#there was some other… not so safe sketches in this file lmao

[fiishes]

Siblings, eh?

[signaturedish]

No, no, please never stop! I loved reading that and it's all true, lmao. I always seem to find the 'con that needs some quiet company or something I can do to help. I'm also 100% Going To Climb On Tallest Thing. Especially if it is a bot. Ratchet is the only Autobot I like. I taunt Ironhide, his frustration is too fun. Optimus is Tall Thing, not Autobot. The other 'cons finally realize I'm not their secret when I scramble out of Starscream who just went on a flight and... 1/2 - Optical Admirer

... climb onto Megatron in the middle of a meeting after avoiding Starscream's attempt to corral me to his berth. All of them try to stop me and freeze when they realize it is Too Late. I'm on Megatron's head. Then Megatron notes that QuickPatch is his squishy. Starscream mutters that HideFlight is my name, not QuickPatch. An argument ensues between a lot of them over which name is mine. 2/2 - Optical Admirer

Ahhh , that’s too cute!

Omg these are all such potential disasters.

Optimus has never been so close to so many frothing Decepticons aiming every single weapon of their arsenal at him without being actively captured or damaged in some way.

He’s just kind of quietly marveling at the moment while his troops are shaking apart with stress in a corner. Maybe also whispering pro-Autobot propaganda to you even tho you haven’t processed a single word he’s said as meaningful speech.

Eventually someone will start a betting pool on whether you understand he’s sentient, but no one’s sure who it was.

The Decepticons are just daring him to move while you’re eyeballing the top of his head speculatively. Megatron has been personally screaming threats and demands across a comm link while completely ignoring all of Optimus’ tired and reasonable reassurances like ‘Megatron, why on earth do you think I’d crush a human? You were there when I cried over that ant hill, right?’.

When the worst kept Decepticon ‘secret’ came out, Starscream had tried trapping you against his berth with an energon cup and a holopad like a goddamn spider. And you saw the set up he intended to leave you in- blankets? Stuffed animals?? No high places at all??? Measures had to be taken.

So you switch bots. Right in the middle of the meeting to make that statement pop. Look guys, you say without speaking, look at how much I don’t want to hang out with Starscream. Better think about that before trying to trap me on a hatefully low surface.

“Hideflight, no!”

Megatron watches with wide optics as you scamper up his arm like a mountain goat. He doesn’t know why you’ve so foolishly revealed yourself to his incompetent minions, but he’s already automatically placing you on the relatively level top of his helm. You do love napping there while he sketches out battle plans.

Just to be safe, he switches off the PowerPoint projection he had blown across every screen in the base and instead selects a digital file with a close up image of your face from his memory banks.

Your fleshy pink face is smudged with grease and you’re mid sentence and smiling cheerfully, jabbering about how pretty his red eyes are while carefully searing frayed wires off for him. It is a most pleasing image, one he believes highlights his pet’s finer qualities.

“This is QuickPatch,” he growls out, danger putting an engine edge in his announcement, “She is mine and unless you’d like your miserable lives to end right now in the middle of a monthly maintenance review you will not-“

“He means to say Hideflight is her designation,” Starscream mutters across the basewide speakers.

Soundwave finally has a proper target for his frustration, he rounds on Starscream, “Incorrect. Gadget has already been successfully programmed to respond to her true designation.” He’d spent so many small sugary human treats in pursuit of that endeavor.

“Her designation was Thunderdash first!” Thundercracker snapped.

The ensuing argument lasted three days, you couldn’t care less but played along anyways because the bribing was truly outrageous.

You secret nest exactly way too high up in the base now has fairy lights, twenty pounds of scrap metal, and three Cybertronian engineering textbooks.

[aphelyons]

My Creative Year in Review 2018

stolen from but also requested by inspired by @drstrangewillseeyounow​

Preface: This will be a bit of a mashup of two things; art and writing. But I’ll be clear. This is also a long post, I’m very sorry. Apparently I don’t shut up.

