#this is very far removed from my usual art style if you can even say i have one

[chai-en-kaadhale]

the one time yoo junghyeok would ever eat someone else's cooking:

[randomrabbidramblings]

A "little" bit regarding Phantom

Here's the analysis I've wanted to do (for a long time, actually) about everyone's favourite bastard opera bunny.

Minor spoiler for The Last Spark Hunter!

TLTR in meme form:

While my zero expectations to find the Phantom in this DLC were met (even if to be honest for more than a minute I tought Allegra's friend was going to be him, lol), I was hoping for another cameo. And Ubisoft delivered!

Sailing around the Ruins you can find this very creepy... giant plush half buried in the sand? Is that a reference to the real life Phantom puppet? Did Phantom's megalomaniac ass commission this? Creepy factor aside, I love that he looks like he's wearing eyeliner! Phantom wears makeup canon yesdonteventrytofightmeonthis!

Anyway, I'm not the only one that thinks Beep-0's comment is highly sus. Even in the tone he's using sounds like the devs behind are being so proud of their troll. Maybe I'm just overthinking as usual and that dialogue is just Beep-0's seething hatred towards Phantom, but... That, paired with everything else going on... it doesn't convince me.

Phantom does have his fair amount of reasons he could make a real return song and all, there are a lot people wanting him back (not only in the fandom) and he's also Soliani's favourite boss who, let's not forget, waited 20 years to make a boss like him. It would be a wasted opportunity to only use him once. Since Donkey Kong Adventure featured Rabbid Kong, who was one of the two main bosses that did not unmerge after defeat (the Bwah Trio didn't unmerge too, but they were mini bosses), it wouldn't be so odd to see Phantom having a DLC too (after all a lot of people thought he was going to be the final boss of Kingdom Battle after his feature trailer). Let's not forget this time he has a juicy chance for another diss track. To Rayman and his decennary absence in the videogame scene. Another thing: we still don't know anything about the third DLC villain. This may be a bit of a stretch, but hear me out. When the posters for the three DLCs were published, Ubisoft gave us very little info about The Last Spark Hunter, but we knew there was a new enemy. The only thing they told us about the third DLC is that Rayman will be in it. Now they gave us a teaser, info about the general setting, but still no villain. This makes me think that there will not be a new villain, but someone we already met.

I don't think the cameos, the updates to his shenanigans, the grammophone sitting right there in the third DLC poster and the last almost blatant bit of foreshadowing in the Melodic Gardens were put there for nothing. And be honest, at this point who wouldn't want to see Beep-0's reaction to Phantom after all the hate he has been expressing towards him? All of this make a lot of sense. Almost too much sense to not see him return. The funny thing is if he shows up wearing Cursa's broken mask (a fan theory, but far too appropriate to rule out) it means they have been foreshadowing his return since Sparks of Hope released.

Personally I'd be happy even if he had a very minor role, like an NPC with a quest. Or even a little cameo in person, just to see him in Sparks of Hope style since he seems like he's changed a bit since Kingdom Battle (canonically he can remove the grammophone from his belly and apparently he wears makeup). I hope they'll keep his fourth wall breaking abilities even if it's just for advertising the DLC or to justifiy his appearence, as we know he's well aware of the developers (and, as expected, he sounds like he has a bit of beef with them as one of his unusued lines says "I'll have the art director's head for this", lol).

The thing that worries (and at the same time excites) me the most is the dubbing work they'd have to do for him. Since now all Rabbids are fully voiced (and in a lot of languages too) and assuming an hypotethical song will not be dubbed (as I think they'd do), I'm very curious about how they would manage Phantom as he has a very characteristic tone and accent and everyone knows his voice as he wasn't dubbed at all in Kingdom Battle. I do think it would be epic if they managed to get an actual singer for every language, but... it would be a bit too much in terms of everything, at Ubisoft they are madmen, but not like that, lol.

In all this there's still that one unusued idea where the Phantom was going to change music genre as his battle progressed. Who knows maybe it will be the right time we hear the metal song Soliani has been threatening Kirkhope with all this time, lol.

The only reason I can think of that makes everything crumble, would be if Beep-0's lines about Phantom's cameo were a result of an oversight, like it seems to have happened with Allegra (her memory states that she can change the colour of her skin depending on the "mood" of the planet, but it's never shown in game nor in her backstory). Or, perish the thought, it's just a placeholder as to say: "if we can make him appear again, good that was foreshadowing, if we cannot, we told you" to save thier buttcheeks in case they'll not bring him back. Even if I highly doubt Ubisoft would do such a thing after making everyone suspect a foreshadow.

Foreshadowing or not: if he will not appear in something like a poster, a teaser or a full on trailer, this doesn't mean he will not be there. Remember they pulled this thing too in Kingdom Battle where the devs said he was purposefully left out of the poster with the bosses as they didn't want to spoil him (even if then they released a feature trailer for him, but... idk, marketing shenanigans I assume, lol).

As a conclusion, take all of this infodump as a theory, there's no real evidence to definitively assume Phantom will return any time soon. I don't want to influence people to think he'll come back and then have them disappointed because he didn't. This is just my thoughts on the topic. And don't think I'll be disappointed if Phantom doesn't show up because, while I am biased, I'm not only looking forward to that.

[oddygaul]

Jakub Rebelka’s Origins and Cyberpunk XOXO

Ever since there’s been a wallpaper shuffling function in Windows, I’ve kept a big-ass folder full of art to cycle through. When I was younger, this was more traditional wallpaper-type wallpapers, featuring plenty of references and tongue-in-cheek, graphic tee style images. Nowadays, I basically use it as a big repository for all my favorite art: illustrators whose work I admire, favorite frames from movies or animation, comic pages, or even just character designs I particularly like.

Weighing in at over 10GB and containing nearly 12,000 files, it’s safe to say that it’s not especially curated - I must’ve thought everything in there was neat at the time I added it, but given that some of the images are almost two decades old, there’s certainly some pictures that’ll pop up in the rotation that I wish I could remove then and there. More often, though, and this is what I love about this wallpaper folder, it’ll remind me of an artist whose work I haven’t thought about in years, and allow me a moment to stop and appreciate it before I go back to whatever I was doing.

One of the artists I found myself stopping and appreciating a lot was Jakub Rebelka. I must’ve found him back in the DeviantArt days, but lost him in my transition to more modern platforms - so by the time I started seeing his work pop up, it had been so long I had no idea who he was. Finally, after being so impressed with the style every time a piece of his came up, I spent half a day digging through the folder to try and find his name – nowadays I always label each image with the artist’s name, but back when I was younger? It was a free-for-all. 

Upon finding his name at last and pulling up his portfolio, I was, if anything, even more impressed! Even coming back with a decade’s worth of refinement in my artistic taste and skill, I still found all his work breathtaking. Rebelka’s art occupies this incredibly unique balancing point of painterly and graphic – sick character designs with strong silhouettes, a rendering style with plenty of brush strokes and paint texture, while still blocking things off with big, graphic shapes – and a great knack for color besides.

And so, I resolved to not let myself forget him again. I got a couple prints of my favorite pieces of his, and found that he’s even done some sequential work since then: Origins, a far-future scifi story about the last human being, and XOXO, a Cyberpunk 2077 tie-in that restrains its scope to the story of one particular ganger.

Origins

Well, after all that build-up, this one was a bit of let-down for me.

There’s no denying Rebelka is an incredible illustrator, but he’s still very much getting his sequential narrative legs here. Origins has some truly breathtaking splash pages and environment art; the in-between moments, though, that get us from setpiece to setpiece, can be stilted. When characters are striking stoic poses or overlooking a scenic vista, they look great; when those characters are performing more specific, dynamic actions, or having a conversation that requires nuanced expression, they leave a bit to be desired. The action sequences are pretty rough as well; the back third of the book has a lot of big fights, and they mostly come off as confusing and static.

this is also probably the most I’ve ever been distracted by lettering. All the SFX look like they’re from a different book

Mind you, these missteps might mostly be the result of time crunch, because in Origins, Rebelka has staunchly refused to reign back his artstyle to something more workable for a comics format. While there’s the odd panel here and there that looks like a traditional, inked comic page, the vast majority of the book is done in Rebelka’s usual style: striking shape language, extreme textural depth and remarkably thorough landscape work. Seriously, while I may take issue with some of the art, it’s an incredible feat to finish a whole book in this style.

Part of the credit here goes to colorist Patricio Delpeche, of course, who did an excellent job on this whole book. I should mention here, by the way, that the way Rebelka did the black and whites is crazy: he just full-on painted all these panels in grayscale. This is seriously wild – I struggle to think of another book with this approach.

In the typical inker / colorist contract, outside of texture, the inks are usually left as just black and white without mid-tones, with those left to the colorist’s discretion. It’s easy to think of a colorist’s job as just choosing a color palette, when in reality they’re making a lot of incredibly tough decisions about value and composition. There’s some artists, like Matteo Scalera, who do their own middle values with inkwash, but even then, the colorist is doing a lot of sculpting and shaping of form.

Looking at this before and after Delpeche posted on his Instagram, though, it seems Rebelka just went whole-hog on defining value as well. Now, this is a splash page, so maybe it was an exception, and there’s certainly some chunks of the story later on that look more like traditional comic pages; still, it’s crazy to see.

Now, I’ve largely focused on discussing Origins’ art since that’s what I came to this book for, but it’s also because the story and writing are nothing special. The premise feels pretty boilerplate; we have nanites that grey goo’d the world, we have an all-knowing network that killed off humanity, we have the Last Man on Earth, we have robots that were programmed to serve humans reckoning with a humanless world, we have a lot of creator vs. their creations dynamic… I dunno. Origins throws a lot of concepts together, but none of them struck me as especially fresh, and the story doesn’t come together to be more than the sum of its parts. The writing is also fairly stiff, which doesn’t do the book any favors as it tries to culminate things with a more character-centric resolution.

