#also apologies for the long post

[kohamarsonist]

did anybody ask for this long post? no but you are getting it anyways

This is so funny to me because like take Stoker's Dracula novel, for instance. It's undeniably gothic literature and the thing about gothic literature is that it's indeed born out of romance - the modern and the ancient one. During the 18th century, when novels were often viewed as trivial, romance was actually synonymous with Gothic tales. The term itself - Gothic - is essentially an anachronistic descriptor which just means it's a term coined years after the era these Gothic stories were coming out in. So these stories were initially and originally labelled as Romance, not Gothic. They thrived around the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries which is like a time characterized by decay, decadence, and degeneration. We've got beautiful works like The Picture of Dorian Gray, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Yellow Wallpaper and ofc Dracula exploring themes of the unconscious mind, repression, fear, desire, guilt, dreams, nightmares, and the uncanny.... yada yada yada, you get it, all of these things are very much Gothic.

Now, I'm just throwing in my 2 cents here but to expand on what I mean by ancient and modern romance, the Gothic genre tends to focus on ancient spaces and old crumbling structures y'know the general hallmarks of gothic form, certain kinds of iconic images that pop up when you say Gothic, but it always makes comments on the contemporary. By creating that tension between the old and the new, it offers us a contrast between ancient romance, filled with imagination and improbability, and modern romance which is governed by probability drawing heavily on Walpole and the Walpoleian model here btw . In its core, the genre provides us with supernatural tales and far-fetched adventures while simultaneously instilling a sense of uncanniness, and suggesting these events could possibly occur, could possible be Real. This distinction between romance and realism lies in the possibility of occurrence: romance embodies the impossible, while realism portrays what could happen.

The thing about romance, as well, is that we might initially think of love stories. Romantic comedies and plays. However, romance as a form isn't holy or solely preoccupied with love, though it does surface as a theme and this is because romance springs from folklore. From legends and mythology; from quests and tales of chivalry and magic and monsters. Think Old Breton Lays, the Arthurian Legends, Don Quixote and their equivalents in other European cultures and folklores.

Yet another thing that spring from folklore is the vampire - it is deeply ingrained in folklore worldwide. Shocker. Anyways. It's like an omnipresent archetype kinda similar to that of rebirth - vampires don't literally exist but their ubiquity across cultures suggests they hold symbolic significance (kinda like the undead, ghosts etc). The demonic entities drain one's life force through blood and in most folklores they often merge with seductive, femme fatale figures like Lamia, succubi, sirens, strigoi, gumiho, rusalki... you name it. So what we see here is sex and death side by side. And we see a tonne of sex in Stoker's Dracula ngl blood drips from every page and sex steams off every page so again it is hilarious to me when peeps complain about the modern vampire being sexualised

Going back to modern times though, the 19th century witnessed growing disillusionment with empire and colonialism, alongside fervent desire for female suffrage. The "new woman" that challenges traditional gender norms and her voice are everywhere in Stoker's novel - Lucy Westerna asks why should a woman marry one man, why can't she marry like three? lmao hella valid question sis, I wanna know the answer too But the point is we get this increasing awareness about the injustice women in society are facing. It goes back to me saying Gothic stories address old structures, as well as new existing ones, the contemporary issues in society. You might ask, how did gothic literature use vampires to explore such contemporary issues when the bloodsuckers were merely wild creatures of the night feeding on rural livestock? Well, it has something to do with the development of the vampire into an aristocrat.

Making them aristocrats allowed the vampire characters to move around. To travel vast distances, and to go to Europe; to walk the streets of town; and to mix in with the rest of us, with the money they now have. It meant the vampire became mobile and introduced new dynamics at play. With these new dynamics, with the vampire entering high society and becoming an aristocrat, they also became more overtly sexualised. oh noooo people lamenting about the vampire being corrupted by sexualisation... besties i don't think you can corrupt a vampire figure more than it already is by definition, bye

Basically sexy vampires ain't nothing new and the only thing that's changed over the centuries is how explicit we're allowed to be wrt to that ✨ sexiness. ✨ For some reason, rn there's the trend of bringing back the fearsome side of vampires which like am all for but plz keep them sexy xd

“vampirism is too romanticized these days” damn that’s crazy. I’m romanticizing it even more now though because you’re whining like this

[innieirving]

like, okay, i'm sure this scene has been talked about and dissected to pieces already in this fandom but. BUT. i need to put my two cents in or i will explode.

so, your lord and best friend has just admitted to you that if you die, he will be so beside himself with grief that he might just die too.

the game then gives you THIS option in response.

and you, the player, know how video games work. you know this is the press x for romance button. you expect henry to admit his feelings—a culmination of all the hints he's dropped from the heart options we've chosen before—and kiss him as soon as the button's been pressed.

except henry doesn't kiss hans.

instead, henry places his hand on hans' hand. it's the first moment of physical contact between them in the whole scene...but it's not a kiss. it's gentle. it's intimate. it's tiptoeing the line between comforting a friend and something more...

