#im starting to come around on what kind of general design i want for the dunedrakes

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

oogh its been many many months since i last scribbled This Guy. he looks slightly different now... good different

#i like the changes ive made! #sometimes in order to update an oc #you have to draw them entirely from memory #im currently trying to figure out his color scheme #somethin reddish-brown or sandy with pale blue or turquoise accents maybe #i love him tho! hes very Stressed!!! constantly!!! #scribble salad #dragons #oc #original character #not-fish <3 #im starting to come around on what kind of general design i want for the dunedrakes #which again - makes sense only in my head but Thats What Matters #AGH FUCK I FORGOT THE REST OF HIS SCARS. DAMN IT. #eh i need to plan them out properly anyways. siiiigh

[weafurry]

guess who finished their iterator height chart (ill work on their clothes when i make their individual sheets)

more info below

I have a lot of specific headcanons for how i imagine the various generations of iterators being modeled

gen 1 iterators are very clunky in terms of how theyre built. they were the ancients just figuring out how to do things and thus not the most organized in structure

gen 2 iterators are where the ancients started getting more comfortable and was mostly them improving on the first generation, they were getting more confident and thus were able to do more things they wanted to do

gen 3 iterators were when the ancients got really confident with their designs and went ham just kind of having fun. gen 3 iterators have the most variation amongst them, the ancients really started playing around with the more cosmetic aspects, many gen 3 iterators having complete control over things like the colors of their lights, most can change the colors of their puppets eyes. They were the most time consuming to build of all iterators due to how heavily and individually customized they all were. Basically the ancients went for what looked cool over practicality in terms of time and resources.

gen 4 iterators were the smallest generation of iterators due to the fact that the ancients fucked off while many were still being built/in the planning stage. if gen 3 iterators were the ancients just kinda having fun then gen 4 were basically them going "ok that was fun. but back to taking this super seriously". Gen 4 iterators were basically the ancients putting their all into making the iterators as efficient as possible. they had the highest expectations on them of being able to solve the great problem (they are a bit more unstable and more prone to system failures as a result of how the ancients handled their construction ) (also becausre they had less time for refining with the ancients all fucking dying) but it was generally believed that if any iterator would find the solution to the great problem it would be a gen 4 iterator they were also believed to more effectively be able to use their water supply (which was part of why pebbles was built so close to moon. clearly that backfired) basically pebbles is a burnt out gifted kid thank you for coming to my ted talk /hj

i have more to say but im tired of writing so ill come back to this later

#five pebbles #looks to the moon #no significant harassment #unparalled innocence #chasing wind #grey wind #sliver of straw #seven red suns #rain world #Wea's art

[strangewiggles]

pathologic furry designs because im a nerd

(aglaya, rubin, and lara, *ft artemy)

i usually dont post uncolored drawings/doodles but i plan on making a few of these

HUGE thanks to my buddies for help/input on these..both are huge brained and awesome at art follow them now

heres the thought process (spoiler free, mostly based on patho 2)

me and my buddies were in a call for all of these and we had a very intellectual conversation about all of them. when looking for furry designs i usually think of personality, mannerisms, and likeness.

Aglaya, Shoebill

both of the friends i asked havent played the game past day 5 (one of them is on day 2) so i asked “what animal would she be” with just a picture of her model. i was interested to see what 2 people who’ve only seen her once (in the intro) would think of her purely on vibes and brief dialogue. the first suggestion was “some kinda bird” and that seemed to stick.

a bit tall, a bit intimidating. so we threw out Herons, Ostriches, Peacocks…

Shoebill seemed to fit. I wanted a bird that was either grey or black, some kinda desaturated color but also one that was tall and a bit scary. Shoebills are definitely considered pretty scary. theyre also super tall and i remember saying in the call "these things are huge if i saw them flying i would cry." when it comes to shoebills, i imagine them towering over most other animals, especially with that neck and beak! they're also ambush predators i believe. shoebills fit Aglaya's first impressions perfectly.

i almost made her a Dalmatian... im glad i didnt...

Rubin, Skinny Pig

I wasn't even going to initially draw Rubin here... it started by me asking "who'd be a naked mole rat?" and the immediate answer was "Rubin..." which made me remember that he was bald LMAO. I figured that fit a little, and the original drawing was him as a naked mole rat. a few things werent quite right though.

first, digging. i cant imagine Rubin as an animal who's entire thing is digging around and being dirty, he's a doctor and, other than blood, i can't imagine he'd wanna be dirty...

second, social groups. as far as i know, naked mole rats are very social within their own circles? just from the early game (as early as the first 3 days?) he's pretty antisocial and seems to have a distaste for the Kin, even if influenced by grief(the emotion not the person). he even seems reluctant to be close to close friends.

and, of course, moles have to be saved for someone else... we'll get there. WINK

..i dont remember how Skinny Pigs came up, i think i was just googling them and thought they were funny since i have a friend who owns some.. i did a bit of googlin and asking my buddy in the call about skinny pig mannerisms.. theyre pretty...territorial? at least males to other males, theyre pretty aggressive as far as i know. this definitely fit Rubin. the OTHER reason for any kind of guinea pig was considered was because of the concept of "test guinea pigs" and not in a literal sense, but just the concept, because of Rubin's connection to Isidor. i will say i felt like the smartest person on earth when i thought of that.

also the cute ears absolutely influenced the decision.

Lara, Generic Ass Wolf

Lara was genuinely so difficult... unlike the other two, there were literally no suggestions being thrown out. my description was something like "maybe something small, cute, short tempered, but social?" and, for some reason, that was a tall order. my first guess was a mouse, but that wasnt perfect... we thought we'd have to turn to bugs and fish, though a lot of bugs and fish are hard to find personalities for.. at a surface level at least. we decided to save bugs and fish for other people...

and then, the suggestion of "wolf" came up, albeit reluctantly. when it comes to furry-fying characters, wolves and dogs are definitely...up there, in terms of "most used/obvious".. but really, think about it.

Believe it or not, wolves can be a little anxious, if not in a way that presents itself as anger/defense. this is also how i described Lara, "anxious in a way that presents as anger." also, wolves, while sometimes being a little solitary, are commonly in packs. which is...Lara's, like, Whole Thing. a house for the living etc etc..

I don't think i need to explain wolves too much either way. theyre The Furry Animal. whatever you know about wolves is probably true for Lara. it seems low-effort but trust me this decision took forever LMAO

and i mean...look at her. she looks like a wolf

*Artemy here is a bull because... yeah. that's the most obvious one. as #1 artemy fan i couldn't in good conscious make him anything other than a bull even if it's low effort idgaf... ill look at types of bulls for him later.

hope you liked my rambles..

