#the old art style holds a very special place in my heart!

[calamitydawning]

see u tomorrow :')

[factual-fantasy]

Heya Factual! Wanted to give ya a million pats on the back for the new art- obviously it looks great as always- but also I'm always excited for new Grimace lore! The monopoly gag was hilarious- I actually thought it was serious for a moment- and then I was ecstatic to see him finally evolve into a Gengar- now he looks even more like Grimace than ever before!

Seeing him evolve reminded me of an interesting fact that I wanted to tell you and Grimace- it's been recently confirmed that Gengar is actually the favorite Pokemon of Atsushi Nagashima, the game director of the entire Pokemon TCG! He said during a recent tour that that's the reason Gengar gets so many cards every year- is because he just likes him a whole lot! So anytime Grimace is feeling down, he can remember that he and his kin hold a special place in the heart of the man responsible for balancing their very existence- at least on the table top!

As for my usual Mario stuff- thanks again for answering my last batch of Asks- I think your implementation of Snifits especially will work quite well! And as for today- I just wanted to keep it simple, and ask for some clarifications regarding an already existing species in the AU, if that's okay, that being the spooky scary dry bones!

You've mentioned them a couple times I'm the past- I believe as creations of Kamek- but I don't think you've ever drawn them- any ideas what they'd look like in your style? Would they maintain any semblance of their former selves- or be mindless zombies like in the movie? What would be involved in creating one? And would the spell only work on normal koopas- or would it be used to raise other creatures- perhaps even deceased royal Koopas to create dry Bowsers!?

And also as a sort of side Ask- have you seen the Super Mario Bros Movie yet? If you have what did you think? I noticed you mention it in the last post regarding the Snifits- but I couldn't tell if you were talking about the trailer or the film itself...

(Oh, and as always, thanks for taking the time to answer all our Asks- hope you're finally over the hill and feeling a bit better!)

@neo-metalscottic (Monopoly gag post) (Gengar evolve post)

Thank you so much!! :DD I'm glad you had fun with those posts! XDD And that's so interesting! :0 I would have thought his favorite Pokémon was Pikachu XDD

Now for your dry bones questions...

As for the royal koopas thing.. When Kamek beings something to live/back to life. They are basically just a mindless zombie. They hold no memories of their old selves it seems.. so when a royal koopa dies, they just let them rest. Becuase bringing them back to life would just make them this mindless drone.. not only would it be disgusting and depressing, but its also probably seen as rather disrespectful. To bring someone of such high status back to life as a mindless slave is just.. not great. Hence why Bowsers wife was simply buried when she passed. There's nothing Kamek could do to bring the real her back..

As for the dry bones, I have a solid concept. Buuuut I'm not super sure how it fits into the AU quite yet..

I was thinking that however many years ago.. there was some kind of war or battle that the koopa kingdom was involved in. And they were losing. They were losing too many soldiers.. So out of desperation.. The current king and queen ordered Kamek to do the unthinkable. Bring their fallen soldiers back to life..

They won the battle. But at a cost. Now the majority of their army/citizens are these mindless zombies.. its hard to say how much of the original koopa remains in these dry bones.. since they don't seem to have any memories of their past life..

The remaining living koopas would eventually repopulate and grow in in numbers. They would also learn to live along side the dry bones.. But its always really disturbing to be a koopa and seeing your great grandfather's corpse mindlessly wandering the streets.. still wearing the same armor he was wearing when he died during the great war..

As for their appearance, I actually pictured them being rather large skeletons. A lot of them are missing limbs or have broken bones.. they are all wearing old timey armor that they had on during the war. They are rather mindless and unresponsive to most things.. Though I imagine when some kind of danger is spotted, they suddenly jump to life and become really animated. Rushing towards the threat and neutralizing it swiftly and violently. Just like the soldiers did back in the day..

Once the threat is neutralized, they slump their shoulders. And begin to slowly wander again…

There's a lot I would like to do with this. I wanna experiment with the koopas interacting with the dry bones. Perhaps covering them in flowers to pay respects but to also make them seem less scary to children..

Perhaps some koopa families find their relatives and guide them by the hand back home and have them participate in family gatherings. Maybe its their way of coping.. or they're just showing love. "No matter how far gone you seem or how long ago you died, I still love you. And you are still apart of this family." 🥺

Sometime I'd like to draw them on my pc. But as it stands I'm still rather unwell and cant sit at my desk for very long 😭💔

As a last note, I did finally watch the Mario movie! :D... IIIIt was about what I expected. <XD

Other than Mario and Luigi's relationship being spot on? I found myself rolling my eyes the whole movie. Its probably safe to say that I'm not the target audience and that most people had a lot of fun with it.

And hey! If I didn't like the movie, I can just make my own Mario universe. Which is what I did! XDD

[asp1diske-art]

Your technical skill with lineart and shading is amazing in itself, but it's your ability to convey emotion and atmosphere in your work that is trademark to me :) its incredible how you can show through gesture and body language just what these masked, expressionless characters are feeling, and how the environment itself conveys that. Your lurien comics, especially the one that ends in something along the lines of "I return to the kingdom you abandoned" are I think the spark that made Lurien go from Some Guy to Deeply Interesting for me, and your use of color pop and shaky line contributed so much to the feeling in those comics. You are one of the artists whose skill at evoking emotions I aspire to <3

Oh wow, I've been reading and re-reading this for the last 20 minutes this is amazing.

So, emotions!

If there is one thing I'm proud to have accomplished during my time in Hollow Knight, it's the skill of expressing tone. Because here's the thing, facial expressions are just one of the many components of tone. (I even wrote about this in another ask some time ago.) Colors, gestures, camera angle, lighting, paneling, lines and narration - all of these come together to convey the mood of the scene.

