#I used to make little inked comics when I was young

[kg-clark-inthedark]

Manically met a guy from facebook at a gas station at 1am last week to buy his ipad and since then I’ve been obsessively learning procreate and I’m fucking drawing? For the first time in over a decade??

[vllergy]

painkillers

vesen request, 2.1 k, cold fic ty to @scatter-snz for this elite prompt i hope this is what u had in mind!!! jin-young is a cop (he has the kink because of who i am as a person) vesen is a big tall hot alien assassin aliens and humans are working together but it's still pretty new and things are awkward jin and vesen 100% fall in love with each other eventually that's basically all you need to know

It's Jin's first day being back after a record two days off. In his six years on the force, he can't remember the last time he took actual sick leave. To be fair, he doesn't get sick that often and when he does, he's aways been the type to grin and bear it. Part upbringing, part police conditioning. If you're not dead, you're fit to serve. Or at least that's the way it always has been. The Kheelen changed that. Human officers aren't spread thin these days due to the partnering initiative. So his cases that would have once fallen to the wayside in his absence now fall to his partner, Vesen. And he's expected to trust that his taciturn, ill-mannered Kheelen counterpart can handle that shit on his own when Jin is otherwise indisposed.

For the most part, Jin does. Vesen may be an ass, but he's a competent investigator. Unfortunately, he and Jin's methods when it comes to gathering information are still wildly disparate. Something he knew, but didn't truly understand the consequences of until now as he sits across their latest subject in the interrogation room.

In the two days Jin took to nurse the cold from hell, it seems Vesen has taken it upon himself to put the fear of God into this man.

The man is visibly sweating. His eyes are only focused on Jin, though every so often they twitch Vesen's direction only to snap back as if his very image is a chemical burn. His cuffed hands tremble on the steel surface of the table and he picks at his cuticles the longer they sit there. Jin doesn't blame him, necessarily. Vesen is, objectively, terrifying. Even just sitting like this you can tell he's the apex predator in the room. He's so much bigger than both Jin and the other man--he overpowers the chair and the room itself, looking comically oversized for the entire thing. Jin thinks all the Kheelen look a little silly in the human precinct, actually. Crunching themselves into tiny desks, massive hands cupping small coffee mugs, ducking under doorways--it'd be laughable if they weren't all sure the Kheelen would crush their skulls for even a giggle about it. Jin sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. Intimidating is usually an advantage in an interrogation, but whatever Vesen's done to this guy over the past two days has pushed it over the line. He's not just intimidated, he's shitting his pants. There's no way they're getting through to him now. And frankly? Jin is too tired to rectify the situation. He's still not feeling great. His head is fuzzy and dulled, his painkillers are wearing off, and part of him knows he should be back in bed. But he's legitimately worried Vesen will frighten this man to death if he leaves him alone with him for any longer, and that's a bad look for everyone. Sniffing softly, Jin blinks and tries another tactic. "We want to help you, Anish."

Vesen scoffs at this, and Jin just barely manages not to roll his eyes. "But you have to give us something to work with," he continues.

Anish shivers and shakes his head, "It doesn't matter! You know it doesn't! These bastards are taking over and they're just pretending to play nice until they don't have to anymore." Oh boy, here we go. Vesen's hackles rise, just as Jin expects. The alien leans forward, a muscle in his jaw jumping. Artificial light flickers over his lilac skin and makes his dark hair shine like ink. "You dare insinuiate my people are not here out of good faith?" he hisses, sharp canines flashing, "When you are accused of aiding in a terrorist attack against them?" Jin reaches out for his arm. Down, boy. His fingers drift over steel muscle beneath Vesen's uniform as he tries to tug him back into his seat. He's about to say something to try and reign him in when he realizes with sudden horror that he's about to sneeze instead. "Hhh?" He quickly turns away, angling himself away from the table and steepling his hands over his nose and mouth. His eyebrows crash together as an embarrassingly sharp breath snags in his lungs before-- "chhSH’iew!!"

And it's never just one. "CHshISHh’iu!"

Two is actually pretty good for him, especially with this fucking cold. He gives a tentative sniffle before raising his head and clearing his throat. The tickle abates for the moment, but he can feel it buzzing dully in the back of his sinuses, tickling in the corners of his eyes. Ordinarily, he wouldn't care. Sneezing in public isn't his favorite thing, given how he feels about the activity in general, but he's never been good at stifling so it's not something that can be avoided. But sneezing in front of Vesen is a new hell in and of itself. Without even looking, he can feel the intensity of his partner's gaze on him and it makes heat begin to crawl up his throat. Fucking hell. "Excuse me," he says with a soft sniff and clears his throat again.

At the very least, he's dispelled the tension. "Arguing about who started what or whose intentions are genuine isn't going to get us anywhere. So let's not even get into that," he says, sending Vesen a warning glance. Vesen, he suddenly notes, is staring directly at his nose. For some reason that revelation sets off a nuclear detonation in Jin's lower belly and all the blood in his body rushes south. Self-consciously, Jin rubs at his nostrils and tries to think about anything else. But that only aggravates the dormant tickle, and he has to press his tongue to the roof of his mouth to curb the impulse. "Fine," Vesen hisses, turning his eyes back to Anish, "Then let us stick to the facts." Anish gulps. Jin strokes a finger down the datapad in front of him, bringing up a few files. They could pin Anish with his money transfer trail. Or his text messages. He and Vesen haven't which way they were going to do this--they hardly ever agree anyway--but he shifts the pad closer to his partner so that he can look too. "The facts are, you are a coward, Anish," Vesen suddenly purrs, "And you will not survive a week in prison if I put you there." Jin could strangle him. He does roll his eyes this time and looks toward the ceiling, as if asking some higher power for the strength not to. "What my partner means is that you nee--" The bright lights overhead tease the last bit of the tickle out at the most inopportune time. The fuzzy, static feeling inside his head snaps like someone struck a bolt of lightning into the middle of his face. He whips to the side, his elbow in front of him and his hand braced on his opposite shoulder. "Hh--excuse meehh'IIsHH!"

He mists the inside of his elbow, shakes his head softly and then gears up for another. His breath stumbles, eyelashes fluttering. "Are you going to continue sneezing?" Vesen deadpans. "Hhhuh?" Jin blinks blearily, his cheeks going red as he tries--unsuccessfully--to pinch off the next one, "nnTTchSHH'iu!"

"Madrax. What is that inane human saying? Bless you, Jin-young."

Vesen stands as Jin pulls a crumpled tissue from his pocket and tends to his nose. In the next second, he feels his collar being tugged and himself yanked up from his chair. Feet stumbling under him, he struggles to get his balance for a moment until Vesen's large hand steadies him at the small of his back. Vesen's low voice simmers with what sounds distinctly like a threat, "We will return, Anish. Make yourself comfortable."

Then, before Jin knows what's happening, he's being guided out of the interrogation room and back into the hall. The door shuts and Vesen's hand retreats from his back. In a moment, the alien is towering before him, arms crossed over his broad chest and staring down imperiously at him. "Jin-young," he says disapprovingly. Jin blows his nose softly and retrieves another crumpled tissue. "Vesen."

"You are still ill." "I'm on the tail end of it."

"I do not wish to work with you when you are not well."

Jin scoffs, dabbing at his red nostrils, "I thought the Kheelen didn't get sick. I'm pretty sure you can't catch this."

"It is not my well-being I am concerned for."

Jin's eyebrows shoot skyward. Vesen, concerned for someone besides himself? No fucking way. He might have said as much if his nostrils didn't suddenly swell double. He crushes the tissue to his nose and mouth to muffle a tired sneeze.

"hdj'SHMMf!!"

"Bless you."

Jin blinked and gasped, "Hh'chhmpf!"

"Bless you."

Jin adjusts the tissue to try and find a dry spot, missing the next sneeze entirely and directing it to the floor. "You don't have to say it every ti-hiime--hhCH'ISSH'iu!"

"And why not? Bless you. You said it is something humans say when another sneezes. You are sneezing, are you not?"

Jin blushes darkly as he attends to his nose. Does Vesen have any idea what he was doing to him? Clearly not, or else he'd be raking him over the fucking coals for it. But somehow him being oblivious is making it so much worse. "Look who's suddenly so concerned over human-Kheelen relations," Jin gripes hoarsely, trying desperately to deflect. Anything to stop talking about him sneezing and Vesen blessing him. He'd rather be waterboarded. "You should go home, Jin-young." "And leave you to eat our sole witness alive? I don't think so." Vesen bristled, "You doubt my abilities."

"If we were torturing the guy? Not for a second. But we're trying to get him to talk to us, Ves." "Ah yes, and sneezing at him incessantly is doing the job just as well. Perhaps there is some merit to that," Vesen leans forward, grinning, "You look so unspeakably pathetic that he might take pity on you and finally tell us the truth."

Jin tosses his sodden tissues in the nearby wastebin and scrubs at his face.

"Fuck you," he groans, "Can we just go back and get this over with?"

"No, you are going home."

Vesen grabs his upper arm, his grip like a vice. Jin never really forgets how strong the Kheelen are, but every so often a brazen display hubles him completely. Vesen steers him effortlessly back down the hall without any hope of him struggling against him. "Wait, Vesen, c'mon--" He struggles anyway, just on principle. But a moment later he yanks on his grip unintentionally as he wrenches away from him with another ill-timed sneeze. "Hh'CHISSihuh!" He nearly bends double on that one and Vesen abruptly pulls him to a stop. The alien holds fast to his arm as if he can sense that Jin is going to lose his balance if he's not tethered to anything. "hah'hhCHHishh! iSSCchuh!" His ears begin to ring. Distantly, he's aware of Vesen's other hand bracing against his shoulder. That second point of contact sets his blood on fire. Before he can think too hard about that, another sneeze tickles the inside of his sinuses and he attempts to smother it with his free hand, "PpshhiSHHch!"

