#Id rather just draw it to get the better picture

[monay-monn]

frothing at the mouth

jordan centric save file....

was looking through Ao3 fics and stumbled upon a really interesting plot idea that I'm just frothing at the mouth to do a sketchy sketch of

bros what do you do when the face of your (pressumably) dead crush who went missing several years ago comes back looking like they never aged a day (that now also acts like they've only just met you)

[transyashiro]

Hi, genuine question, why transandrophobia is not real? I just thought it was a word to describe the transphobia specifically targeted to transmascs, but if that is not the case id like to be corrected. Also your art is so beautiful I love it!

hey anon. firstly, thank you, i'm glad you like my art. secondly, i am at the end of the day just a guy who draws sometimes. this is a question which was already answered many times by transfeminists on here, and ideally you'd want to get the perspectives of tma people rather than mine. and just in general, keep up with discussions of transmisogyny and listen to transfems, yeah?

all that said, since you are asking me personally... to put it as simply as i can: transandrophobia, or transmisandry, is not real because misandry is not real. that should be the end of the discussion, really. there is no need for a special word to describe transphobia targeted at transmascs, because transphobia and/or other forms of oppression (real ones, Not misandry) depending on any particular situation already cover everything. why is there a desire for a special word to begin with, anyway? girls got one, we want one too? c'mon

but also like, all that aside, regardless of how real or not real transandrophobia is, it is a dog whistle. if someone associates with the transandrophobia crowd, they are most likely a transmisogynist. that should be enough of a reason to steer away from those guys and not trust them. sure, some posts by them might seem compelling or validating at a glance, i've definitely seen younger trans guys who don't know any better start looking in that direction because they feel like they are finally being given a tool to discuss their experiences. i assume that's partially why your question is framed like that, too, because a simple "we just want a word to discuss our oppression" is a lot more convincing than "we hate trans women and want to make them out to be the true oppressors" or "we're just men rights activists but with a trans flag, which also means that we are incapable of oppressing trans women because of our inherent connection to womanhood. don't worry about what that logic implies about our views of trans women" or... you get the picture. it's transmisogyny through and through, you don't even need to dig much

again, i hope you'll look more into what trans women have to say on this, it would do more good than my short clumsy explanation, but hopefully it at least gives you some vague idea

[sleepy-spacetronaut]

When the Mystery Shack acquired a feisty gremlin

Start note: (22/11/2024) I have been experimenting a lot with designing Bill Cipher alternates and although they all have some points of resemblance, they have their own energy of a sort. Once the hyperfixation is over I will switch back to brainstorming lore for my personal projects, but this little experimental phase gave me a kick for making more emotional expressions and comic-format drawings. Also, I randomly started to write short fanfiction chapters for this design, my imagination has been running wild in the past few months, so stay tuned for potential story bits!

(Edit on D/M/Y: 07/12/2024: The reason this is the 4th design is because I had this drawing made in the beginning of November, but had not gotten the chance to post since my phone was unusable for about two whole weeks, so I switched to digital art in the meantime.

*will add ID for bottom picture later

One more idea that flashed through my head recently— if Bill can be a Tumblr Sexyman, then he also could total be a short, stocky and gremlin-like in a human form. Held he ravaging the pantry, causing a major ruckus in the shack, fighting children over candy—-Gosh, the POTENTIAL of this, if put in the Handyman Bill (credit to @/ on twitter) AU is endless.

Hypothetical scenarios with this design:

Ford, opening the door to get out of the Shack: What the—?

Bill, slouching on the shack’s doorstep: Hey Fordsy , guess who’s baaaack! Did you miss me, admit it, you missed me ! >:^)

Ford: … I may have missed you last time, but guess what? My aim has gotten BETTER!

Bill: *sits upright and stops smiling, now looking confused* Wuh—?

Ford: *punts him like a soccer ball*

Bill: *Shrieks while flying away and disappears with a twinkle in the sky*

Mabel and Dipper: SCOOOOORE! 📢

————————————

[After Bill had been caught red handed raiding the pantry and eating all the snacks]

Stan: *pulls out a pair of regular handcufs and tries to put them onto Bill’s wrists* There! Problem solved! Now you can’t get your grubby paws into the pantry—

*the shackles immediately slide off and fall to the floor with a metallic thud*

Bill and Stan stare at the ground rather dumbly. Bill snorts.

Bill, cackling and pumping his fists into the air: AHAHA! YES! YESSSSS! Finaly something good came out of theses acursed baby hands! SUCK IT, FEZ—-!

Stan: *unceremoniously picks him up by the scruf of the shirt*

Bill:*his tiny face flushing red with anger* Wh- What the heck!? Put me down! * starts to wriggle* STANLEY PINES, YOU ABSOLUTE FOOL, YOU MEASLY WORM WITH CATARACTS ! YOU DUMBASS! PUT ME DOWN OR I’LL— I’LL-

Stan: *goes over to the coat hanger hook on the wall and hangs Bill by the fabric of his shirts, grinning triumphantly* Or you’ll what? Steal my kneecaps? You’re powerless, Cipher. For once just admit that you lost and quit rummaging through our food!

Bill:*stops wiggling like a worm to stare daggers at Stanley*��I’m gonna scream and get your ass fined and incarcerated for child abuse. >:(

———————————

Stan, to Soos: I made a mistake by giving that menace a tricycle; he’s been rolling on it after my ankles ever since.

*Bill approaching rapidly in the background on his tricycle, a stick in hand*

Bill: HWOOOOYA! Take THAT, old fart! *smacks Stan’s shins repeatedly*

Stan: *glowers* that’s IT, I’m selling you on the internet, you ankle bitter. 

(And this is how the Pines officially acquired a new puny arch nemesis to replace the menace that was Gideon Gleeful.)

Wake up democracy, it is Polling Time!

I don’t have a preference when it comes to my Bill designs, but if love to know what’s your take on them and see if we got any favourite.

For reference, here are the links to each design, but I recommend to just look through my pinned post for additional art or info.

Design 1

Design 2

Design 3

Design 4 (it’s this post! Scroll up🔝 )

Design 5

End note: I will perhaps make a short fanfic with this concept but it will be much later, as I have already Vogelfrei to work on and Rewind the Timeline. Feel free to check out the story concept for both fanfic ideas on my pinned post. Have a great day/afternoon/evening/night, fellow tumbkerfolks!

