#it's not perfect but i just wanted to do a little redraw before going to bed

[zillychu]

designs for a zine piece! enjoy some background story my illustration never needed under the read more (fair warning I did NOT edit this at all):

newbie mage apprentices Sam and Tucker who became friends bc they're kinda… the ones at the bottom of their class and struggle the most, for different reasons. they become besties over time and practice together!

except one night, something goes terribly wrong. they spent the last few nights preparing for a project, a bigger spell that needs an intricate circle with precise measurements to work. but when they try to activate it, well… 

oops. they summoned a demon.

which is, for one, extremely illegal. only certified demonologists are allowed to summon demons because they're so dangerous. anything less than a perfect binding circle and thoroughly researched info on the demon, including their true name, is even remotely safe.

but, weirdly enough… the demon seems just as surprised as they are. as Sam and Tuck frantically try to figure out how to dispel the demon, they realize–oh god, did their circle actually sufficiently bind the demon? it can't leave. they watch the demon tentatively poke it's claws into the air around the boundary, and watch it fizzle, retreating back with a strained hiss.

okay. okay, they can do this. without death looming over their heads, they can figure out how to send the demon back. it's cool, it's fine. except while they leaf through their books, they notice the demon watching them. it looks kind of… curious. timid. interested in what they're doing. it catches them noticing his staring, and it. apologizes? it seems flustered?

weird, okay. they keep looking, and the demon starts talking. at first, little comments to itself. mumbles that soon get just loud enough to hear. little “ooh, is that a telescope?" and “is that what fire looks like up here?" and “that must be for making charcoal…”

Sam is the one brave enough to be like "are all demons as chatty as you??” and the demon gets flustered again, apologizing. says he's just never been topside before, he's only read about humans in tomes. oh wow is that the moon outside? it really IS blue up here! is it always blue? what are you doing up? I thought humans slept at night?

Sam and Tuck can't help getting pulled in with the demon's genuine curiosity. they're wary though, since they know demons can be clever, conniving. there's a number of ways a demon can get the upper hand on a summoner who has them bound. if he gets their full names, gets them to smudge and break the circle… there could also be ways they aren't aware of. so they consider their words carefully, but engage in some chatter while they research.

it's almost morning by the time they find a way to send the demon back–but as they prepare the spell, the demon says WAIT WAIT and they stop, uncertain. the demon starts stammering out how this is weird but like… he really had fun tonight. he doesn't get to just hang out much, especially with anyone his age.

Tuck is like “how do you know our ages??" and the demon points out "oh, you said something about Paulie’s 18th birthday party, so I thought…” and they're both like oh shit we didn't even notice we did that?

“Paulina" Sam corrects in her dumbfounded stupor. 

“Right, Paulina!" the demon snaps his fingers, but quickly loses his confidence when Sam and Tuck continue to stare at him like they're not sure what's going on. he coughs and fidgets and says “um, well, I was just wondering, I guess… if you wanted to summon me another time, I wouldn't mind. you see those circles there? yeah, that's what summoned me. the candles helped too I think. oh, it doesn't need all those runes though, probably don't want to redraw all those.”

Sam and Tuck are practically gawking, but… for some reason, this demon looks so sincere. so much like them, awkward and lonely and genuinely curious.

it's a bad idea. a terrible one, even. the demon probably noticed they're newbies and not demonologists. it could be hoping they make an error in their circle, or mess up a candle, or reveal their names on accident. 

But, well. They're stupid. they're also eager for anything to help them in school, and too empathetic for their own good. they send the demon off with a yeah, no. they then think about it for a week, and end up summoning the demon against their better judgment.

the demon is shocked and so happy, they can't help but be a little endeared. they lay down some ground rules, take care to be as safe as possible… and soon, this demon that introduces himself as “Phantom" becomes a nightly visitor. they talk about their worlds, find out they share a lot of common interests, and help each other in their studies. which, hello, demons also study? bro are you serious??

they play games, laugh till their ribs hurt, and open up to each other on a far deeper level than anyone expected. over time, Phantom becomes a true friend.

Sam and Tuck quietly begin to lament the fact Phantom is stuck in that damn circle. they want to take him places, let him see the human world he seems so interested in. they want to paint his stupid claws and noogie him between his dumb horns and hug him.

but it's an astronomical risk. it's legal for a demonologist with a proper permit, but it's still considered a grave taboo to grant access to a demon outside a circle. there's just too much at risk. demons can be dangerous enough to lay waste to entire towns, take multiple teams of military-rank mages to take down.

they wouldn't risk it… if they hadn't snuck into the library’s restricted section and copy a page from a demonologist book that gives them good framework for a contract. they make some edits to it though, giving Phantom at least a little wiggle room to protect himself if need be. and allow him use of transformation magic so he can hide somehow. but they spend weeks making sure they have airtight wording to ensure Phantom can't cause anyone or anything any substantial harm. 

when they finally bring the contract to Phantom, he's stunned. he cries. nothing needs to be said, they all know the gravity of their proposal. even if they ask for proof of Phantom's trust in turn, first. they ask for his full name, so they can bind him. just temporarily. but in that moment, they'll have full control over him. they could instead tell Phantom to serve them, force him to obey their every order. even if it's just for a moment, giving them his full name with the proper circle and incantation, is putting his life in their hands. 

Phantom, with tears still in his eyes, smiles warmly and nods. with only a breath to steel himself, he gives them his full name. Daniel James Fenton.

magic sparks in the circle, and Sam and Tuck finish the incantation. ethereal chains sprout up to wrap around Phantom's arms and legs, which makes him jump–but the unwavering trust in his eyes makes the two humans choke up.

they release the binding. all that's left is to break the containment barrier in the circle, so Phantom can walk free.

“Uh, about that…” Phantom laughs sheepishly… then proceeds to step outside of the circle, merely wincing when the barrier zaps around him.

Sam and Tucker gawk. Phantom scratches his neck. “Y-yeah, so… your barrier circle was already broken that first night. It's, uh… right over there. You missed a spot.”

abject horror overcomes them because this entire time Phantom's been visiting, he could have broken out? EASILY?? THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD.

Tucker falls to his knees, but soon starts to laugh. it's kind of hysterical at first but slowly, he and Sam are genuinely laughing. they're so STUPID, and Phantom is the most un-demonlike demon they've ever HEARD of. Phantom is still flustered, stammering out apologies because he wasn't trying to deceive them or anything! he just didn't want to scare them! without a proper containment circle they technically couldn't send him back either, so he just… went back using his own magic each time they “dispelled" him. 

once they've calmed down, Phantom morphs his body into a human form–which shock Sam and Tuck, because uh, only elite demons are capable of that. they were expecting an animal, or straight up going invisible. Phantom laughs it off, says he just, spent a lot of time practicing bc he's so interested in the human world (not a lie, but). he proceeds to adopt the nickname Danny, and they all have FUN WONDERFUL SHENANIGANS

(and sometime in the near future, when faced with something truly threatening he needs to protect them from, Danny reveals that. well. their contract also had some holes in it. and he's had access to his full demon power this whole time. whoopsie! it's a good thing he genuinely loves them and doesn't want to hurt anyone, or their asses would be SO dead lol)

they're about as normal about his full demon form as you'd expect from me btw:

[amalthea-13]

What Made Me Defend Stolas so Staunchly?

Introduction

After several days discussing Octavia and Stella, I am beyond happy to be back to my job on Stolas Defense!

Hello all, it is I, Amalthea, The Ultimate Stolas Kinnie and Stan! Today I thought it'd be interesting to talk about why I defend Stolas so staunchly.

For many who may not know me, I used to actually be in the middle when it came to the issues within Stolitz. I used to defend both Stolas and Blitz because in my head they were both at fault for a lot (I still believe this partly).

I never really doubted any of this purely because it made sense. I mean they're both in the relationship and therefore they both are bound to make mistakes.

However, the fundamental moment that changed my mind was Mastermind.

To many this may be weird bc 99.9% of the fandom has a neutral take on this. Everyone else is usually defensive of Blitz due to his position in society and usually we all agree to somewhat be fair to Stolas purely by giving him only partial blame.

I tried so hard to not get frustrated with Blitz. I really do try to give him so much empathy and love because I love that lil guy. That's my boy right there. . . however my boy was PISSING ME OFF.

Let's get into reasoning because despite The Blitz Post , he is still my third favorite in the entire series. (Sorry Blitz, Vassago ties with Stolas for number 1 and I think Yogirt took second place.) The Timeline

Recently, I rewatched the videos I made in response to Mastermind on my Tiktok. The very first initial reaction I had was a video I released November 29th, the day which Mastermind released and its a singular image of Stolas with the text:

"The fact Blitz cannot humanize Stolas ever until he has lost absolutely everything pisses me off. Stolas isn't perfect but the one time he does treat him well and like a person is when he's at his lowest just like Blitz."

A very . . . emotionally charged response to a character I also kin and was a staunch defender of before this point. I mean I loved Blitz, but what happened in Mastermind, that sudden tonal shift in their relationship sent me over the edge.

The next slide goes into further detail of my grievances;

"Stolas gave up everything and only NOW he is being treated with some semblance of kindness. It took him giving up his actual life for Blitz to actually see him as a person and not some "ditzy blueblood" he made up in his head".

These sentiments are echoed in The Blitz Post when it was made in February and I still stand by the context of the Blitz post to this day. November 30th I worked on an edit of Stolas to a Last Unicorn audio due to him being stripped of his magic, this was an emotional thing I couldn't get over, also echoed in my Stolas Headcanons post where someone asked me about his magic.

