#my art has vastly improved since then

[guardianinthemist]

The first ever drawing I did of my OC, Deyja Loreweave, nearly 3 years ago...

[lord-squiggletits]

motherfuckers unlimited

NOW KISS

[azu1as]

What do you think about tang bo vs tang gunak for cheongmyeong. With either tang bo time travelling/reincarnated to the future or tang gunak time travel to the past?

hello!! i am so so sorry this is super late 🥺 I've been rotating this ask in my head for two months because there's simply so many possibilities with this, I absolutely love love love it!

»—————————–✄

To say that Tang Zhan's twin brother was a bit of a recluse would be an understatement.

Despite being named after one of the most renowned members of the Tang Family, Tang Gunak's son took after the known worst traits of their great ancestor.

Tang Bo was as cold and uncaring as the earlier recounts of his namesake. But unlike their ancestor, his son wasn't interested in improving his martial arts. Rather, he seemed to content himself with staying indoors and building that strange shrine of his that appeared to be dedicated to the Plum Blossom Sword Saint.

Tang Gunak sighs tiredly. He could never get a straight answer from his son whenever he asked about his odd obsession with Mount Hua's hero. Through the years, he's learned to brush it off as another eccentricity of his son.

The one time he ordered Tang Pae and Tang Zhan to remove their brother's shrine, they both ended up needing immediate medical assistance because of how viciously Tang Bo had attacked them for 'desecrating' his altar.

He thinks it's such a shame that Tang Bo refuses to partake in his siblings' training, but despite his adamant refusal, his son's core is still one of the strongest among his siblings.

And one of the purest too, it suddenly comes to Tang Gunak's mind as he watches Chung Myung cheerfully chug down another bottle of alcohol.

It feels almost wrong how easy it was to compare Chung Myung's core with his son's despite them being on vastly different spectrums while having equally well-known namesakes from their respective family and sect.

On one end in the dark, there was Tang Bo who quietly cultivated his core as he whispered quiet mutterings to his altar and refused interactions with people unnecessarily. And on the other was Chung Myung, who was at the forefront of Mount Hua's rise.

It was admirable, truly.

Tang Gunak would say so as much if it weren't for the sudden killing intent he could feel directed at him.

Standing outside right in front of the window with no subtlety whatsoever was his son, Tang Bo. His face was pressed against the window panes and Tang Gunak only realized then how threatening of an aura his son could produce.

Chung Myung wiped the drips of alcohol away from his lips and cast Tang Bo an amused look, "Aren't you going to finally let him in?"

Tang Gunak would have if he didn't know that his son would begin to antagonize him the moment he's let into the room by monopolizing Chung Myung's attention and looking smug about it. It happened during their first meeting in the dining hall so Tang Gunak wouldn't be surprised if it happened all over again.

He would lean overly into Chung Myung's space and call him 'hyung' with an exaggerated tone despite being the older of the two. And much to everyone else's bafflement and discomfort, Chung Myung wordlessly let him.

While Tang Gunak was glad that his son finally deemed it alright to leave the confines of his room, he isn't sure if the change in obsession from the Plum Blossom Sword Saint to Mont Hua's Divine Dragon was a fair exchange.

Tang Gunak watches as Chung Myung makes his way to the window and leans against Tang Bo from the other side.

Tang Bo's face noticeably softens as his gaze shifts toward the younger man and it twists a strange part of Tang Gunak's stomach to watch the same thing happen to Chung Myung's face.

Said man taps against the glass pane, "Stop being so intense. You're freaking your dad out."

His son grumbles while tossing him another stink-eye—Tang Gunak has gotten his fair share of those this past week ever since these two struck up a sudden close friendship. His gaze turns petulant as he returns his attention to Chung Myung.

"What is it about me making friends that you hate so much," Chung Myung rolls his eyes in exasperation.

"My father doesn't want you to be 'just friends'."

Tang Gunak would be more offended by the vitriol in the way Tang Bo called him his father if he weren't distracted by the weird tone his son spoke the last phrase.

Tang Bo takes a look at the mutual confusion on Chung Myung and Tang Gunak's faces and isn't sure if he's thankful or annoyed that he's surrounded by painfully emotionally oblivious people.

Less competition but, at the same time, it's sometimes too embarrassing to watch the way Tang Gunak unconsciously acted around Chung Myung in private.

Tang Bo narrows his eyes. It's been more than a lifetime, surely his feelings will reach Chung Myung faster than his father's does. Right??

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

now that I've had some time to think about Book Three's cover/description, here are some bullet-point thoughts

The art style has vastly improved from Book One. It feels like Tillie's finally comfortable with style, and the characters here don't have same face syndrome here. Also the color palette here is my favorite of the three covers. From everything that I've read from Tillie, the way she works with color is a strong point of her work... which again, makes me wish the entire comic was in color but nooooo...

