#redraw of her very first appearance

[wigglesdtuff]

What an explosive introduction

[vargaslovinghours]

Say it like you mean it

[beansprean]

This is a redraw of one of my first arts for this fandom (almost 3 years ago!!) Oh, how things change and how they stay the same.... thanks to @g0sts for coming up with the Monster's 'compliment' lmao.

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(ID in alt and under cut)

ID: 1a. Wide shot of the fancy room from the hall. Nadja and Laszlo are sitting on the sofa on the right, the Guide peeking in from her seat at the desk behind them, Nandor and Colin are sitting in the armchairs on the left, and Guillermo is standing center in front of the fireplace. Guillermo holds up both pointer fingers toward either side, casting a suspicious glance around the room as he announces, "If I do this for you...you need to do something for me." Nandor looks up at him nervously, hands twisting in his lap. Colin continues reading his newspaper. Laszlo stares at Guillermo thoughtfully, puffing on his unlit pipe. Nadja rolls her eyes at flaps her hand at Guillermo, snapping, "Yes, yes, what do you want, Guillermo?" 1b. Zoom in to shoulders up of Guillermo with a smug grin as he continues, "I want each of you...to give me a genuine compliment." Offscreen, the three vampires complain, "Fucking guy!" "Absolutely not." "Are you fucking kidding me?"

2a. Wide shot of the room from the right side as Guillermo turns to walk out of the side door, half his face visible in the foreground as he shrugs and says "Alright, figure it out on your own then." Behind him, Colin looks up from his newspaper and Nandor stands up in a fluster, making a sound of affront that never turns into words. The monster appears stoically beside him, wearing a frilly maid apron and cap over his loud shirt and trousers and holding up a feather duster upside down. Nadja and Laszlo turn around in their seats to scowl after Guillermo, Nadja calling after him "Hold on, you needy little malako!" The Guide turns around in her seat at the desk with an indulgent smile and says, "You are very kind and strong!" 2b. Zoom in to the desk behind the couch as Guillermo plants his hand on the back of the couch to lean in towards the Guide. He says, with not a little smugness, "Thank you, the Guide." Nadja, visible between them from her place on the couch, glares at him with an unimpressed frown. From offscreen, Nandor mumbles, "I was gonna say that..." 2c. Repeat. The Guide blushes and presses a hand gratefully to her chest, replying, "Thank you for always including me in th-" Guillermo interrupts her with a prompting, "Nadja?" and turns his head toward her with an encouraging grin. Nadja scowls and rolls her eyes, sticking her tongue out between her fangs with a disgusted retching noise. "...Fine." 2d. Chest up of Nadja on a purple background, arms spread out charitably as she announces, "You are a capable bodyguard." From offscreen, Nandor snaps, "Nadja, I was going to say that!" Laszlo: "Good one, my dark darling!" Guillermo: "Thank you. Laszlo?" 2e. Chest up of Laszlo on a blue background, chewing on the stem of his pipe as he takes a moment to think. 2f. Zoom out to a shot of the couch from the front, Guillermo standing by Laszlo at the arm. Laszlo raises his pipe and triumphantly says, "You have a plush and bounceable backside that has invaded my mind more than once while musing in my woodshed." The Guide and Nadja both lean into frame to give him a thumbs up, Nadja's smile much more strained. Guillermo glares into the middle distance, one hand on his hip and the other pressed against his burning red face. He says, "I'll...I'll take it." A shout bubble from Nandor appears from offscreen that contains no words, just his flushed face looking like a startled angry cat.

3a. Waist up of Nandor inside a large thought bubble of his own making as Guillermo calls from offscreen, "Master, you're up." Nandor fidgets nervously, eyes on the ground and fingers tugging at each other as he makes various strained thinking noises. Inside his thought bubble are multiple red-tinged sketches of memories of Guillermo: bloodstained and leaping into action with a sword and crucifix, smiling gently in his best man suit, happily tugging on a PIUNY hoodie, stepping out self-consciously in his Cowboy Kid costume, grinning authoritatively during the Djinn negotiations, smiling hopefully upward in the finale, as a vampire looking unsure and sick in his fake ceremony robes, looking concerned in his pajamas, mind-wiped and smiling in his sleep on a chaise, and grasping hands with Nandor as they pledge to stay together. Words swim around with the images and repeat: capable, strong, a good bodyguard, plush, bounceable, invaded my mind in my woodshed, kind, my Guillermo, good, kind and strong. So many things Guillermo is, always on his mind. Nandor continues waffling, "Umm...euuurrghhh...youuuuu..." 3b. His speech bubbles trail out of the previous frame down to the next, a wide shot of the fancy room from the right side again. Nandor is standing between his and Colin's chairs, arms open like Nadja's were, grimacing with an empty-headed expression. He continues, "Seem very..." The word 'relentless' pops into his head, but instead he says "Persistent." Laszlo looks up at him from his spot on the couch with an interested, "Oh??" Nadja, now standing beside Nandor, pushes at one of his hands and complains, "That's the best you've got? You were supposed to be our star player!" The Guide rests her chin on a fist as she watches them, looking apprehensive. Colin, still holding his newspaper, pipes up, "Isn't anyone interested in hearing my compliment? It's really good." In the foreground, Guillermo has turned his back on the room to stomp out of the side door with an embarrassed pout, mumbling, "I don't know what I expected from you guys."

