#Just a quick sketch to cleanse myself

[prettymediocrewizard]

I am physically incapable of going longer than a week without drawing them.

h. help. .

[arlome]

A quick sketch of my favourite Austen heroine, Anne Elliot.

I just had to draw her to cleanse myself of that Netflix atrocity. Brrrrrrr.

[saragreenlittleflowers]

I finally arrived in this place of gods. There is a way of saying in Italian that goes "Un posto dimenticato da Dio", "A place that God forgot about". Here is quite the opposite; it feels like this is a place where the gods live. It's officially my first day in Itoshima (Fukuoka Prefecture), and my third day in Japan. I am really here, totally, entirely, with my brushes and my sketchpad and my heart full of curiosity and love. Today I wandered a lot all around to find out about a beautiful bamboo forest topped by a torii. I felt curious and I ventured in the realm of the sacred. I walked under the old stone torii and I immediately felt uneasy. I felt fear and the need of coming back; I wasn't welcomed in the bamboo forest, I felt that I wasn't allowed to be there. I could easily recognise where people had walked until they moulded a path through the tall bamboo, but after a few meters the path had disappeared to leave space to the wilderness. I had to come back. I was being kicked out. After crossing the torii again on my way back, I walked safely on the main road to explore another torii, which actually turned out to be a wonderful uphill walk. The shrine is called Masuegoro Inari Jinja (松末五郎稲荷神社), a shrine to kami O-Inari, the God/Goddess (it's depicted in both female and male form) of foxes, rice and fertility, but also agriculture in general, and sake. Most inhabitants of Itoshima are involved into agriculture and in fact they even sell their produce at local shops; it makes sense that O-Inari is so venerated. I bought quite a few bits from them and they all taste delicious. The O-Inari Jinja experience is hard to describe. For the first time in my life I practiced Shinto in a shrine. I entered the torii and immediately saw the little stone basin with a bamboo scoop. I slowly washed my hands: first the left one while the right one would scoop up some water and let it fall on the skin, and then viceversa. Then the mouth and ultimately another quick hand wash before putting the scoop away. In Shintoism it's important to be cleansed before entering a sacred territory, it's a sign of respect. Who would show up at someone's house all dirty, after all? There is a special energy here that is proper of gods. And then there are humans, who grew around this energy. I have happened to come across an old man who was taking care of the shrine today, as I was climbing my way up - the shrine is built on a hill and is made of little sites, just like a pilgrimage. The old man was all busy washing the cups that are usually filled with offerings. He diligently, slowly, carefully cleaned all of them under the stream of water and then put them back, in extreme silence and devotion. I observed him from a distant spot and he would not look up once, such was his absorption. I sketched a lot, stopping by each and every tiny shrine. Some didn't have offerings, others did; one tiny shrine had an unopened sake can (O-Inari is also the kami of sake). Another shrine was constituted of 4 perfectly aligned Inari statues, a bit run down but still intact. The biggest shrines had large bottles of sake all wrapped in what looked like thin white paper and a red ribbon, long inscriptions on top. It was magical to witness all this devotion, and even more magical to be there myself and practice this wonderful indigenous form of belief that I feel so much close to my heart, as if I belonged to it.

Tomorrow I want to see the ocean. It's only a bike ride away. Updates soon. I'm so happy that I'm here. I saved every penny of my income to make this happen, for years. It's unreal to sit on this bed right now, in a bedroom that I cleaned and tidied up myself today, and to listen to the chatter of the old neighbours. I had miso soup and vegetables with tofu for dinner, treat of my housemate. The local train is passing by right now, I can hear the sound of the bell that announces it and the noise of the rails. I brought a little table here, that is now standing by the big window, open to the fresh summer wind. It's very humid, yet I don't mind it; I kind of like it somehow. I feel deep, warm pleasure inside of my soul, and my soul feels home. My broken Japanese is slowly getting better. I learnt a word today (which I had already studied a few months ago, but not practicing I tend to forget): 米 - こめ - kome, rice. It's now engraved in my memory.

[saturdayxiii]

Yesterday at work, I had an inspiration to do a quick portrait from a photo reference, so I did.  I used a black, fat, chisel marker on a panel of cardboard and it took about 5 minutes.  The results weren’t great, but if you looked at the reference I think you could tell what I was going for.  I was encouraged by this.  I love the idea of being able to do portraits or capture images in the moment and bust out  a recreation in a few minutes.  So I decided to do some more practicing when I got home that evening.

Why did it go so horribly?

These pictures are my practice and while the one I half-assed at work wasn’t great, these ones are off the chart bad.  I don’t know what exactly I need to fix in my approach to even get on the right path, but needed to post my thoughts about the experience.  Maybe in hopes that that will be the trigger that helps me get better and leave these scraps behind, even though I don’t know how to improve even if I could be confident that I’d properly assessed my weaknesses.  I mean, that’s why I did these sketches, because I thought I knew what areas to focus on, and it took me a huge step backwards.

What irritates me the most, is how none of the sketches even have the aura of their subjects.  There’s a hint here or there, but nothing like “yah, the art’s not tight, but that is definitely that person”, and that’s really what I want to accomplish the most.

Here’s my individual notes:

1. I started digital because I really love the idea of having my one device that I take with me everywhere and do everything with.  I’ve been pushing myself to prioritize digital art for about 6 years now, even though I was always familiar with digital coloring/touch ups, but the weaknesses really glare here.  Accuracy is huge, as it’s next to impossible to get the lines that I want digitally.  It’s always sketch, undo, sketch, undo, sketch, undo, and then when I get sick of that it’s sketch sketch sketch, new layer, slow trace, undo, slow trace.  A lot of people understand this to be the nature of digital art, and I don’t 100% buy into that, but none the less it’s what I’m contending with.  I didn’t really concentrate on going slow, and I think that’s something I really need to consciously aim for, but right here that defeats the purpose of doing fast portraits.  I want to feel good and natural when drawing, so I decided to switch back to analogue art.

