#i'm not putting a lot of effort into these tbh i just need to draw them more

[webbyghost]

AuGhost thread

Featuring my Dead Weight ghost boys, Atlas and Sven

Next batch coming in a day or so probably

[creatingblackcharacters]

Hi Ice! This one is maybe a little on the outskirts of 'creating Black characters', but it is related to the introspective questions you posted a little while back, so I thought I'd ask for your opinion. I'm sure this isn't an one-easy-answer thing, so I'd love to hear from any other Black people reading this as well!

I'll try to keep it short.

I'm seven years and 300k+ words deep in a fanfiction about anthropomorphic animal characters, and your introspective questions made me face the fact that I've been the ignorant fandom racist. I wrote my main character as white. Now, 7 years later, I stumble over a post pointing out ... those are locs

I don't know if the authors intended for this character to be Black (nonblack voice actors, supplementary material also clearly doesn't draw him this way, though that stuff was all over the place re: consistency) and I frankly also am not sure if they Should have, given his role in the narrative, but a) that's not really up to me to speak on and b) he's got locs and mostly black fur and was inspired by Anubis. I've been whitewashing, there's no way around it.

I briefly considered going back and just straight up changing the story to make him Black, but I quickly realized that I have been writing him from a white-centered narrative and just slotting a Black character into that would arguably be Worse. Or at least racist in a brand new way. I can change how he takes care of his hair, but not the themes on which the entire narrative is built upon. I've been writing about a white man and I can't just pretend I haven't.

So my question to you is ... what now? How do I best acknowledge this? Do I just quietly come to terms with the fact that this story is racist and do better next time? I would like to acknowledge it in some way, I have a small but loyal audience and if I could use that platform to start a conversation (or just put out a 'hey, don't be like me') that would ... maybe at least be better than nothing? Possibly?

I know there's not a simple solution here that will Fix It, but I thought I'd ask an actual Black person who's open to educating what might be a good next move. Maybe avoid making another, new White Person Blunder. Here's to hoping.

I really appreciate all you do, your blog rocks and so do you.

Is that Shadow?

Okay, so I had to have a conversation with Hot Chocolate on this one because this one's a doozy! I appreciate that you're willing to stop and reflect though. Most people wouldn't be willing to do so this far in!

Admittedly, the fact that you're seven years into this means this will require a lot of effort. And, tbh, I might be confused bc I cannot tell what that character is 😅 So! After some thought, here's what we came up with:

Take a hiatus. Point blank period. Take a BREAK, do not pass go, do not collect $200! Idk what lore you've written, but you've written a lot of it. Take as long as you need to reread your works, and see if at any point you ever made it clear that this was a white person, or anything other than the Black character you now think they should be. If it feels undefined, where you can turn "hair" into "locs" or add in small details, then that could be your smooth way out. It doesn't have to be massive changes, but it could help. It'll take you time, for sure! But you dug seven years in, it's gone take you time to dig out. Maybe if you skim 15k words a week (or ctrl-F it for hair, for examples), that's... 20 weeks? Go at your own pace, faster or slower.

Unfortunately this happens a lot, where influences for characters will be taken from cultures of colors and improperly represented (the "African" god from Genshin). That's just a fact. So I don't necessarily blame you for the confusion, but... Now you know.

If possible, get a sensitivity reader! Preferably a Black one. Ngl, given the massive amount of work, you're likely going to have to pay them. Maybe give them half and you take half. Idk, but let another pair of eyes look at your work. Or maybe there's a Black reader that you could speak to and see how they feel about the potential change.

Should you choose to keep going, just try to be more purposeful and intentional about that character's Blackness. Definitely tell your readers what you figured out, why it's important to you, and then move forward from there.

Now, RECOGNIZE that many of them will NOT be pleased! That's kind of the thing about opening your eyes when it comes to racism in media! A lot of people will NOT be happy that you decided to be more intentional, especially if they've been imagining their favorite white guy for seven years. You're going to have to weigh your integrity and your will to create against that. People might leave, people that you thought were cool AF until it was time to show true colors. Be ready for that.

But that's just what I would do 🤷🏾‍♀️

[reds-skull]

Fic recs - oneshots (part 3)

ALRIGHT I'm hoping this is the last oneshot post, since there are a lot of other fics I wanna recommend that don't fall in this category.

This post is like 5x longer than the other ones just because I wanted to finish all of my current oneshot recs and otherwise it will take like 3 more posts. So beware there are a lot more under the cut.

If you're new here, these are all sfw oneshots:

i've dug two graves for us, my dear. by eddie_dxaz - Johnny gets buried alive.

Scotch-Soaked Lips by FreeToWriteForMe - Ghost watches Soap while the team is in a bar.

I owe the hat man money and I don't want to see him by Louffox - Ghost gets drugged and hallucinates while Soap tries to keep both of them alive.

Painting the snow red by Faolamb - Ghost is a wraith and Soap werewolf. Soap loses control and Ghost calls him back.

Mild as May by lambstew4you - Ghost and Soap are on a mission, and they have a talk by the campfire.

Hell or High Water by lambstew4you - Soap gets kidnapped and put in a sensory deprivation tank. He is rescued, but the damage is already done.

Daylight Through The Fog by WeirdTin - Ghost is afraid of letting people in. Soap just wants to love every scar.

i never said i'd be alright (just thought i could hold myself together) by TheLastTheosaurus - Ghost gets injured on a mission with Soap. Without exfil in sight, he hides it. Despite his efforts Soap finds out.

Breathe in, Hold it by Hedgehog_kun - Simon and Johnny are in a relationship. Life is good, for once. But one night Soap comes home angry and drunk, and Ghost can't help but freeze.

How it started, how it's going by Nuria123 - The fic where Ghost thinks he and Soap are already dating (5+1).

heat death by eggtimelads - Soap and Ghost spend an afternoon fending off this relentless heat [relatable tbh].

note to self: drink in moderation by eggtimelads - Ghost gets drunk, does a little pining out loud, and gets his reputation ruined while also getting a boyfriend.

Absolutely by ElizaStyx - 5 times Soap confesses to Ghost in a language he thought Ghost didn't understand, and one time he knows full well Ghost does.

the shroud is made of linen by stars_boy - In which Ghost is interrupted while watching the sunrise.

Lets Go Stargazing For Real Next Time by Trouble_13 - Ghost thought they were getting somewhere, but it feels like they have to restart all over again.

Lonely Hearts Club by Wheezing_Joe - Soap and Rudy accidentally start fake dating. Ghost and Alejandro aren't too pleased with it [this is ghostsoap and alerudy, so it's twice as good]

Night Has Always Pushed Up Day by Sillililli - Ghost gets injured and is stuck in a hospital, when they bring in a blind Soap. They're forced to share a room.

dying all the way back to the root by Magpie (QuickSilverFox3) - Soap is separated from Ghost, but Ghost can still hear his voice. He just needs to find him before someone else does.

i fear you will know me but most of all i fear i will never know you by rocketnintendo - Soap hides the extent of his injuries. Ghost finds out and is gentle.

My Heart Leapt From Me by Macabre_Flower - A pipe bursts above Soap's bed in the middle of the night. Ghost offers to help.

Palimpsest by Blackbird_flyaway - Ghost loses all memory from the last 3 years, including all memory of Soap.

