#i love love love sharing my silly art process so ty ty for the ask !!!

[turboemmy]

hii first id like to say thank u for making such cute and bouncy art, ive been in kind of a funk lately and your art has genuinely cheered me up a lil with how colourful & just generally sweet n positive it is!! if u don't mind me askin, i rly dig that grainy papery texture you sometimes use, is there a certain texture pack etc you got it from or are there any similar looking ones you'd recommend? :o

oh thank you so so much!!!! I love making everything round and squishy hehe, and i looove bright colors. Im so glad theyre well liked !! 🥺💕 i hope you get outta your lil funk soon! Ive been there before too and ik its not easy !! 😔

As for the textures tho, yes i do use like a texture pack!! I specifically buy off creative market, its really got a bunch of nice assets for artists by artists that is very great! The ones i love to specifically use are here and they have cardboard textures that are similar to like. Chipboards ! :-)

I also use film grain overlays too, those are very nice. I totally recommend signing up for emails on there because most mondays they have 5 free things you can get. Sometimes you find a cute font, or sometimes a small texture pack! But yeah! I love using the cardboard pack most. 🥰

I hope it helps!! Its a lot of fun to play with overlays and stuff or noise filters !!!

[lilyvandersteen]

Out of the Blue: Chapter 4

Cover art: @redheadgleek​

Beta extraordinaire: @hkvoyage​

Links: AO3, FF.net

Author’s Note:

Snarky Kurt is coming out to play... Ooh, Blaine, you picked the wrong person to anger!

Chapter 4: Called Out

“There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”

(An excerpt from Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Kurt was quick to welcome their guest of honor, who’d apparently brought his BROTHER to the wedding -hmm… Did that mean he was single at the moment?

One quick look confirmed that Mr. Anderson was still the handsomest man in all of North America. And if the rumors were true, he dated men as well as women, so Kurt actually stood a chance with him. Therefore, he made sure to mention he was single and very available while bringing him to the brides and officially introducing them.

Kurt adjusted his cravat and checked his coif while Mr. Anderson was congratulating the brides, and then graciously accepted Mr. Anderson’s praise of the decorations as he steered him up the fire escape and towards the circle of chairs they’d set up for the ceremony.

“It’s going to be pretty informal, as you can tell,” Kurt said, “Santana didn’t want to make a big production of it. Wanted nothing stiff or formulaic. That’s just not them.”

Mr. Anderson grinned. “I’ll like it all the better for that.”

Kurt shot him a quick smile and dashed off to Elliott to tell him to start the ceremony, sent Rachel over to Artie for the procession song, warned Tina to start taking pictures and then told bridesmaids Mercedes and Quinn as well as Britt and San to walk to their assigned spot.

As Rachel sang “The First Time I Saw Your Face”, the brides walked into the circle hand in hand and smiling – Brittany widely and Santana tremulously. Tina’s camera shutter clicked at a fierce pace, and Kurt stood there taking it all in for a moment, his throat thick with emotion.

Then he jumped back into action, taking the ring box out of his inside pocket and tying the rings around the necks of Lord and Lady Tubbington. Carrying their basket, he moved to stand next to Elliott.

Brittany and Santana’s vows made Kurt tear up, and by the many sniffles in the audience, he knew he wasn’t the only one affected.

Thankfully, the cats were as good as gold and stayed put throughout the ceremony, and when the right moment came, he held out Lady Tubbington to San for Brittany’s ring and Lord Tubbington to Britt for Santana’s ring.

After taking the ring off of his neck, Britt pulled Lord Tubbington closer and kissed his head.

“Oh, was that supposed to be the groom?” Elliott quipped. “Then we’ll need to start over!”

The terrace rang with laughter, and Lord Tubbington wriggled out of Kurt’s arms and fled. Lady Tubbington followed suit, but seeing as their task was fulfilled, it didn’t matter much.