2. No. Stop.  No matter what, I have a ridiculous number of false starts.  Just trying to coordinate my brain with the medium I guess.  Warm up exercises would probably help, but it also seems like a waste of resources if I happen to get lucky and make something reasonable on my first try.

3.  Skew.  I always skew.  I’m well aware of my inability to do symmetry, and I try really hard to correct this when drawing.  I’ve been addressing this for years, and it hasn’t gotten any better.  This handicap is laid bare when I can’t start with a rough sketch.  I am trying to measure and compare proportions, but they still skew as I go.  I guess I really need to get my hand off the page, stop and check my work.  But when I don’t have an initial sketch, and that’s the point of this exercise, what am I checking?  The lines that don’t exist are in my head, and they don’t end up on the paper in the same spots. I have to work with the mistakes I’ve made no matter what.

4.  The features in this one are just so off.  I can’t even.  I had been marking points where I thought stuff should go, before drawing lines to connect them.  Not only is everything still completely inaccurate, but the picture just looks so dead.  It’s a corpse of a face that no one’s ever seen before.

5.  So I bailed on pre mapping and went the n00b route of starting with individual features.  Of course the eyes are where I feel most comfortable. I probably am most happy with this portrait, but it’s such a step back from every tutorial that I’ve been getting help from these days.  I wish this was my starting point of my drawing exercise.  I might be able to continue from this approach, but I need to get comfortable with a better starting point as this brings the usual issue of not being able to keep my drawing on the page. I know Davinci started with the ear, but that’s a little too around the bend for me. Maybe I can try starting from the cheek to the forehead or something to help me work on features while still having a better overview of my total size... maybe.

6.  This one is wrong, but like the last one it doesn’t upset me.  It was especially frustrating as I had the hair framing the face, then in full awareness but no ability to stop I watched myself draw the right eye too close to the hair, then the left eye too far away, despite having some pretty easy markers to work with.  Speaking of markers, I switched to a traditional sharpie pen for this one.  I had been using a dip pen.  I think I need to hunt down a chisel tip marker like at work as that seems to be best of both worlds.  Especially as my medium at work was pretty large, maybe about the size of legal paper, while everything I worked with at home was no larger than 6 inches.

Hopefully this word vomit cleanses me, or something.  Though why would it?  I don’t think my art has improved for the last 15 years.  I have a couple helpful techniques for digital art, but nothing that applies in this exercise.  I can’t even pin point anything I did right in these sketches.  Like, nothing that’s says “that’s good, keep doing that.”  It’s just, throw it all away and start at square zero again.  At least I got some new teases, like, maybe try a chisel marker on a full canvas, find a way to fake a sketch that will let me test proportions before final lines, and looking at the thumbnails of my work is even helping me pick out better shapes in my subjects that I wish I noticed the first time.

*sigh*, maybe at some decade in my life I’ll be able to do consistent work of an adequate quality, or at least perhaps the false hope will keep me from falling into complete anhedonia.  Maybe.

[renejamesart]

Burnish Angels

Oh pitiful human, caught in our inferno Oh stagnant spirit, locked from communion with the Earth

May the white-hot fire of the burning souls of the infernal heavenly maidens strike down upon you blazing vengeance and furious anger

Melt your loathsome heart and cleanse yourself by our righteous flames! Burn up, motherfucker!

This past Friday, I saw Promare, which will probably be the best movie I saw this year, outside of Spider-verse. It’s just... so, so good, and was such an optomistic film that left me wanting to race through the streets and believe in the innate power of thoughtfully reckless kindness.

While a lot of fans -including myself- noticed the underlying vibes of Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill, I was struck by the intense Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt vibe I got from the film. Colorwise, and especially with Mad Burnish, Trigger pulls on this very raunchy series -in a family-friendly and quite queer film- and really it really stayed with me.

About ten minutes into my viewing, I was hit with the desire to draw Panty & Stocking Anarchy as Mad Burnish with full on armor. These were my quick sketches: I pulled elements from the character, including the fact that they’re angels. (You can see that on their ankles.)

For Panty, I went with a rounded rabbit theme. In PSG, Panty has a lot of angles: I decided to swap that with Stocking, who has a much more round shape, and added the bunny motif because, well... Panty is quite sexual, and rabbits tend to be associated with sex.

For Stocking, I went with a cat theme because of her stuffed anime, Honeko. I also made her much more angular, and used the sleeves of her shirt for general inspiration.

Together, they’re the terror of the city: two angels able to harness the wicked power of fire, and two angels who aren’t afriad to light it up!

I also really tried to pull on the saturated colors of the film, and I have to say that for my first time creating in Procreate, I really, really love how these turned out. I feel like you can tell that I pulled on the Anarchy Sisters base designs too: the colors are from their typical outfits, with touches added here and there to stylize them.

All in all... I’m just like super proud of this: it came out really, really good!

I really hope to develop the designs further in October -potentially traditionally, if I get the urge- and see what I can do with them. My adventures in Procreate are just getting started: I can only go up from here!

Originally created 9.27.2019 and finished 9.29.2019 in Procreate for iOS

[transindia]

A day in the trans closet...