...but henry leaves it at that. and he gets up and goes to leave.

and in that moment of panic. in that split second of 'this might be the last time i'll ever see you again, please don't go' — it's hans that kisses henry.

and it's henry who pushes hans away.

this is—for all intents and purposes—the opposite of what we, the player, chose.

and to add insult to injury, henry looks conflicted.

he looks SO conflicted that hans believes he's fucked up royally.

that he has completely tarnished their final moments together by acting on impulse—by giving into temptation and desperation and feelings he can't even put into his own words—and henry must be disgusted by him.

and hans believes this because he watches henry turn his back to him. refusing to look at him. and head for the door.

but henry stops before he opens it. and i keep thinking back to the heart option we chose.

the player is not making the choice for henry to kiss hans. we are not forcing his hand.

the player is reminding henry what he's been telling himself throughout the entire game.

don't run away, henry.

kiss him. kiss him back.

so henry does.

[infamouzsky]

Like The Other Ones

HI YES IM FINALLY DONE HOLY SHIT

OKAY SO this was based off on my own gameplay of COTL, I noticed that everytime Id put food orders in, Narinder would usually be the one to prepare them And honestly? We love a malewife in this house so I dig that for him, ma guy is a skilled cook <3

As I wrote down the dialogue, it just got deeper than I expected SO HERE YALL GO WITH A FULL ASS COMIC ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP, ENJOY!!!!

This shit took me weeks Ill go recharge my soul now brb-

EDIT: I DECIDED TO PUT A UNDERCUT Tab so yall dont have to scroll too much in order to read and see other posts ure welcome 🤼‍♀️ <3

[velvetwyrme]

damn those conses do quence (/j /j, unfortunately[...?] no bug mpreg took place here)

anyway, woe, grub be upon ye. tbc... whenever i finish the many other things i need to do lol.

i did this instead of making an ask blog because i dont have the time or energy to upkeep that atm, but honestly?? it probably wouldve just be easier to make an ask blog instead of... doing whatever this is LMAO,,, but i had fun so its ok sklvfjbfkbdb,,

prev // next

[hexcoreviktor]

He wasn't fine. I let go of him. It wasn't a misunderstanding, it wasn't an accident. I let go of him. I watched him clutch the air. I saw him swinging wild as he fell through the clouds. I did it to hurt him. And it did hurt him.

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE - 2.07 I Could Not Prevent It

[wernerherzogs]

some of my fave buddie fics for anon in no particular order! please mind all the ratings, tags, and warnings of these works while browsing:

plot-focused:

about the present series by Amiril

The day of the shooting, Eddie got stuck in a time loop. But that was three months ago. He's completely fine now.

boys, when my baby found me by nondz (pinkjook)

Three months later, things are mostly back to normal.

And then there's an accident.

the city is a jungle and i’m a beast by putanauhere (TRUST ME.)

“There are no wolves in Southern California,” Buck states, another bit of trivia. He just doesn’t know it’s a lie.

The Things All Come and Gone by moodlighting

“I didn’t—it’s not that I couldn’t be alone,” Buck explained, pausing to find the right words. “I just. Wanted to be here.”

I Broke What You Gave Me, But You Kept Giving More by rcdwings

Evan Buckley wakes up without eight years of his memories with some guy named Eddie Diaz on his bedside. Which could mean nothing.

lonely little love dog by littleghost

When the 118 is closed for reconstruction after an earthquake, Buck is a floater for different stations around the city. He tries not to let it get to him. Much.

kerosene by mandolare

He doesn’t— need more of Eddie. This is enough. This is plenty. This is more than anyone else has of him; he can deal with the marrow-deep want that’s begun to choke him every once in a while.

all my little words by youbetsya

Eddie: Did you just send me an email??

Buck: yeah lol

Eddie: Why…

I dont think you’ve ever emailed me actual words before. Just stuff to print when your printer is broken

Buck: did you read it?