It looks like Ricca has her own cane now, which makes sense given a bit point of her character through the series is her worsening vision like... even with her glasses, she's practically blind.

Clementine has a new hat. Y'know... because her iconic hat got left with AJ... y'all still remember AJ, right? The comics don't.

Dr. Barnwell the cat made it onto the cover.... you know I'm in too deep with these damn comics when I see some random person be like "Clementine's getting a new cat" and I say, out loud, "That's Dr. Barnwell, you dingus, he's been around since the end of Book One." AS IF ANYONE ELSE CARES!

I know too much about this series, y'all

In my defense, I'm a little snappy about stuff like that after Book Two came out and people were just making shit up about what happens, going as far as to fake screenshots, and tell people it's "just like fifty shades of grey" when uh NO? it's not? People were deliberately trying to deceive others over certain elements and it still makes me mad whenever I think about it.... ANYWAY

We also see Fen and Olivia featured here, too. Fen's one of the more interesting side characters we've gotten, and I'm glad she survived Book Two, and Olivia.... I notice the way she's drawn with the front of her body hidden. I know that's probably to not show spoilers for Book Two since that reveal's a big deal, but still.

"Clementine finally has it all–a safe place to live, a girlfriend, and even a cat…but nothing lasts forever. And when Clementine suffers a loss unlike anything she’s ever faced, a new mentor called The Gardener offers her a new family, and a new way of living… but at what cost?" This is the description we were given.

First of all, Clementine had it all at Ericson, and it didn't make her happy. In fact, it made her so miserable that she left... I kinda hope this book does something with that by giving her everything she wants [as in, the safe home, a romantic partner, friends, a cat, etc] and she's STILL unhappy...? And it ends with her leaving again? But something tells me it won't.

Clementine's going to suffer a loss "unlike anything she's ever faced"? Ehhhh, press X to doubt. I played the games, I lived through all of her losses. I don't think anything will ever top seeing her parents as walkers and then losing Lee right after.

I mentioned before that the obvious direction here would be for Olivia to lose her baby, or for Olivia to die after giving birth, but uh... Clementine's been through both of those things with Christa and Rebecca... but we have to keep in mind that we're so far removed from the games at this point that it's never going to bring those up, y'know?

Real talk though? I'm very intrigued by the idea of a new mentor character called The Gardener who is apparently offering her a new family and a new way of life... but at a cost. What cost? What new way of life? What new family? Are we joining a cult now?

Listen, we missed out on the opportunity for a cannibalism plot in Book One, and Miss Morro left a lot to be desired in Book Two, so like... go extra dark this time. C'mon, Tillie, do it.

Also, Amos is definitely coming back as a twist villain, I feel it in my bones. We didn't see a body at the end of Book One okay!

I'm mostly joking but also NOT JOKING AT ALL!

My offer still stands, if Amos comes back, the book is an automatic 5/5 stars, no questions asked.

Anyway, I'll keep y'all updated on this, and when it releases next year, I'll write my in-depth review... "I read it so you don't have to" and all that.

Just as a final reminder, and allow me to make it extra big so that everyone can see it:

Leave Tillie Walden alone. I don't care if you hate the comics or think they're an insult to the game or whatever else. You want to express that, then do it on your blog. Don't send it to Tillie. We have enough pricks harassing her as is, and you're the bigger asshole here if you think it's okay to send her shit like that, so don't.

Seriously, it's the last book and then Tillie's done with the series, and I doubt they're gonna sign her on to make more. The games still exist, you can still go play them, these comics aren't taking that away from you... and if you feel like they are, then don't engage with them, period. It's not hard.

I cover the comics in-depth for people who don't want to read them but are curious about what happens. They don't bother me in that "they ruined the games" way that they used to, so I can handle it. If you can't, then do yourself a favor and just don't. Just don't!

[meanbossart]

A long over-due ask compilation (Art & Music)

It's vaguely based on a short story from the book "The Consumer" by Michael Gira, specifically "The Boss". I think it came up in conversation with a friend or something when I was picking a new username, so that's how we arrived at it - this was almost a decade ago so, my memory on it is a little hazy!

{MORE UNDER THE CUT]

HAHA thank you so much!!! Glad you enjoy what I do 😎🍻

I BELIEVE this little guide I put together over here might be helpful to you, also! I touched on pretty much everything you brought up.

As for reference material when it comes to facial expressions, I have a mirror next to my desk which I glance at often and make weird faces at LOL and for consistency, it's really a matter of learning to dissect and remember facial structure. It's just something you end up developing an eye for when you've done it for long enough! Naturally, if we're talking about drawing existing characters, it's always helpful to just look at some pictures of their mugs and take a minute to define what features about them make their faces recognizable - I touch on this at the link above as well!

I do plan on making a "drowstarion" (love that, by the way LOL) playlist eventually, life's just been kicking my ass and I hardly have the time 😭and when I do, I just wanna draw.

