#redrew this like three times... really happy how this turned out!

[rain-herb]

Smile~ ✨📸

[flare-the-pyrowing]

FROGS FROGS FROGS FROGS FROGS

Aka a ninja, a monk, and a confused punchy boi.

(Ramblings under the cut)

Hehehe artists commentary time. Cause idk I wanna talk about it.

This took me a long time ngl. I mean part of that was a took a break and then had to actively make myself sit down and finish it, which I don't regret.

This was the first time I've drawn Ranno and Liligator (as well as greninja from the front), so between that and the character spacing, posing, lineart, the fact I didn't have an actual lineart pen for most of this, and attempted color matching (cough cough perfectionist cough), it was a challenge. Dude color matching Liligator's blue was really frustrating for a while, but I'm happy with how it turned out. And its As Close As I Can Get™. Ranno's bubbles gave me hell when I started coloring them. I swatched a lot of potential strategies before I tried on the sketch, so eventually it worked out and I think they work pretty good. I've drawn greninja a couple times cause they're my main in ssbu, but MAN. Drawing them from the front. Not doing that again anytime soon I'm doing just great with a three quarters angle thanks. I still think their face looks off, but I redrew their eyes at least 50 times and had to just Leave It if I ever wanted to continue.

Despite all of that, I had such a clear image of this idea in my head so I went and put it on paper. Honestly this was really fun and I like having a project I can chip away at for a couple days.

Anyway here's some alt versions cause I wanna put them here.

W/o question mark

Individual frogs (can you tell I went from left to right lol)

And I know absolutely zero (0) people care but if you wanna use these for icons you can just credit me ig.

Seeya

[wasyago]

Dear Wasyago,

Strange, I have always thought it was spelled as Wasayago. But recently I've realized, I can't read very well.

I want to send appreciation today, to you.

You've taught me a lot about art. You've taught me a lot how to draw certain things, and you have opened my eyes to new perspective of art, ever since I started following you. Colours are brighter, I experiment more, I can see a specter of visuals that was previously hidden from me. It's like gaining shrimp colors.

Your art feels like an art classroom. There's sun pouring in from the windows, and there's tree leaves in front of them. Every time you come in you see different art projects. Paints add on to the tables, that will never scrub off again. There's dirty cups with paint water, and brushes, in the sink. It's lunch break, and there's people here. Some are just doing their math homework right before class, some are working on their sculpture, some are picking out paints, some are working on their new piece, on a fresh canvas. And it is so alive.

Your art feels so alive. Like the leaves, the people, the stains. It's really nice to see, every single time you post, how lovingly you bring a character into the world (My favorite so far is that one doodle of Modern au Gillion eating noodles, I have it in my favorites gallery).

I would like to see some unfinished, maybe forever to be so, doodles that you weren't especially proud of. We'll love it all.

Respectfully,

Marcus Bloodsmith

oh, thank you so much, this is so sweet qwq

im happy to know that you feel this way about my art, and im glad i could help you with some advice! it feels a bit weird to show unfinished or scrapped art under such a nice message, but yeah why not. and its funny that you mentioned the gillion eating noodles one, because its also one of the pieces that i really didn't like and didn't want to post hdgsh. i dont have that many unfinished drawings left because i delete or redraw most of them, but i have a couple that might be fun to share... and i guess it's gonna be a long post bc i wanna tell a little about each one or at least name them.

there's this art of chip, the first time i properly tried to figure out a way to draw him back when i just started listening. redrew this piece later, kept the sketch on the left, but the right one i changed completely because i didn't like the vibe this one has.

there's this attempt at redesigning caspian after i found out he was a water genasi, plus the first version of that art of caspian, pretzel and gill. this design didn't feel "caspian" enough, it looked too soft and kind where i wanted him to be more layed back and chill and sarcastic and with a bit of an edge. redrew both pieces later. the underwater drawing also has an unfinished background in this version, i added some fishies later so it didn't feel that empty.

some random sketch of gillion to show off how the lightning scars look on his face and neck. i quite like it, but it didn't really fit in the post with three proper drawings and one sketch so i decided to scrap it.

there's this drawing where i tried to figure out how the capital of the undersea looked like. i really didn't know where i was going with it and didn't have a good idea when i started drawing, so its a mess of things with nothing to really focus on. i tried to add a character on it later to breathe some life into it, but it didn't work out since i didn't focus it on the character from the beginning. plus i don't like how the colors turned out, and the entire concept of the environment feels weak and boring to me. i still want to draw more concepts of the undersea and try a couple other ideas, but probably at a later date...

the first version of whatever try it was to design gill's armor. (fun fact, i have more armor designs scheduled for tomorrow). this one i redrew almost immediately, i really didn't like how it turned out and how the legs were cut off and it looked so messy with no real accent point or personality. plus the smaller copy of the drawing in the corner just didn't look good. im not exactly proud of the redrawn version either (that's why i did another one yesterday lol), but im glad i redrew it anyway, it looks a lot better than this one.

the first sketch of that one gillion drawing. i couldn't figure out the colors for it for so long and wanted to drop the idea entirely. but i left it to sit for a couple hours and eventually got the motivation to come back to it and finish it. for most of the illustration pieces i did for jrwi there were multiple versions, where i just didn't like the first one and redrew the whole thing with a different composition and colors. didn't save any of those drawings tho...

this drawing of jay but with green wings and a slightly different color shirt. it was actually the first version of this drawing, and i changed the colors to blue later. wanted to post both of them side by side but then decided against it. that's why this drawing survived and was properly saved and not just deleted.

more recent attempts at designing the chaingel. i like the concept, and the pose in the second sketch is pretty badass, but the execution is just not there. it doesn't feel right, doesn't have the right kind of vibe that this character gives off. so im sure i will try and draw her later when i figure out what's missing and how to show her personality in the way it feels in my head. but these two sketches were never going to see the light of day, so now they're here.

aand this is it, this is everything that wasn't deleted in the past month for one or another reason. i feel like im more chill with deleting and redrawing things, so a lot of initial sketches and concepts never get saved or seen by anyone. im also on mobile so i can attach only ten files lol. not that it matters, the last two were just random figure drawings for warm up, not much to talk about.

[mud-castle]

Fire and Ice: Part 2

<next>

<prev>

<first>

X

X

‘You may not remember anything-’

I know

‘You will not know what triggers it-’

I know

“Relax and allow it to happ-’

I KNOW.

Shimmering Eye closed her mouth at his scowl. Fireheart knew he looked odd since the other cats would see him glaring at air, but he wasn’t in the mood. Nightmare after future after prophecy had been disturbing his sleep for days, each one as unreadable and vague as the last. On top of that his fight training had gotten more and more brutal. His throat still twinged slightly from last night’s battle. He would rather be in his nest than on his way to the Gathering. For the time he was lucky that he didn’t need to speak aloud to Shimmering Eye for her to understand him. He got enough odd stares from his clanmates already.

Thunderclan arrived at Fourtrees. They were the first to arrive so Fireheart made his way to his usual spot near the back to wait. He allowed his thoughts to wander for the moment. Shimmering Eye had said his foresight was growing stronger, especially since he was getting assigned his first mission from Starclan soon. Supposedly he would be getting visions soon...fun. He shut his eyes. He just wanted to sleep.

“You mind if I sit here?”

Fireheart blinked open his eyes to see a sleek, silver molly pad up to him. He hadn’t noticed Riverclan arrive. A few of the Riverclanners gave the molly an odd look as they passed, but she ignored them. He shrugged. She smiled slightly and sat her self beside him. He closed his eyes once more to catch a little rest.

“You’re that kittypet apprentice Thunderclan took in, right? Flamepaw or something?”

Fireheart didn’t open his eyes. “Or something.”

“Well, my name’s Silverstream. Just became a warrior a couple nights ago.” She said, pride clear in her voice,

The name rang a bell. Fireheart hummed. "Congrats.” 

“...um...thank you?” She said after a slight pause. Ah, right, clan cats don’t use slang.

Wait...

“You’re Crookedstar’s kit.”

Silverstream cleared her throat a little awkwardly, and said suddenly “So, what’s it like living outside of the clans?”

Fireheart looked at her in surprise.

She blinked. “What?”

He shook his head, “Nothing, I just didn’t expect the question is all.” He turned his gaze away, deciding to ignore that she’d changed the subject. He wasn’t quite sure how to answer her question. Sure, city life was hard, but it wasn’t all bad. His siblings especially made his life a little easier. Tommy always made sure to stay on the positive side of things. Even when their mother was gone... especially after their mother was-

“Hey, kit.” Russetfur’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. The dark ginger she-cat trotted up to him and seated herself opposite of the side Silverstream had taken. “Who’s this?”

Silverstream’s eyes narrowed and she puffed out her chest slightly, “My name’s Silverstream, Shadowclanner, and we were just having a conversation before you rudely interr-”

A yowl sounded, pulling all three’s attention towards the Great Rock.

Fireheart noticed Crookedstar looking over the cats, his eyes landing on Silverstream. The molly tilted her chin up slightly, defiantly, and looked away. Crookedstar instead looked at him, eyes narrowed. Fireheart blinked, he really didn’t want to be a part of whatever was going on between those two.

Lucky for him, Bluestar began sharing her news, drawing Crookedstar’s attention away. Fireheart attempted to listen to the gathering. He got a couple minutes in before he startled awake to furious yowling.

“You Shadowclanners just want the whole forest to yourselves!” Silverstream snarled, lashing her tail.

Russetfur hissed, “Like we need Riverclan’s stinking fish!”

“That doesn’t sound like what your leader just said ,mange-pelt!”

Fireheart blinked slowly, completely confused. He turned his gaze towards the Great Rock where Crookedstar and Nightpelt were growling at each other. Clouds were rapidly coming in, covering the moon. Yet, despite the chaos, Fireheart felt more tired than ever.

Bluestar had scooted herself away from the fighting leaders and instead looked over her clan. Their eyes caught. 

A strange sense of calm suddenly washed over the warrior. Before he could question it, his muscles stiffened suddenly, rendering him paralyzed. White creeped in from the corners of his vision. He caught sight of Bluestar’s shocked face before light overtook his eyes.

X

“-t......-it......kit? Hey, kit?”

Fireheart gasped sharply, muscles unclenching. His eyesight returned to him. He shivered, though he wasn’t cold. He had moved, now seated in the center of the clearing. From the looks of it, the gathering was over. The clans looked to be getting ready to leave. Cats shot him strange glances as they passed. The moon shone brightly overhead.

“Wha- what happened? His voice sounded strange to his own ears. It was croaky, as if he’d been yelling.

Russetfur and Silverstream shared a look.

“What do you mean?” Silverstream asked.

“Fireheart!” Bluestar called at the same time Crookedstar yelled “Silverstream?”

Russetfur frowned, “We’ll talk about all of ...this later.” She bounded off to her own clan before Fireheart could ask what she meant. 

Silverstream nodded at him, “Take care.” and stalked over to Riverclan.

Fireheart stared after them and slowly made his way to his clan. Whitestorm looked proud. Sandstorm looked more annoyed than usual. Bluestar had in unreadable expression on her face. She looked over her clan once and turned to lead the way back home. Fireheart lagged in the back, looking over his shoulder at the clearing he had been standing in.

What the hell had just happened?

X

X

X

Ha, Fireheart’s short.

Well, that took a while. I redrew this page in different ways like four times. Are there grammar mistakes? Probably, but I’m too tired to fix them. So ignore them until I can’t.

This is the scene where Shadowclan wants Riverclan to keep letting them hunt on their territory and Riverclan is like, “Naw, man.” and Shadowclan gets pissy and then they both get happy cause Windclan is gone so they can hunt on their territory! Only, this one ended differently. Mainly in that Nightpelt is not comfortable hunting in the territory of the clan his own drove out.

Russetfur believes deeply in Shadowclan values and traditions, and Starclan forbid she ever allows Silverstream to insult her clan like that! Russetfur also gets a redesign because I thought she looked rather plain.

Remember when I said Starclan couldn’t Star-Eye Fire until he became an Eye? Yeah, I meant that. So no, that’s not what happened in this scene. Fireheart’s just growing up and his abilities are getting stronger. But, he doesn’t have control over them, so there might be some instances where he does things under foresight or vision or something and not remember. 

