#got really really good and happy with my art in early 2024

[eclipsesalign]

Its interesting thinking about my art progress since 2019 in retrospect

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

reading update: October 2024

hello, ahoy, and welcome to my October reading recap.

I made a real effort to focus on spooOOOoooky books this month, in the name of the season; you may even recall that I started early and read some spooky stories at the tail end of September. (read Carmen Maria Machado's comic The Low, Low Woods, btw.)

I've never been great at sticking to a theme but I think it helped that what gets classified as "horror" can vary greatly, so I never really got bored of the genre. I did get disappointed more than once by how Not Spooky some of these books turned out to be, but that's a totally different question.

right at the end of the month you'll notice a couple of outliers with Caped Crusade and Luster, which happened entirely because I was out of library books and on the road for a conference, so I was reading what I could get my hands on! I've been working on rereading Caped Crusade on and off for a couple months and I bought Luster at a cool indie bookstore in the town I was visiting and then inhaled most of it on the way home.

ANYWAY. to the books!

And Then I Woke Up (Malcolm Devlin, 2022) - this is a novella with an interesting spin on the zombie story, where the "zombies" are actually people who have started suffering hallucinations that fill them with paranoia and force them see other people as monsters. so, like, there were never any REAL monsters, but a woman looked at her young son and saw him as a cannibalistic monster, so she killed him. so who's the real monster? it's very deep. this story's explanation for this is "the narrative," an idea so strong that it simply seems to take hold of anyone who's around a sufficiently charismatic ringleader who drives them to join in their delusions and kill innocents who don't share their worldview. it's not a super subtle zombie metaphor, but I guess very few zombie metaphors are. it's fine.

Through the Woods (Emily Carroll, 2014) - I truly wholeheartedly wish I had more to say about this but it's just a very charming creepy collection of comics. my favorite was the one that was the scariest, involving humans getting taken over by body-snatching worm monsters, but on the whole it was a very minor creepy factor. the art's great the whole way through.

Happy Medium (Sarah Adler, 2024) - Happy Medium is October's romance novel as picked by my patreonites, and I will admit: my hopes were not high going in. a conwoman posing as a psychic clashing with a skeptical hottie goat farmer didn't ping me as a great mix, but honestly? HONESTLY? it kind of served. there was a much more well-rounded emotional core to this book than I often encounter in my romance novels; at risk of sounding like a cornball it genuinely had a lot of heart. the conwoman is actually extremely charming, I was rooting for her in a big way, and her emotional journey goes so far beyond just falling in love with the goat farmer. I'll happily claim Happy Medium as my #1 romance of the year unless a challenger arises in the next two months, but it's not looking likely.

The Ones That Got Away (Stephen Graham Jones, 2010) - this is a collection of Graham's short stories that was published long before he became a huge name in horror with books like The Only Good Indians and My Heart Is a Chainsaw. and as much as I hate to say it, I think I personally prefer his longer form fiction. none of these short stories were bad, per se, and they're incredibly stylized and polished, but I think I like Jones' work a lot more when it has time to simmer out. I may have also been biased by the fact that I was desperately seeking something scary to read, because while Jones plays with some pretty narsty concepts, the horror tends not to hit until a last page reveal that recontextualizes everything that's come before. which is cool! but not scaring me as much as I wish it was.

The Salt Grows Heavy (Cassandra Khaw, 2023) - a lot of people told me I should read this because it stars a killer mermaid and a plague doctor, which are two aesthetic archetypes I love, and I will give this to Cassandra Khaw: I liked this a lot more than their other book, Nothing But Blackened Teeth. which is clearing a very low bar, since I didn't really like that book at all, but I do think Salt is genuinely a pretty marked improvement. the prose is still kind of torturously overwrought in many places and I desperately wish that Khaw would put the thesaurus away, but there's like. a Concept here. the core is fun.

Tell Me I'm Worthless (Alison Rumfitt, 2021) - this book is by far the scariest I read, because the horror is hatred and bigotry and a fucked up, evil house that brings out the very worst of everyone who steps inside of it. this book gets so fucked up and bloody and downright nasty in its exploration of the characters and the underlying bigotries that turn them against each other and drive them apart. I don't want to spoil anything, but the book follows a white trans woman named Alice and her mixed race, cis ex-girlfriend Ila. in the past Alice and Ila entered the evil house with their friend Hannah; that ended with Hannah dead and missing and Alice and Ila both scarred and traumatized, each certain that they were raped by the other. so that's what this book is like! not a lighthearted undertaking, but one that I could. not. put. down.

A Sunny Place for Shady People (Mariana Enríquez, trans. Megan McDowell 2024) - what is there to say? Enríquez is my short story queens, and her new release absolutely lived up to the precedent set for me by The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, which was originally published in 2009 but not translated into English until 2021. this collection is sooo aptly named, because many of the stories are obsessed with the terror of places: hotels haunted by memories, neighborhoods filled with ghosts, junkyards where bodies are hidden, towns abandoned and taken over by something sinister. also, completely detached from the quality of the writing, this book has one of the most striking covers I've encountered this year. the screaming yellow cover and bold purple text looked SO COOL under the purple string lights in my bedroom, which was a little +1 to my mood every time I saw it :)

Thirst (Marina Yuszczuk, trans. Heather Cleary 2024) - I think if I had to pick a favorite book from my spooktober reading, Thirst would edge Tell Me I'm Worthless out by just a hair, because I'm just SUCH a sucker for a modern gothic. this novel is split into two chunks. the first is narrated by a vampire (hinted to be one of Dracula's infamous brides) who flees the Old World and crosses the sea to find safety in a young Buenos Aires, where she struggles to figure out how to slake her thirst and escape from loneliness while avoiding detection in a modernizing world. ultimately she seals herself away in a crypt to escape the relentless pace of change around her, and that's when our perspective shifts. here we join a modern woman with a young son, an ex husband, and a dying mother, who's struggling under the pressure of grief as she watches her mother waste away. she ends up accidentally reawakening the vampire from the first half of the book, and you can imagine things get weirder from there. honestly, for me, the part of this book that's most brilliant is the latter half and it's deep meditation on grief, but the historical portion of the book also plays the vampire gothic to the hilt. delicious!

The Caped Crusade: Batman and the Rise of Nerd Culture (Glen Weldon, 2016) - this is a really fun piece of pop culture history, tracking how Batman came to be DC's little #1 it boy alongside the developing prominence of nerds and fandom as a cultural force to be reckoned with. as I said above, this was a reread for me, because I wanted to circle back now that I've actually read most of the major comic events discussed in the book. Weldon weaves between Batman in comics, TV, and movies to examine on how one portrayal influences another - for instance: the goofy '66 TV series saw a huge backlash in comics, which went way dark to reinforce a grim and serious Batman for 'real' fans who objected to the show making Batman a joke to much of the normie population - and I think that's a really neat lineage to trace. while I think Weldon is sometimes a bit too transparent with his own disdain for certain adaptations, he overall has an extremely levelheaded approach to Batfandom and a conversationally informative approach that I really enjoy. of particular note is the fact that Weldon is himself a gay man, making him one of the only writers I trust to talk about why he personally dislikes Joel Schmacher's movies without getting homophobic about it.

Luster (Raven Leilani, 2020) - this book!!! this was one of three novels recommended to me by Bonnie at Snowbound Books, and Bonnie if you are on this website I owe you my LIFE because you were 100% correct. I was obsessed from the very first line and it only gets better from there; Leilani's prose is painting a searing, witty Sistine Chapel to render her protagonist's miserable life in vivid color and detail. the short version is that our 23 year old hot mess finds herself jobless and homeless and ends up moving in with her married boyfriend who's 23 years her senior, where she forms a powerfully weird connection with his rage-filled wife and develops a bond with the couple's nerdy adopted daughter, as the two of them are the only Black women in the excessively white neighborhood. (spoiler alert: she also realizes that her married boyfriend is a fucking loser.) it's a simple enough premise but the execution is bananas in its flair. I couldn't believe this is Leilani's first and so far only novel; if she ever drops another I'll drag myself through barbed wire to get my hands on it.