Check out these wips from the Watcher and the Watched comic, for example.

You can see that color played a huge role in setting the atmosphere in the comic. It shows that this comic is taking place in the Watcher's Spire, but it also gives a dark, subdued feeling that wouldn't come from idk, a yellow background. The backlight emphasizes the ominous tone of the last page. As does Lurien's pose - coupled with the butler looking up and Lurien looking down, it makes it look like Lurien is looming over his butler (and the reader). All this builds up to deliver Lurien's lines with maximum impact.

So yeah, a lot goes into conveying tone in comics, and I'm very happy to hear that it was recieved well!!

The Lurien, Dreamer comic. It's almost 2 years old now but it's still one of the favorite comics I drew about him. Together with the City of Tears comic, it's the epitome of my interpretation of Lurien. My characterization of Lurien's relationship with the Pale King was quite different from the usual fanon at the time (I don't know how it is now, I haven't gone into the tags in years haha) and I wasn't really sure how people would take it. So I'm glad to hear that it got you interested in Lurien!

It's the one that took the longest too lol. Usually I draw comics in a single setting, but that one took 3 days. Besides Two Ghosts (which was an 18 chapter+@ comic that was over 50p and took about 2 months), no other comic has broken this record. I put in a lot of care into it, and it still holds a special place in my heart.

Honestly half the reason I use messy, sketchy lines is that I suck at drawing clean lines lmao. But I like to think that I've made the best of it and utilized it as an art style. In that comic especially, because the whole thing takes place in the dream realm and I wanted to give a rough, unreal feel to it.

I'd show breakdowns of this one too but the file is so big it keeps crashing lol. (Pro tip - draw your comic pages in separate files. Don't be like me and draw 300dpi 10p comics with 30 layers in each page in a single canvas. It will crash and you will be sad.) But drawing the White Palace was a interesting challenge because I usually draw in highly saturated colors whereas the Palace is, well, white. So I had to work out a way to color this without making everything looking grey, while also making it recognizable as the palace. iirc I used a lot of overlay & burn & dodge layers along with a few difference & subtract layers to give the white a slight yellow tint to stand out from the dark blue. (I'm pretty sure they're the culprits crashing the file.)

Sorry this got long, I really took this as an invitation to ramble about my art hkfsldjkflj

Thank you for all the compliments! It's an honor to hear that my art could be someone's aspiration, and I'm very happy that all my Lurien art got someone else into Lurien. I hope you have a nice day :D

[skylarsblue]

»zenless zone zero«

Small details in Wise's room. I'll admit I struggled a little on this one. (No offense to Wise lovers, he's just not super interesting to me. But I did my best!)

[Desc: Next to Wise's bed is a brown shelf beside an industrial style shelf, made of wood & metal. Like Belle's room, the standing shelf holds record sleeves. The first one is white with art of a black record that is broken in thirds, with large box letters that say 'ZERO'. The art is vague which makes it hard to speculate what style of music it might be. I guess...Jazz? That's a guess purely on vibes, really. The second record sleeve is black, white, and grey. On a white background there is a grey (traditional style) dragon wrapping around the studio's logo, EZ or 3Z, I'm not sure which. There's text that says 'ZENLESS', and underneath that, some descriptive text. The descriptive text is more legible than others. It says - "SAN-Z Studios is a general arts and design studio that aims to create fun experiences. We have a broad range of talents, involved in fashion design, accessories, music...and more." The third record sleeve is black with art of three eyes, each with a 'Z' in the iris. It's far too vague for me to guess what style of music it is. On the industrial shelf is a cardboard box with a red polaroid camera on top, and some VHS tapes leaned against it. These VHS tapes have no branding, which once again makes me think these are the tapes one would buy for personal recordings. On the shelf above it are three non-descript cases. They seem too thin for VHS tapes, and too big for a walkman tape. This makes me think they're CD cases.]

[Desc: On the coffee table(that is a trunk style coffee table) is a tray with an open package of 'Royal Baking' chips/crackers. Based on coloring, I'd guess they're cheesy. Beside the open cracker package is a bag of Coff Coffee, made by the Tin Master. There's a cup with Tin Master's logo beside it, with coffee inside. The coffee has foam in a design. On the table is also a newspaper. The only legible writing is in kanji I cannot read, but the picture on it is of Box Galaxy, the gadget store on Sixth Street. Also, I took note that there is a little Bangboo reading a newspaper on it. Lastly, there is a remote. Despite the vintage style TVs, this remote looks akin to a modern Roku remote. Black, with rounded corners, fairly slim and small, with a simple set of buttons. On, record (potentially, the symbol is vague), a central d pad, a menu button, undo, home, a pair of volume buttons & up/down decision buttons, a settings button, a button with a red heart (to favorite things I presume), and a last button with a symbol so vague I couldn't begin to guess what it does.]