Cyberpunk 2077: XOXO

Right off the bat, this book hooked me more, in no small part due to the more flavorful writing. Gone is the exhausting explanatory narration of Origins, replaced with a less-is-more approach, leaving a lot up to interpretation despite being a narrow-scope, character-focused story. Issue 1 immediately introduces us to a strong “finger, eyes, ears, nose, legs, stomach, shoulder, feet, heart” motif, which is used brilliantly throughout the entirety of XOXO to hint at the history and motivations of our taciturn protagonist.

The cartoon frame story is also a successful trick. Fully wordless, these sections give us a bit of a break from the clamor and chatter of the characters, while also allowing the visuals to step apart from the grime and neon of Night City every so often. They’re nice reprieves, and Rebelka’s style lends itself well to the flat perspective and exaggerated proportions.

In general, Rebelka’s art here is a huge step up; he clearly learned a lot in the near-decade since Origins. For one thing, the setting fits his aesthetic pretty well; the grim, angular cityscapes all look effortless with his penchant for graphic composition. The figurework, too, is killer in this book; the characters are all incredibly emotive, and the action is clean and legible here. The colorwork, as expected of Rebelka, is dynamic and fitting, especially in issue 1’s kaleidoscopic flashbacks.

the figurework and perspective is miles ahead

Again, there is a bit of the classic limited series dropoff, with the art in the back half falling short compared to the lavish introduction. Seriously, just look at the rendering in issue 1’s cover compared to issue 4:

I totally get it, of course; comics are an exhausting business, and Rebelka was pulling double duty here by doing all the colors as well. And on a monthly comic like this, which I’m sure didn’t have much of a lead time? It’s still a pretty heroic effort, and what I’m calling a ‘dropoff’ is just a switch from his incredible painterly rendering to a more traditional lineart / flats style – it’s still pretty ace.

The story doesn’t end quite as well as it begins – the pitch-black nihilistic finale feels like it’s fulfilling a brand obligation to me more than anything – but between Rebelka’s enveloping art and the consistent, rhyming motifs, XOXO still ends up as a nice little tone piece.

—

Well, hey, thoughts on the comics aside, the real mission was accomplished here: now Jakub Rebelka is not a name I'll soon forget.

[ratwars]

Fair enough if you don’t want to talk about it, but I’m actually very interested in what those pet peeves might be. Or if you’d rather keep it positive, I’d also be interested to hear what sort of details you look for/have stood out to you in the past with certain characters’ genderbends (let’s say Fyodor, Dazai and Nikolai, but if you have specific examples for other characters I’m all ears as well!)

It is mostly because I have a tendency to be indifferent about a lot of things so I revert to that (or staying positive) even when I do have more intense opinions because it is easier. But you pressed on it so sure I'll ramble. Disclaimer these are my personal feelings/opinions I am not wanting to argue about shit and sry if I offend anyone but move along if that is the case. I am going to keep this to arts because this is already going to be too long already, and not the usual vibes I like to express on my blog but oh well. Fuck it.

If you don't want to see me have negative opinions or potentially complain about things yall like or create yourselves don't click read more.

I realize I can be inconsistent so some of this varies some, as in I have found things to enjoy in art in particular that might have included some of these things, especially if the intention came off as *fucking around on purpose and throwing canon out the window for provocative reasons* when it comes to certain characters. So for this purpose I want to say these are my pet peeves are more when it comes to genderbend arts that aren't like that. I will keep it bsd focused given your additions in this ask as well. Though I will say when it comes to this for example with Fem!Fyodor I have still enjoyed when ppl throw her in skimpy outfits that they make her seem mild to moderately uncomfortable about it, or the little hand holding the arm across her stomach pose that comes off more shy. Or when they just have her like total strung out mode. In her underwear shameless in her own space eye bags extra prominent hunched over her computer like she has been up for 30 hours has not showered and has consumed more caffeine than food or water. Not necessarily that exact scenario but those vibes to it which I have seen occasionally.

I kinda went about that backwards but what I was going to say was I don't like when characters that always cover themselves from neck to ankles are put in much more revealing outfits, or undergo an intense style change that erases what seems to be their preferences if it doesn't match their personality (even when putting them in themed styles that are far removed from canon I have seen people do genderbend art that keeps them feeling like *them*).

For instance with Fem!Nikolai art, yes Nikolai also dresses covered neck to ankles canonically, but his personality to me matches more with certain style choices. So when people draw Fem!Nikolai in more casually (or not casually) revealing outfits, big heels or boots, extra skin showing especially in extravagant pieces, intense makeup (but it pisses me off when ppl eliminate her scar), just things that scream "fuck yeah I am *intense* and I *want* you to stare at me and the artistry of my appearance" I am completely down for that. But when people put Fem!Fyodor in more revealing outfits, especially if it is a play on canonical clothes, I don't like it. Like, would she choose that for herself? I don't think so. If she is going to be put in a very short skirt or shorts for instance (which is still very cute imo I am def not saying she should only wear long skirts or pants), I really think she should have tights, stockings, or leggings underneath. I think she would choose that for herself, and also her anemic ass is going to freeze to absolute death without such things like what are you doing at least give her a damn sweater then 😭.

If she is *glam* like for an event or ball or something, I like her more in long dresses and classic silhouettes, she seems unlike herself in a short spaghetti strap cocktail dress for instance.

With Fem!Dazai I don't like when people eliminate her bandages that actually really really bothers me. I also don't like 15-18Fem! Dazai art that makes her look super polished, put together, or really adult. Like that is teenage girl, and we are going off of 15-18!Dazai as the basis, she would not look like a perfectly coifed paragon of mafia pride imo.

I have a (potentially irrational) hatred of people making Fem!Sigma ultra glam and putting them in extremely flashy haute couture gowns. It seems to be the main way everyone draws Fem!Sigma as well, so I have seen it constantly. My dislike runs so deep with that one I don't know if I can even explain it in a way that makes actual sense. I have tried to get over it and find things in those arts I liked, and even rbd some. But still to this day my actual reaction is "Ew. Stop. Quit it. She would wear contemporary RTW styles and mix flashy accents and accessories in more subtle ways. And she would never. wear. tulle!!!! 🤬". I almost deleted this part because it makes me sound like a pretentious cunt but goddamnit, I'll admit it and yall can block me idc it was nice knowing yall.

While we are at it bothers me when people put genderbent characters in jeans when they don't put the non genderbent character in jeans and/or that character doesn't seem like they would ever wear jeans. I'm not like anti-jeans (obviously I wear jeans lol) that isn't what this is about it just bugs me. Like, they would not wear jeans. So they wouldn't wear jeans genderbent either. Put. Down. The. Jeans.

That was a lot of complaining for me so I should stop there.

I'll sandwich some positivity in here. I love when people put characters in slightly modified versions of their canonical outfits for gender bends, I love when people draw Fem!Fyodor with her nails and/or fingers still a mess from her biting, I love when people put her in various outfits but leave her *emotional support hat* even if it doesn't match I think that is fun, I love when people make Fem!Nikolai at least as thicc (and tall!) as canon Nikolai, I love when people have given Fem!Dazai super long poorly maintained hair, I love when people put any character in any variation of goth styles because it makes me (also potentially irrationally) happy for reasons that are probably self explanatory. I love when people have put Fem!Fyodor in high neck tops with ruffles (too cute, this kills me).

[snaill-dragon]

Okay so I'm going to try and describe your style traits as I see them:

1) For the most part your shading is very soft, like you very rarely do cell-shading. So when the colors meet it's almost never in a strong opposition. It's very pretty, it often reminds me of how clouds look when you see a shadow on them, it just kind of passes softly into a darker/lighter color, like a color gradient.

2) When you draw pieces with a background, the main focus of the drawing never gets lost in the background. If I were to describe it, to me it feels like the characters or things in the foreground are sculpted onto the background, they fit with the background but you can "fish them out" with your eyes quickly. Yeah I'm not sure if I'm putting this into words correctly but what I'm trying to say here is that your foreground is always distinctive.

3) If there's an object that has a sharp end you always draw them sharp. Like really sharp, they have a distinct point at the end.

4) When you're doing lighting you use a lot of different colors, from what I can recall it's mostly purples and blue hues. Pink and red are also there sometimes, but I can't really see a lot of yellow (which I'm noticing because I have a problem with using too much yellow lighting all the time, so that just stands out as neat to me)

5) For how you draw individual characters : wof dragons never have ears, humanoids that have long hair have like these tufts of hair, it's honestly like one of my favorite things about your artstyle, you make it look so layered and fluffy - volume is the word I'm looking for, like it isn't one static mass of hair. For cats - you give them like really cute rounded paws and the tails constitute a whole with the body in a way.

This is a bit long and chaotic but I hope you can get something out of this somehow?

Man this was more hard to think about than to draw, haha. I added line art because that’s pretty far removed from my usual style too.

Thank you very much!! I enjoyed reading all this too. This was fun, even though I think it still looks a bit too much like my usual style.

I focused mostly on the lighting and what you said about the foreground. I also, of course, gave my little rainwing ears.

