#I’ve been in a bit of an art block lately 😭

[tinybunbunn]

Flipnote animation?? In 2024??? No way…

I just really wanted to animate something simple so it might as well be these cuties being CUTE!!

[batbabydamian]

🦇🐥 Batman and Robin (2023) #5 rambling and a conspiracy theory lol

tbh this is the most exciting issue for me since…the first one 💀 i’m going to talk about the story and art separately because Nikola Cizmesija’s one of my favorite action focused comic artists so this issue’s a treat 😭

Alfred used to mediate during a lot of Bruce and Damian’s early relationship, so it’s refreshing to see Bruce take more initiative involving himself in Damian’s life even if it’s for a case lol

a couple instances of Alfred’s fatherly support on behalf of Bruce and Damian from Batman and Robin (2011) #2, 4, 39 and Teen Titans (2016) #1

Damian seems to take Bruce's involvement more as a sign he’s not reliable rather than Bruce finally just. being around to help him. which is fair 😭

this is complementary to Cizmesija’s art, but i love this half of the page so bad 😭 the negative space and the shaded foreground with Damian mid-run gives this feeling of time kinda stopping for us to really feel the impact of Damian’s entrance AND the effect it has on Bruce, like!! that wide eyed expression in the below panel!! 😭

Bruce’s quiet “you can do it, son” to A FULL BODY CHEER OF “GO, DAMIAN!” Bruce witnessing Damian be great outside of Robin, and on top of that it’s just another mundane moment that Bruce has wanted with Damian 😭

this is such a goofy bully line sdfgh though the whole “broken” bit might be a callback to Batman and Robin (2011) #1, in that Bruce is really trying to do his job as a father here or i'm likely reading way too into it

SO the “shocking ending” of Zach being Zsasz’s kid was definitely a surprise but then got me wondering what is up with Williamson doing reveals of new kids for villains lol otherwise, the hints in the issue were neat!

the tally marks!! at least tallying blocks is pretty innocent compared to kills 😭

and Damian would recognize how Zsasz moves, since he’s personally fought him before in Streets of Gotham (2009)!! very much not in a sport, but uh maybe it was to Zsasz

the art!! first a shoutout to the colorist Rex Lokus for giving Damian his green eyes and maybe melanin (it didn’t look consistent throughout so i say maybe)!! 😭 also a Talia by Cizmesija!! even though this panel calls her a “not great” teacher…💀

SUCH A FUN PAGE 😭 i’ve been into montage scenes lately lol and i love how quickly Cizmesija establishes Damian’s routine - Tues, Wed, and Fri are the funniest for me!! Damian grumpily getting lectured by his teacher in the foreground while his classmate’s still visibly steaming from the hit he took LOL, DAMIAN’S BUG EYED STARE WITH HIS SUNGLASSES UP, and then Damian looming. stealthily. in a tree. while some kid is blatantly pointing him out HAHA 😭

Cizmesija’s use of motion lines and effects when conveying movement is so cool!! the shonen manga vibes jumps out!! the smoke/dust trails following the movements; the limbs and soccer ball having a sort of blur effect with the motion lines. V COOL.

which leads to my favorite part of Cizmesija’s work - HIS IMPACT SHOTS!!

more motion lines and effects!! the splatter effects!! the arcs!! the jolting impacts!! GRRAAHH!! the setup to that impact shot of Zach's block is so great, and then following with Damian's reaction!! i almost wish that "???" wasn't there, just because that expression of stunned silence already feels so loud!!

last thoughts about Cizmesija's art is that i'm really hoping for a showdown between Damian and Zach next issue because i need to see a Damian fight scene in Nikola Cizmesija-fashion 😭 we get a taste of it with Orca and soccer but i NEED MORE LOL for now, dropping the moment when Damian overpowers Zsasz, in Batman: Streets of Gotham #11 since it was such an epic moment

okay SLAPPING MY CONSPIRACY BOARD!! so on another note Principal Stone being Shush is starting to feel like a red herring and Ms. Heather Hall could actually be Shush. Shush’s main point about Damian as his instructor was emphasizing how much potential he has, but the “wrong” influence could affect that