4. Small frame of the Monster approaching Guillermo, smiling awkwardly and holding out his detached and heavily pixelated penis. Text points at him and reads 'giving a compliment.' Guillermo grimaces at the offer, not sure how to respond. /end ID

[tomicscomics]

NO MEAT!

___

JOKE-OGRAPHY: During the season of Lent (the roughly 40 days before Easter Sunday), Catholics are asked to abstain from eating most meats every Friday. Some Catholics forget this the first Friday it happens... or the second... or the third... so it's nice to have a reminder. In this cartoon, a very happy young woman prays over a freshly-grilled steak, preparing to eat it, but then her little brother appears: a reluctant harbinger of ill tidings. He reminds her of her Friday obligation, and she weeps. However, since Friday ends at midnight, she decides that she'll simply stay up until then to eat her steak. AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is another "Tomics Resurrection," where I take the ashes of an old cartoon and redraw it to make it new. I think I'll be doing a few of these for Lent, but we'll see. This particular cartoon is one of the first I ever drew -- the FOURTH, in fact -- which makes it over TEN YEARS OLD. Hopefully I've learned a thing or two since then. Take a look at its ancient former self and tell me how it compares:

[madfantom]

Full animatic And so, part 2 of my comments, let's start.

◁Part 1 || Part 3 ▷

In the last part, and here, the order in which the children got to William is shown, and I will explain why it is not the order of the murders Here is a MEMO with missing children to make it easier to navigate, since I drew very simplistically.

I mean, when watching usually fnaf animations, I myself had the question "who the fuck are all these kids?" and, either in another animation I understood, or I did not understand at all, or the designs were so simplified that you can guess (I mean a child in all red or with a pirate armband is foxy, Freddy is all brown, etc.) So I just made outlines of their hair and costumes and that's it

It's just a little complaint here, don't pay attention, I'll just say it once, and that's because I didn't think that someone would write the same thing all the time when writing AU And one more thing. Chick's name is SOFIA. Please guys, I know that Suzy from fnaf 6 exists, okay? She's there, hell, she's even in the animation next to Cassidy. I just shifted her from being a chick to another one, not removed. And she also has an interesting role and a different design logic, I just don't have time to do everything. In fact, I even have a reason why Sofia exists and I wrote a very long text post about it, but I haven't finished drawing sketches there, so you won't see it yet. It's just that I'm starting to get a little bit hung up by the same type of comments from Pinterest, although to get rid of this, I write in big letters everywhere that it's AU

Let's go back to the animatic

I have displayed the methods of killing, which will then be reflected in the appearance of the ghosts. In fact, I took the idea from my old horror zine Fnaf art when I was thinking about how the children died there to make their appearance more creepy. Some of the ideas remained, and some were redesigned, as well as some designs

Sofia was placed in a ventilation unit. William caught her and left her there suffocating in the off ventilation , after a light strangulation, suffocating in the off ventilation. She didn't actually die, but she was the first (And I refer to this also in a custom night with the phrase "I was the first, I have seen everything!") And now imagine how the room smelled of chemicals after cleaning it from all kinds of oils and other liquids necessary for mechanisms that are very difficult to wipe off. While ventilation did not work and the girl was locked in a narrow place after she was strangled, forced to watch through the slots for the children who were after her That's why Sofia's ghost makes such a quiet clucking sound, as she coughs as if she's still in the ventilation. She won't die of suffocation, nah, in this comic she's still alive and William can cut her throat.

About the rest it is more obvious, well, not counting the pictures on the Background.

Jeremy was electrocuted, so his ghost hair is pulled up as if by an electric shock. He also has charred lips and eyelid skin and no eyebrows, and his hands have torn and charred stripes from just the same clamp. He looks like the most crippled of the three

Fritz couldn't stand the blows from blunt and sharp objects and in the end they attached a mask to his face with a nail gun or something like that and set it on fire quite a bit. Well, just a little bit. His background is directly related to the comic, which Redraw at the beginning, and now I continue. I'm still doing it, but I need a lot of time for it

Gabriella was basically cut while they wrapped one of those cables around his neck that are forever hanging on the walls in fnaf and pulled out his eye after death

[howtodrawyourdragon]

Mentioned in This Post that I've been practicing my Femcup today by redrawing screenshots and the second one that I did was this screenshot I took in my last Httyd rewatch.

I kept the changes I made in the first one (smaller nose, slightly different jawline) but made her hair longer instead as I believe the reason the Femcup-vibe doesn't quite hit is because of the hair. I kept it too canon. And because Valka's hair appears to be very wavy and Hiccup's canon hair tends to behave the same way, I attempted to give her some wavy hair, too. But I haven't quite figured out how to draw wavy hair yet.

And yes, she is still staring at Astrid!

-XOXOX-

Do not repost or misuse.

[katzske]

Thoughts on Earthspark Season 2 (first half)

Spoiler Free:

I must admit I’m dissatisfied.

The animation and rendering definitely looks cheaper. Sometimes it feels like frames are missing, animations not polished, scenes not fully rendered. 2d and 3d poorly blends. It’s quite noticeable unfortunately. Characters also do the TFP Megatron stare now.

That being said, time was taken to revisit old models of characters and give them a new appearance. (4 i’ve noticed) It makes sense given a lot has changed during one year time skip.

