#for now I am done with the sketch but until I add more people or get more submissions I will be doing other stuff like laundry idk

[emhm]

Coffee? Please?

Let me preface this by saying; I am not disabled and this is not about 'urgent' vet bills.

[I have an outstanding debt to pay in that regard, but the monthly payment is small and the service was already done. It was the amputation for our kitten Lucky's dead front leg.]

I do have a job and the pay is too good to quit. I work 40 hours a week and I spend almost 13 more hours just driving to and from work because our boss 'can't find a work assignment closer to where I live.' Up until about two weeks ago my partner was also working 40 hours a week on an opposing shift. We were just starting to get on top of our crushing pile of monthly bills. Then she lost her work assignment [not her fault] and he couldn't find anything else for her to do. So she lost a whole weeks pay. He found her a place, but now she's only getting 24 hours a week instead of 40. And we were already struggling to pay for the bare essentials. I was hoping so hard to just have something left when the bills were paid. But my entire tax return was used to pay for overdue bills and it still wasn't all of them.

-We have not had a working washing machine since September. Almost all of my ancient towels have rotted and ripped apart from trying to hang dry them to avoid killing the dryer too.

-Our house does not have central heat or air so we've been freezing for months with no money to buy wood for the stove. [It's warmer now but still in the low 40s at night where I am.]

-We have been flushing the toilet with buckets of water for almost a year because hiring a plumber is not happening.

-For over a year we have been fighting the flea infestation caused by the deadbeat trash-pit roommate we had to force to move out. They're biting me as well as the cats and I'm allergic to them. So I constantly have a rash on my feet and ankles. We never have money for flea drops consistently enough to get rid of them and I do not have a working vacuum to get rid of the flea eggs in the carpet.

-I just had to take on $1200 worth of debt because my tires were bald from my ungodly commute and they told me the brakes need replacing very soon.

-Our youngest cat Lucky will need to be fixed soon because she's almost old enough to go into heat. [She's indoors only but I don't want to deal with the screaming.]

Our predatory mortgage payment is almost $2000 a month with all their shitty add-on fees. My car payment is $334. The internet is $87. The power is usually $125. Car insurance is about $115. Garbage is $65. Our car is shared and I go through 1 tank +1/4 tank of gas EVERY WEEK. I owe both Sunbit AND Carecredit. We're both estranged from abusive parents and have no other family to turn to in an emergency.

I can't ask for money for fanfic. I know that's unethical and illegal.

But I can tell you that I write better/faster/more when I'm not distracted by gut-wrenching despair, crippling anxiety attacks and the bone-deep fear of quickly losing my home because I'm always two missed paychecks away from disaster. I know pretty much everyone is in the same boat, and my problems aren't unique or special.

But anything helps.

I have several hundred dollars in overdue bills from last month and it's already time for the next month's to start arriving. I feel so hopeless and I don't know what else to do besides resorting to begging.

I just set up a Ko-fi account - https://ko-fi.com/followmeontumblr

My Paypal is attached to this old email address - Nightshade518@yahoo.com

I have an Etsy shop with some things for sale - https://www.etsy.com/shop/PatchworkLaboratory

I also have a Spoonflower shop with fabric featuring my designs. [I only make $1.50 per yard that people buy though.] - https://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/infamousdoctorf

And for anyone who was kind enough to read this whole thing- I do have some NSFW sketches I've drawn for "Eclipse Meets His Match" that I have nowhere safe to post. If you're bold enough to direct-message me with the line-

"I swear on all I hold holy that I am not a minor. Show me the art."

I'll let you see them. Thank you either way.

-Doc

[sunny-days-and-warm-mournings]

It is finally finished!! I am done and is so happy!!!

This is an AU exploring the concept of Sūn Wùkōng/Dàshèng as a Yaksha and Tu Di Gong, rather than being a Yaoguai Warlord during his later years reigning as the Monkey King.

This AU follows the beginning (with some changes here and there) up until Wùkōng's shenanigans with Ao Guang, then he went on a separate path from Wu Cheng'en's novel.

In this iteration our favourite Monkey explored the realms as he burned up time, but then he took a particular interest in the humans' ways of producing food. Since Dàshèng was so used to the grandeur and bounties of Huagoushan (being surrounded by such lush forests and mountains that never withered nor died) he sort of took pity on them before deciding to help them grow their crops much better.

But this is just the very much shortened summary of the beginning of this AU, and I have compiled some research and even more lore in my Google Documents just to expand on this idea more.

This— Westward To Tathāgatagarbha Lore Google Documents

This is the Google Document of my AU, which I highly recommend for you to read! It explains all the other details and such on this story! I did my best on making them but there would be still mistakes that I have yet to find, but it should be decent!!

This is a more casual look for Dàshèng/Wùkōng for this AU as well as some brief pointers! I made this before the portrait so some things might have changed.

(Don't mind him holding a cup of beer it's fine.)

Taken from the server (with some hints for the next half of the archives/docs) which instantly kickstarted this whole thing haahahjjjss, but it really was so fun talking about it to others! They gave me more inspiration that I can handle.

And what is Tathāgatagarbha you ask? (Brief)

In Buddhist philosophy, Buddha-nature is the potential for all sentient beings to become a Buddha or the fact that all beings already have a pure buddha-essence within. "Buddha-nature" is the common English translation for several related Mahayana Buddhist terms, most notably tathāgatagarbha and buddhadhātu, but also sugatagarbha, and buddhagarbha. Tathāgatagarbha can mean "the womb" or "embryo" (garbha) of the "thus-gone one" (tathāgata), and can also mean "containing a tathāgata". Buddhadhātu can mean "buddha-element," "buddha-realm" or "buddha-substrate"

The Chinese translated the term tathāgatagarbha as rúláizàng (如来藏), or "Tathāgata's (rúlái) storehouse" (zàng). According to Brown, "storehouse" may indicate both "that which enfolds or contains something", or "that which is itself enfolded, hidden or contained by another." The Tibetan translation is de bzhin gshegs pa'i snying po, which cannot be translated as "womb" (mngal or lhums), but as "embryonic essence", "kernel" or "heart".

The term tathagatagarbha first appears in the Tathāgatagarbha sūtras, which date to the 2nd and third centuries CE.

There will be more to this in the future when I'm finished researching more about it.

Also, speaking of people that inspire me, I'm calling my dear friends here who I think might like this: @digitalagepulao @kaijufluffs @sketching-shark @lavaflowe @sixteenthchapel @jttw-monkeybusiness and @hcdragoncat !!

Special thanks to Pardal and Grandpa Sun for getting me to write more of this too :D I had such great fun!

I have so much more to add to the docs and here but this is all for now :) and honestly this is one of the greatest projects I've started aside from the older ones. I'll come back again soon with more additions and art! And lore (And maybe some interactions with a few West Heaven occupants??)!!!

[murasaki-cha]

How do you sketch & render your clothing folds, if i may ask? They look very pretty!

I am the least qualified person to give a tutorial but sure let's do this.

No I'm a self taught artist so a lot of this is just me using the good ol' "Fuck around and Find out" technique. So the example I'll might not be the best but it will give a general idea.

First you get your sketch/lineart + flat color. As you can see I've already drawn the fold lines. It's best to know where the shirt is getting pulled more from because that's the general direction that the folds start from and where fore folds are.

Next, on a clipping layer, I just draw with a darker color the places that will be shaded with a watercolor brush or pencil brush, just a brush that kind of fades works. This doesn't have to be accurate coloring it can be just messy blobs. But always keep in mind were the light is hitting the shirt so you'll know which direction to draw the shadows bigger and darker at

Than with a soft eraser I start erasing the shading and fixing it by going back with the brush. This is a lot of back and forth between the eraser and brush until you get to a point where it looks good in your eyes (i lowered the opacity a bit here because I thought the shade color was too dark)

(Note: during more detailed drawings I like to go in with a darker shade color at the deepest corners for more depth and detail)

On a new clipping layer, by using an airbrush or the gradient tool, with the same colour I used for the shading, I darken the top and bottom. Why? Because it looks cool idk.

