#but it at least shows what I mean when I say 'method of sketching'

[godsfavoritescientist]

I finally tried out Clip Studio Paint and have discovered that I can sketch using the same method of sketching that I like to use when drawing with physical pencils on paper

[szkicel]

Ok i’m scheduling some art I’ve done in the past while I work on new things and I remembered that Queen Bee (from h/lluva b/ss) redesign I did a year ago when a lot of ppl were doing it and it’s probably time to post it before it gets too old…

man, I am NOT excited for all the harassment I’m gonna endure from the unhinged HB fans, but hopefully I’m too small of an artist to get noticed so maybe i’ll be fine

[sarcophagid]

hiii what do u think about morningstar visuals or lore

he's one of my favesss

visually it's a lot of fun, he looks good in all black! im a liiitle tired of them showing his face all the time but i do like the silly little golden face on the mask.

also think it's neat that one of the design sketches had feathers on it. i'm oscillating between bat/moth/bird as an ithaqua animal. but i see nathaniel as snake themed and i do like a good snake vs. bird symbolism.

lorewise, i think morningstar ithaqua was really a good parallel for his original story. although i wish they mentioned his mother since she's a major character his backstory. i do wonder if helel is supposed to be ithaqua if his motives were utterly devoid of love.

regardless, the way i saw it in the og, the norwell family (or at the very least magistrate norwell, although i doubt janet and nathaniel are ignorant enough to not know what they're doing.) likely didn't genuinely believe in demons or witchcraft. it was more of a means to manipulate the townspeople and gain social power, since cultivating a fear of accusation would benefit the judge. and this parallels how later on, ithaqua would use the same practice of leveraging fear and lies to manipulate the people and protect his mother.

and this is reflected in the way both nebuchadnezzar and helel used a false divine connection to claim their right as king. the line "new lies will be treated as the word of god." implying that nebu was also lying.

nebu posing as a vicarious voice of 'god' goes with how ithaqua calls the attackers "gods" due to the religious nature of their accusations. likewise, nebu condemns those below the tower as 'demons' similar to how ithaqua's mother was called a demon.

it's also neat that they used a fallen angel as inspo - as helel being nebu's twin, was originally a prince before his fake execution, like how og ithaqua was presumed dead and abandoned. (i do wonder why exactly nebu spared him. i know why for plot armour reasons but there's some interesting possibilities.)

and helel is a fun character! i liked the detail that people didn't obey helel that much out of loyalty or even fear but because they were mutually using each other. helel didn't gaf about being king and they didn't actually believe his claims of being the true king as long as everyone got what they wanted in the end.

"Yet they did not know that the new, sun-eating king was never interested in governing at all. He knew that the followers hated the corrupt royals from the kingdom that he fell, knew that a religion built on a foundation of lies would shatter easily at first touch. But that had nothing to do with him. His goal was always the king of the tower, Nebuchadnezzar, and this battle was all a selfish frenzy of revenge."

helel isn't power hungry, he's single mindedly focused on vengeance. i'll go as far as to say he's not truly an agent of just retribution, he's just willing to do anything if it helps him in his goal. it's like, almost funny how he just lets people take advantage of the political shift for their gain as long as nebuchadnezzar stays imprisoned. and helel's lack of moral inhibition when it comes to his goals is one of the key parts of ithaqua's character. i think that's one of the similarities between him and nebu, but nebu is the one who actually desires power and control, using violence to attain that, in an inversion of helel's motive+method.

speaking of similarities another thing i really liked was the "everything was turned upside down, yet everything still remained the same." line. despite how much he hates their sameness, helel has to become something of similar magnitude to the sun king to make any meaningful change, just as there are no bloodless ways for the nightwatch to command paranoia.

and i think the funniest bestest part of all this is that helel fails. his plan to indefinitely torture nebu gets cut short when one of his allies (based tracy) finds the supposedly dead king and makes good on the false claim by killing him for real. all of helel's concentrated effort and sacrifice was for nothing. and it does actually make sense when you think about it because nightwatch is present at the manor, and why would he leave his post to go there? despite killing nathaniel and creating the persona of 'ithaqua', his mother's still sick. and whatever happened afterwards, he had to leave. somewhere in ithaqua's story, he failed too.

anyways cool story yeah i like it a normal amount

[mitcheechee]

Hey, new follower here! (I'm actually in the wrong account so please don't mind me being anonymous!) I really love your art and I mainly wanted to say that your art and style is amazing and beautiful! Secondarily, do you have any tutorials or tips on drawing bodies, hands and I noticed you do blood? I understand if you'd rather not answer that; if so just only the first half! Love your art! Thanks for existing (if that makes sense)❤️

wah... first i just wanna say tysm!!! youre so sweet 😭

i unfortunately dont have any tutorials or anything made already and i dont really want to make any as of right now because i feel like i have a long way to go in terms of learning how to properly draw a lot of things. since i don't know what im doing id feel really lousy putting out a tutorial when i dont even have a lot of the basics down yet...

im gonna blab under the cut about tips (not really tips on drawing bodies themselves as a guideline, but what has helped me practice and thus allowed me to get better at drawing bodies in my own art), so u dont have to read all that if it doesnt interest u! but regardless thank u again for being so sweet!!! sorry i couldnt give u what u wanted.. maybe one day... 😭

again this is just how i practice, but its GENUINELY helped me get so much better.

all i can say as far as tips is to definitely practice with references as much as u can, it really will help u improve. i know people often dont like that advice too much but its really true... every time i use references to practice for a bit i can tell it helps me, and looking back at older art i know its true. i dont often use guidelines (i really need to...), or at least not in the sense that i do in most of the guides i see so i feel like i cant give much else in terms of advice tho, other than that.

anyway, its one thing to just use a reference, but really trying to get it down and learn it (learn the body, anatomy, how to draw it all) so u carry that knowledge on is sorta different, for me

what has helped me to really learn is this method of practice where i

draw a reference photo based off what i see

trace the photo

overlay both my trace and the first drawing i made

go back and choose key points on the photo/trace where i was very off and mark them as a little dot/line and then try to fix the original sketch with those dots/lines to match the photo (look below to understand what i mean LOL sorry)

try and draw it again from scratch based on what i see visually

and for number 4, what i mean is this:

lets say the 2nd is my visual (rough) drawing based off of the original

overlaying my original sketch on the reference i can see where a lot of points are off!

ill make note of a few of the areas that were very off and mark them, then get rid of the reference underneath. ill still look at it as a guide on the side, but overall try to just change the original sketch to match it instead of directly tracing!

i feel like this may not have been exactly what u mean as far as tips for drawing bodies, but ive found that in order to grasp them better in a way that helps u draw them on ur own, doing studies like this really helps! for me, at least, it allows me to better store things in my memory--because looking at the image and practicing doesnt feel like it really CEMENTS any knowledge, but seeing where i went wrong and then working backwards to try and alter it shows me where im lacking in skill, and helps me use that information later!

doing this allows me to understand how bodies take up space. it has helped me to see the body as more of a tangible thing while i draw freehand, and do it more accurately as well, instead of it feeling like its. a limp noodle i cant grasp LOL

i will say, tho, that for hands especially i almost always use my hands as a reference for what i want. like i dont even have a guide for that in terms of what i do to draw them out or guidelines i follow, i just straight up draw them based off what i see or imagine, i dont really do those step by step guidelines...

im sorry again i couldnt rly give u what u wanted, i just dont think im at that level where i can truly give any advice since im not good enough (yet ! we hope) for a genuine tutorial. if u mean something as far as like... body shapes and stuff im still not rly there yet either. i hope this helps even a tiny bit tho, if u read this far!!!

[thepatchycat]

Hi, I’m a real new shiny here (on Tumblr, but also at drawing), and it’s the first time I ask anything, so I hope it’s ok. I must say first that I love the way you draw TCW characters (especially the clones)! 😍 I just came across this sketch you made on canvas (if I remember correctly) https://www.tumblr.com/thepatchycat/729224397978828800 and I was wondering, if you don’t mind sharing, how do you get the perfect white background on non-digital drawings? I currently use a scanner app on my sketches and the results are always inconsistent and far from that white… thanks a lot in advance!! 😊

Welcome to the Tumblr crew, shiny! ;) And thank you kindly!

So my dirty secret for that sketch is... it actually is completely digital! I drew it in a program called Rebelle 5, which is designed to mimic traditional canvas/paper and pencils/paints. I picked it up for super cheap during a huge sale last year, and it's a lot of fun; unfortunately, it's usually pretty expensive, as many art programs are. I highly recommend keeping an eye out for sales though if you ever get into digital drawing--and if you'd like a free program, the one I use most of the time is MediBang. But those programs are really mostly helpful for digital art, not so much for scanning actual pencil sketches.

While I tend to stick to digital drawing nowadays, I definitely feel you on the scan cleanliness issue; phone pictures and even proper printer scans tend to end up either kind of dirty or faded. The short answer is that I don't actually have an easy and effective solution, but there might be some things you can try depending on what you have available. I wouldn't be surprised if you've already explored more methods than I have, and there are definitely people with better ideas and more experience than me, but I'll share what I've tried.

Long(er)-winded rambling under the cut!

So, I currently have an unfinished piece sitting in my files that began as a traditional drawing, one that I want to keep all the pencil details for. Here's the sketchbook page, scanned using a household printer:

Not terrible, but it'd be nice to have clearer contrast between the lines and the background. In MediBang, I can adjust the contrast by going to Filter>Levels (or Ctrl+L), which gives me a little box that looks like this:

I don't technically know the nitty gritty of how it works, but by my understanding, the outer triangles for the input and output indicate the range boundaries. Adjusting the input--particularly the darker boundary--so that the output boundary exceeds it basically tells the program to make the darker parts even darker, resulting in this:

Better! As you can see, though, the darker parts of the background also show up a bit more. Rather than relying only on contrast adjustments, what I actually ended up doing was carefully erasing the background around the drawing after adding a plain white layer underneath, and also going over some of the lines digitally. I did this first in MediBang (the only art program I had when I started working on it), then transferred the file over to Rebelle.