As soon as Brittany and Santana had shared their first kiss as wives, to loud applause, Kurt gestured to Rachel to follow him to the kitchen, where they arranged champagne glasses on trays and filled them with an excellent spumante Kurt had found in Little Italy. Kurt got out the first batch of hors d’oeuvres, too, and they went around the terrace with their offerings.

Mr. Billionaire Anderson did not seem snobbish in the least, eating Kurt’s finger food with relish and complimenting him on the spumante, even asking to write down its name and where he got it.

When Kurt brought out his masterpiece, a three-tiered wedding cake decorated with rainbows and unicorns, as per Brittany’s request, Mr. Anderson whooped and hollered the loudest of them all, and his moan when he started eating cake made the tips of Kurt’s ears redden. He left only crumbs on his plate, and clamored for seconds, which Kurt hurried to give him, beaming.

                        Now that everyone was on their second piece of cake, Kurt took a minute to eat something himself. There wasn’t much left of the hors d’oeuvres, but what there was, Kurt decimated in seconds, and he ate one of the marzipan unicorns as dessert.

He took a glass of spumante to wash everything down in style, and surveyed the party with satisfaction. Yes, he had done it once again. The wedding was a resounding success. Now there was only the first dance to go, but that was up to Britt and San themselves.

Kurt made another round to fill up the guests’ glasses again, and then told the brides to get ready for their dance, Mercedes and Artie to sing, and Tina to catch all the magical moments on camera.

“Oh, I LOVE this part!” Rachel whispered loudly in his ear as she wound her arms around his waist.

Kurt kissed her head and hugged her back as they both watched their friends shine in their first dance.

“Look how happy they are,” Rachel sniffled. “Ah, this is amazing!”

“It is,” Kurt agreed. “Worth all the work and then some.”

“True. Though I’m going to dance a bit before I start on clean-up duty.”

“All right, then. Off you go, Miss Berry! But you will help me later!”

Laughing at her grimace, he pushed her towards the dance floor and then picked up the cake tray to wrap up what was left and put it in the fridge.

The party went on, and his friends took turns claiming the microphone for a song, until Santana took it to give a speech, thanking her wife for her promise of forever, thanking the guests for coming to witness their union, and thanking Kurt nicely for all his work organizing the wedding. He sent her an air kiss, and she half-laughed, half-sobbed, overcome with emotion.

He’d just stepped towards San to give her a hug when another voice piped up. Mr. Anderson’s brother. And for some reason, he was LIVID, accusing Britt and San of faking a wedding to swindle his brother out of an expensive gift, seeing as their family wasn’t even there, ranting and raving at the fake brides for taking advantage of his brother that way, and taking advantage of their friend to organize the whole event, too. He dissed all of Kurt’s careful wedding planning and hard work, pronouncing everything too cheap for an actual wedding.

Brittany shrank away from the venom in the guy’s voice, and even Santana seemed tongue-tied for a moment. The rest of Kurt’s friends, who had all been dancing and laughing a minute ago, now stood staring at the younger Mr. Anderson in shocked silence.

Kurt, however, felt his hackles rise. No way was this guy going to ruin everything at the eleventh hour. No way!

He fixed the man with a glare and gritted out, “Way to make snap judgments, Mr. Snob! For your information, Santana’s family is homophobic. As in, they don’t approve of her choice of spouse. They threw her out when she told them she was in love with Brittany, and are still expecting her to come to her senses and marry a man. Santana was crying this morning because her abuela wasn’t going to attend her wedding, so thank you very much for opening that wound again.”

The Andersons’ eyes flitted to Santana, who swallowed with difficulty and looked down. Brittany put her head on Santana’s shoulder and squeezed her hand in sympathy.

“And Brittany’s parents told her only last week that they’re getting a divorce,” Kurt continued. “She was so mad at them that she uninvited them to the wedding. And she’s the only child of two only children, and her grandparents are dead, so no other family. Any more questions?”