[noxexistant]

I WANT YOUR THOUGHTS ON MODERN/INFLUENCER AU. ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING

-someone who shouldn’t be on his phone bc he’s at work

i am a suckerrrr for modern/influencer aus, and i LOVE yours. this probably won’t follow it exactly because my brain unfortunately cannot work like that but just know that all your ideas and posts about it are fantastic and i owe you my life

(also, what could be more worth being on your phone at work for than this?)

this is going to be very disjointed and chaotic but i have Many Ideas. first of all, you having the delanceys as mma fighters? genius. everything to me.

they left their one and only “real home” as kids when they were removed from their dad’s care, and they’ve never had one since - moving between foster homes, care facilities, hospitals, juvenile detention centres, and now they live between hotel rooms and brief apartment stays. their only sense of stability is each other. their idea of “settling down” is staying in one airbnb for a few months if they’re on break or have an opportunity to fight on contract somewhere. they always sleep in the same room, which most people think is strange, but, for their whole childhood, being apart - particularly while asleep - meant danger, and oscar can never trust that morris is safe unless he can see him, unless he’s close enough to reach out and touch. even when they’re in the same room, on bad nights they’ll end up in the same bed, just like when they were kids.

they started training when they were frankly far too young to, when a worker at some facility they were in wanted to try and channel their violence into something more productive. he thought it might stop them from being violent outside of the ring. instead, it just sharpened them, and suddenly oscar isn’t getting into scraps to defend his brother so much as he’s utterly destroying anyone who even looks at him wrong. the worker hoped fighting might help morris express himself, open him up more, but now he’s just silent and cold as he trains or fights. still doesn’t speak to anyone but oscar.

they met jack in the refuge when they were kids. they didn’t get along then, and still resent each other to this day - people on social media are curious about the apparent feud and how it might’ve started, since jack won’t talk about any part of his childhood before medda adopted him on any of his platforms, and neither of the delanceys will talk about anything other than fighting in interviews. morris still rarely talks at all.

jack’s a general social media presence. he started out posting art, but as he got more popular he found the confidence to start posting himself more too - dumb videos, vlog types, the process of him making his art. he’s open about the fact that he was adopted as a kid, but won’t talk about his experiences before that. he says he only wants to focus on all the positives of how his family is now, and posts frequently with his brothers, race and crutchie. (also, there’s definitely twitter discourse about crutchie’s nickname and sense of humour about his own disability. which he thinks is equally hilarious and absurd.) he tries to be private about it when he starts dating davey, fearing the reaction and kind of wanting to keep davey for himself, but it doesn’t last long. they start posting together constantly.

albert being a streamer in the style of punz - he mainly games, he’s deadpan and funny and stupid in a way he utterly denies, and knows he is very thirsted after. people are always begging for face cam and hand cam. he does irl stuff every so often too, especially messing around with his friends (the usual gang). they’ve done disney/universal streams and stuff, and fairly frequently do cooking/baking streams. albert did some mma/adjacent training as a kid to deal with his own sort of anger issues stemming from family issues, and he does the creator clash type stuff - boxing matches between online personalities, sometimes including actual mma fighters. he’s met the delanceys too, before they were them, and he and them are all too eager to fight each other again. the delanceys think albert (and other streamers/creators doing creator clash type stuff) are pathetic and make a mockery of their legitimate sport. albert couldn’t care less, he just likes fighting.

finch streams too. he’s more of a cryptid - no face cam or anything, pretty mediocre mic quality, constant pc problems, but he’s popular anyway for solely his personality and playing skills - and he and albert have this mutual sort of quiet distaste until they end up meeting through some event (mcc or twitch rivals or minecraft monday or something) and then they’re streaming together all the time. people love the dynamic of albert earnestly saying stupid shit and finch deadpan playing along. they’ve done a couple streams reading, like, wattpad fics shipping the two of them.

(finch meets morris and oscar when albert has an arranged fight with oscar. he’s a deeply private person, even with albert really, but he immediately realises he’s got way too much in common with these two. he ran away from his abusive home at an early age and got bounced around the care system until it finally spat him out. he’s worked his ass off since to get his GED - he’s smart, he just never had any chance.

finch also promptly realises that morris has very limited education on top of his apparent neurodivergence and developmental disability, and sees that he can’t really read or write. oscar does pretty much everything, including all the talking.

while oscar and albert are preparing for their fight, finch sets about seeing if he can maybe build some sort of bond with morris.)

[more-than-a-princess]

@awesomeuchuu asked: A little thing you do that you wonder if anyone’s noticed?

Munday Writing Stuff - Accepting!

I guess the most obvious is trying to set a scene when I'm writing a thread. I never just want to hear what your muse is saying, or the basic actions of moving from point A to point B, and I try to do the same for my writing partners. I want to know what the important parts of the setting, and situation, are to your muse, and I want to show that through mine. Is there a particular sound that Sonia can't ignore? Or a scent or taste that brings back an important memory? Or does she feel some sort of immediate response to something else? If I'm writing a starter, or even during a thread, I like to weave those details in. Sure, it's not always something the other muse will notice or be able to respond to, but it fleshes out a thread, and a muse, a bit more. Sometimes it even brings about additional headcanons.

Beyond that, it's using clothing and appearance to tell parts of the story. This is somewhat due to my own hobbies: I'm a fashion enthusiast, and I engage with it in a variety of ways. But I've always loved when fiction uses clothing and style, fabrics/materials, colors, wear and tear, etc. to add to a character's personality and story. So when I can, or at least have the foresight to think about it, I do weave that into Sonia's storylines. A few examples:

Sonia's pale yellow dress with blue roses and tiny green leaves she wore in the first day of the Cape May thread with @dxfiedfxte's Minato. She's unaware at the time that her life is about to take a romantic turn, but her summer dress and its print certainly do: pale yellow is both seasonal and representative of her hair color, while the blue roses are, of course, for Mr. Blueberry himself. Pretty sure I based this off of a Reformation dress: American sustainable (to a degree. They've had issues in the past few years) fashion that's both trendy with vintage inspiration? Very Sonia-appropriate for this thread.

Sonia's plunging emerald evening gown in the reunion thread with @cadcnce's Wylan. The green satin heels from the earlier Las Vegas thread hint at Sonia's feelings, but this gown is the clear indicator how not-over him she is. Green is usually Sonia's staple color, but this particular shade I picked with Wylan specifically in mind (as it's his text color, too!). And the amount of exposed skin was made to represent how exposed she feels emotionally when finally confessing her feelings. She's so far removed from the usual polished princess she often needs to appear as in that thread, and she needed to be fully pushed out of that comfort zone for it. And it's this Dior gown originally worn by Anya Taylor-Joy.

Sonia's purple ballgown from the first time she met @quickdeaths' Shinobu. Because of the thread at hand, Sonia needed to be in something that respected Japanese craftsmanship while still hinting at her current attitude and emotions upon their introduction. So I went with this purple Yumi Katsura gown: handpainted silk by a Japanese designer to look like flower petals, but in gradient purple to show that her feelings towards being royalty are varied. She likes to do charity work and bring Japanese art exhibits home to Novoselic, but she could do without being put on display and being regarded as a trophy dance partner (by others. Shinobu saved the day by drawing a decaying deer on her dance card!).

And now that I've said this, I'm hoping people don't expect it for every thread I write! But when I've got the inspiration for it, I do like to add clothes and accessories to Sonia to convey where the thread might be going.

[perexcri]

for the writing ask: 1, 13, 19, 40 :)))

AHHH hello Lark!! :D

i just answered #1 here!! i would add more but. i honestly have no more to say lol

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you write about? What is easy?

oooh i just answered this one here too, but i have some more i can add!!

for difficult subject matters to write, i also have a very hard time writing about illness. this is again because of personal/family matters, but yeah. i'm not sure i could even do a sick fic (except for like one idea i have, but it's far removed enough from the usual context for me to be able to handle it)

easy to write? in a weird way, apocalypse/end of the world scenarios! this is partially because of the part of the country i grew up in and how the end of the world is something that is often talked about with glee, so there's already just this desensitization to it. but i also just like how,,,symbolic the end of the world can be? like not necessarily The End, but sometimes, the end of the world can be just having a bad day, right? i like the flexibility of the term and how it can be explored

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

ooooh ok, i think i have a fun one for how this started!

so in another ask a while ago, i had mentioned i'd started writing stories particularly after a difficult time my family went through. so now i'll talk about poetry!

i started writing poetry because of a church camp. no seriously. it was a kids camp between my 5th and 6th grade years of school, and the theme was the arts, so me and all of my schoolmates went to this camp, and all of us had gotten super into manga and drawing in that style the previous school year, so all of us had signed up for the visual arts section of the camp, of course. well basically every single one of my schoolmates who attended the camp got into that one except for me! i ended up in the poetry and cooking section despite not wanting to bother with either, and i was lowkey miserable! i remember feeling crushed because i didn't get to do drawing for that week, but also because i wasn't gonna be with any of my friends, and as an incredibly shy person, that was absolutely distressing

but as i started working on the poetry stuff, i actually (begrudgingly) came to like it? my final piece for the camp was an acrostic which was Not Good by any means, but i was like 11, and i'd never written poetry before, so why would it be good, right? anyways, after that i started exploring poetry more as a way for me to get my emotions out, and i even competed in poetry in this art competition my church's denomination runs at the national level, and i submitted a few poems to students journals when i was in high school. i haven't done much with it since, but i still write it and try to make time with it when i need to get my feelings out (i even went to the beach to write one today!) so...yeah. funny how things happen, right?

speaking of poetry...

40. Please share a poem with me, I need it.

you served me well with your sappho poem, so i tried my best to find one from my favorite poetry collection book i've had since my freshman year of high school :'D i just liked the imagery of this one and how relaxing it is, so i hope you enjoy it, too!

"Let Evening Come" by Jane Kenyon

Let the light of late afternoon

shine through chinks in the barn, moving   

up the bales as the sun moves down.

Let the cricket take up chafing   

as a woman takes up her needles   

and her yarn. Let evening come.

Let dew collect on the hoe abandoned   

in long grass. Let the stars appear

and the moon disclose her silver horn.

Let the fox go back to its sandy den.   

Let the wind die down. Let the shed   

go black inside. Let evening come.

To the bottle in the ditch, to the scoop   

in the oats, to air in the lung   

let evening come.

Let it come, as it will, and don’t   

be afraid. God does not leave us   

comfortless, so let evening come.

thanks for the ask my friend!! i hope you are doing well :] 💜

[white-tulips]

OMORI & SURREALISM

OMORI is often described as a “surreal RPG”, actually, it’s quite literally marketed as such. this would lead one to believe that they’re in for a Surrealist experience, however.... I don’t think it quite hits that mark. I feel like people that aren’t very exposed to Surrealism as an artform tend to generalize it as “weird for weirdness’ sake”, but it’s a lot more deep and complex than that. OMORI has a lot of Surrealist influence, and those influences are clearly recognizable, but in the end I think it’s too far removed from it to be called a Surreal piece of art

(it’s kind of like how a lot of Post-Impressionist art gets mistaken for authentic Impressionism just because there’s a lot of overlap in technique and style, but Post-Impressionism is a divergence from the reasons artists started the Impressionist movement in the first place. Van Gogh is not an Impressionist painter!!)