Juniper & Thorn (Ava Reid, 2022) - I first became aware of this novel via twitter thread of Reid's that made its way to tumblr, in which Reid bemoaned being harangued by readers who were shocked that her dark fairy tale retelling had, you know, dark shit in it. having now read the book, I have to say: these people are fucking pussies. going into this book I was under the impression that there was full on-page father/daughter rape happening, which is actually NOT the case, so you can breathe easy if incest is a hard no for you. what's actually here is a wizard dad who's emotionally abusive, non-incestuous sexual abuse in the backstories of the main character and her love interest, some moderately explicit consensual sex, some bulimia, and [spoiler alert!] admittedly a lot more cannibalism than expected. it's not a lighthearted romp but it's also like, come on. come on. grow up. in terms of the actual book, rather than its controversy, I didn't LOVE it but I'm still compelled enough by the world building (particularly Jewish author Reid's Hueli people, who are a fairly obvious stand-in for Jews down to people claiming that they have horns and using phrenology to prove the have an unfair advantage at making money) that I'm going to check out Reid's earlier novel, The Wolf and the Woodsman, a novel set in the same world. it felt a little repetitive in places and the characters were largely pretty predictable, both of which may be a byproduct of trying to encapsulate the vibe of a classic fairy tale, but I had a good time reading it.

[roomwithanopenfire]

2024 Writing Round Up

Happy last day of 2024!! I’ve been loving seeing everyone’s writing and art and doll round ups making their way around, but I waited until the very last second because I posted chapters of fic today ahaha

Thanks for tagging me: @run-for-chamo-miles @drowninginships, @monbons @emeryhall @confused-bi-queer

@rimeswithpurple @nausikaaa @prettygoododds @artsyunderstudy @noblecorgi

@alexalexinii @ileadacharmedlife and @best--dress

Rest of the post is under the cut because it is so long. 

FIC’S I’VE POSTED

First, I’ve posted 28 fics this year! 24 for them for Carry On, and 4 of them for Stranger Things. (One of the Stranger Things ones was technically posted last year, but I posted the majority of it this year, so I’m counting it for 2024.) 21 of these fics were for the Carry On Countdown. 2 of those fics are long completed multichapter projects, and 1 is a long uncompleted multichapter project.

According to AO3, I’ve posted 219,532 words this year, but we can subtract about 14.8k from that because AO3 counts work totals based on date updated and I posted the first 2 chapters of No Sweeter Drug in 2023 (so it’s actually 204,704) . This brings my total words on ao3 up to 288,701, so you can see how I really went crazy this year.

No Sweeter Drug (than just giving you my love) - 60k, Stranger Things, Nancy/Robin. Nancy and Robin had a whirlwind summer romance before their sophomore year, but Nancy left her behind, because Nancy Wheeler doesn’t date girls. But after the Upside Down, Nancy finds herself questioning who she even is. And she has to come to terms with her feelings for one Robin Buckley. This is the first stranger things fic I ever posted and I loved writing it. Seriously, I had so much fun with this fic. I’m pretty sure some of my best prose is in this one.

Proof of Life - 80k, Carry On, Simon/Baz. Vampires attacked Watford and Baz was Turned, but this time Natasha Pitch lived. What would Baz’s life be like growing up with his mother? How would Natasha feel about her son’s… condition? And what happens when you throw the Mage’s Heir into the mix? Omggg I had the best time with this fic. I’d been working on this for so long, it was absolutely insane to finally start posting it in March of this year. Thanks to @demadogs for betaing this and hyping me up so much, this fic wouldn’t be half as good without her. Also I got to join the fandom more when I started posting this fic, and I loved meeting all of you so much <3

Just Come Along - 8k, Stranger Things, Steve/Eddie. Steve’s estranged grandfather dies, and he’s the only one in his family who cares enough to make the trip. Eddie, despite barely being friends with Steve, agrees to come with. Along the way, secrets are shared, memories are made, and Eddie and Steve become closer than ever before… I wrote this for the Steddie Summer Exchange and it was my first time doing a fandom event! I had so much fun!!

The Way We Are - WIP, 11k, Carry On, Simon/Baz. Baz and Simon meet in a coffee shop not knowing that one of them is a vampire and the other a vampire hunter. After a tense encounter, both of them are left with questions about who they are and their morality. And as if that’s not enough, neither of them can stop thinking about the other… My COBB fic with @alexalexinii!! This is the only WIP I have to carry over into the new year, and I’m hoping to finish it up soon. I’m literally obsessed with the themes I have in this fic and I want to get them right.

i want an icee and a nice girl to date - 5k, Stranger Things, Robin/Nancy. Nancy doesn't know why Robin in her 8am class gets on her nerves. Maybe it's because she talks too much for so early in the morning. Maybe it's because she didn't seem appreciative of Nancy sharing her textbook with her. Or maybe there's no good reason at all. Eddie thinks Nancy's only two options are to either become enemies with Robin or fall in love with her. Nancy thinks Eddie's full of shit. But when she ends up in a dark movie theater with Robin, Nancy starts to see her in a new way… My fic for the Stranger Things Sapphic Big Bang with @ddoonnccnn !! I loved this little college AU and the art for it is ADORABLE (seriously, click on the fic just to look at the art, trust)

we can go forever - 3k, Stranger Things, Robin/Nancy. “I came from the ocean,” she said, like she was sharing a great secret. “That’s where I live.” 12-year-old Nancy does not believe her. There's no way that this girl is actually some sort of creature... right? Gift fic for @sweetronancer !! Percy ily and I wish you the bestest new year ever <333

What to Bring to An Abandoned Planet - 12k, Carry On, Multi (Simon/Baz, Penny/Shep and like a lot of friendships) Agatha, Baz, and Trixie are a small yet mighty group of space pirates who take down a transporter ship that holds Penelope, Shepard, and Simon on their way to relocating to a new planet. But once Agatha’s mighty ship—the SC Comet—falls way to space debris, the six of them have to learn to work together to survive on an uninhabited planet. I wrote this for @agni-ashes for the Secret Snowflake Exchange and I had wayyyy too much fun with this AU.

And then I wrote all 30 prompts for the Carry On Countdown!! This ended up being 21 fics, but here are a few of my favorites.

Agatha Wellbelove and the Six Sigils - 10k, Agatha gen fic. When Agatha ends up in a study in the White Chapel, she doesn’t think it’s going to change her life forever. When she finds a bag of coins with magickal sigils on them, she certainly doesn’t think it’s going to mean anything important to her. But when she starts having visions of the future… Well, she’s got to do something about it. I love Agatha actually. I find her character so fascinating. I had so much fun exploring her here, and I hope to write more about her in the future!

Some Bright Morning - 3k, Lucy & Simon. Lucy’s baby is the Chosen One. What does that mean? Why is he taking Lucy’s magic? What will Davy do to a child like that? Not feeling safe and not knowing what to do, Lucy turns to an old friend. I loved writing this fic so much!

i wanna go outside but i’m terrified it might be cold or too hot or too radioactive - 1.6k, Simon/Baz. Simon and Baz are the only ones left at Watford during Christmas break. Therefore, when the nuclear apocalypse hits, they are trapped in a bunker with only each other as company. Will they become friends or kill each other? Only time will tell… This was SO much fun to write. I think I had the most fun with this one out of all the Countdown fics.

I’m not going to link anymore, but I also wrote a GBBO au, a Penny turns into a vampire fic, a Mordelia POV fic that I actually LOVE, a short and sad Fiona/Ebb fic, a couple Fiona & small Baz fics, a 2nd person POV humdrum fic, and several other ones that I’m really proud off. I can’t believe I was able to finish the entire countdown, I’m so proud of myself!!

WORDS I’VE WRITTEN

I’ve also kept track of how many words I wrote monthly this year! I only started using a spreadsheet to keep track in mid-March, so the early months are retroactive and are probably underestimated compared to the middle ones. I also didn’t keep as good track each day in Sept-Dec, but I still feel that’s fairly accurate overall, I just don’t know my daily totals.  So check out my chart and graph!!

That’s a total of 186,286 words!!

I like looking at this because I can see where my motivation dropped off. When school started in September there was a huge dip, but I picked back up in November with the countdown fics! April looks really low, but it was a month of editing so I still did lots! Also, I posted more words than I wrote, which seems really silly, but I wrote all of No Sweeter Drug in 2023 same with most of Proof of Life

And now, because this post isn’t long enough already…

FUN FACTS

Of the days I kept track of my daily word totals (April-August), the day I wrote the most words was August 13th. I wrote 5,856 words of a still unposted Farcille smut fic. It’s extremely nsfw and I wrote almost all of these words in the backseat of a car (my parents were in the front) after driving back home from my out-of-state doctor’s appointments. I cooked up the whole idea while in an MRI machine lolll. (I will post it one day but it turns out editing smut is a lot less fun than writing smut)

Throughout the course of this year, my favorite writing font switched from Georgia to Lora. I love Lora so much now, she’s so cunty.