#thanks again to my buddies #my art #doodles #pathologic #pathologic 2 #lara ravel #aglaya lilich #stakh rubin #stanislav rubin #artemy burakh

[actualbird]

rating luke cards solely based on how handsome peanut looks in them

dear reader, come with me on this magical journey through a 1.6k word long post where i arbitrarily rank the visual renditions of tot's best character: peanut pearce the myna bird

-

basic tier: he looks lovely, but there are things that could be improved

last CG of SSR Peaceful Place and the first two CGs of SSR Shape Of You: basic teardrop shape

these are good peanuts, but ive put them in this Basic Tier because they default to the Basic Teardrop shape of how birds look when theyre just chilling, wings closed and pose perched. the overall shape is also kept generally smooth without much texture.

essentially, to me, this is the bird equivalent of 🧍‍♂️. nice to look at, but could definitely do with some flair, yknow?

first two CGs of SSR Under The Milky Way: now THIS is a basic pose with some FLAIR. alas, it's still basic tho

while hes still in the basic teardrop, there’s more Personality happening here: his body is angled in a way that shows his curious demeanor examining the tiny peanut blob handle luke made, the lighting and coloring shows off a more textured rendition of his plumage, his folded wings dont blend with the rest of his body thus giving him more depth. 

it’s a GREAT basic pose! 

if the previous peanuts were like 🧍‍♂️

this peanut is like ✨🧍‍♂️✨

third CG of SSR Twinkling Eyes: obscured by luke's (granted, beautiful) big head

i like how peanut looks here but it wouldve been nice if the fairy house window were just a bit bigger, or maybe the placement of all the things in this CG cld have been moved to allow peanut some more visibility, especially given how prominent peanut’s Role is in the story of this card. as it is though, he still seems to be in a basic pose, but i like how the lighting differentiates the parts of his body instead of being just one big smooth black teardrop. 

also, this CG gets points here because peanut looks extra chunky.

and lastly a special case for this tier...

the third CG of SSR Perfect Partner: PEANUT IS THAT YOU??

originally, i wanted to put Perfect Partner-peanut in the Better Tier, because i really appreciate his fluffiness here, his open wings, and that the animation for this CG shows him flapping his wings. however, Perfect Partner-peanut is also very much a Proto-peanut. 

Perfect Partner is among the roster of regular banner SSRs, and thus one of the very first cards available in game and probably one of the very first ones illustrated, and it shows in peanut a lot. he looks different.

i figure the artists were still getting a feel of either 1) how to draw birds or 2) what Kind of myna bird they wanted peanut to be. there are a lot of kinds of mynas, with their defining characteristics usually in the shape of the yellow face markings and also other plumage colorings, like in the wings.

here, peanut is lacking his specific kind of signature yellow markings that he has in all the other cards, where the yellow is visible under the eye and then looping around the back of the head. Perfect Partner-peanut instead has his yellow marking Just on the nape. additionally, peanut’s eyes here arent the beady little black we usually see, and are instead black with yellow lining. and lastly, all these factors make him look much wilder than the usual peanut we see in later cards.

usual peanut is rounder, a bit more simplified and smoother (in terms of texture), and all in all he just looks friendlier. Friend Shaped. meanwhile, Perfect Partner-peanut with his beak detail, feather coloring/texturing, open talons that are posed like hes gonna GETCHA make for a more intimidating look.

basically, Perfect Partner-peanut looks to me like beta design peanut. and thats alright! i still love him dearly! but it is jarring when you start to look at the details, and that unfamiliarity makes this peanut rendition one that still couldve had some improvement

peanut in all the other cards: who are you?

Perfect Partner-peanut: im you but i look like i could kill a man. or worse…a pigeon.

-

better tier: NOW we're getting some good bird visuals

first two CGs of SSR Peaceful Place: VERY GOOD BASIC POSE

okay so if the first few basic peanuts were like 🧍‍♂️

and then the Under The Milky Way basic peanut was like ✨🧍‍♂️✨

THIS basic peanut is like 🌈✨🧍‍♂️✨🌈

IT’S ABOUT THE IRIDESCENCE!!!!!! his wings and body are still differentiated in the rendering, the lighting bounces off of his plumage in a very nice way, and hes FLUFFY LOOKING!! 

unseen in the above image is also how lovely peanut’s animation is here—which i didnt make into a GIF because im scared tumblr will eat this post for the 87494837568th time if i tried to put a GIF in—where peanut’s head endearingly tilts and moves in a curious and interested-in-what-birddadluke-is-doing way. and the movement is really dang fluid too, who was the 2d rigger in charge of animating this peanut?? i hope they have a good day today. this is a really good peanut and i like him very much

both CGs of MR Entrusted Feelings: the real love interest is peanut

it’s from here onwards that you may observe that ive got a bias for peanut renditions that have him with his wings open and flying. and im very right to have that bias cuz hes a BIRD OF FLIGHT, it’s lovely to see him doing what birds of flight do best! FLYYYY!!! that being said, this peanut didnt get into the Best Tier because his fly animation is a tad too jelly-like for me; it’s fluid and smooth but slightly off cuz it doesnt seem like his wings have uh…Bones. which is important for birds to have, if they wanna be doing stuff.

still, i like this peanut enough to put it Better Tier because hes so adorable!! hes hovering, his body is beautifully rotund, and his Visage is so enrapturing that hes who mc is focusing on and looking at in this card! she isnt looking at luke, shes looking at PEANUT! 

you better watch out, luke…ur bird might just get ur girl 

both CGs of R Gaze: 👏STRUT! YOUR! STUFF! 👏

now, at first glance, this card seems to follow the basic teardrop pose again with no flair….until you swap through both CGs of the card quickly. because not only does luke strike a pose in here, but pEANUT DOES TOO!!!!

literally just for that, this card ended up in the better tier. hes Feeling It.

both CGs of R Reunion: sorry my owner is a pathetic wet dog of a man

following the thread of R card peanuts that get so much better when you flip through the CGs, this is a good one. while the visuals are basic, the visual storytelling within it happening when u go through the CGs is IMMACULATE.