Also, should I link previous and future pages to the posts so the book events are in order?

[ultimatetornshipper]

Daminette December day 11- Snowglobe and 12- Soulmate au

@daminette-december2019-2020

Okk sooo like I said I wanted to make a separate lil one shot for this one because I have a nice lil idea in mind and my medieval au does not work with the snow globe and soulmate thing so I decided fuck it.

Also Tim isn’t it the series yet so I decided to do some brotherly shenanigans that included him.

This one shot actually worked out really well like I love it.

I get to be slightly more… hmm what’s the word?... stupid?

It’s the writing on skin, appears on soulmate's skin, soulmate au btw.

Honestly I love this, it did not go as expected lmao.

Anyway I hope u guys enjoy this!

Previous- Princes and Pedestals Chapter 10

Next- Princes and Pedestals Chapter 11

The Permanent Marker

The first time Damian saw a snow globe it had been during a fight with Tim, who'd decided to throw him with it.

It was safe to say that the item that was thrown ended their fight. The side made of ceramic hit his arm. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it landed on the floor, the glass shattered. The tiny fake snowflakes scattered all over the place.

Before then he had only heard of one thing that, in his mind, worked similarly…

“Drake, I will skin you alive!” he said jumping on his brother, Jason pulled him off and held him back, “Todd! Release me at once! The imbecile just attacked me with a glitter bomb!”

The entire manor went silent for a few seconds before they all burst out laughing.

To this day, he was still being teased about it. Even though the incident had happened years ago.

It resulted in him having quite the distaste for snow globes.

So imagine his annoyance when he woke up four days before the anniversary of The Incident with a picture of a snow globe on his hand.

As if that didn’t make the message clear enough, there was a snow globe and a glitter bomb on his bedside table, each labelled mockingly.

He growled and turned his gaze back to his hand.

He had no idea how his brothers had managed to draw it on him without waking him up but he was absolutely livid.

His soulmate must be incredibly confused as to why there was a crudely drawn snow globe on her hand.

He got up and stomped to the bathroom, washing it off. He got ready and walked angrily to the dining room.

He found them all there and when they saw his sour expression they burst out laughing.

He glared at them all through breakfast, his temper far shorter than usual.

He just hoped his soulmate wouldn’t ask about the snow globe or better still, that she hadn’t seen it.

Every morning for the next two days, he woke up with an ugly little snow globe on his hand. And each morning he would wash it off.

He was bordering on the edge of murderous.

Meanwhile in Paris, Marinette was in a similar state.

You see, for three days she had been trying to remember the damn stupid snow globe Alya had forgotten at her house over the weekend.

She’d drawn a nice little snow globe on her hand to remind herself. But apparently her soulmate was hell bent on not letting her return the damned snow globe.

Each time she drew the little picture, he would wash it off it sometime before she got home.

Because of course he would.

She knew he was a tidy person and he’d established that he had no wish to meet her back when they were small, but usually he at least didn’t wash off her drawings.

She huffed in annoyance as she rode the train back home.

It would’ve been easier to return the snow globe to Alya when they were still in Collegé Francious Du Point, where she lived only a street away. But nooooo, their lycee was far enough away that she had to take the train there and back. Just having Alya pick it up wasn’t as easy as it used to be.

She took out a pen and redrew her snow globe. He had already washed off the one she made earlier that day.

When she got home she realized that he had also washed off the one she made on the train. She huffed in annoyance and groaned.

Why was everything against her?

She eyed her drawer.

Maybe…

No, that wasn’t fair, she didn’t know why he erased the snow globe each time. There could be a very good reason.

Her pettier side didn’t care though. She was sick of him. He’d hurt her so much when they were kids, refusing to even try to get to know her. Not replying to any of her writing or doodles.

Eventually she stopped writing but doodles found still their way onto her skin. And they arrived at a silent truce of sorts, he would let her draw, and she wouldn’t expect anything.

Until now apparently.

Why couldn’t he just give her – give them - a chance?

Why couldn’t they just be normal? Why did he have to be such an ass? Why couldn’t they just write to one another?

She was reminded of the only time he'd written more than a few words to her.

The day she’d accidentally used the wrong kind of pen. The kind that had ink that didn’t wash off properly until after three days.

A permanent marker.

She didn’t known it was a permanent marker, and it wasn’t like she’d drawn anything too big with it. Just a medium sized heart on her wrist.

She was eight, she didn’t think it would be a problem.

Well apparently it was, because that day he let her have it. That day he made it clear that he wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.

But to hell with that.

If he wanted to break their truce, the weird set of rules they had somehow established…

Then so would she.

She stood and opened the drawer, she took out the permanent marker she hadn’t touched in years and removed the lid.

She smiled as she drew her snow globe again.

This time she would remember the snow globe.

And she did, the next morning she saw her snow globe still on her hand, slightly smudged, but there. She smiled victoriously.

She returned Alya's snow globe and spent the rest of the day on cloud nine. Maybe it wasn’t the nicest of things to do, but it wasn’t like he took her into consideration. She figured this, at most, made them even.

What caught her off guard however, was the neat writing in black ink that appeared on her wrist later that night

The words ‘I’m sorry’ were etched onto her skin in handwriting that she recognized as his.

You see Damian hadn’t noticed the sketch when he got home. Hadn’t noticed it when he’d put on his gloves for patrol or when he’d gone to bed.

He never saw it until morning.

He lost it when he realized his brothers had written on him with a permanent marker.

The one think he’d basically forbade her from doing all those years ago and they did it.

They crossed a line. And Damian made that perfectly clear.

By attacking them and beating them up until they apologized.

He still felt it was necessary to apologize to her.

For the permanent ink. But also for all the years of silence, for all the years of ignoring her.

He settled on a small ‘I’m sorry’ on his wrist and hoped for the best.

That tiny apology, though, opened up a line of communication between the two.

They started talking regularly, growing closer and closer through their words. Eventually they met and started dating.

They helped one another, through trauma and superheroing and liars and villains, they were there.

They became a dynamic duo, he helped her run her label while she did commissions and designed her days away.

They were happy, one of the success stories. And while they hung up the capes and cowls, they were always available for emergencies.

They would tell their children and their grandchildren the story of the snow globe. Dick, Jason and Tim often liked to take credit. Earning a disgusted ‘Tt' from Damian and a laugh from Marinette.

The moral of the story, Marinette always liked to say, was that sometimes even the smallest, insignificant thing could make the biggest, life altering difference.

Taglist:

@animegirlweeb @loysydark @toodaloo-kangaroo @forgottenfriends @wolf-for-life @heyitsbugette @f-rget-lt @fusser90 @editorofeverything @thenillabean @sunflowers-and-mooncakes

[soyouareandrewdobson]

Dobbear! SYAC: The Master Review 6

I am so going to ruin someone’s childhood with that now, but...

guys, it had to be done!

Dashing and daring…

Courageous and caring!

Faithful and friendly…

 With stories to share!

 Doesn’t at all apply to this one artist…

Lesbian obsessed and  each nerddom’s nightmare!

Dobby BEAR!

Whinning here and there and everywhere!

Making claims that are beyond compare…

This is our Dobby-Bear!

Yeah, if you can’t guess, around now is the time I am going to put down the kids gloves and will really dig into why SYAC is garbage. And a huge factor into this, is in part Dobson’s self insert past 2012.

The existence of the blue bear as Dobson officially calls it (or Dobbear as most people call it) is in my opinion rather baffling already in terms of design choices.

I get e.g. that Dobson wanted to distance himself of his past humanoid self inserts as much as possible. But why of all things a bear?

The fact I am focused on that may sound weird, but hear me out for a bit. For starters, I know that Dobson likes western animation. And seeing how western animation has for the longest time been dominated by anthropomorphic animals, I can understand why he would redesign himself as a funny cartoon animal.

But there are at least three things that feel weird about it. First, Dobson had made it clear in the past that he hates furries. So him actually redesigning himself as an anthropomorphic animal is kinda weird

In fact, Dobson himself acknowledges that realization in one of his strips shortly after his fursona took over.

Second, of all the animals to choose from, why a bear? This question is in so far valid, as that bears are not necessarily one of the first to go animals, furries or western animators tend to go for when designing an anthro. And before any furries or anthro enthusiasts are calling me a hater, let me make one thing clear: I like anthropomorphic cartoon and comic characters too, and am okay with most furries. As long as you don’t have a diaper fetish, are a pedophile  or hurt actual animals, you can do and enjoy whatever you like.

But I am also aware enough of furry culture to know, that bear based anthros are most of the time hyper sexualized and muscular, connecting them to how the term “bear” is used in real life gay culture. Which is okay, I think it is just a funny coincidence that Dobson choose an animal, that most furries associate with a life style that Dobson is deeply afraid of, even if he claims to be an LGBT ally.

And as stated earlier, bears are not necessarily the go to animals for animators.

Don’t get me wrong, we all know some cartoon bears like Winnie the Pooh, Yogi Bear, Poh and the main cast of TaleSpin (btw, Kit Cloudkicker fan for life). But lets be honest here; ducks, mice, rabbits, canines, felines, equines and any other “easily to domesticate” animal in the real world tends to make better for easily recognizable cartoon characters than something that can reach a size of 3 meters tops and weigh over 500 pounds.

Truth be told, the pool of cartoon bears is so small, these are the first two things that came to my mind when thinking what may have inspired the Dobbear

And wouldn’t you know? According to Dobson, the Carebears were supposedly the main inspiration for his design.

 Unfortunately, this is also more or less the most I could find of Dobson addressing what went into the creation of the character.

Which kinda brings me also to the third issue as why I think the bear redesign is weird; It is too sudden.

One day Dobson draws himself as a shaved 20 something, the next day he is a fedora wearing Carebear clone, likely created and then rejected by Care Bear villain No Heart, as part of a plot to create a mole when conquering Care-A-Lot.

… and now I need to reevaluate my choices in life, that I was able to make such an elaborate Carebear joke.

It is just a change of design that in my opinion should have been addressed either outside of the comic or in context of it. Which it kinda is, but isn’t.

See, this is the first strip with the blue bear

And then only 13 strips or so later in something called “Continuity” is Dobson more or less willing to address the change…

And he does so in a passive aggressive manner, with Persistent Pam as a stand in for those asking him what is going on, while Dobson just dismissively continues working.

On one hand, you can argue that this is just the joke. The change happened, don’t bother with it, just enjoy what is still to come. And you know, I don’t want to make a rope out of everything Dobson ever posted, including that comic.

But then you have also to account for the fact, that Dobson would eventually associate himself with the blue bear so much, he made him his avatar and icon for his comics and online accounts. In fact, that one comic I posted WAY BACK in the first Master post of Dobson reminiscing how he started SYAC?

For reasons that are a bit confusing to me, he redrew himself (badly I have to add) as the blue bear in one of his earliest strips ever. The one where he belittles the manga fangirl for drawing manga. So I have to ask, what is going on here? Has Dobson increasingly decided to reset his past? Does he want to destroy any traces of his “human” self in his work to create the illusion to any new readers, that he never was as controversial of a person as he was and that there never was a need for him to reimagine and reinvent himself? Is this 1984? And how many of you realize that this paragraph is just me going conspiracy nuts for the sake of entertainment?

But still, it is kinda weird that he went to the bother of redrawing his human self in that one background sketch as a bear. Plus, I honestly think Dobson never even attempting to “explain” the change in the pages of his comics is a wasted opportunity for some decent jokes. Like every time Dobson tries to explain why he is a bear now, something interrupts him or we only get fragments of a story that if we put them together would be as ridiculous as the entirety of “Trapped in the Closet”.

I mean, the dumbest joke idea I have in mind is that Dobson went to build a bear to get a present for a family member. Instead he was build into a bear and later on successfully sued the company, which explains why he can afford to live despite not really working on comics anymore but lecture people badly about the evils of nerd culture.

So yeah, three major things about the design choice that more or less confuse me.

But here is the thing: Confusion is nothing compared to feeling genuine disdain for the design at hand. And compared to Dobson’s earlier human designs, Dobbear is just utterly unlikable.