When I’m writing, chances are I’m listening to one of 3 things. This absolutely perfect playlist on youtube—I do my best writing with this but sometimes I’m not in the mood; one of two albums by David Bowie (1 or 2); or my vocaloid playlist (which i’m still curating, one day when it’s perfect and like 10 hours long i’ll share it)

Google docs new tab system is a lifesaver!! I could fit all of my COC fics on the same google doc, I love it. You don’t even want to know how many different documents I’d have for one fic before this system was introduced.

(Kind of unrelated, but I also started journaling late 2024 and now I can’t stop. Does this make me cooler? Perhaps not, but offloading my thoughts onto a page is very useful. Also I put quotes and doodles in there.)

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2025

I’ll be bringing one WIP fic from this year into 2025—The Way We Are. I honestly thought I would have finished it by now, but I lost my writing motivation and then gained it only for COC, but I’m hoping to finish writing the last two chapters soon. (I’ve told myself I can’t post anymore  of it until I finish writing it, which maybe wasn’t a good idea but oh well). I genuinely love this fic and the themes I explore in it, so I hope to finish and post more soon!

My main goal for 2025 is to just keep writing. I try to have a daily goal of at least 200 words a day, and the months where I stuck to that goal are some of the ones where I wrote the most. It takes me about 200 words to get into the flow and want to keep writing, so it ends up really effective. I have a newer, sexier, writing tracker spreadsheet for 2025 and I feel very inspired to fill it up. 

If you read this whole thing, I love you! This was a yap yet so it ended up long, so I'm hiding the sappiness down here. I've had SO much fun joining the fandom this year. I love and appreciate all of you, from the first time I was tagged in a wipsday on here, to everyone who's commented on my fics. The Carry On fandom truly is the bestest ever, you guys are so encouraging and make me want to keep writing forever and ever <3

I’m pretty sure most people who’ve wanted to have done this already, but be tagged anyways (sorry if I missed you if you've already done this):

@aristocratic-otter @arthurkko @beastmonstertitan @blackberrysummerblog @bookishbroadwayandblind

@bookish-bogwitch @brendughh @brilla-brilla-estrellita @cccloudsss (tyyyy for being such a good friend and the fastest beta everrrr) @cutestkilla

@facewithoutheart @fiend-for-culture @horsesarenotdeer @hushed-chorus @iamamythologicalcreature

@larkral @meanjeansjeans @m1ndwinder @raenestee @rbkzz

@shrekgogurt @skee3000 @supercutedinosaurs @talentpiper11 @thewholelemon

@valeffelees @you-remind-me-of-the-babe @argumentativeantitheticalg

[lambergeier]

2024 comics post

broooooooooooo. what the fuck HAPPENED.

the actual cause of all this: i read some really funny fic by ao3 user deadchannelradio, then i got emma to watch some old teen titans with me, then we watched the under the red hood movie, then i read some more fanfiction, almost entirely bad, then i caved and checked what the public library had available to borrow comics-wise. which turned out to be a lot. and then i bought the DCU subscription. and now here we are. this is going to be in approximately chrono order, and there will be no bolded recommendations. read only what big 2 comics you can justify to god.

tom taylor's nightwing, vols. 1-5 (issues 78-105 i think) plus fear state. my first foray back into big 2 comics since my mcu-era marvel situation in high school and college. haha, these are kinda cute, i thought. simplistic, but the art is gorgeous, i said. i would be happy to buy these as floppies at my local store, i theorized. like some kind of idiot. like some kind of naive child.

batman/superman: world's finest, #1-ongoing. waid and mora just too fucking good. i love nonsense, and to put nonsense in my mouth. would actually consider buying the first volume as a tpb it's so fun except for the massive, classically racist, unforced L of making another culture's normal nuanced folk hero (ne'zha) into a demon from hell for just like, no reason. hello? also love mark waid just doing whatever the fuck he wants with the kingdom come continuity. it's his house. no one can stop him. still reading this one as new issues go up on DCU.

world's finest: teen titans, #1-6. loved this also. i also haven't read any og teen titans (emma read all of pre-crisis NTT while i was reading nightwing, so the early children remain firmly in her realm of expertise) but she also agreed that it was cute. waid is just fun. like what are we supposed to do.

shazam 2023, #1-6. see above re: waid and his powers. big shout out to dan mora, as ever, but BIIIIIG shout out to colorist alejandro sanchez, who i truly think made this arc. girl those WATERCOLOR EFFECTS!!

robin 2021, #1-17. read this and super sons at about the same time, officially dipping my toe into the damian waters. solid, loved the issue of all the other robins chasing after him, him and dick love each other for REAL. i also like his little goth girlfriend, and his manga habit. felt like a kinda ham-fisted attempt to give damian his own story without being willing to set him up with his own status quo, a la bludhaven, but what can you do.

super sons, #1-16. children's comics for sure, but with a surprising amount of blood in them? wasn't quite certain of the marketing angle on that, but i LOVED jon and damian they are BABIES. i also like every time clark is like, my son, please, never listen to damian. his father is a lunatic. for sure never listen to his father either. that was cute. shame this was cut so short lmao.

tim drake: robin, #1-6. offensively, offensively bad. i didn't even really know tim yet but this was like. please christ in heaven gay people have to be worthier of better comics than this.

batgirl 2000, #1-37. i know this is widely-loved, but it actually didn't get me until like #12 or so? if that? i love cass, but the art was rough for me, and it couldn't carry me for the early non-verbal comics. her shit with shiva was great tho. cass you are fully insane my girl

under the red hood and lost days. ICONIC!! JASON TODD MY RATIONAL KING!!!

robins: being robin. did not like this. trite. also did not like dick's manbun: a real issue.

batman: year one. oughhhhh what if the classics are good actually. and unfortunately. mazzucchelli and lewis are so fucking good, like lewis in particular..... what even is left to be said. the art alone is Just That Good. also bruce wayne and jim gordon are kissing with tongue for real

robin: year one. mmmmmm good. dick grayson your problems. also i still love harvey dent. possibly my favorite batman villain. symptom of having watched a lot of batman begins/read my one random copy of the long halloween an extensive number of times as a teen

batgirl: year one. had some great moments, but did not like it nearly as much as robin y1. i do think this is due to the sexism. i like when babs punched infant dick in the solar plexus tho!

batman: urban legends - specifically the cheer arc with jason. i really liked this but i'm not sure i'll feel the same in a year or so. i think this was a pretty deft way to get jason to drop lethal violence without betraying his own justified belief in the power of lethal violence (rational king), and thus bring him back into the family fold, but of course bringing him back into the fold is itself a fraught project, and his character as a whole is so uncertain (as i understand) since the new 52 so like. i think it did what it was trying to do quite well (and i loved how insane bruce appeared! compared to jason!) but should it have been trying to do all that? an open question!

devin grayson's gotham knights, #1-24. WELL AS IT WOULD HAPPEN THESE ARE MAYBE THE BEST BATCOMICS I READ ALL YEAR. listen i am so aware of devin grayson's many sins. but these are the original "what does it mean for bruce to have all these fucking teenagers" comics, and, so far in my reading, they remain the undisputed best. everyone's just been rehashing her since, and it hasn't been nearly as good. she's got the touch (profound fandom-aligned insanities)

batman: murderer/fugitive. put an order in for the recently-released 1100 page $125 omnibus just this afternoon. It's Good.

robin vol 1: reborn (tim drake). idk the exact issues on this, collects tim's first few post-tlpod batman issues, plus his first miniseries. tim drake by god do i care you.

lmao okay the post editor is starting to lag like a motherfucker. posting this then putting the next half in a reblog

[phishyyphish]

2024 summary !!

Agh !! Yay !! Yippee !!

I dunno how to feel about 2025 coming up, that's gonna be....crazy to put it simply?

But yeah, apart from a few things, 2024 was a really good year.

On the left , there's a bunch of my art from this year + names of a few OCs !! The one on the bottom left is my most recent (on that side) and probably the digital piece I'm most proud of. To the right of the star on the bottom is a poster for Jazmin Bean's world tour which I got to go to and I'm still super happy about it !!

On the top it lists the fandoms I've been in and I'm currently in.

Then the two silly characters kinda in the middle / with the white background are my two current main sonas !! I was gonna add a tiny picture of my Vine Staff inspired one but forgot :(

Happy (early) new years yall

I dunno how to feel about 2025 coming up, that's gonna be....crazy to put it simply?