The writing often feels either like exposition dumping or naruto filler episodes. I was never at the edge of my seat even during the climax. I ended up skipping through episodes due to the lack of relevant plot information.

Something ES managed to maintain were carefully composed shots that make great still images. While that’s nice for screenshots and redraws, I also feel like it’s the only unique aspect of ES’ animation style that remained. The rest, as previously mentioned, has lost quality.

Character Details I’ve noticed and want to talk about (spoilers ahead)

half of season 2 part 1 is filler. optimus trailer episode, great america with cosmos, a pachycephalosaurus-truck fighting mushrooms, hashtag taking ten years to dispose of hard drives…. each episode did have a few minutes of either cute or important moments. but the majority is a waste of time.

I was hoping that we would learn more about the decepticons. now that they’re free, what are they up to? how are their dynamics? how did season 1 finale change their perception on things? would they try to convince the terrans THEY are the good guys? nothing like that though.

There is no satisfying character development for starscream. ES Starscream was perfect to explore a more neutral version of him, who does not do bad things out of pleasure, but due to necessity; following his desire to be free. In the show he mentions he wanted to get rid of his oppressors (in his eyes autobots and humans), but a real “bruh” moment was when he told Hashtag the only reason he opened up to her last time was to tell her “take care of yourself first”. It completely disregards the fact he came to help in the season 1 finale after reflecting on Hashtags words. It also aggravates me that the writing could have been a very easy fix. “hey i’m not being selfish by destroying this town. im doing this for the decepticons, we have lived under the control of the autobots and then of humans. this needs to stop, we deserve freedom and i will do anything it takes.”

the show managed to establish some friction between starscream and shockwave but for deception standards it was very tame. overall i think it was written okay; he purposely let the Terrans escape with the fragments, and he bailed on Starscream once he went bonkers. I hope that he gets to be a Decepticon leader in the second half; i don’t think we have seen that in any TF TV show before. i also like that his antennae and eye color give away his emotions now.

i feel like the autobots are treated even worse than the decepticons this season ngl. they merely exist; and when they do have the spotlight it’s often for comedy.

why the fuck did shockwave not wait for hashtag to just dump the hard drives and leave. if someone walked up to me yelling “give me your trashbag” as i’m trying to dispose of it i’d be weirded out too lol.

i hope the chaos terrans don’t return. aftermath imo was, plot wise, redundant. spitfire at least was interesting and had an impact.

i wish there were more interesting fights like in season 1 instead of, oh no they’re hitting the trailer with sticks, oh no we are an abomination of dinosaur and vehicle for what feels like 15mins straight. i miss seeing soundwave slay.

[ducktoonsfanart]

Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck as superheroes - T-Squad - Regular T-Squad and My version of T-Squad - Red Shadow, Blue Cyclops and Green Avenger - Mantis Duck and Green Avenger (Spiderman meme-My redraw) - Gift for my friend (Quack Pack Adult AU) Superheroes - Quack Pack, Quack Pack AU and Duckverse - My style and My version - Happy late birthday to Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck - Superhero Day

I haven't drawn Huey, Dewey and Louie from the Quack Pack as superheroes in a while, so I drew them again, and it was on Superhero Day, which is celebrated on April 28th, because back in 1995, Marvel Comics declared that day as National Superhero Day. On April 15, 1938, the famous trio appeared in the classic Donald Duck short, called “Donald’s Nephews”, which will change the history of the Duckverse in part. I also did this for a belated birthday to my favorite trio after the Three Caballeros, which is Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck, and of course one of my favorite, and underrated, versions, from the Quack Pack. Happy birthday Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck! Although in my headcanon they celebrate their birthday on the same day as mine, also in the month of April.

It's not the first time I've drawn T-Squad, both versions, the official one from Quack Pack and one of my versions from Quack Pack AU, and you can see more of that here: https://ducktoonsfanart.tumblr.com/post/748315886828552192/huey-dewey-and-louie-duck-as-superheroes

The first drawing is my redraw in my style of Huey, Dewey and Louie as the T-Squad from Quack Pack, especially from the first episode “The Really Mighty Ducks”. T-Squad actually stands for the Tremendously Talented Trio of Truly Trusted Trouble-Shooters and is made up of Donald’s nephews. Huey is The Really Incredibly Fast Guy, Dewey is Brain Boy and Louie is Captain Muscle. Although they look funny, they certainly look very good to me as superheroes, because unfortunately there wasn’t much in the animation that they were depicted as superheroes.

The second drawing is my version of T-Squad, or how I prefer Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck to be as superheroes according to their personalities. They are also the successors of the main Disney Duck superheroes. Louie Duck is the Green Avenger (based on Duck Avenger), Dewey Duck is the Blue Cyclops (based on Gizmoduck) and Huey Duck is the Red Shadow (based on Darkwing Duck and Shadow). I specially drew them according to the modern model as it suits them. Otherwise they are part of my fanfiction related to the Duck Avenger and Darkwing Duck crossover, also related to the Donald Chronicles and the Quack Pack AU.