The way his feet strike the earth by Blackbird_flyaway - Soap puts on a blindfold and gets kissed as part of a drinking game only it becomes a lot more than that.

i need you to hurt me back instead by TheLastTheosaurus - 5 times Ghost needed a hug, and the one time his got one.

Figure Study by 002405 - Ghost asks Soap to draw him like one of his French girls. Things devolve from there.

love me despite by TheLastTheosaurus - Ghost needs rest. Soap helps him get it.

no better version i could pretend to be tonight by TheLastTheosaurus - Soap can't sleep. he goes to Ghost.

Wash your mouth out with soap by Red_Clegane [the one and only] - Soap is reminded how he got his call sign and Ghost helps him put the pieces back together.

sunday morning (rain is falling) by wellyesbutactuallyno - Soap wants to learn more about Ghost. Ghost lets him.

The Haircut by thevalesofanduin - Soap's hair is too long. Ghost helps him cut it.

On the nights you feel outnumbered (I'll be out there, somewhere) by Brigadier - Ghost feels more irritable than usual and gets involved in a bar fight.

I want to crack open your ribs and crawl in the space left behind (Je veux me lover au creux de ton creur et ne jamais repartir) by flaminpumpkin - Simon ends up having to drag his drunk sergeant back to base and finds himself in a sticky situation because he's too smitten with the man.

Bloody Delirium by GnawingAtMyEyes - Soap gets gravely injured and suffers from blood loss delirium.

Tell Me a Secret by resonatingkitty - Ghost asked Soap to tell him a secret one evening at a bar and what Soap tells him is not what he expected to hear.

Never Hide This (From Me Again) by resonatingkitty - during a mission, Soap gets nicked and doesn't report it to Ghost. Ghost doesn't take it well.

Bruised Peach by Phiunzirus - After their latest mission, Soap's right arm looks like a bruised peach. What happens when Ghost accidentally grabs it a bit too hard?

Kiss me once, then kiss me twice, then kiss me once again (it's been a long, long time) by Angelicasdean - Soap's been home for weeks now, but he's still missing the last piece of the puzzle. Thankfully, it's scheduled to return today.

Forbidden by eddie_dxaz - Ghost comes to terms with his feelings for Soap and tries to fight them. Unsuccessfully.

The Maskmaker by ElizaStyx - Soap finds Ghost working on a new mask.

Cat Dad by ElizaStyx - One day a little kitten appears at the 141 HQ and Soap falls in love. Too bad the kitty only likes Ghost.

Blind date with a book by Nuria123 - Ghost is a famous anonymous writer and Soap loves his books. They fall in love.

Recovery by Nuria123 - Soap and Ghost meet after being medically discharged at a rehab facility. Soap volunteers and Ghost is newly admitted. [this is one of the few fics to make me actually sob hard it's so extremely good]

can't keep johnny down by Wheezing_Joe - Soap loses commes on a mission and presumed dead. After finding his way back to base he's surprised by how much he's been missed.

red woven confessions by wayfaredsoldier - Soap got he and Ghost wishing bracelets in an attempt to grow closer to him and got far more than he expected.

made a bed with apathy (years worth of dust and neglect) by aetherealmoss - Soap gets triggered by someone who looks too much like his painful past, and Ghost is there to help him through it [TW SA, rape and child abuse on this one]

Safe With Me by Wixiany - Soap who is in an abusive relationship befriends Ghost when he moved into the neighborhood. His boyfriend accuses them of cheating and Ghost is blocked for several days until Soap shows up in the middle of the night.

snuffed by crown_twist - Johnny really, really doesn't like cigarettes. Ghost didn't know.

Choice by achievement_hunteresss - Shepherd captures the 141. He offers them a deal. He will let the other person go unharmed, if you shoot yourself in front of them.

tags by achievement_hunteresss - Soap asks for help with detangling his dogtags. Ghost accidentally unburies Simon.

Precipice by Islenthatur - Soap dies and has to choose (dw it's surprisingly not mcd)

Coven (Scheherazade) by basgijr - Ghost can't sway an overwhelming feeling that something isn't right. Soap is a werewolf that stinks of wet dog and also love (Ghost is a vampire). [this one I found from a Tumblr post that I lost]

sullen by rottin - Sparring goes a little wrong.

Lessen the Load by Hammy1o1 - Price had to talk Ghost down from suicide a few times. Things change when Soap joins the taskforce. [obviously TW for suicide]

Aaaand that's all of them! And my god there's a lot. Next post I'm considering giving a list of writers I like (aka have a lot of fics that I like so I save their name instead of individual fics), which will be one post since there's not too many. After that we can finally get to the longer fics!

[sovonight]

I've been browsing your art, although I don't go there and I don't have much context, I'm consistently blown away by how you compose comics (plot aside, which is also amazing, the panelling is the one that really blew my mind). It's so creative and has a lot of variety, while remaining clear to read. If I may ask, but do you have any tips to keep oneself from being rather monotonous when panelling?

ahh thank you! i think the main tip i have is to know what you want each panel to show, and have a good handful of basic panel compositions at the ready to choose from

by "knowing what to show" i mean like, for each chunk of dialogue, i already have/had a visual in mind for the scene/characters when that line of dialogue is spoken. i know the emotion of the characters in the scene, and sometimes their pose/expression. when i sketch each panel out, i ask myself:

who/what should be visible here?

what's happening? what interaction is taking place? what poses are there?

what expressions are they wearing? should an expression be focused on, or hidden?

what is important for the viewer to see (or not see)?

where should i put everyone/everything in the scene, and what camera angle should i use, in order to ensure that all of the above is visible in the panel?

there's a lot of ways to answer those questions, but because i draw a lot of the same scenarios (often just 2 people talking), i have a go-to panel composition that i just modify slightly for each panel, which is "1 character closer to camera & 1 character further from camera"

i like to angle the camera like this just for a sense of depth because it's more dynamic than them being equidistant from the camera (although i do that too, if the pose calls for it or if i want the panel to feel flat/matter-of-fact on purpose). this angle also lets you swing the camera around during an exchange so that the conversation feels less static

you can extend this setup to 3 characters (or more):

and just within this basic setup, you can edit proportions & reframe to draw focus where you want it:

panels don't just live in a vacuum though, so where i can, i like to work with the page as a whole. with all of these elements (text, bubbles, art, panel frames) to arrange on a page, i kind of treat it as putting together a collage.

when i start a new page my first step is to add the dialogue to the page & split the text up into bite-sized chunks. then i move the text around the page, visualizing roughly how much space i want to allocate for each portion of text, and start to arrange the dialogue bubbles. i'll think about which text chunks are part of the same line of dialogue & how i want to connect them (should they stay near each other, or is there a panel change?), and about if there are any interruptions (where text bubbles need to overlap) or dialogue running off-page (where i'll need to find or create an edge to hide text runoff with). at this step i'm already thinking about composition of the page as a whole, bc the placement & portioning of the text affects the composition just as much as the art does

then i start doing rough sketches--like this rough, so that i can easily & quickly scrap and redo sketches if i change my mind. (this is kind of like my thumbnailing step, but i do them at full size bc i prefer to have the correct page proportions & text bubble sizes for the page before i start sketching)

for panel-first comics (like this or this) i set up my panels first according to my space estimates from earlier, then draw my sketches for those panels. tbh i've found that i don't really like going panel-first, bc i feel like it stifles my panel shapes & arrangements and keeps everything very rectangular and rigid, and i really have to think and make a conscious effort to make things more dynamic or organic

for art-first comics (like this or this) i'll do a sketch for each chunk of text, and let the sketch sprawl over as much space as it needs to (aka, not trying to confine it to a panel shape or anything; at this point i literally don't have any panel guides onscreen at all). i do each sketch on its own layer, and i generally keep my previous sketches up as i go so i remember my progression, but i'll also start to hide layers if i'm running out of room. after i finish all my sketches for the page, i unhide all my sketch layers, and move my sketches around the page to see how they flow & fit together. finding similar curves and tangents and natural cut-offs that i can use to connect 2 sketches is how i get the panel-less look, and for sketches that really need a clear line of demarcation to separate them from everything else, i'll draw a panel around them

after all that, i have my sketch for the page as a whole. if i feel a need to, i'll move the text around some more until i like how it looks & flows with my art, or i'll redo a sketch or two if a couple consecutive panels look repetitive. and that's pretty much it!