A lot of that boils down to the following three facts:

1. From a certain point in time on (which I will cover in more detail later on) Dobson uses his bearsona primarily as a soapboxing mouth piece to talk about “politics” in nerd culture. Or at least what Dobson perceives as politics, coming off like a condescending jackass who believes among other things that white people are inherently incapable to identify with black people…

 … or that comic book shops have radicalized nerd culture, essentially calling them terror cells.

Which btw are so inherently offensive to me, I promise I will cover these two separately. One even sooner than the other.

2. If Dobbear is not talking about politics, he will tend to be a smug asshole to other people (most of the time strawmen) or their interests in one way or another. Being e.g. used by Dobson to express his disdain for criticism…

 or to mock legit criticism he had gotten by exaggerating things.

 All while also tending to make his critics look like inherent assholes.

These two facts, combined with Dobson’s average erratic behavior online on platforms such as dA, twitter and tumblr over the years, pretty much assured such a close association between the two, that a separation between artist and creation was not possible anymore, condemning them.

And for the record; Dobson was always a bit of a whinner who liked to act as if he was a better nerd than the average comic book fan. Otherwise, we would have not e.g. gotten Danny and Spot out of it.

But as the years went by in the last decade, Dobson turned from someone in his mid 20s, desperate to be seen as a “quirky” and likable internet persona (like certain internet reviewers), into a virtue signaling, lesbian obsessed asshole who likely regrets his life choices.

… Like certain internet reviewers.

But seriously, Dobson turned into someone who would flip the lid at something as ridiculous as Cheeto flavored chicken fries…

 While also being just the worst type of condescending nerd….

All while losing his mind about politics. Especially after Donald Trump became president

And just as Dobson became a radicalized left winged jackass who saw politics in everything he consumed, so did by default Dobbear, because Dobbear was not a character with his own personality, but a mouth piece.

Something I am about to get into detail in the near future. But till then, I want to cover in the next post the following third and final fact about Dobbear that really makes him unlikable to me: The fact he can’t be happy.

[hermionemonica]

The Road to Us, and Everything in Between: Chapter 2

(This is a no magic AU. There is no existence of the Miraculous or the superheroes in this universe.)

AO3 | Chapter 1 | Chapter 3 

As time went on, Marinette felt distances creeping between her and Nathaniel. They still talked to each other over calls, texting and social media, and even met up with each other every once in a while. But all that grew more and more seldom. And for Marinette, this felt different. Of course, her affections for Nathaniel still remained unchanged, but it felt kind of liberating to not have his presence constantly looming over her life. And with the alone time Marinette now had away from Nathaniel, she found herself constantly rethinking her life and decisions. About what she chose, about what could have been.

Marinette had always had a habit of talking to herself. Now every time she felt herself falling into dejection, she would whisper to herself over and over, “I chose this. This is my life now. This is what my life will be from now.” That did wonders to push the fears and insecurities to the back of her mind.  

But as days passed, it started to get harder and harder. After all, it is an inexplicable pain to see the one you love right in front of you, be with them, all the time knowing that they'll never be yours. Being around him didn’t do anything to help her move on from him, even if she tried.  

Gradually, the secrets and the pretences began to take a toll on her. And with the new university and her fashion courses, it was all too much for her. She felt herself giving in to the pressure. Designing or baking did not work their therapy on her anymore. And the first thing she did when things started getting bad was slowly cut off Nathaniel. Not that she wanted to. It was just she couldn't trust herself to not explode in front of him. And after everything the boy had been through, the last thing he'd want was the only person he trusted to go off on her. So the only solution that she saw was to stay away from him. Only, she could not come up with an appropriate excuse. The poor boy kept asking her what was wrong, but Marinette would say she was fine. Until one day she snapped.  

Marinette was having a particularly rough day, after she had accidentally dropped her sketchbook, which held her designs that she had been working so hard on, right into the waters of the Seine. She had retrieved them, of course, but her work of weeks was ruined. She had shut herself in her room and decided to bury herself in her designs till she redrew them. It probably wouldn’t be as perfect as the originals, but she needed to submit something the next day to pass the class.

Unfortunately, Nathaniel chose that very evening to call her. Marinette ignored his calls and messages for a while, till the alert sounds were getting on her nerves. She finally picked up the phone and asked, “What is it, Nate?”  

If she sounded grumpy or bitter, Nathaniel obviously did not notice it as he went on a ramble about how a cute guy on the subway had complimented him on his blazer.  

“And this is what was so important that you called me for like, 17 times?” Marinette cut him off mid-rant.  

That was when it registered in Nathaniel's mind. “Uh, I thought you'd like to know,” Nathaniel spoke nervously.  

“Maybe I would, but not everyone necessarily has the time for this! Take the hint when I wasn't answering your calls or replying to your texts.” Marinette replied acidly.  

“What is wrong Mari?” Nathaniel sounded concerned.  

“Why does something have to be wrong?” Marinette was beginning to lose her temper. “It just happens that you don't seem to realise that some people might have more important stuff going on than just a random guy complimenting you on your clothes!”  

When there had come no reply from the other end, Marinette quickly disconnected the call and switched her phone off. She had too much on her hands at the moment.  

Marinette had fallen asleep at her table, sometime in the middle of the night. In the wee hours of the morning, she woke up to find a string of messages from Nathaniel, which he had sent right after the phone call the previous night.  

“So, this is it? I... I don't matter anymore? It’s okay, Marinette, I get it. I was just an unnecessary burden that you were carrying around although you didn't have to. This had to end sometime, right? After all, we both know very well that I'll never be able to give you what you want. I am only holding you back from everything that you could have, everything that you deserve. I'm sorry for everything Mari, I hope you can forgive me. Take care Marinette, and be happy. I promise I won't bother you anymore. Goodbye.”  

Marinette had not seen this coming. She couldn't deny that she had been a bit too harsh in her words the previous night, but was it that bad? Had she made it sound like she didn't want Nathaniel to be around her? She tried to remember what exactly she had said, but to her anguish, all of it was a blur. In exasperation, she kicked against the side of her desk, only to wince back in pain immediately afterwards. Surely, the voice in her head kept saying, this can't be happening. Nathaniel wouldn't just leave just because Marinette had said some harsh words, right? Their relationship was too above that, of course! After everything they had been through together, a little miscommunication couldn't possibly be what would break it! Over and over she read Nathaniel's texts, trying to make something out of it, something less painful. She tried to read between the lines, desperately trying to convince herself that it wasn't happening.  

The only reason she dragged herself out of her house an hour later was because she had to submit the designs that day. And the only reason she had left her phone without replying to Nathaniel was because she was scared that she might mess it up further.  

Three agonising hours later, Marinette sat in the cafeteria. Anger coursed through her. Anger at Nate, anger at herself, anger at the stupid deadline! As she desperately tried to reign in her temper, because that was what had caused the entire mess in the first place, she found herself regretting her decision to leave her phone at home. At least she could have called Alya and talked to her. At one point of time, Marinette had been glad that no one from her old school was in the same university as her, because then she could put everything behind her and start her life without the lies. It didn’t seem that convenient anymore. She wished she could talk to someone, anyone, right now. But since there was no way to do that, she went back to sipping on her iced tea to soothe her nerves.  

“Are you okay?” said a voice from behind Marinette, as a hand was laid on her shoulder.  

Before Marinette could turn around, the intruder came into her range of vision as he seated himself at her table.  

It was Adrien, and he was looking at her with concern in his emerald hands. Did she really look that terrible? Marinette asked herself. More importantly, what could she answer to Adrien, when he didn't even know anything about Nathaniel? But then again, she was stuck in the university for at least two more hours, without a phone and no one but Adrien to talk to. Adrien was the only friend she had for now, and Marinette felt she would combust from the stress if she didn't talk sometime soon. Sure, once she figured out how to begin.  

“It's umm... you know, about this boy,” she struggled through her words.  

Immediately, Adrien perked up. “Boy? Crush? Ex? Boyfriend?”  

Marinette felt a smile creep up onto her face in spite of herself. “Let's not use any labels, okay? It’s a bit too complicated for that,” she clarified.  

Adrien wiped the silly grin off his face and looked on with interest, silently urging her to continue.  

“So we had kind of an argument last night, and I may have been a bit rude to him. In my defence though, I was stressed beyond limits. And this morning, I woke up to a bunch of texts from him, saying that... that,” Marinette faltered. How do you put that into words?  

Luckily, Adrien seemed to have understood what she was trying to say. “That he’s leaving you for good,” Adrien offered.  

“Exactly,” explained Marinette. “Except that I meant nothing like that and he took it all the wrong way and he thinks I want to get rid of him and oh so I feel so angry at him right now because after all this time how could he misunderstand such a simple thing and I-”  

“Woah there,” Adrien interrupted. “Slow down. Maybe drink a bit more of that drink you've got there.”  

“Iced tea,” murmured Marinette, “soothes my nerves.”  

That was when she realised that her hands were shaking so badly that she could not even hold the glass in her hand. And on the top of that, a pounding began in her head.  

As she clutched her head in her hands, Adrien reached over. “Hey, are you okay? Do you need anything?” he asked.  

But Marinette could not hear him over the incessant buzzing in her ears. Breathing had never felt so difficult, it was as if something was blocking her trachea.  

Adrien could see Marinette gasping for breath, and shaking uncontrollably, and it scared him. What was happening to this girl? It took him a moment to snap out of his fixation, but then he got up and picked Marinette up in his arms, rushing to the nurse's office, ignoring all the odd looks he could feel on him in the corridors.  

The nurse injected a mild tranquillizer into Marinette's blood. It took effect pretty soon, and soon Marinette had drifted off into a dreamless slumber.  

“It looks like your friend over here has had an anxiety attack,” the nurse explained to Adrien. “Is she under medications for such attacks?”  

Adrien simply looked on with bewilderment.  

Either he is too stressed out to comprehend my words right now, thought the nurse, or he seriously has never heard of an anxiety attack. Deciding on the former, she went on, more gently, “Has she ever had spells like this before?”  

Adrien looked down, his expression guilty. “I-I don't know. I don't spend much time with her.”  

The nurse shook her head. “Well, I am guessing by how freaked out she was when you brought her in that she is as unacquainted with these attacks as you are, young man. Whatever be it, I need to contact her parents. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you said?” The nurse asked as she scrolled through the student records on her computer.  

Adrien nodded.  

“I assure you that your friend will be okay, you may take your leave if you have classes you need to be at now.”  

Adrien took a glance at his watch. His class had started fifteen minutes ago. Since he was late anyway...  

“No,” he confidently lied to the nurse. “I don't have any classes for another hour.”  

“Fine,” obliged the nurse. “Do keep the young lady company while I go call up her parents.” Adrien silently sank down on the edge of the bed Marinette was asleep on. As he stared at her face, he noticed how ill she looked. The colour had faded from her cheeks, and dark bags hung under her eyes. What could have been so terrible that upset this amazing girl like this?  

Marinette's parents came in some time later. Adrien noticed the stark difference in their appearances. While Marinette's mother, who looked and dressed Chinese, was a small woman like her daughter, Marinette's father could aptly be called a giant of a man. They seemed like very nice people, by the way they talked to the nurse. Mrs Cheng assured the nurse that her daughter did not have any history of anxiety attacks. In that case, the nurse advised them, they should get their daughter a professional check-up at the earliest. They thanked the woman for her help and turned to leave.  

As Mrs Cheng left the room with her daughter leaning onto her, still not quite awake, Mr Dupain stopped at the door. He turned to look at Adrien standing there, and Adrien couldn't help but be intimidated. But Mr Dupain had the kindest of expressions on his face as he grabbed Adrien's hand and firmly shook it. “Thank you for taking care of my little girl,” he whispered gratefully.  

Adrien was surprised to know that the huge man could speak in so low a voice. “It was a pleasure,” he smiled in acknowledgement.  

After he left, Adrien wondered if he had even done anything that special to receive such warm gratitude. “Taking care of” Mr Dupain had said. Funny, thought Adrien, for anyone would probably have done the same if a friend went through something like that in front of them. Nevertheless, Adrien decided that the Dupain-Chengs were probably affectionate people by blood.  

[shima-draws]

And now, to end the year off!! With my 2019 art summary uvu

I think I came a really long way this year, I’ve improved a lot and I’m really proud of my progress so!

Last few years are under the cut for comparison!

