#your art actually inspired me to actually tackle shading

[yuriyuruandyuraart]

AHWHJGAJHWGJHAGAWA OMFG????? OMG OMG OMG OMG SOBBING CRYING WAGHGAGA AMYYYY AMY YOU BIG SWEETIE<3333

Here's your thank you gift @yuriyuruandyuraart

Your skelesona was really fun to draw >:D

bonus Fem!killer sketch under the cut:

>:D

[eggwishing]

hello … what are your best tips for improving your art? i want to study and learn more but i’m lost on where to begin!!!!! big fan of your work by the way it’s a big inspiration to me! ☀️ i hope this isn’t a bothersome ask!!!!

My biggest tip is to learn first and foremost how to enjoy the learning process. When you do that you’re pretty much set for everything else. The biggest roadblock i and a lot of other artists seem to encounter is not Not knowing how to draw something, it’s not being able to make yourself get up and tackle learning how to head on. A lot of it is just your self talk or mindset when you broach it. viewing improvement as a chore or unachievable makes you reaally not want to do it, so you end up delaying it and just avoiding it altogether. I’ve done that a few times. You basically just have to hype yourself up, even if you don’t fully believe any of what you’re saying, it’ll still influence you in the same way self-deprecative humor can influence someone’s self esteem. And give yourself a treat every time you try :) build up that positive association! It’s tough early on, and it can feel like pulling teeth, but teeth don’t just get pulled for no reason. You’re making a step forward! Decide small goals for yourself. Saying you want to just “improve” is pretty vague, and most of all daunting. It doesn’t happen all at once in that way. You need to build up the bases. If you want to improve, be specific, say you want to get better at composition, color, lighting, anatomy (which must be further broken down to learning how to draw things like arms, legs, hands, because anatomy is a whole thing in and of itself lol.)

and that brings you to actually learning. My suggestion is to draw from life whenever you can. There’s no faster way to understanding three dimensional forms than having a subject right in front of you. This is something i do very often, whenever I go out i bring a little sketchbook and draw friends, surroundings, etc, and it’s what has helped me improve the fastest. Use cross-contour lines to your advantage! Draw a form and try to find its dimensions. It’s mindless and gets much easier the more you do it, while also still being very informative. When you understand the dimensions of something, shading becomes easier too. and ofc study art that you like, deconstruct why you like it and try to apply it to what you draw. Watch speedpaints and pay attention, try to pick apart the process of the artist! I recommend yt channels like ethan becker and sycra for composition and anatomy/design lessons.

thanks for the ask! I really appreciate it and your kind words. Good luck!! You can do it! ^_^

[iztea]

Maybe you have some drawing tips for beginners?

Your style is incredibly beautiful and it just inspires this thing inside me to grab my iPad and start drawing but unfortunately I have no idea where to even begin

Or maybe you have some recs where to look to learn how to draw stuff?

But I understand completely that it’s your thing and artists should never feel pressured to share all their techniques and secrets, you worked hard on it!

I just really really love your art to the point where I just look at it for 30 minutes straight with this big feeling in my chest

<3

ah it was never about being secretive, i'm pretty open about my drawing process since gatekeeping knowledge is a big pet peeve of mine. It was more like,, laziness because writing a cohesive and helpful drawing tutorial is pretty difficult and i wouldn't even know where to start; i'm afraid i'll get maybe too technical and what have you.

As for tips for beginners, i've shared plenty on my couriouscat so you can scroll through the answers there, i also have some drawing timelapses on my twitter account as well (albeit you'll have to scroll a little)

I'm very flattered you feel that way about my art, it really means a lot to me and i'm glad to have inspired you to draw as well that's awesome and i wish you best of luck!

I actually don't know how different drawing on an iPad is compared to a graphic tablet+desktop, so I am actually pretty clueless in that regard. I think Procreate is the most used digital art app for iPad so you can start by getting it and familiarizing yourself with the UI. I think this step is often overlooked. The brushes and the chosen program can make or break the drawing experience. If you simply find yourself not enjoying Procreate, experiment with other apps or maybe try switching to a graphic tablet, maybe that feels better and is more suited to your tastes.

To be completely honest, one "bad" piece of advice that i should probably keep to myself is to draw something you actually enjoy: fanart, Pretty Girl Portrait(tm), your cat, landscapes etc even if it's above your skill level (becoming obsessed/ fixated on some character from a piece of media also works wonders i'm just gonna throw that out there). The main point is to actually care about your chosen subject in order to get inspired and to have that inner desire of "doing them justice" aka drawing them well. The traditional art learning route probably involves studying the fundamentals, shading spheres and cones and simple 3D forms blablbablah which. Yeah ! sure that's probably better advice but i'm telling you what will make you want to keep going and not get discouraged after a few failed attempts.

As for the drawing subject, I highly recommend having photo references to guide you.. you always need refs it's a recurring thing. My fastest artworks are the ones where I have the right references. the less references the more difficult it is to draw something

As a beginner it is also a good practice to draw OVER your photo reference to get the proportions right ( i'm not talking about literally tracing the contour of a face or limb ( just an example ), but moreso identifying the Main shape which makes up that body part and observe how long is it in respect to the other components, how does it connect to the other parts etc - big difference. Tracing won't help you in the long run).

Another thing you can do is to study your favourite artists and see how They tackle whatever it is that you like in their work. how do they simplify facial features? what about anatomy? color/ light etc and kinda reverse engineer your way through their process. ( but i highly recommend to just keep these practice sketches to yourself, and to not share them on social media- unless you get the artist's permission)

This is how i got into drawing and what i did back then, again, for more technical hands-on information i did answer similar CCs before so with a little bit of stalking you'll find them in no time

I wanna finish this with some resources that helped me:

>youtube guys - sinix, ahmed aldoori, marco bucci, and also just speedpaints in general i highly recommend watching those

>for simplified anatomy i found @/ taco1704 's ref sheets to be very helpful but ........... I'm pretty dry here i just look up refs on Pinterest tbvh

speaking of, here's my pinterest i have a bunch of art related boards board cool stuff overall maybe they can help guide you towards some direction or inspire you in some way idk

ok i kinda suck in the resource department listeN. im starving too just.................. watch youtube speedpaints ok

SORRY IT'S SO LONGGGBGGG i hope it was at least a bit helpful? this was all over the place... I'll try to come up with a tutorial as well but i really gotta be careful with how i go about it. I'll leave you with this for the time being. Again, thank you a lot for the kind words, I really am very grateful and touched esp by that last part about staring with the big feeling stuff eeeeeeeeeeeeee really wow T T that's so lovely and a big compliment thanks ty ly

[watcheraurora]

I just wanted you to know that I have developed so many short story continuations of like, all of your fanfics its not even funny. Like, I gave sheriff jimmy a whole ARC where he ends up in conflicts with Joel and then flees the division. BRUH!! you've given me brain rot, I demand compensation, I'm loosing actual sleep over these AU'S XD

Oh my goodness! I'm so honored that I've inspired you so much! <3

You're actually Dangerously Close to Tango's history with Joel when he left the division. Because they did end up in major conflicts around the time Tango left! But I'm very happy that you've created more based on something I made!

May I offer you a piece of the as-yet-untitled Even Ice Walls Fall Down Role Swap I'm working on as compensation? XD

For context: When I first thought of the idea of "superhero and villain AU for the Ranchers" I really loved Deepfrost and Sheriff as a villain and a hero respectively, but my friend who I ranted to about it (@soemthingsparkly who also did Deepfrost and Sheriff art in the fic :-D) really loved the idea of hero!Tango and villain!Jimmy instead. And I promised them I'd work on a version where Tango is the superhero Blaze and Jimmy is the villain Canary because as Ice Walls demonstrates, I am Not Creative™ at coming up with hero or villain aliases. And I'm still working on it but I do enjoy it

AKA the version of the story where if they manifested different powers, they might have taken different paths?

—

"Blaze, watch out! There are civilians nearby!" Joel barked in Blaze's earpiece as he loosed a wheel of fire. Canary squawked in alarm as Poultry Man tackled him out of the way of the wheel. The two hurtled to one side in a tangle of white and yellow feathers.

"I know that," Blaze ground out as he focused on conjuring another wheel. He liked wheels of fire more than fireballs, due to being a little more precise and effective, in his opinion. "So maybe step off my back a little."

"I will when you stop acting like you're out of control!" Joel snapped.

Blaze's whole body went rigid, the fire wheel spinning around his fist. "Out of control?" he demanded, his other hand holding the earpiece firmer in his ear as he ducked behind a concrete barrier to hide. "I am never out of control, and I resent the implication otherwise." An animalistic growl built in his throat. "Do you understand how much I work to remain in control with powers like mine?"

"Blaze—"

"N-n-n-n-no. Between the two of us, only one of us has the one-hundred-and-sixty IQ. And that would be me. So don't you dare lecture me about not knowing how to use my own powers. I'm not you, Lore. I'm not a danger to myself and others because I don't know how to leash myself. So shut up and let me do my work." He ripped his earpiece out of his ear and vaulted the concrete barrier to throw himself back into the fight, hurling the fire wheel in Poultry Man's general direction. The villain squawked like a chicken and dodged out of the way.

"Blaze! What are you doing?!" HoTGuY shouted as Blaze lowered his head a little and charged forward. His Blaze Rods appeared around his head, orbiting fast. They lifted him off the ground and he was flying, his gold-blond hair turning into pure flame. It would return to normal later.

Canary saw him in the air and snapped out his wings—enormous and vibrant, rich yellow. They beat the air once and shot him up to be almost level with Blaze. "Look who we pissed off!" Canary teased, voice singsong and high-pitched. "You here to play games, Fire Boy?"

Blaze's eyes were entirely the same shade of red while his fire powers were active and his Blaze Rods orbited his head. Iris, sclera, pupil—all the same. It was why he didn't bother wearing a mask. No one expected the green-eyed nerd to be Blaze because everyone assumed Blaze was red-eyed all the time.

Blaze bared his teeth in a frustrated snarl, sparks shooting between the gaps. He spun two fire wheels into existence. One spinning around each hand. "Let's see how playful you are when your flight feathers are ash, birdie," he spat. The inside of his mouth glowed like there was fire in his throat, its light reflecting outward.

Blaze had a temper. Blaze knew he had a temper. A bad one. One with a short fuse and a big explosion. He knew it was a side-effect of his powers. He didn't used to be so easy to set off. He used to be a lot more patient with people and situations.

But here he was, eleven years after his powers manifested, ready to burn a whole city block down and trying to stop himself from actually doing so.

But man did Canary piss him off. Even more than Poultry Man. Poultry Man was a pain in the neck. He was chaotic and antagonistically playful. He took nothing seriously. But Canary—Canary was little more than Poultry Man's lackey. But he targeted Blaze like it was his life goal to see how much fire he could withstand.

Canary's eyes widened behind his mask.

"Take the shot, you idiot!" Poultry Man shouted.

Canary moved to aim his crossbow, but Blaze's fire wheel spun into existence faster. He hurled it across the distance like a chakram. Canary's wings flapped hard to go over it and avoid it. Blaze rushed after.

[thedarkmistress16]

do you have any tips for coming up with things for ocs? like backstory or just facts about them.

I once took a creative writing class that brainstormed a character's history, motives, personality, etc. as an exercise and it helped a lot in fleshing out one of my oc's for a story project that semester, but you don't have to spend money on an instructed guide like that. The internet is abound with free sources (even at a local library) but writing them down in one place is cost-friendly too (though digital sources can be better, more organized formats).

Can always use a character generator that asks you the harder and more integral/specific questions depending on the kind of oc you plan on creating/fleshing out (d&d, gen roleplay, specific franchises/fandoms, etc.). I tried this out on my phone once and it was neat but not my style. was kinda overwhelming for me, but very useful for on-the-go brainstorming and having it all in one place, tho

Viewing existing character sheets from other artists helps too like seeing how they tackle certain concepts (special abilities, species, family dynamics, personal/physical/mental issues, etc.) or simply just how they word or visualize things (not unlike a writer's thesaurus, lol).

Speaking of art styles, finding various ocs from a single franchise can also help personal oc visualization; diff takes on the art style really helps me visualize simple things such as expressions or clothing in diff lights like the shape/form and shading or even outlining. It can easily inspire me to come up with a whole personality for a character just by a diff in design or style (seeing the outside of diff cardboard boxes??? it's hard to explain, actually XD).

Researching art styles also applies to exploring stories in general. reading a lot helps you understand why certain things occur in a storyline, and if you can easily implant your oc into those circumstances, then you'll be able to correlate similarities and figure out motives, backstories, and behaviors a lot easier (this applies to things that affect the plot, not quirky behaviors or mannerisms that exist to just exist as an extra detail. it also helps to be able to pinpoint how and why a story works in the first place for this kind of practice. ah, the joys of a writer, lol)

Expanding upon the research concept, explore diff mediums of media like tv, movies, fanfiction, and games- whatever your taste is. It never hurts to come across new content or viewing a tried cliche in a different perspective (also applies to reading between the lines, like analyzing the atmosphere of a scene of a couple spending time together, for ex.).