MediBang (left) has the pure white background, while the Rebelle (right) canvas settings I chose are a little off-white and more textured, which I think blends a bit better with the texture and shading of the image. It's possible to add textures and the like in MediBang, too, but Rebelle has it built into its design, so it's a little easier to figure out there; I'll likely finish this piece in Rebelle (whenever I get back to doing so, haha), since the canvas and brush settings will be easier to match to the texture of everything that came directly from the drawing.

Most of this is much easier to do with a drawing tablet/pen, unless you're a wizard with a mouse. As for traditional means... the best suggestion I can come up with is to try inking sketches, or at least darkening them further with a pencil. The more contrast you can get between your lines and the background, the more easily you can digitally tease that contrast out even further. I think most photo editors have at least some contrast, color, and brightness adjusters, and probably more useful functions I don't even know about--it never hurts to mess around with any program's filters and settings to see what happens!

Good luck, and happy drawing! :D

[airabuhan]

anon asked: Hi!!! I’m a tad bit shy so sorry if I seem awkward but… What inspired your art style? I noticed that you have very soft coloring and you have very cute art

hmmm i suppose a good part of it is inspired by enstars? at least, i admire the enstars art style a ton and it probably shows in the way i draw the characters somewhat, though it's not like a 1-to-1 replication of it by any means haha (i can't do clean lineart at all with the type of shading enstars does unless i purposefully try and replicate it which takes SO much time) i've been inspired by a number of art styles in particular though, many of them looking very different from each other? i can't really exactly point to one specific art style besides enstars that i can definitively say greatly influenced my art, it was more just me feeling inspired by certain aspects of how people colored, drew, painted, and the amalgamation of all of the artists i look up to shows in my art now? i did want to have an art style that had a more rendered, finished, almost paintery style while still maintaining a sort of anime-art style (i can't explain this well ahaha) but i don't know that that description particularly fits well with how my art style looks at the moment

i'm sure a lot of my art style now also comes out of the habits i'm just used to doing ahaha like how some of my 'finished' drawings are quite sketchy in a sense because i'm too lazy to sit down and render for hours and hours hgnhgh. i don't really do line art, because early on when i began drawing more seriously i was kind of frustrated with the whole process of doing line art and i preferred to do sketches and cleaned them up later in the process, and i have more fun drawing that way so i think that affects how my art looks a lot. it makes rendering SO time-consuming though, having to clean up all the mistakes because i was too lazy early on to clean up the little details :") i suppose that process does makes my art look the way it does so...

as for coloring, i'm honestly still learning how to color now ahaha i actually have no idea what i am doing in regards to coloring... coloring for me is just slapping colors onto the canvas and playing around with blending modes until hopefully something looks cohesive, though with playing around with colors and layer modes i've started to color in a way that's relatively consistent now? but my method of coloring is kind of all over the place and a little different compared to how i've seen other people may choose to color (throwing all the flat colors onto one layer and slapping a bunch of multiply layers and such until it looks cohesive) ... yeah learning how to color intentionally is definitely on the bucket list of things i want to learn, and some of my favorite artists are able to utilize color in such a beautiful way that i can't help but admire

thank you for the compliment!! my drawing process is lowkey whack, but i've drawn inspiration from so many artists even if my art really does sort of look nothing like some of the artists i greatly admire... to name some artists i've admired (even though my art looks quite different from theirs lol), i like gearous, @/velinxi, @/meltsmelts, @/cirqlr, and a bunch of other danmei artists over time. sorry for the long-winded rant, i like talking about art and artists i admire [Smile or comment on the answer here](https://retrospring.net/@airabuhan/a/110669242407708697)

[keefwho]

May 09 - 2024 Thursday

10:16pm

5/10

Im questioning if it's really a good idea to sit here every night and write for about 30 minutes, thats a lot of time. But I do like being able to go back and see what I was up to years ago. Also if I do this right, it should be a good way to process the things I choose to do.

Last night I had a dream that a european girl met me at a diner and she was WAY into me which was weird but I was enjoying it while it lasted. When I woke up, I wiped down my mirror, sink, and microwave area. I made leftover stew for breakfast.

For work I warmed up with some more torso sketches since the last time didn't go so well. I feel like I made a small breakthrough using circles/ovals to represent every plane of the box I usually use to represent the pelvis and parts of the ribcage. It was a very swift and clear way to show angles and left it loose enough for the box to not show through in the final product. Then I worked on GB's commission for 2 hours. TK offered to call me while she cooked and I agreed, no one was even in chat aside from the lurking commissioner. She was high and made butter noodles with shrimp and garlic. We talked a bit about human connection and how language can actually get in the way of it. We also talked about me travelling because she thinks I'd get along well with people from other cultures but I had to explain my travel trauma. After she left to finish eating, I talked to myself until I was done working. The guy actually did speak up a little bit though.

After work I did my dishes like usual and hopped on to play Minecraft with TK and NJ for about 45 minutes. We just gathered some resources and picked our house locations. I left to go make lunch and I saw that they played for a good while afterwards. Their goal was to beat Minecraft and I imagine they will be way ahead of me if I join next time.

For lunch I made a tuna quesadilla with some mixed vegetables. Halfway through cooking though, my hotplate gave out. Now it won't heat anymore. I was able to finish my quesadilla in the oven but going forward I need to get creative with how I cook since now all I have is a toaster oven and microwave. I think it'll be kinda fun though. I called my dad while cooking since I've forgotten to call him in awhile. I didn't have much to say though, I didn't really want to talk but I didn't want to keep putting this off. I at least had to thank him for getting me my birth certificate and give my condolences for uncle Darrel.

In the afternoon I did today's request and tried to be a little looser with it. I had a lot of trouble with the sketch and coloring took a little bit longer than I wanted. I'm trying to come up with a method that is quick and looks at least kinda good. That means figuring out the nuances that make sketches good which I think takes a lot of skill to be proficient at. I also worked on an idea request of a sonic character. At first I was questioning the feasibility of these requests, it seems I can barely get any done. Then I realized I could favor quantity over quality and use them to experiment too. I think my goal is to finish 1 per week with the 90 minutes I schedule just for this. It'll be practice for drawing fast again.

When I was done for the day I didn't know what to do with myself. I started feeling stressed at how much there was to think about and how I didn't know what to do. I had to go lay down with some noise and stop thinking for just a little bit. After I calmed my brain down, I remembered I can do stuff even with very little energy or mental bandwidth. I went back to my computer and started pondering my social organization a bit. I figured out I can't think of a better system of friend time management than what I have now and I also haven't given the current system a respectable try. I popped into a call with AE and others to play on their Minecraft server, but none of them were playing. I was trying to design a house style out of logs and snow so I can make a bunch to form a snowman village. I came up with something but I might try again another time. Then DS was ready to chill while she sewed her fursuit neck upstairs. I was still playing Minecraft and then switched to KSP to try and design a medium altitude plane without air intake engines. We watched volume 3 of the Monster High webisodes on the side.

While she went to bed, I popped dinner in the oven. We did our puzzles together and I attempted to beat KH2. I got pretty far, up to the very last boss fight I think. But I didn't have time to beat it tonight so I made a save state for it for later.

Today's topic was "presence" and my Costar said to play into my urges. I definitely did that at least once which actually felt nice considering I was following a recommendation to do so. As for the presence part, I forgot to set a real goal for it so I didn't do much other than keep it in mind. I regret not figuring something out. Tomorrow is Values and I've been meaning to do values writing so my goal tomorrow will be that. I should be able to remember.

[castle-dominion]

c5x12 death gone crazy

Fun music Isn't this the guy from the cryo episode? head case? IT IS HE'S THE PORN GUY (heck yeah protestors) "your whole life ends up as nothing" *all sad* *man is a porn peddler, the music is too tragic* Why would the drinks be free? if online porn has taught you anything, it's that you can't make money by giving stuff away The MC has a camcorder I love how Beau Randolph is so sad, this is a GREAT episode so far BR: I’m not here to party. Not tonight. That is WAY too sad & solemn for a porn producer. he knows he's going to die

MR: If you are method writing and playing the role of your murder victim could you please die a little bit more quietly? Thank you. DON'T GOOGLE YOURSELF lol alexis has a vlog WAIT WHAT THE FRICKING HECK GIRL DON'T GIVE OUT YOUR GOSHDARN LOCATION ONLINE HOLY CRAP THAT IS SCARY. who you go with is ok BUT LISTEN-- YOU CAN NOT GIVE OUT BOTH YOUR LOCATION & YOUR FACE, YOU ARE BEING SOMGENUINELY DANGEROUS RN MR: Darling, why don’t you just answer your phone? Oh, and it’s Beckett. Maybe she has a nice murder to distract you from your parental paranoia.Castle at the "Beau randolph is our victim?"

Nice an 8 minute window Beckett is fine whatever but Lanie? Lanie has a Rack right there. As a busty tranny from a long line of busty women, screw you esposito. A bra supports you too, that is the point. But you are correct, a bra should not be that pricey. It is pennies to make, plus pay the employees a living wage, & you can probably sell that thing for less than $10 & still turn over c80 of profit.

LP: I already collected samples, but check this out. This is a 36D Sultura. KB: That’s high end. LP: Definitely. One of these could run you $200, $250. JE: $250 dollars? For a bra? LP: Oh, but it’s okay to spend that on a pair of sneakers, right? JE: A pair of sneakers is practical, okay? They support your, um – RC: (shakes his head) Eject. JE: … (closes his mouth)

Ryan looks great: Hey, so it looks like there was a guest list at the club tonight. But if you were a guy with $20 bucks in your pocket when you showed up at the door or a pretty girl, you got in.