[dollscircus]

I know that this is likely a question you get a lot but... How do I start learning art? I'm not meaning 'just practice' but rather *what* should I practice? What aspects of art should I start with? What are the fundamentals that I have to get down above everything, and what are some of the ways you've found to be most effective to learn them? What aspect of the drawing process should I essentially abandon before I'm better at drawing (in essence, what are the pitfalls and most time consuming aspects that don't actually help that much - it just makes you think you improve?)

Sorry for the long ask, I'm just feral for your art and want to learn how to draw like you so I can inflict more Ranger x Clair upon the world.

I started my art journey with a lot of brute force learning since I was like 7.

So if I really had to say? Learn how the human body works. How it can bend and move. The joints in a human body. Anatomy. That’s kinda stuff! And starting with drawing people naked in a good place to learn how to draw the body. Clothes get in the way.

Don’t be afraid to use references pictures, even trace over them to understand the body. (If you are tracing, only trace over actual people not others art) I personally use Pinterest to find poses to reference.

And don’t abandon anything while you’re learning, art is bc a liner journey of learning. You’ll be better at some things then others.

Also! Push yourself out of your comfort zone with art. Don’t practice just the stuff you know you can do. Draw the stuff you struggle with because you won’t improve if you don’t.

And thank you so much for the compliment!! That’s very sweet of you. (Sorry if my thoughts are very scattered. I tried to keep it organised.)

If you ever draw something and would like a friendly critique, my DM’s are open. And if any other artist want to comment, please do! Id like to hear what you guys think

[autisticjoshrusso]

okay the eddie cheating storyline is crazy to me because i have a story from high school that uh... well. the parallels are there! so im gonna tell the story and let you guys draw your own conclusions about how i think buck finding out about eddie cheating is going to go <3

(for the sake of their privacy AND to illustrate the point i will be changing the names of everyone involved to the names of 911 characters)

so coming into my senior year of high school, i was a bit in between friend groups due to Unrelated Events, and found myself becoming closer friends with an acquaintance of mine, marisol. i knew she had a boyfriend, eddie, who she'd been dating for quite some time, but i didn't really know the guy.

until low and behold, him and i have a film class together! we were told up front that there would be group projects, so naturally i decide that a vague acquaintance is better than a complete stranger, and end up forming a group with eddie and some mutual friends. the class is fun, we make film projects together where we get to act like we're actual professionals working together on a set, and generally i start to consider him a good friend of mine rather than just my friend's boyfriend. eventually id start to consider him one of my best friends, even.

all is well until, for some fucking reason, eddie decides to cheat on marisol with someone that went to a different school. and when i say i was livid. i lost my damn mind. everyone who sat near us in that film class was stressed because the ice was palpable. i told myself that the rage was a righteous anger, that i hated him for what he did to marisol, and that was all there was to it. i was lying to myself.

see, the truth was, somewhere along the way id started falling for him. i couldn't admit this to anyone, obviously, because marisol was my friend, and i had no desire to hurt her in that way. and yet. when i found out eddie cheated on her with someone else? that cut so deep. i felt jealous, i felt rejected, i felt thoroughly unwanted. like, oh, so you are willing to cheat. you just aren't willing to cheat on her with me.

i stayed so mad for so long. even after marisol forgave him i still refused to let him come back and sit with the rest of us at the lunch tables. i focused on my coming out, which he'd so rudely interrupted, and tried not to think about the fact that all my friends were starting to find my anger unreasonable. were starting to wonder about how i really felt about him. they couldn't understand why i was more angry than the person he'd hurt, because we were just best friends, it's not like he cheated on me.

he eventually won me back over, and the story goes on in unrelated directions that make me sick to recall, so we'll end this tragic tale here for now. i think this is enough for you all to get the picture anyway. hope you enjoyed <3

[bonnieura]

i find it so interesting how you can tell the artstyle and design progressed. like you can see what stayed and what didnt? ive always loved looking at characters and then analyzing their pilot/beta designs, seeing what went through the designers' minds when drawing characters and illustrating them is really just an awesome topic to me. i havent seen a lot of people talk about the og designs of clone high so here we are

starting with the skintone: it looks pretty much the same ( i was a bit confused on why he looked so pale but then i remembered that jfk always was? the reason why he looked tan in a lot of pictures was because of addisonian hyperpigmentation, its not the same as normal hyperpigmentation because in addison's '''the increased level of MSH stimulates melanocytes to produce more pigment, especially in sun-exposed areas, resulting in dark tans''' <-- taken from google. so thats pretty interesting id say ) and honestly i can understand why they made the decision anyway because jfk didnt start getting skin symptoms of it till his later life (which ties into another mention that ill get into the second following paragraph)

when you stare at the first draft of jfk's design ((the early 90s comics id say)) you cant look at that and NOT think to yourself (this is clearly a caricature of the 35th president). you immediately know who it is just by looking at his face (which is something i adore in caricature art) and its a neat little design quirk! and when you look at the final design in comparison, you get a vague idea in your head of who its meant to be (is this jfk...??) which can either be a pro or a con depending on the context. the og design is great at convincing the viewer of who this character's meant to be, which could make his lines funnier when done right because of who youre associating him with, but the final design works better at making the clone feel like their own character rather than just a caricature (which again, can either be good or bad depending on the context) i personally enjoy the idea of having him be his own character, i think its just neat and it helps solidify each character and it makes them more enjoyable to watch in a way

in the final design, while i enjoy how different he looks from the figure hes based off ANOTHER thing i personally like is that: jfk doesnt look like an exact copy of president john f kennedy (to clarify i mean that, he doesnt look extremely similar to the IMAGE that pops in your head when you say john kennedy. It makes sense because in the end jfk [in clone high] is meant to be a 16 year old, so having him have an uncanny near identical resemblance to the 46 year old man with the same matured features would be. interesting [derogatory] ok thank uu for listening to my ted talk

[landboundstar]

From Ghoulies And Ghosties Part 6

People tend to forget that I had studied magic with Zatanna's father.

It was hard to picture, especially since I didn't have the whole stage magic gig.

He was calm, supportive, a respected Justice League member.

And I was the thorn in their side normally.

But I had picked up a lot from the old man and his lessons. Lying with the truth. Hiding my magic and rituals right under their noses. Being unapologetically myself. Asking forgiveness rather than permission when it came to dealing with a crisis without backup.

He taught me that.

And spells.