And usually that's where I leave it but sometimes I might add a lighter color for some lighting on the cloth by using the same steps as for the shading, this may depend on the fabric you imagine the clothes have. Or I've seen some people airbrush the parts of the outfit near the skin and that gives off a cool effect too

Now as you might have noticed this is the ugliest shirt ever. And that's because I did this in 10 minutes from my ✨️imagination✨️. Usually I have reference pics when drawing which give me a general idea of how the folds should look like and that is a life saver. This was just to give a general idea of how it works. Here are some examples of actual good shading I've done

Hope this helps👋✨️

[infranuz]

Hii can I get a Chishiya x reader where the reader is an artist? It can be in whatever format u like, I don't really mind. Please and thank u!

“ A PAINTING FOR YOU!! ” — chishiya x artist!reader

where chishiyas s/o is an artist who likes to take painting commissions, except this time valentine’s day is getting closer and they want to make a special gift just for chishiya.

— HIHI!! TYSM FOR REQUESTING,, I had this idea to add on to the request hopefully you don’t mind<3 but I hope it is to your liking!! ,, ps there’s most likely spelling and grammar mistakes so anything I missed, feel free to correct me 💕 also so sorry for writing this 4 days after valentines😭 ,, also,, mentions of wife and husband..

it was currently 10 pm, saturday february 11. three full days before valentine’s day, yet you were still busy finishing up your commissions instead of planning something special for your boyfriend. the thought of making something for him this year crossed your mind as you were scrolling through Instagram looking through your feed. it wasn’t a bad idea at all actually. surely chishiya would appreciate a gift.

you were a painter who made portraits and other paintings for people, chishiya admired this. he always wondered how you were so patient yet fast when handling your art. truly a unique talent, even for him to admit. you had actually tried to teach chishiya how to sketch and make a good painting, the basics. not once did it work out. he may be a fast learner but sticking to the med field instead of art would be better.

still, you always kept his painting attempts most of the time. point is, valentine’s day was approaching rather quickly and this year you wanted to use your talent to good use. it had to be something meaningful yet pretty, something he would love to admire. this was your second year as a couple celebrating the 14th together. you had thought of other things to possibly gift the half blond but chishiya was never the materialistic type so choosing something for him was rather difficult.

so that’s when the idea of a painting came in, i mean you could easily finish a canvas in three days, right? the moment you realized what you wanted to do you got up from your bed and immediately started to sketch out your idea. you only had three days to finish the painting, thank god chishiya didnt live with you, otherwise the gift would’ve been a big fail right from the start.

after about an hour of narrowing down your ideas, you went for the safer option, your favorite date spot. it was more of a rough sketch idea since you weren’t fully sure when you first started, finishing the sketch would probably take all night but you were willing to take that risk. of course you would be closing and pausing your commissions just until the 15th so you could focus on the main thing.

obviously the colors would be a pain to find so mixing and combining the ones you had at home were the safer option. greys, whites, some really pigmented and bright ones others pretty dark.. yet it was a good palette. it all looked good together when you tested it on a small scaled canvas. it was now 7 am, frebruary 12th, took all night to finish, but at least the picture itself was done.. good news!!

although the bad news on the other hand,, chishiya would be arriving at your doorstep any moment now. he would always make sure to see you before a shift of his at the hospital, which was quite early. you had to put a cover over the canvas and securely lock your art room beforehand. it was screaming suspicion but who cares, not like you killed anyone. though the idea of chishiya finding out his gift wasn’t pleasant so before he arrived you tried to look natural which wouldn’t be easy with the evident dark circles under your eyes that made it obvious you hadn’t slept an inch.

right after you walked back to the kitchen the sound of keys trying to unlock the door were heard. normally you would be happy yet sleepy of his presence right before going to work. this time you were nervous and still sleepy, he figures things out way too quickly specially when you act suspicious, he can read a person too well. you heard him go upstairs, thankfully not where your art room is at. confused you waited for him to come back downstairs, “there you are, I thought you were still be in bed” chishiya made his way to the counter. on sundays you stayed in bed until he arrived and woke you up to eat breakfast.

“I woke up a tad bit earlier today” you turned to him with two mugs filled with hot water. “morning chishi” you smiled at him trying to shake off the nervousness. he looked up at you and his eyes immediately landed on the dark circles right beneath yours. “did you not sleep well?” he frowned. “ah, this? I was finishing up some commissions last night that I completely forgot to sleep haha..” he raised a brow at you with clear confusion, but questioned no further.

to anyone, you staying up finishing any art project of yours would be normal, to him it’s was very,, weird. chishiya knew you all too well, you would never and when I say never it’s because clearly, never have you stayed all up all night trying to finish a canvas. still he didn’t mention a single word of this, “you should’ve told me, you could be sleeping right now instead of having breakfast with me” it was your time to frown, “but I wouldn’t have seen you today, anyway it doesn’t bother me I purely run on coffee” you said proudly.

“you’re stupid” he sighted, though truth is he was glad he got to see you before work, long hours at the hospital were exhausting specially when he didn’t get to see you all day. he would never admit to that though. “make sure to sleep after, it’s not healthy not getting any sleep, you could get sick” there he goes again scolding you about your health, it’s almost as if he was your husband and you his wife. “i know, i know, don’t worry i will” you weren’t..

he left soon after you packed his lunch, which was rather silly. everytime you thought about it, it would be almost as if you were a married couple. with a quick kiss and hug he exited your house and walked to his destination.

right after he left you grabbed your keys and unlocked your art room again ready to continue. he would scold you later when he finds out you went straight to your project rather than sleeping. but that would be a worry for later. sadly he wouldn’t be back until tomorrow when he finished his shift.. at least it would give you more time to work rather than having to hide your painting.

at some point you decided to stop and actually take a small nap, anyway you were half done and it was 1 am, february 13th. once again you put a cover over the canvas and locked the door before walking up to your room and finally sleeping. yet that didn’t exactly do much for your eye bags.

“you didn’t sleep again?” he sounded tired and sleepy the very next morning he arrived from the hospital “you haven’t slept either chishi” whenever he arrived at your doorstep tired from his long hour shifts you would grow worried for his health. “let’s get you to bed” you grabbed his hand as he followed. it was a pretty normal routine by now. he would sleep at your house while you either stayed right beside him or went out to buy groceries. this time you would have to go back down and finally finish the project. which was very risky considering he was there.

he immediately knocked out after he felt himself laying down, you giggled at his sight as you went back downstairs. you made sure to lock your art room before starting so he wouldn’t accidentally walk in on you making his gift. after many hours later the painting was finally done and you could get a good rest right next to your boyfriend.

finally the 14th of february arrived, you were excited to show him his present that you worked hard on. hoping that he would like it even more, you took him to the exact same spot that was painted into the canvas. a picnic date to be exact. you were both clearly still in need of sleep but that business would be for later after your date.

he had a bag and some flowers in hand when he arrived, he was wearing the white hoodie you got him last year with a white shirt underneath and sweatpants.. typical of him. the canvas was right beside the basket of food you brought but that would be opened after you were done eating.

some small typical talk later you both finished your food “thankfully you had today off, you seriously needed a break” you were picking up and trashing the items you no longer used. now, it was the time for gifts , much to his dismay. chishiya was never good with words so he always just handed you your gift straightforward “here” he grabbed the bag by his side and gave it to you. it was a necklace with both of your initials although the s stood out more.

you let out a grin “thank you shuntaro”, surprisingly he didn’t buy you a ring, (he was about to).. actually even more surprising, he got you jewelry. you asked him to clip the necklace from behind your neck. it was a pretty necklace needless to say. he also handed you a letter but he advised you to open it later when he wasn’t in your presence anymore.

now it was your turn to give him his gift. you let out a deep breath and grabbed the boxed canvas behind you. “i wanted to gift you something special this year, so hopefully you like this” you hand him the painting.

he slowly unwraps the tie and opens the box, for a second you see his eyes widen as he stares at the content inside, slowly they soften and he smirks “so this is what you were hiding” you look up at him shocked “YOU KNEW?!?” you couldn’t believe such a moment was ruined by him telling you he already knew.

