you know now?

Pay your taxes quarterly. Tablets will break at the exact moment you need them most, so have a spare. Wear your blue light glasses. You’re going to need to wear a brace on every joint on the right side of your body. It can be lonely sitting at your desk all day. The car on the side of the road that costs $1000 cash….. don’t trust it!!!

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

@cranity—They use absolutely beautiful colors and weighty line work. Everything looks so sharp and clean! I wanna put it all up on my wall!

@vewn—Their ability to crank out quality short films and illustrations packed with detail is incredible. The off-kilter perspective they use really sells disorientation and catches your attention like nothing else.

@nelnal—They have absolutely banger character designs again and again, I can’t believe one person’s mind can come up with so many creative ideas!

@jinx88kc—They have a beautiful and recognizable style, and the way they incorporate animation into their illustrations sometimes is SO cool!

Thanks for stopping by, Metal! For more of Metal’s work, follow their Tumblr, @themetalhiro! If you haven't seen their Meet the Artist piece, be sure to check it out here!

[danikamariewrites]

Meant to Be

Mob!Azriel x reader AU

A/n: I’m so excited to start this little series! I hope you all enjoy this and thank you for being patient with me. I know I’ve been all over the place lately lol. Also I might change the pov I use in the next fics but we’ll see.

Warnings: none

Series Masterlist

As I’m just about to shut the front desk computer down, the glass door to the gallery swings open. Holding back rolling my eyes, I lift my head ready to tell whoever it is that we're closing. I stop, my lips partially open as my eyes meet the most gorgeous, soft hazel ones. On a beautifully sculpted face with a sharp jawline and soft raven hair. The words died in my throat. Changing to, “How can I help you?”

Gods I need to stop staring. If Feyre was still here she would be making fun of me for ogling the poor male while using my stupid customer service voice. He gives me a bright smile before speaking. “I’m looking for a new piece for my office. The walls are feeling a little bare.” Mother above he sounds like an angel.

I froze again. I’m technically not supposed to be selling paintings to clients, especially walk-ins and new ones. But my boss left me in charge for the rest of the day. It’s Gavin’s own fault he blew off work for a spa day. And I had to help Gavin list all the paintings, so I can absolutely sell one of these bad boys. I was amazed by how much Gavin didn’t know when these paintings came in. And he has the audacity to call himself an art collector.

“Absolutely. Are you looking for anything specific or I can show you a few of my favorite pieces if you’d like.”

As I stand I look around the room to see if anyone else is in the gallery. Two males with similar tan skin and dark hair stand by the door. The more muscular one slightly smirks at me before staring ahead again. I look back at the male in front of me, taking in his suit, the expensive watch, and the thick silver signet ring on his index finger gleaming in the light. Staring at the ring closely I can make out a family crest engraved on the flat surface. Morwood.

The male standing in front of me is notorious mob boss Azriel Morwood. Recovering quickly I smile up at Azriel, burying any kind of fear that was working its way up my spine. He isn’t here to hurt me. He’s here to buy art. Harmless.

Relaxing, I walk around the desk, gesturing to the left of the gallery. “This way then.” Azriel holds out his arm for me to take, that bright smile never once leaving his lips. Although it might not be the most professional thing to do, I loop my arm through his.

As we go from painting to painting Azriel seems to relax as well. We fall into easy conversation. At times it feels like we were childhood friends catching up. His flirtatious comments made me blush and fumble over my words. At the risk of being unprofessional again, I flirt back. There’s no denying the male is beautiful. I’m sure he’s kind under all of those dangerous layers. I can’t help the pull I feel toward him, to know more about Azriel. I should feel ashamed of this attraction. Azriel has done awful things but that feeling isn’t taking over.

“And that’s it for this collection. Is there anything else that’s caught your eye?” I ask, regretfully pulling away from Azriel as I snap back into my customer service voice. A stark contrast to the normal flirty tone I was just using. He seemed to take his time thinking. Azriel’s hazel eyes seem to twinkle as he looks at me. “That Blanch piece, I loved the two you showed me.” “Of course.” I lead him to the middle of the section where the two paintings hang side by side.

He looks at the two trying to decide between the two. “Which is your favorite?” I look at him, taken aback by Azriel Morwood asking for my opinion. “Well…I can’t choose between the two. Truthfully, I believe Blanch created these pieces to complement each other. They’re from two different collections but you can tell by the edge of the scenery they are meant to be together.” Azriel let out a thoughtful hum as he crossed his arms.

I try not to stare at him too blatantly but I just can’t help myself. His thinking face is cute. I can tell he’s concentrating. “I’ll take both.” My eyes widened. I'm so shocked I took half a step back. “I’m sorry?” I realize that it came out harsher than expected. “Sorry, I just - really? You want to buy both?” A half smile tugs at the corner of his lips as Azriel turns to face me. “If they are meant to be together it would be a crime to separate them.” There was something insinuating in that seductive tone of his. The hopeful look in his eyes gave it away. Something told me Azriel rarely let something like that slip. I give him a genuine half smile of my own. “Of course.”

Fifteen minutes and one giant check later Azriel had bought his paintings with the promise to come pick them up after they were framed tomorrow. Finally closing the gallery I went home and dreamed of him that night.

——

Walking down the sunny streets of Velaris I’m lost in thought about Azriel. How I want to run my fingers to see if those raven locks are truly as soft as they look. Those hazel eyes and how I never want them to lose sight of me.

My phone incessantly buzzing in my bag pulls me from my thoughts. I groan as I search for it in the clutter of stuff I threw in this morning. Fifteen texts from Feyre and more incoming light up the lock screen.

Girl get here soon

Gavin is piissseeddd

What did u do lmao

He won’t tell me, plz tell me so I know before him. I wanna taunt him with this secret info

Oh boy. He must not be pleased about the new client. I quickly type out a text telling her I’d be there soon. Shoving my phone back in my bag, my pounding heart seems as loud as my footsteps. I’m practically jogging by the time I enter the gallery.

Feyre looks up at me from the desk. A wild and confused look is on her face like she was just handed the winning lottery ticket. “He’s been on the phone with Benny all morning. I could hear him screaming, what did you do?” A nervous laugh sounds on the last word.

As I open my mouth to answer the door to Gavin’s office flings open, hitting the wall inside with a violent thud. “You!” He seethes. “Why didn’t you call me about the client last night?!” He screeches as he stomps over to the desk like a child. “What was I supposed to do? Say, sorry, come back later? It was Azriel Morwood.” Feyre lets out a dramatic gasp leaning back in the spinny chair. Her eyes bounce between us, waiting to see what wild statement her ears will be blessed with next.

“I know damn well who the client was, and you’re not supposed to make sales! Remember? Or has your sense of self importance around here made it hard for you to remember that you're a fucking intern! And you have no right —” a throat clearing makes Gavin stop his berating. His face went pale as his eyes landed on Azriel and the two males flanking him.

Azriel raises a brow giving Gavin a quizzical look. Gavin puts on a fake smile striding to greet our guests. “Hello Mr. Morwood! How can I help you today? Is there a problem with your purchase that I can fix?” He shoots me a glare that I don’t notice. All I notice is Azriel. It feels like the whole world has melted away and it’s just us.

“No.” His tone cruel and cold. “I would like to talk to y/n. Alone.” He emphasizes the last word by pinning Gavin with a look that would send anyone running. The shock on Gavin’s face is fucking priceless as he backs away murmuring an apology.

I slowly approach Azriel trying to suppress my grin. He watches me with a gentle gaze. That charming smile pulling on his lips again. “Hi,” Mother above that deep, gravelly voice gives me chills. “Hi.” I whisper back. “Your paintings should be ready soon. I saw the framer when I came in.” Azriel slowly shakes his head. “No, not that. Well, yes, I’m here for the paintings. But I wanted to ask you something.” I blink up at him curiously tilting my head. What could he possibly want from me?

“Are you free for dinner tomorrow night?”

[cupcakeslushie]

Hi there, I love your stuff, I hope you don't mind but I wanted to do an ask the artist

Where are you from?

What's your favorite color?

How long have you been creating art for?

What drives you to make art?

What is your favorite piece of artwork of yours?

What is your favorite fan artwork that was done for you?

What character of yours is your favorite?

If you could go to any fictional world which one would it be?

Do you consider what will please your audience or do you just do your own thing?

