#especially for beginners

[44cowboycryptid44]

Popping into a space I don’t usually occupy on my blog to remind yall that tarot readings need PREPARATION. You need to focus inwards and connect with your energy before doing a reading. You can’t just whip out random cards and hope for the best. Especially if you’re doing a reading because you’re struggling. You’ll probably end up feeling worse. Getting overstimulated by a reading because “it doesn’t make sense” then panicking is very avoidable. It doesn’t make sense because YOU DIDN’T PREPARE AT ALL. It is meaningless.

[duckapus]

Thinking that, during Tulip's sword training, Sora mainly has her stick to the fundamentals, just the barebones basic textbook stances and moves. Partly because the fundamentals are Important and frankly he wishes he'd gotten to learn them (or had any formal training whatsoever rather than being almost entirely self-taught) when he was first starting out because a lot of the first game probably would've been a lot less stressful and had significantly fewer near-death experiences if he'd actually known how to fight instead of relying on natural talent and the Destiny Island Kids' play-fighting sessions.

And partly because if he lets her specialize there's a chance of her developing a unique style with her wooden training sword that her keyblade wouldn't be designed for and she'd have to unlearn all that muscle memory (very hard to do) and essentially start over almost from scratch. And he knows that's a possibility since it'd just be a less extreme version of Kairi's own situation of subconsciously adopting Sora's KH1 fighting style after she got her own Keyblade due to her heart being inside him for most of that game, despite the fact that said fighting style...doesn't really suit her all that well.

(Also not sure about this one but I had the idea that as the CCC Avatars' memory issues continue to progress (probably in the later stages where it is clear that this is Very Much an Actual Problem and not just an "Avatars Be Kinda Stupid" thing) Sora adds something to Tulip's phone that'll activate if her Keyblade manifests at a time where she can't contact (or remember) him. And by something I mean someone, namely the Data version of Alice (yes, "Alice in Wonderland" Alice) from Jiminy's Journal, with what's essentially a Keyblade User's Manual uploaded into her files.

...Look he's not great with technology this is as close as he can get to writing a training app. Anyway she volunteered for it, as she very understandably wanted to get away from Data Wonderland for a while. Sora then proceeded to forget to actually tell Tulip about this because Avatars Be Kinda Stupid. Not that it would matter if he'd told her given the memory thing but still.

Again, still not sure about whether or not to include this, but it would give Tulip an actual friend on the lonely broken roads she rides in Connected Cosmos.)

[milesofstars]

im finally getting out of my art slump so my style is getting a lil better/ more natural again

some doodles based on my gameplay of drv3 from last night,, im at the start of chapter 2 still (i already know all the trial outcomes but its fun anyways cuz i never watched/played it fully)

if you couldnt tell i am spending all my free time events with kokichi.. hes silly please.. i gave him a hammock and he was flabberghasted

[midnightrings]

MATT BOMER and JONATHAN BAILEY as HAWKINS FULLER and TIM LAUGHLIN

-> FELLOW TRAVELERS 1.02: 'Bulletproof'

[cursedhaglette]

so i've been fucking around in procreate for fun and personal reasons and came across this image from crimson peak again and it tore my mind open. i had to make it astarion. so here we go, please be kind i am NOT an artist and i barely know how to do anything but line art but anyway. them.

[chiropteracupola]

"Are you finished with my portrait yet? Show me!" "Cipacton, I can't draw you if you keep moving!"

[marshiesthings]

High key targeted but this goes out to any art thieves in general

[thegaydepressedone]

Is this anything?

[bixels]

I'm so in love with everything about your art!! I wanted to ask something about your MLP human designs in particular. all of them have really lovely and interesting face shapes/details. even though all the pony designs have the same head molds (save for eye shape), all the unique characteristics you gave them just... look RIGHT. is there a particular method or design principle you used? thanks for your time!! I can't wait to see more of your work!

It's all about shape language and how they inform a person's read on the character.

I talked about this before, but each of the Main 6 were paired together so I could design them in contrast with each other. For RD, I wanted her short hair to have a wind-swept look, as if she's constantly running. So bare forehead and hair spiking out at the bottom. She contains lots and lots of sharp lines and shapes to give her the look of a speeding arrow.

Felice, on the other hand, droops down a lot to reflect her solemn, shy disposition. I didn't want her hair to be perfectly straight though, as that'd suggest she spends a lot of time fretting over it and isn't outdoorsy, so I made it a bit of a tangled mess too.