Surrealism is based around dreams and the unconscious mind, so it’s not hard to see why OMORI is categorized as such since most of the game takes place in dreams. but, again, these dreams feel more.... loosely Surreal-adjacent. like there’s more of a nostalgic comfort in them, rather than something inexplainable and uncanny. I’d say the only parts of OMORI that try to dive into actual Surrealism are the Black Space areas (but even a lot of those visuals are either blatantly taken from Yume Nikki, or they feel like there’s a lack of understanding of what makes Surrealism Surreal)

I feel like there’s no way for me to describe the artform better than other people already have, so here’s the concise wiki description that plainly gets the point across:

‘Surrealism was a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was to ‘resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality’, or surreality.”

Surrealism is like taking the ephemeral feeling of a dream and laminating it so it becomes tangible; it’s stark, abrasive, and feels like the corners of your subconscious are being ripped up out of you so you’re forced to confront them. it’s uncomfortable, yet there’s usually an uncanny familiarness to it

this has been on my mind because I recently went to the Surrealism Beyond Borders exhibit at the Met. I don’t think the exhibit is running anymore, but you can still view a digital gallery! 

a couple of my favorite pieces that I think get the point across well:

“Time Transfixed” René Magritte

“Night Flight of Dread and Delight”  Skunder Boghossian

I really don’t think there is any way to describe Surrealism, which is just so fitting since usually people can’t even describe their own dreams. it’s so... unexplainable!!

and I think what makes OMORI miss out on a lot of that feeling is the fact that a lot of it is easily explainable or recognizable? there are many things that can be clearly defined, that have a meaning that can be found outside of the dreams. there isn’t a wishy-washy cloudlike haziness that most dreams have, there’s influences from Sunny’s life that can be pinpointed. the dreams in OMORI are more of a narration, a story. of course this is perfectly fine!! but... it’s not very Surreal. again, the influences are clearly there, but OMORI is kind of doing it’s own thing

a more accurate representation of Surrealism in video games is, of course, Yume Nikki; the visuals of which accurately depict the vague, ever-changing landscape of a dream:

...I could compare and contrast Yume Nikki and OMORI all day, but I already have a post about that

none of this is to say that what OMORI is doing is inferior, I just think it’s interesting to look at the kind of art that the game is inspired by, and see what it’s doing in contrast to it! there’s a reason Sunny’s dreams are the way that they are: they’re an escape. they’re meant to be comfortable, safe, and repress reality, whereas Surrealism aims to take that repression and shout it out to the world and make people confront it. I do think that’s what makes Black Space stand out so much, since that is when things are starting to Be Confronted. it’s very interesting to me!!!!!!!

[hops-hunny]

Girls Like Her

Pairing: Kyoya Ootori x Black!Reader

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 1.7k

Request: N/A

Summary: In which Kyoya is smitten and not afraid to show it.

Warnings: None! Fluff.

A/N: this is so self indulgent and I don't even care I NEEDED some Kyoya with a black girl bc where's all the color in the ouran community??

Kyoya had a fine eye for spectacular things. Running the host club with Tamaki required it. He was always looking for something of interest that he knew the guest would like and that would bring in a nice bit of money as well. That's why he was mesmerized when he saw (Y/n). Sure, Kyoya had seen girls that were deemed "beautiful" by whatever measure of beauty the rest of his high class socialite peers thought. However, he had never put much thought into what he personally found beautiful but now thanks to her, he didn't need to.

Sure he had seen women with nice skin. It wasn't very uncommon. Going to school with girls whose parents made most people's yearly salary in a day meant they were well cared for. They took care of their skin with the finest of products, as did he. However her skin was unmatched. Nice hues of brown which glowed beautifully in the soft daylight of music room 3. Not a blemish or wrinkle in sight. Smooth and brown all over like a bewitching goddess. And sure other girls had hair. It was all a blur to him however, nothing he could point out or was anything but ordinary. All of it was the same straight hair in the same bland style. But hers however?

She wore some of the most elaborate styles he had ever seen. He didn't know the proper names for them at first but the more she visited the host club, the more he'd overhear her speak about them to the other guest. Box braids, goddess twist, faux locs. Each style suited and complimented her well. Anytime she'd change it up he'd observe it carefully, viewing every bump and turn on the art that was her hair. His favorite though was when she'd wear it naturally.

 God was it a sight. A large, picked to perfection afro atop her head like the crown a princess, no, a queen of her caliber should have. It reminded him of the clouds in the sky he'd see on a nice summer afternoon except far more eye catching and far more mesmerizing.

"Tamaki?" Kyoya questioned, looking up at his blonde friend. The last few of the guest had trickled out by now.

"Yes mommy dear?" He quipped, walking over to his raven haired friend.

"Is there a reason we don't see Lady (L/n) any time other than the host club? How come I've never seen her in any of our classes?" He asked, trying to ignore the stupid look Tamaki had on his face.

"Kyoya, are you in love?! Oh how amazing! I always knew this wo-"

"Forget it, this is a waste of time." He began to head to the door but stopped as Tamaki stopped his path.

"Wait! (L/N) as in (Y/n) (L/n) right? She's a year below us, that's why you probably never see her outside of class. We don't have any classes with her except lunch if you count that." Kyoya hummed at the man's words before walking to the door, opening it. 

"Thank you." He said, giving him a nod of acknowledgement.

"No problem, dear friend."

--------------------------

Kyoya stood behind his podium, greeting guests as they came through. He offered each of them the same fake smile he'd give, confirming their host choice for the day. He never cared too much to remember faces, just the different things they'd enjoy and how he could make profit off of them. Well everyone except-

"Kyooo! What's up? How ya doin today?" She chirped, leaning close to him as she offered him a bright smile from behind her supple plump lips. He smiled down at her, a genuine one (not that he'd ever let anyone know that).

"Ah, lady (L/n). A pleasure to see you as always. Your usual I presume?" He said, searching for the twins' names as he went to check the mark.

"Actually I thought I'd switch things up today!"

"Really? Who will it be then?" Whoever it was would be so lucky to be graced with the girl's presence. Her smile grew wider at his question as she leaned even closer.

"You! You do host right? I haven't seen anyone come to you for some time." She mused, resting a brown hand on his arm. Normally he'd remove himself from anyone's touch but for her he didn't mind so much. He'd even go as far as to say he enjoyed it. "Any excuse to stare at that nice face of yours longer."

'The same could be said even more so about you, darling.' Is what he wanted to say but consumed by his own nerves he let them get the best of him. "Usually I find myself too busy to," he started, noticing her face drop, "However I can always make exceptions for ladies of such high beauty as yourself, princess." She smiled, heading over to the empty table that Kyoya rarely hosts at. She sat on the couch across from him, fiddling and moving around as usual. (Y/n) was an unusual energetic girl who found that she couldn't sit still for more than a few seconds, which was a trait that usually drove him up the wall but when it came to her he found it to be quite cute.

“You’re not going to eat or drink anything?” (Y/n) asked, shoving her mouth with the tiny tea cakes that sat on the silver cake stand. Kyoya let a soft smile take his face as he watched her. He always kept them hidden in the back because he knew they were her favorite and they were far more expensive than anything else they served. The cakes themselves were imported from France daily which was obviously a pretty penny but, he didn’t mind. The smile on her face made it worth the extra bit of cash.

“I’m not much of a fan of sugar, it’s bad for your skin.” he stated, looking down at the little black book in his hands. She hummed processing his words before wiping her mouth off with a napkin.

“Well what do you usually drink? I wanna have the same thing as you!”

“I’m a fan of earl grey served black. No sugar, no cream.” he said. She eyed him carefully before giggling. She leaned in close, looking into his dark eyes as he stared back.

“Yeah you seem to be quite the fan of,” she cleared her throat to hide a giggle. “Black things.” Kyoya set his cup down, choking on the liquid. (Y/n) sat back in her seat satisfied, laughing loudly as she threw her head back. A few of the guests stared at her with angry eyes, upset by her mild disturbance. But, she didn’t care. She never did. Once his choking died down, she sent him a wink. “I’m only messing with you, Kyo-chan! Lightin up will yeah? Anyways I’d like to have a cup of what you're drinking. It couldn’t be too bad, right?”

Wrong, she had been deeply wrong. Kyoya smiled in amusement as she sputtered out the tea, coughing dramatically. “Is it not to your liking, dear?” he asked in a sarcastically cheerful tone.

“Like hell it is! This shit is gross.” she began to pout, pushing the cup away from her. “I’d like my usual back please.” she said, looking up at him. He felt his face heat up slightly as he nodded his head, grabbing her cup before heading off with it. He searched the shelves carefully before finding her usual and preparing the way he knew she liked it. Too much sugar and too much cream. He chuckled at the thought, 'it suits her.'

(Y/n) smiled as he returned with her cup taking a sip as she let out a sigh of content. "As much as I'm enjoying my time with you today, my lady, I'm curious about your sudden shift. You always without a doubt choose the twins." He questioned, watching as she delicately set her cup down on the wooden table. He admired her presence. She was graceful but in a way he had never seen before, unique just like everything else about her.

"Do you want the real answer or the fake answer?" She questioned, biting the inside of her cheek nervously. Kyoya had a split second of a confused look before offering her another smile.

"Honestly is the best policy, my dear."

"Well- you see- ugh!" She huffed, slouching back in her seat. He couldn't help but find it adorable how the big ugly yellow dress swallowed her whole during that action. "I always wanna request for you Kyo-chan but you always seem so busy, so distant. I figured I'd let you have your own peace." She leaned forward on her hand as she rested her elbow on the table. "And besides, I've seen you reject to host much prettier girls so why would you host me?"