What made you want to start your AU?

1. American! Southern girl, specifically.

2. You’d think it would be green with how it’s been my hair color for three years, and I’ve made it my signature on here, but it’s actually yellow! Like the really saturated, sunny kind! 💛

3. Oh lord. Um, since like 1st or 2nd grade.

4. I never really thought about it. I think I’m just a visual person. So if I have an idea, I need to get it on paper to really see it. I’m the same with movies, especially adaptations. I could never picture characters by reading them in books very well, but seeing them in movies I’m like, “oh okay, now I see what they were going for!” It’s also just fun. It’s my own story-telling method.

5. Fav piece of anything I’ve ever made would be one of my stained glass pieces, like my lemon one, that took me three weeks, and was one of my first bigger pieces. Digitally it would probably be my most recent dtiys cause I just don’t like looking at my older stuff.

6. Noooo!! I have so many, especially recently, that I’ve been gifted! I can’t choose just one!!! Seriously! I love everything I’ve ever been sent! I will say, I’ve been gifted a few fan fictions by now, that have had me like, mind blown—just because writing is such a thing that I’ve always admired and never really been able to fully grasp. If you’ve sent me art, it’s more than likely been my phone or iPad wallpaper, and if you’ve sent me fanfiction, I’ve probably read it no less than five times, and will continue to go back to it.

7. I mean, it’s Donnie. It’s pretty clearly Donnie. I try and be fair and love all the boys equally, but I’m not gonna lie, you all know it. It’s obvious. Just know, I’ll never ignore the others story wise 😜. But Donnie gets the most of my attention and my evil creative plots 😈.

8. Any world ever? Probably Fullmetal Alchemist—if I could actually be an alchemist. I mean, like come on—how cool is that? And like, yeah, you’ve got Father and the homucuous running around, but for the most part, the world is pretty chill and has the coolest rules.

9. The main chunks of my stories are really just what I want to see, but sometimes I can hear a suggestion and think about changing the trajectory of things. I’m always open to ideas, especially if I’m stumped on how it should go. I even change my opinions on the things I’ve established myself, I’m very open to changing a story if a better idea comes to me. I don’t think I’ve ever been like, scared to tell something because I think someone wouldn’t like it. If they don’t, that’s fine, not everything is for everyone, and some things only click with a few people. If I really want to tell a story, then I’m going to tell it.

10. It’s really so funny, because at the time, I was working on this short, post-movie aftermath comic about Leo learning to find a healthy middle ground between being the silly guy and a serious leader. But I was having trouble with the next part, so I decided to watch Arcane and doodle. I posted that little concept sheet, and it feels like…within days my inbox was full with people wanting to know more, and the more I answered, the more I was like, wait I wanna actually explore this. Tbh pretty much all my AUs have started this way. With just an idea jotted down, and then turning into something I couldn’t stop developing.

[kiennilove]

ART TAG

this is a new one!! let’s gooo! thanks to @deathclassic for tagging me <333 it’s gonna be fun >:)

Have you always been interested in creating art?

i don’t know… sometimes yes, sometimes no. recently i’ve been going through a phase when i wanted to quit everything i do, so i’d say no :/ art is just the only thing i’m good at

What's your favourite medium to use? If digital, what programs do you like?

digital!! i’ve tried almost every program there is, both on pc and mobile, but landed on procreate and i’ve been drawing there since 2019

Do you create outside of fandom?

only when i was in art school(s)

Share something you haven't finished and/or never got around to posting.

i don’t know why i did it 😭😭😭

Favourite piece you've made?

even though it’s for my ex, i still love it :)

Draw your icon in a minute or less.

no eyes

An underrated piece you've made in your opinion.

this !!!

Do you do art in a professional setting?

no, and probably never would x) i want to keep art and every branch of it as a hobby

A piece you don't like but did really well on social media.

i don’t have these, i only post the ones i not just like, but love, so yeah xD all the hate stays in the app

Post an old piece and compare it to your most recent, what are the similarites?

2022/2024

the eyes, the noses, smiles, coloring… style is the same, only the skill is higher!! first is ace attorney btw hehe.

Have you ever collaborated with another artist/s?

i did! it was with my best friend :)

2022, ace attorney again. i did the girl on the left :3

What piece has the most notes? Are you surprised?

this one xD not surprised at all lol

Who/What is your favourite subject matter?

characters and other artists, so nothing special xD

Show us something not from fandom you've made.

friend from the past asked me to help her in assembling all the info she had gathered for a project into a brochure. something about skin care routine for different ages i think

Where do you like to create?

i’m always in bed so… here :3

Do you have a tag that you use to group your creations? Tell us so people can follow it.

i just use “my art <3” but i mostly have everything in my top posts, i’m not used to some special tags

Give yourself a shoutout, where can we commission/buy/follow you for more pieces?

nowhere, only here :P but i’m always open for collaborations and requests here though!

tags below the line :3

@konaiiro @gallapiech @doshiart @spookygingerr @heymrspatel

and everybody else who wants to share their art! you can tag me back if you weren’t tagged by someone already hehe

[thecutestgrotto]

question! im considering doing dividers as gifts for my friends and I was wondering if you had any tips? is it a better idea to hand draw the designs to avoid any potential copyright issues or is using free to distribute clip resources okay?

I know how to draw and do edits just fine I’m just not sure what other graphic artists do in this regard

Hi anon!

Okay, so this is going to be a little long winded and maybe stuff you might know about the process, but I hope it’ll be helpful as a guide for others too maybe? Tips under the cut otherwise everyone’s gonna have to scroll through it.

1. Personally, I LOVE Canva because it has a library of pre-uploaded elements and its super easy to use. Like if I search stars hundreds of individual elements come up as results.

(I know some people also use Visme, which I don’t have any real experience with, but it’s an alternative with good reviews.)

As long as you are not claiming each individual element is your own creation, you’re in the clear. People making graphics like these almost always use premade elements and combine or edit them into a unique piece. That being said, if you claim that an individual element is your own, you’ll probably be called out. I don’t know how familiar you are with the community so forgive me if I sound condescending: the graphics/digital art community is a wild place when it comes to plagiarism but it’s good that artists look out for each other.

Anyway. Creators that upload designs/elements/templates to Canva are aware that they can be changed/edited. If you have Canva pro (which I recommend because you can do transparent PNGs so easily) some elements are only available via pro subscription and you’re compensating the creator for the use of the element and however you change it.

Basically, the divider/graphic is yours, but the individual elements are theirs. You don’t need to give credit because it’s like using stamps or stickers. For example: You wouldn’t typically use Lisa frank stickers on a coloring page and then credit Lisa frank in the corner of the paper. ⚠️I strongly urge you to stay away from AI art. Generators steal from artists to create what the user searches for!⚠️

2. Hand drawing can get a little tricky. You have to be careful with your dimensions and even file size sometimes. In my personal experience, if you’re new to this type of graphic art you should wait until you’re comfortable with it. It can get confusing. I’ve had MANY graphics come out a blurry, frustrating mess and I’m by no means the best divider maker/graphic artist on the planet.

An extra example: my Cute Coquette set vs my Dark Siren set. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with the coquette ones, but they look fuzzy/blurry. I made them when I was first starting out and I struggled with how to line up the right dimensions. I keep them up because as much as I don’t like how blurry they are, it shows my progress and I’m rather fond of them. It’s not even close to what I do now, like the Dark Sirens, which even zoomed out have a lot of detail but are clear and defined. 🤷🏻‍♀️

3. To avoid said blurring, I recommend using these canvas sizes:

Banners and headers: 1055px x 500px, I’ve also done 3000px x 500px.

Standard Size Dividers: 3000px x 240px

Thicker/Thinner Dividers: Basically you can go as thin or thick as you want as long as that first number is 3000px. I added a screenshot of ones I’ve used recently that might help.

I think if you’re using software like procreate, the canvas sizes are the same but you’ll have to go through some extra steps if you want to get it into canva or whatever graphic editing software you’re using.

4. Lastly and most importantly, just have fun. Play around with the settings and figure out what works best for you!! You of course can DM me with more questions, but I hope this at least helped a little bit.

🩵🌸

*Edited 2 hours after posting to add personal examples, and this little guide can now be found in my navigation post!*

[moonlightkitkat]

I’m about to start working on a Halloween ZoSaNami piece, and I was thinking about what types of monsters they’d be!