peanut looks like he was giving luke a peptalk so luke will stop being so nervous, like “get it together, dad, act cool,” and then luke fails at acting cool so peanut looks into the camera like “yes i know hes still cringefail but hes cute, right? give him a chance!” wonderful amazing never been done before. we love a bird that doubles as a wingman (pun INTENDED) 

first CG of R Partner: TAKE A GANDER AT THOSE WINGS!!!

we’re going to skip over CG 2 of this card because it’s just another basic teardrop but

while this isnt my favorite depiction of peanut As A Whole, this is definitely my favorite depiction of his WINGSSSSSS

theyre so majestically and gorgeously spread out, the back wing is so beautifully articulated at the joints showing the Real shape of a wing (whereas a lot of visual renditions tend to treat wings as just this One Big Flappy Thing, instead of these cool foldable beauties we see here), the FLUFFINESS AND ROUNDNESS OF THE FEATHER EDGES, and how you can cleARLY see the layering of the feathers in the coloring, the primaries and secondaries clearly different from the coverts, IT’S ALL SO GOOD!!! literally the only reason why this isnt my top favorite is because we cant see his beautiful face. but please know that this one is SUCH a close second

-

that leaves us to the last one…and this last card is actually the reason i made this whole post in the first place. only one card managed to charm, bewitch, and beguile me, managed to delight everything i love to see in a visual rendition of a bird

best tier: second cg of R Following The Wind

even if this was the card that inspired me to make this post, i hadnt planned to make this my top fave. i saw this card and was struck by handsome he was and wanted to go through everything else and this one just so happened to STILL end up on top. Why?

full body seen and nothing is obscured from view, his cute little talons are spread out too

wonderful texturing and not just a single smooth black tear drop

wings spread out doing some Great flying AND the wings are articulated at the joints to show the lovely shape of how wings are

coloring on the feathers is clear in the different type of wing feathers present

AND

HES

CHONKY

so it’s currently my top favest peanut-in-a-card of all time. THAT! IS! ALL!

-

so there you have it. every luke card that has peanut in it ranked based on how much i enjoy how peanut looks in it. my concluding thought is that i hope we see peanut more, i never get enough of seeing that little guy. 

fly high, fellow peanut enjoyers. 

#tears of themis #do not take me as an expert. simply as an enthusiast. thank you for listening to my tedtalk #tot peanut #luke pearce

[missr3n3]

Ctda is so fun I love it.. is there any details/ hcs you have about the characters you wanna share?

sorry for taking so long to respond, but you've activated my trap card and i needed to be at my computer so i could write this essay of a response lol

im gonna do one for each character:

jonah: though he used be be more into psychedelics as a teenager, ever since the events of vol. 2 and cdta he's entirely stopped using them. there's just to much fuel for a potential bad trip. he's also stopped drinking (though he was never did it that often in the first place) and doesn't smoke weed as often bc sarah and evelin don't want him stinking up their apartment.

adam: his black hoodie (not the BPS one) has become a comfort item for him. because he didn't have it on while he was in the Nightmare Sand Pit and was at his most vulnerable, he associates not wearing it with being in danger. since he's wearing it basically all the time though, it's gotten really worse for wear and has quite a few holes in it, which jonah helpfully fixed with various patches (you'll see them when i drop the 2011 cdta designs lol)

thatcher: since he's now a certified Old Ass Man (in his early 50s), he's fully stopped trying to look profession or trendy and has gone back to his old grunge fashion sense from the 90s. luckily, most people think this is cool af, and in particular it entertains some of the kids that ride his bus route bc they think he's an old Kurt Cobain lol

evelin: i kind of alluded to this in clear the stone chapter 3, but she and jonah didn't get along at first because she's very straight edge and he's very not. since their re-introduction in clear the stone and the events of cdta, she's a bit more understanding of his drug use (though still not entirely comfortable with it). nowadays she considers jonah to be just as close a friend to her as sarah <3

sarah: mandela getting blown tf up has actually significantly helped her with regards to moving on from her brother's death. though she can't quite put her finger on why, she as a general sense that his soul is at peace now. as a result, she intends to rebrand BPS from a paranormal investigation group to more of a horror webseries thing. she even renames the youtube channel to the bythorne paranormal show!

alt!gabriel: as far as the cdta timeline goes, he created the alternates for the sole purpose of furthering his takeover plan. alternates in this story are straight-up demons as a result, and this might come into play in an interesting way in the sequel... 👀

six: so i've mentioned before that he's an entirely separate alien in the cdta timeline that started working with alt!gabriel as a means to an end since they have similar goals (also dropped in dms that this happened in the 1920s). the reason for this is that his species feeds on pain, and alternates are really good at causing a lot of mental and sometimes physical pain. though with the alternates gone and type 6s doing a shit job at killing humans, his kind are now looking into other avenues for a food supply :)

sam: if he were voiced, i imagine he'd sound like steven as he sounds in steven universe future. pretty nerdy but with a little bit of rasp to it and a hint of theater kid lol. also! he's 6'4 and is the tallest human in cdta!

delilah: before her reversion (official temporal phenomena term for the changes type 6s went through), her alternate instincts would mainly come out in her being an obnoxious know-it-all. the type to "well AKSHUALLY 🤓" everyone around her over the slightest inaccuracies. also never admitting when she was wrong and assuming the people calling her out were just too stupid to understand her genius. basically what i'm saying is she would've love rick and morty before the reversion lol

and as a special bonus:

joel: he actually started mystifying oracle to try and prove that the paranormal didn't exist, but when he realized how many views he was getting from believers, he pivoted to over-the-top shows of the effects of the ouija board. of course it also helps that he has an actual demon in his house lol.

chloe: she met joel in college! they're both studying film, and thus shared a lot of the same classes together. joel ended up dropping out once youtube started making money for him, but they'll still meet up from time to time, especially if there's a new horror movie they want to see!