I dropped a bag of clothes on the bed, nostalgically pulling memories of the spell to mind. Grease paint and stage lights and a hug from a red nosed Zatanna in pajamas as she recovered from the flu.

I stripped out of my clothes and said the magic words.

"Eb A Lrig."

Looking in the mirror, I thought I'd done pretty good, even if it had been years since I'd pulled it off. It would have been easier if I had just switched with no major alterations. But even with the tweaks, it was a familiar process. Hiding the tattoos, adding long hair, losing a couple inches of height to add some curves instead. I could have tried to look like Zatanna or Dinah or a dozen other people. But that would have meant acting like them too.

Instead, I looked like a slightly punk version of Tinkerbell. And that meant I could act however I wanted. As long as I didn't act too much like myself and give any tells.

I'd gone for a conservative club dress, the type that covered my ass when I sat, with a leather jacket over top, and thick soled boots.

I was not going to make the mistake of running in skyscaper heels again.

But I still had a few touches to add.

A second bag on the bed had makeup, and I put it on, playing with the eye shadow, swearing at the mascara wand, and finishing off with lipstick, surrounded by familiar scents and smells that I normally associated with Zee.

I looked in the mirror one last time and then packed a little clutch with all the essentials. Cash, cigarettes, condoms, a fake ID, a few amulets, salt, a lighter, and a few other bits and bobs that made casting just a touch easier.

Then, it was late enough that I decided it was time for me to earn my keep on Gotham's streets.

It wasn't a long walk to the Iceberg Lounge, but I kept my eyes peeled and my hand close to a lovely bit of magical protection I was passing off as a necklace. Not probably for the reason any other girl out earning her keep at this hour was looking around sharply, but all the better to look for a signature or something material that would help unravel what was going on with the extra magic in Gotham and who was putting it there. Because unless I knew that and the why, there was bloody nothing I could do to help.

And that was assuming that was the only threat I'd been hired to look into. I mean, I could get lucky and be chasing an arrogant twat who didn't feel the need to back up their plan.

But if it were me, I'd have a cover for my actual reasons and would be making sure all eyes were on that and not whatever I really wanted.

Of course, I'm a cynical bastard.

The bouncer glanced at the California driver's license and then back at me. Maybe I didn't look like a Tiffany. But he unfastened the rope and I wiggled my ass inside and made my way to the bar.

Once I ordered a drink, I fiddled with an earring while I looked around, and traced out the last bit of the spell.

A spell that was pretty much a magical earbud, letting me filter out and listen to anything tied to Bruce, especially any plans against him.

After all, people like to talk about plans. What they plan to do, who they plan to be. Go through most bars and a dozen people will be planning something, whether it's a booty call or what they'll say at the big interview. 

And Penguin was a businessman with plans for Gotham. He might draw similar individuals to him.

I sipped at a pretty blue highball that had gin somewhere in the mix and listened for a while to irritated execs and socialite machinations detachedly on my high class stakeout.

Until the spell hit a bit of technical conversation about microchips and adrenaline and a protective spell shorted out my listening device.

Annoyed, I set my drink down, and rubbed my ear. Bloody Christ, I was glad that it had just shorted the spell and not triggered anything spectacular like fire or a summoning favor. 

"Something wrong?"

I turned and smiled up, the snippet of conversation turning around in my head.

"Not at all. Buy you a drink?"

[vase]

Writing Tip #2: Getting Started, Part Two - The Fourth Pillar

Hello again! I want to thank everyone for the phenomenal amount of support my last post received. I'm really hoping to keep this momentum up, and I'm very thankful that so many people are having as much fun as I am.

As always, it's time for our next venture into the wonderful world of writing. Last time, we discussed character, plot, and setting. Next, I'd like to delve into what I personally consider the fourth important pillar alongside these. This fourth pillar is prose!

In writing, prose is meant to describe the manner of which a writer writes. Think of it as the writer's own personal style. Prose is specific to what is literally on the page. Prose dictates specifically the word choice, sentence length variation, grammar choices, and diction of the author. While communities around this are virile, an author need not worry if their prose is strictly "good", rather that it is consistent and fitting.

Typically, when a person (mostly literature students, because no one else gives a shit about prose) refers to "good prose", they will refer to the works of classic authors like Austen or Melville. "Good prose" tends to be filed under the same vein of books that non-literature students complain about, the ones that harp on about descriptions of a tree for an hour. This prose is praised because it excels in imagery--these hour long tree descriptions use excessive verbiage to paint an excessively clear picture of the surroundings. Often, the word choice of the author is what lends it its praise. Our average author, again, need not worry. One does not need to harp on about a tree for an hour to be good at prose. It is better, instead, to be fitting.

[ ID: MOTHER died today. Or, maybe, yesterday; I can't be sure. The telegram from the Home says: YOUR MOTHER PASSED AWAY. FUNERAL TOMORROW. DEEP SYMPATHY. Which leaves the matter doubtful; it could have been yesterday. ]

What precedes is an excerpt from Albert Camus's ever iconic 'The Stranger', in one of its many translations. While the original word choice is lost in translation (from dastardly French), the intent and prose of Camus is obediently transcribed by loyal translators. The main character of The Stranger, Meursault, is a man who thinks in a very objective and brisk sense. This bleeds into the prose of the book itself. Here, it would only kneecap Camus and The Stranger if the book indulged in the flowery, purple prose (term used to describe prose that is syrupy and poetic) of other notable classics, because it would go against the main character's worldview.

It's not necessarily important that your prose uses amazing words and the perfect Austenian writing, but rather that it matches the story. If your narrator character is a preteen girl, she's not going to describe things as 'Kafkaesque' (unless she's the coolest teen girl ever). Experimenting with prose is especially fun in multiple POV stories, with the possibility of different characters speaking or recounting things differently. Just as I recommended writing exercises previously when building characters, writing multiple POVs with different prose on purpose is a good way to build skill in prose. Everyone has their own specific 'prose', but developing your prose is an excellent idea, especially before writing the first draft of your project. Just like a drawing style, whereas everyone has their own style, it's better to learn to draw motion, backgrounds, and shadows before starting drawing your webcomic.

In a first person perspective novel, the prose of the book should be close to the way the narrator character speaks in dialogue, unless there's a specific reason otherwise (ie. the character is a spy and speaks differently to the people around them than they would regularly, or something along that vein). Multiple POV third person novels may also see a shift in prose depending on who is being followed, but they don't always need one. In fact, a dramatic shift may be a bit jarring for readers in these instances. Third person omniscient books need not a prose specific to the central character per se, but this brings in the topic of audience. A book with a story aimed at preteen audiences probably shouldn't use advanced prose, as it may be difficult for the preteen audiences to follow. A writer's prose, however, should be flexible enough to shift from genre-to-genre, reading level to reading level.