Otherwise I don't have any other playlists floating around at the moment, BUT the one my boyfriend made for his Vellioth comic can be found here, and it might scratch a similar itch!

Thank you! I believe this was in reference to this post. Something like that takes me about... An hour??? If we're talking just the colors, at least. Though that's a really rough estimate because I take a lot of breaks, so my sense of time when I work ends up pretty skewed. Even if the application of the colors themselves took less than 20 minutes I probably spent 2 hours just staring at it LOL.

My friend, I have no idea. I'm in a constant battle between "I want to draw more realistically" and "I want to simplify my art so I can draw more/faster". What you see is the result of that ongoing brain-tug-of-war.

Also, just the way I assume everyone else develops theirs - they see stuff they like and emulate it until their art is Frankensteinish enough to be it's own unique thing!

I'm far from a Type O Negative buff, BUT I'm happy to share some of my favorites with you! They're quite scattered across a couple of their albums so I'm not sure I have a favorite, but I would say October Rust is a good starting point.

In no particular order, these are my most listened tracks of theirs: -Love You to Death -Black N.01 -Haunted -She Burned Me Down -Can't Lose You -I Don't Wanna Be Me -Be My Druidess -September Sun -Tripping A Blind Man

Alas, I was one of those people who was already drawing in kindergarten 😅 though I would say I only started taking it seriously when I was around 15-16 years old. As someone who has tried their hand at several other hobbies since reaching adulthood, I get what you're saying that it can kinda feel like... You missed the wagon? I've felt that way about all kind of things lol

That said, I've seen adults managing to develop their art skills extremely fast and effectively before. Understanding where and how you need to improve, and how to follow lessons/guides best is something that is vastly improved by maturity and knowing how to best hone your time, attention, and resources - and those are skills we completely lack as children. So, I sincerely believe that as long as you commit yourself, you can definitely get to a point that you're happy with in a couple of years if not less.

JUST DO IT BUDDY we are all just people looking through a screen and you won't ever see, talk, or meet 99% of the folks who ever clap eyes on what you post. Whenever you start getting nervous about sharing something, take a minute to ask yourself why you're nervous, and if none of the reasons have any genuine substance besides being afraid of what people "might think", just go ahead and post it. You're no mind-reader after all, and if you are, I doubt you can hear what a guy from Argentina or wherever is thinking about the art you made.

Point is, nobody online can touch you 🤷and if someone doesn't like what you do, they can simply choose to not interact with it, and if they do you can block and move on. There are zero reasons for you to feel "bad" about putting up a doodle when our experiences on the web are so easily curated nowadays.

[lynx3000art]

Sage

Artwork @lynx3000art // Character @lynx3000art

Haiiiii its been a hot minute, to be honest i forgor to upload things outside twitter and discord lol Since my last update, im doing alright, work sucks but im ok As for art things theres been a big update! I no longer draw in SAI and have now switched to CSP!

This gal was inspired by a cat i saw at work, she must of rubbed her face on something cause she had a green patch on her face, the idea vibed with me so i OC'ified it Sage was one of the first things i fully sketched and cleanly colored in CSP, the program feels so nice and drawing feels smooth, while its still taking some adjustment, i feel like my drawing and anatomy has vastly improved, im super happy with that front facing headshot and her body shapes!!! im having tons of fun with all the downloadable brushes too :3

Also heres a photo of the cat i mentioned https://twitter.com/THE_LYNX3000/status/1767738599041102145

Twitter • Discord ( 16+ ) • DeviantArt • Furaffinity • Bluesky Commission Info • Ko-fi • Toyhouse • Art Fight

[the-golden-comet]

✨Motivational Monday/Try-It Tuesday✨

Hello, lovely writers and artists on Tumblr!

I am combining My Monday and Tuesday motivational posts into one, since I’m a little bit late ✨

So, to boost your motivation, try these methods before your creative sessions:

Get into some comfortable clothes. A good step to motivate your brain is to dress into whatever you find comfortable. You will get into a writing groove when you aren’t in itchy fabrics, therefore limiting your distractions and keeping you focused on what matters: your art

Drink a glass of water. This seems obvious, but it’s incredible how often I forget to do this myself sometimes. Hydration is important in limiting brain fog and making sure you aren’t dehydrating yourself. Quick bathroom breaks are far less distracting than the dizziness and confusion that comes with a dehydrated mind. If you get to a good break point, check in with yourself: Am I thirsty? Should I drink more water now?

Eat food that’s high in iron. Most greens, like broccoli and kale, have a sufficient amount of iron. An iron deficiency leads to confusion and brain fog, which is not ideal if you’re trying to be creative. As someone with iron deficiency, this is crucial to keep these levels high to help support immune health and good sleep (good sleep is SOOOOO important!).