"Bless you," Vesen sighs as Jin straightens back up wearily, "Are you finished?"

"Yes," Jin lies and then shakes his head rapidly, turning away and pinching his nose between his thumb and forefinger, "NnghsSHH'iu!"

Vesen taps his shoulder. It almost feels...sympathetic?

"Go home, Jin-young. I will wait until you are well again to interrogate our witness."

Jin sniffles and glances up with watering eyes. "W-wait, really?" It's an unexpected gesture of charity from Vesen who has been historically uncharitable all the time he's known him. He narrows his glassy eyes, skeptical. Or at least, he tries to look skeptical despite the fact that his heart is in his throat because Vesen is still holding onto him and just watched him sneeze his head off with rapt, disgustingly erotic attention. "What's the catch?" "There is no catch. Just go before I lose my patience," Vesen said.

Jin knows better than to argue with that. Vesen is someone who loses his patience extraordinarily quickly, and it's never pretty. If he's giving him an out, Jin might as well take it.

Sniffling, Jin nods and gives him a tiny salute, "Thanks, Ves."

Vesen finally lets go of him. He grunts in response, gives him one last unreadable glance, and then turns on his heel. Before Jin can say anything else, his impossibly tall figure disappears back down the hall towards the interrogation room.

Jin isn't totally sure, but he thinks Vesen might not be such a bad guy after all.

That, and he's suddenly unreasonably horny.

[honeymochibubbletea]

Hmhmhmhmhmmmmmm....

Remember this?...

I have a theory... What if... Just what if...

...

...

...

...

Charlie was an ink monster? Y'know. Like bendy and alice angel? And what if phantasmo found out somehow and Charlie would try to hide that fact... What if Charlie... Was already an experiment back then? 😦

Hewwo! Greetings, how have you been?

About your theory… i find it kind of fascinating really but… i believe that’s not the case, well, at least for the new story that @jencilthepencil/@lemonlysunny wants to tell us XD

Let me elaborate: in the past Charlie (which was Lily) was a cuphead oc, and i think the reason Jencil/LS draw her, Carter, Daisy and Squirt like this was to represent the fact they are toons, because you know, the whole idea of cuphead was to be inspired by the old cartoons.

And if you see on her YouTube channel, you can see that Barron had created them because he’s an artist so it would make sense your theory. But with the new comic coming and Jencil herself saying that Charlie and the others are no longer cuphead Ocs, that they are now original Ocs, we can only especulaste what this new story is going to be about:

(Drawing made by Jencil the pencil/Lemonlysunny, all rights reserved to her)

As we can see on the image above, we see that baby Charlie was brought by a stork.

Now you may be thinking: “but which family was going to receive Charlie?” Or “where did she came from?” Or (honestly i was also wondering that one too) “where’s is her brother???”

Well, only time will tell and… isn’t baby Charlie adorable?🥰

Ahem, I’m getting off tracks here, what i’m getting at is, i think Charlie is not an ink monster nor an experiment… but perhaps she was created by some sort of magic or science…

But i really liked your theory! It’s really creative and at some extent it would kind of make sense X3

Now it’s my turn on theorizing who is going to find Charlie first, because by the looks of it, she was brought into a forest (apparently storks tend to be terrible at their jobs of bringing a baby to the family that asked for them 🙄):

Young Carter: i think we will see a young Carter strolling through the woods and finding baby Charlie all alone and ending up adopting her as his sister

Barron: it would reference the old source material while changing it a little bit and making it look new. I imagine that Barron would be scrolling through the woods and found Charlie crying all alone… at first he would be looking for anyone but after noticing that there was no one, he would pass through and try to ignore her… but then the guilt would be too much and he would come back to adopt her.

The most improbable but still i like to theorize :3, Phantasmo: i think that Phantasmo’s mansion is very close to the woods… i could be wrong about that one but oh well, i think he would be floating around the woods after he heard a baby crying and was too annoyed by the noise, so, he went to investigate. When he finally found Charlie, at first he just faced palm himself and muttered under his breath that it was probably the fault of a stork… then he would poke little Charlie and try to get rid of her: by finding the nearest house he could find and placing her on the front door… little would he know that she was going to be a lot more of a pain in his ass then he initially thought in the future, lol

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 2/27/2024

this is the longest ive ever been unemployed and media is only doing so much to beat back the horrors. so let’s talk about the media instead of the horrors

listening

Come Up For Air by We The Commas, off i think one of the autogenerated spotify indie mixes?

sort of a rollicking modern little surf rock thing, they describe themselves as "surf and alternate rhythm and blue" which is pretty bang on imo. they're all brothers (their last name genuinely is Comma, which i salute as a fellow weird last name haver), and cite john mayer (i don't really hear it) and the beach boys (yes i hear this very much) as some of their influences. a song i had on loop for an entire forty minute drive and did not get tired of. spotify

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reading

three books that MUST go back to the library tomorrow bc their autorenew is up and i was emotionally unable to get a library card without tooling around and getting a stack of books a month ago.

thank you philip.

i really only liked the Carmilla adaptation by Amy Chu, bc it really gets at what i didn't realize was the heart of the original 1872 lesbian vampire novella: a toxic gay housing situation you have fallen into and can't get out of bc your area is so so so expensive and housing is so so so tenuous. i have read the original but not in a while, this is an excellent modern adaptation centering around a nyc social worker in the late seventies that presupposes no knowledge and intertwines the original novella in the form of a stolen rare book. (nonconsecutive pages)

i don't have much to say about the DC young adult comic about the circus career of one of the Robins (Dick Grayson). i didn't love the loose artstyle and am not in its intended age range plus it had a bit too much therapyspeak, but it did have a clever use of a very limited color palette.

let's yank the amazon description for the detective novel, which i grabbed bc it vaguely pinged something in my brain about one of the fallout 4 sidequests and i've picked books up for worse reasons (SPOILERS):

Jacob Rigolet, a soon-to-be former assistant to a wealthy art collector, looks up from his seat at an auction—his mother, former head librarian at the Halifax Free Library, is walking almost casually up the aisle. Before a stunned audience, she flings an open jar of black ink at master photographer Robert Capa’s “Death on a Leipzig Balcony.” Jacob’s police detective fiancée, Martha Crauchet, is assigned to the ensuing interrogation. 

i simply fucking hated this authorial style and tone and ditched it two chapters in. i don’t currently have the patience for reading about a clinically insane mother and hate crimes against Jewish people. despite the fairly dark premise, the first two chapters veer into cozy mystery with very short sentences, which do not a noir make. now, it does not advertise itself as noir or neo-noir, but as an homage to noir. it is for me unbearably smug. in my most unkind heart of hearts i want to say it's like if wes anderson tried to make a noir. this is a book that wants you to know it has read other noirs. yes thank you ive read several others, that’s why im reading this one, stop reminding me of better books i could be reading.

there's some weird descriptions of womens' bodies in here. chandler (my beloved) is certainly guilty of this as well, but he lavishes a sort of equal opportunity eye on the men in his mysteries. cf the infamous daniel lavery description.

when i read a chandler description of someone’s physical appearance there’s a fruity bisexual aftertaste in my mouth. Howard Norman, below, saying a woman takes great care of herself puts my hackles up. i understand the difference between an author and a character believing something and i don’t want to read a book where either the author or the character have this sort of pitying condescension towards a woman’s body. im feeling extremely terrible about my own body right now due to the various maladies, and another sort of breaking point for me is when an author repeatedly describes "naked breasts" (exact wording) pressing against someone's torso. it feels so juvenile. that's the sexiest thing you can possibly think of??? that's the sexiest way you can think of to describe an early mornign moment of intimacy???? augh i read the NYT review and it gets worse.

shut the FUCK up. i left my apartment at 1130 PM to go put this book in my CAR. i don't want it in my HOUSE.

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watching

Bullitt (1968, dir. Yates, free on Tubi). the baddie in this is Robert Vaughn (who i know from cowboys), a guy i fucking love to see. i can take or leave Steve McQueen but he does such a killer job parallel parking in this movie and i wish all driving movies made their leads parallel park. shockingly realistic hospital, morgue, and police work scenes, apparently was one of the big films to popularize blood squibs. also love to see a haunted man splash water on his face and stare into a mirror.

if you asked me how long the famous car chase was i would have said like 2:30? substantial but snappy. no!!! eleven minutes!! (video a bit trimmed). also a rare movie that makes a foot chase through an airport as exciting as that eleven minute car chase!!!

the mob dodging plot was a little hard to follow, but i was operating on like four hours of sleep and a rum and coke. this has got to be a tremendous movie to watch when you’re home and sick on the couch huddled under a blanket. i mean this as a compliment, as someone who watches Escape from New York whenever i feel very sick

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playing

really wanted to get to 69 shrines before writing this post and finally did it. all the little divine beasts walking along the loading screen are SO cute i've never gotten all four before

all the divine beasts are unlocked and the champions laid to rest! im feeling some type of way emotionally speaking about all of them telling link IMMEDIATELY that it wasn't his or zelda's fault they died

rudania has the worst boarding mission (in order of ones i most enjoyed it's camel [SO fast and SO fun], bird [lots of time to think and plan and aim], elephant [did not make me do a tedious stealth mission but i am bad at locking on to rapidly moving things behind me, much like in real life], and lizard. the lizard stealth mission is simply unpleasant). however, my brain really clicked with the puzzles in rudania: i had to consult a walkthrough once for an optional chest. in order of interior beast puzzle enjoyment for me it's lizard, bird, elephant, and camel. really got stuck for a long time on the waterwheels with the elephant before consulting a walkthrough.