“it was pretty obvious dumbass” you sighted in defeat “at least you didn’t know what the painting contained..” you smiled softly “do you like it?” you looked up at him, his eyes to be exact. he only hums and smiles at your words, you feel all the nervousness lift from your shoulders.

you launched yourself at him with joy as he falls back on the grass. his hands travel to your waist as he hugs you. truth to be told you loved these moments were chishiya showed just how much he actually enjoys being with you without him having to actually say it.

your hands land on both of his cheeks, a small kiss to his forehead. “i’m glad you liked it, let’s have more years together okay?” you smile at him. chishiya could only chuckle at your words yet agree, he looked forward to spending many more years to come with you and truly, only you.

[winterwhisperz-blog]

Hi, I really like your blog. I recently just found it, and I was wondering if you could do a part 2 of TouchStarved Characters reacting to MC, drawing themselves. Especially with Vere. Skip if you want to, anyway. Have a nice day. And make sure to eat, sleep, and drink some water.

HI HI !!! I am, so sorry for taking forever, I’ve still been in a huge writing slump )): BUT

I HAVE finally triumphed !! Thank you so much for the ask <333 I’m rlly happy u like my blog !! And I hope you have a nice day too !

Now les get into it !!

Leander, Mhin, And Vere Reacting to Mc Drawing them (a Sequel)

Warnings: Vere is flirty, a person gets snatched away in Vere’s too, (it’s played in comedic effect but just in case) maybe OOC

Notes: GN Mc, Fluff

Vere

ALR ALR ALR so, as we know, Vere draws. So having you two be like, drawing pals/couple ??? Muah muah

But I think it’d be really really funny, if he didn’t find out until you guys walk by a wanted poster—you both know who the subject is, but OMG THEY DO N O T look like that 🤨 also the lines??? So messy— effort ??? None

Determined to correct them, you stomp away, on the lookout to find the Wanted.

You find them waltzing out of a brothel, which is where you and Vere jump em.

Letting out a screech, (either that screech being from you or the Wanted that’s up to you. Could be a battle cry idk) you stuff them in a bag before quickly running off.

Vere of course, has no idea why you WANTED this random person, but he definitely wasn’t going to object to doing a crime with you <33

Plopping the Wanted into your room, you dramatically whisk off the bag, revealing a very frightened, and now hostile fellow.

“MC?? I thought we were FRIENDS, why the hell are you turning me in?”

You shush them, settling down in front, butter-fly legs as you slam open your sketchbook.

“I’m not turning you in, I’m redrawing your wanted poster.”

….

…..

“….What?”

“Vere, keep ‘em still!”

“Yes, darling~”

Your partner in crime does just that, and with your combined efforts, you successfully redraw the wanted poster. Now, it being far more accurate.

Which uhhh, did result in the fellow being captured, BUT— that’s not the point.

The point is, Vere now knows you can draw. And very well he might add!! Despite if your style is realistic or not, the wanted poster was STELLAR

And now as you’re back in your room, duty done, Vere droops himself seductively across the floor, any remaining sunlight catching the pink of his eyes and red of his hair.

“…what are you doing?”

“It’s my turn now,”

You raise a brow, “You want me to draw you a wanted poster?”

He rolls his eyes, running a hand through his long hair. “No, dummy. You can’t keep a secret like this from me and not use me as your new muse.”

“I wasn’t keeping it a secret—“

“Go on, i can’t stay in this position all day.”

Sighing, you kneel down, getting to work. “What am I going to do with you?”

Vere hums, and you know a flirt is coming before he says it. “Oh, MC, I have a list of things you can do with me~”

“Hopefully starting with throwing you in horny jail.”

“Rude.”

You snicker, returning to delicately sketching the details of Vere into the paper.

You draw the playful lift of his lips, the needle like pupils, and the deeper, maybe even rare soft side that he hides beneath flirts and cool remarks.

Once you’re done, Vere leans over your shoulder, humming his approval. A part of him, is both touched and uncomfortable how you managed to capture a side of him he didn’t commonly show.

After this, the two of you would often take turns drawing each other.

Leander

ALR ALR SO, WE ALL KNOW Eridia is like, dreary and cloudy all the time—and to set the scene—it’s storming—walls of rain slash against the roof of the Wet Wick (dang-it rlly be wet now. UHHH pls don’t hate me for that joke 😚)

The bloodhounds had been out doing jobs, leaving you with far less people to greet when walking downstairs.

Leander sits by the counter, large figure shadowed by the darkness cast by the storm. His eyes glowing eerily green in the shade, especially since he looks so deep in thought. His brows lightly furrow, his lips hinting at a frown.

You feel awfully like you’ve spotted something you weren’t supposed to. Especially since…there’s actually no one else around. You hear the faint snores of any other none-bloodhounds occupants still in their rooms, but otherwise it’s hushed against the drum of thunder.

Afraid of breaking some kind of spell, you stay where you are—though, you do tilt your head, taking in every angle of the scene in front of you.

…dang this would make a pretty cool sketch

Like a hesitant deer, you take quiet steps back up the stairs before returning, just as quietly with your sketchbook and pencils.

Though uhhh, Leander is no longer where you left him.

Curious, you take the rest of the steps down before searching the dark. Your only company being the crashing and howling of the outside storm—

“Good morning, MC!”

Out of pure terror, you scream and swing the sketchbook at the voice.

You’re greeted with low laughter and glittering green eyes as Leander reaches for the book, gently taking it from your hands.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Are you alright, MC? Did the storm wake you?”

You shake your head, a little thrown by the shift in tone—from laughter to genuine concern. You take your sketchbook back, but not until he’s caught interest.

“You draw?”

“How did you know it was a sketchbook?”

“I caught a glimpse when you whacked me.”

He laughs again, the deep sound nearly matching the thunder above. You feel oddly light when hearing it, though it sends a chill down your back.

For a distraction, you glance outside, the flash of lightning sparking worry into your chest.

“Will the bloodhounds be okay out there?”

Leander frowns, looking a bit confused, perhaps a little irritated before his smile quickly returns to his face. “Oh, they’ll be fine. You can’t live in Eridia without expecting storms.”

And before you can say more, he gestures to the sketchbook.

“What were you thinking of drawing?”

Ah, right. You shift on your feet, feeling a little awkward. You’ve asked to draw people before, and uhhh, with a few different reactions. Some thought it was weird, others annoyingly prodded at you to draw them before you even asked, (then changed your mind) and others kept whatever drawings you did like treasure.

You can’t guess how Leander will react to the question, but you end up asking anyway.

He receives the request with a bit of fluster, a flirt or two, before asking how you want him to pose. You decide you want to capture the moment you saw before—him standing in the dark like some kind of gothic statue, hoping you can somehow sketch in the magic and eerie wonder he had emitted.

Once you were finished, he definitely showed the picture to everyone he could—boasting at how talented you were…and how you chose him for a muse.

Mhin

ALR ALR, to balance out how kinda creepy Leander’s was 🧍🏻‍♀️ like man was just standing there in the dark like a WEIRDO—I wanted to do something cuter with Mhin’s.

So so so, this is for Mhin’s birthday. You know they like sweets, but wonder if they would appreciate a portrait instead

You’ve sketched them before, when they’ve taken care of the stray cats, when they’ve sat beside you in silence, just enjoying your company—but you wanted to make this special

So, after finding them after a little merry soulless hunt, you two get started on your little birthday plan. Mhin, to actually convince them to join you, Is completely unaware of said plan.

You just give excuse after excuse, like how starving you are and how you’re only craving their favorite type of cookies, how you want to explore the city and conveniently wind up where the stars are most visible, and you have NO idea how this romantically set table even came from?? 😮

Eventually, they do understand what’s going on, and look away, arms folded.

“I told you we didn’t have to celebrate.”

“We didn’t have to, but I wanted to~”

They roll their eyes, but like always, you can spot that flush of pink coating their cheeks.