Total number of creations? (Or a rough guess!)

Art - Finished; 221 (not all published) Art - WIPS; 25 Writing - Published; 4 Writing - WIPS; 9 ?

Was there a project that you didn’t get around to?

In terms of starting or finishing? Lol. I didn’t get around to publishing the first chapter of the MU fic, which I desperately still want to before S2 starts. Because I keep writing all the middle bits instead. Nor did I get around to start writing the “winter fic” beyond plot points and a few little scenes.

There’s a looooooooooooooot of art I didn’t get around to either starting properly or finishing. Lol. I have a L’Rell piece I really want to do, as  well as [another] mirror Stamets piece I want to do.

What was the creation you had the most fun making?

Art: Oh that’s hard. A lot of things for a lot of different reasons. I enjoyed the Holiday artworks because they were….really out of my depth and fun. Mostly I loved sending them out on cards to friends.

More recently I had a lot of fun doing the Patroclus and Achilles piece. Loved using golden hues.

Also have a lot of fun with Not Safe for Work-Viewing pieces, but those will never be published here. :D Sorry.

Writing: I had a surprising amount of fun writing the Vampire AU fic [Just a Taste] for Halloween. Which I never expected to write anything vampiric, ever, and also it came together really quickly. Building the world in that short fic was a lot of fun.

Any surprises? (E.g. a character or ship you never thought you’d create for or a project that came out of nowhere?)

Well honestly this whole revival to art and writing came as a surprise, I hadn’t done either in many years. I was also never a Star Trek fan prior to Disco, nor have I ever been a part of a fandom before. This is my first! So that was surprising, also surprising was how massively obsessed I became and how important it became to me. But the best surprise out of all of that is the connections to people I’ve made and the friendships that have come from that. ily. <3 Also not going to lie, pretty surprised that suddenly my art has become mega-fuckin-colourful. Where did this love of neon come from??? Wtf

What was the hardest creation to make?

Writing; MU fic - hands down. I have pages and pages and pages of resources. Not only is it going to be a long story (I endeavour and hope) but also from the amount of which I am pulling from and want to align to canon as as best I can as well. Being a new fan to Trek also... it’s been pretty overwhelming to get these details right. But at the same time, really trying to flesh out a character we never met or saw in the show, and have them interact with the established canon and have that all make sense… That and have the science in it make as much sense as possible, I’ve based a few new things on scientific principles and things that exist and just trying to elevate them to a cosmic scale… and hope I can pull that off too. It’s pretty intimidating. Not going into it, but the way the story weaves and intersects with a few different genres.. I just want to have it make sense in it’s self contained body of work.

Yeah it’s hard. Lol. Biggest thing I’ve ever tried to do. But, I love it, truly. I think about this whole project an inhumane amount of times every day, and I love that. 

It’s also hard because I’d love to be a linear writer, but I am not. At all. I’m constantly writing ahead, well and truly ahead, but then coming back, adding to and editing earlier bits and rewriting and rewriting….rewriting… ugh

The subjects and themes are also a little heavy, and it’s cathartic to write about, sure, but also wanting to do those moments justice and with respect and integrity - because that’s important to me too.

The whole thing is just a lot of fuckin work, lol. But I really love it. Already - and it’s nowhere near done.

Art; Probably the one where Paul is laying down [crying] in the spore chamber. It was my first return to trying to paint semi-realism, and... it didn’t work out. I’m not happy with it anymore, but also proud that I pulled it off. That pose? Hair? HAND? UGH those took me too long to get right. But, overall it certainly taught me a lot to use on future more realism-ish pieces such as the Cosmic/Celestial pics of Hugh and Paul [which I love.]

What inspired you the most this year?

Oh, easy. Discovery. Hugh and Paul, hands down both of those things. But also to the endlessly talented people who I’ve come to know and also enjoy the works of - be it written, art, or otherwise. Creativity inspires creativity. 