Get your favorite objects close to you. This can be sentimental, or practical. Whatever helps you feel safe and comfortable, get that close to you while you create. Mine is an electric throw and those VERY soft grip socks, since I’m almost always freezing and have poor circulation. Before a writing or art session, I throw those on and warm up—I can’t think with my teeth chattering against my brain, after all!

Put your phone/tablet away from you, or in another room. My writing device and art tablet is not connected to my apps (which is a good thing), but I have emergency contacts on there that can still get through to me if needed. I found that leaving my phone on my charger and walking to the other side of the room has vastly improved my productivity, and I am less inclined to check my socials if it’s out of my immediate line of sight. Though everyone is different, I tend to get too distracted unless I give myself that separation.

Definitely give these a try this week, and see if they help your productivity! Until then, happy creating, and know that any progress you make….whether it be one rough sketch, one word, a chapter, or a couple of chapters….is all great progress. Thank you for making art and stories, and thank you for sharing your wonderful minds with the world 💫

[inkynightmaresau]

[HIYA! I'm not dead!!! But I have a lot of important things to say below the cut!!!!]

OKAY. as you guys know, this blog has been dead since.. sammys birthday. even before then. sorry guys :(

the reason why: I GOT MORE INTO BENDY. I DONT KNOW HOW THAT MADE MY BATIM ASK BLOG GO INTO HIATUS. I WAS DRAWING EVERY DAY... but. BUT!! it was not our beloved inky characters. It Was Pre-Cycle. ((oopsies))

looking back onto this blog, i need you guys to understand I made it with no story in mind, and thus everything was a mess. I was makin stuff up as i went. and then the craziest thing happened (delusional attatchment to wally franks + memories attatched to it... soo. uh yeah)

look, this blog isnt gonna disappear. BUT. im gonna pull a sneaky on you all and instead of doing that week-long event i said i would, i'm just gonna restart it from the beggining. HOWEVER!! everything will still be here! I'm gonna try to attatch links on all of the current things and get things sorted so that it's cleaner, because all of my old (and very very icky) drawings are gonna be archived. NOT REMOVED. they will still be here, but you won't be able to reblog them because... just. ew. lmao

now that im not completely angst-ridden, and my art style has vastly improved, i actually have a plan for the inky nightmares au! however, it's going to take a completely different turn- new characters, wally isnt bendy anymore, kana (unfortunately) isn't a part of the story, etc etc. it won't be canon compliant (as... it's an au,) but it'll have a whole lotta things changed! i hope you guys enjoy what i have planned, and i hope you'll bear with me while i give this blog an almost COMPLETE make-over!!

thank u guys so much for reading, ik that was a lot, ily all have a good day muahmuahmuah have some cookies🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

[zoeythebee]

Horror game idea I have.

So Fnaf Security Breach fucking sucks right?

But I thought it could be vastly improved by

- Making the animatronics way more threatening

- Make your visibility / ability to navigate limited shit so you have to use the cameras to navigate

- Remove all your defenses

So here is my idea. You are a repair dude called into some building to do repairs.

Uh oh it's full of monsters.

So your repairs and get out.

Game play takes place in a top down view. Single consistantly sized rooms similar to Legend of Zelda.

Your character has a flashlight that eliminates a cone of light, everything outside of that besides vague outlines are pitch black.

Use security cameras to check for threats in neighboring rooms. Different monsters require different strategies.

No weapons, and no hiding. Your only options are to evade or avoid.

I have some ideas for monsters that require unique strategies. And I have a design concept in mind for the monsters to.

So in fnaf one there is a pretty unique dynamic in night four and five where Freddy is the most threatening but the most predictable. You have to keep watching him otherwise he will move. Now bonnie and chica are more predictable since you can literally just check your lights, but juggling all of them at once creates a unique tension that I want to try to mimic.

I'm shooting for either black and white pixel art or maybe a slightly surreal rpg-maker visual style.

This is also going to be made completely from scratch without a graphics library. Because in my brain all this game really needs for graphics is tile rendering, Sprite rendering, and basic buffer writing. Which I think wont be too hard. Especially with Sokol taking care of the boring stuff.

From scratch is also good because I cant actually think of a way to impliment some of the visuals with SDL or even Raylib.

But I can think of how to do it with shaders.

Anyway that's kinda what I'm working on, well see how it turns out.

[sixty-silver-wishes]

Original Short Story: Counterclockwise

I wrote this short story in 2020 for a college assignment, but I am currently expanding it into a novel. The ending of the novel will likely be different from the short story, many character details have changed, and my writing has vastly improved since I wrote the original story, but I'd like to post it anyway.

-

A rusted bronze key stuck out of Lukas’ back like the shaft of an arrow, undetectable save for the smallest occasional glint. He’d been scrounging for parts in the scrapyards for Mr. Kitt- Cecilia’s father and his creator- when he’d come across the slight bit of metal, its dull sheen flickering against mountains of rust and worthlessness. At first, he didn’t think much of it, but a force of magnetism played at hand- literally. The minute he reached for the piece of metal the key was resting on, it gravitated towards his palm and refused to unstick. 

