#friend artwork yaaaa

[leithillustration]

What a gorgeous artwork roundup AND some fantastic fic recs!! I can’t wait to read these. I’m honestly so pleased to have been paired with Jo for one of my CORB things in 2024. It’s been so great sharing our love of all things Snowbaz, as well as commiserating over health stuff.

I loooove seeing all this art in different finishes, from raw to highly refined. It’s so full of FEELINGS. And YAAAAS to Baz with long hair.

Bonus ramble: I was so nervous when I started leaving voice notes, but wanted to help with accessibility in any way I could. After a few, I realised my hesitation was because I am afraid about rambling and being ‘too enthusiastic’ about the things I love. It’s been a real wake up call since I am ALLOWED to love things and talk about them loads. Jo has been a great friend to chat about so much with. And now I am a bit addicted to voice notes 😆 my friends get a lot of extra rambling in them, and sometimes I have to record a thing three times before it makes enough sense to share, but it’s also helped me realise maybe my voice has started to drop a teeny bit (I’m 2 years on T) and I don’t cringe so much hearing it in recordings anymore.

2024 Round-Up and Review

2024, aka The Year I Discovered I Love Drawing Baz With Long Hair.

But also.

Honestly?

(Yeah, I'm going to be honest. Yeah, it's going to be a long post. Buuuut it's my blog, so here we go!)

This past year was rough. Really rough. In many ways as difficult as 2020, and in some ways, even harder than that. I lost my specialized medical care after 2023, and my health tanked in 2024. Medication changes, chronic illness/pain, and the hardest thing of all was... this idea I seemed to have that if I could just fake it enough, I could make it. Like I could deny my disability into non-existence. Pretend it away.

Instead, I ended up pushing myself past the breaking point, with the worst possible timing ever.

And THEN (when I desperately needed to stop and rest), I packed up my life and moved across a continent. (I hadn't moved since college. So I thought I'd move and it'd be done. That was wrong. Ahem. I'm still moving in...)

But the GOOD that happened last year came in the form of friendship. That's not just a line. My friends were my lifeline. To those friends who stuck it out with me even when things were far from easy, thank you. You are the most incredible people I know, and your friendship has given me reasons and opportunities to feel joy and hope where I might not otherwise have done.

Okay. So. The ROUND-UP is... *drum roll*... Under the cut!

At first I was a bit bummed to see I'd only finished 9 pieces of art during the entire year. But since I am being honest... I know I did my best, and so clearly the best I could do last year was nine pieces of art. So many of those pieces were attached to amazing projects, though! I got to do several collaborations with some truly amazing human beings, and I also got to run my very first fest for the fandom! So I'm calling it good.

Now, finally, the art links:

(I won't be including works in progress on this list, as I still hope to finish them at some point XD)

January: Oh my God, January. I didn't finish anything in January, but I worked on a lot.

February:

Tis better to give than to receive - This was my contribution to Erotic Grope Fest, and it was my first time doing anything NSFW. It's pretty tame, all things considered, but I think it still fit the mission. Also ended up posting a high-res version of this on AO3. Because. I mean. Come on. XD

March:

Three lost boys (found) - I started out as a beta reader for @mooncello's inspired take on Neverland, but by the time I received chapter 2 I was very nearly begging to be able to illustrate it. I'd had this particular image in my mind after reading the matching scene in chapter one, but had tried to suppress the inspiration. Silly me. I'm so glad I gave in. This is a favorite of mine.

April:

Keeping Neverland - (Technically posted on Tumblr in May, but on AO3 in April, so...) Illustrating @mooncello's writing again, and this one was a challenge! But one I wholeheartedly embraced. I wanted to echo Baz's journey as an artist with my illustrations, so where I used pencil sketching for the chapter one illustration, I went for a finished charcoal drawing, here. Digital charcoal, it turns out, can be just as difficult as the real deal. Slightly less messy, though. (I'm very proud of this finished piece.) Also where I continued my exploration of Baz's long hair. XD

May:

A rough sketch for a rough night - It feels a little off to be posting this sketch in my art round-up, considering the emotional inspiration, but truth be told I ended up liking this sketch quite a lot. I also learned a couple things, from both the events of that night (not my finest moment) and the drawing of the sketch (hey putting my feelings into art is a good idea). So I think ultimately this little sketch deserves to be included on this list.