Mr. Snob rubbed his hand over his neck, his animosity all but gone. “I guess… I guess I just don’t see why people would tie the knot when they’re only twenty years old. That’s something for when you’re settled, not when you’re barely starting out.”

Kurt chuckled. “Believe me, I told them exactly the same thing when they came to me and asked if I’d plan their wedding. But they said they were sure of each other, and they didn’t want to wait. So I agreed, and made it as fabulous a small, low-budget wedding as I possibly could.”

“You did a wonderful job!” Mr. Anderson boomed, clapping Kurt on the shoulder. “This place looks like a dream, the brides are gorgeous, the ceremony was perfect, the music is lit, and I never had better hors d’oeuvres in my life. And the wedding cake! Beautiful AND scrumptious! If you ever plan a wedding again, do invite me, will you?”

Other guests chimed in with praise for Kurt as well, and soon they were all laughing and chatting and dancing again.

Kurt sent Mr. Anderson a small smile, grateful to him for defusing the tension, and then focused on Mr. Snob again. “Your assessment of me was spot-on, though, bravo. Yes, I’m the pathetic single gay who lives vicariously through his friends. Yes, I’d rather focus on their romance than fail at it myself. So far I’ve planned a wedding for my father and stepmother, for my show choir teacher and the school counselor, and now for Santana and Brittany. Because it made me happy to see them happy. And maybe that makes me a silly romantic, but it’s certainly better than thinking yourself far above anyone and being sarcastic and mean.”

Mr. Snob bit his lip and lowered his eyes for a moment, then looked Kurt straight in the eye and said, “You’re right. I was in a bad mood, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on all of you. I’m sorry.”

Kurt nodded coolly. “Apology accepted.”

Mr. Anderson put his arm around Kurt’s shoulder. “Do you know, I wouldn’t even have cared if this wedding were fake! Blaine can say what he wants, but you throw a damn good party, worth every cent of the gifts we brought! So, I’m serious, any event you’re planning in the future, send me word of it and I’ll be there.”

Kurt smiled wider at him this time. “I promise I will.”

Then he leaned in and whispered into Mr. Anderson’s ear, “And if you want to help things along, encourage Sam to propose to Mercedes. He’s been thinking and talking about it for ages, but he never makes a move. They’re over there, both of them.”

Kurt surreptitiously pointed to Sam and Mercedes so that Mr. Anderson would know whom he was talking about.

Mr. Anderson winked at Kurt and whispered back, “On it!” He sauntered back to the dance floor, bowed for Mercedes and swept her away in a quickstep.

Sam, who’d been dancing with his girlfriend until Mr. Anderson cut in, glared at his perceived rival.

Kurt grinned, and granted Mr. Snob (Blaine, apparently) only the merest glance before turning his back on him and starting to collect empty glasses and plates to take them to the kitchen. The guy was back to looking sullen, but Kurt didn’t give a hoot about that. He could sulk the whole night through, as far as Kurt was concerned.

Only, he didn’t. On his second run to the kitchen, laden with plates and trays, Kurt felt a presence behind him, and suddenly, his load was a lot lighter. Blaine had taken half of the stack and was carrying it to the sink.

“Where’s your dishwasher?” Blaine asked.

Kurt snorted. “None of that here. We wash up by hand. And by that I mean I wash up, nine times out of ten. The girls only help out when I force them to.”

“I’ll help,” Blaine offered.

Kurt quirked an eyebrow at him. “You’re a guest. The snooty kind that finds fault with every detail of the wedding I planned. Why on earth would you help me out now?”

Blaine had the grace to blush. “Hey, I said I was sorry. I was out of line, and I’m trying to make up for it. Throw me a bone, would you?”

Kurt stared at him until he started to squirm, and only then did he say, “All right, then. You wash, I’ll dry.”

They worked together in companionable silence, Blaine softly singing to himself as he scrubbed and rinsed. Meanwhile, the party petered out around them, and one by one, Kurt’s friends said their goodbyes and left.