After dinner, you pat a spot next to you, and when Mhin sits down, you stare up at the stars above. Millions blinking down at the pair of you between thin, grey clouds.

Mhin gets absorbed in the sight soon enough, occasionally pointing out constellations and then rambling about them.

Giving you just enough time to get out your sketchbook and get to work. While ofc still listening, because you always do. Hearing Mhin nerd out about stars is one of your favorite things.

The night is cold, biting at your nose, but it doesn’t bother you. Especially when you feel a warm cloak wrapped around your shoulders.

You look up from your book to see Mhin settling back down, ponytail and white shirt now exposed to the night air. They raise a knee and shrug. “Don’t look at me like that, you looked cold.”

Smiling, you pull them closer, reaching out the cloak so it covers you both. “Thank you, you big softy.”

You hear them grumble, but also don’t ignore how they lean into your side. After awhile, they glance at what you’re sketching, face growing confused as they start to recognize the person in the drawing.

“What is—“

You let them take the book, their eyes wandering over every detail so carefully thought out and drawn in with every pencil stroke.

Them in the portrait sit, gaze watching the sky with a wonder you’ve had the honor to see. Their mouth is open, talking about things that are more beautiful thanks to how they explained them. A little beauty mark seated by their lips.

After a few moments of silence, you lean your head on their shoulder(or head if ur tall), finding comfort in the warmth of the shared cloak.

“Happy birthday, Mhin.”

They didn’t say much, but you can see the appreciation in their eyes. How they look at your drawing with the same amazement as they looked at the sky.

Forever wondering why you’d use this talent to draw them.

Maybe celebrating their birthday wasn’t so bad after all. (Especially if they get to spend it with you <3333)

ALR ALR WE HAVE REACHED THE END

Tysm for the ask!! Again, I’m so sorry for the wait.

Anyway, I hope you have an amazing day, stay cool and hydrated, see three heart shaped things in nature, and watch/read your favorite show/movie/book !!

[crxssjae]

Hii mate

Just wanted to say that I'm so excited to hear that you're on the last scene of chapter one of Something About You 🙌🏾🙌🏾 can't wait

Alsoo Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game

🍓🎲🍄🧸🦷❄️🏜️🦋🪲answer as many as you like

(as always no pressure to respond) 😊

Ta

🐨

Thank you for your support. I am sorry for responding this question so damn late, I'm giving you three koalas as an apology. Again. Here you go: 🐨🐨🐨

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

I got into writing fanfiction when I saw Wattpad for the first time. I don't know how to use it and I just read fanfiction until I wanted to write on my own. So, yeah, it all started around 2018 and I've grown and learned a lot about fanfiction.

🎲 ⇢ what stops you from writing more in your free time?

Watching videos of Honkai Star Rail walkthroughs, some speedpaint videos, and writing vlog videos. There are times, however, I get frustrated when I couldn't come up with a sentence.

🍄 ⇢ share a head canon for one of your favourite ships or pairings

There's some I have but I'll pick one that will currently for now on living for my recent fic:

Samijey/Jeysami

Jey watches Sami randomly doodle in the sketchbook, it keeps Sami's mind flowing for creativity. In some time around, Jey would take Sami's sketchbook, inking before coloring the doodles. Once he's done, he writes on a sticky note and places on the cover of the sketchbook. Sami sobs after opening the sketch, seeing the colors of his doodles, then thanking Jey while being a whole wreck.

🧸 ⇢ what's the fastest way to become your mutual?

Being nice, respecting people's opinions without a shouting match, reblogging and commenting on their fics and/or art. Plus, don't be an asshole.

🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on

Oof. Tough one. I think this personal wisdom is don't be down just because someone has better work than you. Be yourself, do whatever you want in your own style, like writing for example.

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

I'm on my wrestling spree side, so this:

It's a Zowens (Sami and Kevin) one and the summary I haven't figured out as of right now. This one is inspired by two comfort games I played whenever I get bored called "Pocket Love" and "Adorable House".

Hopefully I don't mind tagging you, ma'am. @wrestlezaynia would pull it off the best.

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

My favorite type of comment I received is the characters' chemistry and how I did a great job on it. Because to me, I thought I didn't do a good job while doing my best researching lol.

🦋 ⇢ share something that has been on your heart and mind lately 

I feel happy because I was given love and earned respect from yesterday and today. I guess it's luck, probably. 😅

🪲 ⇢ add 50 words to your current wip and share the paragraph here

I've may gone over 50 words from one of them because I tried not to look at the word count while writing and not editing, so I can't. Sorry.

🧩 ⇢ what will make you click away from a fanfiction immediately?

Whenever I see a warning (read warnings before reading) that made me feel uncomfortable. Commenting negatively how a fic made me uncomfortable would be a waste of time. 0/10 do not do this, readers and writers.

Writers Truth & Dare Ask Game

[silly-inky]

Hiya! Hello! It's me, ya boi

Updates people Updates!

So I'm making this sort of list of things I am in the process of making or should start working on soon (or things I have yet to post about yet) with little updates about them

Dimentio drawing- this is going alright so far but is a somewhat complicated piece where I will have 2 different end results, one with his mask and one without. I'm on the shaping phase of my lineart which is usually fun for me but I decided to take a small break from it as I was put off by how much time I spent on the sketch (about 30 hours) this does not mean the piece is complicated, just that it took a while to get everything right. I will get back to drawing this soon. This is a digital drawing

You were someone to me a lifetime ago- so for those who don't know I have a fic I'm working on. I released chapter 4 last month and hope to start working on the 5th chapter this month. After the last chapter was posted I started working on the layout of the story as up until this point I was just winging it and going with the flow with not much of a plan, but I know I should have some sort of base to follow in order to keep my writing consistent and have proper flow, because of this I have planned several chapters in advance now, and those who enjoy it will be happy to know that this fic will most likely have more than 30 chapters although I cannot say what number there will be specifically. I want to try and get more chapters out in a short amount of time as I don't want to drag this out but I cannot promise anything

My writing and ideas- so as said in a previous post, I have quite a few ideas that I have had but didn't share in here either because I was too lazy, forgot, or was self conscious. I will probably start to work on a few I already have written out and start to post them, I will also start to post more headcanon posts. Because of all these ideas I have had I actually have some other things that i will be able to share, which lead into..

Mario AU- an AU ( alternate universe) of which I made sort of out of the blue by accident which I have slowly been building on and I even have some doodles to go along with the basic lore of it. What is this AU you ask? Well you'll just have to wait and see, I will say that there is definitely some role swap in which makes things very interesting

Shipping- so for some who may have guessed, I am a multi-shipper, which isn't anything new but I preface this because of me delving into these ships a bit more. For instance me drawing Dimentio has sparked a lot of Dimentio and Dimigi (Dimentio x Luigi) ideas to form and be made, I shipped it before hand but I was and still am focused on booigi. So you may very well see some Dimigi soon as well as your scheduled booigi

Please do keep in mind like I have stated many times before, I struggle with motivation a lot and it can be very difficult for me to get things done, I don't know when any of this will be finished and forcing myself to get it all finished now will only burn me out more. I'm sorry I haven't been posting a lot of content recently as I've been struggling with a few things recently, I'll try and get content out for you as soon as I can and I hope it will make up for it. I was hoping that at least by posting this you will be aware of my plans and what is currently in the works so you guys are up to date

Also I wanted to just say that I appreciate the asks so much, it really means a lot and I love answering them! I do want to add if you are one of the 2 maybe 3 people who submitted an ask a little while ago, I just want to say that I haven't forgotten about them, I wish to draw proper responses for them I just haven't gotten around to it hey, I hope to answer them soon for you though

Have some old pics of my son (ignore how pale I am)

[theartfulmegalodon]

Context: I was given a (very much needed) week off from work, and I haven't done a single thing with it that I intended to! Instead, I've been doing random stuff like this: sketching a thumbnail for the very first page of my River & Ash comic.

Now, DON'T GET YOUR HOPES UP. I still have no intention of actually drawing any of this comic until all 30 (technically 32) issues are written, and I'm only on issue 23. WHAT'S MORE, I'll just state for the record now, that I have no plans to draw the entire comic.