[risingsuntarot]

1--2

3

What are you currently not seeing ?

My lord I'm so sorry I've been gone for so long I kinda jus felt so unmotivated and kinda went hermit mode for quite a while so I apologize for my absence!! Anyways I wanted to make a come back with a reading regarding being trapped, blinded or stuck on something that is unfortunately, hindering your process ;+(

Also * will indicate a reversal from here on out also only three piles because I wanted to get this out ASAP !!

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Pile 1

---Cards pulled---

5 of Coins/4 of Wands*/The magician

3 of coins*/The Moon

---Clarification---

9 of coins/9 of Swords/The hierophant

Ace of wands/3 of wands

There is most likely a financial or material issue happening, I heard "just enough to get by"

It looks like you lack in what you currently need as well? But despite this you are content or try to come off that way

Maybe you just moved into your own apartment recently? Or now have to pay rent or something along those lines

A new responsibility within your family/home life too

There's a lack of confidence here especially within self and home life

Something or someone in your home isn't making you feel quite safe? Or you get nightmares about them (if this is the case please seek help!!) that might be a very specific message BUT Could also be ready as you may be dealing with flashbacks at this time due to financial or material loss !! Maybe you grew up in poverty or an unstable home? Or your parents/caregivers weren't able to provide necessities?

It looks like with the magician and the hierophant there is a gift on the horizon or a very promising belief or like system? Maybe a change in routine or spending habits and thinking will help tremendously

I see that on your end for some your guides are frustrated with your lack of effort and motivation to make your thousands of ideas a reality

They absolutely love your creativity tho don't get me wrong

Maybe you have a hard time focusing right now and have many great ideas to put into place but lack motivation or resources as well so this leads to lack of movement or commitment

Sadness, restless emotions and late sleepless nights are prominent here, someone may deal with insomnia here but y'all sleep schedule is wack (same tho)

Feeling blocked and frustrated >:+(

---ORACLE/ADVICE---

Summer - "Bask in Joy and Light"

"Rise up, open your wings and shine. Bring your projects and plans into into the light, into manifestation" as soon as I opened the guidebook lil

DEADASS do that's just that, start off easy with a lobes hobby, draw something new or listen to a new genre, learn that new music sheet that has been challenging you or even get into a new type of skill to re motivate you !!

This also indicates summer may be your time of change!! New opportunities, new memories maybe even knew people

I feel like this is the perfect time to go outside, bask in sunlight and enjoy a nearby park or go on a nature hike, try meeting new people at libraries, bars or events even book clubs?

I'm getting a message to connect more with water so swimming or maybe even kayaking?

The big message here is try something n e w but I'm also being told to "loosen up" I'm tensing up a lot with this reading

Bumble bees maybe significant to someone :+) or honeycombs cereal? Lmao honey and bee related things here

---Channeled Songs---

Ego brain - SOAD

"You see my pain is real

Watch my world dissolve

And pretend that none of us see the fall

As I turned to sand

You took me by the hand

And declared, that love prevails over all"

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Pile 2

---Cards pulled---

Temperance/9 of Wands/Ace of cups*

Knight of Coins/6 of Wands

---Clarification---

5 of Coins/The Lovers*/8 of Coins

The Moon/Queen of Wands

Okay so there's a sense for reluctance from this pile tbh like to fully acknowledge the truth

I keep wanting to say what happened so you may be being asked this question a lot

For one there is guilt over either healing and moving on or from not healing and moving on from a difficult situation but for most it's a romantic connection

I feel like voices were silenced, and you were constantly fighting for you right to be heard, seen or acknowledged fairly

It was a toxic dynamic that you still look back on to this day but almost feel indifferent but it seems it's just suppressed emotions and memories that you have yet to actually acknowledge

You seem to be a BIT too logical with what happened, like everything was supposed to be this way even this you didn't at all anticipate it if that makes sense

Like you knew what it was exactly, no bs and people tried convincing you otherwise

It looks like someone may come to you to talk about what happened although you may be reluctant to actually open up and speak on your side or even acknowledge that it hurts

It's like you go on about your day with a heavy rain cloud over your head and this person can see :+(

it maybe a friend to help you through this for some possibly offering you a type of hype sesh or even help you glow up a bit even if it's confidence lol

---ORACLE/ADVICE---

Wolf- "Take care of your needs"

I feel like you definitely need rest here, this card says "Do everything you need to do to be at your best, Then move beyond your fears and limitations"

it feels like a state of I can FINALLY get some rest from running and running and running

You've been in survival mode for so long or you just genuinely feel exhausted from the expectations around you or the trauma in your past

Know that's it's okay to just chill out and it's okay to be on your own for a while it's all part of the process, in fact I believe your guides are asking you to spend time with yourself more

Self care and YouTube days are recommend :+))

---Channeled Songs---

Around the fur - Deftones

"Please don't fuck around and die like this

'Cause I love her"

Brand new numb - Motionless in white

"All of my flaws, I wear 'em with honor

A purple heartbreak for all we've suffered"

-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

Pile 3

---Cards pulled---

The Hierophant*/King of cups/4 of Swords

Wheel of fortune/5 of wands*

---Clarification---

Ace of Swords*/5 of Swords/Queen of Coins

The Hermit*/Queen of Cups

This may be a more masculine in terms of energy for this pile but I'll still read the same

So it seems there was a hypocrisy or an act that went against your morals and you were quick to act and deliver your opinion... "sharply"

You stood your ground and what you believed in in your heart despite the haters lol, and despite the arguments or how many people you had to leave behind something about conflict here

Although the way you did this was quite nonchalantly and someone was not a fan I'm picking up on black hair and green for the description for some reason

This person tends to be the center of attention? Or is very attractive, or maybe even a bit out of place almost ? But you not caring is pissing them off

I see there's gonna be change to the situation but someone may have to trail off onto their own path :+( a bit shunned almost but it's a high probability it's this other person

It's possible someone with the same morals and values as you is helping the conflict "die out" but not caring or almost standing in solidarity

---ORACLE/ADVICE---

High Priest - "Intend and Create"

"Recognize you have the power to change you life. Face your fear and align with the light"

Kind of a plain message but with this card I am getting that you can literally move anyway you want with this and just move on

It seems your intentions were nothing but pure in the end so no Karma was ever delivered to you

How unfortunate for the other person :+pp

It also seems some may follow in your path a bit here but spirits asking you to reach out to someone like a teacher for further guidance if you feel stuck

---Channeled Songs---

Riptide - Grandson

"I've tried getting better, did all of the twelve steps

Whoever would'a thought? Whoever could've guessed?"