Lol great job from the bodyguard

Ooh a smoking hot chick as the bodyguard! She's going to end up being some evil mastermind who can kickbox & beat up both boys until beckett the other hot girl kickboxes & beats her up Good old threat assessment

Troy: good clean American fun YOU were with him since the beginning? Interesting... he's the one in charge you are not... wow porn is the family...

INT – TWELFTH PRECINCT WORK ROOM KR: watching the footage that was shot the night before. JE: Yo. How’s the in-breast-igation going. laughs at his own joke. KR: And that’s why you’re still single.

How /well/ does ryan know what goes on in those club bathrooms?

11 minutes later is it the girl??? bodyguard? Like I said Lip piercing Oh there we go nvm it IS her

KR: Good news is that Scarlett Jones is not the world’s worst bodyguard. Bad news is, she’s a murderer. JE: Someone that sexy going to prison? That in itself is a crime.

Oh ew no no ew no. If you consent to being recorded then good for you but EW NO DON'T RECORD PPL W/O THEIR CONSENT Just gives the cops her name?? Pointing the finger at tiffany? sus You said it MUST be tiffany & now you're saying it can be someone else? Get ur story straight JE: Oh, did you hear that? She broke his nose. Me, also hot for her: Right? KR: Yeah, so? JE & me: So? That’s hot. KR: KR, with an incredulous look: Who are you?

JE: so it looks like her alibi’s checking out. KB: You know, you seem unusually happy about this. JE: No, I’m just … you know. You know, working the case. & then he goes to "check" on her sketch Ryan, passing him: Hmm.

Yes. You need a warrant for my protest! I mean this guy is stupid & annoying & in everyone else's business but I like him in two respects at least

JE: watching this sketch artist finish his drawing So this is the guy that came after Beau? SJ: Yeah. If I knew he was coming back I’d have broken more than just his nose. The reminder that she’s tough makes esposito & me stop, having trouble keeping it in our pants. JE: Hey look, um … about last night at the club. I’m sorry. I was – I was way out of line. SJ: Yeah. So was I. I should have come clean with you guys. About everything. (she smiles and grabs her things) See ya. JE: See ya later. Hey, Scarlett! (she stops) Uh … do you think maybe we could get a drink later? I mean, now that you’re not a suspect anymore. She smiles.

AC: So, this is what you do all day. RC: turns around & chuckles Right? he realizes and pauses the video Whoa. No, it’s work. That’s – that’s a case. It is better to have [your tits] online than [your face & location]. No no, no...

RC: Beau Randolph double-crossed a member of the mafia. (he chuckles) No wonder he got whacked. Me: Wait he did? KB: That is rampant speculation.

SETH is sitting in a alone in the middle of a dark room. KB: Seth Parrino. SP: What the hell are you doing? (he stands) You can’t be in here! KB: NYPD. We have a few questions. The lights turn on and the song Jungle Boogie starts to play. A bunch of male dancers dressed like Tarzan take the stage in front of SETH. BECKETT and CASTLE are a bit shocked, but SETH just dances along. I LOVE HOW THE COPS COME & HE JUST DANCES WHILE WATCHING THESE HOT MEN (remember when playboy tried to be feminist so they made playgirl but only gay men bought it?) RC: Maybe more than just a few questions.

Castle, hearing parrino has the rights: Rats, (I really wanted to buy the rights) one more chance to go nuts XD

Brown hair smoking hot? beckett?

Oh, I like her look. I also like how she has a mole. People have freckles & moles sometimes! KB: Get out a warrant on her. JE: (hesitates) You think we could have Ryan do that? I have plans. KB: Really? Do these plans have a name? JE: doesn’t say anything, but his eyes flick to Scarlett’s photo on the murder board. KB: Oh shut up. You didn’t. JE: She broke a guy’s nose. You know she’s gotta be freaky. KB: laughs in disbelief. JE: C’mon. He walks away. KR: Where’re you going? KB: Don’t ask.

She is not d cup... is she? "ew" *drops her bra* Oh revenge sex If you were d cups you would need your bra back You won't get a name becks What if she walked out of the club at like 11.51 so she thought beau was still alive but technically he could be not alive & just,, incorrect

Oh no they're going to interrupt esposito's date btw EVERYONE is pretty. Pretty enough. Not super duper pretty that I'd pic but pretty enough. Ryan has a shirt & tie no vest (oh & a jacket ofc), castle looks amazing, becks is ok with a white shirt & dark red jacket, espt has a nice marroon burgundy type sweater, slight vneck, jones is hot af with her leather jacket & scarf & in the scene on their date she is wearing a shirt that actually matches espt's shirt colour Where are they btw? He looks honestly almost disappointed when she says "my place" but it might just be shock & how much he likes her. I mean that soft "ok" reminds me of the bdsm episode when a dom made him untie her boot Wow cockblocked

JE, so right: She’s hot. She kicks ass, she’s a corporate spy. Man, she is perfect. Why did she have to be the bad guy? KR: Sorry we had to cop-block you, bro. XD COP-BLOCK she can't see him thru the glass tho

Castle knows what programs are on little frog & nobody makes fun of him maybe it was children, you know, cp

Man has a nice tie becks looks nice too lol I mean if u need the money... That's true, you can't exactly take finance from a porn producer. But maybe he was taking responsibility for the kids who have... been... conceived... by masturbating to porn... which does not make babies... bc,, it is singlular.., not,, uh, not partnered

I thought she said she destroyed it... some politician or smth?

Kindergarten teacher? She can NOT have that tape out VOICES FOR DECENCY FOUNDER'S DAUGHTER?

Yummy dessert lmao I'm also over 18 & technically I don't need to ask permission, but I still do for a lot of things because I respect my mom. *whip creams in his mouth* GIRL IT IS NOT CAREFUL NOR SMART TO PUT YOUR LOCATION, ACTIVITIES, & FACE ONLINE.

she's 25 she doesn't need her dad's permission... Good. Get your attorney.

She could be a Poi because she is related to YOU Actually BEAU was (caught dead in that place) He feels guilty about this, he cares abt his daughter, this man, like, I, I dislike him in a lot of ways but he also has my respect

She probs didn't even know beau would film

KR: If I were in Candice’s shoes I would have done the same thing. [both are wading through different boxes.] JE: Well, I mean, I feel for her, I do, but she knew what she was getting into. KR: She knew Beau would blackmail her? So this is her fault? JE: With what her dad did? She must have known who Beau was and what he was about. It’s not like it was with Scarlett. KR: Oh, I see. So this is about you. Okay. JE: Hey that chick totally misrepresented herself, bro. She was hot though, right? KR: Here’s the sad thing for you. That fact that she misrepresented herself makes her even hotter. JE: No. She can’t be any hotter than she already is. KR: Huh. (he goes back to work) 5 mil is a lot ULTRASOUND? SHE WAS PREGGO?

so she DID NOT know who she was He,,, he wanted to clean up for the baby... Oh valid, she didn't want him around But he cared & he TRIED to change He would shut it down for her? & the kid? <3

*backing away* Why would you make it stationary? I would have gotten someone else to hold it. Except then someone would be able to argue that he was NOT filming for that time this man knew about the baby?

There are only 3 reasons to kill. Money, revenge, & love.

A father really would do anything for his daughter. Remember that one where the dad "could be justified" in killing his daughter's murderer? Ye.

I started at 9.30, it is only 10.40, maybe I'll be able to get six eps in today after all.

[zulivaris]

Art Block tips that helped me

 I’ve recently experienced art block after 3 or so months of overcoming my last one. Thankfully this block only lasted a few days thanks to some things I’ve observed and noted down from the previous time. So I’m sharing these few tips in hopes that it might help someone get unstuck :D!

First and foremost if you’re tired, sad or anxious don’t be surprised that you can’t make art, go and take care of yourself by treating yourself with kindness and patience, the sketchbooks and canvases will wait for you :)

The tips are under here:

Separate art studies from the creative time:  When you do art studies you’re there to focus on specific things, learn and understand how things work so you can apply them later in your art. Studies take a lot of energy and focus and are the opposite of the creative "flow” of making your own pieces. If you combine the two the results are either unfocused studies or stiff drawings. When you sit down at your desk ask yourself “Do I want to learn something new or do I want to create something of my own?”

When you have an idea don’t be afraid of being messy: Let’s say you want to make a picture of several cats kolo dancing in the moonlight. How do you go about doing this? Well since you came up with the idea you already have a vague image in your mind, sketch it out with simple shapes, stick figures, circle and spheres etc Don’t worry about cat anatomy, or the dancer’s moves, sketch out the essence of it. This method removes the need to be perfect or accurate. 

Ok after the messy sketch then what? Well now that you have sketched out the essence of your idea (and hopefully had fun doing so) now you go on to look for references! You put the creative process on pause and you can do a few brief studies if you need to: anatomy, color schemes, values, poses. Pick out a few of your favorites but don't obsess over them, they are a guide, a tool.

You know much more than you think. You’ve probably been drawing for a few years now. You’ve probably done some studies and drawn more than one type of subject. Then you have already internalized some of that information. I used to be obsessed with capturing the minute detail of the subject, and not be able to draw ANYTHING without reference. Instead of a useful tool, references became another obstacle to my creativity. That’s perfectionism my friend, and that’s no good. Here is an exercise a good friend of mine offered: Draw a few characters, animals and objects from imagination. Make sure that the subjects have no personal value to you (no ocs for example) so that if you make a mistake you won’t feel bad about it. Make the process relaxed and comfortable, pour a nice cup of joe, listen to your favorite music ... You will notice that you do indeed know how to draw some things without reference, and it’ll help with your confidence. 