But yeah, apart from a few things, 2024 was a really good year.

thank you to all my moots even if I don't know you well :3

@cerpiscool @vinestaffandshuriken @kaleiidoskope @bluu3berry @joonebugg @byt3-0nline @kuni-dreamer @best-baker-of-crossroads @bluepr1ntyy // sorry if I forgot anyone !! this is off the top of my head

[mercyillustrator]

Happy belated Birthday to three of my mutuals ^w^

My apologies for short delay also for our belated birthday from few days ago. I thank God I survived to this day like any other day ^w^

Also before wrapping this year of 2024 up I wanna to giving out to everyone mutuals/followers/friends/ and the people who saw me Thank you all so much for being there for me by supporting me and interact with me it really so much to me and it’s crazy that I thought I was an only one who was born in December 27th then I found my birthdays troops who was born in the same month and same day as me.. I’m thankful that I get an opportunity to interact and chat with some of the people that I know on discord and other platforms, be on art fight and fun Kirby events like I ever dream of. Though life feels like a stormy weather sometimes like challenges that we face everyday but I’m happy that all made it. I almost give up as an artist, story writer and animator due to AI and stuff going on but I manage came back stronger then ever. It makes me feel that I do matter. I’m happy for this year comes to wonderful experience with all the joy, fun, and excitement also happy that I went from being shy to social butterfly. I hope we all celebrate this special moment together that we never forget. I’m trying not to get too emotional but you guys are like my family how much I love you guys til the end of times but let’s make the year 2025 to be our year. 🫰🏼💜💙

Belated birthday goes to @kirbybecomesastarwarrior

KBASW way back before I had tumblr I remember when I first saw your art on google from 7 years ago when I was around in my 9th grade year then years later I’m happy that it’s you ever since we became mutuals since 2023 and surprised when you interact with me as well ^^ your an amazing story writer with all AU characters, OCs, GSA knights and all incredible phenomenal work also I drew your AU GSA even Celestine as plushies :]



Belated birthday gift goes to @michiriii

Michi when I first saw your art on google to look up GSA knights it was back in late 2021 early 2022 I was happy to be back on the GSA phase that restored me my youth years ever since I was in the art hiatus from my anime drawings also I added Dragato and Falspar those birthday figures cuz I wanna to add smt cute :3

Bailey your really guy and it was nice to meet you and Kachi like for real your amazing and never give up for being amazing gamer @gundam-bailey

I wanna to say thank you all so much for the birthday wishes for past few days ago and I’m 22 crazy that everyone that I was 15-17 but really I feel yea I miss being in my teenage years also here’s my sona and my cat 💜💙 got the goods like Japanese candies, art supplies, had a lot of fun with families, and new meta knight plushie as well.

Happy New Year to everybody around the world - 💠🎨Mercy🎨💠

[m2nlight]

To my dearest⭐️💜

First, i wanna thank you anyone who's supporting my art reblog or like was really appreciate!♡

Second of all i wanna share some of my life's story, because it's kind of very very hardest time in my entire life. It's a very long one and might trigger someone. This one may not sound soft. I'm not eating much and can't sleep these past few day.

My dearest father was pass away on august 9th 2024 it's an accident and so sudden, too sudden to say. I'm not gonna detail any of the injured much but, his head got fractured skull and like that the peice of broken bone was prick into his brain. One side of his face was getting heavy damge. That make his brain bleeding so much. The doctor told that's really hard for the surgery. He may not alive on the process or even if he did, he might not be able to live like a normal people. The last minute i got to hold his hand he still have a reflex back like just a little jerky and he still breathing. So the doctor say we should wait 2-3 days to see if he gonna come back. The worst nightmare came in the early moring in the next day. The funeral was start in same the day too. And here i am, right now the money or work was hard to find for me since i don't do much just drawing. I am nobody artist and money meant to be for my food, my apartment and eveything else. Before this, my father was one who help me out because my mental health make it hard to start living by my own. And the worstest part of this accident is my birthday is in this month in a few weeks. My father wasn't here to blessing me like i wish.

The end of this is i will live for my important father's wish. He's doing so hard to help me up even if he can't understand me. He's doing all the hard work just for his important daughter. He find the happy in working because his child. Everything was hard, it's too heavy but thank to my friend @inx404 was there for every second. There's much more detail and situation that happen but i cut this short as much as i can. But i will make it, my father wish so hard for me to live happily and can stand by my own.

For anyone who read untill there. Thank you so much, i really appreciate it. If anyone want to give some help. Blessing my father to gone for a good rest is really appreciate.

And more notice is i need y'all opinion if i should open emergancy commission in tumblr, start with 15$ does that too high? By the way, the funeral wasn't end yet.

In the end, thank you for everything from my dearest father and y'all. My heart was hurt so bad so i really can't think of any words to say but thank you really. 💜🌹

[pastel-rights]

I LOVE your art style! How did you came up with it?

huh? my art style??? uhhh, i mean i uhhhh if you want, i can explain how I got to this point but. sometimes, things just. happen yknow???

honestly my old art compared to the more recent of what I've done probably looks. very very jarring side by side since it looks like it was drawn by completely different people lol. For example, look at this early 2017 character concept verse a late (November) 2024 character concept.

It's. Definitely a lot to take in so uhm. Buckle up! [cue a heavy metal version of bye-bye-bye playing for atmosphere reasons]

So, I've been drawing as a hobby since about... 2009 give or take? However, the earliest art I have on hand is probably from... 2016 or 2015 tbh??? Although, I only really started keeping a fr fr log of my art from 2019 and onwards so, let's start with what I actually have to show.

It's all about the basics, anon!

Growing up, my art was inspired by the shows I watched growing up! in particular, shows like "Codename: Kids Next Door" and "Tom and Jerry" were my rock in childhood times (since I wasn't allowed to watch Spongebob until I was much older and a majority of my "childhood" tv shows didn't start airing until later in my life, like Bubble Guppies (which aired in 2011) and Team Umizoomi and Octonauts (which both released in 2010) which, by then, the television was run by my younger brother's needs mostly, and I didn't get a say.)

So, I guess you could say my art was inspired by those two shows mostly???? of course, not... fully? hold on let me show you guys the earliest art I have to work with here-

these are all from 2019 since it's the furthest back I was able to save my art but. Looking at it, it doesn't look like it was inspired in the way artists are normally inspired by their environment. At least, that's not how it feels to me.

my art at this point was very... a lot of it was traditional in comparison to now, for starters. The color grades are completely off, the lining is. interesting. A lot of one shot one result type of shenanigans. Of course, it shares its origin with my childhood entertainment in general, which is being very cartoonish in style! On traditional grounds, I fucked around with a lot of different methods, some just pencil, some with markers, blah blah blah yada yada yada.

which, character design is my passion /ref if you couldn't tell. but my art style has always been very cartoonish and stylized, even in my earliest days. Big eyes, wild hair styles, noodly limbs, you know, the cartoonist hallmarks! If nothing else, my art style is more reflective of who I am as a person?? like the cartoons that formed me, it's very expressive and full of color and whimsy and in its own way, it's my way of thanking the world that taught me happiness and joy, and I draw to give others that same feeling.

Whether that be my friends' OCs or silly shitposts, I draw for the joy others get seeing it! Here look at this picture of my friend (@sxftriina)'s OC, Ocean, I draw way way back when lol

...

but at some point, I realized. My art didn't make me happy anymore. I didn't have fun drawing anymore. and it just became more of a chore to make than a fun hobby or a good time. I couldn't find the joy in art anymore. And I couldn't create anything I was proud of either.

I got stuck. It didn't matter what I drew, what things I tried. I couldn't make myself happy again. and while my art might not have suffered.

I did.

art was nothing more than a chore. something I had to do because I wasn't good for anything else.

and it made me severely depressed, among other things happening during those times.

so what does a burnt out depressed artist do in crisis times??????????

...

he joins tumblr, of course.

I wish I was joking. I'm not.

anyways so it was like 4am and I was like "let me join tumblr why the hell not maybe I'll find something there" and uhm. well I didn't find anything initially. and every day was as depressing as the last, and I eventually just. felt like giving up. I ran an askblog and drew a ton still because while it made me unhappy, I felt unhappier just. doing nothing. Lesser of two evils I suppose?

that was until I uh. I met someone really special to me. Even now.

if you're reading this, uh. hi lupi!

This was around the time I found Identity Five at the end of 2020, and began drawing fanart for the game, which restored... some joy to art? Not completely, but, I wasn't so miserable drawing during this time of my life. It felt like a chore still, but, at least now I was having some semblance of fun doing it. Not completely fun though... I was still stuck in a funk. I didn't know why.

And then, I met Lupi. At the time, she was following me through her askblog account (she still does) and I got curious and decided to check it out for myself and. I think if I never checked out Lupi's blog that day, my art wouldn't have taken the direction it did, and, I would have never regained my love for my craft.

Of course, I feel silly even talking about it so... I took a different direction with my art after scrolling through Lupi's art, which sometimes I'll do, even to this day just for fun sake. And this time... I don't know.