The same day I made a speedpaint redrawing Stolas and started just going off about my frustrations that I don't want to believe Blitz is a bad person or a semblance of a "bad guy", but the fact he could only humanize Stolas in that moment had "sickened me". I also mentioned my concerns for Octavia due to the fact I had been that "scared little girl" at some point in my life. I also note that;

"Truly, it hurt to watch Stolas throw himself in harms way, knowing Blitz would never give half of that to Stolas. He'd never sacrifice for Stolas like that."

All very... emotional responses and I can say this was the moment I fundamentally latched onto Stolas much tighter than I did previously. December 1st and 12th I made videos or slideshows defending Stolas regarding the punishment he got and that baby talking at Blitz or calling him "impish little plaything" isn't crime enough to justify what happened to him.

The 19th making another post defending Stolas due to his words being miscontextualized which inspired the Stolas, Miscontextualing his Words, and Boundaries post. The 22nd I documented my feelings about Via rejecting Stolas and that I couldn't agree with her at all and that echoed its way into The Octavia Dilemma. Christmas day at like 3am I made a post defending Stolas against people accusing him of being "fake" for using medication to handle his depression. Then January 1st was when I voiced I believed Blitz was the most at fault during the Full Moon argument.

Then January 30th I make a video detailing why I believe Blitz was at fault. I go into explicit detail outlining why Blitz was wrong, how he was wrong, and this was when I came up with the concept for the projection argument (Seen in First Ask: Has Stolas Truly Grown? Section 2) I utilize when talking about the Full Moon argument. I go to the point of saying Blitz isn't emotionally mature enough to be with Stolas. (Daaammnnnn past me, let the guy stand back up!!!)

How is it from November 29th-January30th my view changed so much? As I said I used to be the type of person that blamed both sides. What happened?

The Fundamental Moment My View Changed

Tonal Shift

Usually when I believe in something I don't let it go. If I believe in something with my entire heart it will take something huge happening to change my perspective.

However, during Mastermind it felt almost... gross and sickening to watch Blitz fawn over and help Stolas while simultaneously enjoying the tender moments we had waited so long for.

I felt so- guilty. Like I was watching my best friend get back with a man I knew was bad for them.

It felt hard to enjoy the positivity as I knew what impending doom was coming. I mean I felt awful for enjoying my comfort ship while Stolas lost everything.

The tonal shift in Mastermind changed a lot and reframed so many episodes as you see such a radical shift in the span of a month or two. As much as I appreciated Blitz's efforts, in my mind it was all "too little, too late". It was everything I wanted from the series but too late.

So that guilt and anger manifested into a several month long rant and frustration of me bordering on turning into a Blitz Anti. Hell, I designed an OC just to spite Blitz and ship Stolas with my OC. (Theyre the best couple btw I love them sm their ship name is Hot Messes.) However, what made me fall right back in love with Blitz was that damn kind heart and the fact he can make Stolas laugh. As angry as I remain to be and as staunchly I stay defending Stolas, I still love Blitz, but again Mastermind provided a lot of reframing of past episodes I could not get over. It was like the floodgates opened and I couldn't close them.

Stolas Antis and Blitz Dickriders

I also want to acknowledge that it was Stolas Antis specifically that made me start despising Blitz as a character.

While I no longer feel this way and have separated the Antis from our sweet Lizard King. At the time I was angry that people were coming down hard as hell on Stolas for things they gave passes to Blitz for.

I've noted this in many posts, but I call it the "trauma pass" and for some reason Blitz is the ONLY character in all of Helluva Boss who has this card. My anger brewed from there, watching Stolas be beat down for minor offenses and Blitz getting the trauma pass purely because people like him, but if Stolas did the same thing he'd be burnt at the stake.

Now besides the fact I am an October Libra with a strong sense of justice, I'm also an ADHD bitch who can argue for 5 days on end over the same thing and not stop defending my argument. I can get physically ill or tired but I am as stubborn as a damn mule.

Therefore further interactions with Blitz antis and defenders sent me into what I now call the "Stolas Defense". Pretty much a litany of arguments, pieces of evidence, and information that I utilize to make a strong barrier that no Blitz Defender can get past.

While I didn't get much interaction on my Tiktok account, those videos are what built this lovely blog and is the reason my defense remains so strong. Purely based on memory recall those videos fundamentally shifted how I see Blitz.

They also are why my defense remains the way it is. Sure, I repeat the same points over and over, but there is a purpose and reasoning to how the Stolas Defense functions. It's about appealing to every area of argument along with substantiative evidence to make a strong ass defense.

Despite Blitz Antis leaving me alone and now finding solace in my Stolas Kinnie Family. I still think about how it took one episode for me to change my entire perspective on ONE character.

Mastermind As an Episode

Everything in Mastermind was done so well. it was meant to make you question and think. A complex narrative that truly left the fandom in shambles after it's release.

However, why was it this narrative that changed my mind? As an audience, many people believed this episode was necessary for Stolitz to thrive as a couple.

At that time I actually told someone I felt it was "unnecessary" for Stolas to give up everything for Blitz. (I was reaaalllyyyyy angry ya'll. Blitz hun I am soooooo sorry)

Mastermind as an episode had the fandom splitting off into sides and caused very real division which from a writer standpoint is beyond impressive.

The episode took me, a neutral viewer, and turned me into a staunch Stolas Defender. Talk about phenomenal writing.

Conclusion

Despite this episode rehashing many of my older points, I hope you all get a better view from this post as to why I am the way I am. I ain't saying it'll make you all agree with me or anything, but this is the direct timeline of all my thoughts and how it all went down since November 30th.

Toodles! Amalthea Out!

[cloudysarts]

All right I take the bait. Why do you believe Manel should have accompanied Pacifica at the party

AHHH THANK YOU IM SO EXCITED TO EXPLAIN MYSELF (in reference to this post)

ok. northwest mansion mystery is a great episode obviously. but HERES why i think the episode would've been even better if mabel was in dippers spot!!!!!! its kinda a lot so i put it under a read more

so this episode is sort of the middle-ish of season 2 i think, right before the ford reveal!! its not a super long show anyway so theres not a ton of pacifica appearances, anyway. BUT in EVERY SINGLE OTHER PACIFICA EPISODE, her energy has been bouncing off of mabel!!! from their meeting in double dipper, to irrational treasure, to golf war; they have been established as the main dynamic here. golf war is especially important here, because this is the very first step in pacfica's redemption arc! mabel saves her in this episode, the pines give her a ride home, and it seems like pacifica is going to start being a little more understanding of mabel because she had misjudged her, hence why she was treating her so poorly. it looks like theyre gonna establish a friendship between them!

and then. they dont. they basically never interact again. because the next time we see pacifica, she goes straight to dipper in northwest manor mystery. the cold open implies that the northwests wanted dipper specifically because of his knowlege of how to deal with the supernatural but IN MY OPINION that DOESNT EVEN MAKE SENSE because we NEVER see dipper fighting these monsters on his own? hes ALWAYS with mabel. at the very least, i think it shouldve been BOTH of them??? we see a brief shot of a newspaper clipping where dipper is fighting a vampire bat or something and i just. when did this happen. where is mabel

that would be a fine argument for it being both of them instead of just mabel so heres one of my bigger points thats gonna come back a lot in this breakdown: dipper. does not like pacifica. he STRAIGHT UP HATES HER. every single interaction theyve had has been negative!!! its even massively negative at the beginning of this ep!!!! though mabel often dislikes pacifica, she TRIES REALLY HARD TO LIKE HER. mabel has a lot of love in her heart, and if she could, shed want to be her friend!!! its always been pacifica whos been rejecting those advances!!! golf war was the start of pacifica understanding that about mabel, and it nmm wouldve been the PERFECT time to wrap up that arc, rather than leaving it!!!

and i would argue that could STILL LEAD INTO A DIPCIFICA ARC, if thats what the showrunners/fans wanted? most of why dipper hates pacifica to begin with is because shes so terrible to mabel. he only agrees to go to the party in canon because MABEL wants to!!! imo, i think the lead in to them being a couple would be a million times better if that massive problem in their relationship was solved first

i dont PERSONALLY like dipcifica but im trying to stay unbiased about this if you cant tell

i would also argue that like. dipper just seems really out of character. the reason i picked some of the scenes i did for my redraws, was because they were scenes that i think his behavior would fit mabel a lot better. examples:

why do the northwests have a suit in dippers size anyway. he literally doesnt even like wearing it sjkfhkj in a potential re-write of this ep, i considered that mabel would come in wearing her super extravagent home made dress, and it would 'violate dress code', so she would be forced to wear one of pacificas we could still have that cute dress-up expo scene that we do AND have some fun commentary/symbolism about pacifica being nervous about having her in the dress because its NICE and TOO GOOD FOR HER and she looked FINE BEFORE ANYWAY

mabels empathy is a recurring theme in the show. shed WANT to give pacifica the benefit of the doubt, and would be VERY betrayed when finding out her and her family already knew about the ghosts and knew what he wanted. i understand that dipper was so upset because it seemed like pacifica was changing for the better just to find out that she wasnt, but i think this fits so much better with mabel, because shes always WANTED to believe that shes secretly a good person. she would be glad to see her turn a corner, and would be upset when finding out she was 'wrong', and that she really was mean deep down. whcih would obviously lead to her comforting her later/finding out the truth about her etc etc. on the other hand, dipper literally never believed she had good in her. from the first interaction we see of them, he thinks shes as terrible as her family. he ISNT as interested in giving her the benefit of the doubt and if it wasnt a life or death situation i dont think he wouldve forgiven her. IDK i just think its more in character for her