The more you do studies the more you understand This seems evident but the more you understand your subject the freer you can be and the easier it’ll be to draw it from imagination in the future. If you really struggle with something to the point of frustration (as in you can’t get it right even with reference) It means you have to study it. Have a study list, for example: hands, perspective, color theory etc. And one of those days you want to study pick something from the list, and look for videos on youtube or useful sites like line of action etc. Only study one thing at the time. You can go from studying hands to studying arms since they’re more immediately connected, but you can’t study hands and then jump to learning perspective right after. Trust me you can learn perfectly fine with the resources online, and I’m sure you’re clever enough to do it :D

Mistakes don’t mean you “suck”  I’ve noticed that the two most common causes for art block are perfectionism and lack of self-confidence.  The two can often go in tandem which is worse :’D But let me remind you of something, you can fix your piece along the whole process. Use erasers, lasso tools, liquify , select, paint it all over etc If something looks off to you then you also know deep inside how to fix it. Useful ways to see what clunks: flip canvas horizontally (helps with placement, proportions), turn the image to grayscale (helps to check values and where your eye tends to look), look at your image in thumbnail size and ask yourself if it’s clear, see the pose’s silhouette and ask yourself if you can tell what the character is doing etc. Don’t fret, everything can always be fixed :)

Perfectionism, sometimes it stops you before you begin Perfectionism causes you to overwork a piece, it makes you draw less, it makes art stressful, it brings insecurity. Let’s remove it with a simple exercise. It can be combined with the “draw things from imagination” once you’ve drawn something you like: dont do line art, don’t shade it, keep it as simple and crude as possible and then...post it. Yes, post it. You’re not at your best? You’re only human, this will help you embrace that very human side of you. You make mistakes. So what? The more mistakes you make the more you know what you need to study and the better at art you become. Mistakes are there to show us what we need to learn. See them as another tool and not a sign of failure.

Make the process as enjoyable as possible: You like art. You love drawing. Never forget this. Otherwise why are you drawing if you don’t enjoy it? It’s easy to fall prey to the mentality of those relatable memes that “art= suffering” or “I can’t even draw the other eye”. No no no my friends, these messages are fueling your insecurities instead of overcoming them. Let me tell you what, art is fun. It is. Art is fun, because I decided to make it fun again. And you should decide on that too. Personally I adore lineart but my hand-eye coordination is lacking to do it digitally, so....I just skipped it. Yes. I skipped it. I do the sketch, I clean it up a bit and then jump onto color which I adore. It allowed me to draw more and more freely. When I draw I listen to music, make strokes with the rhythm, I take breaks often and I drink my favorite iced teas. If you don’t like coloring do it in grayscale, if you love lineart then do that etc It doesn’t mean you won’t learn your weak points in the future with studies and practice, but you won’t let your weaknesses prevent you from drawing at all. No no, you won’t let them. You draw because you want to, despite of them.

Don’t wait for inspiration, provoke it  Inspiration is not a divine and capricious muse. You make inspiration. It’s easy just collect all the things you like, music, artists, objects, characters, animals, patterns, plants etc Make boards on pinterest or similar sites, combine things you like. You like suits? You like birds? You can draw a bird in a suit, or a bird-inspired suit design, there is frankly a lot of ideas that can spring up from little things like these.

When a project stops being enjoyable either pause it for now or move on to the next thing. Pieces aren’t precious. They’re not “the one time I got x right” they are one of many. This advice goes mainly to hobbyists who can afford the luxury of passing to a new project. I have a WIP of a character who is overly complicated (I enjoy a challenge from time to time) sitting for half a month. I sometimes come back to it and add something... but as soon as it starts to create discomfort and insecurity instead of enjoyment I move onto something else. In the meantime I created 3 or 4 new pieces. If I had waited on finishing that piece I would have been severely creatively and physically exhausted. The art comes from you, not inspiration. The more art you make the better you become.

That’s about it :D I know it’s long but I prefer to be thorough and cover all the possibilities. If you have read of this: Thank you so much I hope this helps you at least a bit, if it helps only 1 other person I’d still be very happy. Have a nice one, and kick art block’s butt!

[river-bottom-nightmare]

having a photographer’s eye means tim looks at the world through a filter. he lines his gaze up with the viewfinder and lines up his shot, almost holding his breath when he aligns the edge of a rooftop with the footfall of a vigilante, then clicking the shutter furiously, hoping that he got at least one good shot. eventually, he stops focusing just on the flutter of a yellow cape, and starts focusing on the city he flies above. gotham’s buildings line themselves up in a perfect asymmetry, and tim hangs in between then, taking picture after picture of hazy smog turning a simple sunset into a saturated wash of vibrant colour, of corner shops whose owners break off the spikes on the ground with a hammer, of broken and bruised children who still manage to smile, all framed by sloping lines of brick and granite that somehow, after all these war-torn years, have not yet fallen. tim takes all of these pictures, absorbs them into his very being, into his soul, but only through the filter. he stands on top of a building, or hangs off the rungs of a fire escape, and lets the underbelly of gotham find its way to him through the camera lens. the only scars he has are chemical burns on his fingers from his processing room.

having a photographer’s eye means tim’s got an itchy trigger finger, but also the ability to see beauty in everything. there’s beauty in bruce’s grief, in the hard set of his shoulders, in the shake of his hands, because another word for grief is love. there’s beauty in dick’s rage, in his brutal training, in his desperation that maybe tim would trust him in a way jason never did. there’s beauty in alfred’s methodical cooking and baking in cleaning, in the rigid line of his back that’s been keeping the entire manor from collapsing, in the quiet way he seeps tea from a tin box labeled jason. there’s beauty in the haunting architecture of wayne manor, in every burn mark in the kitchen that tells of old laughter long gone, in pieces of paper used as bookmarks randomly throughout the wayne library. there was even beauty in that cursed glass case, in the way the robin suit had been carefully and methodically stitched back together, in the stories entrenched in every single fiber of the fabric. what tim doesn’t understand is how no one else is able to see it. he tries taking pictures as proof, but no one seems to be able to read them but himself.

having a photographer’s eye means that no moment goes unnoticed, unwatched, or unappreciated. kon’s warm chuckle and rough arm thrown around tim’s shoulders are things that happen every single day, but tim commits every single one to memory. the same goes for steph’s multitude of earrings and friendly punches and kisses full of passion that tim’s not sure how to feel about quite yet, but he knows they make her happy. and there’s no way he could ever forget the zap of electricity whenever bart jumps on him in a hug and the way his giggles are loud and bright and so full of air that they fill up an entire room, banishing any silence that remained. or cassie’s strong hugs and mischievous smirks that hold tim up anytime he feel like he might fall. he tries to hold every single one of those moments close to his chest, but he takes pictures of very very best. tim remembers that he’s got people who love him, and he has pictures, lovingly taken and painstakingly preserved, as proof.

having a photographer’s eye, though, meant that no one else saw the world the way he did. jason didn’t understand when tim showed him pictures taken without his notice, of bruce turned away from him after an argument, couldn’t see the love pouring from his body. his dad scoffed at his hobby, saying his mom indulged him far too much, and before tim could show him otherwise, he was gone. cass was always silently supportive, but he could see the confusion in her gaze, never understanding why he chose to freeze moments in time instead of letting them play out and reading their grace in real-time.

(maybe damian had a point when he hid his sketches in his sketchbook, kept the one hobby he truly enjoyed to himself.)

(and maybe dick had a point when, way back when tim was first slipping on the cape, he introduced him to donna, who had a gleam in her eye that tim recognized. he saw it in the mirror.)

my blog was getting absolutely covered in dick content, and don’t get me wrong, i love my boy, but i needed to breathe for a minute. so have some timmy!

also disclaimer: i know next to nothing about photography and cameras.

tag list: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @anothertimdrakestan @subtleappreciation @screennamealreadyused @pricetagofficial @catxsnow @bikoncon @bonkybearjpeg @maplumebleue-blog-blog @sundownridge

[thebloggerbloggerfun]

Based on something @wanderingcas and I briefly chatted about in the only tumblr group chat I lasted longer than a day in

In Castiel’s defense, he’d been in the middle of telling Dean that he probably shouldn’t touch the glowing metal object that had fallen out of a crammed closet in a less-explored room in the bunker when he’d gone ahead and done it anyway. 

“Ha, it’s one of those old ear-trumpet things.” Dean said, picking it up and holding it to his ear.

“- and glowing is rarely a good sign.” Castiel finished, but not before the trumpet flashed even brighter, and then stopped glowing altogether. 

Dean pulled it away from his ear and frowned at it. 

“Are you... alright?” Castiel asked, but there didn’t seem to be any outward signs of any harm done to him. 

Dean said nothing, but his frown deepened as he glanced around, squinting enough that Castiel could tell something wasn’t quite right. 

“Dean?”

“Uh, I think -” Dean stopped abruptly and blinked. “Hello? Hello?”

Castiel stepped forward in concern, snatching the object out of Dean’s hands before it could do any more harm and he could almost feel the curse oozing off of it. 

“I’m still here, Dean. What’s wrong?”

“I can’t -” Dean started tapping at his own ears, then patting them, “I can’t hear anything!”

Dean looked up at Castiel, a panicked tone in his voice and written on every line of his face and Castiel bit back the retort about how if he’d only waited just a few seconds - 

“It’s alright,” Castiel said, slowly, methodically, so that Dean would be able to read his lips. “Don’t panic. The curse doesn’t feel strong.”

“Oh, fuck me - I really can’t hear!” Dean said again, and definitely panicking. 

Castiel waved his hands in front of Dean’s face until he received his full and undivided attention, and mimed deep breaths until Dean followed suit, eyes still wide, but no longer frantic. 

“You’re okay,” Castiel said, holding up his hand in the universal ‘OK’ symbol, “We can fix this. I don’t think it’s permanent.”

Dean swallowed and nodded, running a hand through his hair with a shaky sigh. 

“Dammit, I shouldn’t have touched that stupid thing.”

“That’s what I said.” Castiel muttered. 

“What?” Dean said. 

Castiel waved a hand dismissively. 

“Nothing. We’ll talk to Sam when he gets home and see if we can do any research on it. It was cursed, but it didn’t feel like it was a dangerous one.”