What are you most proud of? (A creation, something you learned, etc)

Art: The Cosmic/Celestial pieces. Very proud of those. (So much so I made metal prints of them and they sit on my bookshelf between a salt lamp.) I really love how they came out, and really the original (Cosmic Paul) was kind of an accident, a happy accident if you will.  

Also the piece of Anthony I did for Anthony’s birthday. That was a lot of fun constructing something visually representative of a person.

Any goals/plans/ideas for next year?

Fucking get some headway on my MU fic so I can stop being so annoying by just talking about it, and fucking start publishing it already -  for then it then it would EXIST in the word. LOL. Ugh. That’s the only big plan, that’s all I want to do. Whatever art I will do - I will just find inspiration in the moment to do. No plans, other than the L’Rell piece and a couple other WIPs - maybe.  

Honestly just that and trying to keep improving, both in writing and in drawing. I feel like I’ve improved over this past year, so would love to just continue on that trajectory.

Pick your favourite creations! (Post links and tell us why you love them!)

The Cosmic and Celestial Series I just love how these turned out, especially because it was such a surprise how it turned out originally. But being able portray this cosmic divinity of which I uphold them both to be in my mind was really awesome to pull off. The colours, and dramatic light, this whole thing was so fucking fun. The whole painting with colours as highlights / shadows / dual light source was a huge experiment for me and it taught me a huge amount, so I really love it for many reasons.

The Song of Achilles  I started sketching this while I was listening to the audio book and while I fell in love with these two. Please, again, do go read this book. But the detailing on the spear, the auras and Achilles hair were my favourite bits. Oh and the gold blood. Of course, lol. Loved doing the symbolic imagery 

Anthony Rapp’s Birthday Portrait  Because this man means a whole lot to me, and it was nice really nice for a change of pace to try and depict him and things that are important to him. Also really proud of that shoe, ngl. & And MU Stamets and his Mycelium Sun

Huge experiment in terms of colour and lighting for me, and I love love love how it turned out. Even if it’s a little rough. This one was so much fun, and I also printed this out on metal actually lol. Looks pretty cool.  & First MU Culmets Work Still in my heart, even though it’s a earlier work, because it was the first exploitation of this duo for me, and how they might be together. Also where I came up with the HC for his facial scar, which I always will include in any MU Hugh depiction of mine. But I still really like how their characterisation translates in this one.

Writing

Nomenclature.  

The archaeology AU story I wrote for 30MinuteLoop. Also well, this is the only one that’s safe for viewing that’s published, lol, but I am genuinely really proud of this and seeing it through to completion. 

But also the MU story is a fave, but this is the only published section so far:

MU Snippet (These next couple of questions are directly from @drstrangewillseeyounow​ sorry I’ll be so literal in their structure, lmao)

How you decide on which style to use for individual pieces?

Unless it’s something very specific in mind (like the holiday pieces) I just kind of let it take a life of its own. See what it evolves into. I might have one idea to where I want it to go before I export it to PS, but once in PS it might take a whole new life (prime example if the original Cosmic/Celestial Paul. The original was very flat, and pretty boring lol but really became something else in PS. Actually it was supposed to be originally a visual piece to accompany my Vampire fic - and Vampire Hugh picture. But that changed entirely once I got it into PS.)

(It’s hard to see but there’s a bite mark on the original side.)

I'd also know more about your literal process, as in: what's your hardware set-up, what software do you use?

I have a weird all over the place set up. Lol.

So I do the majority of the work on my iPad, up until a stage where I don’t think I can go any further with it (or need more than 6 layers at my disposal) and then export it to my PC (either work or home) and then work on it further in Photoshop. Of which it then gains infinite amount of layers, lmao. Oh god.