And the third drawing is kind of a redraw of the Spiderman meme about pointing out to others how they look alike, so I drew two versions of Louie Duck as a superhero. One is as Mantis Boy or rather Mantis Duck based on his TV and comic book superhero Mantis Boy (from the Quack Pack episode "None Like it Hot"), and the other is as Duck Avenger or Paperinix Junior or rather Green Avenger and they show each other why they are supposedly copying the same thing, since they are the same person, but they play different superheroes. Granted, Louie as Mantis Duck is not my version if you ask me, but from my friend who works at Quack Pack AU but where Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck grew up so this version is dedicated to her. Here in that drawing, Louie grew up as well as my version of Louie as the Green Avenger, who succeeded his uncle to be the Duck Avenger. In the drawing you also see what they say to each other. I just drew it in my own style in my own way.

I hope you like these drawings and my versions, as well as Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck being like superheroes. If you like it, feel free to like and reblog this (especially reblog), just don't copy my versions and my ideas without mentioning me. Also, don't copy the Mantis Duck version without mentioning my friend. Thanks! Once again, I wish you a happy Easter, a happy birthday to Huey, Dewey and Louie Duck, and a happy superhero day!

Also, this Mantis Duck version is dedicated to my friend @michimonie and her blog @quackpackau (although my version of Quack Pack AU is significantly different from hers), so I hope you like this.

[askthefamous8]

Even if I haven't been very active lately, 9 years is still pretty significant- happy birthday to the blog!

So like Percy up there I'm gonna do so dome reflecting. This blog's where I've often done that for some reason, but here's the tl'dr for blog related stuff.

�� I would like to keep drawing stuff but feeling generally unsure in myself, and I'm wondering if all the years of fandom harrassment have caught up with me • I have one big project in mind, I've been dipping my toe into what I'd need to do it. No spoilers but it was one of the first things I played around with this series, so do with that what you will • If I can keep myself drawing, I want to use more of the original source material since I'm struggling with original ideas. So stuff like redraws, hOpEfULlY even animatics, just like what originally got me so into trains yknow? Because that's fun and sparks joy. And that always goes down a treat with you guys so bonus • As always I appreciate you guys not coming after me for being so inconsistent

The rest of this is me doing what Percy's doing in the drawing and reflecting, as there is indeed much 2 think about. It's also a little sad and venty so, there's your warning there.

.

Ok so obviously a busy year, we moved into our new house that we actually own, I spent most of the year planning our wedding, and then got married. Big stuff. Also! I came off antidepressants in the summer. I've been on them for...basically as long as this blog, 6 months after I started it I think. Which also means I'd been on antidepressants my entire adult life. Feels like a big deal and I guess I'm still adjusting.

Another big thing, but sad, is that my dog died about two weeks ago. If you follow me on twitter you'll have seen her but she did make an appearance here a few Halloweens ago

I got her when she was 13 and had her 8 years after that. So that's been difficult. Unrelated to that (probably), but I just feel...really mediocre. And before you point out the obvious, this has been present even before I came off antidepressants. But yeah just... mediocrity. In myself as a person, how I look, what I draw, my whole life really (barring my marriage thankfully). What have I achieved? I'm 26, I'm not working, I don't feel well, my art isn't good (I don't think so anyway- like yeah it's technically fine I guess but it's not, and has never been, very stand-out or impressive). And lately art doesn't bring me the same joy it once did, and I'm wondering if all the years of harrassment from this fandom (mostly the twitter side, tumblr's been pretty good to me) has finally caught up with me and put me off the whole thing. Or worse, that I just don't have as much of an interest in it anymore. I don't think I'll ever be like "ok yep I'm officially done with this blog" because I'm so stubborn but idk. I want to make things and be creative, I want to make more train art, but it doesn't feel the same. I don't know what's wrong. What do you listen to? What you want vs what you feel? I still enjoy train stuff, I love going to Awdry Ex every year. It's been like this for awhile. It's not even like I have a strong feeling of what I'd rather be doing as far as careers go. And even if I did, oh yeah I'm sure my two degrees in animation will be very relevant in another field (sarcasm). I feel adrift. My sails are open but there is just no wind. Planning my wedding gave me something to do and work on and just, feel useful but now that that's over I feel lost again. Losing my dog, who had become the center of my life because of how vulnerable she had become, hasn't helped.

On the more creative side of things, I also don't really know what to do with this blog's story either. The show's ended as far as most people are concerned, and I kiiinda wrote myself into a corner because once Thomas turns 18 he's going to leave for university, and that sets off this whole arc with James but basically the problem is it involves characters leaving and for some reason that feels like a no-no here. Don't get me started on the timeline lol. But Thomas works on a railway on Sodor, that's how it has to be...right? I guess I'm sort of at a crossroads of, ok do I want this to be close to the source material, and thus easily digestible to newcombers? Or do I want to make it more and more my thing and distanced from the source material? I doubt there's many new people coming since the series ended. And even then, there's a lot more humanization artists around now than when I started, so it's not like I'm filling a niche anymore. Just to be clear it's fine and also good that there's more humanization artists, variety is good, I just don't feel as "needed" anymore (which is 100% in my head and not an actual role that belongs to me or something). I started this blog when I was 17, so my interests and what I relate to have changed obviously. The character designs certainly have. It's never followed a super rigid story plan, but the core of it has always been the central cast doing things on Sodor. I however have always had a scene/project/animatic/whatEver in mind for when this 'series' would '''officially''' ''''end''''. But then what comes after that? I've always tried to run this blog like they are Real People that You interact with. But in real life there is no ending to the story, there's always more stuff to come. You get married, and it's wonderful, and then life goes on. The credits never roll. So maybe that's what I'm having trouble coping with...the progression of time. Ah, my old nemesis. I've always had trouble with letting go of things. There's nothing to say that I couldn't still draw stuff after the series "ends". I guess any story after Thomas leaves could be like... a sequel series or a spin off or something. Spin-off of a spin-off. Famous 8 All Grown Up. Famous 8 Qurter Life Crisis. Who knows. I certainly don't.