 Mr. Kitt couldn’t see it- this key was his. Had he turned it in with the rest of the scrap metal, it would have been melted down and sold. But he couldn’t bear to part from this insignificant sliver of bronze, any more than it could part with him. He clicked it into a small hole in his back- he didn’t know if Mr. Kitt had intentionally put it there, or if it had been an accident in his creation, but the key fit nonetheless.

Once it was inserted, Lukas’ entire being pulsed and writhed, the rivets in his joints flaring with heat. He had heard of pain before, but never could process it. Once it subsided, he was able to walk, and carried the heaps of scrap metal on his back towards the shack on the edge of the city, where Mr. Kitt and Cecilia lived.

Mr. Kitt and Cecilia lived in the shack. They talked, ate, slept, worked there. Lukas was constructed in the shack, left it every morning and returned every evening. He suddenly became aware that he could feel the ground under his feet, gravelly and scraping against the rusted metal, and the infernal heat of the sun against his creaking shoulders. I need to get out of the sun, he thought- thought! He’d never thought before. He’d been programmed to follow orders, to carry out whatever tasks the algorithms and formulas in his wiring demanded of him, but never once had it occurred to him that the sun was too hot, and that something as insignificant as the weather- let alone anything- could bother him.  

Lukas saw colors in places he thought they could never exist. Before now, there were only shades of gray and sepia. The sky was awash with blue, orange danced in the fireplace, and the most charming shade of pink played on Cecilia’s cheeks. For the first time, he noticed her auburn hair and laughing eyes. Laughing! That was something he never thought he’d be able to do. He wanted to laugh with her, more than anything in the world. To want! To desire something so badly that it should take priority over programmed orders! Laughter was never something he’d been particularly aware of, but now- oh, to produce those lighthearted ripples from somewhere deep within him! To emanate mirth, amusement, pure joy to be alive! 

Mr. Kitt didn’t program me to laugh, he thought. It’s impossible. And yet the ache in his body persisted, until it threatened to burst from his chest in a great release of sound, primal and organic and free.

Free.

It became difficult to work for Mr. Kitt. Before he’d found the key, Lukas could walk to and from the scrapyard without a second thought. Old tunes wheezed out on accordions in the distance did not reach his ears. The sight of a bluebird against the smoggy sky did not stir an intense longing for something he’d never known somewhere deep inside him. Oftentimes he’d stop on the road, watching and listening. And dreaming- indulging in that forbidden, dangerous, and alluring practice the living gorged themselves upon. Dreams were something to pursue, to chase, to follow. They meant a future, something beyond the present. A reason to love life and to keep living. The art of dreaming was hopelessly attractive and deviously selfish. Lukas knew why he was never programmed to dream.

Days passed, and once again, Lukas made the journey to the scrapyards. As usual, he was about to step out the door, an empty sack over his shoulder. But the accordions were laughing outside. The bluebirds were iridescent, sapphire streaks on the cold, bleak air. And Cecilia was sitting at a writing desk, designing a contraption with a piece of charcoal, a pair of goggles on her head pushing back her messy hair. 

But today, Lukas felt something was different. He began to question things that he had never considered before. What if I don’t go to the scrapyard today? He didn’t like the scrapyard, he discovered. It was dull, gloomy, and worst of all, the abandoned metal rusting in heaps, blocking out the horizon…and one day, Lukas would decay among those endless mounds. Insignificant. Replaceable. Worthless.  He wasn’t sure how much longer he had before the cogs and wheels in his body stopped functioning, but if it was going to happen, he knew he was never going to spend a day at the scrapyard again.

“Is it malfunctioning?” Mr. Kitt muttered, scrutinizing Lukas, who stood near the door, unmoving. He moved closer, his hand hovering dangerously close to the key. “It’s eight o’clock. It should be gathering material by now.”

Lukas stepped away. “No,” he said. “He won’t.” 

A ticking thundered in his ears- whatever mechanism he had in place of a heart was pounding so hard he thought it would overheat. He’d never defied Mr. Kitt before- and why should he? Just a week ago, he’d never thought it possible, nor had he felt any desire to. 

“Cecilia,” Mr. Kitt turned to his daughter, “can you get me a screwdriver? There’s something wrong with this automaton.”

Surely she won’t, Lukas thought. She is too kind, too brilliant, too compassionate....

Cecilia put her charcoal down and stood up, smoothing her crimson skirts. Here she was, his hero and savior, coming to rescue him from a life of servitude! The light streaming through the window cast itself upon her flaming hair, hitting the goggles on her head so that they shone like a tiara of diamond. His avenging angel stared directly at him with those intelligent, amber eyes…

And headed for the toolbox. 