June:

Teenage Dream - I posted this on Tumblr in June, for my birthday, but I actually did the art at the beginning of the year for the Valentine's Day exchange on the Carry On server. I rarely finish anything to this degree, and am immensely proud of it. That said, I ended up using it for so many things last year, I'd be okay to not look at it again for awhile. (I called it "Teenage Dream" because it made me think of a daydream Baz might have had as a teenager - now made real with Simon by his side. Cause I'm a sucker for their romance >.> )

Illustration from The Eternal Life of Baz Pitch - So I'm not sure how I got lucky enough to earn a special preview of @monbons's story, but I knew I couldn't read it in pieces. So she let me read the whole thing. It was very cool. I read it all at once I think? And when I was done I crashed Monica's DMs to yell at her about it. But then I drew this picture. (While I was chatting with her, even, and casually asking her about cherry blossoms so I could draw them the way she imagined them. It was very fun.) Now we're friends. XD (Check out the fic - now posted in entirety!)

July: Uh. Migraines. Just migraines. I had to pull back from the fandom a lot, and stopped participating in a lot of online activities. Boo.

August: Sketched concepts for CORB, and packed.

September: I moved over 4000 miles.

October: Everything I worked on in October ended up debuting in...

November:

Carry On Through the Ages! Okay, as stressed and sick as I was, I have no regrets about taking on COTTA. It was AMAZING. So much wonderful content! It was SO GOOD to contribute to the fandom, and to do that with history geeking? Dream come true. I also dipped into my previous area of expertise (picture manipulation) and did some cursed paintings to promote it. Mona Baz, Stormchaser Gothic, Mademoiselle Wellbelove, and Iconic Icon Simon.

A Prophesied Rivalry - Another dream come true was collaborating with @monbons for COTTA! I loved talking ideas with her, and she was so supportive when I hit road blocks, too. I love Ancient Egyptian art, and this was as much a love letter to that ancient art style as it was to my beloved Snowbaz. (I did a ridiculous amount of research to do this piece.) (And now I have Egyptian Baz and Simon in my new apartment. Extreme Bonus.)

Snow on Ice Illustration - Getting paired with @leithillustration for CORB was like winning the creative collaboration lottery. Not only did they grasp my concept from the get-go, but they've taken it in a creative and exciting direction. Also, we've become good friends, which is the very best possible outcome for a collaboration. (You should check out their story if you haven't already!)

(Snow-kitty also got very sick at the end of November, which halted a lot of my progress on some WIPs. It was scary for a bit, but I am so happy to say he has fully recovered.)

December:

Snowflake Exchange presents More Than a Footnote - I kind of love that I started the year illustrating one of @mooncello's stories, and ended it with an illustration from another! I was so excited to pull Heath's name from the proverbial hat for the exchange. I'd wanted to draw something from More Than a Footnote since the first time Heath told me about it. I completely love Dev and Niall at this point, so I hope to play with them some more in the future! (BTW Heath I think you're one of my muses hope that's okay XD)

SO. Yeah, the year was often a hard one, but a lot of good happened in spite of all the bad. The good was even more valuable for daring to happen in the midst of so much blah. (And boy howdy, did I get a lot of material to learn from.)

In 2025, I think I'm going to focus more on accepting my limits. Like, I can still work on improving my health and functionality, but I really need to try and determine when I need to stop. That has its own learning curve, but I have to start somewhere! I'm also working on vision therapy, which I'm doing on my own since I can't afford the out-of-pocket expense. Still... So far, so good. Fingers crossed!

Creatively, I think 2025 will be the year where I get to work on projects I started in 2023 and 2024, and I find that quite exciting because those are ideas I genuinely loved. I also hope to bring some other ideas I've had for a very long time to life. (Finally.) I hope, hope, hope! And hey, if I get to do more collabs? That would be awesome, too. (Carry On Through the Ages will be returning, as well!)

Thank you to these lovely people for tagging me in on this round-up, and for remembering me despite my frequent absence!