[Desc: Like Belle, Wise has movie posters on the wall beside his bed. Unlike Belle, his posters don't overlap, and seem meticulously placed. There are a total of six movie posters. Though before I describe those, I'll point out that he has a green & yellow ukulele hanging on his wall. A notable difference from Belle's electric guitar. 1) Now, the first poster features art of an old computer (think big white box computers from the 80s) in a blue & yellow ocean landscape, with dark blue fish shapes around it. The title says Under The Sea in yellow text. What this could be about, I have no clue. But Wise has been said to enjoy documentaries and artsy films. Completely based on my own headcanon and no evidence? My guess is a documentary about technology developed to explore the ocean. 2) The one underneath has a title in kanji, but the art is pretty clear. It features a shiba inu dog front and center with a "saddle" on it's back, of which has two bags on either side. The only item I can tell that is in the bag is the left one, which has the top of a leek sticking out. Behind the dog is a young woman with a long skirt, as well as some trees. I can't read the title so I'm not sure, but I'd like to think this is a documentary about a very special dog. Like Balto! 3) The third poster features art of a young girl in a space suit, sat on a swing (a wooden board with rope that goes up out of frame), over a shadowy moon that is covered in children's crayon drawings. The title is one again in Kanji, but the tagline says "She's a Starchild". Once again, the art is vague, but my guess would be an artsy kind of film with an underlying message about a young girl with a struggle of some kind. Probably a movie with a lot of metaphors and symbolism. 4) Poster number four is a horizontal kind of poster. On a blue background, there is an old film camera on the left. (A vintage one, 1930s-1950s, which used large film reels.) On the right are three figures. The one furthest to the back is Godzilla, the second is a woman in a red dress, and the third appears to be a non-descript hero character in a blue & yellow uniform. In white block text, it says "DREAM WEAVER". My guess is that this is a documentary about film making. 5) Five has art of a semi-humanoid creature standing in a red lit doorway, but at the bottom are various winding tentacles. The title says "The Obelisk". My guess is that this is a sci-fi horror movie of some sort. 6) The last poster, number six, features an animal skull (a bear skull based on my limited knowledge) on top of a white background. There is black and red kanji in a "messy" style. The English text are the words "Before The Story Begins", so it's probably a prequel of some kind. There's a vague shape in the bottom corner that looks like an award symbol.]

[Desc: Wise's memory board. (If you don't pick him as your MC). The back is the basic wooden style that Belle also has, and it has five pictures. The first one is a selfie taken by Belle, featuring her and Eous standing over Wise, who is sleeping, after having given him a pair of pigtails. The second picture features various cats, with one opening it's mouth for a big yawn as Wise pets it. The third picture is a picture taken by one of the Random Play Bangboo; but not Eous. Eous is in the picture, cleaning one of the screens in the H.D.D, while Belle reclines in a chair and holds up a stack of papers that has red writing - "Complete!" with a circle around it. Wise stands beside Eous with his jacket slung over his shoulder, drinking a soda. (It doesn't match the LENMAN soda in Belle's room, but I've seen vending machines in Lumina square with a drink that is orange; with oranges on it. So...Orange soda? The fourth picture is of the Hollow in the Scott Outpost area. I can tell because there are pillars that match that area. The last picture is a childhood drawing of Wise & Belle. Stood in a field, in front of an orange house. Based on the style difference, it's possible that this was a group effort. Belle's figure and various background elements seem more...uh, artistically inclined. While Wise's figure, some trees, and the flower/grass details seem more simplistic and sloppy. Which would make sense given all the artist details in Belle's room. Wise probably didn't get the artist gene.]

[Desc: On the cabinet beside Wise's TV (once again an old style tube television) are some knickknacks. In front of three stacked small boxes is a stature, the same one in Belle's room that she used to hold her snowboarding goggles. I guessed rabbit based on her room, but it also looks like a fox. Beside that is an orange desk fan that's always on. Further to the right is a game console, which I mention was visually similar to a Super Nintendo. There are no visible cartridges out excluding the singular one in the slot of the console, with a vague logo on the front. An orange smiley face; which could mean it's part of a series, since Belle had a game with a blue smiley face in her console. The sticker for this game is ripped at the top. Maybe it's old, or maybe he and Belle swapped games for a bit. Belle seems like she'd accidentally rip a sticker. He also has a VHS player, there's a small screen on top of it. It's tiny, like a monitor, but I'm not sure it's purpose exactly. Maybe one of those old CCTV monitors? There's some more non-descript VHS tapes leaned against it. There's a shelf as well that holds some more VHS sleeves and a blue & white box. While I've seen the box in the 141 Convenience Store, which tells me the box's branding has the word "CLICK" on it, the rest is in kanji and there's no pictures on it to hint at a product of some sort. Game? Console? ...Wireless mouse? I have no clue.]

[Desc: Wise owns the same CD/Record/Tape player that Belle does. It's situated on a little table by the door. I can see now that the branding on the gadget is the same as the studio on the second record sleeve he owns, SAN-Z studio. The table has a divot to hold records. The only one with a visible front has art of a girl with vibrant green hair, in front of a black background that has bright pink, blue, and orange detailing. The girl has a hearing aid/ear bud in her ear, and an...accessory? On the side of her head. On a separate cabinet beside this is a blue & white box with a pair of black & white sneakers, which I think I've seen on one of the commercials that the game-start loading screen features.]

[Desc: (With a bonus Wise in frame), there is an L shaped cabinet in front of his door. On this cabinet is a plain black cap with a blue brim, and a skateboard with blue & white art on the back. I didn't seen any snowboarding gear in his room, but it doesn't mean he doesn't own it. He's neat, so it could just be put away. On the wall is a yellow bike. The back wheel is black, while the front is white. They don't match, but the front one matches the seat color of the bike, so my guess is he had to replace the back one. Also, based on the shape of the handlebars and the seat positioning, the seat is raised in a way that would make riding while sat upright hard/impossible. This seems like a bike someone must lean forward on, which means it'd be for things like trails and marathons, rather than transportation or leisure rides.]

[Desc: A bit boring, but his roof is the only one with a sun roof. Belle's room doesn't have one. By his bed is also, the only window that is visibly open on the front of Random Play. Somehow, this pale boy gets more sunlight in his room than Belle. But maybe she picked that. Also, though I picked Belle (which means Eous charges in her room), Wise also has an Eous charger, just unused.]

[Desc: A set of lockers with some posted notes. These seem to be reused assets from Belle's room. There is also a book case. None of the books really have any branding that allows for speculation of what they're about, but there are some colors with tiny (non-descript) details that remind me of textbooks and books about specific subject, like for learning.]