Kyoya's eyes widened at the (h/c) haired girls announcement. Prettier girls, than her? Too busy, for her? He chuckled some catching the girl's attention. Before she could ask him what was up he began to speak. "I don't mean to laugh in your face princess but I think you've got it twisted." He stood up, pulling the girl close to his chest. The other host watched with wide eyes and their mouths open at Kyoya's uncharacteristic behavior. "There are no prettier girls nor is there anyone I'd rather spend my time with," he tilted her head up bringing his face closer to hers, "Than you." (Y/n) stood there breathless at his words. Her eyes gleamed brightly at his confession.

"Are you busy this weekend?" She asked him faintly.

"Well, I'd have t-"

"Well now you're not. Take me on a date." His eyes widened at her forwardness before laughing softly. She did have a way of doing that, leading the way in any conversation no matter what the topic.

"Are you asking me or telling me?" He teased, pulling back from his hold to push his glasses up his nose. "Either way, alright dear. How could I say no to you?"

Tamaki watched from a far with a hand over his heart, genuine tears falling out of his eyes. In all his time he had known Kyoya, he had never seen him passionate about much of anything. To see his friend so sure of himself, so content in his emotions moved him. Thank god for the sun that had taken away Kyoya from his rainy days.

[elsa12tmnt-creates]

I’ve been in a humongous art block/rut that made it near impossible to make anything. I got myself out of it, however, by going back to basics in a sense. Mouse-only art (no scanned lines done on paper nor lines drawn with a pen tablet) always makes me feel a little safer and more comforted? I don’t know how to explain in, but it’s a strong suit of mine. And MS Paint doesn’t put pressure on me for things to look good, so the combination is very good :D

I will say, while the sketch, coloring, and first phase of line art (the part where I put lines over the sketch) was done completely in MS Paint, I did jump to FireAlpaca for the second phase of the line art. Transform and line tools are very nice and speed up the process of cleaning up/making pretty lines, but tbh the main reason for the jump was because MS Paint limits how far you can zoom in :’) and that wasn’t cutting it for me. I did keep the blocky line art style however, mostly because coloring in MS Paint does not work if your lines have anti-aliasing. Oh, I also used FireAlpaca to quickly make the palette that I used for coloring. It was just quicker that way.

I’m not entirely sure what “my version” of Becky and the other WG characters are gonna look like. I had done some studies on her, but I hated them as much as I hated everything else coming out of my hands. I did put that knowledge to use though, and that plus the two reference images I used got me where I needed to be. (Heck, I wasn’t even originally intending for this to be a finished piece!) This art is pretty faithful to the show’s style (notice that I let Becky keep her eyelashes even though I have a not-so-secret anti-eyelash agenda, lol) and I embraced that. I don’t know if I’ll continue to do this.

Re: the hair; this is a technique I’ve been thinking about in theory for a while. So it’s not technically new, but this is my first time trying it in a way that like, makes sense. I mixed my usual MS Paint shading/blending technique with what I used for my drawing of Nurse and my drawing of Fae.

WiP shots under the cut!

Original sketch (and the first reference image, I had it lying around from a meme)

Tracing the sketch for the lineart

The sketch was removed and it was time to pretty up the lines

Pulled out this second reference image

Comparison after working with the lines and making the palette in FireAlpaca

Flats done (and how I set up my canvas in MS Paint for coloring)

Only the hair shaded

[unabashegirl]

Pax Romana; Part I

Author’s note: Hey everyone, here is the first part of this mini-series. I hope you like it! Let me know if you want to be on the tag list. Also, REQUESTS ARE OPEN only for H. 

DISCLAIMER; I DONT KNOW ITALIAN! (only English, French and Spanish) I clearly used a translator. I am aware their translations are SHIT sometimes. Therefore I am sorry if I butcher it! I didn’t mean to!

masterlist 

----

Harry Styles, can still recall the first day he was enthralled by her conspicuous beauty. At first, he reckoned he had done the unavoidable. He had moved to Italy for the summer, and he had managed to fall in love with an Italian girl; that he had never spoken to. He had only observed her from afar — too shy to ever think of approaching her. Nonetheless, the young woman was a sight to behold.  He promised himself that he would only watch from afar. It felt forbidden and somewhat illegal. The feeling that bubbled within him was enough reason to continue his study of her.

After his first visit to Italy, he had fallen in love with the country. Hence, why he had rented out a house in a coastal town. The country’s natural and effortless beauty inspired him to write new music for his upcoming album. The beautiful sunsets, the sunny mornings, the art, and the food brought peace and tranquility to him. It was the perfect place for him to hide — for a while.  It was on one of his morning runs; he first noticed her. 

She wore a bright yellow bikini that exposed most of her olive skin to the sun rays. She sat on a striped towel that she had laid out on the hot sand.  Her hair was slicked back and wet after she had dipped in the ocean to refresh her body. 

Of course, she never caught sight of his dilated pupils or the way he had leaned forward — lured by her beauty.  Her attention was preoccupied with a hardcover of Pride and Prejudice; that she had brought along as a source of entertainment for the day.  The young woman appeared too indulged in the printed words to notice his existence. 

He watched her for a few hours. Now and then he would remind himself of the hundred reasons why he shouldn’t approach. He had even managed to take a few steps towards her. Harry eventually removed himself as soon as it became too much. He had beaten the temptation. 

The first time he spoke to her was at a local restaurant. Harry had taken himself out on a late lunch date. He had dressed up nicely and had walked to the bistro. He noticed her presence after taking his first sip out of his freshly served Chardonnay. She sat on the table across from him. This time she wasn't submerged in a book. He could finally admire her natural beauty up close. The fullness of the apples of her cheeks, her long dark eyelashes, her red-tinted lips, and of course light sunburn on her upper cheeks and across the bridge of her nose. 

A few minutes later, her order had arrived. It was ricotta and mushroom stuffed ravioli in a black truffle sauce. She was stuffing her face when they made eye contact. Harry’s lips curved upwards creating a lopsided smile as she scrambled to clean the creamy sauce off her face. He hadn't said anything to her, but she already felt embarrassed. 

”Sono deliziosa?” He had done it. He couldn’t just watch her and pray she’d take the first step. It was time to put his Italian to the test. He had been practicing his Italian and even though he already had a few weeks on the Amalfi coast; he still struggled to comprehend. Harry only hoped she would be able to understand him.

”E molto deliziosa” She smiled at him for the first time. She beamed, radiating an intoxicating wave of warmth and happiness towards him. Her lips parted open for a split second but before she could utter a word the waiter approached. 

“Hai bisogno di qualcos’ altro?”  He was asking her if she needed anything else. She understood what he was asking, but she couldn’t remember how to say cheese.

“Fuck” she said under her breath. “Queso. Fromage. Cheese” She had forgotten how to speak. All her languages had mixed in one and the wires had crossed. “How do you say it?” She whispered under her breath, her cheeks warmed in embarrassment as the waiter tried to comprehend. 

“Formaggio. Ha bisogno di formaggio parmigiano, per favore” Harry interrupted, noticing her uneasiness and her inevitable embarrassment. He knew that it wasn’t his business and he shouldn’t have been listening to the conversation, but he had to help her. 

The waiter turned his attention to the young celebrity. He was also a bit surprised that Harry had spoken for her. He had seen that Harry kept to himself. He usually attended dinner on his own and hardly even bothered to use his phone. “Inmediatamente”. 

“Thank you” She thanked Harry as soon as the waiter had left in search of the parmesan cheese that she so craved. Harry’s excessive focus on watching the server carrying out her request had prevented him from realizing that she spoke perfect English. He had to stop himself from gasping when processed her delicate voice. She had an accent. Slight. Gentle. Barely-there and it wasn’t Italian. He would later learn that her R’s made it more prominent. 

“It’s alright. It happens” She instantly recognized who he was. Her heart raced for a minute or two, but she restrained herself from making a huge scene. After all, it was Harry Styles. Whom she considered, the most stylish man of her generation. The man could wear a curtain and still pull it off. “I am Harry” He rises a bit from his seat, extending his right hand. 

“Catalina” She shakes his hand with a smile. “So, what brings you here?” Even her name was attractive — he wondered. 

“Is’not obvious?” 

“Not really. Enlighten me” The stranger gives him a small smirk while placing her napkin over her lap after crossing her legs under the table. Harry purges his lips as he uses his index finger and thumb to slightly tug on his bottom lip. 

His whole plan to stay away from her had failed. Did he regret it?. Hell no! He just hoped he had chosen wisely. 

“The art” He reveals as he watches her cut one of her ravioli before putting it in her mouth. She responds by only nodding; too indulged in the explosion of flavors within her mouth. 

“Music?” She hums as she brings the glass of wine up to her mouth. “ I thought you were more of a  dolce far niente type of man” her mouth curved into a smile. Dolce far niente means pleasant relaxation in carefree idleness. Harry instantly identified the phrase from Julia Roberts's famous movie — Eat, Pray, Love. She remembered reading somewhere that he was a rom-com fan. 

“Are you?” He shot back. There was no doubt that he was intrigued by her. 

“Si” She shrugged as she pushed around some ravioli. 

“Then we have more in common than I thought, Catalina” Her name rolled off his tongue without any strain. It was as if he had been practicing for months. She had never heard her name sound so attractively. Sure, he had an accent, but it was still beautifully pronounced. 

Harry’s order arrived moments later. He had ordered the classic spaghetti bolognese. He grabbed his fork and knife and right before digging into the plate, he looked up at her. Catalina had been watching him since silence had fallen upon them. His smirk grew into a soft chuckle as their eyes met. She giggled at him and first noticed his dimples. She now understood everyone's obsession with his smile. 

“Would you join me?” Catalina spluttered after a few minutes of mentally debating with herself. She felt her heart beating in her throat and her hands dripping with sweat as other parts of her body. It was all very hot. 

Catalina wasn’t the type of woman to initiate conversation. She rarely even texts first!. Her excuse is usually that she doesn’t want to bother or interrupt. In reality, she is scared shitless to make a fool out of herself. Therefore, she was quite surprised by herself to have asked him to have dinner together. 