the dancing scene!!! honestly this works fine as is (i can see both dipper and mabel being excited to make a mess on a fancy carptet) but idk i just think it carries so much more weight if its these two girls. silly moments for mabel!!!! pacifica getting to really be a kid and not just a sparkly prop!!!!!!! pacifica finally indulging in her sillyness that she mocked in irrational treasure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok moving on. one of the bigger things that bother me about it being dipper here instead of mabel is one teeny tiny (honestly really irrational) scene at the party. in it, dipper is confronted by fiddleford, who tells him he has big news about the author/the laptop and the towns in danger and its vitally important and dipper just. shrugs him off???!!?!?!?! i cannot even IMAGINE. in alex hirschs words "the first season is about dipper being in love with wendy, and the second is about him being in love with the author" meaning that. those are the TWO things that dipper is completely and totally obsessed with. hes clearly not over wendy (as we see in later episodes) and this is not long after sock opera/society of the blind eye so youd THINK hed be more depserate for answers than ever!??!?! this child was willing to sell out his great uncle and raise the dead and stay up for several nights in a row for answers, and the second he is offered some (from a man who WORKED WITH THE AUTHOR btw) hes like like 'whatevr'?!?!?! it is so out of character and it drives me fucking nuts every time. i know hes starting to like pacifica now but as we see in the comics (if you chose to think those are canon) HE DOESNT EVEN SEEM TO LIKE HER THAT MUCH!??!?! hes STILL convinced shes vain, and mean, and selfish!!!! he DOES start to have a little arc with her but jksdfjksf IDK i just cant in a million years see him passing up the chance for answers to the biggest mystery in gravity falls to hang out with a girl he tolerates

but yknow who i CAN see doing that? MABEL!!!!!!!! mabel would be concerned when mcgucket comes up to her, and starts talking like this!!!! i can totally see her suggesting that he relax for a little while and enjoy the party like dipper did, and then forgetting to come back to talk/not running into him later!!!! ESPECIALLY since i can see mabel WANTING to spend time with pacifica where dipper just. really doesnt seem to want to MOST of the time

ok ill admit that this last one is sort of a personal opinion. but i just. i really dont like the B plot of this episode with mabel and the girls. IDK its just so annoying and pointless to me to have a plot where its just a bunch of girls turning against each other over a guy. im not gonna say its mysoginistic bc i know little girls can be boy crazy but i just. dont see why there was a need to make them fight/turn against grenda briefly??? even when they rekindled and it was all ok in the end its just. in comparison to the A plot its so. Nothing.

in my head i have a rewrite of this episode and how it goes is that pacifica approaches dipper and asks for help and he turns it down (like he does in canon). mabel suggests that they do it anyway, but he refuses, as he wants nothing to do with her. when dippers gone, mabel agrees to help (and pacifica begrudgingly accepts bc it seems like the only option) and so she steals the journal when dippers not looking. she goes to the party, and events go pretty much the same?? only major difference i can think of is that the B plot is replaced by one where dipper realizes mabel and the journal are missing, so he sneaks into the manor/sneaks around the house trying to find he rand get it back (and its so massive he has no luck). the reason i think THAT works is because we can even still have the scene where dipper turns to wood like shifty prophesied!!!! and i would even argue it makes more sense this way because wasnt shiftys warning that "if you keep digging so deep into the secrets of gravity falls, this will be the last form youll ever take" ?

OK IM SORRY THIS WAS SO LONG im probably forgetting points too so i might edit it later but THANKS FOR ASKING

tldr: pacifica and mabels friendship plotline was left on a total cliffhanger after golf war and if mabel replaced dipper in nmm it would've been a good resolution to it

edit: check the reblogs if youre still interested! i added another list of reasons i think this (mostly in response to people disagreeing)

[kiiirtiiiniii]

I love your lineart, how clean and expressive it is! And your little Riebeck comics, they always make me so happy to see

Do you think you could talk a little about your process? I’m working on my own style right now, so I’m asking some of my favorite artists how they create, and how they learned how to create the way they do! Practice, but what kinds? How do you get such lovely doodles and art with such simple shapes?

WOW AAAAHHH thanks for the sweet ask!! I can absolutely do that!

The big overarching answer is exactly what you said & the answer no one wants to hear (I get it lmao): practice, straight up, preferably in a way you can sustain interest in so you can keep it up because inefficient is better than nothing.

I've been drawing since I could smear toddler fingerpaint on a page, so more than 25 years, and I took art classes all through highschool plus a few college level art classes. The things I think I'd recommend specifically over anything else are 1) exploring different mediums and methods (like charcoal on large paper & acrylics on actual canvas, and realism & abstract), even if you use dollar-store tier stuff (nothing wrong with that babey, that's what my fiance and I use for therapy painting!!) and 2) making sure you practice life drawing from photos at the very least, or live models if you can get yourself into a situation where that's an option.

To not just give you what is really common advice that almost feels canned at this point; the reasons I recommend these things specifically! Under a cut so this post isn't 300 years long. lol.

Even if you don't stick with charcoals or paints, trying them out a few times will give you the physical knowledge of how those mediums feel in action. Then, going back to mediums you prefer (maybe pencil and paper or digital like me), you'll understand better how to use the tip of the pencil at different angles, or the weird painterly brushes in your toolbar, and what things they can achieve for you re: sharp lines, gradients, gestural effects, blending, etc.

And again, even if you don't do abstract or realism or whatever style very often or at all, you'll know how it feels to slap shapes and colours down quickly and emotionally (nothing like capturing a raw feeling in colour), or the process of studying a photo so thoroughly you see and draw details you never noticed before (the way shadows are tinted by light bouncing around, for example), and you can apply that to something you find more engaging, like maybe character art (that's my MO I love drawing little guys lol).

Finally, life drawing, literally the most important way to practice and also quite possibly the most booooring. You have to find a way to apply it that makes you interested. I love making fast, sharp, innacurate lines, and I love taking my time drawing a perfect shape. I combine those by getting the essence of a pose down from a photo or my fucked up lil brain with gestural lines, then erasing and redrawing with more careful strokes until it looks right.

THAT specifically, is bad advice. Just erasing and redoing until something "looks right", but that's what I do and it's why it takes me 6 hours to sketch a comic page. But I'm not doing this for money and I probably never will, so it works for me. If it works for you, too, that's sick!! It's the lazy way to do it lol. You're SUPPOSED to do studies until you KNOW how things are shaped and how the lines should fall, so you can get it in a couple tries. More work for more payoff, right? That's how comic artists spit out like 2 or 3 pages a day.

A couple more things I found really helpful while I was learning (i say as if im not still learning and will be until i die): youtube tutorials (not joking) and blind-trace-reference-blind studies (I'll explain).

I don't have any reccs for you with the youtube tutorials because I did all that when I was younger and I cannot for the life of me remember who the hell I was watching, but it was a lot of different artists from professional to amateur to beginner sharing tips and tricks they found helpful. Top ten tips for artists kind of stuff. It's why I draw lightning bolt limbs and other sketch skeleton stuff like ball heads and guidelines to orient facial features. I hated that shit before I realized how much it actually genuinely helps.

Blind-trace-reference-blind studies are not called that but I don't know what they're actually called so whatever lol. It's really simple: you pick some specific thing (like a great white shark) and draw it 4 times: First blind, without a reference, purely from memory. Then, directly tracing a reference image (if you can). Then drawing normally from a reference. Last, drawing blind again without a reference. Then compare the first and last drawings for fun :3c

It's a good way to reassure yourself that you can improve and the studying and practice isn't useless, and it's also a good way to actually learn very specific stuff. The process can also be simplified down to blind-reference-stylize, where the last step isn't blind but instead drawing the subject in your style/simplified for speed and ease. I did this recently with hearthian mouths because they were pissing me off lol.

Very last advice: DRAW SHIT BAD AND OFTEN

Draw your favourite characters, draw your prescription bottles, draw your friends, draw your breakfast, draw them all really bad but try to capture the details even if it looks like shit, especially if it looks like shit. Fill a fancy sketchbook you got for your holiday of choice with garbage-tier doodles and never let it see the light of day. Scribble in your art program and then delete it!! Art isn't sacred, it's human, and you have to do it the way you do other human things like cooking and socializing; badly, often, and eventually well enough you can enjoy the results :D

Thanks again for the ask, hopefully I answered in a way that helps you figure things out and improve :] This was fun to answer <3333

[bts-seon]

love seon she is such a gem. but i have to ask, how would someone of her status, being a well known professional skater audition at a run down broke company such as big hit in the first place? and also with bts initially being a rough hip hop focused group. i’d love to know the story behind that!

❝ hi nonnie ! i’m writing this in seon’s backstory (gonna make it more in depth on there) but i thought it would be better to answer your ask in case more people had this question as well <3. hopefully this answers your questions (or makes sense) ! i wrote this in a rush 🥲. ❞ ⎯ mar!

seon smiled fondly as she remembered her time before becoming a trainee, “in all honestly, joining bighit entertainment was an impulsive decision, one that i don’t regret one bit. bighit entertainment was the first and only company who had gone up to me and recruited me while i was on vacation with my family in seoul. the recruiter told me she saw lots of potential in me and told me to just give it a try. my audition was two days before i was returning to seattle and much to my surprise, i actually enjoyed the audition. i wanted to do that — the singing, the dancing, even the rapping. it felt freeing, less stressful compared to figure skating. so i’d be lying if i said i wasn’t happy when they called my mom’s phone while i stepping out of the airport after landing in seattle to tell me i was accepted and at first, they were going to redraw their acceptance when i told them that i had returned back to the states but my dad snatched the phone from my mom’s hand that day and told them he was sending me back to seoul in that moment, to keep my spot wide open for me. which he did, didn’t even let me go back home to rest, just sent me back inside the airport with my mom, bought our tickets back to seoul, and sent us on our merry way.” she laughed softly, shaking her head as she remembered the event.

seon tapped her fingers against her knee as she thought of her words carefully, “i wanted to do something different, something away from figure skating, away from the pressure of having to be perfect on the ice, away from my coach’s harshness, even if it meant becoming a trainee in a rundown entertainment company — which is something i really didn’t care about, the staff and trainees were all very kind to me when i first entered the company to audition and continued doing so when i officially joined so how little money they had didn’t really matter to me and meeting the boys who were already there before me made me want to stay even more. so i moved to south korea on my own and trained to join bts.” she shrugged her shoulders slightly with a small smile, “i struggled to keep up with the different pace at first — i was used a more calmer beat, telling a story with each fluid movement so hip-hop was very different for me — but i was also trained to always be perfect no matter what. so i’d practice the choreography for hours on end until i got it right, practice my singing that i had only ever used in the shower just as much as my dancing, and i eventually made it on the official line up! . . . in other words, bighit entertainment may have been broke at the time and bts may have had a completely different style than what i was used to back then, but i enjoyed it far more than i was enjoying figure skating at the time and i like to think that joining bts led me to finding my love for figure skating once more.”