And of course, opening yourself to questions on your ocs really helps you think about their actions easier than trying to for yourself, sometimes. your brain can very easily be overwhelmed by doing that. outside questions can even help flesh out other parts of the oc without you realizing it later on (like a generator, but the q's are more random and specific in diff ways for things you wouldn't have thought of otherwise; mainly due to people's wide array of experiences than the general, most common things a generator will include).

If you daydream a lot, you can easily come up with a plethora of situations for your oc to be in if you already have a basic idea of their personality and visual style. and then analyze the circumstances for that situation to occur as you still remember it. or you can simply write the scenario out and always develop more of it later on.

Music choices help too, but for me it's mainly to set the mood over brainstorming, lol. creating a playlist for your oc can help greatly in terms of story and sometimes even speech patterns? there are playlists that exist to set a certain pov or tone, so it's worth to check out at least one of them (it seems many wattpad writers get inspired from this)

And finally, but most importantly, always keep a record of what you absolutely know you want your oc to be, in a journal or a document. I have diff ones for diff franchises, but also an all-encompassing one for in general what the character boils down to each time (i also love me some aus so this is really helpful). Maybe split it into a list of 'for sure' and 'maybes,' and come up with diff reasons why some trait or piece of history is in the maybe category. Or write everything in one go and condense it later on to a more refined list.

Sometimes, just writing in general, stepping away from it, or coming off of a block can give you oc inspiration like a bolt of lightning. I'd say try a bit of everything and see what works best for you. you wanna make a venn diagram or a web bubble of your oc's traits and facts? Fucking go for it! I go back to some methods now and again, like deviant art's filled and blank character sheets or meme templates or even re-reading my own writings on my oc and going ham on a certain idea. As a writer, there's always something to improve upon or include so you're bound to get something else out of what you created thus far. Just don't feel discouraged or burn yourself out over it if you can't come up with anything- sometimes the lack of one idea leads to a plethora of others.

[casterisks]

Art Reference

Larry doesn't draw faces very often because he struggles with it. Sal accidentally ends up becoming his reference.

content warnings: mentions of past bullying, mild language (but it's sf so not unexpected)

do NOT tag as ship. I explicitly write their relationship as brotherly.

Sal and Larry’s hair was messy from an earlier session of headbanging, per usual Larry showed him his newest paintings and his works in progress.

Sal stared over at Larry’s art, the newest piece being a landscape, clearly inspired by the nearby lake. He grinned looking down at a painting he had done, which was a circle and a few poorly drawn lines, dead potato, but Larry liked it, so he kept it near his workspace.  He was bouncing a leg as he stood, he took another glance over at the paintings, all of them were of landscapes or animals, “How come you never draw people?”

Larry shrugged, “I’m not that good at faces, they’re really hard.”

The blue hair grinned under his mask, tilting his head to make sure at least his body language read well, “I think drawing me wouldn’t be too hard then, huh?”

Larry laughed a little, then got a certain look in his eyes, grinning at Sal, “Actually- I think your face- like under the prosthetic- would be pretty good reference.”

The shorter teen mentally played over how he saw himself every morning. His face on the left side, his left, was missing an eye. The eyelids were flat over the hole. He had burn scars going from his forehead down towards the beginning of his neck, they were a darker shade than the rest of his face. His eyebrows were thin, never having the chance to grow properly. His jaw sunk in, teeth sticking out on one side without his mouth being able to properly close. Most of his nose was gone, it was easy to see the two dark triangles, which were what was left of his nostrils. His scars also brought attention to the dark circles he had, which were caused by a severe lack of sleep. Sal anxiously put a hand on his neck, subconsciously rubbing at the strap. Larry had seen him twice without his mask, both on accident, he hadn’t judged him both times but, “Well are you sure? I mean. I- uh- …” The first time was when he accidentally didn’t buckle his prosthetic enough and gave Larry a nosebleed, the second was when Larry had been sleeping in his apartment and Sal took off his mask without thinking.

Larry waves a hand, “No, I think you look pretty badass actually!”

Sal chuckled, looking up at Larry, “I know it’s just…” How could he put this? He chose his words carefully, “It’s a lot of things really, you know, people who look like me are normally the villains of horror movies and people don’t like looking at me- it’s- are you sure it’s a good idea?”

The taller boy gave him a sympathetic look, fidgeting with a pencil he’d grabbed during this conversation, “Hey man, if you’re uncomfortable with it, you can tell me. It’s my job as your older brother to make fun of you for dumb shit, but I get it, the main thing I need practice with is shadows anyways.”

Sal giggled, “Okay- okay, asshole! Who decided you were the older brother when I’m four months older than you?”

Larry grinned, “Grow ten inches then, little bitch boy.”

“BROTHER LAW!” Sal jumped up, tackling Larry, the two landed on the ground with a light thud.

Larry cringed, “...Fuck.”

Sal got off him immediately, “Shit- are you okay? Did I knock the breath out of you again?”

Larry gasped dramatically, “Tell my mom I said…” Larry got up suddenly, tackling the other, “BROTHER LAW!” The two land on the floor, this time Larry on top of Sal.

The two laughed loudly together, slowly getting up and getting back to their normal conversation.

Sal anxiously fidgeted with his hair, taking it down to redo his pigtails, “You really think I don’t look…” Sal mentally heard the taunts and words of other kids over the years, “Like a freak?”

Larry shakes his head, “Nah man, you look like you.” With reluctance, Sal started unbuckling his prosthetic, “I’ve never thought about it like that.” He felt the cold air hit his face, his skin, out in the open for once other than before he went to bed. He put the mask on Larry’s dresser, he met Larry in the eyes staring up. He didn’t look away. Sal averted his eyes, “Right, so where should I sit?” He sniffed slightly, forcing himself not to full out cry again.

“Oh yeah, the bean bag is fine.” Larry grabbed the pencil he had dropped and a large sketchbook, he sat cross legged in front of Sal. The blue hair fidgeted, he hated staying still, it felt somehow inherently wrong, Larry noticed the discomfort, shaking the pencil lightly in his hand, “Don’t worry, just get comfortable.” Sal breathed a mild sigh of relief, nodding as he got into a comfortable position.

For the next fifteen to twenty minutes Sal watched Larry draw in front of him. He admired the way that he seemed to know what he was doing, working with a messy work-flow. He couldn’t help but feel jealous, just of the way he and Ashley seemed to know how to work with materials he could hardly wrap his mind around. He had tried, only to feel disappointed every time.

At one point Sal felt the need to ask, “Am I doing good?” he tilted his head, Larry gave him a thumbs up, “Doing great, dude!"

After a few more minutes, Larry flipped the sketch page around, showing Sal his drawing, Sal’s eyes widened. The blue hair sat up straight, noticing with the feeling of stillness he must’ve started rocking at some point. He stared at it for a few seconds, picking it up from Larry. He forced himself not to trace over the lines (that'd smudge it!), it was so.. Larry. The line art was messy but had a certain organization to them, most of his scars were drawn in the same way that the lines of his shirt or hair had been drawn, it looked neutral. Not overdone or really a focus of the drawing at all.

Larry cringed, looking away, “Shit.. You hate it don’t you?”

Sal shook his head quickly, “No! No! Not at all! Can I.. keep this?”

Larry looked at Sal with a twinge of surprise, then shrugging, “Yeah, no problem dude.”

Sal slowly ripped out the paper, making sure not to tear it, “I’m going to have to find somewhere to put this later, it’s really good, I just.. Didn’t know what to say.” The blue hair suddenly sniffles, he holds his mouth in a hand, he was surprised Larry hadn’t looked away, or cringed, let alone spent the time drawing him trying to work in the details.

“Woah, dude are you alright?” Larry scooted over to Sal, offering a hug.

Sal sniffled more, heavily leaning into him, crying into Larry’s shoulder, slowly breaking into sobs. Sal felt the brunet’s messy hair, it was in his face, he could actually feel it. It was tangled. It was a normal texture, but it felt strange nonetheless. They sat like that for a couple minutes, Sal crying as Larry said calming things, and rubbing circles into his back. Sal couldn’t understand a thing the other was mumbling, but it sounded nice. After he had cried it out, he felt a lot better, regaining his breath and his composure.

The two let go, Larry stretched, getting up, “Okay, change of subject. Do you want some energy drinks? I got monster the other day.”

Sal grinned, noting how weird his exposed teeth felt in the room without something blocking the air, “Yeah! Did you get the silver ones?”

Larry rolled his eyes, walking over to the door, “Of course I got the silver ones, the other flavors suck ass.”

Sal waited for Larry to come back, looking over at the dresser he debated putting the prosthetic back on, but he felt oddly safe in the other’s room. He sat on Larry’s couch, looking through the collection of movies they had underneath the cushions.

[uwua3]

hi! first off, congrats on the new blog!! i read that misumi piece and i really enjoyed it hehe,, if it's alright, may i request some domestic fluff with kazunari? mayb looking over old photo albums of each other from when they were kids and laughing and telling stories about what happened in the photos? thank you very much and i hope u have a nice day :D

hi!!! this made me so happy 🥺 thank you so much, i hope to keep this blog running for a long time! also, i saw your reblog of my jealousy hcs and i wanted to say thank you for your sweet comments!!! i go back to it whenever i need motivation, you inspire me to keep writing ♡ thank you! i hope to continue making you proud as a writer :D <3

summary: kazunari had to stop living in the past and make new memories outside of his yearbooks with you

author’s note: this is definitely a much happier piece than my others! this was refreshing to write and i treasure it dearly, it’s definitely much more on the humorous side! no angst today, folks!!! (ok just a little, but it’s barely noticeable!)

this is just a little look into a hoarder named kazunari and his sentimental, nostalgic personality ♡ i, myself, am a marie kondo supporter so i love decluttering! if you are a hoarder like kazunari, honestly go you! you keep those knick knacks that remind you of memories! do whatever makes you the happiest :D

word count: 2,151

music: make you mine – public, tongue tied – grouplove (this song is so Kazunari !!!)

nostalgia.

🌻🎨 miyoshi kazunari

it was that time of year again

kazunari hated spring cleaning with a passion. so what if his art supplies were all over the dorms? he knew where everything was! uh, mostly...

(if you ignore his daily panicked house searches which kept everyone up way too late if he couldn’t locate a very specific paint shade for a big project he definitely procrastinated)

so, it took, so much bribery to get kazunari to even consider cleaning out his entire dorm room

(muku was a very Good Boy and already had his side of the room perfectly dusted and organized)

yes, you had to promise to pose as a model for one of his paintings one day (hopefully, not the type of class you were thinking) (kazunari’s suggestive wink didn’t help)

the thing about kazunari was he was somewhat of a, putting it politely, hoarder

as an extremely sentimental person, it would take the whole mankai company to even force him to throw something away

(“no! it has a special meaning to me! i remember what happened when i got this~” kazunari would whine, holding the useless item between his hands with no intentions to ever look at it again)

so the boys employed you to be kazunari’s rational judgement when cleaning that day

(“please actually make him do something.” sakyo looked like he was on the border of begging; kazunari’s abundance of random knick knacks and shopaholic addiction problem was becoming an issue that affected everyone)

rule #1 of cleaning kazunari’s storage room: don’t open anything because kazunari will become very sentimental and nothing will get gone

so therefore, as a team, you two tackled the rather spotless room. the interior was minimal and modern, just like kazunari liked it with pops of color here and there

(he had one blank white wall and you realized it was the backdrop he used to film all his social media posts [dancing tik toks, fashion #ootds on instagram, daily vlogs on his growing youtube channel])

at first, you were confused where all his stuff went until you opened a closet against his terrible and unconvincing distractions

without time to react, you found yourself buried in tens of books you couldn’t even fathom how it all fit

(“i’ve played way too much tetris.” kazunari would admit later on when asked about his immaculate stacking)

“you’ve got to be kidding me!” you groaned, pushing your head above the surface of book covers that have either never been opened or were way too old to even be functionable

“i’m sorry~ please, forgive me!” kazunari pleaded, immediately pulling you out of his own mess and using all his cuteness to make you roll your eyes fondly at your best friend

you almost started ranting at him about the dangers of taking up too much closet space with useless items before you realized:

wait! stop! he’s trying to get you to forget about throwing these books out! you thought suddenly, crossing your arms as you stared at the pile, trying to figure out how to approach the situation