So obviously Nami is a weather witch, she can control the weather/manipulate it, although the grand line is odd because even though she can read the weather patterns with ease there’s no way for her to control it. She can redirect lightning and adjust wind currents to help them a bit, but mostly she has to conjure her own weather spells to help them. She has a broomstick but only uses it to escape bad situations. She’s not the best flyer, but she’s been practicing more and more on the Merry and Sunny so she’s gotten far better overtime! (Headcanon that Arlong commanded her to never fly, because it’s the one thing Fishman CANT do. So of course one of his “commanders” can’t fly. He even bound her magic with the tattoo (or a “bracelet”) to seal her magic so she had to rely solely on her skills as a thief, until Luffy came along.

Now that Nami’s a straw hat, she’s finally free of seal on her magic. She’s like a baby witch, but she’s a *prodigy.* she can read the weather as easily as she can breathe. Once Usopp builds her a wand, she’s able to use it as a medium to harness and cast her magic. At first she can only create small clouds and warm/cold breezes and small zaps of energy, but by the time she reaches Sabody, she can create actual clouds of rain and thunder and control their actions.

Ending up on the sky island was the best thing to happen to her. Surrounded by old weather wizards, she studied constantly, and now she can conjure just about any weather pattern, of any strength. Now that she’s back with the others, she has far too much fun making combo moves with the others, and showing off her skills with a broom. She was a natural as soon as the seal broke, but the old wizards worked hard to make her a broom as beautiful and powerful as she is, and it’s one of her dearest treasures.

I’ve seen so much art of Sanji as a werewolf/a dog, and I just think it suits him so well. Maybe he can’t control his forms like his family does which is why he was looked down upon by them. He can’t control his ears or his tail and they come out when he feels something too strongly. He has absolutely no control of his werewolf form and he’s so ashamed of it. Either that, or he doesn’t *have* a werewolf form. He has the traits of one, able to make his nails turn into sharp long claws, and he can have sharp canines, but other than that it’s just his fluffy ears and tail. He’s seen as a disgrace by his family because he can’t control his forms like they can, and he was chased out of the pack.

Sanji’s tail is usually out all the time whenever he’s around his crew. He’s just so happy and feels like he’s finally found his pack, which is why he’s so *protective* of it. He’s got a cool head except for when someone attacks or threatens those he feels most protective over, being Robin, Nami, Chopper, and Usopp. The others he *knows* can take care of themselves, and he knows that these four can too, but he just feels so protective of them.

He hated being a waiter on the Baratie because he felt ashamed whenever he got frustrated with guests and his ears and tail would pop out. He mainly stayed a sous chef becayse he was calm and happy working on food. His ears and tails never popped out, he was in his element. Neo that he’s a straw hat, he isn’t ashamed of his tail and ears being out. In fact, he lets them stay out, and his tail is almost always wagging (especially when he’s arguing and fighting with his beloved Marimo)

I think Zoro was a human, until his fight with Dracule Mihawk. As the name suggests, Mihawk is a vampire, an old one at that. When Zoro lost their fight, Mihawk didn’t just slice him open, he drained him of most of his blood, deciding that whether or not he survived would decide if he had the makings of a true swordsman and fighter. I don’t think he’d become a full Vampire right then and there, but maybe he notices that he isn’t hungry or thirsty anymore. He doesn’t sleep as much, barely needing to anymore. His canines are sharper, but not full Vampire canines. He’s stronger, but can’t control it quite yet, it’s like he can’t unlock his full potential.

Then he ends up on Mihawk’s island, and Mihawk (with Zoro’s permission, which I think took a WHILE for him to give) finally turned Zoro. Now Zoro had the strength and speed of a vampire. His teeth are sharp, and he has a thirst for blood, but I feel like he worked hard to get it under control, afraid he’d hurt his crewmates. In my AU, Vampires *can* go in the sun, and he doesn’t sleep in a coffin, though Nami always teases him about it. Nami and Sanji obviously offer for him to drink their blood once he tells them of his transformation, though it wasn’t like it wasn’t easy to guess. He’s incredible fast and strong, and his eyes went from being a warm dark brown to pitch black.

[choicesficwriterscreations]

March Creator of the Month: Bayleedraws-sometimesx

Each month, CFWC highlights one of our talented fanfic writers or artists, and this month’s creator of the month is the lovely @bayleedraws-sometimesx!  The writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page. Past COTM's can be found here. Center photo by the lovely @bayleedraws-sometimesx!

Quick Links:

Tumblr Blog

How do you want to be known on Tumblr? 

Baylee

More below...

When did you start playing Choices? What was the first book you played? 

I think it was in 2018, and I first played Bloodbound 1. 

When and why did you join Choices fandom?

It was December 2020. I was really struggling at that point; my whole life had changed, and I still hadn't come to terms with it after a year. It was just an escape. 

How did you pick your blog name? 

It’s just my name and what I do. 

Pull up the first post in your archive, and tell us about it!  

It’s just a pfp i did over halloween. It’d me dressed like Sally from Nightmare before Christmas. 

Do you write fanfiction, create fan art, or are you one of those really gifted people who do both? 

I used to want to be a writer. I really love writing stories, I’ve never really written any fanfiction, but technically, I can draw and write. 

How long have you been creating for Choices and for any other fandoms?

It’ll be four years in December since I’ve been creating Choices-related stuff, but ever since I was a little kid, I’d get obsessed with different shows/ characters and write/ draw them. 

What is your favorite Choices book, and what is your favorite Choices book to create for?

My favourite book is definitely Bloodbound. I love drawing BB related stuff because I have a slight obsession with Kamiliah 

Share your first Choices fanfic or fan art that you posted with us. Do you still like it, or would you change it if you were creating it today?

It was a drawing I did for @ao719. I think I would change a lot if I were to draw it now. I don’t really like it anymore, and my style has definitely changed over the years.  I find it really embarrassing looking back at old drawings. 

What is your favorite piece of fiction or art that you created? 

A BB animation (I still haven't finished), but it was really fun writing the story and designing/ drawing everything. 

Do you have a creation that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to do well but found it could use a little more love?

I never expected any animations to do well and was very surprised when they did. I’m really sure that I would like to get more attention. 

If you could only draw one style or type of art for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? 

I don't know. I’m moving into my own flat soon, so I’ve been drawing some scenery pieces I’m going to put up once I’m there. I find them really therapeutic to draw, so maybe that. 

Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MCs?

Sometimes. 

What element of art do you struggle with most?

Probably finishing the pieces off. By that point I’ve stared at it for so many hours that all I can see are  the problems with it. 

Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

Absolutely, I’m going through a lot right now so there’s quite a lot of things that i really do want to finish but i just dont have the motivation. 

If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to see your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you show them first? 

Maybe. My big brother taught me how to draw, so occasionally, I’ll let him look at some of my drawings. 

16 - Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing or art? Are there any artists that influence you?

I can’t think of anyone published that I looked up to or have really inspired my artwork. There’s definitely people that i know in my life that have. 

Which one of your creations would you like to see fiction written about? 

I have absolutely no idea lol 

Do you write original fiction or create non-fandom art? 

Yeah, I love creating new characters and really animations doing animations of my original characters.

What other hobbies do you have?

A lot of crafty things. I was taught how to sew, knit, and crochet as a kid, and those are things I still enjoy doing now. 

