#sorry for any wonky proportions

[caz4]

Gift for @kellycataclysm 🩷

I've loved reading about Lyra and Harvey for months now, I just had to draw them, I hope you like it!! <3

(I'm also very much looking forward to Daisy's stories)

[karkkidoesartsandcrafts]

I made a doll

After making historical doll clothing, I got this idea that what if I made a doll myself. I was coveting a doll I could sew clothes for and then pose them for the clothing, but I don't really like that much of any of the design of commercial posable dolls and I'm broke so I can't in good conscience buy an artisan ball jointed doll (and I anyway don't like how thin most of them are). So I did the reasonable thing - I bought very cheep air dry clay (I do have "normal" clay but I don't have access to ceramic oven and it takes much longer to dry it and burn it etc, and I was literally just trying this out) and just started making it myself. I didn't plan ahead because it felt very overwhelming since I have never customized dolls beyond making them clothing and repainting their faces nor have I ever even owned a ball jointed doll. I went with the learning through mistakes rather than theory. The route I most often take. So just bear with me (real doll makers I'm sorry for the cringe).

Without further ado, here's Aune, my vampire OC (from my wip Be All My Sins).

I wanted to make her look like a porcelain doll, because I love their aesthetics. I did lean towards more realism than they were historically like though. Here's all her body parts before painting. (Some of the pieces in the picture are not actually fully smoothed and sanded, but it is right before I started painting the face. My brain just works in a way, where I jump around between the working stages. I'm very much incapable of doing anything organized and straight forwardly.) I have been wanting to do clay sculpting for a long time (it was so fun, when I was a kid in afternoon art school), and this was small scale enough to be manageable so it was so much fun. I will be definitely making more.

Here's her face before and after the paint. I'm quite happy on how the face sculpt turned out, but the paint job was a bit messy. As I mentioned I have done couple of repaints of doll faces, but I'm still not very good at it. When I paint traditionally I'm not often this detail oriented and painting on a 3D surface feels very different.

Here she is before and after getting her hair. I made her hair from wool yarn just by unraveling the yarn. It's the first time I made doll hair and I didn't want to buy proper doll hair for this or learn to curl it (I don't even have any curling irons or literally any other hair shaping appliances than a hair dryer, which I don't even use for my hair but for painting with water colors). It doesn't fall down nicely, but it has roughly the look I was going for.

Because I didn't plan at all ahead, the proportions are a little wonky (her arms especially are too thin imo and he legs could have a little more shape too) and the joints are not great. Worst of the joints was the hips, which attach to the torso in a weird way. The biggest issue that I had was not taking into account how much the varnish would add to the size. It's not a visible amount, but enough to make fit of the joints very poor and basically making it very hard for her to stand. (Her index fingers already broke of when she fell from my desk after I had made her stand there djfkjds. I was able to glue them back.)

Here's couple more picture of her!

It's not perfect at all, but I do still love her if only because it's such a cool feeling to be able to just have a lump of clay and two weeks later have a posable doll. It somehow feels magical to be just able to make a real physical thing from scratch.

[ask-unpleasant]

hey chat sorry for the month of inactivity. i was unmotivated to do anything with this blog

but then i looked at some of the art on here and realized that i just lost my love for the character designs. so you know how we're gonna fix that? we're redesigning some characters bayybeeee 😈

starting with the man the myth the legend, here is UNPLEZZIE 2.0

he's probably the only one i had genuine problems with other than not being very aesthetically pleasing. he seemed too boring, his proportions were always a bit wonky, and the way he became more and more simple the more i drew him dumbed him down to just...awkward.

for this redesign, i kept all the features that made him my unpleasant. the only really signature thing i changed was his hair, sorry not sorry he had to fire his barber. i changed his scars to be far less opaque as to not clutter him up (which was the main reason i left them out most of the time), the only drawback is that i'm no longer just scribbling them in with a brush, they're actual geometry, so i cut back on the arms just for my own sake. also his tail now looks (and acts) like an actual docked tail.

next is the QSWX GVCTXMG AMXLSYX VIEPPC FIMRK GVCTXMG GLEVEGXIV SJ XLI CIEV, here is CREEPY 2.0

creepy was probably my least favorite character to draw. its head shape with the hair that always ends off screen, the 4 arms, the lack of any real way to move visible, it has always been a mess of a character. don't get me wrong, creepy is my second favorite character to write for (beaten only by neuro), i love its personality and its inflection, i just never got the chance to show that because i hated drawing it so much.

so for the redesign, i've basically reimagined it. its face hair now has an actual definitive ending, it has a more unique shape, and is just much more expunged-friendly in my opinion. it looks even more like its mom now...

next is this one, i thought she was american. here's PARANORMAL 2.0

i'm gonna be totally honest i have no idea what i was doing when designing para for the first time. that outfit was 100% subconsciously stolen from some other character i can't think of right now. it also really just didn't fit her character at all. also i dont know why i gave her boobs???? what????

anyways for the redesign she's basically a whole new design now. i wanted to play with some shape language. also, para always had a sort of inhuman quality to me, despite her personality, so i've given her inverted eyes and some animalistic features. i guess it adds irony or something, i dunno.

and finally, the moment GERIATRIC CAT you've all been waiting for, UNNERVING 2.0

in truth nervy's design is my favorite. the only gripe i had is the lack of legs, like with creepy. also i had to give her one of the same pride flag ass gradient as the rest so she'd fit in with the rest. other than all that i love her she is perfect just the way she is with minor adjustments

that's all the redesigns done!! i only did these 4 because stabby is not mine to redesign and NEURO is perfect just the way it is. feel free to give me any constructive criticism for these redesigns, i can always tweak em a bit. also the more stripy gradients wont a pattern that follows the contours of the body but rather just unmoving plaid always. i hope this lengthy yap sesh contributed something to something, maybe gave some insight into my characters.

and if you got this far i put a public discord server link in the intro post. you dont gotta ask anymore. dont tell anyone....shhh....*lovingly puts my finger on your lips* *smirks* *bolts away* *gets hit by truck* *instantly fatal*

[woollytea]

The bear army continues to grow...

This might be a bit boring/familiar as I'm rehashing stuff I've done before, just with a different pattern... sorry!

First I'll make a prototype with whatever random wool I have a lot of (speckly bear) then make any needed tweaks and make another plain one (blue/pink bear), then work out a colour change chart for any markings I might wanna do (brown bear). That can mean more pattern tweaks but thankfully this one didn't.

They're all wonky/imperfect of course, but I'm not running a business here or aiming for precision. I like how they all end up with individual faces and slightly different proportions because of my dodgy embroidery and the random brands of wool used. As long as it's cute and doesn't fall apart, I'm happy enough!

[luveline]

I'm a natural apple shape with natural AA boobs. So for my 21st birthday, I bought myself some bigger ones. I was so sick of losing weight and losing any of the boobs I had, to then somehow end up looking more overweight than I did before because my boobs shrunk and my belly stuck out more than my boobs even at it's new thinner weight. It was such a horrible, mentally draining game of cat and mouse trying to find a good weight to stay at. But now I'm firmly at least 20lb heavier than I used to be back then but I look smaller because my body is in good proportions. It sucks that this obviously isn't an option for everyone and I'm definitely not saying you or anyone else needs it at all to be happy. But I would recommend it a thousand times over if you've ever considered it. Best decision I ever made. I didn't want big porn star honkers. I just wanted the breasts I felt my body was supposed to grow for me to look right, but never did. Point is, I understand your plight and I suffered with it as well for many years. It's not a fun feeling and I'm sorry you're going through it. Feel free not to post this!

omg I hope you don’t mind that I’m answering if I wasn’t supposed to post this let me know, but it’s so interesting to hear your perspective/story on this!! I haven’t ever thought about it and I doubt cosmetic surgery will ever be something I can afford but it’s amazing to hear you talk about it and hopefully you aren’t feeling as mentally drained now by your experience before!! If I could I’d for sure get my nose fixed cos I have what I suspect to be a deviated septum that gives me a wonky smile 😅 it’s also so interesting to hear that your proportions changing has made you look smaller, it makes sense completely but I’d never considered it!!

[syruubi]

Hi just wanna say I love your art! your poses are so dynamic and the foreshortening of venti in that one comic about him singing to guarantee victory for the archons!!! Do you have any tips regarding improving on those aspects?

Aaaaahh thank you 🥺 lol I’ve let that AU sit for so long I’m embarrassed to continue it o<-<

As for tips uh….I use references/models. A lot. I actually use CSPs built-in models and even the mirror almost constantly. I’m still a beginner myself. Tho few things I would say help me is to

1) draw the “end-points” of the object first. If you were trying to foreshorten an arm for example and the hand was closest to the “camera” draw the hand and shoulder first.

2) Keep proportions in mind. What often makes foreshortening wonky is because the object in question isn’t proportionally correct relative to the others in it’s immediate surroundings.

3) the more distant the object is from the camera, the less foreshortening distorts its apparent size. If you hold your hand in front of you while facing a mirror and move away from it, the apparent size of your hand in the mirror will shrink down closer to around the size it would be if you just left it at your side.

Sorry I can’t post picture examples with this atm, but I hope my written tips might help 👍

[4uru]

Narcissistic art rant

Tw: anti cc

[I only take constructive criticism if u don't like/agree with my post either keep scrolling or *politely* express your opinion, i am a fragile little tea cup who doesn't like conflict and i will cry and overthink]

I know i might sound egotistical, but i don't like how any official art (the art posted by cc) of alastair carstairs looks.

I will 100% reblog an Alastair Carstairs fanart that maybe doesn't fit my vision of him, i wont criticise it or anything bc they did this from their heart. They were passionate about it. I will shut my mouth and appreciate the hell out of it. Also i know that my fanarts will also clash with some ppl's perception of him

But, I actually hate coming across official art of Thomas and Alastair, here are my reasons,

> the proportions are always wack on these two specifically for some reason. If y'all remember thr scarf one, i remember trying to figure out the proportions there, Alastair's arms were short and it just irks me. Bc ppl are paid for this. This isn't a fanart, this is a Commission prolly, and it just takes me out of the whole piece immediately.

>Thomas doesnt have a single, solo art that actually looks nice. One that i actually like started to bother me for some reason, so i tracked the proportions and his forehead was too big, and just the whole thing tuned me off from the piece.

He also has a chariot (?) fanart, (him on top of a chariot) and im sorry to say that was one of the fucking ugliest of Official art of thomas, his whole thing was off, it was a perspective drawing, and it just failed, his head looked to big, his face was stiffer than wood, his body' perspective made my brain hurt, it was just not good.

>for some reason only the alastair and thomas are non sensical (im talking their solo character drawings) like why is Alastair

Evilly reading a book? Why is thomas just flexing?? It makes no sense compared to the rest, matthew is laying there like a girl boss and that makes sense for him, like just these two are kinda awkwardly standing or sitting

> they make Alastair a twink. Theres nothing wrong with being a twink. But Alastair is literally a shadowhunter. An ACTIVE shadowhunter. And its not even that he looks like a twink compared to Thomas, no they actually make him a petite little boy. Wtf???? It feels like they are trying to put Alastair and Thomas in a heteronormative box. Doesn't help that almost the whole fandom agrees on the opinion that Alastair is the bottom. (Trust me i tried searching for bottom thomas lightwood....i found a barren land)

Their art feels forced to me...i dont feel jack shit. And these are my favourite fucking characters i have seen absolutely beginner stuff, and i have cried over it. I just dont feel anything when i look at these official arts.

Here ends my very narcissistic rant. At the end of the day...cc can just make characters and fuck em up, i will take them, put them.in a box and shake it violently until i like them.

I will have to say, i love the coloring of these fanarts, even the ones that make me want to die, but yeah the drawing is just not there, they feel hollow and wonky, and i dont care how smooth and cool the colors looks when it feels completely emotionless.

[fizzypawn]

Hello! I just came across your account and wow, I love your art! Your style is so unique and cute! 🤩

I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind.

Sorry if this is a tough ask, but do you have any tips for a beginner digital artist such as myself?

My biggest struggle is being motivated to do it when I know it will take me a long time to get as good at it as I want to be now.

That is the main reason why I didn't pursue it for so long. I just look back to when I was 13 and think: "Man, I could have learned so much by now and been much better at it. Oh well..."

Thank you for your time 👋

I think the best tip I could give is in two parts! I'm sorry this is so long, but please remember this is my own perspective and advice, since this is what worked best for /me/! ^^ Firstly, a bunch of my artist friends advocated for beginner artists to take small pieces of someone's artstyle - maybe the way they draw eyes, or hands, or maybe even the materials they use or colors they shade with - to help develop and create a more consistent artstyle. This also applies to pose references! Using pose references is okay! My art got so much better once I was able to develop muscle memory and the ability to realize is proportions were likely incorrect. It is actually how I learned to draw! Practice diversity in eyes, noses, face shapes, body shapes, and other features unique to each person at an early stage to try to avoid same face syndrome. Repetition in my own art makes it hard for me to climb my way out of the grave I dug for myself. I actually recently began to work on that flaw. It may look bad or wonky at first, but it is okay. I don't have a single good sketchbook on my hands from before I became a digital artist. However, looking back on those drawings I managed to keep myself from destroying makes me feel more confident in my abilities to grow.

Secondly, I suggest being consistent and working through the plateaus and temporary deterioration of your skill. It took me a hefty 11 years to get where I am, and my art style only met my expectations at the beginning of last year. After years and years of developing muscle memory for my own art style, I now don't need to rely on reference images or other people's art styles to draw. Your art style will typically be 'bad' or 'ugly' in your own eyes due to the high expectations you and others may set for yourself, since you see so many skilled artists on social media. You need to keep your chin up and push through the dark times where it seems you're not getting anywhere with your art! I believe in you and others do, too.

Everyone starts somewhere, and I suggest that you base your success off of your improvement!

[hyperfixation-tangentopia]

Fanart for @squidkid15 and @lotusmonkey 's Core AU for LMK. I adore it so much. In case it wasn't clear this art is made for their fanfic ^^

I apologize in advance for any inaccurate designs or anything like that, I tried searching through the tag for character designs and all I found was Macaque so I tried to follow that as best as I could.

I've also barely drawn these guys soo yeah 😅

I didn't know what I was doing I just had some images in my head and even though I haven't drawn them enough yet to pull off exactly what I wanted I'm still happy with them (even if they look a little wonky but again chalking that up to lack of experience and exhaustion near the end).

This scene with the blue in the cores in particular is one of my favorites, right beside Macaque and Wukong's convo in the kitchen. So. I had to draw it.

Alright enough nervous rambling hope you like it! Sorry again for all the wonkiness and any design mess-ups, lack of experience + tiredness (but brain demanding I finish before sleep) + only finding Macaque kinda resulted in a bit of a jumble but hopefully it's fine 😅

Aand if I can figure out how to make a cut

The answer is I can't

I tried the last drawing twice, I decided I wanted to redo the first one I did because while it served it's purpose it wasn't really what I was wanting (and also I forget MK was monkey until I was almost done 😅)

The proportions also bugged me too much (they're not my strong suit but they can still irritate me sometimes)

[kezwicks]

i did this in ms paint! sorry i am aware the proportions are wonky i was just testing my own ability with the program LOL i am trying to start doing art digitally!! if anyone sees this, any tips on how i can improve?

[askghostbraig]

So how many people currently know you exist?

That’s about every one I think...

[wiltkingart]

hello! Sorry, this might be something of a broad question, but may I ask how you got so good at drawing romantic interaction? Anatomy- and pose-wise, I mean. I love drawing ship art as much as the next gay, but I always have trouble with the bodies and proportions looking wonky, much more so than when I'm drawing a single character. Is it just a "do it a lot of times and you'll get good at it" thing, or is there anything specific you do to practice this stuff?

my infatuation with the very concept of romance fuels my hands into a purely spiritual fervor that comes straight from my heart. for a more helpful answer, references will save your soul and your hands from so much suffering. learning how to break down body parts into simple shapes in your mind's eye will make you into a stronger artist and you can only really do that by studying the muscles and bones and fat of real human bodies.

i keep an (nsfw) insp blog of interesting poses and muscle structure and other things, and i have dozens upon dozens of images saved on my phone of mostly naked men purely for reference reasons. i use refs for less than half my pieces these days, but that's because they've taught me invaluable information that i can take and translate into many different drawings. but you have to start somewhere.

when i start any drawing, be it with one character or more i always simplify the shapes and find the basic silhouettes first. sometimes if i know a piece will have a lot of overlapping parts i'll add varying shades of blue to define and separate important parts before i put down any lines.

and i always block out out a more accurate silhouette in black before i continue. just to double check im happy with my proportions and movement. i do this with all pieces regardless of how many people are in it.

but this is just what works for me! i love shapes, i love form, and all artists have their own way of simplifying structure and anatomy. this is a method i had to build after trying many other things that just didn't quite work with my brain. at least not as comfortably. everyone has their own way of viewing and interpreting the world and objects around them, so every artist is going to convey these things in their own unique way. sometimes 'wonky' proportions are just another part of that.

tldr; don't shy from references. they are your friend. the strongest artists use references. and always follow your heart.

[freckleslikestars]

It's a touch thing but not really from the list... A slightly different take on bandaging/stitching an injury. One of them strains/pulls/partially tears a leg muscle (calf probably) and needs help being mobile /doing mundane things and recovery massage etc.

I'm so sorry this took so long Nonny! I've been fighting with it so hard. It's kinda angsty and doesn't really fill the prompt, but it was all that my brain could focus on with the prompt.

Coming Home

Set in season 10.

2380 words, read here on AO3

She’d spent a good proportion of her life running through forests in heels without any injury other than the occasional blister; had navigated gnarled tree root and wonky headstone with no serious consequence.

But an early-morning jog in running shoes was enough to have her in hospital. Such was life.

A grade two strain, a pair of crutches and a call to Mulder later and she found herself sitting in the passenger seat of his car, listening to him tell her she should be more careful; the same spiel she’d been giving him for the last twenty-something years.

The first problem they encountered was the creaky steps up to the porch.

‘My place doesn’t have any stairs,’ she commented, somewhat starchily.

‘Well, do you want to go to your place?’

She appraised the outside of what had once been their house and shook her head, a whispered ‘here’s fine,’ slipping past her lips.

Dana Scully was a graceful being, or so Mulder had always thought, but watching her struggle with her crutches up onto the first step had him revoking that idea. He removed the crutches from her grip and leant them against the bannister before picking her up bridal style and carrying her to the door, placing her down again to unlock it, before going again to pick her up. She pushed him away as much as possible without losing her balance, ‘I can walk from here.’

He’d carried her up the stairs and over the threshold the day they bought the house. Had made love on the bare hardwood floor when she kissed him barely three steps in. They’d proceeded to fuck in every room in between accepting the deliveries of various items of furniture over the week. And then fuck in each room again once it was furnished. Dana Scully, he discovered, was turned on by the concept of stability and domesticity. Surprise, surprise.

‘It needs elevating and icing,’ she broke him from his memories with a slap to the chest and a nod at her crutches at the bottom of the front steps.

‘Yeah. Yeah, okay,’ he grabbed them for her, passed them over, watched as she walked through the very same door he’d watched her walk through so many times. For the first time in a long while, it felt like coming home as he stepped through the threshold behind her.

His fiercely independent partner was rendered somewhat less independent by her injury. Just the walk to the kitchen from the sofa had her grumbling, unwilling to admit her pain but incapable of not expressing it.

She had two options with the stairs: she could shuffle up sitting down, going steadily from step to step, and feel humiliated with every muttered curse she uttered, or she could have Mulder carry her up, and hide her humiliation over his shoulder. She opted for the former.

For three days.

On the third day, she gave him a withering glare and held her arms out, too tired to care.

Showering was another challenge. With a slippery shower tray and only one leg she could put weight on, she needed at least one hand to support her against the tiled wall. Which left her only one hand to wash her hair and body.

She’d called through to him, voice cracking with his name, knowing he was sat outside their bathroom waiting for her to need help.

They’d showered together before. No need to be uncomfortable. But she left him. She loved him and she left him and the idea of him standing behind her and washing her hair like he used to after a long day at the hospital was too much. She held her breath as he stripped, focused on the chipped grouting, closed her eyes and clenched her hands in fists as his gentle fingers massaged the shampoo out of her hair and soothed conditioner into it.

She didn’t notice him reaching for her shower gel, gasped as his sudsy hands smoothed down her shoulders; carefully ran along her collarbone, fingertips grazing the tops of her breasts. ‘This okay?’ he’d asked, and she nodded, suppressing a shudder as his hands skirted back around her breasts and played patterns across her stomach.

She’d insisted on taking baths after that; whilst she still needed help getting in and out, at least she could wash herself.

He refused to let her carry her bags in and out of the office, frequently ended up with both her bag and his own as well as their morning coffees in hand as she hobbled next to him through security and into the elevator down to the basement.

The seventh night she was staying with him, as they lay in bed together – their bed – he turned to her, asked if she was awake. She would be if he kept talking. So, of course, he did. ‘I’ve been reading about strains. Recovery massages are good for increasing blood flow and speeding up healing.’

‘Ideally, they’re done soon after the injury.’

‘It will still work, you know. Roll over.’

‘And they say romance is dead,’ the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. They may have been back working together, but they were nowhere near better enough to be making jokes like that. A tense silence filled the room as they both stared up at the ceiling, unsure what to say next.

‘It doesn’t matter. It was a stupid idea anyway.’

‘No, Mulder, it wasn’t. Go on, might as well give it a go,’ she huffed, rolled over like it was a chore, though it was more just her hesitancy at feeling Mulder touching her tenderly. She shouldn’t have worried. He went in strong, clearly having the same thought in mind, and she was thoroughly grateful he got the wrong leg. ‘You’re supposed to start gently,’ she grunted, ‘to warm the muscle up.’

‘Yeah. I knew that. I just-‘

Her head was turned to the side on her pillow, her arms wrapped around it like she used to wrap them around him. ‘I know. You’re trying not to make it uncomfortable.’

‘Yeah,’ he whispered with a sigh, sitting back on his haunches.

‘It’ll be more uncomfortable if you injure me more and I have to stay longer.’

‘That would be uncomfortable for you?’ he sounded wounded and she closed her eyes, turned her face back to the pillow.

‘It wouldn’t for you?’ she shifted over onto her back, propped herself on her elbows to look at him kneeling at the foot of the bed. They’d both been prickly with one another, skirting each other’s personal space and boundaries, and it was like their year without the X files all over again, except that this time they were older and supposedly wiser and knew what they were missing. They were also both painfully aware of making mistakes and saying the wrong thing. With time comes healing, but also more wounds to reopen. ‘Mulder, if I’ve learned anything over these past twenty years, it’s that we both need our own space. And that no matter how hard we try to force ourselves together, we’re just too broken.’

‘You really believe that? That we can’t be fixed?’

‘Look at us, Mulder. You only got better when I wasn’t here to be your crutch and I-‘

‘I only got better because you said you’d come back if I did,’ he snapped, rolling up from the bed and reaching over to grab his pillow and the blanket at the end of the bed.

‘Mulder, where are you going?’ she sighed.

‘It doesn’t matter where I’m going, Scully, because apparently, you don’t care.’

She cringed, pain coiling in her chest, ‘that’s not- Mulder, please-?’ but the bedroom door was slammed shut and she was alone in their bed, once again.

One might say that sleeping on sofas was one of Mulder’s fortes. And...it was fair to say that most of his life it was self-imposed. The therapist Scully had left the number for on the fridge had suggested it was to do with his lack of self-worth, though he believed it had more to do with the fact that empty sides of the bed made him feel alone and reminded him of what he didn’t have.

Half an hour of limbs spilling over the sofa and staring at the ceiling and the thump of the crutch on the floor above had him contemplating going outside, getting in his car and driving off somewhere; anywhere. Fox Mulder: expert at running away.

But the effort needed to stand up and actually move had been sapped out of him. Hope was what kept him going, it was his main motivator in life, and Scully had just taken his.

‘Mulder?’ her voice called down from the top of the stairs, ‘Mulder, we need to talk. Please don’t make me come down?’

‘Go to bed, Scully. There’s nothing to talk about.’

‘Well, I think there is.’

He growled, stood and chucked his pillow to the floor, stormed to the bottom of the stairs, ‘no, you don’t. There’s nothing more you can say to me tonight.’

‘Mulder...’

He simply shook his head, flicked the light off and dropped down onto the sofa, turning his back to the world. After a while he heard her footsteps on the landing, the bedroom door squeaking closed. Neither of them slept that night.

She made it downstairs on her own, shuffling down clumsily. He was gone when she hobbled her way over to the sofa, the house empty. And so she set about making coffee, leaning on the countertop as it percolated.

Her good leg slipped from beneath her as reached up to grab a mug, and it was only solid arms wrapping around her that kept her upright.

‘I gotcha,’ he muttered, supporting her until he could reach out for her crutches. He stayed behind her, hands lingering on her hips as she steadied herself.

‘Mulder, about last night...’

‘Doesn’t matter,’ he shook his head, let go of her, reached up for two mugs.

‘Hey,’ she shifted around to face him, ‘it does matter. I didn’t mean to suggest that-‘

‘You did, though. Let’s just drop it: at least now we know we’re both on the same page. No future together. It’s okay, I get it.’ The coffee finished and he reached around her to retrieve it.

‘I think I should go back to my place.’

‘What?’ he stopped what he was doing, coffee pot in mid-air.

‘I’m worried you’re – we’re – building our hopes up, thinking me staying here and you looking after me will prove something, or bring us back together, and it’s not healthy.’

He shook his head, ‘no, I- I disagree-‘

‘Please, Mulder?’

A long moment passed as he stared at her, brow furrowed in consternation, before he swallowed thickly and looked away, nodded as he poured their coffees, ‘okay. I’ll drive you back later today.’

~~~

He made no effort to fight for her as she packed her bags. Didn’t plead and beg in the car. Was gracious, no silent treatment as he helped her into her bungalow, carried her bag through to her bedroom. Had given her a soft, bittersweet smile as he stood on her doorstep, told her he’d see her at work on Monday morning.

She managed two hours before getting restless.

After a week spent in his arms, around him all the time, surrounded by the familiar, warm Mulder smell of home, her house smelt wrong. Too clean. Too un-lived-in.

She missed his comforting sounds, too, as he puttered about. Humming to himself in the kitchen or tapping a pencil against the desk as he read something. And the general sounds of their creaky old house; the wonky stairs and the ticking fan and the squeaky door.

And God, did she miss the way he held her. Back when she first met him, their closeness had been instantaneous. They were like moths to a flame, planets orbiting one another. Her mom had mentioned on many an occasion that it was like their clothes were stitched together, like they couldn’t actually stray far from one another without tearing. But since coming back to the X files they’d been keeping their distance more. There was less touching. His hand didn’t automatically find its spot on her lower back. They kept further apart when reading casefiles and looking at evidence. And then suddenly she’d had a week of him carrying her up the stairs and helping her in and out of the tub and spooned up behind her in bed. She’d had a week of barely leaving his presence. Of having him just a fingertip away.

Maybe it had been too much too soon. Maybe it had just been so overwhelming. Maybe, just maybe, she was scared: not that he was going to screw it up, but that she was. By all accounts, Mulder was doing much better. He was taking his meds and talking to a therapist and doing all the things he hadn’t been doing when she left him. It was she who was not better. She who was avoiding talking to her doctor about getting her medication changed because it just wasn’t working. She who had been procrastinating rebooking the therapy session she missed two weeks ago and had been dodging the calls to do so.

It was she who could feel herself weaken around him, sink into the co-dependency they’d fostered together for so many years. And it terrified her, because if she were to let it slip, then so would he, and she was fairly certain that this time the damage would be irreparable.

But there was still that nagging question of what if? What if they didn’t slip? What if this time they caught one another?

It wasn’t until the dial tone hit her ears that she even noticed she’d picked up her cell.

Moments later, Mulder’s voice crackled through, ‘you okay? What’s wrong?’

‘Mulder?’

‘Yeah, it’s me.’

‘Can I have that massage now?’

‘You wanna come home?’ his voice was soft, tender, not wanting to push her.

She nodded, knowing he couldn’t see her but struggling to get the words past the lump in her throat, ‘yeah, please.’

‘Okay, Honey, I’m on my way.’

@today-in-fic

[writeforfandoms]

Jen! Hello! Hi there 🤩💙💙

Any spare art thoughts? Any medium, any period, any style? Whether you like it just because or you have more detailed critiques or any thoughts between!

@fictitious-little-stitious

Oh interesting! I'm gonna brush off my couple classes of art history here.

Okay so I know tons of people love the Renaissance but it really is such a fascinating period, even just through the lens of art history. You've got so many changes in such a relatively short period of time.

Under a cut because of picture references.

Okay so 1322, still have fairly flat people. The baby looks like a wonky miniature human rather than a baby. Still lots of detail work but it looks flat, lacking that depth that we'll see shortly.

"San Procolo Polyptych", Ambrogio Lorenzetti, 1322.

Now, skip 90 years forward. We've still got the kind of flat figures BUT we're seeing progress! If you look at the clothing, you are beginning to see limbs in there, not just shapeless mass of robes. Saints are still outlined in gold, prominent figures are still religious in nature. But look at those colors too! So vibrant!

"Coronation of the Virgin" Lorenzo Monaco, 1413.

And then! More progress! Lookit the folds in the angel's robes here. See the draping, the folds, the details and shadows here? And see how you can very clearly see the knee? We're getting close, folks.

"Annunciation," Fra Angelico, 1438-1445.

We're still working our way towards realistic people here. But I'm adding this in for a couple reasons. The first is the sheer variety of animals. I mean in this one shot you've got deer, dogs, horses, mules, a duck, a leopard-like cat, a hawk, and a monkey. And this is not even one full wall! Also, notice the background. You've got an actual background. Mountains and trees and clouds and a sky. Now, it is a fake background, not based on a particular spot. There was a period where this type of background was quite common, this mythic picturesque background. And this is also an example of money buys fun stuff! This was commissioned by the Medici family, who at this point were quite wealthy. I can't point to a person and say "this guy!" Without more research, but members of the Medici family were painted into this scene. And this became quite common, especially for the wealthy, to have yourself painted into a position of power and favor.

"Procession of the Magi," Benozzo Gozzoli, 1459.

Now, those familiar with this period of art history are already familiar with the name Botticelli. However, I'm skipping Birth of Venus because it's so well known. Instead, let's look at another one. Notice in this the well defined figures, with actual correct anatomy. Look at the folds of the robes, the flames, the shadows. Look at how they look simply paused, but so realistic they could leap back into motion at any time. Now, look at this background. He painted sculptures into the background. And they look like sculptures. There is so much going on here I could probably write a whole essay.

"Calumny of Apelles," Sandro Botticelli, 1497.

I am going to end tonight's lecture with Leonardo's "Last Supper." Look at the groupings of three, the first time this had been depicted this way. Jesus is physically alone in the center, with the groups on either side of him leaning away to make a physical space. And those hands! These are people talking with their hands. Look at the range of emotions here. It's incredible. Just. Incredible. And of course they look like people. They fill their clothing. They're articulate and proportioned and they look so real, like a snapshot. Like an echo of the past, in more ways than one.

"The Last Supper," Leonardo da Vinci, 1495-1498.

This is... Way more than you asked for. I'm sort of sorry. I hope you enjoyed anyway!

[hanymelon]

Hi! Your art is *chef's kiss* and the ways you draw Mammon solo or with your MC are super cute and I love the way you detail his blushes and expressions so much. I get excited everytime I see you post a new drawing 💕

I was wondering if you had any tips for a beginner artist on, like, anatomy or just starting off in general? I usually just write and stick to that for OM, but some ideas feel like they should be drawn. I get confused with where I should start practicing and usually just drop the idea altogether.

Sorry if that put you on the spot or anything, don't feel bad if you don't wanna answer. I also really just wanted to gush about your art and ty for drawing so much good stuff!

Hi! Awwh thank you so much! ;v; Im so happy you get like my art enough to say that <333 💕💕💕 I know what you mean about getting ideas that feel like they should be drawn. Sometimes i get ideas that i think would be better done in writing. If you wanna share what you've written, id love to give them a read :)) No pressure tho! Ah, i get excited when someone is starting to pick up drawing. It can be challenging but super rewarding. Before i give specific tips, firstly I'd say if you are just starting out, have fun with it and dont stress too much about the technicalities. If you get too caught up with how something doesn't look right or how your anatomy is wonky, you'll bog yourself down and end up not creating at all which is sad :( In the end, its really about getting your ideas down on paper and it shouldn’t be something too too stressful since youre doing it for fun anyway! I have to remind myself that no one is holding me at gunpoint and forcing me to create drawings with perfect anatomy or proportions, im still learning! And thats okay!

[More under the cut bc this got kinda long!]

With that out of the way, here are some tips you can hopefully use. Im not that great at anatomy either, but what helps me a lot is references. Its pretty typical advice, but it really helps me understand form and what the human body can and cant do. like can the arm twist that way? Idk, look up a reference. Although it is the best way, sometimes its really overwhelming to look at actual pictures of humans and trying to translate that to a cartoony anime-ish drawing so you can start out by referencing anime (or cartoons) instead. When i was starting out i used to do little studies on styles that i liked. That can help a lot with seeing how artists you like draw certain things. For example how they make the arms and legs not look stiff, the specific curves they use for the waist, the folds in the clothes, etc etc. (Goes without saying here, but just don't upload your studies or copied drawings on the internet and claim it as your own and you're all good) I’d insert pictures of my own studies but i dont have them with me where i am rn so i cant do that unfortunately sorry! So lets say you have this super specific pose in mind and you cant find a reference for it or youre just too lazy to sort through hundreds of pictures on google or pinterest to find that one perfect ref img. You can just pose and take a picture of yourself. i do this a lot and sometimes get my friends (who are also art students so that makes things easier haha) to help if i need it. If you really dont want to do that tho, something i also do a lot is to do the pose while drawing it. Feeling and seeing where my body naturally leans and where body parts are relative to each other in a certain pose really helps. for example if im drawing someone waving, how far away is the hand from the head, should the elbow be out or close to the body, how long should the forearm be etc etc. Yknow the thing where you make the same expression as the character you're drawing? The way you kinda feel the way its supposed to look? Yeah its like that but for poses fjsv i hope this makes sense. Personally im not a big believer of the "Draw everyday!! Even when you dont feel like it!!" advice. But If youre really enjoying what you do, youd wanna be doing it every day anyway. And the more you draw, the more comfortable itll become and the more things will kind of make sense when you notice patterns as you practice. I guess what im trynna say is make the practice fun and not feel like a bother so you'd wanna do it more and in turn improve more. Its a cycle haha.  Im not the most qualified to give advice but i hope this helped a bit? There are plenty of sources on the interwebs that are very useful and can probably help you a lot. I hope you keep drawing anon! Tldr; Draw what you want, use references, strike the pose and feel your body, make practice fun (whatever that might mean for you), the more you do it the better you’ll get

[thedevilliers]

PRINCESS AMELIA COVERS OCTOBER ISSUE OF VOGUE

To celebrate her 18th birthday, HRH Princess Amelia covers the October issue of Vogue, where she speaks about her personal life, family and her aspirations. full interview answers under the cut ♡ 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 | 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 | 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 |

— What do you think a lot about these days? College! I’m on my first year at Britechester for Public Relations and so far, it’s all good. There’s a lot of homework to be done, so I have to manage my public schedule as well as my education. — Oh yes, your older brother Prince Edward decided to step out of royal duties until he graduates to focus on his education. Is it hard to juggle school and royal life with so many engagements? Not very much, I have to thank the DeVilliers’ personal assistants for that. Without them, I’d more than likely show up at the wrong event on the wrong day (laughs). My brother Harry and I divide the schedules we go to, so It’s easier for us too. I also get to go to overseas engagements now, which I’m so excited about! — If you had a whole day to yourself and you could do whatever you want, what would you do? I want to say stay at home relaxing, but I also love to go on walks. I used to dislike them, but while I was at St. Mary’s, since the campus is huge and sometimes I had to walk fifteen minutes to another building, I learned to enjoy the calmness that comes with them. Oh! My friend Oliver (Howard) has this gorgeous garden I love going to. There’s so many flowers and the smell is amazing. — A lot of people look up to you because while you're a princess, you mostly try to live normally like others and ignore critics. Do you have anybody you look up to? My mother is my role model. She is an incredible Queen, obviously, but she’s an amazing person in and out. My grandmother told me I remind her of my mother when she was younger, maybe that’s why she understands me so much. I go to her for everything and we talk on the phone for hours. She always reminds me there’s room to grow, to learn and more understanding of others. — What’s the best advice she’s ever given you? She told me boys aren’t worth crying over (laughs). Oh, and nothing permanent before I’m twenty-five. — What about your father? My father and I have a good relationship. I think over the years we’ve grown to understand each other more. He’s the King and he has so many responsibilities, but he makes time to spend at home with all of us. We’re really enjoying playing Scrabble these days but since Edward is a Language & Literature major, he always wins. That’s essentially cheating! — Do you have a favorite brother? I don’t think I do. While Harry and I have more in common since we’re the same age, Edward is my big brother. He drove me places and used to buy me candy without no one noticing when I was younger. Our interests do differ since he is three years older than both of us but we all get along well. — Do you have any nicknames? I know a lot of people call me Mia. I’ve heard people say it all the time on engagements, like “Princess Mia! Over here!”. I don’t mind it at all when it comes to the public! For my close family and friends though, they know I’d rather they call me Amelia. If they call me ‘Mia’, that usually means they’re mad at me or want to get a reaction out of me.  — Are you the type to do your own make-up on regular days? My makeup artist, Wendy Park, has been teaching me how to do my own makeup. I try my best, but my eyeliner is wonky most of time, which is so annoying! My mom does it in one try, I’m jealous. — Is there a habit you have kept without fail ever since childhood? Sorry to my parents who’ll read this, but blowing things out of proportion. Being over-dramatic. According to Harry, I’m also quite oblivious about things that are very obvious but I don’t think so! I’m very observant.  — Do you have anything that you think is a random fact about you? Hm, one of my friends once gifted me these gorgeous daisies and since then I’ve discovered they’re my favorite flowers.  I just think they’re neat.  — What do you cook the best? Honestly... grilled cheese. I follow my mom’s recipe and it comes out amazing. I once tried to cook a family meal but no one liked it. My brothers even say I can’t cook at all! At least I’m trying.  — Any items you consider treasures? My birthday tiara! I wear it on this photoshoot. It’s a gift from my parents for my 18th birthday. I usually had to wear my mom’s sapphire tiara my father gave her as a wedding gift, but now I get my own. Isn’t it so pretty?