the yiga clan stealth mission was not as hard as i thought it would be. i don't know why i put that off for two real life weeks but i will not learn my lesson and i will never improve. this boss battle was just silly.

the vah naboris interior puzzles were not fun. idk what it was about them or my brain that made me have such a bad time, but i spammed revali's gale and skipped a lot of chests bc i was not having fun. this is why god invented the walkthrough but sometimes. shit is just too fiddly.

i did succeed on the thunder ganon boss battle first try, but i came in with extra hearts from mipha's grace, used another mipha's grace in the fight, went through five fairies and seven hearty simmered fruits that were 5x durians (which gives you 20 extra hearts or some shit). fucking nightmare. i was stuck on one hit left on ganon for like five minutes bc he got stuck in the very fast flurry attack cycle. unpleasant. deeply grateful it only made me smack him with the magnesis pillar once bc that was also really fiddly with my poor reaction time + poor fine motor skills + previously mentioned ancient controller with some drift. in order of boss battle enjoyment i think it's lizard (made me think and kept me on my toes a little but i did have to look up how to break the shield), elephant (you can just kind of tank it), bird (same), and camel (extremely not fun).

this was WITH a fully upgraded gimp suit btw. that shit (ganon) just hits hard.

shrine shenanigans:

crowned beast very fun, i have one or two of kass' songs left and then i hope i get to see him back in rito village with his family??? a little nervous bc i went right to the jungle spring without hearing his song first so idk if that will. count??? or softlock me.

the MOUNDS of failed cooking attempts around this shrine on the grasslands side of the gerudo barrier mountains were SO funny.

unlocked all the spring shrines. what a fun mission. what a fun climb.

went to my FAVORITE shrine!!! going into what you think will be a normal cave and discovering it is DEEP with a BIG WHALE INSIDE is top three video game whale moments (the other two are diving with the whales in ABZU and meeting the last whale in the first dishonored).

other bits and bobs:

eggman rocks???

this quest was really cute and i wish there was a corresponding quest for the guy hanging around the broken heart pond, but it always makes me laugh whenever a dragon shows up in the background of a screenshot. a really great touching moment but watch out for the elemental orbs rapidly approaching us

also made me chortle. get it together barta.

i wish the helm was upgradable but i think making me kill a molduga in order to borrow it is a pretty fair trade actually.

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making

i originally had a really long thing here about litterbox trials and tribulations but i have decided to spare you all. you're welcome.

many balcony improvements, including putting up trellises and installing bird spikes to hopefully keep a very persistent orange tom off my balcony and away from my girls.

there are a goofy number of obstacles in the way of me making a proper planting diagram (sketchbooks buried deep in closet. flung the seeds in a box on a shelf i need to find my stepstool for. can't find pencil sharpener) so for the second week in a row that's not happening. however, sprouts.

baby italian lettuce blend

bush beans in the front and cucumbers + sweet peas in the back.

[ericaportfolio]

Disney's The Gremlins Over the Years

Chapter 1: Gremlins (Part 2)

This is Part 2 to Chapter 1. If you want to read Part 1 first, it's in the link below.

Due to the recent events with Epic Mickey Rebrushed, I thought of making a series of posts dedicated to Disney's infamous characters from the canceled WWII movie The Gremlins. The character designs of these guys have changed many times during the concept art process and over the years. Today, this is a collection of male Gremlin designs. The female Gremlins were called the Fifinellas, which I will get to them in the next post. For those discovering this, in summary, Disney was making WWII movies and shorts for the war effort. They were going to adapt Roald Dahl's first book about these guys, and several things like people getting tired of war movies and figuring out how to make the movie, which was canceled. I'm making these posts for fun and to help give artists ideas for their OCs and fanart. I would post some sample pictures and a minor breakdown in each post. I might miss some because there is so much, so this is just a handful of pictures and photos I collected over the years. We really need to make a Disney Gremlin's Wiki.

Anyways, let's jump into THE FUTURE!

Canceled Live Action/Animated Project (1992): Jumping forward into the future, Jerry Rees, director of The Brave Little Toaster, and Steve Leiva were trying to make a feature based on the original story with live action with animated gremlins like Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The illustrators for the project were Steve Moore and Frans Vischer. Again, GLAD they didn't we didn't get this style of the characters since they're far from the original designs. Here are two samples by Steve Moore.

Return of the Gremlins (2008): When Disney made those terrible DVD sequels, Dark Horse and Disney made a deal to reprint the original book, make merchandise, and release a three-part comic sequel in 2008. The first cartoonist was Dean Yeagle, but he could not finish, so DreamWorks artist Fabio Laguna came in to do the final issue. In this story, Old Pilot Gus's grandson, Young Gus, goes to Old Gus's home in Brittan to handle the property sale. But SURPRISE! It's inhabited by the Gremlins that Old Gus befriended during WWII. Chaos ensues...

Epic Mickey (2010): Now, the moment you've all been waiting for, the game that introduced most of us to Disney’s Gremlins. Here are the variants we remember split into two groups: 3D Gameplay and 2D Cutscenes. Going forward, some of these pictures are from the Epic Mickey Wiki.

3D Gameplay

2D Cutscenes

Epic Mickey Comic (2010): In the 64 page-long graphic novel, the only Gremlin character who appeared in the comic was Gremlin Gus.

Epic Mickey (2012): In the sequel, we get more variants of the Gremlins and a Gremlin Prescott redesign.

3D Gameplay

2D Cutscenes

Epic Mickey Comic (2012): Gremlin Gus was joined by Gremlin Prescott and Gremlin Jamface.

Donald Duck #18 Comic (2015 IDW): This is the crossover we have wanted since the Comic Cover. In a translated European Swedish comic of 'Rue Brittania!', Donald and Fethry get a new assignment: travel back in time to WWII and face the Gremlins to de-gremlin the airfield. Artists: Pencils and Ink by Flemming Andersen and Colors by Digikore Studios.

There's a lot more I could add, but we would be here all day. If this post gets popular enough, I will do more on the side before the game comes out. If there are changes to the Gremlins in the Reboot, I'll make a Part 3. Hope this post is a helpful source for old and new Gremlin and Epic Mickey fans alike!

[cartoonistcoop]

ShortBox Comics Member Interview: Xulia Vicente

Throughout the month of October, the Cartoonist Cooperative will be sharing interviews with members of the Co-op who have a new comic available at the ShortBox Comics Fair 2024! 

NOTE: The Cartoonist Cooperative is not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way formally connected with ShortBox.  

Today’s spotlight is Xulia Vicente a.k.a @takitakos and their new comic for ShortBox, Clair de Lune.

Tell us more about your new comic?

XV: It’s called Clair de Lune, and it’s basically about two music students, in a bit of a futuristic setting, that try to summon a mysterious kaiju-like creature through a secret song. It explores what it’s like to experience perfectionism, art and competition at such a young age.

I’ve drawn quite a bunch of comic pages at this point, but for this fair; I’m putting out what would be my longest solo comic so far. It’s also the one that feels more personal, since I’m basing it both on experiences and anecdotes from my music school years, and personal struggles with art. Overall, I feel it’s a bit of a milestone for me and a step up in my personal journey of finding my own voice.

Tell us about your creative process; how did you develop this comic and what are the steps you took to bring it to the final stage?

XV: The first months of this year I was working a part-time job, so I was only able to take notes of the kind of stuff I wanted to do for the fair. I’ve had the idea of making a comic around a music school for years now; I even had the first scene pictured in my mind. However, I needed to simplify that story to be able to complete the comic in time. When I finished the part-time job and started working full-time on the comic, I wrote a new story in what felt like a fever dream, mixing my new notes with the original ideas for the music school story. Writing is usually the biggest struggle for me, and takes the longest. 

I then took some time to design characters and put together a little pitch to test the interest and charm with trusted friends. It helped me build motivation and confidence in the project too. Since I was against the clock, I scheduled the phases of the project and made some decisions to make them as functional as possible. I drew the storyboard and cleaned it up so that I could both sketch shadows and use it to trace pencils.

From here on, I work traditionally and start going faster. I trace the pencils, then rework them a bit and then ink. After that, I scan, edit, letter and finish with both the grayscale pages and the color ones. This is all a lot of work, but once I’ve taken the time to make all the decisions in the pre-production phase, I have a clear course to follow and it becomes easier for me.

Read the rest of Xulia's interview HERE!

[amigac0debasic13]

hey guys. Do u even care about what I have to say. Thats right baby. It’s a mini rant. Young Garmadon edition and the horrors of white boy Star Wars core.

Okay so. Erm.? I don’t like garmadons child design in the show. This guy is way too twink coded as a young adult for me and that’s wrong. He’s a beast. And also))??? Lots of paragraphs on Wu depression. Thats the synopsis now look below for further horro r

Hello??? Dang man tatooine is calling ???? IM. SORRY THAT WAS MEAN. I’ve always felt like the spinjitzu bro books did a better job with his design, but brunette just isn’t it. Black hair. Right now. Make it naturally white but also make him fucjing stupid so he dyes it with Ink because he doesn’t want whit4 hair cause he’s DUMB.

Look alive. Make him wear a ponytail and give him the black dyed hair COWARDS.

Anyways that parts over. Now I’m going to talk about my issues with how people draw him in his human form a lot.