When you're a trans person in the closet, life is pretty much on edge at all times. Being outed is THE constantly threat you have to live with 24x7, and in certain locations it can be a matter of life and death. Apart from the constant incongruence you have with your mind, body, and expression, you have the weight of 'hiding the evidence' before someone finds out something up. There is only so much luck and quick thinking can do and I am often amazed at how I had kept this side of me so secretive for so long. Close shaves, I've had a plenty. . I had started to embrace my real self even before I hit puberty. You just can not imagine how aware kids are about themselves. It's freaky to think I knew something was "off" from the earliest memories I have. The only problem: I did not have the terms to define it, nor did I have anybody I could talk to. But I was well tuned to my surroundings and knew best to keep it to myself (unsuccessfully a lot of times). . As a kid trying to explore my gender, I remember dressing down to be the hardest part. It would always be a race against time. Mom and dad are out for a few hours, and I have to clear the "evidence" before they get back. If anything is out of place, I'm busted. If something is missing, I'm busted. I took every precaution, but I had to think of 'what-if' scenarios and keep multiple troubleshooting options at the ready. I still preferred to live in the shadows for my own safety back then. . Though the reflection in the mirror screams 'don't leave', I roughly have 20 mins to cruelly erase my identity. I always felt wrong about taking things that did not belong to me. I felt like a thief, working in the shadows. Dad's crisp 'jhabba' (a traditional white cotton Kurta) that I used to repurpose as a skirt has to be kept back on his chair. The clothes I "borrowed" from my mom's wardrobe have to be folded and kept just as they were (I'd make sketches and diagrams about the strategic location of garments in mom's wardrobe just to be sure everything was in place). The watercolour pallette which was my first "makeup" ever has to go back in the secret drawer, along with the liquid foundation my cousin left behind that I'd been using for a year. The clip-on hoop earrings I made by bending u-clips have to be trashed along with other DIY jewellery (including origami tiaras). The black shorts which served as a wig have to go back in the wardrobe. I'd have to make sure every pore of my face is cleansed with weird smelling Johnson and Johnson baby oil (couldn't afford makeup remover). I have to ensure no makeup stains are left on switches, mirrors, door handles, and other furniture. That’s the easy part. Then it's all about suppressing the rage that I HAVE TO do this. Not get sad. Pretend like everything is normal. Get ready to lie out of my teeth. Feel guilty. Feel horrible. Live in dread. Check if things are in place again. Recheck. Obsess over those 'what-if' scenarios. Lose mind. Obsess some more. Check again. Wait, I almost forgot to keep this bac....TING TONG! . Cut to: next day. No anomalies detected by caregivers. She lives to sass things up another day. Phew!

[romanovcain]

( BILL SKARSGÅRD, MALE, HE/HIM ) I, CAIN ROMANOV am a LEGACY student and would hereby like to submit my application to Kingswood Boarding School. I am EIGHTEEN years old and will be a SENIOR I would describe myself as RIGHTEOUS and AMBITIOUS, but also AVOIDANT and UNTRUSTING which I plan to work on during my time here. This is my request to join the HENRY building as a house MEMBER and look forward to hearing back from you. [ jimbo, 19, est ;)] 

hi this is cain and i love him treat him nicely ok thanks

tw: cults, abuse, heroin, weird religion shit

son of vaughn and adelaide romanov

vaughn being one of the senators of the state [whichever one that kingswood is located in] and his wife being a huge contributor to charity work over the years

adelaide was born and raised in england to a very, very, noble family and still keeps in close contact to them--often visiting them with the children

cain is the eldest of five children and always had a strong sense of duty to protect his younger siblings from harm’s way

the only one allowed to bully them is cain himself

right off the bat, cain could do no wrong. he was a perfect child who never threw tantrums or tracked mud throughout the house--he was obedient and had a great deal of respect for his parents and their reputations

they practically grew up down the street from kingswood, and he had always known he was going to attend the school. it was in his blood, both lines, and cain strove to never disappoint

being of such high status did, admittedly, give cain too much of an ego

he wasn’t boastful about his family, but he did give off an almost untouchable air

he either acknowledged you, or ignored you completely. often decided on who your parents were

at kingswood he was practically their golden child; the poster child.

he was respectful and charming, his smile could get him free of a month’s worth of detention, and he never let himself get into any bad publicity

he was part of several clubs, and was the star jumper on the track team

his presence at kingswood was known, and it was that simple. either you knew of him, or you wish he knew you

he was elitist and didn’t acknowledge those he considered ‘less than’ him; scholarship students, henry boys and victoria girls--anybody who would tarnish the reputation he had from birth was a no-go

he never sought out problems, himself, having always avoided unneeded conflict

that being said--when there was needed conflict, he wasn’t afraid to have it...handled

his best friend died sophomore year and it affected him pretty badly, though he would have never showed it

if anything, he became colder--if that was even possible. he was practically the ice king.

he went into senior year as head of edward house, the president of student gov, along with a member of several other clubs, and captain of the track team. 

and months later; on january 1st, 2018--cain disappeared

nobody knew where he had gone; it sent the nation into a panic.

months long search hunts, constant activity checks on his cards and phone, national broadcasting of his information. radio silence.

cain was, not dead--but seemed like it

in reality, he had given up his life of luxury to pursue what he thought was a new beginning

his recruiters were carefree children of god; who believed wealth was the root of all evil, and that those corrupted by capitalism had to be saved

they were part of a much, much, larger cult--with many, many more followers

they met cain by coincidence; small talk in a bank. they knew who he was; everybody knew who cain romanov was.

the fact his name was cain, was a message from god

they had to have him

they managed to impress cain with their intensive knowledge of life, and from there they had stayed in contact

right until january 1st, when cain was ‘initiated’ into their cult

the new year symbolized new lives, and they stripped him of his sins.

it was fine, at first. cain enjoyed the simplicity of their lives and didn’t particularly mind the worship--he had grown up religious

they were minimalist, and didn’t want cain to own any personal belongings, but he managed to hide a secret journal inside his mattress.

it was at first, just something to record his days with, or write letters to the people he missed, despite the fact he could never send them

it soon proved to be his means of survival

as the months passed by, cain was finding it harder to please his new family. they wanted more out of him. they wanted him to bless them, but he was just a boy

he was just a boy.

they found reasons to punish cain, no matter how small the error--he was punished

they involved him being grabbed at and tugged at, dozens of hands pulling at his limbs and clothes and begging him--chanting at him--to repent, until he did so

other times, they’d cleanse him via baptism, repeatedly, until water nearly filled his lungs

one of the worst things they did, were their attempts to subdue him and force him to conform back into their ways. everyday, they’d inject him with a small dose of heroin

this action led to cain’s eventual memory loss; his memory became fuzzed, shattered, only pieces and bits of his previous life left behind

but his journals reminded him of what he used to have. even if he didn’t remember it fully himself, he could read his own words and know that no matter what was going on--it was not right. and he had to get out.

he let the cult thing he was conforming, for a few months after that--to just, avoid the punishments.

it worked for a while, up until new years eve.