“you cannot distract me. we are going through this mound and you will be getting rid of something today.” you ordered, seeing his shoulders drop in defeat as he nodded solemnly, but accepting his fate without any arguments. thank god for that

you two bent down and organized all the books into categories. popular photography instruction guides, creative advice columns, and all his past art textbooks kazunari couldn’t sell were put into a seperate group because luckily, they were relevant to his art school

things like old newspapers with funny comics were recycled (you refused to let kazunari read them in fear of invoking some form of nostalgia) (also because he had the whackiest sense of humor ever and would die laughing)

it was going well, until you reached the thickest photo books of them all (you had almost forgotten what you and kazunari’s school mascot was)

but unsurprisingly, kazunari had every single yearbook from each year of his education all the way until his last year in high school piled high to his chest

even he looked somewhat shocked from his mass accumulation from his teen years

“ah! i’m so old now~ look at all this! what else can i do except die?!” kazunari dramatically flopped onto his bed, tired of lifting so much weight. hey! his arms weren’t meant for exercise, he was a painter!

lifting his head to see you were distracted from alphabetically sorting the first section lovingly dubbed, “art shit”, kazunari mischeviously grinned as he leaned down to snatch a random yearbook

flipping to a random page, kazunari smiled as he realized it was the first time he ever met you back in elementary

kazunari sang your name as he sat upwards, having a shit–eating look on his face as he started swinging his legs back and forth

oh no, he was up to something no good, you knew it but humored him anyways

“yes, kazu?” you turned your line of sight to the most horrible picture possible: you with the ugliest haircut in the entire world with kazunari’s black hair taking up the entire photo as you two sheepishly smiled for the camera. it was not a proud moment

okay, maybe it wasn’t that bad, you just couldn’t help but shriek at the sight of your hair

“oh my god! you can’t just jumpscare me like that!” you laughed despite yourself. you knew you had to be serious and focused on decluttering, but one look at your past made you remember all the good times before so–called “adulthood”

“look at your hair!” you cackled, reaching up to playfully yank at his mullet as he yelped and lightly smacked your hand away. rubbing the back of his neck, kazunari huffed childishly and pouted like he was back in his youth

“come on! this was the pinnacle moment i realized, i should not be a hair dresser.” kazunari commented, making you remember how you just let a random 8–year–old boy waddle up to you with safety scissors and advertise his salon business like a professional

(yes, you bought into it right away. your teacher had a heart attack when she saw you with a majority of your hair on the floor and kazunari keeping small talk like an actual hair stylist)

thinking back after the haircut incident, you weren’t allowed to chat with the funny class clown anymore as you were forced to wear a hat every day

(it was either that or go completely bald to fix the job kazunari did to your head)

it wasn’t until you received a very creative and colorful apology letter with tons of sad faces drawn with waxy crayons that you snuck out to play with him on the swings in recess

“i can’t believe we became friends because i wanted free hair cuts for the rest of my life.” you added, staring at the picture with a sense of nostalgia. you kinda got where kazunari was coming from, memories were fun to look at every once and a while

at least, eleven years worth of memories after being inseperable from that moment forward

(maybe, you should’ve held onto it, you thought, not knowing that would be the first of many art pieces you would be gifted by him)

kazunari knew he won. excited, he dropped down to lay on his stomach as you leaned against the bed, watching as he thumbed through the pages with ease, leaning his head on yours comfortably

it was rare to find kazunari quiet, he must’ve been like this all the time when going through his stuff, you thought, at peace for once

lazily smiling, kazunari put his finger against your yearbook pictures as he reminisced on the past. something about everyone ever in your grade, how kazunari knew everyone and had a special memory with each person, no matter how big or small

“—and here, the teacher somehow caught a pic of us swinging wayyy too high for kids our age!” kazunari laughed, breaking your train of thought as you snickered at the absolute joy radiating from both your faces as you two competed to see who could reach the clouds

(kazu won. you fell off right after and had to get picked up from your parents after badly scraping your knee. it took another sorry letter and art of you two holding hands with a heart for your parents to forgive kazunari)

“let’s go back.” you interrupted him, making him sit up confused as you swung your keys out from your back pocket. it didn’t take any convincing for kazunari to nod right away and took the elementary yearbook into his arm

you two only had to exchange a secret look before formulating a plan to sneak out, leaving music on from kazunari’s speakers to act like kazunari was still cleaning

you two giggled amongst yourselves before clambering into your car, speeding off and laughing loudly from your successful getaway. the manager was none the wiser!

during the short car ride, you and kazunari played your favorite mixtape of all time

(“you kept this?!” kazunari yelled, giddily bouncing up and down from excitement when he discovered the mixtape stash)

he slipped the disc in as you two yelled along to childhood favorites with the windows rolled down, letting the entire neighborhood know the best duo were back in town

(seriously, there were so many you stashed away in your glove department. all labeled in sharpie with compelling titles connected to the inside jokes only you two found funny)

arriving at the destination, you two exited the vehicle to see the play pen was abandoned as the teaching staff went home for the day

the sun was setting and it felt like the playground was in another rift of time as you approached it, hearing the weak movement of the swings going back and forth on their own. you sat down, holding onto the chains. you hadn’t been back ever since you graduated. it hadn’t changed at all

kazunari opened the elementary yearbook back to the original page, pulling out his tripod and phone he always had on hand in his backpack as he set it up right across the swing set

“what are you doing?” you inquired, tilting your head as he fumbled around pressing different buttons and filters too complex for you to remember

looking up, kazunari grinned as he set a timer for 10 seconds before sprinting back to the swing next to you

“swing contest right now! i bet i could swing higher than you ever could!” kazunari challenged childishly, quickly kicking his legs for the momentum. you narrowed your eyes, refusing to lose as you two laughed over the sound of his phone taking a burst of photos

you realized what he was doing. he was re–creating your memories together

but you turned to look at him and your heart skipped a beat. you never remembered him looking this, different, in the purple lighting. for a flashing moment, you swore you saw the silhoutte of his black–haired, child self sit next to you before you blinked and saw him. kazunari was the same, just older now

you slowed down your swing by dragging your sneakers against the wood chipped ground. you grabbed both the swings’ chains to hold them together

you didn’t want to live in the past anymore. you wanted to grow up with him, too

“what—” kazunari started, matching your pace before being cut off by your lips against his, the phone going off for one last time

you pulled yourself in close enough just to smile. he smelled the exact same as he did when he discovered cologne for the first time. he never changed

you pulled away first even if he tried leaning forward for more, like he was waiting all these years just for that one moment. like he saw you in the same light, too

“i wanted to do that for years.” you confessed, watching as he took your hand carefully, like he was afraid you were going to leave. for once, he didn’t know what to do, which face to show

“me too...” kazunari agreed, seemingly speechless before straightening his back, like he was about to run away. the hair on your neck stood up, what was he about to do?

“i promise i won’t cut your hair anymore, unless?” kazunari winked dramatically, mimicking the shape of scissors with his fingers as he tried snipping at your hair

he laughed as you shoved him with all your might, hopping off the swing to chase him throughout the school parking lot

now this was a memory kazunari would never throw away, no matter what

(no one thought the two of you escaped until kazunari posted the pics on his instagram, both of you getting a scolding from sakyo this time)

(busted!)

[kirathehyrulian]

♣♣ After Round Art ♣♣

(Please do not edit/alter. Feel free to reblog, but please do not repost. At the very least, please give me credit.)

Sports Hottie Inspired by the SPN Masquerade (Round 6)’s prompt: “Thigh highs - Jared's long legs in lacy stockings and a garter belt.”

Two other lovely and talented artists have successfully and skillfully tackled this prompt during Round 6. Please, look at their beautiful art and give the artists some love by liking/reblogging/commenting on their works: (blindswandive)  (a-biting-smile)

I wished I could have joined them during the round, but I didn’t have the time. Plus they filled the prompt so well there wasn’t anything I could add to it. But, I still felt like I wanted to join in the fun afterwards. And, since it was after the round, I decided to take more creative freedom with the prompt instead of strictly following it. Instead of lacy, I went with a sports theme (that kind of partnered my cheerleader!Jared). And, instead of a garter belt I went with thigh high sock garters. Idk. I had fun.

Enjoy, if you can!♥

For more art from me please check out my [myart] tag here on Tumblr. 👇(Bonus Art Process YouTube Videos under the cut:)👇

This work would have been out sooner but I was experimenting with it. I actually made a speed up vid of the majority of my art process during the making of “Sports Hottie” and posted it on YouTube! It was both easier and more complicated than I thought it would be. I’m not going to get into all the specifics, but it was interesting seeing me art from an outsider’s pov.

You’ll have to choose your own music to play along with it because it doesn’t have audio, that would be too taxing on my ole comp. And, it’s not professional by any means, too jagged in places. But, I learned a lot and gain enough confidence to want to make another art process vid again in the future.

And now, here’s how I art:

If I think about the whole thing (research/brainstorming -> sketch -> lineart -> color/shade/lighting -> finishing touches) it probably took me about 6-7 hours in total, including when I was futzing around with the recording program. I draw slow. But, drawing is my me time. So, I’m okay with that.

[queliotbingo]

Queliot Bingo Rules + FAQ

We want this event to be fun, not stressful. It is meant to inspire more fics in the Queliot fandom. Here we will attempt to answer possible questions and set a few guidelines.

Rules

This challenge is meant to be fun. Repeat after me. This challenge is meant to be fun. Look to your left. You see a peach. Look to your right. You see a plum. Look ahead. Quentin Coldwater deserved better. Look at me. Hand me $20. Look at your computer screen. This challenge is meant to be fun! There are no check-ins, deadlines, or word count specifications. AKA don’t stress yourself out over hitting your QueliotBingo. If your card isn’t to your liking, DM the page or a mod and we’ll see what we can do for you.

We will not police what sort of content you are/are not allowed to write, but if you write any material that contains triggering content, you must tag it accordingly. The magicians is a show that has never shied away from triggering subject matter, and this fandom as a whole does an incredible job tackling those same subjects in fic. However, we reserve the right to reject any works that handle certain subjects tastelessly. please reach out to us if you have any specific content questions.

FAQ

1. How do I hit a bingo?

SO this lovely little image here shows all the ways you can hit a bingo. Please note you only need to hit any of these patterns on a card and not the exact square placement. IE your horizontal pattern can be on any row of the card, your vertical can be on any column, the postage stamp pattern can occur anywhere on the card, etc.

For some patterns, like Outside Corners, the pattern must be executed as shown to hit that bingo.

2. Does Quentin turning into a bird hit enough to make a fic a “wingfic?”  If there’s actually two beds but Quentin magically breaks one in half and refuses to fix it does that constitute “Only one bed?” If they only time travel back when Plum needs to so they can save Julia’s baby and not to save Quen—shit sorry, uh, thought this was the salt tumblr for a second. clears throat If they only time travel back ten seconds and not all the way back to the end of 3.5 so Eliot can tell Quentin that was me and that was you let’s go get naked does it still constitute time travel?

Yes. We’re not going to hand-hold you through your prompts. If your story is submitted to the collection and it obviously doesn’t hit the prompts (aka there are no wings in your wingfic or no evidence of soulmates in your soulmate fic), then we’ll remove it from the collection. But as we said, this is a no-stress, fun event, so just do your best. If you must ask about a prompt, feel free to ask/DM the page and we’ll do our best to address.

3. What if it takes me three years to hit QueliotBingo?

Then it takes you three years, and we’ll happily share your fics or read your art in three years. Because we’ll all still be here. Fren promised me she’d never leave me.

4. What if my story doesn’t have any Queliot in it?

Then it doesn’t count for bingo. Sorry, but we already decided on QueliotBingo, and it’s a lot of effort to change the Tumblr name.

5. It’s been two days. I don’t have my card. WHERE’S MY DAMN CARD

First off, breathe. Go look at the peach and plum from Question 1, take a bite, and DO NOT THROW IT OR ANY MUGS OR CROWNS OR SIGNED BOOKS INTO A FIRE. Second, double check the QueliotBingo tumblr posts. Make sure there isn’t a post that says “This AO3 name isn’t found but it was typed in as this” and maybe it’s yours and you or us made a typo, I mean nobody’s perfect. If you still don’t see any evidence of a card that should belong to you, ask/DM the QueliotBingo page or DM a mod.

6. I wanna see an example of a bingo card.

Fine. Here’s an example.

7. I wanna see an example of a filled in bingo card.

God, fine, you’re so freakin’ high maintenance.

8. How’d you do that shade mark thing? I dunno how to do that.

You can use a photo app your phone, an app, print it out and mark it up and send an image. Google it. Or just DM Fren, she can tell you.

Main - Dates + Sign Up - Prompts - AO3 Collection.

[popculturebuffet]

The Legion of Super Heroes Reviews: The Legion of Substitute Heroes or Unsung Heroes

Happy 29th Birthday to Me! Yes it’s my birthday which means it’s time for reflection, griping about getting older and cake. And after an exausting weekend of grappling with a growth, i’m not going to go into anymore detail, I can finally, relax celebrate and get back to reviewing. And since i’ts my big day, that means I decided to dedicate today’s reviews to things that mean a hell of a lot to me and in one way or another shaped me as a person. A self indulgant way to reflect on my past, look to the future and show y’all some stuff I really like. So with that out of the way let’s talk about the Legion of Super Heroes.. and their oddball sub team I love dearly. 

