#anyways I’m also still figuring out how to actually color things digitally

[froggerland]

The Terror lieutenants!!

[welcometoteyvat]

graphics rambling/metacognitive time (the Kinich graphics in question)

Honestly I started this on a whim, I think I wanted to make some kind of video game character profile mock for him, taking inspiration from how his trailer was structured lol, and it ended up morphing into 4 posters, none of which remotely resemble a character card lol. Overall I knew I wanted some kind of pixel theme to unite the entire thing, if not a 1-1 video game reference, and over the course of making that the uniting theme morphed into halftone, pixelation, squares, and elements of his green/blue/yellow color scheme.

I started out with his splash art because I thought the pose was really dynamic, and I actually started with a landscape oriented banner image instead of portrait orientation like the final version. I wanted to incorporate kinich's pixel chibis into another banner and make it a sillier type of project lol, but that didn't happen.

For the actual editing, I knew I wanted something with his pixel theme, and while I was inspiration hunting, I stumbled upon this neat butterfly graphic design for a piece on digital transformations. Thought it looked super cool, especially the illusion of the butterfly wing disintegrating at the edges! I wanted to try it out on kinich but ended up not actually using it; after I got the image into black and white and added some halftone patterning, I couldn’t figure out how to automatically cut it up into squares and reassemble it with all squares in the correct locations (it would’ve taken way too much time manually with like 300 squares lmao). Gave up on that and thought it looked ok with just black and white coloring (3 thresholds worth of b/w adjustment lol), but there was too little color in the black and white so I ended up experimenting with some colored squares and quite liked the result!

I ended up deciding the banner was too cramped, so I switched orientations to see if it helped. It forced me to rearrange the text, and I then wanted to combine his splash and icon into one image, like a character profile/card, but I ended up getting rid of the icon because it was too cluttered and I couldn’t integrate it well into the overall poster. Cutting off his leg also looked awkward to me lmao

I think this took me the least amount of time overall, or at least I didn't feel blocked anywhere while working on it. Silkscreen pixel font thanks for your service (shame I didn't use it anywhere...)

second poster I made was the turnfire hunt poster; I was going to stop after that one but thought the two posters side by side were too… uncohesive? They each had their own central focus (Kinich) so it felt awkward putting them next to each other, I wanted to add some more stuff/filler to balance them out. Anyways, I was scrolling through kinich's official art and thought that image was a pretty cool pose too—he really has such dynamic art. I was going to use halftone + b/w color scheme again, so the background was going to be the one with color, but then I couldn't make it work and the green was making my eyes bleed so I gave up.

lowkey this one still reminds me of some kind of cartoony action movie poster.

I still wanted to try the color blocking style that the butterfly design used, and ended up stumbling upon the pixelate filter to create large color blocks sampled from the original image, and using those to color the black and white base! At first I didn’t edit the original colors, but I changed it to all green to be more cohesive (the orange-browns felt out of place in a mainly cool color dominated scheme). I tried limiting the colors to green and blue first, to match the first poster, but it looked weird removing the browns from his face (don't have an example of this version)

Ended up with the shades of green and I’m pretty happy with it. I was originally thinking about making him hang from the image border, but it didn’t pull off that illusion as well as I wanted (probably because the top of his hand was cut off) so I tried it with some text; it still felt really flat but bending the text helped a lotttt. Playing around with that was really fun! Had trouble with the background on this (as evidenced by the green halftone lol), but I found one of genshin's texture files they used for the natlan events (thank you genshinimpactresources) and I layered that for the background so it wasn't super boring.

and then I was like well. I can’t just post these two because their background colors and their designs in general are too similar, so I started looking for more stuff to edit him with. For panel 3 I chose the pose from his tribe reputation quest background, and the quote from his character stories. sidenote I could go on about how many times it stresses his connection between the mountains (they gave him freedom in an empty box ueueue) but anyways. I had a lot of fun playing around with blur/halftone/weird coloring effects on this, and styling the text! I love highlighting certain words with different colors and fonts hehe. incidentally this probably has the most saved versions because I was struggling with background texture, bg color, and kinich's color too lmao. I didn't choose the green filter because it looked too similar to #2, and discarded the white background because the green text doesn't pop as well. I feel like he melts into the background better in the white version tho (and I like the illusion of brighter colors on Kinich), so it was a tradeoff ig.

The second poster in the layout and 4th poster I made gave me so much trouble because I literally just didn't know how to design it. I didn't want to have yet another panel with Kinich as the focus, so it was either a) find an object or something similar that's associated with him b) use his quest icon/tribe's icon c) pure typography, which I barely have experience with. I tried using his ascension materials and his weapon for something, tried just sticking a quote on there and shaping it into the shape of his necklace, etc. I was so stuck lmao this was my closest attempt. I full circled back to the video game UI theme I tried at first, but it felt way too empty lol.

the font made it into the final version of panel 4 though! Honestly, I don't have much to say about this design. I caved and used another Kinich image instead of forcing myself to stick with a design centered around his constellation/quest icon and it made things a lot smoother. I was playing around with different formatting of "atonement or compensation" and "give up" (tried overlaying them on top of kinich's scribbled out eyes, etc) but those versions all ended up asymmetrical, so I chose to wrap the quote around the frame instead. I also tried using some leaf textures to mask his face, but it made the scribble look like it's floating around randomly, because you can't really see where his eyes are supposed to be. Ig, have a version with thinner text (kinda hard to read unless you zoom in) and no filters. the font's called m+1c or something and lowkey idk whether there's any difference between some of its thickness settings. i swear to god regular and medium weights look exactly the same

conclusion: kinich. i love your character stories. live your best life.

[mickemz01]

Hey. Totally not returning a favor or anything this is definitely for no reason at all yep mhm. Do you want to tell me about photo editing.

Photo editing means a LOT to me because most people don’t realize how much really goes into it. Call me crazy, but I WILL be in my local mall staring at every advertisement poster I come across figuring out the editing techniques used. Are the highlights too high? What about the whites? Have the shadows been raised to provide more detail to the darker parts of the image? Does the subject pop out from the background the way they’re supposed to? Could a masking layer help this in any way? Unfortunately, this is not a words thing, this is a visual thing. 

You did not ask for photo editing advice, but I will serve it to you anyway. 

A lot of these terms and advices are all referenced from my experiences with Adobe Lightroom, since that is the main program I use. 

Highlights + Whites– The most basic things I first learned when it came to photo editing was to always lower the whites and highlights in a photo. By lowering the brightest points in the photo, you get a more professional feel, as all the colors are in closer relation to eachother. And in fact! In movies, there are no parts of any shot that are complete, pure white. They are always dimmed. They are always a dimmer off-white, because that’s how you achieve that cinematic feel to a movie. The same goes for photos! This was just a good rule of thumb for a while me, until recently when I figured out that it really does add a level of professionalism to the entire photo.

Shadows– RAISE THEM! Reasonably, of course. But we want all the information we can get in a photo. It’s really shocking how BIG of a difference it starts making when you have more information in the darker parts of an image, how much it really brings the photo together.

Blacks– For more professional, contrasty photos, I usually leave this alone. But if you want to achieve a more film-like look, raise them slightly! Just keep in mind that the higher you raise them, the more flat your image may end up looking (If you play around with it, you’ll see what I’m getting at with that).

Masking– One of my favorite tools so far that I’ve discovered.  Again, this mostly pertains for Adobe Lightroom. I use this for a large percentage of my photos. One thing that’s super super important is making sure your subjects stand out from their background. I don’t own a light reflector, so one of the ways I do this is by creating a subject mask (often for portraits), and in that mask, turning the subject’s shadows up, lighting them properly. Of course, an actual light reflector would absolutely work better for lighting the subject rather than a digitally processed way, but if you’re lucky with lighting outdoors, you shouldn’t be able to tell that it’s done in post.  In some really strong cases, I’ll create a background mask to turn the exposure down on what is NOT the subject, so we can assure that that is still what our main focus is. 

Saturation + vibrancy– I rarely ever touch these settings. They tend to adjust all the colors in an image, when my main point of editing is to bring out certain colors, and not other. Hell YES I want my subject’s shirt brought out against the blues of the sky. I also want some of the sky brought out! But not entirely. These settings will bring out the color of the shirt plus the blues of the sky, plus the reds in the subject’s skin that make them look like they really need some medical attention. I never really touch these settings. They do too much for what I want . 

Curves– I’ve heard this described as “the most powerful tool” you can use in photo editing, but it took me an embarrassingly long amount of time to get the hang of how to use curves properly.  What I learned is that the curves chart is always divided into three sections: the shadows, midtones, and highlights. And there are four charts, one for gamma (general brightness), red/greens, green/purples, and blue/yellows. Curves are FANTASTIC for when there is an overarching single color in a photo. Is your photo too blue because you were shooting in the morning shadows? Adjust the curves chart (probably around the center, or the midtones area for general color-correction coverage) towards the yellows. Because of color theory, they obviously counteract eachother. If it’s mostly the shadows that look a little too blue, you can adjust the curves chart in the shadows portion to bring the shadows back to matching the rest of the image. I did not master the curves charts by fiddling around with them myself, I had to be shown how to use them, but they sure have benefited me for the better

Are you a beginner without the money for fancy programs like Lightroom? I got you. Lightroom Mobile IS INFACT FREE! But that’s not what I started off with. I did a lot of my editing on mobile for the longest time. I used Snapseed, a free mobile app for photo editing. The organization is… questionable. It really takes a lot of time to learn how to get around the app, and learn what all the options do. But like I said, organization of things within that app? Questionable. But even then I got compliments from professional photographers on my photos taken and edited with nothing but my phone. Crazy to me 2 years later, but. Anyways! Snapseed does give you more options for specific editing styles than Lightroom does, so there’s that! 

Thank you again for the ask, photo editing is something that brings me so much joy every time I have the opportunity to do it <3 

[wyuhing]

hi i'm wong yuhing

but u can just call me yu (please please PLEASE)

this post will double as my accepted portfolio btw but uh hi

i'm an animation student at seneca college (1st year as of posting) and i decided to make this to log my progress because um, yes.

im like really bad at communicating (like. awful) so i hope you don’t mind (your honor, i plead anxiety)

anyway. portfolio. here u are (almost everything is hand-drawn)

hand drawings

you have no idea how long it took to learn the anatomical parts of the hand. i learned how knuckles were formed

they will teach you this in 1st semester life drawing. the construction of bones in the body, that is. you will finally learn where the metacarpals and are how to get carpal tunnel

i kind of don’t know what else to say

interior drawings

okay i actually do know what to say and it’s that perspective is king. obviously yes it needs to be yknow. a bedroom. with stuff in it. but what they’re looking for is not detail, it’s perspective. if you have a lot of stuff but your perspective is all wrong, that’s not it

like are these lines all going to a vanishing point? are all these objects and furniture sized to scale? that’s what they are looking for, and you will learn Interior Layout Made Easy(TM) in 1st sem. exterior and nature scenes is a 2nd sem thing (and also what i am working on as of posting lol).

it took so many tries to make this bedroom look nice… and they aren’t even from opposite corners lmAO

object drawings

also a structural thing, which you actually learn in layout in 1st sem. actually you can boil down every single object in existence to a series of either a rectangular prism or a cylinder and i am not joking

is this object structurally sound? does the object have form, does it adhere to the vanishing points (that are realistically super far apart)? stuff like that

draw any one object per day i promise you it’s an amazing structural exercise. im SO serious.

figure drawings

idk if you should be asking me about figure drawings i barely got out of 1st sem with my life and a 60 but yeah i don’t think they care what kind of figures they are (like 1m gestures, or 20m poses). the ones i drew were both 15m but uh.

for gestures as you may know. they want the gesture. course it had to be relatively proportionate but they want the life in life drawing. movement, form! good line quality! which you will all learn in 1st sem and actually form is a big thing in 2nd sem too.

also by the end you will be able to know every single bone in the body, you will know where the greater tricantor is and how to draw a pelvis.

but please don’t ask me about life drawing i barely survived that class

personal art

wow i hit the photo limit hooray! anyway, i did yet another interior design. why? im gonna be fr w u i just really like drawing backgrounds LOL- of course it’s messed up in all the wrong places but you will know how to fix this in 1st sem. they teach you all the fundies in 1st sem

my other was character design and tbh i cooked up smth random and let it sit. it’s also my only digital piece. really wish i added color but i was on a time crunch at the time.

o by the way you will also learn how to color and render in 2nd sem, i have a 73 in that class idk how i’m still alive.

so yeah that’s my accepted portfolio yayyyy!!!

your honor i plead neurodivergency i don’t know how to end a tumblr post

[olivereactsaboutgarbage]

Higurashi When They Cry - Watanagashi Chapter 5

I just want everyone to know that I don’t have the Steam achievement for meeting Shion. That’s so outrageous. I have the Steam achievement for getting food from Shion and the Steam achievement for getting rescued by Shion but not the one for meeting her.

Anyways

Keiichi’s Shion Meal is actually a super powerful rare meal he obtained via cheating that has been imposed upon him.

Also I think Rena is shipping Keiichi and Mion probably. If I’m right that’d be funny after Keiichi spent half of the last arc shipping Keiichi and Rena.

Hmm. Two? Where by “Two?” I mean “That’s inherently unacceptable!!”

Oh, Keiichi’s voice acting was cute here. That’s a first. For his voice acting. And probably a higher single-digit number in terms of overall Keiichi Cuteness Moments. Still a single-digit number either way though. But... a higher one if we’re counting things other than voice acting.

Keiichi learns that he can actually drag three leeches to the Shion Meal, but he only learns it while surrounded by leeches, so he learned it at a bad time, because it takes more than three leeches to surround a person, and also he doesn’t like them.

Keiichi doesn’t like to make jokes about sexual assault. I guess that makes him a better When They Cry protagonist than Battler.

Ew... did I really just say that...? Ew... disgusting...

Hmm, if Rena is actually a Keiichi/Mion shipper, and Shion is actually a completely different person from Mion (possibly untrue) and Keiichi is stupid (definitely true), that specific set of conditions would mean it sucks for Rena how Shion is groping all over Keiichi. Metaphorically speaking. It’s up to you to figure out what part of what I just said was a metaphor--shouldn’t be too hard, maybe.

Unfortunately for Keiichi, Shion’s Mealhouse is also a den of leeches. The acting drains from their voices and presumably also the color drains from Keiichi’s face.

fuck, this entire chapter is making me like keiichi. the stakes aren’t even high, why do i like him right now

Well, I guess this is just the same thing they pulled on the show Frasier via the existence of Niles Crane. Except I actually like Niles Crane. Not that I’m an avid Frasier fan.

Keiichi reiterates his stance that sexual harassment is actually bad.