Don't believe me? Try it! A great way to practice prose, especially in this sense, would be to write the same general passage for different audiences: first as a children's book, then as a YA book, then as an adult book, and maybe even as an Austenian classic. A great way to practice prose and strengthen characters would be to write the same scene from many different character's perspectives, and incorporating the character's quirks into the prose. Personally, as well, I'm going to recommend writing poetry, especially rhyming poetry. Poetry challenges writers to use thinner perimeters to build word choice and intent.

Thanks everyone for reading once again! I know prose isn't a topic many find super interesting, and I'm sorry to disappoint those who were looking for a character writing or a worldbuilding tip. I promise, next time. Happy writing, prose apprentices, and thanks again for being along for the ride.

[bunglegaydogs]

would you rather write stories or draw?

like, if you had to choose between the two, which would it be?

ooh!!! this is interesting, you're getting me to think hard

firstly, thanks for the ask my love <3

secondly, i really did have to have a long think about this, but honestly i'd have to say write!!

dont get me wrong, drawing is my passion, and ik im not very good at it but fuck do i love it

but writing is just... i cant explain. the fact that in just a few words i could paint a whole picture better than i could putting pencil to paper is awe inspiring to me.

i love drawing, and i love thinking up ideas of comics and situations for characters/my characters to be in, and i love putting that on paper. but something about writing it instead makes it all the more... real. raw. emotional.

take bsd; the manga is done exceptionally well, thanks to harukawas ability to tell stories through drawings, even if its just in the eyes. that, paired with asagiri's god tier writing is what makes it so unbelievably good, and stands out.

on the other hand, the light novels, they just hit different for me. ive always been drawing, and ive always been reading, ever since i was a little kid, so this really is a tough one! its close, but i just feel as if i can get my thoughts and feelings out better on paper with words rather than paper with art. i still do try my hardest to tell stories through my art, and its such a skill to be able to do that flawlessly and effortlessly (i unfortunately cannot 💀) and absolute fucking kudos to anyone who does it; art is so pretty, its gorgeous, its beautiful. same goes for writing; its such a hard decision! but my verdict would honestly have to be writing. even if im not as good as id like to be, even if i cant finish the page, writing is such a rush to me. its absolutely exhilirating; i feel more rewarded when i enjoy something i've written rather than something i've drawn; only slightly, but that slight difference really makes a change lol.

ah sorry, this probably was a lot longer of an answer than you were expecting!!! my bad <333

tysm for the ask! have a lovely day/night <3

[bubblingstream]

been wanting to make another warriors blog for a while but i finally caved after writing up stuff about my new ocs and not knowing where to post it. im just copypasting this directly from an info dump i made so it's not extremely well organised LMAO but here are said OC ideas :]] im probably gonna spend quite a bit of time on this blog just building on them and drawing them tbh. that's the plan anyway

so imagine a cat becomes a medicine cat apprentice, and when they finally go to meet starclan at the moonpool instead of like.. awe, wonder, admiration etc. this idea of all powerful godly ancestors that can apparently predict fate and maybe even control it according to some cats, and watches them constantly.. fucking TERRIFIES this cat. like he is absolutely shitting his pants level afraid and he becomes gradually extremely paranoid about it all. he tries to keep doing the medicine cat stuff but eventually begs his leader to let him just become a warrior to try and get away from it as much as possible. and it helps but not.. a lot? hes still afraid and struggling.

it also turns out he's also had a pretty rough lot in life up til now, which doesnt help bc if these starclan cats control everything why has he suffered so much? what did he do to deserve it? bad things continues to happen and he questions it more and more. he feels like hes watched constantly and even like hes being punished for something he did, even though he doesnt know what his crime actually was. this makes things even worse.

at some point because of all this he runs off maybe? but he misses his family and clan and he also feels watched still no matter where he goes. and maybe something horrible happens to someone he cares for while hes gone and he blames himself for it because he left and thinks starclan decided to hurt his loved ones for it. so he becomes afraid to even leave the clans and doesnt attempt to run away again.

mind you, in the meantime starclan hasnt caused ANY of this. the things that happen are unfortunate coincidences. but he has no idea and after actually seeing what to clan cats basically counts as God Himself™️ hes a wreck. the books always show meeting starclan as a positive experience but i feel like it's something youd need at least some level of willpower for. youd need the right mindset. not just anyone can become a medicine cat and communicate with their ancestors. it's a big deal and some cats ,id think, just wouldnt be able to do it.

hes called whisperingstorm, he has a littermate called bubblingstream. his mother had other litters so he has many siblings but that's the one he knows best and grew up with. he also has an older brother maybe. dovesomething im thinking. bubbling has his own set of issues but im still figuring out how to make that work. another litter in his family is two more kits who are gonna have matching names, this serves to contrast bubbling and whispering who have conflicting names (they have rather different personalities but they also just. dont get along despite bubblings initial efforts to bond with whispering). bubbling as in excitable and upbeat, then when he grew up stream became his suffix bc hes actually rather.. not that basically. yknow how when ppl picture streams they see a calm, gentle stream that some would consider a relaxing visual? like that, as well as their family having a water/weather theme to their names. hes quiet and slow worded, not much to say. compare whispering, something quiet and soft, then when he got older his suffix became storm because of his explosive, high energy and honestly aggressive personality. so not only do they oppose each other in personality, their birth names themselves wouldve better suited them if theyd been swapped around as those are juxtapositions as well. whispering is loud and aggressive, bubbling is quiet and softspoken.

the reason whispering and bubbling dont get along is cause.. well, whispering is a prick, to be blunt. but hes like this as an active attempt to push people away bc of trust issues. he cares a lot about bubbling, he just also thinks anyone being close to him = him inflicting his 'bad luck'/'curse' (see: STARCLAN IS OUT TO GET ME) on others.

eventually it works and bubbling gives up trying to support his brother for his own sake because whispering goes anywhere from mildly mean to downright verbally abusive trying to get bubbling to go away and the guy cant really keep dealing with that. and whispering hates himself for it but he got what he aimed for so.. yeah.

not sure where im going next with this but i want. drama. but not murder. none of them are gonna be murdery. it's a very family issues and trauma and mental health kind of theme i want going on here. yeah someone will probably die bc that's just kinda a given in the clans but not from killing. i can enjoy warriors ocs that go and kill cats for one reason or another but between them and canon i want something different for once, and this is what i want to create to achieve that. plus running off somewhere and coming back to find out, say, a family member died of greencough or something? it's harder to pin a blame on anything material there. as opposed to a cat from a different clan outright killing them in battle or something.

this is where my blog url came from as you can all guess lol. that's all for now while i finalise things like the names of their other siblings, make solidified designs and come up with more stuff.