he had done something, unworthy to their god, and he was to pay in a terrible way.

they held him down, and attempted to brand cain with--well, the mark of cain

he bit them whenever they tried to come near his head, so they settled with his chest--right over his heart

at their cleansing ritual, that was when cain made his escape--running through woods and woods and woods until he collapsed in the middle of the highway, nearly causing an accident

it was soon reported, on january 1st, 2019, that cain romanov had been found

despite having been, running for hours, and extremely dirty--cain had been forced to recount to the police exactly where he had gone, what he had endured.

he broke down several times, sobbing, though it is a fact he keeps strictly to himself

and just like that--he was taken home.

the family reunion was....tough. some of his family had accepted the fact he was dead, others had always known he was still alive, somehow.

regardless, it was all very emotional.

despite how emotional, it was, every time somebody went to hug him, or shake his hand, or anything--he’d back away, cringe, with a repulsed look on his face

it was an extremely quick decision, but after a brief amount of thought--both kingswood and his parents thought it would be good for publicity if he finished the school year he never got to see--enrolling him for his senior year. again.

his father took advantage of the heartfelt reunion, and took the chance to announce his campaign for presidency--in name of his found son, who gave him hope once more. or some other bullshit.

cain is not the boy he was previously. he is much more reserved, yet not nearly as elite as before. he doesn’t give a shit where somebody came from. he just wants to finish his year and go about his life again

suffers from pstd and goes to therapy once a week; he still journals because his therapist told him too

also took up sketching (often, abstract portraits) as a way to help him think, or process, or cope. it was a method of healing.

looking at his old journals helps him with recognizing people, but he doesn’t really remember them

he doesn’t remember too much of his time at kingswood, and is struggling. it’s weird to know he meant so much to specific people, even though he has no memory of them anymore

he’s gradually regaining his memory, but is also dealing with heroin withdrawals. after all, they had been forcing it into his system everyday

he cant stand being touched, contact with others repulses him and often triggers flashbacks to the cult

he has no interest in any of his former positions, choosing to focus on schoolwork.

there’s probably more that i forgot tbh

EDIT: the police found the recruiters of the cult, but not the entire ordeal. cain is obsessed with the investigation, and follows it extremely closely. if anything, he’s creating his own mini investigation in following.

wanted connections !!!

past connections, mainly

old friends

ex-relationships

people he should really remember but doesn’t

he was an idol for many, and was notorious around the school. if theyve been at kingswood for a while, there is a huge chance they knew of him

god i dont know

just. give me angst. he doesn’t remember a lot about others.

[inspirehellfire]

I like to start off my Yule/Solstice with some heavy duty cleaning and cleansing and I didn't think I was going to be up to it today after my long ass day in Retail Hell.

Luckily, my boyfriend is one of the greatest human beings ever and decided to do laundry for me today so I had time to relax to myself, and while I didn't do the perfect job I wanted to... I did a lot. And I'm very happy with it. I lit the fuck outta some candles, opened a few windows and plugged in the Christmas lights and listened to some Glass Animals and just got into a really good headspace. As soon as I left that headspace and started to get frustrated and nit-picky I was able to easily step away without getting overwhelmed or frustrated and watched Lucifer while I did a quick sketch for the first time in years.

I kinda lost track of what I was trying to say here. X) I'm just... happy, and hoping all my followers have a wonderful solstice/ Yule/Christmas/Whatever upcoming celebration you celebrate, and may the new year give you all the happiness and contentment I'm starting to find in my own life.

[a-byronic-heroine]

Kly took the bottle in her ink stained hands, sighing shakily as she calmed from the sudden scare. She leaned into Eskel’s touch as his hand trailed down her back, rubbing the tense muscles along her spine. She wanted nothing more than to collapse into him and just be held. She was tired, she was scared, she was worried. She felt like she did back in Tir na Lia, helpless to do anything but tread water to keep her nose barely above the waves. Instead of doing what she wanted to though, she turned and worked to finish the sketches. It was quick work and it would be done soon enough. As she finished the diagrams, she heard Eskel speak. She looked at him where he was staring at Crevan with no small amount of skepticism. He lacked many physical traits of the proud Aen Elle men. He was too short and thin. Something he received no small amount of derision for. But what he lacked physically he more than made up for in other ways.

“He’s far more powerful than he looks. He was hand selected to father children of the Elder Blood. Only Auberon was more magically gifted than him in all our species. Imagine the strongest, most cruel human sorceress you know and couple that with the Emperor of Nilfgaard. You’ll begin to understand exactly what he is,” she said darkly as she blew on the drying ink of the final diagram page. “He has orchestrated every ethnic cleansing our people have gone through. Any genocide we commit against another species, he creates and controls. There isn’t a thought in the mind of the common Aen Elle that he doesn’t manipulate, all from the shadows where he can’t be touched.” She scowled at Crevan where he slept, her fists clenched. Every time she looked at him she wanted to kill him. Boil him alive with his own blood. “He had is claws so deep in Auberon. He controlled everything when I was forced to marry and become Queen. But then I had control of illusions. Auberon enjoyed the escape from life I provided, and so Crevan lost some of his control. That’s when the assassination attempts started.

“He used Ziraeal to draw Auberon back into his clutches. He had the entire High Council eating out of his hand with a promise of a return to glory. A way to escape the White Frost.” She looked at the quill in her shaking hand. She wanted to drive it into his eyes, jam it under his finger and toenails and pull them out while he writhed and screamed for her mercy. “He saw I was against it and used that. He would get rid of Auberon and put a more compliant puppet on the throne, and he’d blame either myself or that fool Eredin for the entire thing.” She wanted to scream at how trapped she felt again. Locked in this awful stalemate where no one but her seemed to understand the danger of letting this bastard live. It was happening all over again, but it was worse now. Now she had someone to lose. Eskel. He would no doubt be swept up in the chaos and destruction that followed Crevan’s every step. She felt helpless.