@emeryhall, @rimeswithpurple, @prettygoododds, @artsyunderstudy, @noblecorgi, @alexalexinii, @best--dress, @j-nipper-95, @roomwithanopenfire, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @imagineacoolusername, @mooncello, @whatevertheweather, @thewholelemon, @youarenevertooold, @monbons

And to everyone who is still tagging me on wipsday posts, other things, commented, any of that! Thank you. It means a lot to me. Hello's and How-Do's and general well-wishes to:

@drowninginships, @aristocratic-otter, @that-disabled-princess, @leithillustration, @bookish-bogwitch, @theimpossibledemon, @fiend-for-culture, @bazzybelle, @ic3-que3n, @blackberrysummerblog, @run-for-chamo-miles, @shrekgogurt, @confused-bi-queer, @hushed-chorus, @cutestkilla, @skeedelvee, @carryonsimoncarryonbaz, @wellbelesbian, @facewithoutheart, @ileadacharmedlife,, @raenestee, @supercutedinosaurs, @fatalfangirl, @palimpsessed, @martsonmars, @brilla-brilla-estrellita, @theearlgreymage

And anyone else who actually read my extremely long post. XD

[2-dsimp]

YALL LOOK AT THIS 😩✋🏽

This magnificent piece of smexy Yandere! Cooking Club Member! Diluc! Brought to you by my bestie✨ @ainescribe

[doe-wiegenliedofgreen]

Novelette of White

Novelette of White

*I have a general policy against people reposting my work elsewhere, but to be more specific here, I request that anyone who enjoys this translation please do NOT use this to create a public “scanlation” of this manga. The purpose behind keeping this in a purely script format is to encourage people to buy the novel that it comes from to see the artwork. I have uploaded this translation not just to share more Evillious content with fans, but so that such people can read the content that they have purchased. Thank you.

Title Page

The Daughter of Evil, “Novelette of White”

Michaela, feeling lost at Kyle’s proclamation.

What actions will Clarith take when she learns of this--?

Original Work: AkunoP (mothy)

Manga: CAFFEIN

Page 1

Narration: Elphegort (Country of Green)

The Keel Freezis estate--…

Keel: Are you troubled, Michaela?

Michaela: L-lord Keel

Keel: That pendant’s from Kyle, isn’t it?

(At the banquet yesterday)

I’d thought he was quite the square,

But he’s making a move quite quickly…

Page 2

Michaela: What should I do?

Keel: Hmm, he ought to give up if you give him a serious answer.

Kyle also has a fiancée.

Michaela: A fiancée?

Keel: Yes.

And you’d be competing with the princess of Lucifenia, to boot.

If you’re not careful it could turn into an international incident.

Michaela: …

Keel: Well,

If this were just a simple fling I’d tell you to feel free to go ahead,

But judging by both of your personalities that’d be a bit hard to manage, yes?

Haha.

Well then, I’ll let you get back to your cleaning!

Michaela: He gave this to me while having a fiancée…

I really don’t get humans after all

Clarith: F-

F-

Fiancee~?!

That blue jerk made a pass at Michaela while having a fiancée…

This isn’t good! Not good at all!

Page 3

Clarith: Michaela’s going to get thrown away like a used tissue!

(Imagined depiction)

As her friend…Yes, only as her “friend”!

I must protect Michaela!!

Kyle: …

Whatcha doin’?

Clarith: Gah! It’s Blue!

L-Lord Kyle!?

Kyle: I’m staying here in Elphegort for a little while on some government business.

I came to see Michaela while I’m here.

Where is she?

Clarith: M—

Michaela went to the marketplace in the central district to buy green onions!

I imagine you must be quite busy yourself, King Kyle.

So I think perhaps you should head back for today!

Kyle: Hmmm, I see.

Well then, I might head to the market myself.

I’ve got some free time.

Page 4

Clarith: I-I see.

Have a good day~

Work hard, Your Majesty

Still, with this I’ve been able to keep Michaela out of the hands of that playboy…

Bruno (?): Heey, Michaela!

We don’t have enough green onions for dinner tonight.

I’m sorry, could you please go buy some at the market?

Michaela: Right, of course.

Clarith: Sh-shit!

Narration: Kyle came to the Freezis estate from time to time after that.

Clarith tried to get in the way of their fraternization, but…

Clarith: Prepare yourself, King Marlon.

If it’s to protect you, I will even become evil!

Page 5

Clarith: YAAAA

(Kyle: I’ve got that too)

Michaela: Well)

Kyle: …!!

Clarith!?

(How!?)

This is bad!

Are you alright!?