I feel like the twinkification is real. All human designs I’ve found of Garmadon that don’t use legos ambiguous yellow color are pasty white and this madness must STOP!!! I think if u wanna make him a cracker it’s ok. It’s fine. But it is a little boring seeing the same designs scatter my Garmadon picture wall(/J I DONT HABE THA)

‘And also while I’m at it, I’m gonna be real and say that any design for wu in the series is pretty good. Still mad he looks like a normal guy. TBH. Many fan designs give him more dragon like traits, and I think that’s so cool, but I’ve always had a specific idea I’ve never seen executed personally. I think Wu would chop his horns off if he had them permanently out.

Wu clearly isn’t a fan of just showing off his dragon or Oni traits. He straight up doesn’t do it, even as a kid (he should honestly be shown with those traits cause he really doesn’t give a fuck as a child) and I believe that his tormented old man position (see the many drawings and tweets from the shows authors and writers) he wouldn’t exactly be drawn to having his traits on display. The completely reasonable solution? Scar himself permanently by wacking them off with a blade. Sounds like something he’d do in young adult hood. His horns being out insinuates he can’t just shapeshift to make them go away, so erm!! Pretty smart solution ngl!!!

‘’Now it’s time for Wu trauma oooooooo!!!!! Oh my god part of his soul is GONE????

In one of the spinjitzu bro books Wus soul is forced into a little puppet. At the end of the book, the puppet is still alive and moving. When the ninja ask to see a puppet show before Wu recounts this, he has a physical reaction.

so. Wu is having a great time. Also, in one of the comics (forgot the name and I can’t for the LIFE OF ME remember where I read this) he confronts. Basically the embodiment of his fears. Basically he doesn’t want to become like his SHIT father who is literally god. leave him ALONE.

So. Uhm. In conclusion. Whirlwind (wus canon nickname) and Softie (Garmadons canon nickname) need to get their shit together <33333333

[fareehaandspaniards]

My personal list of fictional girls

ALL OF A SUDDEN I decided to make a post about fictional girls I SIMP for. That's what long work shifts do with me and also Katy's post about mole on Gwynevere's chest beautiful details of Gwynevere's body

I mostly talk in my blog about men but actually there are some female characters I extremely love, simp, imagine and some even shipped with myself. They all, in general, attract me very much and deserve a lot of attention

Dagger and (!) general Beatrix from Final Fantasy 9

I'll put them together because I met both of them as a child. And if Beatrix is my unattainable ideal and favorite character, then Dagger is a character I associate myself with and my personal love that I'm ready to defend against all the haters and fools who call her a “standard female character”. She went through huge character changes, trauma, and all the stages of love in her youth. She truly was my role model when I was a child. Also, because of Dagger, I was jumping around the house with a cook pot impersonating her with a weapon XD

She was the reason I cut my hair with a knife when I was 6 years old XD My mom was horrified! I liked the new haircut but it looked awful xDDDDDDD

And I also inherited this... xDD

2. Lute from Fire Emblem Sacred Stones

Bold, smart, arrogant sometimes, a prodigy and in my personal opinion, autistic girl.

Despite the fact that she has very few lines and the plot in general, she won my young heart, and I dreamed of such a friend… As a teenager I remembered her, but in a more romantic way already…. xd Her demeanor and conversation has annoyed many players, but I find her attractive and unique - she's confident and knows she's good!

3. Jade Harley from Homestuck

My first REAL crush on a fictional character. I imagined her with me and even had a few erotic dreams with her…. It was very sad, because I literally suffered from the fact that she didn't exist, and I used up a lot of ink from my dad's printer to print a LOT of posters with her xdddd

I can't say Jade is controversial character? LOL I don't even remember Homestuck plot. But she is kind and funny character, optimistic and full of will to live. She is a witch of space after all xd She is JUST GOOD in my mind. To many years passed... xd

And while I'm no longer interested in Homestuck, Jade is still my favorite archetype.

4. Edelgard von Hresvelg from Fire Emblem Three Houses

When I saw the first preview of FE3H I knew she was going to be my favorite. Her looks, her ideology, her cold disposition, her tender heart, and her many traumas - she's beautiful. And despite the fact that Edelgard has a VERY large amount of haters, to me it just proves once again the great fandom hypocrisy! Everyone really wants a tough woman, independent, strong and making mistakes, cruel, implacable and willful, war criminal and all that stuff. But once they get strong woman, she becomes hated! After all, she's up against a muscular and very handsome young man with absolutely KIND and GOOD intentions, and all the bad things he does are for KIND purposes.

And Edelgard is very controversial. Even gray, I might say. My girl did the thing she finds right and chose the bloody path, but I'd go with her all the way to the end because she's my empress and that's it xd Love her

5. Rom from Bloodborne

I was a little mad at her at first…? When I first started playing Bloodborne. As is often the case with me, my first impression 90% of the time is later reversed. Many headcanoned her as Willem's helpless victim and a “background” for Micolash, and that headcanon spoiled the experience for me in many ways. But by creating my own vision of Rom, I fell in love! She can be crazy, proactive, determined, cunning, manipulative, comical, tragic…. Of course, it's all about interpretation and image. But I fell in love with Rom in all her forms.

6. Ruby from Disco Elysium

She only shows up for one scene, but…. SHE MADE ME BLUSH. LOOK AT HER.

I can hear the soundtracks from Hotline Miami and the police sirens... Her game portrait doesn't idealize her looks, no, you can see her age and wrinkles, and also…. her danger. It gives me goosebumps... I don't know why, but the portraits in Disco Elysium fascinate me. They manage to convey the character's personality and traits with color and strokes of paint behind their backs…

Actually this game created in my opinion the MOST perfect female characters I've seen. They are gorgeous in their own way, they look like REAL women.

I'm in love with Ruby. And even want to do a cosplay on her in the future….

7. Gwynevere from Dark souls!

Goddess of love, fertility, a gorgeous and big woman, with beautiful breasts, smiling, bright…. That's my kink. I have been fascinated with the history of ancient nations for a very long time. And the images of ancient goddesses have forever remained in my head something chthonically beautiful, a kind of female ideal. Gwynevere reminds me of them. I have an OC as well, personifying all the same things, only more cunning…. Beautiful lady…

8. Nyx from Hades!

Nyx is a very special goddess to me. It's very personal… I've studied her image a lot. And Hades definitely managed to convey her as she should be. A mother, a friend, a caregiver and her thin veil of darkness...

[your-fave-adopted-you]

Hi! If that's okay could i request platonic nrc staff reacting to MC wanting to go to an art school after nrc? Specifically for tattoos?

Based on the fact that i went to look at universities yesterday lol

As an art student this is very interesting.

in fact I made my pfp myself lmao

Also additional drinking game : drink every time you read the word tattoo and get absolutely wasted!

Guardian! school staff + MC who aspires to be a tattoo artist

Characters : Crowley, Crewel, Trein, Ashton

TW : none

Gn pronouns were used.

Context : It's not uncommon for young artists to be discouraged by their families and teachers when mentioning that they want to seek a career in art, and that it's not just a hobby.

But do you know how much worse it gets when you say that you don't plan to live by selling paintings like Picasso? do you how how many people won't think of tattooing as a proper first option?

Oh, you do. And that's why at first you're a little bit worried about telling them.

Dire Crowley

Actually it just came up in a random conversation

he told you that even if you couldn't get back home in the worst case scenario ofc

at least you were lucky that you studied at such prestigious school.

you had much more possibilities career-wise than most people.

and he finally asked you what you wanted to do, if you wanted to continue studying, or what was your dream job.

You told him your plans about art school, and being a tattoo artist.

"Oh, are you sure?" he said expressionless.

and like always, you had to explain why you wanted that, what it meant to you, yk, the usual.

"it's art school actually necessary for that?"

and again, you explained that in some schools they even had courses dedicated especially to tattooing, comics, animation,

and even if it wasn't the case, art school really helps with your skills.

and he went silent, contemplative.

"would i get one for free?"

"sure, but only if you volunteer for me to practice."

that's it, that's all he needs to hear.

Researches any school that seems worthy enough for your talent.

even privates ones.

ESPECIALLY THE PRIVATES ONES.

good lord he's actually calling and emailing and shit.

if only he put that much energy in everything else.

also he will stop anyone he sees with a tattoo and will bombard them with questions. "how much did this cost you?" "how long did this one take to- 6 hours? oh... do they get paid by the hour or?" "do you know if they're hiring?"

it's actually embarrassing.

One day he even asked Leona and made the terrible mistake of mentioning you, "Oh what a.... yes, it's definitely a design alright! where did you get this? I'm sure my y/n would like to know!"

next time you saw Leona he was actually curious about what kind of tattoo you were getting-

Also he stopped kalim once on his way to P.E to ask about his 😭

because??? they're white??? white ink??? oh his little artist will thank him for the info!!!!

poor kalim thought he was about to get dress coded or something.

long story short he fully supports you, he doesn't really get why you want to do it but, he doesn't question it either.

Divus Crewel

One day he just asked the class about what they had planned for the future.

There were all kind of answers tbh, some wanted to work in cosmetics or acting, some wanted to open a bakery, some wanted to be teachers, and there were people in your class that were rich already-

And then it was your turn.

again, the usual.

Half your class was already asking for free tattoos.

But Crewel was quiet for a bit.

He was probably thinking about those faded, gross tattoos that covered people's entire chests or backs, with eagle designs or exes names or something like that.

"Is art school really necessary for that?" pt.2

after you defend your position 😭 he asks you how much do people pay for it.

after you tell him that it can pay bills quite well, he finally agrees that's a good path to follow 💀

would NEVER in his life get a tattoo.

But after you show him the kind of designs you want to make,

he admits that it looks very good on people, it's like their skin is a canvas. in a way.

yeah so, as long as it pays well he will support you 💀 that's it.