As for the file on the iPad, when I’m working on that I can only have 6 layers. So usually will do sketch/line-work on one (or two, if I have to work a problematic bit but then merge it with the rest) and same with the colour/painting. That’s always on one layer, which I’ve grown to really like working like that. I might do skin on one, then clothes on another, but eventually will merge them.  If it’s a full paint (or even half paint maybe), the colour and line layer will eventually be merged as I erase the lines I no longer need as I go and blend that layer more seamlessly into the painted layer. It just ending up a purely painted file without the original lines. Another layer may be added for more delicate details such as eyelashes and eyebrows, things like that.

Everything I do once exported to Photoshop is just with a mouse, I have a Wacom tablet… But I don’t use it, because I haven’t been bothered calibrating it with my dual monitor setup, and am happy doing most of the work on the iPad anyway as it kinda acts like a Cintiq in that regard. But localised. (Plus I can take it anywhere with me, interstate, overseas, to work, to the park, etc. I love that mobility.) Depending if I need a certain element that’s vector based, I’ll make it in Corel Draw or Illustrator, too. I also have Corel painter....buuuuuuuuut still haven’t used it. That’s a goal for 2019 for sure, lmao. Very occasionally I will physically sketch out the idea (like the holiday pieces) scan, and rework, redraw, line it, or whatever in the iPad then go forth with all of the above processes. 

How long does it usually take you from start to finish?

Art: How long a piece takes really varies lol. Sketches can be between 1 - 4 hours on average, sometimes more. Flat colours will be a couple hours more. Half paints usually 4-8 more hours. Full paints and more realism stuff like the Cosmic/Celestial is total of 18hours+ but those times are just a rough idea, sometimes something just works out a lot quicker. Sometimes longer. 

Writing: FOR FUYCKING EVER. I’m the slowest writer ever.

Do you have art WIPs and what do you think keeps you from finishing them?

I have a lot of art WIPs lol I think just losing drive or inspiration to finish them is what mainly kills them, or me getting frustrated that it isn’t working out like I wanted. Sometimes I just forget they exist.

Probably same goes for writing, too. Lol. Also it could be that I’ll dream up the entire (or mostly) of the story, but then getting it onto the page is hard. I want to work at getting better at that.

Do you do any non-fanart, too?

Sure. Although not often anymore, I’m honestly just inhumanly obsessed with Hugh and Paul.. Even when I start a project that isn’t centric to either or both of them… Often it will kind of morph into them. oops. 

I want to say yes to fic too...but That’s a project I haven’t worked on in fucking years and years, so I doubt that really counts anymore.

//end

Wow I am so sorry that was me just rambling on. Anyway, cool. Hi to anyone who made it this far.   I’ll also parrot the line of: Everyone who created/posted art, fic, gif-sets, vids, cosplay, etc., consider yourself tagged if you’d like to be. I’m curious! (I’m fucking serious, P L E A S E   D O.) 

[riisinaakka-draws]

No one asked, but I made a little recap of the “Safe again” gif & drawing, if you are interested. I hope it adds some light to the process without destroying the magic, lol.

Before going futher, I must admit that I cannot remember all the details and there were a lot of trials and errors. I made the first sketch at the end of April, continued it a bit in May and left it alone for weeks until finally finishing it in June. Also, the psd file with all the layers is such a mess that it would not help you, so no screen caps about that.

So, this is not a tutorial but more like a recap or the backstory of the thought process and the finished drawing.

Preparations: - watch the best show in the world (Black Sails) - reach episodes 4.01 & 4.02 and weep at the beauty - let the season finale destroy you (and lift you up)

Ingredients:

- an idea, textures, references, time, drawing software, pen tablet

Steps:

Initial idea. Silver surrounded by the light and warmth of his two important people, him radiating golden light and illuminating the others’ features (the other two are relieved after getting him back safe and sound)

- or all three of them as gods, stories, legends, constellations etc.?

- or just Silver's sad dream years later when he is gazing at the stars, figures on the night sky etc...?