Harry cocked his head with his lips pursed. To her, he looked very pensive as if he was making a big decision. She didn’t blame him. He was on vacation and the last thing he wanted was to be photographed with a random girl and for questions to be asked. Although, he had already agreed in his mind. He just couldn’t come across as desperate. Even though he was. Harry wanted to know more. 

His fingers tucked his clothed napkin into the collar of his shirt. A chuckle left his lips as he pushed his seat back and raised on his feet. He held his plate and utensils with one hand while his glass of wine with the other. 

“So, where are you from?” Harry was first to ask, as he twisted his spaghetti around his folk. Catalina leaned back on her seat, her fingers clenching around her wine glass as she finished swallowing. “I am English” he laughs as if his accent didn’t give it away. 

“Really? Bet my life you were Italian” Catalina bantered 

“What gave it away?” 

“The facial hair and the good head of locks” Harry grinned covering his face with his hands, feeling his cheeks heating up. He felt ridiculous for blushing at such a minuscule compliment. “But anyway, I was born in South America, but raised in Spain by my aunt”. She revealed playing with the small droplets around the cup of ice water that had been forgotten. 

“And what are you doing here?” 

“I study here” She had just finished her first semester. “Well not here, but in Rome. I am majoring in art history”.

The not so strangers sat for hours and indulged in one more bottle of wine. Harry encouraged her to pick but she politely refused. She said that she hadn’t spent enough time in Italy to know what was best. 

She told him about her parents. Her father had walked out on her mother after she had told him that she was expecting. Catalina also shared with him how she felt after losing her mother to cancer when she was only ten. She was quite surprised at herself. She had never shared so much with anyone. Let alone, someone she had met that same night. Harry brought her some kind of comfort that she had no idea she needed. 

Harry listened to her. She hadn’t finished speaking and answering his previous question and he already had another one formulated. He liked hearing her speak. She allowed him to pick at her brain and he liked what he saw. She was driven, independent, somewhat lonely, but incredibly smart. Catalina was also unbelievably wise for her age. 

“What about you? Is fame all you thought it would be?” Catalina asked moments after they had been kicked out of the restaurant. They eventually had to close. Harry held what was left of the bottle as they walked down the isolated streets. 

“That’s a heavily loaded question” He chuckled, “It’s way more complicated and difficult. I think I expected to never feel lonely by the continuous abundance of people around me. But in reality, sometimes it feels lonelier than when I was just Harry” Harry shrugged, masking the pain that the vulnerability that he suddenly felt.

“I get it. The screams and faces don’t match the number of people close to you” Catalina was not famous but she could understand where he was coming from. Sure, her aunt had raised her, but she had felt lonely for most of her life. Her mother's death had felt a gaping hole in her life that no one has ever been able to fulfill. 

“M’not ungrateful for my friends but I do feel lonely. I guess I haven't found what I am looking for” Harry flashed her a reassuring smile as they walked down to the main road. “Let me help yeh” He had seen her struggling to walk over the cobblestone streets. She wore low heel sandals that complemented the white satin dress that she has opted for. Unfortunately, the heels were thin enough to slip through the stones making her overly cautious where she stepped. 

Harry switched the bottle to his other hand and offered his hand for her to take. She stopped momentarily and stared at his massive hands. They were bare. His famous rings were missing as if they had gone on a vacation too. She took his hand and was slightly surprised at their softness. She had expected them to be rough but they were quite the opposite. 

“Thank you” 

“No problem” He wanted to spend more time with her. He wished that the night wasn’t ending. “I would invite you for some gelato, but it’s quite late. I doubt there is any place opened” 

“How long are you staying?” Catalina asked as she noticed them approaching the entrance of her hotel. 

“A few more weeks” the splendor of the lights of the entrance of the hotel illuminated her features. Harry couldn’t help thinking how lovely she looked. 

“I’ve had a lovely time. Will I see you tomorrow?” 

“M’not planning on goin anywhere” Catalina reached up, resting a delicate hand on his shoulder, she kissed his cheek. 

“I’ll see you around then” She gave him a little wave as she walked her way through the doors. She would later realize that she hadn’t only kissed him because it was part of her culture and tradition but because he managed to ignite a flame within her — that one had ever done before. 

[demonslayedher]

Love Breathing Not Fully Bloomed: A Kanroji Mitsuri Meta

Some thoughts that have been brewing since we got a deeper look at the birth of the Breath of Love in the Rengoku Gaiden, boiling down to that Mitsuri had not yet reached her full potential.

SPOILERS AHEAD~!

While we don't have any reliable timeline for this series, we know that Mitsuri has been practicing swordsmanship for only about two years, likely less. The "two years ago" stated in her flashback to her failed engagement was back when she was 17, so let's be generous and say that was 2.5 years ago. But, we must also keep in mind that she's been a Pillar for at least several months by the time Swordsmith Village arc takes place. The Pillar meeting Tanjiro met her at was possibly her first of the twice-a-year meetings, but I wouldn't put it anywhere beyond her second. After the failed marriage discussion she would have spent some unknown period of time dying her hair and starving herself, before deciding to join the Demon Slayers. She accomplished her Flame Breathing training under Rengoku in six months, roughly half the time most Breath users train under their cultivators. Tokito is noted for becoming a Pillar in two months after taking up the sword, but Mitsuri probably stumbled her way into Pillarhood within months of passing the Final Selection; making the Kamaboko squad's quick ascension up the ranks look like nothing as she blows away the usual five years it takes someone to become a Pillar (or if they are especially skilled, more like two years, as stated by Gotouge in Taisho Secrets). While the way of swordsmanship and battle became Mitsuri’s everyday way of life, thereby leading to huge improvements, that's a really short time to develop actual battlefield experience. Among the Pillars, she is the least seasoned or naturally inclined for battle, it really is by accident of her bizarre strength that she’s gotten so far. That's hardly surprising, given her background and motives. For context, her interests are very domestic what with all the pet-keeping (four cats, a rabbit, and a whole hive of bees, by my count) and sweets and recipes, and her stated hometown would have been in the heart of developing city culture, with shopping and restaurants and movie theaters. There would have been no exposure to swords and the culture that goes with them, making her justifiably embarrassed of how monstrously her strength makes her stick out. Her inability to fit into a normal family life makes her feel worthless, even if she does have a base of love and support. (*Put a pin in these things, I'll be drawing a comparison to another character later.*) However it was that she was introduced to the Corp, it must have taken a huge leap of hope and/or desperation to leave the otherwise comfortable lifestyle for a life of battle. While Rengoku's home is not terribly far from hers, it still would have been a total break from the life she knew before, so she must had been betting everything on both her ultimate wishes; living in accordance with who she is, and finding a husband. Let's refer to these respectively as Wish A and Wish B. Note that "becoming a strong swordsman" and "elimating demons" are not among these goals; they are merely means to her goals. Now if we try to to follow her path as a swordsman chronologically, six months since taking up the sword under Rengoku, she's passed the Final Selection. On a mission with Rengoku, who now treats her as a peer, she's nonetheless filled with shame that she hasn't really picked up much skill and just waves her sword around with brute strength. 

I love this bit of characterization because that is so, so easy a trap to fall into with martial arts. Even if you understand things in theory and do your best on proper form when taking things slowly, all of that very easily goes out the window when you're using them in the heat of the moment. The less experience you have, the far more likely one is to do this. Falling back on just throwing a punch as hard as you can instead of throwing a good punch makes Mitsuri so, so, so relatable. She is a normal girl with abnormal strength, not a battle genius. Like us normal people, and even like Tanjiro, she can only improve her battle sense with experience. This puts her in a very different situation than the other Pillars, who she meets either when they are very experienced, or when they are outright geniuses. This gives her a different sense of shame, which we'll come back to. While feeling ashamed that she can't live up to Rengoku's teaching, her fighting suffers with this lack of self-confidence (which, again, makes her very relatable because this is applicable to just about all of us normal people), and she only realizes the Breath technique when applying it through her own unique emotion-driven fighting style. While she goes on to name this Breath after Wish B (given that this is a romantic version of "Love"), it's powered more by a philanthropic love, realized only when she is protecting other people. This becomes a newly discovered third wish, as well as a source of confidence.

In the side story novels, Mitsuri later on suffers another blow to her confidence which compromises her fighting and makes her fall back into wanting to hide herself, for she is ashamed of how her motives compare to Shinobu's. Besides Shinobu's encouragement and giving Mitsuri a venue in which to openly express her love and appreciation for other people, another child whom Mitsuri has rescued looks up to her and says a few things to restore her confidence. Getting that feedback and being able to express herself openly (Wish A) is the cycle that powers Mitsuri's confidence and keeps her ultimate weakness, shame, at bay. This, combined with words of encouragement from Ubuyashiki and Rengoku, is what really empowers her to embrace her unusual constitution and develop the Breath of Love. While it's said that this is an offshoot of the Flame Breathing she's formally trained in, it's more of a stretch than the relationship between something like Snake Breathing stemming from Water Breathing, and more like she's hit at the basis of Breathing itself to create a technique suited to her, like Inosuke did with his entirely self-taught Beast Breathing. (*Put a pin in this self-created Breath style thing, we're going to come back to this too.*) So, Mitsuri went on to become the Love Pillar. With the rate at which Pillars cycle in and out (based on how many the Upper Moons claim to have killed), I have to wonder how fast the Lower Moons getting cycled in and out too.  Even though these are her peers and we never see any other Pillars looking down on her, she sees herself in a lower position than the rest of them. Case in point, one thing I love that the anime did is that when Tokito chips the rock at Tanjiro and tells him off, Mitsuri is silently fangirling, and then when Tokito orders the Kakushi to draw back/leave, Mitsuri silently and automatically obeys and shrinks back. That wasn’t directed at you, silly!