She took a deep breath to try and calm herself. She motioned to the journal below her before shutting it now that the ink had dried. “That’s why I’m taking down these sketches. The tattoos are a closely guarded secret of Aen Saevherne that pass their tests. I think they better channel magic in areas where it’s concentration is low. It would explain why he was able to so easily conjure powerful magic here. I’ll need to study it further though before I can be sure.”

@wanderingwolfwitcher asked: [BEHIND]

[ BEHIND ] : unexpectedly, your muse arrives close to mine from behind, taking them by surprise.

Kly was standing over Crevan’s weakling form where he was still strapped to that ridiculous bench. She had warned Eskel and his brother to leave the misfired curse in place, but no. Geralt and Yennefer thought it was Ciri trapped in that ugly little meat sack. She refused to aid them in their attempts to break the spell. It would’ve been easy for her to do it, but she wasn’t about to help the Fox who had seen fit to torment her for so many years. The same Fox whose fault it was that she was trapped here. Now it was she that had superiority over him. He was sniveling there, shuddering and tossing and turning in pain. His insides were shredded mush and would likely remain that way for the rest of his miserable existence. Good. It was what he deserved for putting her through this.

She glared at his face in the dying firelight. Everyone else was asleep, likely exhausted from undoing the curse. And Geralt claimed he was going to find Zireael. That, too, she argued vehemently against. But to no avail. He would likely leave in the morning. How easy it would be, she thought to herself, for her to reach out and gouge his eyes from their sockets. To rip his venomous tongue out of his smug mouth. To crush his conniving skull under her boot heel.

Instead, she ripped the blanket placed over him off, letting it flutter to the floor. He was in nothing save poorly fitted undergarments. But now she could see what she needed. The tattoos of the Aen Saevherne. They were a closely guarded secret. One that few could interpret. He was covered in them, and they reacted to her magic when she reached out and probed at them. She withdrew and grabbed a candle, lighting it and dragging out a large leatherbound journal with empty pages. She began sketching the tattoos out in diagrams. She was on her second candle and the last bits of the tattoos when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder.

She jerked, nearly dropping the quill pen. She did knock over her ink bottle as she whirled around to face whoever it was, but it was already nearing emptiness. A blade formed in her hand as she turned on her “assailant”, only to be met with a familiar face. She sagged and finally looked down at the overturned bottle, the blade disappearing as soon as it had appeared. “You startled me,” she snapped. She’d been jumpy ever since that sorceress just appeared and started making demands. The first day they met they had nearly brought Kaer Morhen down on top of all of them. Her edginess was only made worse when Geralt strode in with Crevan under his arm, all warted and deformed.

[honey-booty-chips-blog]

TATTOO ARTIST MC HEADCANON + SAERAN

YESTHIS IS,, SO GOODthis will take place before the main plot of mystic messenger!

you were kind of weirded out by saeran when he first entered your tattoo parlor

he gave off a sketchy vibe

he didn’t talk much but the sketch of an eyeball he showed you was pretty simple and with no shading or intense details, the pain wouldn’t be too bad

you got to work pretty quickly and asked about the meaning as you began

HE BEGAN TO TALK A LOT

“yes. it is symbolic of the goal to end suffering and attain eternal life.”

……. what in the fresh fuck

or should you say

what in salvation

“this world is impure. it is up to use to cleanse it. it is up to us to save it.”

he went on for a really long time about paradise??????

you wanted to laugh but you also wanted to call the police

but luckily the session was fairly quick and—

FUCK HE’S BACK

it had only been 2 weeks but he already wanted to add around the tattoo you gave him

you avoided any and all conversation but he certainly didn’t

you almost slipped up when he started to speak

“this design represents reaching out. offering our help.”

……… uh. it’s just a fancy line but ok

“is that really what it means?”

“y-yes”

“ah. i see. you know, i’d… i’d like to make myself believe that planet earth turns slowly”

his eyes (holy shit is he wearing contacts) lit up

“that’s what our organization is all about!”

you smiled and you suddenly weren’t as freaked out by this guy anymore

he was back again in another 2 weeks with another detail he wanted

except this tattoo didn’t symbolize anything and he didn’t mention that cult once

he asked what you liked to do, what music you listened to, what genres of movies you enjoyed, and—

IF YOU WERE FREE THAT SATURDAY

oh. my god,,

he was blushing and actually he was really cute and wow ok alright wHOA

you both enjoyed your ice cream date that week

and the next week

and the week after that

you guys would definitely get matching tattoos after mint eye was disbanded!~ admin c & admin e

[pixelatedlenses]

So let me introduce myself. Im living in mainland Japan currently, serving a three year contract in the Marine Corps. My major is east Asia studies with a focus in culture.The requirements just say you need s bachelors degree. I know business majors who are in the program. What do u get out of it--that you can take back to the states?

I hope you don’t mind that I answered this publicly,but this is something that I want to share with everyone, largely because of myperson answer. If you would like it private, I’ll forward this entire messageto you via email or PM, and delete it. Just let me know: it’s your question andanswer, after all.

(Forgive me in advance because this is like a 9 pagereply. Feel free to ask for clarification or further details though!)

Let me introduce myself also: I’m Mercedez, a 24 yearold ALT living in Fukushima City, Fukushima, Japan. I like sewing, video games,sketching, and laughing. I listen to lots of podcasts, speak English and Japanand am learning Korean and want to relearn Mandarin and add in Russian, Hawaiianand definitely Esperanto.

And I love my job as an ALT.

I want to assure you about the degrees: I have twodegrees: my BA is in History with a focus in East Asia, and my MA is in Historyand Museum Studies. Both of these are far away from the majority of BusinessMajors I’ve met, though there’s a few of us –the Few, the Proud– Fine Arts andHumanities folks here too. I had them because I did both back to back, butyeah, all you need is a BA in any field.You could do something focused on Asia, or Japan, but you could also be aComputers major and get in. That’s not a make-it-or-break-it thing: you justneed a degree.

Coming in with that background –I typically focus inJapan from the 1980s to current, with a heavy emphasis on Women’s Culture interms of music, fashion, heritage, and feminism, though I want to expand a similarrange of 1970 to current to South Korea, but that beside the point– means thatI was coming here to emphasis the Ein JET: a cultural exchange where I learned and stopped being a teacher, andbecame student to an entire nation.