It just felt different this time. It wasn't the best, and it certainly wasn't easy either. But for the first time in over a year... I had genuine fun drawing again. No negative feelings attached.

Just... fun.

A lot of fun at that. A lot of things from this era of my style stuck. Like... a looooot. My color choices, my mini style, the flow, a lot of what I learned from this era stuck with me, even now.

it retains so much of the past yet it means so much more. it's still cartoonish, still small and squashed, funky hairstyles, noodle limbs, fun clothing... the whole nine yards.

Of course... this is only 2021 art. My art now, while similar... it's not the same. And it's all thanks to ONE RED HAIRED MOTHERFUCKER. not ginger, red haired. apples are red, not orange. /ref

It was the first time in. several years that I've drawn something just for me. Even if it was something small and silly while waiting for an after-school activity to start. It was something I remember really fondly, a feeling that wasn't just fun but. actual joy.

Not only that but, for as simple as it is, it marked the start of a very, very... very long long of stylization like never before. You take what makes you happy... piece by piece, bit by bit...

you learn... you grow... you improve upon skills you have... body language, expression, detail... all those things. You meet some really cool people along the way... you talk, you laugh, you cry.

you get inspired and you want to show them something new, something cool... and in doing so, you make something you never thought was possible. Not with your skills, and not in a million years.

But, you learn. you laugh. you watch. you grow.

you figure out what you like. cool colors, fun dynamics, shading, lighting, storylines... things like that. you inspire others, and those people inspire you in turn.

you learn some cool new poses, you draw some fun fanart for your friends aus, you try new things and those end up sticking.

sometimes it's just you and one other person, who stuck through, watching you draw until a piece's very end. because they like you for you. and they care. sometimes they never leave your side, and they continue to inspire you to this very day.

you have fun with what youre doing. there's not really any need to rush, you know? you look at new media, you talk to the people you care about the most, you make things to surprise them with. and they're happy. and you're happy.

and you want to keep drawing.

but you can't forget to draw for yourself sometimes. something just for you that others can enjoy, but, it wasn't made for others. it was made because you love yourself and you deserve something special. it's important to draw what you want for yourself.

and sometimes, it becomes your staple.

you put your best foot forward, you give it everything you've got! because it's not a chore. it's fun. it's a hobby.

and it makes you happy. your art becomes recognizable, people compliment it and enjoy its presence. even in passing.

...

I love my art style too, anon. i know its been a long while of me talking. telling my story, my experience with my art. how it built me. how it ruined me. and how I found myself again.

I didn't know how to answer your question when I first got this ask.

Because, I didn't know how I came up with it. In my mind, it just happened. But, I think I have an answer for you now.

For real this time.

My art style is a culmination of everything and everyone I love. Navi, Pins, Beth, Yuu, Tae, Klai, Joe, Rina, Lupi, Four, pretty much everyone I surround myself with on a day to day basis. Bit by bit, piece by piece, my art style is fueled by the love I have for my friends.

Every improvement over the years has all been so I can show them something fun, something new. So I can keep surprising them with each new piece I do.

But, it's not just my friends.

It's you too, anon. Whoever you are. Wherever you are. Every like, every reblog, every comment and compliment. Every ask, every live reaction.

Thank you.

Thank you for helping me find my joy again. I hope I didn't disappoint.

[moistvonlipwig]

Fandom Wrap-Up 2024

Total words of fanfiction published: 25,807

Fandoms written for: Once Upon a Time, Supergirl, Teen Wolf

Events participated in: Scottuary 2024, OUAT Appreciation Week 2024

Fanfic I’m proudest of: This one has to go to my Supergirl fic "the most recent evidence seems to favor the sea gulls" (AO3 | SquidgeWorld), not just because it's long as hell and covers a ton of ground but also because I really challenged myself to do new things with it (choose-your-own-adventure format! POV of a character whose canon version I sometimes struggle to really grasp!) and I think the end result turned out really well. So that's definitely my magnum opus for the year.

Other fanworks I’m proudest of: I'm really proud of my BtVS meta "Eternity, Growing Up, and Why Buffy Keeps Dating Vampires"; I think it's one of my best analyses ever. I really love this Amphibia edit I made to Mary Ruefle's poem "The Tenor of Your Yes." I think this OUAT edit showing the main characters as animals is just plain cute, frankly. And I'm incredibly happy with my second ever fanvid, my Amphibia AMV “In the 99” (Tumblr | YouTube), which was more ambitious than my first fanvid and IMO has smoother editing.

Events I’m looking forward to next year: Scottuary 2025, High/Low Zine

Projects for next year: Aside from my projects for the aforementioned events, probably my biggest priority for next year is finishing my Steven Universe WIP "Hard But Brittle," which I started almost two years ago at this point. I also have a Buffyverse fic and a Teen Wolf fic that I've made good progress on that I hope to publish relatively early in the year. I also have yet to finish out my fics from the Year of the OTP 2023 event; I got one of them done this year, but I still have four left. I know the basic premises of all of them at this point, I just have to write them. And...I have a ton of other WIPs that may or may not see the light of day in 2025, I guess we'll have to see what happens. I'm also planning 2 AMVs that I'm hoping to put out next year -- one for Revolutionary Girl Utena and one for Adventure Time. I'm super excited about both of them, but it takes me a while to plan AMVs, so I'm not sure when they'll actually get published.

I’m no-pressure tagging:

@nocticola, @02511213942, @loisfreakinglane, @jioinfocommlimited, @sideguitars

@spikeface, @rhyslahey, @all-seeing-ifer, @coraniaid

...& anyone else who wants to do an end-of-year fandom retrospective, whether it’s about fic, art, gifs, vids, meta, or whatever other preferred medium you work in. Feel free to use whatever format you want, you don’t have to use mine. But tag me if you do it! :)

[waywardsou2]

This won't be posted for a few days since I'm writing it early but it's late and I'm feeling sentimental.

This year...well this year has been something

I would say it's been my best in the past 4 years. Not to say I didn't have my low points but they aren't as low as they have been before.

And I'm glad to say I actually enjoyed living. I discovered things about myself, some things I liked and others I didn't. But that's ok because knowing myself is better than living in the body of a stranger.

I learnt to actually style my clothing and make myself look more masculine. I felt so comfortable in my skin and my identity.

I've met new people. Not all of them are the best but it's more than I would have dare to do a year ago

I met my best friends @desired-misery and @raetastic07 the two people I talk to on the daily that never fail to make me happy.

I'm so happy to have met them. It's by pure chance and fate that we met. That we happened to be online in the same circles at the same time to meet. And I'm so glad we did

I moved schools, got more secure in my job, bought a car. Started planning more of my future. It's been so much change. And usually I would hate that but honestly it's given me so much freedom. I feel more whole. More human and more me. It's fantastic.

I've achieved some of my goals. My art and writing skills have sky rocketed.

My hyperfixations have been many and varying which as been fun

Honestly this is the first time in...most of my life that I've truely felt alive!

I reconnected with my cousin and it's been great seeing her. I've gotten to know more about my family and I didn't think I would ever really know the people in my life because that's just how my family was. But I did.

I got closer with my mum and realised some things about my dad

...it's all so alive in ways I never realised were possible.

Being depressed is like looking in only black and white. And only when you wake up do you realise how many colours there are...it's incredible.

Oh I also started a fucking YouTube channel. And did my own tumbler event. how crazy is this too?

Oh this really has been a good year. I'll be sad to see 2024 go. But in the words of Stan Lee Excelsior

Welp I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. So I will see you all next year

Bye 👋

[3lkin]

Hey y'all. 2024's almost done, ain't that somethin. what a wild year.

(sappy stuff under the cut)

So. Here we are. December 24th, wowza.

Honestly, Imma just start out by saying thank you. Thank you to all the people who followed, or liked my work or reblogged, or even just saw it in passing and kept on scrolling. Thank you to anyone who saw any of my friend's work, or even just existed in the mcyt community. Y’all are my inspirations, and I don’t think I would be where I’m at right now without the incredible support I’ve gotten this past year, especially from my friends over on the Desert Life SMP <3

I wasn’t really sure if I actually wanted to post this over here originally. The art I tend to post are the pieces I’m the most proud of. I don’t like posting sketches or unfinished pieces because they feel messy, or like I didn’t try hard enough. But I also think it’s a valuable thing to show progress, and show where you came from as an artist, as short a timeline as 1 year might be.