[wellnoe]

So lately I've been on a His Dark Materials kick and I remembered your Daemon au art (which, is stunning may I say!) And I remember you gave Jean, Scott and Emma daemons, but did you or someone else ever think about one for Maddy?

I can't help but be rather interested in what a daemon would mean for a clone, especially the circumstances in how Maddy came to be via phoenix force. I get it if you don't have much to say and tbh I don't either, but I can't help but wonder what this would mean for her; Would she have a swan like Jean? The phoenix living through her and replicating what she/it knew with Jean? Which creates it's own issues about Maddy finding personhood when what's meant to be her soul even reflects what she was cloned from, so is it truly even her? Would she even HAVE a demon, which causes issues for Sinister in setting her up and maybe her daemon is originally something Sinister creates, which adds a deeper level in the fact that her soul is quite litreally manufactured...

Sorry for the length!!! I got lost in rambling, but the concept is so interesting to me and I hope it is to you as well. One small thing I think I do enjoy as a happy ending for Maddy is perhaps when she finds herself in who she truly wants to be (in your case, which I love, is with her hair buzzed and a lesbian), then perhaps her daemon finally reforms into something that fits her better...I'd want to say a whole new type of bird but that still might be too close to Jean so maybe a reptile to match Emma or even a mammal...also since daemons commonly are the gender you're "attracted to" (and I use that term loosely) I think Jean having a male daemon and Maddy having a female daemon is smth that's also a small neat detail.

Again, sorry for the ramble! I've just been thinking about Maddy and daemons for ages recently!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA i love all these thoughts

i am inclined to like the idea that maddy at first does not have a dæmon, which is one of the reasons sinister is disappointed with her, and then gets one as she makes contact with phoenix? i think maddy tends to isolate this as the point where she woke up and came to life, so it makes sense to me as a point where she might also get a dæmon.

i HAVE thought about a dæmon for maddy and i personally would not give her a swan but i WOULD give her a snow goose (i also briefly thought about giving her an albatross. for the wandering and the flying. if i did give her an albatross, i would give her a short-tailed albatross).

anyway i think giving maddy a snow goose is fun for a couple of reasons: 1) they are commonly mistaken for trumpeter swans (or, hunters say that they mistook trumpeter swans for snow geese) and i gave jean a trumpeter swan and 2) snow geese are just. incredibly huntable birds. no bag limits, lighter restrictions than on a lot of birds, while trumpeter swans are not hunted in alaska. i think this could reflect the way maddy is targeted and hurt after jean reappears post-phoenix, in a way that really sucks for her, but is fun for me.

(i have read 1 His Dark Materials book, so my awareness of dæmons is very much based on a general internet sense and also me liking to draw parallels between characters i like and animals)

maddy is a character who i really want to have a happier ending at some point, or at least find her way to some sort of satisfying resolution. i think your idea of maddy having a female dæmon is a really good one! i don't really know what maddy's dæmon would finally resolve into...maybe it would stay a snow goose, as maddy finally accepts that she and jean have to exist in the same world, but that she can find agency outside of that connection. i DO think it would be interesting for maddy's dæmon to at some point shift into an eastern koel, a kind of migratory cuckoo.

[id: a picture of an eastern koel, a black bird with a red ring around its eyes]

i think an eastern koel would very much fit maddy's inferno vibe, with its brood parasitism being a kind of stand-in for the way maddy feels she was forced in with scott and the x-men.

this was very fun to think about thank you for sending this ask!! i feel like i did not respond to everything but i was very excited to talk about my maddy-snow goose-eastern koel vision

[crunchpixels]

[ID: Shiny bulbasaur line gen 5 sprites that have been edited. Bulbasaur has a corm instead of a bulb, ivysaur has corm tendrils coming out of a long skinny bud, and venusaur has a corpse flower with small leaves instead of its original flower. End ID]

So I picked the corpse flower mostly because it looks cool, and it was my original idea for this series aside from klefki, which you'll see later 👀

It actually took me a while to find a picture of the bulb - or corm - of the corpse flower, and it wasn't very.... inspiring to look at, but it Was very funny making bulbasaur not have a bulb at all.

[ID: Screenshot of a regular bulbasaur edited to have no bulb. End ID]

He's not bulbasaur he's just saur.

Ivysaur went through a couple minor iterations, because when I originally drew it, it didn't have much going on.

[ID: The above ivysaur sprite with no tendrils. End ID]

As you can see, it doesn't feel very integrated, almost as though a blade of grass or something is just behind ivysaur.

[ID: More ivysaurs, this time with tendrils. The first image has them only under the bud and the second has them reaching over its head. End ID]

Adding in some corm roots is perhaps not very Accurate to how a flower would actually work, but definitely adds a lot to it in my opinion. At first I only had them around the base of the bud, but deciding to try and draw together the body and head more by expanding their growth over there too. It took a few experiments and rotations to get them looking right, as in the image they went straight down which was not intentional.

Venusaur had the largest change and took the longest to actually draw, which was adding in the whole corpse flower. I wanted to keep to the same 96x96 canvas, which was frustrating to try and make the flower as imposing as I wanted it to feel - perhaps if I ever decide to draw the mega evolutions I'll pick a 128x128 or larger canvas and make it Really Hit You.

[ID: The above venusaur sprite with no leaves. End ID]

Originally it had no leaves, but again it left it feeling very separate and bare, so I made the choice to forgo accuracy for the sake of aesthetics. The corpse flower is usually leaves, but they don't grow at the base of the flower like I've drawn, but rather they grow one massive leaf with lots of leaflets at the end of a tall petiole or stalk.

For all of these the colour choices were largely the same, I kept the original shiny body colours (though I was originally going to keep the blue, I felt it looked better and made more sense in this case to have it be the green). The eyes I changed from red to purple/pink to match the flower colour and bring a bit of pink back through the line.