[Desc: Wise's desk. It features a standard PC screen, one of those vertical screens, and a laptop on a holder. All of which are on, glowing with blue symbols and unreadable text. There's a wireless mouse too. On the shelves over the desk are post it notes, one that seems like a list, and another that might be about code? There are also more books. Most are in kanji, but I can read one. "Hollow Raiders & Their Proxies." Beside his computers are three journals. Unlike Belle's, there are no stickers, stamps, or tabs poking out of the pages. These are note journals, each with a button latch to close them. One yellow, one red, one blue. To the right is a...radio? It looks vaguely like a call radio to me, and there's a set of headphones on top. But I'll be honest and admit I'm not sure what it is. There's also a yellow license plate on the wall - "NOV 715". There's another Tin Master mug, and while in the photo it's blocked by his aerodynamic chair, there's a metal coffee percolator. Which makes me think this dude has a caffeine addiction.]

[monsterfuckerconfessions]

Ryuusei Date SRW style robotfuckers welcome? y/n/fuggit, I'll know if it gets posted

Either way, I have definitely honked my bobo to Transformers, Mobile Suits, SRW grunt mechs, Scope Doggs, Big Sword Obari Posing bois, Super Robots, Real Robots, blatant bandai toy commercials, subtle bandai toy commercials, you name it, if it's made of metal, it's probably worked it's way into my brain on cum in some capacity.

The details are very unclear and when loads were blown thinking about what mechs, but my most distinct memory is the definitive awakening moment of nutting to some Char's Counterattack art of Sazabi and Nu Gundam with some lovingly detailed battle damage.

So as dumb as the franchise gets, no matter where that roller coaster crashes, Amuro and Char will always hold a special place in my heart as THE vaguely one-sided hatefuck relationship fighting bisexual boys.

One, a tired overgrown child who's childhood sucked really bad with bisexual leanings but a probably unreciprocated mancrush from his anime co-worker.

Another, a tired overgrown child whose childhood also sucked but he also lies like crazy and is a strong challenger for Patrick Bateman's "World's Unreliable-est Narrator" coffee mug title, so we don't really know exactly how much shit he just made up on the fly getting shitfaced during Garma's funeral, but I wanna hazard a guess of...a lot.

Two autistic manchildren fighting it out over a desperate ghost lady who just wants to watch them bone from the cuck couch in the space ghost love hotel and film it for ghost generations to pass down.

A dumb guy who got smart enough to bring a gun to a sword fight and a much dumber mama's boy who didn't just call his old besty because it was the 80s and Tomino didn't see mobile phones catching on in the Universal Century where actual non-metaphorical non-space real Hitler just canonically existed in a way no retcons will ever let us truly overlook.

Tale as old as time

Song as old as rhyme

Baby and the Bitch

(I got sidetracked hard, but Megas XLR was cool and right. Chicks Dig Giant Robots. And hoo boy, I am CHICKS.)

.

[emotionalhxc]

PART 2: Strawberry Hospital Instagram Q&A Q: Also do you like Sky Eats Airplane? Some of your songs give me the same vibe

N: "lowkey in shock that this band was brought up to me because they were (partially) the reason I found out what a DAW was in the first place because I read some interview of theirs back then describing their method of creation or something formative memories of listening to this one on a school computer in 5th grade" Q: When making an EP, do you usually have a "concept" or "vibe" before making the songs? N: "mostly! it is typically reflective of whatever sonic fixations I had in the years preceding the release itself + a culmination of whatever emotions are stirred up by life circumstances once I have that intersection pinned down, it begins to take a form of its own"

Q: Is there a story behind the Phantasmaphilia album art? It's so mesmerizing *0* N: "indeed ! the dead insects themselves were found outside of where I was living during the completion of the album, around this time of year. myself and some old friends collected them and brought them inside to scan in for the sake of the cover artwork. as for the bathtub image source, I am actually not holding my own legs but another person (out of frame) but we were wearing swimming trunks haha I wanted to create a feeling of ghostly vulnerability and I appreciate said old friends for helping me realize my vision at the time" Q: your music heals me and makes life bearable, thank you from the bottom of my heart. ❤️‍🩹 N: "I am so so grateful... thank you for sharing with me, it keeps me pushing forward knowing that my music reached you in the same way that other music heals me too (hug)"

Q: Squall. I love that song so much. I would love to hear your reasons for that song. N: "oh yes Squall! I wrote that for an internet friend who lived somewhere that was basically a perpetual snowstorm, I would stay up late talking with them and it meant very much to me during that period of time to me, the flurry of splittercore kicks and icy trance lead melodies reminded me of a blizzard" Q: How did you get your name? N: "strawberry hospital? or neptune? I'll answer both! strawberry hospital was intended to follow the naming trend of many bands and artists I grew up with, but also represent the otherwise polarizing thematic elements (bittwersweetness) and stylings present within the music and lyrics my name Neptune is chosen but I have kept it for over a decade now, it reminds me of the ocean and a cold planet very far away from here"

Q: Ilysm I sry if this is a dumb q but are the songs on halfawake all vocaloid or ur voice N: "awe no questions are dumb! the original release is exclusively vocaloid as I was too anxious to include my own singing in my songs in 2016. but the live version of the song is special, because I sing the chorus with my own voice instead. other albums feature a combination of my own voice and vocaloid (with exceptions)" Q: what is your bowling ball size? N: "this question is so unrelated I love it... so I cannot bowl to save my life and maybe I'm missing a double meaning here but they say a bowling ball should be 10% of your own weight right? in that case, like 12? I am unfortunate epitome of gay people failing at sports stereotype"

Q: what's your personal favorite song you've ever release?? 🖤 N: "Halfawake, Memento, Phantoma, Azure, Rhythm 0" Q: so like whats next for uu? N: "I'd love to play a few more shows before the year ends... maybe an international one? we shall see... otherwise trying to explore new forms for the project to take, I never want to reiterate what has already been established to the point of monotony heh" Q: I really love Tacit ❤️ and would love to know what it's about N: "Tacit is an apology for not being able to fulfill the role of what somebody would like you to be for them. not exactly a hard rejection but an assuring one (if such a thing exists) ... sometimes you need to use your head over your heart? I struggled with this at times p.s. it was heavily influenced by the haibane renmei OST!"

