#i cropped the art because no one should be stealing that at all

[criticalyasha]

Laura “can finally shout Imodna so damn loud” Bailey

Art 1: https://twitter.com/keyvei_art/status/1681325474289426432?s=46&t=xigshMbci5hQXxSBcTwBaQ

Art 2: https://twitter.com/usikunox/status/1680993266873892867?s=46&t=xigshMbci5hQXxSBcTwBaQ

Art 3: https://twitter.com/cvleart/status/1679719696503824384?s=46&t=xigshMbci5hQXxSBcTwBaQ

[minniethemoocherda]

Just A Friend To You

A/N: Thank you so much to @pkmndaisuki for agreeing to be my beta reader for this fic! I never would have spotted any of my spelling mistakes otherwise lol! Please go check out their amazing X-men art! I hope you guys enjoy the fic! I know I don't post that frequently but I am trying my best to help keep this ship afloat! Xxxxxx

Ao3

FF.net

From across the diner, Morph watched as Jubilee and Roberto inched ever closer to one another, neither of them quite yet taking to leap to touch.

Ah, the perils of young love, Morph thought. Although it wasn't as if the perils of love stopped once you became an adult. Something that they knew all too well as they turned their attention to the man sitting opposite them.

When Logan had learnt that the two teens were going on a date, he had demanded that he chaperone them. After many protests, Jubilee had agreed, on the condition that Morph also came along to make sure Logan didn't stab anyone, namely Roberto.

Which was how Morph came to find themselves that Saturday afternoon, watching a date, whilst on a not-date with the man they were in love with.

Most times when they and Logan were hanging out they would be roughhousing, or watching TV, or playing basketball. But here there was nothing to do but just enjoy each other's company. It was nice.

Morph wore their usual human form but with dark jeans and a pink crop top that they may or may not have borrowed from Gambit's wardrobe.

Wolverine was reluctantly wearing a buttoned shirt, because Jubilee had demanded that if he insisted on stalking them then he should at least look presentable. Morph was pretty sure that Logan had stolen his shirt too, probably from Scott, especially given that it was at least three sizes too small for him. He'd had to roll up the sleeves to hide how short they were and left the two buttons undone as it wasn't wide enough to fit across the expanse of his chest. Not that Morph was complaining about the view.

Nor were they complaining about the sweet potato fries that came with their burger.

"You should try one of these," Morph told him as they dipped one of those said sweet potato fries in ketchup.

The next second, Logan leant over the table and bit the one that Morph had been holding between their fingers. Which under different circumstances could have been romantic, but instead reminded Morph of when their old family dog would steal scraps of food from the table.

"I didn't mean that one you animal!" Morph cried, throwing a fry at his face.

But Logan bit that one too, catching it in his mouth, which then spread into a wide grin. With the ketchup dripping from his teeth onto his white shirt, he really did look like an animal.

In retaliation, Morph stole one of his onion rings which Logan protested with a "Hey!" But didn't otherwise complain.

Of course, that was when Roberto finally got the courage to make a move and draped his arm over Jubilee's shoulder.

Morph heard the familiar snikt of Logan drawing his claws from under the table.

"Calm down Wolvie." Morph said, reaching under the table to wrap their hand around his wrist. "I doubt he's gonna try to jump her in the middle of a diner. And even if he did, Jubilee can handle herself."

"She sure can." Logan said, his snarl turning into a proud smirk as he put his claws away.

Now, Logan might say that he didn't like kids, but Morph had seen how he interacted with them.

He always gave into Jubilee's demands to go shopping, or play video games with her, no matter how much he said he wouldn't. And when the teenager needed a non-judgmental shoulder to cry on, he was always there.

Morph knew Logan didn't want kids of his own, and in their line of work they couldn't really blame him. But still, they couldn't help but think it was a shame. He really would make a good father.

It was just one of the many reasons why they loved him.

Suddenly the waitress appeared next to their table and Morph realised that they were still holding Logan's wrist. They quickly retreated it back.

Thankfully, the waitress appeared not to notice, too busy trying to balance an overstuffed bowl of ice cream, sauce and sprinkles in her hand that she placed on their table.

"We didn't order that, lady," Logan told her.

"I know. The girl over there did," the waitress replied, pointing over to Jubilee where a similar looking desert was placed upon her table. When Jubilee caught them looking her way, she waved a cheeky grin and Robert just looked confused.

By the time Morph looked back, the waitress was gone and Logan was digging a scoop out of the ice cream.

"What?" Logan shrugged, shoving the spoonful into his mouth. "I ain't gonna waste free food."

Melted ice cream dripped down Wolverine's chin adding to the collection of stains on that poor shirt, and Morph took a scoop themselves to try to distract themselves from that train of thought.

They had to admit that the dessert was pretty good, not too creamy yet not too solid with a perfect balance of ice cream and toppings.

Logan must have thought so too because as he licked his spoon he let out a low rumbling moan. Morph knew that in this form, they had to have been blushing at pink as their t-shirt. Not even Logan dipping one of the left over fries in to it could lessen their blush, so they did their best to hide it by ducking behind the large bowl as they ate the remainder of the monster of a dessert.

But try as they might, Morph couldn't distract themselves from the thoughts in their head. Logan had to know how this looked right? The pair of them, sharing a dessert. Morph swore they had already seen some of the other diner patrons giving them funny looks. Maybe Logan didn't care? Or maybe he wasn't as hyper-aware about appearances as Morph was?

At least their internal breakdown didn't last for too long, thanks to Logan's never ending appetite.

Morph glanced over at Jubilee's table to see that they had finished too.

Now all that was left was to pay the bill.

"I'll get it." Logan said, grabbing some bills from his trouser pockets. "I'm the one who dragged you into comin' with me."

"Wow, a burger, some frees and a free dessert. You really know how to treat a girl." Morph teased, as if the idea of Logan ever treating them to a real date would be a complete joke.

"Fine." Logan snorted, handing the money over to the waitress. "Next time I'll persuade that Roberto kid to take Jubilee some place fancier."

Next time? Morph felt their stomach somersault.

"Well, if you insist on taking me somewhere fancier then we will have to get you a new shirt," they said, pointing to where a third button had now snapped free. They tried to hide the fact that they felt left like they were about to puke up their own gloop.

"Why? You not likin' the view?" Logan said through a smug smirk.

"I like not getting kicked of restaurants more."

"So you do like it," Logan stated, that smirk turning predatory.

Wait, was Logan actually flirting with them? No, of course not. That could not be happening. This was just their usual banter. Right? Morph must have gotten so caught up in how the pair looked that their brain must have tricked itself into believing that Logan was flirting with them. Yes, that's what must have happened.

Of course that was when Jubilee decided to interrupt.

"I thought I told you to wear something decent!" She cried, grabbing Logan's leather jacket from where it was draped over the back of his chair and throwing it over the exposed expanse of his chest.

"I wore a shirt didn't I?" Logan protested, shrugging the jacket on properly. "Besides, Morph said they liked it."

Jubilee turned her accusatory glare towards them.

"Okay first of all, I never said that. Also I was the one who told Logan that shredding his only shirt wouldn't get him out if wearing one in the future so this-" Morph waved their hands in Logan's general direction. "Is not my fault."

Jubilee stared up at the ceiling but she was unable to stay annoyed for too long as Roberto placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and when her gaze once again found his and a smile once again graced her face.

"Whatever. Me and Roberto were going to go to arcade if you two insist on stalking us."

Morph glanced towards Logan and was surprised too see him shaking his head.

"Nah, you kids go ahead. We got our own plans."

Jubilee looked between them, a suspicious smile on her face that had Morph's stomach churning. But for once she chose to keep her mouth shut simply waving them both goodbye.

"You kids have fun!" Morph called after them.

"But not too much fun." Logan grinned making Roberto's brown skin pale as the teens headed for the door.

Despite their teasing, Morph truly was happy for Jubilee. Robert was a good kid. They were good for each other. Roberto helped to keep her grounded whilst she showed him the light around them.

Morph watched as Roberto reached out his hand and Jubilee didn't hesitate to take it in her own. Morph knew that it wasn't easy for the pair of them easier. As an Afro-Brazilian and Asian-American couple, they too drew their own fair share of less than happy looks. But the two teens ignored the stares, only having eyes for each other.

"Not that I'm complaining about getting out of babysitting duty," Morph said getting up from the table. "But I wasn't aware that we had any plans."

"We're going bowlin'." Logan stated, getting up himself, when he suddenly refused to meet their eyes. "If you want. 'Cus we still haven't been since- I mean we ain't been in a while."

Morph chose to believe that Logan's uncharacteristic fluster was because he had reminded them of how they still hadn't gotten the chance to go bowling together since they'd been freed of Sinister's control, and not the fact that he'd accidently made it sound like he was asking them out on a date.

"I'd love too." Morph quickly covered up the sincerity with a joke. "As long as you promise not to act all stabby when I beat you."

Logan snorted.

"As long as you promise not to act all bratty when I win."

"No promises."

As the two of them left, Morph couldn't help but glance down at Logan's hand as it swayed between them. They hoped that one day, they would have the courage to take his hand too.

[redesigningxmen]

REDESIGNING MAGIK

Welcome to Limbo! Our group chose Illyana Rasputina, the marvelous Magik for this round! Introduced as the younger sister of Colossus, Magik joined the 80s New Mutants team as a young teen and has since flourished into an A-Lister in her own right. She's been a member of the Phoenix Five, Cyclops' renegade X-Men squad, the Krakoan New Mutants, and the 2022 X-Men team.

She has several inspiration points for artists and redesigners to pull from. She's most well-known for her all-black 2012 look but has also sported demonic and fantasy influences as someone connected to the hellish Limbo and her malevolent alter ego, the Darkchylde.

See what our enthusiastic and talented team of artists did this round, and make sure to follow them on social media for more fantastic art!

(The handles presented after artists names are their Twitter handles, but many use the same name on other platforms!)