[tepperz]

I hope its okay if i respond below a read more!

I just dont want people to get too dogpiled with text if they're not prepared for it xD That said I love how much you wrote!! Thank you for humoring me!! dont mind the old post stalking lol -- I was looking on your blog to see all your nice recent art and saw one of those "recommended post" things haha :3

OH YEAH THE SORTING IS SUPER PAINFUL LMAOVHDJSHVJDS but im taking my time with it. i figure if i at least have some references in each folder then it's a start. That said, I think I have so many because I get really excited about "appeals" of each drawing even if other people wouldnt consider them "good." Like, like! For example this drawing vv (and please dont mind my personal rant incoming, you can skip this paragraph if its like, too much)

Like I think a lot of people wouldn't exactly save this picture because it's not exactly finessed. But I actually find the textures to be unlike anything else I've seen! The particular way that the hair defies usual lighting might seem amateur to some, but if the technique is used in a different way then it could make for a beautiful silk texture! The thick eyelashes are also a virtue because I think they're really interesting. And the way that the bandana is colored warm while everything else is cool makes just a spice. The hilights also look like abraisions adding to an almost creepy vibe of the picture even though thats probably not what the artist is going for! It's hard to describe but I really like analyzing all types of different art!! I really appreciate the charm and how a certain drawing makes me think differently. So I use these types of things as inspirations even if I can't/dont copy the things I like perfectly.

anyway!! "There’s thousands of artists out there who helped me make my art, just thanks to studying their works…" I very much feel that!

Do you have a category/folder that you find the most useful? ^^

hmmmmm.... yanno, thats a good question!! I think the one Ive found most useful so far is my folder titled "portraits - no background" which has in it some pictures of characters with white/transparent/single color backgrounds. It seems kinda whatever until you look at those works and try to figure out what really works with the picture, that its so attention grabbing without adding any background or effects! It really makes me appreciate what is striking and effective in the most minimalist way possible. So if I find my character or pose boring I try to look at this folder in particular to try and think about how to make the character feel more interesting and dynamic. Gets me thinking about shapes and prioritizing a better quality sketch.

"Color, Lighting, Face, Hair, Clothing, Poses (split into number of people and whether it’s a hug, kiss, or everything else), and Tutorials!" Ohhh I never thought about having a seperate one for clothing. I should do that, thats such a good idea!! OHHH and you also seperate them into paint types! Thats so interesting. At a glance can you usually tell what medium was used? I feel like that's such a cool skill! You categorize things in such an exceptional way! So organized! Did you start out that organized or did you start to sort things as time went on?

I also have a folder thats sort of like your fav folder, but it's just one folder and it's titled "inspirational". It's not exactly for fav works but rather for works that really speak to me and get my brain going with ideas. I don't use it a lot, so I think your individual fav folders are more useful!

Id love to trade tutorials sometime ^^

"I have some temporary folders that come and go." oooooh I have trouble deleting things like references!! if they're saved they stay forever LMAOOOOO. I think thats why I tend to put my references right on my canvas and then just shrink it when I'm done to hide my references. It's kind of a fun way to do it though because sometimes I accidentally make moodboards for whatever im drawing lol!! heres an example

ohhh "Now improving composition is my main goal so I’ve reorganized my “Style” folder to have more specificity like: Close-up Complex, Close-up Simple, etc for Middle, Distant, and Environment. These probably get the most use, just like Style did. It’s where it all just came together in artworks with line style and thickness and backgrounds and… yeah, hard to put anywhere else haha." if you ever want to share a screenshot or something of those folders I'd love to see. Do you ever have trouble finding anything? I can't find shit ever. I kinda just pick a location in my folder and im like 'yep thats what ill use as inspiration today' lmaoooo. Yeah. I need to sort better. lol.

"I personally have to copy into several folders if something fits more than one category or I’ll worry about it being forgotten. orz It makes them even more cluttered, but if I like the piece that much then I figure I won’t mind seeing it again!" I DO THIS TOO LOL.

it's always super interesting to hear how someone else does things.

How did you learn to draw so well? Like was it from classes or a book on fundamentals or just trial and error?

//// thanks for the kind question!

I guarantee you I would have improved faster if I’d taken a class, but I hope some of the materials I’ve used over the years can be of use to you too:

Andrew Loomis’ books - I never made it past the first chapters, but those had some great advice.

Youtube - Proko’s bean method. Figure drawing references will greatly improve anatomy and “drawing what you see”. It’s boring imo, so doing just 5-10 minutes a day can keep one from burning out while still seeing improvement. Speed painting videos are a nice way to relax and study.

Will Terrell’s People Drawing series - He’s a humble man with personal advice for artists. I watch his videos when I feel discouraged or lost.

Art, art, art - Whenever I see an artwork that I like, I figure out exactly what pleases me: line thickness, nose shape, finger positions, composition, the way the hair bends in the wind, etc. Then I try to incorporate that specific characteristic into my own art.

I have growing folders of (I’m a bit embarrassed) almost 8,000 pictures, organized by characteristics, for the sole purpose of studying their prettiness. Sometimes we don’t need a tutorial to spell everything out, just an example can help us envision our own works’ potential. Also, staring at pictures is a relaxing way to study too!

And of course, trial and error~ I don’t post my sad, failed paintings or all the weird sketches I make, but they exist and teach a lot!

[bromantically]

how to draw fat faces and necks better

something i notice a lot with artists trying to draw fat people is that even if they get the bodies decent they often draw the heads and necks in a "skinny" way, which isnt usually done with ill intent but rather out of inexperience and trying to apply skinny rules to fat faces

ID: A drawing of a thin and a fat person. The fat person has a thin neck and a sharp defined jawline like the thin person. End ID.

and it ends up like this in a lot of cases ^

ID: A drawing of a thin and a fat person. The thin person has arrows pointing to their neck and jaw, labelled, "face distinct from neck" and "sharp jaw". The fat person has arrows to their neck, jawline, and chin, labelled, "thick neck (shoulder meets chin)", "undefined jawline", and "double chin". The thin person has a distinct and fully drawn jawline, and the fat person has a double chin and no line that goes all the way to the ear like the thin one, leaving only their profile and chin defined. End ID.

my biggest tip for drawing fat faces and necks is to define less. if u look here, the fat person has a very indistinguishable neck, and ive left out a part of the lines for the jaw, which makes it softer and more natural. adding a line there, especially if its very straight and angled, will tend to take a lot away from the fatness of whoever ur drawing, because it implies a distinct separation of the face from the neck

ID: 8 pictures of OP, who is a fat white person. The first 4 pictures are of them when they were skinny. Their jaw is defined and their face is distinct from their neck and shoulders. The other 4 are current pictures of them, in which they're fat. Their jaw has little to no definition and there's less distinction between the face and neck. End ID.

heres some pictures of me when i was skinny vs me now. notice how my jaw is significantly less defined and the shadows are much softer and rounder. i also have a double chin, which softens my neck shapes even more. in some cases, theres no harsh enough lines or shadows present to even remotely define where my face ends and my neck begins, so if i were to portray myself with lines that define those areas, it would make it seem like i had a sharper jaw and less fat

generally, look at lots of fat people for references! and please note that there will always be exceptions to this, so this is just a general thing to help artists develop their skills for drawing fat people more accurately ^^ hope this helps!