“No! Cecilia, don’t!” Lukas tried to scream, but his pleas escaped his mouth in a muffled, robotic drone. He had never raised his voice before, and although every part of him wanted to, his voice box would not permit him. He watched in disbelief as Cecilia’s slender hands reached into the toolbox. Barging out the door, Lukas ran into the bright day.

The sun glowed behind the smoggy clouds. The city behind him, the scrapyard ahead. The door flung open, and Lukas’ circuits hummed with apprehension- certainly Mr. Kitt would be after him. The key would be wrenched from his back and he’d never again see the bluebirds dare to illuminate the dreary skies or hear the accordions dissent against the silence with their wheezing laughter. 

But it was Cecilia who stood outside the house, a screwdriver in hand. Lukas turned, and realized how exhausted she looked. Her hair stuck out of its twist in frizzy strands, her face streaked with grime. And all of a sudden, Lukas realized how foolish he’d been to worship an angel, when before him stood an ordinary human, with gritty flaws and blemishes. The tip of the screwdriver was rusting a bit. 

At that moment, he knew Cecilia would never love him, let alone think of him as anything other than a machine. And why should she? He was metal and springs and wires. All these new emotions he’d been feeling- that was just something that needed to be fixed. A defect. His business was not to sigh at the bluebirds and dance to the accordions. It was the scrapyards, always the scrapyards. He never should have thought he was capable of experiencing anything else. There were humans, and there were automatons. And no matter how much he saw, how much he felt, how much he dreamed, he wasn’t a human. Robot, from the word robota. Servitude. Forced labour. The key had let him feel, see, dream. 

But robots weren’t supposed to do those things. They performed tasks for the humans until they malfunctioned and were thrown out into the scrapyards, for another automaton to gather so the humans could melt their bodies down into something they could reshape and package and sell. If a robot could hear the accordions and see the bluebirds, they couldn’t constantly do what the humans programmed them to. They would become like the humans- able to think and reason and- most forbidden of all- dream. They could see beauty, but after what they had been subjected to for centuries, they could also spill blood. And humans bled, but robots didn’t.

 He looked back at Cecilia, the pale, round face that once looked so much to him like a dazzling moon. He knew what she was after, and he wasn’t about to give it up. He began to run, but the joints in his legs groaned as he felt the whirring fan inside his chest slow, and an abominable heat began to flare inside him. Where to run? Where was safe? The bluebirds wheeled overhead. He didn’t know where they were going, but decided to follow them. He would follow them with the last reserves of his strength, until he began to smoke and spark and smoulder. He would do whatever it took to follow them into this new, bright, dazzling thing called a future. But as he continued to run, his joints ached again and he collapsed. The bluebirds disappeared into the clouds.  

Immediately, Cecilia noticed the key.

“This must be what’s wrong,” she muttered, carrying him back into the shack and onto her worktable. One of her soft hands steadied itself on his back, and he shuddered, letting out a sigh. With her other hand, she grabbed the key, and ever so slowly, turned it to the left. With each rotation, the lights behind his eyes flickered on and off. The bellows in his chest were heaving. Her hair brushed against the side of his face as she worked fastidiously, and despite his fear of her and exhaustion with the world, he longed to touch it, to feel its softness against his bronze fingers, to-

The key had been removed.

The following day, Lukas left the small workshop and headed down the dusty road that led away from the city. His footsteps clanked on the gravel. Objective- obtain metallic waste.  Destination- the mounds and mounds of it that lay ahead. Three miles away. Estimated time of arrival: two point five hours. Time: seven thirty AM. Temperature: ten degrees Celsius. 

Arrived. 

Gather aluminum, steel, iron, whatever can be found. It will be sorted at the end of the day. Melted. Reformed. Sold. 

Source of materials acquired. Defunct worker automaton. Humanoid. Could potentially have gold and platinum inside. Can be dismantled.

Another automaton. Another. Another.

Dutifully, Lukas placed them in his bag. Hands, arms, legs, heads, eyes. Sometimes whole bodies of scrap metal.

Copper wires. Tungsten filaments. Glass orbs. Silicone faces. All valuable.

The sun began to set on the scrapyard. Time: seven: thirty PM. Kilograms of metal: fifty-five. Disassemble and organize upon return.

Lukas left the scrapyard as the last of the day’s light disappeared behind the mounds and mounds of metal. As he walked back to the workshop, his bag slung over his shoulder, a wheezing sort of noise grated in the distance, and shadowy blurs flashed across the clouds. 

[isaac-clarke]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[doberbutts]

Miles Morales is my favorite Spiderman. It's been so amazing to see him getting the media he deserves ❤️🖤

So it's really funny because I really, uh, don't like Spiderman as a franchise pretty much at all. The jokes, the premise, the powers, the villains, they're all pretty uniformly lame and boring. Add to it that I had a 5th grade teacher absolutely ruin the OG movie trilogy and it's been rebooted with various flavors of boring white boys how many times, I really was over the whole Spiderman thing before it began.