Non-voiced text disagrees.

Keiichi decides to unveil the foreshadowed Shion Reciprocity and make a huge scene. Also he’s fatphobic. Also his fuckin’ Way-More-Useless-Spidey-Senses are inescapable even when they don’t really impact the plot meaningfully. They truly are innate to the boy himself, and not simply to his genre.

Ick, don’t say that. Especially not without enclosing it in <>s, old-timer! ...Actually I don’t know offhand which localization is older, but I know what I like, so I have chosen to ascribe youth to that which I like.

Keiichi lacks training and is a young man, so in order to cover for one of those deficiencies, he summons Chekhov’s Leeches who aren’t young men: Rena and the Toddlers.

wtf since when are all the losers not losers. they’re even less losery than the last time they weren’t losers!!

LMAO

Keiichi is pretending he owns walky-talkies. Or maybe he actually owns them. Probably not though.

The punctuation is getting sassy this time around. I like it! :)

This is the single most vile sentence known to man???

Why’d an entire BG get drawn for this restroom. How many more times is Keiichi gonna come in here.

Not “a” girl, not “the” girl, but simply Girl, in its purest state. Like a Toddler 02-shaped-hole punched through reality straight to the ocean known as All Quantifiable “Girl” Substance. I guess that makes Toddler 02 one of the best characters, because entity-shaped holes punched through reality are extremely great, especially when they lead to The Outer Turn!

...why would anyone trying to rationally explain their position end their sentence with “NyaaaAAAHH~”. Well whatever

Ah, but the English words used by the voice acting were clearly “I shall return”. Everyone else isn’t actually going to return, and the implication that they will is a false narrative concocted for unclear yet sinister reasons.

Anyway, Keiichi’s anti-leech fatphobia saved the day.

If the voice acting is to be believed, then the definition of the word “hau” is “was a pervert”. This explains a lot about Rena’s character!

Hmm... I suppose it could be said then that I also wield it... the power to make Keiichi laugh...

Ah yes, playing dumb. Another episode of Keiichi Being Correct Moments.

Is Rena calling Keiichi “the girl” here? Hmm... it suits him.

Rena all-but-confirms Keiichi’s theory that Mion and Shion are the same. Phew, I guess the fact that Shion loves groping Keiichi isn’t going to ruin Rena’s day after all. Not that I care especially deeply about that specific Mood Hypothetical.

Ah... hold on... let me do some cross-referencing...

“I’m very kind and thoughtful, but Shion has a cold and scary personality...!”

Alright. Dichotomy noted.

Nico Robin moment

Correct.

Wrong.

MEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! >:(

Oh right, I kinda forgot about that too. It was like two hiatuses ago on my part.

Um. Okay dude

Anyway, I can’t believe it... Keiichi has entered his Mind Palace and activated Smart Mode. Via the activation of Smart Mode, he’s completely eviscerated his greatest character flaw... this power level is way too high...

...okay even with Smart Mode activated, Keiichi didn’t even note the dichotomy I noted. Okay

Y’know a friend was saying a while ago that as someone who started with the anime, he found the VN’s pacing unbearable. I wonder if the anime also has this many extensive flashbacks in Keiichi’s Mind Palace.

BRO THE WORLD IS SO ORANGE??? There need to be more visual novels that take place in Orange World.

Anyway, this is just the plot of Umineko.

Keiichi decides to fix everything by giving Shion a toy, like in that Phineas and Ferb movie where Doofenshmirtz fixes everything by giving Shoofenshmirtz a toy. Keiichi is standing in for Mion in this situation and also this analogy doesn’t make any sense.

Wait, actually, Keiichi isn’t going to give Shion a toy directly, he’s going to make Mion give Shion the toy. So my analogy was fucking great and all of you were wrong to ever doubt me!

You jackass. Mion, just give her the toy already so she goes to jail

yeah she is laying this on way too thick for it to be anything other than a lie

i am going to commit fucking murder

Meanwhile, in Side Story Land...

What??? Why is Shion putting Keiichi in a car in Side Story Land??? What is this

OMG!!!! IT’S ULKI FROM FIRE EMBLEM!!!! YES YES YES YES YES

[utahlive]

No episode today (i have a test i gotta study for booo) :( However in usual “no episode today” style, I’ve got some behind the scenes stuff! (+ answering asks). I’m really glad you guys like hearing about this part of the blog :D

It’s a little long so I’m putting it under the cut

So my latest method of answering asks is to write a quick outline/reply and save it in drafts (as opposed to what I was doing, which was copy pasting asks into the notes app and writing replies there. dont ask whats wrong with me; I dont know). Anyway this specific comic had its first ‘script’ (shoutout to @/ghostburface for the ask)

I usually draw out what I imagine happening and then add text to hit the points im aiming for, but I did the opposite in this one. I had a lot of trouble figuring out the actual visuals for this one

(For the record I tried to find the original price of the glasses on the las Nevadas merch page but it wasn’t there. I remember losing my mind over the price tho)

attempt/draft 2 (sort of) since I wasn’t sure about the layout. I was really hoping to just have three panels (as you can see by the “if 3 that would be epic” note above)

And then I transferred it digitally! I did go over the script in DMs with my friend so it ended up as it did I did see one person pointing out the whole “rose colored glasses” thing (shout out to you fr !!). I had a lot of meaning I was going for with this one but I have a hard time finding a middle ground between “so obscure its not there” and “way too obvious”

I also wanted to answer some asks (as per usual :3 because I love talking with you guys)

I wish he would grow it out!! However as anyone who’s gone from short to long hair... the awkward phase is NOT pretty. I did hear on one of his streams he might cut it when the EP comes out rather than the album. because he’s a coward (but I can’t blame him)

who doesnt feel like ripping up their pillow though, amiright fellas? Shout out to all the utahlive fictives out there (I’ve heard of reported sightings). Would love to talk to you guys some day <3 It still baffles my mind that this blog leaves any sort of lasting impression on people (for reals though, I hope you guys are ok!!)

this one isnt directed at me but I just think its funny you say this because summer 2022 I went to the Winchester house with my friends, but we all decided it wasn’t worth the price so we just checked out the gift shop and walked around the outside for about two hours. it’s actually very pretty! super cool architecture

this one is under the “what would you recommend I get at the gas station”

It’s also not a question but I think it would be funny to let you know I wrote and queued that post (and the other one posted that day) at like 5am I don’t know how I missed it because I usually check my posts the next morning before they get posted I know it’s bad I’m trying real hard to get my sleep schedule to be normal (this post is sponsored by melatonin tablets)

GET AWAY GET AWAY GET AWAY GET AWAY 🤺🤺🤺

I assume you’re talking about the mcytblr sexyman poll?? Im already making predictions and bets in my head on this one but Ill be fighting for MY meowmeows till my last breath

[paradisetemporarilymisplaced]

So I was being a basic bitch the other day and listening to my true crime podcasts when it occurred to me just how suspicious Nile’s “death” would look to everyone not in the Guard, leading me to a train of thought that, 2200 words later, absolutely got away from me but I can’t let go so I’m inflicting it on all of you!

To set the stage, we know the movie takes place over approximately a week. Here’s what happens to Nile from the military’s point of view:

She dies is very seriously injured

She heals without a scratch

Just before she’s supposed to be shipped out to Germany, she vanishes, leaving two men concussed (and presumably reporting being knocked out by a woman with short hair wearing civilian clothes)

She goes AWOL for several days

They get word from the CIA that she is to be reported killed in action (details unclear)

So, at the beginning of this very weird week, the USMC has to tell Nile’s family of her death critical injury. What her family was told depends on how long she was dead – a Google search tells me that family will be notified in person within 8 hours of a soldier’s death, but we don’t know how long her first death lasted. For an injury, however, they’d get a phone call to notify them and the unit would arrange for them to visit as soon as the soldier is transferred out of a combat zone. Like I remember when I was in high school, a guy from my church who was a Marine was really seriously injured in a helicopter crash in Iraq and from what I could tell, his parents were told immediately and were flown out to Germany to see him, so it stands to reason that Nile’s family would have been informed relatively quickly after her throat was slashed, one way or another.

And then, she goes AWOL. Her family would be notified while the USMC tried to figure out where she went, not least because the military would want to know if she’s contacted them. (And it’s possible that her family may have been on the way to Germany to see her since we know that’s where she was supposed to go!) So for several days:

Nile’s mom and brother have no idea where she is

They know she was seriously injured and most certainly should not have been moving around on her own

They can’t get a hold of her

The military can’t tell them anything

And the next thing they know for sure is that she was “killed in action.” After being injured and vanishing into thin air. And they presumably cannot produce her body or any concrete evidence of her death. In any case, something sketchy is going on, so they’re like. SMELLS LIKE A MILITARY COVERUP.

In a surprise to probably no one, there is a well-documented legacy of mysterious US military deaths, particularly of women of color (TW for sexual assault in these links). The cases of LaVena Johnson and Vanessa Guillenin particular have made national news because of their families’ persistence in seeking justice. Likewise, Nile is a Black woman, and her mom and brother are most certainly hypercognizant of (a) state violence against Black people and (b) these high-profile cases of suspicious military deaths. So her family are seriously side-eyeing the situation, knowing that (a) the military has a serious incentive (and a documented history) of covering up things that make them look bad and (b) nothing about Nile’s disappearance and supposed death are adding up.

And Andy’s right. Nile does come from warriors. And you know who else does? Her brother.

Don’t get me wrong. Nile’s mom would absolutely not back down. She’d know something was up and want to get to the bottom of it. But based on what I know about Gen X parents (mine), they’re not the most technologically savvy. Like they can use the internet, but they didn’t grow up with it the way we young millennials and Gen Z did. So Nile’s brother takes the lead. And what do zillennials do best?

Social media.

Nile’s brother starts going hard on any site he can, trying to get the word out to see if anyone knows what happened to his sister. He starts a Reddit thread. He starts a Facebook group. He reaches out to the media and true crime bloggers and podcasters à la Sarah Turney, getting loud and being a general nuisance in hopes of getting some answers. He gets his friends and Nile’s friends involved. Maybe eventually Dizzy, Jay, and others from Nile’s unit hear about it and reach out, telling him what they saw and how weird it all was. He’s drumming up interest, and soon “Nile Freeman” becomes a household name (at least among the true crime fans).

Copley is, of course, trying his best, but at this point there is just so much that it’s impossible for him to scrub everything. Sure, he can erase new footage of Nile and the Guard, but what can he do about Reddit threads and podcast episodes that are speculating something weird has happened? Maybe he could hack the sites and shut those things down, but honestly, that’s the last thing he’d want to do, because that only adds weight to the theory that Nile’s disappearance is a military coverup. So eventually he has to tell Andy what’s going on.

Andy, obviously, does not take the news well. However, she is also completely computer illiterate, because that’s Booker’s job and he’s the only one who ever bothered to learn what the internet is in any meaningful way. (She probably calls Booker for advice, and for the record, I think Booker would have no qualms about shutting down conspiracy threads, tinhats be damned, but Copley is too concerned about the consequences. He’s ex-CIA for crying out loud, he knows how it’ll look if they scrub every mention of Nile’s name from the internet.) Maybe she confers with Joe and Nicky but, let’s be honest, they’d be equally unhelpful. So at this point, she knows they have to bring in Nile.

But the thing about Nile is that she, too, knows how to use the internet (duh). Aside from her being a young millennial/digital native, we know from the cave scene where she’s giving Booker suggestions on how to track Copley that she clearly is even more computer savvy than the average person. And for that reason she almost definitely took over the day-to-day tech stuff after Booker’s exile. So I think it would be foolish to expect her to be unaware of what’s happening. She’s not contacting her family or posting on the message boards or anything, but she knows what’s up. So Copley and the team probably sit her down to “break the news,” but we know the girl does not have a poker face (see: literally shooting herself in the foot and not being able to play it cool whatsoever) and cracks immediately, telling them she’s seen everything about her case – she’s not interacting with any of it, she certainly didn’t instigate anything, but she knows. (And she is so goddamn proud of her brother.)

At this point, I’d like to pause and consider Nile’s role in the overall narrative of this movie. She’s set up as a foil to Andy, obviously, but she’s also a foil to Booker. Booker, who, like Andy, is a serious pessimist, but who, unlike Andy, still has very fresh memories and trauma associated with being the new kid, which have destroyed him. In his mind (and Andy’s), if Nile communicates with her family, she’ll become just like him in a century or two – bitter, alone, and stuck with her grief and memories of watching her family die and knowing they died resenting her. It’s a small sample size, but this is the only experience they have to go off of.

But it doesn’t have to be like that.

There’s been a lot of discussion of TOG being a fundamentally queer movie – a group of people brought together because of something inherent about themselves that is different, that must be hidden, that causes others to hate, fear, and reject them. Booker’s backstory is the archetypal traumatic “coming out” story – his family learns who he is, hate him for it, and attempt to cast him out of their lives. He’s stuck with his trauma, his pain, his loss, and it consumes him.

But what if Nile’s family would be the opposite? What if her “coming out” to them as immortal is met with acceptance, love, celebration? What if her family is just overjoyed to have her back, and they don’t care what the circumstances are? I'm reminded of this incredible post from @shitty-old-guard-deaths a while back, where Nile’s mother hits Booker with a frying pan because “my baby let me believe she was dead for FIVE YEARS based on your bad advice???” (which may or may not have inspired this whole tangent). Nile takes the advice of someone who did the same thing she wants to do because she doesn’t want to risk her family’s rejection. She wants the good memories with her family and is afraid that showing them her true self will bring her unbearable pain, forever replacing those memories. But, with high risk comes high reward.

Anyway. Nile and the team are trying to come up with a plan for how to handle this whole thing, but she’s not really participating because she’s too afraid to hope. Until finally, quickly, so she doesn’t lose her nerve, she suggests she reach out to them, knowing that, realistically, that’s the only solution before things snowball even further out of control. The team is shocked, but realize that she has a point. They decide that Copley should actually be the first point of contact, posing as a US government official to talk with them and test the waters.

So Copley goes to Nile’s family’s house to talk with her mom and brother. They’re probably distrustful and apprehensive, but nonetheless secretly ecstatic that their work has paid off. They talk and review all of the information that they’ve collected, including testimonials from the people on Nile’s base and recent sightings (along with photos) of Nile (with the same three people) over the last few years that people have sent them but they haven’t posted publicly. At this point, Copley’s like, yeah this is about to blow up, we gotta put our cards on the table. He convinces them to come with him to some safe house/black site/whatever he can get that is technologically impenetrable (I’m picturing them in like, an interrogation room at a police station kind of deal), takes their phones, locks the doors, and brings in Nile.