[nondidd]

2023 Art Summary 🥳

January remains my most emotional piece. I was processing grief during the one year anniversary of losing a close family member. And it’s apparently the only painting I did this year LOL

After that is where I went back to studying fairytale art. February being a NieR recreation of Arthur Rackham’s The Romance Of King Arthur artwork

Then as for march, that’s where I started to study Henry Clarke and essentially lost my mind for the rest of the year with linework ✌️😩

I had two favs from October so they both go in 🫶

And as for November and December I’ve hit my burnout + busy with health and holidays LOL. Not forcing an illustration just to have one so there’s all my silly little doodles ✌️

Honorable mention is the savanaclaw set I did this year! Wasn’t something I planned on but I had fun making it and it think it’s my most popular set this year. I was surprised so many people liked it 😆

The next photo is a comparison of how I drew FG Ruggie last year compared to this year. I wanted to show the comparison to explain my shift in focus in my illustrations. After studying Clarke’s work I realized I was having fun creating again. Not to say I’m not satisfied with how the older Ruggie piece came out but I found myself often frustrated with it trying to make sure everything was “drawn right” for lack of a better explanation. It was a chore. I’ve come to find I enjoy making illustrations now with the mindset of “how do I want to convey this” rather than “how accurate can I make these details”. Drawing the newer Ruggie was enjoyable the entire time. My focus wasn’t accurate details or semi realistic but rather what emotion could I convey with just these lines and limited color. And that’s how I’ve been moving forward with my art as of late. It’s been fun again

Because of my newfound confidence and enjoyment of creating again I’ve gone back to traditional sketching too. It used to feel so constricted for me but now with loose lines and a loose mindset I’ve been scribbling all over notebooks again 😆

All this ramble to say I’m satisfied with what I’ve done this year. My health needs to start taking priority come 2024 but I hope to still create and share in the new year ✌️ If you took the time to read all this, thank you 🙏

[lordeemailarchive]

Pure Heroine turns 10

(27/09/2023) (PH 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY DISPATCH)

Living in Ruins of a Palace within My Dreams

Photo by Simeon Patience

Hi,

Firstly, I wanna say thank you for your extremely supportive and kind messages after my last newsletter. I genuinely feel deeply cared for, less alone, and more sure that things will be okay after sending it! Albeit with a slight overshare hangover. I think a part of me knew that I had hit a wall, and that I needed to invite in the compassion and understand I’d been struggling to generate on my own, and then I’d have something to draw from and mirror. It feels like it’s working. I feel incredibly grateful that we have this relationship, that we can each give when the other needs it. Beautiful stuff x

Now, might U have noticed it’s 2013 mode round here????????? Yes that’s right, it’s a very special anniversary… Pure Heroine is... ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡TEN ˚*ੈ✩‧₊˚ YEARS ˚༘♡ ⋆｡˚ OLD ੈ✩‧₊˚ TODAY ! ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

You may (like me most of the time) hold the opinion that this album has been MYTHOLOGISED QUITE ENOUGH, but a milestone is a milestone, so I thought coming here and typing some shit to u about this time would be a fun thing for those who care.

2 xxxxtra special ltd time only commemorative designs by Hassan, who did the original of this bootleg tee 10 years ago❤️

It’s close to midnight, and I’ve just finished scrolling through my entire computer and phone archive from 2011-2013. Going on this memory lane ride has reminded me, for one thing, what a different time it was technologically. We were just starting to be able to see ourselves in real time, but we weren’t constantly connected. I had an iPod touch until halfway through 2013, which didn’t have a front camera or internet access, and my sister and I shared a MacBook, which is where we did our schoolwork and I wrote my lyrics. I took my first few years of selfies on Photo Booth…. Just let that… sink in!!!

Note the Royals Nat Geo pic in background— it’s happening...

When I was fourteen, my greatest work of art was my bedroom. A very cool, very classic teenage bedroom, Andie’s and Duckie’s from Pretty in Pink meets the Virgin Suicides— fairy lights, fabric on the ceiling, candles, stolen road signs (badman), paper lanterns, beer crate shelves, magazine pictures and club night posters and permanent marker on the walls. Bliss! I’d sit up there and vibe out, taking a lot of selfies. Creating a small-scale work of art using the self, and then examining the product from every angle, was the best method I had to express myself and exercise creativity at that time, and I now see it as an important PH incubation phase, whether I knew it or not. Something really amazing about a young person starting to see their own face and body for the first time, coming to a very secret understanding that they are beautiful. 

I started to smoke weed, which gave me a deeper understanding of sensory pleasure, and allowed me to start to see my world as a possible work of art. I’d go on long walks around the neighbourhood, and began to mythologise the stuff around me (big empty floodlit rugby fields/bus rides/dark streets/boredom/isolation) into the motifs that would become Pure Heroine. I wore a lot of like, navy lipsticks from the 2 dollar shop. God, this aesthetic, It’s just TOO MUCH.

At some point in here, I met Joel, and another piece of the puzzle clicked into place. When you’re a teenager, you’re particularly sensitive to adults being condescending to you, not respecting the specific and finely tuned skills you have because of the ones you don’t. I was always on the look out for it, and from the first day meeting Joel, I knew that he would never give me that feeling. Which I’m sure wasn’t easy — my wallet at the time was the foot of a pair of tights that I cut off and knotted at the top — but somehow from the very beginning he made me feel like my ideas had value, like we were peers, in the most sensitive and age-appropriate way. 

My view for thousands of hours making this album

We got on a call earlier this week and broke down the complete history of making the album. We both agreed that making Pure Heroine was deeply exciting and intimate and free, and still one of our most treasured experiences. I’ve linked it here.The second half of 2013 is when I really met the world, went to America and Australia and Europe for the first time. I found an incredible (for some reason Christmas themed) disposable camera image of my stage outfits all over the floor of my hotel room, which really sums up how ad hoc everything was at the beginning — a jetlagged sixteen year old, late for lobby call and frantically stuffing thousands of dollars of borrowed clothes into a suitcase. 

In this stage, it felt like I pulled everything off by the skin of my teeth. Every week was the most exciting week of my whole life, I was so tired and still didn’t have a winter coat and took everyone clamouring for a piece of me completely for granted. I had zero cultural context, had no idea if an interview or TV show was huge or small, and so breezed through it all truly not giving a fuck. I am not a naturally nonchalant person, it was literally just too much to care about, I could hardly get up in the morning, so I just said absolutely whatever I felt like, all kinds of wild shit, if someone did something corny I’d say so, I was ruthless in that way that only teens are. Then through that year we went on our first tours, met you guys for the first time, hours and hours of hugs after the show, my favourite part so far and where it started to feel real for me. James took a lot of beautiful film photos through that time, and I’m really grateful he did.

Ten years goes really fast. One minute you’re wearing a leather collar with a giant crystal hanging off it to a Chanel party, and the next you’re blonde. A lot of stuff isn’t good after ten years. But I am still totally touched by this sweet record. I have deep respect for the vision of the little one making it. 

Going back through all of this has reminded me of something that feels important to point out, whether you make art or not: everything starts out as a bunch of bullshit in a laptop. Pure Heroine was a handful of Photo Booth selfies and emotional Word documents and Tumblr posts (and a gorgeous over-decorated bedroom) before it was even one song. I had no reason, on paper, to believe that I was capable of anything. But if you can trust that the first impulse you had to create came from a place of deep wisdom, develop a few principles for your decision-making, and absorb a lot of stuff you find inspiring, you’ll have something special on your hands. Pure Heroine exists because I had the tiniest inkling of what I’ve now come to see as one of my guiding principles: that each of us have a handful of songs inside us that are ours, and only ours, to sing. Your specific interests and upbringing and physiology and experiences exist only in you; you are sitting on a gold mine that no one can rob. Whatever that means to you, whatever that statement you were born to make is, I invite you to take a big breath and make it.

All my love for another ten years of all this, and more, and more—

Ella XXXXXXXXXX

(source: received this email)

[thought-bubble-doodly-doo]

Clown Month 2023 Day 1 (Clownsona)

I immediately lost all ability to draw well as soon as I tried to draw today, so please take this recycled asset and a few doodles as my first entry. ;;; 

Don’t you just hate when that happens?  You wanna draw so bad, but as soon as you have the time you suddenly lose all your ideas and talent.  :’( 

But I’ve had this Clownsona for a while now, so if you wanna learn more I have info about how I went creating her under the cut.  UwU.  :3c   

Clown Month is a 30 Day Drawing Challenge.  For more info or to draw along please see @clownartmonth​

Clownsona Fun Facts! 

1. Her name is Comedi-anne, because I love a good pun. 

2. I based her off the Pierrot!  The Pierrot is a sad clown archetype with its roots dating all the way back to the Commedia Del’arte!  Traditionally, it’s an all black and white clown with oversized clothes and a conical hat.  But I added a few more colors, because I thought all black and white would be boring.  At the same time, if I tried to do a more vibrant white-face clown I know I would’ve gone overboard and had no color cohesion throughout the piece.  I tried to limit myself a little with just primary color accents.  :3c  

3. Although Pierrot was her base, I did do a little pattern mixing with the diamonds and stripes.  The diamonds were inspired by the classic Harlequin look and the stripes were inspired from the pattern mixing traditionally found in the Auguste!  