In short, RD's features are sharp and point upwards, Felice's features are round and droop downwards. (Think Joshua tree vs. weeping willow.)

For these two, I specifically wanted to include non-Western facial features, as I found I haven't really included them in my character designs up until now.

Pinkie's bold and loud, so I gave her bold eyes, bold eyebrows, a bold nose, etc. I worked on Thea's nose for quite a bit and ended up abstracting the shape a bit to look more cartoony, borrowing from Pixar's Soul's character design notes. In cases like these, I recommend finding ways to simplify features and break them down into easily-recognizable shapes and forms (Cartoon Saloon are masters at this). The less visual noise, the easier their expressions are to read! And it's generally more fun to draw.

In short, diversify, exaggerate, and simplify. Figure out what works for you and get a little wacky with it. Character design is all about finding a balance between maintaining your voice and vision and creating something unique and lively.

[batbabydamian]

Hey, I started reading Robin son of Batman because of your recommendation (I literally have a print of your post on my phone to not forget lol). Honestly? One of the best things I ever read!!!

Thank you for opening my eyes! Damian has been one of my favorite characters for over a year, but I didn't read/watch much of him because of school, life (and probably an executive dysfunction in the mix).

Maya is incredible. I loved her.

I haven't finished all the issues yet, but do you have any other recommendations?

WAH this makes me so happy, i'm glad you still gave it a shot even with how busy life is!! ;v;

i’d love to give reccs, and i’ll try to go a beginner friendly route! tbh you can pick up whatever here, but since you've read R:SOB i’d immediately follow up with Batman and Robin (2011) #1-8! this first arc is what’s referred to in Maya’s introduction, and it's just. so good.

Main Books

Batman and Robin (2009)

Dick as Batman with Damian as his Robin!

#20-22 Tree of Blood: Dark Knight vs White Knight arc is done by Tomasi and Gleason, the team for the next Batman and Robin series

*Batman and Robin (2011)

Bruce and Damian figuring out their relationship as both Batman & Robin and father & son

imo you can enjoy the ride and read straight through this but i’ll add context to avoid as much confusion as possible since there’s the occasional tie-in or offscreen events, like Damian’s death nbd

Batman Incorporated (2012) #1-10

events leading to Damian's death - affects Batman and Robin (2011) from issue #18

kind of a tough read especially with how Talia's written, but a lot of iconic bits like Batcow, Damian's vegetarian declaration, Alfred the cat, "We Were the Best, Richard."

Robin (2021)

another self-discovery adventure, particularly after Alfred’s death and a fallout with Bruce (and questionable writing choices from his last Teen Titans run)

Batman and Robin (2023)

currently ongoing! after a number of events, Bruce and Damian are back as a duo

Damian Dynamics!

Batman: Streets of Gotham (2009) #7, 10-12

arc where Damian meets one of his first Gotham friends, Colin Wilkes

Batgirl (2009) #5-7, #17

Steph and Damian dynamic! "the bad cop, worse cop" dysfunctional duo

Red Robin (2009) #13-14

early Tim and Damian dynamic that of course includes fighting haha. funny enough, accidentally my first intro to Damian LOL

Teen Titans (2003) #89-92

Dick!Batman has Damian join the Teen Titans. Start of Damian and Rose Wilson dynamic that’s extended in Robin (2021)

Batman: Gates of Gotham (2011)

Damian meets Cass and has a brief team up

Gotham Academy (2015) #7

Damian meets Maps Mizoguchi! they have a few other meetings, but outside of that the series itself is a great read!

Robin War Event (2015)

Robin War (2015) #1, Grayson (2014) #15, Detective Comics (2011) #47, We Are Robin (2015) #7, Robin: Son of Batman (2015) #7, Robin War (2015) #2

Duke and Damian dynamic! not exactly beginner friendly but these are the main issues in order for the event! you can also read the TPB version for everything including Tie-Ins

Nightwing (2016) #16-20, #42, #43

#16-20 Nightwing and Robin arc!

#42 Dick on a mission to save Damian! the one appearance of "Wiggles" the dragon

#43 Dick, Roy, and Damian team-up

New Talent Showcase 2018 "Catwoman: Pedigree"

Selina, Damian, and Alfred the cat

Batman: Prelude to the Wedding - Robin vs. Ra's Al Ghul (2018)

Selina, Damian, and Cheese Viking - Damian's fav game shown in Nightwing: Rebirth (2016)

Monkey Prince (2022) #1-4

Marcus Sun Shugel-Shen's main comic, but Damian features as a fun dynamic here before they're in more serious circumstances in Batman VS Robin (2022)/Lazarus Planet event

Superman (2016) #10 - 11

the beginning of the Super Sons! featuring Maya!