Once the dishes were done, Kurt thanked his helper and offered him another piece of wedding cake as a reward. They sat down on the sofa and ate their cake.

Kurt felt his eyes droop, and hoped he wouldn’t have to stay up much longer. He wanted to lie down and sleep for a week on end.

He woke abruptly, because he got jostled and his head lost its comfortable pillow all of a sudden.

“Uhm, wha?” said a voice very close to him.

Kurt blinked his eyes open and found that he had fallen asleep against Blaine, who had dozed off too, if his slow reaction and slurring speech were any indication.

“You coming, squirt?”

“Don’t call me squirt,” Blaine snapped, rubbing his eyes like a five-year-old.

“Aw, Blainey, why are you still tetchy? You just got to spend some time alone with a gorgeous guy.”

Blaine rolled his eyes. “Washing the dishes.”

“You know what Nana used to say.”

“Yeah. ‘Share your life with someone you like doing chores with.’”

“And did you like it?”

Blaine blushed and lowered his eyes. Oh, wow, he had beautiful long lashes. In his own way, he was quite as handsome as his brother. While washing the dishes, he’d been singing under his breath, and his voice was lovely. And he’d washed the dishes efficiently and without complaint. Pity he was such a curmudgeon.

Mr. Anderson waggled his eyebrows until Blaine let out a plaintive “Cooooop!!”

“Blaaaaaaaine!!”

“Okay, let’s go before you embarrass me even more. And keep it down, will you. Don’t wake Kurt. He must be exhausted.”

Blaine’s eyes swept from Coop to Kurt, and he visibly started when he saw that Kurt had woken up.

“Too late for that,” Kurt drawled, sitting up. “But I can always go right back to sleep.”

Blaine looked shocked. “You don’t want to move to your bed?”

Kurt shook his head. “Nope. Whenever Britt stays over, she and San get my bed, and I sleep on the sofa. Usually, San sleeps here, but it doesn’t fit two people. When Britt stops touring with Mercedes, San and Britt will look for their own place, but for now, this works.”

Blaine bit his lip. “You know sleeping on a sofa is bad for your back, right?”

“Oh yeah. I don’t know how San has dealt with it for so long. One night here and I’m stiff and aching all over for a week.”

“So why don’t you buy an extra bed? Or at least a decent sofa bed?”

Kurt shrugged. “It’s on the list.”

“What list?”

“The list of things we need to save up for.”

Blaine raised an eyebrow. “Why did you ask for a 25K pet pavilion for your cats as a wedding gift when you can’t even afford decent beds for yourself?”

There he went again, Sir Judgy McJudge-a-Lot! He did have a point, though.

Kurt grimaced. “The cat stuff was all Brittany’s idea. We should never have let her compile the registry. We didn’t notice what kind of silly stuff she’d asked for until after your brother had bought the pet pavilion. It’s a stupid waste of money, I quite agree. If you’d like your money back, you can cancel that gift. Please do. We’ve been feeling awful about it.”

Wasn’t that the truth…

Blaine seemed slightly mollified, but still continued his questioning. “Also, if you have no money for something as basic as a bed, where did you get the dough to plan a wedding?”

Kurt flushed. Rude much? “I did a lot of it myself. I also called in a lot of favors, and borrowed stuff. And we all worked extra shifts.”

Blaine nodded, seemingly accepting this explanation. Insufferable snob!

“Well, you did a wonderful job!” Mr. Anderson boomed. “I had a splendid time, so thank you very much! And Brittany can keep the pavilion for her lovely cats. Don’t you worry your pretty heads about that!”

Kurt got up from the sofa and shook hands with Mr. Anderson. “Mr. Anderson, thank you for coming.”

“Oh, please call me Cooper. Or Coop for short. I hope to see you again soon for another party. And it’s ME who should thank YOU!”

Kurt smiled at Cooper, and then turned to Blaine. “Thank you for helping with the dishes.”