Mozus Trein

He already knew that you were an artist but he assumed early on that you would sell paintings at expositions and paint murals and shit like that yk, maybe even sculpt?

And he knew that you wanted to go to art school. He fully supports that alright.

but then one day you corrected him. You wanted to be a tattoo artist, actually.

Mr.Trein is very well educated in art, it's an essential part of history and he kind of expected you to be the next Dalí or smth

He's not going to tell you that it's a lesser form of art, or that you should aspire for more,

but yk, he's an old man. he definitely thought about it.

"does it pay well?" pt.2

even if you got rich by that, he's still a little worried about your future.

"People will always have skin, and they will always want to do something cool with it so don't worry, i won't run out of work!"

it came out a little weird but he got the point. it helped a little.

his mental image about tattoos is very much likes Crewel's at first, and even when you show him your designs he's still somewhat hesitant about the whole thing

then you showed him that some people got tattoos after the loss of a loved one, or some kind of big recovery, meaningful stuff in general.

and ngl it made him see it under a different light.

your dream job could actually be... important??? helpful for some people??? wow.

After that he fully supports you, he won't ever admit it but for a second he wondered if he would ever get his wife's name tattooed 😭

Still he doesn't respect people with anime characters tattooed on their forearm.

Ashton Vargas

He's actually chill about it.

"is art school really necessary tho?" pt.3

Has the same mental image as the previous two about your profession

but like, in a positive way?

the kind of man to get a tribal tattoo, or an eagle across his entire left arm, or even his mom's name inside a winged heart on his chest 😭

doesn't even ask about the money lmao

"Can I get a free one?" pt.2

he thinks it's really cool but that going to art school for it is a waste of time and money, he thinks it would be better to study with 1 professional and then work for them for a while.

he really likes your designs

and genuinely thinks you have a bright future ahead of you!

he won't do the same thing as Crowley, but since you told him he would stare at kids with tattoos too.

then he would tell you about them.

"Huh. But what if someone comes to get their butt tattooed??? would you have to do it??"

"Probably yes?"

"BUT Y/N! WHAT IF THEY FART!?"

also

"Hey but what if your client sneezes? what if they get hiccups???"

he's asking the real questions here.

but yeah, fully supports you from the start, a very solid, proud dad.

[cheapsweets]

The self-sacrificing Rubkawat

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge, from @maniculum (thanks again for running these!)

Initial pencil sketch, then lines in Pental brush pen, and colours with Derwent inktense paint. The brush pen is really fun to use, and you can produce some interesting effects and lovely transitions between thin and thick lines... I think I need some more practice! 😅 I would have loved to get in some more fine details on the chicks, but I've enjoyed getting to grips with the pen a bit more, even if a lot of that is learning what I still have to get better at! On the plus side, it proved to be completely waterfast (particularly compared to my fountain pen inks), which worked nicely with the concept I had.

You can also see where I started painting the water a slightly deeper colour, then changed my mind and watered down the paint a lot more. We'll just say that bit's deeper or something, right? 😉

Reasoning below the cut...

"The Rubkawat is a bird of Egypt, living in the wilderness of the River Nile, from which it gets its name. It is devoted to its young. When it gives birth and the young begin to grow, they strike their parents in the face. But their parents, striking back, kill them. On the third day, however, the mother-bird, with a blow to her flank, opens up her side and lies on her young and lets her blood pour over the bodies of the dead, and so raises them from the dead."

Okay, so I'm pretty much 100% sure that I know what this creature is (I'll be very surprised if I'm wrong, that is some pretty specific behavious described there), so I was trying really hard not to let that knowledge influence my drawing. We know it's a water bird (I also read the description similar to @silverhart-makes-art and wondered whether it gave live birth, but wasn't sure how to represent this short of having no broken eggshells in the nest). As such, we've again got a generic-ish looking water bird, went with a white colour partially to proovide contrast with the other main colour, and partially because I associate Egypt with white birds (Egyptian vulture, ibis...), as well as a lot of water birds such as egrets.

We have a pointy but reasonably broad beak because we need something that can do some damage 😟 and I gave it some eyebrows/tufts of feather above its eyes as a bit of little egret swag - there were originally only meant to be two tufts, but after I drew them in with the brush pen I realised the perspective was off, so I added two more to even it out :D

The nest is partially surrounded by water, and we have some reeds to reflect that the Rubkawat is probably nesting in the marshes of the river Nile.

So, we have a red patch on the mother's cheek where the chicks pecked at her three days earlier, on her beak where she's opened up her side, and... well, I didn't want to go too realisitic, hence the blood flowing from the wound and filling up the whole of the inside of the nest, covering the chicks (apart from their eyes).

Most of my chicks from previous challenges have been at more of a distance - as noted above, I would have liked to reliably get some finer lines in there, but we do have some more detail. Now, @coolest-capybara mentioned to me that she thought my chicks reminded her of Woodstock from the Peanuts comics, and this isn't something that had ever occurred to me, but it's also nothing I can deny! 😆 We have some small, fuzzy (and if we're honest, probably quite wet and sticky now...) chicks clambering to their feet, flopping around and yelling now they've been resurrected.

"It is also a characteristic of this bird, they say, that it always suffers from thinness, and that whatever it swallows, it digests immediately, because its stomach has no separate pocket in which to retain food. Food does not fatten its body, therefore, but only sustains it and gives it strength."

Slightly tricky one given than 90% of a bird is floof and feathers... If the creature is the one I suspect it is, I can see how this particular myth originated, but we're not going there! I probably could have made the mother bird a bit thinner, but I think I was focused more on the other aspects of the description and of making her bird-shaped. Things to consider for the future 🙂

[aldrendaux]

Greetings! I'm Aldrendaux.

(Or Aldren/Al)

I'm a Zelda and FMA fan who likes bingeing fanfiction on FF.net, Ao3 and here. Occasionally, I'll beta for writers in the fandoms listed below.

The Legend Of Zelda

Fullmetal Alchemist

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Miraculous Ladybug

Spy x Family

Super Smash Brothers

Fairy Tail

RWBY

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Works I've beta'd so far:

@echoesofheroespast: a Legend Of Zelda Fan Comic by @sakuraluna01. A Linked Universe AU with elements of Honkai: Star Rail. In progress.

emptiness to fill: a Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction by @rene-of-the-blackouts (blackout_writer on Ao3). Known as the Mad Puppy of the Military, Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist, was not someone one would want to associate with. According to the general consensus, one word fit back to describe him best – "unhinged". Complete. Part 1 of empty.

when the lights go out and the emptiness is born: a Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction by @rene-of-the-blackouts (blackout_writer). Al gets sick a few days before they plan to bring Mom back. Terrified that Al might have caught the same disease that killed Trisha, Ed decides to attempt human transmutation alone (Al deserves Mom’s care, after all). Complete. Part 2 of empty.

In Lieu Of Flowers: a Royai BB 2024 Anthology fic by @baudleaires, illustrations by @ic3-que3n. "Never fall in love, Roy. That's my advice to you. And you should always take your Aunt's advice." Complete. Part of Royai BB 2024.

Accretion: a Royai BB 2024 Big Bang fic by @raisingmybanner (Ao3), illustrations by @chewytran, @areyousanta, @rizaposting and @justanotherinterneruser. Riza Hawkeye has worked as Security Director for private art authenticator Roy Mustang for eight years with little trouble. However, recently Mustang has taken on riskier and higher-stakes jobs, putting himself and his team in danger of exposure and harm. The objective of a new undercover job - authenticating an elusive ink drawing while undercover on a three-week island retreat - hits too close to home for Riza. Secrets carefully kept threaten to be brought to light, exacerbated by the closeness required while posing as a young engaged couple. Complete. Part of Royai BB 2024.

no more running on empty: a Fullmetal Alchemist ficlet by @rene-of-the-blackouts. From the empty-verse; sequel to "emptiness to fill" (linked above); please read that first, or the au will make no sense. Complete.

playing to an empty house: a Fullmetal Alchemist Fanfiction by @rene-of-the-blackouts (blackout_writer). “If you desert, you'll be hunted.” “If I don't, I'll be haunted.” Roy and Ed bond over their hate for the military. Complete. Part 3 of empty.

no going away empty-handed: a Fullmetal Alchemist ficlet by @rene-of-the-blackouts. From the empty-verse; prequel to everything, but better to read after all other instalments. Complete.

You can find me on Ao3. If you're a writer in the fandoms listed above, and want a second pair of eyes, add me as a co-creator and I will fix any grammatical errors I find, or pop into my DMs or ask box if you just want to chat or have a request. I will reach out to writers that put out open beta requests on their works.

Additionally, I will be your beta on request, within the boundaries listed below. I reserve the right to refuse to beta a fic for these reasons:

Pairing(s) doesn't appeal to me

Contains sexual content (romance is fine, but I won't read porn or kink)

If g*dd*mn, Jesus Christ and variations of those terms are used frequently (meaning in every chapter and multiple times per chapter) in lieu of curse words (too many writers overuse them, and in fandoms like LOZ and FMA, actually takes me right out of the story because Christianity doesn't exist in those worlds, so it ends up being too OOC)

The story's premise doesn't appeal to me

I am required to utilize Google Docs to beta your fic (I've had nothing but trouble with the site and don't have space for the app)

Well, that's all I've got to say for now. If you read this far, thanks for doing so! Have a nice day! Helpful links below:

How To Use Tumblr: a primer.

Positivity post for writers of original stories.

Writing advice for when you get stuck on a scene.

How To Write A Character Who Is In Pain.

Undo The Damage Of Sitting.

Write smarter, not harder (aka how to write when you're hella ADHD).

