#It was fun to draw some illustrations for this story! I hope I get the chance to do it again in the future!

[caffichai]

"Alright then, Cowgirl, show me you know how to ride.”

A piece for my friend @fishing-lesbian-catgirl 's story: Coldshot's Called Shot

It's spicy! If you like it spicy, give it a read! Bonus extra spicy artwork by yours truly featured in the story too

[makingqueerhistory]

Queer Books Challenged in Florida Schools and Libraries

There are some affiliate links below in case you want to support MQH.

Gender Queer: A Memoir, Maia Kobabe: Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma and fundamental violation of pap smears.

The Color Purple, Alice Walker: Separated as girls, sisters Celie and Nettie sustain their loyalty to and hope in each other across time, distance and silence. Through a series of letters spanning nearly thirty years, first from Celie to God, then the sisters to each other despite the unknown, the novel draws readers into its rich and memorable portrayals of Celie, Nettie, Shug Avery and Sofia and their experience. The Color Purple broke the silence around domestic and sexual abuse, narrating the lives of women through their pain and struggle, companionship and growth, resilience and bravery.

Julián Is a Mermaid, Jessica Love: While riding the subway home from the pool with his abuela one day, Julián notices three women spectacularly dressed up. Their hair billows in brilliant hues, their dresses end in fishtails, and their joy fills the train car. When Julián gets home, daydreaming of the magic he's seen, all he can think about is dressing up just like the ladies in his own fabulous mermaid costume: a butter-yellow curtain for his tail, the fronds of a potted fern for his headdress. But what will Abuela think about the mess he makes -- and even more importantly, what will she think about how Julián sees himself? Mesmerizing and full of heart, Jessica Love's author-illustrator debut is a jubilant picture of self-love and a radiant celebration of individuality.

Drama: A Graphic Novel, Raina Telgemeier: Callie loves theater. And while she would totally try out for her middle school's production of Moon over Mississippi, she can't really sing. Instead she's the set designer for the drama department's stage crew, and this year she's determined to create a set worthy of Broadway on a middle-school budget. But how can she, when she doesn't know much about carpentry, ticket sales are down, and the crew members are having trouble working together? Not to mention the onstage AND offstage drama that occurs once the actors are chosen. And when two cute brothers enter the picture, things get even crazier!

Cemetery Boys, Aiden Thomas: Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school's resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He's determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

I Am Billie Jean King, Brad Meltzer: This friendly, fun biography series focuses on the traits that made our heroes great--the traits that kids can aspire to in order to live heroically themselves. Each book tells the story of one of America's icons in a lively, conversational way that works well for the youngest nonfiction readers and that always includes the hero's childhood influences. At the back are an excellent timeline and photos. This volume features Billie Jean King, the world champion tennis player who fought successfully for women's rights. From a young age, Billie Jean King loved sports--especially tennis! But as she got older, she realized that plenty of people, even respected male athletes, didn't take women athletes seriously. She set to prove them wrong and show girls everywhere that sports are for everyone, regardless of gender.

This One Summer, Mariko Tamaki: Every summer, Rose goes with her mom and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It's their getaway, their refuge. Rosie's friend Windy is always there, too, like the little sister she never had. But this summer is different. Rose's mom and dad won't stop fighting, and when Rose and Windy seek a distraction from the drama, they find themselves with a whole new set of problems. One of the local teens - just a couple of years older than Rose and Windy - is caught up in something bad... Something life threatening. It's a summer of secrets, and sorrow, and growing up, and it's a good thing Rose and Windy have each other.

Marriage of a Thousand Lies, Sj Sindu: Lucky and her husband, Krishna, are gay. They present an illusion of marital bliss to their conservative Sri Lankan-American families, while each dates on the side. It's not ideal, but for Lucky, it seems to be working. She goes out dancing, she drinks a bit, she makes ends meet by doing digital art on commission. But when Lucky's grandmother has a nasty fall, Lucky returns to her childhood home and unexpectedly reconnects with her former best friend and first lover, Nisha, who is preparing for her own arranged wedding with a man she's never met.

And Tango Makes Three, Peter Parnell: At the penguin house at the Central Park Zoo, two penguins named Roy and Silo were a little bit different from the others. But their desire for a family was the same. And with the help of a kindly zookeeper, Roy and Silo got the chance to welcome a baby penguin of their very own.

More Happy Than Not, Adam Silvera: In the months following his father's suicide, sixteen-year-old Aaron Soto can't seem to find happiness again, despite the support of his girlfriend, Genevieve, and his overworked mom. Grief and the smile-shaped scar on his wrist won't let him forget the pain. But when Aaron meets Thomas, a new kid in the neighborhood, something starts to shift inside him. Aaron can't deny his unexpected feelings for Thomas despite the tensions their friendship has created with Genevieve and his tight-knit crew. Since Aaron can't stay away from Thomas or turn off his newfound happiness, he considers taking drastic actions. The Leteo Institute's revolutionary memory-altering procedure will straighten him out, even if it means forgetting who he truly is.

Melissa, Alex Gino: When people look at Melissa, they think they see a boy named George. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl.

Melissa thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. Melissa really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can't even try out for the part... because she's a boy.

With the help of her best friend, Kelly, Melissa comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte -- but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all.