#ask the skeleton #cut down the altar au #told you it was gonna b an essay lol #also couldn't say much about the demon in joel's house due to spoilers. but there's gonna b some fun stuff happening there too :)

[liquorisce]

updates and musings from ris-land (lol)

2024 has begun. it began 30 days ago, but i still find myself referring to the past (2023) as 'earlier this year' and all the grandiose plans for the future as 'next year' (2024). i am generally a grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side kind of person so i always start the new year feeling very excited for all the things that i will supposedly accomplish in the coming year that i never truly manage to do. this may sound defeated and cynical, but im not. i am still stupidly hopeful about all the kilos i will shed, the places i will visit (the only type of promise to self i have managed to decently come through on, over all these years), the friends i will make, the stories i will write and finish, the books i will read, the courses i will do.

now into the still-unravelling 30th year of my life, i have still magically sustained this enthusiasm regardless of the empirical evidence that attempts to prove to me otherwise. delulu is the solulu, etc etc. my greatest achievement so far is in making peace with the fact that i will only accomplish about 10% of what i want to do this year, and that it is okay. i occasionally even feel pride about these things, instead of sinking into the incurable feeling of self-loathing and dissatisfaction that was the trademark of my early twenties.

anyway!! on to my grand plans, i love talking about my plans:

this year a couple of us are producing an eremika erotica zine and i am thrilled to bits about this. i do not know the first thing about zine production, but i am carrying along with the hope that enthusiasm for good stories and art will probably result in a final product that readers will enjoy. i will finally, finally, finally, attempt to put forth all my feelings about priest eren and church girl mikasa in a lengthy oneshot that will find its home in the zine.

i will continue exploring boy next door eremika and learn a new way of expressing character dynamics that i am obsessed with, and hopefully finish a story that manages to make my own heart flutter. every story i write is uniquely designed to satisfy me, but bnd is special in that: in all the 40k words in my draft, every single word in its incomplete, chaotic, honesty make me feel terribly emotional. i am proud of this. i am no literary genius, nor am i a quick study, so i have simply been fooling around with words for so many years, in different patterns, trying to figure out what i like and what i don't. i am so happy that now i have figured this out. kind of. a little bit, lol. it also helps that i have extremely smart and talented friends who consume a lot of literature and teach me things. i feel very grateful for this!

i want to return to my romance-novel roots and finish i dreamed i left you, because i know in my heart of hearts that i am trash. i like trashy romance. i want to write trashy romance. (i want to publish one someday, so what better way to start than by finishing the goddamn fic).

amidst all this, frustratingly, an original idea is calling out to me and nagging me like a whiny baby wanting to be heard. i don't ever want any children of my own, so i will probably learn to take care of my original novel at some point. i have 5k+ words so far, but i am at the stage with it where i am so emotionally confronted by it that i cannot look at it for too long without seeing too much of me reflected right back. i generally don't like to write about myself unless it is in very carefully disguised little pieces hidden away amongst several thousands of words, so this is new for me. perhaps this too (personal confrontation, deep introspection, etc) is a turning-30 thing, and i am not ready for it. maithreyi and veena (the main characters of my book), however, seem ready for their story to be told, so we are currently figuring out this disagreement. maybe my goal for this year will be to "figure it out." we'll see.

unfortunately, however, i cannot afford for writing to be the center of my life, even though sometimes i delude myself into thinking so, so i have other goals that feel less negotiable because of time pressures and expectations from loved ones, or for the basic truth that i still consider them more 'important' / 'tangible' than my writing goals. (i just let out, a huge, disappointed sigh.) these goals include: developing fluency over the national language of the country where i reside, doing some culture and language exams for integration, and seriously contending with the fact that i might give up the nationality of the country that i was born and raised in. again, i have feelings about this that i haven't fully processed, but frustration with the religious and communal politics of my country remind me that sentimentality for belonging may not be worth it. the gap between what the world (the west) considers as a developed nation and a developing nation is too vast and i dont see it being overcome in the prime of my life. if the privilege of belonging (at least on paper) to a developed nation is so closely within my reach, then it seems only smart to grab it with both hands. but feelings are not smart, they are powerful. so we will see how everything plays out. i will hurtle towards these goals because it is what the child-me wanted. it feels simpler to think of it that way.

i'm not sure anyone is really reading this lengthy ass post, but if you are, i wish you a wonderful 2024. <3

#personal

[hows-my-handwriting]

Is This a Bad Dream? (spiderverse!LN au)

so..... i have this.... au... right........

lets be real i have too many aus

its Little Nightmares but Spiderverse characters.

BEFORE YOU VOTE: read below the cut i just want to make this intro part short lol. whats below the cut is very long btw so. you have been warned XD

SO. with the recent (not so recent anymore but at the time it was recent lol) announcement of ln3 i lost my mind and went back to watch playthroughs of ln2 and got my googily little gears turning.

im thinking about this very much like an actual little nightmares game if not a little longer than the average game. (eg. 10 chapters instead of the usual 5). the main playable character is miles, and your party is the rest of the kids, mainly gwen, but with pav and hobie to help with puzzles or specific skills.

concept designs for the party + margo and peni. (might change miles and pavitr's designs cuz not sure i like them.

i have most of the bosses figured out and the general pace and timeline of the story but setting and the final two bosses are giving me problems.

anyway here's an excerpt:

It was always night time. 

Miles could sit in his window and watch the sky all day, but it would always stay dark. The lights outside were bright enough so he could see, but the sky was always gray. Or sometimes black. He leans against the glass sometimes just to try to see the sky clearer. 

Sometimes the sky would come down to him. The clouds would crawl out of the sky and walk on the streets with footsteps that sounded like the pitter patter of his own little feet. It would walk on the roof sometimes too. He could hear its feet stomping on the sharp shingles. He wondered if it hurt. 

The ceiling would cry if the sky stomped on it too much. Drops of water would run out of the holes in the white paint and into the buckets littered around his room. There were only two, one was empty right now, the other was full. They were lovely little things- well, they were actually quite big. Miles climbed inside them sometimes, perfectly sized to curl up on their rounded bottoms. 

He drank his house’s tears sometimes. He got thirsty a lot, even though he never really left the room. He would sometimes get a little tray from the lady in the wall. She came up every so often and gave him a tray with some food and a glass cup full of water. 

She was a nice lady. She didn’t talk though. So he didn’t either.

He never left his room. She had her own door, but every time he tried to follow, he couldn’t open the door. There was a bigger door. He remembered at one time, people had come out of it. They would use their large warm hands to lift him up onto the big bed in the corner. They would pat his head and tuck him in with the warm blanket and fluffy pillow. They would speak to him too, in words he didn’t understand. 

He remembered long brown hair and kind eyes. He remembered a stubbly beard and warm smile. He remembered feeling warm when they were looking at him, feeling like he could stay where he was forever. 

But that was a long time ago. He gave up on counting. He had started counted the times the sky went dark. The lines were scratched into the post at the foot of the bed. When those lines filled up all the space, he started counting the times the ceiling cried. But he lost track. 

He was lonely now.

He couldn’t reach the big door. No matter how hard he tried. He tried jumping for it. He tried to climb up the wardrobe leg. But he never got high enough. So he stayed. He stayed on the floor of this room, watching the water fill up the buckets again and again. 