Eddie: Not yet

Too busy trying to figure out why the fuck you’re emailing me

Buck: just read it dude 🙄

instructions on not giving up by Wildehack (tyleet)

Eddie gave up in July.

Live and (Don't) Let Die by xylodemon

The guy gets straight to the point, asking, "What do you need?" in a dull, bored voice.

"My best friend is going to die. I want that to… not happen."

"No small feat, bringing back the dead. And it comes at a cost."

It's Eddie. Buck says, "Yes," without a second thought.

good pretender by likeshipsonthesea

“Okay, but what are the rules?”

Ravi stares. “The rules for…?”

“Casual sex.”

Ravi continues to stare. It is 5:39 in the morning.

i can tell just what you want (you don't want to be alone) by Talls

In which Eddie keeps secrets and Buck is incredibly normal and rational and even brave about his reaction to this.

here’s my hand, there’s the itch by signetsealed

"I wasn’t kidding when I said I could talk about Chris all night,” Eddie says. His voice is quiet and close in Buck’s ear. “But that’s not why I called.”

been lost for a while by trysetmeonfire

Eddie's wife has been dead for two weeks. There's a firefighter in bed five. These are not necessarily related facts, but Eddie will have a hard time separating them out, later.

Downward Facing Doggy Style by Survivah

Eddie and Buck pick up a new hobby while Chris is in Texas.

slaughterhouse by kithmet

Eddie announces he’s leaving. Buck, naturally, begins a slow descent to madness.

Choosing Joy 'Verse series by ithilien22

In which Eddie mends fences with Chris, starts something new with Buck, and navigates the complex emotions he has around his parents.

 the sweetest apparition by hyruling

Eddie moves to Texas. Buck keeps accidentally telling people Eddie's dead. It goes about as well as you'd expect.

pluperfect by unreckless

Buck is always good for a ride to the airport. He’s good at lots of things, like being a good friend and goodbyes.

beating the horse by doitgently

Eddie is moving to Texas. Buck finally figures out what he wants.

Burn a bridge, learn how to swim series by WatermelonShots (AvocadosUnderTheEaves)

In which there is some unexpected making out, some pining, one third of an existential crisis and a lot of unhelpful advice. Not necessarily in that order.

you drew stars around my scars by ladieslunching

Someone at the 118 doesn't know how to leave Buck's clipboard alone. Buck would be a lot more upset about it if it didn't bag him the love of his life.

Hot Ghost Problems by ebjameston

The ghost would prefer to go by Buck, if Eddie wouldn’t mind.

ripples all the way down by iriswests

This is the tumultuous road to finding out what Buck truly wants, paved by pebbles.

throw a bone, i’m finally home by fleetinghearts

“Oh, Buck,” Eddie says softly, torn between unbearable fondness and an ache that threatens to crack his breastbone.

when everything's on fire by beartowns

Eddie and Chris move in with Buck after a fire. Buck breaks up with his boyfriend, buys a house with Eddie, and realizes he's in love. In precisely that order.

ice cream before dinner by cloudydaisies

The problem is—well.

Actually, backtrack for a sec. There were a few problems.

Eddie’s got a whole lot of them, lately, and maybe that was The Problem.

Something in the Air (Is Giving Me Bad Ideas) by paramountie

After Christopher comes back from Texas, Eddie makes an important decision: he is not going to blow up his life anymore.

crossed the muddy line by Anonymous

Eddie Diaz is from El Paso, Texas; a fact which accounts for both more and less than he ever expected it to.

the tortured poets department by colonoscopys

The first time Buck touched him, Eddie blew an ambulance up.

still by brewrosemilk

For the first time, Buck longs for a bullet wound to treat. Dirt to dig at. A door to break through. Something. There’s nothing.

somewhere to stand and stay by teaspoon

“What are you doing right now?” Eddie asks. He sounds distracted; Buck can tell immediately that he’s driving.

authentication by v_greyson (greyson)

"Yeah, Eddie picks the guys so I don't make stupid decisions," Buck says, flicking through menus to pick a new racetrack.

The combination of Hen munching peanuts and looking back and forth between them makes Eddie feel like he's a zoo exhibit. Best Friends, captured in the wild, still feral, exhibiting behaviors heretofore unknown to science.