Looking at 2015 every year it just gets WORSE LMAO but it’s so nice to see how drastically my art has changed since then c:

And now time for a rehash of this year, as per tradition~

January

PMD TIME...I think I was right in the middle of my PSMD playthrough, and of course these two had my heart and always will...it was a really fun playthrough!

February

ELIAS AND GIFRE’S 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!! You can see them in February of 2017, too, when I drew them for the first time! My favorite kids

March

Ah, yes...when I finally got back into Mother 3 :’D It became Claus Time for me again essentially LMAO 

April

It’s been tradition since 2016 to draw an anniversary piece for Mom 3, so of course I had to include this year’s! Unfortunately since it’s a long vertical piece I couldn’t really fit the whole thing into that square (so Claus is cut out :’0) but it still turned out really nice I think!

May

YUJIKIRI TIME BABEY!! I watched season 3 of SAO and that was it. I was a goner. These two are so perfect together, please just let them be happy sOB

June

I didn’t actually do a lot for June other than tons of pride icon requests, so I decided to go with when I designed Ikaia!! He’s baby. 

July

I fell back into Gravity Falls HARD lmao and it was so good to come back after like three years of being away. I got really into Timestuck fics back in July and so I drew some Timestuck kids!!

August

August was when I came up with the concept for The Time Marauder, as well as my designs for Emilio and Alekos!! This is the first original thing I’ve done in a while outside of ATS, so it was really refreshing to work on something brand new. I LOVE THESE KIDS SO MUCH

September

It was REALLY hard for me to pick just one piece for September because that was a month where I did a LOT of really good art;; but I settled on Diodeshipping because 1. I love them and 2. it was appropriate since I was right in the middle of rewatching XY back then!

October

OTGW time...I redrew a really old piece (the one for October 2015, actually!) and it was crazy to see my progress!

November

The time when PnF struck, and the rest is history...this is still one of my favorite artworks, I really love Perry and the boys, so much :’0c

December

I had a lot to choose from in December as well but I settled with the Secret Santa gift I made for my pal Kourt because I REALLY liked how it turned out! I don’t do complex backgrounds like this often so it was a lot of fun to experiment. And I love Lapis and Peridot!

Anyway I’d just like to say thank you to all of you again for sticking with me and watching me grow this year...it’s meant so much, and I’m SO grateful. This year I graduated college and I hit 15k followers on here so a lot of wonderful things have happened, and I just. THANK YOU for your support! I honestly couldn’t have reached this point without you guys. I hope you stick with me in 2020 as well! New decade, new beginnings right? :’D

[beanfic]

S’mores

Pairing: ?? :)

Word count: 2357

Warnings: Language and anxiety attacks

Author’s note: This is really long, and also part 1 of a 2 (maybe 3, we’ll see) part one-shot! I hope you enjoy :) (this is also my first time writing these tropes so hopefully I did them justice!)

“You really need to stop looking at all the negative things about Tyler and focus on the positive!” your best friend, Y/F/N, lectured you. You rolled your eyes dramatically as you shoved your duffel bag full of clothes into the back of her car.

“There aren’t any positives!” you snapped as you slammed the trunk down harder than you intended. “I don’t like Tyler, he doesn’t like me. I also happen to hate camping.”

“C’ mon Y/N, it’s Josh’s and I’s birthday weekend. Please just try to have a good time.”

“I still can’t believe you started dating someone with the same birthday as you, isn’t that like bad luck or something?” you crossed your arms and pouted.

“Negative, negative, negative.” Y/F/N shook her finger at you and pretended to take a bite. She quickly redrew her finger letting out a little scream.

“When are they going to be here?” you asked her. She raised her apple watch to her face and shrugged.

“They should have been here five minutes ago.”

“Who’s driving?”

“Tyler.”

“No wonder they’re late,” you groaned but Y/F/N slapped your arm making you wince in pain. “Sorry! I’ll try to be positive.”

“Let me see a smile,” she demanded as she turned to face you. You turned your lips up into a sarcastic smile. “Close enough, oh and there they are!”

You turned around to see Tyler driving tan Honda and Josh was in the passenger seat waving out in the window. They pulled up into the driveway and Josh immediately hopped out of the car to wrap his arms around Y/F/N. You watched Josh pull her into a kiss so you turned around to avoid throwing up.

“Save it for inside the tent,” Tyler joked as he slowly got out the driver’s side. He locked his car and looked up at you. You quickly looked away as you realized you were staring at him. “Hi, Y/N.”

“Hi,” you mumbled. You turned around and started to walk towards the car until you hear footsteps behind you that got louder and faster. You flipped your head to see Josh running at you in full speed. His hand grabbed the passenger door handle.

“Shotgun!” he shouted. “Hi, Y/N.”

“Hi Josh,” you narrowed your eyes. “Y/F/N, who gets shotgun? Your best friend or this dumb boy?”

Y/F/N giggled, “Josh, you know that we can’t put Y/N and Tyler in the back together. The negativity might kill us.”

Josh raised his hands, “Alright, alright! Fair point.”

“I’m not the negative one,” Tyler mumbled.

“Yes, you are,” you argued.

“Even if I am it doesn’t even come close to how negative you always are!”

“Shut up, Joseph.”

“You’re rude, too.” Tyler took a step towards you but Josh quickly put his body between you two.

“Guys, please just try to get along this weekend, please do it for your best friends,” Josh pleaded. You looked over at Tyler and flashed one of those sarcastic smiles that you had been practicing.

“Hurry up and get your bags in the car so we can get a move on!” Y/F/N honked the horn making both Josh and Tyler hurry back to their car to transfer the bags and suitcases they had brought. You noticed that Tyler had his Ukulele case, which you weren’t entirely disappointed about, his voice was nice to listen too.

“Let’s do this!” Josh shouted gleefully from the backseat after ten minutes of playing Tetris with the bags in the trunk. They now piled all the way to the top, making Y/F/N unable to even see out of the back. Which was like, dangerous, but also who doesn’t enjoy living on the edge. Right?

About thirty minutes into the trip and after one Taco Bell stop and three Queen songs Y/F/N turned down the music and gripped the steering wheel with nervousness. She looked back at the boys through the rearview mirror before looking over at you.

“Is everything okay?” you asked.

“We didn’t want to tell you this before we left because we knew you wouldn’t come but we need to talk about the sleeping situation,” she spoke softly and carefully. Your eyes widened and then narrowed back together.

“What do you mean sleeping situation? We have that figured out, the girls and guys, right? Tell me I’m right, Y/F/N.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N, but Josh and I are going to share a tent since it's our birthday weekend and you and Tyler can share a tent. They’re big tents though! It’ll be okay!”

“No!” you screamed. You slouched far down into your seat and slid your sweatshirt hood over your head and pulled the strings tight to make it cinch around your face.

“Trust me, I’m not happy about it either but I’m also a good friend unlike you,” Tyler snapped.

“I am a good friend!” you yelled back but not moving from your position. Instead, you reached over and turned the radio back up so it drowned out everyone else's voice.

After what seemed like hours you all pulled up to the campsite. Tree trunks surrounded you as they stood up tall creating an umbrella of dark green leaves. They fluttered in the wind and the smell of nature, the fertilized grass and the sappy trees, fill your nose as you stepped out of the car. You stretched your arms and legs.

Tyler and Josh both set up the two tents while you and Y/F/N started to build a fire. This wasn’t your two first time camping, in fact, it was your guys 24th time. Ever since you two were little your families, who were close friends, would go camping together for Memorial Weekend but then it slowly turned into a birthday camping trip for Y/F/N. Once you both reached highschool you two would invite your friends at school, and same with the college, but last year it changed.

Last year she met Josh, and he was now the one who came on the camping trip, and Tyler gets to come along. You were glad that your friends weren’t coming after what happened last year but that’s a story for another time.

“Who’s ready for smores?” Josh called out and you looked over at Y/F/N who was holding up a bag of marshmallows and chocolate smiling.

“Hell, yeah!” you call out, clapping your hands together in excitement. Smores was your favorite part of camping. You pull up your chair in front of the fire and grab one of the sticks.

“Here’s a marshmallow,” Y/F/N handed you fluffy, plump one and you stuck in the fire just enough so it browned.

“Can someone hand me a graham cracker, please?” you asked and both Josh and Y/F/N looked over at Tyler who was holding the box.

“Oh, one of these?” he smirked at you.

“Tyler, please! My marshmallow is going to melt off!” you looked down at your crisp treat that was slowly sliding down the stick.

“Here,” he rolled his eyes as he finally gave up the cracker for you. You placed the chocolate you already had on side and then slid the marshmallow in between. The first bite was delicious, and you couldn’t help to suppress a moan.

“Are you having sex with that   or something?” Y/F/N joked as you blushed.

“It’s good!” you laughed but all you could focus on was Tyler’s gaze looking at you. You wanted to look over at him, but for some reason, your stomach started to flutter.

“Who wants to tell the first scary story?” Josh asked and Tyler raised his hand. The next thirty minutes were spent with Tyler attempting to tell a scary story about boy scout camp and a monster called ‘The Knot’. Josh kept interrupting to correct Tyler and you eventually gave up with listening. You started to focus on how Tyler’s lips moved more than the words that were coming out of them.

He would bite his lips a lot in between sentences, he must do that when he was thinking. Sometimes his lips would turn up into a small smile, and his brown eyes had the reflection of the fire flickering in them. His tattoo on his wrist would show when he reached his stick into the fire. You couldn’t look away.

“You okay, Y/N?” Y/F/N asked, snapping your attention back to the present time. You nodded sheepishly and stared down at the ground. You hoped that Tyler didn’t notice that you were staring at him, in fact, you hoped that no one saw you staring.

You didn’t want to stare, and you didn’t want to feel these feelings but for some reason, they were coming on strong. You didn’t like it. Tyler infuriated you. He made you feel bad, but also his smile and his voice made you feel warm inside. Your thoughts got so contradictory that it started to make you hyperventilate and panic. Without thinking you stand up and start to walk to the tent.

“I’m going to bed, I don’t feel good,” you whispered. You didn’t look back but Tyler’s next comment made you stop in your tracks.

“What was my story too scary for you? Don’t worry I’ll be in there soon to come to cuddle.” You didn’t even have to look at him to know he was smirking.

“Don’t be a dick, Ty,” Josh mumbled. You continued walking to your tent and shoved yourself inside. You sat on top of your sleeping back and blanket and held your knees close to your body. You tried to regain your breathing but for some reason, tears came instead.

Were you having an anxiety attack?

You repeatedly told yourself to breathe over and over, and you tried to focus on the sounds outside. You could hear Josh, Tyler, and Y/F/N still laughing and talking, and there was the crackling of the fire, the rustling of leaves, and the wind blowing.

You eventually decided to get up and get changed before Tyler got into the tent. You threw off your sweatshirt and jeans and slid on an oversized Queen T-shirt and sweatpants. It was cold at first but you shuffled into your sleeping bag and cuddled up with the three blankets you brought.

You tried to close your eyes so you could fall asleep but every time Josh’s would laugh it would wake you right back up again. Your thoughts kept on going back to Tyler’s lips. You wondered how they would feel on yours. How they would taste.

No. You can’t be thinking like this. It would never happen anyways. Tyler hates you, and you hate Tyler. You did hate Tyler, right?

The sound of the tent flap unzipping makes you wake up from a dream that you did not remember. You could tell Tyler had stopped moving, and you wondered if he was looking at you. You slowly turned over to look at him, and he quickly looked away.

Was he staring at you?

“What time is it?” you mumbled as you closed your eyes again.

“Around 1 in the morning,” he responded. “I’m going to change so keep your eyes closed.”

“I wouldn’t want to look anyways,” you snapped back but you instantly felt guilty. You wished you could stop feeling like this. The sound of his jeans unzipping and the shuffling of clothes made thoughts come to your head that you knew you should not be thinking. You squeezed your eyes shut even harder to try to push those obscene thoughts away.

Tyler’s foot accidentally kicked your side as he slid into his sleeping bag and it made you yelp.

“Oh, sorry!” he whispered.

“It’s okay, I guess these tents are smaller than we thought.”

“Yeah, goodnight Y/N.” His voice was soft, and you didn’t even know how to respond at first to something nice.

“Goodnight,” you whispered back. You were facing away from him but you could tell he was facing you. His breath was hot on your neck. You focused on the sound of his breath going in and out, and soon you found yourself drifting asleep with Tyler laying right behind you.