I've also been really into an original project unrelated to this but those don't get as much attention and while I'd like to do something with it one day, I don't feel very confident in being able to make that happen right now. But you know... as far my as art not being super spectacular goes... I think my individual talent has always been is my ideas, like the writing side of things. And then brought to life with my art, which normally isn't anything to write home about but is good enough to convey the idea and be not-awful to look at, lifts both of them beyond what they were individually. Maybe that's what I should focus on. Maybe that's wishful thinking.

So....idk. Idk what I'm doing but I'm trying to be gentle on myself and just let myself continue to drift, to heal from this heavy loss, and then in the New Year I'll try and pick myself up. Then there will be no more big once-in-a-lifetime events coming up, no more just-moved-into-a-house-and-oh-no-there's-a-bunch-of-things-that-need-attention-NOW scenarios, and no more big holidays for awhile. I guess we'll see.

If you read all of this I am so sorry but also thank you for reading my ramblings. And thank you for being around, whether that's been for a few months or for several years, but especially if it's been several years

[thereweredragonshere]

I'm obsessed with your art and would like to politely devour it like I'm a starving man 🤭

Also, I would love to see Valka in your fabulous style‼️

This woman.

This god damn woman and her absurdly high cheekbones.

Valka. Valka Haddock. Listen. You are an amazing character, your appearance perfectly encapsulates your personality and life experience (NOT talking about httyd3 Valka they BUTCHERED her) and I love almost everything about you. Except your cheekbones. On their own, they’re fine. But when you bring attempting to draw you for like, the first time in a few months.

VALKA.

WHAT THE FUCK.

WHEN I TELL YOU I SPENT A SOLID FORTY MINUTES CONSTANTLY DELETING AND REDRAWING A FUCKING HEAD BASE FOR HER I MEAN IT. I. MEAN. IT. THIS WOMAN AND HER FACIAL STRUCTURE, YOU TRIANGULAR FUCK (affectionate). TELL ME WHY THE WAY YOUR SKULL IS FORMED MADE ME FORGET HOW TO DRAW??? TELL ME WHY I WAS SAT IN FRONT OF MY PC, GOOGLE OPEN WITH PICTURES OF VALKA, FUCKING SWEATING MY ASS OFF SCRIBBLING ONTO THE STUPID PRO CREATE CANVAS BECAUSE I WAS UNABLE TO COMPREHEND HOW YOUR JAW IS SO FUCKING POINTED. GIRL YOU COULD SLICE SOMEONE OPEN WITH THAT CHIN.

Genuinely think I had several mental breakdowns trying to draw her and I very nearly gave up but boom. Final results. But I did end up giving her only moderately high cheekbones because oh my god my brain is fried.

Hiccup Haddock that you for not inheriting those stupid fucking genes🙏

[cosskii]

KA BOOM! REDRAW COMBO!!

Kind of a redraw to one of my first drawings of Toffee who had Nocturne in it (which was @lizard-daddy-toff 's toffee) I additionally added one of her OC's Kiora because my first drawing of her definitely could've used some work, and I love her design.

To also add background to why Nocturne looks mad. Nocturne isn't a big fan of physical touch so that's why she's mad at Toffee for wrapping his arm around her. He is also an alternate of her father so it was kinda awkward for her. I love how happy Kiora is though. She's just like- "I'm just happy to be here!!" type vibe.

The improvement in my art over this past month has been insane, and I'm really enjoying the community, and friends I've come to have found since I've appeared here, and I truly appreciate the support from ALL of y'all. Especially people who have put their own talents, and time into creating something for me. It warms my heart a ton 🩷

Also if y'all want more Nocturne content or even more of my art overall, I'd recommend checking out my Tiktok: @nocxturne I'm very active there, and honestly probably post there more than here!! Anywho thank you for reading dearies!!

[innerchorus]

It's time for the 'Gurgin is still alive' conspiracy post lmao

@tired-reader-writer expressed curiosity as to why the most recent chapter added fuel to the fire of my delusions, and I did write a shamefully long comment to explain myself but Tumblr ate it, so I'm just gonna write a post instead.

Essentially, what I really latched on to was the flashback redraw of when Gurgin appeared in Chapter 109 (his 'last' chapter, if he really is dead). When I say I was surprised to see his face again... But why did Arakawa choose to redraw this moment? It's not the first time something like this has happened (there are several instances where a character's memory features a redrawn version instead of a copy-and-paste panel) but everything Arakawa does feels so deliberate that I just kept wondering.

Chapter 109, the moment where Isfan's senses appear to alert him to Gurgin's presence.

Chapter 140, Isfan remembering that same moment, with not just one but two different panels of Gurgin; one being a composite of Isfan's reaction and Gurgin's location outside the tent, the other being a much closer view of Gurgin's very distinctive mask.