What follows is the most delightful reunion scene of all time, bringing Joe, Nicky, and even Andy to tears as they watch and listen from outside the room. With Copley’s help, Nile tells her mom and brother about her immortality and what’s been going on since she died (within reason, of course), and they are thrilled. They don’t understand why (because no one does) but they don’t question it and they see it as a gift from God – she’s been resurrected, she will live, and she has a purpose. Her mother and brother are so happy to see her again and are willing to agree with pretty much anything to stay in her life as long as they can.

So. They set up some complicated agreement (they bring in the other three for support/intimidation as needed) setting the terms of their relationship. They swear Nile’s family to secrecy, maybe bringing up the lab to show how high the stakes are, and they readily agree. They come up with some cover story for Nile’s brother to share on the message boards (maybe that the government has opened an investigation but because it’s an open case he has to shut it all down? Tells people to direct their tips somewhere else? Something to that effect). There’s still speculation, of course, but without Nile’s brother at the helm providing the energy, the hype dies down as news stories are wont to do without any movement. And Nile’s family goes to work for the team. The experience has taught them that Copley can’t possibly do everything himself, especially when it comes to social media, so Nile’s brother takes the lead on the day-to-day tracking/social media while Copley and her mom focus on finding jobs and scrubbing their traces afterward.

So there you have it: Nile gets to integrate her biological family into her found family and spend the rest of their lives with them as it should be, Copley gets some badly needed help managing the reality of social media, the team finally has a positive narrative surrounding outsiders Knowing About Them AND about interacting with people from their previous life, and the audience gets the happy ending to this very lovely and very queer story to counteract the pain associated with Booker’s family.

Plus, you know, I’m a sucker for both a good government conspiracy theory and for Nile getting every good thing she deserves.

[99yikes]

Hi! I’m a beginner artist when it comes to digital art and was wondering what app and brushes do you use for your art, or maybe if you have any tips on digital art. I figured I’d ask you since your art is so cool and looks so nice!

aksjskdjf hello there! thank you so much for the compliments, i'm flattered!! my art is super sloppy, but i'm happy you like it (꒦ິ꒳꒦ີ)♡ i'm honestly a little embarrassed to post this cuz i'm pretty much still a novice at digital art stuff, so there are probably better/more concise ways to go over all this, but i'll gonna try my best anyway!! sorry if i ramble ;;

to answer your questions, i use procreate! i'm also pretty lazy and i don't really like to switch brushes often, meaning i work almost exclusively with the 6B Pencil. i sketch with it. i line with it. i even color and render with it sometimes. i knew when i got into digital art i would want to use a textured, pencil-like brush bc my favorite artist did and i always loved the way it looked.

here's an example of just how excessively i use it lmao (with some Pro Tips™ /j):

but ! because i use it so often, i've made some minor adjustments to the brush -- not enough to warrant calling it a completely different brush, but enough that there's a noticeable difference between the original and what i use when actually drawing.

personally, i like a tapered end when sketching and lining so i gave it a little fall off and adjusted pressure taper settings, and i also appreciate more control (less loose/shaky lines bc a pen tip on a glass screen is SLIPPERY), so i upped the streamline setting too!

here's a look at what settings i tweaked if you want to try it out yourself:

other brushes i tend to use are:

Round Brush for coloring. very super mega basic, but easy to work with!

and it's worth mentioning that lately i've been using Baskerville to line things! i used it in this itafushikigi piece. it gives me a lot of control and it's very tidy so i like it (bˊᵕˋ)b

and that's...really it lmao. of course these are all default procreate brushes. no matter what program you use, i just recommend testing out different brushes and adjusting settings until you find what works for you! you can always reset to default if you dislike it and duplicate the brush if you adore it. you can also download other brushes, but i don't have much (read: any) experience with that 💃

other tips would just be get familiar with your app and practice as much as you can. i'm very much a "pick one thing and draw it a million times" kind of person bc repetition gives me an opportunity to work on things i want to improve. 'if i draw yuutafushi enough times, eventually i'll perfect how i draw them' -- that kind of mindset?? idk if that method works for everyone, but, y'know...having a muse helps ;;

digital art was like a whole nother ballpark for me and i felt like i had to relearn how to do everything, so don't feel discouraged if your traditional art abilities don't immediately transfer over! it just takes time to get comfortable with it. drawing with your finger on a screen vs a pen on a tablet vs a pencil on paper are all very different experiences and there's a learning curve for each!

anyways, i hope that helps a little. sorry this is super long! good luck on your digital art journey ❤️

[fallout-lou-begas]

It Keeps Right On a-Hurtin’ #22: Behind the Scenes

Hi! So I mentioned in my commentary on Issue #22 of @ikroah​ that the production notes for this issue were so big that they would need their own post that would come later. This is that post! Strap in, I’ll be going through the pages above and just sort of shotgunning everything I have to say about craft and how they came together to you.

So the first thing to say is that #22 marks a big shift in both how I produce and draw IKROAH. Right off the bat, here’s what’s different about this issue:

Digital thumbnailing! That’s right. While I did do some sketchbook work (see the end of this post for details), mostly figuring out the layout of the hotel room, the first thing that I did for this issue was “draw” the entire thing in these very simplistic, loose, “shitty” versions. This was crucial for not only being able to compose every panel in advance and view the comic as a whole before I even make a single pencilstroke, but it also let me do all of my lettering in advance. This digital thumbnailing step makes sure from the very beginning that I have enough room for all the dialogue in the script, and since this issue was so talky, it was a must. I instead spent most of my sketchbook time doing multiple takes of tricky panels as practice.

Perfect panels! No more scratchy, irregular paneling. Perfect squares and rectangles only in this one, and going forward. This was part of the digital thumbnailing process anyway. Since my canvas is proportional to the size that I draw at, it’s easy to know how big each panel is in centimeters, and as you can see in the scanned pencils in the gallery above, I obviously do still need to draw the panels. However, I don’t ink over the pencilled panels, and I just fit the art into the digital panels after digitization.

Blue pencils! If these scans are a little hard to read for you, that’s because I do all of my penciling in non-copy blue, now, which makes it very hard to...well, copy. After you apply a layer of ink, the contrast between the ink and the blue pencil is so significant that the pencils basically erase themselves inside the scanner. You can do this, too! You just need any kind of light blue colored pencil; in my experience “sky blue” works best.

More complex shading! I used to do a very intentionally simplistic, mostly two-tone based shading. Now I do three-tone. It’s an experiment, but I kind of like it. That’s what this comic is valuable to me as, anyway, it’s a very good lab for artistic experiments.

Anti-aliasing! That’s right, my art was never anti-aliased before. This is because I actually do not own any kind of tablet. I color everything with a mouse and keyboard in GIMP like a fucking maniac, so scanning my inked pencils and aliasing them makes it a lot easier to work with my own art digitally, given the tools I have. However, I decided that aliased art and word balloons were clashing too much with the anti-aliased lettering, so after coloring each page I just run them through an anti-aliasing filter, and then the speech balloons are already anti-aliased.

In the “sorry for the delay” post I made about this issue a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was basically re-learning how to make comics entirely “in a good way.” See what I mean?

Now for the general notes. I’ll be commenting on things basically from the first page going on, apologies in advance to mobile users for making you scroll back up repeatedly to look at what I’m talking about, but desktop users can just open all the images in tabs...

Page One

You may think that the first page, such a complex full-page shot the streets of New Vegas, must have been the hardest and most time-consuming to complete. You’d be dead wrong. It took a single day to pencil and ink, and two days to color. It was probably the least labor-intensive page of the issue for one simple reason: barely any lettering. Lettering takes a long time and it’s very tedious. Also, despite all the dramatic lighting, it was pretty auto-pilot.

The background on the digital thumbnail is from the episode of King of the Hill where Hank goes to Las Vegas to grab his runaway father. The simplistic, cartoony approach to nightlife lighting inspired me, and I kept something sort of like the blimp-like building in the final page.

You can see that I moved around the people walking in the street between the pencil and final art; I thought it looked better and crowded the insert panel less.

My favorite part of drawing this page was just the concept of it. Everyone knows that the in-game area of New Vegas is very barebones, so I wanted to draw a scene that really took place in a city. This page takes inspiration from the area around Vault 21 while expanding it tremendously, and adding the monorail right outside. I also made the executive decision to make Vault 21 actually look like some kind of interesting, sci-fi vault instead of, like, a shack like it is in-game.

The Italian restaurant in the background on the left has its name cut-off, but its name is Chickalini’s, and that and the “famous chicken pasta” advertised on its storefront are references to an I Think You Should Leave sketch.

I completely forgot to draw the Securitrons. I didn’t even have them in the script. I got so caught up in rendering a cool city scene that I forgot that in the context of this setting there should be big TV-screen robots patrolling the place. Fortunately I remembered them half a week before the comic went up, and adding them in wasn’t too hard. I know that the prongs on their heads are antenna, not lights, but they look better with the little lights on top.

Pages Two and Three

The final panel on this page got completely redrawn. On the original pencils, you can see that I just totally fucked up the perspective. Remember when I mentioned I still did some thumbnailing in my sketchbook? Well here it is, alongside the inked version of the fixed pencil. Among the thumbnails you can see an alternate, less repetitive version of Page Three, but I ultimately went with the more rigidly paneled one because it felt better paced.

Another hard-learned lesson on this and other pages about not forgetting the little details: basically any time that you see Agnes’ coat and boots on her bed, or Cass’ clothes on hers, I had to add those in after I’d already almost finished the whole page. Continuity! It’s important!

In the pencils for Page 3, you can actually see that I drew Agnes holding a straight razor in both hands. I originally pencilled it in her far hand because that’s what I thought she was holding it in, because I drew her holding it in that hand in the mirrored panels. But then I remembered that I already drew the mirrored panels as mirrored, so I wouldn’t be flipping them, and to make a long story short this issue makes the second time in as many issues with mirrors where I’ve nearly had an existential crisis over how to properly draw reflections.

I’m sure a lot of people wonder why Agnes is shaving so...intensely. I generally don’t like to tell people exactly what something unstated in IKROAH is actually about, but I’ll make an exception just this one time to remind you that shaving as a trans woman can be a sensitive thing even when you haven’t got a nerve-wracking relationship with razors because when you were a child a deranged robot sliced off half your face with a buzzsaw (see IKROAH #7).

For the montage of Cass undressing as Agnes shaves, I remember actually asking some of my friends how much nudity I could get away with depicting if it’s not even particularly sexual, and I worried about needing to censor it or something with an obtrusive blur. I eventually decided it wasn’t necessary since Cass and her sideboob is mostly out of render distance anyway.

Pages Four

Nine panel grid, baby!! Fuck yeah!! Real comic-heads already know!!! Wahoo!!

This is one of my favorite pages I’ve drawn for the whole comic. The nine panel grid does a lot here all at once: the way it shifts from looking at Cass to looking with Cass toward Agnes, the incredible close-up in the middle row, the full bleed of Agnes’ good side...everything just really comes together here in a way that I’m super proud of.

I’m also super proud of Agnes’ legs in those boyshorts. This emotionally devastating argument doubles as the fanservice issue, apparently!

The red outline for emphasis around Cass’ line in the sixth panel (Agnes’ extreme close-up) is a trick I learned from rereading the Team Fortress 2 comics. They also inspired me to be a lot less lazy with my backgrounds, and to commit to their colors and use pop-color a lot more sparingly. I think it has great effect in this issue.

The perspective of the seventh panel here gave me a lot of grief. I’m no good with complex 3D posing software so I wound up mocking up the entire scene in Minecraft so I could draw it better. Yeah, Minecraft. No joke:

Page Five

Starting with the first panel on Page 5, you might be thinking, “Okay Lou, I know you color with a mouse and a keyboard but that’s a really fucking good Cass for having drawn it with a mouse.” You’d be right! That’s because that panel, along with some of the other egregiously well-done ones in such an otherwise sloppy mock-up, is traced off a reference image. My pencils are all me, though. Can’t trace even if I wanted to, unless I got, like, a lightbox.

Changing the room number from 301 to 310 may seem like an arbitrary revision, but it was actually for a very good reason: it was just more aesthetically pleasing after everything was already in place.

Pages Six, Seven, and Eight

Page Six’s digital thumbnail is a favorite of mine on this issue, it’s just really funny. The weird shape that is Cass sitting on the bed in the mock-up’s eighth panel is especially great.

You can see on the pencils that I drew Agnes’ “No!” expression twice, once in the panel and once in the empty space in the first row of panels. I wasn’t sure how close-up I wanted the final panel, but I ultimately went with the one drawn as I’d originally thumbnailed it. Still, the second take was really well-drawn, so I’m glad you get to see it here. Agnes has such a stick up her ass most of the time, it’s a lot of fun to finally get to do an extreme expression with her.

The first and last panels on Page 7 are probably the best examples I have of a digital thumbnail translating perfectly into the finished product. I saw it, I executed it, I loved it.

Yes the first panel of Page 8′s digital thumbnail has a weirdly distorted image of Will Smith from the “can you?” scene in I, Robot. It was the closest thing I could think of to the expression that I wanted for Cass there. I wound up moving her over to the right side of that panel in the final version, making the whole panel seem “slower” and more thoughtful.

The “horizontal lines for ellipsis” thing is a trick that I like to use in comics, one that was previously seen in IKROAH #5.

And that’s it! But one more thing...I already showed you a bit of the pencil thumbnailing that I did for this issue, but I think you all might love to see just exactly how small I can draw page as complex as the one of the Vegas streets...

[joshslater]

Twitching

Similar stories and bonus material on my Patreon.

To my surprise people keep joining the stream. Usually it was only my friends and occasionally someone random that watched me play. Space strategy games are not the most audience-friendly. They require you to know a lot about the game mechanics, and they take a long while to play through a full campaign. But all my mates know the game, and are just here to socialize and sometimes provide a tip.

This evening is different though. It had started with some "Lucy333" joining what must have been almost an hour ago. More than 30 minutes for sure. But over the past 10 minutes I've gotten 12 more viewers I think. Suddenly there is a coin sound effect and the chat stream lights up with a donation. $2 from Lucy333 and the text "Hey, spaceboy! Take your shirt off!"

I can instantly feel myself blushing. I'm flattered for a few milliseconds. I'm aware of the streams with girls showing lots of skin to get donations. I've never watched any of them. I'm not even aware of any with boys in them, but I know they exist. "Thanks for the donation, Lucy. This isn't that kind of stream though, clearly." I'm just playing for my mates when we don't feel like meeting up or doing something else. And I know I'm not a looker, though not shockingly ugly like Pete. Honestly, if there wasn't a pandemic going on we would probably do exactly the same thing anyway, playing space strategy and talk Marvel.