Super Sons (2017)

solitary arcs but there’s a few event tie-in issues later

Adventures of the Super Sons (2018)

literally more Super Sons adventures lol galactic shenanigans yeehaw

Challenge of the Super Sons (2020) 

Super Sons time shenanigans feat. the Justice League

Robin 80th Anniversary (2020)

"Boy Wonders" - brief Damian feature as Tim considers his next step in life

"My Best Friend" - Jon's thoughts on Damian and their dynamic

"Bat and Mouse" - refers to Damian's unfortunate Teen Titans (2016) run at the time of release which follows up with Teen Titans Annual #2 where Damian briefly gives up Robin

Extra Comics!

Superman/Batman (2003) #77

Kara and Damian in a Halloween team-up! also the appearance of "Li'l Matches" lol

DCU Halloween Special '09 "Cavity Search"

Damian out on a solo mission for Halloween night. Immediately after is Tim's Red Robin story "Then and Now: Our Father's Sins" which is more somber in contrast but also a good read!

DCU Halloween Special 2010 "Robin the Vampire Slayer"

a Dick!Batman and Robin story featuring the vampire Andrew Bennett

Cursed Comics Cavalcade (2018) "The Devil You Know"

Halloween themed comic with a sweet short story of Damian alongside Solomon Grundy

DC's Terrors Through Time (2022)

"Trick or Treat" a Super Sons Halloween story

"The Haunting of Wayne Manor" Damian and Deadman story - in the end, Boston kinda refers to Nezha's possession of Damian in Batman VS Robin (2022) which was happening at the time of this release

Batman: Li'l Gotham (2013)

lighthearted series that instantly makes me smile with the silliness and Dustin Nguyen’s art i love this dearly

Secret Origins (2014) #4 "A Boy's Life"

a retelling of Damian's origin story

Detective Comics (2016) #1001-1005

Batman and Robin vs the Arkham Knight (unrelated to the game)

Truth & Justice (2021) #6/#16 - 18 Digital First version

cute story of Damian’s birthday! Juni Ba’s art is so fun!!

DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration (2021) “Special Delivery”

short story about Damian! and poisoned pizzas. completely forgot the artist Sami Basri drew Rebirth Damian here before catboy Damian lol Cass’s story “Sounds” is also cute! Marcus makes his first appearance in "The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes"

DC VS Vampires (2021)

Damian makes appearances throughout this elseworlds book, but the one-shot DC VS Vampires: Hunters (2022) is vampire Damian-centric!

Batman: Black and White (2021) #5

“Father & Son Outing” short story written and drawn by Jorge Jimenez!

Batman: Urban Legends (2021) #20-23

#20 “My Son” Talia and Bruce focus

#20 - 23 “The Murder Club” 4 Parts

Tiny Titans (2008) #33, #39, #45, #47

a few appearances but SO CUTE, LOOK AT HIM

*Batman and Robin (2011) reading guide

i'm mostly trying to avoid the "what did i just walk in on?" kinda feeling when i first started reading comics LOL i'll list the comics where events take place, but you don't necessarily have to read them to go through this book since things are usually explained as quickly as possible in the first page or so

#0 Someday Never Comes

Talia and baby Damian before he grows up to meet Bruce

#1-8 Born to Kill

just an incredibly solid arc for Bruce and Damian!

#9 Court of Owls Tie-In Issue

Damian VS a Court of Owls Talon. While Bruce is occupied with a home invasion of Talons, Alfred makes a call for allies to protect targeted Gotham public figures from Talons. During Batman (2011) #1-11

#10-12 Terminus

Damian challenges the previous Robins sans Steph

Batman Incorporated (2012) is occurring at this time where Talia has placed a bounty on Damian and there's small mentions of that

#13-14 Eclipsed/Devoured

mostly solitary arc! end of it leads into the Death of the Family event

#15-16 Death of the Family Tie-In Issues

Damian and Joker face-off... Alfred's been kidnapped by the Joker, and Damian goes looking for him. During Batman (2011) #13-17

#17 Life is but a Dream - Death of the Family Epilogue

a sort of subconscious check-in through the dreams of Damian, Alfred, and Bruce. Nightwing (2011) #17 features Damian encouraging Dick after Death of the Family events

#18 Undone "Requiem"

Bruce dealing with Damian's death from Batman Incorporated #8

other reactions to Damian's death: Dick in Nightwing (2011) #18, Tim in Teen Titans (2011) #18

#19-23 Denial, Rage, The Bargain, Despair, Acceptance

Bruce through the stages of grief with some batfam appearances in each. also introduces Carrie Kelley into continuity as Damian's acting tutor.