A Quick & Easy Guide to Queer & Trans Identities, Mady G, Jules Zuckerberg: In this quick and easy guide to queer and trans identities, cartoonists Mady G and Jules Zuckerberg guide you through the basics of the LGBT+ world! Covering essential topics like sexuality, gender identity, coming out, and navigating relationships, this guide explains the spectrum of human experience through informative comics, interviews, worksheets, and imaginative examples. A great starting point for anyone curious about queer and trans life, and helpful for those already on their own journeys!

This Book Is Gay, Juno Dawson: This candid, funny, and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it's like to grow up LGBTQ also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention hilarious illustrations.

Little & Lion, Brandy Colbert: When Suzette comes home to Los Angeles from her boarding school in New England, she's isn't sure if she'll ever want to go back. L.A. is where her friends and family are (as well as her crush, Emil). And her stepbrother, Lionel, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, needs her emotional support. But as she settles into her old life, Suzette finds herself falling for someone new...the same girl her brother is in love with. When Lionel's disorder spirals out of control, Suzette is forced to confront her past mistakes and find a way to help her brother before he hurts himself--or worse.

King and the Dragonflies, Kacen Callender: Twelve-year-old Kingston James is sure his brother Khalid has turned into a dragonfly. When Khalid unexpectedly passed away, he shed what was his first skin for another to live down by the bayou in their small Louisiana town. Khalid still visits in dreams, and King must keep these secrets to himself as he watches grief transform his family.

It would be easier if King could talk with his best friend, Sandy Sanders. But just days before he died, Khalid told King to end their friendship, after overhearing a secret about Sandy-that he thinks he might be gay. "You don't want anyone to think you're gay too, do you?"

Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place: A Transgender Memoir, Jackson Bird: An unflinching and endearing memoir from LGBTQ+ advocate Jackson Bird about how he finally sorted things out and came out as a transgender man.When Jackson Bird was twenty-five, he came out as transgender to his friends, family, and anyone in the world with an internet connection. Assigned female at birth and raised as a girl, he often wondered if he should have been born a boy. Jackson didn't share this thought with anyone because he didn't think he could share it with anyone.

The Black Flamingo, Dean Atta: Michael is a mixed-race gay teen growing up in London. All his life, he's navigated what it means to be Greek-Cypriot and Jamaican--but never quite feeling Greek or Black enough.

As he gets older, Michael's coming out is only the start of learning who he is and where he fits in. When he discovers the Drag Society, he finally finds where he belongs--and the Black Flamingo is born

Explore the full list here.

[megamagimugi]

Art for @silenzahra

This is a post of appreciation for @silenzahra who welcomed me to Tumblr so warmly, became my first mutual and has ever since treated me with nothing but extreme kindness and sweetness.

And it all started with my comment on her post where she announced chapter 3 of her amazing story "Anything for him". I absolutely love this story and was so, so happy to hear that it would be finished after all. If you haven't read it yet, go do that. There are going to be spoilers in my post.

You can find the story here:

So. Here are my illustrations for each chapter compiled into a single image (CW: blood stains, nothing too gruesome):

Below are full versions of each image, along with chapter descriptions.

Chapter one is a beautiful description of Luigi's POV in Luigi's Mansion. It's canon compliant and not unlike other Luigi's Mansion retelling fanfics. We can see into Luigi's head as he faces his fears with one goal in mind: to find and rescue his beloved brother Mario.

Chapter two is where it gets really exciting as not only do we get to see Mario's side of the story, but we get an amazing twist that diverges from canon. Spoiler: Luigi gets seriously injured and Mario actually manages to get out of the painting on his own in order to help him! And thankfully, he succeeds. Luigi's wounds are healed and the brothers are together again.

The last chapter wraps up the story, switching back to Luigi's side. Some of the story overlaps with the previous chapter, then we get to see the proper reunion after Luigi wakes up. Lots of brotherly affection in this one. I like how the ending is sort of open yet definitely optimistic. I just had to try to draw the forehead touch.

Well, Zahra, I hope you like these little illustrations. I'm sorry it took so long, I know at this point it's been a while since you posted the last chapter, but I hope this post still brings a smile to your face.

Thank you once again for being such a nice and fun person, and of course such a good writer as well. I mean it when I say: keep being you :) Looking forward to your next works.

Btw, this is my first time posting my digital art here, which I'm not very good at so I'm kinda nervous. Please be gentle everyone? ^^' Shoutout to @peaches2217 for encouraging me to try posting fanart here on Tumblr, though!

[knightforflowers]

I have a lot of headcanons for Ethersea obv but one I’ve been thinking about for a long time (especially recently) is how prestige affects the bodies of the magic casters who utilise it. I looove stories where magic has interesting and substantial consequences for being used and Ethersea definitely scratches that itch in terms of the overuse of magic causing the literal apocalypse and what have you, and since prestige is a byproduct of Ethersea water which notably warps and changes things submerged into it I think it definitely has some side affects too.

I think prestige affects the body in a number of ways but most notably is how it affects the user’s eyes, due to how they glow whenever magic is being channeled. The first, most common, and least detrimental side affect is the user’s eyes becoming reflective to light like cats (or more thematically; certain deep sea creatures) (I drew a little thing illustrating this idea with Devo which you can find here :3). This is mostly a cosmetic change and is generally harmless, it typically manifests after two or three years of using prestige.