Dean stared at him and blinked once.

“What?”

Castiel gave him a thumbs-up.

-

Sam tapped on the page of the book and flipped it around for Castiel to clearly see a picture of a sketched ear-trumpet.

“Yep - it’s in their inventory. Apparently it was designed as a last resort for battling against oceanic sirens, but it looks like they never needed it.” Sam shrugged his shoulders and glanced over at Dean, who was snapping his fingers in front of his ears and looking increasingly more frustrated with the results. “It’s just for seventy-two hours. He’ll be fine on Friday.”

“What?” Dean said from across the table. 

Castiel pushed the book towards him and tapped on the sentence that included “seventy-two hours” in it. 

“Goddammit.” Dean said, shoving the book back angrily in Castiel’s direction. “What the hell am I supposed to do until then, huh? Lock myself in my room and live like a hermit?”

“Plenty of people live without their hearing, Dean.” Castiel said, folding his arms against his chest. “And it’s just for three days. You’ll do just fine if you don’t make this into a bigger deal than it is.”

Dean frowned. 

“What?”

- 

By Wednesday, Castiel had heard Dean list all of the things that he couldn’t do without his hearing at least fifteen times. 

“And I can’t even listen to Led Zepplin! Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve gone this long without listening to Zep? Since the womb, Cas. The womb.” Dean rambled as he leaned over the engine of the Impala. 

Castiel flipped a page in the mystery novel he was skimming in the corner of the garage and nodded.

“A true tragedy.” Castiel said.

“What?”

Castiel let out a long breath, stood up and walked over to Dean, and pointed at his lips. 

Dean jumped as he turned to reach for an oily rag. 

“Jesus - I can’t go through this again, Cas. You don’t even have your wings and it’s happening again you sneaky motherfu -”

“Can. You. Read. My. Lips.” Castiel said, slowly and methodically. 

Dean’s eyes flicked down to Castiel’s lips, then immediately flicked away as Dean quickly turned around to face the car’s engine again.

“Nope. That’s not gonna work.”

Castiel frowned, but he supposed it would be a lot of work to have to stare so intently at his lips as he tried to decipher what shapes his mouth was forming. 

“Have it your way, then.” Castiel said, knowing he might as well be saying it to the Impala, and went back to his mystery novel. 

- 

Castiel sat himself down at the table in the kitchen as Dean stirred at something in a large skillet, whistling to himself off-key as he did so. 

He had on Claire's birthday gift - an apron with “Culinary Badass” written in bold lettering on the front - and was swinging his hips from side to side as his whistling turned into humming. 

Castiel smiled fondly as he watched, falling into the pit of endearment that he often found himself at the bottom of. He wiped the smile from his face before letting it tug at the corners of his lips again - the smile was safe as long as Dean wasn’t looking. 

There were a lot of things that could be safe right now. 

Dean was adorable.

And not listening. 

“You’re adorable.” Castiel whispered, staring at the back of Dean’s head. 

The humming continued with no reaction from Dean. 

“You’re adorable.” Castiel repeated, louder this time - it felt good to say out loud. “Even when you’re being dramatic.”

Dean tapped on the oven with the spoon he’d been using to stir to add rhythm to his humming, not saying a word in response. 

Castiel’s smile grew a little wider. 

-

“Every day I hope I get to see you smile.” Castiel said after Dean handed him a beer and turned away.

-

“Your soul shines brighter than you can imagine.” Castiel said, his face hidden behind a load of laundry he was handing to Dean.

-

“I don’t know what I did to deserve you in my life.” Castiel said as he climbed into the passenger’s side of the Impala to go on a grocery run with Dean.

-

“I love you.” Castiel said as the two of them watched a subtitled television show that Castiel had long since stopped paying attention to in Dean’s TV room. “I really do.”

Dean’s head slowly turned away from the television, and towards Castiel. 

“What?”

Castiel just waved a hand. 

Nothing. He mouthed, and shrugged his shoulders, hoping Dean would just let it go. He usually did now that explaining became a big situation. 

“You... love me?”

A chill shot down Castiel’s spine as he tensed, and mentally counted the hours in his head - yes it was about seventy-two hours now. Had he not been paying close enough attention? 

No, of course he hadn’t. 

He’d been happily confessing things to Dean while there would be no consequences like a fool. 

Castiel shouldn’t have let himself get comfortable in that.

“Y-you’re hearing -”

“...just came back, yeah.” Dean said slowly, hesitantly, like he was regretting the admission. 

He was probably wishing he was still under the effects of the curse and Castiel didn’t blame him one iota. 

“I’m - Dean I’m so sorry. I thought you were still - I didn’t - “

“Do you mean it?” 

Castiel’s stuttering died in his throat as he stared back at Dean, eyes wide. 

“I- I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable.” He whispered. 

There was a long silence between them as they simply stared at each other, and the sound of the television still played in the background. 

“This is The Good Place finale,” Dean said, pointing at the TV, “So, we have to finish watching it - but after that we’re gonna make-out, okay? Like a lot. And then probably talk about shit.” 

Castiel blinked. 

“What?” 

Dean smiled in the special way that made Castiel’s heart stop. 

“You heard me.”

[memzhay]

Get a Switch

After the episode and the More had wrapped, there were still the thumbnails to shoot, and the Instagram teaser. Swipe Up Y'all! Link powered through it pleasantly enough, but Rhett could tell he was edgy, if not outright pissed. Once everything had wrapped for the day, Link made a point of joking around kindly with Kaitlyn to show there were no hard feelings about the flyswatter. He excused himself shortly thereafter and headed off quickly towards the offices.

Rhett hung around with the crew for a while, giving him some time to cool off. Link didn’t like being confronted on things when he was riled, but if you gave him space to sort himself out, he course corrected pretty quickly. Kaitlyn approached Rhett nervously and asked if he thought Link was alright. Rhett assured her heartily that he was and went off to see for himself.

Link was sitting on the corner of their office sofa, one leg crossed over the other, and staring off into space. He looked tired, and his foot bounced restlessly in his lap.

“Hey,” Rhett said softly from the doorway. “You alright?”

“What?” Link said, noticing his presence. “Of course, I’m alright. Did you want to start planning out that TikTok series we were talking about?”

Rhett closed the door, came over to the sofa, and sat down next to Link. “I just thought maybe you might want to talk some about what happened in More. The flyswatter. If you knew you were going to have issues with it, why didn’t you say something when we were deciding what to put on the survey?”

“I didn’t think about it at the time. Wasn’t really until she swatted me that I freaked a little. You know I only halfway pay attention to those things anyway. It’s funnier if I’m a little caught off guard. Makes the reactions more genuine,” Link explained. “Besides. It was a long time ago.”

“Well, as someone who was made to go ‘get a switch’ a time or two, I know how scary that could be as a kid. Why didn’t I know?” Rhett asked helplessly. That was the thing that was really bothering him. He thought he knew everything about Link. Every phobia. Every fascination. Where the bulk of his childhood trauma came from, and how it shaped who he was as a person. Learning that Link had pain that he didn’t know about was surprisingly hard to deal with.

Link paused, sensing that Rhett was really concerned about this. “You know,” he said with a sigh. “You go to therapy. You do your honest best to figure out where the things you don’t like about yourself come from, and how you can do better. You work hard. You cry. You ask yourself hard questions. You journal. Sometimes it seems like there is no bottom to the well. There is always going to be a time when someone casually smacks you with a flyswatter, and you feel too many feelings about it, and you wonder if you’ve made any progress at all. I mean, what do you do when you want to be an emotionally healthy adult, but you keep getting reminded that at the root of it, you’re just a scared kid?”

Rhett nodded in sympathy, reached out, and squeezed Link’s shoulder.

Link’s eyes teared involuntarily for the briefest of moments before whipping out a reassuring grin. “Well, the ethical dilemma of archaic disciplinary methods for children aside, we really should start plotting out that bank heist sketch. Maybe do a flowchart or something?” he suggested, quickly rising to his feet.

Rhett stood up and manhandled him into a fierce bear hug.

“Oof!” The force of it knocked the wind out of Link for a second. He returned the hug. After a few seconds, when they would normally let go, he lifted a hand to do the old manly hug and slap but found that Rhett continued to hold on.

Link retuned his hand to Rhett’s back. Rhett could feel Link squeeze him tighter, like he was trying to match the force of Rhett’s arms around him. Rhett wondered for a minute if Link was about to turn this into wrestling. Maybe he was thinking of trying to toss Rhett on the couch or wrestle him to the floor. After another moment, when Rhett didn’t budge, Link relaxed into his arms.

Link is a bit like a chocolate bar: hold him long enough, he’s gonna melt.

Link brought his hands up to Rhett’s shoulders and idly kneaded his muscles. “You ok, Rhett?” he asked, his voice muffled by Rhett’s chest.

“Yeah,” Rhett replied. “We just don’t hug enough, you know?”

“I thought you didn’t like it,” Link said, turning his face and resting it on Rhett’s shoulder.

“I thought it was you,” Rhett replied.

“Hmmm,” Link mused. The hug continued. Now that it was established that nobody was going anywhere for a while, Link allowed himself to relish the feeling of being held, and that Rhett was worried about him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t know you had a thing about flyswatters,” Rhett said sadly.

“I’m sorry I don’t pay more attention in meetings,” Link returned. Rhett brought a hand up to the back of his head, petting his hair and settling on his neck.

“I’m not gonna cry, if that’s what you want,” Link said sarcastically into Rhett’s shoulder.

“I don’t ever want that!” Rhett said, choking up and going back to practically squeezing the life out of Link.

Link smiled. Rhett really was a big softie sometimes. “It’s alright, big man. I’m alright. You hug me as much as you want, but if you toss out an idea for an episode at the next pitch meeting entitled ‘Rhett and Link Hug and Talk Vulnerably for 15 Minutes’ I’m gonna be mad.”

Rhett laughed and let go of Link. “Well, at least you have something to talk to your therapist about the next time,” he joked.