The walls were covered in color. Miles drew all over them. He had crayons that the lady in the wall had brought him one time. It was a big box, filled with more colors than Miles could name. He drew on the dry wallpaper, filling all of the gray space with shapes and scribbles. He had filled up all of the space he could reach, wearing down so many of the crayons down to their paper wrappings. So he moved to the floor. He filled up the floor too, drawing himself adventures that took him far away from the crying house. He drew himself running up to the sky and giving it hugs whenever it cried. 

The floor was full of color too now. 

He sat on the window that was nailed shut, and listened to the footsteps of the sky. He was happy here. He was . . .

jazz hands.

#atsv au #little nightmares au #i dont have self control #suffer as i have suffered #i flesh out niche aus that no one cares about way too much #so now you must fall victim to my blunders #also i'll be honest gwen's is the only design i like rn #hobie is close but i think i want to change his outfit #margo's is final too but the reason for why she is that way is #for another time =w= #title up for debate too #considered 'am i dreaming' but #lmk if i should make that the title lol

[mayakern]

thank you for the advice on pins ! i am in the process of researching how to set up my shop and i have a couple more questions if you don't mind- at what stage did you feel it was time to open your shop, follower-wise? did it take a long time to become profitable ? i saw you go through a manufacturer for your prints, is it because making them is too expensive? i see you don't make stickers, is there a reason? is a laser cutting machine worth it when debuting ? or superfluous? what did you use to design your website (it's very pretty btw)? do you have advice on getting people interested in checking it out?

how does one deal with sales being down, mentally, and how to be patient in the beginning?

does managing orders require a lot of organization? is a label maker worth the time it saves? in general, do you recomment buying your own machines (printer, or button maker) or stick with manufacturers? also, do you have advice on reconcialiting it with anticapitalism because im feeling conflicted about outsourcing labor and adding products to this world... is setting up shopify very hard ? are taxes a hassle ? sorry if it's a lot, i have trouble wrapping my head around every step i'll have to do and want to avoid beginner mistakes if i can. if you have any other advice and traps to avoid i'd be very grateful

dude this is SO many questions.

the short answer is: everything is hard and takes work.

there is no “right” time to start a shop or start selling stuff. you just kind of do it and hope. i opened mine in college (around 2012 or 2013) because i had already made some merch for a local convention and i wanted to sell the leftovers. my store didn’t become viable as a full time job until around 2017—it was a means to subsidize the income i had from working as a freelance artist.

also i never went into debt for the store so there was never a moment when my store “became profitable.” unless you’re willing to go into debt for this (not something i’d recommend), it’s a slow slog to get to a point where you can afford to sell items with a higher price point at a high enough volume that it is viable as a full career. inventory costs money and the more profitable items cost more money. it takes a lot of time and work and momentum to make this your whole job.

buying your own equipment is only worth it if you plan to use that equipment for multiple years to get a good return on investment.

however a label printer is almost always worth it, but i wouldn’t buy one until you’re getting at least 20 orders a month.

low price point items like buttons and stickers can be good to start out (i used to sell both) but at a certain point, unless you’re selling a massive amount of them there is a limit to how profitable a $3 item can be.

managing a store takes an amount of work/organization that is proportional to the number of products you have/sell. i will say i was an absolute disaster at this when i handled everything myself, which is why the store only became viable as a full time job once devin joined me.

i use squarespace for my portfolio site and shopify for the store. they’re relatively hassle free.

if you’re making most of your income from store or freelance work, find a local CPA to help you do taxes. also keep a running spreadsheet for all your expenses and income. separate your expenses into groups based on the different types of deductions (i.e. office equipment, travel, etc.) and update that spreadsheet, at minimum, once a month. then taxes are easy.

as far as anticapitalist mindset goes… do your due diligence when it comes to sussing out the manufacturers/companies you work with and try to create thoughtfully.

anyway next time you ask for advice please just pick like 3 questions at a time. this was… a lot.

#ask #art tips #long post

[melancholiaenthroned]

BERNARD for the ask game >:)

HELPPP ok

first impression: ok i got into comics right around the time tim came out so my first impression was very much the general publics of "robin has a boyfriend!" i read the urban legends story about that first and thought it was fine! i liked it well enough. then bc it mentioned that bernard was a friend was high school i went back and read his original appearences and idk i just loved him... he was silly and he was posturing and nobody really liked him except tim LOL. his friendship and crush on darla was also rlly rlly sweet and i got rlly attached to the trio of them. i also rlly liked his og design w the longer hair and sunglasses. i thought the conspiracy theorist thing was rlly fun esp w how close hed get to the truth and tim would have to be like "what ur so crazy hahaha where would batman get MULTIPLE robins".

impression now: im gonna be honest my peak bernard phase was before tim drake robin started when i was really really excited to see more of this character id gotten attached to... erm. in a post tdr world ive kind of distanced myself from him bc he feels like an entirely different guy. which is fine! presumably hes aged and i wouldnt want to live like my high school self forever. that being said, the ways that he is the same feel a bit like a parody now. his conspiracies r way more outlandish and supernaturally based than they used to be, and they way theyve kind of written it so seems like he knew he was gay/bi back in highschool which doesnt rlly read as true to me having read those highschool appearances. hes just tims boyfriend, who knew he was gay before tim did and was just kind of waiting for him, i guess. i do like the chaos cult, i like that in the unspecified time away from tim his life was like. completely fucked. but now that tim is there it feels like hes just been flattened back out. the last few issues of tdr actually started focusing more on his issues specifically w his parents and the cult but. you know. cancelled.