Long term use of prestige however, say ten-twenty or so years depending on the circumstances/level of usage, eventually leads to slow degradation of the users eyes entirely, causing a lot of magic users to get glasses or contacts in their later years, or even earlier depending on when they started utilising prestige and how much they use it. Of course this is something that is most commonly seen in the Parish/those connected to the Parish more than anyone else in Founder’s Wake, due to it being the main figurehead of magic use in the city. (My personal designs for Seldom and Guidance wear glasses because of this (ik Guidance has them canonically but still the thought is still there LOL) and my post-canon Devo has them too, my Orlean doesn’t but I think it’s bc he has contacts instead).

In more serious cases however, whether that be through continued long term use or incredibly frequent use of prestige, the user can eventually go entirely blind, which I think is something that happened occasionally in Hominine before the storm; a lot of long standing and incredibly high ranking cardinals/bishops/ect of the Benevolent Parish were likely blind because of this. Prestige caused blindness doesn’t stop people from being able to cast magic anymore of course, but it does make it significantly harder to channel. I think this blindness was never seen as something bad by the faith, and was probably viewed by most in the cloister as a great honour come at a great price— to be able to give one’s sight completely to Benevolence, and allow him to be their sole guiding light in the darkness. Something something blind devotion to your faith, ya know.

I also think this is the case bc lately I’ve been brainstorming abt more NPC designs that I hope to draw soon and I think Benevolence is also blind, which is where a lot of the Church’s symbology and feelings surrounding that stage in prestige use come from. I also like it in terms of a parallel to Koda, who is depicted mainly with eyes/being all seeing (through the use of the Biggest Baby and his influence over the Chaperones) so I think Benevolence being associated with blindness is a fun contrast.

Anyway thank u for indulging me and my headcanon if you got this far LOL I love weird magic shit that ties into worldbuilding 👍

[thou-starry]

Winter exchange gift for @kalpalatas, happy holidays! hope you like it! ^^

The prompt was: "kagihira corpse bride au! giving the full rein to the gifter on this one (⁠*⁠´⁠ω⁠｀⁠*⁠) have fun and merry christmas!"

Thanks so much to @ssmygiftexchange for organizing such a fun event!

I also have a LOT to share (and i mean a lot truly), so below there's more for anyone interested

gushing time!! well first of all, Corpse Bride is my fave stop motion movie so i couldn't not do this prompt, so thank you so much Bree for also having such a great prompt

i also loved the other prompt and thought of doing it at first, but the whole "drawing a dragon" thing overwhelmed me a little and i didn't have enough time to do it justice (i started actually drawing like a week or two ago since uni kept me busy until the start of december T.T)... maybe some other day ill do it tho, i really liked the whole fantasy au idea!!

now, i also gotta say thanks to @purplecelestial-buddy for helping me out getting the story for the illustration! while i couldn't write a fic or comic i did go all out on the setting so i could decide who'd be who for the au, and here's my whole reasoning:

(i hope this is readable i didn't realize it was so much text >.<)

the scene i chose to illustrate is pretty much at the start of the movie, but for this au it would be way closer to the ending. after kagi has realized he actually does love hirano and i thought it would be a much more intimate moment of them deciding to stay together in the underworld

now onto the illustration itself! i really thought through what they would wear for this, according to the time period and their situations.

Corpse bride doesn't have a set year (as far as i know) but it would probably be around the 1890's and so i decided to set Kagi in that decade. the light blue color probably isn't accurate but i did want to keep it close to Emily's palette. Also, since he probably escaped from home at night i gave him an outdoor/everyday suit

for hirano, he's set in the 1900's. men's clothing doesn't change much between decades so leaned more into what "party" suit would look like, something you'd wear at a ball so its not as warm, the coat shape is a bit different and his vest is shorter too (plus the bow tie!)

here's some progress pictures too, at some point kagi looked like an alien and i found that pretty funny xd the other two are very early sketches

and finally a bit of a close up

[its-dean]

It's a BareBones Brigade Halloween!

I'm sad that I don't have something new to post for this year's leadup to halloween, but this is an illustration from last year that's still very close to my heart. Everyone on Caliosteo is here celebrating together, the patrol team, the former commanders of the BB Brigade, and even Joe Wildwest himself. What's more, it seems they all decided to collaborate and dress up with some BB Brigade flare (maybe it reminds them all of the good old days).

I remember working tirelessly on this one for a near month, and it was honestly a really fun project in hindsight that I wish I could replicate. I have the distinct memory of staying up all the way until Halloween morning making sure that it was perfect, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

Since the image is a bit widely cropped and not the most "mobile friendly," here are some close-ups on the batches of characters scattered around Ribular Isle. Dina and Rupert sticking close together (as usual), Cole lashing out at Lester after finding out that he stole some of his hair dye (as usual), and Pauleen's Amargo acting snarky, Todd getting himself into trouble (as usual).

Here are also some WIPs from this one. This was the beginning of the phase where I started refining my sketch lining rather than doing a whole separate layer of lineart on top of an original sketch. It's honestly super satisfying, and I recommend anyone who likes drawing to try it out!