4. I added the star motif before I learned that Pierrots became to be associated with the moon (cuz melancholy and emotions and whatnot).  But I like it too much to change it.  

5. The stitched heart was a hold-over from a previous persona I had.  Something pretentious I came up with about how I use art to work through wounds that never full healed or something.  Lol 

6. Originally, she wore a mask (hence the no mouth.)  Which is odd, because unlike most other Commedia Del’arte characters, the Pierrot didn’t use a mask, just whitening his face with make-up.  But I also had this pretentious idea about how art should “speak for itself,” so I made her silent.  But now I think it’s not a mask and her jaw just unhinges to show a goopy blackness like the Slenderman.  :3c  

7. July is my birthday month, so I think it’s really cool that I’m getting into clowns just in time for Clown Month.  It feels like a well-timed birthday present from God.  UwU

[justaprismolover]

WARNING! This rant is a very subjective and hot take about Prismo [Adventure Time] & how the modern fandom treats him. This is a personal and emotionally driven rant. if that doesn’t sound good to you, please do not read this rant.

⚠️Please read the full post before you say anything. Context is very important in this post! ⚠️

hello to anyone reading this! you probably don’t know me or you don’t know much about me, but i’m justaprismolover. i’ve been obsessed with prismo for a very long time, about three years or so. he was this major interest of mine that i would constantly think about 24/7.

he was this huuuge obsession of mine that i consistently was enamored by. the phase seemed to never wear off. i drew him, animated him, wrote fanfictions about him, i had elaborate daydreams about him, i started making an album about him (which i only discontinued because all of the songs suck lol), i posted about him and ranted and raved to my friends, said his name many times every day, made AUs for him, and i even started archiving every drawing i saw of him. you see, prismo drawings back in the day were very rare, so i was constantly starving for tha goods (fanart). i would always look him up on deviantart and google to see if anyone posted art of him. i followed and subbed to anyone who showed interest in him. i had looked him up on youtube and deviantart and pinterest countless times. i started seeing the same prismo content over and over again, which is reasonable, but i, who at the time started to archive every piece of work of prismo i could find, had this crazy goal of archiving every work i could find of prismo. so i started making social media accounts for the sole purpose of archiving content containing him and dipping.

i made a tiktok account (which was banned after one day for some reason?? i didnt comment or have a trashy username or anything idk) i made a twitter account (total waste of time i couldnt find any prismo stuff) and i made a tumblr account, the only account i kept. i originally wasn’t going to at first but tumblr sorta stuck with me. there were a wee amount of prismo fans who loved him just like me! so i stuck around and started posting art just for fun.

then something interesting happened. a new fiona and cake show was coming out, and a depressed looking prismo was right there in it! i was excited to see more prismo, but i was also kind of worried. i was scared the prismo ‘fandom’ (it was literally like 5 people at the time) wouldn’t be the same after fiona and cake came out. what if prismo became a tumblr sexyman and they started humanizing him and making him act super out of character? what if he was downplayed as a “silly blorbo”? what will happen to my archive? will there be too much art to archive?

i know that it might sound selfish to be saying stuff like this, but i’m sure everyone has felt it before. that feeling when something tiny you like became popular and you just sat there thinking “i was here first!” its petty but its valid as long as you aren’t putting anyone down for getting there later than you.

so i comforted myself by telling myself that it won’t be that big of a deal and prismo probably wouldn’t play a big part. its not like there was a huge prismo craze in 2012 when he first was introduced or anything like that. there’s going to be so much new cool artwork of prismo made by so many cool people that will all put their own lil twists on him, and in a month most of the prismo likers will move on which means it’ll be me and a bunch of dedicated prismo enjoyers, but not too many, and it’ll be like one of those teeny cool fandoms. yep, that’s what i told myself. it’s not like i was fully convinced by this or anything but it kept me afloat. i just kept on doing what i usually did until the show came out, and…

boy, was i wrong.

prismo played a huge role! he CREATED fiona and cake! he had new characters to interact with! there was new art! new fanfiction! a huge brand-spanking new prismo fandom flooded into tumblr. prismo playlists! prismo cosplays! prismo crafts! i was flabbergasted. totally enamored by this wave of content. do you know how insane it feels when this character that was forgotten by everyone but you and some others suddenly gets extremely popular?! it’s like you’re dying in the sahara desert of dehydration when suddenly you trip into lake baikal. it was insane. and, it wasn’t THAT bad! yeah, there was some headcanon stuff and “sillyposting” that i didn’t like, but hey, most of the prismo stuff kept him looking the same and drew really neat looking art of him! i was ready to embrace this new prismo epidemic with open arms if it wasn’t for one teensy weensy itty bitty minor problem…

Scarab.

ya see, scarab and prismo to this new era of prismo lovers are absolutely inseparable. you cant have one without the other. they’re treated akin to simon and betty, where if you draw one, you must draw the other. pink, yellow and blue is no longer prismo including his lil blue pupil, but now its prismo, the wall of the time room and scarab! pretty much what i’m saying is the new prismo fandom was almost ALL prismo x scarab shippers. hell, most of them joined BECAUSE they liked the pairing itself. the prismo fandom pretty much became the prohibited wish fandom, which to someone like me who doesn’t ship it… was… something. yeeep. it was totally something alright.

i know its easy to make fun of me for being sad about a ship that everyone else in the fandom ships, which i mean, fair enough, it’s pretty funny, but i hope you get my point of view as someone who doesn’t ship the ship and doesn’t really care for scarab. i’ve been so dedicated to doing my weird little prismo stuff for so long, just me and sometimes me and a few others, and suddenly, this humongous wave of people come who start drawing all sorts of ship art with this… bug dude thingy that i didn’t even care for. and its only. ship art. which made me feel so left out of all the fun. i can’t force myself to like the ship, because, well, not only is that near impossible for me but i don’t like the tropes and its a ship that’s pretty lustful and often puts the characters in sexual scenarios with one another.

you see, the ship alone isn’t the whole issue. it’s the way the ship is portrayed, and especially the way prismo is portrayed.

back in the day, prismo was characterized by most people (including me) to be this super chill yet awkward guy who was funny and cool yet lonely and kinda clingy (which was proved to be CANON cuz hes obsessed with jake in Fiona and Cake HEHEHEHH). he was a side character who was kinda mysterious which left him up in speculation. everyone had their own little prismo theories. the best part about prismo was that nobody really forced him to have a one dimensional trope (ironic).

like, there weren’t any moments in canon that made everyone think he was obsessed with something like, pickles or destroying universes or whatever. you know how so many fanon side characters are often attributed to one singular thing they like or do, and so everyone makes it as if they’re obsessed with doing it to the point where it’s more of a lifestyle than a hobby to that character? prismo didn’t get that treatment! many people who liked him UNDERSTOOD that he wasn’t some guy who sat around in his hot tub all day manically making pickles or messing around with the lich. (true ogs remember prismo x lich. RIP that ship you sucked but the art was delicious)

so many people understood that below the surface he was lonely and just needed somebody to talk to, how he could never leave the time room. we based our drawings more on the character himself, his internal struggles and external battles. and yeah, most prismo fanart… WAS JUST PRISMO! and the prisjake art was (and still is) almost ALL wholesome and cute, because, well, prismo never came off to anyone as a sexual person!

and the just prismo drawings were unique too! so many of them explored different concepts and ideas, which is something i rarely see nowadays, cuz most of the art is just him calling scarab petnames and writing fanfics.

warning: the following paragraph contains mentions of art of sexual harassment. please skip this paragraph if you are uncomfortable with this topic. please note that this is my main reason as to why i do not like the modern prismo fandom.