Léa Dupic | @/kimodraw

"I went full speed ahead into medieval land and dressed Illyana in a full metal shiny armour, putting emphasis on her sword bearing arm with a biiiig spiky shoulder pad. Gave her a punk lesbian haircut while keeping her iconic bangs, because I think she should be allowed to be more of a punk lesbian. And I couldn't resist adding a touch of demon form with the horns. She's gloomy she's menacing she's spiky and shiny she's the girl of my dreams."

Giovanni Saroldi | @/RaulGiova 

"Just like matter, let’s give ‘Yana three states! Solid, liquid, gas? Kinda, not quite! From angelic to demonic, with her main form being the in-between totality of herself, where she can draw whichever power she needs.

It’s geometric, it’s chic, it’s retro-futuristic Terry Moore with the Horns of Galaxy The Prettiest Star meets Ludmilla from Bartok mid-transformation."

John Caden | @/johncaden64 

"I've always felt the Bachalo design was great, but could get very male-gazey.  I tried to make it more comfortable, while also keeping the same goth feel.  I do feel she needs to just go all-in goth, so let's shave her head, get some thick black mascara and commit to the bit! "

John Marsh | @/pastelrake

"What if Illyana had been a Russian figure skater?"

Joe Pryde | @/joeprydecosplay

"My inspiration for this design came from the idea of “what if Magik was an elder emo” complete with Kristen Stewart fem mullet, high waist buckled tights, and sleeveless crop top hoodie. I also wanted to pay homage to previous designs."

Haydn | @/ThatsSoHaydn 

"I had but one simple thought: What if the Soul Sword was a rapier? And thus fencing Magik was born. I wanted the geometric shapes of the dark bodysuit to contrast with the curves of the golden armor, whilst still adding a little magic and mystery with her cloak and mask. "

Dale Yaddow | @/DaleYaddow

Version 1 "The Savage Magik". Having been stripped of her magical knowledge, Illyana Rasputin hunts down various enchanted artifacts to replace what she's lost. Becoming desperate she seems to be willing to steal and sometimes kill to get these talismans. Among these are the Soul Dagger of Pixie, the medallion of Daimon Hellstrom, Holy bands from "Heven" and a cursed skull from an alternate version of Lockheed.

Version 2 "Mistress Magik" This is an older more seductive Magik that's been corrupted by the influence of Selene and embraced her sensuality, opening up a whole new avenue of mystical arts that she hadn't dared explore before. She now uses her SoulSword to capture the essences of her foes and much like Selene feeds on them keeping her young and vital.

Version 3 "Magik, Queen of Hell" Many questioned the logic of Magik giving Limbo to Madelyne Prior but the end game has been revealed. Illyana allowed Madelyne to tether her magic to Limbo, knowing eventually "Maddie" would get greedy and begin bringing more power to that dimension. With a carefully hidden clause in the Limbo transference spell Magik takes back Limbo and all the power within it and successfully overthrows all the Hell Lords, unifying the many dreaded dimensions under one fearsome rule, hers.

Anthony Ruiz | @/thwwipstickers

"Almost as soon as Magik was decided on for this design challenges I had two ideas strike me simultaneously ... The first of those ideas was the image of Illyana as a 90's Riot(ish) on the cover of a Magazine. I wanted to give her an edgy grungy vibe but still pay homage to her Demonic nature.

Shortly after Finishing my first Design I just knew I had to make my second idea come to life.

What if Illyana was an Anime Mech Pilot and Wore a Plugsuit... thats it... thats the idea. I really wanted to strike the Balance between Anime Plugsuit but still being noticeably Magik and X-men.

I kept the Bright yellow Color scheme with hints of black and red and chose to interpret her Armored arm into a Mechanized oversize cybernetic arm that helps fuel her Plasma Powered Soul sword that springs forth from her Gauntlet."

Isaiah Cox | @/isaiahbeenlost

"When designing my Magik look, I wanted to expand on ideas I had when drawing her a couple years ago by keeping her look sleek, yet scary stylish! So, I referenced a lot of Castlevania and Yoshiaki Kawajiri designs to get that cool anime look for her down! I plucked some fashion inspirations for the costume from places like: Mugler, Alexander McQueen, LaQuan Smith, JRPG rogues and medieval accessories! And for her new soul sword, I decided to give her an Odachi because since she already lived her Cloud Strife fantasy starting from the Bendis-era, I thought it was time for her to live her Sephiroth moment with this giant Japanese sword!"

David J Hughes | @/0ddeity

"I think with Magik I started out pretty traditional for her. Then I got to thinking our Russian Queen deserves a Mugler-esque fit. I wanted to go down the knight or warrior route, but then I thought ‘What If’ this was an AU Illyana raised by Patch and she got all of Logan’s training rather than Kitty and Jubilee, or, alongside them. So, bham, Oni-demon menpo mask and samurai elements on top of the Mugler flair."

Fleshmonk | @/fleshmonk

"Went through a bunch of design iterations, but settled on this cool plasticky vinyl plugsuit like version of Magik. I gave her a bob to mature her a bit and to move her towards a new silhouette."

Joshua Bruckner | @/joshingtonbear

"I took a bit from Magik's more armored designs, which I've always liked the most, and her goth jock aesthetic, and blended them. I rejected the Bachalo booty shorts in favor of a skirt, which gives her a bit of a 'cheerleader from hell' look."

Seye Sanyaolu | @/seye_art

"My intention for this redesign was Magik in a very dystopian future and so I imagined a 3/4 darkchylde Illyana that is in control of her self and powers (although almost lost it). In this future, most of the X-Men are gone and Illyana keeps a worn and frayed X-jacket on for the nostalgia :’)"

[maniculum]

Bestiaryposting Results -- Hreksong

Slightly awkward timing on this one: the animal in question happened to come up on a recent episode of our podcast (We literally quoted a line from the Bodley MS 764 entry, because it was relevant to the story we were reading). So any of the artists who listen may have gotten spoilers. (I say "may", but I've already seen one art post that references the episode.) Sorry about that, artists. Kind of a bizarre coincidence, actually -- it's pretty rare that we happen across bestiary material in a narrative text, and the fact that we did so shortly before the relevant entry came up in the rotation... well, the odds are against it.

Anyway, anyone who doesn't know what this is about should check out https://maniculum.tumblr.com/bestiaryposting. You can also check the "maniculum bestiaryposting" tag to see what beast is the current prompt. The entry for this week's drawings can be found here:

Art below the cut, roughly chronological, as always.

@silverhart-makes-art (link to post here) decided that the best interpretation of the information given was that this was a sort of arboreal mongoose that practiced mouthbrooding. If you want to know what the reasoning was there, you should read the linked post -- it all makes sense there. I absolutely love that the one in the picture is opening its mouth to show the baby riding inside. Silverhart indicates that this is a quicker sketch than usual, but frankly their animal-drawing skills are so good that even a quick sketch is impressive from my perspective.

@cheapsweets (link to post here) did separate drawings for the large outdoor version (upper image, carrying its young) and the small indoor version (lower image, stealing someone's food). The linked post, which explains the design in some detail, indicates that CheapSweets was thinking along similar lines as Silverhart -- i.e., what kind of animal is known for hunting snakes? I like the pose in the first image, and I really like the scene depicted in the second one. On one hand, I'm sure having little creatures live in your roof and steal food literally out of your hands is quite frustrating, but on the other hand, it's very funny. Look at that little guy just brazenly stealing some chicken (or whatever type of bird). The idea of them using their back legs to grip rafters for exactly this purpose is excellent.

@strixcattus (link to post here) decided these could be birds, and has drawn these owl-like creatures for us. They look a bit surly, but that could just be the feather pattern on their faces. As always, I strongly recommend checking out that linked post, as Strixcattus writes brilliant interpretations of these entries in the register of a modern naturalist to accompany the illustrations.

@pomrania (link to post here) has noted that cats live in houses and eat mice, and given us this charming domestic scene. They also note the issues with this interpretation in the linked post, which of course you should read. I think the poses of the cats are very well done here; one of those kittens looks like it wants to paw at the monk's belt but can very much not reach.

And now for the Aberdeen Bestiary:

I'm not sure about the head proportions -- I'd suggest that the flattened snout is because the artist ran out of space, if it weren't for the fact that they were fine letting the back foot extend into the border -- but that is recognizably a weasel.

A few things to note from this:

1. Medieval people apparently had not only mice in their homes, but weasels, which I'd never really thought about. I'm not sure what the distinction they're drawing between the type you find in your home and the type you find in the woods is about, though.

2. The weasel's healing magic crops up in multiple texts, including the Lais of Marie de France and Volsungasaga. It's less common than you might think to find overlap between bestiary-weirdness and narrative-weirdness, so that's pretty notable.

3. I have no friggin' idea why anyone thought they gave birth through their ears. Baffling.

[descenacre]

Art Tutorial (aliased brush, oil painting look)

I've been using Pikmin Echo as a springboard for myself to practice new art techniques!

I had a few people ask me how I draw backgrounds in paint dot net, so I quickly drew this image you see below!

Now, there isn't one process I use, I mostly freehand it straight from the noggin to the paper. I barely use references, and I really should use them more often!!

But this should show an outline of generally what's going on in my mind when I'm doodling a doodle :)

Step 1: Choose sky color

I personally like to use either a light blue or a light orange!

This reference uses a light orange so I'll steal it.

Step 2: block the main contrast out with a big brush

There is a foreground and a background to this scene, a clear light and dark.

It's much easier to work with a blocked out pattern! It's like the sketching equivalent in this technique.

By the way, I'm using an aliased brush because I'm a pixelart nerd (so retro 🤓☝️) and also because it makes selecting blocks of color much less messy! But trust me, it will look soft in the end :)

Step 3: Look for blocks of common color

I see big patches of blue and orange when I squint my eyes, so I plot those in!

Look at how the light comes from the top right, it illuminates the trees on one side!

Step 4: Look for hue variations in the lights

Natural colors are never going to be flat or homogeneous--theres variations everywhere!

Add in greenish, reddish, bluish and yellowish patches, and even if at first it's a little scary to stray from such bold colors, I promise, gray is essential to making a truly vivid image!

Step 5: move on to the darks

The tree trunks in the left shade looked blue to me! So I toss in some blue splotches.