As for the lighting, when I do a shading layer I like to change everything underneath to be a solid white, it makes it easier for me to create realistic lighting in a 3D sense, almost as if I'm forming the shape of a sculpture. Plus, when it comes out like this before adding in color everyone here looks like a ghost >< (how appropriate)

One more thing, I made these little pfp icons to go with the Halloween vibe, also making one for Kris (one of the characters from my own Fossil Fighters sequel story). All of their last names are purely headcannons of mine, but there's still a bit of meaning behind all of them.

Being that I'm half Greek, I've always seen Dino and Dina as being short for Κωνσταντίνος and Κωνσταντίνα respectively (also because that happens to be my Greek name, where Dean comes from ><) so I think it makes sense to give them a Greek last name that may or may not also connect to something in my own story.

As for Rupert (still going with my own headcannons), both he and Kris originally hail from Bockland, a European-based Fossil Park that's just as big as Vivosaur Island/Caliosteo. Both of them act so posh and well-mannered, and I'd love to come up with a reason for imagining Rupert with a slight British accent. Kris's story comes a good 9 years after the events of the first 2 games, but she shares a lot in common with Rupert back when he was her age, much more than just being from Bockland.

Thanks if you read this far. I'm both happy and sad to be able to share and talk about this illustration again. If there's anyone here on Tumblr seeing this for the first time, then I'm very happy I can share with you.

I hope you all have a happy week leading up to Halloween night!

[beffalumps]

hi there! recent art school grad here and i was wondering if u have any tips on learning color + approaching backgrounds? even though i learned a lot, i still find myself struggling with these focuses, especially colors as i never had a class that really taught me that. thanks so much 💗 your work is so lovely

First off, congrats on graduating!! Backgrounds and colors have always been the hardest for me lol tbh I still struggle a lot with colors especially, so please take everything I say with a grain of salt!

Using adjustment layers helps me a lot (especially color balance to make things more unified or complementary).

Another thing that I think has REALLY helped me with color overall is actually switching between color and grayscale.

In photoshop I set up a custom proof profile and then am able to switch back and forth by using the hotkey Ctrl + Y. This helps me check my values which, I've found if you have solid values, colors tend to work so much better even if you don't know much about what you're doing lol. Another way to do this is making a solid black layer on top of all your color layers and setting the blending mode to "Color". Then you can toggle that on and off to look at the values.

One last thing I've played with re: colors is finding a reference that has the colors I like and "crystalizing" it and color picking a palette from that.

This can be super helpful if you're having a hard time visualizing or coming up with a color palette!

As for backgrounds, they became a lot easier for me when I started looking at them like their own character. Thinking about the story I'm trying to tell, adding little details that I think would add to that or be fun and fun ways for the character to interact with it.

That and doing value sketches/just a bunch of really quick and sloppy experiments. 9 times out of 10, they don't work out, but sometimes they spark something that turns into something fun and workable!

This has gotten really long for someone that really just bs's their way through every piece, but I will say one thing that was a big game changer for me (in my personal opinion, who knows if other people think so lmao) and it's just incorporating aerial perspective. Making things a bit more blue tinted (or whatever the sky color is) and lighter as they recede into the background. Has made a huge difference for me when it comes to creating depth!

I really don't know if any of this is helpful because to be 100% honest, most of my illustrations are just product of trial and error lol. But practicing and making a lot of really bad scribbles have (I think) helped me the most, so yeah my biggest advice with anything is just look at lots of art, just draw and don't worry if it looks bad because tbh, it probably will at first. But you'll get better!

@tamberella Has a ton of amazing free resources and brushes, so if you haven't checked out their stuff, definitely do so!

@iniro also has some really nice tutorials on color (and other topics) available so I'd also recommend looking at those too!

But yeah, sorry for going on about my hair-brained process, I hope at least some of this was helpful!

[kaihuntrr]

The Sea Prince; Mermay 2024 (+ updates!)

shhhh what do you mean may is almost over-? i made a fun piece and everything!! well. pieces. the first one is a piece i just finished today, and the second is a piece of pearl in her prince form ;> happy mermay!

(i'll be talkin about stuff under the cut, if you just wanna see the art that's a-okay with me! happy to be drawing them again <3)

so. uh. mermay pieces <33 i really wanted to draw some majorwood art since ive been on an art high lately (writing for a good chunk of the year so far makes illustrating/designing SO much more fun) and i think it's coming to an end soon, so might as well end it with the darlings <3

also im?? surprised??? i didnt share pearl's art????? uh. oopsies! its tooootally not a spoiler. ;)

anyway! its been a good while since ive made an update post, and i want to keep y'all up to date with how things are going!

important thing to announce; act one has been completed!

me and @mewhoismyself have worked very hard to write and edit the work respectively, and its over 100k+ words! hope y'all enjoy what we have planned, im very proud of act one (in particular those final few chapters, i love rereading them) <33

as for act two, im taking a break to do other things (college mainly, but also commission work and personal hobbies) but im probably getting back to writing soon! currently, act two is on chapter three, as ive decided to rewrite chapters 2-7 in the original doc, so theres a LOT of cut content. all for a good story! i dont really mind it :0c

finally, im opening up betas again!

theres been a LOT of inactivity from most of them and i have a bit of a schedule to keep, so im hoping that a new wave of betas could help with providing feedback and whatnot. i need clear communication! betas help greatly in letting me know how they feel with the current flow, their thoughts, and anything i need to address before publishing the chapter. id hope to get some new folk on board before my friend and i start developing act two more! <3

just send a message in the comments or shoot a dm! im more than happy to reply :D!