It's definitely tempting to believe that Arakawa is zooming in on him like this to remind us what he looks like because soon we'll see him again. At least, it's tempting to me, because I want this to happen very badly. There's even precedent for Arakawa using this sort of visual window into a character's thoughts to serve as a useful reminder ahead of future events!

In Chapter 124, when Sam is fighting Kishward in the underground waterways, it's revealed that he wishes he could have died a warrior's death like Garshasp and Shapur:

Here, the faces of Sam's old comrades come to his mind and are clearly presented to readers, along with his dialogue between the two panels indicating their names. These are characters we haven't seen since the early chapters of the manga, yet just seven chapters later, we begin to see these undead warriors come back. This must surely be why Arakawa chose to highlight their appearance again here, to jog the memories of readers and remind us of their fate, soon to be juxtaposed with their unnatural resurrection.

In fact, thinking back even further (because I really do believe Arakawa planned for all of this from the start), Chapter 38's early introduction of Nasreen and Ayyar (Kishward's wife and child) surely serves a similar purpose.

In the novels, Kishward doesn't marry Nasreen and father Ayyar until after Book 7 (well after Manuchurh's death at the Battle of Atropatene). At the time, I just thought Arakawa included his family a little earlier because it was cute (and because if she was intending to wrap up her adaptation before any timeskip, it was the only way to show these characters).

But perhaps it was always more than that. Manuchurh died without us ever knowing him or seeing him in action. Until his return as one of the undead warriors, our only image of him is his severed head. Without his familial connection to Kishward, his return would have left a lot of readers scratching their heads like '??? who is this guy?'.

Incorporating Nasreen and Ayyar and revealing that Manuchurh is Kishward's father-in-law allows him to have a place in the narrative even after his early death, much in the same way that Isfan's backstory kept Shapur in our hearts and minds.

A glimpse of Manuchurh and Khayr's heads, long before any of us could have had nightmares about seeing them again.

(Khayr we know even less of, but in Chapter 132 again it's Gieve's memory of his severed head, complete with visual representation, that is used to identify him upon his return.)

Even the Chapter 77 scene of Kubard asking about the fates of the other Marzban not at Peshawar could fall into the category of a scene that functions as a reminder of the names and fates of those who would return as undead, albeit without visuals this time.

But it's worth remembering that all of these scenes are doing double duty. It's not like their sole function is to drop names of characters Arakawa needs us to remember later on. They also enrich the story in other ways, telling us something about the still living characters and their relationship with others, both alive and dead. We see that Kishward is a family man as well as a warrior. We see Kubard's grief for Shapur and his other comrades. We see Sam's envy for the fallen, arising from his feelings of living on in disgrace.

So, setting aside for a moment the question of whether or not Arakawa wants to remind us of Gurgin because his role, too, is not yet over, what is the other purpose of that scene?

Undead Shapur reveals that he has been brought back by the sorcerers of the Snake King, upon which Gieve asks him "You mean the sorcerers in masks and black robes?", which Shapur confirms. It's at this point that Isfan suddenly remembers his encounter with Gurgin. At face value, perhaps he's just making the connection of how these things are linked, but... Gurgin isn't the only sorcerer Isfan has seen. He fought one before in Peshawar (and arguably got a better look at Pulad, who he fought at close range, than he ever did at Gurgin, who he simply chucked a sword at).

Yet he doesn't recall Pulad, just Gurgin.

And to be honest, I'm surprised that he hadn't already linked Pulad and Gurgin in his mind.

What stands out to me is that Isfan recalling this moment isn't telling readers anything they don't already know. After all, we've seen more of Team Zahhak behind the scenes; we already know that they're all part of the same group. I think that's why it feels to me as though the primary reason for showing us Gurgin again is something else, especially because the moment Arakawa chose to show us is of him alive and interfering, rather than that of his death. (Okay, yeah, it could be just because this is the moment Isfan first spotted him, but if she'd also reminded us of his end or had Isfan recall him as 'the one I killed' rather than 'what I saw' I'd be more inclined to accept his death, whereas right now, flashing back to a panel of him alive and well, just makes me think 'well, what if he is still alive?').

To recap the other supporting points for Gurgin's theoretical survival and return, they are:

No dead body (we never see what happens to his body after that night even though we see the wreckage of the Lusitanian camp including outside the tent where he was stood) and nor does Guiscard mention it.

Holy Master never makes mention of his loss (though we do see Ghundi depart to bear news of this to him, so this might be tenuous and largely based on me just wanting to see the bastard's reaction so I can assess just how little he cares).

Mask design has 'most important disciple' energy, and the fact that it reveals part of his face (see Arakawa's design sketch) allows the potential for him to be recognised. In fact, I'd say the fact that we haven't actually seen his features in canon, just his mask and a glowy eye in darkness, actually makes me even more suspicious... because why would Arakawa design him so his face is partially visible, and then never show it?

That very mask design would allow for him to be recognised by Farangis and THAT would allow for us to get her backstory at last (which otherwise feels like it might not have a place in Arakawa's adaptation) along with info about Gurgin's own past.

So far the disciples have basically just been evil but boring little guys who literally no-one cares about. Gurgin actually has backstory that would add a lot of interest and I think there are a lot of options for Arakawa to do something cool with it.

He was actually the last disciple standing in novel canon. If he comes back in the manga, he'll get the chance to occupy that position again (I'm not kidding myself that he'll get to live to the end even if he does come back but I'm okay with that, I just want to see more of him first).