favorite moment: he was so so scared to talk to darla he was like "losers like us cant talk to cool girls like her tim... shes friends with jocks" and then tim goes up to her and the jocks are all nice and polite normal guys and darlas like yeah u guys seem fun. and its just like. he was completely overreacting. like so much for his claims of being a social chameleon 😭 and then next issue darlas just a part of their group and theyre acting like theyve been best friends forever. i think for as much as he pretends to be like. a cool guy who doesnt care that he has no friends. its a rlly nice moment of showing that hes actually really anxious and self conscious and he wishes he could reach out to people but once he has the opportunity he latches on to ppl and doesnt let go. and i also rlly like when darla comes back and he finds out she has powers and his first reaction is like. my life sucks so bad can i come and be ur sidekick. like man:-( he was funny for it though! shoot ur shot

idea for a story: ok this is for a hypothetical "possible in comics" story and not like. a fic. so its not super bernard focused BUT they need to bring darla back now im not joking anymore where is she. idk what the status of shadowpact is post rebirth i dont think it exists anymore? but whatever. tim gets a case that leads him back to louis grieve where we can get a recap for ppl who didnt read or dont remember what happened back then. he can be like heres where i met bernard^_^ also the horrors. anyway the case has smth to do w the mob&darlas family and so he manages to get in contact w her and obviously shes like. i have no connection to that life anymore im not helping and i dont want to remember this. but reluctant team up👍 anyway bernard plays into this bc i think tim keeps it from him whats going on in the case bc he doesnt know that bernard was actually the first to know when darla came back and he doesnt want to upset him by bringing up old memories bc they Never talk about the shooting. and laura obviously isnt telling bernard bc she has no idea he and tim r dating so hes kept completely out of the loop and tim and darla/laura r NOT getting along. he keeps calling her darla and hes whinier than she remembers and theyre getting nowhere in the case bc they dont work very well together. i would also rlly want an issue where it goes over how each of them experienced the day of the shooting and there r small differences in each one to highlight how time has warped their memories and how theyre all a little unreliable. and each of them would be done by different artists 👍 anyway eventually bernard stumbles upon the case and hes pissed off at tim for keeping from him "darla was my friend too" you know. and smth he remembers about that day but the others dont (too caught up in the gang war/being robin) helps solve the case^_^ and hes able to help tim and laura get along again and they part on good terms w bernard and laura staying in touch. and at some point while he and tim r fighting he confronts tim for fucking off after the shooting and not reaching out to bernard until years later, and how bernard was completely left alone after one his best friends died and the other immediately moved away.

unpopular opinion: whyyyy does he want to be a chef its stupid sorry. emt or nurse bernard is the most important thing in the world to me i have no idea why they chose "chef" for his career path but it annoys me to no end. its another thing that just feels flat about his new character. like even if instead of being motivated by his history with unable to save darla from the shooting+the cult he was scared of wounds and violence and avoided it... why chef? idk itd be fun if he wanted to be like a radio host or smth that actually fit his personality. i think money should also be a bigger motivater for him bc he always read as like. upper middle class new money to me whos parents cut him off when he came out. like maybe if they showed him working as a line cook or an actual job i could understand him growing a passion for it but hes just like. a rich foodie. like what.

favorite relationship: he and tim i guess LOL who else does he have. him and darla for friendship and also i think it wouldve been cute if they had dated for a bit in highschool<3

favorite headcanon: i think he should be angrier at tim. for missing dates, for not telling him hes robin, for everything. hes too nice. or if theyre set on the nice thing i think it should be framed as him being a bit of a people pleaser/pushover post cult bc hes scared of tim leaving him and either way tim should have to address being kind of a shitty boyfriend. a nicer one is i think duke would be his favorite of tims siblings:-) hes not weird to bernard like i think the others would kind of be (shovel talk from dick would make me kms) and bernard never had any siblings so he kind of treats duke like a younger brother and tries to like, help duke with his homework, despite the fact that duke is definitely doing better in school than bernard did. i dont know if duke like. likes bernard but hell actually respond to his attempts at bonding unlike damian who has him blocked.

#ty for indulging me<3333 #poison.txt #ask #dc

[tansypaws]

hi wren, first i’d like to say i adore your srt style! second, do you usually use references when you draw? and second, what is your thought process when it comes to designing your characters?

thank you!

references v important, and i can def tell the difference in my art and anatomy from when i do vs don't use them 😬

in terms of design process, i am very much a put pen to paper and go from there type. esp when drawing canon cats, i usually have a lot of different design drafts that don't make the cut in full, but often impact my final design, whether through the palette or the markings or something that i think of while working on whatever design aspect.

for the fallen leaves design, i originally had him as a like very generic red tabby w/ symmetrical white markings, and then i was like oooh give the lad some leafy speckles, and then i was like ooooh x2 what if he was a calico and had some black in there to make the orange really stand out.

im mostly caught up on the books, so i do also try to bring certain traits/experiences/etc into my designs when i can, like shadowsight having eye-like tabby stripes or the blue in fallen leaves eyes or the like "dripping" black from his mouth/nose to symbolize what happened to him

in terms of my own characters (which i realize now is what u asked LMAOO), i am even more loosey goosey. a lot of the times i try to go in with some aspect of a design or design inspo in mind, whether that be a name (ex. my oc beetlenose having a black nose bridge that kind looks like a beetle if u squint at it) or some memory of an irl cat i saw that i thought would look cool. like w/ designing canon characters, i also tend to go through a lot of drafts unless i have something super clear in mind going into things, which is admittedly kinda rare for me. i tend to just not be able to produce things if i get too stuck in my head, so i try and fuck around with stuff until i get something i like. sometimes i get really far into a design and realize i don't like it or i don't feel like it fits or that the color scheme is really not cohesive, and i switch back to an earlier version.

overall its just a lot of experimenting around and making diff versions until something fits, and i can build a design around it. also w/ fallen leaves, i knew i wanted some sort of leaf motif (lol, rhymes) and started off making the white on his face shaped like a maple leaf, but then realized i did not like how that looked so i changed the design to be more reminiscent (i hope?) of....fallen leaves. i'm very all over the place, tbh.

#wren speaks #apparently also all over the place w/ my writing LOL #i swear i can be coherent #someone vouch for me sob sob etc #youve got mail #ty for the question!

[jesse-cosay]

Just curious, but do you have any headcanons one what the Cat’s deal could be and what she is/where her oddities come from? While her comment about not having had a vacation in 150 years does seem like it could suggest that denizens are immortal or at least long lived in general, I just can’t help puzzle over answers like this from Owen that make sure to point out she is an exception rather than the norm:

Add in her shuttle and implicitly the number tracker that Simon probably got from her that holds a design aesthetic different from anything we’ve yet seen on the train, and it really paints quite a mystery surrounding her. Though not her relationship with Frank, that we already know about lol. What are your thoughts on her?

OHOHO mAn, my knowledge on the cat is super limited because I struggled with deciphering what were theories and what was facts we'd learned in canon (and... my hyperfixation lies pretty heavily with book two and begrudgingly with book four, which only have minor cat appearances).

I'll explain what my original thought process was and how im going to have to edit it now, since I think there could still be a connection.

Before I'd assumed she was one of the 'original denizen'. Perhaps when the train first started, One had not considered how hard of a life it would be for a denizen to live forever and to always be saying goodbye. And after so long being alive, obviously you figured your way around and made a way for yourself.