that should be it, so i hope you have a good day! i had a LOT of fun working on the pieces above, and im gonna have fun working on act two, you'll just have to wait and see! <33

[clownmoontoon]

HEYO LOVELIES!! \OUO/ <3<3<3!!! ive been itching to try a new art schedule i came up with so i dont end up drawing one character for two years straight again LMAO not that theres anything wrong w that ofc! its been fun! ;u; theres just SO MUCH on my "to draw" list im excited for and wanna get to work on and i think thisll not only make it easier for me, itll make it more fun for YOU! :D and to add a bit more consistency to my posting so its not 10 posts in a week and then months of nothing LMAO HELP from now on ill be posting on...

i may be working on a long form comic or animatic etc stuff that probably cant be finished to my liking in a week's time so the wednesday posts may be new photosets/edits etc of past art! either way ill be posting on wednesdays and following this schedule for my art from now on til i focus in on one of my specific stories! ((this doesnt impact how i reblog here or post to my patreon btw this is just for my art posting here specifically! ^^))

AND THE SCHEDULE WILL LOOK LIKE THIS! \OUO/

🤡MOON!! - anything off my draw list that stars my mascot, sona and fave oc MOON !! you've prob seen this rainbow, twintailed, fangy nonbinary clown monster around my blog at some point GET READY FOR MORE!! COMICS AND LORE AND ILLUSTRATIONS!! ITS CLOWN TIME BBY!! >:oD

🌈FANART - my fanart list is a MILE LONG LMAO and im so excited to dig into it!! lots of mini comics, long form comics, animatics and one off pieces scripted and planned!!! also if u followed me for a specific fandom chances are theres LOTS more of that coming!! theres so much on my list that, even after the hyperfixation passed, im like YEAH I STILL WANNA DRAW THAT

😈OC (not moon lol) - its about time i show off my other ocs who have been a bit neglected by me artwise ^^; I THINK ABOUT THEM ALL THE TIME THO!! HONEST!! AND IM SO EXCITED TO FINALLY SHARE THEM AND THEIR STORIES W ALL OF YOU!! \QVQ/

🌈FANART (diff from prev!) - to keep myself from drawing for the same piece of media over n over in a row THIS fanart will be from a different piece of media than the last one i drew!! if i have multiple small ideas i wanna get out fast i may throw them all into one ⭐️Super Post⭐️ with illustrations and comics all contained! this isnt to say i will never do same media fanart again ofc, just not back to back!

AND THEN I !!!

I START BACK AT MOON! :o) im sO SUPER EXCITED TO GET INTO THIS LIST AND IM ALREADY TWO POSTS IN!! WOO!! LETS GOOO!!! RAAAHHH!!!! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

LOVE U GUYS!!! \QUQ/ THANK U ALL SO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT THUS FAR!! I HOPE U LOOK FORWARD TO ALL THE NEW STUFFS!! <3<3<3!!!

[balrogballs]

hello, i'm balrogballs, who has regretted this username since the second i chose it. i post mostly LotR/Silm content ✨

I write, illustrate, and shitpost — under the cut is a list of some of my work, and a little bit more about me.

about me: i'm 27, mostly based in the UK atm but grew up and schooled overseas. i'm also a novelist irl (literary-ecological fiction), currently working on book 2.

as my day job, i work as a humanitarian advocate and travel quite frequently - so i have extended times on here and extended times off here. if I haven't responded to a message/tag for a few days, it's probably because i have no internet access and the blog is running off a queue.

pronouns: she/her

fandoms: LotR, The Silmarillion. I haven't seen RoP yet but I do enjoy seeing stuff from it on my dashboard! I enjoy a ton of other stuff too, such as obscure German detective novels, and weird conservation projects.

what you can expect to find here: the blog is called balrogballs, not balrogbrains, so just a note that i really don’t take myself very seriously and you’re probably not going to find much Serious Fandom Discourse. i do have my moments however!

generally though, the gulf between my writing and my personality has been described as “like meeting mr bean and finding out he wrote the iliad”, so take that as you will! re: 18+ content, i repeat, the blog is called balrogballs not balrogbaby, and i essentially use the word DILF like a punctuation mark, so again do with that as you will.

interactions: feel free to open a chat or send me an ask, check out my asks tag as well!

writing: here's my AO3 account. i write almost exclusively for lotr/silm ✨

here's some fics I'm proud of:

the sword tree: Maedhros and Celebrìan 'teaming up' to open a rewilding sanctuary in Valinor to help traumatised ring war returnees. environmentalism, pacifism, and hope in the face of helplessness.

cast in stone: a fic about memory gaps, found family, and holes in the archive. imagine that "who tells your story" line from hamilton except it's 35k words long and starring Maglor, Maedhros, Elrond, Estel and Legolas.

i enjoy exploring decolonial/ecological themes in my writing but i try not to be insufferable and most of my works have some degree of absurdism/humour. i also have a oneshots series called Elrond Peredhel and his Feral Children, a fun romp tackling parenthood in LotR, in which every child of Rivendell is fucking unhinged because their dad is a card-carrying weird little freak ✨🌞

art:

you can find my art tag here! I mostly do graphic novel style "illustrations", because I don't know how to draw anything else 🌞

I saw your work posted on ____, was that you?