Don't worry if it looks messy. You can always clean up your messes later <3

Step 6: Fine detail in the very back

Going just like a traditional painter, painting the back first is perfect because you will later paint over the back layers with the front ones, creating realistic layers of texture!

It is much easier to go back to front than the reverse.

Think about the shape design and the flow of all of the elements.

The mountains curl up and down in very specific ways, and the trees look like circles from very far away, with leafless outliers few and far between.

Step 7: let's take a break from the canvas and do homework

learning how to simplify incredibly complicated shapes is crucial!

Trees, grass, rocks, everything in nature has very complicated structure, but you can simplify them very much!

With newfound respect for the complexity of nature, start noting down the elements of your scene in more detail.

You can move your reference around and crop it so that it's easier to perfectly replicate what you wish to draw....but....

personally, I like to use the reference more for vibes and just ad lib the rest!

Study the general shapes of your reference, and apply them in new, unique ways!

I hope this tutorial was helpful for you!

Please feel free to rb this post with any art you make with this! I'll be excited to see what you create :)

Thanks for reading!

[illarian-rambling]

As per special request by @mk-writes-stuff because I love these guys ever so much, here's a crash course on...

Illari Changelings!

Changelings in my setting are something like big amoebas. They're person-sized unicellular organisms and use a complex set of neuron-like organelles to act as a nervous system. To change their shape and hue, they have many chromatophore plastids along their membrane and a network of specialized cilia on the back of their headfins and armfins that change form to make the structure of any face they take. They are eukaryotic and can reproduce either aesexually through mitosis or sexually by way of specialized plasmids, should they take on a shape with sexual characteristics, which their true form lacks. Without a mouth or digestive tract, they eat by way of phagocytosis and dispose of what little waste they produce in the form of a slick mucus that coats their membrane.

The origin of the species is shrouded in mystery. However, it is doubtlessly connected to the Fair Folk and their Next-Door Land. The Fair Folk are notorious for experimenting with the line between magic and life, and it has been shown that there is some magical element involved in a changeling's transformation abilities.

A changeling has the ability to take the form of any humanoid being, real or imagined, though some are more skilled at making up faces than others. Here's a sketch showing how that transformation happens.

The facial elements form first on the back of the headfins, which then wrap around to the front. In a shifted form, a changeling is as rigid as any human. However, they don't have bones and are basically just a big sac of cytoplasm, so when in their true form, they often revert to a more liquid state, usually when they're relaxed or sleeping. This ability to turn liquid actually makes them rather difficult to injure with blunt weapons, if you can even hit the slippery creature in the first place.

Unfortunately for them, a changeling often ends up exploited for their abilities, either as a prostitute or a spy. In the elven lands of Skysheer and Nabafyr, they have a tradition of keeping changelings as court freaks. I won't get into the gory details, but their treatment would be very similar to the historical treatment of court dwarfs. The prejudice against changelings is very strong in those elven lands due to frequent Fair Folk meddling. Though most changelings have never so much as seen one of the Fair Folk, elves lump changelings in with the terrifying entities that appear on pale nights to steal away children and poison crops. Many changelings hide their nature due to this. If they're lucky, they can find a community of other changelings to rely on. Most aren't this lucky, though, and never meet another person like themselves. It's no surprise that most changelings are reluctant to disclose their identities even to close companions.

On that depressing note, here's some changeling art! The one with more jagged headfins is my dnd character, Gris, who is a bit older, hence the rougher appearance. Elsind is the one with the smoother headfins, and you can't see it because colors scare me, but they have a more purple hue compared to Gris. Generally, changelings are purple, pink, or red, with a slimy texture to their membrane.

They also, of course, do the owl thing with their headfins, where they puff up to look all big when they're nervous.

Anyways, I hope yall like my take on these funky little guys! Please let me know if you have any questions, and if you notice I got any science stuff wrong, shhh, there's magic for that.

Have a bitchin day <3

[missamyrisa2]

how about you get tickle revenge on a ticklish, “excited” tickle boy who deserves everything he gets because of how he tickle teased and tickle edged you!

"You know I became a tickler by taking everything everyone used on me as a ticklee and sharpened it into a feathery purply arsenal ~ I suppose it's poetic~" I muse as I pace around your wiggling form, gently spread on the exam table. I take inventory of my tools, testing soft brushes on my palms and feathers on my face. "Oooh, there's just something so delightfully tingly about these tools. Like my hand is complete when I wield them~" I draw a big blush brush on my cheek. "They're so girly and sweet and dainty and yet have such power over the ticklish form. " I lean down and start dusting your royal chest buttons merrily. "Almost like they're laughing at you hmm?" As I flutter the brush my other hand makes pinching motions, floating down to capture the other button with taunting tweaks and rapid strokes. "Mmmhmm. Mmhmm. Tell me all about it tickle boy. Looks like a sweeping reform on this nubbin" I snicker with you and set aside the brush to pick up a smaller fine point brush, and begin dipping it into massage oil teasingly in front of you. "We're gonna get to know each other so well, you and I. ~" I hum and smirk. "You know, this brush came from a famous artist..." I murmur, unceremoniously dipping the glistening slick tip into your twitching navel as my other hand steadies on your belly lightly moving my fingers~ "he was actually found out to be stealing all his art." I swirl the soft supple brush in your navel, dipping it in and out before I lean in to capture your ear with a kiss. "But I think he was framed~"

I cuddle up to the table now that you're nice and wiggly, directing your cheek so that I can further taunt you by the ear. My lips brush and muah muah muah right on it, my skin grazing on yours. "Didn't like that one huh? Or is it just sooo much to have your tickler all snuggled. You can struggle and wiggle all you like and my bad spots are right here. Why, my princess part is even exposed ~ but you can't stop me nuuuh uhh~ ahh if only you could tickle mee ~ you could stop me from doing thisss~" I kiss your cheek and pop up, grinning as I capture your side with my thumb and begin rubbing earnestly as I take a fluffy feather duster and begin twirling it up and down your ribs. "Coochie coo naughty body. Naughty boy body. You don't think I see what effect we're having here on this little research?~ Aww, you want it sooo bad huh?" I glide my nails up and down your ribs before attacking your underarms mercilessly with digging strokes. "We call this the phantom edge ~ I know you're sooo aroused by my tickles and well maybe me too~! Maybe you like my body over you like this, no silky tickle outfit no silly flower belt, just me and my skin and all my hot spots right in front of you~ You want my touches, you want me don't you? But guess what ~ all you getttt is tickles!! Tickle tickle cutie pie!" I taunt your neck with a feather, chasing it as you struggle, and lean down to let my hair and lips taunt your upper body, brushing on your nipples, blowing raspberries down to your trembly tummy leaving little pink lip prints all along the way.

"Just call me a raspberry farmer ~ quite a planting we just did. We'll harvest that crop later. " I snicker down at the tingly prints over your belly and waist before scooting back further. "Can't forget these feetsies ~ yes, we'll play a little footsie~" I pick up a bamboo hairbrush and snicker wickedly, capturing your big toe. "Brusha brusha boo never caught on as a tease did it? Like we have coochie coo and goochie goo and gitchie goooo ~" I work the brush on your sole rapidly, taking short brushing strokes at varying angles to make sure all those tickle spots are stimulated. "I even had a girl do widda widda woo once ~ what do you prefer? Should I say brushy brushy boooby boo? Oooh boobie! Are you my blue footed boobie~ it's a kind of bird, get your mind out of the gutter silly boy~" I snicker, working your other foot and going heavy with tickles under the toes. "But I suppose that's kind of a moo point huh? Yeah I moo point, it's like a cow's point of view."

Once I have you nice and melty, my fingers start to pinch up your legs, playing in those silly spots behind your knees and over them and up your thighs. "I suppose we really need to administer the test now." My lips curl to a grin and I pick up a red plume tickle toy. "We call this the test tickle~" I can't help but snicker so much as I take the soft puff of feather tips to your royal jewels, dancing around and coating them with sensation. "Did you get it? Test tickles? I guess better than~~ iced sickles~!" I toss my tool and suddenly seize your balls, smiling as I grasp them and capture the base of your swollen princely part squeezing it gently. "You see, I use my tickles against my ticklees ~ and worst of all for you ~ I've been edged so many times that I've gotten quite good at playing with royal parts too~" I pump slowly, grasping your jewels gently. My lips lower and I start blowing soft puffs of air on your twitching tip. "We can call this blowie blowie blueeee~" I taunt, getting so close with my purple lips but never touching that throbbing head, only taunting it with feathery puffs of air while my hands ensure you stay fully on edge~

And then I release~ "mmm mmm~ nuh-uhhhh not yet..." and cuddle up to you, playing with your nipples again. "And nowww my dear, we get to watch you tumble off the edge. Awww it tingles sooo much huh? And it's gonna take so long when I tickle your nipples all the way down. Maybe you'll make a nice giggledrop for your tickle mama? Yeahhh? I'll hold you sooo snug the whole time~" I hold you gently as you suffer the edge, playing with your hotspots and cooing in your ear before moving back down and starting you up again. I get you to attention with my stiff feather quill, tracing the underside of your rising member. "Don't resist it ~ you know you want the royal tickles~" The feather crawls higher, following the swelling progress before resting on the head. I laugh at you as I start fanning the feather edge around, playing with the swollen tip and caressing it ever so lightly over and over. I let your hardness sway in the air, chasing its every motion with my tickle tool ~ mostly silent now just snickering and cooing and mimicking your sounds until you're a fuzzy mess. I pull the feather back when I see that little dewing drop.