Clarith: COUGH

Y…yeah

Crowd: What’s this now?

Way to go, mister!

What a beautiful dive!

Was she drowning?

Where is he from?

Take my apples!

I think she fell

Huh? I think I’ve seen him before

What an achievement.

He just jumped right in without hesitation, what a hero

Clarith: H…huh…?

Thorny: …So then.

Page 6

Thorny: Are you satisfied with that arrangement for giving Lucifenia aid, King Marlon?

Kyle: Yes.

I’m very grateful to you for hearing out my self-indulgent request, King Elphegort.

Keel: Alright!

Well then, let’s wrap up our business here!

You’ll be heading back to Marlon tomorrow.

So today, let’s indulge in a drink, shall we?

Clarith: In the end, my battle strategy was a complete failure…

(sigh)

Oh well. Blue is gonna be heading home tomorrow.

And Michaela doesn’t seem all that interested either…

Michaela: Clarith--

Page 7

Michaela: I was told to serve this wine to Lord Keel and his guests.

But, hmm…

Clarith: Huh? Didn’t we throw this out as spoiled?

Is that it?

I’ll just do a quick taste test to see.

Hmmm…

I can’t tell. One more.

I dunno, I think it’s fine…

But it might not be…

One more sip…

Hm.

This is pretty good wine…

Michaela: Uh, Clarith?

Keel: …?

The wine isn’t here yet

Heey! Michae…

Clarith: Alriiiiight, Miss Clarith has arriiiived!!

Page 8

Clarith: I brought you yer wiiiine!

Keel: Huh?

Huuuh?

Clarith: Hey, Blue!

Don’t go around getting hooked on another woman when you’ve got a fiancée!

Kyle: !?

Clarith: I mean, you can’t go around doing that as the king of a country!

You could cause your country to fall to ruin if you blow it!

The V1 engine was too hard to use in the first place!

And what’s with this cool-guy hair! What happened to the picture on the packaging!?

Kyle: Sorry but I didn’t get any of that after the first half.

Clarith: You’re just going to throw her away when you tire of her.

Kyle: I—I would never do that!

I’m serious!

Keel: Stop this, Clarith.

Are you drunk?

Clarith: Shut up, four-eyes!

Kyle: She’s not listening

Page 9

Clarith: You get too much prominence for a character that didn’t even show up originally!!

Keel: Th-

That applies to you too!

Clarith: I still existed in the early concepts!

(Kyle: Is that right?)

Thorny: I…I have no idea what’s going on here…

Clarith: (sigh).

Michaela: Have you sobered up a bit, Clarith?

Clarith: He got so mad at me…

Michaela: I almost never see Lord Keel that angry

Hm…

Clarith: I guess I really shouldn’t have said, “A glasses character is too hard to use”,

Or whatever it was I said.

Michaela: Yeah…

That kind of material’s not too good.

Page 10

Clarith: I’m sorry. He yelled at you too, because of me.

Michaela: Don’t worry about it

I should have stopped you from causing a scene.

Clarith: Sigh…I’m sorry

I’m sorry for being alive

Michaela: You’ve just spent too long cooped up in your shell, Clarith.

I think you should express yourself more often, actually.

Clarith: …

Michaela: Didn’t I tell you before?

You’re more amazing than anyone.

Clarith: Michaela

Sob~

Michaela~

I love you~

Marry me!

Michaela: Sorry, I’m gonna have to think about that for a bit.

Riliane: We didn’t even get to show up.

directory

[sharpen-jadescythe]

Some notes about Sharpy’s facial features

I meander for a while about drawing facial features, my novice sketching process, and the best drawn male eyes I’ve ever seen.

For fun, and because he is so adorable (sigh, I can’t trick anyone into thinking I’m not a girl gamer for five seconds--not that I want to but it’s pretty funny that I couldn’t for the life of me do it, oh well), I wanted to point out some things about this sketch (and a few Sharpen sketches I’ve done so far). I’m sure that others do this as well... To make Sharpen more unique and seem like an individual, I’ve placed some tell-tale features in every art of him that I do.

Curl in left eyebrow

“Elvis” curl at his hairline, helps make him seem playful and even himbo-ish, since that’s his personality

And I can’t explain it but the imperfect hair makes him seem more approachable, like any one of us

Tiny scar on his top lip on the left side. I haven’t decided headcanon for that scar yet; it’s just something that I really wanted to do. I think my pencil slipped once and I was like ���Yaaaas, don’t change that!’