[notahorseindisguise]

ive actually had a good grasp on the concept of cosmic horror since i was a child.

i once had a dream where i was in a blank, empty, dark void. there was nothing anywhere, expcept for one thing. it was about 10 paces ahead of me. i cant picture what it looked like, but im sure if i saw it in a drawing or something, i could point it out.

ill try my best to describe it: it was a mass of long, endlessly long, deep, red tendrils. they werent static, they were sort of, pulsing a little bit, but it was barely noticable (i only noticed because i saw it many times - ill get to it later). not only that, but they were crawling over each other, as though in a hurry to get somewhere else in that pile. those bloody tendrils just, get squirming over each other, but the pile never moved. i think, looking back at it, it may have only been one long limb, writhing and squirming all over itself, but of course, ill never be sure.

at some point in the pile, around the middle, the limbs started to go up. like, they went up, and came to a head to support an eyeball. an eyeball bigger than my head. it was white, but bloodshot. veins were visible in it.

now, when i say the eye was white, i dont just mean it was white around the edges of it. i mean the eye was fully white. pure white, with the red arteries obviously just below the surface of the eye. it wasnt always like that, actually. one day, a couple months later i came back, it had a pupil and an iris and everything. at that point i wish it actually didnt have that, and it was back to just the white eye, because, i don't know how to explain it, but i know for a FACT that it had my eye. that was MY EYEBALL jammed haphazardly inside its, for lack of a better word, "face". my eyeball. that always creeped me out.

something you need to know about me: i have aphantasia. i cant picture things in my brain, like, at all. so most of my dreams are pretty boring, without detailed imagery.

something else you need to know about me: these dreams were different. they were super detailed. i felt like i was there. i could remember them vividly. i still cant picture what happened in the dream cause aphantasia, but i remember it being so much more vivid a dream than any id ever had - or ever would, honestly. so i can describe it pretty well.

how is this cosmic horror? well, let me explain the contents of this dream. i was standing there, a bit in front of this creature, looking at it while it looked back at me. i didnt say anything. neither did it. eventually i tried to walk backwards, but the thing just followed me. i didnt see it move at all though. i tried to turn around so i could run away, but it just stayed directly in the same place in my view. but it didnt move. it was like - you know when you look in a light too long, and you see the little dark specs? but since they are in your eye, rather than being an actual object, they stay in the same position of your view no matter where you look. idk if i explained that well, but thats what it was like. it always stayed in the same place.

thats not true actually. the first time i had the dream, i took a step towards it, expecting it to move back. suddenly it was 9 paces away. it didnt have a mouth, but i knew it was smiling, and despite my terror, i was smiling too. i didnt want to smile, i dont know why i was smiling. next time i had the dream, it was still only 9 paces away. i decided to never do it again. until 3 or so months had gone by, and i started feeling comfortable in this landscape, probably too comfortable. i took another step towards it. for the rest of the time i had that dream, i was only about 8 paces away from it... thats, thats actually around the same time it got the eye, i think.

this dream, as ive alluded to, wasnt just a one time thing. it was a terrible recurring nightmare that i had every couple of days for ages. i havent thought about it in ages, im honestly worried that bringing it up might make me have the dream again.

around the 3rd time i had it, my habit was just to stand still and wait for it to be over. got in a few staring contests with it (it didnt have eyelids - it won). but eventually i decided to say something. "what are you?" i called out to it, honestly, scared of how hoarse my voice turned out to be.

it didnt have a mouth, so i thought either it wouldnt respond, or itd do that thing from books where it speaks directly to my mind. it didnt though. its voice definitely came from it, although i don't know where. its voice sounded like, well, just a persons voice. i dont know what the voice was. didnt, anyway. this is the most ive thought about this dream in ages, and now im thinking about it, it was my voice. not my squeely 5 year old voice, the voice i have right now, or maybe a little deeper, as though it matured. it took its voice from me as an adult.

"what are you?" i asked.

"a dream." it said. it laughed. "...by choice."

i didn't talk to it more that night.

the next time i tried to talk to it, i dont know when it was, i asked "what do you mean?" i was asking what it meant by being a dream by choice. i thought maybe i was being too cryptic, but somehow it knew what i was referring to.

"i could get out, if i wanted. but this is more fun." it said. that terrified me more than anything. i knew this being was capable of entering my real world, even though it knows it doesnt exist in the real world. it had that power, its just toying me.

the last time i tried to talk to it, i asked "what do you want?"

it laughed. "come here, and ill show you."

despite that kind invitation, it already had what i now know is my voice, and my eye, so i did not walk any closer.

i dont know if it had a name, i never asked, but i remember giving it a name. i wanted to think of a name that embodied how bad it was, just the pure evil energy coming off it. but nothing i thought of had the right evil energy. i know its not creative, but i called it "Evil". i dont know, it seemed to work. i just couldnt think of anything worse than it. i didnt think that i named it after the concept of evil, i thought the concept of evil was named after it.

i think thats all the information i need to give. it really scared me as a kid. i had this dream for ages. i dont know if Evil was a demon or what, if it actually existed, but that didnt matter, because i imagined it with the power to break out of dreams, which means it could if it wanted to.

my main fear in posting this is that, maybe now it'll be in your dreams. and im so sorry.

[zoloft-and-anime]

1950 Ch.1- No Matter What

A/N- Hey yall! here's the first chapter in this series! It may be a little packed with info but it has some important points. No real warnings so far! Also if anyone has name suggestions Id love to hear cuz honestly a name is escaping me rn. Enjoy!