So the easy answer is that there’s a lot you can takeback. There’s a bicultural identity, there’s an openness to that comes frombeing explicitly Foreign too: you gain a lot of understanding and sympathy towhat you have, and what another culture functions as. I think that can be lifechanging and a solution to the social-cultural climate our world’s in right now:understanding.

(You also get lots of American men looking for a wifein a way that smacks of Yellow Fever fetishism. Sigh.)

The long answer is more personal, and will deal withwhat I think I’ll be taking home. Let’s go with that reply.

So I came here with a broad goal: learn about Japan.I’ve spent about 6 years –and probably almost all 52,560 hours of those years–focused on studying Japan. I cut my teeth on breaking the very prejudicedstereotypes I had of Japan in my early years of college, then went on to writeabout yukata and Japanese women’sculture and heritage in my MA. I wanted to carry on learning and breaking downwhat I had thought Japan should be orwas. I wanted to learn what the reality is currently. That seemed to bea positive way to

Now I can say that’s change, and I have three majorthings I want to take home

Number One: Community and Communal Effort

Community is a big part of Japan’s social-culturalidentity.

“The stake that stands out gets pounded down” –ugh, Iprobably messed that all up, but Ibelieve that’s close– is a phrase for a reason: standing out, being aberrant, makingtrouble or being different alter social dynamic, and can break harmony andcause issue .That can certainly be difficult to navigate, and at large,something I don’t always agree with as a way to handle social issues, but tuckbetween is a deep sense of community, a “we’re all in this together” vibe thatI –as an outside– really appreciate.

I don’t think I’m a part of a lot of communities. I’man American, sure, but I’ve never really fit in with the “Black community”, the“nerd community” can be grating, the “cosplay community” differs wildly inAmerica and Japan and can have the same issue as nerds –American, not Japan– andthough I have friends and that’s acommunity, I’m not so quick to call it that because it feels markedly differentto me. They’re my community but more, if you get what I mean.

However, the community of Fukushima City is certainlythe kind of community I’m focusing on: tight-knit, strong, and supportive.

Now, this may be because of a lot of reasons: location,proximity to others, culture, 3.11 certainly, but it goes farther back anddeeper than the disaster and really takes from both culture and manner. There’sa sense of support from folks in Tohoku, though I believe Tohoku is one of thebest, and kindest, regions in Japan. There’s a lot of smiles, lots of kindness,and helping hands: not always from obligation, but just from good folks beinggood.

America still has communities, of course, but I thinknot quite so much: the proverbial village to raise the child now criticizes themother, and the support systems that used to be in place to help in times ofneed are being decreased due to budget cuts and a desire for privatization.Because money and community have become exchangeable, a lot of groups suffer.Grassroots takes funds to start, community centers need funds for repairs, andit costs to join groups. It’s hard, especially in a time where it seems you can’ttrust your neighbour. Communities are very, very necessary, and having good,strong communities, more so.

Certainly you can find this in Japan, but you canalso find the free support of others.

I think that this is so important to me to rebuild ina similar manner because I like the friendliness of communities. I will admitthat I think millennials –my people, in fact– are onto the kind of communitiesI see here: support networks of people who see you, acknowledge you, and arethere for you. There’s a lot of love, a lot of “no problem” concern abouthelping others when you can, and that shows promise that my work and the workof thousands of others to help bring back community in a supportive, freelygiven sense is being realized.

Community is what we need in hard times, and theseare some pretty hard times. Seeing friendly faces, having people help me moveand make my way through Fukushima City, bolsters my and reminds me to pass onthat bit of kindness. Every bit I get is a sweet morsel: it makes me soft,gives me space to be kind and express kindness. It’s a really great thing thatI feel America just needs to be remindedof again: after all, there’s communities there, they just need to be given asimilar space.

Number Two: Festivals

I love festivals.

Give me a reason to eat some grilled meat andcelebrate something and I’m there, 500 yen coins in hand.

Fukushima City has no shortage either: we’re justaround the corner from the season of festivals, which in the prefecture, seemsto extend from Spring to Early Winter, starting back up in February all again.

Certainly, America has festivals, but they’re almosta folksy thing: they’re rustic, rural and barely suburban events, and if they’renot something national like a parade or a state affair, are usually overlookedoutside of communities in the immediate area.

I want festivals to be mainstream, to be enjoyable,powerful celebrations of cultural heritage and a united place. I want to seefestivals that introduce culture in a way that gives a platform, but also helpsto continue positive change. Rather, I want to see those festivals that alreadyoccur in the vein given a bigger, more national platform.

I feel like I’ve learned a lot from Fukushima Cityjust from festivals: local specialties like shamon chicken from the Chicken Festivalin Kawamata, Fukushima; a strong Argentinean presence and cultural exchangefrom Cosquin en Japon; fighting spirit from Hachiman; respect for those whocame before me and protect me from Obon matsuri. These were really valuemoments that let me have the chance to engage respectfully with a culture, andunderstand a region.

I want there to be more of a festival and culturalcelebration in America, more than there already is. I want to see peoplevividly showcasing “This is me!” to everyone, because I think that willcontinue to bring understanding. I think that without understanding, America isonly going to continue to decline as it is right now.

But all Americans understand festivals, drinks, andfood: I think having a festival culture will allow education under the guise ofgrilled meats, good alcohol, and music.

Fun is a very powerful cure for ignorance: Icertainly found myself learning with every event. I had never considered thatJapanese persons might speak Spanish and perform in Cosquin en Japon’s musicalshowcase. I’d never considered Obon being a celebration and not a solemn event.Those changes of my mind changed me and helped me to understand different partsof Japan. Certainly the country is mostly Japanese people, but they’re notquite as homogenous as we encourage in America. There’s a lot of diversity ofthought and cultural sharing.

That’s super what counts.

Number Three: Food Culture and Sharing

Oh man, I love food. Like, I love food. I’m thinkingabout my lunch bento –I ordered it so I can eat with the librarian and mysupervisor today because they’re my girls and I love them both– and it’s onlylike… 9.