the biggest issue i have with the modern prismo fandom is that they portray him as a very lustful person, someone who openly talks about doin’ the deed towards scarab as soon as he sees him. so many depictions of this pairing will show prismo telling scarab he’s hot whilst scarab is trying to kill him, or saying things like, “please do” when scarab makes genuine threats to end his life, which in turn makes scarab angry and uncomfortable. other depictions include prismo GRABBING SCARAB WITHOUT HIS CONSENT! and i hate to break it to some, but that is harassment! what surprises me is how common works like these are. i constantly see them on my dashboard. people just seem to love the idea of prismo going, “now that we’re in the same dimension, i can do whatever i want to you.” i would show examples so yall can see what i mean, but that’d be really stupid of me to go showing around peoples art and giving specific examples. so, just look out for it, and you might start seeing it more. (these types of drawings have died down as the time goes on but they used to be a lot more common in the early f&c days). all i’ll say is, prismo grabbing or saying sexual stuff to scarab is not cute if scarab looks uncomfortable or is telling him to cut it out or leave him alone. this is harassment. i thought modern fandom was supposed to be more progressive than this. c’on, guys. (alsooo, prismo just. isn’t a sexual guy. like at all. when prismo and scarab meet he just seems like hes freaking the hell out the whole time and never stops to check scarab out at all. people are being gaslight by fanart or something lol okay sorry i know people can have headcanons)

if you skipped the last paragraph, you can continue here!

another lil thing grudge i have is the whole fanfiction thing. y’all, he made an action based genderbent world. he’s not writing omegaverse smut fanfiction. okay, i get if you wanna headcanon him with that, i think its funny, but like, don’t make him writing fanfiction his whole personality!!!

so yeah, all of the prohibited wish and new characterization of prismo i don’t agree with has made me feel so left out of something that i’ve partaken in for so long. all of this over time has lead me to not be able to enjoy prismo as much. yes, i still love him, and drawing him still brings me immense joy, but it just isn’t the same. i just feel so left out and it really hurts. even if it is laughable, i hope anyone reading this, if anyone at all, could at least understand that bit.

so, TL;DR:

the old prismo fandom was full of different headcanons and theories, different ships, rarepairs even, and all sorts of unique and awesome ideas and art.

the modern one is (mostly) either two things: scarab x prismo or prismo writing smut fanfiction with some other character (but its usually scarab).

and guys. please, please, please. THIS IS MY SUBJECTIVE OPINION! people can headcanon whatever they want and draw whatever they want! i have never, ever harassed anyone who drew something i don’t like. this is honestly my first time opening up about my extremely hot take. it’s not like i’m an ultra petty bully who hates every piece of prohibited wish (my likes are public and you can see that i actually have liked prohibited wish stuff, you can see i have a preference for wholesome tho) please continue to ship what you ship and do whatever you want to prismo and whatever other characters. i’m honestly so scared of getting hate and getting attacked by people. if you read all of this, first of all, thank you SO much, i’m so happy someone actually took the time to hear me out!, and second, you are likely not the problem, and i’m sure i’d love your art of prismo, even if it’s prisxscrabby. just. please, don’t attack me. (i’m aware this post probably has 2 notes or less this is just in case)

quick Q&A:

Q: are you asexual?

A: i don’t really know? im probably demisexual. i know that i’m pansexual. but i do ship characters that partake in sexual acts or are lustful towards each other. i personally don’t think that Prismo is a sexual person. i don’t think of him as ace either, i just don’t think of him as someone who often has lustful thoughts.

Q: are you neurodivergent?

A: i think i might be. i have a therapist and we’re working on getting me a diagnoses. she’s very positive that i have autism. we can’t say for sure if i do until i get my diagnoses, though. please keep in mind that my extreme obsession with prismo and my unwelcomeness for change may be the result of my potential autism. but like i said, i haven’t been officially diagnosed and i do not like the idea of self-diagnosing.

Q: will you keep posting prismo stuff?

A: hopefully. i’m a busy genderfluid, y’know? i have so much social medias to keep track of. this is just a place to dump ma prismo’s, but it gets less and less fun everyday, ya know?

if you’re reading this i love you so so much you’re literally awesome and i can’t thank you enough for it. justaprismolover is outta here bye byeee B)

[missamyshay]

petermj week flavoured talk shop tuesday: tell me something about one of your petermj week works! a behind-the-scenes commentary, snippet from something coming up, your favourite work you created for the week: anything!

Oooo I don’t know which one to pick so I’ll talk a lil bit about all of them!

like a moonbeam was a joy to write and probably one of the fastest fics I’ve ever written! Spidey romcoms are so fun and I’m glad I got to write one.

loops and circles is near and dear to me. I’ve never written a fic that deals with the immediate before and after death—the tendency is to skip some years or even just months or weeks into the future when the grief is already well underway. But writing every step of that loss, the denial, the panic, the acceptance, the heartbreak… it was a very new experience for me, and incredibly rewarding. And I’m very proud of that story.

But I think what most surprised me was this art piece I made for Day 5. It’s the first time I’ve tried to capture a scene from a fic, especially a fic that I didn’t write, a fic that I admire on so many levels. It felt like a lot of pressure to get it Right, to do justice to the words that moved me to make it.

The artwork itself was pretty easy and quick, but something about the lighting for the piece tripped me up. The fic describes the scene so beautifully and I’ve never wanted to transfer a picture I had in my head on to paper so badly.

These are just a few of the different versions that I experimented with:

It’s funny because looking at them like this, so many of them look the same but they all have such subtle differences that changed the entire feel of the piece for me.

It was important to get Right where the light was coming from, the tone of it, how much it lit up the room, making it look like dawn instead of dusk, and still keeping the closed off darkness of the bedroom etc etc.

I worked very hard to do it justice, and to be told by friends that it represented what they too had pictured in their heads, as well as to receive love for it from the author of the fic? I am on cloud 9.

[vryfmi]

talk shop tuesday!!!! I love love LOVED your piece for the tea toast & ghosts zine – what was your experience in planning and creating it? was it a challenge to combine both art and writing, and did your art influence your writing or vice versa? I'd love to hear about your thought process in the creation of that really cool piece :D

thank you so much! it's really nice to hear especially since it's my first posted writing!

if im being honest i wanted to write an article from the very beginning, it was the overall idea that was ever changing but eventually i found it. since TTG zine's topic was your favourite thing about l&co, and i had no idea how to incorporate skullyle and it was too much work to come up with technical parts of ghost-lamps (tho i did dive deep into street lights' wiring at one point), i figured i'd stick to my favourite thing of all - worldbuilding and dark stuff!

The Idea™, at first, was to come up with a few cases and illustrate them, but the longer i rotated those the more i didn't like the prospect of making something separate and not rooted into canon. so i skimmed through the books while looking for any mentions of Fittes and Rotwell cases, since back then i already decided to use the Mud Lane Phantom's story. the other two i took are from TSS and THB and they were vague enough to be able to lengthen them to an article entry.

i outlined ideas first, what themes i wanted to convey, what i wanted to put out there for fans and how these cases would've work with each other. from the that point i started drawing the illustrations. quite a backwards process. and it all sounds good on paper but in reality irl struggles really weren't making me any favours and i wasn't meeting deadlines at all, but mods team was patient and understanding with me, they are literally the best!

for Mud Lane i went for slight mockery of pioneers because, well, yeah. there was quite a lot of made up lore that i decided to cast aside (like what if "today" at the crossroad there's a statue of Fittes and Rotwell? a museum? a tourist attraction? a gift shop?). overall im just really proud of illustration that i did, i should draw more of Marissa and Tom at some point.

fun fact and easter egg of sorts: Marissa's pose was supposed to be an homage to first poster of the series and the way Lucy stands in it! i think it got lost along the way as i changed the pose but i think it's still readable enough. i love drawing parallels between the two (:

[id: a side by side of Marissa in illustration, where she's holding her lantern with her right hand and looking beyond the viewer, and Lucy from the first Netflix' poster, where she stands in a simillar manner but points with her rapier at something out of view./end id]

picking one case set 50 years before the others ment that i'd have to contrast them, draw a parallel and make them work against each other to bring up the best and the worst. The Shoreditch one was, admittedly, more of that coming up with something that wasn't there in the first place. first book only mentioned patrols and i latched onto them. (plus i was drafting it at around the same time as l&co bigbang came out and i was massively inspired by my teammates work which incorporated those patrols but in metro tunnels. great case-fic btw). mainly i went for darker aspects of agent's work there, thinking that to fit in sewers the team would've been of smaller children, and that Kipps (yeah, he's there in illustration) would be as close to them as possible, unlike other inspectors we are used to seeing.

Holland Park Hounds was the one that i was the most excited for because wdym we as a fandom don't talk about possible animal-ghosts?? sure, it could've been Changer(s) but is it really? plus how badass of Holly to be part of it AND it was famous enough that Lucy knew of it as well!