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[cerealforkart]

Announcements and Updates

I already mentioned this with my anniversary comic this morning (I'm glad people seemed to like "it's back on air"), but Dungeons and Daddies the Manga is a whole year old today and I wanted to talk about a couple things!

For starters, thank you to everyone who's been on this journey with me, from those of you who have been here since lesson 1 to those of you who only just discovered lesson 42 yesterday (you probably don't exist because the tags hated lesson 42). Whether you like or reblog every single lesson, you silently read the updates without ever interacting with them, and even if you fell out of the fandom but you read the manga at some point, I appreciate you all so deeply.

I might be making this a bigger deal than it actually is, but Dungeons and Daddies the Manga is a really special project to me. I'm so proud of my growth and I've put a genuinely crazy amount of time and effort into this. There was a time when I was trying to catch up when this was basically a second job. I would come home from work and draw manga pages until I went to sleep, it was all I did, it probably wasn't healthy tbh. People in the discord know, I've gotten crazy efficient at making these, if I don't have anything else going on, I can pump out 2-3 of these a day when new episodes drop. I've never undertaken a project this big before, I'm more the kind of person with a million abandoned first chapters, so to actually still be keeping up with this is huge for me, so I'm hyping this up a little bit.

If anyone has ever thought, "wow, I would love to support cereal financially! They seem to work very hard and would probably really like some money! I would also love some of cereal's cute art to plaster on my belongings," please keep your eyes open, I'll be dropping stickers in near future (Taylor in the trash can will be one of them)! I meant to have them ready for today, but I've never sold anything online before, and I'm kind of stumbling through the process. I'll try to have them up soon! So keep an eye out in the upcoming weeks.

For those of you who only care about Dungeons and Daddies the Manga, you can stop reading here, thank you so much for enjoying my manga this past year! For anyone interested in some personal updates and projects, please keep reading, I've been working on something I'm finally ready to announce.

I've learned a lot from my work on Dungeons and Daddies the Manga. My art has improved a lot, and it's still improving all the time, and I've really come to love making comics. Which is why maybe it won't be so surprising to learn I've decided to start an original webcomic. This webcomic won't interfere with my work on the manga, no need to worry, but as much as I love the manga, and the DnDads community, there's only so much I feel like I get back from it. I've been pouring so much time, energy, and love into Dungeons and Daddies the Manga over the past year, and I'm so proud of my product, but I want to start putting some of all that into something that's actually mine. I've been through a weird past couple of months where I went through some really bad burnout, looked around my life and realized "oh wow, this ALL sucks! I don't like a single thing I have going on here!" So, I quit my job, moved, and while I've been restructuring my life, I started dusting off some of those old abandoned first chapters I mentioned earlier and getting back into original work.

The webcomic is called The Rotting Things, I've teased it a very little bit here and there. It's about a boy with a power that is slowly but surely killing him and a man said to be unable to die trying to maneuver through a world of magic that hates anyone unlucky enough to be able to wield it.

I'm kind of nervous about starting a webcomic, but I've been waiting to be "good enough" to put something out there for a very long time, and I'm trying to come to terms with the fact I'll never be fully happy with my own work and just diving in. It would mean a lot to me if anyone wanted to give it a chance.

An eight page prologue will be dropping next Friday, September 29th, after which pages will start to drop one at a time every Friday. We'll see how I handle the one update a week schedule, it might go up to two pages a week depending on how confident I feel. Just like the manga was, this will be a learning curve for me, but I'm eager to try it out! Please give it a shot!

[shark-myths]

🍓 🥤 🌿 for the ask game!!!! <333

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

one of my favorite k facts tbh. i invented fanfiction at jesus camp with my new friend eden. we clutched each other on a hillside while a god rock band performed below, puffy with mosquito bites and illicit ideas, and whispered to one another of the members of our mutual favorite band, what if they kissed each other? we were 13 years old. camp was so in-the-middle-of-nowhere you could see the whole milky way at night, the thickness of it. the grass got wetter and wetter the longer you sat in the dark, hiding from the flashlights of your counselors. every few breaths you'd see a shooting star, til you were numb to marvel, til that was just what the night sky looked like and you expected it everywhere. it was magic and no one had ever thought of it before, boys in bands kissing. when we went home to our separate cities, i started handwriting fic (decorated with gel pen! this was the year 2003) and mailing it to her in hot pink envelopes. imagine my surprise when i discovered the internet.

🥤 ⇢ recommend an author or fanfic you love

one of my favorite fics i ever read was a girl!one direction story about squirting. here it is: you change, water sea by got2ghost

🌿 ⇢ give some advice on writer's block and low creativity

love this question, as someone who has struggled in the workplace to maintain the same creative energy i had access to in school.

for creativity: read. read endlessly. try to understand on a granular, sentence-and-word-level, why you like the things you like; what makes a line funny, what makes a line scary, what draws you in to a writer's style vs pushes you out of it. what do the books you can't put down have in common? read things that challenge you--long-form novels, old novels, things way outside your preferred genres. and try to have lots of experiences in the time you aren't writing. try new things! paint something, walk down a block you've never been on, look in people's windows, cook a new meal, get coffee at a new place, go for a drive, listen to someone else's favorite record, listen to a record you hate actually, go to a new store and just look around, touch fabrics, dance, have conversations, travel for no reason, watch videos on youtube about new skills you don't intend to master. READ NONFICTION, especially essays. try to avoid doing the same things you're comfortable with or things that feel easy for a whole afternoon. bury yourself in sensation. chase pleasure. let yourself play.

for writer's block: write anyway--in a journal, in your fragmented notes file with ideas, edit or polish something that's already written, get one sentence out. i like to set a timer for 20 minutes and give it a proper try (this means staying off tumblr and my phone) and then, if it doesn't lead to anything, i'm off the hook guilt-free, because i made an effort. try writing in a different notebook, with a different pen, in a different place, even in a different font on your computer. set yourself challenges like, write a 100 word story. write a specific type of poem like a villanelle. respond to a prompt or create one for someone else. if there's a part of the story--or a different story--that feels more easeful to write and you're just trying to get there, skip to that part. to be quite honest, writing in a notebook away from technology is the #1 thing that helps me just keep moving. it breaks me out of distraction and perfectionism cycles. it feels good to fill pages, even if it's with words you don't even up using.

the other part is, accept that our brains won't do what they won't do. great writing is not created by use of force. the biggest thing i have learned about myself is that if i can't write, there's something wrong. maybe the characters in my story aren't making sense, maybe the plot is boring and readers will be just as bored as i am, maybe i need to go back and rewrite something to end up in a better place for the next scene, maybe i need a week off from a story because i'm burned out on it and i should write something else or nothing at all. but most often there's not something wrong with the story--there's something wrong with my life. i don't have the time or the energy; i'm giving too much of the best parts of myself to the wrong thing; i'm trying to write at the wrong time of day for my energy level; i checked my email first and now my concentration is entirely shot; i need to work fewer hours if i want to write more; i need more help around the house if i want to write more; i need to just let it be dirty for a while and skip my chores if i want to write more, etc. figuring out what you need to actually feel like writing--learn to feel that again!--and making it possible to set other things, even important things, aside in order to write when you feel it, is so huge for me. making a commitment to the practice of writing and not the product of it. if you're doing that, you can relax. take care of yourself and fix the imbalances in your life. the ideas will come. writing is organic and we are organisms. given space and time, things will always change from how they are right now. let yourself and your creative practice ebb and flow when it needs to instead of forcing it to be something it's not.

thank you for the ask darling sorry i ranted at you for twenty fucking minutes!!!