"Ah ah ah ah~ naughty boy~"

This time I simply watch you fall back from the edge, making taunting motions with the feather and my fingers near your princely part but never touching it~

With you fully in the frustration zone now I reach for another tool. "I think you need the most naughty tool for naughty edgers." I show you the tip of the shiny purple cylinder ~ the soft material is shaped like a pair of seductive lips, and as I click a button you can see the inside is full of trembling silky material. "Let's see how long you last ~" I hold your hip, thumb rubbing it teasingly as I take my tool and glide it over the remains of your last boner. "My friend is just gonna gobble you up~!" I smile brightly and let my purpley girlfriend draw in your prince part, covering it in a silky sleeve prison. The innards swell and squeeze and twirl and tickle, I move her up and down while I start maniacally tickling your tummy and sides. "Don't try to fight it ~ I know you love this ~ you can gigglecum all you like and we're not stopping now ~ ooh yes, this is what naughty boy boys get for teasing Amy ~ you get edged and edged and then made to gigglecum for tickle mama until you're nothing but a gasping overstimulated mess ~"

[tklyhcs]

alright uhhh i saw some people requesting this on other blogs so i'm stealing those actually, taking those thanks (using this an excuse)!! this isn't the fandom i necessarily wanted to start with but the other ones i wanna write have insane amounts of characters so boy band men first i guess

(IF YOU SAW ME ACCIDENTALLY PUBLISH THIS TOO SOON, NO YOU DIDN'T)

heartsteel hcs here we gooo

kayn 💜

ok fr he's so fun to write for, didn't expect this one to be so cute. easy ler and lee! he likes to be a little bully and use his dirty little grabbers, mostly at ez let's be real. he isn't confident he's gonna win any other matchup so ez is easy picking. and thanks to the blooper reel k'sante is another target because kayn is a scrapper and crawls all over him like a monkey. mostly spiders his fingers all over and laughs evilly like he's won a hard fought battle. he's slinky and quick so he mostly has his target begging for someone else's help, and when they do get said assistance he cries and whines that it's not fair. don't be fooled he enjoys the extra attention!

he just plays to win all the time so when someone else tags in he's sure make everyone know that HE WOULD HAVE WON!!!! HAD IT NOT BEEN FOR EVERYONE ELSE CHEATING!!!! and man that stupid leash why does he even wear it if someones gonna tie his wrists in a knot. and like a true lee he wears that crop top so when he's all tangled go for the abs! he laughs so much it becomes obvious how he got so cut, by laughing his lungs out apparently. when he laughs his fangs show too it's cute.

he's also painfully obvious about not minding since he neeeever calls mercy, never surrenders. he just deals with it! not something someone who DOESN'T enjoy it would do. he could easily call mercy and call it quits but hmmmm he doesn't seem to want to, odd.

for spots i wanna say the waist is really really bad. top of the ribs under the armpits, his abs, his sides, all have him kicking his legs with a shout. he also scream laughs, explodes into laughter at first touch. but his voice also cracks at the first yelp, sounds like a cute lil boy shriek. partial to being "attacked", as he calls it, on the couch. he likes getting to be able to flop down and pass out after, sorta like a little kid it's so fucking cute bro he tuckers himself out laughing and wriggling on his back. dude is exhausted n happy (he swears he is NOT happy abt this) he's just tired for no reason okay. now it's his post giggle episode nap!

k'sante 💛

hear me out ok when i saw his shirt being a turtleneck i was IMMEDIATELY LIKE 🫵 his spot is the neck. it's so the neck. suddenly for him there's more than a few perks of being like.. 6'7" and it's not just being able to get things from high shelves. kayn and ez are menaces to this man it's gotta be 2 on 1. and in the official art pieces, ez getting carried on his back? oof k'sante y'all shouldn't have done that. cause now there's legs locked around his chest and ez is like SURRENDER OR DIEEE and getting all up into that shirt collar. he SCREECHES and spins around trying to shake him off he's stuck on him now. hopping around doing a lil giggly dance with ez on his back. kayn jokes and teases about how instead of focusing on singing, he should work on his dancing instead!

thanks to the blooper reel i can die on the hill that k'sante is a whiny boy and calls yone for help all the time. yoneee helpppp they're bullying me m gonna tell yoneee aaaa. kayn saying OH YOU BIG BABY stop complaining!! no one to help you now! ez is this guy's worst nightmare his cold little fingers are like knives on his neck. k'sante tends to run hot so they're just so nicely sticking a cold can of soda to his nape to help obviously. yone will help sometimes but mainly just because he's trying to keep the team on track (he will also torture k'sante with cold soda cans).

necks are a good tickle bite's worst enemy. chomp. and when someone is up in there biting, he just has to laugh and wait til it's over ☺ and with both of his elbows bent up so he can use his hands to cover his neck. gasp.. who's to protect his armpits! 🤭 noooo one! his neck is his worst spot so he'll make sure to keep it covered! but that does mean he'll get some armpit tickles instead! pick your poison k'sante. they team up on him like this often and ngl he likes it when they're close on em! sweethearts. but he doesn't wanna LOSE so he brings his puppy eyes to yone he's like 👉👈 yone.. help.. what a cop out! but it's not that great of a cute beg it's more like k'sante scream laughing and attempting puppy eyes but yelling HELP AAAA YONE HELP awkwardly waggling his arms. i love making big men be tickly and look foolish. sorry i love embarrassing them uwu

ezreal 💚

wow what a lee he's textbook lee i bet he has a secret tumblr account for all his private tk blogging activities. there's a lot to say about him: MOST IMPORTANTLY though his cute smile alright look at his teeth they're so fucking cute i'm obsessed. probably his only weapon as a ler are his sharp teeth. pointed and dull at the very bottom makes for very ticklish bites, so beware if you're too confident in winning! he will wiggle his head between your head and shoulder and bite! exaggerated fake growls and all. he'll be a little too proud of winning, so don't let him.

he has a reaaaally cute snort laugh too. i think his fans would document it thoroughly and embarrass him by posting clips of it nonstop. he has a more controlled laugh for outings because he's serious about his fandom image, but sometimes he laughs at something and chokes on his breath a bit there. i think it would be a shame of someone (kayn) decided to squeeze his side and make him giggle and snort while he's doing some filmed social media trend. that would soooo bad amiright 🫶 lol he would scream, cover his mouth, and tell his followers that he's BUSY and MUST LEAVE immediately. he basically RUNS to his room to scream into his pillow. like how dare u embarrass him in front of his online friends.

the clip hits all platforms in record time and he maaaay read a few comments because it's people saying it's cute of him and he secretly fawns over those. like "omg you think i'm cute heehee" he's ridiculous. but phel and kain playfully tease him sending pig emojis 🐖🐖🐖 ez is like "DON'T SEND THOSE TO ME DON'T- HEY DON'T POST THAT ON SOCIAL NOOO DON'T COMMENT MY FANS WILL SEE" and they all affectionately change his name in their phones to 🐖 just to tease him.

for spots, he'd be ticklish up sides to his ribs, spidering fingers have him slumped into the couch, laughing hard and snorting, of course. his feet and knees are quite ticklish! only known because he tends to put his feet up and yone continuously tells him to knock it off. but he found that suddenly tickling his socked foot does the trick.

aphelios 💙

he's a difficult one, since he's not much of a talker! but not like he's spared from anyone's wrath. his laugh is what you'd expect and it's fantastic; breathy, wheezy, and full of obvious mirth.

he's prone to pranking the others and while he can be nonchalant and aloof, sometimes the sight of one of the others falling or making utter fools of themselves has him in stitches (and being forced to laugh via tickling is no different). and when he wears his mask it's especially endearing to see his eyes screwed shut as well as him holding his stomach and hunching over, shoulders shaking.

he can't help acting like a little troublemaker and they always pounce on him after he gets someone good with those pranks he pulls. seems like he's more playful than he looks. if anyone stretches, he's the first to poke. if someone gets stuck doing something, phel is there making sure he doesn't waste the opportunity, what a jerk! so do everyone a favor and give him a taste of his own medicine. he's his own worst enemy though, because once he starts wheezing in laughter you pounce on him with tickles and it's downhill from there. he's already laughing so he has no chance of fending off an attack.

and a secret: he's very weak to teasing too! he doesn't talk back he just hides his face in shyness. they fall for a trap he's so deviously placed and now he's under them, mumbling out giggles when they poke him all over saying "what's so funny huh??" he waves his hands at them and pushes em by the shoulders trying to curl up the best he can. pokes drive him nuts and then when you speed up it's even worse, him trying to catch the offending hands. "no timeouts allowed because you started it!"

but it seems like he just doesn't stop pranking the others, so he must like it more than he lets on. he's surprisingly a goofy lil boy. he laughs himself silly, voice hitching and gasping all the way. he laughs himself DIZZY it's cute. he's like kayn he needs a break after. and usually even after whoever is done bullying him, he spends his time giggling quietly his skin still feels electric. he sure is brave for someone who takes so much time to recover.

yone ❤

he's a fun one, the stoic characters always are. most likely to screw his mouth shut and try to deal with pesky fingers at his ribs until he can't any longer. prone to overworking so breaking his concentration is absolutely a necessary activity. and also breaking his concentration playing video games is also crucial, because according to sett he plays too well so he must suffer and be prodded at during playtime too. -i mean what sett would never stoop so low he says.

anyways- yone's usually the mediator but he can get caught up in the mess when someone points out that he's been getting off the hook when it comes to roughhousing. he typically prefers 1 on 1, so he won't lose kayn says. and maybe that's true no one knows. he's really REALLY good at pretending he isn't at all sensitive and keeps it together for, i dunno, 5 seconds. it doesn't seem like a lot BUT it deters most. not these motherfuckers they're in it to win it.

yone will hold back then the giggles bubble up in his throat and you can hear him hum a moment, then they spill out from his lips. he mumbles and whispers out giggles for a moment then it becomes very apparent he won't win this fight and he covers his mouth. that's when it's over. he really starts to laugh and realizes the sensations just won't stop and he's lost. he's most likely to swear actually lol he's like i can handle this. i can handle this..... Fuck.

once he's attempted to cover his mouth he has already lost. he has a very nice, boisterous laugh and his smile is also a 10/10. it's nice to not see his eyebrows furrowed so much. he's lucky he's good at catching people's offending wiggly fingers or else he'd fall apart way more often. so when they trail fingers up his back where he can't reach them or fend them off? it drives him nuts. index finger from the nape and down the spine has him arching and twisting away with a loud yelp.