This is also my first chance to talk about DC Comics on my blog. I’m honestly shocked that in the year i’ve been reviewing stuff regularly, the other half of the big two superhero comic publishers hasn’t come up. While I do tend to lean towards marvel, in part because Marvel is simply better at collecting their stuff and putting it on sale more often, it’s still the home of some of my faviorite properties: Justice League International, The Green Lanterns (Minus Hal), Teen Titans, Wonder Woman, Oracle, Batgirl (All of them, particularly Steph and Cass), Young Justice, Supergirl, my personal boy The Martian Manhunter.. the list dosen’t go on by much but it indeed goes on. I”ve been reading dc comics since I was in middle school, and I haven’t stopped since and don’t intend to stop now and maybe in the next year I can get around to tackling some of their awesome cartoons and comics more eh? But yeah among these titans, including the actual titans, are the Legion, one of the most unique and awesome super team concepts in my humble opinon and , even for DC, one of the teams with the most tangled up histories. 

First created in the Silver Age by writer Otto Binder and Artist Al Plastino, The Legion of Superheroes is DC”s first successful teen superhero team, predating the titans by a few years, though I dearly love both wildly diffrent teams. The Legion is defined by their high concept: A thousand years into the future, three super teens from diffrent worlds who happened to be on the same ship with billionare RJ Brande, saved Brande from some goons hired by his crooked buisness partner. 

And exposed him. Inspirired by their courage, heart and skill, Brande latter called the three together to form them into a super team, one inspiried by the legends of teen hero Superboy. 

No not Conner though it was nice to get to show off my poster of him. While he was part of the second continuities legion, we’ll get to that, he’s not the superboy we’re looking for. He is damn great though and it’s good to have you back bud. 

Not Jon either, though I do miss this kid’s pre-bendis version and he was the inspiration.. for another version of the legion. (SIGH). Try. AGAIN IMAGE SEARCH. 

...... 

No not the cool bad boy turned troubled good boy, not the child who was inexpciably aged up by that bald smeghead, and not the great idea turned into a editiorial mouthpiece. I”m talking about THIS superboy. 

This is where the name came from: From the silver age till crisis on infinite earths, Clark Kent was active as a kid in smallville, and thus was Superboy, superman when he was a boy. He dealt with similar stories just with Lana replacing Lois, and Luthor as a ginger teenager. And it was these deeds as a teen hero on his own, one of the first honestly, that inspiried the legion and brande and forged the team. 

And it was naturally a super boy story where they were first introduced as the legion’s founders went back to recruit Superboy after putting him through some trials, and were intended as just one of many silver age one off concepts.. but caught on with the readers so much they were brought back, and had their ranks expanded and eventually not only added supergirl, yes the one your thinking of this time, to their ranks, and yes sometimes she and superboy were in the same place at the same time, Clark willingly had founding member and telepath Saturn Girl put a mental block in his head for any info he’s not supposed to know yet so it’s cool . But yeah not only that but they eventually became their own feature in Adventure Comics, where Superboy’s stories were published, but overtook him in popularity with time.  Over time a number of distinct aspects were established: The roster eventually got as large as 20 plus legionarres, almost all from diffrent worlds, and they eventually set up bilaws. Some are silly and dated such as “Legionarres marrying means they retire” which was eventually done away with in the 70′s, but others were simple logic: each member must have a unique power, no using weapons and such which rather than be super power snobbery is so said tech dosen’t fail and the legion later fully allowed Karate Kid, a martial artist, to join, no killing.. just common sense stuff that adds to it. And one of those is the centerpiece to today’s story, which we’ll get to in a moment.  Obviously given they’ve been around since 1958, there is a LOT more to the Legion’s history I will dig into at a later date: The short version is that Crisis on Infinite Earths, Dc’s first big reboot, fucked the team up badly by retconning superboy out of existance and dc editorial made it worse by shooting down EVERY solution the team came up with to fix the issue. So eventually things got so messy they nuked the whole thing during the event Zero Hour and rebooted fresh with Mark Waid taking the helm and updating the concept for the 90′s and being a more lighthearted, if still not without weight, comic in the sea of 90′s edge. Waid would reboot the team again due to sagging sales, a far weaker reason this time, with a more rebllion slant, the original team would be reinstated, and then ended for a while before recently being rebooted by Brian Micheal Bendis... who sadly is long past his creative prime from books like Ultimate Spider-man and alias and is instead stewing in his own toilet dinner these days and thus it’s not pretty.. well okay art wise i’ts VERY pretty, it’s just story wise it sucks dirty ass in thunder storms. There was also an awesome cartoon that sadly lasted only two seasons that I will DEFINTELY be digging into, especially since unlike x-men evolution, it’s not you know 50 some episodes and me biting off way more than I can chew but a slim 26 that still has fans to this day. I”ll get into ALL OF THIS, some ohter time hopefullly and I mostly outlined it since some of you might be familiar with another version or “Sigh” the reboot and this helps clear things up.  So yeah with all that out of the way we’re going back to the silver age and the first story I ever read of hte team, how I met them with “The Legion of Substitute Heroes” and a later subs story I genuinely love. I first read this story in one dc’s old expensive archives collections I got from the library. Oh how I miss the library. Your probably wondering who the legion of susbstite heroes are.. but since the first story covers that we can jump right in after the break!

So we open with a teen in a parka uniform disembarking from a spaceship from another planet, which a passerby notes is just like the airplanes people used to ride from country to country. 

But we meet our hero, Polar Boy, whose in a winter themed outfit and has come to try out. This is the tradition I was saving for now: The Legion Tryouts. Like a club or sports team would, but I like it because it makes sense: The Legion NEEDS to be as big as it is because while their headquartered on earth, their mission scope is anywhere in the united planets which spans GALAXIES. They could be called on any time and need their full force or need to have severa l members on a smaller mission and frequently having members away on a mission was cleverly used to reduce the cast to whoever was needed for the story. 

So it only makes sense to frequently look for new membbers to help strengthen their ranks... but given their teens and are recurting teens they need to be careful and need a logical way to reduce crowd flow. I mean you saw how many people used to line up for american idol before that died a justified death, people will do anything to be famous and they need to weed out those whose powers and skill just aren’t up to snuff yet, or those who are just dicks as, unsuprisingly, several stories have been built on assholes who applied and were rejected turning evil and attacking.. even though the Legion wasn’t even paticuarlly harsh. They also are more than fair as applicants CAN try again or if they prove themselves in other ways can be let in, as Bouncing Boy, my favoirite legionarre, was intially rejected for his power of .. well...

Yeah.. on paper inflating like a ball and bouncing around is kind of silly. In practice he can ricochet off enemies, walls, and obstacles and is fairly durable in that state. It’s why I don’t really brook mocking the guys power: yes it’s goofy.. but say that again when he hands you his ass. It’s the same with matter eater lad who yes is an actual character: While being able to eat anything is gloriously goofy.. it means he can chew through ANY substance and digest ANYTHING. Hell in the cartoon episode intorducing the subs they used both of these guys to great efffect: Bouncing Boy, who in the cartoon had to try out multiple times in his backstory, encouraged the future subs while Matter Eater Lad got in by EATING A FUCKING BOMB. He also had shades which I dind’t know he was missing but now I do. My point is the process is fair and well thought out and leads to some really fun scenes. 

But yeah joining the legion is naturally Polar Boy’s dream, as he walks down the avenue of heroes, basically a series of statues honoring the legion and hopes all his hard work paid off. We then cut to the auditions, where he apparently waited all night. What I like about this story is that unusually for the silver age legion where it was mostly a sea of powers attached to a bunch of cardboard, really the dc silver age in a nutshell and why marvel broke out so much for having more dynamic and realistic characters, Polar Boy has more of a personality. It’s not MUCH but he’s a dedicated, hard working kid who just wants to join his heroes and seems really in awe of htem, a feeling we can all relate to. We’ve all had people we’ve looked up to, admired, and we’ve all had groups we wanted to join as kids, teens or what have you. And of course.. we all know what it’s like to be rejected by someone or something you badly wanted to be a part of.  And that’s what happens to poor polar boy, who comes from a world with an intense sun thus his people developed super cold powers.. but he can’t control them well so while their impressive, they also freeze the legion. HIs powers are good... but due to their strength and radius he’s also a liablility. They give him an consolation anti-gravity belt.. they had these before eventually compressing them into the much cooler flight rings.. which I still desperatly want one of. I have the flash’s costume ring and a green lantern corps ring, but still no legion ring. 

Naturally this devistates the poor boy and he wonders around dispondent till nightfall, convinced he’ll never be one of them. He soon meets Night Girl, a fellow reject with super strength given to her by her dad’s formula.. but only in darkness as she’s from a world without sunlight. She also faces a “hopeless future” but it’s then Polar Boy’s true strength reveals itself: he decides screw giving up on their dream and if they can’t be in the legion they’ll start their own Legion. 

Though not to compete but to serve as a subtistute, in case the legion is ever incapacitated. So Night Girl gathers the other rejects the next morning. Cleverly one of them, Chlorophyll Kid was seen with Night Girl herslef at the tryouts behind Polar Boy. We soon learn about them and each of their origins: Stone Boy can turn himself into an immobile stone statue, as his world has half a year long nights and thus his people hybernate, Fire Lad who can spit hot fire literally and set anything combustable on fire and Chlorphyll Kid who can make plants grow rapidly. Each were rejected for resonable powers: Stone Boys powers too static, Fire Lad’s is too dangerous and Chorlpyl Kids toos pecific. But upon seeing all of this Polar Boy says they STILL have fantastic powers and still can help people and the legion. 

Thus the Legion of Substittue Heroes is born. And I love them as much as the originals. As a bit of a misfit myself I relate to these guys: They have strange specific powers, got rejected by the big team.. while that trope is nothing new at the time it was unique and even now it’s a nice and inspiring message. Instead of giving up they form their OWN team to do what htey can anyway. They might not be the best like the legion but they can still help and still do what’s right even if not on their scale. It’s a great concept and really makes them endearing. Again I have a thing for the underdogs but I still really like these guys. It’s why it annoys me they got kind of spat on with time: While I love Keith Giffen and Paul Levitz run on the legion, and feel it’s the best of that contnuinty it’s not without fault and the two basically spent a full issue mocking the team and split polar boy off from them before making their own subs with only ONE of the originals. It just felt.. disrspectful. And so far no continuity has used them again until the recent bendis run, which has them announced for the Future Slate special. It took BENDIS, who dosen’t get how to use the team properly and is up his own ass, to bring them back in a new continuity and I find that obnoxious. The subs are a great concept and deserve to be honored as such and as such are one of my favorite superhero teams. 

But their careers don’t start well as they doubt themslves, except for Polar Boy who boisters them along, and constnatly just end up going to missions the legion already has covered and when the legion go to fight some robot ships, they refuse the subs help.. which is fair though, as Brainy puts it they can’t risk putting untrained volunteers in harms way. Their about to just quit, in a really sad moment.. when CK, because I can’t spell cholophill and hate having to use spell check notices some odd seeds spread about.. and when he grows one a horrifying tree man shows up. They struggle with it till the setting son finishes it’s job, meaning Night Girl is at full power and whollops it and the subs spend the night destroying the seeds.  They  find out the next day the seeds came from the same planet as the robot ships, meaning the ships are a distraction for whoevers doing this and since they can’t just call earth, as the full force of the legion is needed with the robots and all it’d do is cause a panic, it’s down to them. Night Girl however is scared.. and I like that. It shows that while their regaining their confidence.. it’s sitll risky. Their a bunch of barely trained fanboys, and girl, going up against an alien invasion, with it down to them. They CAN save the world but it’s alright to be entirely terrified when your thrust into it this fast. 

They make their way to the planet, having built a ship earlier and lie low, finding out what’s going on: The plant men are fully intellegent, and grow themselves..though how they know to attack and go to the bathrom and what not out of the seed I don’t know but I assume it’s a genetic thing or they might be some form of hive mind. point is the seed plan is to grow troops all over the world via rockets for an invasion, and it’s a brilliant concept for one too. Aliens who simply GROW the troops right into battle, born with the knowledge to do so, and right where they can ambush them. It’s down to our heroes and Stone Boy, whose been the most pesemistic, valiantly dives in to provide a distraction so they can destroy the factory and the seeds. Turns out he is useful as the most the treeple have is a space lead pipe.. yes really. I love the silver age. But they’ll bring ray guns soon, so Stone BOy knows it’s a suicide mission and now our heroes have a timer. But luckily.. our heroes are stronger than they think. Night Girl punches a way in till Night passes, while Polar Boy and Flame Lad use their powers in concert to make an opneing.. but with time running out Polar Boy finishes things by having CK grow all the seeds now they have acess.. thus exploding the planets population, destroying several cities from the number of bodies, and thu discourguing the treeple from trying again. Stone boy is able to flee with the rest of our heroes and the day is saved. 