[yuseirra]

My brain keeps running on its own trying to formulate a way to make sense out of it all but at this point, I wonder if it'd be worth theorizing(If I can think of something good I'll still love to share :) )

Believe it or not, I'm very, very, very stern about trying to stay true to canon.. Because working with existing characters, they have their cores don't they? I really do want to care about portraying them in ways that are true to how they are in their respective stories, that's what makes them, them

With onk.. I'm starting to wonder...(yeah I just started;) this may be the first time where I may go oh let's just ditch canon I'll do whatever I want depending how it goes. Maybe I still believe some sort of miracle may happen in the remaining chapters that'd wrap everything together at may it be cluttersome(sorry but there is literally no room left for it to be able to meet its closure in a beautiful and graceful way with a deep sense of nuance and depth the way this work deserves. It's INCREDIBLY SHORT. It cannot happen within that amount of space it needs at least ten decently lengthy chapters.) but..I don't know~~.....

Oh I'm more concerned than hyped and it's been that way ever since I started vigorously drawing for this series again this July tbh 154 was GOOD, how come everything went downhill from there haha😂.. That chapter had me so hooked and I felt I knew all the answers that were to come from that point forth. I really had a huge intuition of how things would play out(and surprisingly, the possibility is actually still there)

I don't think I'm the type of fan who can ignore canon and do what I want, I've never been that way and I can't bring to convince myself of what's not there (this means, I sincerely believe in all the things I've been drawing o<-<) but... Let's see how it goes. I was so stressed and tense ever since I started drawing hikaai...I don't like being unsure of things...what if they're totally different from what I make of them...but seeing how CANON's going, maybe I don't have to care so much either if it's doing whatever it wants, canon feels so unhinged, was there ANYONE who was able to predict what were to happen 100%? What are they doing?; So yeah.

Oh;; I hope Aqua's okay. It's just...so cruel. I've been annoyed with him but that's because I wanted him to live!!! Why doesn't he- why did he HAVE to do THAT?? Hurt his dad and everyone he loves and even himself, I'm trying to find a reasoning that's convincing enough for me to comprehend just how this could make sense and hold some kind of message although it's downright horrifying; I kept asking in my posts all yesterday right? What message are thet trying to send with this and what could be the point? I can understand if they do a good job with it, I've been putting my effort in order to make out what good may come out of it but I guess only the author would know for now

I don't know where this post is going myself, I'm just writing out my thoughts, this series may have taught me a lot about myself that I wasn't so aware of...

I guess when conflicts appear I end up going, "they couldn't have had malicious intent, could they?" on many occasions, you really don't know what the other party can be thinking so for most cases, it just feels better to believe they didn't mean harm or evil. Maybe I'm being that way about Hikaru but AI LOVED THAT GUY. I didn't have a lot of thoughts about him before that dropped! I couldn't make a clear judgment so I just left my interpretation of him on hold. Oh ;v;).. It's been REALLY ROUGH holding out for him after that happened pft will that pay off.. That guy's still so ambiguous. I rather him be a good person. The story is better if he were. I guess believing in someone is hard but I'll.. Do that till I can. I think Ai would have?

You know, if I were Ai, I'd end him with my own hands if he became that messed up. That's how I drew that one comic after 162. I'd give him a hug and then end him lol because I'd feel responsible in a way. It's ridiculous and tragic how things turned to be the way it is but it doesn't feel so resolved either

I'm afraid about the fate of this series but at least not long left now. Hopefully I can still draw Ai and her bf in a wholesome manner, I really cared for those guys and I'd love to stick around and do more for it at least for awhile

[mokartbox]

Got my hair done and ordered a new hoodie, which will render me deep in Pokemon Trainer Vibes. Specifically grass and poison, but then i went and put effort into the idea of having several oddish chilling on a torterra and then i ran with it.

Pokemon pictured: A Torterra that grows mainly Cheri berries, but also pecha and persim berries on bushes. Four oddish that grew on torterra and have been vibing ever since. A gengar helping carry plant food to enrich torterra's back.

Not pictured: A swampert that is too lazy to carry things, but uses its sharp eyesight to spot anything off on the plants/tests the water quality and helps keep things clean. A rescue granbull that gets pranked by the gengar more often than my trainersona would like. A low key toxtricity that takes 0 shit from the gengar and strums low volume/tone white noise when my sona is dealing with a migraine so they can tune out worse sounds.

Basically it is a truth universally acknowledged that any trainersona of mine will figure out how to work with their pokemon to live with their disabilities. For example, getting outside to tend to the Garden Gang means sunlight and fresh air, which is good for depression. Toxtricity's poison sweat could probably be altered into a pain killer for my fibro nerve pain, so long as i kept its water clean and it's food very specific. But to keep the actual punch of the poison being strong enough to get to the nerves/be effective, it gets to binge eat whatever it wants for like four days a month after a good supply of sweat is extracted. And the sound helps, as does targeted shocks to aching muscles. Swampert is the ideal aid pokemon when your nerves/joints demand a lot of time in the water, not to mention if it can tell a hurricane is coming, it can probably tell a panic attack is coming and just. [removes me from the situation]. Gengar and Granbull i probably just befriended at some point and Gengar is chill about spooking me on full moons bc my heart, and it lowering the temp is great for when i get hot flashes or need to keep cool in summer. Granbull is probably just baby tbh, though it's skittishness aside, it would probably serve similar function to swampert just... able to go more places without drying out/getting stuck. Oddish is just there because i love them and them burying themselves in the soil helps Torterra. The mix of berries on Torterra treat poison, paralysis, and confusion. Wonderful combo to snack on when fibro hits ya. Not to mention very useful when gengar 'i love u' licks to the face are paralytic, and so are toxtricity hugs.

Yes i used all my energy drawing this and thinking of Team Lore so i didn't color it. Which i'm fine with because its cute.

[digo3d]

Here's another ask: 1 thing you like + 1 thing you dislike about each TC movie

Almost guaranteed these are gunna end up being more than one thing because I don't know how to shut up but let's see

Beverly Hills Cats:

I like that it's silly and also because it gives Brain more of a spotlight, also it confirmed a few of my lesser headcanons (Spook can play the drums and Brain likes rats) also The Rap for their costumes (specifically Spook's and Brain's they slay) also Spook's voice is very gruff in BHC and so now I have a REAL reason to make his voice a little gravelly/give him a little growl when he talks whenever I read a dialogue from him other than just because I want to

However the PACING OH MY GOD THE PACING 😭 some of the movie just drags and the dialogue feels clunky sometimes, also the visuals look dirty if that makes sense? Everything's a strange color y'know? Also The Rap because it's so poorly composed and it makes me die a little. Also Amy Vandergelt fuck Amy Vandergelt all my homies hate Amy Vandergelt. Also Dibble didn't really feel like Dibble y'know like he was oddly mean and (extra) dense like 😭

Top Cat: The Movie:

I am inherently biased because this is a movie from my childhood I was FUCKING OBSESSED with it and would watch it every day once I got home from school in 4th grade and I still remember a dream I had about it years ago and I'm pretty sure I put Spook into a story I had to write for class 😭 it's how I got into Top Cat in the first place so I hold The Movie very near and dear to my heart anyways I really love that it legitimately feels like Anima Estudios put a lot of love into it and like they made a genuine effort to make it feel like OG even if they fell short. Also THE ARTSTYLE I WOULD FUCKING KILL TO GET A REBOOT IN THE STYLE OF THE MOVIE ARARAR GEOMETRIC ARTSTYLES EATS A BRICK anyways also Trixie, they could never make me hate you Trixie (I need to draw her more) also the robots are funny as fuck for no reason

While I still think people greatly exaggerated how bad the movie was, I can kinda understand where they're coming from because the plot holes are ABYSMAL OMG 💀 also fucking Rob Schneider is Strickland in the British dub which is immediately awful, also not as awful but Dibble doesn't feel nearly as like strict or intimidating as he did before and I think that's mostly because of the voice they gave him, it's very squeaky. Also I feel like Strickland could work as a good antagonist but I feel like they leaned into the 'oh I'm so handsome I'm the prettiest in the world' thing too hard and it just made him feel really annoying and not like an actual threat at all, also naturally the flanderization of Brain (Anima Estudios must've had beef with him or something cos they did him even more dirty in Begins)

Top Cat Begins:

To be completely Frank, to be completely David even, there's really not that much I like about Begins other than Hellcat Spook (naturally). I mean I like Furletta Duchat because she's purdy and Dib's grandmother (Grambo) because she's fucking insane. Chooch's little waddle of a walk. OH I actually REALLY like Mr. Big as a villain. He's an actual threat to T.C. and the gang and his design, voice, and behavior is actually intimidating and probably the best crafted out of any of the new characters in Begins (also his model isn't fugly like most of the rest of them). If a new movie or series ever gets made I hope he makes a return even just as like a minor villain. Also Diedrich Bader voices Bad Dog and that's an inside joke between me and my sister lmao (also I do really like Bad Dog he's an excellent goon)

First things first for things I don't like about Begins, THE MODELS. WHY ARE THEY SO UGLY. WHO'S IDEA WAS THIS. I mean like they could be worse BUT THEY COULD CERTAINLY BE BETTER 😭 I mean I do appreciate them for giving us canon eye colors for the fellas but good fucking lord

Help him 😭

Tbh I'm trying to think of who the worst offender is and tbh it's almost all of them but I will say that Benny and Spook look the best, Fancy isn't ugly but he doesn't really look like Fancy, (same with Dibble) and ig T.C. isn't bad but he's not good. Brain and Chooch though what did they do to my lads. Chooch has gingivitis and lacks fangs (actually all of them lack fangs except for T.C. and Benny which I think is especially offensive) and Brain's model is built in such a way where any mouth movement he makes looks FUCKED UP. Also his eyes are really small and so are his ears and his proportions are generally fucked.

Fun fact I found some like beta promo art for Begins a while ago and Fancy's model is completely different and dare I say he looks better than his official model

Anyways models aside I think this is kind of a dogshit origin story for the gang. Making T.C. and Benny meet Fancy, Chooch, and Brain all at the same time only to not see them for the next 45 minutes was real fuckin lame-o and lazy and they also retconned that whole thing where T.C. and Benny were in Boy Scouts together which I really didn't appreciate. Also could've stood to have moar Spook in the movie instead of him being a deus ex machina and having LESS THAN TEN MINUTES OF SCREENTIME, like shit dawg. Also I always thought it was lame that he was just the pizza guy and not ACTUALLY involved with Mr. Big y'know? Also he's got a bit of a plot hole where he's like 'why should I stick my neck out for you' and then legit like 2 minutes later he's like 'i've been following you around so we can join forces' like ok bro if that was the case you would've just pulled them up and not've done that whole thing where you made it seem like you would've left them there but alright dawg. In my opinion I would've had it where Mr. Big sends out Spook to find them and follow them around after they lose their tracks of them and then when they escape Spook's grasp THEN Mr. Big fucks up Eleanore. Anyways what else. Uhh. Oh I can't tell if they just forgot what Dibble acted like or they tried making him younger in Begins but like. That's not Dibble. Who is that. Also again, Brain flanderization to the extreme and some mischaracterization of Fancy. Anyways I think that's it actually

This turned into a full rant I'm sorry 😭 but yeah I think a remake/revamp of Begins is in order because it's so bad and then BHC isn't bad, just mid at times, and then I've always found The Movie to be charmingly bad despite it's plot holes

[hinamie]

hi hina! in terms of your art, what would say is your strength(s) and what is your weakness?

!!!! omg ily mariam you're always so good at asking rly thoughtful questions that make me take a step back n Ponder,, tbh im not sure if this is just a Me thing or if every artist experiences this but i feel like my main strengths/weaknesses in my art are just reflective of the strengths/weaknesses i have in all areas of my life .., i am not going to unpack that too much tho smile :)

strength(s)

a bitch is Persistent !!! when I decide to learn how to do something i put in 200% to learning it and learning it Well . ths how i got good at drawing a lot of the things im told i'm "good" at --i did it with hands i did it with torso anatomy i did it with clothing ,, i did it with yuuji's gd hair,, the list goes on !! also i think this is maybe related to why i love making character reference sheets ? granted they take forever and i hate it while i'm in it but at the end of the day i am a proud character sheet Advocate. if u ever want to really hammer something into ur brain .. character sheets.... angles......just sayin ! shit works.......

character design listen i dont want to sing my own praises too much but character design rly is one of my favourite kinds of art to do and i think . im maybe a bit good at it.,, idk,... :3 fr though I put so much time and effort in2 the research and ref compiling and it takes Hours on pinterest and 543254 open tabs but finally getting to put the pieces all together to make something cohesive makes all the pain worth it . whether it's for an oc or an existing character i love designing outfits or alternate forms that Tell u something abt the character i love translating personality into clothing choices and silhouettes and colours and hiding little defining Traits and !!! idk i just have so much fun :'> it reminds me why i love art

weakness(es)

kind of the dark side of persistence, a bitch is Stubborn and Resistant to Change (not just an Artist Flaw(tm) but also a recurring Character Flaw i need to work on gsfdhjfsgd) . I find i don't know how to easily break habits or push myself outside of what's Worked for me in the past, even if i know that other, better ways exist ,,. like I joke abt working harder not smarter and complaining about it but that's not even a joke that's just what I do because I'm too afraid of being Bad at something or trying something and having it not work so I just stick to what I know :( smh if comfort zones r meant to b left why r they comfortable.......

perspective/rooms/dynamic poses,, look ik im microdosing on these rn but a lot of it is still so HARD ,, improvement jail.... :( unique poses r starting to come easier with reference but rooms i hate u . how do u make objects look like they are in a scene and not on it . how to give objects Weight ????? i dont get it...

[thegempage]

stands in ur inbox

✅️ 😠 and 😊 from that writing ask meme (you are Obligated to say something nice about your writing, I am not asking /lh)

fjdaklfjadsklfjdskalfd alright alright!!

😠 whats your least favorite part of your writing process?

the part where it's been taking like 3-10 months to finish anything most of the time jfdkalfjkds

😊 say something nice about your writing

i think i'm pretty fucking good at what i do, tbh. maybe i'm not quite a professional but i'm good at getting characters across and i have fun fucking around with grammar and perspective and word choice. i've been doing this shit for fourteen, almost fifteen years by this point and i'd like to think it's paid off.