Content: reader is kinda shy, gay panic, Steve is confused, brief Eddie appearance

Thinking back, you can’t remember a time when you and Robin Buckley weren't attached at the hip. Since the moment the two of you met in the second grade, life-altering damage had been done to your lives in the form of a new, unbreakable bond. 

Your life had just been completely uprooted at seven years old, all your personal belongings packed into large cardboard boxes as your mother explained to you that the move to Hawkins was essential to your father’s career. Hopping into the back seat of your mother’s 1970 Range Rover, your father manning the wheel or the moving truck just in front of you, memories of your hometown flooded your mind. 

None of those memories, however, included any friends. No playground buddies from your elementary school, no neighborhood children who would come by to play. You had sat alone at lunch and recess, preferring to stay indoors during the summers. Your introverted and shy nature was apparent to those around you, leading them to leave you in your own, secluded world.

Despite the lack of friends, the move was hard to process. Change wasn't something you took easily, even at that age.

Robin Buckley, on the other hand, was a much more extroverted and talkative young girl, often getting herself in trouble for speaking out of turn in class. She immediately introduced herself to you as soon as she noticed that there was a new, unfamiliar face in her class.

“Hi! Are you new here? My name’s Robin and I’m seven years old, but I turn 8 next month!”

She was loudly speaking to you no more than three feet away from your visibly nervous figure, holding up six digits in a failed attempt to express her age. 

“That's six, didn't you say you were seven?” You reply, taking a step back to ease your anxiety.

Never in your life had you met a person as outgoing as this, or rather as interested in you. 

“Oh is it? Sorry, I'm still learning!” she responded, no offense taken to your statement and a grin on her face, missing a couple of teeth that had no doubt been compensated for in cash from the tooth fairy.  “Come on! It's almost recess. You can play cops n’ robbers with us! Don’t worry ill go easy on ya.” 

And with that, she grabbed your hand and led you to the playground. Your first friend, readily introducing you to some of the other children on the playground.

Most of them would fade out of your life, moving away, finding different friends, and growing out of your friendship. But never Robin. That day she had proclaimed you best friends for life, drawing up a picture in crayon of the two of you, hand in hand, with your names above your heads and the words ‘best friend’ plastered above the image. She handed you the paper with the words “You’re my best friend, no matter what.” right before dismissal.

Since then that picture has never left your room. Eleven years of friendship, and it has maintained its place, carefully folded in the bottom of a wooden box containing keepsakes collected by the two of you over the years. Bracelets, letters, random rocks you found walking together, polaroids of you at various ages. 

Now, in your senior year of high school, the two of you remain inseparable. Hitching a ride to school with Robin’s new friend Steve on the first day of the year. 

“Steve, as much as I'm grateful for the lift, don't you have anything better to do than drive high schoolers to class?”  You inquired as Robin playfully elbowed you from the seat next to you. 

“For your information I do, I'm just doing a favor for a friend… and her..friend. You two didn’t have to both sit in the back seat like I'm some sort of chauffeur though.” Steve shoots back, quickly glancing to the back seat to see the two of you giggling like idiots. “Robin, you two are just friends, right? Like I don't know why you wouldn't tell me if..” Robin immediately cuts him off loudly, “NO! No way not at all. We’re just friends. BEST friends! I don't even like girls like that.” 

Steve shoots Robin a confused glance in the rear view mirror as you look out the window, letting out a soft laugh at the idea of you and her in love. She sends him a look that tells him to keep his mouth shut.

The only secret Robin had ever kept from you in your entire friendship was the fact that she was gay. Steve wasn’t even supposed to know, it had just come out in her drugged-up stupor after his awkward confession. She loved you more than anything, you were her best friend, the only one who would always stick by her side, no matter what, but you just couldn't know. 

Sure, she felt guilty for keeping this entirely crucial aspect of her life a secret from you, but she couldn't help but fear your reaction. Deep down she knew it shouldn’t change anything, but something in her said that she’d regret it. So she kept quiet. 

The rest of the car ride consisted of you and robin being utter fools in the back seat, with you laughing at whatever snarky joke she made at the expense of your classmates or Steve’s child friends, as well as steve muttering quiet rebuttals and pondering the reasons as to why Robin’s “best friend” had no idea she was into girls. 

He shoved that to the back of his mind as he pulled into the school parking lot, shouting a quick “goodbye” to you and Robin as she declared that you two would see him after school.

As you two entered the building, her arm linked with yours, you begin to discuss your schedules, noting that you had the same homeroom and lunch, as well as English.

“Finally I get you in English!” Robin sighs, pulling on your arm slightly. “You know how I hate doing those long annoying essays! I just can't stay focused on them. You’re like an English whiz so we could totally be study buddies, yeah?” Her enthusiastic statement makes you chuckle, as well as your heart swell slightly due to the flattery. “Only if you help me with math. I know we don’t share the class but you’re much better with numbers than I am.” You reply with a nudge to her side. “Oh of course ill help you. When have I not?” she responds “I gotta get to class now, see you in homeroom.” She releases your arm as you turn the corner and stop to briefly stand against the wall.

“This year is gonna be great. I promise. Bye (y/n)! Love ya!” 

“Love you too Ro!” You smile at her. Something in the short statement pulls at your heartstrings even after all this time. 

You were forever grateful to have a friend that cared this much for you. That you could tell her anything without judgment. That the two of you would always be by each other’s side.

In fact, you couldn’t begin to imagine being this close with anyone else.

Maybe that's why your heart was beating so fast in your chest. Because she was so special to you.

Sure, thoughts of a deeper bond had crossed your mind before, but those were just that. Thoughts. You weren’t even into girls like that! And she definitely wasn’t either, always being quick to deny accusations of that nature. Plus, she was totally into this new friend she had made at her summer job. Why else would she follow him to her new job at the video store after things, well, fell through with Scoops Ahoy. 

As you turned the corner your heartbeat finally slowed, your thoughts slowing as well as you located your first period history class and took a seat near the back. You werent certain you’d have many friends in this class; you had always been sort of a loner when the company of your best friend was absent.

Just as the bell rang, a taller boy with long dark hair and a t-shirt with words you couldn’t make out slid into the desk right next to you, large rings on his fingers clicking against the wood as he did so. Turning your head, you met his eyes. He shot you an exasperated expression, followed by a mischievous smile before he turned toward the front to pay attention to the lesson that had just begun.

This was sure to be an interesting year if nothing else.