Square-ish forehead. You see the lines there as he turns his head

Some musculature over the eyes

Extremely careful little dots in specific places to indicate more musculature on face. Getting annoyed and erasing the dot and putting it back a milimeter further out is like... WHY do I do it? But I keep doing it, I want them

Lightly defined, high cheekbones (Trixany’s are so strong, I had to really train myself out of giving him super stand-out ones)

Boxier eyes... they do not at all resemble the original inspiration for these eyes when I started sketching him, but I maintained a little of the ‘mystery’ of unusual eyes and strong lashes on a guy (see more below)

Eyes set wide apart

Together, the larger, wide-set eyes give him a kind of baby face? That happened on its own, it wasn’t planned. Sometimes I can see the lil’ Gerber baby in there

A little divot at the top lining of his ears

What else... Well, Tumblr is here to let us indulge in our art and our creativity. I guess I just wanted to say I like how small details like these work together, almost as a unique fingerprint, to keep your character, especially their face, looking like... well, themselves.

Just curious--anyone out there want me to draw Sharpen in a specific setting? I’m getting better at it; I think I can take on a request, though I’m kind of intimidated. I don’t think I’ll do commissions at any point in time. But a prompt for sketching practice? Hell yeah.

These art pieces take me a really long time to do, but the way. I’ll outline something then get kind of exhausted or this uneasy feeling? Like I’m not sure if I really want this, or if it’s right? If it does feel right, then I’ll come back weeks later when I have free time, and at that point, sit for hours sketching and filling in everything else.

Then I get mad when all the little nuances I put on paper get lost when you scan... anyway.

Hope you guys are enjoying it!

Image source: Basilisk Wiki

Okay so I almost forgot--these are the prettiest, coolest eyes I’ve ever seen on a male character, ever. EVER. Obviously, I didn’t re-create these all the way (and not really at all) for Sharpen, but I did go with a boxier style, rather than completely round almond eyes. Gennosuke’s eyes were actually central to the plot of Basilisk, I found out later. Here’s another great pic of Gennosuke--now this wallpaper is badass. I remember I had this one for a long time; it was too, too perfect.

Now that’s the power of detail. Yes, there’s a sword and it shines and it’s at the heart of the picture. But the only thing you need, the only thing that matters in this entire artwork are actually those eyes. Blue and white coloring throughout, but then wow, those golden eyes. And the gold isn’t what does it really, it’s the powerful dark lashes that encircle them more like calligraphy, the eyebrows that unite with those... less human, more wild. The man is practically a tiger. That’s the kind of ferocity you’re hit with, the kind of wonder you’re filled with here.

Image source: hip wallpaper website

Someone also clearly sat down and thought about how breathtaking it is when you’re right across the table from a guy with eyelashes longer than yours and then you feel that stab of jealousy, along with admiration. Sounds odd, but I think some folks out there know exactly what I mean...

It’s that split second before the instant crush happens. I try to make Sharpy’s eyes do that penetrating ‘instant crush’ thing whenever I draw him. Less because it’s sexy, more because it’s... personal? This is hard to explain. But it feels like he’s having a conversation with you and it’s okay that you’re there with him. He expects you to respond and participate; he thinks he’s your friend. I believe I draw Trixany’s eyes the same way if she’s not posed doing something over-the-top. If she’s just relaxing and sharing herself with you, then it’s a friendly, loving gaze.

The gym t-shirt sketch is the first time I didn’t make Sharpy ‘penetrate the camera’ as they say. It was hard not to redraw it so that he was... decided he was looking in the mirror or something instead.

When I look at Sharpen’s sketch at the very top of this post, I keep wanting him to stop looking elsewhere and look right at me. Right at the viewer. What a cool effect that is. What is that? I don’t know if it’s the context of the other drawings or what. Well, it’s not some magical work of art, only something curious I noticed.

Okay, I could ramble forever. I like art and I like to write so that’s a super-intense combination. I’d love for other artists on here to talk about their process, actually write it out and blather on creatively like I just did. It’s fun. And you learn about somebody’s personality too.

Yes, it’s definitely nice to talk about sketching and the special rainbow of things that go into it sometimes.

Tah!