HELPFUL WORD SITES: Definitions, synonyms, antonyms, rhymes: there are sites for each of those and more listed here.

Exercises to build muscle and make picking things up and carrying them easier.

Combat writer's block and spark motivation.

[acefms]

if you’re hearing LOSER by BECK playing, you have to know ACE MILLER (HE/HIM; CIS MALE) is near by! the 31 year old ANIMATOR has been in denver for, like, FIVE YEARS. they’re known to be quite AVOIDANT , but being AMIABLE seems to balance that out. or maybe it’s the fact that they resemble DREW STARKEY. personally, i’d love to know more about them seeing as how they’ve got those LATE NIGHT DRIVES TO NOWHERE, SMUDGED INK AND PAINT SPLATTERS, WEARING SUNGLASSES INSIDE TO HIDE A HANGOVER, NEVER WALKING PAST A DOG WITHOUT SAYING HI vibes. and maybe i’ll get my chance if i hang out around the DOWNTOWN DISTRICT long enough!

NAME: ace miller AGE: thirty-one and oh so dumb ... HOMETOWN: philadelphia, pennsylvania BIRTHDAY: october 19th ZODIAC: libra GENDER: male PRONOUNS: he/him SEXUALITY: bi bi bi ( slight male lean ) RELATIONSHIP STATUS: single OCCUPATION: animator for tv shows/comics/movies — is currently working on his own comic (name tbd)

[ tw: gambling, addiction, abandonment, depression. ]

• Ace grew up in south Philadelphia with his mother and father until the age of seven, when after years of a toxic relationship his father left and never came back. Ace struggled with the abandonment throughout his life, but was lucky enough to have his grandfather who was more of a parent to him than anyone else could ever be. Through his grandfather he discovered his love and talent for art, and began to use it as his form of escapism. It was his saving grace during his turbulent teenage years. He would definitely derailed had it not been for art and the worlds he made in the comfort of his room.

• His mother was loving in her own way during his childhood, but was always driven by materialistic possessions that she couldn’t afford. Her job as bartender just wouldn’t cut it, and she began to gamble. But after a few wins, she found herself hooked on the feeling and soon developed an addiction that grew out of control. Ace had to take on two jobs before he was finished with high school just to help pay off her debts which left him drained to the point that he struggled to keep up. He sank into deep depression and found it hard to get out.

• Despite this, she continued to try and live lavishly behind his back while he was on the verge of a mental breakdown due to how many things he had to juggle at once. By the time he graduated high school, he’d grown to resent her completely and she continued to put her addiction, and boyfriends, above him. They have no relationship at this present time and he has no current desire to ever see her again.

• Leaving for college ( which his grandfather had paid for ), he gained a dual-degree in graphic design and animation and built his way up in the business, taking a good few hits before finally landing his dream job working in film and tv, online content as well as comics. He genuinely loves his job and it’s probably the one aspect of his life he’s completely happy with. He is very creative and has several little worlds inside his head.

• He travelled for years, moving at least every six months before finally settling in Denver in attempt to build some kind of solid life, but so far the only part he’s got right is raising a a crazy pup named charlie and gaining a lifelong best friend in the form of his roommate theodore.

HEADCANNONS

• he never sleeps before 2am and never wakes before 10am. he will literally be acting like it’s the middle of the day in the middle of the night.

• he’s a terrible cook. he can heat things up and make basic stuff, but overall he’s kinda hopeless. someone help him.

• he drinks way too much coffee, and too often occasionally too much whiskey and beer. randomly likes to get high a few times a month if he needs a little help falling asleep. will be seen with sunglasses on constantly to hide who zombie-like/hungover he is.

• before he realized his mothers addiction he would often take trips with her as a young boy to vegas or places alike ( most of, but not all, his time was spent waiting for her in hotel rooms ) so he’s actually really decent at playing poker because she taught him how to play. but ace hates to gamble.

• during his time travelling he’s spent a lot of time sleeping in his car ( when he wasn’t abroad ) and he actually really enjoys the outdoors. likes to hike with his pup. also is likely to end up with a million dogs.

• he has a small ace of spades tattoo on the inside of his middle finger on his left hand -- he got it as a dare when he was drunk at seventeen. he hates it, but he’ll never get rid of it. he also has a fingers crossed tattoo on his right forearm, and a melting smiley face on his right index finger. more tbh he has at least ten. random tattoo supremacy. i'll add more when i can think.

• aside from his cartoons, he also loves to paint, sketch, play around with pottery and just get as creative as possible with anything artistic whatsoever. it's his safe space, his own form of therapy in a way. though he doesn’t let many people see the results as somehow they feel a lot more personal than his cartoon/animation work.

POSSIBLE / WANTED CONNECTIONS

roommate/ best friend -- taken by theodore cohen.

past flings/hook-ups -- ashamed to say there's been many. ace struggles with emotional vulnerability and absolutely runs from things.

childhood friends -- god forbid anyone knew him when he was openly sad, haha. jokes to disguise emotional damage for the win.

people who don't like him -- he's annoying, it's so likely.

party pals -- you're his favourite people.

a cousin ? aunt, uncle -- there will probably be some tension as his family is a mess, but this could be fun to play out.

idk he's an idiot give me everything.

[mtreebeardiles]

Stealing for Spite

Gotta do it for the goofs, sometimes

@mynerdylordship -- i tried! lol

Also over on AO3!

"There a reason you couldn't hire some movers, babe?"

Kerry asked the question as he hefted another box onto the counter before grabbing the tape gun, getting ready to seal it up. V's response was a noncommittal hum from the next room over -- if one could call his little armory a "room" -- and Kerry shook his head, grinning. His input had a bad habit of getting distracted -- efforts to sort and pack were often waylaid by bouts of nostalgia, or the sudden urge to disassemble a gun only to put it back together again. They'd been at it for hours and despite the fact that V's Watson apartment was a studio already pared down to bare essentials (V having moved the bulk of his things to other apartments throughout the city, and now again to the new condo), they weren't even halfway through it all. 

Kerry set the tape gun aside, wandering over to where he'd seen V last and sure enough -- his partner was still seated on the floor, cross-legged, flipping through a comic book. 

"V."

"Mhm?"

"V."

V looked up, blinking. 

"…oops."

"Ya can read those later -- when they're all unpacked and on their nice new shelves in your nice new place, yeah?"

V flashed him a sheepish grin, closing the comic and carefully setting it into the box with all the others. 

"Sorry, sorry." 

"Uh-huh."

Still, Kerry couldn't help but smile, wandering closer and giving V a hand up, hauling him to his feet and looking over what progress he'd managed since the last time Kerry had interrupted him. "Uh, you putting all those books in the same boxes?"

"Yeah?"

"Mmmm let's not -- I know you got reinforcements in those arms of yours, but have a little pity on your rockerboy input, yeah?"

"You make it sound like rockerboys are frail," V pointed out, cocking an eyebrow. 

"Nah, just well-versed in the hard lessons of lifting heavy shit. Didn't always have crew to take care of that shit for us, y'know? Had to load those vans ourselves for a loooong time before we got big enough that people wanted to help us."

"Having a hard time picturing a young Kerry or a young Johnny loading anything," V mused, and when Kerry glanced his way it was clear the younger man was trying not to grin. 

"Excuse you! I did my share!" 

"Uh-huh?"

"Okay, maybe we bossed Henry into doing most of it but I still helped!"

"How much help is moral support -- ah!"

V cut off as Kerry looped an arm around him, drawing him close and kissing his neck -- right where the younger man was ticklish. "Kerry!"

"Keep it up, smart-ass, and you'll get a firsthand lesson on how much my 'moral support' can do," he teased, relenting but not letting him go just yet. 

"Like what, lounging on my couch while I do all the work?"

"Even better if you get me a drink first -- preferably something with a tiny umbrella."

"Uh-huh?"

"And, y'know, losing the shirt."

V snorted. "Who's giving who moral support in this scenario again?"

Kerry nipped at his earlobe, giving him a squeeze before freeing him. "Smart-ass." He gave V's ass a little smack for emphasis and crossed over to the desk, hefting some of the books out of the boxes to start redistributing them. He saw the other man follow his lead out of the corner of his eye and was about to make another comment when the contents of the box before him grabbed his attention. 

"Oh, holy shit…"

Kerry reached into the box, carefully pulling out a neatly framed tour poster -- Samurai, 2007. Perfect shape, not a hint of warping or fading, the ink as crisp as the day it'd been printed. 

"Hmm?"

Kerry didn't respond, having caught sight of another poster just below the first, and another, and another. All Samurai, all tour posters from…god, years ago. Decades. Perfectly preserved memories in a place he'd least expected to find them.

"V where… where did you get these? You mug a collector and not tell me or somethin'?"

"What?"

He felt the warmth of V's body behind his, felt his chin come to rest on his shoulder so he could see what Kerry was talking about.

"Oh. Those. Uh…"

"These are really fucking rare, babe," Kerry went on. "And this! Is this--? Bootlegs of old shows? Even I don't have some of these!" 

"Well, uh…guess you do now?"

"Where did you even find them?"

"Oh, y'know. Around."

Kerry finally tore his gaze away, turning so he could look at his input. If he'd been too distracted to notice the strangeness in V's voice, he didn't miss it on his face. Cheeks flushed, eyes not quite meeting his, shoulders braced in that way they always got when V was actually a little embarrassed about something.

"V…" Kerry cupped his chin, encouraging him to look up. "Where did you get these?"

"…stole'emfromafan."

"…what?"

"You uh, you had -- have, technically, I guess -- a uh… pretty dedicated fan. And I may have…relieved him of his collection."

Kerry stared at him. 

"You stole these?"

"I'm a thief! It's what I do!"