Some cars seem to 'reset' so to speak, once a passenger has been through. (Or I assumed they did, given some of the examples we see.) Like Tulip after leaving the Straight Up Italy car- how should the next passenger learn their lesson and help the rose woman if not because the car resets? (ofc we see her wandering around in book 2 so that's false)

I didn't think every car would reset, Tuba talks of the loss of her children- and I figured it was a balance. Some denizen's live their whole lives repeating one moment because they remember nothing else. And some live full lives, because there are some things you can only offer to another once you've experienced them (not empty platitudes). And then there would be the Originals, denizens who lived since the start of the train, or at least, from very early on. Having lived so long, knowing so much, it's a kind of help that could only be found on the train.

I'd also figured that, if that wasn't the case, it was just that Samantha had 'nine lives', and lived them out consecutively, likely retaining her memories since she appears very much the same as she reoccurs in the background.

But there aren't any denizens like the cat. At least none that we're alluded to.

Alternatively, I think it'd be interesting for the cat to be tied to One in the sense that Amelia is. One likely let Amelia help because he wanted to better understand his purpose in helping the passengers. And what better way to understand empathy then through a pet?

Maybe she wasn't doing what a pet did, but how would One know? He obviously had many flaws in how he worked and what the train did, I think it'd be interesting for the cat to be an earlier attempt at connecting with the trains reason for existing. Likely one that went wrong.

#infinity train #Infinity train book 1 #yellow's theories #Im always stumped on the cat but #Theres no way she made her technology on her own #I think itd make sense if she swindled it from One as he attempted to understand her and human emotions #Which would explain why she doesnt just help One back to the front without Amelia knowing #I wrote half of this immediately and thr other half juat now and both times i have been on the verge of sleep LDKFNF #ask

[northernember]

Concept art of my FE3H!Red Queen au, starting with Cal as Dimitri of course. If you want to bare witness to my insane rambling, it'll be under the read more. FE3H spoiler warning.

So,,, I recently started another fire emblem 3 houses play through, and will probably go on to finish 3 hopes finally afterwards, but its brought the brainrot back in full swing. I have a general gist of who i want the main lords to be and a few of the house members but uh,, its a lot lmao.

The main ones I have set in my mind are Mare as Byleth, Cal as Dimitri, Maven as Edelgard and Farley as Claude, not only because I think they fit the characters best, but because I think it adds very interesting dynamics in terms of the fire emblem universe.

I absolutely adore Areadbhar, which is Dimitri's weapon, but I also love the very traumatic relationship Cal has with swords so I decided to design a sword based on the creator weapons. These line of weapons can only be safely wielded by those who have crests, and theyre made out of the bones of the goddess, the creator, the beginning,,

so i naturally kept that in mind and designed the sword based off the forearm bones and hand. Ignore all anatomical inaccuracies, its about the coolness factor more than anything.

Cal as Dimitri is just so [chef's kiss] to me, esp after getting that excerpt about Cal going insane in one of the cut concepts from the special edition set,,, it just slots so immediately well into dimitri's arc because they share very similar character motifs and tropes, and also general story tropes, their father dies, their step-mother had a hand in it, they're betrayed by their sibling. but at the end of it, when they come back to themselves and shed that anger they still try and Save their sibling etc etc.

Theyre loyal and duty bond, they were turned into soldiers from a very young age. Their ability is inherently destructive and it makes them more gentle out of fear of hurting anyone around them. they are generally kind and sincere, being deemed weaker due to the way they care and love, with something darker lurking just beneath the surface, but not because they are not who they present but because they are ashamed of what it means, of that part of themselves.

Until everything falls apart and they snap and are driven by anger and vengeance and use their ability to inflict harm that nothing else could ever rival.

And then once they are soaked through with blood, and see themselves in the reflection, their vision clear of that blinding anger, and a hand held out, granting them hope and showing them love and care, they vow to use their ability and and influence to protect their loved ones, and the people around them. they promise to uphold their beliefs and make things Better for those that come after them. im just,,, i love them your honor

Also the fact that in every other route where Byleth(Mare) does not choose Dimitri(Cal)'s house, he always ends up dead, because no one else is able to bring him back to himself, to save him from spiraling further and further until the only path he treads is towards a violent and bloody end, only they can make him believe he is worth saving, that his life is worth living for himself and not just in the pursuit of granting the violent wishes of the dead that haunt him.

And at the end of the blue lions route Dimitri(Cal) finds peace, not in vengeance, not in the arms of the dead, but in the people still living, in the support system that surrounds him, and in Byleth(Mare), he chooses to live for them, and lead a better life, and in the hope that maybe one day the water that washes his hands will run clear of blood.

I am a Marecal and Dimileth truther forever and always

Anyways this au is in no way fleshed out, mainly cause Im the kinda person that simply adheres to whatever is coolest to me at the time, so i don't know if I want to have Cal keep Dimitri's crest which grants Incredible strength (enough to crush a grown mans skull with little effort, one handed) or make a Crest that acts similarly to his sliver ability.

I just,, I love these games, and I love these books and so my brain decides to smush them together for the rabie inducing visuals. I hope you enjoy

#red queen #glass sword #kings cage #war storm #broken throne #red queen series #cal calore #tiberias vii calore #my art #for later search purposes #fe3h/rq au #i want to eventually to a full fledged piece for cal as dimitri #but i want to do some concept art to get an idea on how i want him to look #in the fe3h universe #especially his weapon

[thedemonscrawler]

❌🧐🤗

❌ What’s a trope you will never write?

Miscommunication for the sake of drama or dragging out pining. It's just frustrating to watch characters dance around each other for chapters over something that can be resolved by sitting down and having a single conversation.

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

It doesn't feel like it because I'll do my research as the moment comes up, but uh, considering that my other window is:

gameplay VOD to get the layout of an area

compiled map of the Pizzaplex

Sun's main render, for moral support and checking design details

triple-a-fazbear wiki, for renders and cut voice lines

IGN's game walkthrough, for detailed step-by-step of how the night goes

freddy-fazbears-pizza wiki, for general information and regular voice lines

a friendship bracelet pattern im working on that has nothing to do with writing

Permission Slip's mobile copy on Google Docs

an unrelated oneshot

Permission Slip's AO3

VenomQuil's Misplaced Trust, which I'm using for ideas on how to write a particular scene

...yeah I think I spend a lot of time researching.