and that leaves the stomach vulnerable and that's next. tickling at his stomach and he jumps back and grabs whoever's wrist and says to CUT THAT OUT. okay mr. grumpy, jeez. it works as a good attitude adjustment because if he's mad at one of em for fooling around, this can easily divert his attention. k'sante usually has the job of doing so but when he does, he doesn't get yone's support the next time he's on defense. in fact, yone might lead the charge.

sett 🧡

hahaaaa oh man last but not least. most ticklish easily what a mess. being 6 foot 10 is not gonna help him here. sure he can rough somebody up but this is way more difficult for him. the one to be on the floor first begging "pleeheheaasee-" and kicking his leg like a puppy.

he's OBVIOUSLY most sensitive in the midsection he's a tummy boy okay just trust me. and this man may lift, box, it doesn't matter because if you knead his midsection his strength goes right out the window. you can feel him paw at your prodding hands with the weakest grip you've ever seen. his worst enemy is when you do the claw hand on his belly he's in hysterics i'm telling you. wiggling on his back saying "i give! i give!" and flopping onto his side when he's released from their tickly clutches. now, make that two pairs of hands, or ten, he doesn't have a chaaaaance.

he's definitely a good tickle monster to the others but once they elect k'sante to hold him down (he can bench sett apparently so he's gotta be the bad guy on this one) he's like "NOO DON'T DO IT GUYS I'M SORRYEHHEEHE" he preemptivey starts laughing when he sees wiggling fingers creeping closer and closer to him, begging wildly for mercy before anything happens. he calls out to each one of them, praying that they'll help! he's not the one to take what he dishes out.

and also the ears! don't forget about those! they are oh so ticklish and they twitch when you touch them. roll the delicate ear between two of your fingers and it has him in a fit of giggles. any fighting techniques he might know mean nothing in the face of a laughing fit.

first to help someone relieve stress via giving attention and being a stress toy himself. though, he's prone to going after someone first even if he always loses. we appreciate his effort. he'll probably have someone fighting on his side simply because he's a lost cause. has a good relationship with physical affection! his favorite to give: ticklish kisses n raspberries, in combo with a hug of course. try not to get caught in his clutches. if those are his tactics.. maybe he does deserve to get got. he's not as embarrassed as his track record would suggest! takes his inevitable loss in stride.

haaa this long as fuck 👍 i don't think i've written anything at all since 2018 or smth really i tried to keep these diverse so lmk how i did! also like always i do not reread and check anything so. this is it

[fashionlandscapeblog]

I was recently introduced to Alec Leach's work, which I find so incredibly important, especially now that our planet is on fire.

In one of his most recent articles, Alec questions whether we need new ideas in fashion and makes a very valid point arguing that longetivity in a garment is far more important than how groundbreaking it is (in reference to Peter Do's debut collection for Helmut Lang, which was harshly met by critics calling it 'Helmut lite' for not offering enough subversion to the garments as HL typically did). I do agree largely with his point, but I am not sure I think this is an absolute.

To support his argument, he mentions that 'nothing is new anymore' and that 'Brands don’t sell new ideas anymore, they sell remixed versions of old ones'. He further argues that 'a totally original idea doesn’t count for much anymore.', because the industry should instead focus on solving the climate emergency. It's the part in bold I have a problem with.

First off, saying that there are no new ideas anymore and that everything has been done is kinda suggesting that fashion hasn't changed much during the past decade, when it massively has (IMO for the better). Or worse, is he suggesting that designers influenced by others, like Peter Do who has clearly been influenced by HL, do not offer something refreshing and different to their mentors? And no, it's not just marketing or aesthetics. He fails to understand that art has always evolved through inspiration and 'remixing version of old ideas' with new ones as does music.

Furthermore, I think creativity and longevity are not opposites, they can go hand in hand. I personally own several garments with a subversive twist which I've had for nearly a decade and which I still love and wear (I was one of the only influencers rewearing years old pieces of clothing). Not everyone wishes to wear uniforms or look 'normal'. I think that space fashion offers us to express our differences is incredibly important for us humans. It promotes diversity and tolerance. I think Alec is right in his concern , but he underestimates the importance of being different in a world where sameness is the norm.

Clothes need to steal your heart, and that is where the longevity comes in. It’s then when you will repair that hole and reuse it for years, and for a lot of us, basic, razor-sharped tailoring won't cut it

What needs to change is not the design of the clothes per se (longetivity?, definitely), it's our mentality regarding consumption or worrying about our clothes being on trend or not. I could not give a rat's ass whether my 7 year old cropped puff sleeved Tomé jacket is so 'passé', because it expresses who I am.

The attempt to create new things should always exist. After all, designers will continue releasing new collections and they might as well offer their creativity. I follow Peter Do since 2018 for his unique point of view. If he offered me what everyone else offers me, I wouldn't follow him. What shouldn't really exist is our mentality when seeing these new things and 'needing' to buy them. It is possible to see beautiful fashion without that impulse. It is possible for it to exist without destroying our planet. It's the way and quantities in which it is produced what really needs to change.

Finally, I truly believe there is a place for everything on this planet. While not everyone wants to wear avantgarde fashion and basic clothing is what is mostly needed, I think there should always be a space for new ideas, even if minimal. Not everyone can build like Zaha Hadid or Frank Gehry, nor should they (our planet doesn't count with the resources for every building to look like the Guggenheim de Bilbao, plus this would lead to countless other problems). However, I believe these buildings deserve their place in the world, as does anything different, including fashion.

[covenofwives]

I'm so hooked on the gods fashion senses now askdjfh :(((

I think XD should wear cool earrings. Ones with golden stars or purple flowers. When they aren't wearing a cloak he'd absolutely rock a crop top I'm so sure of ittttt.

HD deserves butterfliy clips! Maybe a pastel sweater because HD with sweater paws is all I need rn ughhh lmao

I have no idea why but i think 4k would absolutely rock a vest?? Maybe even suspenders because he can be a classy boy sometimes askldfjhalk. Idk if he'd probably not want so much restriction, so a kickass croptop as well he'd also def pull off aklsdfjhlakjhdf

-emmadoodlewrites

Me and Llama were actually discussing XD's ears not too long ago because he's just never shown them off. So it could be entirely possible he has secret earrings on (I may steal this for the au if you don't mind i think that's so cute). Crop tops are a defo for XD because they don't get in the way of his lower set of arms.

A soft coloured sweater would be so CUTE on HD. He would suit comfort clothes so much so sweaters and sweatpants would be fun to see him in. Especially starry sweatpants omg

4K in suspenders is so *chefs kiss* to think about but I think it would be a rare special dress up. I always imagined if the Gods had to choose regular clothes to wear, 4K would like more street fashion stuff. Big coats and loose tops. If you look at any art of 4K, you'll see he has two different earrings on his left ear :) given to him by two special people to him (woooo the mystery)

God this is so cute to think about. I may do some sketches of these.

(And each of the God Siblings would absolutely love overalls. It's canon I've made it canon. All of them have AT LEAST one pair of overalls)

[dewcrafter]

The Painter

Painting is so therapeutic, I love painting but most importantly I love seeing him each day, I walk up into the attic with my wireless headphones and look at all my art of him, my handsome Mr. Faceless, i've been drawing him for years and I don't really know why my ma says he could be a lover or close friend from a previous life which would be pretty cool but I don't really believe in all that, not to be offensive but I believe in research and studies then just theories and speculation "Oi Atsumu" said my brother, looking behind me I see him leaning on the stairwell up to my attic "who said you could come in?" I asked annoyed "come on stop being so upset about what I said about Mr. Past Lover" he said looking at me slightly apologetically "go away samu!" I said walking over and pushing him off the short ladder and closing the hatch locking myself in our attic so I could get to work "ATSUMU SERIOUSLY" yelled my twin brother "BE QUIET" I yelled back after pushing my little sofa on top of it "DON'T COME CRYING TO ME LATER WHEN YOU CAN'T GET OUT" he yelled back making me huff in anger before walking over to my easel and sitting down in front of it grabbing my paint brushes and paint and getting the paint ready as I find a nice playlist to listen to while I paint, I find one and quickly put my headphones and hit play as I start painting Mr. Past Lover or as I like to call him Omi Omi.

A few hours have passed since I've started painting and samu keeps spam calling me so when I finally pick up "what" I said annoyed into the phone "go out and get groceries you gremlin" said samu "why should I?" I asked even more annoyed "if you do you get to pick out dinner" he said which was enticing but I really wanna keep on working another Omi Omi portrait "tsk fine, we are having fatty tuna and cream cheese stuffed mushrooms" I said quickly hanging up and moving the couch to get dressed because yes, I went up into the attic in my robe, who can stop me it's my house. After getting dressed in my favorite booty shorts and wearing a white off shoulder cutout with a tan super crop on top before grabbing my satchel that had some paper and a pencil also my wallet but I steal samu's anyways as I left the house it was a nice summer day, I really love the summer it always is so nice and warm. When I finally got to the grocery store I quickly went around grabbing everything on the list "hey you" I heard someone say making me look up curiously to see some rando staring at me "uh hi?" I said slightly nervously as he kinda death glared me "what's your name" he asked making me pause "I'm not telling" I said before going back to shopping not really caring that he was following me, I work out and am pretty buff so I think I could take him down in a fight. When I finally got to the cash register the young women that was ringing me up kept on looking at me which made me cringe a bit on the inside because honestly I thought this outfit made it pretty clear I was gay as hell but I guess not, when she was done checking and bagging everything I was about to put samu's card in when that guy spoke up again "let me pay for all that" which made me uneasy but he didn't let me respond as he put his card in quickly paying for everything so I hope he doesn't decide to steal all of the food I thought as I grabbed everything and started walking off "gonna walk off without even saying thank you?" questioned the guy walking next to me and now he was kinda freaking me out cause huge stalker flags "why should I, what you did was out of the goodness of your heart" I said speeding up as I kept walking "come on, at least tell me your name" he said pleadingly "no thanks" I said annoyed "please, look I know this is weird but you look like someone my friend has been painting all the time and I just gotta know" he said looking at me pleadingly which made me stop and sigh "why would knowing my name help out your 'friend'" I said making it obvious I didn't think it was any friend he was talking about "well the person he's been painting obviously doesn't have a name and he's been calling him atsu and I know it's weird but like if he found out there was someone who looked like the painting out there he'd actually go out and talk to other people" he said giving me a hopeful smile "so you want me to basically flirt with your friend because I look like some person he keeps painting?" I asked unamused "yes.." he said uneasily "well thanks for the offer but it's a big no, now stop following me." I said leaving him behind hearing him sigh as he walked off which thank god he did. I didn't wanna wait any longer, I was hungry.

—--

Inspired by the art from drawnbymabel on insta

[beantothemax]

T (the first one) is for Tarak Boisseau

Saying Tarak is a guy is a crime tbh, idk what they are, they're just silly (he/they)

No drawing just yet but you can have a description.

He is 160cm/5'4 and has slim shoulders, so he is pretty small. His skin is a copper brown and he has chin length dark curly hair. They have one normal eye, and where the right eye should be, is too smaller eyes. Imagine the eye socket is slightly bigger and there are two eye balls, one over the other, they are not next to each other. These eyes are usually covered by an eye patch. They are half human, half 4EC (4EC is the species that lives in Rhemine, they can have anywhere between 2 and 9 eyes).

They are dressed in a gold embroidered white dress shirt with a cropped red jacket like that of a circus director. He has lightweight white boots with gold details on them, and creamy pale yellow pantaloons.

The eyepatch is white with gold details, to match the rest of their outfit.

Job: dancer

Weapons/abilities: dagger/thunder

Path action: allure

Nighttime path action: graverobbing (steal an item from a ghost)

Latent power: TBA

Tarak Boisseau is a 22 year old former dancer (also the youngest traveler) of the traveling circus called Starlight, owned by his adopted father Carnell Boisseau.

Tarak has lived with Carnell for as long as he can remember, and he loves him. But the other members of the circus all seem to resent or even hate him. A girl named René was a member of the circus too. She was very talented in many things, but she was a 4EC with 9 eyes and vitiligo and was therefore forced to sit in cages as a circus attraction, because there are hardly any 4EC on the main continent.

Eventually, she decides she has had enough and escapes. She asks Tarak to come with her but they don't want to, because they love Carnell and think he is a good person. René disagrees and just lives.

Years later, Tarak finds out that Carnell has been abusing the other circus members and he confronts him. They fight Carnell and he gets sent to prison. After that, everyone is thankful but the circus disbands and everyone goes their seperate ways.

All Tarak knows is performing, so they decide to start their own circus where the members can be themselves without fearing abuse. They go around the continent in search of the previous members of Starlight circus to get them back together.

In his final chapter, he meets René, but now she has a decent job as a maid. Tarak spends the entire final chapter convincing her to join him and she does, and they make a dancing duo act together and it has a very happy and cute ending.

Also Tarak and René fall in love post story, but they've DEFINITELY had a crush on her since they were a kid so the other travelers would tease them about it.

yoooo i look forward to seeing their art especially because the whole 'multiple eyes in one socket' thing they've got going on sounds sick!!!!

tarak maqking his own circus and reuniting with rené at the end... ive known them for 10 seconds and i already love them

[egg-emperor]

Hope you like my new festive icon! It's the carol singing Eggman art that I was finally able to make into an icon because I actually found the full version of the art! (It was cropped in that one Sonic Official post and I couldn't find a good image for years)

Sega Shop UK gave this email with the art in it so I upscaled it:

I love Sonic's sweater, I wish it was real. Idk why he has an Eggman sweater though, maybe he's wearing it to be like "Haha he's so much like Santa" But Eggman knows and embraces this by dressing up as Evil Santa Egg and stealing gifts! >:)

This is one of my favorite official holiday Eggman artworks ever, he looks so adorable fhsbjghsndkgk Everyone shush and listen to him sing, he looks like he's trying so hard and singing so passionately and he has such a beautiful voice 🥰💖💕

And he's holding a lantern! He'll use it to see in the dark of the night when he blesses it with his wonderful singing and doesn't let anyone sleep. He can come and sing outside my house any time, I'll let him in and give him festive treats!

We all know exactly what he's singing hehe 💜

I'm imagining Sonic and Tails trying to sing something else and he just comes out and shouts his superior self written song over them that we should all listen to and appreciate every single year lol

[campyvillain]

Hey guys just letting you know - if you see my twf art on redbubble up for purchase, that isn’t me selling it. I don’t have a means of receiving any payment online and to date I never have, so there isn’t any way I could set up a means of selling my artwork whatsoever. Anyone selling my artwork is not to be trusted, and for the record, no, I do not and never would give someone else the go ahead to sell my own work. The only one I’d feel safe with selling my art is myself. The people selling my art on redbubble have not reached out to me in advance for permission to use my work and for all intents and purposes they are stealing my artwork and using it for their own profit. This revelation is extra upsetting to me because without a storefront to sell stuff on, there’s no official alternative I can offer to this. I cant receive compensation for this. I know art theft on redbubble is as common as seeing fish in the ocean but this stings a lot more considering my art gets stolen/used without credit all the time but at least then there’s the chance I can reach out to the person using my art to get them to either take it down or credit me. I cannot do such a thing in this case, and even if I could, I’m on vacation with my family and I don’t have the time to worry about this sort of stuff. So the most I can do is make you all aware of the different art styles and indicators of my art so you can spot people stealing my content more easier.

Style 1

vibrant/dulled vibrant colors (this can vary from piece to piece)

chunky, thick outlines

very angular and cartoonish

this is my main style as it’s easier to draw in

Style 2

simplified, limited color palette

big cartoony eyes with smaller pupils that can often look exaggerated to push the expression of the drawing

softer more rounded body proportions, designs have a clear use of shape and are very simplified

thin-medium sized lines

shading and lineart often done in greys

warm tones

Style 3

semi-realistic yet still cartoony proportions

shares a lot with style 2 (same color palette, warm tones, grey shading, has a “soft” look)

painterly, fully rendered, lineless style

lush expansive toned-down colors with lots of red typically included

dreamlike, surrealistic imagery

use of blockier shapes

This is nowhere near all the styles I use as I tend to switch things up a lot, these are just the styles whose pieces get a lot of notes (often in the thousands) and therefore have a higher risk of being stolen and used for profit without my knowledge.

Another thing you should note is that nearly all of my art contains a signature - it’s really simple, it’s just the first initial of my name, Jack, stylized as “J.” with a dot at the end. This is how you can tell that a piece was made by me.

Thankfully, it’s also something a lot of these resellers tend to forget to crop out.

Idk how to end a post like this because i am not used to this type of situation happening to me. Again at the time of writing I’m on a vacation with my family so I don’t want to have to think about this, and I can’t really get involved anyway. So if you browse redbubble (and i’m not familiar with how redbubble works) I ask that if you see my work under a name that is not me, find a way to report it and get it removed.

Even if you’re not a fan of twf or you’re just a mutual of mine I encourage you to share this post around, as I’m a poor disabled nd trans artist and I need all the recognition and credit I can get from my work. Also instead of buying uncredited work you can just like….reblog my art instead? LOL i dunno. I just hope this situation gets resolved quickly as I’m so fucking tired of not getting credit for my work -_-

[thecousinsdangereux]

the land of race car ya yas

A short little ficlet for @corvophobia who has drawn a bunch of art for the bees racer au of my dreams. This is ALL based on her drawings, so make sure you check out her stuff. Happy birthday, Amber! You are one of my two favorite British children. <3

(Please note that I know nothing about street racing. I've only watched the Fast and the Furious movies. Forgive me....)

--

“How’d you do that?”

Blake’s used to the question or some version of it, and maybe that’s why she takes in the words before she notices the tone, imagines a scowl (a lowered brow, hands curled into fists, the flash of teeth as the scowl turns into a snarl) with the same instinct that has her shoulders tensing. It’s only mid-turn that she realizes the question is laced with wonder rather than anger, but even this awareness doesn’t prepare her for the sight that meets her. It’s a woman, her smile wide and unrestrained by pesky things like self-consciousness or insecurity, and her eyes are nearly glowing in the low light, purple and bright and full of open admiration. Her black leather jacket, classic in cut, has the sleeves rolled up mid-forearm, revealing a prosthetic of black and yellow, and her grey jeans are tight, showing off a body that Blake has to work to avoid following the curves of. Her hair is long, blonde, curling around her shoulders and down her back, artful in its disorder, down to the single, stubborn cowlick at the top of her head.

In short, she’s beautiful, and Blake stares for longer than she should, feeling heat in her veins.

“Do what?”

She manages a response, but it’s absent minded. She’s just noticed the light dusting of pink on the woman’s cheeks, coloring the spaces in between her freckles, and it has her re-evaluating, pulling her thoughts to the effort she’s put into her own outfit that evening: a cropped and sleeveless hoodie with blocked colors of white and purple, tight leather shorts, and clunky boots that hit just under the knee. Blake looks good and this woman knows it, which makes them even on this particular front, and that's a settling sort of feeling.

“Win,” the woman says simply, her smile growing. “And don’t just say NOS.”

“NOS,” Blake drawls, just because she can, and she’s rewarded by the woman’s laugh, rewarded even more when she steps closer.

“No, but what’s your delivery method? Direct port, obviously, but you had to have used a custom kit, right? I’ve been telling you, Yang, I need to recalibrate yours. Can I look at your car? Would you mind if I just took a tiny peak just to see what you’ve done with your injection site? We really need to upgrade, Yang. A nozzle with less back pressure will give you a better squeeze. I’ve been telling you!”

She hadn’t noticed the other woman, but blinks at her now, a red blur waving her arms about, hoping from one foot to the other, firing out words faster than Blake — an aficionado of all things fast — can keep up with. The woman (Yang?) seems to find the act familiar and reacts with affection tinged with a false exasperation (put upon for Blake’s benefit or maybe as a means of gentle chiding), sighing and placing a hand on the smaller girl’s shoulder.

“And I’ve been telling you, you can’t just ask people to look at their shit!” She turns to Blake now, and this time her eye roll is definitely for Blake. “Sorry about that, I swear we’re not trying to steal any of your trade secrets. Ruby just… really likes cars.”

“It’s so pretty too,” Ruby coos, batting away Yang’s hand and taking a step towards the vehicle Blake had used to push past Yang at the last moment, a fact neither of these women seem to hold against her. “The purple stripes. But I bet the engine is prettier.”

It’s unprecedented, really. Blake’s been on the scene for a while — longer than she would admit to anyone here — first as a tagalong and now as a driver, but she’s never had an encounter quite like this. The unexpectedness of it all has her feeling off-balance, has her reacting without any of her customary cool anger as Ruby stares at her hood (as though if she focuses hard enough, she’ll be able to see through the metal to the parts underneath). Maybe that’s why Blake responds in a way that’s decidedly unwise, without any further thought at all.

“You can take a look. I don’t mind.”

“Really?” Ruby squeals, but doesn’t wait for Blake to confirm, darting around her and flipping open the hood in the span of three seconds.

“Really?” Yang asks, and the word sounds wildly different coming from her, sliding out from behind her crooked lips like thanks or maybe a challenge (or maybe both). “Not worried about my mechanic figuring you out before the next race?”

Blake should be, of course. But.

“Can’t say I am.”

“Maybe not the smartest move.” Yang crosses her arms; the chrome of her right glints under one of the flickering street lights. For the first time, she looks away from Blake’s gaze, eyes darting over to check on Ruby (who’s leaning so far into the front of Blake’s car that her feet nearly lift off the ground) and then to another group of drivers, a good distance behind them, but clearly watching in curiosity. It’s never wise to gather after a race, but everyone always does when it goes well, and for the first time, Blake’s glad for it. “She’s pretty vicious about giving me an edge. I wish I could say it was familial loyalty, but really, she just wants to make the fastest car in the city.” Yang pauses, tilting her head in thought. “Or country. Or world. Not sure when she’ll be satisfied, to be honest.”

“Sisters?” Blake asks. She can’t really see the resemblance, but then again, she hasn’t spent as much time looking at the younger of the pair, even though she should probably be less focused on the elder (the one not pouring over her engine. Sun and Ilia were going to kill her).

“Yeah.” Yang probably doesn’t realize how much her smile grows in the confirmation, saturated with pride and love. “Scary brilliant too. Give her five minutes with a car and she’ll take it apart, put it back together, and it’ll run better than it ever has. But all that means she always thinks it’s the car that puts a driver ahead.”

Blake arches a brow. “And you think she’s… wrong?”

“Well, yeah.” Yang’s closer than Blake remembers her being, maybe because her legs are long, her strides somehow longer, and it only takes a step before she’s close enough for Blake to feel the heat radiating off her body. “I know it’s only the driver that puts a driver ahead. That’s why I’m here talking to you instead of looking at your car.” Her lips twitch and she amends her statement quickly. “Part of the reason, at least.”

The other part of her reasoning is made pretty obvious when Yang’s eyes trace up Blake’s form once more. It should probably bother Blake, but it doesn’t, maybe because she’s done the same to Yang during this conversation (more than once). Still, there are things better avoided, and Blake knows this better than anyone. She does her best to get back on track.

“It wasn’t me,” she says (almost blurts), and then feels her neck warm when Yang looks at her quizzically. “Before, you asked how I won. But it wasn’t me, not really. You could have had it if you hadn’t fired your nitrous early. You were impatient.”

It’s too blunt, Blake knows this as soon as the words leave her lips. She’s backtracked too much, retreated into aloofness as she was wont to do, but Yang only laughs, and the sound cracks through Blake’s go-to defense, a corner of her lips curling before she can stop it.

“You’re right. I used to be way worse, back when I started out, but I’m a lot better now. Usually.”

“So what happened today?” It’s the question Yang wants her to ask, of this Blake is sure, but it hardly feels like a chore.

“Ah, bad luck, I guess. I took one look at the driver next to me and all that impatience came rushing back. All I wanted to do was finish the race and meet her properly.” She winks. Combined with the cheesy line, it shouldn’t work as well as it does (but it does). “I’m Yang.”

“Blake.”

They don’t shake hands, and Blake’s glad for it. There’s something buzzing between them, a tingling sensation at the tips of her fingers, the build up right before a lightning strike, and Blake’s not entirely sure what the contact — however brief and friendly — might do to her.

“Next time, maybe I’ll be a little more prepared.” Yang’s eyes roam across her face, settling once more on gold. “But probably not.”

“Immersion therapy,” Blake quips. “Give it time.”

Yang whistles sharply, and it takes Blake a moment to realize that she’s called her sister back over. (Blake had forgotten about her entirely, though the grease on her hands and face leads her to believe that Ruby had done a thorough dive under her hood, the sort Blake ought to be worried about.)

“Time is exactly what I plan on giving it. A lot of time, if you’ll let me.” Yang nudges her sister back in the direction they’d come from. Ruby waves, offers a wide grin of thanks, but Blake’s stuck on purple.

“Well. Let’s see how you do in the next race,” she murmurs.

“Looking forward to it.”

And Blake, who started racing to get away, who started racing to run, who started racing so she never had to stay in one place for long, finds that she is too.

—

“What the hell is your problem?”

Blake’s used to this question too, or some form of it, and this time, the tone is exactly what she expects. The small, white-haired woman in a vest and tie, however, is not.

“Listen, I’m sorry I hurt your boyfriend’s feelings by being a better driver than him, but you’re only embarrassing yourself now.” Blake takes another look at the woman’s attire; her sleeves are rolled up to her elbows and — despite the country club hairstyle and the heels — the hint of a tattoo on her pale skin, just under the fabric makes up Blake’s mind for her. “Or… Girlfriend?”

“Not quite,” says a familiar voice.

Today, Yang has decided to show off her abs (and she most certainly does have abs) with a cropped jacket of black and gold checks, and Blake can’t quite bring herself to look beyond that for too long, though she catches the black driving gloves, the oversized and gold sunglasses, the oversized cargo pants. In the seconds it takes for Blake to wind her brain back up, Yang grins, cocksure, and continues.

“Though you were right about the gay thing. I mean, look at her.”

“Look at you,” the other woman sniffs, actually physically turning up her nose. “Could you be any gayer?”

“Yeah, I could be wearing a vest and tie,” Yang fires back, but it’s clear the banter is familiar, it’s obvious these two know each other well enough for their back and forth to not contain any real barbs.

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Blake drawls, before she’s able to stop herself, and Yang turns back to her with an arched brow. “Good to see you again, Yang.”

“Oh, is it? Could have fooled me!” The other woman’s ire has been refocused, and it’s seemingly stronger than before, the pitch of her words higher, more dire. “Given you nearly killed her just now.”

“Weiss,” Yang sighs, but Blake winces, feeling the sting of the words despite Yang’s quick glance of reassurance sent her way.

“I didn’t realize you’d pull off when I drifted. I thought you’d… lean in.”

It’s not an excuse. They’d been neck and neck towards the end of the race (again), and when she’d nudged the side of Yang’s car — far gentler than she would against anyone else — she’d assumed the woman would give as good as she got, like most every other racer she’d gone against. But Yang hadn’t taken any chances, and it’d cost her the race.

“We don’t do that here,” the woman — Weiss — says, lips pursed to the point of contortion, but Yang only laughs.

“We do that here all the time. I did way worse to Mercury last week.”

“Yes, but Mercury is a creep.” Weiss pauses, considering. “We only do that to creeps here.”

Blake’s hands lift, a show of peace. “Hey, no one handed me the Beacon Street Racing Etiquette Guide when I joined up the other week. Maybe you could loan me your copy.”

This doesn’t exactly smooth things over with the woman, especially not when Yang snickers, but Weiss can clearly see the writing on the wall, and tosses her hair over her shoulder with a huff.

“Whatever. I’m telling Ruby about this,” she warns Yang (or maybe Blake, or maybe both of them), before stalking away, her last words called over her shoulder. “She’s not going to be happy.”

There’s no concern on Yang’s face as she watches her go, if anything she looks amused. “Sorry about that. She’s… protective.”

“I can see that. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve been friends with someone for a while.” It’s a guess (and a probe), but Yang doesn’t correct any of her phrasing, so it must be close enough to the truth.

“Yeah, but I didn’t mean protective of me.” Yang’s grin shows a flash of white teeth. “Weiss bet on me tonight. You lost her money. And that’s the real sin.”

Blake’s surprised at how easily her laugh comes (more surprised how easily the fondness slips through the cracks in her chest). “Oh, I see. So I can kick your ass up and down the streets as long as I convince her to bet on me in the future? Good to know.”

“I’m not sure that’s the message I want you to be taking from this,” Yang drawls, but still smiles, flicking her glasses up to her forehead. “Besides, like she said, Ruby’s the one to look out for. She seemed all sweet and innocent yesterday, but gods help the person she turns her disapproving stare on. I’ve seen people break into tears on the spot.”

From what Blake had seen yesterday, Ruby isn’t the sort that loses her chipper bounce very easily, so despite Yang’s teasing tone, she files the information away as useful. If she were being a little more self-searching, she might question the action, given her tendency to not stick around in any one place for long. (Surely Beacon isn’t any different. Surely she couldn’t know now if it were.)

“Lucky she missed the race today, then.” Her lips curve, a sharp corner that would require a drift. ���What, she couldn’t bear to see you lose again?”

“Oh, ha ha. No, she had class. And she knows there’s no skipping for racing; that’s the only hard and fast rule for our household.” It’s not what she expects, the straight answer backed with genuinity, but it strikes Blake as endearing, somehow, especially when Yang continues. “I started racing here so we could pay for those classes, so I think it’s only fair.”

“That’s — ” Kind. Authentic. Surprising. Blake’s not sure which word to use so she disgards them all. “I wouldn’t have pegged you as the type who was racing for the money. Not that… there’s anything wrong with that. Especially in your case.”

Yang laughs. “Hey, don’t mistake me. I started racing here for the money, but it’s not why I race in general.”