“Shut up, man!” Link laughed. His eyes were lit with mischief and he seemed himself again. Rhett smiled.

“So,” Rhett considered. “We can do a flow chart, or we figure the resurfacing of childhood trauma more than caps the day, and we go over to the creative house and play old school Mario Karts on Super Nintendo.”

Link thought about that. “Business talk about the sketch in the car, game time once we are in the door of the house?” he offered.

“Deal!” Rhett agreed. They grabbed their things.

“And I get to be Yoshi,” Link insisted.

“You always get to be Yoshi!” Rhett protested.

“My babysitter beat me with switches and flyswatters!” Link moaned theatrically as they walked out the door.

“Fine! Fine!” Rhett laughed, shutting off the lights and closing the door.

[only-martha-knows]

The Path of Daggers Prologue Notes

Warning - SPOILERS both for PoD and for future books will be in these notes! I have some knowledge of major events happening later in the series and I may reference them to have an honest reaction. But I do ask that nobody tells me anything extra in the notes.

These posts were inspired by @neuxue ‘s method of reacting to the series! Read her stuff for even more detailed analysis and thoughts.

Okay I was very confused starting out with Ethenielle because I didn’t remember any title called the Throne of the Clouds, so I thought she was Seanchan. But I eventually find out she is Queen of Kandor and dislikes Saldaeans some. Important to note that she doesn’t have an automatic bias, instead she thinks Rand could be the Dragon - which makes sense since she is leader of a country bordering the Blight and probably can see the way the wind is blowing.

Honestly I love old-timey military strategy and stuff. I hesitate to say medieval-esque because I don’t know that much about what happened in what time period. But signals from scouts just gave me a weird rush of joy.

Ohhhh this spire, Domon talked about it in Eye of the World, one that kills those that touch it. Or get near it? I can’t remember what he said exactly but here it says anyone who touches it.

I had to refer back to these couple paragraphs of names and descriptions several times - it’s hard to get names down and alliances!

Easar reminds me of Lan: “A hard man, but eleven years widowed and still mourning. He had written poetry for his wife.”

And also I’m very excited at the reappearance of Agelmar!!!

Tenobia is interesting, and not what I expected of her. She’s certainly not ACTUALLY flighty, but I had pictured her as stern, stoic and older (you know when you have a cousin who’s like ten or fifteen years older than you? That’s Faile and Tenobia in my brain). I enjoyed the reference to Saldaean tempers as it immediately made me think of Faile, and the references to Tenobia not wanting to marry meaning rule would eventually go to… dun dun dun… Faile! were also exciting.

Okay but so many Aes Sedai just happen to show up right before they leave to meet in their secret alliance meeting? And thirteen at that? How and why. This is not a coincidence.

Honestly when Ethienielle rejected Kalyan on sight I was like man… and then I was happy when she took another look. I have no idea why I’m shipping these two minor characters but I’m doing it.

Okay I’m sorry but the little ceremony at the end was a bit underwhelming. Maybe I’ve just seen too many scenes where people cut their hands and press them together but I thought it would be something different. And what are they coming together to do???? No answer. (What is that scene reminding me of? Maybe too many Harry Potter “blood brothers” magic ceremonies in fanfic)

Verin!!! Mwahahahaha I’ve been thinking and pondering her actions lately so I’m ready for this.

She is suspicious… and my thoughts are further given substance as I read her POV.

“In some ways she would have preferred to have Tomas with her, but only some. Keeping secrets from your Warder was far more difficult than keeping them from strangers.” Speaking from experience Verin??? And also yeah that does make sense since personal relationships mean you share personal things with people.

What is up with Cadsuane? She is dangerous and she wants something and while she could be an ally to Rand her past words push her over that line towards probable antagonist.

This is so neat, if I’m reading that right Verin CODES her NOTES in FLOWER sketches??? Imagine looking through her rooms at the Tower and finding thousands of drawings of plants.

Okay I automatically am sympathetic toward Beldeine. She’s only been an Aes Sedai for three years (though we don’t know how long she trained). She loves horses. And she’s easily manipulated by Verin but she’s not weak, she’s trusting. She just seems young, and I’m imagining Egwene (at least book 2 Egwene) in her place.

I knew the lily stone was an angreal from the first description. I knew it!

Also hmm. “Verin prattled on; she had developed prattling to something of a Talent.” Now I’ve been reading so fast that I don’t remember exactly, but hasn’t she used that on Siuan and Moiraine??? Suspicions rise.

Okay my fast reading backfires when I read slowly - has Rand mentioned that he thinks he has allies in the White Tower as it currently stands? I feel like he hasn’t but that disconnect might just be because of the between the books time skip.

Oh also the fact that Beldeine thought what they did to Rand was wrong. That also endears her to me.

Omg has Verin just reinvented COMPULSION??? Wow. I get the feeling that she’s one of those Darkfriends who’s in it because they think the Light is suppressing knowledge - in other words their hearts might be in the right place but they just got it wrong. Brings to mind Dana from the show.

More evidence for this - “…she began to thrash, limbs quivering. Verin held her as gently as she could.”

Also this also brought to mind scientific experiments and now Verin is similar to Aginor. Great.

Love seeing Verin lie to Beldeine using true words. Whenever I notice that it never fails to make me think haha I’m too clever for you!!!

Now apparently if Verin is a Darkfriend or Black Ajah she’s aiding a Forsaken who wants Rand to be kept alive… the problem is I don’t remember who has that goal… this is going to keep happening if I keep reading this slow.

Ooh Moridin!!! Love him. So we’re getting a bit of a character study here…

First of all I’m VERY interested in sha’rah. I love that kind of game where there’s a goal you have to reach to even start the rest of the game. And the way that the Fisher is probably modeled on some form of the Dragon… that’s so neat.

Moridin is totally Ishamael, right? I mean he’s talking about how the fact that knowledge has been lost enrages him. And even more so he thinks he has a right to that knowledge. Definitely a philosophy professor.

I’m getting a sense that Moridin is mad - but not because of saidin. Just because he is in general.

[onenerdtwonagas]

Freckles & Stars

(Felt like rewriting their confession to try and have a less soap-opera-ish feel to it. Obviously it’s still a dramatic moment for them but at least the dialogue flows a little better IMO? Idk, y’all tell me LOL)

Orpheus smiled as he looked down at the pieces of parchment—‘paper’—and the intricate notes and detailed sketches. There was something inherently charming about them. Intimate, almost. He traced the tip of a claw carefully around the edge of a study of a fern leaf, following the thin lines of ink.

“What did you say this was called again?” he asked, his gaze lingering before flicking upwards at the human across from him.

“Botany,” Uriah answered. “Plant studies.”

“Huh. We call such persons ‘herbalists’, still. Although, I suppose it isn’t quite fitting, since they work with more than herbs.”

“Herbalists breed and preserve plants, too?”

“They do, but differently,” Orpheus explained, passing the papers back to Uriah. “They don’t use such strange methods as humans do, what with your...gadgets?”

Uriah chuckled and returned the papers to a protective folder inside his pack.

“That’s one word for it. Technology doesn’t run on magic, where I’m from.”

“It’s not always magic. There are scientists within the pantheon.”

“Alchemists, you mean?”

“It’s a form of science,” Orpheus insisted.

“That uses magic,” Uriah returned, smiling as he stood up to stretch.

“That’s—fair, actually. I’ll grant you that,” the naga laughed.

He watched Uriah pace to the open wall of his chamber. The human stretched his arms over his head and let them fall with a groan, leaning against a pillar and watching the steady rainfall outside. It had been rather dreary all afternoon, rain arriving not long after Uriah had showed up at the entrance to the temple.

Orpheus found himself looking forward to the visits from the mortal man. It had been several months since their strange first encounter, and Uriah came every so often for the ‘work’ his foreign society demanded of him. Watching him was fascinating; Uriah sounded so intelligent, and there was a little thrill that would race up Orpheus’s spine whenever he used the important-sounding jargon for his ‘work’. If he was being honest, it wasn’t just the terminology Uriah used that set little quivers through the naga’s core: it was the man himself.

He’d tried not to let it get to him, but with each visit Orpheus found himself growing increasingly fond of Uriah. He liked his smile, the genuine kindness he showed, and his obvious intelligence. Whenever Orpheus would take him to see new parts of the jungle around his father’s territory, he found himself seeking opportunities to touch him. Holding his hand to help him step over obstacles, brushing dirt or plant matter from his back, offering his tail as a place to sit for rest... Orpheus had to admit he was smitten, and he felt it again as he watched Uriah stare out at the rain.

“How long do you think it’ll last?”

“I—hmm?”

“The rain,” Uriah asked, jerking his head in the general direction of the weather. “Is it gonna come down like this all night?”

Orpheus rose and slithered over, peering up past the roof of the temple and through the canopy to catch a slim glance of a storm-gray sky overhead. A rumble of thunder rolled across the clouds.

“Might be a while, at the very least,” he mused. “It’s not the rainy season just yet, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have storms. Just means it won’t flood the lower terrain or washout the river beds.”

“Sooo... What you’re saying is, I’m probably bunking here overnight?”

Uriah looked at Orpheus, one eyebrow quirked upwards. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to be there, near Orpheus—he certainly liked being near Orpheus—but he wasn’t sure he could handle it. Seeing him every visit felt wonderful, but leaving... Leaving was getting harder. Being closer wasn’t going to help that.

“I’d rather you stay here than risk getting lost or injured out there in a storm,” Orpheus said, looking down with a small shrug. He reached out and gave the man’s shoulder a pat.

“Besides, I’m sure it’s much more comfortable than whatever set-up you have at your ‘base camp’. You can share my chamber, if you like,” he offered, smiling. Hoping.

Uriah felt heat rising to his face.

“O-Oh, I, uh... I’d be fine taking a pillow and a blanket somewhere else! Your folks are okay with me—except your sister—s-so it should be fine! I wouldn’t want to crowd you!”

