#to get used to no pen pressure. it’s actually a lot of fun

[hospitalyuris]

The clingerrrr

I was gonna draw him clinging to sanji too but I never got around to it lol

[mellosdrawings]

Forgive me if this has been asked before, but I really love your line work! What do you do to keep it so clean? I get carpal tunnels easily so it’s a pain for me to do consistently. Also what brushes do you use? I also use procreate :>

First thank you for the kind words <3

My brush for pretty much everything is the default Procreate Pencil that you can find in the Sketching section of your brushes. I don't think I've tweaked the settings but here are the main ones just in case.

As you can see, I don't use any stabilizer for this brush. I want it to feel just like an actual pencil.

How do I keep my lines "clean" then?

First: shitty textured brush with barely any weight. The problem with perfectly smooth brushes is that any shakiness from your hand will be visible in the end result, so you'd need a heavy stabilizer. I don't like it coz it removes the energy/dynamic lines. Smooth stuff isn't exactly my thing unless I'm trying to have a cartoon effect.

Second: I don't actually try to keep it clean. I redo some lines several times, keep some of the mess ups, etc. But one thing I do is keep my hand/arm flowy. I do wide moves, try to keep it all smooth. Unless there is an angle, the line is likely to be just one swift move.

Third: As my brush has very little weight (ie bigger or thinner lines), I manually add it by adding lines and darkness to some places.

Here's an example with my Liongarb Jamil. The first version is weightless, all lines are mostly the same size. The second adds some weight notably in the hair, headset, arms, and belt.

Here you can see the added lines I used to do the weight.

And so with those tricks you have the appearance of cleanness, even though it is actually far from clean.

(Also i never do straight lines. Those are the devil. When you do wide moves, all your lines are going to be arcs, and that's exactly what I'm aiming for. Adds dynamics and can be done swiftly without having to focus on making the line straight and pretty.)

My advice would be not to worry too much about cleanness. It annoyed me to no end before, until I finally decided to just do it however I liked and screw cleanness. I prefer to have dynamic and fun lines rather than a perfect drawing, and it does the trick.

When you read shonen manga next time (if you like reading those), pay attention to the line work. In most cases you will see it is actually shaky and unclean and sometimes even ugly. But it doesn't matter, because the moves are here. It's dynamic. That's what matters. (Jujutsu Kaisen example (open in your search engine or you might get an error warning), One Piece example, Haikyuu example)

As for the carpal tunnel pain, it's probably because you draw with your wrist instead of your whole arm. My whole right arm is always in pain and I had to get surgery in my wrist for a cyst last year, so I know how frustrating it is to be in pain when drawing. Here's a few tips:

I would suggest you see a physical therapist if you can, so you can get a better drawing position.

Regular stretching like rotating your wrists, flexing your fingers, etc, also helps a lot.

Doing bigger lines/moves with your shoulder or elbow instead of your fingers or wrist when you draw will remove some pressure from your wrist.

Don't hesitate to mix how you draw when one part starts to hurt so it can get some rest, and do take regular breaks in your drawings.

Finally I suggest that you get yourself something to make your grip on your pen bigger. I use these pen holders for children to help me. It might sound ridiculous, but half the strain in your wrist comes from your thumb. Having a bigger grip helps relax your position.

I hope all this blah-blah helps you, good luck with your art and your wrist o//

[boxheadpaint]

oh god when did i diary post last. Well as good a time as any

another year older today, though birthday festivities are actually taking place yesterday and tomorrow due to conflicting schedules and hannukah party stuff. spending this last week of DEMBER watching found footage / mockumentary horror and doing my best not to worry as much as usual to varying levels of success. still need to get refill on blood pressure meds because sleep is annoying again thanks.

joycon controller journey where in the end i grab those ergonomic ones which they only had the pokemon print ones in stock but theyre very nice. they make my switch wide and intimidating and it doesnt hurt to use which im not sure why i ever got used to that for normal joycons? I can take a few guesses though namely being yay videogames and being good at ignoring pain until its gone for a bit.

waiting back for exciting surgery news though knowing state health that wont be for a while! in the mean time just gonna look at fish and have a beautiful time. didnt actually super celebrate christmas this year, stayed home with partner. did have a gift from my mom (MICHEAL FATCAT VOLUME 2 LETS FUCKING GO. And a book on color combinations) for it and another for my birthday (immensely sexy natural illustration book) which was very nice and makes me happy. since she moved to mexico our schedules dont line up as well from timezones but the few calls we have had are nice. she got a puppy that made me cry over video from the smallness.

at this point i miss digital art enough that i am willin to brave the overheating and bluescreening of my surface again but maybe instead i could set up some stand made of welded paperclips or something so it can sit up and breathe again. Mom gave me her old one but its windows 11, then theres the yogas that doug has where one doesnt work with my pen and says ACTIVATE WINDOWS in the corner because it was probably some sensitive work thing while the other yoga has like. a mystery charger we have yet to find. we will likely try to downgrade moms from the windows 11 shit as best we can but god im not confident in it.

Every month i think i need to stop worrying about what people will think of my art, that their interpretations dont matter and i am doing what makes me happy and what keeps me interested. i also manage to forget this every month around the same time. i miss drawing very very quickly to make stupid funny pictures for people, its a lot better at conveying how i feel and think than trying to pull from my limited vocabulary. written words are basically just another kind of picture that are funny and dont make any sense in any order you say them and will never get across what you are trying to say.

okami HD was 5 dollars on the switch. its been a lot of fun to play through it again after all this time- when i was a kid i thought after orochi i beat the game and that whatever else was going on was a weirdly long postgame. i stopped at the VERY near end of act 2 because of the fucking blockhead warrior guy was impossible for me. i was trying to get footage of the weakpoints on a flipphone with my family behind me like mission control. now that im an adult man with reading comprehension and a smaller screen with a built in screencapture function im sure i will get just as mad as i did back then.

12/28/2024, I keep accidentally not hydrating enough day-to-day and i still need a shower. gonna go fuckin water mode

[squidpedia]

Hi! I wanted to ask for advice on finding an artstyle, I've been drawing for sometime but I still dislike my style.

Thank you in advance :D.

Hi hiii

Whenever my artstyle gets kinda boring to me, I try asking myself questions to figure out what exactly is it about my artstyle that I don’t like. Things like what is it about my art that feels boring to me while this other’s artist’s work excites me? What makes me most insecure about this piece? What do my favorite artists do in their artworks that I don’t do?

This isn’t to put yourself or your work down, make sure to go out of your way to still note anything you like or are particularly proud of in any of your artworks, you work hard on your art and that deserves to be appreciated, even if your artstyle isn’t quite at where you want it to be yet! But this is mainly what I do to try to address reasons my artstyle isn’t giving me as much joy, and what changes I can make that might make me happier. Most of the time I can’t really put my finger on what it is that I dislike about my art, so I keep these questions in the back of my mind while I try experimenting through doodles and messing around with my style in each one. Have some doodles dedicated to things you dont normally try in your artstyle. Varying eye sizes and distance from each other, some doodles with different ways of stylizing noses, trying varying levels of realism vs cartoonishness when drawing characters, and trying different brushes if doing this in digital art. If any specific doodles jump out to you as kinda neat, take note of whatever you did in that doodle and try it more often!

(Sorry i was doing this in a hurry but definitely couldve utilized more full body shots, varying poses, face at more side angles, coloring styles, would 100% reccomend experimenting with that too. But this is mostly what those batches of experiment doodles usually look like for me)

As always, it doesn’t hurt to also study other artists’s whos stuff makes you so happy and figure out what it is about their art style that excites you so much. Whatever that may be, think about if its something you want in your own art style and try replicating and practice doing it if you do want to take your art in that direction.

Quick example from me but november 2023 i remember starting to feel super uninspired with my artstyle. I asked myself what felt like the most unrewarding part of the process for drawing and realized the answer was my lineart. At the time I was seeing a lot of @/bixels ‘s artwork of drawing mlp characters as humans from the 1920’s americana and was so delighted by their lineart. I kept experimenting with brushes in my doodles and realized that using the gel pen reminded me somewhat of bixels’ art, so I took that and ran. It was a neat change after a while of having thicker lineart and actually having fun with pressure sensitivity and how the brush is able to taper.