Like, EVER.

Why?

Well I crunched the numbers last night as I lay in bed. 32 issues, each 25 pages long (and that's not including covers or side stuff), adds up to 800 pages. At my fastest, I could probably finish one page a week. Can you do that math? That's SIXTEEN YEARS.

As much as I like my story and am proud of it, that's too much of my life to even consider dedicating to this self-indulgent story about a guy and his demon boyfriend that I dreamt up in my kitchen one day while making ramen.

I think, at the very most, it might be neat to do the first two issues, as, like, a proof of concept, and then maybe some single panels or illustrations from random points throughout the story. But even that... I mean, I struggle to finish art anymore. It never feels worth it. So even that much is probably pushing it. I have other stories I'd like to devote time to when R&A is done. Whole novels' worth of ideas. I'd like to do more of that. Will anyone read it? Maybe not, but more people than are willing to read a comic script. And I get more personal return on investment with writing than with art.

Ya gotta choose where to devote your time and energy. I decided from the start that I wouldn't draw River & Ash until I finished writing the whole thing, just to prove I could finish SOMETHING. And by golly, that's still going to happen. (Issue 21 script gets posted Saturday, btw.) Sorry I can't promise more than that.

Love to whoever's still reading. <3

[the-consortium]

Mr. Saqqara? How's your lovelife with the Hound? What's the relationship dynamic? Does Mr. Bile know?

(OOC: Asks still don't work on desktop, but are now visible on mobile again. So I can "answer" with a placeholder and add the real text later. I won't type my texts on my phone, so this is an awkward workaround, but better than nothing! Give a big hand to returned ask posts!)

Saqqara snorts indignantly. Sets the datapad aside. „That‘s pretty personal!“

Arrian lowers the book he has just been reading with mediocre interest, slips in one of the dried leathery leaves of the large carnivorous vines from the arboretum as a bookmark, reaches across the table with the stacks of books and half-disassembled explosives and takes Saqqara‘s datapad.

The latter half-heartedly protests: „Hey! That‘s private correspondence!“ - „And this from the man who has made it a very fruitless hobby to steal the Chief Apothecary‘s ‚private correspondence‘?“ - „Only those which would upset him anyway and thus keep him from his work. I‘m practically doing him a favour.“ - „And to find out what of it would upset him, you read everything first?“ - „Yes, of course. How else am I supposed to make an informed decision?“ Saqqara‘s beaming smile as he says this leaves no questions. Arrian shakes his head. The nails rattle. Then he reads the message. His eyebrows move up, slightly distorted by his scars and ancient service studs. „Angron‘s spiky ass … that‘s really personal!“ - „Told you!“

The World Eater sighs and throws the datapad to Saqqara, who catches it with one hand and puts it back on the table. „I‘ve heard there are holo-shows in the Imperium that only deal with the love lives of some singers or actors. If you take that as a benchmark - we‘ve done it, we‘re apparently of public interest!“

Saqqara reaches for the datapad again, plays with the pen. Draws squiggles on the surface and wipes them away again. For Word Bearers, calligraphy and warm-up sketches are service to their Primarch and therefore an almost religious thing. Arrian has learned that the diabolist is then not really responsive until he emerges from this trance again. While he, like all Astartes, is aware of his surroundings and potential threats in a subliminal way, communication is then no longer desired.

Arrian doesn‘t really care what other people think about him or what he does or doesn‘t do. He doesn‘t have the Emperor‘s Children‘s craving for validation - which each of them vehemently denies - and doesn‘t have the Word Bearers‘ need for group affiliation. So this strange question to Saqqara doesn‘t bother him at all. He opens his book again, his mind halfway back to the torsion properties of the fibres of certain climbing plants. He glances sideways at Saqqara. The diabolist has begun to write. Arrian nods, adjusts the band that binds his nails at the nape of his neck and then sinks completely into botany.

Saqqara gnaws on his lower lip as his pen scurries across the pad and the little cogitor dutifully converts the elegant Colchisian runes into cold data.

„In the writings of the Primarch - may the gods steadily bless and preserve him - it is repeatedly pointed out that we do not exist as uninfluenced individuals in a selfish bubble, but only gain strength and resolve through our relationships with our brethren and the beings of the Immaterium.“

He pauses for a moment. Then adds, „And in light of this divine advice, I can say that I am aware of how the gods have blessed me. Arrian may view this more pragmatically, but he cannot deny the benefits and the positive impact our relationship has had on both our performance and abilities.“ He pauses. Crosses out the word „relationship“. Tries about five synonyms before returning to it after all.

Then he continues writing swiftly. „Which is probably something the Chief Apothecary is also aware of. He may in principle be absolutely uninterested in all things concerning the sparse private lives of his students and subordinates, but he punishes anything that leads to a deterioration of performance very mercilessly.

From this I can say with some certainty that Fabius is positively indifferent to our relationship. He wishes to know nothing of it - as little as he cares for the dance that Narvo Quin and Bellephus perform around Savona.

The Chief Apothecary regards any attachment with mild disgust. He is the most solitary being I have ever met. For an Astartes, positively unique. Quin suggests that he was no different before the Rebellion. Lord Fulgrim had to practically drag him out of his apothecarium by force once he needed him to work with other Emperor‘s Children.

To that extent, I can say with some authority that the Chief Apothecary is the last person in the galaxy who cares in the slightest about that relationship.“

He reads through everything again and nods with satisfaction. Taps „Send.“ Then looks over at Arrian, who is absently making notes in the form of chemical formulae. For a few heartbeats he allows himself a very gentle smile in the direction of the World Eater, who doesn‘t notice.

(Some Saqqara for purely decorative reasons)

And some additional observations: In my mind Astartes are not build to have too deep emotions. If you remove the fear-response, you have to get rid off a lot of other stuff, too - maybe unintentionally.

The Emperor's Children got all of it back and then some. Because of Slaanesh and their gene-seed reflecting Fulgrim. But the other Legions are very sparse in their emotions. Or, let's say: slow-burn.

And that's how I see Arrian and Saqqara. They don't talk much about anything concerning their feelings or their relationship. A bit like cats: "I don't love you. I'm just always in the same room you are purely on coincidence."

[bvannn]

Weekly Update March 1, 2024

I’m not doing the best this week but I’m also not doing the worst. I’ve not been sleeping well and I think it’s culminating today so slightly early update post just in case I fall asleep early tonight. I’ve had on and off moodiness and flareups but not a whole lot of surgery sickness, hoping next week will be the same. I think this week was a lot of semester stress, which makes it hard to take care of myself. I just ate three applesauces and next week is spring break, so I should have a bit of breathing room for more art stuff. Just in time for my art block to maybe be giving way. All I gotta do is get caught up on sleep, which I’ll try to start tonight.

So I’ve been trying to put more brain power into actual Oc story writing stuff this week. I have the little comic I’m working on in the background and that’s going a bit slower than I’d like but I’m still making progress and reviewing over it there’s fewer older pages needing redo than I’d thought. I’m also now officially through the second act of the episode/chapter/ w/e, so the third should move smoothly. Scenes are flowing nicer than I thought they would, generally going pretty good.

I also finally think my animation art block is giving way. Clip studio is good for flowier animation so I’d like to combine it with flash for any actual big animation projects I try to pick up but on it’s own it’s fine for smaller ones. I might do some more sketch style test animations for unfamiliar movements, and eventually I’ll need to do a test for one with lineart and color layers. The interface is not user friendly at all but I did figure out how to do it the way I had wanted. Not planning on doing any shaded animations though, shading will have to be done with after effects somehow. I’ll round up ideas for test animations tonight because I’m very headfoggy today so I doubt I’ll be able to throw music together.