Holly Munro pushed a stray hair or two behind her ear. ‘Well, I’ve seen some things. I was there in the Holland Park Cellar case, when our party got blockaded underground by those seven spectral dogs. It was quite a tight spot. And after that—’ ‘I heard about Holland Park, Holly, and I can tell you the thing that makes the bloody footprints is ten times worse. I’m only saying. I don’t want to frighten you. I just wouldn’t want you to get hurt.’ (THB)

innitially i wanted to do something about a horse-phantom that was mentioned somewhere but for the life of me i couldn't find it in books, so i'll leave it for my next reread. but this case has so much more ties to the main gang and especially Holly herself. i really wanted to draw a picture of her and her team after the case but no composition really worked so i kept it to park's plan (my urban planer friend said it looked good even). plus giving a plan and thorough haunting information somehow felt very Rotwell to me.

aaand i think that's it! not much to say for back cover only that my friend really disliked my choice of comic sans for one of the adverts. and that i wanted to make it gritty, as if its a wall right around the corner of the Fittes ball court.

[ashleander]

BLOG ANNIVERSARY (KIND OF....)

It’s been a year since I revived this little blog of mine with this silly piece on that day! I created this blog in 2019 but I barely used it and there used to be only CRK content 💀, it'd be 5 years old by now sheesh… This date means a lot to me! I used to post art while the account was on its first days! My passion stopped a few years ago due to mental health issues but I think it was for the best to wait until I had a maturity for it...that was until PT was a thing and I haven’t left haha… I was so scared posting my art back in the day since it’s been a while. Little did I know that this would be the start of a new journey! ♡

After seeing others notice my work, I became more active (esp. after October and onwards) and now I’m here! We’re only halfway through the first full year of constant art posts! This was one of best choices I ever made! Not only did it help me grow as an artist but as a person! ♡

The growth of this blog feels surreal to me! I never thought there’d be so many! The follower count here went from 15 to 250-ish as if now! Ya’ll are so sweet and talented, I swear! I feel so grateful meeting ya'll! I really should open myself more! 😭❤️ ♡

I’ve never thought I’d felt so seen and I'll always know someone is out there to support me and my work! Most importantly, it accomplished one of my biggest art goals: to connect but also to uplift other people! It’s so fun seeing how much my art has evolved! You can definitely see the improvement! There were some ups-and-downs but I learned overtime not to go hard on yourself and be proud of the things you make! Never have I ever had such a large creative outlet in such a long time! I feel so proud of my accomplishments and I haven’t felt this excited in years! (the reblogs/comments especially but anything really shaldldaskdl, I think my fam knows that I tend to get extremely loud when it happens, haha)! ♡

Thank you everyone for checking out this silly blog! I wouldn’t be here without ya! It reminded me of the things I loved doing and I’m glad I’m back to it! Here's more to come, I will keep doing my thing! ♡

Here’s a small drawing to celebrate! I’m already having a great time at vacation and I’ll be back soon! ♡

[commiegoth]

Fun writeup on the goth subculture of the 1990s from FringeWare Review #6(66), published in 1995

Full text under cut

Subcultbabble 101: Magdalen on Things Gothic

So who ’zactly are these legendary Goth creatures? As with any subculture, it’s hard to pin ’em down. Let’s start with an image nearly all our dear readers will have seen at some point: kids with flowing black clothes, white faces, and lots of black eyeliner. You have perhaps wondered WTF is up with them, and with people who try to look like vampyres, and pouty twentysomethings in black T-shirts who seem too pointedly haughty to be generic Gen-Xers, and gorgeous fetish babes who sorta look like they’re dressed for the grave rather than for the dungeon.

Writers like yers truly just fuck it all up when they try to explicate subcultures, but somebody’s gotta do it. My own experiences have brought me in contact with the so-called goth scene intermittently over the last decade, though I should warn you that mine is a fundamentally West Coast point of view. YMMV. Like many others who end up returning to goth clubs and music every few years, I seem to have a fixation with Death which finds itself soothed and fulfilled by Things Gothic. Despite my propensity for slovenly attire and no-bullshit communication, I’m also addicted to the sense of ritual and aesthetic which differentiate the goths from most other American cultures.

I Wear Black On The Outside… ’cos black is how i feel on the inside

The two most prominent subcultures I’ve run into are punk and the hippie trip. In them, participants usually adhere to a loose cluster of aesthetic parameters, but everyone involved pretends that exteriors mean little to them. (Let’s bypass the hypocrisy involved, when they like the rest of society typically wear certain signifiers to identify themselves with the group.) Hardcore punks and hippies don�� t necessarily bathe very often, or wear makeup. Punk and its bastardized commercial offspring, the media-titled Grunge movement, aspire to externalize their rejection of conventional society by substituting fucked up, comfortable clothing for the clean, rigid, and perky duds yer stuck-in-the-fifties parents always wanted you to wear. The aesthetic relies upon potentially-violent sloppiness (or a carefully-reconstructed pretense thereof) and the attitude that you honestly don’t give a fuck what people think of you. Mortified though many latter-day punks might be to think of it, a similar motivation lay behind the original hippie anti-aesthetic, where organic materials and shapes sought to externalize the flowing qualities of nature where Cold War man had instituted three-piece suits and all they represented. Pardon the irony, but both mohawks and stringy long hair try to signify the rejection of a shallow society intent on keeping up with the Joneses and little else.

The goths fled in the opposite direction: past conventional fashion, whose crime isn’t its rigidity but its sheer dullness and tendency to follow embarrassing trends, and onward to a hyperstylised self-presentation reminiscent of the Courts of centuries past. Goths are renowned for their vanity and apparent shallowness; I believe the goth aesthetic is actually quite honest, embracing the notion that externalizations such as clothing and gesture form an intricate interpersonal art form, a dance of communication. It’s refreshing compared to the equally intricate games played by those who present a studiedly “casual” facade, hoping their Gap shirts will help them blend in with the wallpaper. Practitioners of theatre understand very well the subconscious semiotic games being played in the guise of supposedly “normal”, casual conversation: how the body moves, what it is draped in, the choice of words, tone of voice or the flick of an eyelash can determine the outcome. In the theatre, these external elements are mastered to create ritual and entertainment.

Walk into a goth club, and you see this same cunning, playful manipulation of details taken from the stage and thrown into what might be a costume ball. Black is everywhere: hair, clothing, eyes, lips. Perfectly blood-crimson lips and hair extensions materialize next, along with deep purple dresses and tresses. Proper white collared shirts glow in the dim light, while the occasional off-white Victorian wedding-gown or ivory ’30s dress will float by as well. The goths, who go out of their way to be a sensual set, get off on the tactile beauty of their gear as much as its visual effect: velvets, satins, leathers, brocades, sheers, laces (though lace has fallen by the wayside since the ’80s) — anything lush and sumptuous. For a group of people rumoured to be exceptionally dictatorial in their tastes, they can be most creative and eclectic. Cheesy classic deathrock bits like torn fishnet sleeves, and Robert Smith hairdos straight out of the early ’80s, nuzzle up against the hippest new fetish gear. Goths manage to dig up gorgeous period pieces, mostly evocative of the ’20s or of Victorian fashion, and many can even wear the things properly, playing the appropriate body language to the hilt.

You should be able to kick around a few Byron quotes here and there, and recount Shelley's death with heartfelt accuracy (didn't he like die on a boat or something?)

As you nervously approach the crowded bar for a dollar-drink special, you’ll notice some other things. Makeup ranging from pale to deathly white on many faces, both male and female, accompanied by exotically-applied eyeliner and severe lipstick. Lots of curious if pretentious objects: fluttering fans, scarves, silver cigarette cases, lunchbox handbags, crucifixes, hats, and miles of silver jewelry. A man bending at the waist to kiss a woman's hand. Angelic, dour boys in long skirts and pointy boots. Expansive, melodramatic dancers flailing and swirling, refusing to acknowledge each other even when they collide. Impeccably-dressed, attractive women sitting all alone yet not being harassed. Frankly, you may find them all ridiculously snotty poseurs, what with their wannabe-regal airs and seemingly unbreakable attitudes. Stay long enough, though, and the drugs and alcohol will kick in thoroughly, revealing kids with fake IDs and eyeliner drooling drunkenly down their cheeks, stoned speedfreaks giggling, drunk speedfreaks dancing and fighting, bedraggled gentlemen hiking up their skirts to take down the lights. Though it may appear otherwise, people have dressed up and come out to have a good time, and to do so in the most decadent of ways.