Orpheus blinked at him in confusion.

“Uriah, dearest, it’s an entire chamber. I know my tail is long but I’m not nearly so large as to need all of this—“ He swept two of his four arms out for emphasis. “—to be comfortable. You’ll sleep better here, anyway; I’ve got plenty of bed space.”

Uriah rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

“I-I just...y’know, it’s, uh...umm...”

“Are you truly still that shy after knowing me for several months?”

Uriah exhaled slowly.

“Yeah, kind of,” he muttered, turning away and pacing slowly. Orpheus watched after him.

“...You don’t need to be.”

“I know.”

“Have I done something to make you uncomfortable?”

“N-No,” Uriah answered quickly.

“Uriah, if I have, you can say so—“

“No,” he repeated, faster and harsher. Uriah turned and looked at him apologetically.

“I’m sorry, I’m not upset, but...”

He squeezed the back of his neck. He bent down and gathered his pack, sliding one strap over his left shoulder.

“Maybe it’s better if I just sleep somewhere else.”

“Uriah—“

“Or if I leave now, I could get back to base camp before nightfall.”

He started moving towards the doorway, head lowered and hand gripping his pack straps tightly, when Orpheus suddenly slid in his way. Uriah backpedaled and froze, tense. They stared at one another for a few moments before Uriah found his nerve.

“You can’t keep me here,” he said, though he looked up at Orpheus uncertainly. The naga looked back, slowly letting the tension leave him as he let out a growl and scowled at the floor.

“No, I can’t,” Orpheus huffed. He closed his eyes tightly, and then his expression fell, saddened.

“...But I want to.”

Uriah’s eyes widened. Orpheus looked at him almost pleadingly.

“Please, Uriah, just...stay the night? So I know you’re safe?”

He reached out, but Uriah backed away, turning and dropping his bag much less carefully than usual. He shoved his hands back through his hair and paced back towards the open wall.

“God, I knew this was a bad idea. I knew it and I kept doing it!”

“Doing what?” Orpheus asked, following him at a distance.

“Coming back!” Uriah blurted out, throwing his hands up. “Coming here and seeing you! I shouldn’t have done it! I should’ve just—just let it be! Left you alone!”

Orpheus’s mouth twitched downward. That stung.

“I like seeing you,” he said, quietly. “I want to see you.”

“I know! That’s the problem, I can’t—“

“Can’t what?”

“I can’t want you!” Uriah shouted. Orpheus flinched.

“I can’t want you because you’re this—this—this demigod naga, and I’m just me! I’m a mortal human being! You’re not for me! But I kept coming here anyway, because I like the look of you, and the way you act, and now I’m the idiot who got his own feelings worked up!”

The naga slowly approached, staring at Uriah as he let one hand fall to his side, the other removing his glasses and wiping furiously at the corner of his eye. Uriah shook his head as Orpheus tried to reach out to him, twisting away.

“Uriah, please, I don’t understand where this is coming from! What did I do?”

“It’s not you! You’re perfect! You’re a literal god! I’m the problem!”

“You’re not a problem!”

“I am!”

Orpheus didn’t let him move away again. He took hold of Uriah’s shoulders and bent to try and meet his gaze.

“Talk to me! I don’t know what this is about, but I’m fond of you, too! I want you here! I want you here so much it hurts when you go!”

“And what right did I have to do that to you, huh? You’re so much more than I am, Orpheus! I don’t—“

His breathing hitched and his voice broke. Uriah hid his face in his hand.

“I don’t deserve you.”

Orpheus stared at him, not understanding but wanting to, desperately. What was Uriah talking about? Deserving?

“What do you mean? If I enjoy being with you, and you with me, what does anything else matter?”

Uriah shook his head, his shoulders trembling as another sob rattled him. Orpheus slowly rubbed his upper arms, his second set of hands rising up to try and hold Uriah’s hand before he pulled away to wipe at his eyes.

“Uriah, please, I... I don’t know what you’re talking about. Help me understand. If I want you, how can you not deserve it?”

“B-Because I’m not like you,” Uriah whimpered. “I don’t deserve somebody like you.”

“What?”

“I’m not special. I-I’m boring, and plain, and...a-and you’ll get tired of me. And I—“ Uriah held himself. “—I can’t stand being unwanted again.”

“Uriah, I want you! Do you know how hard it is for me to watch you go every time, and not know if you’re coming back? I’ve lost sleep over it! I want you here, with me!”

The human shook his head in disbelief and looked at Orpheus through watery eyes.

“We barely know each other.”

“I know that your smile warms me, and that you are intelligent and kind,” Orpheus professed. “I know that the green of your eyes is the most beautiful one I’ve ever seen. I know your laugh makes my chest flutter. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since someone made me feel that way?”

Uriah shook his head again, trying to avoid his eyes, but Orpheus turned his face back with a gentle hand. He brushed a thumb across his freckled cheek, wiping a stray tear away.

“Uriah, I...” He sighed. “I know we couldn’t be more different, but I want you. You feel the same way, don’t you?”

“I’m just a human,” Uriah huffed, upset with himself. “I don’t have the right—“

“Forget rights. Forget my future title, forget all of it! That doesn’t matter to me right now. What do you feel? What do you want?” Orpheus stressed. “If you don’t feel the same, then I will understand, but you need to be honest with me, and with yourself.”

“I do,” Uriah answered suddenly, sullenly. He carefully placed a hand over Orpheus’s against his face, holding it there, taking comfort from him. Even if he felt he didn’t deserve to.

“I-I like you. A lot. A-And I miss you when I leave, and I w-want to be around you. I just... I-I just can’t...”

“You can. I’m telling you, you can,” Orpheus said, his voice soft as he leaned in and rested his forehead against Uriah’s. He hushed him as he whimpered, bringing a second hand to cradle his face.

“I want you,” the naga whispered, “and you want me. That’s all I need to know. That’s the only thing that matters right now. I don’t care about the rest, it can wait.”

“O-Orpheus...”

“It can wait,” he repeated, fingertips brushing Uriah’s jaw.

Orpheus tilted his head and kissed him, carefully and lightly at first, testing what Uriah would allow. Watery green eyes stared back for a few moments before Uriah returned the gesture, shy and timid but sincere. He felt fragile against his lips, as if he’d break just by touching him. Orpheus slid his hands back and combed his claws through Uriah’s curls, indulging in their softness before attempting a second kiss. Uriah shivered, but didn’t pull away. In fact, much to Orpheus’s surprise, he felt the human’s hands hesitantly resting on his shoulders, and then put his arms around his neck. As their lips parted, Uriah tucked his face down against Orpheus’s skin and sniffled, holding on tightly. The naga put all four of his arms around him, slowly stroking his back with one hand and petting his hair with another.

“I-I don’t know what to do, Orpheus,” Uriah whimpered, his voice muffled against the naga’s neck.

“Stay,” Orpheus purred back. “Please, stay. Even if it’s just for tonight.”

“I w-want to stay.”

“Then stay.”

He nuzzled against Uriah’s hair and he hushed him, his voice warm and soft. Orpheus lifted him, startling him for a moment, before he brought a hand to the man’s face and drew him closer once more. Uriah pressed his forehead to Orpheus’s and inhaled slowly.

“Stay,” Orpheus repeated.

“I-I’m sorry,” Uriah said quietly. “I wanted t-to say something but...b-but I didn’t know how, or w-when, and I was scared y-y-you wouldn’t want to see me anymore—“

“Shhh. Don’t be sorry, don’t. It’s a lot, I know, but I want to try.”

Orpheus ducked his head beneath Uriah’s, nuzzling his collarbone, breathing him in as the man’s fingers stroked lightly through his hair. He could feel how nervous Uriah was, how hesitant he was to touch him. Orpheus purred against him, hoping to soothe Uriah, as he carefully slid to his nest of furs and pillows and settled amongst them, his tail draped among the softness. He heard his pulse quicken in his chest.

“Easy,” Orpheus whispered, “it’s alright.”

Uriah’s face was warm and he couldn’t look at Orpheus for more than a few seconds before diverting his gaze. He was too beautiful, too perfect. He felt a weight shift onto his lap and looked down in surprise to see the end of Orpheus’s tail resting on top of his legs.

“You can touch me,” he encouraged, taking one of Uriah’s hands and placing it on his scales.

Uriah carefully brushed his fingertips along the edges of his scales, watching their stars slowly shift in their strange, magic way. Orpheus guided his hand, watching him, admiring the softness of his eyes. Slowly, he felt Uriah’s hesitancy fade and allowed him to touch on his own, bringing his hand up to brush the man’s curls from his face.

“...Why would you think I wouldn’t want to see you if you told me?” Orpheus asked, tone quiet but concerned. “Is it really because I’m a demigod?”

Uriah’s hand paused, and he bit his lip. Orpheus curled the end of his tail around the man’s wrist, wanting to hold him in some way without making him uncomfortable. He studied Uriah as several emotions flickered through his eyes.

“My ex was...h-he wasn’t a good person. I know that now, and I should’ve never fallen for his ‘nice act’ at the start, but...b-but I did, and...that’s what I get for it, I guess.”

“Ex?”

“Um...previous partner? I-I kicked him out last year and haven’t seen him since but it still hurts.”

“Oh.” Orpheus thought for a moment. “When you were saying those things about yourself before, about being boring and plain... Were those things he said to you?”

Uriah noticed the worry in Orpheus’s face and felt a pang of guilt for even explaining it. Orpheus didn’t need to know such hurtful things. But he had asked, and Uriah knew himself to be a terrible liar.

“Yeah. Y-Yeah, he...um... He said those things and then some.”

“Uriah...”

Orpheus’s brow knotted and he reached out to hold his hand between two of his own. Uriah sniffed.

“I w-wasn’t in a-a good place while I was with him,” he admitted. “It s-started fine but after a while, it just...got worse and I...I-I hung on l-longer than I should have.”