Batman (2011) #19-20 also addresses Bruce's loss

#23.1-23.4

these could be skipped - villain stories, also related to Forever Evil event.

#24-28 The Big Burn

optional Batman and Two-Face/Harvey Dent arc, #23.1 is part of this story!

Damian's resurrection and return

#29-32 The Hunt for Robin

Ras took Talia and Damian's bodies from their graves, and Bruce goes after him.

-> Robin Rises: Omega

continues events from #32. if you don't want to jump to this, basically, Glorious Godfrey and a bunch of parademons from Apokolips are here for a chaos shard which Ra's put in Damian's sarcophagus. at some point, Bruce gets a hold of the shard where he sees a vision that leads him to believe Damian can be resurrected. Godfrey ends up taking the shard, along with Damian's body since it was emitting the same energy.

#33-37 Robin Rises

Bruce hellbent on retrieving Damian from Apokolips and reviving him

-> Robin Rises: Alpha

necessary to read and continues events from #37! Damian's back with a bang lol

#38-40 Superpower

Damian adjusting to having superpowers and being alive again

Annual #1 2013 Batman Impossible

sweet (and funny) one-shot of Damian sending Bruce on a meaningful scavenger hunt around the world while Damian gets to be the cutest Batman for a bit

Annual #2 2014 Batman and Robin: Week One

one-shot takes place during Damian's absence. after Bruce and Alfred find a mystery gift left for Dick, Dick recounts a story he had told Damian from his Robin days.

Annual #3 2015 Moonshot

one-shot Batman and Robin adventure on the moon!

...and of course after Batman and Robin (2011), Damian's story continues in his first solo Robin: Son of Batman (2015)!

[call-me-chips]

Pepper.

2nd ever digital painting thingy

This blending tool is gonna be the death of me lol

Probably gonna keep working on it for a bit cuz I kinda wanna add a shadow

[doodledatkittykat]

Your art is super cool and inspiring to me be an art person. Can you show how to draw a cat please? If that is okay?

Thank you oh so much <3 it’s honestly shocking! It’s kind of nice to know im repeating the lineage of giving people cat brainworms. It’s more than okay!!!

I don’t know if this is entirely what you mean, but!!! I’m gonna be honest, a lot of it is making basic shapes and silhouettes. Usually I do more semi realistic cats. And a lot of it is your sense of shape language!!!!! But, I’ll take you through the steps. (Keep in mind that a lot of this is better said than done, as this is from years of being a self taught artist.) this may end up being a thread? There’s also plenty of artists who do cat tutorials WAY better than me. None of this is really defined!

1) CIRCLES AND SQUARES.

Twilight ended up with a circle shape, but as you’ll notice she actually ended up with a more triangle shape! Circles and squares are a best friend.

2) Basic shaping

Anytime you draw, you probably already have a pose in mind. I usually like to shape it out and mold it kind of like clay!!! But the real refinery comes later. Again, keep it basic. You iron out the details later and if you get stressed too fast due to detailing it’ll put you off from the drawing in general.

3) Minor detailing

Since Twilight was sitting, this is just kind of outlining a placement and shape for the limbs and chest I liked. This also includes tail placement!

4) Rough Flats!!!

This is the moment where you of course do the flat base color! As you can see this is usually pretty rough. Again, clay! You’re doing a basic cookie cut shape and smoothing it into the shapes you want come later. As you’ll notice I leave the tail for later since it’s usually BEHIND them and it’s less headache.

5) Put the sketch layer on top and lower the opacity !

This is where more detailing comes in. Like placement of the eyes and patterns. As you’ll notice I’ve ironed out the shaping!!!

6) Mapping

This is pelt mapping!!! Of course, it’s mapping out the patterns and shapes of a cats fur to a place im content with. Again, this kind of plays into your understanding of shapes.

7) Color!!!!