Q: Would you ever go on a tour! Californian fan here and I love you and your music :D N: "it will happen someday I am certain, playing a show in California feels obligatory (in a good way) plus I have had a few invitations from fellow musician friends that I need to take them up on" CONTINUED INTO PART 3 ON MY NEXT POST

[warpolomewdarkmatter]

literally have the most random, embarassing, or just dumb blosc sketches but i never know where to post them so HERE!! my worst and best.

1st of ALLLLLL i like my guys covered with cheese. alright? cannot tell you how much i think about them. blosc shouldntve canonized alternative universes because i got very obsessed cause i know theres a universe they married like 15 years pre-canon... (I LOVE CROSSOVERS AND AUS!!!!!)

speaking of crossovers and aus, here's a little medieval fantasy/dnd/fairytale au ive been cooking on the back burner. idk kind of need me a paladin buzz what can i say! (i came across the first sketch a while after drawing it and thought, What the hell does "SP" on his uniform stand for? Did I forget to finish writing "SR"? and then i understood SP stands for Space Paladins and had a laugh.) also i love to think about different aus and how warps hand can be implemented in them like this magic hand :)

here we have... warp. a guy... who i am very normal about. anyway. you do not imagine how many floating heads of his with the same expression im sparing you because in half of my recent files theres a stray layer or two of warp!!! 1st pic is the homoeroticism of tag team (my favourite) and the 3rd pic is some agent z redesigns/doodles.

EVILYEAR AND GRAVITINA COULD PULL A LAZSLO AND NADJA!!! ive been rewatching wwdits seasons 1/2 and got very inspired. while drawing this ive imagined like a million concepts as a side dish. evilyear has a reincarnation who is the normal buzz and of course the normal buzz is a vampire hunter. i heard he had a hunting partner who got turned into a vampire himself? fucked up if true. ozma is a werewolf and she makes out with gravitina sloppy style. Who said that?

oldies (made before i finished the show! hence the screenshot from the comic instead of First Missions! i dont know why i read the comic before i finished the show.) featuring mira :) and the old design of warp which i dont really use anymore but which holds a special place in my heart.

I WAS INSPIRED BY RITSUCAKES ART AND DREW TYBUZZ FOR THE FIRST AND PROBABLY LAST TIME IN MY LIFE. but they came out weirdly nice so thats cool! do not know how to post it & it just sticks out like a sore thumb in my files. wait if ty is a werewolf does he hang out with ozma in wwdits au. hold on just a minute im obsessed--!

listened to way too much "my first kiss". and also warp is there. i like this romac and i think some influence from when i read a few chapters of heavenly delusion the manga are visible there (what was the character im thinking of's name? azura? the alien one?)

[papabirdurskeks]

OC ask! Question 1 ^^

1. Your first OC ever?

Oh man, this dates back to so many years ago that I had to really think hard about this one and when it came to the answer, that honor of being my first ever OC was Kalla c:

I was really into Star Wars as a kid but never thought in my life to ever make an OC or Fan Character (FC) as they were called back in the day! But for some reason, I really wanted to do it and thus, he came to be! But did you know he didn't look like this when I first made him?

In fact, he was a completely different person way back in the day!

When I first made Kalla back in 2004 or 2005 (I think?), he was actually a female Kaleesh who lived as a hermit far from her homeworld! Her whole look was different then too, though sadly I only found two pieces of which I saved from those early days. All the old art of have of Kalla is sadly lost to time x')

(Beware, super old art ahead!)

Kalla used to have a mask and even a big ol' scar over her eye, but after time I sort of just forgot about her and moved on, to which unfortunately lead to me also throwing away and loosing all the old art I had of her too x') Now I'm mad at myself for having done that x')

But then she had a short revival back in 2011-2012, to which I redesigned her; this time taking away her mask and making her facial injuries far more prominent.

Gave her a new hair style too and switched her injuries to a lip scar/burn. At this point I had updated her to be a doctor of sorts but then shortly lost interest again when I couldn't quiet figure out what more to do with her.

And then fast forward to recent years and now Kalla has a brand new look and story to boot! c: Kalla is now a male Kaleesh who still sort of lives as a hermit far from home, a nod to what he used to be when he started. However, he lacks the injuries he used to have and still no longer carries the mask; having never forged and earned the right to do so. Instead, Kalla's days as hermit are preferred to be lived out in peace and without confrontation, especially from other Kaleesh. He is much happier in his peaceful life forging new trinkets out of scrap metal and fixing droids, traveling about when he wants to cx

And you know, with all the changes Kalla has gone through, he's very special to me because of it. He was my very first OC, fandom OC nonetheless, and he holds a very special place in my heart for it. He changed so much along the way just like me and its like seeing a reflection of myself grow along the journey we both had. We changed and we are happier with who we are now x)

[theromaboo]

The Ninth Day of Britannicus

Today I'm doing the Horrible Histories books. Britannicus has to be in the Rotten Romans movie but I haven't watched the movie or found any picture of him online, so I don't know for sure.

Ah, Horrible Histories. I think I read every single book back in sixth grade. I also think I watched every single episode of the show at least twice. Even though Horrible Histories isn't the best when it comes to historical accuracy (fact check fact check before you believe anything you hear!), it still holds a special place in my heart.