Though her Breath requires confidence, she still has a ways to go. When we see her again later, she's in a position of being a protector to everyone around her; the swordsmiths and her juniors, and she's treated with the awe and respect and acceptance of a Pillar; in this kind of setting she is fully in accord with Wish A (reinforced by her less formal third wish) and, thanks to Shinobu's encouragement, not ashamed of Wish B, thereby eliminating a big part of her shame-based weakness. She's added all this power and just as importantly, experience to her preexisting raw strength and flexibility.

The experience is key here; she's gained a lot of battle sense since her first mission. She's not as taken off guard by demon abilities, and with her risen confidence, she's also gained more flexible thinking and can make quick adjustments in battle as needed. 

Not entirely, though. At her core, she still relies on that brute strength.

Ultimately, though toward the end she thinks she might be overpowered after all, it's that boost of confidence and cycle of philanthropic love from her juniors and desire to protect them than she recovers and makes use of her mark. (I'm glad no one's told her that this means she's doomed to a short marriage, should she ever even get one.)

Following this historic feat; acting in a way that is natural to her and to her Breath to unlock a mark she didn't even know existed, she still feels a little shamed among the other Pillars for being so shamefully inarticulate about battle technique; despite this being what she's dedicated her life to. Again, it was never her natural desire to be a fighter, so it’s unsurprising that this part doesn’t come as naturally to her as it does to all those geniuses in the room.

Moving on to the battle with Nakime, this is mostly played for laughs because Mitsuri's lack of battle sense compared to other characters is put on full display. She's emotional from the get-go and easily overwhelmed and this affects her concentration drastically, leading to stupid mistakes and ultimately having to fall back on her brute strength to break through pieces of the fortress instead of survive and fight through observation. Getting called out on this is meant to help her, and she absolutely does her best to summon back her battle sense, but it's all downhill for Mitsuri and her Love Breathing technique from here.

As the battle with Muzan starts, that third wish is thrown back in her face as so many of her juniors die protecting her. Since he's powered by philanthropic love and confidence, she cannot recover any battle sense, and quickly falters so much that she must be removed from the battle rather than weigh everyone down. The difference between her and the other Pillars here is stark; her inexperience and lack of natural fighting inclination is, again, painfully obvious and relatable to a lot of readers. She has natural strength, but not natural talent. When she does return to battle, she only has that core strength to rely on again--no room for peace of mind, only brute emotional strength resulting in a panel that made me throw my fist in the air and cheer out loud because damn, that is hardcore, girl.

But, in the end, Mitsuri succumbs to her injuries, and only right before death does she get closer to Wish B. Even with Iguro's promise, it's too late.

This is super frustrating for a number of reasons, but if we're focused solely on the actualization of Love Breathing, it's because Iguro could have said something much, much, much sooner if he wasn't so ashamed of his own blood tainting her in this lifetime (not that she would have cared). Words from other people have such a huge influence on Mitsuri that if she had actualized Wish B, for which her Breath is named, she could have made humongous gains in confidence before being romantically loved, and having someone to openly shower in love. Imagine what she could have unlocked, if that shame she still carried for being too monstrous to be married could have been eliminated. But that's not all. What if the timeline had been different? What if she had not two, but five years’ experience? Or even more than that? What if, for a long duration of her experience as a swordsman, she was also experiencing a happy marriage? I invite you to consider the implications of a Mrs. Iguro Mitsuri who has the comfort and confidence of being herself with a husband, in addition to being in a leadership role in the Corp? A Mrs. Iguro who, with a little honesty from her husband who feels bothered that she’s embarrassed, stands up to Maeda-san and says that as a married woman she needs a more modest uniform?* A Mrs. Iguro who gained a level-headed battle sense that can only be refined through experience, not based in brute strength alone? She'd be such a happy badass. *(Not looking for a modern-era Western culture based debate on this; this is defined based on Mitsuri's desire for a proper Taisho Era marriage.) Now, remember those pins I put in place? Consider someone else who realized a natural Breath technique all on their own, who attained a mark without any intention to, who felt like a monster due to super human abilities that made them shamefully unable to fit into the ideal family life, despite only wanting a peaceful, happy wedded life? Someone who valued bonds with other people, a kind person who lived to protect others? Now, I'm not saying that Love Breathing is as powerful as the Breath of the Sun, or that Mitsuri is as innately powerful as Yoriichi (their natural skills were of different types entirely). But, as all Breath techniques stem from the same natural Sun Breathing source, Love Breathing might have found its way back a little closer to that source, in some way or another. Which is all to say, never look down on Love Breathing or on Mitsuri just because she didn't play as big of a role as the others in the final showdown. After all, that Breath was not yet all it could have been, and as a swordsman, she was not yet in full bloom.

[antifainternational]

Im vocal about supporting antifa and now im afraid a local altright/fascist group has my contact info (email, phone, address, pictures) because they've been using my email to sign me up for alt right mailing lists and one of em send some of my holiday pictures in a string of gore-y photos in a political group chat (hes banned now) .. is there something i can do? Im really scared even though i know thats exactly what they want :/

Oh, we feel for you.  A lot of us have been in your shoes in the past.  So we reached out to some experts for advice for you; here’s what they had to say, followed by some of our own advice: “Well first of all, what a fucking nightmare. This sounds really hard and terrifying. It seems to me that yes, they already have this persons info so my recommendation would be to start wiping their info from public places and use a service like DeleteMe, if they have the option. It is a paid service. At this point the fash are already engaged in a harassment campaign so it’s likely the worst is already happening but you can’t be too careful. If they have the capacity to get a new email, I would suggest it. As well as a phone number. If they can’t get a new number or don’t want to, they can avoid answering calls they don’t recognize the numbers for. I would say that they can continue to be open about their support for antifa but be mindful of what might happen. I’m happy to help w emotional support or practical support in terms of changing contact info, getting linked up with deleteme, etc” “If you want to keep their current email address, set up a spam filter to reject the alt-right stuff, and mark it as "Spam" when it comes in. They should also set two-factor authentication on every social media account they have. If they want to remove their data from the internet, so that this doesn't happen again, have them either buy a DeleteMe package, or else follow the steps in this free 30-page guide to remove their data from every peoplesearch engine.  In my experience, if you put in about a half hour a night, you can have it done in a month or so. From what I've seen in past harassment campaigns, they don't tend to last very long. The far-right is great at conducting kind of 24-48 hour blitzkrieg campaigns, but they don't have a lot of staying power. After two days, it's usually over unless their name pops up in the news again.” In addition, we’d recommend reading this article from Crash Override, which covers how to protect yourself if you’ve been doxxed.  That probably covers you digitally, but let’s talk IRL as well, Anon.  If they have your address, you should consider moving if it’s possible.  If you are staying put, you should beef up your private security.  Install floodlights outside and better-quality locks.  Consider a home security system and/or cameras.  If you’re tight with your neighbours, let them know you’re being harassed and encourage them to call you, the police (if you’re comfortable with that), or both if they spot anyone/anything suspicious going on around your place.  Set up a code w/ friend where you can call them or text them a single word & they’ll drop everything and come running.  Maybe have some friends stay over with you for a few days; maybe even sleep in shifts so someone’s always up & keeping an eye out for stuff.  If you are in a place where you’re allowed to own a firearm, consider it; if you decide to get one, get trained up on its use. You might want to let your school or workplace know what’s up as well so they can be on the alert.  Try to not stick to your regular routines - change up where you shop, the routes you travel, the times you’re out in public, etc. to make it as difficult as possible to surveil you. If you haven’t taken any self-defence or martial arts before, consider committing to it for a year or two.  Everyone is going to tell you a different style is best for self-defence (we’re partial to kali/escrima for close-combat weapons fighting/disarming + muay thai for striking + Brazilian jiu jitsu for takedowns, grappling, and groundwork ourselves).   This is probably all very overwhelming for you.  Please take a moment to take some deep breaths, know that people have your back (even people you haven’t met yet like us!), and that in most of these cases, the threat blows over after a few days when the nazis lose interest/move on to their next harassment target.  You can get through this, Anon, and you will be safer & stronger having gotten through it!

[saviourkingslut]

"Engage feels closer to traditional FE" is such a weird thing to say about Engage. Like yeah it brings back the weapon triangle, terrain seems to matter again, it looks like classes are weapon locked...

still seems to have a static hub world... distinct customization for the other characters if not Alear themself... its whole gimmick is relying on the player to have played most of the other games before (some of which are still legally available in JPN only)... fists can apparently just fuckin' destroy bows which is DEFINITELY nothing like "Old FE"... the designs can barely be fucked to hit a solid 50/50 on whether or not they fit the mediaeval themes (or ANY theme at all)... the plot revolves around the player character insert ("the player insert IS the lord this time so that makes sense" okay still nothing like "Old FE" like people are saying it is)...

Like, Engage is still very much a "New FE" game and takes the majority of its inspirations from the newer titles. Legit, the only thing I'm seeing that's "closer to traditional FE" are the things I'd listed already... and most of THOSE things are also in newer FE titles anyway.

I think it's just that people are trying their best to get away from 3H after all the drama and discourse and are kinda just... pulling things out of their asses to mark Engage as nothing like 3H. Even though the two are sharing a LOT of things that make them distinct from other titles.

sometimes i feel like when people say engage feels more 'like classic fire emblem' what they actually man is 'it doesn't feel and look like three houses'. like, not even the newer games in general, i barely see people mentioning those, it's just 3h. that's what people are always comparing it to, anyway. 'weapon triangle return' bc 3h did not have that. 'player insert is the (talking) lord' bc 3h did not have that. et cetera.

my biggest beef with this game is that, purely based on the vibes im getting from the character design/overall artstyle and the looks of the environments and the sleekness of the interface, it doesn't feel like a fire emblem entry. what i mean with that, is that even the more recent entries (awakening and onwards) have had something kind of clunky and gritty about them, and for me that adds to the charm of the games. the interface and graphics help set the old-fashioned, medieval fantasy vibe. there's something niche about it. i understand that for some people the smoothness of animations is important, or having a prettier interface, but for me the new art style and the interface are so different from anything fe has used before that it creates a dissonance between engage and earlier entries for me (yes, including 3h, because its art was never that far removed from the rest of the games). the newer art style in general slides closer to the way a lot of modern anime-oriented games look, and i just think it's a shame, because fe loses some of its 'personality' by doing so.

the way the character designs, as you say, are 50/50 on fitting the medieval theme or any theme at all also makes it very hard for me to look at this game and enjoy its general atmosphere. fe has had outlandish designs before, especially more recently, but at least they usually fit in with the general theme and atmosphere of the game whereas with engage, i feel like there's so many different directions they're taking with the designs that there's a disconnect between the 'normal' characters and the wilder designs. there's an overall lack of subtlety and internal coherence that earlier games generally managed to incorporate, and so it feels really off to me.