[adobe-outdesign]

If you are still talking about neopets designs, plz review lutari? I always wanted one of them

Lutari are probably most well-known for being one of the limited pets on the site, only being able to be made on their pet day and previously connected to the long-defunct Neopets Mobile game from back in the flip phone days. It's to the extreme where you can't even put one up for adoption, with them just running away instead of going to the pound. (Side note: TNT should re-release Lutari Island as a main site feature and make it so you can always create a Lutari while visiting. But I digress.)

Lutari are mostly just otters, but their very distinct, mottled markings, huge claws, and fluffy, curly tails are pretty distinct and make them feel unique, even though they're otherwise pretty straightforward. I like the amount of detail present; they have just the right balance of color, with white underbellies, black claws and noses, and two shades of the main color for their bodies, all of which is carefully balanced as to not be too busy. Overall, they're pretty dang nice... though they do have one drawback.

Considering that Lutari were released only shortly before conversion happened, you would think that they wouldn't have changed much other than losing their swimming pose (which is a shame, but a necessary change for customization). But in actuality, they actually changed quite a bit in various subtle ways, ending up with completely different proportions, markings, facial structure, and more. Here's a really great redraw that's more accurate to the original design, which really highlights the differences between the two:

The eyes are a completely different shape and the pupils are smaller, the mouth is smaller, the ears a completely different shape, the feet are weirdly elongated, the tail is less swirly... and they're such weird changes, because none of them actually have to do with customization.

Another good example of the changes made is Mr. Chipper, who was, weirdly enough, released prior to the Lutari species as a whole. He stands bipedally, and thus shows what a converted Lutari should've looked like. Also of note is the markings, which for some reason became weirdly angular on converted Lutari and less organic than they were originally.

And don't get me wrong, converted Lutaris are still fine, and are by no means ruined or anything like that. It's just a shame that they're less cute than they used to be, and that seemingly little care was put in to convert them properly.

Favorite Colours:

Maraquan: I went over this already in my Maraquan colour review so I won't go into too much detail here, but this design (based off a user submission) is beautiful. I love the use of an axoltle as a base, the pink and cream colors are lovely, and the gill ears are just perfect.

Pirate: While this design is pretty good as a whole, with a nice grey base with a few bright red accents and a properly cutthroat expression, it's the way they managed to seamlessly and subtly work a skull into the tail markings that really earns it a spot on this list. 10/10 no notes.

Faerie: While a little on the busy side, the faerie Lutari is quite pretty. The light green, blue and pink color palette works perfectly, and the beautiful swirled body markings work off of the Lutari's default markings perfectly. The wings also compliment it will, matching both the body colors and the intricate designs.

As an added benefit, you can also get a very pretty, less busy design out of this by using wings-be-gone, which arguably looks even better than the full color. I appreciate that kind of versatility.

BONUS: Camouflage isn't anything crazy, and it's not even all that camouflage-ish, but honestly I just really like this design. The use of a neutral palette and gradients creates a lovely and distinct color that's quite appealing for those who want a more realistic otter look or those, like me, who just like subtle and simple designs.

[crushedsweets]

do you ever have negative feelings about your art? i have spells where it feels like i’m unhappy with every drawing i do and i was wondering if you had any tips to overcome that </3

Yesss I’m actually in a bit of a rut right now!!! I’m a generally kinda insecure person(as we all are) so it sucks in that regard BUUUUUT There’s a couple things that help me I think

First are these charts! the idea that your taste will improve faster than your skill helps me cuz it’s true. It’s easier for me to look at beautiful art and know where I’m lacking than dedicate my life to studying and perfecting it. That’s more of a mental thing that you gotta keep reminding yourself but it helps me!

I think another thing is just drawing things that you really like and come easy to you. Portraits of pretty girls just staring at the viewer are always my favorites LOL it’s very basic and isn’t challenging me, but i don’t always need/want to be challenged . Sometimes you just need to make something you like, even if it’s very easy and you’ve done it before

Also redrawing old art helps sometimes, gives you a good reminder of your improvement — but if you feel like it’s only making u feel worse cuz u think u didn’t improve then go back to step one LOL

Also probably studying is good. Study anatomy, references, etc. watch YouTube videos made by professionals(or just people who inspire you) and how they study. I dunno

BUT YEA I hope this helped u at least a little… jusst keep trying never give up you’re doing great etc etc etc !!

[jr-acrux101]

Rebirth - Ch 2 :

Hello, I'm...

Jasper Cullen × OC 《- Chapters

Word count: 2.8k

Summary: First encounter.

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Aurora walked down the hall and brought the last box, her art supplies. All her sketchbooks, her quality pencils that she treasured, and her gifts from her dad when she was born. She never touched them, she couldn't bring herself to. For she feared they would break or worse, get lost, or even thrown away. She kept them in the case never to be used as they should be, just frozen in time.

She looked at the clock in her room, ‘Okay 2 more hours till the Swan's come… Oh! I still have to help mama with food… hmm I’ve got maybe an hour of free time.’ She pondered on what to do for that hour; she could go to the woods in the back and just explore a bit, maybe even take her sketchbook and a pencil, just in case. She nodded, ‘Yeah a little fresh air and familiarizing myself with the area would be good.’ With her mind set, she grabbed her supplies. She ran down the stairs and grabbed her shoes at the entrance.

"Hey, mama I'm gonna go to the yard and draw for a bit. I'll be back in an hour to help?" Her tone questioning, she knew better than just to run out without asking her mother.

Amora sighed, "Okay cariño be safe! And remember, be back in 1 hour!" 

She rushed to the back door and put her shoes on as Amora chuckled. She grabbed the mop and the disinfectant, ‘No shoes back in this house.’

Aurora walked out into the backyard. It was nice, clovers spread throughout the entire yard with little white flowers. The yard was pretty long compared to her old house's, if you could even call it that; it had maybe 2 feet of grass in the front and possibly 4 feet back. Not much room or greenery for the family to enjoy. She walked into the forest entrance. Peering through the tree line, she was a little spooked. This felt like a slasher film. She wasn't going to go too far in, she felt - no she knew - if she went too deep something unpleasant would happen. 

But, as she continued to look at the scenery all she could think was, ‘Beautiful.’ The trees towered over her and the sun barely peaked through but still magical. She went a bit more forward, passing a fallen tree and going down the terrain a bit. She found a rock, with red and yellow swirls. She examined it, holding it up to the singular ray of sunshine. It was smooth, petrified; stuck to never change in the wild again. ‘Somebody must've dropped it,’ she gazed at it one last time before putting it in her pocket. She slowly continued on, with her ipod shuffle and headphones. She pressed play and Creep by radio head started. She smiled at that, that was her dad's favorite to sing to her mom. She started to sketch, first the outline of the trees and then the outline of a man crouching and a little toddler. She shaded, made some lines more bold, some more light. It was a rough draft. 

About 30 minutes had passed and she started to redraw the figures. A twig snapped causing Aurora to turn her head. There was a Greek god. A literal being chiseled out of the finest marble. If not a Greek god, he is, at the very least, a perfect statute of Adonis. 

He was pale, with his striking height and his high cheekbones, he was a perfect sight. He had blonde honey hair and eyes, and his gaze bore into her soul. She's never met anyone with gold eyes. She stared, memorized and when his eyes finally met hers, he inhaled sharply. 

Jasper stared at her as she entered the forest. She was beautiful; with her brown hair, light honey brown eyes, and rosy cheeks. She had round eyes, her eyelashes were long, and her face was round and full. His gaze traveled further down, to her curvaceous body. He gulped, the thought of blood was enticing. He had finished hunting a while ago, taking a stroll just clearing his mind. He saw the hesitation to come into the forest. He gave another inhale wanting the scent of her exquisite blood to fill his senses, then he exhaled. ‘Control.’ He needed control. The sunlight hit her as she gazed at the rock he must have dropped. He didn’t even notice dropping it, her blood distracting him as he fiddled with the rock: he had got it as a reminder and a grounding piece. She took out her iPod shuffle and started to hum along, he vaguely remembered hearing this song a couple of times.

If he stayed, he could build up an endurance. He, of course, was lying to himself but he didn't want to leave, not yet. She was heavenly: he thought she could be an angel. He got up from the seat on the hill and took a step forward. The twig snapped underneath his weight, she darted her eyes at him. He felt her piercing gaze, and finally met her eyes.

He could get lost in them forever. She broke their intense eye contact, a blush staining her cheeks. She put her belongings next to the rock, stood up, and clasped her hand together. He could hear her heartbeat a mile per minute. ‘Confusion with a tinge of worry, that's to be expected I suppose,’ he couldn’t argue with her reservations about a stranger in the woods. 

"Hello..." she spoke as she lowered her gaze and started to twiddle her thumbs around. Aurora realized at that moment, the man standing before her could be a serial killer. ‘Well damn, if he is, maybe it wouldn't be too bad,’ she stared at his face. Her blush darkened, a little shocked and horrified at her thoughts.

'Control. Control. Control,' was the mantra going off in his head. "Hello, ma'am." His voice was deep and rough. 