I’ll definitely do a quick little gif for the bigger song I finished, I’ll try to get going on the next one, but for the time being I might finish up some half baked covers. I’ve fiddled with vocaloid more now, have two half finished vocal parts I’m using to test out how the English and Japanese banks work with English songs. Japanese bank is working better than I thought, but it’s annoying having to play with the dynamic and exciter settings for certain consonants, and the limited vowel selection also sucks, but it’s not like the English banks have basically the same issues too. I just need to play with settings a bit more, finish writing out the vocal parts (should basically be copy paste at this point, I’m already through one chorus of each), and throw together instrumentals to go with them, but I picked songs with simple instrumentals anyway, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get a skeletal structure ready, then I can fill it in with piano or violin because I can’t go two songs without either I’m addicted.

Music comic and animation are the main things I did this week but I am slowly getting my updated commission sheet together. I’ll probably start timing myself on smaller songs so I can try to add music options properly. Animation comms would be nice too but that’ll definitely be a ways off.

I did make unexpected progress writing an epithet TTRPG campaign, it’s like mostly structured, but maps minis and some encounters still need to get written. I might sit down to do that over break. I’m more certain now that I’ll need to take people online as players but I’ll wait until I’m closer to run before I make a google form for that

I’m going to try to either spend tonight with friends or go to bed early or both. I’m a bit worried about my body because flareups have been getting bad but tomorrow I don’t have to move my legs at all beyond doing laundry so I should be fine. If plans for both fall through I’ll either watch a movie or cartoon (I don’t do very often but if I indulge in media I can improve my writing skills) or draw or both. Tomorrow is walled off for homework though I don’t think I’ll be able to do much else.

[matchbet-allofthetime]

HOLY MOLY!!!!!

ANOTHER SWOLEFISH??! SHIPPER PLEASE BE MOOTS!!!💞💞💞💞💞

I actully was only a fan for goto at first but when i figured out that there ARE more fans of him and he has HIS OWN SHIP with kiga (hc name for moonfish) I WAS SO HAPPY LIKE OMG HE'S FINALLY GETTING ATTENTION THAT HE DESERVES FROM HIS 16 FANS AROUND THE WORLD HE DOESN'T HAVE TO BE DESERTED ANYMORE COMPARED TO OTHER CHARACTERS💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

then i started to have some interest in kiga and became a fan of him and started to support his ship with goto (I WAS ALSO SO SURPRISED WHEN I SAW HIS FACE HE'S SSSOOO PRETTY LIKE PRETTY BALD BOI SKSJSKJSKSJSKJS✨💕✨💕✨💕)

sometimes i just look at these two and go "yep I'm gonna make them ALOT of fake scenarios in the middle of math class and smile like an idiot for sure"

they're SO perfect together i wonder how did they become together? like who confessed first? who noticed the them looking at each other multiple time in the middle of the meetings first??WHEN AND WHERE DID THEY HAVE THEIR FIRST KISS??!?AKAJAKJAKAKAKAKA✨💕✨💕✨💕✨💕✨💕

also do think goto might be into spicy food?? MAYBE KIGA WOULD TRY TO MAKE HIM HIS FAVOURITE SPICY MEALS AS A GIFT???????💓💓💓💓

(أنا آسف إذا كان هذا طويلًا جدًا حتى لو كان سؤالي الأول وإذا كان هناك أي أخطاء في اللغة الإنجليزية ليست في الواقع لغتي الأولى ، ف��ا تتردد في عدم الإجابة ، فلا بأس بذلك 💖).

oh my gosh, i'm so very sorry!! i did not see this until just now bc my asks have been like,,, ruined for a few months

yes, we can totally be moots!!

goto and kiga are such cuties and i love them both with all my heart. i was a moonfish fan from the moment i saw him and same with muscular

i love that more people are slowly liking muscular more! he's such a cool character and so is moonfish. and dw, i do the same in my lectures too, just always thinking about these two tbh. i've sketched muscular on classwork more times than i can count.

i have so many ideas for who confessed first and i'm honestly in love with it going either way. kiga could be like "oh you're such a menace of a man and are absolutely feral i love you" OR it could be muscular being like "...you're so creepy. we should kiss 💖." just so many ways it could go!!

yeah, moonfish is so pretty! i love the little scar in his ear, it's such a wonderful little detail. i imagine him having a shaved head makes it easier to wear his suit when he's working as a villain, yk?

i definitely think one of four scenarios for their first kiss:

they had their first kiss on a battlefield one day

they had their first kiss sitting on the roof of the LOV bar while watching the stars and talking about different things

they had their first kiss after the prison break

they had their first kiss after they slept in each other's arms one night and they both just woke up and kissed the other because they can't live without the other

i really like any of these four ideas for them!

goto ABSOLUTELY LOVES spicy food. as a spicy food lover myself, i just KNOW goto is the type of guy to eat the spiciest noodles and still add extra chilies, spicy sauce, and peppers. he needs it spicy enough to melt metal otherwise it isn't good enough. i think his favourite dishes are actually korean and indian dishes, rather than japanese. i think he'd love korean buldak and Gochujang noodle dishes. as for indian traditional dishes, he'd adore laal maas and Kolhapuri chicken, as well as any really fiery curry! i think muscular just really loves spice.

i HC that moonfish is REALLY good at cooking, so i think he is constantly cooking meals for goto as a part of his way to show love!

adding onto the moonfish-can-cook hc and -goto-loves-spicy-foods hc, i kinda combine them into- japanese/korean kiga and japanese/indian goto, who share their other culture's dishes with one another as a love language

(and dw, english is not the only language i speak and your ask has done nothing but make my early morning utterly wonderful. i am so very sorry i was unable to see it sooner, tysm for sending this! currently drawing the two sweet boys eating spicy noodles early in the morning <3)

[hikapoi]

This is from the Artists Asks List. You can just pick the ones you're interested in answering if this is too much lol.

1, 9, 12, 15, and 25

I've answered #25 over here! (= 1. Do you prefer traditional drawing, or digital?

AHHHHH this is such a good question.. I always want to say a real pencil in my hand is the way to go even after all these years doing digital art but last year I don't think I did any traditional art at all... It honestly makes me so sad that the only time I do any traditional work is during Inktober or Sketchvember.. when the months roll by I just think, "ah darnit another year goes where I only do traditional work as part of a game." Man I just think traditional is when I'm at ease and most relaxed bc I can just feel fluid if I'm drawing for fun, but with digital you can really clean things up to look really good. A part of the reason I enjoy doing the yearly holiday cards when I ACTUALLY SEND ANY is that it's a time I can do special traditional art for my friends to make them really happy. I think I'm good at digital art but am even better with traditional, but I don't think I can say that anymore if I haven't really touched a pencil in recent years. It might be the opposite now, my traditional work lacks the precision and finesse of my digital work but since I have art supplies I PAID for and HAVE TO USE I have a tendency to experiment with traditional media more. I am STILL buying loads of art supplies to this date..

9. How much time do you spend drawing on an average day?

HNGNGHGH it really depends.. Ah, average day? Hmmm when I'm on fire I might say at least 2 hours a day, whether it's to work on a quick doodle or to continue a more time-consuming piece. There are days where I might spend 4-6 hours. The craziest for me for one day might be 8 hours-- with or without breaks in between.

12. Is it okay for people to ask you about your process?

YEAH ABSOLUTELY ALWAYS it's no secret. I always did the circle/stick man base but when I really got into One Punch Man in 2012 or so when Murata-sensei was streaming, I noticed he skipped that step and went straight to defining muscles, limbs, faces, etc. I thought DANG if I could do that I could draw SO MUCH FASTER and SO MUCH MORE!! It was horrible at first and I hated a lot of my art while I was trying out this new thing but now I'd say I'm fairly decent and it does get me to do more art faster.

Anyway! My process is to start with a pose idea. The timing on this varies, but I usually thumbnail with little stick figures until something sticks. If there is one I like I might blow it up or redraw it on a larger scale. I always start with the face shape and eyes first. It helps me get a good idea on how to frame the hair. I cannot feel I am drawing the character until I get this right. I'll then detail until I color. I skip a line art step most of the time because I clean my sketches along the way ((I KNOW, RISA)). If it's a piece I'm serious about being a "best" I might seriously do a line art layer but I usually have trouble because I can never find a comfortable inking pen AND I feel line art makes my art suddenly stiff. I used to never color but I try to do it as much as I can because I have always admired my friends for their bold colors and I told myself that that's my own personal goal to have more colored work.