@athelstan-anglecyning, who sent me this, said:

What do you think of horrible histories britannicus?? he looks 40. and kind of dead

I do agree that he looks 40. It's giving...

And he certainly looks kind of dead. Perhaps it is because he is dead. We will never know...

I honestly don't have much to say about this one. I love the artstyle. It's a very nice cartoony style that's always had a spot in my heart. The art itself is also kind of cute and derpy (do people use that word anymore?)

He does look quite old. He was definitely drawn with the artist assuming he was an adult.

I don't hate this one, but it certainly isn't one of my favourites.

I think what @just-late-roman-republic-things said about drawings is true. There's so little information that if I try hard enough to fill in the blanks with good information, I actually really quite like how he looks. He is starting to feel like Brit.

Uh oh. Now I really like how he looks and I think he looks like Brit. I literally unintentionally sabotaged today's post. I have made myself so biased towards this drawing that I am unable to continue. Note to self: don't do that.

But don't worry, when I go and rank them, I'm sure it would've worn off. And if it didn't, I could always just flip the canvas.

[witchcraftandburialdirt]

I haven't posted art in a minute and have fond myself in a dryspell, so I figured instead I would show you all a piece from a few years ago! I rarely draw fanart but Kanda Yuu from D. Gray Man is one of my favorite characers in fiction, from one of my favorite stories in fiction, and I couldn't help myself but to indulge.

There is a D. Gray Man RP I have been doing with my best friend for over 5 years(and its still GOING), and I wanted to illustrate one of the scenes from that roleplay as it was a very intimate and relaxing. The roleplay was very sporadic and intense, so quiet moments were always pleasant. I may drop some more old art of that roleplay soon as it holds an extremely special place in my heart.

Either way, I think it's also imporant to look at old art and appreciate the way your art has changed over time and what style choices you've kept. I would love to possibly redraw this in the future but for now I still adore how this turned out. I've included the WIPs/Sketch of the original scan (ew LOL) as I do want to share more WIPs on here, I've just always been all or nothing when it comes to art.

Commission Info Available Here!

[ramayantika]

Indian classical dance movies/documentaries you can watch (1)

Lasya Kavya:

'Dance is a prayer with my entire being; not a formal austere ritual, but a transforming experience.' - Alarmel Valli

Personally, Alarmel Valli's dance has a special place in my heart. It's not only her dance that binds you to her, but it's also her thoughts and her beautiful creative mind that expresses itself through her movements and expressions. There is poetry in her movements, and somehow her performance is always captivating.

Lasya Kavya is a documentary on Alarmel Valli and her dance journey. Even non dancers who are into other creative pursuits can still connect to her. And if you are someone who isn't really into the arts, this documentary still holds some great insights to bharatanatyam so one can definitely give this documentary a chance.

Maya Ravana: In the Spirit of Ramayana:

Maya Ravana is a dance ballet on Ravana from the Ramayana. This dance drama has been one of the enthralling works of Shobhana Chandrakumar Pillai, who has also starred in many Malayalam films.

As the name suggests, this dance drama showcases Ravana, the Lankan ruler as a charismatic man, who is well versed in magic too. The dance drama unlike other purely classical dance performances has used film songs and dance sequences, yet the narration, the storytelling, colourful costumes, well-written dialogues and obviously Shobhana's choreographies make Maya Ravana in the must-watch list.

Given to dance: India's Odissi Tradition:

'You danced in the temple and I dance on the stage. For you, what is the difference between us?'

'You dance outside, on the stage. To you, dance is art and knowledge. We danced only inside the temple, as service to the God.'

When we talk about the history of Odissi dance, one cannot forget the Maharis, the temple dancers of the Puri Jagganatha temple. This documentary has some rare footage of the Maharis who were very old to dance, yet some some of them obliged to show some of the steps.

Both, Odissi and Bharatanatyam have been temple dance forms originally. Odissi too had lost its respect after the British and it was a hard task to reconstruct odissi again.

This documentary was the one that made me serious about learning Odissi again because I wasn't that interested in it before because I was already doing bharatanatyam and I already had a brief experience with Odissi in childhood.

This one shall provide a lot of insight for Odissi dancers to appreciate the history and the original perfomers of this beautiful form as well as this videos serves a dual purpose of providing historical and cultural knowledge for dancers who learn other forms than Odissi as well as for people who aren't into dance yet want to know about the history and culture of the various forms.

Natyanubhuva: "Dance in India is a celebration of the Body, the Mind and the Spirit. And in its evolution, it is universal and timeless."

The introduction of this documentary is sure to give you goosebumps. As a dancer, I don't think I will ever have words to explain how I feel when I dance, but the intro part does the job.

This documentary is the base for anybody to understand why Indian classical dance exists and how across centuries, this form is still relevant to the Indian society. Very beautifully, it begins with the Dhyana shloka which is learnt by all the dancers learning dance. It then proceeds to explain the relationship of the Art and the Artist.

Then we have how is a dancer's body visualized as a temple and the sacred space that surrounds the body which is adorned with movement and embellished with music.

If I wrote more about this one, I will reveal all the content present in it. This documentary too has some eminent dancers talking and presenting their respective dance forms and there are some very famous pieces of each dance style that shall provide a basic idea and may help you differentiate.

And just in case, if you have wondered what purpose dos these age old dance forms have which show stories of gods, goddesses and demons from epics of ancient eras, this documentary will give you the answer.

Documentary on the Thanjavur Bani of Bharatanatyam by Guru. K.P. Kittappa Pillai:

Fifth generation descendant of Sivanandam who was one of the Tanjore Quartet and the grandson of the legendary Meenakshisunsaram Pillai, Kittappa Pillai has contributed immensely to the Thanjavur Bani of Bharatanatyam. Bani here means a style and bharatanatyam itself has many styles where the basic format is same across all styles but there are slight variations in the number of adavus or in the technique or maybe in the movement.