She gave a shy smile, "I'm Aurora. I just moved here." She tilted her head, signaling at the treeline where the few houses resided.

"Ah, another newcomer beside the Chief's daughter. Nice to meet you, I'm Jasper Hale." 

"Yup, new blood here in Forks,” an awkward chuckled slipped out as she avoided eye contact. He exhaled again, 'Control. Control. Control.' 

She glanced back up and noticed his stare. "Oh, would you happen to know the time? I’ve lost track out here and I have to be back home soon to help my mother with dinner.” It was a small lie, she was timing herself through the music she had about 15 minutes left give or take. 

Jasper gave a small smile ignoring the lie, "It is 5:35." 

"Oh okay, I have like 20 minutes left." 

He started down towards her, digging his nails inside the palm of his hands, "If you don't mind me asking Ms. Aurora, what were you doing down there?" 

His accent seeped into his words, making her want to swoon. She held herself together, barely, that is, "Oh um while Mister Hale, since you asked so nicely; I was sketching the scenery." 

He raised an eyebrow, "Mind if I have a look?" 

She found herself nodding and grabbed the book, "Yeah, sure. Here." Their hands slightly touched and Aurora felt a jolt. She blushed again. 

Jasper looked down and was in slight shock. These were amazing. She captured the scenery and if she could paint, he was sure she would have transported anyone to this place at the exact moment she saw it.

"This is really... stunning,” while he faltered trying to find a word, her smile dropped for a slight second. It was gained back, a blush was added along with her sweet smile. 

"Thank you,” her eyes brightened at the compliment.

"Mind if I look through the rest?"  

Usually, Aurora would never let anyone look through her sketchbooks, not even her mom or abuela. But, once again, she found herself nodding. 

He flipped through the book slowly and carefully examining each page. 

There were drawings; a man and a toddler; 2 women smiling; an unusual cat with what looked like thumbs; there was a drawing of a child and toddler; there was a willow tree. He stopped at that one, seeing a girl and what looked like a child in her arms. He flipped again, finding more portraits of people whom he assumed were her loved ones, until he got to an illustration of teeth: vampire teeth with a drop of blood hanging from the canines. He stood frozen before snapping out of it. He flipped again and this one was a self-portrait, her with a bit shorter hair. He was entranced with even a drawing of her, so much so he missed the poem.

"These are truly amazing."

If he kept completing her, she'd turn into a tomato, "Thank you." 

"Are you going to Forks High?" 

"Oh, yes! I am." 

"I'm going to assume you're going to take art?" 

"AP art,” she nodded with a bright smile on her lips. 

"Well little miss, I'm sure you're gonna pass those prompts no problem." His accent started to slip up again, she made him nervous with that striking smile. 

She giggled, "Well, I sure hope so. Seeing as I start in the middle of the year. " 

"Don't worry. I have the feeling you got this no problem." 

"Thank you… So, do you go to Forks?" 

"Yes ma'am, I'm in my Senior year." 

"Oh cool, I am in my Junior year!" She was ecstatic to be going to school with him.

"Maybe we'll have a couple of classes together if you take AP." His lips curved into a smile and she nodded, suddenly excited to go to the new school. 

He glanced at his watch and saw it said 5:50. "Time sure does fly when you're having fun." 

"Oh, what time is it?"

"5:50 little miss," he wanted to call her princess but decided against it.

"Hmm, I guess I should head back then huh?" 

"Would you like me to escort you to the tree line ?" 

"Yes, that would be nice Mister Hale." 

They walked in silence, Aurora kept stealing glances at the tall vampire. Their eyes met and her heart raced. They slowed down as they stood at the edge. 

"It was very nice to meet you, little miss."

"It was nice to meet you too, Mister Hale. And please Aurora is just fine." 

"How about I call you little princess instead?" He winked and waved, not giving Aurora time to respond. She was stunned and slowly waved ‘bye.’ She stood there, in a stupor at the encounter with the mysterious boy from the woods.

The back screen door opened with a bang, making Aurora jump and her heart race. "Aurora! There you are, come on, hurry. I started a bit early. I need you to cut the veggies!" 

Aurora was snapped out of what felt like a trance, "Coming mama." She walked towards the door, sparing a final glance at the woods and went inside. She took off her shoes and headed to the kitchen. 

"How was drawing cariño?" 

"Oh, it was fun!" She decided not to tell her mom about the strange teenage boy she met in the woods. Realization dawned on Aurora. She realized Jasper had her sketchbook still. At the same time, Alice's vision finally cleared and there she saw Aurora; the plump girl with light brown hair and honey honey-brown eyes, and a smile that warmed her heart.

Jasper made it home, with the book in hand, cursing himself as he too realized that he still had it. ‘Well, it wouldn't be a problem. I could give it to her tomorrow, discreetly.’ He changed his thoughts, hoping Edward hadn't heard. Luckily for him, Edward was moping around like usual, mind turned off.

Bella and Charlie left their house, walking along the sidewalk to their neighbors, a couple of houses down. 

"So Cha-Dad, Miss Flores seems nice," Bella corrected herself, she noticed every time she said her dad’s name, he would frown.

"Yeah, the whole family seems sweet. Maybe you and her daughter could be friends."

"Yeah, she seems nice. She's a year younger than me apparently."

"Wow, she's super smart."

"That's what I had said too," Bella chuckled. They arrived at the door and rang the bell.

Aurora answered, "Hi! If you don't mind taking your shoes off, then I'll take y'all to the dining table."

Charlie and Bella shared a look before taking off their shoes. The two of them followed Aurora, to the green dining room with the mahogany table and wooden carved chairs. Amora's eyes light up, "Charlie, Bella welcome welcome." 

Amora sat at one end, Jacinda at the other, and Charlie Bella on the left with Aurora on the right. "Thank you for inviting us to dinner again Amora," Charlie said with a small smile. 

"Oh don't even sweat it. Alright, my mother wants to say prayers and then we can eat."

After prayers were said, the food was served, and Charlie started the conversation, "So where did you guys move from?"

"From Los Angeles. We lived there for years before moving here," Amora answered. 

"Oh cool, Bella here came from Arizona, the complete opposite." 

"Oh the dry desert, I could never be in that climate. Bella, are you nervous about school tomorrow?" 

"Um kinda yeah. But at least I'll have Aurora there so I'll know someone." She gave another awkward smile. 

"New school in the middle of the year is rough but you're right you'll have my little Aurora." Amora teased her daughter. 

The father and daughter chuckled, while Aurora groaned. 

"Anyway... Bella wanna go to my room since we're done?" 

Bella looked at Charlie who nodded. The two girls ran upstairs before more embarrassing things were said. Amora turned to her mother. She was going to ask her mother if she wanted seconds, but the old lady disappeared into thin air. 

"Anyway Charlie, how is it in forks?"  

Aurora led Bella to her room, a cozy green and beige room with throw blankets and a side wall dedicated to books. "Wow, you sure know how to unpack." 

"Oh yeah. The wall shelves and color were set up already, all I had to do was fill it. But it does look nice huh? That's the one thing I really like about forks, all the green."

"Yeah, but I'm sure the blue skies and ocean down the street were nice too right?"

Aurora nodded, sadness pooling in her stomach, "Yeah it was... I do miss the beach and the warm summer air." 

"It sounds like it beats here 100 percent." 

Aurora smiled, "How long has it been since you came to Forks? Or did you and your dad live in Arizona permanently before this?" 

"Um… well I lived with my mom mostly and visited my dad every now and then but it has been a while," Bella said, sticking her hands into her pockets.

Aurora hummed in response, sensing the awkward tone. Whilst Bella appreciated the no-follow up about her personal life, she was intrigued with the ‘why’ Aurora asked.

"Why found a boy already?" She joked. Her laugh was caught in her throat when Aurora blushed. "No way! You've been here for like 5 hours and you already have a boyfriend!" 

"Keep it down! Jesus. No, I do not have a boyfriend." 

"Sorry but oh my god, you really have a game." 

"Okay please for the love of god don't say that." Aurora threw her head in her hands, groaning at the absurdity. 

Silence followed before Bella spoke up again, "Any tips you care to share?" Another groan was followed close behind.

The night passed till 10 before Charlie realized the time, "Oh jeez it's already 10, I guess Bella and I should head home before it gets any later."

"Oh dear, you're right! Aurora! Bella! It's getting late!" The two trailed down the stairs. The two had talked about their expectations for tomorrow and the mysterious boy that Aurora met, Bella agreed he did sound dreamy. 

Before leaving Bella spoke, "Hey Aurora, if it's okay with your mom of course, I can take you to school." 

"Oh perfect! I have to get there early to set up everything in my office and Aurora can sleep in a bit." Bella looked puzzled.

"Oh, my mom is the new principal," Aurora answered the quizzical look, swaying back and forth on the balls of her feet.

"Cool. I'll see you tomorrow morning?" 

"Yeah!" They waved to each other and Amora gave Charlie a wave which he returned, blushing as he left. 

The door closed, and Aurora turned to her mother. "So,” Aurora drawled out, “you two hit off?" 

"Si, como fue con el jefe?"  Jacinda appeared like smoke. 

Amora groans, "Oh my god drop it you two."  What the 3 women didn't know was that Charlie was getting the same treatment as Bella. 

Before Aurora went to sleep she found her petrified stone, she grabbed it and ran her thumb across the smooth surface. As she put the stone on her end table she felt a gaze on her but couldn't place it. There from the tree line, golden honey eyes watched her once again. 

(Loose translation: Yeah, how was it with the Chief?)

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Just as an fyi my spanish is horrible yall please dont come for me, i am using google translate

[rainspicestudios]

Happy 2025! [RainSpice Studios plans & updates for the new year]

Hey everyone! Happy 2025 from RainSpice Studios. I hope this year will be kind to everyone and that many good things will be coming your way.