I’ll end it here, but this is for playing around on a clipping layer once you figure out a placement and color you like!!!! Airbrushing, stippling, the pattern and detail is up to play with!!!

8) And you have yourself a pretty decent cat!

Remember, shapes and exaggeration of features are your best friend!

a repeat but a more standard show of anatomy: my snow leopard study! But as you can see even in the character design I give them poof and exaggeration to make expression. Even in the final product I think I will mess around with the shapes to give off whatever vibe I want! Even as you can see for the full body I referenced I blocked out the character instead of really following the shapes.

[neteyammeowmeow]

PLEASE is anyone going to hear me out on this au

(all platonic btw)

[witch--tips]

💎 WITCH TIP 💎

This is a post about the common “clear quartz can replace any crystal”

(this is more of a beginner post to clarify that tip from my perspective as a witch of many years. beginners can hear a lot of tips over and over again without much explanation for the little things that might make them finally work better. there is no RIGHT way to do witchcraft, so don’t take this as a rule everyone must follow, but this is my opinion and preferred way of doing things, and i think itll help out a lot of witches! <3)

Sure, clear quartz might be able to replace any crystal, BUT that doesn’t always mean you should just treat it the exact same way you would, say, a rose quartz, without any difference at all. No, at least imo, you should sort of program it beforehand. Clear quartz is uniquely open to taking in a lot of energies of all sorts, and so in order to prepare it to replace like a rose quartz (gonna continue with that for the example), you should GIVE it that sort of energy to take in before using it like one!

You can do that pretty easily, it doesn’t have to be some big long process. The simplest way is like energy work and visualization, such as holding it clasped in your hand, feeling the loving energy like a rose quartz would have, feel it pour down your arm, into your fist, then pour it into the quartz and let it take it all in. Or if youre bad with that sort of work, you can hold it and say an incantation (doesn’t need to rhyme or anything! it can be super simple and straightforward), like just TELL it that it’s full of love and has that sort of power. Speaking to it is especially effective if you let your breath from saying those words wash over the crystal imo.

Once it’s programmed, go ahead and treat it just like you would a rose quartz or any other lovey crystal, until you feel that the energy you put into it has faded out or you wanna cleanse it and give it another purpose. Feel free to program it as many times as you want with any sort of energy/intent you want. Just keep in mind that, if you want to program a single piece of quartz with multiple intents at once (like maybe love + peace + creativity), it might not be as strong as if you just gave it one or two at a time. That’s why I’d cleanse before giving it a different kind of energy, so it just has one or two to focus on.

Without that sort of programming beforehand, I feel the clear quartz is just an amplifier. If you stick it in a money spell without programming it, it’ll probably be surrounded by things like coins, cinnamon, bay leaves, pyrite, green aventurine, etc, right? If you didn’t tell the quartz at all to bring you money, it’s still around a bunch of money energies anyway, and since it takes in energies so easily, it might take them in by proximity and therefore enhance them. That’s a perfectly fine way to use clear quartz, but it may not be exactly how you want it to work in some spells, especially not in smaller spells where you’re using it on its own or just with one or two other ingredients. Just something to keep in mind.

I know that a lot of beginner witches hear that clear quartz, white candles, rosemary, etc etc can be used as replacements for everything, and that’s cool if you wanna use them like that, but I highly suggest doing something quick like this before you do. I don’t work as often with herbs, so I’m not really familiar with rosemary in spells, but for candles, another good way to program those is to etch a sigil or words onto it really quick :) though i feel like white candles don’t need as much programming as quartz might, since the flame is often the main focus. But I still program them anyway lol, it’s a big boost that takes like two seconds!

Hope this helps! Really, do whatever feels right to you, everyone experiences and interprets magic a little bit differently, so for us witches who manipulate it, it’s important to listen to your own findings and feelings. This is what I’ve picked up in my practice, and I hope it gives you beginners some good ideas and direction in your practice! Feel free to ask me any questions you might have in my ask box or the replies or anything. Welcome to witchcraft!

[yo-yo-yoshiko]

Yet another ink drawing to add to my collection waaahah! Fought for my life on this one... Everything just kept going wrong!! His helmet is still so hard to draw but each time I get closer and closer!

Juuru looking much more simple in comparison...

Not bad though!!

[zoya-nazyalenskys]

this might sound insensitive but taash is currently my biggest disappointment of the companions because there is literally nothing to their story other than the gender identity