This is what i found works for myself so im not sure how well it applies to other people or if i worded everything well, but I hope its at least a bit helpful in some way!

[i-write-things]

Obey Me! NB boys: Who would most willingly have kids

(Note: NONE of them would ever pressure you into having kids. I'm saying this now so I don't have to repeat it every time.)

1.Beelzebub:

Any surprise here? I can't remember where I saw it, but I do remember seeing somewhere he said he'd love to start a family. If you don't ask him about kids, he might ask you, first. He'd be a great dad, too. He'd be calm, supportive, and his kids would always be well fed and have plenty of exercise. They'd grow up big and strong like him! :) He'd also do that thing when they're little (and when theyre grown, too) where He'd use them as weights to lift up while he does push ups. He'd also carry them on his back everywhere. If it's a baby, he'd be a little tired of having to get up every night to calm their screams, but he'd get used to it because he makes himself a deal: he'll just get a snack every time the baby cries at night. Speaking of if it's a baby, he'd be afraid he'd crush it at first, and refuse to hold them. But once he finally holds them, he refuses to let any stranger hold them. His biggest fear is his child not being safe. Protective Beel! Oh, and they'd get a LOT of visits from uncle Belphie.

2.Mammon

Ok, here me out- he'd essentially be Bandit from Bluey (Dont ask). He'd make sure his kids are clever and he'd most certainly teach them to gamble from a young age, and how to cheat. He'd be very over protective, but also really fun. His worst nightmare is his kids growing up to hate him. He'll never admit it, but he stops cheating so much to earn money. While he wants his kids to grow up learning how to make quick cash, deep down, he just wants them to be good kids. So he also tries to set a good example and work for his money. All his brothers are shocked, and they'll tease him for it. And of course, Mammon being Mammon, will deny deny deny! The brother that baby sits the most for him is probably Lucifer, actually. (He doesn't trust Mammon at first. Jk, he trusts Mammon a lot with this, actually.... mostly)

3. Satan

You may be thinking, 'Pen, you're absolutely stupid and don't know anything about OM!, nor how to write in character', and you may be right, but let me cook!

You see, Satan at first isn't too keen on the idea of a child. All they do is scream and cry shit themselves and eat then cry some more. And when they're a teenager, they'll just sass him. And he does NOT like the idea of that. But all you have to do is appeal. Example:

Tell him to imagine the following: A 4 or 5, maybe even 6 year old boy or girl that's a mini version of him. Running around the house of lamentation, screaming curses about Lucifer, who can't do anything because they're a child who doesn't know any better. They'd be able to get away with anything and he could use that to his advantage. Now he's hooked, and he'll think about it, but despite his hate for poor Luci, he's still aware that it's a lot of responsibility. Which is why you have to reassure him that that's why you'll raise the baby together. Plus, imagine taking the child to the library, reading to them. They get to develop their own personality. Which is when teenhood becomes fun, because it's not about the sass, it's about the fun personality they've developed.

His biggest fear for his child is his child becoming like him. He doesn't want that. He'd prefer his child become like Lucifer than to see himself in his child (though not by a lot) Oh, and he trusts Asmo enough to be super gentle with the child. (Mostly because he threatened to kill Asmo if the baby is hurt) but also because he knows that the baby would be in gentle hands!

4. Lucifer

Lucifer isn't so quick to agree for 2 reasons.

He's always busy, what if he ends up neglecting the child in favor of work? And then you'll end up taking care of the child in its most vital years to have both parents present (though every year is vital to have both parents present). Of course, you'll just reassure him that Diavolo would give him some leave time in favor of raising the baby, and the brothers would help with his work load in the meantime.

2. Ok, but what about his brothers? That's the thing, he feels like he's already a father of 6. He won't be able to look after them as much because a baby is far too much time. They'll be running loose like chickens without heads in no time. You'll have to tell him he'll just have to have faith in his brothers. At first, he scoffs at the idea. But...he thinks about it. And the more he does, the more he agrees. Finally, he'll take you out somewhere private to tell you that he agrees. He wants to have a baby.

His worst fear is his child not feeling like he was present in his life. He already knows what it's like to have someone related to you hate youSatan, so it would be nothing new to him, though it would still hurt. Yet, his worst fear is his child growing up feeling like he was never there for his them. This will result in him constantly switching his attention time during teenage years from super clingy because he wants to be present, to a little distant because he doesn't want to come off as clingy. You better bring it to his attention and help him find a happy medium before your child starts to resent him for this. Oh, and the brother he trusts most to look after his kid is Mammon. This may sound stupid, but we all know Mammon would at least keep the kid alive. (Like Satan, he'll tear Mammon limb from limb if otherwise) but if Mammon isn't present, he'll ask Satan. Though, he can't be surprised if Satan has taught his child how to say 'fuck Lucifer' as one of their first phrases.

5. Asmodeus

Like Satan, he doesn't really want a child for the same reasons. They just cry, they take a lot of time, he won't be able to get his beauty sleep at night, ect. Also like Satan, you'll just have to appeal. Imagine all the cute family photos he can take! Plus, wouldn't the child be beautiful? 'Oh, but what about when they grow up and go through some weird emo phase?' Well, you guys will just have to accept them for that. And when (if) they grow out of the phase, y'all can continue to support them and then finally take family pictures again. And if they never grow out of the goth phase, you'll just have another Belphie. He laughs, and is a little more calm. It takes maybe some few months before he brings up the idea, saying that he thinks he's ready. His biggest fear is his child growing up unloved by their peers, so he tries to dress them up pretty all the time. You might have to remind him to let the child explore their own style for a bit, and he'll reluctantly agree at first, then be very willing later on. He doesn't want people to see his child as anything but pretty, but understands how important it is for the child to have their own style and feel supported for it. But he's keeping all them embarrassing baby photos. And he's definitely showing them off to his child's romantic partner (if they're not aro/ace). The brother he trusts the most to handle his child is Lucifer. He knows the child will be safe. He would pick Satan, but....y'know.

6. Leviathan

For obvious reasons, at first it's a no. He won't be able to play games as much, the baby will always be crying, ect. But you'll have to remind him that it's a team effort, and he won't be the only one taking care of the child. Plus, once the baby grows up, he'll always have someone to play games with. To which he responds they might not like games. You can counter that if they're constantly surrounded by games, they'll become a familiar source of comfort, and they'll likely love games. Same for any cartoon or anime he makes them watch. He'll give you plenty of excuses, but they're all bullshit. His biggest reason(and secret) is he thinks he'll be a horrible, embarrassment of a father. His child won't think he's cool, and might even get bullied a lot. I mean, imagine having some lame Otaku for a father. Sad, right? But just tell him that his child will love him because he's their father, and no matter what, they'll be proud to call him dad, just like you'll be proud to call him their dad. He tears up afterwards, and maybe a while later, he'll shyly approach you and tell you he's ready. He'll pay less attention to video games and anime for a while, but when he gets a break, if he's not sleeping, he's catching up on all the anime. His worst fear is his child becoming lonely like him. So he makes sure the child grows up with a pet of some kind. That way, they'll learn to be social. Oh, and if it's a boy, he'll try his damndest to name him Henry, and if it's a girl, Hana and/or Yuri. The brother he trusts the most is also Lucifer. He would say Beel, but he doesn't want him to eat his child (Beel would never), and he would say Asmo, but he doesn't want to receive an Asmo Jr. Oh, and Mammon isn't allowed near the child.

7. Belphagore

Last, and least surprisingly, Belphie. A child is wayyyyyyy too much responsibility for little old him. Plus, they cry all the time, he wouldn't be able to sleep. I'm not sure if you really could convince him to have a baby. If you did, it would be years in advance before he would agree. I think the best route is to just prove to him that the responsibility will be shared (and worth it), and he could still get sleep from time to time. Which would help. But if y'all ever do have a baby, he'll slack off a lot. You'll probably get into a couple of arguments because you'll be doing most of the work in toddler and infant years. (Most likely to get divorced over the child if y'all are married. Not saying it will happen, though. Just most likely out of the brothers.) Eventually, after ranting to Beel, he'll realize he has been a shit father at first. To the child, and to you. (Thank Beel for getting through to him). Like Beel, his worst fear is his kids not being safe. He really doesn't care how they turn out as long as they're happy and healthy. After he finally starts taking initiative as a parent, he becomes over protective. If its a girl, he sees Lilith in her, and he wont let her go. Obviously, he trusts Beel the most with his kids.