And speaking of good things, I'm cooking some projects that are just itching to be released and available for download. But before we get into that, let us talk a little about the games that were released in 2024.

This won't be a lengthy recap of 2024, as the games speak for themselves, but I am still proud of myself for releasing a full game, a chapter one, and a demo, during a very stressful year both in terms of world events and my personal life (I graduated college, I'm moving, all of that good stuff).

Stardust★Arcadis was my first ever release, and a game I struggled to finish. I lost all of my progress because of PC issues, I rewrote the story a few times, and I released it after working on it since 2019 (2022 if the moment when my PC broke doesn't count). However I love the characters, I love the setting, and despite the many hardships of game development, I had a fun time working on it.

I'm planning to release more games in this universe in the future, including a remastered version of St★Ar.

The Code of Crystals started as a novel collaboration with my best friend. Said collaboration never got finished, and I had a lot of inspiration for stories I could tell with these characters, most of these darker than the original project. Thus I used the characters I made for this former collaboration and started crafting this narrative, and the release of Stardust★Arcadis AND the 2024 edition of Phantasia Jam was a perfect opportunity to get started!

Chapter one will be re-release this January and Chapter two will be released in either late 2025 or early 2026. Stay tuned for more info!

Enter the Eternity, oddly enough, also started as a collaboration, but the idea of a dating simulator with magical girls was too good to let it collect dust and never get finished, especially since its inspiration board kept drawing me in.

With my best friend's blessing, I could re-use the idea, so I created a new cast of characters and got to work, and had to do even more work after I found out that the backgrounds I bought from someone on itch.io were made with an AI image generator, which disgusted me so much it powered me to redraw every single background by hand and I will keep doing so for the entire game. While it is more work to do on my part, RainSpice Studios will never endorse AI generation in any shape or form.

At first I worked on it while I worked on Stardust★Arcadis, which explains why the demo was done on such a short notice, but it has now became my primary project for 2025 and I am aiming to release it around November/December at best.

What's the plan for 2025 then?

My primary goal is to release Enter the Eternity and my secondary goal is to release The Code of Crystals chapter 2.

I aim to finish all first dates for Enter the Eternity AND re-release chapter 1 of The Code of Crystals in January. The dates are already written and coded in the script files, so my focus is to add in all the sprite expressions, draw CGs and backgrounds, and add all the necessary music. As for TCOC, I wanted to remake its menus and add a scene with Eranis that I did not have time to add before the end of the game jam. While the UI code I bought doesn't work, its images are pretty, and I am happy with the result.

2025 will be another busy year for me as I try to find a full-time job to sustain myself, launch some new projects more-or-less related to video games, move out again, among some other irl things. But here at RainSpice Studios, I love making games, and will keep making them for the foreseeable future.

If you read down to here, thank you so much!

There's a lot to do so I'm going back to work 💪 I'll update you guys when I reach a milestone or I find something interesting to share.

So stay tuned! And as said, I wish you guys a kind, good, exciting, fun, and game-filled 2025. Thank you for your continued support and here's to more projects this year 🥂

============================

[RainSpice Studios itch.io] [Stardust★Arcadis] [The Code of Crystals] [Enter The Eternity]

[benchextender]

Trying

You need to have something. You are not enough.

Something calls to me. For the sake of my sanity I usually resist; I know how this ends. Tonight, though, I listen.

The sketchbook is open. Familiar scribbles fill out the pages. Some have dates attached, drawing a picture of scattered, frustrated efforts across several years. Many drawings are crossed out, some accompanied with notes of anger. I have very little memories of these pages, but the feelings they portray are all too familiar.

Before long, I reach the most weathered page. A mirror of my former self. An actual drawing. Good proportions, cute style, a solid result.

It's perfect.

I should be proud, but I'm not. The smoky aura of eraser residue brings back memories of a destructive process. I spent hours across several days perfecting it, obsessing over the smallest details, erasing and redrawing the same features over and over until I was finally satisfied. It's perfect... but it's not mine. I wasn't happy with it until it didn't look like I made it at all. Any slight variation from the style I was going for was a mistake, and had to be corrected.

Keep going.

I leaf through only a few more pages until they go blank. The most intimidating sight. I tell myself not to worry, that everyone learns at their own pace, that I can't expect to be at the level of someone with years of experience.

I just have to try.

It doesn't take long for the familiar feelings to set in. Once again I find myself only able to draw simple shapes and attempt to string them together into something coherent. Anything more advanced is so alien to me, worlds apart from my ability. Images flood my brain. I surround myself with so many talented artists, thousands of beautiful works to admire and aspire towards but all it does now is drag me down.

You need to have something.

Years of inaction and hiding are doing me no favors.

You are not enough.

The mask I live through wears heavy on my face.

This was never going to work.

Is this all I will ever be? Am I doomed to repeat this cycle forever?

What did you think would happen?

Irrational thoughts cloud my mind. I want to tear it to shreds, to throw it all away, explode into a tearful mess and destroy everything in sight, to-

I open my eyes.

Right. It's late. I don't know what I was thinking. I'll just sleep it off, as usual. Maybe I'll get motivated again tomorrow.

Months pass. Nothing changes. The void inside me grows. I hear the call again, coming from somewhere else.

A different medium. Any attempt to use the more advanced tools yields similar results, but there is something I can do here. A rare flash of inspiration hits me. A simple level for a game. Nothing special, but it's mine.

A much smoother process. The design shifts from my original intent but I don't mind. I make sure it plays perfectly, that none of the visuals are out of place, that everything flows naturally. Is this what creating something is supposed to feel like? It's nice. I feel like I'm in control. If only it were always like this.

I finish my level and upload it online. It's refreshing to make something and share it with the world, even if only a few people see it. A respite from the otherwise constant emptiness.

It's not enough.

Before I know it, I'm back to a blank canvas. The most intimidating sight. No matter how many times I do this, it never gets easier to start something new.

You're not cut out for this. Remember how good it felt to finish something? Why don't you play it again?

It really was fun. How did I do that? Why isn't it always like this?

You know why. Just play it again.

Maybe I'll find the answers here. I was happy here.

This is the only way you'll recapture that feeling. Play it again.

I love this part. It came together well.

Play it again.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to replay an old favorite. That can't hurt me.

Play it again.

Maybe this is for the best.

Play it again.

I'm safe here.

Play it again.

A cacophony of color and sound swallows me whole.

Play it again.

I collapse into myself like a dying star.

Play it again.

Months pass.

[timperi-fan]

Your timperi playlist is so good!!!! I wasn't expecting some of the song choices but they fit so well???? and it was fun trying to guess from wich pov they were and how they fit in the fic's story.

Its a little silly, but I got a bit excited when I played the songs that I already knew, thinking of them in the context of this ship/fic. Like, little talks??? amnesia??? HURTS LIKE HELL???? PLEASE DON'T SAY YOU LOVE ME????? I WANNA ME YOURS????? PINK!!! IN!!! THE!!! NIGHT!!!?????

I'm truly obsessed with this playlist <3

Also, Rewrite the Stars being there made me think of that one scene people used to redraw as their own ships when the movie first came out (I think it was Zack Efron and Zendaya's characters first meeting, idk I haven't actually seen the movie xD) and I couldn't help thinking about Timmy and Peri in that scene, someone should draw that *winkwink*

Also! The cover art is really cute, could you tell me where you found it?

(also!! i just saw your new post about ILITAYH and i'm. so. excited!!! -especially for the horniness and the tears ;) )

Link to the playlist.

Thank you so much, anon!! 🥺 I spent DAYS getting that playlist exactly perfect (instead of actually writing the fic, whoops) so I am so glad to see others enjoying it!!

Some songs are from Timmy's POV, some are from both, but most of them are Peri's. He's the main character, after all.

The playlist has a couple of different "sections." The first eight songs fall under Part 1: Brothers, which is all before Timmy lost his memory. Hence why these songs gradually get more melancholy, despite being tinged with hope, as the inevitable approaches.

Part 2: Alone, is... Exactly what it sounds like. These songs on the playlist get more depressing as Peri's explosive grief simmers into a constant state of depression over time. These songs do follow the five stages of grief very loosely — but I have a specific song in mind to fit "acceptance." See if you can guess which one it is :)

Part 3: Strangers, is the part of the playlist where Timmy and Peri meet again, as adults. I don't have a clearly defined point where this bleeds into Part 4: Friends, or a point where it becomes Part 5: Love. I guess that's okay, though! It suits them, because Peri and Timmy couldn't define those stages of their relationship if you asked them, either, lol!

A lot of the songs in the middle of the playlist are more for ~vibes~ than story beats. A lot of the "I don't want to be in love with you" type songs are meant to represent Peri's inner turmoil... But in the fic proper, he's repressing the hell out of those thoughts! He experiences the denial and the self-hatred and the regret all at once, after his relationship with Timmy reaches a point where Peri can no longer deny it :)

The mutual pining part of the playlist is my favorite! See this stretch of songs? ↓↓

These are actually POV switches! They go from Peri to Timmy to Peri to Timmy etc for a while, as they both grapple (or, in Timmy's case, don't grapple) with their feelings. It's so fun having Peri's sadder, longing, soulful songs about desire and struggling to accept that right next to Timmy's upbeat, bouncing songs about how they are perfect together and he wants Peri so bad, haha 💕

Part 6: Together settles towards the end, filled with love songs that become softer as they bleed into the "epilogue" of the playlist, Part 7: Forever.

Timmy and Peri's relationship in ILITAYH will not go this smoothly, ha! Nor will it necessarily end how the playlist implies that it does. But there are some hints in the last two songs as to how the fic will conclude :)

But, yeah >_< I can literally ramble about every single song on that playlist and how it relates to TimPeri. Do not feel silly, anon, I promise that not only am I more deranged about them than you, but I am beyond happy to have someone as excited about this playlist as I am!!