"Well, good luck with - all that," Hen says pointedly to Eddie. She is definitely not talking about the video game.

keeping score by arcanaphora

After getting dumped, Buck is left with two tickets to a weeklong cruise. Eddie steps in to support a friend in need, but complications arise when his friend becomes his fake husband. All's fair in love, war, and trivia.

if i said you could never touch me by marviless*

Eddie pulls back from him with a half-confused, half-concerned furrow in between his eyebrows. “Buck?”

Buck sags against the wall. “Sorry,” he says, wiping the back of his forearm against his forehead in a mixture of frustration and newfound exhaustion. “Sorry.”

Counting Pulses by tinyydancerr*

Eddie Diaz’s life is going great. He’s in therapy, he’s got a great girlfriend, a great kid, his friend is getting married to the woman of his dreams, and his best friend just came out to him.

Now his best friend is dating their new friend.

Things are going great. He promises.

porn-heavy (only a few of these are straight up pwp though):

Feel You Forever by semperama

“Is this…” Eddie meets his eyes again. “Is this new?”

a mess of my creation by Anonymous

They’re in the fucking bunk room. There’s someone snoring in the bed over by the bathroom, a good twenty feet and two beds away, and Buck doesn’t know if it’s Hen or Chimney or Bobby, but they’re in here, they’re asleep, and this is awful, this is so fucking unprofessional and if they get caught they are going straight to HR.

blood in the highs and count the stars by seachanged

“Go on,” Eddie says, nosing into the soft spot under Buck’s jaw.

Buck laughs, a little hysterically. ”You’re not serious.”

look straight ahead if you like it slow by hattalove

“This gets you going, huh?” Eddie grins, propping himself up on his elbows so he can move higher on the bed, reach the pretty pink bow of Buck’s mouth. “Devotion? You being it for me?” He stretches up toward Buck’s ear, whispers: “Monogamy?”

hang me up on your bedroom wall by eddiegettingshot

“You’re going to be a great father someday,” Eddie says eventually, because he’s worse than he used to be and Buck’s reverent eyes make him feel—they just make him feel.

“Eddie, I—”

“You are,” he repeats, firm. “Don’t you think I’d know better than anyone?

buck and eddie's red hot infidelity summer series by cranberrymoons

He’s not thinking about it. He’s not. He’s definitely not.

the moon like a spotlight by dykeries

Three months after Eddie moves to El Paso, Buck comes to visit.

this ecstasy, this forgetfulness of living by glorious_spoon

"You guess," Eddie repeats under his breath, but he sounds amused. He sets the boxes down and kicks the door shut behind him to wind through the chaos of Buck's half packed away kitchen. "You're insane."

love's not a game by thatbuddie (talktothesky)

“So that goal, huh?”

Buck groans, his hands clawing at the sheets beneath him as his toes curl up, the fire that’s been building up inside him for what feels like hours sizzling and uncontrollable in its path through Buck’s body.

i might kiss you on the back of your neck (because it’s christmas time) by sibylsleaves

Five Times Captain Diaz and Recruit Lieutenant Diaz fail to sleep together and one time they do.

would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses? by brattybuckley

Evan Buckley is currently on cloud nine. 

Well–

Honey on the Vine by sirencalls

Buck wakes up to an Eddie with stubble for the first time in months and refuses to let a good opportunity to go waste.

lock me down tonight by lecornergirl

Buck tells everyone Eddie talks him into it, but when it comes to Eddie, he’s never needed much convincing.

Mind Blowing Mess by EtoileGarden

"I’d like to have a threesome. I think.” 

“You think?” 

“Yeah,” Taylor eyed him for a moment, and then leaned a little further over the table, her chin in her hand. “Have you ever had one before?”

songs and poems and promises by lesbianrobin

“It’s crazy how different sex is with men,” Buck says, and everyone around him groans.

rodeo queen by okanus

“What’s the saying again? Save a horse…hm, y’know, I don't quite remember the rest of it.” Eddie can’t help the smile curving up the corner of his mouth.

“You’re an asshole,” Buck says, scowling. The tips of his ears are pink.

yes god don't speak by detectivemeer

“You’re staring.”

“What.” Eddie says. “No I’m not.” 

[willowtreemoth]

Oh yay, another Kirby thing.

I swear, something about Elfilis changes every time I draw them.

Also this would probably look a lot better if I put a tad more effort into it, but unfortunately if I work on this any longer I might just go insane.