The naga’s tail released his wrist and rose instead to curl beneath his chin, guiding Uriah to look at him. Orpheus brought Uriah’s hand up and kissed the back of his palm, brushing his thumbs over his skin, and met his eyes with concern.

“He hurt you.”

It wasn’t a question, but an honest observation. Uriah couldn’t deny it, and he didn’t.

“I don’t want that for you, Uriah,” Orpheus said, soft and sincere. “No one should say things like that to you.”

“If this doesn’t work out—“

“No. I won’t treat you that way, even if we turn out to be incompatible. I promise.”

Uriah blinked back tears. He felt that tug of guilt in his chest again. Orpheus hadn’t ever been rude or even overly sarcastic with him; how awful to even think that, for a second, he was anything like his ex...

“I-I’m sorry, I know you’re not like him, I just—I’m scared of it happening again.”

“Come here.”

Orpheus reached out and brought Uriah close to him, holding him close to his chest and resting his chin in his hair. He nuzzled into it and kissed the crown of his head.

“I won’t hurt you, Uriah,” he reassured. “You will never need to be afraid of that, I promise. No one, not even me, can speak to you that way.”

“E-Even if...?”

“If we don’t work out, you’re still my friend; I don’t treat friends that way, either.”

He was a bit surprised by how tightly Uriah held on to him at that moment. Not wanting to accidentally harm the man with his superior strength, Orpheus hugged him only a little tighter, mindful of his claws, and relished the sensation of Uriah’s tension leaving his body.

“I needed to hear that. Thank you,” Uriah sniffled.

Orpheus would’ve told him he didn’t need to be thanked for basic decency, but Uriah caught him off-guard a second time. The man looked up at him, hesitating for just a second, before pressing up against him for a kiss. When he pulled back, Uriah was staring up with a bright red blush across his freckled cheeks. Never mind that they had already kissed a few minutes earlier.

“I-I, um...w-wanted to do that for a while.”

Orpheus came out of his moment of blank surprise and grinned, leaning close.

“I think we’re going to be good for each other, Uriah,” he purred.

“Really?”

“Mmhmm. Now, come here. I think you need a good, long cuddle.”

“Yeah. That sounds nice, right about now.”

[notsogreatgamer]

SPOILERS FOR INFINITE DARKNESS BELOW

As promised, this is the Claire and Leon post. I will include my thoughts underneath a keep reading line. 

Firstly, I am going to talk about Leon. His characterization here seems all over the place. While he may be irritated about the Raccoon City coverup and wants to end bioterror, he doesn’t really seem it aside from the anger he expresses to Jason. Additionally, they really tried to lean in to the Lady’s Man persona by having him ask Shen May out to dinner the second they are left alone and then have it happen again with Claire (He assumes that she is calling him out for dinner) and it just felt jarring. (Or as I thought at the time, it made him seem lonely--constantly seeking companionship.) My husband who was watching it with me said many times that he just didn’t understand Leon. Wouldn’t he want the same things Shen May and Jason do--to expose the coverup--given his history? And I tried to defend Leon because it’s complicated and, to me, his reluctance to expose the US government boils down to Claire and Sherry’s safety--specifically Sherry. The girl is a powerful bargaining chip for Leon. However, this isn’t anything shown to us and is just...speculation.

Now for Claire. I hate how little screen time she got and how careless they made her. The appearance of her motel wall tells us that she has been researching this for a long time--likely since finding that sketch by the young boy. She is smart enough to make the necessary connections without Jason or Shen May giving her that information. (So, despite the end of the series, I believe she will go public with the information and it will be convincing enough to at least cause questions to be asked of the US government.) Despite this showcasing of capability, they made her so careless with that information otherwise. Loudly announcing that she found an incriminating note at the scene of a MAD DOG’s suicide to the man that was likely implicated in it?! This woman has survived TWO zombie infestations and yet she chooses a lamp as her weapon of choice when someone breaks into her motel room? She screams before hitting--announcing her attack and giving him time to turn around?? Leaving the door open instead of shutting it and locking it in case another agent is just behind him?? Like, come on, Claire. You are better than this. Her personality was pretty spot on to what I was expecting though: snarky, sarcastic, and straightforward. They didn’t exactly make her a damsel in distress either, so that was a positive. She did get kidnapped, but she got out of the situation mostly on her own; she just needed a hand up which Leon provided. 

Let’s talk that scene. It was the typical ship-tease that I expected to find. She falls on top of him and they have a Cloud/Tifa moment and the way they were looking at one another was *chef’s kiss*. He looks at her so softly and she takes a minute to look at him; they are also so slow to get up. 

Now, the ending scene that everyone has been saying is the end of Cleon. I have already expressed in a re-blogged post that I don’t believe that is the intention. They are arguing about a difference in methods, yes, but that doesn’t mean anything has ended between them. That isn’t how relationships work; one argument doesn’t end everything. They are still friends; they still share that bond; they still care for another. Their argument can boil down to Leon wanting to protect her and Claire wanting to push forward despite the backlash. 

My initial reaction to Leon’s answer to Claire’s request that he stop babying her was a disappointed “awe” because it felt like this was Capcom’s way of saying they were platonic only but then the scene from before directly contradicts that. So, I believe that maybe they were attempting to show that Leon cares and wants to protect her and he puts that before her immediate happiness--as shown by him denying her the chip. She may be angry at him, but at least she’s safe from any fallout. However, I did feel it was a little out of character. Because he doesn't treat her like a child. He has always treated her like his partner. Raccoon City proved they could lean on one another; even if she is younger than him, she proved herself capable and he respects the shit out of her. Harvardville, he had no hesitation in building her up and defending why she should have a say in their plans; he established she is his equal outloud and backed it up by throwing her his gun without hesitation. He does not treat her like a child; he treats her like his occasionally very rash partner.

As for Claire’s reaction, her anger is understandable. This is after Raccoon City, after Harvardville, after his promise to her that he will bring an end to bioterror. She knows what she will be getting into by making the information on Jun See’s chip public; she is ready for those risks, but Leon isn’t so he is denying her the chip. Partly because the narrative of Resident Evil demands he not be. I fully believe that he does want the coverup exposed; he wants to end bioterror and show the people cultivating it that they can’t get away with it, but he has connections that complicate outright exposing the coverup immediately after the President’s speech. If he sides with her, there is Sherry to consider. So, in my opinion, he’s playing the long game or at the very least waiting until the time is right to expose the information---NOT after a public speech by the president (and his father figure) that promotes peace. Even if Leon had wanted to explain, I don’t imagine Claire is in the mood to listen. Maybe once she cools down, she will be because I highly doubt the way they ended their conversation was satisfying for her.    

 So, I don’t expect that this is the end. 

Now I don’t know that I expect a season 2 simply because Resident Evil doesn’t have a history of providing sequels to their CGI movies. 

[randomwords247]

When I’m drawing the ponytail I try to do the bump sort of thing, then the spikes and then finishing it, but the shape never looks right to me even if I’ve used a ref

These are the only examples I have on me but I’ve drawn her a lot in my sketchbook as well

Okay this is a quick sketch so it’s not my best but I’ll try and walk through my process

Normally when I get to the ponytail I will have already done the body and face and all. Same goes for her long hair - it usually isn’t until I’ve gotten at least the position of her body.

My assumption is (based off your drawings) that you usally for the bump do like a circle?

So sorta like this (I did like semi circles and then the spikes)

Thats not inherently bad and I don’t think it looks as bad as you think it does. I think it looks alright tbh. But again, not a bad thing to do, and it works.

For me with ponytails or hair bits that spike up at the end I usually do the first line (in blue) in one fell swoop

Its a super quick hand motion that I've sorta gotten used to doing for different things. It's like an unconscious motion I guess haha, like say certain reactions when playing video games on a controller. There's motions you don't think about or realise your doing with your hands, your not thinking about that, your just thinking about doing the action in the game. But doing it quick is essential or you’ll think too much/wobbly hand will come into play and it’ll look deliberate, won’t look as wavey etc. (Or at least it does for me jhasdhjsda) The spikes are one line too since its like second nature to me to do those sorts of bits with hair but thats like unconscious thing jhasdhjasd

And that's not to say it's easy to get it right when doing it quick, it took me a few times to get it to look right even for this. Ctrl z is your friend haha. Redoing a line multiple times to get it right is fine and it happens and goodness it's basically every line I do xD.

An easier way to do this kinda motion would be to use whatever equvilant you have of the Dynamic tool in krita (the program I use). Cuz of the adjustable mass it means you can go slower without getting as wobbly lines or you can make them smoother and more deliberate without making it look unnatural/non curvy. I usually use it for help with lineart jahsdhsd

And thats not to say my method is the most accurate either!

I mostly do mine from memory (since I keep only drawing ponytail Hilda when I can’t get a reference) but her ponytail is sorta more of a curve (which I dodn’t even illustrate the best but yknow). The bottom spikey covers most of the bottom of the ponytail, the top spikey extends as far out as the as the bump. And theres like a centre point too on the left side. So you could do that in two lines or two swoops to get more of an extruding bit but still have it seem circular and like one line. A lot comes from examining how the show does it and like figuring out ‘how could I do this consistently?’ which sometimes includes quite literally going over the lines and figuring out what works best for you to imitate that.

And it doesn’t always have to be show accurate! You could be mostly show accurate with a bit of your own flair (like what I’m tryna do) or you could straight up do it how YOU want the ponytail to look or how you like to draw ponytails! Anything works honestly. And my personal advice is to experiment and figure out what method works best for you/is easiest for you to do or replicate

So ye this is mostly how I do the ponytail (i think. Turns out having to think about what your drawing and how you draw it makes it harder to know how you draw normally. Like when you consciously think about say holding a knife and fork. Suddenly you don’t remember how to anymore...)

I hope this helps at least a little and is understandable, sorry I rambled a lot, but yeee ^^’‘