The heroes opt not to tell the public, as to take away glory for the Legion. It’s a noble gesture.. they do DESERVE credit, but they choose not to take it, preferring to let the legion get theres for stil lsaving the world from the robots. They stand firm, now confident they may someday make it to the big leagues.And it’s this that really makes me love them: Thier not the strongest or best, but they try anyway for the reasons a hero should: to help people, and not for the glory. THey remain unsung heroes and are fine with that.  Eventually the Legion WOULD find out about them, but naturally instead of being dickheads about it, fully accepted them, even offering them some contests for membership, but that’s a story for another day. THey’d remain stalwart allies and valuable backup in crisis situations for years to come until the bollocks outlined above. But they’d never leave my heart and thanks to them.. the legion never left either. 

Final Thoughts:  While I do love the story for it’s personal signifigance to me, It’s stilll a really good story for the time. A bit stilted as was the style, but still good, well paced and with an endaring cast of underdogs who prove themselves in the end. It’s something diffrent from the usual clean cut ahead in life wasps these stories usually followed at the time. While the team’s still all white and all that, their outcasts and misfits who just want to help and have trouble beliving in themselves. Their a good standard to live up to.. and a good inspiration for me and my constnatly self hating self doutbing self. And I hope you enjoyed htem too.  If you’d like to comission your own review, just dm me. It’s 5 bucks for individual issues. Later days. 

[fipindustries]

list of comics i made so far

i already shared the list of all the novels i tried to write throughout my llife so i see no reason why not to do the same with the comics i tried to work on. no i should clarify, with my lists of novels there was a clear cut distinction between what was a novel and a short story so to parse one from the other was an easy task. it should be known that i wrote hundreds of shorts stories that i havent shared with anyone. now a similar situation occurs with my comics, i have done hundreds upon hundreds of little comics, short jokes, little skits and short lived strips through my life, so in order to give this list some weight and not make it longer than the bible the criteria i used was that it had to be something i did on a regular basis or that tells a self contained story with a beggining middle and end.

now without further ado, lets begin!

spike Vanderville (age 7)

you can tell i was way more into comics than i was into novels from a young age. done with pen and folded paper, it was the story about a young kid called spike, whose design was heavily inspired by bradley from sticking around, who had magical powers which allowed him to manipulate reality. it was a mix of harry potter and a series of illustrates short stories that came in a magazine in argentina. his best friend was a scarecrow with a pumpkin head that he had brought to life, his archnemesis was a fat bully.

curiously enough i was so passionate about this project even though i had no idea what i was doing and no talent that i actually did like three full colored issues of it. my family was really proud of me. sadly those comics are completly lost to time

andrew and the monkey (age 10)

this was the classical story about a boy and his best friend the talking animal. one page comedy strips done in pen and paper. nothing too clever, just a way for me to try lame jokes mostly stolen from spongebob squarepants. not much else to it. i tried to do like a revamp in 2014 but it was short lived, as you can see the jokes didnt get any less lame

FIP industries (age 17)

mostly done in digital. yes as you can see fip is something that has followed me my whole life in quite the variety of mediums. there were as a matter of fact multiple attempts to make this comic a real thing but time and again they would peter off as i saw that my skill was just not up to the task. i think i have talked more than enough about fip industries on this blog, one interesting thing is that if you follow the link you will come across a lot of proto ideas that i had before they cemented and took their definite shape in the novel (and even after the novel i kept retconning and retooling things over and over again, fip industries is an ongoing thing that will probably last my entire lifetime)

Disregarding Reality I (age 20)

the first iteration of disregarding reality, a humorous strip done in pencil and paper, a fairly short lived affair, lasting no more than 3 months. the entire premise of the comic was an MRA activist and a feminist live together, they are friends, they argue a lot. remember 2013 guys? back when this whole politics bullshit truly kicked off online? this was before gamer gate, mind you. but by that point i had seen more than enough of it on tumblr and i was like “someone should do some scathing commentary with wit and penache” and that someone had to be me. mainly inspired by commics like f@nboys and el goonish hive and a thousand billion others that were so popular back in those halcyon days.

i got bored of it pretty quickly and it wouldnt be until three years later than i would finally decide to re-start the project but until then...

Strangers in the forest (age 21)

here comes a rather productive era in my ouvre, ink and paper, based on a short story i wrote, its about an eldritch monster pretending to be human and a ghost girl, killed by her father. they have a dispute because the monster wants to eat the corpse of the girl but the ghost doesnt want to give up her bones because its the one thing that tethers her to the mortal plane. they eventually resolve their dispute. by this point i was actually, unironically trying my best to do comics which i felt looked professional.

Song of a nightmare (age 21)

another one based on a short story i wrote. ink and paper, a private detective wakes up in the middle of the night and sees a mermaid lying in bed next to him. he spends most of the comic trying to figure out how the hell is this possible. still one of my favourite ones and certainly one of my family’s and friends favourites as well. a rather poetic tale, strongly inspired by argentinian fiction and their propensity towards magical realism, i was reading a lot of cortazar back then.

Aika (age 21)

as you can tell i was on a fucking roll that year. ink and paper, this was a story based upon a simple and basic idea that i had in my mind for years and years. i always liked the concept behind the movie “the kid” where bruce willis mysteriously comes across himself as a kid. so of course one day i came up with the idea, what if you recieved a visit from your future self... but she was a woman?

this is probably the most aggresively trans story i ever wrote in my life, it is literally about a guy realizing they are trans and breaking down over it. here is the giant kicker, i did not realize at all what i was doing. i was completly unaware of what was going on here, i was still deep deep in the closet and not even realizing i was there. it really is astounding the honesty and the rawness with which i wrote this comic and it went all over my head. a perfect example of “im such a great ally lol”

oh also there is time travel i guess. my main impetus (beyond whatever my subconcious was forcing me to do) was my desire to make a complete clusterfuck of a story, i was a huge fan of homestuck, i had read fleek and demon, i wanted to do my own take on a hypercomplicated time travel puzzle plot. other things came out on top of it but i didnt noticed them. fucking hilarious

Hello Agatha (age 21)

a comedic strip about a wacky pixie dream girl having wacky adventures with her wacky friends, one of which is a man with a toilet for a head. what a gut buster, what a knee slapper!

there is not much to say about this one, wacky surreal comedy was always my favourite and so time and again i would try my hand at it but it is surprisingly hard to do!

The /co/ ventures! (age 20 - age25)

an ongoing project done in multiple mediums. i think i said more than enough about this in here and here. it was me practiscing comics, practiscing my humor and adding my tiny grain of sand to the 4chan culture. i am proud to say these comics were actually very well liked there and that i would be recognized without a name or signature of any kind, just on the strength of my style.

the vest kind of madness (age 22)

probably one of the projects in which i put the biggest amount of effort to make it look professional. traditional inks and digital colors. a crossover that i cant believe never happened in comics considering how obvious it is. Rac Shade, the changing man and delirium of the endless, the two flagship vertigo characters associated with madness. clearly a match made in heaven.

to this day im flabbergasted i seem to be the only one to think of this.

Disregarding Reality II (age 23)

another work where i have already spilled rivers of bytes explaining my thought process behind it. after having a no good, terrible, very bad day, finding my self aimless and without purpose, deep in denial and depression, i decided to give my self a big project to have something to get me out of bed every day. these three guys came from the depths of my mind to save me.

this time leaning a lot more on silly humor and surrealism than political commentary, still insanely proud of how much i managed to make this last, almost three years, well over 200 pages! and in here i found the inspiration and the creative energy to tackle all sorts of diverse projects of which we are about to see all about.

Mama Bird (age 24)

my masterpiece.

by far the best comic i ever did. a kid with a bird for a mom. hilarious, touching, heartbreaking. it was a concept that i had come up with when i was 21. back then it was supposed to be exclusively a humorous comic strip but then i found a dramatic angle for the story and that was when everything clicked into place. that was when i realized this was a comic i had to do. and i did it. it took me five months but it was well worth it. still insanely proud of this one

Soft boys (age 25)

a weird experimental little story where i decided to sit down and deconstruct one of the most popular superpowers. super elasticity. more akin to me just mashing my toys against each other than me trying to tell a serious story. i am actually really happy with some of the art here and some of the sequences presented. particularly the final one where a brick joke twenty pages in the making finally pays off.

Hexen Snatch (age 25)

a semi spinoff to my novel FIP industries, we focus on a side character that managed to survive after the events of the novel and how they’ll manage to survive further beyond that. insanely soaked by the magical world of pact by widbow i wanted desperatly to share my own take on magic, every page is accompanied by a little text where i expand upon the lore and the way magic is supposed to work on this world. i really like the prose on those snippets and the ideas they work almost more that the comic itself with which i was not happy at all when i was working on it. i didnt like the character design, i didnt like how the art in general was coming out, i didnt like the pacing of the story or how superficially we were getting to expore this world in the comic proper. i had to take a very long hiatus just to accumulate the will to finish the comic and once i did i feel it really petered off without much of a satisfying payoff.

on some level i blame the exhaustion and frustration that i came out of this comic with for the fact that i ended up quitting disregarding reality soon afterwards.

Maxplosive (age 26)

another project that has followed me across multiple mediums. came up with an idea for a videogame back in 2015. saved it on the back pocket for a while, used it as a story within a story on my novel fan.tastic, practisced a couple of animations with the characters and eventually decided that, if my skills at videogame making were not enough, i had at least more than poven myself as a comic artist so maybe that was the definitive medium in which this idea would have to exist.

the original idea was to tell the story in two parts, the first half would introduce the character and the videogame as if the comic was a playthrough of the game. all fun and childlike and innocent. then the second half was meant to explore the life of the main character as an adult, how being “a videogame protagonist” had ruined her body, her mental health and her life. i tried all sorts of weird stuff with the format here, using reciclable assets, static camera angles and generally presenting the whole thing as if it was a videogame.

sadly the project got too big for my breaches, i was fucking exhausted back then, swamped with a bunch of other projects, my job, other responsabilities, unsatisfied with the story and with no idea where to take it. eventually i got tired, decided to skip a day, then the day became a week and then the week became a month and by then i had to face the facts, i was just no longer able to continue the comic. and so i quit not only maxplosive but disregarding reality all together.

i still did the occasional comic here and then but it wouldnt be until the very end of 20-fucking-20 that i was finally inspired to tackle a new project, my newest one, my last one....

Lapsarian (age 27)

an interesting experiment, i decided to do the whole comic in one sit and then post it chapter by chapter on a weekly basis. a surprising result of this was that i managed to do in one month the same amoung of pages that would have taken me 5 months back when i started disregarding reality, is good to see that after al this time i still got it.

took me a while to get the hang of it again and find my own style once more but once i armed up it was smooth sailing for 40 pages all the way to the end. but what is this comic even about?

its... weird, with full disclosure and no shame, it is mostly a fetish story about big lizard creatures commiting vore. the milkman had already shown me that i could do those types of stories and no lighting would come from the heavens to strike me down so i said, why not as a comic? i like to think that beyond the fetish content it is still a decent story in its own right, an interesting feedback that i got from this is that people are suprised how earnest it is, one saying something like “this is the best pitch for a fetish that i was never interested in”

Conclussion:

looking back on this im surprised, turns out i was a lot more prolific and working a lot more regularly than i expected, in here are documented ten years of creative output that never seems to wane. it was fun to do the roundabout trip and see how my style, my technice and generally my work ethic evolved through the years. another nice thing to see is the multiple formats, the multiple tools and mediums i experimented with, i find myself constantly trying new things, new methods, new angles, new interesting ideas for how to make a comic (without even getting into what to make a comic about).

something i always knew about myself was that drawing is a fundamental part of who i am, it is something that just cant be taken away from me and that will always be a part of my life one way or the other, is good to see it so plainly, in black and white, on this list. here goes for what i might be able to do in the future

[masterfuldoodler]

Here's for all my artist followers/mutuals. Some positivity and tips on art, even if you already know some of this here's your reminder so you don't forget, cuz this is important. ;)

• Be ambitious but don't expect perfection.

It is okay to sit down with a great picture in mind, or a brilliant idea. Go ahead and draw it. But don't get upset with yourself if it doesn't turn out exactly how you wanted. It's a hard thing to learn but your mistakes truly do teach you. Very rarely do you get things right first try. First you have to learn what you can't do before you realize what you can. And that can be different for different people. Some might trip over the same thing many times while others don't and that's just something about being different people and having different art.

I believe that there is no "perfect" art. There is always room to grow and more things to learn. So don't "expect" or "hold yourself" to a level of perfection if there is no such thing.

• Milestones.

Now, you can push yourself to a certain place. Set smaller milestones for yourself leading to the place you want to be. More like steppingstones through art. Start smaller and at the level you are, there's no shame in that. Stretch yourself slowly and more gentle and you'll have a better time, emotionally and in your actual art.

Set a milestone for starting, set a milestone for drawing half bodies, set a milestone for full body, a milestone for hands, a milestone for profiles. And each one of these doesn't mean perfection or exactly to your liking, but actually trying to do it and making the effort. And when you reach the point when you're ready to try hands, just draw a bunch of hands, let a lot of the pictures you have, have hands in it. But don't feel like that's all you have to draw too.