Stone and Hall have made the same observation about Damian’s potential, but the difference is how they address that - one wants Bruce to be more involved while the other wants Bruce to back off

Stone acknowledged Damian can take care of himself but still wants Bruce to step up in Damian’s life; Hall says it’s okay to be a helicopter parent BUT implies giving Damian space (which we already know Bruce has given so much of after Alfred’s death to the point of neglect 😭)

Hall even suggests moving Damian on to college, which would estrange Damian further. also idk how Damian kicking his teammates/bullies asses at soccer is really “making friends” lol

and of all the subjects she’s teaching, it’s AP Biology - according to the current case Batman and Robin are working on, which is centered around DNA-sequencing, it makes Hall the perfect accomplice to Langstrom

this is where my brain started reaching because i laughed at first at how specific that comparison is, but then it just made me think of how Shush’s first introduction was sniping Bruce LOL anyway, Bruce’s reaction is me 😭

one more Cizmesija appreciation panel - the lil running effects behind Damian :)

[sapphires-and-silver-linings]

Fellow The Betrayer lover here 👋 I’ve really gotta say that it’s such a piece of art. Absolutely no pressure, but purely out of curiosity, as I really cannot wait for more: any updates?

“Piece of art” omg thank you 😭

And yes I am working on chapter 10 of The Betrayer in tandem with chapter 4 of Half-Life! My goal is to finish Half-Life chapter 4 first and put it on hiatus so I can jump back into The Betrayer for a bit.

Summer is always difficult for me to write because although I’m out of school, I go to visit my family and I rarely have a moment to myself whereas I have a lot of alone time and privacy in my own home. I unfortunately struggle to write when I’m not in a certain headspace, on top of being in a very over-stimulating environment (surrounded by young, loud, and quite clingy kids lol).

I’m getting somewhere for both upcoming chapters, but they’re both gonna be long. My longest chapter I’ve ever written (chapter 9 of The Betrayer, I believe) is nearly 14k words, and I truly think chapter 4 of Half-Life may surpass that. Chapter 10 of The Betrayer is probably gonna be around 15k words if I could guess, cos I’m only a quarter into the plot of the chapter lol.

I know it’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted any of my fics, but life has been insane for me lately (though if I’m honest, it always is in one way or another lol).

But I’m quite attached to both The Betrayer and Half-Life. I truly believe that they’re some of my best writing, and I am so proud of how they’re coming along despite the gaps between posting chapters.

For any of my Madness is The Color Green fans, I plan on editing it heavily and will hopefully work on it again too!

I wish I was more prolific than I am, but it’s hard for me to write a lot quickly, especially considering some personal life stuff going on. I also tend to go through times of writer’s block which sucks and is disheartening when many of my stories have very involved plots with lots of references to previous chapters, consistent and/or evolving themes/motifs and character development, and trying to maintain a specific tone throughout the whole story.

Sorry for the essay, I like to talk a lot 😂

Side note, though:

I was thinking of releasing some teasers for both The Betrayer and Half-Life to give y’all something while I slog through the rest of them!

Let me know if that’s something y’all are interested in!

And thank you so much for your kind words and patience! I appreciate it ❤️❤️❤️

[gwlemonyshenanigans]

Spotlight Friday

It’s that time of the week again! Without further ado, we’d like to introduce…

Iruusu

Where can we find you? (Ao3, FFN, Tumblr, etc?)

iruusu on ao3, @judaru on tumblr, and @sinjuism on twitter 🙇🏻‍♀️

Who is your favorite character?

Duo!! And it’s not even close, I love him 🥺 He is so pretty and kind, but also brave and strong… I am so proud of him 🤧

Which is your favorite Gundam?