If you asked them, the majority of these people would not admit to being goths. Most of those who would are the sort of irritating obsessives you find in any cultural group, like the self-proclaimed hippie that buys every new Dead shirt as soon as it hits the market or the poet who wears a beret and turtleneck. These are the folks who desperately needed an identity to cling to, a pre-existing aesthetic to buy and adopt rather than create; they’re invariably the people who uphold and propagate the codes and cliches of a subculture. So what’s the stereotypical goth of this sort like? Where hippies have hyper-friendliness and Luv, these goths have a comical level of snobbery, cattiness, and a calculated air of impenetrable mystery. Where punks often pretend to be less cultured and articulate than they are, yer local cliche-goth will likely present hirself as well-read and emotionally intellectual, with a vocabulary of words and gestures gleaned from faerie tales, Victorian literature, and heroic ballads. The correct political stance is apolitical, and while the proper drags change over the years and according to geography, speed’s the classic drug of choice. The face will be pale and powdered, the eyebrows painted in black points which shadow the inner eyelids in an immaculate line; the clothing will most definitely come in black.

As The Millennium Turns: the emergence of a NeoGoth scene

What’s interesting about this culture isn’t the surprisingly small group of people who wear full costuming and whiteface 24/7, but the way that its recent resurrection integrate a variety of musical and aesthetic tastes. Odd as it may sound, my theory is that the increased popularity of Things Gothic owes much to the Rave trend at the turn of the decade. As, that pushed repetitive techno music into regular discos and radio formats, people started delving into darker technology-driven music such techno-industrialists Skinny Puppy. Much to chagrin of oldschool industrial types, a new “industrial” movement started gaining momentum, showcasing Ministry’s industrial deathmetal crossover and the Top 40 success of Nine Inch Nails. The explosion of general indie and "alternative" music as a popular phenomenon helped out, too: all these newly-mainstreamed bands had common influences from the days when frat boys would beat you up for having a leather jacket and funny hair, instead of jumpin' into the pit with ya at a Dickies show (Dude!).

People new to these genres of music and the subcultures they spawned started digging up those influences and giving 'em a spin, and pretty soon there was a fresh crop o' youngsters gazing at Blixa's made-up face on old Einsturzende Neubauten videotapes, discovering Bauhaus for the first time, finding Al Jourgenson's cheesy '80s dance tunes, and praying that the entire 4AD catalogue might be released domestically on compact disc. Some small group of goth types had endured through the '80s in most large cities and hipster towns, and found their ranks swelling as the population at large gained exposure to music and fashion previously confined to the underground and to independent music labels. For several years now, the goth capital cities (London, New York, San Francisco) have boomed with golf clubs, local bands, and 'zines. The resounding success of House of Usher, the East (SF) Bay club the proved you really could rejuvenate this tired old scene enough to make serious money off it, owed much to its owners' creation of two separate dancefloors in a single club: one industrial, one gothic.

But wait, there’s more! In addition to marrying the black-leather-wearing New Industrial scene to the extant retro-gothic scene, the neo-goth resurgence has cross-pollinated nicely with the fetish scene, the cyberpunks (yes, I hate that word as much as you do) the exponential growth of the Internet, the underground comic and ’zine network, and a rising interest in the arts of self-decoration (piercing, tattoos, etc.). As always, other marginal groups with proclivities for theatricality — SCA members, RPG fanatics, | drama geeks, Renaissance Faire guildmembers, wiccans, and the terminally suicidal — are still attracted to the goth set. It all makes for quite the tasty brew once it has fermented long enough.

Weeping, Wailing, and the Gnashing of Teeth

Music acts as the cornerstone of most popcults, and can’t possibly be treated thoroughly in this space. If you’re into the idea, get ahold of the fanzines listed under SOURCES. Suffice to say the music wafting out of gothish clubs ranges from historical deathrock (Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division) to second-wave gothic (Fields of the Nephilim, Christian Death, Sisters of Mercy) to new indie-goth hybrids. Some of the most distinctive music associated with Things Gothic can only be described as mood music, whether it’s ethereal, ominous, or sparse. Dead Can Dance and Cocteau Twins have popularized the ethereal sound, usually featuring lush arrangements, swooning female vocals, and often incorporating elements of Irish folk, medieval, classical, and middle eastern music. From the cruncher sounds of My Bloody Valentine and lovesliescrushing, and the symphonic chaos of Cranes or the recent Miranda Sex Garden releases, a whole new generation of post-ethereal bands continues to evolve.

Ominous mood music ranges from the Wagneresque horror of In Slaughter Natives to the soundscapes of Caul; again, subcultural crossbreeding has birthed a wide range of techno-industrial-cybergothic soundtracks. On the sparse end of the scale, the Death In June/Current 93/Sol Invictus formula combines morbid lyrics, hypnotic acoustic guitars, and experimental sounds: for a heightened experience, be sure to keep razorblades poised at your wrists while listening. And you’re bound to find old farts who still keep some guilty pleasures around — ’80s English popsters like early Cure, Smiths, and Tears for Fears, the deathpunk of 45 Grave and pre-glam TSOL, or the moody disco of New Order and Tones On Tail.

Face it, kids, you live in a society whose obsession with Death is matched only by its insistence that one continually maintain a mask of cheerfulness or neutrality. Colonial-style religion, which used to provide a ritual release for feelings of fear and deah has largely been exposed as a patriarchal scam. You will watch Cops, you will run to see Natural Born Killers, but you will still toddle into work and smile after your best friend commits suicide. The hippies tried to make you too uniformly joyful and mellow; your foray into punk let out some anger but did nothing for the lingering melancholia. The poets gave you deep verbiage but they didn’t know how to dress, and the sullen slackers sneered at anything remotely dramatic. And while the Protestant preacher gave you lots of Death, and Mass gave you ritual satisfaction to breathe in like incense, they expected you to believe in GM, fer Chrissakes!

I can’t stomach being around it too much, but sometimes it’s a relief to sip Chartreuse with an entire room full of people who’ve given up and welcomed death. A good goth club or party feels like a Christian funeral smashing into a raucous wake: some are there to mourn, others to celebrate the dead with wine, song, and incoherent rambling. No one is going to stare at the scars on your wrists in such an environment, nor try to stop you from driving 120mph on the bridge after you’ve snorted up a quarter and chased it with a litre of bad red wine. No one’s gonna care whether your sour, aching mood arises out of severe pain or out of the need to make an impression. Nor does it matter whether you've actually punctured human flesh with those ridiculous fangs you had custom-made.

The house, club, or cemetery you’re partying in is likely decked out in Things Gothic. Among all the dead flowers, skulls, and candles, who’s gonna look askance at the crucifix around your neck? The props of Death attract people for different reasons. Some have a heartfelt reaction to religious iconography, often rooted in childhood experiences with the church; others are attracted to the mystery of the post-corporeal life represented in objects which evoke thoughts of mortality. Some just want a solid talisman to grasp while they mourn life itself, while many are drawn to the classical aesthetic often employed in rendering icons. And there will always be those who don’t really care to think about art, Death, or afterlives, but who want to look cool. Regardless of the motive, people who want to play with the props of Death aren’t given much of an opportunity to do so in conventional society.

Except in religious subcultures, of course. Is the goth scene religious? While a fair percentage of its members are ex-Christians or current pagans, goth has nothing to do with religion. The closest thing to a Deity it offers would have to be Peter Murphy or Andrew Eldritch — mere mortals who happen to be the subject of much fawning, rather like Elvis. Laughing at the corniness of Deathprops and quasi-religious elements is probably more common than revering them. Goth appropriates from religion, using its imagery in decadent stylization. It has no interest in either approximating religion or fostering it.

Deadly, theatrical, and a bit over-the-top, Things Gothic definitely hold a selective appeal. I for one will be thoroughly amazed if the goth subculture ever gets adopted by the mainstream, but then again in 8th grade I wouldn't have imagined punk ever crossing over. Times change, and if folks stop dismissing the goths as absurdly pretentious we just may see Rozz on the cover of Rolling Stone in a couple of years. Stranger things have happened.