There is a flurry of responses from the newcomers in the chat. "Do it! Do it!" says one Donnatrix. "It could be that kind of stream," says fluffy2000. Soon my mates start cheering on as well. It basically turns into a dare. I'm not proud of my body, but I'm not ashamed of it either. It just is. Fuck it. I don't know what I'm going to be teased for more, if I take my shirt off, or if I don't. I reckon if I do what they ask for they have less ground to stand on. I set the game speed to low, say "Ok then", take off my headset, and pull off my T-shirt.

I'm met with a torrent of cheers in the chat. "Now it is that kind of stream," says fluffy. Donnatrix drops $5 and the comment "YAAAASSS". It feels weird. I can't decide if this is a group of sorority girls that randomly and sarcastically sexualize nerds, or if they are genuinely supportive.

"Thank y'all. Now back to trade route 14 to Zephyr-C". My emissary mission hasn't moved far at this speed. I'm about to increase the in-game speed when I get another $2 donation from Lucy. "Spaceboy, keep the game in slow mode and jump over to Heavenly Bodies."

I have no idea what she is talking about, if she even is a she. Her message is instantly met with a wave of support from the other newcomers. At this game speed it would take hours before I need to take any action, and I'm already up a Whopper meal without having done anything, so I reckon I can play whatever they want me to play for a while. Who knew I was that easily bought? "I don't know what that is," I say into my headset.

A few seconds later Lucy sends me a private message with a TinyURL. "This better not mess with my game rig. If it's porn I'll switch back to the game." I say. "It could be that kind of stream too." fluffy offers in the chat. "He could use some porn tbh" my friend Mike responds. I click the link.

The browser loads something that looks like a web game. It's a character creation screen with a faceless, very neutral model on the screen. Looks like those posable figures you use when learning to draw. There are no controls, except a set of buttons that offers you to upload settings, import from Facebook, and similar. I click the Facebook one, click a few approvals, and a progress bar that only lasts a few seconds appears. When it is gone there is a 3D model of me on the screen. "Wow! This looks just like me." Whatever AI they have combing through my online photos managed to get almost everything right. I'm wearing some sort of speedos, but I don't own any, so that part was a miss, but the model looks spot on. "Whatever else they have in the game, I don't think they are going to top this."

A long list of sliders and customizations appear on the screen. It looks like an incredibly detailed character creation screen. I try moving the height controller and is met with a message box saying I'm out of credits, and that I need $10,000 to change my height to whatever I moved it to. Clearly not real money. "I can't change anything". Lucy responded I need to share it. I exit fullscreen on the game and move the browser over to my other screen so everyone on the stream can see. "No, you need to click the share button in the UI and post the link in the chat", Donnatrix writes.

A big gift-wrapped box appears in the corner of the game window. I click it and it presents the text "Hair color and style" with bold letters and below that a text message from Lucy "I think this will be cute on you." I click accept and the 3D model is updated with new hair. It's dark blonde or whatever the oxymoronic name is for it, instead of my usual rat brown hair. It's short on the sides and on top is a big swooping quiff. It looks utterly silly. "Thanks, nice one," I tell the stream. I see a lot of cheers coming in the chat, but I'm a bit perplexed about the "OMYFUCKING GDO!" from Mike. It's just silly hair.

Immediately a new gift box appears on the screen, and soon after a (2) is added on top of it, possibly indicating two gifts waiting. I find it a little bit cute that these girls are essentially playing with paper dolls, but digitally and modeled after someone real. I open the next gift, "Facial Features" from Julia_Awesome. I click accept again, and the doll on the screen is updated. Weirdly it felt like a flash of heat hit me, like those flame effects on concerts. The doll still looks like me, but pretty fictionalized. The face is much sharper, not just less fat, but probably also some bone structure changes as well. It's equally interesting and disheartening, like one of those really good mobile phone filter apps that makes you into a photo model. Makes you understand how unobtainable the Men's Health cover look really is. "Thank you, Julia, but I'm not sure about this look."

I'm ignoring the chat, though I see it is going bananas. I'll have to read that later when the stream is over. I open the next box. Another two has already arrived. This gift is from Donnatrix and is "Core Body", whatever that means. It feels like a gut punch. Perhaps not that, because it doesn't hurt, but it knocks the air out of me. Almost made me fall out of the chair. I'm confused about what is actually happening though because things don't make sense. My body looks deformed. It takes a moment before my brain stops associating what I see with HR Geiger's nightmarish paintings and start to understand what I really see. My body is suddenly a lot leaner and a hell of a lot more stacked than before. Proper abs muscles like a pan of Hawaii rolls.

I look up at the main screen for the first time in what feels like an eternity. The model on the screen looks ripped as well. How stupid can one person be? I turn to the side monitor and look at the window from the webcam. It's me, all new muscles, strong jaw, and a silly quiff on top.

"Hold up! Hold up! Hold up! This is insane! This isn't possible."

"lol, of course not" I see moving by in the chat. I go back to the program. Four more gifts waiting. I look at the model on the screen. I look at the webcam view. "Arms" says the next gift with the text "Promise to flex for me." Well, fuck Zephyr-C and trade route 14.

[parkersloths]

Hi ^^

First of all – your Art is INCREDIBLE!!!

I especially love your use of colors and textures :) Everything is so bright and colorful, but still cohesive. And your images are so clear without being overly detailed! It’s all literally perfection!!!

I like to draw digitally as well and your art-style is a huge inspiration for me. So I wanted to ask if you have any work in progress videos or pictures? Or if you could explain your process in general? Like, are you using a sketch layer underneath, with how many layers are you normally working, what kind of brushes do you use or any tips overall to improve digital painting?

Of course you don’t have to answer this (kinda a lot of questions, sorry 😅 ). Just know that I adore your art and that you’re helping me on my own art-journey just by sharing your work with the world – so, thank you!!! <3

Hey!! So first of all thank you so much for everthing you said about my art, I really appreciate it! But also omg thank youuu for this amazing ask like this is for real the kind of ask I've always wanted to get, where a total stranger is interested in my process XD So yeah don't worry about asking a lot of questions, they were great and I loved them!

Also I'm super flattered that my art has inspired you in your own digital art journey and I hope the stuff I say here can also help somewhat! This will get pretty long so sorry in advance everyone for making you scroll so much cause for some reason the read more option doesn't work on mobile :/

But anyway to answer your questions!

Sadly I don't have videos but I do have some pics I'll share. This is actually my second attempt at answering this because before I was going to use some WIP pics of the Majid drawing as example but then I didn't want to because it was in black and white and color is kind of one of the main things I like to emphasize in my art so I wanted to talk about it in the example XD Then I started a couple new drawings and was taking pics of those but I got super artblocked, but luckily I just finished one out of the blue that I can use. Okay so... I started answering this, again, and it was getting way too long and rambly so I'm gonna try to keep it simple this time and maybe I can elaborate more another time if you're still interested/ if anyone else wants know X'D

My process in general: I always start by making a simple basic background to work on, just fill it in and add some blotches of color. Then on a new layer I just start painting the subject, no sketch, so again just laying down some colors (I usually take whatever color in the bg is closest to skin tone and adjust the new color from there) and I just start blocking some shapes in aproximately the right places to start defining where things will be and how they fit together and just go from there. It's hard to explain it more cause that's kinda it, I just paint until things look like they're supposed to or at least visually appealing enough XD I add or adjust whatever colors seem necessary along the way (in this particular drawing I left the darker values until way too late which I don't recommend) and just refine and refine and refine things and add as many or as few details as I feel like, working on everything simmultaneously bit by bit.

Layers: like I mentioned before there's no sketch, and I try to use as few layers as possible so usually I'll have about 3-5. One for the basic background, one to three (though sometimes I merge them) additional layers for more background effects/colors/value fixes that I usually add later in the process, and I try to have just one for the subject. Sometimes I have one or two more if I'm feeling too hesitant but I always merge them in the end.

Brushes: I only use one brush at 50% opacity the whole time for everything. It's a squarish/rectangular brush that has some sort of jagged edges and a bit of a watercolory texture.

Tips: so this part is especially hard cause like.. I feel like any tips I could give are only applicable to drawing portraits and even then it'd be for doing it in the particular way that I prefer.. Like for example I could say it's best to work on every area at the same time and never spend too long one thing before moving on to the next but.. some people actually prefer finishing the eyes completely before moving on to the nose for example you know? So honestly the main thing I'll say is kinda to just experiment with a lot of methods and styles and see what works or doesn't work for you. Something that I think always helped me a lot was watching speedpaints of people who were more skilled than me and had a distinct style, just literally watch how they did their thing and every once in a while I might notice something I'd be interested in trying for myself and yeah with practice and experience you just kinda figure out what kind of things you not only like seeing but actually want in your own art. Like years ago I used to sketch but then I saw enough videos of people painting without sketching that I wanted to try it and I realized it's just more fun and makes more sense to me that way. So yeah try lots of different things and see what works for you and what you want to incorporate into your own art style!

Some more standard digital art tips I could give I guess are like.. the thing I said about not spending too much time on just one area (if it applies to your prefered process XD). Flip the drawing every now and then to catch stuff that's off. Stay zoomed out as much as possible and when you do zoom in for details always keep an eye on how the bigger picture's looking. Take your time finding or arranging a good reference pic that really inspires you cause it'll save you time and frustration later. And aaa idk I could say more but I don't think it's that informative or helpful, and all of this is probably really basic obvious stuff anyway and this is long enough as it is so yeah I'll leave it there...

I hope any of this can help in some way or that I've at least answered your questions in a satisfying enough way haha And finally here are some of the WIP pics I took. Where you can see some parts of the process. I did a lot more after that last pic but yeah at that point it's just about fixing little things, refining and adding details, but there you can see the color adjustment thing I usually do as the very last step (though not for this pic). I don't always have to do it, and there are probably times when I shouldn't, but I almost always like to do it anyway and that's why my colors look so exaggerated and bright XD I usually make the midtones more red and/or magenta, the shadows more blue, and the highlights more yellow (and sometimes a bit cyan) but if you wanna try something like that it's definitely fun to experiment with the different color possibilities ;u;

And yeah that's it for now! I'm sorry this is so long, and this was the short version lol I hope you like the answers at least a fraction of how much I loved the questions X'D

[palbabor-writes]

Quarter-Century

Pairing: Sakusa Kiyoomi x Fem!Reader

Warnings: mild heavy petting, but this is pretty tame, oh & lots of fluff, likely enough to kill someone, so watch out for that, k?

What’s with him today? It’s just another day. After all, birthdays don’t matter when you’re this old, right? It’s not like he’s a kid. He doesn’t need a party, doesn’t really want one either. Besides, you’ve likely got something planned, you always do.

Words: 3754

Notes: if i call this a drabble are y’all gonna get mad at me? 

Quarter-Century quar·ter-cen·tu·ry /ˈkwôrdər/ - /ˈsen(t)SH(ə)rē/ noun  a period of 25 years

Twenty-five.  

It’s always spoken about like it’s some kind of milestone. Eh, it’s just another year, Kiyoomi thinks, tugging his sweaty shirt off of his back and walking toward the MSBY team dressing room, there’s nothing special about it. 

He’d woken up at 5:25, taken his first shower, kissed your sleeping form absentmindedly on the cheek before he left the bedroom, and jogged the three miles to the training facility.

He’d worked on his digs, on his jump float, and looked over the drills. The team had two practice games and had huddled up for the review at the end, the same as always. As Kiyoomi made his way out of the locker room Atsumu and Bokuto had both clapped him on the back, joking about the fleeting joys of ‘youth,’ and congratulating him on his performance on the court before they all went their separate ways, each gliding along their own trajectory. 

No, there’s nothing special about birthdays.

You’re not back from work when he gets home, so Kiyoomi pads around the empty apartment, flitting from room to room, disjointedly flipping on lights and switching them back off seconds later. It’s like he can’t make up his mind. Should he take a nap? He could sleep off these uncharacteristic and frustrating jitters that keep coursing through him. No, he reconsiders naps just make him groggy and irritable. What else?

He’s showered twice today, there’s no need for another, and it looks like you’d cleaned up the living room and kitchen before you’d left for the day, so there’s nothing for him to clean either. Ugh, what’s with this restlessness? 

There are old matches that he can watch, already primed and loaded onto his laptop, but it’s charging in the bedroom, likely tucked under some of your leaflets and various heapings of paperwork. It’d be a pain to move everything.

Eh, he could start a puzzle, maybe flip through some channels, see what’s on TV, and there’s that book that you’d told him he should check out, he’s weeks behind on starting that, but it’s in the bedroom too, and–

Damn it. It feels like he’s stuck in some kind of loop.

He flops down on the couch, tipping his dark head back, obsidian curls fanning around his forehead as he stares up at the ceiling. What’s with him today? It’s just another day. After all, birthdays don’t matter when you’re this old, right? It’s not like he’s a kid. He doesn’t need a party, doesn’t really want one either. Besides, you’ve likely got something planned, you always do. He smiles at that thought, running his hands through his hair and letting out a deep exhale. It’ll be alright, he reasons, you’ll get back and he’ll shake himself out of this funk, and then maybe he can–

The sudden scrape of the lock turning makes him jump, and he pops his head up just as you step through the door, a smattering of canvas bags tucked under your coiled hands. You spot him as you tap the door closed, a broad grin lighting up your face. ���Hey there!” you call out, stepping toward the kitchen to deposit your purchases. “Did you just get home? Practice go okay?” 

“It went well,” Kiyoomi replies, hunching forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “That reminds me, the next match is this weekend, you still planning on going?”

“Yeah!” you confirm, tucking a few things into the fridge before you pace over to his seated figure. “It’s right before the playoffs start, so it’ll likely be one of the last ones I can get a good seat to. Once you guys get in those end of season bouts it gets...Hey, you sure you’re alright? You look a little, I don’t know, downcast?” You kneel in front of him, your hands reaching, stroking gently over his hair and down his jaw. 

“I’m fine. Feel a little...off...is all. Happens.”

“Off?” you question, bright eyes finally catching his onyx. “Well, we can’t have that. Not today!”

“Hmph, it’s just a Saturday,” Kiyoomi huffs, catching your wrists and lowering your hands from his face. 

“Yes,” you continue, watching as he distractedly toys with your hands, trailing his thumbs over your fingers and flipping your palms this way and that within his hold. “It’s also a Saturday where I’ve played the role of good– no great, girlfriend and got us some tickets! Surprise!”