Absolutely not — I use no social media aside from this and AO3 (technically I have an "official" account, but that's managed by a publicist and has no elves). I've had a couple of stories reposted onto Wattpad/FFN before — that is not me, so please ping me a link if you come across anything I've written that's not either on here or on AO3 as TimelessUtterances.

(If you came from the “i had to explain to my publishers why i wrote fanfiction about elrond giving lindir the battering ram treatment before they greenlit my first novel” post, no the goddamn fic isn’t still up). However, I do often get questions re writing/publishing from people who read said post, and I’m always very happy to answer these or hook you up with lists of resources, so feel free to ask anything on that front!

[raindrop-on-a-spiderweb]

Hey there , I would like to ask you how you are doing and if everything is OK? I have been following your stories for a while ( I discovered Appointment in Samarra a year ago) I usually like to read about very evil characters and disturbing scenarios but in your case , your stories seem to have a hint of tender sweetness , expecially when you describe those morally wrong men that do horrible things, there is so much life and warmth in them.

I have been going through a hard time in life and for some reason your storytelling has brought me confort and happiness and I would like to say thank you for this.

On a weird note , I'm not sure if you have heard of the Luigi Mangione case , just a fun thing , he reminds me a little of how you described Salvatore.

I speak both Italian and Romanian so if you ever need help in your writing I'll be happy to assist you in case you need to double check languages, I'm also an artist and I would love to portray some scenes in your stories ( I have seen some people do it and it's so nice to see your stories coming to life with people 's interpretation)

Hope all is well 🌟

Answering both of these at once if that's ok!

1st Question:

Thank you so so much. It really warms my heart that you thought to check up on me! I appreciate finding this message when I checked my tumblr after a while.

I hope your hard times are getting better. Sometimes we kind of need to lose ourselves in fiction to forget -- or at least acknowledge that things could be way worse. When you say "tender sweetness" it made me ponder for a bit. I always try to make the characters "people", no matter how awful they are. I'm really glad that you think so ♡

It's been stressful and I have had practically no time to write :( one of my tooth caps fell out and the dentist basically slapped it back with superglue so it fell out again, I've been trying to ignore it. Running off from my life starting anew in a different state with only a suitcase is tough, and dealing with employment, immigration and all that takes up most of my time. It will settle down and I'll get back to writing. Promise I'll upload Yeller Feller next.

Your first illustration left me speechless!!! OMG. You have an insane amount of talent. I just can't stop looking at it, the storyboarding, the action, the style, the details. Your drawing style is so unique and reminds me of a snapshot from an actual movie; it fits Samarra especially just so well. I just love how unique it is. I'm really looking forward if you decide to illustrate any other scenes!

Haha, there is a resemblance isn't there? Hatchet faced Southern Italian phenotype with black hair and prominent eyebrows.

Thank you so much for your offer! It's a shame Ragnatela is completely and the Romanian arc in Samarra just ended. I might still appreciate your help though! Just let me know if I got anything wrong lol 😅

2nd question:

I'm don't think health care insurance was a big issue in 1959 lol. However, their character archetypes are very squarely from the early half of the last century -- you might be able to deduce what you can from that, or not. Patience is a straight-edge, toe-the-line, my-country-right-or-wrong traditionalist. Salvatore is squarely working class with an affinity towards labor movements, but is also extremely old-fashioned if not heinously bigoted from the modern perspective.

Leonardo is a snake. He is a sociopath who will always flip to whatever point of view benefits him. He has very few beliefs or morals at all, and he certainly wouldn't let them inform his political actions.

[ocelot-t]

do have any Hazbin Hotel or just RadioRose headcanons? Like Rosie being a really good painter or Alastor technically being younger than he seems or something? (I just like reading other people's ideas on their favorite characters lol)

You arrived just in time.

There will be a lot of words I have mostly a lot of disconnected thoughts in my head, which I sometimes consciously or unconsciously implement in drawings. besides, I don't remember what the canon is, and what the old fanon is, to be honest. If you would like me to, I can share not only my headcanons, but also some of the AUs I have.

I understand where the theory comes from, but I don't like the idea of Alastor being forced to smile all this time. I think he wants to keep everything under his control so much that he smiles even in death. The idea that he is just a sick man, serial killer makes his eternal smile even more unnerving. I don't want to justify him.

I think Al would have enjoyed reading H.P Lovecraft’s works. The tentacled creatures and descriptions of people as nonentities suffering defeat in a fight with chthonic creatures... btw, some of Lovecraft's stories were published during Alastor's era. I have a small headcanon about Alastor's death, and I plan to create a comic in the future (if I can actually get it done).