• References.

There seems to be this thing that if you can't draw without a reference you're not making real art. That the only valid art is reference free. BUT THAT IS NOT TRUE. It is very not true. Art IS an expression of your surroundings, you are allowed to use your surroundings or pictures of them to help you. So don't feel bad. Look up the shirt you want to draw. Look up a picture of the pose, look up the hand in that position, it's valid and fair.

• Consume art.

Now I don't mean literally go eat art but I'm pretty sure you got that. I mean look at art, study it, look up different artists. You know how when you're learning a new language it helps to hear natives speaking it, even if you don't know those words they're saying right then? You're in all it, it's being spoken around you and you can hear the accent and you get a better grip on it. Art is the same way. You get to see the other artists work, see how they tackle the kinds of things you're doing, and how they created stuff. So not only are you making things, but you get to see all the amazing things other people have. And it can inspire you. Be in art and it will help because! Onto this next point-

• Art Study.

Study the art you like. Or study famous artists. If you see a piece you like don't just stop at "oo I like that!". Stop and actually look at it, take the time to realize why you like it. Look at how they drew their lines, look at how they colored it, look at the different shades they use and how they portrayed they light and shadows. Look at how they expressed what they did. How they drew the eyes, the nose, the mouth. Figure out how they conveyed what they did. And then apply it to your own art. It will help you grow in your skills. And it will also help you appreciate art more! So win win.

• Be diligent.

I know that everyone always says "practice art and you'll get better." And the thing is they're not wrong. It's only annoying and not useful when they don't say anything else. The reason practice is so useful is because when you are practicing you're doing it everyday consistently. Practice drawing the shape of the head, the hand, folds of fabric. But don't just redraw the same thing! Try drawing the hand in a different pose, or the folds falling in a different way, or the head at a different angle. That is practicing, that is stretching your skill.

But a very important thing though. You do not need to be practicing everytime you draw. And you do not need to practice everyday. You are definitely allowed to draw something just as a doodle for fun, and you're allowed to not draw that day, it's all fair. Don't ever push yourself to learn and grow so much so that it becomes a task and not something you are doing because you want to. If you push it that far you'll loose the fun and love you had for it and you'll never feel the enjoyment of it, it'll just be something you can't get right.

• Draw what you want.

I can guarantee you that if you draw what you actually want to draw you will have much more drive and motivation to finish it. If you draw it just for the sake of doing it you might not ever draw it, or finish it, or be proud of your accomplishments. Draw the things that you think of and want, the ideas you have, the stuff you love, and you'll have much more success.

• Don't worry about your style.

You might look around you at other artists who have their own style, nice and polished, and then look at your own that's changing all the time and doesn't seem to be consistent. You want to have your style ™. Don't worry about your style! Your style comes with you through your art journey, and if you try to get a style right out you'll actually hinder yourself. While styles can help you express things differently or quickly, they can also stop you from progressing. You'll be stuck drawing in the "style" and won't be free to shake things up and broaden your skill. You'll find your quirks and art style as you learn how to draw, and how you want to draw.

• Have fun.

Enjoy the drawing while you're doing it! Have fun! Drawing is a joy not a chore.

If you ever feel like it's becoming burdensome or difficult and you're just not having a good time anymore stop. Set back. Relax. Do something else for awhile. And come back to it later, maybe even a different day. You don't have to finish every piece when you start it. So just enjoy drawing while you are and stop if you're not! Having fun is more important.

Thank you for listening to me ramble, have a good day and enjoy it!

[comicteaparty]

April 20th-April 26th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from April 20th, 2020 to April 26th, 2020.  The chat focused on Only In Your Dreams! by Tuyetnhi Pham.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Only In Your Dreams! by Tuyetnhi Pham~! (http://oiydcomic.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until April 26th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

5. I like how distinctive the character designs are! The mcs are both very unique and recognizable

8. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it also explores some real neat concepts

the story is full of personality

carcarchu

the comic's not loading for me shakes fist at wifi, gonna try again tomorrow but i just wanted to say the look of the site is really cute!

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Got the chance to read it So here are some of my thoughts: 1. I like the romantic atmosphere that the comic starts off with warm colours and it gives a vacation ad sensation? 2. My favourite moment is in the pink strange dream world, the colours contrast to the reality of Cara. 4. Fave moment: When that mystery guy shows up and he had corny lines like a romantic parody. It seem so fantastical. 5. I like the colour palette choice of brown tones, shades of pinks. 6. I think the theme is about expectations (it's not clear atm), how Cara is distancing from real relationships and prefer to indulge. 7: I like how the creator shows Cara looking scared of confronting things. It sets an interesting tone of uncertainty. Is she hiding something?(edited)

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I'm super curious about the situation of Cara not remembering her past dreams with Richie, and how that ties into the theme.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

1. I like how I don’t know what to expect. I also like how the premise is relateable; the idea that you are scared of imperfection making you have high standards in life hit close. 2) Every single time we’re treated to....Tuyetnhi’s lovely use of expression. Also the end part of episode 2, because that’s when I realized it’s going to get dark. 3) A tie between Ana and Richie. Ana because she makes me laugh with her blunt assertions (which...aren’t wrong) and Richie because he’s so flamboyant and extra. I love how much personality they all have. 4) Hands down Richie and Cara. They have a really hilarious dynamic going on. 6) The idea that people seek perfection through their dreams instead of facing reality. Also I really liked how it tackles society’s fixation on everyone to find someone....maybe Cara doesn’t need that and needs to focus on herself first? 7) That I won’t know what to expect. I came into this thinking it was going to be a classic romcom, and then I get hit with implicit horror and trippyness. I have a feeling Tuyetnhi is hinting at some darker aspects of the story we have yet to see. 8) Good lord the expressions. They really do the story justice and make me turn the page every time. Also the colours are beautiful.(edited)

(Whoops sorry keiiii)

7) two moments actually!

The fact that their wide eyed sweaty expressions matched made me laugh really hard

And also Cara’s quick acceptance of the situation was so unexpected and hilarious I took a double take. Also props to the colour dissonance; that looks like meme material right there!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah. I want to make it clear that Cara is like "This is really not my day." lol

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Well....you portrayed that sentiment perfectly

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Omg yes the wide eyed expressions were also making me laugh! Well that was an expression I didn't expect coming into the story(edited)

I was wondering if that was suppose to be serious or humorous?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

both LOL

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I see the horror you got going there Tuyetnhi Reminds me of...I dunno Jojo?

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

well............ yes and no lol

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

But I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen

Although...if we’re going by the silhouette....is she scared of herself?

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

C:

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

I like that sense of not knowing what's happening? :)(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

that will be coming up in Ch. 3 soon

so please wait till then thank u lol

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

So far it's tough to choose a fave character right now since I feel the story has just started its first segment. I would like to wait until more content is shown before I can make a firm choice? (I'm analytical, I like to go over OCs flaws and strengths once I know more about them)(edited)

I'm curious to learn about her ex crush, since we only get a glimpse of how Cara precieve him. But what is Dean really like? *Drum rolls(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

you got.... good questions

it will be rewarded.... later on LOL

mariah (rainy day dreams)

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? I really liked the colors and island vibe. And this was even before Animal Crossing came out and I started hardcore living that island life I just love a good, soft pink to purple gradient generally speaking so the opening of the story was like falling into a comfy brain pillow for me. 2-4 I'm just gonna answer these ones kind of all together because they thoughts on then are all kind of threaded together into one big thought. After having read through the archive I really liked the scene with Ana and Cara. When I first read it I was like "dang, she's giving Cara such a hard time," but after having read the scenes where Cara just refused to admit to Richie she doesn't know what's going on I really retroactively appreciated Ana's willingness to call Cara on her bullshit XD I think it's a really good foil trait to have for a protagonist who seems dead set on avoiding confrontation even though it seems like doing so is most likely just gonna come back to bite her later. I imagine we aren't going to see Ana for a while though unless Cara is able to use her Phone A Friend card in the dream realm XD I am also looking forward to seeing more of the Cara doppelganger and how she and Cara interact with each other going forward. That feels like an exciting and drama filled mystery

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? I also love the atmosphere. The color choices are just so beautiful. 2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)? Ana pointing out Cara's BS hahahaha. 3. Who is your favorite character? Definitely Ana. She's so down-to-earth from what I can tell, someone I'd want to be friends with. 4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most? Probably Ana and Cara. I like to see good friendships depicted, especially in a romance. 5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it! In general, everything is so soft and pretty. I also really appreciate the fact that all the characters have larger noses. If I had a favorite panel, it would be at the beginning, the sunset beach waves. 6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores? So far, I'm not sure about themes, but I like the talk about the pressure parents give to their children to get married. 7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content? There's a lot of mystery, so I'm looking forward to learning about Cara's dreams, Richie, and the key. 8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are? The visuals are really nice. I can't stop gushing about the color choices and the pretty atmosphere.(edited)

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

The way Cronaj sums up their thoughts on OiYD, I'm agreeing with the statement on Ana and Cara! Esp friendship part

Deo101 [Millennium]

I'll answer the questions hopefully later this week, but this song reminded me of the comic!!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4z5ecLCvSQ(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

@Deo101 [Millennium] damn that’s a good song

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Oooo

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

He's definitely hot and extra

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

lmao

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

My joke idea is that Cara is secretly in a reality show starring Richie and her and the bonds they play out is meant for a live broadcast. But she's clearly not agreeing to this(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh god. i don't think that's good for Cara's mental state lmao

Feather J. Fern

Also I have to say, I do love how the first cover is literally Cara being the meme of "Oh no he's hot"

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

fjdkalfdjdklfj

Feather J. Fern

Also I finally started it, while a bit late, I have to relate to Cara being an accountant.

Also I think my favourite panel is "Welp that worked"

Also I have to appreciate picking a pink that doesn't grate on the eyes.

https://gyazo.com/71fe22ea6ac2ebf6b3d85531c66bf8ed Another really good panel

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I enjoyed making that one LOL

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

that face is one of my favourites not gonna lie

Feather J. Fern

I really like the surrealness of the story, can't wait to see what happens next

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

same! I feel like something is about to happen

I'm also wondering how Richie would react to the real world

like....the ex. And her parents.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

soon™️

Feather J. Fern

More like everyone reacting to Richie XD

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Yeah pretty much

Like can Richie handle the world?

More like

Can the world handle RICHIE

RebelVampire

I like that the beginning really contrasts the dream and Cara's reality pretty quickly. I kind of feel it catches that feeling of coming out of a dream to face reality which kind of sucks, and also plays into the themes of dream vs. reality and expectation vs. reality. It's very easy to idealize things, whether as a route of escapism or just because it sounds appealing. But the reality of things generally is always different, and I like that we're seeing this full force in the comic through Cara's perspective. And the contrasts between the two really enhance those topics. My favorite moment in the comic so far is probably when Cara meets what I assume is Dean. Cause I really loved that both parties were kind of at fault, and I also liked how quickly that convo devolved into a grumpfest, because that felt very realistic. My favorite character right now is definitely Richie, because he is ridiculous and sympathetic at the same time. I adore his exaggerated personality, while at the same time feel sorry for him since for him the memories are clearly there and like...I would not want to be in the shoes of someone where the person they loved no longer remembered them. As for character interacting the most, Cara and Richie because that entire premise of one person remembering and the other not makes for a really tense and awkward situation. It's hard to tell where it's going to go. What I like about the art is the palettes of color chosen, since there's some beautiful scenery as well as fantastic contrasts when needed to make certain moments pop (like dream vs. reality).

As for the story content, what I actually like the most is that Cara is a flawed protagonist. I've read a lot of stories where the protagonist is always 100% right in the relationship and is just eternally the victim because society pressure. But Cara has a lot more going on, since she's clearly been at fault in some interactions, and while we can sympathize with people pressuring her into relationships, she also maybe takes it too far by being avoidant of basically every relationship. However, since she has these traits, I'm more invested into her personal dilemmas since she'll actually make mistakes when dealing with stuff. Which I think this is the overall strength of the comic. Cara is just a damn good protagonist who is easily likeable but isn't perfect and whose imperfections are not just brushed off so easily.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

;_; .... thank you.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

I love the story so far! When I first started, I figured it would be some sort of awkward story where Richie comes into the real world and he has to figure out how to, like, act natural, and hilarity ensues. But holy cow, Cara losing her memories, and the slide into somewhat of a horror angle - it's not something I expected (though admittedly I could have read the synopsis lol), but it's definitely something I like!(edited)

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. Do you think the people around Cara were right to try and pressure her into a relationship? Overall, what do you think the comic has to say about relationships and the themes regarding relationship pressure?

10. Is what Cara experiencing dream or reality, and where is the line between them in this case? Additionally, why do you think her dreams have the potential to become reality as opposed to other people? Also, what is the overall message underlying these themes?