“Tickets?” he echoes, his head cocking to the side as he lifts his gaze back to yours. “To what? If it’s some kinda concert, not to be an ass, but I don’t really want to go to a–”

“Really?” you deadpan, arching an eyebrow at his morose expression. “You think, after two years of dating, that I’d take you to a concert? You? Kiyoomi Sakusa, the man who is pretty much allergic to crowds, who completely dipped out of a shoe store once because there were five people in the ‘athletic wear’ section, who abhors the mere thought of tight spaces and groups of twenty or more, thought that I, his loving partner, decided to put some some color into his living nightmares, and on his birthday no less, by bringing him to a concert?”

Kiyoomi clicks his tongue and exhales a tight laugh. “When you put it that way, no. But on the off chance that you did, and you’re trying to bluff your way out of the situation by over elaborating your reasons for not bringing me, well…I’m gonna have to decline the gift.”

You narrow your eyes at his impassive face and purse your lips. “And to think, I was gonna come over here and give you a kiss and everything.” 

“You’ll still give me one,” Kiyoomi smarts, a coquettish smirk lifting his lips when you openly scoff at him. “So, out with it, what are the tickets to?”

“Oh? Now you wanna know? Suddenly you’re curious. Well you can hold on to that buddy, cuz’ I’m not gonna tell you.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Why should I?”

“It’s my birthday,” he intones simply, broad palms already sliding up your arms, pulling you closer. You smell nice, Kiyoomi thinks, lips barely missing your own as you twist playfully away from him.

“Pfft, what happened to ‘it’s just a Saturday?’” you tease, following his insistent tugs, one knee pressing down into the cushions of the couch as you lower yourself over his lap. 

“Changed my mind,” Kiyoomi states, finally catching you and caressing his lips sinfully against yours. “I’m allowed to do that,” he continues, sucking a rasp from you as he drags his sharp teeth across the plush swell of your lower lip. “Mmm, you might have gotten a little distracted, so let me repeat my question: what are the tickets to?” 

He is genuinely interested; he wants to know what you’ve planned for the two of you, but his hands have already started that downward journey, long digits stroking over the curves that flow down your side, cupping and pulling just the way you like. Your knees lift when he buries his fingertips into the flesh of your upper thighs and you sigh, breath warm against his flushed cheeks. 

Actually, this is fine. After all, he’s good at this. He’s had plenty of time to learn you, to practice, and he loves that he knows just what to do to make you quake between his heated palms. But when he jerks you closer, your lips slip from his and you’re careful to brace yourself away, momentarily safe from his distracting caresses. 

“Baseball,” you pant, hands resting over the hard plane of his pectorals.

“Huh?” he queries, heavy brows furrowing, wholly distracted by the rise and fall of your uneven breaths and the gentle twitch of your spread legs against his hips. 

“A baseball game. I got us tickets to a baseball game.”

“It’s smaller than what I was picturing,” Kiyoomi says, adjusting the placement of his mask before looking down at you. “And what are you gonna do with that bag? Can you even take that in here?”

You laugh at his question, hoisting the thick strap of your insulated pack higher on your shoulder. “It’s the Yomiuri Giants, they’re part of the minor league so it’s a smaller stadium and don’t worry, they let you bring coolers and snacks in.”

“Eh? Snacks? Don’t they have concessions? Seems counter-productive if they let you bring your own food. How are they supposed to make money? Atsumu said that half of our vendors make a good deal of their revenue from their booths during the playoffs and the regular season. So I don’t see how that’s practical. What do you have in there, anyway? It looks heavy. Oh. Did you want me to carry it?”

“I’m not sure which one of those I should answer first,” you grin, dodging his extended hand and stepping forward. “Come on, I think we can head in now.”

The seats are located in the shade of the upper deck, right behind the third base, giving you both a perfect bird's-eye view of the action that will take place down on the field below. True to your word, the ticket inspectors had let you and your pack pass through without a word of protest, and as he flipped down his plastic seat, you carefully tucked the thick canvas between the two of you. 

“What’s in it?” he asked again, peering over your shoulder as you unzipped the long teeth and reached into the dark depths, hands searching for something. 

“You’ll see,” you promise, leaning back once you found your prize, a small bottle of hand sanitizer. You pop the lid up and nod for his palms, carefully pressing some of the clear antiseptic onto his hands. “Game should start soon,” you inform, repeating the cleaning process yourself before closing the top and tossing the bottle back into the bag. “And I wanna make sure you’re set before I head down to the concession stands.”

“So it’s food,” he determines, slipping his mask off of his face, tucking it under his chin, an appreciative smile winding its way up his lips. 

“Of course it is! You think I’d leave you to languish for 9 innings while I sit beside you, gorging myself on the delicious food they sell at the concessions, which you refuse to eat? Alas, not even I am that cruel. Nah, I brought something that I hope you’ll like.”

“I’ll like it,” Kiyoomi replies, resting his muscled shoulder against yours, watching as you arrange a few clear sets of Tupperware in your hands, lifting them evenly out of the bag. 

“Careful,” you jab, tossing him a mischievous grin. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

Kiyoomi shrugs. “It’s from you; I’ll like it.”

Your hands still after his declaration and you twist your head back to him, eyes wide, searching his placid expression. “Okay,” you laugh, setting the Tupperware aside, fully turning to him and wrapping an arm around his neck, your other hand cupping his cheek, pulling him down to your seeking lips. “That was too much. There some sort of class you stoic types take? How to make others swoon in five lessons, or less?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Kiyoomi rolls his eyes, prying your hands from him. “It’s true. No need to make a big deal about it. You put a lot of effort into today, and I...I just think that...I mean...thanks,” he finishes lamely, dark eyes balefully avoiding yours. You chuckle again and reward him with another peck to his cheek.  

“So cute.”

“Stop it,” he grumbles, a faint blush staining his cheeks. “Weren’t you gonna show me something? Better hurry. After all, there’s still time for me to mess it up.”

“What does that mean?” you puzzle, pulling away.

“I dunno. I always say the wrong shit. You know that.”

“Well,” you ponder, tapping a finger against your chin. “We’re at a baseball game, so, in the spirit of the sport, why don’t I give you three strikes?”

“Just three? I mean, wow, that’s so generous of you.”

You flash him a quick glare, tutting your tongue against the roof of your mouth. “Oooh, swing and a miss. Strike one!”

He’s just about to give you some retort when you press two of the containers into his hands. The heat of the plastic feels nice against his calloused palms, and he can see the fresh steam that surrounds the food that’s waiting inside. “Onigiri?” he questions, popping the lid, mouth watering at the sight of all of that pristine rice. Damn, when did you have time to make these?

“Homemade onigiri with pickled plums,” you inform him, a gleeful smile lighting up your face, pleased that he’s already reaching for one, a look of genuine happiness falling over his usually impassive expression.

“You remembered,” he murmurs, picking up the carefully shaped ball and lifting it to his lips. He bites into the fluffy rice, fastidiously letting the flavors fall over his tongue and across his pallet. It’s perfect, he thinks as he chews, just the right amount of pickled savoriness and clean, delicate grains. Damn, when did you do all of this?

You let him finish the first onigiri before you pass him a can of beer. It’s chilled, likely sitting toward the bottom of the bag, and he flicks a stray chip of ice off of the rim. A sealed can of beer, a carefully packed meal. Is there anything you haven’t thought of?

He’s just about to turn, to tell you that...well, he’s not sure what exactly. Maybe it is something about how lucky he is. How he’s somehow stumbled into something so sublime, so wonderful, as you, and how he should tell you that more, when you stand. 

“I’m going to hop down to the food stands. Inning should open up any minute. I’m glad this is an off season game, we’ve pretty much got this whole deck to ourselves! Be right back, ‘kay?”

He nods, eyes lingering on your hands, your smile, your eyes, just everything that he can see that’s you, but he doesn’t speak. He can’t. What’s he gonna say? Don’t go? Stay here. He’ll go down. 

He’ll do whatever you want; anything for you, anything.

You tilt your head at his stony, almost stricken expression, but you don’t comment on it, content with tucking one of his stray curls behind his ear before you spring up the steps, stepping away from his overwhelmed and utterly entranced form. 

Damn. 

He’s scrolling through his phone when the 1st inning ends, thumb whisking over the lists of required paperwork, the $50 dollar notarial fee, the Kon-in Todoke, mentally counting up the required signatures, the necessary witnesses. This is crazy, he thinks, skimming over the U.S. Embassy & Consulate regulations on the ‘Affidavit of Competency to Marry’ in Japan, he hasn’t even talked with you about this, but he’s honestly never felt more sure of anything in his life.

Right as he flips to a secondary tab, one that holds a few jewelry stores and ideas about ‘how to pop the question,’ he catches sight of you. You slide down the row of empty seats, your hands filled with various snacks and a tall glass of foaming beer. 

“Sorry! Wasn’t expecting to take that long, I completely missed the 1st inning! Good thing no one scored. Hopefully things will liven up with the 2nd and 3rd innings.” You settle in beside him, setting your beer against the cold concrete before jostling your popcorn and hot dog to your opposite hand, eyes peering over the brightly lit field. 

Kiyoomi bites back his grin and switches his phone off, obscuring the glittering pixels of diamonds and his future plans from view and tucks his device into his jacket pocket. You turn to look at him, your eyes narrowing and brow arching at his poorly controlled attempts to hide his giddiness. 

“What?” 

“Nothing,” he replies, slinging a long arm around your shoulders, tugging you close and planting a quick kiss against your temple.

“Liar,” you accuse, leaning back, eyes following the sharp angles of his handsome face.

“What made you pick baseball? You feeling homesick or something?”

“Hmph, no! I just...hmm, how to put this. I figured it’d be nice to take you to a game that’s not volleyball. One that we can just watch. There’s no need to worry about analyzing anyone’s performance, or your own here…you can just relax.”

Kiyoomi cocks his head at you, a few errant curls falling over his brow. “Do I do that when we go to a volleyball game?”

You nearly choke on your beer. “Mmm...koff...do you do that? Did you seriously just ask me that?”

“Yeah,” he affirms, obsidian eyes watching you closely. Wait, is he a pain to go to a game with?

“Kiyoomi?”

“Hmm.”

“I wasn’t about to take you to a volleyball game for your birthday. That’d be like you taking me back to the office and asking me to celebrate with you in the staff break room. I mean, I know you love the sport, but it’s your job. It’s what you do all day. Besides, the last time we went to a match I don’t think you said more than five words to me and you were constantly writing down the plays on your phone. I–Oh! That’s not a bad thing, not at all! It makes sense,” you amend, catching sight of his abruptly ashen expression. 

“It’s just...you’re good...no good doesn’t cut it...you’re amazing at what you do. You’ve got that hunger that all the sports documentaries I’ve ever watched talk about and you’re constantly looking to improve. It’s impressive, really! But...I just thought this might be a change of pace. Something that we could both go to, could watch, with no additional stakes. Who cares who wins? I mean, I want the home team to, obviously, but we can leave here when it’s over and just take memories, not more worries or challenges. And definitely not any notes. Sorry, that prolly’ sounds so rude, but I really want you to relax today. You more than deserve it.”

“It’s perfect,” Kiyoomi confirms, finally leaning back against the strong plastic of his seat, pulling you closer, bringing his knee toward your thigh, pressing until he can feel the heat of you past the material of his jeans. “Thank you.”

“No need to thank me,” you laugh. “It’s the least I could do. If you’re happy, then I’m happy! Oh! Speaking of, you gotta try this beer! It’s so good!”

He looks skeptically down at the plastic glass that’s still clutched between your fingers. “No. I’m not drinking out of that cup.”

“Kiyoomi,” you begin, fixing him with a hard stare. “You know we live together, right? If I pick anything up from this, then, and I hate to tell you this, but you’ll get it too, eventually.”

With a scoffed exhale and a curl of his lip he leans away from you, nose wrinkling distastefully at your threat.

“Come on,” you taunt, shaking the cup playfully in your hand, “You won’t regret it!”

“No.”

“Ugh, you’re no fun, you know that?”

“Never heard that before,” he laughs, coiling himself toward you, his arm around your back, squeezing you closer, holding on as tight as he can. 

It’s dark when the two of you get back home, but you won’t let him flip on the overhead lights, not yet. “Just wait, gimme a sec. There’s one more thing I wanna do...why don’t you go sit on the couch. I’ll turn on the lamp and be right back, promise.”

Obediently, he perches on the edge of the cushions and waits. 

He can hear you as you move around the kitchen, and he feels like he can still feel the warmth of your skin under his fingertips. Throughout the game, on the cab ride home, as he stood behind you in the darkened hallway, waiting for you to unlock the door, he’d kept his hands on you. It was like you were some kind of magnet and he couldn’t help but be tugged forward by your irresistible pull. 

“Hey! Close your eyes!” you call, feet soft against the wood as you pad back to him. He shakes his head at your request, a faint smile pulling at his lips, but he obliges you. How can he not? “No peeking,” you warn, and he it’s like he can almost feel you again as you come to stand in front of him once more. “Alright…I think that’s good. Now...open them!”

The space in front of him is bathed in a soft glow, with whisking yellows and gentle oranges dancing, flickering across your arms. The light from the candle illuminates your face, catching against your eyes and making them shine, and he’s honestly not sure if he’s breathing anymore. 

“I know it’s not much,” you justify, cupping your fingers around the delicate flame and lifting the cupcake toward him. “But I learned my lesson last year. Got you that huge cake and the leftovers languished in the fridge for almost a week. And you know what they say, less is more, right?”

Without thinking, his hands race forward, gripping your waist and pulling you closer. “Woah,” you exhale, a laugh bubbling from your lips. “Careful! I don’t wanna catch you on fire. Some birthday that would be. Come on, time’s a’wasting birthday boy, blow it out and make a wish!”

He’d lied earlier. 

When he’d thought that there was nothing special about birthdays. There is something special about this birthday and, for the first time, he knows just what he’s going to wish for. 

It’s easy to blow out the light. It’s a little harder to protect the cupcake from his downward tug, his hands insistent, firm, but somehow you safely tuck it behind you and twist back to him, fingers lacing into his onyx curls. 

“What did you wish for?” you ask, settling yourself across his lap.

“Can’t tell you yet,” Kiyoomi answers honestly, lips already seeking yours.

“Huh? You’re not supposed to tell me at all!”

“Too bad,” he intones, silencing any further retorts with the heady persuasion of his caresses and wandering touch. “I’m gonna tell you soon. Now let me enjoy you.”

notes: hbd! shoutout to @albinoburrito for her excellent edits and suggestions :*

[meruz]

Aforementioned long ask post please excuse me while i try to figure out tumblr's new text editor. I’ll get into the art meme questions first and then the rest at the end.

Ok first of all thank you all for sending in questions! Giving me an excuse to talk hehe. I’ll address these in number order. Here’s a link to the ask meme for reference but also I’ll restate the question for ease of reading.