15. How long does an average piece take you to complete?

If it's a fairly simple/rushed drawing that is semi-refined that can take me about 2-4 hours? I can get a lot done in just 1 hour as well thanks to all those Mob Psycho 100 60 min challenges. But if I just take my time drawing something that I don't particularly hate I'd say 2 hours is a good average. For a more detailed one with backgrounds or groups or lots of detail, that could take me at least 8 hours of actually drawing. The hours spent into references/getting ideas/thinking of a background add to an illustration's turnaround time even if I am not actually moving a pen.

Thank you for your interest in me! I hope maybe I've said something interesting!

These questions are from this art meme if you want to do it too: https://hikapoi.tumblr.com/post/708522112589119488/artist-asks

[forfinity3]

From the person who's been making those 'comics'.

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

TooLong;Didn'tRead

This marks the end of the X Arc series... and pretty much everything else. I don't really have any plans to continue with it any further too. I'm pretty much done with the over a decade long series and have no plans to continue with it. I can't keep at it for long anymore. I'm putting everything down, packing it all up, and will be focusing on my own well being from this point on. Don't wait for me since I am not certain if I'll be back in a few months or even throughout the entirety of 2023... And Thank You for reading.

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

Long Version. Explanations, Thoughts, and Situations.

It's been such a long time since I've ever chatted about anything in regards of this mess of a hobby project of mine... I have much in thought to say but so little words to explain it all... So I guess the best place to start is how much of an affect this hobby of mine was consuming my own psyche and how much it was taking over my own life. While it was fun and pretty exciting to get to draw a story that was unfolding with each passing week, there were times when I was actually regretting it because how overwhelming it was becoming and how much into the future I was looking through it. How much time and work that was needed to be done in order to draw it out. As a one man army with a mountain of ideas, I was overburdening myself without even realizing it until it was too late. Setting myself onto a road of many struggles and obstacles, thinking it will all be okay and easily manageable with just 1 person manning it all. To others, to the people who are just here to view the journey, it looks like an easy feat and fun thing to observe. But behind the curtain lies the ugly foundation of a clockwork that was constantly breaking down but managing to keep on turning. While many would believe it looked like an easy thing to do, but for my situation, with what my life-style is, it was a very challenging task.

Factors I would like to add in that made it difficult for me- Is having a life outside of my hobby project. By life I mean keeping up a Full-Time job and maintaining a status with family members/friends. For about a decade I've been working the typical 40 hours a week- 8 hours a day, 5 days straight job. Since my hobby project was just that. A hobby. No net-worth or any kind of financial income. Purely just for the sport. I needed money in order to keep a roof over my head and to keep on living. Because of this, this was heavily weighing me down already. Dragging my feet and slowing me down in keeping up with any of my hobby plans. The other is keeping a status with family members/friends. Family and friends comes first when it comes to hobby things. Unable to ignore what matters the most in life than just, again, a hobby. Which adds more stalls and needing to skip on more with the selfish hobby project. So when I wanted to work on my project, it meant I had to neglect my life-style. And it actually DID eat away at my life-style a couple of times during the times I had the urge to continue on with the series... So I can't be doing that anymore.

Another factor to add in is the creation and idea building part of the series. It's not easy putting everything together, getting it to work properly, and trying keep the flow going. Almost every idea happens when away from the computer because the mind works better when on the move instead of sitting at a desk. It's until AFTER getting home is when a draft can be made. And that is just the easy part. The most difficult part- is the sketching. Imagined it and now getting it on paper. Even with the amount that I have drawn already, its still rather difficult for me to draw it down. It all seemed so easy in my head than actually executing it on paper. The rough sketch is what demotivated me the most when drawing a comic. How much of a struggle it is to make it just means more stalls on the project... Which is why all of my sketches look very mediocre and childish. I had to ignore quality in order to get the story made. If I had to focused on quality too to make it look more eye appealing, I would have quit drawing all together a very long time ago... But I didn't want to give up. So quality had to be dropped in favor of getting stuff quick and out...

The last factor is a big personal one... Where the thought processes of it all is coming from. The ideas. The roots of it all. All coming from my own personal struggles, psyche, and trauma from what I learned and experienced throughout my own lifetime. Any of the bad events that happened throughout the whole series- which was a lot of it... was pulled from the depths of my own messed up mind and incorporated it into the series. A lot of it had to be reached out, pulled in, and put together as best as I could in order to make the story more "interesting". Lots of bad thoughts here and there... and because of it, it put me in in many ill thought states where even I questioned myself and my own thought process as to why I even thought it up in the first place... There were times I had to tone/dumb it down because I felt like it was a bit much to do for the story and also not to overburden myself any further since it was too much to do already as is. Noticeable events were the InkTober takeovers. A miniseries that was just a fun side project that overran its course and then overtook the entire series with each passing year. The amount of effort going into that mini project doubled my hobby project workflow which meant even more work was putting into something that was suppose to be a fun little project ... And it was becoming all too much for me to handle...

And so that's it... While there is a lot more that can be said, I'm too tired of it all to explain it any further. It's all too tiresome at this point... I had thoughts of canning it and burning it all together, forgetting about it as I go on with my somewhat comfortable daily lifestyle.... But I was told not to do that and instead to give myself a VERY long break from it all. On the count that I MAY come back to it again when I'm caught up with my life and responsibilities. A big MAYBE that I would return to this and think of something else for this big mess of mine of a series that I created...

So that's the end of that... Stopping it on a bitter/sour sad note that is left unfinished because I made it too big and too much of a task to handle...

To the viewers who have been watching- old or new- ... Thank You. Thank you for seeing my weird story unfold and my progress as time went by. Watching me struggle to keep a series going but enjoying the progression of the story all together. Makes me happy knowing that I wasn't the only one who was interested in this very strange series that made little sense of anything from a non-reader perspective. Viewership was all that I asked for. That alone was a big accomplishment for me and I'm happy I was able to maintain it for as long as I could.

Thank You.

[ruthytwoshakes]

Howdy everybody!

it’s June! What! It was March yesterday I think,,,, urgurgh

But actually wait this is super exciting!! I’m out of my depressive slump which means I get to use the rest of June to prepare for artfight!

I’ll still be posting here, but it’ll be just my preparations + artfight attacks until August. I’ll be tagging everything with “Daffys Artfight 2023” so if you don’t want to see soooooo many skeletons and my cool swag characters than block that tag babey B)) and I’ll see you in August with more tf2!

And since I am very much developing a special interest with tf2, I’ll be doing attacks on tf2 ocs! If you want to attack me and draw my little meow meow Glider, than I’ll love you forever and ever and draw your little guy too teehee

Alrighty! Here’s the breakdown for this years artfight:

Until July 1st, I’ll be redesigning, updating, and writing my characters + (hopefully) posting about them on here! Also I’ll be bookmarking characters during this time, so send me your little guys during this time >B)

When the teams are decided I’ll make sure to use the templates that go along with it and finally edit my profile lol.

Every year for artfight, I do a mass attack with a bunch of skeleton characters! Last year was about 70, this year I’m planning to do 100 and actually finish it this time! As soon as artfight starts I’ll begin planning out my sketch and working on editing a nice little speedpaint for you all.

If I’m able too, I’d love to start a chain with someone and give my characters some friends! Last year I did one with Sam, my most littlest guy, and it was super fun!! (I’ve also got a lot more characters this year that I’ve been wanting to flesh out hehehe)

And that’s about it! I’ll add on some art I’ve been working on below

Here’s the personification of my process of creating characters! That’s a mouthful though, so he’s just called the Creator. Silly guy. As old and as young as time itself. Fuzzy.

Here’s some WIP character designs! I’m struggling a bit for inspiration on the top two, but fuck it we ball.