"But how did you even -- what?"

"Someone put in with Padre -- er, Sebastian Ibarra, fixer over in Heywood? -- a request to klep one of your guitars from a…super fan."

"Wait -- that was you? You got my guitar back?"

"You made the request? Why didn't you just ask me?"

"I didn't know you at the time!"

"Ah, that's fair. World's funny that way, huh? Anyway, about these books…"

"Oh, no," Kerry said, planting himself in front of the other man. "There's a story here, and I wanna hear it."

V cleared his throat, rubbing at the back of his neck. "What's there to say? I stole some stuff. Now it's here. S'all there is to it."

"Uh-huh, bullshit. You wouldn't be actin' all weird if there wasn't more to it, V. I know you better than that."

V's cheeks flushed even darker and he chewed on his lower lip. 

"Look, I'm… I'm not…it's not my proudest moment, alright? The guy was like a class-A weirdo, y'know? Had a freaky shrine to you, had all those tour posters, your guitar, Johnny's pants --"

"--his pants?"

"Yeah, stole those too. Johnny insisted."

I'll fuckin' bet he did, Kerry thought, baffled. 

"He was even trying to get some ripper to make him a faceplate to look like you, Ker. I wasn't gonna let that stand."

"I mean, I'm grateful, I just don't see why that's embarrassing?"

"Yeah, no, not embarrassed, just. Y'know."

Kerry narrowed his eyes, cocking his head as he considered the young man before him. 

"V…baby, were you…jealous?"

V made a face, reminding Kerry of the sort he tended to make whenever he made the mistake of drinking from Kerry's coffee cup. 

"V?"

"Well! Who did that guy think he was! You're my input, not his, and he was clearly some weirdo stalker dude, so yeah, maybe I did steal everything in his apartment that wasn't nailed down! And maybe a few things that were! I can only tolerate so much bullshit from people callin' themselves 'fans,' y'know?"

Kerry fought back the urge to laugh, shaking his head and tugging V into his arms. V resisted a moment, much like a disgruntled cat, before relaxing against him. 

"He's lucky I didn't set his place on fire," he muttered. "That woulda been crazy boyfriend territory."

"I know, baby." 

"And I meant to give this stuff to you, I just…forgot."

"Things were a bit hectic back then; shit happens."

"…you're not annoyed?"

"By what? My boyfriend wanting to defend me?"

"I know you don't need me to protect you like that, Ker."

"V…"

He pulled back, cupping his cheeks. "I get a deluge of fan shit every single day -- you've seen my inbox. Get hassled on the street, cameras in my face, never knowing if someone getting close is recording me in secret. S'fucking exhausting. But having you around, running interference, without my even really having to ask, just 'cause you know the toll it takes on me? That's… I can't even begin to describe how much better it makes me feel. Ya don't do it 'cause you have to, but 'cause you want to, and I know it's because you care. So maybe you went a bit overboard with kleppin' a buncha shit, but if this is the guy I think it is, well… Pretty sure he stole or bullied his way into getting most of those things in the first place. I really wouldn't worry about it, okay?"

"…you sure?"

He smiled, leaning in and capturing his lips with his own. 

"Very sure." He gave him a squeeze, then gave his ass another smack. "Now lemme show you how to pack properly, ya gonk."

[xtruss]

The Comic-Book Aesthetic Comes of Age in “Across the Spider-Verse”

The Spider-Man sequel might be the first superhero film to take full advantage of what comic-book art can achieve onscreen.

— By Stephanie Burt | June 14, 2023

Each of the Spiders in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” brings not just an art style but a personality and a backstory.Art work by Aymeric Kevin / Courtesy Sony Pictures

The latest comic-book movie associated with the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” certainly knows what kind of film it is. Most of the movie follows Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy, two animated teen-aged Spider-People, but, for the sake of the fandom, live actors from live-action blockbusters make surprise cameos. Gwen quips at one point that Doctor Strange—last seen in the M.C.U.’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”—should not practice medicine. Miles’s high-school roommate references another audience favorite, “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017), when he tells Miles, “I’m not your guy in the chair.” Inevitably, there is a meme-inspired scene of Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man. This is the kind of self-aware fan fodder that, in lesser films, might feel tired.

And yet “Across the Spider-Verse,” which came out on June 2nd, does something that no live-action superhero movie has done before—or can do. It leans hard into, and emulates onscreen, the storytelling devices and the visual flair that make comic books special. Even more than its predecessor, “Into the Spider-Verse” (2018), the film feels designed to show young people, many of whom were raised on superhero movies, why they might care about the comics that launched these characters. It does this so well that, at a time when some Marvel movies haven’t been doing so hot at the box office, “Across the Spider-Verse” has already raked in nearly four hundred million dollars. At 7 p.m. on a Wednesday night, with local schools still in session, my seventh grader and I found most of the seats in our suburban multiplex full.

The first scene in the movie reintroduces us to Miles’s long-distance best friend, Gwen Stacy of Earth-65, a.k.a. Spider-Gwen (voiced by Hailee Steinfeld). Her world looks painterly, as if rendered by brushes and pastels; she often appears in Expressionist shades of blue and pink. That’s how the rest of the film will roll: each Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, or Spider-Villain, and each new Earth on which they live, has its own eye-popping art style. Miles (voiced by Shameik Moore), a Black Puerto Rican physics star who draws in all his notebooks, inhabits a world that evokes hip-hop album covers and graffiti. Miguel O’Hara, or Spider-Man 2099, comes with clean lines, techno details, and RoboCop vibes. Spider-Byte appears as a glowing avatar like the nineteen-eighties film “Tron.” Pavitr Prabhakar, a.k.a. Spider-Man India, swings through his home city of Mumbattan, all tropical colors and curvy architecture. (When characters move between dimensions, they pass through a portal made of hexagons—a basic geometric unit of Hollywood animation.)

Almost all of these characters existed in comic books before they hit the screen, and, crucially, all of them have what the scholar Hillary Chute identifies as the core property of comics: they look like somebody chose to draw them. They bear the mark of their creators’ hands. The Spot, a villain who sets the movie’s main plot in motion, looks like a blank page splattered with ink; each of his splotches opens up a little wormhole, in the same way that the pen stroke of a comic can open up another world. The animators of the film owe a lot to Marvel’s comic artists: the credits thank a “Black Panther” illustrator, Brian Stelfreeze; a co-creator of Miguel O’Hara, Rick Leonardi; and the nineteen-eighties titan Bill Sienkiewicz. All three have contributed to the making of “Across the Spider-Verse.”

The film’s version of Miguel O’Hara (voiced by Oscar Isaac) behaves like a stern, bad Spider-Dad. He resolves to stop Miles from disrupting something called a Canon Event—a plot development so important that it has to happen in every parallel world, lest the entire universe be at risk. “You break enough canons,” Miguel warns, “and we could lose everything.” He sounds almost like a Marvel Comics editor, telling writers that they can’t go too far. (One writer, Grant Morrison, called their longest project at Marvel “more like a prison than a playground.”) In the tradition of print comics, the film offers explanatory notes in 2-D colored boxes; some of them, in an homage to the comics of the nineteen-seventies, are even signed “--Ed.,” for editor.

Like all the best teen superhero comics, “Across the Spider-Verse” hints, or more than hints, at real-life dual identities. The colors that tend to accompany Gwen, blue and pink, are the colors of the transgender flag. A poster in her bedroom says “protect trans kids,” and her father, a police officer who initially has no idea that she is Spider-Gwen, sports a trans-flag pin on his uniform. Gwen tells Miles that her parents “only know half of who I am.” She also wears her hair in an asymmetrical undercut—which, my seventh grader told me, is often a sign of trans or nonbinary identity among Gen Z. (It should not be confused with a half-and-half, my seventh grader added.)

Miles and Gwen both have well-intentioned cops for dads, who try hard but can’t seem to stop enforcing rules. In one scene, Miles tells his father, “Men of your generation ignore their mental health too long.” In part for this reason, Miles and Gwen feel the kind of solidarity that young people can share only with one another. When they finally get some tender alone time above a twilit Brooklyn, Gwen asks Miles, “How many people can you talk to about this stuff?” He tells her, “You don’t even know.” That’s what happens when trans people meet one another, too—something that the Internet pointed out right away. (This isn’t the sole Spider-Man film to be interpreted as an L.G.B.T.Q.+ allegory; some viewers saw Tom Holland’s Spidey as transmasculine, too.)

“Across the Spider-Verse” is a sequel, but it’s arguably the first superhero film to take such full advantage of what comic-book art can achieve. At the Guggenheim Museum, Gwen has to fight a version of an old Spidey villain, the Vulture, who looks, in her words, like a “big flying turkey from the Renaissance.” He’s drawn in the style of ink on parchment, with the scratchy, busy lines you’d expect from a goose-quill pen. He’s not just from another Earth but from a different artistic universe. Elsewhere, several Spider-People chase Miles across the body of a rocket and up what appears to be a space elevator. Theoretically, C.G.I. could help live actors imitate some of these stunts—but not in such colors, and not with such dynamism and glee. In another sequence, Miles races a moving subway train while he fights a pangolin-esque villain, who rolls up in an armored ball. In a live-action film, the scene would cost a ton and still look cheesy. With animation this artful, it’s all part of the fun.

Comics are at their core a visual medium. “Everyone’s first response to your work will be to the visual aspect,” Brian Michael Bendis, the co-creator of Miles Morales, wrote, in his 2014 book about creating comics, “Words for Pictures.” In a comic, the script has to serve the art, which in turn has to serve the characters. And this script does. Each of the Spiders brings not just an art style but a personality and a backstory: tragedy for Miguel, teen heartbreak for Gwen, dad jokes for Peter B. Parker, that lovable sad sack from “Into the Spider-Verse.” (There’s even a Spider-Baby.) Each character and each gadget—one is called a Go-Home Machine—says something about generational change. Today’s kids may feel that they can’t live up to adult expectations and still be themselves. Where, if anywhere, can they find heroes?