1. When did you get into art?

Super cliche answer but I don’t remember a time where I WASN’T the weird art kid! I started keeping a dedicated sketchbook when I was about 12? But here’s a page from my kindergarten journal about what I want to be when I grow up.

2. What art-related sites have you ever signed up for? 

LOL this is a weird question. Not sure why so many people want to know. Anyways I definitely had a dA. more than one dA account. I used to browse oekakis when I was a kid but I think I was only signed up to some small ones that internet friends owned. What else...? Mangabullet,Tegakie, Paintberri, iscribble back when that was a thing, instagram if that COUNTs, I used to post art on livejournal and dreamwidth too. Patreon, I guess. Gumroad, inprnt, bigcartel, storenvy all for selling stuff.

In terms of resources.. I have a schoolism account that I’m sharing with friends. Used to take classes on coursera for free. I signed up to textures.com for work recently haha. I can’t remember if I ever had an account on posemaniacs. Did they have accounts...? I definitely used to visit all the time.

3. Show us your oldest piece of art you have on hand.

Alright here’s me actually logging into my old deviantart account. These are from September 2008 So I was 13 years old. I don’t have a deviantart account from before then because 13 was the required age for having an account and I didn’t want to lie about my age because I wanted people to be impressed by how young yet clearly incredible at art I was LOL.

4. What defines your artistic style?

You guys are probably more equipped to answer this than me but uh... I wanna say... Focus on colors. And... a slightly heavy hand? Like confident... not always well-considered mark making HAH...

Also I think I have a pretty healthy mix of american comics/manga influences. I feel like people who are into american comics always think my art is too manga and people who are into anime/manga always think my art is too american. And I’m taking that as a good sign.

5. Do you practice other styles/have you tried other styles in the past?

I like to think I switch it up a bunch! I mean, these are pretty different, right?

I think I’ve mentioned this before but one thing I really took away from art school is that, for an illustrator at least, art style shouldn’t be consistent. Your greatest weapon is changing the aspects of your style based on the task, the emotions and message you want to illustrate etc. So depending on the project I’m working on, the fandom I’m drawing for, whether I want something to be funny or serious or dramatic, I’ll change things about my style all the time.

One thing I don’t rly post on here is really tight polished work and that’s because I do that for my day job haha. If you’re not paying me... I’m probably not gonna color in the lines.

6. What levels of artistic education have you had?

I have a whole ass diploma LOL. Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. from the Rhode Island School of Design. And I had a great college experience tbh. Besides the student loans. If any of you guys are thinking about art school feel free to e-mail or message me questions or concerns, I’ll be happy to help. Be as honest as I can be.

7. Show us at least one picture you drew or sketched recently that you did not put on a public site.

heres the wandavision kids. Uhh what else do I have...I feel like I’m rummaging for loose change here...

assorted valentines prep doodles

8. What is your favourite piece that you have done?

Well, obviously this is gonna change all the time and generally it’s gonna be my most recent piece LOL. So yeah, why the hell not. I’ll say it’s this one. I have a pretty short memory which I count as a blessing for an artist. I don’t dwell that long on older work and it keeps me moving forward.

10. What do you like most about your art?

I like that it’s something that only I would make! I had this thought fairly recently and I wrote it down in my sketchbook, it’s pretty cheesy and rambling but it felt revolutionary at the time:

So yeah. I like my art best when it’s the most me and for me. And I like it least when it feels like I’m just making something for social media or for other people’s expectations or whatever.

14. What do you like drawing the most?

Kids in baggy clothing are like my go-to LOL idk if that’s obvious. but also I like being challenged so lately I’ve really loved drawing multi-character compositions, environments, weird angles, etc.

oh i LOVE drawing the underside of shoes lol. And bandages. People that are kinda beat up.. I think it comes from getting a bunch of cuts all the time. I’m always patching myself up and I want to patch characters up too.

15. What do you like drawing the least?

mmm I try to find something to like in every drawing but lets see... I don’t like doing commissions of people’s dogs. Just because it’s normally like... a family friend and my mom volunteered me without my consent and I don’t even really know what they’re expecting me to draw and I don’t even get to meet the dog. Also I’m not that great at dog anatomy. Trying to learn though.

18. What is your purpose for drawing?

This could have a million answers! Uhhh to GIT GOOD??? But also to express myself... and also to make money... I mean it depends on what the drawing IS. I draw fanart mostly to connect to people in the fandom so if you ever see me drawing fanart please take it as like an open invitation to talk to me about the character haha. 

20. How would you rank your art? (poor, mediocre, good, etc.)

Good!!! I have a lot of self-confidence primarily born out of ignorance and a short attention span. If I don’t think too hard about how many other artists are mindblowingly unfathombly good... its easy to think I’m good too! LOL

In all seriousness though, I think the opinion a person has of their art is like a crazy balancing act, right? Like you have to think you suck enough to want to get better but also you have to think you’re good enough to not want to give up. I think we’re all walking that line, I know I am! But also I’m a glass half-full type of person so. Most of the time I feel good about it.

22. List at least one of your “artspirations.”

This is a good question because I’ve been trying and failing to put together one of those “influence map” memes for like a full month now. What’s giving me a hard time is I feel like none of these are actually really obvious “““influences”““ in my art? Like it’s hard to see a lot of them in the work I make...? But idk maybe you guys’ll see what I can’t.

And these are just a couple! God there’s so many more. I could talk about other artists for ages, from all different genres of art. Daumier, Rockwell like every illustrator out there, Dana Gibson, Alex Toth, Hiroshi Yoshida, a lot of the Brandywine School. Lots of current working artists too, Karl Kerschl, frikkin Masashi Kishimoto lol, Jake Wyatt, Richie Pope, Edouard Caplain, Matt Cook, Sachin Teng, - lots of big internet artists, Sophie Li, Freddy Carrasco, Milliofish, Angela Sung... like all my friends from art school too. I could just keep going but I’ll stop for now lol.

24. Do you have a shameful art past? (recolour sprite comics, tracing art, etc.)

I mean if that’s how we’re defining shameful?? sure LOL. It’s not sprite comics but I used to do pokemon sprite recolors all the time. And I used to trace manga panels and color them... Granted this was all when I was like under 12 yrs old so it’s not even embarrassing. Can you really call it shameful when a 7 year old wets the bed or whatever? Not really. In fact some of these are cool as fuck. Look

25. Draw a picture!

Man I’m so tired now but here.

I used to get a lot of compliments for drawing people smiling lol but I don’t think I’ve drawn a lot of smiling lately.. here’s proof I’ve still got it.

OK MEME DONE. onto the rest.

I read this ask first thing when i opened my computer in the morning and it made me really emotional.. I’m so glad my sketches could help you!!

I think a lot of artists on social media talk about the struggle of making art but imo not enough people talk about the joy! Like I know it’s corny but. I really meant what I said at the beginning of that sketchbook about re-contextualizing art around process and progress > product and perfection. I think its super important..! The strength of messy, unfinished, and energetic art! For the feeling of it, for the love it!

That's crazy!!! I hope you like 'em. The whole line of x-books is really good rn imo.

Hi! I totally have the answer for digital stuff on my faq lol. But in terms of drawing on paper.. it varies! I tend to use sketchbooking and any on-paper doodling I do as a way to loosen up/warm-up or experiment. But right now my go-to aresenal is:

from top > bottom

- kuretake no.55 doublesided brush pen

- tombow fudenosuke

- muji 0.38 ballpoint

- medium size poscas

- grey tombow double brush pens

- good ol bic mechanical pencil

not EXACTly sure which inking you referring to from my sketchbook but if I had to take a guess it'd probably be the kuretake no55. That's been my main inker, lately. Great for sketching with the thin end too.

You can print out and eat my art if you like. Just please don't mass produce or re-sell. <3

Thanks! I've come to accept that my art is always gonna be sort of gestural and painty naturally. It's getting it to tighten up enough to be legible that's hard lol...

uh yeah lol I agree actually. I think yolei is great.

I assume these asks are related? LOL

1) Yeah totally true. I love David.

2) I don’t take requests, sorry! But if you want to commission me to draw Legion i would be MORE than happy to. Just e-mail me at isellhotdogs@gmail.com.

<33333333333333333333333333

[askaceattorney]

Dear Asexual-Deesasters,

Mod Edgeworth: 

If you want to know the answer to that question, go to this link.

Dear Skibot99,

Co-Mod: I’m fairly certain it was The Mod, but I don’t know for sure.  He actually had another one before it, made from an old Ace Attorney musical animation.  I haven’t been able to locate that video, unfortunately, but here’s the old banner:

Ah...  Those were good days.  Good days.

Dear Dawsongfg,

Co-Mod: It’s fine.  Besides, it won’t be too long before those letters are accepted, so maybe we’ll hold onto them until that time.

Dear skibot99 again,

Mod Edgeworth: The Lost Turnabout hands down. All logic is thrown out the window the moment Phoenix had amnesia. It’s clear the Judge knew something was wrong with Phoenix, so why didn’t he call for a recess or check on Phoenix? Not to mention Wellington was annoying. He’s probably the only character I would be hesitant to play as when answering letters, if only because he was so unbearable.

As for Turnabout Ablaze, I do agree that it is a drag to get through in the end, though the entire game of AAI was boring, aside from the game mechanics. As a case by itself, I wouldn’t put it as my least favorite, if only because I did get some funny parts out of it.  It also contributed to the overall story, whereas The Lost Turnabout could just be taken out and it wouldn’t effect the overarching plot.

Co-Mod: I’d probably have to go with Turnabout Big Top.  I honestly couldn’t figure out the part where you have to present Max’s poster without consulting a walkthrough.  Why couldn’t we just present Max himself?  Besides that, the ending was largely underwhelming -- the murder weapon was hidden under Acro’s blanket the entire time, but instead of seeing a screenshot of it there, we just have to imagine it.  Maybe it was a filler case, but that was no excuse for it to end so poorly.  Not to mention one of the witnesses was a literal puppet.

It’s hard truth, Trilo.  Live with it.

Dear skibot99 and Anonymous,

Mod Edgeworth: I… think I heard from her when the localization of DGS was announced? I know Mod Kristoph and Mod Maya introduced themselves when I came into the group. There’s a third person, but I only heard from her once. As for what’s going on with her… I don’t know.

As for the flooding the inbox, it’s fine. I won’t promise a letter or two won’t be deleted, but we may make an exception and I’d hardly consider 4-5 different letters flooding the inbox. However, I do highly suggest lowering your letter sending to no more than three a day to prevent deletion of your letters. The only time I’d say your letters are flooding the inbox is when you’re sending 10-20 of them, especially of the same letter, and we have to scroll down for a while to get to the next letter. We will only choose three out of that pile and delete the rest.

And yes, we do have a few that send us 10-20 of the same letter to multiple characters in the span of five minutes. Geez.

Co-Mod: Mod Paups has had to remain absent for personal reasons, and sadly, has recently communicated to me that she wishes to leave the blog entirely.  Thanks for all you’ve contributed to this blog, Mod Paups, and best of luck in whatever you do next!

(Referenced Letter)

Dear mungeondaster,

Mod Edgeworth: Since I answered this one, I shall answer your letter.

(^ Why do I always use this sprite? ^) Actually, the localization never specified if Manfred Von Karma was born in Germany or not. In fact, we never knew the German part until Justice For All when Franziska Von Karma was stated to have flown all the way from Germany. It never specifies any reason for this and fans were quick to jump to the conclusion that it means the Von Karma family were German, which… isn’t entirely true? Manfred Von Karma never said he lived in Germany and, for all we know, Franziska could’ve lived in Germany to study law or something.

Now, the OG does give us more specific detail on this, being why I answered this the way I did. In the OG, both Von Karma’s were born Japanese, but lived in America or at least have an estate there. It specified that they were originally born in Japan, which would be translated to LA, California in the localization. While using the OG canon isn’t normal here, I will use it, if the localization doesn’t specify things. In this case, it never specified if the Von Karma’s were born in Germany or if Manfred Von Karma lived in America. Since he had to wait out the Statue of Limitations for DL-6, we can assume he lived in LA for 15 years or more. That means he’s American.

I am still getting the hang of writing letters, but I try to stick to canon as much as possible. If you believe we’ve made an error in our letters, feel free to let us know, but also show proof, if we go against canon. We’ll be sure the letter is sent to the right mod or else fix it.

Dear  Bluedragoncody,

Mod Edgeworth: I... don’t know how to feel about that.

Also, I accidentally deleted your previous letter before this one when trying to post it on here. I’m so sorry about that. If you could remember it, would you send it again?

Co-Mod: I’ll just respond to this with an old classic:

Dear Aceattorneyismyjam,

Mod Edgeworth: I-I’m not a pro! I accidentally deleted an important mod question from bluedragoncody, because of my inexperience. Oof! Again, so sorry!

Granted, I am good with digital art and writing essays, but I’m still trying to get the hang of being a mod here. Believe me, I do get corrected on several mistakes I do here. I can’t really call myself a pro just yet. I’ve only just started becoming a mod here last month lol

Dear Dahlia,

Mod Edgeworth: I thank you for your support of this blog and my essay. Manfred Von Karma is also my favorite villain and someone I do feel is underestimated as a one dimensional villain. I think people hate him so much, because of how he ruined Miles Edgeworth’s life without looking at the bigger picture. They focus on the bad things with their black colored glasses without dissecting Manfred Von Karma’s character as a whole. 

One thing I love about this blog, even before becoming a mod, is that no one here ever portrayed Manfred Von Karma as the one dimensional villain. He can be snappy at times, but as proven in many of our previous letters, he’s also portrayed as being calm when threatened, polite at times and absolutely loves his wife and children. Yes, he’s a terrible person, but that’s what makes him so interesting. He’s a bad, evil person that does good things from time to time. It doesn’t justify any of his horrible deeds, murder included, but it does make him human.

Co-Mod: I’m...going to assume you’re a different Dahlia.  (I’m grabbing a Magatama of Parting just in case, though.  I’m sure you can understand.)

Anyway, thanks for being such a loyal follower!  This blog’s been through a lot of changes since it began, and since I joined it back in 2017, so I’m glad it’s still a good source of enjoyment for you.  I’ve seen all sorts of cringe by now, by the way (some of which I wrote myself), so don’t worry about it.

I’m also glad that the characters still sound like themselves and not like us.  The hilarious personalities and quirks given to them by Capcom’s writers, as well as the humanity in so many of them, make them easy to relate to, and thus fairly easy to mimic.  I may have said something like this before, but I see myself in a lot of them -- in Athena’s fear of inadequacy, in Apollo’s desire for justice in a world where it’s hard to find, in Sebastian’s confusion about where to go next after his world falls apart, and possibly even in the von Karmas’ desire for perfection.  I of course identify with their positive feelings as well -- Phoenix’s smugness when he gets things right, Athena’s joy after pulling off a victory in court, Adrian’s pride after her self-confidence is restored, etc. -- but there’s something about the struggles they face that make them easier to relate to, on top of being that much more awesome in the end.