This documentary unlike Laasya Kavya doesn't tell much about Guru Kittappa Pillai's journey in dance, rather it shall take you directly to the dance tradition. This documentary entails a brief history of the dance form and quickly moves on to various clippings of different Adavus which are the basic steps a dancer learns before moving on to the items.

I personally think that this documentary would be great for someone who hasn't stepped into the world of classical dance ever because they tell you the basic here as well as there are brief explanations of the dance pieces shown here. Overall a good one to appreciate how old the dance form is as well as to appreciate the sincere work of such gurus to keep the art form alive.

»»——⍟——««

Hi! It took me almost a year to find these gems out of which I have added only a few of them in the first part. I will be making more of these parts. I belong from a generation where majority of youngsters barely have any idea about classical dance and music. Being a classical dancer, I would like to spread word so that more people can appreciate the form and somehow this artform sustains.

Dancers, musicians and the audience together shall only sustain this artform that has been passed down from centuries with the help of gurus and patrons. It saddens me at times when I hear my peers ask what's the point of learning and performing all this when it is not as popularized as modern and western dance forms on television and media.

These documemtaries contain rare footage and lots of knowledge and information about the significance of dance, it's place in society and how it has helped develop such a beautiful and diverse culture.

I hope, many of you take some interest in these parts and I will be glad if you share some of the things you took from these videos or just any general discussion about them.

[art-of-wackylurker]

2, 8 & 21 for the weirdly specific artist asks, please? ^^

[Ask Game]

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

Hands down, forward is the easiest

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

Well, uhm. There's been A LOT of them... But if I had to pick one it's the Witcher Cyberpunk!AU, you know, the one I restarted like five separate times XD

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

Hm this is actually a tough question because I'm very flexible but style like in Corpse Bride will always hold a special place in my heart, even if purely by the virtue that I was really into it in middle school X)

[ravangie]

I really like your first iteration of Tulia and Miguela, it looks like you spent more time on it, they're beautifully back-lit, the structure of their faces conveys more depth and their features look more unique to them. You have some delicate details which is really nice, I love em both tho, I think that is a fun exercise. Your art is lovely ♡

Thank you for the compliment! ❤️ And for the feedback too!

Yeah, i never said the first picture was bad, i really like it, it holds a special place in my heart, especially since it's started my journey. I remember feeling allll kinds of butterflies in my stomach while drawing it. But! I will talk about the improvements that i see in the new version:

(Oh boy there's a lot of text, prepare)

The back-lit lighting is pretty, but makes no sense in this particular piece. I tried to do it when redrawing, but such lighting would mean, that i would have to put the source of the light behind the ladies. The prettiest option would be to make them stand in front of a big beautiful landscape. But i didn't want to cheat and make myself from the present look better by changing the composition of the picture, so i kept that blank wall in the background. I did decide to spice it up a tiny bit and changed the lighting to fill the empty background with the shadows of the ladies.

Also! In the old version "the wall" is done very lazily with just a textured brush at whatever paste. In the new version i actually took time to paint the wall myself.

What I wouldn't agree with you on is the structure of the faces. I was still figuring things out at the point of the first drawing, so the proportions are all over the place. To me it is especially noticeable in the placement of the eyes. And in the postures of the ladies. I also wouldn't say that the features changed and became less unique, i'd say the opposite actually, they became sharper, more defined and unapologetically themselves. Just look at Miguella's nose proudly sticking out hahah

When redrawing this picture i also didn't want to change the rendering style, cause that wouldn't be fair, so i kept the simple "lineart over flat colours" style. There are some fully rendered pieces with Tulia and Miguella, like this one or this one. There they do, of course, look more realistic. But i see no use in drawing more realistically in such simplistic style, so i just showed off what my drawing style has evolved into during this year. Previously i didn't have a differentiation between more stylistic and more realistic types of art. NOW i do.

Also. The costumes. They now look like actual historical costumes. Not just cheap halloween knock-offs lol

So in conclusion to me it's pretty clear that now i actually know what i'm doing and every decision in my artworks is mindful. Which i consider to be a success!

[heliosandtheminecraftians]

For the mun from a curious anon: What got you into Minecraft askblogging of all fandoms? Is it an interest in a certain type of Mob? Inspired by a veteran mcaskblogger? For fun/curiosity? Or something else? Thank you!

[Yesss, I was hoping you'd drop into my inbox, curious anon! Let me tell you!

I got into Minecraft in 2012, back before I got into high school. My very first Minecraft OC was Celina, but her appearance was much different. Here's a little doodle I did of Alpha/my first version of Celina:

Celina was originally my MC persona, and I wanted to draw a story about her making friends in Minecraft. She made friends with my version of Steve, and then...

I discovered Herobrine.

I'll continue under the cut, because this is gonna get long!

Herobrine was a legend of MC that didn't scare me as a kid, and when I saw Minecraft videos and movies on YouTube of him being scary, my thought was, "Well, what if he's just misunderstood? What if something happened to him that made him this way?"

So, I started working on my traditional art comic, "The Real Herobrine," which I later renamed to, "The Broken Flame." It was focused on Celina and Steve making friends with their server's Herobrine, who is now my boy, Brine.

After a few years of working on this, I found Tumblr through a FanFiction writer I'm friends with named BlackDragon41. I didn't have an account until I was 14 or 15, but at first, I just sent anon messages to nice ask blogs. I made friends with a few of them, and decided to make my very first Tumblr blog, askcelinasteveandbrine.

It took place some time after the events of my comic that I eneded up turning into a fanfic of the same name. It was focused on Celina, Steve, and Brine, with some of their friends and family as background characters.