[typing-catastrophe]

jealous!ford x reader headcanons

pre relationship:

depending on his current mood and state of mind, his reaction to someone showing romantic interest in you ranges from:

1) heartache,

feels like he doesn't deserve you, that he isn't good enough for you, he's not your type and also he is too old for you

self-esteem on the floor, feels like a kicked puppy seeing you flirt with someone else

over 2) mild annoyance; 'what's so interesting about them?'

what could they possible give you? why are you even talking to them, you already said you aren't interested in them

to 3) almost hostile towards the other person

all in all just one big mess of feelings

he's not good with them okay

confused and frustrated by his emotions; spends a lot of time overthinking them, in order to rationalise and understand them

too insecure and doubtful to tell you about his feelings, but too easily agitated to not be jealous when someone comes up to ask for your number

tells himself he has no right to feel that way, and yet...

in relationship:

protective and maybe a little possessive. maybe a bit more than a little. okay, a lot

definitely a lot more than he shows

(related to the first points pre-rls) very rare reaction: amused. god complex activated. who do they think they are? do they really think you would be interested in them? tch, please.

when he sees a guy flirting with you, he will come up behind you, put his arm around your waist and stare the guy down

the scene where he intimidates the bus driver, just to any shady guy who won't leave you alone.

insecurities, so soo many of them

'You could have anyone you want. Why would you wanna be with me?' *

that man was bullied his entire youth, never had a proper relationship and holds so much trauma and shame - it's the glue that holds him together at this point

ford is deeply afraid to loose you

through something supernatural or otherwise dangerous yes, but also trough some stupid mistake on his side and interpersonal problems

he is afraid he will mess up one day. then you will start seeing him as someone not worthy of your love and find someone better

it is one constant battle between his low self-worth and his god complex/admittedly somewhat inflated ego

-------------------------------------------------- thank you for reading <3 reblogs are appreciated

a/n: longer piece with this trope will follow soon(ish), stay tuned :P poor ford, doesn't know how to feel his feelings appropriately (same dude, same) * 'jealous' by eyedress

[sacredfixation]

Loki and the Deeply Valid Fear of Being a Government-Issued Android Without Knowing It

Imagine living for over a thousand years, committing intergalactic crimes, then one random underpaid TVA clerk with a monotone voice suddenly introduces the possibility that, oh, by the way, what if you were secretly a robot this whole time? And Loki, who has always carried himself with the absolute certainty of a god, pauses. Like. “Wait. What if I am?”

He hears that question and immediately does a full mental diagnostic. Have I ever glitched? Ever felt oddly mechanical? Experienced an unusual fondness for oil? Maybe he’s too good at lying. Too good at surviving. What if that’s just the programming?

The TVA worker just moves on. He doesn’t elaborate. no reassurances. theres no safety net. Just the terrifying possibility that he might get instantly vaporized for something completely outside his control.

Id like to note, his hesitation isn’t even just some random existential crisis, it’s trauma-informed. This man already lived through the experience of waking up one day and realizing he wasn’t who he thought he was.

He grew up thinking he was a prince, a god, Odin’s rightful son, only to find out he was actually a stolen relic of war. A Jotun. A creature he’d been taught to hate.

He thought he knew himself before, and he was wrong. What if he’s wrong again? What if theres something else about himself thats been hidden? If he didn’t realize he was a Frost Giant, whats stopping him from not realizing he’s actually some highly advanced synthetic being?

It’s not just a funny existential gag, it’s a callback to one of the most devastating truths of Loki’s existence:

He has never really known who he is.

It’s the muscle memory of having his entire identity ripped out from under him. It’s the learned fear of asking, What am I, actually?

Because the last time he asked that question, the answer ruined him.

[artuurle]

the early days

[aloekat]

whatever, go my homosexual horses

[sketchupnfries]

I've been having a bit of an art block lately, and I decided to draw Ahsoka since I haven't drawn her in ages! These were a ton of fun to draw

[monwillica]

more spelling with ben

"J is one of the most f*cked up letters that there is"

[alchemicaladarna]

[Very long post ahead XD]

You know what, I'm not done talking about tr!ros dying to tr!bad because the themes here, accidental or not, and the implications of those themes, hit so hard. its more like a stab in the heart, to be honest.

Because one of the reasons why tr!bad agreed to kill tr!ros (this is paraphrasing what he said ooc) was because he knew tr!ros thought she had no other options left but to die. He saw that she was suffering so much that she genuinely thought dying would be the better outcome for everyone else. Tr!bad did try to prevent her death, believe it or not. Tr!ros asked him to kill her the day before, so he made a deal to delay the death then told tr!aimsey after. He tried to warn whoever he could that this was happening in the hopes that tr!aimsey or maybe tr!foolish- just anyone, really- can change tr!ros' mind. That maybe, when tr!bad wakes up the next day, tr!ros will call off the deal and forget the whole thing happened. Death is inevitable, but in this instance, even tr!bad, the personification of death, tried to prevent it because even he was hoping for a different outcome. He cared about her enough to not want to kill her. But in the end, it had to be done.

Do you know why this makes me insane? Ros has been broken and has been suffering for so long, even before the Null, and if you look close enough, you can see the times where she just longed for death. And then finally, upon witnessing all the people she cared about suffer endlessly, some of them losing lives because of her, she decided that she must die because it'll be better for everybody else. It's not true, but it was so ingrained in her mind, I don't think there was any amount of convincing or help that could have prevented her from knocking on death's door.

It's like what Bad said: it was either that he kills her in front of all her loved ones, or she goes off and dies alone. Withering away, at a place nobody could find her corpse.

!Bad knows a lot about dying alone, ironically enough. He knows a lot about the kind of death that prolongs suffering. To have your body rot from the inside out; to have your flesh melt off your bones for months on end, no matter how much your loved ones try to heal you. To be alone when your body finally withers away, not because nobody wanted to help you, but because you didn't want help, and it would've been too late to save you. So you die a slow and painful death. In a lavender field. In the middle of nowhere. Calling out your loved ones' names with your final breath, a hint of regret flashing through your mind before it all fades and then you're gone.

You can see why tr!bad claims it to be a kindness, a mercy, that he took tr!ros' life in front of those she loved and cared for. Even though they couldn't prevent her death, at least they were able to spend a little more time with her, and at least they were able to grieve and give her a proper grave. It was the closest thing to comfort that death can provide.

And here's the thing about death: we always ask why it happened, why did it have to take our loved one, what did they do to deserve this, what could you have changed to prevent this? In the end, you can't really blame death itself because it's a force of nature. But it's a bit different this time. This time, death has a face. Death has a name. Death has a physical, mortal manifestation, and eventually it can be hunted down and killed. They stop asking why tr!ros decided to die, and start asking why tr!bad killed ros.

Tr!bad told tr!Zam to ask ros. While that sounds a lot like a threat, I think he also meant it in a "ask ros what her reasons were. Ask her why she came to death's door. Ask her why she suffered and maybe you could begin to understand why she died."

Even though it was tr!ros' own decision to seek death, it's only natural that everyone blames tr!bad because he pulled the trigger, no matter what tr!ros' reasons were. Before they can accept that tr!ros is gone, I think a lot of people might want to exact revenge upon tr!bad. Sadly, that's how grief works- especially since the death felt more like a homicide than a self-orchestrated murder.

It's tragic because people did try to help tr!ros. They loved and cared about her. She was the kingdom's beloved architect- a friend and a part of their family. Even those outside of the kingdom and tr!aimsey cared about her. And it's not that they didn't try to prevent her death either. Another tragic aspect about this is that tr!foolish tried to take her through the server to help her see that there was still so much to live for. There was still so much Life could offer, but she already made a deal with Death, and unfortunately, it was the inevitable outcome for tr!ros, beloved as she was.

[cecoeur]

How do you sleep at night? No one to hide behind Betrayed every alibi you had You had every chance to make amends instead you got drunk on bitterness And you still claim that you're innocent, it's sad

[ohno-the-sun]

Oh uh forgot to ask in the previous ask (the one with the digital piece of candy and scurrying and stuff)

How do you draw art so good

Like

Is there a method you use or is that just the style you've gotten over time?

you've activated my trap card

I'm just gonna preface that this tutorial is from someone who was not professionally trained and didn't have a lot of free time for art, so a lot of the tips I have is short cuts I use to get the best results quickly

If you genuinely want to get better at art then please look at references and practice that is always the best

However if you are like me and only really do art for fun but want to go faster then these are for you pfppt

Overall I'd say my style is influenced by speedpaints I would watch when I was younger, I like analyzing how people do things and what makes something look "good" to me

I always recommend watching them because they will often have techniques you've never seen before or do things a certain way that you can try out yourself

I consume good art, it feeds me

but seriously it can be super helpful when developing your own methodology, or just generally trying something new

Usually it starts with me pulling some references from artists I really admire and sort of sketching out how they do the things I like

For example 8um8le has like super good anatomy and poses so I focused on trying to replicate how they do that

venemous-qwille is super good at color and pulling focus so that's what I focused on in my study of them

In general I'd say my process is sketch -> silhouette -> color -> shading -> render

I really don't like doing lineart lol

I'd say for the sketch the most important part is using references and just kind of fudging it until it looks correct anatomically/physically

General rule of thumb is spend time on areas of interest, and keep non important areas light (like the stitching on his pants)

I don't do lineart because I think its unnecessary for most paintings I do

I naturally tend to put more time and focus on areas of interest (like hands and feet) and if you use a brush with opacity for the sketch, those areas are naturally going to be darker in the final sketch

Of course this is gonna be different for everyone but it's what works for me

Sometimes I do a really really sketchy layer underneath my sketch/lineart, just so I know where everything is going

Use thumbnails! They are great to help figure out the general layout of things and what pose I wanna do

Next is what I call the "silhouette" layer

This is super important for me cause it helps me refine the figure and make sure the pose/anatomy looks correct, also depending on what color I choose for the silhouette helps guide what colors I'm going to use on top

This piece is a good example of how it works. The silhouette shows me how the figure interacts with the background, how the pose looks and if its any good

The silhouette layer doesn't have to be super clean, as long as it follows the sketch decently well and shows where the figure is then its fine

I also sometimes make the silhouette layer multiple colors to help guide shading and vibe

Next is the coloring layer. I usually make this a clipping layer on top of the silhouette layer, or I change the silhouette layer to alpha lock, either way it saves me time on coloring everything in

Sometimes I am super rough with the coloring too, using like an airbrush or my fav watercolor brush just to generically block in color where I want it

Works out cause most objects have like a bounce light to them from surrounding objects, so this is sort of a cheat I use to get that effect without all the work lol

Also don't be afraid to have the lower silhouette layer shining through, having multiple colors sort of subtly shining through the piece helps lots

Next is the shading layer, this is usually another clipping layer, usually set to "multiply"

The colors I pick here is usually within this range, any color works, just depends on the piece and vibes.

Since this piece is set in a sunset forest I choose a more desaturated orange for the shading layer

I know there's a whole thing about multiply layer being a crutch (and it kind of it) but it is a useful tool when you just want some darker values across the piece but don't want to go through the process of color picking every single darker shade

Also in my opinion it looks better than picking a darker color and setting it to a lower opacity, idk I just think the color has more "depth"

Next is the hardest to explain, sort of the vibes layer

Usually its just a layer of more concentrated color on top of the normal color and I fudge with the settings and values until I get a result I like

Next is the longest step, is the "extra" or the render stage.

Usually I add a background before this step so that if I need to merge the figure better with the background I can

If I render with a white background but he's supposed to be in a dark forest, its going to mess with the lighting severely

Also this is when I add more "vibe" layers on top to get the figure to match the background better

Backgrounds in general I recommend checking out @/derekdomnicdsouza on instagram he's got lots of great tutorials for breaking down backgrounds simply

I'd say general rule for the rendering layer is to focus on the areas of interest and spend less time on areas you don't care about

I even blur stuff out on the edges I don't want people to see, partially to save time on fixing mistakes in areas I dont care about (oop), but mainly to help draw the eye to the areas I do want people to focus on

Theoretically parts of the background should like mesh with the characters, parrallel lines are a no no unless they are directing a viewer to look somewhere, things that are perpendicular help bring things together

tbh I'm still not the best at layout and probably need more practice, but overall this is what I like doing

Overall this is what my layer set up ends up being

Sort of a sandwich with the lineart/sketch as the "meat" lol

Color and basic shading below the sketch, clean-up and rendering on top

I like this method cause it's super flexible if I ever want to try something different or try to replicate someone's style

I can make each step less or more messy depending on the end result and can add a lineart layer if need be. Also if there's a part that is straight up not working or needs to be removed its super easy to do cause I can just paint over it on the "extras" layer, color picking from the surrounding area to get the same vibe

Generally rule of thumb for my style is: get the initial layout of colors, form and shading to look good, then the rendering should be smooth sailing

Really the best advice I can give to get better at art is to enjoy what you're doing and become very very obsessed with drawing a silly little guy

You'll eventually get very good at drawing them pfptpf