And then Spiderverse came out. Now, I haven't seen a Spiderman movie since the Rami trilogy because, as said, I already know I don't like the franchise. But people wouldn't stop talking about it and I saw a lot of gifs where I really liked the art and animation style and so I watched What's Up Danger on youtube and was like actually ok I will give this black spiderman a try.

And I loved it! I still have a few of the same complaints- the jokes are juvenile and hokey, the premise of getting powers due to being bitten by a radioactive spider is stupid, and the typical villains aren't nearly interesting or cool enough to hold my attention for long and I say this as a certified Villain Lover. Miles has vastly cooler powers than Peter, I connect to his story much better, I like the cast a lot better, and it's self-aware enough to be able to make the complaints I have had about the franchise since I was a kid into very very very mild inclusions.

So yeah. Spiderverse, and Miles Morales, made me like the Spiderman franchise. Turns out when you make Spiderman black, the whole thing improves. Sorry I don't make the rules.

[ask-obt]

A question for Woo. Would you enjoy an explorers DX getting revealed on the upcoming Pokemon Day?

// if this hypothetical proposes that this sort of explorers DX would be almost exactly the same in execution to rescue DX then I'd have to say................ no..............

before you bring out the pitchforks, let me explain myself. anyone who attends my streams or catches me in the wild in discord servers knows that I don't really like how the 3d games look. it's not as much a debate on "does pixel art or 3d models look better", but more "which style does chunsoft handle better", which I can sum up how I feel about in one screenshot

which is to say, my main problem with the 3D games is that the charm kinda got sucked straight out of them. it's true that pixel sprites have limitations- it's why we have portraits to more easily convey how characters are feeling, and your brain can fill in any missing details. but with 3D games, every aspect is able to be rendered out, and if you aren't going 100% all in, it's a lot more easy for the intended emotions to fall through. we have the ability to have pokemon emote like this now,

so why on earth is this the range that we're stuck with for PMD?

the simplest answer I can think of is that chunsoft is trying to apply the same strategy they used with sprites onto 3D models... which I think could work in theory, but not in the way they're applying it. as is, they don't have the models emote much and rely on portraits to carry the intended emotion through. the models also have some of the most stiff rigging I've seen in any game to date. I'm sure it has something to do with hardware limitations, but if that's the case I don't see why they couldn't create something that would fit their needs better like pokemon rumble's low poly models. well I know the answer is that they don't wanna actually render new 3D models for a PMD game and just use the library of models they got from gamefreak, but I like to think something like XY or ORAS's overworld models would make for a nicer looking game.

one pet peeve of mine is seeing folks praise DX for its unique look, which I think is true for the backgrounds!... but not really the models. I don't think putting an outline and paper texture overlay on the models is particularly revolutionary. it's a good direction to start, but far from peak aesthetic.

other problems I have with DX are how the main hub areas look (the grass for pokemon square is so blown out I have to play the game with lowered saturation and a darkened screen), and how the general UI looks in the dungeons. idk if it's because I'm neurodivergent or if it's just a "me" thing, but there's so much useless information being thrown at me at all times in a dungeon that it makes it really hard to focus on what's happening

I imagine this is mostly a side effect of losing the dual screen ability on the switch and I don't really have a proposed solution, but at least removing the text bubbles that come up every single time you get attacked or use a move would be a good start. maybe just save those for critical hits or smth idk, I don't really need to hear every single thought that comes out of my team.

I also think accessibility features like the auto-dungeon crawl feature are nice for those who want it, but it does feel a little overpowered by (seemingly) knowing exactly where the stairs are in a dungeon, which can take the exploration aspect out of playing the game. I'd also like the ability to disable that feature in a menu since I tend to misclick sometimes and accidentally activate things lmao

I just kinda tore into DX, but there are a few things I do like about it. the gummi system is vastly improved first of all (thank god I can stop grinding for one million gummis), and I think the dungeon environments are some of the best to come out of the series. I also think the models wearing scarves is super cute, I loved it in Super and am glad it made a return here. I'm sure there are other QOL features I'd like in theory but I kinda... didn't get very far in the game due to the aforementioned graphical and UI issues that felt like actual sandpaper to my brain.

if there was an explorers DX, I actually think one fun direction the series could take is something like pokemon cafe remix or paper mario, which is still the energy of a 2D game just using nice looking art assets instead of sprites. I just think a PMD game that looks like this could be really cute and charming...

and it'd probably be closer to chunsoft's wheelhouse since it'd take notes from how they put the sprite games together! just wishful thinking though. my current crack theory is that rescue DX was just to test the waters for how popular PMD still is and maybe to test out the engine on switch before releasing an original game, a la let's go pikachu/eevee to sword/shield. I doubt they'll make an explorers remake.