Funnily enough, when 2024 first hit, I was the least involved in the mcyt community that I’d been since 2020. I hadn’t really watched Secret Life, I was sort of scooting away from the QSMP, and I was barely paying attention to Hermitcraft (dark times, I know). So what was I up to early 2024 in my art journey? Well, I was finishing up my first Outerwilds animatic (which, as of yesterday, just crossed 4k views WHAT THE FU-). It’s strange, because I remember when working on it, I made the choice not to show the main, player, characters face til the very end, which one may classify as stylistic, but nonono, I just really hated drawing humanoids lmao.

When I finally put that animatic to bed, I wanted to pick up a new project, and for some weird reason, even though I wasn’t really even paying attention to the mcyt community at that time, I drafted up a Life Series Winners animatic. And that’s basically the only thing I worked on, February, March, and April. Looking back on all that now, I’m still really proud of what I set out to make. At the time, I know how happy I was with that style, and how excited I’d been when I first figured out how to tween and started attempting a bit of animation. That animatic got me a place on my first MAP, where I met so many wonderful people, many of which are such large parts of my life now. And after that, the year just took off.

throughout June and July, I participated in Art Fight for the first time, and was exposed to so many incredible artists. I went back to using line art, relearned how to shade and utilize color. August hit, and I was convinced to jump on Tumblr. Was that a good decision? Um. Well it certainly fueled the Desert Duo brainrot I’ll tell ya that. In all truth tho, having the ability to show my work to the wider community was something I didn’t really have up until that point, and seeing how excited people were about Wild Life or other mcyt goings-ons was such a cool experience.

If someone walked up to January 2024 Elkin, and showed her the last three months of work I’ve done, I don’t think in her wildest dreams they would ever think it was them who was going to make it. I’m honestly so proud of where I’m at with my art right now, and how far I’ve come over just this past year. Whether it’s through colors, anatomy, composition, effects, I’ve learned so much from so many wonderful people, and I can’t thank them enough for being such large inspirations.

Damn this got long fast lmao, was meant to be only a couple paragraphs :/ If for some reason you’ve made it all the way down this post, thank you to you as well, for taking the time to be here and read this absolutely blabber. Hope all y’all have a wonderful holiday season, and a happy New Year. Here’s to 2025 :)

[umlewis]

Hamilton: Ferrari F1 move wouldn’t have happened without Vasseur

Lewis Hamilton has confirmed that his move to the Ferrari Formula 1 team in 2025 wouldn’t have happened without the presence of team principal Fred Vasseur.

Hamilton drove for the Frenchman’s ASM F3 team in 2005, winning the European title. The following year he graduated to GP2 with Vasseur’s rebranded ART GP outfit, again winning the championship, before moving into F1 with McLaren. Inevitably, when Vasseur joined Ferrari at the start of 2023 there was speculation that he might attempt to leverage his good relationship with Hamilton in order to lure him away from Mercedes. That’s what eventually transpired, with the pieces falling into place early this year and Hamilton opting out of the second year of his contract. "I've got a great relationship with Fred," said Hamilton when asked by Autosport if Vasseur was the only person who could have convinced him to join Ferrari. "Obviously I raced with him in F2 and we had amazing success in F3, and also in GP2. That's really where the foundation of our relationship started. We always remained in touch. I thought that was going to be an amazing team manager at some stage and progress to F1, but at the time, he wasn't interested in that. It was really cool to see him step into the Alfa team. Then, when he got the job at Ferrari, I was just so happy for him. I think just the stars aligned. I think it really wouldn't have happened without him, so I'm really grateful and really excited about the work that he's doing there."

Hamilton stressed that when he first re-signed for Mercedes in August, he was still fully committed to staying with the team for two further years; however, he changed his mind over the winter. "Obviously in the summer I signed, and obviously at that time I saw my future with Mercedes," he said. "But an opportunity came up at the end of the year and I decided to take it. I feel like it was obviously the hardest decision I think I've ever had to make. I've been with Mercedes, I think it's like 26 years they've supported me, and we've had an absolutely incredible journey together. We've created history within the sport, and it's something I take a lot of pride in, and I'm very proud of what we've achieved. But I think, ultimately, I'm writing my story. And I felt like it was time to start a new chapter." Shortly after the news was announced, Hamilton said on social media that it was a "childhood dream" to one day drive for Ferrari. Expanding on the appeal of the team, he said: "For every driver growing up, watching the history, watching Michael Schumacher in his prime, I think probably all of us sit in our garage and see the screen pop up and you see the driver in the red car and you wonder what it would be like to be surrounded by the red. You go to the Italian GP and you see a sea of red Ferrari fans, and you can only stand in awe of that. It's a team that's not had like huge success, really, since mostly from Michael's days, but since 2007. I saw it as a huge challenge. Without a doubt, even as a kid, I used to play in [computer game] GP2 as Michael in that car, as my foot in that car. It definitely is a dream, and I'm really, really excited about it." Hamilton also confirmed he has never been to Ferrari’s Maranello base. "I have not," he said. "I bought my first Ferrari in 2010 I think, as a present to myself. I don't have it anymore. But I didn't get to go during that time. Being with Mercedes, I didn't think it was a good look to go at the time." Asked if he was planning to learn Italian, he said: "In all these years, I've not managed to learn any other languages, but of course I will definitely try. I do remember when I was karting in Italy, and I was able to pick up a few lines, and so hopefully that will come back to me pretty quickly." Hamilton was also keen to point out that he remains committed to Mercedes for 2024. "Just to go back to the new chapter, this chapter is still not finished," he said. "I'm still 100% focused on delivering for this team this year and trying to finish on a high. That's a big, big goal for me and the team, and I have absolute faith in everyone in the team. What we've done so far I think is great, so I really hope that we are somehow able to close the gap to the Red Bull."

[mysticsparklewings]

Obscutober 2024 Day 22: Adust

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Adust (adj.)

scorched; burned

dried or darkened as by heat

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#Obscutober 2024 Day 22: Adust 🔥

I can’t believe we’ve only got 9 Days left to go of October/Inktober. 😵

I also kind of can’t believe I’m as happy as I am with how today’s art turned out since it’s not a very “me” palette or concept, but here we are! 🙌

Click the "Keep Reading" and we'll talk a bit more about my general thoughts/process. ✨

⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

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Some of you may remember that yesterday I mentioned today would be another day I have to fit Obscutober in around some IRL things; For that reason, I decided it would be best to keep the concept simple and just do my best to add details where I could to make it feel more complex than it actually is.

[This is also why this is going up later in the evening tonight; I actually had the art done earlier, but I didn't have time to sit down and write this description and the cross-posting caption until many hours later. 😅]

Naturally, the most obvious thing I thought of was fire. There are other things that can burn or scorch of course, like the sun or even hot water, but fire was the path of least resistance and something I haven't really touched on in previous Days, so that's what I went with. But I did do my best to not focus so much on the orange and the flames themselves.

I did still rely on shapes that felt "fiery," or in some cases "spiky," because I was thinking about the spiny, blistering pain that a burn or scorch would come with, and I played just a tad more with line texture for the same reason.

It wasn't fully intentional, but I think the outer edge with the cross-hatching kind of came out looking like that area was actually burned by the fire, so that was nice! My goal was just to try and get some mroe darkness/black as things tend to turn when burned in without having to rely on black much for the actual background colors, so the texture working out well in another way was a nice bonus. 👍

I also didn't intend for the angled lines in the ring closer to the center to look sort of like firewood, but that's what happened! I was just going with a zig-zag (...although in hindsight, it's really just the "zig" I guess) because I thought zig-zags felt kind of spiky and they mimic the movement of a flame without being too obvious.

The centermost ring was intentionally supposed to kind of look like a stone ring like you might find placed around a fire. I couldn't think of anything else that felt like a genuinely good place to start, and that was reasonably simple to do, so it won by default. 🤷‍♀️

And while I don't think it's doing as much as yesterday, I think today's color scheme is still doing quite a bit to really tie everything together. As I mentioned, I tried to be careful about how much orange and brightness I gave to the fire since the word is more about something fire does than fire itself, but it was kind of unavoidable/inevitable that some would be included and that it would steal focus from the colors that are actually more "adust"-related. At least the way my brain works, it was.

That wasn't helps by the fact that I'm just not generally drawn to browns in a color-palette anyway; I prefer bright and unnatural colors. 😆 But today was not the day to try and experiment with a magic-fire palette instead of a natural one.

It did take a little patience to get the balance of the darkness and the placement of the darkest browns just right, but it really wasn't that bad, especially given had tired I was at the time I got to that stage. [This is was in the early morning hours before I'd gone to bed.]

And...I think that's everything. A bit short and sweet for tonight, but like I said, I purposefully kept things simple and tried not to get too caught up in the conceptual details because I had other things to worry about today.