There are 2 possible deaths of Alastor's mother in my mind, and I’m uncertain which one I want to illustrate. maybe both continuing the theme of Alastor’s human life. I sincerely believe that even if Alastor had really had an abusive father, Al would have been cruel since childhood. Guess what? I have an unfinished little comic with a hum!Al by another artist, and I'm uncertain when I’ll manage to complete it. The headcanon that suggests Alastor’s father is an abuser already seems like a canon; however, I don’t want to portray him as a completely terrible person. I like the idea of Alastor enjoying hunting, so let's say he learned it from his father. Just like all the dad jokes. on the other hand, as for the scars on Alastor, some of them probably came from his father, since domestic violence was a common problem. Regarding art, as you might have noticed, I have a headcanon that Al understands the arts in general, whether it's painting, cinema, or music. Perhaps I think this way only because I am trying to combine things I love very much. I imagine him as a person you could have a discussion about these topics with??? It seems to me that Alastor and Rosie would often discuss these topics over a glass of wine or a cup of tea. Suddenly, Alastor would show up at Rosie's and instead of hello I READ ABOUT FRA FILIPPO LIPPI. DO YOU HAVE AN HOUR FREE? BTW I HOPE YOU WATCHED THAT DZIGA VERTOV MOVIE THAT I RECOMMENDED Rosie would love art nouveau and I don't know rococo? and Alastor would be like no art nouveau is okay, cute, but rococo is bullshit. *2-hour episode of drunken dad teaching life* Continuing on the topic of artists, I repeat myself, I have a silly unfinished series of mini-comics about Alastor and Rosie as art academy students, the plots of which are based on real life (almost). I have thought about what kind of styles they would draw in, what kind of themes they would focus on, and so on. Again, there is a lot of text here already, so I'll wrap up this topic for now. P.S. I have a strange idea in my head about how to imagine Alastor in the USSR in the 10-30s. It was quite fun there: the World War I, the revolution, the civil war, the post-revolutionary years, famines and so on, and so on. For fun, of course, but Alastor the Communist has a good reason to hate Vox the Capitalist and his MMM I mean VVV or Lucifer the emperor of hell, if you know what I mean. Instead of telling dad jokes, he would say that life under Stalin was good and quote Lenin. Of course, these are all jokes, but I did have some abstract thoughts about how his life and his family's life would be arranged. However, I don't know enough about the history of USSR to actually implement this properly. so yeah

[dorksmithery]

Bora's Master Adventures, aka I played AkuNeko doodle compilation

Working Title: Lato enamored me with his penchant for violence and extremely polite speech but the designs were so banging that I had to illustrate my silly experience playing this weird but very loveable game. Fennesz is here for moral support.

Note: I only really have read up till the end of the Ball arc. Though I do know some spoilers from watching the stageplay clips and listening to the stageplay album, all the following doodles are my first impressions from the game up until Episode 1, Part 2, Chapter 32 (´･ω･`)b

All translations are my own work.

Obsession at First Mention

"There is a butler who lives in the basement floor called Lato, please be careful around him." "Oh no." "He (Lato) might become my fave" *He indeed became my fave lol

I looked at the red flag Berrian gave us and went "Oh okay. So I'm a bull now ig" It did not help that his design is so memorable but all the butlers have super distinct designs that have so much character packed into them. TBH I think my favourite design goes to Fennesz, the butterfly motif is enchanting and the way his outfit both matches and clashes against Haures is so fascinating.

(We will not talk about how I struggled so hard drawing Berrian. Bro should not be that difficult to draw)

Daimeshi Jamboree

"I'm (Ore) the master of the Devil Butlers!" "Ah.... That might have been too aggressive..." <- Usually uses Boku "M-Masterrrrrr....."

AkuNeko having the choice to play either as a female or male Master is peak actually?? Like it changes nothing lol but just having that option is so good. I use Boku and Watashi as my Japanese personal pronouns of choice so reading the Master option as Ore was jarring www I'm just a polite liddol guy, pwease

I did like the village scene tho. Ammon is probably the character I've changed my opinion fastest about, he's just doing his best and a little bit of an idiot about it. I will hear no slander about him.

The Greatest Honour I can Give

"Wear the outfits please." "A-Alright..."

"U-um..." "So this is the type of thing you like~" (Fennesz is wearing one of Lato's outfits while Lato is wearing one of Fennesz's outfits)

Get in the fucking dress boys

I like to cycle between Fennesz and Lato on my homescreen but whoever is on there is wearing a dress either way. I did indeed use screenshots to build the base of the last photo but one day I really do want to sit down and just try and learn the AkuNeko art style bc its so distinct and the colours pop so well while staying with the gothic aesthetic.

Fennesz is unexpectedly very cute when he blushes....

Animal Ears Gang

Muu is cute methinks. Not as annoying as other mascot characters but theres a lot of potential for him to grow in the story! I hope we get to see him grow up to be a wonderful butler ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

I honestly wasn't expecting to like AkuNeko all that much. I only really got into it because of the stageplay so to realize that the game is just as fun and the art is something I could definitely see myself trying to learn is really nice. The features like the study and stretches is also weirdly helpful? I've been using it every so often and setting up my own 15 min writing sprints with Lato breathing down my neck the whole time is actually kind of funny.

Will I continue playing? Who knows. The fact that my reading comprehension has improved by leaps and bounds since I downloaded the game is irreverent

[berryjammer7]

First off (none of that ‘whole-life-story-before-the-recipe’ phenomenon), I’ve posted what I had written for this comic on fanfic.net here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/14357056/1/Crescent-Moon. The comic left off around the end of chapter 1, so feel free to begin at chapter 2. It too is unfinished, and given my track record, I won’t promise anything. Just note that this version was older, and I had Rapunzel and Eugene present for Varian’s discovery of the Moonstone powers in this one. It is so much faster to write it out than illustrate each page.