You shot up with terror as you heard a crash outside your tent. You looked over at Tyler who had both his hands above his head and his mouth was open while he was fast asleep. He was a funny sleeper, but you were too panicked to focus on that right now.

“Tyler!” you shook his shoulder to wake him.

“W-what!?” he sputtered, looking around.

“I heard something outside, I think it’s a bear!” your voice cracked as panic ran through your veins. You were shaking and you couldn’t control your breath.

“What? Y/N, are you crazy?” Tyler sat up more and rubbed his eyes. He looked at you and noticed that you were crying. “Hey, Y/N it’s okay.”

“I’m sorry, this is so pathetic it’s just I heard-” you were interrupted by another crash. “That!”

“Holy, what the hell was that!?” Tyler screamed as he scooted closer to you.

“Is that growling?” you asked and both you and Tyler listened closer but then came an even louder crash and growl. You jumped and so did Tyler, and you didn’t even notice that Tyler’s arm wrapped around your body. “Tyler?” you asked softly, looking at his arm. His eyes widened as he quickly removed his arm.

“Sorry, instinct I guess,” he chuckled softly. You could tell he was embarrassed.

“Go out there and check if it’s a bear! We need to make sure Josh and Y/F/N are safe!” you instructed him and he nodded.

“If I don’t come back, tell Josh I love him.”

“Will do.” You held your blanket around your body as you watched Tyler disappear out the tent. You waited anxiously but the sound of Tyler screaming curse words made you tense up.

“Jesus Christ!” Tyler cursed as he found his way back into the tent.

“What was it?”

“  wasn’t a bear, just Josh and Y/F/N doing the nasty.”

“Seriously? That’s disgusting,” you sighed. “At least it’s not a bear. That scared me so bad, my heart is still racing.”

“Mine too.” Tyler got back into his sleeping bag but this time it was closer to you. You slid down too and tested the boundaries of how close you could sleep to him. You thought about how his first instinct was to protect you. His arm was warm around your shoulder, and you wanted to feel that again.

“I’m still scared,” you whispered.

“Hm?” Tyler mumbled.

“I can’t get my heart to calm down to sleep.”

“Is this okay?” Tyler asked as he wrapped his arm back around your waist and he pulled his body up close to you. The warmth of his back instantly made you catch your breath.

“Yeah,” you whispered quietly so that it was barely audible. You didn’t understand what was happening. This was not the Tyler you knew, was it? Did he feel the same way?

[escherenigmart]

Inktober 2019 Retrospective

This is mostly for my own benefit.  Fair warning, I slipped into “self assessment at work” mode, so the language is a bit odd.  A reminder, I have no formal art training, but do have formal engineering training.

So read on if you want my thoughts on my own work.  Or, y’know look away.

Summary

My goal was to “finish” Inktober, posting 31 fully inked drawings over the course of the month.  A secondary goal was to use and practice with the shiny new Copic markers my dearly beloved, @godsdamnednamethieves, gifted me back in September.

I achieved both these objectives, and while there were some rough patches, and many nights where I stayed up far later then I should have, I’d say it went fairly well.  It was helped that I took a week-long “staycation” in the middle of the month.

That said, there is clearly room for improvement in my art, time-management, and process.  It is my next objective, moving forward, to incorporate what I have learned, about my self-discipline, art, and tools, into a stable plan that promotes growth.

Onto specific issues.

Tools

For Inktober 2019, I used three sketchbooks, Pilot’s “color eno” mechanical colored pencils, gummy erasers (I’ve had them so long I don’t know the brand), my Copic Multiliners, and my Copic Sketch markers.

Sketchbooks:

Adhesive pinding, flip-on-short edge.  This was the book I started on, and has been my primary sketchbook this year. The pages were already tearing out infrequently, but once I got started in Inktober this accelerated and many pages tore out.  Would not recommend.

Slightly yellow paper, bound with thread in smaller numbers.  For Inktober I just used this to keep sketch ideas and play with layouts, and did not put any “final” illustrations in it.  It lays flat on the scanner, and no pages have torn out.  I’ve been very happy with this style of book, and plan to continue with this style for my future sketchbooks.

Hard-bound thick paper, thread-bound and glued to the hardback.  About a week into October I ordered a new sketchbook, and ordered this one.  Thick paper, holds the colored ink well, looks nice.  Does not easily lay flat for scanning or drawing, though this was mitigated by leaving more margins.

The colored pencils worked well enough, though I quickly discovered that colored pencils and Copic markers do not play well together.  This led to me refining my technique and relying less on detailed pencil sketches before I began inking.  Need to order more light blue lead, as that is the color I go through fastest by far.

Multiliners are still a hit-and-miss.  My 0.3 multi-liner from the B-2 pack had the nib fall out, and from what I can tell that style of marker/pen/whatever can not have the nib replaced.  My 0.3 Multiliner SP wound up being my work horse pen, though I also used my 0.1 Multiliner for fine detail, and my 0.8 and 1.0 for borders and some lettering.  Oddly, before my 0.3 multliner failed me for the last time, it was reliably giving narrower lines from the 0.3 multiliner SP.  I don’t know if this was just a lead-up to the nib-failure, or if there’s a bigger difference between the SP and the pens from teh B-2 pack.  But even beyond that, the SP feels nicer in my hand, and was more reliable.  When I need new pens, I’ll probably bite the bullet and get more of the SP variety.

Copic Sketch markers.  This was mostly a learning experience, figuring out what works, what doesn’t, how to use them, and so-on.  Overall I’m very happy, but I’m still very bad at choosing colors.  I repeatedly went to my husband to make color choices for me, often to great effect.  So if you like my color choices, give him the credit.  If you think my color choices are awful, give me the blame.  A few things that bothered me were that I noticed some of my drawing picking up little splotches or dots far away from where I was working.  This is particularly notable on the “Warrior of the Beach” picture.  My theory is that either I’m getting ink on my hand, then transferring it to the page when I rest it, or that when I’m putting caps on/pulling caps off, I’m sending little droplets of ink flying.

A few of my markers gave me a little trouble, but I’m not sure if it’s just because I don’t know what I’m doing or because I really did use W1 and C1 that much.  I need to get a small scale so I can see if they’re actually low on ink or if I’m just a noob.

Process

The days where I was most happy with my work was when I had an idea, toyed with layout in my sketchbook, and then redrew the whole thing.  When I was least happy was often when I floundered about with no ideas, and then tried to draw something, anything, around 9 pm.

What this means (to me) is that I’m still relying too much on “inspiration” rather then discipline, which is a long-term problem.

Beyond that,taking the time/luxury of a full sketch (in a different book) to plan layout, workshopping text with the hubby, and splitting up inking from coloring (by hours or days) improved the quality of my work.  Even still, some of the pieces I’m very happy with had little to no planning.

For example, “Ripe” was done with basically no planning.  After deciding to do a dude doing pull-ups, I started on the text on the bottom with a ruler.  About half-way through drawing the dude I decided to make it Dave.  At some point I hit the “clever” idea of making it an immovable rod instead of a mundane pull-up bar.  And then I cursed myself, because I came up with a better text layout, “Immovable Rod, Ripe Bod”, but it was too late to use it.

The Art Itself

The big part.

Some days I was very happy.  Some days I floundered (can you guess which category my “pattern” piece falls into?).  Overall though, I think I showed improvement, both in line-work and color-work, over the month.  That said, “Mindless” and “Bait” still make me very happy.

I also realized that I strangely enjoy text.  Whether it was using little banners, comic-style speech and narration boxes, borders and fancy fonts, it was a lot of fun and helped contextualize the pieces.  Incorporating text is definitely something I want to continue to do.

Playing around with layouts, borders, framing was also unexpectedly fun.  The later pieces where I restricted my “work area” with borders I think turned out much better for the limitation, with the framing devices often helping tell the story.  In comparison, pieces like “Overgrown” or the early “freeze” and “build”, don’t have a firm ending, and felt lacking to me.

Flaws: hands, feet, and legs in general.  And as much as I enjoyed playing with layouts and borders, I can’t use that as an excuse to not draw feet and more complicated leg positions.  I clearly need to spend more time doing simple figure sketches, both whole-body and specific body parts.

Conclusion

Inktober was great, if time permits, I’ll probably do it again next year.  But probably not the “full marathon”, dropping down to “half marathon” so I don’t stay up quite so late.

Also, I need to do a nicer illustration of Xanadeux.  She’s only got that one panel.  She needs more love.

[ailuroscorvus]

So, if you’ve been reading my tags, you might have noticed me talking a bit about the fact I got back into drawing recently. Since then I’ve been aiming to do three sketches every day and yesterday I got a calendar and stickers with the intention of setting up a reward thing for every day I did just that. And since I’d messaged my sibling the first day of my daily sketches I was able to go back and mark when I’d started up until I got the calendar. And I noticed I’d been able to keep up with the whole daily sketches thing for a month. So in celebration, I’m showing them all off here.

first page! I was so proud of myself. when I started I actually didn’t have an eraser which was a bit annoying lol. I got one by the third day though, so the dunsparce was my first picture where I could clean it up a bit. also I was using Pokemon Go as my main reference for pokemon (and sometimes XY), but I didn’t know how to take pictures of pokemon in it until the horsea pic lol.

around this time I acquired some markers with the intention of finishing up at least some of my pictures (I prefer finishing them up on my computer, but my tablet needs a new cord, so for now I can’t do that) but I found they bled through my pages more than I liked so I haven’t really used them since. So my pics will remain unfinished until I can get a new tablet cord (which might actually be soonish, since I’ve figured out what cord I need. just need to find the time to get one)

around this time I realized that I could use Let’s Go as reference for first gen pokemon and started using that for pokemon I didn’t have in Go yet. also redrew Castform which let me see how much I’d improved. this was also the two week mark of how long I’d been doing my daily drawings, and I remember how happy I was to realize that.

I started getting more confidant at this point, and made a point of drawing some pokemon designs I’d been a bit intimidated by before (like the nidorans, poochyena, charmander, and to an extent ekans). didn’t want to do that constantly though since I knew I often have issues if I tackle stuff too difficult for me, since that often led to me deciding my art sucked and I should just quit in the past. I’ve been able to avoid that so far currently thankfully, even when I’m not entirely happy with how my sketches come out. I guess I’m just getting better at reminding myself that even if the drawing didn’t turn out how I wanted, the most important part is that I’m having fun with it ^^

not as much challenging myself here, in part because I saw my nephew around now and while I love him dearly, being around him can be rather tiring and that tends to carry over to the day afterwards too.

oh hey, I finally started drawing non-pokemon stuff lol. part of that was PMD RTDX being announced, and I was stuck on that for a few days (starting with the skitty and chikorita, ending with the makuhita) part of it was me seeing advice on how to draw straight lines and wanting to test it, and another part was me getting back into neko atsume.

also a few drawings I know I made while that last page was being worked on, but I’m not completely sure when (I know it was after the skitty and chikorita drawing, since the first one is meant to be my RTDX hero in her human form and was done on the same day as them)

they were drawn on a seperate page since I wanted to be able to keep track of my daily sketches and since I was doing a set amount every day, I could do so by counting them (probably won’t do that from now on since I have the calendar). the first drawing of Kay was really good for my confidence in drawing humans, since it helped remind me that I don’t have to make my pictures of humans realistic/serious to look nice ^^

and my most recent page! the crow was an experiment/study for me (wanted to figure out more about how feathers work. since drawing wings can be pretty fun, and I have a race I’ve created that I’ll need to know how to draw feathers to depict them well) and I think it turned out pretty okay. also starting at the espeon, I started using pokemon models I downloaded on my computer as my main references. also the drawing of a human here is that first one I used a pose reference for, which I really think helped a lot with how well she came out ^^

so anyways, that’s all I’ve done so far! it’s nice to have an excuse to look back and see my improvement in just a month. I’ll try to keep it up and get even better ^^

[kayliapickfairy]

So I saw others do this on other social media, and I've never done this before but it was interesting! XD I swear I've switched the middle row three times trying to get it right > -< Anywho- So January I wanted to set out and do a piece about roses and try to incorporate my new logo.. which was a weird logo I came up with and later changed later on. February I set out to make valentine cards, so I make pony ones and vocaloid ones. March, I apparently made no art as it seems from my gallery and April I only drew that one friendship print. Which I redrew if you guys want to check that out, it's in my recent gallery. May was my first fan art of SU, though I should have done more. June was my first mlp print, I believe, and I wanted it to be CMC No Evils. July was my first Artfight, which I made about seven attacks, one being a friendly fire. August I drew this piece as a vent really, and kinda finished it out of obligation. September I drew one of my first character badges, Sailor Mercury which I'm pretty proud of. October I drew up the "Woman in __" Series, at least two of the four piece series. November I drew this great landscape piece I'm pretty proud of. December I finished up with this redraw of Weeping Rose, and I love how it turned out. And my new logo ish in the corner, incase no one noticed that I've used for the past few months. Overall this year has been pretty productive and I look forward to doing more next year, hopefully. Thanks to everyone who has been along with for the journey, and for those just joining along- thanks to you as well! Happy New Year! January~ https://www.deviantart.com/pickfairy/art/Roses-Amongst-The-Stars-Original-Art-725971256 February~ https://www.deviantart.com/pickfairy/art/Valentine-Special-Card-Rin-Kagamine-730418452 March~ No artwork was produced (oof) April~ https://www.deviantart.com/pickfairy/art/Shared-Path-Friendship-Sketch-Like-Piece-742901412 May~ https://www.deviantart.com/pickfairy/art/First-Form-Garnet-Print-First-Fan-art-of-SU-743606138 June~ https://www.deviantart.com/pickfairy/art/MLP-Print-Cmc-No-Evils-748381475 July~ https://www.deviantart.com/pickfairy/art/Plushie-Eevee-Tea-Bag-752629861 August~ https://www.deviantart.com/pickfairy/art/A-flight-through-the-forest-Vent-art-757874016 September~ https://www.deviantart.com/pickfairy/art/Charrie-Badge-Sailor-Mercury-763708696 October~ https://www.deviantart.com/pickfairy/art/Original-Art-Woman-in-Green-769687432 November~ https://www.deviantart.com/pickfairy/art/Original-Art-Grass-Under-The-Sun-771122687 December~ https://www.deviantart.com/pickfairy/art/Weeping-Rose-2018-Redraw-776534442

[maiji]

Process and wip images for A House That Holds Long Limbs (Part 4)

Previous process and wip documentation: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3

Read the pages for part 4 here (full complete version will be linked from YYH North Bound master post)

This is a rare glimpse into how I tackle action scenes!! It’s rare because I rarely do it. Action is honestly one of the hardest things for me to draw, and as I’m sure I’ve said here many times before, I have the utmost respect for shounen manga artists whose works are steeped in them. It’s a really impressive skill to be able to do it well - to create a cinematic, dynamic sense of motion that doesn’t dissolve into visual confusion and incomprehensibleness.

This was as interesting for me to document my thought process as it hopefully is for you to read and discover what the heck was going on in my head (a big honking mess, that’s what). There was much screaming and crying while working on this hahaha.

Aside from Hokushin’s beautiful face (lmao), Part 4 is packed with things I don’t usually draw. Specifically: action, things taking place in the dark, and corpses. For things taking place in the dark, I heavily referenced the dark room rounds from the tournament for Genkai’s successor in volume 4, because it involves action and Togashi used practically zero screentones in it and I didn’t want to either. For the dead rokurokubi, I looked up photos of skulls and drew on my memory of various horror comics I’ve read, like Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. (At one point I also googled photos of rotting skulls, but TBH I didn’t really want to spend a lot of time looking at detailed photographic references of corpse and decomposing bodies for obvious reasons, especially as I usually work on these comics late at night before I go to bed. The last thing I need is for images to get stuck in my brain when I’m sleeping.)

The rest of this post focuses mainly on action and redrawing things.

Script

The original script for this section actually ran a little further in the story than what’s shown here, but in order to convey the sequence effectively, I ended up stretching a number of key moments out and have booted the later ones to be completed for Part 5.

Thumbnails

In the thumbnails above, you’ll notice quite a few are redraws of the same page as I struggle - pages 31-33 repeat immediately in the rows after, page 37 was attempted three times, etc.

Page count growth

A script of 8 pages turned into 10 pages at the thumbnail stage, and then ultimately netted out at 12 pages in the final version that was posted. As you can see, effective action sequences generally take me more pages than I think they will. With an exception (documented below).

Thumbnailing/storyboarding things out should theoretically minimize the page count creep! But because I tend to treat my thumbnails as such a loose stage (to avoid later disappointment when I can’t recreate it as nicely in the final page), I rush through them. Unfortunately, action sequences require me to think a lot more carefully through the scene as a director - staging the shot and the experience of the motion and coordinating people’s limbs and all the items in the scene more carefully and whatnot than, say, just a couple of heads talking. So inevitably, when I rush to get ahead to the finished pages, that’s when I realize it doesn’t flow as well as I was imagining (or not really imagining it).

As a result, the actual “live” pages turn into constant mental checks and runthroughs of the panels, realizing it’s not flowing as well as I’d like, and restarting. By restarting I mean mentally reenvisioning the sequence, sometimes quickly doodling alternate thumbnails (I didn’t bother in this case, so I have no alternate examples from after I started redrawing), and erasing and redrawing and adding pages. I guess I could probably avoid this if I just stop and put more time into thinking through the thumbnails… but it seems like I end up revising no matter what. So, constant juggling forever.

The evolution of the key action sequence

In my head, the main sequence was:

Hokushin lands.

He gets up and feels something in the dark.

He discovers the rokurokubi corpse.

He turns around to discover a swarm of hands in the dark!

Ahhh hands!! Ahhhh!!

Then he gets sealed and stringed up. End action sequence, back to people standing - or hanging out, I guess - and talking.

I roughed out my panels and pencils for all the pages following my thumbnails instead of doing one page at a time, because I’m impatient and also tend to think of all the pages as a wholistic narrative and then drilling down to the details on each page (big to small perspective).

As I went back over each page and detailing the base pencil art more, I began noticing more issues with the flow of the action and the pagination. Things started really shifting and changing at point 4. Here’s essentially how my thinking played out as I drew:

He turns around to discover a swarm of hands in the dark! - WAIT he just sees the corpse and then turns around? I should have him sense something is behind him first to get you more into his head and experience. OK, insert another panel of him sensing and whatever. THEN he can turn around. This is also good because I can erase the panel where he’s turning around and give the first panel a bit more room so I can draw more of his body in the first one and make his startled falling back motion a bit clearer.

HANDS!! AHHH HANDS!! - Wait, I have hands coming from BEHIND him and don’t effectively show that before they just appear to grab his hair. Which I suppose they do, but when I review panel flow it seems jarring, like a poorly directed cut and something was missing. Let’s try adding some hands behind him in the panel where he looks shocked. Never mind, this looks dumb and he looks dumb and basically seems even more like an afterthought. Ooh, better idea: let’s have him dodge the first wave of hands. That’ll be kinda cool and more interesting. And then he can land and be like OH SHIT MORE HANDS FROM EVERY DIRECTION

Ahhh hands!! Ahhhh!! - Hmm, maybe I should add a page here to better capture his dodge sequence. So the panels will be hands, dodge, and then the next page is he lands, then he realizes there are more hands behind him. How crouched down should he be? I guess in the later pages I basically drew him in a practically fully upright position… eh.. Working this out...

*starts drawing extra page* … Mmm, thinking about this again, no. It stretches things out too much. Now it feels like he lands, the new page adds an extra pause that could be interpreted unconsciously as he thinks he’s ok, then he gets attacked by hands from behind. But that’s ridiculous because he’s a rokurokubi, he KNOWS the hands can come back around or whatever, and he’s a good and cautious fighter, the extra pause doesn’t seem to fit. Thinking this through, basically I need it to feel faster - he lands (typed “he hands” there first time around haha), and he doesn’t have a chance to react again before it turns out hands are coming from all directions. So, I’ll keep it to the one original page and draw the reaction to the sound of the hands coming from everywhere. Done. (one of the few instances where I reduce page count in an action sequence)

Oh yeah, I forgot about his arms and legs getting sealed. Er, add another page. OK done.

For comparison, below are photos of the pencils for pages 35 and 36 before the above process:

... and after:

Redraws

I generally try to avoid redrawing an entire image/page from scratch if I don’t have to.  Even if I don’t like the overall drawing, I’m still terrified of effing up the parts that turned out OK the first time around. However, sometimes you gotta know when to cut your losses and start anew and save yourself time and grief (I’m definitely still learning how to know lol). I do have a few strategies to ease my mind - I often take photos of something before I proceed to the next step or change direction (which is where many of these wip photos come from). This helps calm me down because at least now I have a reference for what it was before I took the leap of faith to move forward. Another option is to just leave it and draw on a completely new blank page.

Page 37, where Hokushin is getting his head pulled back by the hands, was an incredibly rare instance of the pencils for a page turning out almost exactly how I wanted on the first try, so I was loathe to redraw or adjust it. This means I basically forced myself to shuffle things before and after to accommodate not having to change it.

On the flipside, page 40, where the shot backs away so you can see Hokushin tied up with the hands, is one I full-on redrew from scratch. I was having a hard time with his pose and how all the hands were wrapped around him and how everything was actually working. I wasn’t happy with the drawing the first time around, but inked it anyways to see if I would like it better the next morning (sometimes this works, to wait and look at it with a distanced frame of mind). Spoiler, I didn’t lol. However, the process of inking the entire thing helped me better hone in on what parts I liked and didn’t like, so when I sketched it out again I was better able to adjust.

This photo shows the original (with the words REDRAW :/ at the bottom), a sketch I did trying to figure out his posture and where all the hands were/how the wrapping actually worked, and then the pencils of the redraw.

Final miscellaneous things

The end page of Part 4 is once again a last minute addition that resulted because I was facing a blank page (again!) after adding the page where Hokushin gets his arms and legs sealed. I changed the spoken line multiple times. First it was a line that’s been pushed to the upcoming part 5, then it was the “You certainly found my “treasure room” quickly” (that’s on the previous page). In the end, I just wrote a completely new line for it. It seemed to work better with the panel and closing off this part at a good point.

Last but not least, I somehow broke my pen inking this part lmao. Fortunately it’s a Muji pen so I only broke the tip off the cartridge somehow, probably in my intense scribbling/shading at some point. It’s not super clear in the photo but if you look closely at the point you’ll see this thin line coming out of the tip of the pen - it was this metal filament that basically scratched the paper without any ink coming out. I had to make an emergency run to two Mujis, neither of which had the black refills, so I ended up just buying two pens with similar thicknesses. Worst case scenario, I would have just inked with my blue cartridge, since the scanning would turn everything black and white anyways... the original pages would have just looked weird.

Phew! Hopefully it worked out and isn’t a totally incoherent mess!

[iolite-sunstone-blog]

I didn’t plan to do this, but seeing other’s work inspired me. Out of these 12 I’ve posted 5 of these on Tumblr (February, April, May, November, December). I have mixed feelings about 2017 but hey, I’m looking forward to what 2018 will bring.

* Template Credit *

(Click to view in higher resolution)

See under the cut for each month + resolutions for 2018. (Very long read)

January - A drawing of Kidou Yuuto for a close friend of mine for their birthday. It’s a scene from a fic that I also made for them, and this was within the time I had gotten back to Ina11. 

February - Again, birthday art but this time for one of my favorite Youtubers. I had a lot of fun drawing this actually.

March - It was an entry to a group on Instagram that submitted monthly works based around a theme, and the theme of this one was a redraw. I redrew the first entry of my OC Alsteria Loretta which I submitted to the group back in May 2016 (so it’s about a 10-month difference).

April - My first OneShot fanart and also my first proper attempt at lineless art. It sticks out like a sore thumb in this art summary—but it aged well.

May - Another entry for the monthly group thing, with the theme of “mermaids” because of MerMay. This was my attempt at mixed media, with the traditional linework and digital coloring. 

June - The theme for this one was “Beach” so I drew my OC Elery Moreau with an ocean floor background that was hell to do.  Personally, I think I peaked at this point? Then my art went downhill.

July - This was for a contest on Instagram which I won third place for. It’s a drawing of Alluka and Killua Zoldyck taking a selfie but I only put Alluka in the summary up there. The characters themselves looked fine but the background was shit lol

August - The Instagram group was really the only thing that made me do digital/mixed media for a reason (if not school). The theme was “Superpowers”, so I drew three of my elementalist OCs. The one shown is Cheyenne Fleur.

September - In the group there is a collaboration month, and I collabed with mikee_mia on IG for September. The theme was “species swap”, and we swapped the species of their angel OC Carmen and my mermaid OC Kylana (the one featured in the summary). They did the art (which was on paper), and then I lined and colored it. 

October - The theme for this month was “Halloween” so I drew my OCs Valera (the one in the summary) and Zacharie trick or treating. For the entirety of October I didn’t do any digital art (I did this on the 31st,,), so I used an soft/oil pastel look which was easy.

November - Cuphead became popular around end of October to November so I did watercolors for Hilda Berg and Cala Maria. I also hadn’t done watercolors in months, but it was really nice to go with a new medium. (And I was very happy with the outcome of both!)

December - The last two OCs I made in 2017: Limoncino and Maraschino, my cupsonas (I’m a little of both). I did a lot of art for December and I could’ve chose others, but I chose this one specifically because I liked how it turned out way better than I imagined. 

I know it would’ve been better to post this at New Years Eve but hey, I wasn’t actually planning to do this in the first place. But seeing others’ art summaries inspired me.

2017 wasn’t the best for me in many aspects, including art. After I made the entry for June I just… fell out of art? I lost a lot of my passion and confidence in general. This slump of mine stopped me from doing Inktober 2017 I did the first 3 days before leaving it entirely and it stopped me from doing projects I planned for myself. I hadn’t been enjoying what I was making for a while until late October. 

These aren’t first world problems or anything. 2017 still had its good sides (this year I went to a convention after 2 years + cosplayed for the first time) I just thought about it for the past two days, and now I got my resolutions in mind. I’m heading to 2018 with a fresh start, a new found passion, and a strong drive to do my best. I hope to improve as much as I can. It sounds cliche but I do want to be able to make 2018 a great year.

One resolution relating to my art is that I want to keep this blog alive. I’ll post things every other day and maybe a bigger project or two when I can. I do want to prioritize irl things first though so yeah. (I also hope to start talking about my personal projects on here.)

TL;DR: I’m going to do my best for 2018. Hope you guys stick around!

[wionews]

'In the name of the Father'

Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism. That’s in order of the alphabet, not of preference, or greatness. These major world religions were either founded by prophets who trod the earth or, evolved through the mists of ancient mythology. And they contain one, common message: tolerance, even of those who choose another God. In terms of followers, the world’s biggest religions are Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. Then there are other small but equally global faiths, Judaism and Buddhism. The last, especially, is legendary for its consistency in preaching and largely practicing compassion.

Some choose a mosque. Others a temple. Some attend churches, others frequent synagogues.

  ×

Some choose a mosque. Others a temple. Some attend churches, others frequent synagogues. We inhabit the same cities, eat the produce of the same earth, work at similar jobs. We hang out at my place for Diwali, his for Christmas, hers for Id, yours for Rosh Hashanah. At least that’s what most thought till - it all began to change.

It’s Christians vs, Muslims, Muslims vs Jews, Buddhists vs Christians, Hindus vs Muslims today. It’s either my way or - the highway. You either worship my God or - I’ll force you to do so. Religious tolerance is yesterday’s news. Polarisation is the hallmark of today’s world. Be it in society or politics, in the classroom or the boardroom, religious intolerance is polarising the world today.

Christianity:

"One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables, let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?" That’s the Sixth Book of the New Testament - the Bible, the holy scripture for 2.2 billion people in the world ie, 31.5 per cent of the globe’s population.

But way back in the 12th century, early practitioners of the faith opened one of the worst chapters in the history of Christianity: the Inquisitions. This kind of 'portable' religious court was first held in France. It was a period marked by witch-hunt, lynching and forcible conversions.

By the end of the 14th century, hundreds of Jews were killed in Spain and later across its South American colonies. 

  ×

The intention was to prosecute Catholics who were attracted by other churches. The practice soon spread to other countries like Spain and Portugal. Those colonial powers took it to the next level. They began to hold harsh, cruel inquisitions in their colonial properties in Africa, Asia and the America. Their favourite targets were those Jews and Muslims who had converted to Christianity only to find that the Catholic colonial masters hauled them again: this time, to question their commitment.

By the end of the 14th century, mistrust had turned into deep hatred. Hundreds of Jews were killed in Spain and later across its South American colonies. 

Historians say the Portuguese were far worse. Their inquisition began in 1536 and soon, a cruel and tyrannical version moved to Brazil and - to Goa, their tiny colony on India’s West Coast. In Goa, the chief targets were Hindus and Muslims. First, there were conversions by force. Anyone who resisted was tortured or burnt alive.

Those who converted but practised Indian rituals soon faced harsh inquisitions because the slightest deviation raised doubts about their commitment to Christianity. This tyranny began in 1560 and continued for 252 years. Anyone in Goa could be tortured merely for possessing a Hindu religious symbol. In the late 1800s, the inquisitions also hunted down practitioners of witchcraft, cult-leaders and even bigamists. The horrors are depicted vividly in Guardians of The Dawn, a bestselling historical novel set in Portuguese Goa.

WION spoke to Richard Zimler, its author. "We’re talking about fundamentalists even way back then. That’s the danger and there is a need for all of us to oppose fundamentalism of any kind. The Portuguese would not allow anyone who had converted to Christianity to continue to practice their traditional religion," he says. "My book did very well in Portugal. There were some who said I was painting Portugal in a bad light but I am happy to expose the truth and fight against fundamentalism".

Mindless executions, forcible conversions, unmitigated cruelty and violence towards all who oppose them. These are the hallmarks of terror groups like the Islamic State (I.S.) today. Only their God has a different name, as does their holy book. Zimler agrees that today's violence is nothing but a repeat of the crusades.

The Inquisitions gradually stopped but - anti-semitism persisted. Indeed, hatred for Jews pervaded even literature and the fine arts and didn’t escape many of the world's greatest writers. Like William Shakespeare's clichéd caricature, that of the greedy moneylender, Shylock. Or Charles Dickens' conniving villain, Fagin. That xenophobia reached its pinnacle under Adolf Hitler.

The Holocaust is one of the worst genocides known in the history of mankind.

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In a cold-blooded and systematic operation that included instruments of torture and factories of death that boggle the mind, 6 million innocent Jewish men, women and children were killed. The Holocaust is one of the worst genocides known in the history of mankind. And three generations of Germans continue to struggle with the question: how could their forefathers have allowed Hitler and his Nazis to carry out this unbridled manslaughter?

"Crimes against humanity should never be forgotten," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel at a sombre memorial service for the victims of the Holocaust. "We have the perpetual responsibility to transmit the knowledge of the atrocities committed in the past and to keep alive their memory."

Unsurprisingly and given that murderous past, Germany and all EU member-states have grounded their constitutions firmly in the tenets of the European Convention on Human Rights. Germany has more than adhered to its own, by taking in millions of refugees fleeing from troubled countries, even economic refugees in the guise of persecution.

But is darkness really a thing of the past in Europe?   There has been a steady rise of the extreme right-wing all over the Continent again in recent years. Its graph rose upwards even and especially during a crippling recession. And when refugees on the run from the US-led war in Syria and Iraq started pouring into Europe in 2015, even Scandinavian countries with the most magnanimous asylum policies, like Sweden, began to see a rise in neo-Nazi popularity. 

Today, Europe is simmering with intolerance. Xenophobia even finds representation in various provincial parliaments. There are the Swedish Democrats, there is the Alternative for Germany, there is the Front National in France, there’s the Freedom Party in Austria which is slated to form the next coalition government.

Since the September 11 attacks in New York in 2001, there have been more than 900 terror strikes in Europe.

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And much like in the United States, there’s a new scapegoat here in Europe too: Muslims. When France’s right-wing leader Marine Le Pen was asked by a television interviewer whether Muslim people should be allowed to wear headscarves, she said, "No I am opposed to headscarves being worn in public places. France is not burqinis on the beach. France is Brigitte Bardot".

Since the September 11 attacks in New York in 2001, there have been more than 900 terror strikes in Europe. The fact that most were at the hands of Islamist terror groups like the Islamic State has only fanned the fires of religious intolerance.

Islam:

"For you is your religion, and for me is my religion". That’s what the Quran says, possibly the most hotly debated holy book of all in recent times. Islamist terrorism is wreaking havoc and spilling rivers of blood across the world. The criminals have several motives, to convert the entire world to Islam and reduce women to subservience. 

They swear by the Quran and that’s unfortunate because by doing so, they are maligning millions of tolerant Muslims too. The Quran also makes one thing very clear, "There shall be no compulsion in the religion".

So how and when did this fanaticism begin?  This unholy ‘holy war’, or ‘jehad’? Where does the Quran tell its followers to kill innocents in the name of faith? Or is everyone except Islamist terrorists, many of whom are nurtured, trained and armed by Pakistan to target India misreading the Quran?

Are millions of moderate Muslims living in La-La Land? Many scholars point to the West’s own unholy Crusades to enforce Christianity around the world. Some of the unholiest Crusades were in Islamic countries, including in the Middle East, where Islam was born.

Thirty-five years ago, the Iranian Revolution changed the fabric of Iranian society. But it also changed the geopolitics of the Middle East and redrew the map of global alliances.

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Much like the cosmopolitan capitals of the west, Iran was a turnpike on the global map of the swinging sixties, mini skirts, bars, the races, balls, concert halls, fashion, theatre and emancipated women working alongside men, and dressed as they pleased. So when and how, did all that change, and was the change really all that bad? Are those elements really the criteria, as the West likes to believe of a stable and democratic society? When Iran’s Islamic Revolution brought radical changes, were the Iranians quite relieved to be rid of a tyrannical regime?

Thirty-five years ago, the Iranian Revolution changed the fabric of Iranian society. But it also changed the geopolitics of the Middle East and redrew the map of global alliances. It was a populist Shia uprising that replaced the dictatorial monarchy with an Islamic theocracy. And it was unique and surprised the world because it carried none of the usual hallmarks of a revolution: War, financial crisis, national debt or a weak army. A renowned scholar of Iranian studies, Dr Majid Tafreshi spoke to WION and explained what led to the Revolution and beyond.

"In the 40s and 50s, the then-new King Mohammed Reza Shah had good relations with the Olama (Ullema / clergy) but after the death of an Ayatollah in the early 60s, that relationship turned confrontational", says Dr Tafreshi. "Then came the new phenomenon Ayatollah Khomeini. He was a charismatic character and had dedicated followers. Gradually, he became the political and religious leader in Iran. An early confrontation of the Shah in 1963 was put down. But though most people took that as a sign that the Shah was in control, 1963 was, in reality, the beginning of the end of the Shah and monarchy in Iran."

Predictably, the inordinate interest in Iran’s affairs on part of the West. They wanted to control the Shah whose importance had grown along with that of Iran’s oil reserves. A revolution and an ouster of the Shah at that point in time was considered "highly inconvenient". Dr Tafreshi says that this is the reason why the United States government tried hard to prevent an uprising.

Afghanistan changed from a secular state into a turbulent republic, struggling to strike a compromise between conservative Islam and Western-style modernity and remains to this day, in search of its true identity.

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But it met with no success. The revolution changed the face of Iran drastically. It also inspired similar uprisings across the Middle East. There is western perception about life in today’s Iran. But there is also the Iranian determination to never bow to western hegemony. To experience what life in Iran is really like, observers would do themselves a favour by avoiding media reports emanating in the West and experiencing it for themselves.

During the 7th century, Caliphate Arabs made their way onwards to Afghanistan. That country’s subsequent history has seen many constitutional changes including the establishment of the Sharia as the state religion in 1931. By 1977, Afghanistan’s constitution had twice been tweaked and made more secular to use a contested word. By then, Afghanistan was fully modelled along the lines of a modern country with a penal code and civil law.

Islamic movements in Afghanistan were born in the late fifties but had remained relatively passive. By the late seventies, they gained in popularity among sections of the population which felt alienated by Western-style democracy. By the time the Soviet Union invaded in support of a communist force in Kabul, there was a solid resurgence of the Islamic movement.

But from the birth of a unified mujahedin to push out a foreign invader to a radical Islamist Al Quaida, Taliban and now the Islamic State is a long leap of the leap for the imagination. But happen it did. Afghanistan changed from a secular state into a turbulent republic, struggling to strike a compromise between conservative Islam and Western-style modernity and remains to this day, in search of its true identity.

Hinduism:

Valmiki’s Ramayana, the epic poem on the banishment of God Rama, describes the god as one "who cared for equality to all".

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‘’For those who live magnanimously, the entire world is a family.”

This is stated in the Upanishads, Hinduism’s ancient philosophical texts that are said to have been compiled between 800 and 500 BCE, ie, before the birth of Jesus Christ. The message is repeated in various ways in other Hindu religious texts, even after reformers began to question some of its practices and beliefs.

Valmiki’s Ramayana, the epic poem on the banishment of God Rama, describes the god as one "who cared for equality to all". Hinduism has been the mothership of many other new religions – Jainism, Buddhism – and has always been viewed as a way of life, a tolerant philosophy, more than as a diktat to worship a particular set of divinities.   Critics of Hinduism point to its division of society into castes and the inequality that persists between those castes, even in modern India. Other scholars claim that the caste system, in ancient times, was merely an administrative division of people according to their professions. In the seventy years since India’s independence, laws have been passed, the abhorrent concept of ‘untouchability’ long stands banned. Surely a radical improvement? Not according to former police officer and Dalit rights activist, S.R. Darapuri.

"The rigours of the caste system in the past have undoubtedly been very harsh", Darapuri told WION. "There was a lot of distance between various castes and the lower caste was subjected to much discrimination. It is true caste rigors have slackened to an extent in modern India. The caste system doesn’t seem to work particularly in the urban context.  In rural India, the law has not been able to overcome caste discrimination.

The caste system has the religious sanction of Hinduism. As long as Hinduism remains in its present form, the caste system will continue because there is no Hindu who has no caste.

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When untouchability was abolished, the practice decreased to an extent. But it still very much exists. The caste system has the religious sanction of Hinduism. And as long as Hinduism remains in its present form, the caste system will continue because there is no Hindu who has no caste. Indeed, it is the religious duty of a Hindu to observe caste practices and obligations.

Darapuri emphatically dismisses the racial theory on the origin of caste and points to Dr Ambedkar’s book, The Untouchables. In it, the author of India’s Constitution cites the anthropological evidence that lower and higher castes belong to the same racial stock. The activist makes no bones to point that the division of labor theory about caste holds no water too. After all, he argues, if it caste originated only to distinguish professions, then surely it ought to change when an individual change his area of work. "The caste system is one of superiority and inferiority", sums up Darapuri.    Though the caste system can even be discerned even among converts to other religions in India, caste wars were essentially a Hindu phenomenon. To other foreigners like Arab traders who came landed in Kerala, the relationship with the Hindus was good. Soon Arab and Persian traders began to settle in Gujarat. Ismaili Islam took root in the western Indian state.

But by the 12th century, a different kind of Islam, one more strident and eerily similar in zeal and ferocity to the Christian Crusades, began to arrive in Northern India. Sindh in today's Pakistan became a province of the Umayyad caliphate. Then came Mahmud of Ghazni, leaving a bloody trail of loot, plunder and murder along with his way.

He conquered Punjab and his marauding armies even reached Gujarat. By the end of the 12th century, the Delhi Sultanate was born. Then came the Mughals, some cruel and zealous about forcing conversion, others benign and more bent on creating an integrated society.

But those were harsh conquerors, ancient times. By the time the last Mughal was overthrown by the British Empire and before the latter could indulge one more time in its classical game of Divide and Rule that saw India and Pakistan separate, Muslims and Hindus had come together with one common goal: to shake off British rule. And succeed they did. But what happened decades later? For an old mosque to be destroyed? For riots to erupt between India’s Hindus and Muslims? Call it the debut of religion in politics, lay it at opportunism’s door.

If there is one religious teaching that focuses entirely on the principle of tolerance and non-violence, it is Buddhism.

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Judaism and Buddhism:   "The Torah was given to mankind in order to establish peace," reads an excerpt from Judaism's holy book. But the Jews of Israel continue to live in one of the most turbulent regions in the world. Followers of Judaism don't outnumber Christians, Muslims or Hindus. And yet, it is their controversial politics that continues to take centre-stage in the global arena today.

"One is not called noble who harms living beings", reads the Dhammapada. One of the Buddha's most renowned followers, Emperor Ashoka, carried that message forward: "The faiths of others all deserve to be honoured for one reason or another". If there is one religious teaching that focuses entirely on the principle of tolerance and non-violence, it is Buddhism.

And yet, there are militant factions even among followers of Gautama Buddha. In Sri Lanka, where radicalised monks have targeted Muslims and other minorities. In Myanmar, where the Rohingya Muslim minority has borne the wrath of similarly militant Buddhists. What happened to the world's most gentle religion? If Buddhists can be polarised, is there any hope left for the rest of the world?

This is the second article of WION's three-part series "Poles Apart". The first article was published on 17/10/17.

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[maiji]

Process and wip images for A House That Holds Long Limbs (Part 2) 

See Part 1 process and wip documentation

Read the pages for part 2 here (full complete version will be linked from YYH North Bound master post) 

As a story progresses, I tend to become more comfortable with jumping ahead and around in my so-called process. This is mainly because the idea of getting deeper into the action is exciting and I want to get to drawing the pages as quickly as possible. The downside is that it usually results in a lot of “oops” and rework on what was supposed to be a final page.

Here you’ll see that script/pagination/thumbnailing and final pages are all starting to drift even more than in Part 1.

The (last version of the) script

Earlier versions were even more point form and incoherent with typos. But, it only needs to capture enough that I can recognize key actions, points of dialogue, the mood, things to draw in the panels, etc. A few specific items to point out:

“[new part 2]”: The script originally had no exposition on rokurokubi - it went straight to Hokushin telling Raizen he was leaving. It occurred to me later, after I’d started thumbnailing, that inserting a few pages of storytelling narrative right here would help to further solidify the kaidan (traditional Japanese ghost story) effect and mood. More importantly, it creates a baseline reference for what the reader will know about rokurokubi for the purposes of this story. I was lucky that Part 1 and Part 2 were cut neatly enough that this wouldn’t be jarring.

I’m still not entirely happy with the text for this section, mainly the “features of note” about rokurokubi. Not just the fact that it’s oversimplification and slight adaptation of actual Japanese folklore - which can’t be avoided unless I want to write a historical essay here. I’m mainly not super keen on how each of the three items has been phrased. It’d be nice to make the three points more parallel in terms of length, but I couldn’t seem to edit, increase the number of points (by splitting them up), or reorder it effectively without negatively impacting other aspects of pacing and information reveal. More points would draw out the pages longer than I wanted, and some points were clearly sub to other points. The final here is the “good enough” version. JUST GET IT DONE ALREADY SO THAT IT CAN GO OUT INTO THE WORLD.

Sooo many word choice changes. The biggest one, done at the last second, was “They are almost always female” to “They are rarely male”. Other phrasings I debated - “They are very rarely male”, “They are almost never male”, etc. Lemme tell ya, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds… Anyways, the main reason for this was because after I drew it and ran the text through my head, the originally-intended juxtaposition of Hokushin on this page with the word “female” felt too subtle. I felt it would create a brief moment of cognitive dissonance that didn’t serve the flow of the story, so I changed it to create emphasis on the same gender instead with the rationale that it will flow more smoothly and allow the reader to focus their attention on the fact “males are very rare” more than the mental hiccup of processing the juxtaposition. DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE?? It made sense in my head.

Anyhow, I’m sure there are people who will disagree with many of the decisions I’ve made, but at least you can see what I was trying to do.

Thumbnails

As mentioned, these thumbnails were done BEFORE I decided to insert the exposition at the beginning.

The first two rows on the left hand page are actually the same set of pages - you can see little arrows pointing down or to the right whenever I’m dissatisfied with a thumbnail and attempt to redraw it.

WIPs

I really like how Hokushin turned out in the last panel here; I like the pencils more than the final inked version. It’s also another example of changing text up to the last second. In case it’s hard to make out, it says (along with what happened to them in the final):

First thought bubble: Ugh, whatever… (moved to the next page, seemed to work better as the end exclamation for this sequence of thoughts before he turns his attention to something else)

Over Hokushin’s head: Aaaargh (moved into the thought bubble)

Second thought bubble: He’s not my responsibility anyways! (no change)

First arrow:  *already feeling bad* (no change)

Second arrow:  *too responsible* (dropped, since a previous panel already said “too responsible”. Too redundant)

Next to Hokushin: All he did was tie me up in a tree (no change)

The above panel “And at night...” was a thrilling and scary thing for me lmao.  I don’t usually tackle large patches/fills of black, since many of my comics are scribbly in style (pencils, hatching) or colour. I’m too lazy for screentones, traditional or digital. It’ll be interesting as parts of the story coming up will involve poorly lit/dim/dark spaces. I’ve been reviewing how other artists handle it, particularly those with styles driven by pure-ink or minimalist type approaches. Two immediate examples from Yu Yu Hakusho that I’ve been going back to are the dark room fights during Genkai’s successor trials (I’ve taken a similar approach here), and the haunted bedroom case in volume 19. Hardcore cross-hatching seems like a likely route, but that freaks me out when I have to do it over faces. I’d like to minimize or avoid screentoning out of principle, but I still want to create a clear mood, so we’ll see how it goes...

This was my view while inking this page - holding the book in one hand while inking Hokushin with the other. Using the more freehand, sketchy inking style for this comic was so helpful in terms of reducing my inking anxiety and allowing me to work faster.

It’s always great when you can find a reference for period armor (because I find armor very difficult) that is so close to the pose you’re already drawing. There are some small differences - for example, Hokushin’s head is turned more to the right; his left arm is turned and raised more as he’s pulling the sword upwards. But it’s close enough.

Also, spotlight on a few of the books I’ve referenced over the course of working on North Bound in general and this part specifically.  

Clockwise from top left:

日本服飾史 女性編 and 男性編 (History of clothing/costume in Japan female and male editions). This marvelous set of books highlights Japanese fashion throughout history. I’ve actually been referencing these photos for a long time before I ever picked up these books - you can see them at the Costume Museum’s website here, alongside helpful line drawings and translations of some of the details. But the books allow me to see a lot more detail.

Hokusai manga vol 1 (this book is published as part of a set of 3). Sketches by Hokusai. This one focuses on “The life and manners of the day” and includes drawings of youkai, including rokurokubi, as well. You can check out the drawings online at places like The Pulverer Collection Online Catalogue.

Action references!! Real Action Pose Collection 02 (focuses on sword fights) and my favourite Samurai & Ninja Action Scene Collection. Not used as much in Long Limbs, but was helpful in some of the other chapters. The time frame is really much later than what I need for ideal clothing references, but it’s helpful for things like movement.

Kekkaishi volume 32. SPOILER a key flashback takes place about 500 years ago, which is actually a few centuries off give or take from but at least it’s closer than the Edo period. I’ve been looking at it for houses, some clothing.

Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix - Civil War parts 1 and 2. I reference this so much while working on North Bound in general. It has scenes with peasants and commoners and some appropriate street and interior environments, not just stuff focused on the aristocracy or warrior classes. Just have to remember that they flipped all the artwork in the English version lol

Bunch of Yu Yu Hakusho manga and anime references from the end of the series, mostly for Raizen, the kudakusushi and just to check against things he or Hokushin said. The actual clothing and environments are not helpful at all lol

Last minute edits

After I posted, I discovered a few mistakes (of course). I used to freak out a lot and drop everything to fix it. Now I just sigh and laugh (and still freak out a little bit, depending on the mistake) and then decide what’s important enough to fix and what is like, “Oh well, whatever, move on with my life”.

I feel that seeing other artists share their frustrations and mistakes helps a lot of people feel better about it when they realize IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME TO EVERYONE (including professionals. There are errors like this in professionally published series, like Yu Yu Hakusho, too). YOU’RE NOT ALONE. 

So, these ones bugged me enough that I quickly redrew them on the computer.