All things considered, I think it could have certainly turned out much worse, so I'm satisfied with my efforts. 🙂

It was never going to be in the running for my favorites based on color palette alone, but it's definitely not my least favorite—I like it about as much as I reasonably could with the palette and concept I ended up working with.

Now the real "fun": Seeing if I can be equally satisfied with my cross-posting experience and get to eating dinner in a reasonable amount of time. 😅

See you Sparklers tomorrow as we count down the final 9 days to go! 👋

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See the Prompt List

Artwork © me, MysticSparklewings

Obscutober Concept Inspired by nikolas_tower

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⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

[anamoon63]

From this moment on I go into busy mode again, but I didn't want to leave without wishing all my mutuals and all simblrs in general a very Happy New Year 2024 and dedicate some words I have been meaning to say to you but hadn't found the time or the appropriate way to do it.

I'll start by saying to all of you who had a hard time in 2023, those who went through depression, physical and/or mental health problems, family problems, marital problems, work problems, problems with your children, with your partners, with your parents or grandparents. To all those who in some way suffered or were hurt in the year that is ending -and assuming that all of us here, or most of us, are storytellers-, my advice is: don't stop writing, ever. Keep doing it through it all, through the good times as well as the bad; write even if the tears well up in your eyes and fall on the keyboard. Just write!

Writing heals, cures and consoles, because it is what we do and because there is no better way to get out all that we carry inside, be it sad or happy. I went through the long night of depression myself and I can say with all certainty that writing was what pulled me through, and that although it may not seem so, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and it's never as dark as when it's about to dawn. I suffered from depression since 2006 and for many years; around that time I started a novel that took me 14 years to write. Through all that time, I slowly healed, and by the time I finished, I was free of all the demons that drove me to write that particular story in the first place.

Okay, enough of me, I want to tell my mutuals, that I love what you write/create, and I really enjoy your work, be it stories or gameplay; and not only those who write, but also those who make custom content, mods, those who create any kind of art, those who take beautiful pictures, those who share memes or funny things about their pets. All of you, know that I read you every day and I take you with me everywhere I go, because you are so talented, creative, funny and interesting.

I don't always have the courage to comment on your posts, be it about sims or personal, for different reasons, mainly because of language barriers, because as you know, English is not my native language, and sometimes I don't have my translator at hand to confirm that what I am writing is correct, or if there is a spelling or grammar mistake or a typo in there; also because of my social awkwardness, as I am a rather shy and introverted person; and the fact that I'm an old simmer, cause believe me, compared to many of you I am old, and this makes me afraid of saying something out of place, out of time, or of being politically incorrect. This may sound silly, but I was born and raised in a time where people thought and acted very differently, even in my early years of sims on the internet, everything was way different than it is now. Well, those are the reasons why I don't always comment, but the fact is that I read you, I like what you do, what you write, I'm in love with your characters -who are already part of my sim-universe-; your stories capture my imagination, intrigue me, interest me, amuse me and, above all, teach me, because I've learned a lot from you, talented creatures, in the time I've been reading your work.

Anyway, I got off my chest what I've been wanting to tell you for days now. I also want to thank you for all your likes, comments, questions, messages, and in general for all the love I received from you this year, it's amazing. I never expected so much in just one year, really. So, thank you, both to those who have been following me for a long time, and have stayed with me and my chaotic stories, and to the new followers, Sims 3 and Sims 4, I thank you all.

Well, this was already very long, sorry for the rambling, lol, I wish each and every one of you a very Happy New Year, may all your dreams and plans become a beautiful reality in the year that begins, because, believe me, some dreams do come true, I had the joy of confirming it right at the end of this year.

That's all, a big hug and a very, very happy 2024 everyone! 🤗❤️🎇

[blueberrypancakesworld]

Hi there! As someone who really enjoys your Lords Of Chaos content, do you think you could write a male reader who’s Oystein’s identical, more introverted and less metal crazed artsy twin brother catching feelings for Pelle, the pretty boy from Sweden who likes dead things lol? I’ve seen the twin fic ideas done with Rory’s other characters, so I’m putting a lil spin on it. The two managed to bound over drawing and enjoying each others works. And one day, reader works up the courage to drive out to Mayhem’s practice place/house for Pelle’s birthday with a dead rabbit he found the road as a gift and just blurts out his feelings for him quickly. Then tries to leave out of embarrassment, but Pelle stops him and tells him he likes him too? They share a kiss, only to realize the rest of the band was watching the whole time. Who are very happy they don’t have to witness the two of them pinning for each other anymore, and Oystein jokingly threatens Pelle to not hurt his brother or else, cause we love good protective siblings in this house. Reading your fics have helped brighten my day when I’m feeling down, and I hope you have a good 2024 :)

- Two artists -

warning ; fluff, comfort, kiss

Info : Thank you dear anon for the request I know I had it for a few months but now I had finally time writing it. Have fun reading and have a good day too ;)

masterlist

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They were more different than sun and moon than day and night than anything they both were. The family got used to joking around in the early years, even allowing the kids to pretend to be each other and enjoying their little jokes when it worked.

But the older they got the more obvious it became how they developed Euronymous as he would call her summoned himself to the devil, to metal music, dyed his hair black and drifted off into something none of his family really understood.

What everyone initially thought was a phase quickly turned out to be something he was absorbed in, something he would do his whole life. 

In contrast, his twin brother's natural brown hair was not loud, but quiet, almost leisured, not extroverted, but introverted and not into loud music. His creativity is in painting and not in music.

But the two quickly realized that they would both make something in their field that would change the world, or at least Norway, in one way or another, 

When Euronymous moved out of the house and left the room to his brother, he knew that he needed it more for painting. He devoted himself to his art studio and only saw his older twin from time to time. He won a painting competition in the city after a night out and Euronymous got one gig after the next, slowly but surely, with his band.

They both continued to develop and yet they always stayed in touch. If it wasn't phone calls, it was the brown-haired one's semester break meeting, who, when he wasn't visiting their shared family, visited his twin in the light wasteland.

The red quarry they had acquired was a little artistically stimulating, at least in one way or another. A view shared by someone from Mayhen's band. The blond singer Dead, who had joined the band just before the vacations and seemed to be the dark angel of music.

At least for Euronymous it was something that could take him to the top of the world. But for his brother, the blond was more not only on an artistic level as his muse but also as someone who painted himself, someone who shared such a passion.

That when they all met, they got into one or two discussions about drawing, painting and the most diverse motifs. Motifs that were close to the heart, like the blonde in the brown-haired man's heart. Something he didn't want to admit at first, something he didn't want to admit to himself. But in the end he had to realize that he had lost his heart to the singer and artist.

A fact he tried to keep secret but beyond his knowledge the black circle already had a hunch. Every time they met, they saw the blond drawing a portrait of something that was not his friend and band founder as they initially thought.

While Euronymous caught his brother reading occult books about death, which was not only extremely unusual but also true books that belonged to Dead. 

But all this culminated in one thing the brown-haired man knew he had to do. The birthday of the blond singer and the one he had lost his heart to. 

The silver car drove along the country road towards the house, fingers tapping nervously on the steering wheel, ,,A present," he muttered over and over, thinking of something to give the blond. Around one of the few bends and then his eyes caught sight of the snow-white rabbit lying on the road in front of him.

Hastily getting out of the car and picking up a blanket, he took the cold, stiff animal and put it in his trunk, a satisfied grin playing around his lips, ,,That's perfect," he muttered before pushing the accelerator and driving towards the house at a rapid pace.

It was only moments later when he found himself in the party that the music rang in his ears and he would have preferred to run out again rather than stay here. The quieter, more classical music was much more appealing to him, but the blonde liked the voice in the song and that was why he was here for Dead.

Moving forward, he pushed his way through the crowds of people who welcomed him and his grinning twin who pushed him towards the rehearsal room with a slap on the shoulder before the door closed behind him. ,,Dead? All the best-I've got something for you," he mumbled and saw the blond look up from the gift table, body color adorning his pale face and a slight smile playing around his lips.

,,You're here... thank you," he murmured and approached the brown-haired man who held out the gift to him, his gaze searching for his love. Before he took a shaky breath there was no other way, he had to do it now or he would never dare and would end up embarrassing Dead.

,,De-Dead I have to tell you something the gift, the painting the conversations I like it and I like...you what I want to say...I love you" he stammered his feelings for the blond his heart was beating up to his neck and he was afraid he would choke on it, his cheeks were heating up and he wanted to run out.

Dead, who looked from the rabbits to the other, seemed overwhelmed by both gifts. He was about to run to the door out of fear when he was suddenly held fast, the white rabbit still clutching Dead's hand.