[not-xpr-art]

Art Advice #4 - A Beginner’s Guide to Digital Art

Hi all!

This weeks entry into my Art Advice tag, where I offer various advice for artists of any skill level, is about digital art! Now, I am by no means an expert at digital (I’ve been doing it for nearly 8 years at this point and that is almost entirely self taught), but I have picked up a few pointers in that time which will hopefully help anyone just starting out!

(this blogpost is a little over 2000 words long btw)

A Beginner’s Guide to Digital Art 

I know that the world of digital art has changed drastically in the 8 odd years since I started, but I’d still say that some of the options I started out with will be just as good for anyone who’s starting out now! 

As always, I’ll be splitting this into sections to make it easier for you to navigate this post!

Part 1 - Equipment/Hardware 

There are a lot of drawing tablet options on the market at the moment, and I’m not going to pretend that I know anything about half of them lol. But I think for a beginner, don’t worry about going for the most expensive option, even if the reviews are really good or your favourite artist uses it, especially if it is way above your budget! 

An important thing to know is that there are two types of tablet. One is the plug-in kind. These are essentially a pad which you plug into your laptop or computer and draw on that whilst looking at the screen (they basically work the same way as a plug in mouse works). The other kind is the screen variety, which is a lot more like what most of us know as ‘tablets’ nowadays. And you draw directly onto the screen. 

(a plug-in vs on screen tablet, both from Wacom)

Now, as for choosing between these, it is honestly a personal choice. But I’d say if you’re just wanting to try digital and you’re on a budget, a plug-in tablet can be really useful since it gets you used to the mechanics of what digital is like, and they are often significantly cheaper than the screen alternatives. I would say that plug-in tablets are a big learning curve, especially if you’re used to doing traditional stuff, but I do know a lot of professional artists who still use this kind of tablet when doing their work, so if it’s something you can get used to I would definitely consider it! Also, they’re often a lot more portable than some screen tablets! The first one I had was a Huion (a model so old that I can’t even find a link to it now lol), and I also know that Wacom are a well known brand that do some decent plug-in tablet. I’d recommend you do your own research on other brands and options, though!

Screen tablets are often a lot more expensive, but if you’re used to traditional art, they are a lot easier to get a handle of! But I know if you already have something like an iPad, or other general use tablets, then they offer apps that you can use to draw on (as well as things like the Apple pen, or other stylus’). The big difference between using these general tablets and ones specifically designed for drawing is pretty much purely a personal choice. I personally prefer the bigger screen of my XP-Pen tablet, along with a special screen protector that removes the shininess of the tablet screen and makes it feel more like ‘paper’ over when I used a general use tablet it draw. But if you already have an iPad, or something similar, then it’s honestly a really great starting point!

I think it’s important for me to mention that you don’t need fancy equipment to be an artist. The incredible Elicia Donze has revealed countless times how she has very basic equipment but still manages to produce the most stunning artworks! All you really need is some kind of drawing apparatus and a lot of patience lol! Getting good at any kind of art takes a lot of time and effort, but I would definitely say it’s worth it when you’re able to look back at your progress!

Part 2 - Software/Drawing Programs 

Much like with the hardware discussion, choosing which program to use is entirely down to personal preference. I personally have never really liked Photoshop purely because it’s really complicated, but I know so many artists swear by it. 

I think the main aspect to consider when you’re starting out is whether you want to pay for a program. Software like Photoshop, Clip Studio Paint and Procreate are some of the popular ones I hear about a lot of people using, but all require you to purchase or subscribe to them. So if you’re young or on a very tight budget, I’d honestly recommend the free alternative versions of these, such as Krita (Krita is quite a large program, but it has a lot of really awesome features and is very similar to Photoshop!), Gimp (this one is similar to Krita, but has slightly less options, I’d honestly recommend Gimp for anyone who does photo editing though!) or FireAlpaca (this is the one I use, by the way and it’s a pretty simple program, but has a lot of fantastic features and is perfect for how I work!). These don’t have as many features as some of the paid alternatives, but I honestly think all you really need to start digital art is some kind of ‘canvas’ and set of brushes!

Another great free program for beginners I’d recommend is MyPaint, which is great for doodling and just getting used to how digital art feels in comparison to traditional! It also has a bunch of ‘traditional style’ brushes, to make it look like charcoal or watercolour (which I’m sure the paid alternatives have too, but it’s always better when it’s free, I find lol...)

(this is an example of a drawing I did on MyPaint using the ‘charcoal’ effect brush!)

Most of the sites are pretty self explanatory, with sections dedicated to different brushes (I’ll go into the types of brushes later on in this post btw!), adjusting brush size, shape and opacity, a colour wheel, etc. You also have a section dedicated to ‘layers’ (another thing I’ll go into more detail later), and various ‘filters’ and editing options and effects you can add to your work to make it more interesting!

I’d really just recommend playing around with programs until you find your one!

Part 3 - The Pros of Digital Art!

I realise this section should probably earlier in this blog post lol, but I kinda wanted to go into what digital art can achieve in comparison to traditional art, and how beginner artists can utilise this!

I definitely didn’t take advantage of certain aspects of digital art when I first got into it, and they’re things that would have definitely made my life a whole lot easier lol!

Digital art allows you to tweak drawings as you do them. So if you accidentally drew the eye too far to the right, then you can easily move it to the right place. (I usually do this by selecting whichever area is wrong, cutting it out and then pasting it into a new area... And yes, there is probably a better and quick way of doing this but...I haven’t found that way yet lol...). And I honestly think that this has allowed me to look a lot more at a reference image in order to figure out where I’ve gone wrong with a drawing! Whereas with traditional art, I usually spend so long trying to get an eye right, that even if it’s slightly in the wrong place, I don’t want to completely redo that section. Digital allows you to completely rub out sections without leaving indents, which is honestly such a saving grace!

Another pro of digital is the Undo/Ctrl Z function! This means you can easily go back to before you made a major mistake with just a click of Ctrl Z... Though I have to say that this function has honestly ruined traditional art for me... Oh what wouldn’t I give for a real life Ctrl Z... But yeah, this is a great part of digital art and definitely something you will grow to love lol!

Another great thing about digital is that it allows you to flip and turn a canvas as you’re drawing on it. I spent a lot of time trying to turn my tablet around in order to draw certain parts of a piece before I realised you can turn the canvas itself without having to move yourself or your tablet!

Layers are another part of digital that can be super useful, and I have to be honest but I don’t really use them a lot. I know a lot of artists create layers for every section of their artworks (so, one for the linework, one for colouring, a separate one for the background, etc etc...). And there’s something really great about being able to paint without worrying about smudging into a previous section of the painting. This works well for my work since I do a lot of bright backgrounds. I also often create a lot of ‘versions’ of my works, so it’s useful to be able to change the background without affecting the main figure of the piece! (I have to say that I often work in one big layer when I’m doing paintings, just because I like how it feels more like ‘traditional’ art that way, but layers are such a brilliant tool, and definitely something you should play around with!)

The eyedropper tool is another one that is really useful! Although I never colour pick from my reference photos, I know some artists find this useful when they were just starting out (especially if you’re not sure what colour to make shadows or how to mix skin tones, etc etc). The eyedropper basically means you don’t need to mix your colours every time

Part 4 - Just some other things I wish I had known about when I was starting out lol...

This last section is just dedicated to a few things that I would have liked to have known when I was just starting out all those years ago. 

First one is fluffy/textured brushes! 

I spent most of my art life from 2013 until 2016 using ‘round’ brushes which are notoriously hard to blend with, so I’d recommend either downloading some fluffy/textured brushes (DeviantArt was where I got mine from a few years back, but there are probably other places you can get them for free too!) to your program of choice, since most of the programs I’ve used haven’t had fluffy/textured brushes as pre-set. 

I may make another post about how I blend in my artworks if that’s something people would be interested in?

(this is an example of textured brush blending vs round brush blending... I usually opt for round brushes for rougher blending styles and the textured brushes for more smooth and ‘realistic’ blending... for a lot of pieces, though, I use both brushes (the round brushes are good for details!) in the same way that you use different sized brushes for real paintings!)

The next thing I wish I’d discovered earlier is the Brush Stabiliser option. Some programs may do this automatically, but the one I use (FireAlpaca) requires you to manually change the amount of stabilising you have on your brush. This is particularly useful if you want to draw neat lines or straight lines (the stabiliser essentially slows down the ‘ink’ as you’re drawing). I only recently started using the stabiliser, and although I still like having it mostly turned ‘off’ for doing sketchy work, it does make doing line work a lot easier, and also gives pieces a more polished look!  

Next advice is to explore all the options you can in whatever program you use! 

I feel like with certain programs, you can get overwhelmed by choice and you end up just using a few of the functions. But I’d really recommend just playing around with these programs, trying all the filters and editing options to get used to how the program works. You can often find interesting ways to adjust your artworks this way! In a way I’d recommend this way of working more than finding tutorials made by other people... Unless there’s a specific function you want to learn how to do, just having fun with digital art is a major part of it’s appeal to me! 

~

There are probably a lot of other options I could go into, but this is already over 2000 words long, so I’ll leave it here for now lol! (I may do a part 2 though so... keep a look out for that!)

As always, if you have any questions to things I’ve said here, or are just looking for more advice, don’t hesitate to message me!

And if you like my work on here (art & blog posts) feel free to support me on my Ko-Fi! <3