✅ list one or two favorite lines you’ve written and explain why they’re your favorite

(doing this one last bcus it's gonna be long af so under a cut it goes) (also suggestive for the second line lmao)

... okay. so. i can't share some of my Actual favorite lines bcus to be quite honest, i don't feel like publicly sharing the full pieces but going into why i like them would need too much context. but these are pretty far up there in terms of liking them

“You know nothing about me, Narinder. You know not what you ask of me. You know not what my motivations are. Death has been my companion since before my birth. Death has been waiting for me from my first breath and stole from me my last. The Red Crown brought me no closer to death than my own mother did upon giving me life.” The Lamb, as a rule, did not shout, but their harsh whisper was louder than any scream could have been. “Death is the right of the sacrificial beast, oh One Who Waited, was that not why the bishops slaughtered us one by one at their altars? Was that not why you put the Crown in my hands and beget me to kill?”

yes this is an entire paragraph, i also think it fucks. this is part of a longer argument that narinder and the lamb are having, but this particular piece came out Really well. it feels nice in the mouth to say and i think "One Who Waited" as an insult is one of my favorite weird character things for this lamb lmao

Skin flushed from his [Narinder's] earlier efforts, begging to let the divinity underneath go free. Skin he'd been kept from all too long for the tastes of his worst impulses. He was always allowed to draw blood -- when his hands trailed over Juno they begged him to draw blood, to release that within them that craved bloodshed far beyond what crusades could provide -- but so rarely was he allowed anything deeper. Narinder had torn apart the bodies of gods on many an occasion, but only Juno came crawling back to him for more, only Juno offered themself up for the slaughter and spread their legs as thanks. The prophecy had promised him a sacrificial beast and given him something willing to bleed for him for all of eternity. Perhaps that was why they healed where the others had not, wounds taken willingly instead of thrust upon them. Perhaps it was because the godhood that tore them apart was so closely intertwined with their own.

...... don't worry. about the full context. anyway i just like this bit a lot jfkdaljfsjkfdla this is a different narinder and lamb than the previous line, and this particular pair has a uuuuhhh wild ass relationship with each other and divinity and the nature of immortality. the role of juno as a sacrificial beast and how they both defy and seek shelter in that role depending on what they need and how they're doing is a really fun part of writing them. also the nature of narinder as a death god, former or no, and a cat, a predator, who has everlasting prey that wants to be in his jaws, and how his sense of ownership over juno has changed between them being a vessel and them being his god and spouse

[isaac-clarke]

So my mentorship ended around 2 months ago at the start of September and I never quite got around to talking about it lol. Mostly because stuff kept happening. Work bullshit but also health stuff cropped up. So ironically enough, since then, I haven't actually drawn anything (besides a couple small 5 minute doodles here and there). And tbh? I'm okay with that.

One of the reasons I went for my mentorship with Chira was to not just work on my technical skills, but my own relationship with my art which I knew wasn't in a good spot and hadn't been at all for several year. I developed anxiety from certain personal stuff that happened way back in 2012 and it slowly poisoned a lot of stuff over the years. Including my attitude towards my art.

To put it shortly, I deal with avoidance quite a bit when it comes to anxiety and stuff that makes me anxious. And art is one of those. It used to be really bad in like 2017 when I didn't even know I had it, I could barely draw circles, much less doodles, and I would have to claw my way back up to something relatively comfortable. I also tended to stay in my safe zone because of this. Because of my anxiety, but also chronic allergies, and RSI, decent drawing sessions where inconsistent and scattered despite my effort. And when I would be able to draw-- I'd always stick with something safe, what I know I'm good at. I'd never go out of my comfort zone despite knowing full well I needed to in order to improve. So for anxiety wise, I would get anxious too if I went too long without drawing because I was scared I'd revert back to the hard avoidance and needing to claw my way back up again. Which HAS happened multiple times. Chira helped me realize it's a consequence of my anxiety and, yes, it WILL happen again. But to not worry, because every single time I've bounced back. And I'll bounce back again. Coming to terms with that helped a lot.

To top that off I always felt just.... like I'll never be good enough because I've KNOWN since I graduated art school that my fundamentals were very lacking in several areas. The only one it wasn't was anything to do with colors, color theory, values..etc. But everything else? Lol. I knew in 2015 when I was graduating that I wasn't anywhere near professional, that there was still so many gaps in my fundamentals I genuinely didn't understand and that made me feel awful. I thought I was a shitty artist, and I never really knew where to even focus to improve on them. Ergo: avoidance, staying in the safe spots.

So for 6 months this is what Chira helped me with: with my fundamentals but also pealing back my thoughts and attitude. Why did I think a certain way? Approach things a certain way? Avoid things? Why did I think I was a mediocre artist when graduating? Was it not my school failing to properly educate me? (Which I realized was the case, 10 classes per week for 3 years did not do me favors beyond feeling I need to rush and partially apply fundamentals without truly learning nor understanding them). Chira also helped me realize I had a fixed mindset and had a lot of unhealthy habits regarding my art. I really learned how to self reflect too, especially if my anxiety related feelings started to really creep in. (Like getting frustrated, knowing I'm weak at a certain thing and it's just not clicking withing the first few tries..etc)

My fundamentals vastly improved too-- my homework for the whole six months was basically doing gesture figures and over time applying more and more things. Proper perspective, construction, clothing/wrinkles..etc. And from month 1 to month 6 I've seen such an improvement.

Tbh I used to feel so ashamed, knowing I graduated from art school with my fundamentals lacking so hard. And my anxiety hindered me for YEARS about improving it. I'm sure if I didn't have it I'd be far beyond where I am now, but I have it. And there's no use crying over spilt milk.

I'm so grateful for Chira's help and I definitely recommend their mentorship program if you also have struggles with your art.

Here's homework from Month 1 week 1, then Month 6 week 2

Also for anyone's curiosity, some draw over's from Chira from that homework review:

[bnuunydoll]

I Draw A Lot More Than I Write

In fact, it's been around 8 months or so since I began my so-called "art grind" and began practicing frequently. That ... didn't exactly stop me from feeling like I should be a lot "better" than I am now, so I wanted to make a post that can explore how far I've come!!

It All Started Here...

I've been calling this lil dood Dotter, and he was supposed to be my own fakemon to go with some romhack ideas. At the time I had dabbled with art a bit before, but I always found it discouraging. Every piece would take more days and executive function spoons than I could typically carry at once. I spent most of my time constantly redoing the same lines in a desperate attempt to make everything look "clean" aaand overall the process was miserable ಠ⁠﹏⁠ಠ

However!!

My gay ass has a sapphic appreciation of women that I desperately wanted to express. And since I had... dabbled in art before, it felt like a potential avenue to that I could take my other wise meandering life in. 乁⁠|⁠ ⁠･⁠ ⁠〰⁠ ⁠･⁠ ⁠|⁠ㄏ

So I Started Studying. Watching tutorials, doing daily practices, taking notes, drawing whenever I had time, and miraculously I've actually kept up with it for 8 months or so now. ⋋⁠✿⁠ ⁠⁰⁠ ⁠o⁠ ⁠⁰⁠ ⁠✿⁠⋌

So Here's Dotter Again!