“It was my pleasure,” Blaine assured him. “And sorry again for my rant earlier. I was wrong.”

His earnestly repentant face made Kurt feel a bit guilty.

The brothers left with a smile and a wave. Kurt pulled at the heavy door to close it and then sank down against it, whispering, “You weren’t, though. You were absolutely right. We did it all for the presents.”

[so-shiny-so-chrome]

Witness: Icarusdusoleil

Creator name (AO3): Icarusdusoleil

Creator name (Tumblr): icarus-doodles

Link to creator works: http://icarus-doodles.tumblr.com/

Q: Why the Mad Max Fandom?

A: I have always enjoyed the Mad Max movies and I fell even deeper in love with the franchise with Fury Road. The characters were fascinating and the world seemed so fleshed out, despite only catching small glimpses of it. It felt very lived-in and real, because of the rich visual storytelling. Wanting more of Max and Furiosa in particular, I dove headfirst into looking at the beautiful art and reading the well thought out fanfiction and meta that the fandom had created. I have never encountered such a passionate, creative, observant, and welcoming fandom as the Mad Max fans. I fell just as much in love with the fandom as I did with the movies. I knew I had to create my own art and writing to express my love and admiration for Mad Max.

Q: What do you think are some defining aspects of your work? Do you have a style? Recurrent themes?

A: I'm definitely the most interested in Max and Furiosa, so my art and writing mainly revolves around them. I like to explore their companionship because they very much seem like soul mates--somewhere between platonic and romantic. I think I often use ravens and creeping vines to represent them symbolically in my work... but that may just be because I had a dream once where Max was a raven.

Q: Which of your works was the most fun to create? The most difficult? Which is your most popular? Most successful? Your favourite overall?

A: I think my favourite work overall is my fanfiction "Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things". I built a playlist of songs that made me think of Max and Furiosa and "A Horse With No Name" by America really stuck with me. The fic became very introspective and someone once likened it to Max acting as a ferryman taking Furiosa to heaven. Writing it was incredibly cathartic and the positive response I got was overwhelmingly wonderful. I also greatly enjoyed sharing my raven!Max dream, because Donda used the idea for the Corvus Cormax fic, which I enjoy so much. It was so cool to see my silly idea turn into such a beautifully written work. I love drawing raven!Max.

Q: How do you like your wasteland? Gritty? Hopeful? Campy? Soft? Why?

A: Truthfully, I think the wasteland is a character in itself, because it is such a tangible and metamorphic force in the movies. So I think I would describe my wasteland as a mix between gritty, hopeful, and spiritual... maybe ethereal. The wasteland is certainly not gentle or kind, but there are moments of quiet and peace that lend to a certain thoughtfulness.

Q: Walk us through your creative process from idea to finished product. What's your prefered environment for creating? How do you get through rough patches?

A: When I draw, my process is very much just stream of consciousness. Sometimes I use references, especially if I'm trying to draw Max and Furiosa realistically, but other times I just draw from my head. I draw both digitally and traditionally. For writing, I am much more meticulous and organized. I prefer to have a story completely planned and outlined from start to finish before I begin. I like using inspiration from history, mythology, and folklore, so I end up doing a lot of research whenever I write. I always listen to music, whether it's soundtracks or my Mad Max inpsired playlist. And whenever I hit a rough patch, I just take a break until I'm feeling ready to work on it again.

Q: What (if any) music do you listen to for help getting those creative juices flowing?

A: I have a whole Mad Max inspired playlist! Some of songs that I associate the strongest with the franchise are "A Horse With No Name" by America, "Cruel Sun" by Rusted Root, and "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas. The song that reminds me the most of Max is "Wasteland" by Woodkid. And the one that belongs the most to Furiosa is "Chi Mi Na Morbheanna" by the Rankin Family.

Q: What is your biggest challenge as a creator?

A: Finding time to create for myself has always been tough, because I have a full-time job as an art teacher. I often feel burnt out and don't have the energy to create indulgently.