[blondeaxolotl]

So, what method do you use when drawing to keep going?

I personally always seem to struggle to finish an art piece and can never get myself to fully focus on learning the entirety of anatomy, etc.

I crave to finish an art piece again, I miss the feeling, but I haven't been able to do it in a long long while, I'm just hoping for a little advice, not sure who else to go to cause I don't have any friends but I look up to you a crazy amount so I figured I'd give this a shot, this isn't forced to answer by the way!

I don't want you to feel like you have to answer this.

If you do or you don't, you're still really cool, your art is awesome and inspiring and your aus are as well.

Heck, you're a pretty damn cool person too, art really does reflect artist sometimes huh?

Anyway, I'll get out of your hair, keep up the amazing work <3/p

When it comes to finishing an art piece that you know you want to finish but suddenly lose the motivation to

What I usually do (this might not work for everyone but it somewhat helps me so it helps you as well then that's awesome) is when I'm in the middle of drawing a piece and I suddenly lose interest or motivation, or something isn't going well which is making me lose patience. I just put the pencil down, and go do something else for a while until I get the urge to continue or try again. Example I go play video games for a while or maybe watch a movie or youtube for a bit, just giving yourself a small break from drawing until that motivation to draw comes back and then you go back to that piece and try again. And basically how ever often that happens (aka losing motivation, patience, etc), you just repeat the cycle until you're slowly getting closer and closer to finishing that piece (You can also doodle on the side as a refresher but I don't recommend starting a whole new piece when you want to finish your first one, usually for me I just end up forgetting the last drawing completely because I accidentally started a new project 😭 but that might be a me problem if it doesn't happen to you then it's a-okay) This is mostly what was helping me finish projects since I have a short attention span and often lose motivation and what not so I constantly do this FDSFDSDSF.

Now for anatomy, I'm not the best at anatomy myself but my first advice is don't immediately give up if your anatomy isn't perfect on the first try, it won't always look good on the first attempt which is why it's okay to go through a few trial and errors before you get it to a point you like it enough to continue. Also I'm not a professional and I suck at explaining things and honestly I know jackshit about anatomy I just wing it most of the time. But I can give you small tips that come in handy when drawing poses!!

We're gonna use a reference for this, when you have a reference for a pose you want to use. A good way to get a hang of the pose is by tracing over it with simple shapes (such as cylinders, circles, triangles, etc) and then redrawing it with those same shapes to again get the hang of the pose, you don't have to really do it but it's a good practice so I recommend it. Then, after you have your pose, you can take the lasso tool (or selection tool) and then just resize body parts to your liking so they fit your style more!!! And ofc now you can draw over it and use it as a base for the character you want to use it for.

Now that's the first method, but I have a second one which is fun, I call it "frankesteining", which is where you grab 2 or more images and then take body parts and paste them onto the main reference picture you want to use.

Like here, you like the pose of the first reference, but wish both of the models arms were on the hips? Fear not! Just grab another image of a model who's arm IS on their hip

Then carefully erase the arm/body part on your main reference that you want to replace with another. Select the arm/body part of the second reference with lasso tool, and slowly trace over it so you can copy/cut it out and then paste it onto your main ref

Like this! Now remember, the reference doesn't need to look aesthetically pleasing, after all you're just using it as a reference, so it's okay if it doesn't look perfect!! You can do this with many body parts as you want btw, just keep cutting and pasting until you get the pose you wanted!!

And finally just draw over it! Using the same methods as the first one, shapes, redraw and all! No one will ever know you were playing pretend dr frankenstein with the reference pictures before this!

Now these are the methods I use when posing characters, they might not always come out right the first time but if you keep trying you'll eventually get something you like a lil more than your last ones!! You can also just use a 3d model posing website/app and then screenshot the pose and redraw it from there. But this is if you're one of those people who for some reason just can't get the hang of those damn 3d model posers (aka me)

GUHH THIS POST IS SO LONG IM SORRY, I hope my rambles helped you out at least a lil bit and I hope you continue your journey in making art, believe in yourself and eventually everything will turn out alright in the end stay strong fellow artist 💜

[genopaint]

Back again with what should be week 31 of the Daily Dragon Challenge!

As always you can follow me on twitter where they’re posted daily

And read more info on each of them below the cut

Daily Dragon #210 / #211 - Blue-Eyes White Dragon / Red-Eyes Black Dragon

MORE dragons I knew I wanted to do from the start. Something Yugioh related is LONG overdue but god DAMN the dragons in this series are not easy to draw!!

Certainly not perfect, but considering I'm tired and they're tricky designs I think they could've come out a lot worse! I hope you like them!

Daily Dragon #212 - Mimring

WE GOT ANY HEROSCAPE FANS IN THE HOUSE!?!? The characters from that game are so cool and have stuck in my head nonstop ever since I was a little kid. So many good memories of this figure's wings falling off.

Daily Dragon #213 - DRAGON.EXE

[ GIF / FLASHING LIGHTS WARNING ] Uh oh... Well, I'm sure that file wasn't important... Thank you all SO much for voting! That's that on July, this fella ended up being the most popular!

Here's the results :

DRAGON.EXE - 2 Votes Megalogon - 2 Votes Black Hole Dragon - 1 Vote Drake Typhoon - 1 Vote Eggodon - 1 Vote Chocodon - 1 Vote Bombodon - 1 Vote Bog Rex - 1 Vote Cleoboros - 1 Vote Vampire Wyvern - 1 Vote

This time, the tie breaker was decided by my mom :)

I won't toot my own horn, but there were a few dragons I was pretty pleased with this month. But I think my ultimate favorite may have been the Black Hole Dragon. With Exor, Vampire Wyvern, and Gila Devil being close runner ups.

Here's the 2 frames on their own. Since I always gotta go that lol I hope you enjoyed the little gif effect thing I just randomly decided it would be cute! But yeah, that's the end of July! Very exciting! My birthday isn't too far off!

Daily Dragon #214 - Bahamut (Final Fantasy 3)

First dragon on my sort of hiatus and also somehow the first true Bahamut of the challenge! I want to draw each FF Bahamut as I play the games, but I've been LONG overdue on this one. I beat 3 back in January

Daily Dragon #215 - Godzilla

This was a drawing I started for a previous day but abandoned. However, looking at it again tonight I actually REALLY liked how the lineart looked, so I finished it! The King of the Monsters is here!!

And before people say "oh this isn't a dragon" there was a palm tree included in this challenge. a palm tree. that was a dragon.

Daily Dragon #216 - Bio Dragon

A strange dragon made in a lab by people trying to play gods. They're incredibly ferocious, made with the most powerful traits of various reptiles. Such as camouflage and toxic spit.

This is a redraw of an old dragon, I don't have an exact date but I want to say its sometime pre-2017??

and yes... yeah... its another poison one

[sirladystitch]

Hey guys! Thanks for stopping by, I'm excited to get started on here!

I'm gonna go into a bit more detail under the cut, but TLDR, I've made a new blog to document the process of my next big quilting project, which I hope to enter into the AQS 2025 Lancaster show.

Why I'm Doing This

A few weeks ago we went to our local state fair specifically to see the handicrafts section and got inspired by all the quilts there. I've been wanting to step back from fandom stuff and work on more original pieces, and I've always wanted to try entering more contests, so I figured a quilt show would be a perfect thing to work towards.

I want to do something that's showy and has room to embellish as much as I want without being overly complicated. I've decided to rework my phoenix pin design:

(Sorry about the pixelation/anti-theft stuff I can't get Glaze to work on my computer lol)

How It Will Be Assembled

I'm going to build the quilt in two parts:

The background is pretty simple, just a matter of squares and long strips to frame out a section filled with applique leaves and apples (I was too lazy to redraw it here just imagine it lol).

The bird itself will be sewn onto gauze and then placed onto the background as a last step. The pieces are fairly large blocks of color, the embellishments will be dealt with through painting, embroidery, and beading. This will allow me to work on detailing the bird without dealing with the bulk of the background.

The applique pieces will be fused background and then sewn together with decorative stitching/embellishments. I think the actual quilting itself will be tracing the basic shapes and trying to be as neat as possible while doing so.

Sizing

Since I'm hoping to enter this into a contest, I needed to size it to fit within the contest dimensions. I've settled on a quilt that's about 70" by 50", which is a little shorter than the 72" height limit and totally within the width limits.

Materials

Fortunately I think I have most of the materials I need on hand, at least for the quilt top. The design will be primarily batiks (my beloved), although the bird will probably require some additional iridescent textures and layering.

Math is hard but I think for the background I'm going to need:

30 x 52 Blue background

50 x 1.5 strip yellow cubes

50 x 1.5 strip blue cubes

four 5.5 x 5.5 corner squares

two 2.5 x 52 red side panel

two 2.5 x 30.5 red top/bottom panel

two 1 x 52 yellow side panel

two 1 x 30.5 yellow top/bottom panel

eight 1 x 52 black side panel

eight 1 x 30.5 black top/bottom panel

eight 1 x 6 black corner frames

203 inches of 2” black binding

assorted green, brown, gold (tree applique)

The bird will be primarily made of fat quarters and 1/4 yard strips, plus lots and lots of scraps.

To be honest I another reason I am making the background first is so that I can adjust the background as needed since I have a bad feeling the numbers don't quite add up.

Timeline

The deadline for the contest submission is May 8th but I'm hoping to be done before that. I'm roughly planning the following schedule for benchmarks:

End of Sept - Have all materials and cut background pieces

End of Nov - Have background assembled, minus binding

End of Dec - Bird pieces painted as needed and the base of the bird has been fused together and onto the gauze background

End of Feb- Bird embellishments done, bird trimmed and sewn down to the background

End of April- Quilting complete

I'm hoping to take some time off of work in October to really get a head start on all of this, so fingers crossed progress goes smoothly. Wish me luck, and thanks for joining me on this adventure!