If the intent for his character arc is that he survived Isfan's sword to come back and cause trouble again (for Isfan specifically?) then it suddenly makes sense that Arakawa flipped his position in the novels, where he was the one watching someone else fuck up and get killed.

If Sam survived getting skewered through the torso, why can't Gurgin survive getting skewered through the neck?

(Even little things like the fact that Isfan's horse is wounded yet is still alive and alert make me wonder... We saw it react to Gurgin's presence before, could the same thing happen again?)

Okay I'm glad I got all that out of my system lmao.

[avidrawsthings]

Back in 2018, I created my own Diamond OC for Steven Universe. I drew her like 2-3 times then forgot all about her until recently. I got the idea to redraw her and her Pearl and sort of locked in for a while, as I wanted to expand on the AU a bit more. So here's the lore of Violet Diamond.

She represents the exhausted eldest daughter of a toxic household. Violet had developed the same core beliefs as the Crystal Gems long before they became a thing. She had grown to deeply dislike Homeworld's customs, which was a major factor in her decision to leave. The only Diamond she was still on good terms with was Pink.

Her gem was meant to be on her neck but it turned out goofy, so I had it reflected on her Pearl. Although Violet left Homeworld with most of her Division, she kept contact and her contributions at the bare minimum, so her symbol was still present. Her absence was felt thanks to her appearances being so rare.

Her throne was empty while her original ship was left abandoned. Because of her own powers regarding Negation, White's powers don't work on her, so Violet didn't have to worry about falling to her control.

Before leaving Homeworld, her first 4 planets were fully colonized. In time, the colonizations significantly reduced with each planet until the next 6 were left alone. Violet became a conservationist instead, appreciating the natural beauty of those worlds even if they weren't inhabited. I included the original 2018 version for comparison.

Violet would return to Homeworld for the first time in thousands of years for the events of 'The Trial'. She'd be addressed as either the 'radiant' or 'shimmering' Violet Diamond. Her Pearl would record the trial. On an extra note, Violet would have no hostility toward Steven, but more of a calm curiosity. To her, his presence was very similar to Pink's. Everything about the shattering felt off and suspicious to her, and she only ever shared those thoughts with her Pearl in private.

All Violet wanted was answers to what really happened, so she was left at an absolute loss when Yellow poofed the Zircons in retaliation.

As she's still not on speaking terms with White, Yellow, and Blue, Violet would take her leave soon afterwards to gather her thoughts.

And this is everything I got so far. I'll include an update if I decide to add more stuff in the future.

[starrdio]

OH OKAY! HERE'S AN ENA THOUGHT!

So, famously, it is 'Dream Barbecue' despite there not being a barbecue in sight. There is also MUCH speculation on the idea of ENA as a mother in some capacity. Those things combined make this shot int he trailer a lot more interesting in hindsight:

A gargantuan figure, wearing something that looks like a baby's bonnet, scooping mannequins into what looks like a grill rack made of a ribcage. First of all WHAT THE FUCKKKK now second of all lets think about what a barbecue actually is.

So a barbecue, in my experience, is when you invite your friends and family over and cook a lot of good food and have a good time. Often, a barbecue will have one appointed Griller, who cooks all of the food. They are part of the festivities, but adjacently. They are often hosts, but tethered to the meat machine instead of sitting at the table chatting all the time. It is, some may say, the perfect cross point between work and pleasure-- you are doing a job that is crucial for the event's success, but it is a casual affair where you can still drink and relax and talk to your friends while you do so. Now what about motherhood? Point blank, its a megafuckton of work. Very rarely does it provide opportunities to relax, especially not when there's a baby involved. Many find a great deal of fulfillment in it, but its still kind of an expectation rather than an option (but thats wayyyy too big to talk about in a post with my shitty chicken griller ENA redraw in it LMFAO). Even if ENA wasn't literally a mother via some 'the game takes place in the afterlife!' or 'humanboard was her son!' theorycrafting, we can consider allusions to taking care of children as another megalodon task she is given. Interestingly, once again, without real input from her. Back to the trailers, we get these shots:

We see Meanie's hand hesitating to reach toward a skewer (in shadows), Humanesque ENA clawing her way towards a Spatulady, and ENA looking at Humanboard's body in her arms with an uncharacteristically subtle and hard to read expression. The first two being tools in real life, the latter being a tool in the game. What does this mean? i have no fucking clue. But I have some thoughts 1. The reason its 'Dream Barbecue' is because ENA dreams of some semblance of a work-life balance. To have a role, but also to have people around her that want to be there and to be able to sit down and drink a beer when its time to leave the meat alone. We see that she can't handle the idea of abandoning working entirely in the Purge Route, but we also get a pretty damn clear impression that she resents the constant ordering too. 2. I don't really believe in 'ENA was actually a mother' theories yet-- there's not enough info to convince me anything is that literal in the game, much less something that requires belief in theories like 'The characters used to be human'. However, I think there may be merit to ENA as a framing device for a statement like 'the expectation on women to have children by default puts people in a position where raising a family isn't fulfilling, but rather a task that they hope produces returns on their time and effort (the 'child' as a tool)'. 3. Meanie hesitating could be indicating something like 'work is work no matter how casual it is', which could also tie in to a statement about the work done in a household and to have much less raise children. Something about the humongous babything. Actively destroying ENA's bodies. hello