The bright eyes full of devotion suddenly came true, ,,I-I like you too!" he shouted over the music as a smile appeared on the other's lips. He loved him too, loved him back and returned his feelings.

Dead gave the rabbit a grin that seemed genuinely pleased with the gift before pulling the brown-haired man into a careful kiss. He tasted the alcohol, the beer the blond had drunk, the sweetness of the snack it was sweet and intimate.

Suddenly a giggle was heard before the door opened and the band stumbled in at their feet. ,,At last!" Euronymous shouted to his twin and his singer and the others in the band congratulated them and only now did it come out that apparently they had all just been waiting for the moment. The moment when they had to strike.

As they extended a congratulatory beer to the brown-haired one, the black-haired one took the blond one aside. ,,You know that I value my little brother and you too, but I hope you know that I wouldn't hesitate to shoot you sooner than necessary," he warned with a smile before he put the blond in a headlock and rubbed him over the head until he protested and broke away.

,,Come on, let my muse live!" The brown-haired man shouted and patted his brother gently on the shoulder before he pulled Dead close again and gave him another soft kiss while the band had an even bigger party. A party in which satanic powers met two artists united in love - there had never been anything more unequal and epic.

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@icarus-star

[autumnoakes]

granted, i DID do a lot more gaming towards the end of the year, BUT i sae someone else do it and i also want to do it.

2024 in review: video games I played edition (regardless if I beat them or not)

Pokemon Violet: apparently this was my most played game in january and i just remembered that it was because of the DLC. the hidden treasures of area zero was... okay. i liked the teal mask part a lot. it was goofy at times, but the story and pacing was solid. i did NOT like the indigo disk part much, aside from the story. it's a lot of tedious grinding having to complete tasks and get enough BP for them to release more pokemon into each quarter. i DID like returning to unova, though. black/white is probably my favourite pokemon game. my feelings on scarlet/violet as a whole are rather mixed. the DLC didn't improve on the issues i had with the base game, and nintendo pushed this DLC so hard. i'm glad they slowed down with releasing pokemon games because the scale is getting too big for their expected development period. i'm happy they're taking their time with legends Z-A

Pokemon Black/White: if you couldn't already tell, i started 2024 off with a huge pokemon phase. i think i officially started this game in 2023, but played at least half of it in january. it's so good. i love the story and the pacing and the MUSIC oh my god the music. the elite four kicked my ass i'm ngl so i never got to the end of the main story. hopefully some day.

Pokemon X/Y: honestly only started playing this because of the new legends game announcement and it didn't last long. it was okay. i think i got to the second gym and that's about as far as i got. for some reason a france-themed pokemon region is really funny to me.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom: another one i started in 2023, but hey i never said i had to play it for the first time in 2024. mixed feelings about this one too, but for different reasons than scavio. i did really enjoy totk, but i think between this and how much i played botw (which i started playing again recently but i've talked about it so much i don't think i'll include it here), it just became more of the same. maybe i'll revisit it later in the year and see how it hits then. i will say though, it's really fun to worldbuild using the lore from this game.

Hades: BELOVED!!!!! beloved beloved beloved. i love this game so much. the art style is so good, zagreus is a delight, the gameplay is satisfying, you get the idea. i honestly played very little else once hades 2 went into early access and i couldn't play it for a few months, so i finished the main story last year (after having the game for like. 2 years). speaking of....

Hades 2: MY BELOVED!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's very familiar if you've played hades, but a lot is different. the scale of the story itself is much bigger than in the first game, and the narrative is a lot more complex. melinoë is also a delight, and i'm a huge fan of her gameplay. there's not really a good side or a bad side, but you're led to believe you're fighting for the good side because that's what melinoë believes. she's such a fascinating character, and the fact that this game is still only early access blows my mind. i played nothing else from july to september. 11/10 game, one of my favourites.

Resident Evil 4 (2023): hi hello i'm annoying about this game. i didn't expect to play this game this year, much less enjoy it as much as i did, AND YET. i really liked how the characters were written in this game. i haven't played the original, but i feel more for them in the remake than i do in what i have seen of the original. it's kinda funny because the plot of the game is really serious like, threat of an apocalypse, main character infected with dangerous parasite, themes surrounding trauma and change, etc. but it also features World's Most Yeetable Man (according to residents of this one village in spain).

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom: GOD I LOVED THIS GAME!!!!! it was both familiar and brand new, with the return of classic zelda enemies like peahats and redeads paired with protagonist zelda. and zelda is SUCH a delight here as well. i loved her gameplay and how it kind of forced you to get creative and had the subtle tones of necromancy at times. the story isn't anything particularly groundbreaking, but i enjoyed it nonetheless. it was surreal to see a game that wasn't a part of the botw era but was made after the fact and how the botw era impacted the design and UI. i strongly believe they started work on this before totk was released.

Resident Evil 2 (2019): i had a phase and now this franchise is a special interest so i played a lot of these games towards the end of the year. anyways re2 beloved. the replayability is wild, since there are significant story differences depending on who you choose to play as and in which order. it's also just a lot of fun imo. my aunt knows when i'm playing this game because it is actually pretty scary and i'm not. quiet when i get startled akdnskdjdj. the story isn't too complex but it also centres around a city being controlled by a corporation and features two protagonists who have no clue what's going on which resulted in this anti-capitalism narrative which is a little bit funny. it makes it almost satirical considering it's a zombie apocalypse game

Dark Souls Remastered: hoooooooly shit i suck at this game lmao

Resident Evil 3 (2020): i honestly expected to enjoy this one more than i did. i really was having a good time up until the hospital sequence, and then it kinda went downhill for me. one good thing i will say though is that despite seeming like it should happen after re2, it actually starts before and ends after re2, and happens in the same place. you just have a different protagonist and focus, but in both games, there's this continuity that make it into this sort of non-linear story spanning across both games. i watched a chronological order cutscene movie of both games and it was one of the best things i've ever seen.

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard: ngl i hate that this game is good because i can't get very far in it due to Scary Man With Axe chasing me around :( so like.... mixed feelings but only because this game is fucking terrifying and i haven't gotten very far in it at all. despite that, i think it was a solid franchise reboot and the new plot they have going is really fascinating. shaking mia violently i need to know more about her. capcom. capcom please put her in the next game pLEASE DON'T FRIDGE HER AGAIN PLE-

Resident Evil Village: i expected to enjoy the first two sections and not like the last half of the game but it turned out to kind of be the opposite. the first half of this game is more classic survival horror, between being pursued by an angry 10 foot tall lady whose kids you just murdered and whatever the hell that giant demon baby was, whereas the second half is more action oriented. i REALLY liked the factory part, and even chris' part (surprisingly, since i do not like chris much and this game is why). the ending always destroys me though like... ethan was such a different protagonist to others in the franchise (the closest to him i would say is claire, but even then, chris taught her a lot of what she knows and she's got more skills than the average civilian). i'm gonna miss him in the next game, especially if they continue with either mia's story or rose's story. i haven't played the DLC yet and i'm on the fence about getting it, though.

Resident Evil Revelations 2: LAST RE GAME I PROMISE. it's extremely underrated tbh. i'm only like maybe 1/5 of the way through, but i love how you go between past (claire and moira) and present (barry and natalia) and how the story unfolds through that switching perspective. they probably won't, but i hope capcom remakes the revelations games.

Cult of the Lamb: honestly didn't get very far into this one, but it's morbidly adorable. 100/10, i love my little cult leader lamb.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: GOOD GAME. AMAZING GAME. i'm not too far into this one either, but hooooooooly fuck. it's so good. geralt is such a Guy and i'm obsessed with how he solves problems. he really just gives the aura of guy who is trying his best but people hate him anyways. ciri is so blorboable like she's jusg blorbo shaped. i love her so much (yes i may have started playing tw3 because of tw4 announcement, what about it?)

Baldur's Gate 3: i keep getting stuck but i love this game. i understand how it won goty now. i feel like it would be so confusing if you haven't played d&d irl though. i also like how they integrated the whole "here is your character. they are Your Character, and not a predetermined protagonist or one meant for you to project onto." you get to imagine their backstory and shape their personality through decisions. i was going to play a very serious, lawful paladin character but like an hour and a half in they broke their oath and then went off the shits so they went from the lawful good character i envisioned to a chaotic neutral force of nature. i love them so much.

Elden Ring: i'm just bad at soulslikes i think. this game is gorgeous though, i'm just not far enough into the story to make a solid judgement on the game itself. soulslikes in general have a steep learning curve and are notoriously difficult. i keep dying 😔