Maybe Gen Z could find them in superhero comics, but it’s not clear that they’re reading many. The best-selling U.S. single-issue comic book of all time remains “X-Men No. 1,” published in 1991, which moved more than eight million units; in the past ten years, the best-selling superhero comics have tallied half a million instead. “The captive audiences of the pandemic era are out doing other things,” the comics journalist Heidi MacDonald wrote this year. When Zoomers read comics, it’s often via online platforms such as Tapas and Webtoon, which span genres from high fantasy to romance, or else in all-ages, slice-of-life graphic novels. (“Guts,” by Raina Telgemeier, was America’s most-purchased book—not comic book, book—one week in September, 2019.) “Across the Spider-Verse” could help to boost printed comics. Marvel has leaned hard on movies to promote Spider- titles, including the made-for-mobile online comic “Spider-Verse Unlimited.” Viewers who want to read stories that look like the Spider-Verse might also check out recent issues of “New Mutants,” by Vita Ayala and Rod Reis, in which feelings are more important than fisticuffs, and the expressive art fits the strong emotions.

“Across the Spider-Verse” is full of astonishing action, but a quiet scene midway through, when Miles and Gwen finally get a moment together above Brooklyn, might be the most affecting in the film. It lets viewers—including my rapt seventh grader—contemplate what young people want from one another, what they can never get from adults. Perhaps it’s a budding romance. Perhaps it’s trans bonding. These moments set up the conflict that comes later, when Miguel O’Hara tells Miles what he must do for the multiverse, and Miles, facing a superhero-level trolley problem, just says no. And the whole thing takes place, beautifully, with Brooklyn inverted: Miles and Gwen, using their tenderness, and also their powers, conduct the whole conversation upside down. ♦

[starlightiing]

Just a very short, very sweet, very direct, self-indulgent little drabble written to saitiate the headcanon gods. Do not expect greatness, but hopefully I can offer you a few moments of entertainment.

Headcanons used: Phantom can hear human heartbeats from afar. Phantom's heartbeat is unnaturally slow and has hypnotic qualities on humans.

Characters: Phantom (NWTB), and two of my own OC's called Micah and Keith.

Fandom: NWTB Egos/Battle Egos/Whatever people call them these days. They're practically OCs.

Warnings: Hypnotism/loss of consciousness and consent (NOT for sexual matters). Dark Magic. Soul selling.

---

“How can I ease your worries?” Phantom’s voice is silky, almost too sickeningly sweet as he bows down into his potential client’s view. His lips are curled with a confident smirk, but it takes a substantial amount of effort to keep his eyes from flashing red with the fiery heat of his magic thrumming beneath his skin.

The client - a young man named Micah - takes a breath. Beneath the clamor of the music and the whooping of the patrons dancing drunkenly in the club behind them, Phantom can hear the fluttery quick beat of Micah’s heart in his slender chest.

He’s here to make a deal for his older brother, a sickly man named Keith that means more to Micah than anything in the world.

Including, but not limited to, his own soul.

��How long will I get with him before you collect? How long will Keith stay healthy for? Will I ever be able to visit him from time to time just to make sure he’s okay? What if this doesn’t work - what if you’re just a scam -”

“Micah, please,” Phantom holds up a hand to silence the boy, and Micah’s lips smack shut almost comically. “You came here for a reason. You must know something of my reputation.”

In one quick motion, Phantom stands to his feet and tightens his fist around the glass orb fastened atop his cane. He watches as Micah jumps at the sudden movement, his fluttering heartbeat increasing in pace from what, exactly? The startle? Nerves? Anticipation?

Phantom does not have the patience to play with his food. The magic he possesses is almost a being of it’s own, begging to be freed from the confines of his human body. He needs to make a deal, quickly.

“Yes, but I -”

“Shh, shh. Do me a favor and close your eyes. I have a little something that might help ease you into the decision.”

Micah looks apprehensive, as he should, but he complies with Phantom’s orders and lets his eyes flutter shut with a weary sigh.

Hook, line, sinker.

“It’s a wonderful thing you’re doing for your brother. Don’t be scared.” Phantom steps closer to Micah, gently cupping the boy’s cheeks and guiding his ear down to the concave of his chest.

A shuddering breath leaves Micah’s lips as his ear makes contact with Phantom’s chest, but he doesn’t pull away.

He can’t.

“Tell me what you hear, Micah.” Phantom croons, running his perfectly manicured nails across the top of Micah’s scalp in a soft, soothing motion. He can already sense Micah’s consciousness waning to the beat of his inhuman heart.

“Your heartbeat.” Micah replies simply. His body is relaxing against Phantom’s, tense muscles slacking as the effect rushes through every nerve, every cell, and every drop of blood in his body. Phantom smirks.

“That’s right. And how does it sound?” He asks, his voice barely above a whisper at this point. He’s moments away from having Micah under his hypnotic control - he can��t misstep even remotely.

“Beautiful.”

Micah’s consciousness seems to slip from him with a simple exhale. Phantom releases his hold on the boy when he’s sure the hypnotism is locked in, urging him towards the quill and the unsigned scroll laying across the desk.

“Sign the contract, Micah.”

Elation builds in his stomach as Phantom watches Micah’s every move. The moment the ink hits the scroll, he can physically feel the magic rushing out of his pores; happily satiated with another soul. “Yes,” he says, as his eyes turn red and power surges through him in a burst of adrenaline. “Yes.”

In a moderate little home tucked safely away behind miles of trees and winding back roads, a human plagued with illness his entire life takes his first breath as a cured man. He knows not what brings his cure, or at what cost it comes -

But a young soul manifests inside of a glass orb at that very same moment, trapped and scared as it begs for mercy.

Phantom tilts his head back, and he laughs.

[charlotteswebbbbb]

What's the vibe? #37

News:

Rishi Sunak has decided to push back on the UK's net zero commitments. What does it mean for us?

Side read: What Rishi Sunak’s net zero overhaul means for UK emissions (FT)

Net Zero: "Put simply, net zero refers to the balance between the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) that's produced and the amount that's removed from the atmosphere. It can be achieved through a combination of emission reduction and emission removal." -National Grid

Probably the most relevant policy change to a young person is the end of the sale of diesel and petrol cars from 2030 to 2035. I guess this helps the car makers but we also must think about clean air, and resources (oil) still needed to be used.

I wasn't certain before but between this, HS2 not being fully developed for the whole country and abolishing inheritance tax, we might see the end of the 13 year Tory party rule in 10 Downing Street. It's just not going well with Tory donors who have been with the party for years. It's very obvious now that climate change is a topic that is seen as unavoidable across party lines so pushing back targets is really unpopular.

Young people ditching ambitions over UK cost of living crisis, research finds - The Guardian

"Two-thirds of the 18- to 24-year-olds who were questioned for the research have lowered their career expectations, with the cost of living, the state of the UK economy and their own mental health named as the biggest factors.

The research, based on interviews with 2,500 young people, was carried out for the Prince’s Trust with the LadBible Group, with a consumer youth panel consisting of over 55,000 Gen Zs, born between 1997 and 2012, and millennials, born between 1981 and 1996."

How can we inspire young people in this country to see optimistically? How can we create places where we get together and do healthy (maybe non alcohol related) activities? Where they can focus if they want to, lose themselves in something artistic if they want to or just be spiritually replenished by environments they choose to be in.

London Design Festival just finished, saw this amazing AI work by moooi x EveryHuman. An interview also with I think the same company?

Milan Fashion Week:

Prada:

Sunnei - quite an interesting show. Again following the trend of audience participation during Milan Fashion Week alongside Diesel. Also connected to the trend of maybe main character energy??? Not very clear on how to describe this but also connected to a post on twitter going viral about actors and how they look during Cannes press junkets with their names and microphones and also the new B*lenciaga campaign with sunglasses.

B*lenciaga campaign:

New York was very clothes to be seen in...maybe passive even, this feels a little more power charged, you are being perceived at every angle but that's okay, you look great.

Bottega:

New Albums:

Doja Cat, Loraine James, Laurel Halo, Yeule, Eartheater, Kylie Minogue....

Beauty:

Business of the week:

EatWasted - A Copenhagen based company making pasta from bread waste. They also do "supper clubs"/food events, with the cooked pasta where people are asked to BYOB (bring your own bowl) to reduce waste and donate food to people in need. Each bowl is 99kr (=£11).

Reading List:

Dazed Magazine, Issue 281, Volume V, Autumn 2023

China's Gen Z Is Trying to Leisure-Shop Way Out of Jobless Blues (Bloomberg)

"Recent college graduate Yang Zhifeng, 22, became discouraged and decided not to hunt for a full-time job after seeing hundreds of applicants applying for just one white-collar position. Despite her newly inked degree, she settled for work as a part-time receptionist at a Shanghai hostel catering to job seekers, for only 1,000 yuan ($137) a month.

Regardless, Yang said she still allocates money to visit local tourism spots, attend comic conventions and try hot new restaurants with her friends. 

“When the job market is that bad, why are we struggling and giving ourselves a hard time?” she said. “This is a good time to rethink what lifestyle fits us better and makes us happier.”

#real

Should concerts start earlier? (Dirt)

Does sex still sell in fashion?: At Milan Fashion Week, designers were desperate to make this sexy thing happen. - by Rachel Tashjian (WaPo)