4. Meanie hesitating could also mean the inverse, because she is such a contradictory character. She was the side appalled at the Purge Event, so maybe she is hesitating to pursue something that isn't straight up work despite herself. I haven't even touched on how Salesperson's arm only appears after the narration says its unlike her to hesitate and seems to incite both of them to do that shadow puppet thing. Which both forces Meanie to move, but also doesn't result in them reaching the skewer. so it could imply that the Salesperson persona does or doesn't want them to have this too. gawd In any case, I don't think the reoccurring baby imagery is meaningless even if I'm not convinced its literal, I think the significance of the barbecue needs to be considered more often when considering ENA and her relationship with people and work, both of these concepts seem to be more intertwined in the narrative than not, and I'm very excited to get more of an idea of what Meanie and Salesperson are actually thinking because they're both pretty obviously personas for ENA and the relationship between why those are what she chose and what each of them represents adds a lot to possible interpretations of ENA's actions. thank you for coming to my tedtalk

[starlos-soulmate]

I FOUND MORE OLD SELF SHIP ART!! With Ink!Sans!!

I used to self ship with them wayyy back when I was 14-16. The only reason I stopped is because I started dating my ex. And so uh. Yeah. It took a bit after we broke up for me to get fully back into self shipping. Also my S/I or persona back then was called Valor Nightstrike. Like other than some appearances, she and Pancake are nothing alike.

^ Anyway these two ^ were made because I realized I was an artist and could draw anything I wanted. And I had no idea how to draw skulls yet kfndjsns

But yeah. Wanted to doodle him giving me a flower (redraw potential) and some yearning.

^ MERMAY ISNT OVER YET!! ^ These weren't drawn during mermay as I had no idea it existed. But I still liked mermaids so I drew them as such. Hehe

Cringe but free. Yeah. Ship child. Her name is Kenzi and this is her second design. Not showing the first one, it was BAD. But younger me REALLY encapsulated "I'm cringe but free." I still need to get fully into that

AND THIS is when I first made Pancake back in 2019. Tho Pancake was called "X" back then and was WAY different. Anyway I was still with my ex back then, and I had just changed my persona from Valor to X. And then realized I could draw some Valink. It made me so happy and healed me partially (thanks old ex-) so it was very therapeutic.

Then my ex approached me in DMs and said how jealous they were of this piece of art because (and I quote) "Valor used to be shipped with me." Like. Wow. Thanks for telling me you like the character more than me. (Never dating online ever again.)

So yeah!! Some more old self ship stuff. Been doing this for AGES.

[zahri-melitor]

Catwoman 1989 (Her Sister's Keeper):

This is a direct sequel to Batman: Year One, and I definitely had to dig BYO back out and line the stories up, and in doing so I noticed how much work Mindy Newell did to transform the needlessly dark, grim and gritty reboot of Selina's origin into a story where you could see Selina in it.

I actually do think Batman: Year One is a story worth reading, and it very much fits into the dark realism turn that was gripping DC in the mid to late 80s. I also think that Frank Miller doesn't care about the interior lives of women (or as them as anything more than set dressing, given how much of his oeuvre consists of every woman appearing being framed by her sexual relationship to the men in the story, down to 'and the women here are all prostitutes').

Mindy Newell does.

Selina's bondage-gear costume and mask from BYO makes sense - as it's a costume her pimp gave her to wear for a particular client. Selina's haircut makes sense - she's started training in self defence with Ted Grant after having been beaten up by a client and left for dead outside of Maggie's convent. Newell literally spends half of the first issue reusing every panel that shows Selina or Holly from Batman #404 and #405, and providing context and additional motivation for what's happening and how that affects Selina. She breaks down the hardened, self-assured Selina that Miller wrote and shows the uncertainty, self doubt and determination under it.

It's just fascinating reinterpretation work to find a character underneath a story that doesn't centre them, and as someone who's done similar work as a fanfic writer it does indeed strike me that Newell does this in a confident way that makes it clear both Newell and Brozowski were sitting there with the issues open in front of them...and Brozowski was redrawing, not tracing. Transformational storytelling!

It also hits a lot of points about how and why Selina becomes Catwoman. Why's she stealing jewels? Because it's a lot more lucrative to her than sex work (and she enjoys it more). She's caught up in her quest for revenge more than saving Maggie - until her decisions lead to Maggie almost dying. She gives Selina and Bruce a proper conversation together about their different moral codes and motivations. Selina's desire to check on the people of the East End starts here, even if its initial form is mostly selfish and does not extend much past the people she cares about.

What I also did not expect going in was how much I was going to like Magdalene. Maggie’s tougher and has got more grit to her than I expected. She stands up to the cops with assurance, she seeks help on her own terms, she refuses to be a victim while she's kidnapped, and she faces off with Batman to protect her sister.

(Batman and Maggie talking in Catwoman #4)

The art is also excellently atmospheric the whole way through, hampered as it is by the fact that Batman Year One had already given Selina two of my least favourite outfits ever to use for this overlapping story.

I really liked this. From what I hear, Newell's Lois Lane mini is equally interesting in terms of centring a woman's story in a dark and gritty setting. Her background in healthcare as a nurse pops out in terms of what the story focused on. I really wish Newell had been given more writing opportunities, later on, because what she put together here is just really intelligent and entertaining.