At risk of sounding like a fake fan but I’m not really… a connoisseur of mecha LMAO, so I don’t really have a favorite! But I like Deathscythe and Sandrock, maybe? The shotels are cool…

What is your favorite episode or scene from Gundam Wing? (Show, movie, or manga)

I liked when Heero and Duo went to school together! I thought that was really cute!! (I like low conflict stuff, I guess 😪 their slice of life moment…)

What got you into the Gundam Wing fandom?

Well, I survived quarantine (2020) with my sanity intact, but quarantine 2 electric boogaloo (2021) actually pushed me over the edge 😭

I literally saw one tweet in like March about how old gw official art had insane homoerotic energy, and I was like ??? I need to see this. And then I spent the next 2 months consuming more fanfic than I’ve ever read in my entire life 😪

So I’ve only really been into gw for like a year, but it came at a point when I really needed smth to keep going. So I am grateful!! 🥺💕

Which type of fandom media do you prefer to contribute? And to consume? (art, fics, metas, etc.)

I really love reading fanfic!! A lot of old fics in this fandom seem to have been lost, which is so unfortunate, but a lot of what remains is so good 🥺 And creators are still cranking out such amazing content!! I’m so grateful 🥺 I am fed 🤲🏼

In terms of my own content creation, I like to draw fanart and write fanfic, but I’ve been on a bit of a block lately 🤧 Here’s hoping I can pull myself together before the event!! 🤩

What is your favorite trope?

Omg, there are so many 😳 I really love angsty, hurt-comfort stuff (so long as there is a happy ending! 🥺). Other favs include arranged marriage, and things like sharing a bed 😌

But I think one of my biggest ones is omegaverse. It’s a guilty pleasure and there’s not nearly enough of it in this fandom (yet!!!) but I really love it!

Shamelessly plug the work you are most proud of and the reason why!

Kiss of Death is the only GW fic I’ve written so far, but I really am proud of it 🥺 It’s a 1x2 omegaverse fic, with some angst, mutual pining, (and… porn… LOL 😭) It’s one of my first attempts at a smutty fic, and while there’s definitely a ton of room for growth, I think it came together pretty well for what it is 😌

[hinamie]

hi hina! i love your art so much i can't stop staring at your megumi and yuuji piece 😭 how do you usually render your paintings? do you use the lasso tool? how long do pieces like that usually take for you to finish? and when do you consider a piece to be done, like when do you stop working on it? sorry if these questions are a lot, or if any of these were already answered! please feel free to ignore, thank you!! i hope your 2021'll be a good one 🙇‍♀️🤍

hello anon!!! im so happy u like my art omg :’))) and no need to apologize at all <3

here’s a colouring tutorial I made a while back, my general process for painting hasn’t changed all that much ghfgs. Sketch>flats>details>effects using minimal layers if i can help it! I’ll also link a recent timelapse I did so u kind of see the full start to finish, you cn hopefully see a bit more of the rendering for yourself rather than just hav me try 2 explain :’>

whether or not I use the lasso tool usually depends on the amount of detail I’m going for with a piece though lately I have been making more frequent use of it. like if there’s Lots going on in a given area that I’m trying to render I’ll lasso it off so that I don’t fuck up anything else I’ve already worked on! I’m also getting into the habit of using it for blocking in initial hair shadows

my sleep schedule is so fucked so its hard 2 guess accurately but i think usually if I’m rly focused and in the Zone with like. ur average drawing it’ll take me a little under 24hrs? N for bigger pieces with more than 2 characters it can take anywhere from 2-4 days I’d say? u know oddly enough tht megumi/yuuji piece didn’t take very long at all I actually finished it all in the span of one evening i was really surprised at myself :’) 

I consider a piece to be done when there’s no more sketchiness or glaring mistakes n I’ve had my fun playing around with the saturation/colour balance/contrast settings :’> slap a textured overlay on that bad boy and call it a day cast it into the void of tumblr n wait for validation frm strangers on the internet 

thank u for asking and i hope this helps a bit!! happy new year to you as well~