Unfortunately, I can’t promise anything about this blog continuing on in perpetuity.  For one thing, I don’t plan on being around forever (I’m fairly certain the other Mods don’t, either), and for that matter, there’s also no telling how long Tumblr will be around.  All I can promise is that I’ll give my best while I’m here, and that the love from you and everyone else who shares it here is sure to be what keeps us going.  Thank you for your contribution!

Dear TurqouiseJavelin,

Mod Edgeworth: Hm... not bad ideas. Though, we mods choose our own mod names under the condition that it doesn’t match anyone else’s mod name.

Co-Mod: What Mod Edgeworth said.  Choosing the name “Mod Athena” may or may not increase your chances of being hired, though.  *wink, wink*

Dear Anonymous, 

Mod Edgeworth: Actually, Gregory was stated in the Autopsy to have died by a gunshot. However, you do bring up something interesting. If Gregory Edgeworth realized he was dead and last remembered Robert Hammond strangling him, he wouldn’t think “I died by the shot of a gun.” Since the Detectives weren’t aware that victim had died unconscious, they’d assume the victim would recall being shot and killed. This makes me wonder if Gregory Edgeworth was channeled, but never brought to court to be cross-examined.

There are still holes, but I do like your aspect on DL-6.

Co-Mod: Dang...  No matter how many times you come back to this game, there’s always something new to think about.  I honestly hadn’t considered those details about Yanni Yogi’s trial.  Your explanation makes the most sense to me, but there’s one other possibility regarding Gregory’s testimony -- he may have chosen to lie about who murdered him in order to protect his son from a murder charge.  That’s all open to interpretation, of course, so your guess is as good as ours.

It’s a good thing we’re not actual defense attorneys, huh?

-The Mods

[joezworld]

📂

What in the HECK happened with Scotsman, Dominion, and Dwight during the Great Gathering?!

(Also, since Dutchess of Hamilton has also been to the US during the 1939 NY World’s Fair, did she get involved?)

Warning - extremely long post below

So, first of all, Duchess of Hamilton never went back to the UK.

Duchess of Hamilton (6229) and Coronation (6220) had their nameplates swapped by the LMS when an engine was sent over to the US. 6229, in the guise of 6220, went to the US.

Streamlined locomotives were all the rage at the time, and railroads practically fell over themselves to get Coronation (as she was now known) onto press trains. The B&O railroad in particular was so impressed with her capabilities that they extended a formal offer of employment to her for service on their streamlined Royal Blue service. The LMS were surprised to get an offer to "purchase" their locomotive, but accepted nonetheless, as it meant a welcome infusion of cash in the dark days during the beginning of WWII.

Coronation fit right in with the Americans, having only been about a year old when she was sent to New York. Following the end of steam traction on the Royal Blue in the late 40s, (the B&O were early adopters of diesels.) she and her B&O coworkers found good employment on the New York Central, where she still runs to this day.

Since then, she's fully "gone native", marrying a J3 Hudson, (yes one of the streamlined ones) adopting both an American accent and three children, and being fully repainted to NYC silver by 1956. Flying Scotsman met her in Albany in 1970, and neither one of them recognized the other.

Actually, most UK expats don't recognize her, to the point where a common interaction is for her to be held up as an example of "look at her, she's integrated well into the US", only for the British engines to say "that's preposterous, she isn't English".

When it's pointed out that she's still obviously an LMS Coronation, the next response is usually screaming.

All that being said, she has no interest to come back to the United Kingdom, and wasn’t asked by the NRM anyways. 

---------------

Second of all, the Great Gathering was... an event.

So, there are (officially) 6 preserved Gresley A4s.

Mallard - static, National Railway Museum (UK). Also an asshole.

Bittern - running, private owner, UK based

Sir Nigel Gresley - running, owned by a trust, UK based

Union of South Africa - running, private owner, UK based

Dwight D. Eisenhower - static (officially), National Railway Museum (USA)

Dominion of Canada - static (officially), Exporail (Montréal)

This is the official list, and for the first 4 engines, it's the truth.

However, things are a bit hazier on the other side of the Atlantic...

-----

So the thing that needs to be made clear right up front that in a sentient vehicle world, museums aren't like the NRM, where locomotives sit static for years on end, although obviously the English have museums like that because of course they do.

Rail museums in the rest of the world are much more like Colonial Williamsburg - a living history center staffed by volunteers who act out a prototypical setting from [insert decade here].

British Rail, being British Rail, didn’t know that and didn’t care.

-

4496, Dwight D. Eisenhower, having been named after the General-turned-President, had been earmarked for preservation by BR, and was summarily shipped off to the US National Railway Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

In an entirely unintentional move, this donation MONUMENTALLY snubbed the Smithsonian, who refused to have any dealings with BR for decades, even for archival purposes. This, combined with the fallout from Operation Smash Hit, and the fact that the Smithsonian is Petty AF, meant that there was virtually no official trans-Atlantic cooperation between British and US museums for decades.

Dwight hit the shores of the US in 1964 New York City and was greeted by a marching band, a ticker-tape parade, and Presidents Johnson and Eisenhower, who were on-hand to personally make the engine a US citizen.

Always keen to curry favor with the government, the Southern Pacific railroad had a job offer waiting for Dwight right alongside the Presidents and the parade, and when he accepted, he went off to Sunny Southern California - someplace so opposed to Britain the he fell in love with the place immediately and refused to leave!

The ladies may have also had something to do with it as well - while most engine classes fell into a typical 50-50 gender distribution, the SP GS-4 class was all female...

[Pictured above - one of 28 very good reasons to live in California if you're a single British steam engine.]

Dwight does not kiss and tell, but at his wedding in 1974, all 28 GS-4s showed up - and he was only marrying one of them!

Since the 70's, he's become a mainstay in California, having been repainted into Daylight Limited colors in 1969, and retiring from railroad duties in 1999. After that, he went into the movie business, and is currently the head of digital media development at Disney.

His wife Irene (SP 4437) is also an interesting figure as well - following in the wheelmarks of the great female locomotives before her, she had an eye for business and a Stanford education before she married her husband, and was an initial investor in multiple tech companies in Silicon Valley during the 70's and 80's, but stopped doing that after her investment in Apple proved very lucrative. In 1996, she was convinced by a few people in the Stanford Alumni association to invest in another tech startup, this one an "internet search engine" called Google.

So yeah, Dwight Eisenhower kept falling up and up and up all his life, and is now married to the richest woman in the world.

--

4489 Dominion of Canada was donated mostly by accident, having been forgotten in the back of Darlington sheds until 1966, when she was shipped off to the Canadian Railway Historical Society in Montreal.

As stated elsewhere, the Canadian Government considered any locomotive built in the UK to have UK citizenship, and therefore treated them as commonwealth citizens under existing Canadian law. (remember that Canada was still a colony at that time)

CN, the national rail carrier, was obligated to offer her a job under their charter, and she accepted, moving to Toronto to run intercity trains between Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa.

Within two years she was displaced from those duties by the introduction of a new, shiny, jet turbine powered train, and was summarily demoted to local commuter runs in the Toronto suburbs.

Moving to suburbia did one thing more than anything else - expose her to the people who live there. They all had complaints, they all had problems, and they all had no idea on how to fix them.

Being a helpful sort, Dominion decided that she could help, and promptly ran for Toronto city council in 1974. She won, and has been a fixture in local Toronto politics ever since - she even got to be Chairwoman of Metro Toronto (the closest thing to being mayor because Toronto's governmental structure is weird) until 1998, when Toronto was merged with the surrounding area to create a massive new region.

Having then done everything there is to do in municipal Toronto government, Dominion went on to become the Chief Executive Officer of Metrolinx, the agency that controls almost all of the transit agencies in Ontario, because, as she puts it, "I'm still a commuter engine at heart".

She's now painted in the current GO Transit paint scheme, and still does commuter runs- which is really weird looking now that there are double deck commuter coaches in a push-pull configuration, with a Gresley A4 doing the pushing.

------

Now, I mentioned that those 6 were the only ones officially preserved - there were two unofficial preservations as well...

-

4486 Merlin was properly Shanghied - he was yanked off the docks in Southhampton by a cargo ship in August of 1965, and was spirited away to parts unknown.

Those unknown parts turned out to be South Korea. There, he was given citizenship by the US-aligned military dictatorship (Korean history is wild) and was employed by the State-run rail operator.

As the military government began a hardcore plan to increase their country's wealth and industrial output, rail lines were being built across the country, and Merlin was soon awarded a position on the fastest train in the network, the Seoul-Busan Saemaeul-ho.

Because of his experience in running high-speed express trains, Merlin not only became the public face of Korean high-speed rail, but also became an "honored elder" amongst the other Korean engines, a position he still holds to this day - as despite being over 70 years old, he still runs daily trains on the fast services, easily keeping time with the Korean schedules as well as training the new high speed trains, including the KTX sets. He's on his 24th boiler by now, and has more parts from Hyundai than Doncaster.

An additional fact - Merlin actually has had a linguistic effect on Korean railroading, as his strange amalgamation of an accent - a strong Yorkshire accent that tried to be Received Pronunciation for 30 years, mixed with almost 50 years of middle-to-upper-class Korean - has filtered down through the ranks of KoRail, because all of his students want to sound like him out of respect. Human British expats in Korea will occasionally hear a locomotive speaking in English, and the engine will sound like a Yorkshireman every time and the Brits cannot handle it.

---------

4495 Golden Fleece is the only A4 to preserve himself - he saw the writing on the wall in the early 60s, and hopped a car ferry to France at the end of 1962. From there, he bounced around Europe for a bit before making it to the United States in the late 70's.

Of the 8 surviving A4s, he's probably led the quietest life of all - he moved to Miami before it got nice, and basically got in on the ground floor of CSX when that merger happened in 1980. He's now the head of terminal operations for the Port of Miami, but he's generally kept a low profile - not even having a chance to meet Scotsman due to his time in Europe.

He's still in contact with Dwight and Dominion, and has no real bitterness over not being "famous" like they are - he likes the quiet, and still lives in a modest house in Boynton Beach with his long-term girlfriend.

----------------------

Soooo... the Great Gathering.

It was supposed to be a meeting of the 6 surviving A4s - a two year event held at the NRM in honor of the 75th anniversary of Mallard's record-setting run.

"Record setting" is a past-tense term here. While there have been no official runs, every single one of the Pennsylvania Railroad's T1 and S1 locomotives claim to have gone faster than 126 without meaning to, and numerous other locomotives on unofficial attempts done late at night on flat stretches of land across the country have hit 130+.

British Expats have also done better than 126 - Coronation claims to have hit at least 140 on a midnight mail train in 1980, and in Korea, Merlin claims to have hit 128 on a test train, although that was judged by timing mile markers as his speedometer wasn't functioning properly.

Problems arose before any of the engines had even reached the NRM, as Mallard's already sizeable ego had swelled to massive proportions, and several engines in the great hall were planning a justifiable homicide.

Then came the time restraints - none of the foreign locomotives were willing to uproot their lives and jobs for two years just to sit motionless in a shed. A two year exhibition was eventually negotiated down to a 6 month gala, much to the irritation and confusion of the NRM, who could not understand that the engines were still in service.

Then came the extra engines - Dwight and Dominion thought that the NRM knew about Fleece, and were quite insulted on his behalf when he wasn't invited - they threatened to not attend unless arrangements were made for Fleece to attend as well.

An utterly baffled NRM agreed, but also tore their record archives apart, as they knew that Fleece had been scrapped. The fact that his picture was plastered all over CSX's Florida Division website was all the more confusing as a result.

-

Meanwhile in Busan, nobody knew that Merlin had escaped the scrappers' torch and therefore did not invite him. He was only informed after K-Pop star Psy texted him from London to ask if he knew about the event, which was being advertised on television.

Merlin, having missed his friends from the LNER, decided that he would just crash the party, used some of his many vacation days, and took off for England on a cargo ship.

-

By sheer coincidence, all four foreign A4s hit the dock in Southhampton on the same day, and were delighted to see each other - especially Merlin, considering that everyone else had thought he'd died.

Meanwhile at the NRM, delight was not the word one would use. Befuddled, confused, shocked even, but not delighted. Their plans had revolved around 6 A4s, most of which wouldn’t be running - only to now discover that there were 7, all but one of which were functioning! (Mallard, the star of the show, was the odd one out, and it drove him crazy) 

Then they got a phone call from their man at the docks saying that another one had showed up, looking like he’d driven out of a K-pop album cover, and they just gave up and started screaming. 

-

Screaming is also what happened when the cavalcade of foreigners showed up in York - first of all, the quartet of new engines sounded nothing like they had when they left England. 

Dwight had willfully unlearned his Upper Crust British accent by 1971, and had fallen deep into a California accent (quite similar to what Scotsman sounds like - coincidence? No.)

Dominion and Fleece hadn’t tried to unlearn their accents, but 40+ years of living in North America can really dilute the Britishness. It doesn’t help that Dominion has developed most Canadian vocal tics eh?

As stated above, Merlin has a weird fuckin accent, and now he speaks English with a strong Yorkshire accent, but will occasionally and without warning drop into a Korean/Yorkshire hybrid accent.

The screaming also happened because the NRM had wanted to repaint the duo trio! quartet?! into LNER garter blue, and were promptly informed that “we’re painted like this for work! Don’t touch it!” (the sole exception was Dwight, who hadn’t pulled a real train in 14 years, but he liked his Daylight Limited paint), so instead of the new arrivals showing up in LNER colours, they showed up looking like THIS:

Having their long-lost siblings show up looking and sounding like THAT had quite an affect on the A4s and the other NRM engines: 

Bittern could not believe her eyes - to the point where she actually began making noise about seeing an optometrist

Union of South Africa almost backed through a wall

Sir Nigel Gresley was speechless for two days

Mallard was so angry that he actually chipped a tooth during one of his rants about “the impropriety of it all!!”

Evening Star laughed so hard that he managed to derail himself without moving

City of Truro almost cracked a piston from shock

Alycidon spent the entire gala coming up with more and more laser focused jabs at Mallard - who was so easy to fluster that the Deltic needn’t have bothered 

Oliver Cromwell and Green Arrow made fast friends with the new arrivals, and spent the entire time learning ‘Americanisms’ to annoy the other engines with.

But what about Flying Scotsman? Where was he in all of this? He was generally considered to be the “leader” of the NRM fleet (much to Mallard’s annoyance), and was usually who the other engines turned to when things started getting out of control. 