“So why do you?” Blake asks, even though she suspects she knows the answer. (It’s not wise to take your eyes off the road, but she’s done it in both of her races with Yang, eyes darting to the side to find the woman speeding alongside her: eyes wild, grin wide, the fervor of the moment all over her face. There’s freedom there, more than there is anywhere else, and Blake thinks she sees that in Yang as much as she does in herself.)

“Same as you, I think,” Yang murmurs, closer now, sliding in when Blake’s distracted once again.

“I’m not sure you know me well enough to say that.”

A bluff, of course, but it gets the intended result.

“Not yet.” From this close, Yang looks taller, and Blake has to tilt her chin to look into her eyes. “But I’m still looking to fix that.”

Blake wets her lips. It’s too much, and she’s not sure she can tack on ‘too soon’ to quantify the thought, make it less tame. If she had to guess, Yang will always be too much, like sunlight after coming out of a room. Blake’s not sure she’ll ever adjust to the rays, or if she wants to.

“Let’s see how you do in the next race,” she says again, and Yang laughs again, totally unabashed.

“Okay, I’m sensing a trend here. What, you’re not going to let me take you out unless I win a race again you?”

“If I say ‘yes’, what are you going to do?”

It’s not cockiness that overtakes Yang’s face then, not exactly. It’s confidence or want or determination or maybe just the flush that comes from the thrill of a challenge. Blake’s setting herself up for something here, she knows, failure or disappointment or something like it, but right then, she doesn’t care. There’s a freedom in this sort of race too, and that she’s come to love.

“Oh, that’s easy, Blake.” Yang leans in a little more, and Blake knows it’s audible, the way her breath is cut short. “I’m going to win.”

[doublerainebow]

Artist Resources (Part 1?)

This is basically just going to be a bunch of resources I have found to be useful. I can’t say that I’ve used all of them, but I’m sure they’re all worth checking out.

I’m also gonna try to put a detailed description for most of the links so you have a better idea of what you’re getting. I apologize in advance if some of them are redundant lol

(I put “Part 1″ if in the case I make another one)

~Links to Tutorials, Tips, Resources, etc~

Another Resource List -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Apparently, the post isn’t mobile-friendly, so it’s suggested to view this on Tumblr browser. Has a bunch of other links. I’ve checked out a few of them (mainly the copyright stuff lol), and it seems that some of the links may be a bit outdated. Still, it doesn’t hurt to check out the links.

Arms and Legs -- Leads to another Tumblr post. A handy tutorial on elbow and knee placement.

Art & Game Dev -- This leads to my personal playlist of a bunch of YouTube videos. Has a bunch of tutorials and interesting videos that I’ve collected over the course of a few years lol.

Blamblot -- A website that contains resources and tutorials on comic lettering. This is primarily in reference to western comics, but it doesn’t help to take a looksie.

Commission Calculator -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps artists to stop selling themselves short.

Comparing Heights (hikaku-sitatter) -- A height comparer for centimeters.

Comparing Heights -- A height comparer for feet and inches.

Mouth Shapes and Lip-Syncing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Useful for... drawing mouth shapes.

Reference Angle -- Useful for when you’re trying to map out a face from an odd angle.

Soft Proofing for Printing -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Helps when you’re trying to make prints of your artwork.

Textures -- A website full of different and mostly free textures. While this website is made for 3D texturing, it can also be useful for 2D drawings. Signing up gives you 15 free credits everyday, and you can use those credits to download some textures for free.

The Models Resource -- A website of models ripped from a wide array of games.

The Spriters Resource -- A website of sprites ripped from a wide array of games.

The Textures Resource -- A websites of textures ripped from a wide array of games. 

~Links to Stock Images~

Please check out whatever policies they may have for their images before using them!

(not sure if any of them are active anymore as I followed some of these accounts a long time ago when I used to be more active on Deviant Art lol)

adorkastock (formerly senshistock)

anatoref -- Leads to another Tumblr post. Has a bunch of hand photo references

charligal-stock

HumanAnatomy4Artist -- Does contain nudity

null-entity

PhelanDavion

RobynRose

~Links to Other Artists~

Akihito Yoshitomi -- Yoshitomi is a mangaka who has tutorials on manga making. He also has an insightful series in which he drafts and draws a 30-page manga in 18 days. Remember that every artist works differently and his process may be different from another’s.

Drawfee -- Drawfee is an improv drawing show of four artists: Nathan Yaffe, Jacob Andrews, Julia Lepetit, and Karina Farek. While they don’t have tutorials in a sense, their videos explain the different processes they go through as they draw. They also occasionally provide tips, tricks, and resources in their videos. They do have another channel and a Twitch channel where they host drawing classes in addition to other fun shenanigans.

EtheringtonBrothers -- Has a bunch of useful and eye-catching tutorials called “How to Think When You Draw”.

Mark Crilley -- Mark is a comic artist, specializing in manga, who has a bunch of tutorials about anatomy, perspective, comic making, and other things.

Miyuli -- Miyuli is an artist who posts tutorials on their Twitter. Their tutorials range from anatomy to clothing to other things. They even have a few books of art tips. Currently (as of the time of posting this), their 2018 version is free for download, so I highly recommend you download that. Some tips may be outdated, but they should still be helpful.

Whyt Manga (Twitter/YouTube) -- Odunze is a comic artist, specializing in manga, that has a bunch of tutorials on manga making and drawing characters of color.

~Links to Free Programs~

Blender -- A free 3D program if you’re into 3D modeling and such. I also personally haven’t used Blender (I use Maya lol), but I know it’s a respectable program.

Krita -- A free painting program if you can’t afford Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint. I personally haven’t used Krita, but I have recommended it to a few friends and they have positive reviews about it.

Paint Tool SAI -- Okay, this one isn’t free, but it’s a significantly cheaper painting program where you don’t have to pay a subscription. It’s 5,500JPY (~50 USD). I’m not sure how well it still works on modern computers (the last update was 2016), but I still use it here and there because I love the pen tool feature it has, and it still works like a charm for me.

~General Tips From Raine~

Raine admits that she’s guilty of not following her own advice, but Raine hopes that the tips that she does know will be beneficial to someone who will follow them. She’s also going to keep all her tips under the cut so as to not make this post a huge wall of text (even though it technically already is lol)

Also, if you have some resources, tutorials, tips yourself, please feel free to send them to me and maybe I’ll make a part 2 to this post!

ALWAYS LOOK FOR REFERENCE. This should really go without saying. You can’t draw from life if you refuse to observe life itself.

If you can’t find the exact thing you need, MAKE YOUR OWN REFERENCE. Time and time again, I can’t find something exactly that I need. So instead, what I do is that I take pictures of my own reference. Sometimes I even grab a friend and take pictures of them doing whatever it is I need.

Have a mirror handy when you’re drawing. Sometimes what you need is actually right there in front of you.

Having trouble drawing something? Do some studies. Take the time to understand what it is you’re drawing. I can’t remember the exact story, but I heard that the people who were working on Tarzan were having a hard time drawing his hands. So, what they did was spend a few hours looking at hands to try and understand how they work.

IT’S OKAY TO STUDY THE ART OF OTHER ARTISTS. Just as we look to the old masters as a reference, it’s definitely okay to look at modern-day artists for reference. Just don’t go copying exactly everything that they do, or worse, trace what they do. Just don’t do it... at all.

Not every line needs to be realized. The viewer of your work will automatically connect the dots.

DO NOT TRASH YOUR OLD DRAWINGS. Please, never ever do this. Your old drawings have value to them, even if they look terrible to you. Old drawings may hold ideas for things you could do for the future. They also serve as a way to see how far you’ve come as an artist.

GETTING BETTER AT DRAWING TAKES TIME AND EFFORT. You’re not gonna get better overnight. It’ll take months, or even years, to feel like you’re a competent artist, and even then, you’ll still have room for improvement.

DON’T LOOK DOWN ON YOURSELF IF YOU’RE TAKING A LONG TIME TO GET BETTER. It’ll be better for your mental health in the long run.

Alternatively, DON'T LOOK DOWN ON OTHER ARTISTS EITHER, ESPECIALLY TO MAKE YOURSELF FEEL BETTER. You know the struggles it took for you to get where you are, so don’t go putting down other people when you’ve been in their shoes once.

KEEP DRAWING. If you’re not making an effort to get better, then you’re not going to be better. I get that it’s hard to find the inspiration to draw (I’m very guilty of this), but just keep trying. It doesn’t have to be big or spectacular. You don’t even have to post it if you’re the type who likes to post their art stuff.

Try to find references from real-life. It’ll help you better understand form, lighting, shadows, etc., especially if you’re going for a more realistic kind of art style. Otherwise, finding reference from things like cartoons, anime, comics, etc. are just as good.

Try new things. Try new art mediums. Try a different art style. Switch up the way you do things. Maybe you’ll hate it, maybe you’ll like it. Who knows if you don’t try.

Watch time-lapses (or speed draws/speed paints) of other artists!

Pinterest and Google are your friends if you need tutorials or references or whatever.

If you’re offering commissions, DO NOT WORK UNDER YOUR LOCAL MINIMUM WAGE. You are literally devaluing the work you actually put into a piece.

I like to think I’m an aficionado of Photoshop, so feel free to ask me questions on how to achieve something! I’ve used Photoshop for about 11 years now and know my way around the program. On another note, I do recommend setting custom keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop because the default shortcuts are terrible (in my opinion), and because having custom shortcuts increases the speed of your workflow.

Because I’ve been seeing this a lot lately in Twitter, you’re never too old to start in art. Art is just one of those things that anyone can pick up at any age because the only thing you really need to get good in art is time, diligence, and patience.

Try not to post hi-res images of your artwork to prevent art stealers from selling your artwork in high resolution.

Always, always, always add your signature and watermark on your artwork. I like to add my signatures and watermarks in places that’ll be hard to erase or crop out. I’ve also seen people add their signatures and watermarks in creative ways (ex. on a character’s shirt). You need to protect your work in an era where people will just blatantly steal it and make profit off your work.

Tag List

@reality-is-often-disappointing