Thank you for reading! And I hope to see ya there! (My user is DaffoDuck) or https://artfight.net/~DaffoDuck

Well howdy again,, did you think there was secrets down here?? Because there is MUHAHAHA

here’s some tf2 plans and progress for my ongoing projects

The tf2 horror thing I’ve been working on! Sure have been working on it! Most definitely my most bodacious dude. H. I’m just mainly struggling with the bigger meaning of it,, got the plot all done,,,, now gotta somehow make it anti-capitalist. I gotta go analyze some more horror stories,, gotta go back to the scp phase.

I absolutely adore the child mercs that people have come up with, so I wanted to try my hand at it! I’ve got a real fun story going on, and I’m involving the classic mercs! I’ve changed them up quite a bit though because they’re much younger in this, and teachers,, hehheheh. Basically I stuck them all in a summer camp,, imagine LumberJanes and Gravity Falls with tf2 humor. Kinda terrifying when I write it out

OOOOO IM ALMOST DONE WITH A REALLY COOL THING!!!! I just need to finishing a little bit of writing but I’m almost done with my take on a class swap! As far as I can remember it goes like this: Heavy is Medic, Medic is Heavy, Sniper is Scout, Scout is Sniper, Pyro is Demoman, Demoman is Pyro, Spy is Soldier, Soldier is Engineer, Engineer is Spy. GHHRGRRRRR IM SO FUCKING EXCITED

I have a lot more but I forgor because it’s 5am in the fucking evening what oh my god goodnight!!!!!!! SHIT,!!!!!

[lairai]

2022 Art Summary

I've never been super keen on the "gallery-style" image/art summaries that people often do, because I a) never have enough art to give each month its own piece and b) I can never figure out a layout I like. So I decided to instead do a sort of "look back at 2022", in text form with images where it matters.

Beginning of the year

This year was a wild ride for me, art-wise! I took a landscape-painting course at the beginning of the year (I'd love to recommend it but it's on Wingfox which, last I checked, was borderline unusable, so until they make it work I can't recommend people spend money on stuff there), and did a bunch of landscape commissions. Here are two I'm particularly happy with! (Watermarked because due to the way backgrounds are formatted in ARPGs they don't have my signature)

I decided to try using gamut masks for my colour palettes instead of just kinda winging it based on a handful of reference images. I know not many people use them, probably due to how many steps they add to an art piece, but I've always kind of struggled with having the confidence to use less 'usual' colours in my paintings so they really helped.

Summer (kinda)

And then my old PC died! :') I had been looking to replace or upgrade it for a long time but never quite had the time for it, so I guess it decided to do me one last favour and completely cease to work so I could finally get myself to buy a new one (after 5+ years of owning this one). It took weeks to replace it, which I think was the longest time I spent without drawing in... quite a while. Eventually, as we learned it would take longer and longer for the new PC to be assembled, I moved my drawing tablet to a different PC temporarily and started working on a particularly ambitious piece:

I am honestly so proud of this image - both because I like how it turned out overall, and because drawing these two was the one thing that really made me want to learn how to draw people (and, more specifically, men). I had done the usual "pose studies, quick sketches, anatomy studies, looking at references" routine, but I always dropped it because I just didn't have the motivation to keep learning something I saw I was so obviously bad at initially. But then in Realm of Serpents, these two happened, with just the cutest story that somehow wrote itself without anyone planning it beforehand. And I just had to draw them. So here we are.

Autumn

In autumn, in a group I help run, we launched the biggest change the game has ever received: we gave it a lore-based, story-focused progression system. If you're not in any ARPGs or aren't familiar with how they work, this might mean very little to you, but just imagine like a year and a half of writing, 80k+ words, and art assets on art assets on art assets. I'm very proud of how some of these turned out. They had to be done in just a few hours each for me to get everything finished on time, and for how little time I had to spend on them, I'm not unhappy with their final look:

Winter

Winter was busy. Partially I was really tired from finishing the project I mentioned above, partially I was writing my second BA thesis on top of studying at a second uni for a completely different degree. I didn't get a lot done, but that didn't stop me from sketching my two favourite Fools Who Are Terribly In Love:

And now we're here! I tried a lot of new things with my art this year. I'm still getting the hang of human anatomy, and I know some of my human sketches look a bit wonky still. But I think diving into a new subject, knowing you won't get it right the first dozen (or hundred!) times but also knowing it'll pay off in the end, is kind of what art is all about. Happy New Year!

[rosescries]

Hey Rosey, how are you? I hope I'm not interrupting but I really, really, need help. One of the people that I love and admire is you, and knowing that you do art is a relief.

See, I have this problem regarding my art style. I just started a week ago and during that time, it's been tiring but surprisingly rewarding and fulfilling. I haven't done art before, and the only part of art that I amateurly mastered were the eyes, now, the way I draw eyes is just plain and chibi.

To further explain, I'll tell you the whole timeline.

I started making this on Nov. 6, this was my very first digital art, this is also when I was oblivious to art in general. I finished it in Nov. 7 and while bad and just plain ugly, I was happy with it so I continued.

Here is my second digital art. I started this from Nov. 8-11. To be honest, I was surprised by what I made. I honestly though I was going to get something ugly but....it was surprisingly decent. I showed it to my friends and peers, and they expressed positive reviews. That gave me the motivation to further enhance my amateur skills.

Now, this was made during Nov. 12-13. I wanted to focus on drawing the head, I also wanted to properly color and blur, add highlights and all that. And well, I was Really happy. I could actually see my progress. And I've never been happier. I showed this to my friends and they told me that I was progressing at an outstanding rate. I was ecstatic, and well, it gave me even more motivation.

Now, here's where the problem arises. On Nov. 14, I wanted to start focusing on the body, however, when i was ready to start drawing, it was like....I forgot how to draw.

I tried to draw eyes. But somehow, a simple, straight line appeared to be ugly. I kept erasing and deleting layers and just kept starting over, but whenever I finish a simple sketch. It was just plain UGLY. I never seemed to be satisfied with anything.

I changed direction, I tried drawing circles with IbisPaint X's ruler, but the shape seemed to be at the wrong position despite being on the center. I also had this perception where the circle seemed wonky. And I was using a ruler. A RULER, IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A PERFECT CIRCLE.

Im got frustrated, and kept trying for the past few days. I asked my friends if loosing your art style or just forgetting how to draw is normal, that it's fine, and they told me it it, they say they get it all the time. But it never seemed to make my panic settle.

I searched online and it said that I have art block. It said that I was getting used to using the same style for so long despite only drawing for a week.

With you being an artist, I wanted to ask.

*Is this really normal? Is it normal to suddenly forget how to draw? How everything you draw seemed to be ugly?

*Do you have any advice on how I should handle this?

With every day that passes, I get more and more discouraged. I'm borderline hysterical, I want to cry and scream.

I need help. Please....

I'm so sorry that this post is so long, but you are someone who I can trust in this. I apologize if I'm disturbing you, and you are free to delete this. Just know that I am giving you a choice.

Again. Thank you, and Goodbye.

Firstly, I want to say your art is absolutely lovely. All three of them are wonderful.

Secondly, yeah it's normal. I get that sometimes where I'm just not happy with what I draw and it happens a lot with my writing even. I think it's just something that happens with all creative things, it's okay.

I don't know if I'm really the person to ask about what to do about it though. Because when I get that way I just... don't draw. Don't write, don't really do anything until I get the will to pick up the pencil again. That usually helps me, especially when I get frustrated with a drawing. I'll sometimes just abandon that drawing too and do/draw something else. And there's nothing wrong with that, it's a part of the creative process really.

I guess I'd just suggest taking a break from it. If you really want to draw, you could try something else? Drawing humans are hard, I will say. Even chibi humans. You could try something more abstract, I like drawing butterflies, flowers (these are hard too though), and decorative hearts. Just low effort doodles that can look really nice once finished.

Don't give yourself too much of a hard time about this. Art is hard, it can be a real pain in the ass sometimes. Plus you're still learning! It's the time to make "bad art" and mistakes. Try things out and learn what you like and what you don't. All artists are their own worst critic. If you're frustrated and not having fun, just try take a step back and relax. It'll still be there to come back to and try again later. It's okay.