I wanted to revisit him mooostly because I've been feeling so down on myself about my progress recently, but seeing them side by side really helps me see how much I've improved in various ways (⁠づ⁠｡⁠◕⁠‿⁠‿⁠◕⁠｡⁠)⁠づ

Such as...

Time!

Previously any artwork I made would take several weeks, since I'd have to find the spoons to draw, and then actually draw... which was hard and time consuming due to my perfectionism and inexperience. The most recent art of Dotter took like, a few days? Which is a huge improvement.

Like, Conceptualizing Stuff!!

For a long time (and still now tbh) I struggled to draw anything that wasn't just mimicking a screenshot or something. A lot of my first attempts at art was just trying to draw something and change minor details. While I still do that for practice and warm-ups now, I'm a lot more comfortable with taking a variety of different references and combining them for something new.

The Actual Drawing Thing!!!

Like I brought up before, a lot of time was spent constantly going Ctrl+Z

Ctrl+Z

Ctrl+Z

etc....

desperately trying to find lines that didn't look awful. Now I feel a lot more comfortable not only with getting lines I enjoy, but also feeling more confident in my work and not needing it to be ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. Additionally I've learned to make my lineart look nicer in general with stuff like differing line weights, colors, and other small details!

If nothing else, I am proud of how far I've come mentally with my own art.

Rendering, and Also Light And Shadows!!!!

Before I really struggled to understand how coloring and adding shadows to stuff worked, it was a big reason I was scared to draw anything that I could reference 1:1. But after studying volumes and consulting a lot of tutorials and honestly just like.... looking at stuff irl, I have a much better grasp and can try rendering things based on how I thiiiiink it should work. Which is... a huge improvement over not having a single clue about any of it.

And Finally, the Mindset!!!!!

I struggled a lot with actually getting to a point where I thought it was worth putting in the effort to draw at all. I would work an awful job just to go back to my shitty apartment, try to make something, then get discouraged bc it didn't look like any of the beautiful pieces I saw on Twitter (Presently X) .com. And it's hard, really hard, to feel like there's a point in trying when so many people are just better.

AIronically though, the thing that made me really get into it was the rise of AI art and I guess the like, devaluation of the human spirit or something? Like... I think there's something really magical about just doing your best and showing the world what that is.

The Character Art from Guilty Gear X comes to mind a lot and it's something I treasure. It looks good, but it also doesn't look nearly as refined as later entries and I adore that! The CS has charm and spirit if not polish

AI art produces art that looks very generically "nice," but it's also really lame. I spend A LOT of time watching "bad" movies and "mid" video games and there's something human about those sorts of works that AI art can't ever really copy. Things like an artist struggling to draw ankles despite the rest of their work looking fine, orr a film that just can't manage to get a single steady shot. It's all uniquely charming, and those little quirks made me feel a newfound respect for the struggle and quirkiness of my new art starting out.

Another extension of that human element is that I had to recognize that my skill or ability to draw or do anything doesn't correlate to my worth as a person. It's really hard to to believe after a decade of YouTube slop complaining about "bad" video games and art, but it's true!!! Having a healthy social life and people that care and love me probably means a lot more than whether or not I can draw good.

It's definitely a struggle still not to get discouraged, but I always try to remind myself that a lot of people have been making art since they were children. If I can improve so much in 8 months, I think that's reason to be excited to see how much further I can improve! (⁠つ⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)⁠つ

[waywardsou2]

hello, fellow artist! I'm sorry that you're not satisfied with your art, I know the feeling, and it sucks. it may be pretty common for beginners, even for more experienced artists tbh. but I promise that it'll get better soon :)

a tip that I want to give you is to experiment with your art and style. You could even mix things up to create a style for yourself. or stick with your cartoon style. Either way, the best way of improving is practising.

one single "bad" drawing doesn't mean that you should stop doing what you like. practise makes everyone better. you're no exception. get inspiration, use references.. if you keep drawing, you will soon notice the improvement that you'll inevitably do. If you need any tips, advice, or anything else, you're free to ask me!

I hope you have a good day, and sorry if this is an unwanted opinion 🙏

Honestly thank you so much for this. Waking up to see this was kinda nice even if it doesn't fix the feelings I have it makes me feel at least a little better.

I've seen real improvement in my art recently (the main thing is I can draw noses now) and I'm quite proud of it.

But it's taken me three years or so to get my style the way it is and I still can't quite do everything I want. I hear you when you say it takes practice and time but sometimes I get hella impatient. I know how much effort artists have to go to and I U derstand that I need to put that effort in as well.

And tbh I don't think it was just the art that got to me. I think there were a lot of other life things that also got the better of me but the post focused on the thing I was doing at hand.

I know I probably just need to either step away from my art a bit and try and find a new perspective or a I need to double down and work twice as hard to start on the journey of improvement.

I just get disheartened yk.

But honestly thank you. Your message was really kinda and I appreciate it. I would love to chat more if that's ok with you. You seem very kind

[emeritus-fuckers]

Hiiii hii congrats on 1000 followers! 🎉🎉

Here's my stuff for the match-up re-run :)

1 i'm an androgyne/nonbinary lesbian. and asexual :P I use they/them and it/its

2 i like. ghouls :)

3 im really pale and a little short and chubby. i mostly usually just dress comfortably, but sometimes i like to do a little more effort if im not. exhausted. tbh i'd love to get into more cute fashions like a lot of lolita wardrobe but what're you gonna do huh 🤷 i do like having cute bracelets or necklaces, though. and sometimes tamagotchi as fashion.

4 really quiet, but im trying to like. be more willing to talk to people. im anxious and it makes me snippy sometimes but i dont like to be 😔 also tend to be low energy a lot. that said i'll infodump about things if i have someone to listen and im comfortable.

5 i like drawing and writing and playing video games (mostly pokemon and animal crossing). i'm into biology, especially parasites and fungus. i'm working on some projects, specifically getting into plush making and baking. also pretty into fortune telling, especially tarot. music-wise, aside from Ghost I really like synthpop and j-metal.

6 i am autistic and have bad legs 👍 the low energy is related to this probably. makes me very into the concept of parallel play, ie just being in the room with the other person while we're doing our own thing. quality time is a love language etc. you get the idea.

This post is part of the 1000 followers match up event. Entries for the event are now closed.

Your match is…Cumulus

She is just adorable and so sweet with you. She is shy at first and is careful to only approach you when you have the energy. Then she just kinda nuzzles into you a little at first and asks if you want to go on a date or something.

If you are lacking the energy you want to put into how you look she she will help in anyway she can. She will even do your makeup for you if you need, she finds it a very intimate nice moment.

If you are really exhausted and not up to much she'll hold you close. She'll let you rest your head on her chest or thighs and softly sing to you.

She loves bringing you home cute necklaces and bracelets.

She'll ask what she can do to help with your legs while wrapping you in a blanket. She'll also bring you hot food, and make sure you are feeling well looked after.

She loves baking with you and plush making. She is obsessed with the plush you made for her. Also the fortune telling, which she dragged all the Ghouls along to have their fortunes told. Swiss suggested that you tell each Ghoul that their day was going to have an unexpected twist and that they should be wary of the rain. He then stood outside the room with a hose pipe ready for when each of them came out.

She loves quality time with you, it becomes love language of your relationship. She is very content to be in your comapny while calmly working on her stuff.

~

Written by Nyx