11. Is Richie really just a dream Cara dreamt up, or is there something more to him? If he somehow makes it to Cara’s world, do you think he’ll be able to adjust to that reality? Also, can he win Cara over?

12. What do you think the Cara imposter is about, and what does this have to do with the entire situation? Do you think Cara will eventually remember her dreams? Lastly, what do you think Cara has in store for her as the story continues?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

9. I personally don’t think it was great of the people in Cara’s life to pressure her like that. Sure, they mean well, but it’s most likely bringing Cara’s self esteem down by a lot. I have a feeling that her dreams/reality colliding together is partially motivated by that; the pressure of pleasing society has made her....subconsciously take drastic measures?

10. I’m actually not sure! Maybe there’s a supernatural explanation to it, or it could all just be a dream. Dreams have a way of showing a person’s innermost desires or fears, so maybe Cara’s desires and fears are coming alive in response to external stress factors. So perhaps she opened a portal of sorts between the realms in some way (there’s a key!!!!).

11. Oh I’m thinking they might end up together. But the realist inside me thinks...perhaps what Cara needs isn’t romantic love, but more independent love and being able to love herself. What DOES worry me, however, is the fact that Richie seems...a bit desperate for Cara to like him. Is there a condition to his love after all? If so, that means that it’s possible he’s forced in some way to love her or make her love him. And that’s not really conducive to romance, is it?

12. Ah...the thing that makes me mystified the most. Cara seems to have a negative view of herself, since she told her to get out in the end of chapter two. However, Cara #2 seems to be pretty helpful; knocking on the door to tell her to get out of the house (which Richie has her in), so in a way letting her out. While our Cara seems to dislike her a lot, I think the key to the story would be our Cara needing to accept this double Cara to be really free. Maybe she will, maybe she won’t! But from what I can see from the story and like I’ve said earlier...maybe Cara needs to be able to find love within herself. Love for that Cara double, and enough love to become independent and not bend to society’s overwhelming pressure for outside romance. I hope she finds that as the story comes along, and know that it’s okay to not be ready for love.

As for Richie...hmm. He’s dealing with an amnesiac heroine, and adjusting to the real world. I’m sure it’s going to lead to some hilarious hijinks, but hopefully he can manage! He seems up to the task

RebelVampire

I think whether people were right to pressure Cara is a tricky gray area. On the one hand, no, they were wrong. Nobody should be forced into a relationship. But on the other hand, if you know a person is actively self-sabotaging, isn't it more correct to speak up? So to me this is maybe a situation of good intentions with bad execution. However, I do think overall the comic does say pressuring people into relationships sucks and plz don't do that cause that's how you make ppl run further away. I think it's both, because a dream is reality in a sense. I think many of us have had dreams that caused real emotional affects, whether negative or positive. So the line between them is merely the fact effects are limited. Cara have may have just found a way to cross that line and make a dream a tangible thing that has more consequences. As for why her dreams, I don't know. Maybe she's just super good at dreaming. I do think as the overall message though is that dreams are good but not when we get lost in them, because then we idealize and reject "reality" in ways that aren't healthy. I do think Richie is primarily something Cara dreamt up, but kind of not maybe. Like sure maybe Cara is idea creator, but something else was involved in making the physical reality of that idea. As for Richie adjusting to Cara's world, I'm sure it will be laughably hilarious. I do think he can sort of win Cara over, at least in the sense of being friends. Cause how can you hate Richie? I'm taking a shot in the dark and saying Cara imposter is the embodiment of Cara's missing memories but since they're just memories, all they can do is imitate. As for Cara remembering, I feel like it will be yes but I kind of want it to be no. I like the idea of them having to reform a relationship entire from scratch.

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Oo good impressions! I wish I have more to say but it would affect the story LOL. Enjoyed reading everyone's theories tho!

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Ok my turn, let's see what my head theories are: 9: I felt the same annoyance as Cara but it's a mixed feeling, Even though, people shouldn't pressure a lady on her love life, she also has a problem with being in relationships. Or I remember one quote from the story was how she 'ditched her dates by rushing to the bathroom.' although I don't know her circumstance, I do know she has issues to settle too. Relationship pressure is real, especially as a young person grows older. 10. From the comic visuals, it feels much like it's her escapism dream. The only clue I got, is that her holding a literal 'key' connecting both worlds, is evidence that both world could collide. So far, we haven't seen other people's dreams, or whether this is an unusual occurrence in the world? It seems to be a message about idealistic relationships. Since Cara seem to turn away real ones, it manifested? 11. I'm curious about Richie's character too. He seems like a powerful imagination, enough to sway the lead, so he's more than a simple figment. I wonder if his submissive, flirtatious (?) personality was build in him. He doesn't seem to have a 'life' outside his dream house, or so far. 12. I'm not sure whether the 'Other Cara' might be trying to help her or is that.. actually a shadow side? I don't want to say too much, but it's interesting to see where the story goes.(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Oh! You make a good point about Richie; I never thought about that! Do you think maybe he's simply a part of Cara and eventually gains his own sentience/personality?

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Hehe I like analyzing dreams :3 In dream theory, I feel he could be? I was more skeptical whether he should be treated as a real character or something else.(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

man this does make me want to look up dream psychology

i have a feeling...Tuyetnhi is using some theories from that

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Hmmmm dream psychology you say?

I guess you can say there's some elements of that, but it's not a major chunk of it if that makes sense lol

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

13. Maintaining the will power to finish OIYD! so I can see it as its end lmao. As a passion project but also something that I want to invest in when I have the time, I hope ya'll looking forward in reading Ch. 3 very soon lol.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

13. I really want to see how both Cara and Richie will develop as characters. Whether Cara will figure out for herself what being both independent means....and whether she does want a relationship for herself and not for other people. Likewise with Richie, I want to see if he'll be able to be his own person...and whether he's real or not. I have a lot of questions that I want to be answered, and I can't wait to keep reading.

14. Tuyetnhi, good luck on the webcomic. It's hard to start one and even harder to pull off a good one, and I know yours is a good one. I really look forward to reading more from you. You're amazing (edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

thank you

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

13. I'm interested in learning more about Cara's conflicts, why she is hesitant about having a real relationship vs her dream one? I love the unexpected dark twist that the story seems to be going. 14. I want to say, no pressure and take your time to complete the chapter. Just know you have my support and willing to read when it is ready. Good luck

RebelVampire

I'm looking forward to more Richie being Richie. Because he is an adorable person. And also because I'm waiting for some 'reality' culture shock. My final words are that this comic has a strong themes game going on and an intriguing premise, so it'll be fun to see where the comic is in a few more chapters since I'm pretty sure we're in for a wild ride.

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Only In Your Dreams! this week! Please also give a special thank you to Tuyetnhi Pham for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Only In Your Dreams!, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://oiydcomic.com/

Tuyetnhi’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/oiydcomic

Tuyetnhi’s Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/tuyetnhip

Tuyetnhi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/tuyetnhip

[pepperstrawberry]

Anime or not to Anime...

This post got looong. So, yeah Pepper rant and ramble. Going to put it all under the cut. X3

So... a post thing that happened earlier reminded me of one of my biggest pet peeves: What is and isn’t an ‘anime’.

So... while ‘anime’ can -generally- be used as an identifier of animations made in Japan, it’s really just another word that muddles the conversation.

Anime is literally a borrow word from English: A NI ME SHION. Animation.

Yes, I know for the most part this is common knowledge, but it isn’t often -applied- as common knowledge.

Often when folks are in a discussion, a debate, or even an argument about Anime, it’s often used as a hard line ‘style’ or ‘medium’.

Anime is neither.

Animation is a medium the world over. And every part of the world has different approaches, attitudes, and styles within the medium that effects the local ‘crop’ that is produced.

but we live in an interconnected, global world. Have for many years. So we effect each other, by trope, by culture, by style. Hell even before ‘Anime’ came over here, Osamu Tezuka was inspired and influnced by Disney. ‘Anime’ was effected by American cartoons (which weren’t always a word for ‘animation for children, that connotation came later, and even became a bit of a degragotory term. as if ‘cartoons are for kids and we don’t have to try to make it quality’).

Now, I can’t remember if one came first or the other (and I”m too lazy at the moment to do a google search), but either things like the Hanna Barbera cartoons where influenced by the cost saving tricks that Anime learned, or the other way around, but America and Japan have actually been very influential for much longer then what we think. 

Trying to draw a specific line between what’s Japanese and what is American (or even what comes from anywhere else) as a specific way to categorize what should and shouldn’t look a certain way only muddies the conversation about animation.

Yes, when it comes to talking about certain works, or cultural impact, or how culture can effect a work, place can matter. But when arguing what is and isn’t an ‘anime’, I want you to remember one thing:

In japan? IT’S ALL ANIME.

They might say American Anime like we say ‘Japanese Anime’, but the only reason why they would use something like Cartoon is similar to how we use ‘anime’, that is to short hand -where- a show comes from.

That’s it. Where. Not animation style or anything. Because there is no reason. Sure, some of our stuff they might look down on, and some of thier stuff isn’t all that hot too.

You know why?

Because there isn’t a single monolithic animation studio in American OR Japan. We both have many animation studios. Plural. With many different styles tackled. Some focus on specific styles and tropes, some can be all over the place.

Like, Disney tends toward pretty homogonistic work (tends, not always), and similarly, Kyoto Animation (kyoani) tends to be the same way.

But the on the other hand, we have things like Cartoon Network Studios and Bones that handle a lot of different styles.

Yes, I know there is a lot of hairs we can split about that, but my base point is: If I am asked is ‘Korra’ an anime, or if it’s not. I don’t know my answer.

Going by the approach of the style, I would say yes.

But going by country it was made, I would say no.

And in the end, does it matter? No. Because both answers are right. Neither is really wrong. Because, again, the word ‘anime’ is only really special to us in american. We try to pigeon hole it as if it described a style.

And sure, there is still that ‘country of origin’ argument... accept 1) Folks from japan worked on it and Avatar to some extent.

And more importantly, both have a lot of the grunt work done in Korea. Seriously. Like, the more you try to define it specifically to use the word, the more you either make the word meaningless or leave out things you thought were ‘anime’.

I’m not saying ‘lets not use it’, cause in general usage, it is useful. It’s easy to -generally- point to something and say ‘that’s anime’ and generally mean ‘it was created in japan’.

I’m just saying getting all pedantic and bent out of shape about it is a fruitless waste of time when we can have more intelligent and interesting conversations.

Like: Was an element or style used well in this or that show? Was there problematic elements. Was it fun? Well animated? Did whatever style was chosen, no matter country of origin, fit the tone needed to carry the story being told. Where did they cut on the budget and did it pay off or only make things worse?

Example: The Dragon Prince. Is it anime? I don’t care. It’s style works well enough for what they are going for. My issue with it is that they tried to use a trick to make it look like 2d animation by cutting out some frames. Worked well for the action scenes but made the slower scenes somehow way herky jerky and made the whole thing feel like a really cheep production.

(I would dredge up some japanese animation examples, but I’ve been out of the loop, and it’s been years since I binged much. only recently watched Heroman all the way through and working on My Hero Academia. And by the by, where does Heroman fall? Sure, it’s made in japan, but conceived by Stan Lee. And I’m sure if we dug a bit, we could find more fun examples of that.)

My bottom line here is, for general purposes, using ‘anime’ for what looks and feels like anime should be fine. It’s like using ‘sci fi’ or ‘fantasy’. It’s less about the exactness of the tropes or style used, and more like this difficult to define ‘that’ that we look at a thing and see.

Oh, also: Manga, also known as ‘Manhwa’ in Korea, means ‘sequential art’. I.E. COMICS. Same thing. And again, my entire spiel above? Applies here too. LIke, putting it all under ‘its manga’ only serves to try and say where its from... but the trouble with that is even more then with Anime/cartoons there are a crap ton of artists influenced as much if not more by those that created stories we like from japan as much as those from America.

And saying ‘manga style’ doesn’t help. Which style? Japanese influenced I can go for, but it is a mouth full.

I think my main argument is we are hitting a point of media saturation where the argument for Anime and Manga (aside from a very basic short hand) is loosing any real meaning.

Tropes, style, inspirations. These are more interesting to discuss. Which japanese or american artists (or even others) were you influenced by is much better angle of discussion if going deeper then the most basic general audience knowledge base.

If you are an artist, and I am an artist and we are discussing art, I think the second we start trying to parse out what is or isn’t anime outside of that layman level, it’s best to stop worrying about it. I think it’s more interesting to discuss what directly influenced RWBY beyond just ‘anime’. And how well did it use those influences.

I mean, look at WB. Teen Titans really -tried- to reference and be all ‘super deformed kawaii’ and in that ended up in tone whiplash with some of the more heavier story elements. Sometimes it does it well like Trigun did**, and many many other times? Yeah. But then look at all the other shows they have made since.I love Young Justice. Granted it doesn’t get as super looney tunes/super deformed kawaii silly with it’s jokey-ness, but it does still have a sense of humor at times and does very well. If we stuck with the ‘is it anime’ just going by style alone, I would say ‘yes’. The shading, the way they make many of the battles. It really works like that. It’s just it wasn’t created in Japan.