[leslie057]

penbleed;

pairings: jonathan/nancy

rating: light teen (swearing + mild sex references)

word count: 2.4k (chapter 1)

read on ao3

@jancyweeks day 1: history - her diary as a personal history + a bonus history test incident

𝒩𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 16, 1984

—

𝑀𝓎 𝓆𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃 𝒾𝓈 𝒽𝑜𝓌. Actually, how do you forget an exam? Actually. How did I forget? And it’s not even that I forgot, it’s that I never knew. I am still so mad but not as mad as I was. Genuinely have no clue why we were not given verbal reminders for that history test. That stupid little secret of a test, that fucking sub rosa fucking social experiment of a thing to see who looks at her minuscule writing under the date on the board every day! Just tell us. Need it. Out loud. This is crazy arrogant and borderline disgusting of me to say, but she doesn't have a better student than me and I deserved better. It was like a setup. Of course I was taking notes, of course I was listening, of course a lot of it was prior knowledge. It’s the history of America and I’m not an idiot. I just thought a test would be coming up after the break, not before.

I mean it’s all been worked out now, though. 

But it makes me upset, because where was my head? No, I know where it was, my head was here with me. I was simply using it for its escape function. Wild how my ears can be turned on, and my pen will be going and going and going in perfect time with the lesson, but mentally I’m reliving whatever I want to relive. Or don’t want to relive. I’ve been like this since last year. Stuck inside my skull and cannot climb out. Don’t wanna climb out because sometimes I need to be there, it’s nice in there. Sometimes not nice. I brought this up to Jonathan, he said yes he does understand. Shocker. The difference is he’s been in his head for the last sixteen years, and he doesn’t continually think all the awful things that I think. He’s good and decent and he’s sweet and he’s built a strange, adorable habitat up there for song lyrics and checklists and worries. He does so much in one day. I don’t love his work schedule. Working on Friday nights, God. Then at home he does, like, budgeting and reads their bills and shit? I wouldn’t have time to steep in hate for Mrs. Kincannon, either. (He doesn’t hate her. That’s me.) Not that he’s dealing with his trauma or whatever, our trauma, I don’t know, he isn’t. Still, because his many responsibilities burn up the majority of his mental energy, he doesn’t seem to follow the spirals I follow. At least not when the sun's out. He’s a dramatic pessimist, my dramatic pessimist, oh that was fun to write, but I would assume his internal voice has more of a filter mechanism than mine. Could be a self-preservation thing. 

Who knows. But, yeah, neurogymnastics. Neurogymnastics to get me through my day. Each week is a series of extreme highs and extreme lows, lows that I just administer my fantasies to until something new happens. It’s good in the moment. Later I realize that I’ve missed things, spaced out, fell short, and I get all guilty. I feel hypocritical. I’ve fought for my life, why am I not training myself to live it well again. I’m rushing through things because they’re hard. I want to be successful, and this is not the path to success. The pressure is off me and yet all over me. Maybe I shouldn’t care about school, knowing what I know about the flimsiness of this dimension’s edges. Sounds clinically insane. Not ever going to be sure what to do with the fact that I’ve seen a parallel plane, that I was really there. I wish I didn’t care about school. I do care less about it than I did freshman and sophomore year. My grades are forever important to me, but there’s currently a big disconnect between my habits and my academic goals. When I’m at school, I fantasize about it being over. When I’ve set aside time to work, I can’t get through it and I go to my boyfriend. Maybe I am a bad student. Right now. I am. Hard to care about history since I’ve got a lot I would rather focus on. So, right, there are a lot of coercive acts I could be learning about if my teacher calmed down and gave me free time to coerce him. Sorry. 

I cannot stop thinking about what I was able to 

How he knew about the test is beyond me. He’s missed more days, he’s had more distractions, he’s more susceptible to distractions, and to top everything off he’s on possession watch. You know, just making those frequent check-ins with Will. I don’t know what that would look like. I guess you just ask him how he’s feeling, try to gauge the honesty. I would never ever say this but it seems likely to me that Will is still being…communicated with. Accessed. Scary sounds in his ears or something. Sensations. It’s not like he’d say anything! He’s like this meek little mouse, he could actively be experiencing organ rupture and wouldn’t make a sound. This is terrible, but being at their house does scare me every now and then. In a ticking time bomb sort of way. Is their family not kind of cursed? Then I get kissed and forget where I am anyway, so nothing matters. No complaints overall, it is a very nice place for a slumber party. 

My reaction last night was the most embarrassing. How I went from zero to a hundred that fast, how we went from squeaky bed springs and my proposed hickey competition (hate that this is in writing now, but context needed—also I was in a competitive mood yesterday) (he was not) to me whining and crying and essentially hyperventilating because I didn’t understand why he would mention a test when we didn’t have a test. I hate my emotions being played with and all of that bullshit. For some reason I’ve always been on the receiving end of that haven’t I? With boys in our class. Middle school, junior high, that kind of timeframe. At one point I could have convinced myself I was being flirted with. It’s a no, because “all statements.” All pines are conifers, but not all conifers are pines. So all interested boys will tease, but not all the boys that tease are interested. They really were just that eager to let me know my body wasn’t up to par for our age bracket. Pal, are we not eleven and twelve. I cannot be Catwoman for you.

I’m told I’m pretty now, so I’ll count it as a win. 

Anyway, Jonathan was not playing with my emotions, and we did have a test. We did. When my panic set in, it was bad. The pressure was building up in my chest, I thought I was in danger of dry drowning. My GPA is literally the only thing I ever feel in control of. In my arms were two options, have an absolutely miserable fucking Thursday night or risk baby’s first F on her transcript. But then he just looked at me, calm as ever, and said, “Why can’t you ask for an extension? I want you to ask her for an extension, okay?” Which I should have come up with on my own. I don’t know why, but hearing him say that was like. Insane. Made everything feel lighter, light as a feather. He doesn’t do this for himself, but for me—he zooms out, he figures out a way to make things less daunting. He can be so positive when it's a problem of mine on the table instead of his, and I'm like who are you, I love you. I usually have no problem cheating systems, swinging things in a way that's better for me, but requesting an extension? My pride lies in academics, I'm aware of that, I don’t often ask for help there. Want to accomplish things without accommodations being made for me. Meanwhile, school stuff is some of the only stuff Jonathan is willing to seek out help with. He has to. He can't afford to not get help. Not like he can spend an entire evening on one little section of an assignment when he needs to be clocked in at work for five hours. In conclusion, he talks to our instructors more than our peers. I have to respect a teacher's pet.

So, I took his advice. However tricky extensions may be. Kincannon is also tricky. Her iron will and everything. You’re not gonna get one if you always ask. You’re not gonna get one if you haven’t already established yourself as a trustworthy kid. You’re not gonna get one for being an athlete. I wasn’t convinced of the plan at first since she dress coded my mid-thigh skirt last week and had to tell me, on a few occasions, to stop chatting with/distracting my boyfriend. Him being in the picture was so in my favor, though, because he seriously might be her favorite. Personally I wanna say it’s gross; it makes her feel good about herself to cosset sensitive, troubled teens that she wouldn’t give a shit about otherwise. Like, you’re not his mommy, but I’m way off topic. 

We got up incredibly early this morning. We made her a tiny consolation coffee with cream and cinnamon, pulled up at 6:25 I want to say it was? And the conversation was ace. He had messed up my hair a little to hint at a sleepless night, coached me on how to look pitiful when we were in the car. I really hope I didn’t mishear him mumble something about puppy eyes. He was very tired. I stayed as honest as possible, that’s what he wanted from me. I told her I was having a rough time, that grief keeps getting in my way of things. I talked to her about my selective hearing issue. I said I’m an oral learner, I needed verbal reminders, and I said school means so much to me. Hesitantly I pointed out that Jonathan and I are still getting used to our new relationship, and maybe if our assigned seats were adjacent I wouldn't have to get up to talk to him. She was slightly passive-aggressive, but she was understanding. Then I found out I would be testing Monday. New test, just for me. There was something so ridiculous and fun about sitting in class this morning, reading while everyone else suffered. After, I couldn’t stop apologizing to Jonathan for freaking out. He said I didn’t freak out, I reacted, and he suggested I go easier on myself. That distinction felt huge, really huge. 

Right now, I'm desperate to preserve that feeling of lightness, but I’m mad at myself and furious in general. In hindsight I should have savored being comforted a little more, but I was busy having half a meltdown. I’m sure I’ll get to hear one of those soft pep talks the next time something doesn’t go my way. I have so much studying to do, especially since my Special Nancy Test is all writing. I’ve got it, though. I’m fine. Angry but also happy and fine. This will never happen again. I won’t let it happen again.

—

“Uh oh,” Jonathan suddenly murmurs to himself on her bed. 

She swivels at her small desk, not fully ready to turn her attention away from her entry. “Hmm?”

“Sorry, no, you can keep writing.” 

“But why uh oh?”

There's his gentle huff, his eyes flicking upward in annoyance. He holds a necklace she'd tasked him with untangling using tweezers. Its old, delicate chain was in no less than six billion knots. Somehow he’s the only one in the world who has the patience for this. She sure as hell doesn't have the patience for it. "I'm scared I'm about to break it." 

“Break it? Please don’t Jonathan,” she begs on impulse.

“It’s just really far gone. I’m trying.”

And he is. He’s been sitting quietly for as long as she’s been writing. So—long time. She sort of forgot about him over there. “Sorry, I know, I know you are," she says.

He’s silent. 

“You’ve been cleaning up a lot of my messes lately, huh?”

She flips over her journal, nudges it away from the table’s edge, and approaches him. From her desk she couldn’t see the glow of afternoon sunlight streaming onto her quilt. Very pretty. Her personal jewelry surgeon sits there in the middle, equally pretty, possibly feeling neglected. He’s gone the full nine yards here. Pushed up his sweater sleeves, swiped her reading glasses, set out a few safety pins and needles as his supplementary tools. He looks sleepy, the brown of his eyes lighter in the path of the sun. 

Her arms are behind her back until they’re not, and she crawls on top of him. He absently places the necklace on her flattest throw pillow. 

“I said you’re fixing a lot of my messes.”

“I mean…not really.” He’s blushing already, hands awkwardly grasping for purchase at her hips so that he won't get pressed back too hard into the poles of her bed frame's headboard. “If I am, I don’t mind.”

Her lips cushion against this little spot on his jaw that’s so sensitive it kills him, sucking carefully. The action might have the same effect on her that it does him; her heart jumps, swings wide, threatens to capsize in the wet of her chest. It’s that familiar adrenaline response, the uncontrollable energy spike she always gets alongside the realization of oh, we’re touching! She sighs into his skin, and he shudders, a pathetic sound of bliss escaping his throat.

“Okay, well don't start drooling,” she quips. Kisses his pulse point, spittily.

He mumbles something unintelligible, so she keeps on keeping on, shifting her weight back and forth, trying to make the most of the time they have and get some good play in while she can. She’ll have to kick him out soon. She’ll have to study in complete isolation. She dips back, and he follows, she leans forward, and he pulls her closer. “Said I need an extension,” he manages, repeating what she didn’t catch.

“What?”

“If you’re gonna do all this, I need an extension on my necklace project.”

Well, that is definitely going in the diary. 

[spaceorphan18]

The Lady Whistledown Papers : 2x05 An Unthinkable Fate (Part 1)

Welcome back, Gentle Readers, to The Lady Whistledown Papers, where I’m taking an in-depth look at Penelope Featherington and Colin Bridgerton’s character arcs and romance within the show Bridgerton!

For previous issues, follow tag : The Lady Whistledown Papers

Alright guys, get ready for a whole lot of... not much. Look, both Pen and Colin have gotten a lot in the past few episodes, so I'm not surprised when there's an episode (not in their season) with them barely in it.

Marriage

Say what you will about her outfits (yellow is intentionally not Penelope's color) her hair is on point this whole season. And while I do love Season 3 hair more, girl looks beautiful in every episode so far of Season 2, and you can't convince me other wise.

Anyway. The opening narration speaks of marriage - and there's a curious statement in there... LW speaks of how becoming engaged can't be undone, which is something that might be met with regret and/or relief. And yeah, it's to comment on the Kanthany story, it's an interesting comment coming from Penelope who... does want to be married. She probably does see that there are those who regret their decisions. But I think the relief part speaks to her more. I wonder if at this point - if she did receive a proposal from anyone, she'd feel a bit of relief from the pressure of it.

Moving on to this cute little Pen and Eloise moment... Eloise jokes that their siblings engagements are equal to defeating Napoleon -- which is funny, but also a rare nod to actual historical context. This was when the Napoleonic wars were going on. And, I mean, there's waaaay more drama going on in the world than who's marrying who. But, this is a romantic fantasy - who cares about actual history.... ;)

I love that as Penelope moves past Prudence (who is gossiping away about her engagement) she gives Pru a slight side-eye. She is a bit over the melodrama of it, not to mention she's well aware that it's not a love match but something of convenience. But she does mention to Eloise that her mother is so focused one Prudence that she's forgotten her entirely (which is interesting, because Portia has been barely acknowledging Pen's existence in the first place).

But Penelope does feel a bit or relief. She has been worried about their family's future and financial issues. (Which leads me to an interesting though -- Pen's already been getting some money coming in from LW, I wonder how she thinks she's going to use it at this point, and if she's already contemplating having to use it for her family. Hmmm.)

Family Time

Ah, another fun Bridgerton family drawing room scene. These are always the best -- and a lot of the times the funniest.

We get some context - Anthony's wedding is a month away (time on this show is just so... weird sometimes). And Violet states (somewhat sarcastically) that once Edwina marries Anthony - she will be in charge of the lot instead of Violet. And Colin's comes back with his own sarcastic wit - lord help her.

I mean, Violet, you did have 8 kids. What did you expect really? Also, I kind of love that Colin is always the one with the pithy remarks during these scenes.

Also! I would be remiss if I didn't point this out. Colin is stuffing his face! Book!Colin is so notorious for always eating (and my god, he was always talking about food if he wasn't outright eating). Show!Colin not so much (even if there's some interview I've tripped over at some point where Luke Newton claimed he was eating in every scene of Season 2). Idk, I kind of love this side to the character - and even if we don't see it onscreen all that much, my headcanon is that Colin is a big foodie in any universe.

As the scene goes on, and Anthony goes overboard for various preparations, Colin gives him a huge (but silent) eyeroll. The comedy of it is great. And in fact, there are a lot of little humorous moments between all the siblings in this scene. It's so much fun to watch as they all poke at each other in lovingly sibling ways.

Modiste

There has been a modiste scene in, what, every episode so far? I'm not complaining - I just hadn't noticed it until this project. Anyway - Penelope is listening in hard on what the Sharmas are doing. Gotta get in that good gossip.

There's just a quick little exchange here between Penelope and Madame Delacroix. I have to give Genevieve credit for knowing how to play her situation. She asks Penelope to say a good word about her being the seamstress hired for the Queen's Diamond's wedding. Penelope points out that she's already giving her good press -- but Genevieve comes back with the fact that there's no reason to stifle ambitions.

And Penelope actually grins at this. Genevieve has a tiny bit of power in the situation -- but knows it can get dramatic and messy if she were to take full advantage of Penelope's youth and experience. She knows balance well, and knows how to use her position well. And... I'd like to think that she and Penelope are starting to become friends (which is good - Penelope needs more in her circle beyond her own family and the Bridgertons). And i do think Penelope looks at Genevieve as a good role model for a woman to run her own business. I'm sure it gives her slight hope that there is a world in which she doesn't have to rely on a man (or her family) to succeed.

Feeding the Ducks

This is really a short scene but an incredibly important one as it peeks in on Colin's story development. Both Penelope and Colin notice Prudence is still geeking out over her engagement -- while Lord Featherington is being sooo noticeably meh about it. Penelope is still looking uncomfortable at them - as she knows the situation is a shaky one.

I wonder, too, while this goes unsaid, if Prudence getting married means that there will be more of a light shone on her for being unmarried. I'm sure she's glad she currently doesn't have her mother's attention but it could move in that direction. But mostly - I think Penelope is smart enough to sense something odd going on with her family and doesn't like it.

So, Colin comes up to her (and should mention once again that he has sought her out) and remarks that Prudence looks 'happy'. He kind of chokes on the word, which is an interesting delivery. Because it's yet another person on the planet who has found some resemblance of happiness and Colin... just isn't.

I love Penelope's response of 'well, that's one way of putting it'. Is it happiness? Is Prudence just being obnoxious about being engaged...?

Colin remarks that the new Lord Featherington seems like an interesting fellow, asks about his involvement in commerce, and suggests that he should introduce himself. And Penelope is like - uh, fuck yeah, go ahead and get yourself involved in my family affairs again.

And, before I get into the Colin analysis of this scene, I need to point out at how happy Penelope is. Colin is seeking her out, finding interest in her family, and despite the fact that he's in his head and not really doing that well, Penelope just shines with adoration. She doesn't even seem to notice his self-doubt until he brings it up. She's just enamored with him... as a person... and her liking him just as he is really is (one of the) crux(es) of the this whole thing.

So. Colin.

I think it does make sense, narratively, that this comes directly after his meeting with Marina. I think pre-Marina, Colin had intended to go out and see the world and see where life took him. He was (and still is really) young and not thinking a whole lot about the future. But then there was Marina - and Colin felt like his purpose was to save her. He'd be a good husband and a good father and rescue some woman from her plight. His purpose would be a romantic hero.

And then reality splashed cold water in his face.

And then, as he points out, his siblings are all out doing things. (Not mentioned but) Daphne's married a duke and has her duchess responsibilities. Anthony is solidifying his head of household by finally choosing a wife. Benedict is perusing art. His family is growing up and moving out and doing things with their lives.

And what is he doing? Feeding the ducks... (Or, you know geese, but who is really counting? Also, could they not find a shot of an actual duck?)

Colin doesn't feel like he has any purpose other than taking up space. And this is what Colin's thematic arc is going to be all the way through the end of Season 3. (It's a shame that we only will be getting pieces of it, and it's not developed as greatly as I would have liked - but I do love the concept of his character development.)

I also need to put in a quick word about how this story line is out of the book. Colin's story arc there, too, is figuring out what his purpose in life is -- though he spends a lot more time traveling around and not really doing much of anything before he finally settles down with Penelope.

After Colin's moment of self-pity, Penelope throws at him an incredibly kind response. While slightly jokingly, she notes that the ducks are probably grateful he's feeding them. And I mean, again, with all the adoration she can give.

I clearly isn't noticing it here (or even in the headspace to do so) but she's taking his determents towards himself and turning them into positives. And that's so kind of her.

And sure, you can take the cynical route and say she's just feeding his ego. But I just don't read it that way. He'll eventually give the same kind of uplifting sentiments back. And I think it's just another reason why I adore them both so much. Because they both truly care about each other. And that while both of them carry a large amount of self-doubt themselves, the other is still standing there supporting them. There's a mutual respect and kindness between them that really just gets me.

Penelope goes on to basically say he's still young and still has plenty of time to find a purpose.

And then... man with these clunky segues... Colin says something to the effect of - as Eloise would remind him. Why does Penelope telling him he has plenty of time in life remind Colin of Eloise? I don't know that I understand this remark. I mean, I get that Eloise has been antagonistic towards Colin all season, and there's a hint of a reminder that Eloise is constantly telling Colin to get over himself but.. it's just another awkward turn to bring up Eloise for the next beat.

Penelope asks where Eloise is, and Colin - seeming confused - mentions that she had brought up flower arranging with her. Penelope covers, and is like, ah yes right, even though she doesn't understand what Eloise is up to. She is concerned that Eloise is up to something and is going to attempt to figure it out.

And then... Colin just leaves. Because it's the end of the scene. And they need to get out of it. For a thirty second scene that I actually really adore in terms of character development, the clunkiness at the end... ooff.

Just have to throw this reaction shot in. Pen and Colin both reacting to Anthony falling into the river.

But it makes me curious about social dynamics. Is this where Colin was introduced to Jack Featherington. (That might have been an interesting scene to see.) And just how much time do Pen and Colin spend while out among the ton. Eloise isn't around, which I'm sure is a rarity, but does Penelope feel comfortable spending time with the Bridgertons without her? Does she speak to others in the Ton the way Colin seems to be socializing just fine with others? Ah... all the little questions I have about worldbuilding that the show doesn't really need to care about. :)

[astrowaffle]

Wow you guys really seemed to like the steampunk AU, that post got way more attention than I was expecting, so here's some more information and stuff:

-The world is still like a videogame that they got trapped in but now it’s a steampunk adventure-y type game with circus elements 

-The adventures are probably a bit different

-They’re probably more like, fantasy adventure video game style things with like puzzles and fighting? Idk I'm not a big gamer I've never actually played any steampunk video games. What are those like?

-Instead of circus tent, there is a big wagon thingy that I'll draw eventually

-there's still not much of a story and I'm not sure If there'll ever be

-I'd also kinda want to make some mini comics for this au but I suck at coming up with ideas :/

Pomni:  

-She likes to craft things

-friends with Gangle and Ragatha

-still very anxious but less anxious then normal Pomni?

-has a very logical mind and is good at puzzling things together but also doesn’t do well under pressure and typically panics in stressful moments where these skills might be useful

-She can play the flute because flutes are good, they are the best instrument. (I am totally not biased just because I play the flute in marching band)

-My headcanon for regular Pomni is that she’s less anxious than she initially is in the pilot after getting used to things, like, beyond the anxiety, her actual personality is very cheery and friendly, also very logical, because idk it just fits her somehow? So yea, that headcanon also applies to this au 

-but of course she is still an absolute nervous wreck because yes

-How else is she supposed to react in this situation

-also look at those fingerless gloves I want those

-the gears in her eyes turn when she is thinking

Gangle:

-Also likes crafting things

-friends with Pomni, Zooble, and Kinger

-she often borrows  sewing needles from Ragatha to sew her comedy mask back together when it’s torn, and also constantly tries to craft new ones

-She really likes her boots

-I don’t blame her those are some nice boots

-Ok wait a minute what if that little wing bow thingy on her head is actually a pen/quill that she can use to write stuff?

-ooooooh yes I like that

Caine: 

-✨monocle✨

-He can control the time of day with the clock that’s on his hat

-It’s a lot harder for him to heal injuries in this world, he can’t just instantly fix anything anymore it requires a bit more effort

-I’m doing this because I like when injury and pain and suffering

Bubble: um- idk it’s just bubble but now they’re a robot I guess

Kinger:

-ok but what if he had a collection of mechanical insects? Omg designing mechanical insects would be so fun-

-The clock that he wears is broken but he doesn’t notice. And Time is irrelevant anyways

-damn those gloves are fancy

-they probably feel really silky

-and his robe is also very silky because mmm good texture

Zooble:

-They are a robot now

-also a mechanic/inventor because nobody else is and somebody had to learn how to make new robot parts

-their right arm can go s t r e t c h

-bonds with Gangle over their hatred of Jax

-they’re also kinda protective over her

-I lowkey ship them (this ship is so underrated)

-No but seriously why do see zero art of this ship

- Zoob’s in denial about their feelings and still pretends not to care because they’ve had such a “I don’t give a shit about anything” attitude that suddenly developing feelings for someone has caught them off guard cause they suddenly are giving a shit about something and they don’t know how to handle it, But if Jax does anything to Gangle they will rush in to protect her in a heartbeat and just try to play it off as it just being because they don’t like Jax BUT WE ALL KNOW THE TRUTH ZOOBLE JUST CONFESS ALREADY-

-ok that got way too rambly let's just move on now

Jax:

-MY FAVORITE

-he likes shiny things

-He will collect those shiny things

-He also very fast because look at those LANKY RABBIT LEGS

-I mean technically that’s already cannon, did you see how fast he ran away after seeing abstracted kaufmo? He just z o o m e d outta there

-those keys on the chain are only a small portion of his collection

-his room is definitely full of weird steampunk knick knacks because yes

-He uses them to prank people

-the centipedes he has to scare/annoy Ragatha are mechanical

-I’m so excited to design mechanical centipedes I love bugs so much guys you have no idea I finally have an excuse to draw insects and maybe people will actually care because it’s fandom related now

-He does not like getting wet. At all. (this is also just a general headcanon for him but especially in this au)

-floofy

Ragatha:

-the seams of her fabric are prone to tearing so she always carries a needle and thread to sew herself back together. she's good at sewing

-My main headcannon for normal Ragatha is that her button eye is a parallel to an eye injury she had in real life before joining the circus, but in this AU she probably acquired the injury in this universe.

-she’s good at using tools and weapons but not in like, a mechanic sorta way like Zooble but in a defense sorta way

-like, she’s very kind and caring but also sorta tough and even though her body is good at falling apart, she knows how to use strategy to fight and um wait what would they even be fighting-

-idk I haven’t thought about that yet

-Gloinks?????

-do those exist in this au???

-wait it’s my au why am I asking this

-overall she is very, “tries to help everyone else and seems very tough on the outside but is prone to falling apart both physically and mentally but just gets good at quickly patching it up and ignoring it until it become too much for her to bear”

-pls help her she needs therapy

-they all need therapy

-I’m pretty sure we’ve all established that at this point

-but I’m just making sure you know that it’s still a consistent factor in this au

[tangg-official-by-maddy-k]

I DID A BUNCH OF ABBY PEN DOODLES IN CLASS TODAY!

OMG OMG OMG! I LOVE drawing Abby SO much. Her design is just so fun (I'm worried it will be a PAIN to animate someday tho T_T but I just love to draw her this way.)

The first doodle is of a random character disregard (though that design ended up affecting some of Abby's human design sketches).

Abby is one of the few NGG characters I can draw from MEMORY. (The others being Bonnie, Marcus, Iris, and Drake). Probably because they are some of the oldest characters who haven't changed too much. (Devinchi's hair is really complicated, and Mary had a total redesign recently and I'm still getting used to it.) Enough about that though... just keep in mind that like all of these are off model without reference so they might be a bit off.

I recently have seen a lot of people drawing Amanda from Amanda the Adventurer with her hair down and it honestly made me wanna try and draw Abby in human form with her hair down too. I'm still learning how to draw this kind of hair type, if you have any tips let me know because it's a little confusing to me, super fun to draw tho. I'm currently trying to figure out how hair length changes between when the hair is braided and when it's not... though that's something I struggle with for all hair types. (Hair can be SO confusing, but SO fun to draw).

I might change Abby's fear of furry animals to just being afraid of dogs just to simplify it. She's completely fine with reptiles though. I've never actually designed her mom so I kind of just doodled whatever came to mind. That's what I love about pen doodles. mistakes don't matter and you can try new things out with no pressure! Anyway now that I'll be mostly doodling from now on (I doodle in class to help me focus) you may see a ton more of Abby cuz I love to draw her so much!

[wizerdbattle]

Give me some directors cut on your laruta keeps the secret fic? 👀 maybe something on your writing process or those headcanons for the au you mentioned before.....:^)))))

YAY thank you for asking! Here's some misc headcanons, mostly about the main three :) Too tired to get into lore right now, but these still probably apply to the Laruta-verse

Mipha read a lot of fantasy growing up (PROJECTION) but Sidon got really into sci-fi and she got into it as a result. I think she would really like The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (and as a sort of introduction to that surreal sort of comedy... I think she would be giggling out loud reading it and as a result develop a slightly indecipherable sense of humour for a 13-year-old (possibly? I haven't been a 13-year-old in ages so I'm a little out of touch lol)) and she would start carrying a towel around in her bag as a nod to that. It would come in useful one time and she would be unbelievably happy about it.

Zelda is the type to cycle through take up a lot of extracurriculars and electives - and then drop them when she can't get anything more out of them. A lot of people think it's because she's indecisive but she just really likes learning and trying new things. This makes her the school admin's worst nightmare!

Zelda and Link have an art class together - Link reads a lot of comics and likes trying to cartoonify things, and Zelda goes as realistic as she possibly can. They're both perfectionists who abuse their eraser privileges. Each of them admire each other's work, though, and they try and make it a priority to work side-by-side on projects.

Dorephan is a language teacher (teaching the Zora language, I don't think it has a name in the games 😬). He speaks some at home with Mipha and Sidon, but Mipha and Sidon aren't exactly fluent becuase they speak more Hylian and regular conversation. They do, however, have enough practice to get a little ahead in classes 😋

Zelda likes paleontology, Link likes history, and Mipha likes biology, so they go on museum trips together (longstanding Link and Mipha tradition but Zelda fits right in). They go completely ham on the interactive expeditions and Mipha gets sucked into the gift shops and ends up with a million socks and t-shirts and pens.

In general I think she's a bit of a hoarder (PROJECTION) and loves collecting little things. Unfortunately they take up a lot of space in her room and she struggles to tidy after a while (... PROJECTION...)

Link only likes sweet things for the sugar hit he gets from them, but he has a select few desserts he actually likes for texture & flavour. He mostly cooks savoury dishes, but sometimes he bakes because he likes sharing the things he makes. Mipha loves desserts but is picky about flavour.

Mipha would get really into metal music as a bid to make herself more mature and then her and Sidon would blast it in the loungeroom and give Dorephan a headache.

Zelda Senior works in a cafe as a baker but has an extensive prior education.

Mipha and Sidon's mother is still dead ;-; sorry.

More specifically, I feel like Zelda's mother's death was more tied to the plot and her identity and the Calamity, but I think Mipha grew around her mother's death from quite an early age, and while it still saddened her, it was already a part of her, which is why I changed one but not the other.

Revali still puts a lot of pressure on himself to be better than everyone else, and in turn ends up putting pressure on Mipha because he's nervous for her. Sorry to lump the bird guys in together but they're very Noelle and Berdly Deltarune to me

Urbosa is one of those teachers that always has a coffee. She get's it from Zelda Senior's cafe.

Zelda and Purah are in a robotics club together. Initially, Zelda joined to get closer with Purah and Impa but it's one of her favourite things now.

I don't have the energy to write out much more -_- but come back for more later if you want lol! I'm having lots of fun with this.

[troloyunu]

Sorry if you've answered this somewhere before, but do you have any advice for improving/practicing art?

I am not sure if I am the best person to be giving advice on this matter as there are a lot of aspects of my art that are lacking, but here are some tips that have worked for me personally that I think worth are trying!

This got kinda long so. Under the cut!

First, this is always important, and I know people are sick of hearing this but it's true: practice, practice, practice! Observing things is very important for art but you actually have to try your hand again and again in order to have a result that is to your liking when it comes to art. Please just try to draw as much as you can. You have a pen in your hand? Scribble something. This will also improve your linework.

Do NOT be afraid to use references. It is highly unlikely that you will just happen to be able to draw something you have never drawn before without a reference. If you can't find any refs, take your own pictures. (I do this a lot when it comes to drawing hands)

Most of the time we have these conceptions of how things look especially when it comes to anatomy but humans are all sooo vastly different so I believe it is important to broaden your vision by using diverse references

Don't be afraid to draw bad. Seriously. If a piece you just made sucks, don't beat yourself up about it. It is geniunely not that serious. Take a break and come back to it, if it is still not to your liking and you cannot improve it; it is okay to delete that drawing and try something else. You'll get it, I promise. Just keep practicing.

Most of the time I find that it helps A LOT to draw something I am obsessed with. When I am learning anatomy, I don't just always draw some random people's pics I found on the internet, I will sometimes make that drawing into a character/ship I love

Do redraws from your old art! It is so motivating and fun to see how you have improved and changed as an artist :3

I know it is not healthy to rely solely on validation, but it does help a lot! If you are part of a community, esp one with a lot of artists, don't hesitate to show them your work! You can also draw your friends' ocs and such if you want to, it really is a win win situation because you will be drawing something you want to draw and your friend will be so happy that you took the time to draw their character. I loved gifting people little doodles when I was part of an oc centred fandom :D

Also, since we are talking about validation, validate YOURSELF please. Imagine yourself 2 years, 5 years, 10 years whatever ago. How would you have felt if you saw your drawings today? You would have been so impressed! So take the time to appreciate your own work.

If there are any artists you adore, don't hesitate to try to redraw their drawings, or maybe just some aspects of their style that you love. If you do a redraw, it is advised that you do not post it as your own idea, but if the artist is ok with you posting it with credit, then you can do that too! :D

That being said, keep in mind that you don't have to post EVERYTHING you draw! I used to do that which put a lot of pressure onto me since I would get so upset whenever a drawing turned out bad, but when you realize that you can just not post it, that lifts a lot of tension.

Take care of yourselfff!!! Take care of your arm, your wrist, your back. I think there is this program that makes you take breaks every x minute which is called EyeLeo, you can install that or something similar. But please do take care of your health.

Sometimes breaks are needed. If nothing you draw looks right and you don't feel any joy in drawing, do take up another hobby for some time. Let yourself miss drawing.

Play around with styles and colors and lineweights, see what you like the best. I used to always get so upset that I didnt have a set style, my drawings vary a lot throughout each piece. But now I just keep it cool and don't think about it too much. Don't force yourself!

Also for me a part of drawing I ALWAYS look forward to when drawing canon characters is giving them alternate outfits I save on pinterest. I enjoy so much searching which outfits a character might wear. Maybe you can try this? I know drawing the same outfit over and over again for a character gets old.

Honestly being obsessed with something helps a lot with improving. Like a character or a pairing or whatever. Because you will just REALLY want to draw something for this thing you love, and you will just keep on doing and doing it. Really helpful

But 99.9% of the time, the thing you imagine will not translate completely identical to the canvas/paper. And that's OKAY! That means that you have a great imagination and you will try to get a satisfactory result. It just means more practicing. When you get an idea that you want to draw but don't feel like your skills are enough for, draw them anyway! That way you can see a lot more clearly what you need to work on. And do work on those things.

I think for reference images just find nude reference pictures of real life people. The drawing pose references we see on here or on pinterest with simple shapes ARE very convenient when you just wanna quickly draw something, but if your goal is to learn anatomy, then using a pic of an actual human is ideal.

Remember that art is supposed to be FUN. So do have fun. Experiment!!!

Also I would say like, when I was more of a beginner and tried to do fullbody drawings and such, it never looked good and I was quite discouraged but things started improving when I started to individually focus on things like eyes, noses, lips etc and then trying a more general approach with fullbodies. Might not be the same for everyone though!

I think that's all I can think about for now. Sorry if this is not that useful, but yeah! I would say the most important thing is to just practice honestly :D Go ahead, have fun, draw something! I wish you the best <3

[snailsagere]

Do you have any tips on how to create a journal for a little? I saw that you had started an agere journal and it seemed like something the little i care for might like, so I'm hoping for ideas of what type of stuff would be put in it. No pressure if you dont want to answer this. thank you for your time.

I actually have lots of ideas for this because I've gone through quite a few agere journals now! So with an agere journal it's not really something you can set up for your little but you can definitely help them with ideas for what they can put in the agere journal! Agere journals are really fun and do recommend them because there's a lot you can put in them!

What you need-

🌸So first for an agere journal you need a notebook or a sketchbook and that's it really, other than that all you need is stuff to use inside your agere journal, you can use whatever you want but for example you could use pens, pencils, stickers, colouring pencils, crayons, coloured card etc

🌸If you can't do this then you can try doing a digital agere journal, you can search up journaling apps and use one of those!

Agere journal prompts-

🌸I usually like to start my agere journal with an introduction page like the one I posted!

🌸If your little like drawing they could do stuff like design a monster, design an animal, design a planet etc, the possibilities for this are literally endless

🌸They could do pages for their stuffies where they talk all about their stuffies! I do this too but I have a separate journal for it

🌸They could write about their day

🌸They could write about their favourite shows, games, characters etc

🌸They could write down their favourite quotes from characters they like!

🌸They could make a chore bingo card! They can put a chore in each row and when they complete a row they can get a reward, for example a new stuffie

🌸They could write their likes and dislikes

🌸They could stick some colouring pages or activity sheets in the journal, for example I had a colouring date with my caregiver and afterwards I glued in both our colouring pages

🌸They could do a page about their agere bag if they have one

🌸They could write down a bunch of things for them to do when regressed

🌸They could write down animal facts

🌸They could draw their favourite pacis, sippies or anything else they use when regressed

🌸They could play hair salon! All they need to do is draw a picture of a person and then cut out some squares of coloured card and glue then in so the person can have a fun hair cut, if they can't use scissors when little they could tear pieces of card or you could cut the card for them

I hope these help! :3

[darkdumbass]

Hi there! This is random, but I really really love the way you do line art! I love how simple, clean, and direct it feels. It has great energy and feels really appealing! I’m trying to improve my own line art right now… I feel like it takes me a long time to choose the “right” lines and end up with clean finish. What to you think has helped you get up to this point with your line art the most? Do you have any suggestions of ways to study and practice? Any favorite artists you look up to for their lines?

I love your work ❤️ thank you

Hello! Thank you for the kind words. I enjoy doing linework a lot, so this is nice to hear :)

These days my line art is more of a "clean drawing" rather than what one usually imagines under traditional line art, which would be opaque lines with varying weight. Right now I like to use a brush that doesn't vary size with pen pressure but varies opacity only. It gives the lines a very soft feeling that I've grown to love.

I browsed through your art, and I was a bit blown away actually, because I think you have a fantastic energy and expression in your drawings, which is something I aspire to have myself. You are very knowledgable about line weight and shapes, so I won't bore you with explaining any of that, haha.

I think good line art comes down to confidence. Obviously, an artist needs a confident hand to avoid shaky lines, to lead them exactly the way they want to, to give them an energy. This sort of mechanical skill is acquired through experience.

But! I've always felt there is a sort of a mental side to this as well, which is best observed during traditional inking. You have to commit to your lines, you have to trust them. You have to sit back and give control to your hand, because with the experience it has, it also has a mind of its own. This sounds pretty out there, but it's about letting go and not overthinking it. I realized this when I looked up to Jim Lee's work as an older teen. There's a lot of videos on YT where you can see his process, which looks utterly effortless. Take this one for example. It's quick, so it's a bit rough, but it does look like his hand is just doing whatever!

I fostered that approach in my art while doing daily drawing from life - straight to inks without sketching. The drawings look wonky a lot of the time, but it gave me confidence where it mattered later. To this day, when I do clean lines in digital too, I adopt this mindset of letting go, which gives the lines more leeway, which also means that if the line doesn't go exactly where it should according to the sketch, I can still trust it. (Although contrary to this, I still put a lot of controlled effort into faces, and this approach comes more easily while drawing bodies and clothes.)

As for suggestions for practice, as I've already mentioned, drawing from life straight to inks (I recommend this over going straight to inks from imagination as that's extremely difficult, at least for me). Have a fast hand, and do long lines even if they come out wobbly. Try to let your hand roleplay Jim Lee here and there - let it do that flick that crosses a line it shouldn't have, let it make a turn with an accidental squiggle, let it pool a bit of ink at the end of the line. Fake it till you make it. At first, I suggest trying this on subjects that aren't your expertise (eg. in my case, draw a bottle instead of a person), so you don't subconsciously compare this to your best work, but make sure you're still having fun :)

Of course, it helps to like doing line art too. I don't know what your relationship to it is, but if it suffers, I suggest busting out the traditional inks with dipping pens, wodden skewers and brushes. It connects me with the process like nothing else.

As for my favorites, I can recommend one of my favorite manga artists - Satoru Noda. Superbly confident and energetic linework. Check out his series Golden Kamuy or Dogsred :)

I hope this will give you a small idea of how I approach my line art. It might be a mess… If you have any more questions as a result of this, or related to anything else, don't hesitate to ask!

[the-wip-project]

SloMo WriNo: Instantly Improve Your Writing With One Simple Trick

Want to make your writing instantly better?

Don’t we all?

Promising instant improvement is an easy way to hook eyes, (I’m sort of sorry for click-baiting you— but not too much.) so a lot of writing advice is framed that way.

But is it actually possible?

Generally the advice on those types of posts isn’t anything revolutionary. You’re told to eliminate adverbs/filter words/telling. Or perhaps the advice is additive. You should start using all 5 (or even 6?) senses in every description, do or don’t use certain tenses or povs, change up sentence lengths, use more paragraph breaks, and so it goes.

It’s (usually) all useful advice, especially when applied in moderation. (No one will come and shoot you for occasionally using suddenly or summarizing a scene instead of showing every detail.)

The issues is that a lot of writers (especially beginner writers) are seeking some sort of magic bullet. That one trick that will change everything and magically make you good. (never mind that ‘good’ is far more nebulous and subjective than anyone wants to admit.)

Sadly, once you get beyond learning things like punctuation and when to insert paragraph breaks, there’s not really any single technique that you can quickly apply and immediately lift the quality of your writing.

For the rest, it really takes time. Even if the advice is good, you need to learn when and how to apply it.

As such, there’s only one technique that will definitely make your writing better.

Practice.

Yeah. So boring. The least sexy piece of writing advice. Write more.

But it’s also the simplest. (Not always the easiest, but definitely the simplest!) Writing is not mystic or singular. It’s just like any other art or craft. The only way you get good is by spending time at it. And just like anything else, you’re going to be bad before you can start to get good.

You would never expect to become an accomplished guitarist by spending lots of time listening to and thinking about music, while almost never picking up your instrument to practice. And you will not become a good writer without practicing the action of writing.

It’s a comforting idea that gets bandied around at times, that writing isn’t just fingers on the keys or pen on paper. That it’s thinking and daydreaming and making mood boards etc. While those writing adjacent things are fun and undoubtedly can help you write, they are not writing. They are not practice.

Spending your time doing those things instead of writing do not make you a better writer, and obviously they don’t finish your novel or writing project.

Which is my goal here. To help you finish your project. As such I spend very little time on dispensing advice on plot or prose, and focus mostly on the process of writing.

That’s not to say that I don’t think you should spend time on learning how to write better prose, or how to create compelling characters and plot, those things are important! But if attempting to learn that stuff gets in the way of practice, then it’s counterproductive.

So don’t let the writing advice become the focus of your writing. Apply advice slowly, and don’t overwhelm yourself with trying to fix all your perceived faults at once. (I still have a difficult relationship with punctuation, but I’m learning. Slowly.) If you can, focus on techniques that interest you. Keep things low pressure— fun even?

Yes you want your work to be as good as possible, but also, you’re doing this writing thing because you enjoy it, right? So don’t allow the pressure to be good to stop you from having fun. If trying to apply a certain piece of writing advice is making you miserable, toss it aside. It’s either bad advice, or it’s not the right time for you to worry about it. Above all, avoid anything that kills your joy and makes writing a miserable chore.

So I guess this is my one piece of advice that will improve your writing (process) instantly.

Enjoy yourself, and ditch anything that ruins that joy. You’ll get better at your own pace, as long as you keep writing.

—Maree

Subscribe to my substack to make sure you don't miss a post, chat with me on the WIP Project discord, and tag any posts you make about the challenge with #slomowrino if you want me to see them!

[einsatzzz]

*sliding into your inbox on fuzzy socks, rocking my very own labcoat*

*adjusts glasses*

*whips out clipboard from hammerspace coat pocket*

*clicks pen*

"I HAVE READ THE WIKI AND SOME RANDOM POSTS (which i spam liked) AND I COME BEARING QUESTIONS!!!"

*points pen at Kurumi*

"YOU! You have a sentient, hoverboard great sword! AND IT CAN CHANGE ITS SIZE! That's the coolest shit, literally super hardcore badass, please be my friend so I can watch you smack the shit out of people with your sword. Questions time: How much sentience are we talking about here? Can you get vague feelings from it when you use it or is it just it "chooses its wielder" kind of sentience? How long can you hover? Is there a time limit? Do you ride your sword into battle?"

*strangles urge to ask more sword questions and chooses the next topic/victim aka Yui*

"Heya lab coat buddy! Caused any explosions recently? Set something on fire? Well, never mind that. I've heard you trolled Kurumi by teaching her swear words in foreign languages, which btw nice prank!" *holds up hand for high five* "so ... do you speak these languages fluently? Or did you just look up curse words for the lols? If you do speak them fluently, what languages do you speak? Also, do you have a favourite mechanics project, like is there something you made which you are very fond of?"

*turns to Kana, sees the glare and wisely decides to back off for now*

"Uhhh.... Yeah that's it from me for now!" *quick glance at Kana who's still staring holes into me* "Yes, yes, I'll be on my way BUT! I will come back, just you watch!"

*slinks away into my gremlin cave*

----

Well... that just happened *sweatdrops* I should really come with a warning label at this point with the amount of questions I ask. Take all the time you need, pick it apart however you want and please no pressure to answer all of them, I know I can be a lot lol 😅

*crawls out from under a big rock after temporarily escaping the underground stuDYING jail* Thank you so much for sending this ask Lix! I had lots of fun coming up with how to draw this out 😆😆 It actually became my daily (almost) 30 min drawing exercise so that I don't get too rusty jfhdkdhdjd so it took a while, but here it is now! Also I added a smol Chief last minute in there, but I have a different wip planned for him hehe (with how im struggling rn with studying, prob won't be able to finish till july since I'll be a bit semi-inactive after this post dkgdjdgxjx)

Anyway hope u enjoy! Looking forward to other asks you can come up with and send over to Yuipachi-sensei hehe (they're really really good practice tbh!) This even made me finally draw a design for Kanarobo lmaoo it's inspired from Mi/kuda/yo and Ne/nero/bo actually.

[silversimp]

Aot Headcanons

In honor of 4/20 here's a list of headcanons about aot characters smoking weed~

Eren:

He smokes socially and it always makes him find everything anyone says hilarious

After two hits Eren is above the clouds and giggling under his breath because someone said something that rhymes with fart

Jean:

Likes smoking in a group but gets really paranoid if he smokes alone or with only one other person, if he smokes too much he gets hyper aware of his body functioning and has a hard time breathing

He usually only takes one hit when smoking with his friends and gets really annoyed when they make fun of him, but the one hit is enough to make him feel a little lighter and relax

Reiner:

He doesn't like smoking because it gives him panic attacks but he always pitches in to buy stuff for the group because he likes hanging out and being the sober one

He normally ends up being the one to drive everyone to go get fast food or snacks

Annie:

She prefers smoking over drinking because when she's drunk she gets really aggressive. She likes that weed makes her calm down a bit

Annie gets almost too relaxed even. She'll keep taking hits until she's in another dimension, it always freaks Armin out

Sasha:

She smokes with everyone but she doesn't really get the point of it, probably because she's eating the whole time and never gets very high. Just one hit gives her major munchies

Sasha will keep smoking until there's nothing left, but only ever gets a little high because of her tolerance/constant eating

Connie:

This boy radiates so much stoner energy, he for sure always had the plug before weed was legalized and got his medical card before it was legalized to the general public

Connie smokes every morning to start his day and then uses a pen throughout the day for a constant high. He's always offering hits of his pen to whoever he's with no matter the location or situation

Armin:

He used to be really scared to smoke and when he found out his friends had started the boy went on long rants about it being a gateway drug. Eventually with enough peer pressure, and a bunch of online research to make sure he'd be okay, Armin started taking little hits when the joint passed him by

Weed had a much different effect on him than he expected it to though, it always makes him flirty. The only time he smokes outside of the group is before sex every now and then.

Mikasa:

She hates it, it makes her cough a lot and she can't stand the smell of it. She tries not to complain when her friends are smoking, but she usually finds a way to be out of the room or space they're smoking in because she hates when the smell sticks to her clothes

Eren and Connie have had her try it in every possible way and she only liked the edibles, but she gets nervous about eating too many after the one time Sasha accidentally ate an entire batch of pot brownies.

Floch:

Before he actually started smoking he used to brag about how he already had, it was obvious he'd been lying when his first hit made him cough up a lung and wheeze for almost ten minutes. He doesn't really like smoking but he doesn't like to be left out so he always joins in

His lips get very loose when he's high and he often just says everything he thinks out loud in basically word vomit. He's accidentally said some rude things that have gotten him in trouble with the group a few times.