- sketch a doodle in a hurry, think about the stars and how to add them quickly to try the initial idea

-> remember the picture serie of noodle soup you took a while ago. Remember how cool "the whirling galaxy" aka “oily broth before adding noodles” looked like in the kettle (I have used or considered using other food textures before, e.g. blueberry-pie, the remains of burned macaroni casserole, foam, tea). Keep your eyes open and collect your own cool textures :D Or use free textures etc.

- edit in photoshop to bring out dots, shapes, whatever (or just skip this part and paint the splatter on the get-go with brushes...lmao). I just like to find surprises with textures, like the randomness or what sort of new things and ideas they may add or provoke. You can do this with any abstract splatter or shape and so on...

- This was the noodle broth and there’s the used area. (The circles and green clumps didn’t look as good as I first thought, so I used the area without them).

Some other examples, not used in this one:

- let it marinate and haunt you for weeks, do other stuff, learn new things, read fanfiction, rewatch earlier episodes, hone your skills, cry

- start working with the idea, look at references (important!), figure out how six hands work?? what's visible, what's in the shadows etc... what doesn’t need to be shown and still have the composition work...

- continue the doodle, add layers, shapes, slowly build the composition, let it alone for a day, a week, a month...

- Look at it with fresh eyes and remember to mirror image once in a while to see any mistakes. Grunt with frustration, re-do things, look more references

I couldn’t quite decide where to put James’ hand, so I kept testing. Madi’s hand was always supposed to be over John’s heart (yeah I know the heart is more in the center, but you get the gist ;) I also wanted James and Madi to have some sort of connection -> in the final piece their pinkies are touching :) 

- add another texture layer (I had colour dodge on), move it around to find the best place and see the sparks flying accidentally (this was actually done quite early on but anyway)

-> go WOAH! (ʘ‿ʘ)

- continue drawing, occasionally play with the texture layers, try giffing, listen to Finnish (symphonic / power) metal music, have an epiphany, cry about feelings

- Stop at some point. Let it brew more, do not look at it. Next time you look at it, is it ok? No? Yes? Ok, good. Spent a while concising all the thoughts to a few obligatory sentences to have an explanation, fill the tags with ramblings, post it, go for a run walk, preferably to see the sea. Look at the sunset, listen to seagulls and sigh. Return to read other people crying about their feelings that the drawing evoke. Grin and eat more cheap noodles.

Some random notes:

Flint’s blinking moon was a last minute addition (the tattoo was there, but I thought it would be cool to emphasize it more and it fit the overall theme)

To mirror that, Madi’s shining earring represents the sun (or a bright star)

All three of them have their rings, although it may not be clear

that splotch that flies past them has no special meaning, I just liked it. Not sure if it’s a piece of leek or something in the soup. At some point I considered making it look like a crown or a shooting star or a lantern or something.

Working music ended up being Nightwish’s “Nemo”:

Oh how I wish For soothing rain All I wish is to dream again My loving heart Lost in the dark For hope I'd give my everything 

My flower, withered between The pages 2 and 3 The once and forever bloom gone with my sins     (ಥ‿ಥ) Walk the dark path ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Sleep with angels   (˵ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°˵) Call the past for help   (*whispers* get Thomas to end Flint’s war...) Touch me with your love And reveal to me my true name

(and so on..)

“Nemo” is Latin for “nobody, no one”. Silver is “a nobody from nowhere”.

favouritealias also pointed out the BS quote:“There is freedom in the darkness, once someone has illuminated it." and I can’t believe I didn’t realize that 8D

Lastly. Silver can’t quite believe the luck he has (to have these two in his arms again and in overall), Flint’s finally able to sleep peacefully now that he is back and Madi and John cannot stop smiling at each other. Madi inspects John’s little scratches and wounds and he’s happy to have had a bath before they laid down for the night. Flint keeps sniffing his hair. He also made secret unspoken promises with Madi to keep Silver (and each other) safe in the future (pinky promise).

tl;dr: read later then, lol ;) (if interested in the first place)

I’m not very good at putting my thoughts into words, but there you have it. Thank you for reading! ( ˘ ³˘)♥