I went on with my original blog for a few years, before someone started some drama that made me leave the fandom for a few years and turn all my MC OCs into fandomless OCs. However, I kept playing Minecraft, as it holds a special place in my heart.

I was on and off of Tumblr for some years, before I made my old OCs and my newer OCs into Minecraft OCs and rejoined the fandom. I ended up coming back to Tumblr a little before this, and my personal blog was originally an Apex Legends ask blog.

Then, I came back to the Minecraft Tumblr fandom after finding my current style. I really got inspired to come back by the mod of twinsinminecraft, the mod of hexavexen, and the mod of ask-toby-and-vulcan, mostly.

As I jumped back into the MC ask blogging scene, I met a bunch of old friends who I hadn't talked to since my original deviantart account from years ago, and the mod of askendy started the MC ask blog Discord server, and I reconnected with people in there, too!

I love this fandom, everyone in it, and everyone's OCs in it, and I'm so glad I returned to my roots of Tumblr and Minecraft. I've met so many people and my friends and OCs have changed my life by being in the Minecraft ask blogging community. I love everyone here, and I'm never giving up my MC dreams.

I know 14 year old me would be proud to see how far I've come with my Minecraft stuff. <3]

[c0smiccl0wn]

hey hi hello !! i wanted to say your original story looks super cool and i'd love to know more about it 👀 do you have any kind of plot outlined for it?

also the song you made (for the brother fallen) is genuinely incredible, it sounds like something you'd find in a video game that sticks with you for years after you play (like undertale maybe) !!

ALSO your art is SO good ??? i love the eye themes in a lot of it, and your art style is so cool !!! (if i could request that you tag all your art with a specific tag like "my art" or smth so that it would be easier for ppl to look thru on ur blog, that'd be awesome bc i want to see all of your art!! no worries if not ofc !!)

sorry for such a long ask, but i just had so much to say oops, i hope you're having a good week!!

waaaa! hi, you’re so sweet! i hope you have a good LIFE! you angel, don’t worry about the ask length <3

i’m glad someone likes my story, it holds a special place in my heart.

i probably should have an art tag by now, but my brain fries and i forget🫠

glad you like the eye theme! for some reason, even though i have a fear of being stared at, drawing eyes and adding eye motifs to things makes me happy

(story plot under cut)

if i had to describe “from the flatwoods”, i’d say it’s like a mashup of “the owl house”, “the magnus archives”, and horror movie elements

the main plot is about a 16 year old boy named daniel hallows, who moves to a small town in the middle of nowhere called “wood’s rest”.

in classic show style, wood’s rest is completely messed up. the surrounding forest is riddled with creatures and supernatural monsters of all kinds.

he meets a group of kids around his age who seem very intrigued by the supernatural and later learn that they are, in fact, the reason monsters haven’t destroyed literally everything.

there’s a big focus on other worlds and horror. shapeshifter, cryptids, mysteries, the works.

“for the brother fallen” is a theme i wrote for two of my characters, samuel and lunar spire. the go through it. unfortunately.

im hoping to have the designs for all the characters put on here at some point, and i’ll explain each of the characters in their respective posts.

[koebichan]

Hashihime of the Old Book Town

I would like to preface this with that I'm a writer and colourist working on a visual novel myself. Hashihime of the Old Book Town as story felt at many points very relateable and as a game also very motivating. It is moving and beautiful and cruel and for me a motivator to create something that will evoke as many emotions in others as this novel did in me. If you give this visual novel a try - I hope you will enjoy your stay as much as I did. This novel will surely stick with me for a very long time.

Story 10/10

Voice Acting 10/10

Visuals 10/10

Music 8/10

Length 10/10

STORY An intricate but not too complex time travel plot, murder, friendship and romance. This novel touches a lot of topics on the nuances of relationships between people. The story progresses at just the right pace and won't leave you in the dark about things without a reason. There is not a single dull moment, every sentence making you want to know more and keep reading. Perfectly cut visual scenes mixed with music will have you feeling shocked, amused and dumbfounded. A lot to take in but never too much that you start to get tired of whatever unbelievable thing could happen next, this story will keep you on your toes and always wanting for more.

(Also, some spicy scenes are a nice extra.)

VOICE ACTING The voice acting is perfectly conveying the characters moods and feelings, making them feel alive.

VISUALS The art style is simple in regards to the character designs. Whilest in a lot of visual novels every member of the main cast will look very unique and have a detailed design, in Hashihime of the Old Book Town the designs are kept simple and realistic for the time the story takes place in. However the artist proves to have an ingenious understanding of colour and design, making the scenes of  spectacular and the contrast gives these scenes an additional story-telling effect.

MUSIC The only point I am not 100% on. The soundtrack is very good and a joy to listen to, however it lacks a certain something to feel really unique and special. A lot of the tracks sound like a lot of other tracks you have probably heard in a lot of other visual novels. Nontheless the use of music in this novel perfectly mirrors the events that are taking place, calming and exciting the reader at just the right places.

LENGTH The amount of playtime you get is more than worth what they sell this novel for, even more so if you grab it on sale. This novel isn't something you finish just like that in one evening. It has kept me awake until 4AM more than once, having made me forget about time and my surroundings...

Conclusion: Definitely one of the best visual novels I have read in my life, it will hold a special spot in my heart. I fully recommend it and I hope it won't rob you off your sleep as much as it did for me. And if it does, I hope the following day you will have your coffee or tea ready.

EDIT (14.3.2021) 2 months after I finished I now also own the artbook and the soundtrack. This VN has me absolutely hooked. Everyone involved in creating this masterpiece: Thank you for this glorious and unique experience.

EDIT (18.11.2022) Captivated like on the first day I bought the Switch Version. Truly the most captivating visual novel I have ever played.

Link to my review: