#and i've previously wanted to illustrate it

[glasgalahad]

Sɪʟᴠᴇʀ Wᴏʟғ ii.

"Word of advice: don't break the law."

↠ I wholeheartedly adore how this came out- and am honestly doubtful I'll ever manage something like this again. But here it is- a fully-rendered version of this rough sketch, which also turned into a bit of a redesign, along the way! Sort of a blend of aesthetics from The Witcher, GoW IV, and GoT. Also- please note that there's some discoloration, since I had to compress the massive original file to a post-capable JPG.

As for my thoughts, I'll just ctrl+v some of the blurbs from my previous posts- feel free to ignore my character and art technique ramblings, if you've read them previously.

Wriothesley has absolutely, unabashedly reached my top 3 in terms of Genshin characters, overall- right after Zhongli and Kazuha! That being said, if there's a single character that I think is closest to me in personality, it's absolutely this man.

The acknowledgement of past wrongs (though not as severe as his) and the concepts of redemption, tempered rage, and self-acceptance are things that I've intensely pursued, for most of my life. Trying to find your place in the world- and then considering that being an outsider could be a strength- is also a realization that I've been slowly coming to terms with. Not to say that I've got life figured out- but it's a semblance of solid ground, and that's certainly a reasonable start.

In terms of art techniques for this piece, if there's a particular thing I vehemently hate most with painterly style/brush heavy character art, it's the tendency towards completely flawless skin. As such, I've made a conscious effort to include flaws (freckles, acne marks, discoloration, sun spots, lip cuts + not dulling down his scars) because to me, it makes the character feel more relatable and alive. Plus, so-called imperfections can actually look really beautiful. So I really hope that effort shows, here!

____________________________________________________________

Be sure to check out my previous Genshin Impact illustrations!

If you want to find me in-game, my handle is Coldbone - UID 673569349

GʟᴀsGᴀʟᴀʜᴀᴅ 2024 | Mᴀʏ ɴᴏᴛ ʙᴇ ᴜsᴇᴅ/ʀᴇᴅɪsᴛʀɪʙᴜᴛᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜᴏᴜᴛ ᴡʀɪᴛᴛᴇɴ ᴄᴏɴsᴇɴᴛ.

[tallbluelady]

Ahhh, ahhh...

[zumbuli]

painting from 2020 🌷

[thereallyreallylatebird]

From some of the discourse I've seen, I've gotten the impression that some people think intersectionality is like math. Let me explain.

Some people think of certain identities as universally giving privilege (we'll say these have a value of +1) and some as universally taking privileged/causing discrimination/bigotry/etc. (we'll say these have a value of -1).

And what I've seen is that people will add these values and decide how hard someone has it based on the value of the product.

For example: A white (+1) Christian (+1) gay (-1) man (+1) would have a score of 2, since 1+1-1+1 is 2. (Keep in mind I'm not saying people literally do this sort of math, though I have actually seen charts that do, it's more of a way of illustrating a way of thinking I've seen.)

The problem with this, of course, is that this isn't how the world works at all. Depending on where he lived and his situation in general, that white Christian gay man could be bullied severely, called slurs, or even beaten and killed--all things you wouldn't expect going off a score of 2--because intersectionality is not like math. And because, in some places, this man's gayness would overshadow all his other identities.

Also, this mathy way of looking at things fails to consider how identities interact with each other. For instance, (and this is something several of my mutuals, but especially @dysphoria-things, have discussed in the past) a trans man's identity as a man does *not* serve to "cancel out" his being trans in the eyes of society. First, many won't even view him as a man. Second, even if he is viewed as a man by a certain group, he still may be subject to less explicit forms of transphobia. Not to mention the expectation many hold that he perform his man-ness in order for them to keep seeing him as a man. There's a lot more to unpack here specifically, but the previously mentioned mutual has already done many many posts on this, and is more qualified to speak on this than I am as a cis person, so I suggest you go check that blog out if you want to hear more on this topic.

Another example would be one of *my* identity intersections. That of being aromantic and allosexual. Now, being allosexual (not asexual) is not a minority identity. However, it by no means "cancels-out" my aromanticism. In fact, the specific combination of this majority identity (allosexuality) with my aromanticism actually leads to some seriously nasty assumptions and stereotypes. Because what do you think goes through the majority of people's (especially conservative's) heads when they hear "Oh I'm attracted to people sexually, but not romantically." Nothing flattering.

Point is, intersectionality is not like math. Having a majority identity does not necessarily mean that identity will always be rewarded (especially depending on the combination with a minority identity), and also this way of thinking is one thing that can start people down the "oppression-olympics/who has it worst" route, which is helpful and productive to exactly no one. The world is complicated, society is complicated, and people are complicated. And anything boiled down this much is usually inaccurate enough to be useless or actively harmful. Thank you for coming to my TED-talk.

[antiquatedplumbobs]

Lupine Cottage

A CC Free Victorian Beachside Cottage

Lot size: 20x20 Price: §40,013 Lot type: Residential Location: Bedlington Beachhouse, Brindleton Bay

This build will be familiar to all of you who have downloaded Antiquated Brindleton, where it's previously been released as a cc-lite build. This build is really no fun to play without Romantic Garden, so in honor of it being free to download I wanted to release a cc-free version of it. It also gave me the chance to refresh it with some of the new assets we've gotten since then, and it's turned out so well.

This lot is potentially my favorite build I've ever done and I'm so in love with how it's turned out here. Even if you have the previous one, I'd certainly give this version a try, because humbly; I think it's better.

Background info and download under the cut:

I'm not sure how many of you will recognize this lot, or have already, but it's based off the cottage from the children's book Miss Rumphius, which tells the tale of the lupine lady who spreads lupine seeds along Maine's roadways in the early twentieth century. You can see the inspo pics below as well as a shot of lupines in Maine in the spring, where they really do look like someone rode around just throwing seeds as they went. I highly recommend the book for any history lovers the illustrations are beautiful.

Lupine's are unfortunately not native to Maine and are considered invasive, so loving them does come with a smidgen of guilt, but luckily we don't have that problem in Sims.

I picture this cottage as the perfect home for your loner, spinster characters, and that's exactly who lives there in my save. This lot is in some ways a love letter to Maine and Brindleton Bay as I see it. So please enjoy.

This build is appropriately furnished for the late nineteenth to early twentieth century; no indoor plumbing and lots of candles. It's really only suitable for one sim as built, but could probably be edited quite easily for a couple. Fully playtested.

Please, please, please tag me if you use this lot, it's got a special place in my heart.

SFS | Google Drive

Gallery ID: antiqueplumbobs

@publicvanillabuilds @twentiethcenturysims @maxismatchccworld @mmoutfitters

[creaman]

Hi there! I apologize for taking up your time, I am just so curious: When you tackle a comic, what does the process behind it look like?

Asking because I found myself scrolling through your blog once again and couldn't help but marvel at all the beautiful effects you use, at how flawlessly the structure guides the viewer's eye across each page, how the graphic weight seems to always be in just the right places…, and wonder how you learned doing this. Everything you put out looks incredibly professional and I aspire to reach your level of skill 😌❤️

Thank you Finz!! You're no bother at all, I'm an open book. This is such high praise for a guy that really doesn't have a set process, I feel like a hack. Ha. Rest assured my style is still developing. Besides the referencing of the linework and composition of official comic books, (practicing by redrawing panels for fun), explaining the process makes me feel like a serial killer but I will do my best.

(WIP Riddler panel, scrapped Scarecrow composition)

My comics usually stem from a single panel or concept — I like to focus on/emphasise particular panels of my pages, the heavy hitters, the main piece that catches your eye. I know I'm not a profoundly technically proficient artist so I prefer visually interesting elements and formatting, i.e. drawing characters outside their frames, negative space, notation, perspectives etc.

(Kung Fu Panda 4 sketch god I hate Kung Fu Panda 4)

I like to establish 'main focus' panels, the bits of the comic that really, well. make people want to chew on it. This is where the technical effort is concentrated, really, and the rest of the comic is generally build around these concepts.

('Restaurant Balthazar' focus panels)

Textures and effects are done on individual panels first, then the entire page as a whole to even out the unity. Generally, blocking in shadows, hatching for visual interest + middle tones, then textures/half-tones, then highlights.

(Script excerpt WIP)

I'm not a writer per se, but having a vague 'script' in your pages helps with pacing and direction. Comics are a versatile story-telling medium. I only really do scripts for comics longer than 2 pages. An optional but recommended strat is to send your script to a friend for a second opinion.

(Script excerpt — 'Restaurant Balthazar', annotated by @vincepti0n I don't know why he drew a face in the middle)

With the script crudely slapped together, I rough out the thumbnails and composition with the text, prioritising coherence and clean integration of previously mentioned 'main focus' panels.

Settling on a composition sucks the hardest. Drawing is fun, thinking makes brain hurty. Variety is good! Close-ups, wide shots, visual metaphors. Every panel is its own artwork.

The text bubbles are usually added in post, yes, but I'm just one guy and I don't have a writer to call me a good boy for doing things correctly. Bite me.

(Early 'Restaurant Balthazar' drafts)

In addition, keeping the text graphics in mind help create a sounder composition wherein even if the panels don't read cleanly left to right + top to bottom, the text can stagger and create the same reading order effect.

Panels and concepts are constantly tweaked, and my comic process is still highly experimental. A lot of industry standard comics aren't illustrated to their full potential due to deadlines and such — I strive for visual epiphany by treating each panel as its own artwork, and every page as a a bit of a mural.

(Old art hurts the soul)

Constantly experimenting allows you the insight of looking at your current art in comparison to your older works. In more recent works, I've been blocking in more shadows wiht lineart with thinner lines and more line weight, and learned to integrate the subject characters with less plain, abstract backgrounds.

TLDR: I have no idea

[degenezijde]

Inspired to volunteer, but can't in person?

People illustrations by Storyset

Here's some online options for virtual volunteering!

Doedat.be: help transcribe and describe objects from natural history collections. The projects keep changing, so there's always something interesting! You can do something that needs a lot of attention to calm your brain (like transcribing handwritten notes on bird eggs), or brainless tasks to do while listening to some music (like jotting down the number written next to a moss sample). Available in English and other languages.

Europeana transcribe: help annotate and transcribe European heritage, so they can be used for research and education. Documents in several languages since this is a European project. I've mostly transcribed Dutch and French here, but there's also Polish, Danish...

Zooniverse.org: help scientific projects by classifying data from scientific projects. This one is the internet's largest citizen science project, so you're in good company! And it has an app so you can do it from your phone instead of doomscrolling! There's projects on art, space, nature, climate... Also works together with NASA, so if you ever wanted to claim you worked for NASA, here's your chance.

The United Nations: The UN also employs volunteers, eg for translating documents. This one needs more dedication than the ones previously mentioned, eg because of deadlines. But might be interesting once you've warmed up to volunteering or if you really want to put your back in it!

Amnesty International: Amnesty has several petitions you can sign, letter writing actions, and also free online courses on subjects such as human rights or the right to protest.

[iamamythologicalcreature]

Carry On Through the Ages (all the way back to Ancient Egypt)

"A Prophesied Rivalry:

This painting, remarkably well-preserved, was recovered from the tomb of a previously unknown and as-yet unidentified woman of significant power, whose rediscovery has fascinated Egyptologists. Historical analysis suggests she was believed to possess a gift for prophecy, and this artwork is very likely an attempt to illustrate one of her visions.

Here, she and her husband are depicted championing their son, who faces an outsider in combat. The outsider is also supported by an enigmatic figure of seemingly great power, foretelling a great struggle between two mighty forces, though whether these forces were meant to be supernatural or more mundane is not clear.

The dog shown, intriguingly, held a place of honor within the family and was found interred in a nearby chamber. The cat's presence, however, remains enigmatic, as the "Cats vs Dogs" reputation cultivated by these domesticated animals today is not something observed elsewhere in Ancient Egyptian artwork. Noted Egyptologists Miriam Blackwood and Theodore Langston have half-jokingly speculated that its inclusion was a mere artistic preference, hinting at the painter’s fondness for cats."

I've always loved Ancient Egyptian art, ever since childhood. I've wanted to do something like this ever since I first read of Baz's ancestry, so @carryonthroughtheages seemed the best excuse to dabble in this ancient art style.

I talked to @monbons about it and apparently the stars and planets were in alignment that day, because she agreed to collaborate with me. She’s created some absolutely gorgeous fiber art to go along with Natasha’s prophecies. And then she surprised me with a Baz doll, because she is amazing. (I love him so much and we are going to look at fashion books together. It’s going to be awesome.)

This is definitely fanart of both Ancient Egyptian art and Snowbaz. Both are worth diving into if you find yourself curious to know more!

[starberry-cupcake]

I had time to read just one chapter but I wanted to make a recap anyway because the next chapter is like 360000 pages long (I may be exaggerating slightly) and I'm not sure if tomorrow I'll be able to update, so we're doing just gideon tonight (I have a feeling she'd love that wording)

previously, in harrowcita del 9:

this happened

CHAPTER 48

gideon tells harrow that she should have probably killed off mercygirl but she wasn't "thinking straight"

when has she, though

she decided to keep going further into the emperor's infested bolthole

she finds a lot of corpses of bees that have been killed already

and thinks harrowcita would have appreciated how bad and nasty everything looked

then follows the corpses and the scent of despair and murder and finds yandere twin at the end of it, standing like a pulp fiction killer

gonna illustrate with a susan denberg movie poster I find appropriate

yandere twin gets emotional and goes "harry, you're—"

to which gideon answers with "Alive, bitch"

gideon says that she "had long since ascended to the rank of double douchbag" which I consider another memorable instance of chad catching strays

and gideon has some Issues to Resolve with yandere twin

and by resolve, I mean fix them with Violence

she starts getting upset at all the things yandere twin did to harrow, which include "faked to your fucking face like she couldn't see a corpse that was obviously there"

I SAID I THOUGHT SHE WAS GASLIGHTING HARROW

gideon is very determined to fix all of this diplomatically

by beating the crap out of her

they start a banter that will be an incredibly entertaining thing to witness for the next pages

I can't make it justice in a recap tbh

I was just basically like

gideon will, in a very persistent way, throughout the conversation, tell yandere twin that harrow will never love her

yandere twin wants to give gideon funny nicknames, like who would do that, that's so disrespectful, I can't even fathom doing that at all

not to gideon, anyway

yandere twin says that mercygirl disappeared, augustine dropped out and gideon the first is trying to handle the stuff on his own, kinda?

she's surprised by the fact that mercygirl tried to kill harrow

"why did you ascend to be a lyctor?" "ultimate power—and posters of my face" "Fair"

they find augustine being useless in a hallway and, when he sees gideon's eyes, he panics and bolts out of there

these lyctors are all a joke istg each and every one of them

except for, I think it was cassiopeia, who had the ceramics collection, she's fine

well no, I don't condone planet murder for ceramics, but she gets a bit more points than the rest for them

there's a lot of talk about buttholes between gideon and yandere twin and I'm not above that, since I've been making bolthole jokes this whole time

gideon is living for the nudes in yandere twin's room

nobody is surprised about that

but there's no time to think about the nudes or buttholes anymore when yandere twin pulls out a harrow letter for gideon

gideon is going through it even before opening it, as are we

she finds her glasses and a note that says

"one flesh, one end"

"Fuck one flesh, one end, harrow" "Because all I ever wanted you to do was eat me. Which is, coincidentally, what your mother said to me last night"

always so poetic, ortus can't even get close to this level

gideon keeps telling yandere twin that she has no chance with harrow

"I hated those eyes in her face; I kept expecting to smell hair gel."

chad catching strays at every turn, I live

gideon explains about harrow being in love with ice cube barbie

"I know the signs of Nonagesimitis"

and yandere twin goes "All that fuss about the Saint of Duty. What a little hypocrite"

which I guess is because of the whole gideon the first and not!dulcinea thing? but that's like totally different form whatever this is???

there are layers to the corpse and lyctor relationships, you guys

it's a very wide spectrum

gideon says that her connection to harrow has to do with her being her cav which...ok, gideon

"Nonagesimus, you hating me always meant more than anyone else in this hot and stupid universe loving me. At least I'd had your full attention"

gideon rn:

yandere twin isn't deterred by all of this information and thinks harrow and her have an eternity to bond because they're lyctors

as if they weren't doomed right now but ok girl, go for your dreams, I guess

gideon threatens yandere twin not to be nasty with harrow and to get away from her with her nasty necro ways

yandere twin goes "What can I say, I love a little gall on gall"

which absolutely wins gideon over for a sec

"Reverse everything I just told you. Let's get married"

I knew the horny puns would help them bond

it's the little things sometimes that bring us all together

yandere twin says chad used to say she would "go to hell and get fucked" and you know what, fuck that guy

this is why he's still catching strays on a regular basis 9 months later

yandere twin wants to take gideon to see dr reverend emperor john

gideon goes "No, thanks. I'm good"

that's what I would have said, I approve

but she has no choice, because harrowcita is still gone and whatever's going on is ??????

so, out she goes to follow yandere twin to see this asshat

who maybe will, at the very least, give us a little more info on gideon's demigod status

fingers crossed

hope he dies

And that's it for this update!!! It's a short one but we're moving forward!!!

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

Making Humanoids Less Human

I did make a small post on this, but now I've got the art for a much bigger and more detailed post! so here we go.

I had several anonymous asks that all came in quick succession weeks ago. Every single one of them was basically just a variation on "how would you take (typically humanoid) fantasy being, and make them look less human?"

This blog does not exist for me to just give people original designs for free, my goal is to show off my own personal thoughts about fantasy design and help people figure out how to adjust their own designs to fit their vision better. That means when people ask me questions about how to do something, I want to give them things to think about so they can come to their own conclusion. I don't mind making original designs to illustrate concepts, but a whole flood of "show me how to make this specific thing look different" all at once like that was too much. I'm not answering them all individually, it's just not what I want to do.

But what I can do is show my own thoughts and ideas about how to take any fantasy design and push it further away from "human", and you all can look at my ideas and figure out your own way to do things!

So here are the main 4 methods I've come up with to make humanoids look less human.

(image description: a simplified drawing of a humanoid face surrounded by four altered versions of the same face. clockwise starting from the top left, they are:

Speculative, drawn as a cat person. Additive, drawn with horns, pointy ears, sharp teeth, and a second pair of eyes. Subtractive, drawn with blank eyes, no nose, and no eyebrows. Exaggerative, drawn with a long face and huge eyes, as well as a wide mouth, narrow nose, and big ears.

end description)

I am personally a fan of the speculative route, which means exploring an alternate root of evolution to create a new design. Through this method, I've created monkey elves, frog goblins, and pig orcs.

the additive option is the most common, I think. adding new feature or doubled features to a humanoid form is a very intuitive way to change the design and make it look less human. you see this in most fantasy and scifi designs, like star trek aliens and the dnd player races.

subtractive and evaggerative are the most common options for people that like the uncanny valley. it's really easy to make uncomfortable designs by removing or exaggerating recognizable features, and they're often used together. Slenderman, for example, removes all facial features and skin color but also exaggerates the limbs and body.

Combining the four methods will give you a really interesting design as well! So for practice I decided to explore an alternate design for Tieflings, the part-demon player race in dnd.

(image description: four examples of differnt tiefling designs using the previously described methods. the additive example is just offical dnd art of a tiefling woman with purple skin, horns, and a long tail.

the subtractive sketch looks very alien, with a bald head, empty eyes, and no other facial featuers aside from a small mouth. it has three fingers per hand and two toe per foot.

the exaggerative sketch shows a hunched humanoid figure with huge eyes and big ears. the neck, limbs, and digits are all long with claws at the ends of the fingers and toes, and the limbs are also quite muscular.

the speculative sketch shows a bipedal figure with features similar to a giraffe, including a long neck, ossicones, and hooves.

end description)

now, because tielflings have such a distinct look to them, obviously my new sketches don't really look like tieflings, do they? the only one that comes close is the giraffe. relying only on one type of alteration to the human form has left the designs rather empty and lacking in the more iconic traits of the original concept. so i tried a sketch that combined my ideas! it came out looking like a completely different creature lol, like it could be a kobold or something, still not really a tiefling.

(image description: a sketch of a creature with a giraffe-like head, long tongue, and sharp teeth. it appears to be roaring at something and stands in a half-crouch. it has long limbs with hoof feet and clawed hands, as well as a long tufted tail curled behind it. end description.)

didn't work out. too far into the animal side of the speculative evolution, I think. so I tried again and got a design I liked much better!

(image description: a digital painting of a tiefling leaping back and casting a glowing orange spell. she is wearing a tunic with a corset and detached sleeves, as well as several pieces of jewelry. Her skin is purple with dark patches like a giraffe's spots, and she has a giraffe's ossicones as well as hoof-like hands and two-toed hoof feet. Her tail is long with a tuft at the end. She has glowing eyes and a flat nose, and there is a single sharp tooth visible poking out of the side of her mouth. end description.)

Brought the face back into slightly more human proportions and that helped a lot. Sometimes designs just take a few tries! that's normal.

and hopefully this is helpful to all of you! there are so many ways to alter humanoid designs to come up with something original and unique to you!

[misty-slays-blog]

So as promised, here's the translation of the interview Morfydd did with Knack in August. I am by no means a translator but I did my best. It's not too long. Some rather interesting bits about how she views Galadriel (also the author of the interview gets Haladriel lol). If you want to read the entire interview in Dutch, it's here (I archived it since you need an account to read it on the Knack site, this way you can read it in its entirety): https://archive.ph/HekvQ

Morfydd Clark keeps getting calls for freaky roles (like for a Galadriel who flirts with Sauron)

During the second season of Rings of Power, the young elf Galadriel will be haunted by the ghosts of her past. Much to the delight of Morfydd Clark, who previously made name for herself as a possessed nurse in Saint Maud. “I love looking for those extreme roles.”

“I would have to board a plane to go home and I can't do that, I thought.”

When Morfydd Clark arrived in New-Zealand five years ago, she had no idea what awaited her. The production for The Rings of Power was notoriously secretive. She knew she'd auditioned for a prequel to The Lord of the Rings. But that she would be playing Galadriel, was new information. Clark had been introduced to the franchise as a child, during a family outing to The Hobbit: A Musical in London. Throughout the following years, she collected illustration books about The Shire and the Peter Jackson movies in her bedroom in Wales. “Unknowingly, I've been preparing for a role in the Lord of the Rings universe for fifteen years”, she tells us through Zoom.

But no book could have prepared Clark for the massive scale on which The Rings of Power operates. It isn't the kind of production with casual fans who are willing to swallow everything. And on top of that: the production value was through the roof. Costing a total of 465 million dollars, the series is the most expensive one ever made. One didn't have to look hard to see where this impressive budget went. From the underground dwarven kingdom Khazad-dûm to the eye-catching splendor of Númenor: even those finding the prequel rather lacking – the series has some flaws – has to admit that the cinematography is breathtakingly spectacular, paling other fantasy franchises in the process.

On top of that, there was the fact that Cate Blanchett's adaptation of Galadriel in the original trilogy has turned into movie heritage. “It helped that I play Galadriel during an entirely different moment of her life, long before she became the Lady of Lothlórien. I delved into the history of the elves, who were pretty wild actually. Did you know that they used to throw each other off of buildings all the time? I wanted my version of Galadriel to be strikingly different from the Galadriel she would eventually become.”

Clark's version of Galadriel is a young, brave warrior who indeed barely resembles Blanchett's ethereal elf. The consequences of a rather unfortunate romantic experience might change that (spoiler: the hunk Galadriel flirted with the entire first season? He happened to be Sauron. Even elves can miss red flags). “She realizes now that she, too, might have darkness within her. Her sense of self is in shambles. We all experience this feeling sometimes, but not everyone revives the evilest being in all of Middle-Earth in the process.” The second season is all about the consequences of this error of judgment. “Sauron haunts her the entire time. She finds herself stuck in her own horror movie.”

Clark describes this new and spooky chapter of her life as 'coming home.' Before her career took her to Middle-Earth, she was well on her way to becoming a Welsh Mia Goth. She played in BBC adaptations of Dracula and His Dark Materials, and in 2019 she was promoted to indie darling thanks to Saint Maud, a psychological horror movie made by Rose Glass (who continued her streak with Love Lies Bleeding) in which she played the titular character. “My parents keep asking me why I am always cast in those terrifying roles. But I think it's wonderful. I love looking for those extreme roles. Although, it is kind of strange to always receive calls for freaky parts. Is that the kind of vibes I have?”

Her freaky vibes are definitely lucrative. Among future roles are a Hamlet adaptation and a slasher, earlier this year she acted alongside Matt Smith in Starve Acre, a British indie horror movie. “That was a lucky coincidence. Matt Smith just finished his takes for House of the Dragon, he has given me so much good advice”, Clark says. It was the first time being back to a small set “where the entire crew fits into one room.” “I don't think the sets for Rings of Power will ever feel like the norm.” Because while every series goes for as much CGI as possible these days, with Rings of Power, the crew aims to build as many of the sets as possible. “Wandering around in such a magical world still feels like winning the lottery each day.”

Despite her success, Clark's acting career started quite accidental. When she was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of seven, a directionless school career followed. She quit when she was sixteen. According to British GQ, her teachers called her 'hollol di gwilydd', meaning 'completely shameless'. It wasn't until she began acting, that she found some sense of peace. And when playing in paranormal and magical fiction, she discovered a world in which she can be herself. “Fantasy like Lord of the Rings reverses the status quo of how we think the world should be. I wanted Galadriel to be free of the things that were imposed on me when I was younger. She isn't apologetic. She never doubts whether or not she said the right thing. And that might be the best part about playing her: Galadriel is shameless.”

[empiropediazine]

Contributor Applications!

It's finally here! :D

If you've been waiting to apply to the zine, consider the waiting done! We have prepared a google form for you to apply with, but don't worry about privacy! We won't be able to see your emails or any other information you don't specifically share with us.

Link to the applications

Just a few notes before you apply: This zine will require you to be over the age of 15 in order to apply. Applications open today, Sunday the 11th (at midnight GMT) , and will close three weeks from now, on March 3rd (at 11:59 GMT). Please fill in the form carefully, but if you make a mistake you can just send in a new form!

If this is your first time hearing about our zine, or you just want to know a bit more about the zine, we will put some extra info under "Read more"

What's all this then?

Empiropedia is a zine focused on Season 1 of Empires SMP and its worldbuilding. The zine will be structured, as the name suggests, a bit like an encyclopedia! It will be an in-universe collection of historical records from the various empires and it will feature both writing and illustrations. The zne will also be completely free!

What can I expect if I get in?

If you get into the zine you will be assigned one (or potentially more, depending on what you answered in the form) empire and category to work on. This zine allows for a big variety of styles and techniques to be applied for both writers and artists, so if you've been looking to experiment a bit this might be the place for you!

Where do I find more info regarding the categories?

We have made three different posts with all the explanations for every category that's been included in the zine:

Writing caregories

Portraiture and architecture

Clothing, creature, and prop design

Can I apply if I don't have drawn/written anything Empires-related before?

Feel free to apply, but without at least one Empires SMP related piece there's a lower chance you will get into the zine.

Can I apply if I've never watched Empires SMP?

As previously stated, this zine focuses heavily on worldbuilding, so it requires at least basic knowledge of the lore of whatever empire you apply to. If you think that you possess said knowledge even without having watched any of the POVs feel free to apply, but we will most likely be favouring people who did watch the series.

[intuitive-revelations]

As I've mentioned in a previous post, I've been thinking a lot about the exact chronology of ancient Gallifrey, and specifically I've put a lot of attention on the Caldera and the Citadel, plus related things like the Eye of Harmony, the Crevasse of Memories That Will Be, the Untempered Schism etc.

All these things seem to be located in the same place on Gallifrey, albeit some at different times, and often overlap in nature. After some thinking, I think I've worked how everything goes together, as well as the order of events. At some point I want to create a fully history, but for the sake of this we'll focus primarily on the subjects above, with some other major events sprinkled in for context.

A Very Brief History of the Capitol

[ID: Surviving parts of the old Capitol, in an illustration from Lungbarrow. Crystal-like towers and walkways stand over a waterfall. The TARDIS, in pyramid form, dematerialises.]

Pythian Era - The capital city is built near the Mountains of Solace and Solitude (likely, in antiquity, a stronghold against the Gin-Seng cats to the south). Beneath the Pythia's temple, in the centre of the city, is the Cavern of Prophecy. Within the cave is a deep, deep opening known as the Crevasse of Memories That Will Be, which holds, in the astral plane, something known as the Gate of the Future, a tear into the time vortex far greater than the similar natural rifts that occur elsewhere on Gallifrey. Time flows out from it, from the future, to the past Gallifrey. In times of meditation, the Pythia sits in a hanging cage above the Crevasse, breathing in the rising vapours, which aid her in her clairvoyance.

[ID: Gif edit made by me, featuring the last Pythia sat in a small cage slowly swinging in a chasm as a mist slowly rises around her.]

The Intuitive Revelation - The Neotechnologists, led by Rassilon, bring a revolution. The Pythia curses Gallifrey with sterility and cuts the ropes holding her cage, falling into the abyss. The Gate of the Future inverts, forming the Gate of the Past. Visibly, the Doppler-effect like colouring of the vortex changes - no longer red, flowing towards the viewer, but blue and flowing away (ironically directionally the reverse of the real Doppler effect). Time from the new future flowing into the chaotic past.

The new government take control of the Capitol. A new age of space exploration arises, with the Shobogans taking on the name, for now, of "Space Lords". One of these first individual explorers, semi-authorised predecessors to future Time Lord renegades, is a woman named Tecteun.

The First Attempt - The stellar engineers, including Rassilon and Omega, make their first attempt at capturing the energy of a collapsing star, recieving the energy on Gallifrey using an obelisk, like that later used to channel energy from the Eye of Harmony, in the middle of the city, using the nature of the Crevasse.

The experiment is a catastrophic failure. A hole is punctured into the Spiral Yssgaroth, unleashing Vampires through openings throughout the universe, fracturing out from the experiment.

[ID: From The Book of the War, an illustration of the "Eyes of the Yssgaroth", human-like eyeballs looking through holes punctured into spacetime.]

Part of the Old Capitol is destroyed in a great blast, destroying the Cavern of Prophecy and opening up the Crevasse, leaving a giant crater: the Caldera. It is likely that many are killed. Left behind in the middle of the crater, is the Gate of the Past, now manifest in the physical world: an open gap in reality. In this form, it becomes known as the Untempered Schism.

(I also suspect this is when Rassilon is forced to regenerate for the first time, to the shock of on-lookers, having secretly previously recieved Tecteun's genetic modifications - I plan to expand on this theory in a future post.)

The Vampire War / Rebuilding of the Capitol - The exact circumstances of the experiment are covered up. Rassilon, leaving to fight the Vampire hoard, swears Omega to secrecy regarding the project during the Arcalian High Council's investigation.

[ID: A gif, rotating around the Citadel is constructed over the Caldera, from part of the (likely partially-symbolic) time-lapse in The Timeless Children.]

Though some of the city survives, including parts of the Pythian temple, a new colossal city-complex begins construction in the place of the old one, suspended over the Caldera, the centrepiece of the new Capitol: the Citadel. It is built as a defensive structure, both for the war, and to protect the new, growing elite, surrounded by a great circular wall named "Rassilon's Rampart". The "core" of the structure, on which the towers rest, reaches down deep into Caldera and the deeper Crevasse.

Meanwhile the Untempered Schism is taken out of the city by those fearing further destruction, to a place in the nearby hills that will one day be known as the Weeping Field, where prospective Time Academy students are initiated.

[ID: The Untempered Schism in the Doctor's time, as seen in The Sound of Drums. It sits in a stone frame on red grass, with the Seal of Rassilon in front of it, and flames on either side. Within it, the blue "past" variant of the RTD1-era time vortex flows away from the viewer. The Citadel's lights are visible in the background.]

(Side note: it's possible the Untempered Schism's 'ring' is deliberately designed to evoke the Caldera. Note how it's lined with pieces sticking out. Look a bit like the battlements on Rassilon's Rampart, don't they? Surrounding the hole into the vortex just as they surround the crater.)

The Anchoring of the Thread - Several centuries later, once the Vampires are more or less defeated, Rassilon returns home. He coups Pandak I, forcing him to resign, and takes the Presidency.

By now the Citadel is more or less completed, though for the next few centuries it still lacks its characteristic dome, likely added during a later founding conflict.

[ID: Gallifrey, around the time the first TARDISes are grown, from The Lost Dimension. In the background past a small outsider village is the Citadel, new and gleaming, but undomed.]

The Triumvirate retry their experiment at Qqaba / Polyphilos, attempting to capture the collapsed star. When the experiment goes wrong once more, Omega's ship falls inside, as spacetime threatens to crack open again. With temporal energy flowing though him (a la the Bad Wolf), Rassilon reshapes the laws of physics, forming an event horizon, and black holes as we know them.

The black hole is dimensionally captured and suspended in the moment it collapses and the event horizon is formed, creating the Eye of Harmony, controlled using the Obelisk of Rassilon storied in the Panopticon Vaults. Meanwhile, the black hole itself is suspended within the temporal singularity of the Caldera, deep below the Citadel.

Harnessing the power of the Eye and the Caldera rift, Rassilon "anchors" chronology around Gallifrey, creating the Web of Time and placing it under the control of the Gallifreyans, now Time Lords.

Future Developments - Over the years, many changes come to Rassilon's Gallifrey.

Over the years, the more and more of the old city is replaced with new towers, forming the new Capitol around a now domed Citadel. Interweaved with these buildings over 28 square miles is much of the new Time Academy, such that the Academy is sometimes considered a whole city itself annexed to the Citadel.

While the remnants of the Pythian Temple are eventually torched by Rassilon, hunting down dissenters, many old buildings remain intact. These continue to be inhabited far into the future, in a community known as "Low Town" or the "Lower Len", as opposed to the "upper" city above. Shanties surround the surviving buildings, some climbing up Rassilon's Rampart.

Another such community is based around the "Old Harbour", whcih once sat on the coast of the now recessed Sea of Time. Nowadays, it likely sits on the shore of the small (possibly designed) lakes near the Capitol, where streams from the mountains presumably once drained directly into the sea.

[ID: From Hell Bent: a screencap as Rassilon turns from looking out the window from an Inner Council chamber high above the Capitol. In the background can be seen some lakes between the mountains, with some signs of what might be buildings on their shores.]

(Side note: I reckon this shot above might actually give us a glimpse of Old Harbour. I might just be imagining things, but there's some small features around and on the lakes I reckon could be docks or buildings? Interestingly, this also comes as Rassilon asks about the Cloister Bells ringing, and Old Habour is well known for the bells in its clocktower, which might explain why Rassilon was looking out at it from the window.)

In the space around the Eye in the Caldera, the Cloisters, the core of the APC net and later the Matrix, are constructed. The structure itself is, externally at least, relatively small, but it generates an entire 'micro-universe' on the Astral plane once accessed by the Pythia. Indeed, just as the Crevasse once allowed the meditating Pythia to see the future, so does the Matrix create its own prophecies.

[ID: From Hell Bent, the Doctor and Ohila converse in the entranceway to the Cloisters, a dark space with glowing optic fibres running across cobwebbed columns.]

In the Matrix is a "womb-like" null-space is where most TARDISes are grown, taking advantages of the Caldera's spatio-temporal properties. Budding within the Citadel Cloisters, a TARDIS's "Cloister Room" is one of the first parts to grow.

By the time of the Time War, though possibly earlier, the sealed Caldera also forms the resting site for many dying Battle TARDISes, the Under Croft, where they presumably decay and fertilise the growth of new time ships.

[learielle]

Updated comm info! I'm open for commissions, some more info under the read me!

Or alternatively, here!

Personal usage only (no selling or redistributing, printing on merch to sell, etc)

Commercial inquires welcome!

I reserve the right to post it on my blog or use it for promotional purposes unless you have stated beforehand that you don’t want me to.

All payments are to be made upfront in USD through PayPal or Wise (Wise preferred).

Prices are subject to additional complexity charges if applicable.

Commissions will likely take around 1-3 weeks to complete, or sooner depending on how complex it is. If there are any delays I will inform you accordingly.

For any additional inquiries please email me at learielle.j@gmail.com.

i draw:

Ocs (fandom related or otherwise) and canon characters

Mild nudity

If there’s anything you want me to draw that isn’t listed here, or something I've previously done you'd like me to replicate, don’t hesitate to ask!

i don't draw:

NSFW / Heavy intimacy

Anthro / furry characters

Overly complicated armor / mech (but this one is negotiable, you can contact me for more info!)

If I find any subjects uncomfortable for me to draw, I reserve the right to turn the request down

Please send an email to learielle.j@gmail.com if interested!

The type of commission you want (eg. fullbody character, halfbody illustration etc)

A description of what you want me to draw (eg. your OC, a canon character) and visual references (eg moodboards, pictures etc)

Info (some personality traits, anything you think is important for me to know when I am drawing)

Include your preferred method of payment! I do prefer Wise but Paypal works in a pinch :)

For for commercial enquiries, please reach out to me via email.

[thelonelyshore-if]

While at work today, I've been pondering the specifics of the new jobs for the MC I'd like to add. Like I mentioned previously, I want one of the two new jobs to be in a creative field. I figured I'd put a poll out to get a feel for what people would like to see!

[dollsorwhatever]

Tutorial: MH Creepro neck and Arm fix

Posting this here because I keep getting questions about how I've been fixing my MH Creeproduction bodies to look a little less janky! Most people already have these techniques in their arsenal (and can definitely do a better job than me) but I keep getting questions on Twitter about how I manage to fix mine so I figure I'd just post a tut on Tumblr that I can link to lol This is an add-on to my previous post about the neck issue with both waves of Monster High Creeproductions in addition to another issue where the Creepro arms cannot lay flat against the sides of the body. Tutorial below!

Supplies Needed:

-Shitty creepro body

-Some sandpaper, I've been using 320 grit

-Boiling water We're going to start with the neck since that one is pretty quick.

This is the neck peg to start with, compared to an original G1 neck peg- the section we're concerned with is the circular peg right above the neck hole:

(Creepro on the left, original on the right) the Creeproduction peg is significantly thicker, which is causing the head to sit lower on the neck and cause the vinyl to deform. We're going to fix that by sanding the underside of the neck peg until it's much thinner, but not quite as thin as the originals (since original g1 dolls frequently have loose necks lol)

First you'll want to cut out a rectangle of sandpaper and fold it in half; this is both to make the sandpaper less flimsy and also because the folded edge is good for sanding nooks and crannies.

Now you're going to sand all around underside of the circular neck peg shown here, until that whole circular peg is thinner:

Make sure not to use the folded edge of the sandpaper for this part of the tutorial, we don't want to accidentally carve into the "stem" of the neck peg and cause it to snap. I like to sand off a bit, try the head on and then sand off a bit more if it's still not sitting as high as an original MH neck would. Make sure you're heating the heads prior to removal or you might break the neck peg. And also chop off that stupid hook on the top of the circular peg, it does nothing but cause misery lol This is typically what it looks like when I've sanded it as much as I need to for most dolls:

(after on the left, before on the right) Some characters have heads that sit much higher on the neck originally (like Spectra) so I'll sand off a lot more for them, but ymmv.

Now onto the body!

So, this is the Creeproduction body as-is:

This is the flattest I can get her arms to her sides. Some creepros can get them flatter, but not by much. Original G1 body arms already tend not to lay flat enough in my experience, but Creeproduction bodies are even worse lol We're going to fix that with sandpaper and boiling water! Provided below is an illustration of the general places that we are going to sand:

The notch under the ball joint of the arm, the area directly below the armpit and a tiny bit of the round area on the underside of the upper arm. We're going to sand a little off of each section.

For the notch in the arm, you're going to use the folded edge of the sandpaper to carve out the notch until it's a bit deeper than previously.

No, it's not pretty! Thank you for noticing lol

Next we're going to sand the armpit area, using the other edges of the sandpaper because we don't want to dig into the arm at all accidentally:

As well as this rounded area of the arm , not too much but enough to make it just a little flatter:

I left it raw to better show exactly where I'm sanding; most of the visible sand marks will disappear after washing but you can clean it up more with a finer sandpaper when you're done if you want. I'm just too lazy to do that lol

After all of that, your arm should sit more or less like the arm on the right (left unsanded for comparison)

Much better, but not quite there yet!

Modern G1 bodies have vinyl upper arms that are easy to manipulate with heat, so in order to get them as flat as possible we're doing to boil and reshape them. I like to boil my water in the microwave, and then dip the entire upper torso into the water until the arms are super pliable. At this point I will pull them out, pinch the arms right up against the body with my thumb and forefinger and then run them under the tap until they set. Your final result should look something like this:

And that's it! Hope that helps lol

Some shoddy before and after photos lol:

(Spectra was also rerooted lol)