Food is good: it’s necessary, but cleansing, comesfrom hard work or deep friers, feels good, heals good, and makes you want tostrive for good. It’s just good.

So I feel this is best explained through a long, windinganecdote. Here goes.

When I first came, my American manners really stoodout: I wouldn’t eat until everyone got their food, I declined

But I wanted to, desperately: I wanted to sampleevery time someone offered, but it just felt bad. I was paying for only my meal, and these people –not friends,but simple co-workers and more mildly, acquaintances– weren’t. It would havebeen wrong to take a fair portion and still pay my 1000 yen for my meal only.It’s hard to describe why: I think it’s just how I grew up. Strange, because weshare food in mass, but there’s something about the “Mine” culture of Americathat makes it incredibly hard to do otherwise.

It took me months to break this habit of course: I’donly share at events where the food was meant to be shared family style, but Ithink around  December, I finally gave inand said, “Yeah, I wanna taste that!” when someone offered me from their plate.I shared back and realized, yeah, this is okay. I won’t say that I’m a sharingfood now, but I will say that when I last went for Mexican, I share everything fromenchiladas to fajitas, a plate of nachos, some sides: save for my drink, we allshared everything, and just went at the bill in thirds.

I want more food sharing in America like this, notjust with family or at events or family style resturants. I want to be able toshare from each other’s plates and not feel a really strong sense of “Mine!”all the time. Certainly, there’s times where I want that one dish to be mine,but I like that there’s a comfort in sharing food with each other, in tryinglots of different things. It’s friendly and cozy, and definitely something Iwant to invite more Americans to do.

Plus, who doesn’t love eating lots of differentthings?

Number Four: The Art of Getting Lost

I chose to end this lengthy read on this because Ithink that in America, there’s a lack of getting lost for the sake of gettinglost.

We’re a busy culture: even as someone who loved logndrives, it became incredibly hard for me to indulge in grad school. Gas was acost, time was needed elsewhere, and so I cut back on journeying down littlelanes or dirt roads and went directly where I needed to and back to myapartment.

As I sit here, thinking of a train ride to somewhere,I think about the fact that Japanese culture allows for a lot of aimlessexploration via trains and buses. Being a small country, trains and buses arevery efficient, running often enough that unless it’s super late, you canalways get back to a main station or area.

I think there’s a kind of quiet beauty in that: yougo on an adventure to get away, and find your center again and feel mentallyclean. I find that here, I’m encouraged and given space to do that again:explore, get lost in a small town or big city, and come back to what needsdoing refreshed.

I think that there’s a lot of trips in America, butthere’s always stress with them. Mind, I know and recognize that Japanesepeople also stress: not all their trips are Studio Ghibli stereotypes. Sometimestrips are just stressful, even amidst having fun.

But I do think that Japanese culture’s harmony, whena positive attribute and not a way to keep peace over dealing with conflict,can be a really powerful blessing.

I won’t lie and say that I haven’t had a stressfultrip here: my Tokyo trip included the stress of over half a million people atComiket’s venue, which would honestly stress anyone. I will say that I do feellike I can remove myself pretty well and just enjoy, and that’s superimportant. Certainly it’s not perfect here, but I do feel that my more remotetrips force my mind only to the trip, and that’s a great reward.

Perhaps in America, in the rush of things, we steppedaway from that. I think a step back into separating and compartmentalizing ourlives for Fun and Work would be nice. Enjoyment is just as good as Hard Work,after all. I do see a lot of phones checking emails on trips, common in bothAmerican and Japan, but I think trips are just culturally different here, and Iwant them to return back to that same division in the states.

(I want to interject that a lot of this is alsocoming from the privilege of not being Japanese or perceived as ethnicallyAsian. I’m given a lot of leeway because I’m distinctly Foreign Coded, so myexperiences of being able to do unique things and adventure are because I’m notbound to Japanese culture or socio-cultural standards. I can leave work earlyand go to a bathhouse. I can take days off to go on trips to nowhere. My co-workersmay want to do that, but are a lot more bound. I think that’s always important toremember that my privilege as a Cool Foreign comes with the knowledge not tomisuse that and instead, help bridge a friendship between two nations.)

Everything I’m taking back is very cultural: it’sreminding America of how to be kind, of how to enjoy the diversity we have inour nation, of how to respect and celebrate Us. Certainly, I hope to take backways to change the mindset of Japanese persons, ways to celebrate women’sculture and advance the clock on how we perceive Japanese feminism in comparisonto Western displays of feminism. That work’s super important.

But I think remembering who we are –a nation of kindhearts, hard workers, folks who like good food and music, and a nation of opportunityfor all to find their happiness in a powerful, gentle way– is just as importanttoo.

tl;dr: This turned into an essay completely by accident, but I thinkit’s important to answer your question. These are my reasons, my things, that Iwant to take and share in America. I hope this all made sense, and hey, feelfree to stuff that inbox with even more questions.

[breelandwalker]

Hey there! Looking for advice for moving to a new place, is there any thing I can do as sort of an offering to the new space? I feel like I could be doing something other than burning sage and envisioning warm light if that makes sense..

That’s a good start!

In my experience, one of the most important things to do when setting up in a new home is to claim the space. This can be done with the aforementioned smoke-cleansing (make sure you open the windows, that stuff can fill up a room in a hurry) or with visualization.

Also, quick pro-tip: If you don’t happen to have White Sage, please consider alternatives before buying more, as the plant is becoming endangered from overharvesting. Green Sage, Sweet Basil, Rosemary, and Cedar all work just as well. (If you already have White Sage among your supplies, go ahead and use it. No sense letting it go to waste!)

You may also wish to walk around the place, physically and verbally proclaiming that this is now your home and you will protect and care for it, and that anything unfriendly should leave. This is a witchy way of airing the place out, so to speak, and it will help dislodge stale or stagnant leftover stuff from previous occupants and allow you to put your own influences in place more easily.