So yeah. Basically what I”m saying is, if you start trying to split hairs about what is or isn’t anime with me, your wasting your time. It’s not that it isn’t an interesting question on it’s own (that could do with a lot of research to see who influenced what. I’m sure there is more of a rabbit hole then I have already touched on); but when arguing about shows themselves, it’s just a waste of energy when we could be having more fun discussing the show itself.

(**I have always felt, no matter japanese, american, or anywhere, that show balanced its tone shift amazingly. top marks... granted, the ending was kinda... abrupt, but that is a common problem and I think it even handled that decently well given the situation)

[icypantherwrites]

IcyPanther’s Fanart Contest Judging and Statistics Post

First off, I would like to say thank you so so so so so much to the amazing artists who participated in this contest. We ended with a total of 17 entries which means I am awarding the tier one and two prizes; a 5k-7k fic of choice and a 2k-3k whump trope prompt fic, respectively.

A few (fun?) statistics about the entry selections:

17 total entries

As Color Fades Away: 11 entries

The Purity of Sin: 2 entries

Disjointed Soul: 3 entries

(Un)breakable Bonds: 1 entry

Hope: The Truest Treasure and Burning Bright series: 0 entries

Of the 11 entries for Color... 5 of them were of the same scene. I’m dying xD (Lance is too jajajaja *shot* *stabbed* *shot again*)

A number of people reported this was their first time drawing/drawing this way and I’m so touched you were inspired by my works to do so!

Only one misspelling of my name in tags and it wasn’t “icypanter” so I’ll take it ;p 

One entry submitted on the first day of the contest opening (well, within 24 hours)

Six entries received on the last day of the contest (one with literally four minutes to spare ;p)

JUDGING

Judging is being done on a number of categories for a most fair assessment across the board. As I stated in the original contest post, this is not just an art contest to where the most talented artist gets the win. I wanted people of all talent levels to participate and have a chance because that’s what makes it fun ♥

On that note, there are a total of five categories that were considered during judging. Each category awards a point of one to three, so a perfect entry would have a score of fifteen (these numbers are privy only to me though ;p) The breakdown is as follows:

Artistic Talent

This category still gets a nod because I would like to acknowledge the entries that are beautifully executed in regards to composition, proportions, shading, colors, linework, etc. That talent is a hard-earned skill and should be commended ♥

Effort

While all of the judging categories carry equal weight this is a personal big one for me. I put a lot of effort into my works and will most definitely do the same to the contest prize. That means that I want to see that same dedication and effort reflected back at me. This is where I may read your descriptions (and tags!) – did you try something new? Did you agonize over a portion of it? Did you put in far, far more hours than you thought you would? Can I *see* the time and love you put into your work? I work hard, I like to reward those that do the same.

Execution

And uh, not the guillotine version. This is in reference to how well your idea came through of your piece. I’m looking at pose, at style, at color (or lack thereof, depending ;p), any “methods” you used to make your piece pop and why, at placement, at scene selection at the *feeling* conveyed… all those good things ♥

Adherence to Source Material

AKA the detail category. This is where I look to see how accurate your artwork is to the related fanfic. Are the clothes what that character is actually wearing in that scene? Bandages/injuries/scars/marks/whatever in the right spot? Are the expressions accurate? Characters in the right place in the scene (right season too? ;p)? I *thrive* on the small details so seeing how closely you’ve read the fanfic and incorporated those details into your art is a big deal for me.

Level of Difficulty

This category awards points based on the perceived level of difficulty the artwork tackled. Just like some Olympic events (gymnastics, figure skating, diving, etc.) the potential scores are calculated based upon certain elements to the routines because athletes (and artists in this case) should be rewarded for attempting more difficult and complicated items. So for this judging I’m looking at pose (dynamic vs still), backgrounds (complex vs simple), characters (one vs many), detail (line work, flat color or shaded and how) and giving nods to those that really pushed for the stars.

From these criteria I will be selecting the top five highest ranked entries and my sister will assist me in choosing a first and second place winner from those. The winner will be announced tomorrow at about 1500 CST.

Today though is all about this celebration of talent and love and passion as everyone is a winner in my book for being amazing and participating in the contest. Thank you all so so much ♥

I will be reblogging all of the entries throughout the day, starting in about half an hour and onwards till 1800 CST. To eliminate any posting bias, I numbered the entries by submission order and then used a random number generator (clicking multiple times in some cases due to repeats xD) until I got through the list. Hehe xD Due to not wanting to cause any perceived bias I am limiting myself to one comment in each reblog (as you guys have seen me write love letters before xDD) about the art but please know that every single one made me squeal, gush and arm flail. ♥

[cubelelo]

He Invented the Rubik's Cube. He's Still Learning From It

Erno Rubik, who formulated one of the world's generally well known and suffering riddles, opens up about his creation in his new book, "Cubed."

Erno Rubik, who created the Rubik's Cube, composed his book "Cubed," he said, "to attempt to get what's occurred and why it has occurred. What is the genuine idea of the cube? Video by Akos Stiller For The New York Times

The primary individual to settle a Rubik's Cube went through a month attempting to unscramble it.

It was the riddle's designer, an unassuming Hungarian engineering educator named Erno Rubik. At the point when he created the 3D shape in 1974, he didn't know it might at any point be settled. Mathematicians later determined that there are 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 approaches to mastermind the squares, however only one of those blends is right.

At the point when Rubik at long last did it, following quite a while of dissatisfaction, he was overwhelmed by "an extraordinary feeling of achievement and utter alleviation." Looking back, he understands the new age of "speedcubers" — Yusheng Du of China set the worldwide best of 3.47 seconds in 2018 — probably won't be dazzled.

"Be that as it may, recollect," Rubik writes in his new book, "Cubed," "this had never been finished."

In the almost fifty years since, the Rubik's Cube has gotten perhaps the most suffering, flabbergasting, goading and engrossing riddles at any point made. In excess of 350 million solid shapes have sold internationally; in the event that you incorporate knockoffs, the number is far higher. They enrapture software engineers, rationalists and craftsmen. Many books, promising pace settling techniques, dissecting solid shape plan standards or investigating their philosophical importance, have been distributed. The 3D square came to epitomize "significantly more than simply a riddle," the intellectual researcher Douglas Hofstadter wrote in 1981. "It is a keen mechanical development, a side interest, a learning device, a wellspring of illustrations, a motivation."

ImageErno Rubik, right, at a Rubik Rsquo;s Cube big showdown in Budapest in 1982. The competitors included, from left, Zoltan Labas of Hungary, Guus Razoux Schultz of the Netherlands and Minh Thai of the United States.

Erno Rubik, right, at a Rubik's Cube big showdown in Budapest in 1982. The competitors included, from left, Zoltan Labas of Hungary, Guus Razoux Schultz of the Netherlands and Minh Thai of the United States.Credit...via Rubik's Brand

Be that as it may, even as the Rubik's Cube vanquished the world, the exposure disinclined man behind it has stayed a secret. "Cubed," which comes out this week, is halfway his diary, part of the way a scholarly composition and in enormous section a romantic tale about his developing relationship with the creation that bears his name and the worldwide local area of cubers focused on it.

"I would prefer not to compose a personal history, since I am not inspired by my life or sharing my life," Rubik said during a Skype meet from his home in Budapest. "The key explanation I did it is to attempt to get what's occurred and why it has occurred. What is the genuine idea of the shape?"

Rubik, 76, is exuberant and energized, motioning with his glasses and bobbing on the love seat, running his hands through his hair so it stands up in a dim tuft, giving him the vibe of a surprised bird. He talks officially and gives long, intricate, philosophical answers, much of the time following off with the expression "etc" while circumnavigating the finish of a point. He sat in his family room, in a home he planned himself, before a shelf brimming with sci-fi titles — his top choices incorporate works by Isaac Asimov and the Polish author Stanisław Lem.

He talks about the solid shape as though it's his kid. "I'm exceptionally near the 3D shape. The 3D shape was growing up close to me and the present moment, it's moderately aged, so I know a great deal about it," he said.

"Here's one," Rubik said, recovering it from the end table, then, at that point tinkering with it missing mindedly for the following hour or thereabouts as we talked.

Rubik Rsquo;s introductory plan was made of wood, then, at that point he added shading to the squares to make their development noticeable.

Rubik's underlying plan was made of wood, then, at that point he added shading to the squares to make their development visible.Credit...Rubik's Brand

"While heading to attempting to comprehend the idea of the 3D shape, I adjusted my perspective," Rubik said. "What truly intrigued me was not the idea of the solid shape, but rather the idea of individuals, the connection among individuals and the block."

Pursue The Great Read Every work day, we suggest one piece of outstanding composition from The Times — an account or exposition that takes you somewhere you probably won't anticipate going. Get it shipped off your inbox.

Perusing "Cubed" can be an unusual, bewildering experience, one that is similar to getting and winding one of his solid shapes. It does not have an unmistakable story construction or circular segment — an impact that is intentional, Rubik said. At first, he didn't need the book to have sections or even a title.

"I had a few thoughts, and I thought to share this combination of thoughts that I have to me and pass on it to the peruser to discover which ones are significant," he said. "I'm not taking your hands and strolling you on this course. You can begin toward the end or in the center."

Or then again you can begin toward the start.

Erno Rubik was brought into the world on July 13, 1944, about a month after D-Day, in the storm cellar of a Budapest clinic that had become an air-strike cover. His dad was a specialist who planned flying lightweight flyers.

As a kid, Rubik wanted to draw, paint and shape. He contemplated engineering at the Budapest University of Technology, then, at that point learned at the College of Applied Arts. He became fixated on mathematical examples. As a teacher, he showed a class called distinct math, which included helping understudies to utilize two-dimensional pictures to address three-dimensional shapes and issues. It was an odd and obscure field, yet it set him up to foster the solid shape.

In the spring of 1974, when he was 29, Rubik was in his room at his mom's loft, fiddling. He portrays his room as taking after within a kid's pocket, with pastels, string, sticks, springs and pieces of paper dispersed across each surface. It was likewise brimming with shapes he made, out of paper and wood.

Keep perusing the primary story

At some point — "I don't know precisely why," he composes — he attempted to assemble eight 3D squares with the goal that they could remain together yet in addition move around, trading places. He made the blocks out of wood, then, at that point penetrated an opening toward the sides of the shapes to connect them together. The article immediately self-destructed.

Erno Rubik, the creator of the Rubik’s Cube, at his home in Budapest. “I’m exceptionally near the cube,” he said. “The solid shape was growing up close to me and at the present time, it’s moderately aged, so I know a great deal about it.”

Erno Rubik, the creator of the Rubik's Cube, at his home in Budapest. "I'm exceptionally near the 3D shape," he said. "The 3D shape was growing up close to me and this moment, it's moderately aged, so I know a great deal about it."Credit. Akos Stiller for The New York Times

Numerous cycles later, Rubik sorted out the novel plan that permitted him to fabricate something incomprehensible: a strong, static item that is additionally liquid. After he gave his wooden solid shape an underlying turn, he chose to add tone to the squares to make their development apparent. He painted the essences of the squares yellow, blue, red, orange, green and white. He gave it a bend, then, at that point another turn, then, at that point another, and continued curving until he understood he probably won't have the option to reestablish it to its unique state.

He was lost in a bright labyrinth, and did not understand how to explore it. "There was no chance back," he composes.

After the 3D square turned into a worldwide wonder, there would be mistaken records of Rubik's innovative cycle. Reports portrayed how he isolated himself and chipped away at the 3D shape day and night for quite a long time. In actuality, he went to work, saw companions, and chipped away at tackling the 3D shape in his extra time, for no particular reason.

After he broke it, Rubik presented an application at the Hungarian Patent Office for a "three-dimensional coherent toy." A producer of chess sets and plastic toys made 5,000 duplicates. In 1977, Rubik's "Buvös Kocka," or "Sorcery Cube," appeared in Hungarian toy shops. After two years, 300,000 solid shapes had sold in Hungary.

Rubik got an agreement at an American organization, Ideal Toy, which needed 1,000,000 3D squares to sell abroad. In 1980, Ideal Toy carried Rubik to New York to a toy reasonable. He wasn't the most appealing sales rep — a bashful engineering educator with a then-restricted order of English — however the organization required somebody to show that the riddle was reasonable.

Deals detonated. In three years, Ideal sold 100 million Rubik's Cubes. Advisers for addressing the block shot up the success records. "There's a sense wherein the 3D shape is incredibly, basic — it's just got six sides, six tones," said Steve Patterson, a logician and writer of "The starting point: The Foundations of Knowledge," who has expounded on the 3D square as an epitome of mysteries. "In an extremely brief timeframe, it turns out to be fantastically unpredictable."

Right away, Rubik didn't have a compensation from the toy organization, and for some time, he saw little of the eminences. He lived on his educator's compensation of $200 every month.