Did Scotsman calm things down? Like hell he did. The inmates were running the asylum from the moment that Scotsman saw the other A4s - more importantly saw Dwight - and immediately greeted them in flawless Californian. 

This actually set off the building’s security alarm, as Flying Scotsman saying “DUDES! Wassup?!” caused such an uproar that the noise broke several exterior windows. 

----

And all of this was in the first few days - there were six months left to go. 

--

There was one railtour attempt. It was supposed to feature Bittern and Sir Nigel running in tandem, but instead featured Dwight and Merlin, mainly because Bittern wanted to see what would happen. 

They exceeded the max speed limit for steam traction within 15 minutes, sparked a thorough investigation by the RAIB, and got all future steam powered railtours for the Gathering cancelled immediately. 

On the plus side, the two engines did prove that it was still possible for a steam train to hit 100 safely. 

--

One thing that baffled the other engines was the inordinately large number of people who turned up just to see Dominion, and the one person who kept turning up to see Fleece - it took a lot of explaining for them to understand that Dominion had been married three times, and had children (adopted) and grandchildren from all three marriages coming to see her. A similar amount of explaining was required to explain that Fleece’s girlfriend/partner wanted to see him too. 

The normally chatty Dwight and Scotsman would suddenly clam up whenever Dominion and Fleece teasingly tried to ask about their��love lives, something which wasn’t unnoticed by the other engines, but got similarly nowhere. 

The answer to why they both shut the hell up was explained when a lot of shouting broke out in the yard of the NRM one day about a month into the exhibition:

Irene Eisenhower, not content to sit in California and count her billions, quickly grew bored without her husband, and decided to go to England and be with him. The fact that she definitely did not fit the UK loading gauge was never even a consideration, and so she just showed up in York on the back of a lorry, having informed no-one of her arrival, and content to just pay off the requisite people if a fuss occurred. 

A fuss did occur, and it was only ended when Scotsman managed to convince the museum’s curator (who at this point in his life was regretting ever thinking of this damned gathering) that Irene was a ‘temporary donation’ to the museum. 

[Scotsman, who definitely hid his Cali accent from museum staff the entire time, has one of the best poker faces in the world]

Dwight was overjoyed, and so was Scotsman, for initially unclear reasons. Then Irene managed to grab both her husband and Scotsman, dragged them behind a shed, and [THIS IS A PG13 HEADCANON] the both of [PG13]. Turns out that while Scotsman may have slept his way across the US a few times, he was actually ready to settle down with Dwight and Irene - they were a throuple way back in the 70s, and those passions haven’t faded. When Scotsman reluctantly left the US in 74, a lot of the reluctance was because of those two. 

This bombshell of a revelation went over interestingly at the NRM. Some engines (Green Arrow) were happy for them, some were incensed (Mallard - although it was for anti-American reasons, not homophobic ones), and some were intensely curious about what was going on in the outside world (Bittern). 

-

The ‘foreigners’ (as Mallard had taken to calling them), were deeply displeased at how their fellow engines were being treated - while a lot of them were ‘in steam’, some were not and might never be again, something they found abhorrent. Unable to do anything at that time, as the NRM was not a for-profit entity and therefore did not have anyone to bribe, (Irene’s solution to things is to throw money at the situation) the engines started talking about how life was different in the outside world - namely that engines were still working hard, even when they were over a century old and running on steam power. 

This was of great interest to engines like Evening Star and (6220) Duchess of Hamilton, neither of whom were likely to be steamed again, and Bittern, who was growing more and more curious with each passing day. Dissent began to slowly build against the NRM curators, and the culture of the United Kingdom in general.

-

One thing the foreigners did try do something about was Ellerman Lines. The poor bastard had been sectioned to show his inner workings, much to the jaw-dropped horror of the foreign A4s, who made such a stink about it that he was moved outside the museum by NRM staff, who must have thought that the engines lacked object permanence or something, because that didn’t make it better!

-

Irene Eisenhower, who was beginning to get really sick of the nonsense that the NRM called preservation, (Scotsman was not in running condition, and had been hastily reassembled mid-overhaul in order to be cosmetically ready for the event, and let’s not forget poor Ellerman Lines) elected to bring the event to a close on her own after only three months. She did this by eventually putting her immense wealth to good use, and called for a haulage service to rescue the engines from the NRM without the knowledge of the museum staff. Aside from the A4s, she also took Ellerman Lines, Scotsman, and Bittern (who had asked to go) with her, and only bothered to inform Ellerman and Bittern - she was not about risk Scotsman having another “think of England” moment and staying. 

The haulage firm was efficient and the cargo ship was waiting, so the engines were in international waters before the NRM opened the next morning. 

Much swearing occurred in England that day, and the NRM’s image has yet to fully recover from the PR story that they had sold Flying Scotsman (and Ellerman Lines) to a reclusive American billionaire. 

Privately though, the NRM does not care, as that story is a lot better than “Someone stole our engines and we’re not allowed to get them back because as it turns out we’re slaveowners, so no international court will help us.”

Also, despite their multimillion dollar “donation" from the I. Eisenhower Opportunity Fund, they still haven’t been able to fully pacify their engines, all of whom have somehow gotten the idea that they should be running in main line service like they live on Sodor or something...

--------

Dwight, Scotsman, and Irene all live happily together in the sprawling Eisenhower estate in Malibu. Irene is currently lobbying the California state government to legalize polygamy, with moderate success. 

-

Ellerman Lines, after a lot of therapy and a full rebuild, is now working on a short line in Wyoming. He likes the scenery.

-

Bittern followed Dwight, Irene, and Scotsman to Los Angeles, and used her ‘connections’ (Dwight) to get a supporting role in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Since then, she’s gotten several roles based on her own merits, including an Emmy nomination for Best Guest Appearance in a Comedy.

-

Merlin spent a few months in LA before he went back to Korea. He is very thankful that he was able to reconnect with his brothers and sisters, and that his homeland has good internet, as he video calls his family across the Pacific almost every day.

-

Golden Fleece still lives a quiet life in Florida, but finally decided to tie the knot, and married his girlfriend in 2017. The ceremony was supposed to be quiet, but Irene Eisenhower has no idea what that word means. 

-

Dominion of Canada continues to baffle non-local trainspotters when she runs commuter trains into Toronto. She is now a great-grandmother. 

-

7 years later, and the term “Great Gathering” is still a forbidden phrase in the back rooms of the NRM.

[hana-bean]

Close to you (4/7)

On the days of tears and on the days of smiles I will be by your side

---

“Wow, looking sharp, boys!”

Within the decorated front garden, already filled with aristocracy and guardians milling about, Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako strode up to the three men dressed up in suits—Seiya in red, Taiki in yellow, and Yaten in light blue. Each man tugged at their jacket and re-adjusted their tie to settle into the new tailor-made outfits.

“Yeah, these aren’t bad.” Yaten moved his shoulders. “I never would have thought blue was my color.”

“Psh, of course, it is. I chose the outfits!” Minako raised a hand while tittering in victory. “You’re welcome!”

Makoto pointed her thumb over her shoulder. “Are you all thirsty? The queen went with strawberry mojitos this year for her birthday cocktail!”

“That’s okay, we’ll wait for the waiters to come around—what happened to your thumb?” Taiki lost interest in the liquor once he noticed the brunette’s scratched-up, bruised digit, and furrowed his brow in concern.

Blushing, she covered it up with her other hand while muttering, “Oh uh, just… playing a game of thumb war…”

“And losing,” Ami smirked as she took a sip of her drink. Though her own thumb didn’t come out of the war clean either and was bandaged up.

Rei rested her elbow on Minako’s shoulder. “So, Seiya, how’s your leg doing?” She eyed him up and down, hungry for a snack already as she was three mojitos deep.

“It’s okay. I took a pain pill this morning and it’s just kind of a dull ache right now.”

“So like, if you took another pain pill later, you’d be able to move around a bit more? Like in the hips… area… place?” She gestured her hand over her pelvis

“I mean, sure… if I don’t get too drunk and not feel either of my legs.” He chuckled.

“Oh yeah, no… right… can’t have that!” Rei shook her head vigorously. “Gotta have you feeling at least one leg tonight.”

Seiya’s laughter trailed into nervousness, wondering if Yaten was onto something thinking they wanted to eat them.

“Please direct your attention to Queen Serenity, the first!”

The atmosphere filled with confusion in the form of a dull murmur as everyone turned toward the source of the announcement to watch the queen enter the garden area clad in her standard white dress and platinum crystal crown.

“Is she finished with the parade already?” Ami looked to the other women, receiving only shrugs for an answer. Nevertheless, everyone curtsied or bowed in succession as Serenity passed until she approached the main group.

“Gentlemen, you look great!”

The three men came up from their bows with smiles on their faces. “Thank you, your highness!”

When Rei came up from her curtsy, she caught eyes with Serenity, who stared at her for several moments looking apologetic, but then quickly averted her gaze to Seiya.

“How’s your leg doing?”

“It’s good!” He patted his hip. “I should be able to survive the day.”

“Good! Does that mean you’d be able to ride in the parade with me?”

“The parade?”

“Yes, further in the city! I ride in a motorcade and just kind of wave to people… thank them for coming out and getting drunk on my birthday.” She giggled. “Usually my husband rides with me, but I was hoping you’d be able to since he’s away this week. And also you’re a guest of honor.”

Taiki and Yaten looked at each other feeling like chopped liver.

There was no need to ask him twice. Seiya’s mouth curled into the most genuine and honored smile. “Yes, of course, your highness.”

“Wonderful!” She bounced with excitement. “We have to leave now, though.”

Ever the gentlemen, he pivoted on his good leg and held out his bent arm, enjoying every half-second of the feeling of her hand grasping the crevice of his elbow. They then began their saunter through the crowd and toward the driveway at a waiting car.

Rei had to pick her jaw up off the ground and turned toward Minako to commence in some harsh whispering. “That dirty little liar!”

“She totally has a thing for men with canes.” The blonde shook her head.

She growled before downing the rest of her drink. “I’m splitting Yaten with you then.”

“Uh, excuse you.” Minako locked her hand on her hip and waved around a finger in protest. “Split Taiki—there’s enough of him to go around.”

“I can’t climb that, I have a bad back!”

---

As the car came to a stop once it reached the parade queue, the top retracted to expose the two passengers to the afternoon sun of the young summer.

From his position sitting across Serenity, Seiya shifted on the leather seat. “So do I have the king’s blessing to be riding with his queen?”

“You do, actually.” She smirked. “In fact, he requested it.”

“Did he?”

“Well… not you… specifically… but he wanted me to have a chaperone.”

“And you choose the most injured out of the three of us?”

Her face glowed red. “Uh, well… I didn’t… see you as that… there are a lot of bodyguards around us anyway…”

It was too entertaining to see her stumble over herself, but Seiya had to keep in mind she was still royalty, and he shouldn’t get too comfortable. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help sending her a wink.

“If I have to put my cane to another use for you, I will.”

Serenity took a few moments to look away, her stomach erupting in a swarm of butterflies. And then the mimosas began to talk.

“I just feel very comfortable and safe around you.”

“It probably helps that my real job is to protect a princess. So this is very familiar territory.” He didn’t want to give himself too much credit.

That’s not what she meant, but it was probably for the best that he didn’t know that. She humored him. “Even after ten years?”

“The guardian purpose never leaves you.”

“That’s very true. I still carry around my transformation brooch.”

“Have you had to transform since Galaxia?”

“No, it’s been relatively peaceful. Just the normal societal problems—bar fights… illegal aliens…” Serenity’s heart sighed in relief to hear him laugh at her joke.

“In all seriousness, I’d be scared of you too if I knew you defeated the greatest enemy of the universe.”

Visibly flattered, she touched her shoulder to her cheek. “I’m surprised anyone even knows that.”

“Everyone in the known universe remembers Galaxia. Her reach was vast. And rightfully, so is yours. We were very excited to come here.”

“Really? Did you expect to meet me?”

“No.” His shoulders shook as he chuckled. “But everyone talks about how nice Earth is. It was actually really hard to sneak in. The security is tight.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. We had to time it perfectly to shoot in during a fireworks festival. Took us weeks to figure it out.”

“Well then, I’ll have to assign you to border security since you know all the tricks.”

He waited for a punchline, only to realize she was serious. A grateful yet regretful grin spread across his face. “That’s kind of you, your highness, but whether we find our princess or not, we must move on.”

Her face dropped while her brow furrowed. “Even after you find her?”

“Yes. Our ultimate end goal is to return to Kinmoku.”

“Right… right, of course.” The sinking of her heart was apparent through her darting, descending eyes. “But are you sure?”

“We want to go home. We’ve been away for so many years and that’s where we belong.”

“You belong here, too…”

While touched, he was more confused by her words than anything. And it must have been written all over his face in flashing letters since Serenity cleared her throat and tried to smile through the seriousness.

“That’s if you want to, of course—I’m hungry. Are you hungry?”

“Um…” He breathed out a laugh. “Since we ate about two hours ago, I’m—”

“Great! Let’s get some food!”

“Do we have time to eat? The parade is about to start.”

“We have plenty of time to scarf down a box!”

“A box?” Pure dread drained the color from his face. “Of what?”

A bodyguard on foot had already approached the vehicle at the queen’s verbal summoning. And then a few seconds later, he was jogging further up the road and disappeared into the distant crowd.

“My favorite vendor is not too far away.” Serenity shook her shoulders in anticipation. “You’re going to love the dumplings there. Their pork and red bean fillings are heavenly.”

“Pork and red bean? Together?”

“Separate!” She giggled at the face he made. “They have savory and dessert ones.”

Her assurance helped Seiya’s slight appetite return and helped him relax. “I’ll only eat them if they look exactly like the ones on your head.”

“Maybe… They get more creative every year. It’s become a tradition for people to eat them on my birthday.”

“That makes sense. They don’t call you ‘Queen Odango’ for nothing.”

Her blue eyes rolled back in her head with a jaded groan. “Even in royalty, I can’t escape the nickname.”

“It’s cute. It suits you.” He tipped his chin toward her head. “What are your odangos filled with?”

“Secrets.” She giggled.

“Are you sure they can all fit up there?”

“The odangos are adjustable. That’s why my hair is so long.”

“Well, if you run out of room, I can always keep one for you.” He winked.

Unable to speak from the suggestive comment, Serenity’s blush extended down to her shoulders. They both sat in silence for a few moments until the queen felt her phone vibrate with a text notification. Her eyes widened in surprise once she looked at it, piquing Seiya’s curiosity.

“Is everything okay?”

“The database has a hit.”

---

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Please note if you would like to follow this story, I will be updating the rest of the chapters under the tag: hana-bean closetoyou and other iterations of the spacing. I love you all!