That out of the way, as many may have guessed given the length of time since the last update, I probably won’t continue this comic as I had hoped. Life has never been better, or more busy, and I now do graphic design for work. I love my job, but it takes a lot of the creativity out of me for drawing comics.

I also got married (these are some doodles of him!) and my interests have moved on. I want to create something of my own, and am biding my time, gathering wisdom that hopefully comes with age, before beginning. But, I wanted to give the folks who still, after all this time, give me notes on here some closure. You have been great, and this has been fun.

I have one more draft Tumblr post in draft that I’ll set about posting as well, and then I’m probably done for the time being. Maybe someday I’ll get back into it, in which case I’ll be posting here again. Till then, so long. 💙

[featherfangart]

Please….I’m begging for prints especially a little softcover of your Vashwood comic once it’s done 😭😭 your art is gorgeous, holding it would be a dream

Oh dear! You are too kind! Thank you so much!

If you are interested in prints of my illustrations, you can check the catalogue here. VW art is in page two! <3

As for the comic..........

Yeah, i hope to turn Til Death Do Us into a printed fanzine once it's done. n_n

I've done a few softcover fanzines already, love holding physical books in my hands and... yeah. I really hope to take this one there later too. It's basically a doujinshi sort of, I suppose?

I was hoping to have it finished in May for Animefest in Brno here in my country. However, that would mean I'd have to spit out ten pages monthly and even then I'd have to draw cover in one night or smth and wouldn't have time for edits. And I-- I don't want to sacrifice the joy from the process and quality of the pages just for the sake of having it done asapTM. Decided to spend more time on the pages of the last chapter and it was so rewarding! Had a lot of fun with them, even though they were grayscale again. SO.... We're gonna take it a bit slower than I hoped at first, but it'll let me enjoy the process and deliver better story and art for you guys. :)

I might draw some FFVII stuff in between chapters here and there, once the game is out, but I do intend to give Wolfwood and Vash a happy ending (even if it might get a bit complicated for them to get there :) ).

[deerspherestudios]

How do you organise the process of creating a character? like, to me its too confusing, i dont know what i do first because there are TOO MANY THINGS TO DO, like backstory, personality, looks, what they like, so what would be the “steps” to make them?

(Since @isabellaswork asked the same thing recently I'm tagging you here, hope that's okay!) Omg I'm flattered I'm the person you'd wanna ask such a big question ;v;!!? Honestly the process is different for everyone, but I'll give it a go <3 This is how my process usually goes:

Personality first, backstory later. Flesh out the concept of the character before deciding their origin story if that makes sense.

Build a moodboard for your character! The more ideas the better!

Time for visuals! Sketch out multiple iterations, looking at the moodboard for inspiration. Colors go last.

Finalize! Once you've got your final sketch + colors, draw a proper illustration and see if you vibe with the design. Repeat previous steps if necessary <3

Extra: Since you've got the design and story down, add some fun facts. This is where interests, likes and dislikes go!

I'll use my VN characters as examples below in case someone wants it in more detail! Mychael (Mushroom Oasis) and Alma (Lift Your Spirits spoilers!! + horror imagery) process ideation under cut:

Usually I start with personality first. Because for me, when you first meet someone, you see what they're like in the present; their past doesn't matter as much until you get to know them. I can decide the backstory later so it doesn't limit the personalities I'm playing around with. Of course I must have gotten the idea from somewhere so these two things work in tandem most of the time.

Then it's just a matter of how they look!

After deciding on personality traits, I start by collecting references from everywhere, even the smallest of things. I think of how I want them to look plus how they would dress. Anything goes at this stage, so just go buck-wild gathering ideas!

Here's a moodboard for Mychael:

This one was for Alma, from their normal self to their monstrous self:

Then it's time for drawing and doodles. As I sketch, I look back at the moodboard I've made and pick out things I like, while drawing things really loose. Copy paste if I need to!

I've shared the ones for Mychael here, here and here! Here's some sketches for Alma from last year:

This part takes the longest but is always the most fun! Don't feel limited by what you had initially, just test out ideas! Here are the final designs!

Mychael(s):

Alma(s):

Then once I'm happy with the design I can flesh out the backstory as much as I like!!! so long as it fits the presentation of the character in current time. Of course this process can differ when you already have a story in mind and need characters to carry out the plot, but I'm definitely not big-brain enough to make an all-out story like that </3 I just enjoy designing characters visually haha

Oh and just for fun, I like to sprinkle in some extra (but kinda unnecessary) background info. It can be the most mundane thing but it gives them more life (to me at least!) Maybe they drink flat orange soda, or enjoy riding trains at night, or hate the smell of french fries, or think apples are disgusting etcetcetc.

Of course there's like, tips for professional character designing like silhouette, shapes, proportions but I assume this ask was for a more casual approach <3 That's all I could think of if I were to describe my process,,, I hope that answers your question!

To recap:

Start with personality traits and decide backstory later. Or work them together as one. It's more concept than visuals at this stage.

Assemble a moodboard for inspiration. The more ideas the better! Look up anything that might relate to your character if it helps.

Sketch, sketch and sketch again! Keep things loose and free. I usually start from the face, to clothes to accessories. Colors go last.

Finalize! Put everything together in one rendered drawing, and see if you vibe with it. You can always go back to previous steps if you're still not happy with it.

And you're done! :-)