[mochibuni]

Monthly Update - September

Like every month these last few years, I'm always shocked that the next month has come lol. I actually did and didn't meet my traditional art goals last month, and by that I mean I actually did make quite a few pieces with different supplies and I feel that I learned and improved so much. I didn't get as far with watercolors as I wanted, because I found out on my first attempt with them I was vastly unskilled with them and needed even more baby steps! I do plan on revisiting watercolors in the future, so I'll need to pick up a work book for then.

This month I have so many ideas for pieces I'd like to do, as well as get back to ones I started earlier this year. I also joined a mobile wallpaper project which will take some precedence. All the WIPs I've seen have been so nice, I hope you guys like it when it's released!

The main things I'd like to get done before the end of the year, in some kind of chrono order:

1) Snake wallpaper

2) Outers Witches around a cauldron (for Halloween)

3) Triple Moon Goddess

4) Furby Venus

5) New icon and banner

6) Logo work for Vchan

I think this might be a little ambitious of me for the remaining months of 2024 because, and many of you already know this, my physical health is still pretty crap and it just feels worse because it's been so frustrating for me mentally to be less active and having chronic pain. Some days it drives me a little nuts, ngl. I've also been told it's pretty likely my frozen shoulders will be along term recovery since I've already passed the normal recovery time and they aren't improving. The idea of this kind of pain and limited mobility continuing for at least another year is pretty discouraging, so I'm taking the time to give myself more self care and yell at myself when I feel guilty for it.

I've mentioned previously I wanted to do more blog posts and entertained the idea of including reviews and recs on books and other media I've been in to, and that might just become a thing I do since I'm drawing less. These will still be free membership level.

Tarkin's health continues to decline, so streaming is still on hold.

Other than that, the art community feels like it's really taking off on BlueSky. If you're there and want to follow Magical Girl artists, please find my starter pack here for just that purpose: https://go.bsky.app/MvU3rEC Originally posted on Patreon, click here to become a free member!

[revanchistsuperstar]

holy hell, have I just had the throwback of a lifetime. dude, way on back when I was a confused unhappy little early-pubescent grub (11-14), I was obsessed with cosplay (still am) and would spend time religiously trawling deviantart and tumblr for crossplay advice, ways to bind and masculinize my face and walk and talk and comport myself more masculinely. I kept saying it was for character accuracy, but of course, there was more to it than that.

to shorten it all up, this tutorial of yours https://www.tumblr.com/revanchistsuperstar/70647041474/new-and-improved-ftm-crossplay-tutorial-if-you?source=share came up on my pinterest earlier and threw me back, after not seeing it for years now. I didn't even remember you were from middle tennessee! I googled the title of the tutorial to see if I could find the OG post, and was so glad to see you're still active on this account so many years later.

I just wanted to tell you that that tutorial was very impactful for me as a fellow southern queer kid. while I never did figure out how to make it work on my chubby, puffy little child face at the time (have gotten a bit better at makeup lately, still no pro but certainly better,) it was something to aspire to, and it was something that got me through a lot of waiting and confusion and self-discovery, knowing I *could* look like a man eventually, whatever that meant for me.

thank you for posting your tutorials online. I'm sure I'm not the only queer kid you've helped simply by being out and proud, but I wanted to tell you personally about how much you helped me survive puberty, the aspirations of passing, or at least being happy in myself regardless. I finally fully accepted myself at the end of last year, and came out to my parents early this year. It's been a lot to cope with, but life feels more promising now that I'm not hiding, and that I can seek medical transition knowing myself.

again, thank you so much for posting your tutorials. your pride has positively impacted me, and no doubt many others. I truly hope you've been well this past decade, and may the future remain bright for you. <3

Holy shit! Well way to go, and best of luck!

That tutorial is over 10 years old, that’s wild.

Believe it or not, I had my gender in no way figured out whatsoever when I was posting those, took me forever to realize what I had going on. I’ve been out as trans of some sort since 2011, but I only came out as a gay trans man and started medically transitioning a little over a year and a half ago.

But yeah I’ve been doing drag now for about 13 years! Vastly improved since the DeviantArt days lol. I now work professionally as a hair and makeup artist for stage and occasionally screen, so that’s what over a decade of plugging away at something can get you.

Glad the tutorial was helpful for you, being that it was one of the only masculinizing makeup tutorials out there on the internet at the time that I made it, its had pretty far reaching effects. Recently I’d been settling in to realizing that even though I’m only in my 30s, because I started drag in my teens I’m now becoming an elder of the drag king art form and as my co-producer from my drag troupe put it, I’m the Velvet Underground of drag kings. 🤣 But I’m glad it helped with your gender feels too!

Keep on keeping on!

[hannahspoonsart]

thank you so much to everyone who has been supporting my art these last few months. It's been a really tough year, and I've been really grateful for being able to focus on my art since I moved back in with my parents. Everyone who has bought my art has helped me work to vastly improve my stock and the kinds of things I am selling, and I am just incredibly happy about it. Lots of good stuff in the works that I never was able to afford to do before, thank you from the bottom of my heart