Q: Which character do you relate to the most, and how does that affect your approach to that character? Is someone else your favourite to portray? How has your understanding of these characters grown through portraying them?

A: Furiosa is by far the character that I relate to the most. I instantly felt connected to her burning determination, her incredible rage, and her open vulnerability. I often wish I had a character like her to look up to when I was a child. Max is the other character that I really enjoy, because I also identify with his disjointed anxiety and desperate need to help. I love writing and drawing both of them, because they don't fit into the conventional action hero and heroine roles, which is really refreshing.

Q: Do you have any favourite relationships to portray? What interests you about them?

A: This comes as no surprise... but Max and Furiosa. I've mentioned before how I view them as soul mates that ride the line between platonic and romantic. They are such complex characters with very weighty pasts behind them, so exploring how they would interact and play off of each other is a lot of fun. I would also like to explore more of Furiosa and Angharad's relationship in the future, but I haven't had the inspiration to do so yet.

Q: Do you prefer to create in one defined chronology or do your works stand alone? Why or why not?

A: Drawing-wise: I'm all over the place. Lots of AUs, lots of canon, lots of "i don't even know but this was fun to draw". I just draw what I want because it's really fun to explore different ideas! Writing-wise: So far everything that I've written can be tied together or they can stand alone. I haven't though much into it.

Q: To break or not to break canon? Why?

A: I break canon so much when I draw, because it's fun to just say "what if Max was turned into a raven" or "what if Furiosa grew out her hair and got a cool new arm".  When I write, I actually stay fairly close to canon. I like using my writing as almost filling in the blanks of the established world. That being said, I really do like to add little twists here and there.

Q: Share some headcanons.

A: I really only have one that I'm super passionate about. I subscribe to the idea that Tom Hardy's Max is the same as Mel Gibson's, because I really enjoy the thought of all movies tying together. My headcanon vacillates between the idea that Max is immortal or that he died years ago, but his spirit still wanders restlessly through the waste.

Q: Who are some works by other creators inside and outside of the fandom that have influenced your work?

A: "Drifter" by @kaasknot was the very first Mad Max fanfiction that I read and I was blown away by their version of Max. It truly stuck with me and was one of the reasons I jumped headfirst into the headcanon of an immortal Max. I also love "He Just Wouldn't Stay Away" by @cygnaut, "The Length and Breadth of Fury Road" by Proprioception, and of course "Corvus Cormax" by Donda ( @thatonezombiecosplayer . I'm also so incredibly inspired by all of the gorgeous art that has been produced in the fandom.

Q: What advice can you give someone who is struggling to make their own works more interesting, compelling, cohesive, etc.? 

A: First and foremost: create for yourself. If you're not enjoying what you create, then find something that you do enjoy and make that instead. Take your time and start small. Your creation doesn't have to be a masterpiece. If you are truly stuck, then take a break or maybe ask someone to take a look at it with you to get some feedback.

Q: Have you visited or do you plan to visit Australia, Wasteland Weekend, or other Mad Max place?

A: I would love to go to Australia!. Not even just for Mad Max, but just because I have always been fascinated with Australia. And I would like to try Wasteland Weekend, because I know a lot of people who go... but I feel like it would be very out of my comfort zone and I would just be an anxious mess the entire time. So I'm not sure!

Q: Tell us about a current WIP or planned project.

A: I'm currently working on a Furiosa-themed punk vest. It's been a slow process, but it's been a lot of fun to work on. I hope to share it soon! And of course I'm going to keep drawing fanart, because it just feels like coming home every single time I visit the wasteland characters. I have also been slowly trying to chip away at an idea for a fanfiction. I've had this idea for a couple years and it includes an older Furiosa, Max as either immortal or a spirit, and disappearing children. I've been calling it "Babes in the Waste". I'm hoping to actually start working on it this year.

Thank you @icarus-doodles