[salivacitrus]

VIVIMILO POST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i have yet to finalize the outfits for the s/i design in fullbody form but here she is. here's vivian

i'll do violence and manipulation variants as well, it's just that vivian also changes appearance in those routes so i'd have to redraw her to correspond to her outfits in those routes lol EDIT: hi i did the two route variants

some bullet points about vivian under the cut

comparisons with eris

you might notice already the similarities in appearance to eris, namely the curly hair and heterochromia. this was intentional; vivian and eris are similar in a lot of ways, namely the desire for a perfect love and rotten personality, and vivian as a self insert was made to take eris's role.

of course, they also have stark differences; while eris's methods are rather calculating and require a lot of forethought, vivian is rather spontaneous and impulsive. vivian's shaping of milo isn't as carefully constructed as eris's, as vivian likes a more natural-feeling relationship. however, she still very much wants a corrosive and suffocating love, and will absolutely enable milo's obsessive tendencies and push him into it more and more until she can barely breathe... and then some.

furthermore, while eris's show of affection tends to be pretty mild, vivian is absolutely smothering in her love. she's a yandere as well, and her obsessive tendencies are much worse than preroute milo's. the reason she wants a perfect love is because she's loved in this intense and suffocating manner all her life, only to be met with rejection and disgust, and has always wanted someone to love her in the same way she loves. a give and take that's reciprocal in action.

while eris tends to be cold and relatively lucid, vivian... well, she's fucking insane. neurotic, emotionally unstable, delusional, the works. the classic "keeps up a sweet and cute persona, has overwhelming mental issues that freak out the normies." but it's okay, because she and milo can have overwhelming mental issues that freak out the normies together.

elaborating on vivimilo

vivian is absolutely the little spoon. she is very, very small. she's a big fan of the size difference between her and milo, in both height and body type.

she love love LOVES fashion, hence her appearance changes in violence and manipulation routes that i mentioned earlier. she's also always wanted to borrow her partner's clothes, especially if they're much bigger than her and especially for the sake of trying to put together cute coords with the clothes. personally, i feel like the hoodie that we see with milo P is one that he's had for a long time, so the color's kind of faded and weird-looking, and i think vivian could coordinate an outfit with it that looks very cute and fun in a more purposeful manner.

vivian LOVES pet names and likes to alternate between several different ones. sweetheart, honey, dear, the classics. her go-to is darling, that's her absolute favorite. doll and love are close seconds.

it's hard to say where she falls on the intro/extrovert scale. i think she's best described as an extrovert with extreme social anxiety. she'd LOVE to be more social, as she really likes the attention, but she tends to freeze up when actually trying to converse. it's a struggle.

words are fine, but she's much better with expressing her love through her actions. she's very touchy-feely and wants to be near her darling as often as possible. she's not very good at remembering to care for herself, but she'll try to care for milo as best she can, or at least remind him to care for himself.

definitely confesses first. it takes her a bit cus she gets really nervous and she's super afraid of rejection, but she's definitely the one to voice her feelings first. not like she's very good at hiding her affection, anyways. i think that before they start dating, she and milo have super obvious, super embarrassing crushes on each other that literally everyone can sense from a mile away for weeks on end, but they both avoid saying anything about it out of fear of making things awkward. category 5 BPD catastrophe. they both have panic attacks in the bathroom over this shit. and then vivian finally confesses and they're both sooooooo so in love.

afraid of squashing the bugs. her main concern is the bug getting anywhere *on* her cus it feels icky. considering that milo's terrified of the bug and keeps hiding behind her, she gets the nearest shoe to squash it herself. can only really squash with a shoe rather than use the cup/sheet of paper method cus she gets too panicky. she's rather imprecise as-is trying to squash the damn thing.

can't drive. is fine with being a passenger, but is otherwise afraid of cars. her spatial awareness is dogshit, and she gets so freaked out about being behind the wheel that she dissociates. it'll be a long while of practice before she can be trusted to drive to places.

knows how to cook some very basic things, but these basic things turn out pretty good. can probably cook more complex dishes if the disability doesn't tire her out too much that day, or if she gets help.

as mentioned before, she's very touchy-feely. she gets a little more nervous about getting physically affectionate in public, but not by much. definitely takes advantage of milo getting easily flustered by getting super physically affectionate at opportune times. she thinks it's so cute when he's like that.

leans more overprotective, although it's difficult to describe. she's used to being powerless in situations where her darling's being mistreated, so while it takes her a bit to step in to do anything about it, she'll still glare real nasty at anyone who treats milo even slightly too harshly.

has more relationship experience, although most of it was LDR since she's the kind of nerd who has more friends online than IRL lol

horny as hell, to the extent that she tends to hold herself back when expressing her sexuality out of fear that she'd be overstepping. when she's given the okay to express her sexuality unfiltered, she can get pretty needy. definitely the more dominant out of the two lol that man is submissive as hell

i think it would be difficult for me to elaborate on the awkwardness and jealousy levels but like. y'know the vibe. i'm getting so fucking sleepy so uhhhhhhhhhh yeah that's the post

[booplesnotts-art]

who is the man with avalon in your question response?? you said he isn’t her husband?? also is there more background or any drawings of her husband?? sorry if you’ve answered this before😭 i’m new😭

You’re good!! I think I honestly haven’t really ever talked about him here but I could be wrong. (I’m too lazy to just look through my own posts💀)

Warning for another long rambly mya post ahead:

This is Artie! (He’s supposed to be like a half-giant man so I wanna redraw him at some point and fix how he looks lol) And yes, he is NOT her husband❌❌ Artie is someone Avalon was very close with when they were both younger (like early 20s (they’re both pushing 60 or so now lol)). They aren’t together romantically at all (sometimes I like to pair them in aus but those ones are less popular with my friends because straight lmfaoooo), but it does kinda look like they are so idc that much how it’s perceived. Canon Avalon though is not with anyone and Artie is actually married to his nameless husband lol.

They were basically best friends when they were young and did almost everything together when avalon wasn’t with her actual best friend, Rose-Marie. In my story, there is a war between magic and non-magic people that breaks out while Avalon and everyone around her age range is still younger, so Artie ends up going to help fight in that which then causes a bit of a gap in their relationship because they don’t see each other for a good while. Artie does return at one point but when he does, Avalon is literally about to/getting married. After that, they just drift further and further apart because Avalon starts to push him, along with everyone else away for reasons Artie doesn’t know or understand. He doesn’t push her though and just sadly accepts that she doesn’t want anything to do with him and leaves her be- which he goes on to regret when Avalon just gets worse. After a lot of stuff happens though, they basically start to reconnect and rekindle that old relationship so that’s kinda what those drawings are but they were also influenced by the au so whichever way you see them is fine lol. They both have a shared not-daughter which is Connie who they both view like their daughter because they’re both very close to her so I call them her unofficial parents lol. Artie’s just the better parent of the two because Avalon was a bitch for a long ass time.

He’s a science/biology teacher at the school Connie also works at (which is how he met and became so close with her (shared experiences with Avalon will bring so many people close together🥰/j)) he loves his job and just loves life. He’s one of the most positive people around, he’s basically like a giant golden retriever and Avalon is a black cat. Very different levels of energy and attitudes. Takes a lot to make him angry (Avalon has accomplished that though when he found out how she treated Connie 🫶)

Artie’s tldr is that he is a giant sweetheart who has never done anything wrong in his life and really loves bugs. He has a pet tarantula he refers to as his “little princess”

I’ll probably post more about him at some point though!

As for Avalon’s husband- he sucked and she killed him lol

*tw for mention of abuse and literal murder*

She initially thought she was in love with him because she was convincing herself that it was what she was supposed to be feeling and what she was supposed to be doing, because he had money and she kinda needed it to keep her school up. She ends up feeling too guilty about it though and doesn’t really think she does love him after all so she attempts to break it off with him just before they get married, but he kinda traps her and she has no choice but to go along with it. He was super charming and seemed like the perfect guy but in actuality, he was just super manipulative and like the worst man alive. So needless to say, their relationship was very much abusive and toxic. Avalon began to push people away and start to take her anger out on others because he took his out on hers and she wanted an outlet of her own. She kinda started to lose it and he definitely wasn’t helping with everything he subjected her to which I probably won’t write in this post but maybe another one. Basically, Avalon was trapped though and one day she just completely snapped when the two of them were alone and st@bbed him to death. That moment kinda solidified Avalon’s descent into madness and made her feel both untouchable and very powerful (which is not a good thing because it’s Avalon). She somehow managed to cover it up and get away with it- idk how still so this is a “trust me bro” moment- she just did. She also inherited all his money after the fact too so that didn’t help with Avalon feeling powerful and untouchable.

After that though she kept thinking she was still seeing visions of him and was basically tormented by him even from the grave (he was not haunting her, Avalon just was genuinely going through a major break mentally), which made her act even more unhinged and eventually played a part in Avalon losing her magic and getting her school shut down and taken from her. She’s still recovering from all of that but she’s doing better now. It just came at the cost of her becoming a social pariah that nobody in her town liked because of her actions. She really lashed out on a lot of her students, Constance especially and when all that got out, she was ruined and she’ll never be able to run from her past actions. Basically just also pretty abusive but not *as* bad as the extent of what she was put through- most of what Avalon did was verbal but she did throw a lot of stuff around and was just terrifying to be around because nobody knew when she’d snap at them again.

I don’t have any drawings of him because tbh I just don’t really want to draw him, but I do have drafts with him in them. His name is Jerrod and his tldr is that he sucks👍

I’m sorry this is so insanely long- I hope that makes some sorta sense and I don’t sound insane lol