I find that it’s helpful to cast any household protections you want in place full-time as you’re doing this walk-through or shortly thereafter. Put your stamp on the place; you’re going to be living there, so mark your territory and make it your own.

If you happen to have any protective talismans or sigils that you’re partial to, these can also be placed around the home as part of the space-claiming or protection rituals. I’ve heard of some witches who sketch their protective markings on the walls before painting, and some others (like myself) who mark them in chalk over doorways and windows and such.

If you have any patron deities or if you work with household helpers or Fae or land spirits, a quick gift of candy or fruit or milk or alcohol is always nice. If you have a property where there are trees, go and pour some water over their roots. If you have an altar, leave out a small offering. It’s a great way to open up a channel for possible partnerships later on. (I always leave out a bowl of trail mix and jellybeans for our household sprites.)

Hope this helps! :)

[ramonastrzelecki-blog]

Access Refused

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[bldeardorff-dfc-blog]

Assignment 7: Build to Learn

Chapter 9 of The Art of Innovation began with a common thing everyone deals with quite frequently—barriers. As a designer, it should be common knowledge barriers will be a reoccurring factor in your process and work. It’s pretty much inevitable. However, I think when it comes to product design, these barriers begin to grow in size and quantity.  As humans, we are so quick to judge and nowadays it seems to only becoming worse. Everyone’s outlook or opinion is the “correct” one and I could see how product designers may face severe frustration because of this "I’m right your wrong mentality."

Kelley discusses the cultural resistance to a new product or technology as well as ingrained rituals. He mentioned how his brother, David, faced a large obstacle where people won’t take the time to re-learn how they use a computer nor would anyone want to learn how to re-write. This reminded me a lot of my mom re-learning a new way to teach math to her first graders. My mom grew up in the 1960’s so she definitely likes to do things “the old-fashioned way.” So as she had to go to meetings to learn this new approach to elementary math, she struggled and honestly saw it as a waste of time. Even when she tried showing me the “new” way to add and subtract, I lost interest within the first 30 seconds.

Time is a precious thing and people can be so lazy. When designers push a new way of thinking they’re stepping into sticky territory. Looking globally at an approach to product is an awesome way to keep the ball rolling and stop while ahead. For example, places such as Europe and Japan, have outlawed Hydroquinone which is found in facial skin care products that brightens the complexion. This is because it is cytotoxic, meaning it has the ability to kill cells and chromosomes if overused, which can lead to some cancers. However here in America, we could care less so while these facial products boost their revenue in the States, they would ultimately bankrupt in other locations geographically.

Another great example of this is the food industry—America versus the world.  In a lot of other countries, food coloring is completely unheard of. Therefore any innovators promoting the coloring of food ingredients would be better off staying in the USA. This goes for the Hershey's Company as well. There’s simply not a market for “fake” tasting Chocolate over in Switzerland or Italy. To add to this narrow-mindedness people have, Kelley explained the holdover effect. I once heard a story about exposing an infant to the color white and making a variation of loud noises that would frighten the baby. It was an experiment for learned behavior. Just like the holdover effect, in reality, something may not be what it seems, but it’s a personal perception that alters the way things are bought, used and popularized.

Products that are judged due to pre-mature ideas may be for multiple different reasons, however, if you’re riding the S-curve you must be doing something right, or at least sometimes. I’m glad Kelley mentioned this because this is exactly what my research project, the Airbnb Company, went through until just recently. Toys R Us has also been experiencing this curve for years now. Becoming a duo with Babies R Us saved them years back when they first began a decline in sales. It was just a month ago the company filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy but has come back again within the past two weeks with a new plan to incorporate virtual reality for children while shopping. Since, of course, our actual reality is now kids having a technological interest instead of playing with plastic, shiny Batmans or animatronic pet friends.

The FUD Factor is something I think all of my examples thus far have suffered from. There’s always that fear, uncertainty, and doubt racing through the people's minds. To this day, I experience this with any Apple update. I can remember when one of Apple's biggest updates surfaced and it involved a completely new interface. I was hesitant and remember updating my phone months if not a year after the new design was released. The thing that ultimately won me over were these cute little feelings called Emojis. Much like banking apps too, I think audiences are wary of exposing their financial information to an unfamiliar database.  

FUD can also be because of an already well-established competitor. I myself at first experienced uncertainty and doubt when I began sketching for my group's dog leash design. I kept going back to the retractable leash and building off of that idea. Obviously, I was going in circles. I’m glad we had a second go at creating ideas and starting from scratch. I think it was more than necessary to cleanse our minds of what already is and seek out what could be. Like Kelley says, we all can use a little help now and then no matter your skillset.

I truly think in order to overcome any barriers, FUD, and brain blocks one must get out and interact with the people. hands down this is my favorite part about product design. I need that human interaction from time to time. I would hate to think my whole career would be perfecting things behind a computer screen until “beautiful” is achieved. I need to know what good affordances are and I need to know what my audience needs. Product Design is not a one-man show.  This is why even the most distasteful products are booming because their founders recognize the importance of their users. Or more importantly, the desirable celebrities who will promote the product line presence in which in return gives the company a huge fan base almost instantly.

Despite the face of a company or a hundred person team, companies are still against the speed of time as mentioned in Chapter 11. For this, my mind immediately went to movie release dates. Imagine the team behind the Home Alone movies. Not only did they have to create the movie, perfect the scenes, and market the heck out of it, but they also had to do it all in time for the holiday season for an impactful release date and sales. They had no choice but to stay on schedule.

Not only do companies have to abide by time and dates, but also may have to reinvent the wheel or at least half of it. Once again, I’m going to use Apple as an example.  Each year the company releases a new phone model yet never is it identical to its previous sibling. If this were the case, the company would’ve seen drastic sale decline and could very well be on their way out. It’s dangerous to get in habit of something as an innovator. It ultimately defeats the purpose. You wouldn’t really be innovating.

In all, I think this weeks chapter hit on really great topics that I could foresee being overlooked in the product design process by new designers like myself. It was very helpful to identify these pressure points that could drastically alter a product success rate before really reaching the market.