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

Know how you want your story to end before you post it! It'll save you a lot of headaches if you know you're working towards "okay and then they kiss" or whatever. I also recommend some kind of outline, even if it's a bullet list of things you want to happen, because otherwise it gets really hard once you get past your initial scenes and realize you have no idea how you're going to get to the next thing you wanna write.

But mostly? Don't sweat it. It's no big deal if you abandon a fic because you lost interest, or if what you write isn't perfect, or if there's already a hundred like it out there. Write what makes you happy and there's guaranteed to be a couple of folks out there who are gonna like it too

..i guess more nitpicky advice is also be CONFIDENT. don't put 'this is my first fic im sorry if it's bad' or 'the beginning is slow but it picks up around chapter 3' in the summary. Have confidence! Just use the summary to tell folks what the fic is about, and use the author's notes for your justifications (though I still believe you shouldn't apologize just for making something). Most readers wouldn't even notice or care until you pointed these things out.

[junebuggeryy]

The thing about Apple White is that the story sets her up to be deranged in such a way that makes perfect sense for the lore. I feel like the desire to follow the previously established story isn’t entirely something that’s invalid, but I feel like the royal storyline clearly kind of drowned in its own initial conflict especially as like… The lines got blurrier, but like. The fact that there are enough details in world to understand why Apple might cling to it, like the fact that she’s got an immediate connection to the Charmings and her mother’s incredibly industrious background as well as just like…

The promise that she’s going to live happily ever after, the fact that her story is considered the epitome of fairytales in setting and how she essentially can’t imagine how anyone wouldn’t want that for her. She easily stands out as a character because of the fact that she obviously has a lot of toxic traits, but I feel like they do come from such a like “pure” place to use language from an earlier post. She can’t imagine why people wouldn’t want what she wants at first and wants to help even though her idea of helping is a flawed premise. I think Apple as a representative of the Royals is really interesting in that way with her and Darling serving as an excellent potential frame work for like… The “rebranding” of the Royals in a sense where they get to play out their roles, now changed, rather than oppose the Rebels.

But yeah like, the dichotomy really did fall apart because by the end of the Wonderland arc they all have to agree its too dangerous for the facilitating artefact to even exist and that fundamentally it’s better to let people choose their own fate so like. If they wanted one then they really needed to build around it a little more coherently, but I think just letting the initial dichotomy die and replacing it with something else would have been fine! It might even have given them excuse to rebrand their dolls and update their designs and sell more of them if that’s the point. Anyway, hi again

Hello Lovely Followers It's Still Ever After High Hours.

hi again. these are some damn good thoughts, and i think you're completely right? this is perhaps an ironic point, but stories are supposed to evolve. i could absolutely see a version where the initial conflict of the royals changed shape, and Apple and Darling got to rewrite what it means to hold the power they do. i would have loved to see the "royals" name change to mean something new rather than peter out, and im sure it could have even been worked into whatever marketing/doll design goals were required to keep the show running? but these things are easier said than done, i suppose

anyway, im ECSTATIC you bring up the wonderland arc, as i have a comical amount to say about it. in general, the wonderland arc feels like the point where the story stops being about challenging oppressive power structures, and starts implicitly preserving them. it makes sense for raven to want to help protect her friend's mom, the Queen of Hearts, and i dont think it was even a bad story arc? but i do think its notable that Courtly is the first time we see someone trying to change their world's power structure is painted as unequivocally bad. and it's not as if EAH's Queen of Hearts is a particularly kind version of the titular ruler, either? then, by the time we get to epic winter, the villains are explicitly servants that no longer want to live in servitude, and are acting out, and this is not commented on at all.

idk. maybe you could argue that Courtly is someone taking advantage of an unstable system? but i am biased and Courtly Jester is forever my #problematic fave. i have a known soft spot for clown terrorists.

i do wish they had written different exit for the storybook of legends? if i recall correctly, Apple finally voted to get rid of it because she was afraid of someone signing their name into the wrong page and stealing a destiny- which, honestly, i still find to be a fascinating piece of worldbuilding, and to be a concern in-keeping with Apple's character? but it feels like only one piece of a larger puzzle. it just, feels weird to have the defeating blow to the Storybook of Legends™️, and it's societal hold over people, to be the preservation of tradition. maybe the writers felt they had already done a thorough job of tackling the ways being trapped in tradition was bad for these characters, and needed a new reason to get rid of it? but- IDEK. i feel like there may have been better options.

honestly, it feels like the thing that's missing from EAH are the Royals expressing empathy or understanding for situations outside of their own? which, honestly, isn't really a complaint- the show's about teenagers, and it makes sense they would be a little myopic! hell, that's why Apple takes it so personally.

that being said, i do think its notable that i can't think of a single Royal that didn't turn over to the Rebel side for a reason outside their own destiny, from wanting to date a non-prince charming, to not desiring to be comatose for a century. maybe this could have been Apple? our girl with nothing to complain about, our girl being offered the most heavenly future she could imagine, deciding that her guarantee at a perfect life isn't worth it if it requires that her friends must suffer.

again, that's the Apple in my heart. idek. i feel like im talking a lot about broad strokes potentials and story building rather than canon characterization? even through all this, i still love what we got of this dumb silly fantasy highschool show, lol.

#ever after high #[bugg chitters] #im. im adding a read-more to this because theres just So Much Words #i would like to thank my EAH followers. and especially. my non-EAH followers

[soulfullofold]

🪄🪄🪄 zapzapzap!

(vibrating) SO NORMAL. SO NORMAL. like a microwaved ant.

you might be spoilin’ me [with too much love] flowers on the hillside, bloomin’ crazy crickets talkin’ back and forth in rhyme blue river runnin’ slow and lazy I could stay with you forever and never realize the time yer gonna make me wonder what I’m sayin’ yer gonna make me give myself a good talkin’ to yer gonna have to leave me now, I know but I’ll see you in the sky above in the tall grass, in the ones I love yer gonna make me lonesome when you go

Bob Dylan is such a formative artist for me. He might have fueled my #notlikeothergirls phase a little but he's the favorite musician of another formative mentor figure for me. One of my Really special formative childhood experiences was going on these school road trips themed around american history (led by the 8th grade history teacher) and I got invited early to go (as a 7th grader) and got invited back afterwards (as a 9th grader). I could get out of the house and go on these awesome trips to see historic sites...idk it really made me into the person I am and sparked my interest in museums & museum design & the conversations around historic sites in general. God I get emo about it anyways we would get to pick the CDs we listened to and Bob Dylan was ofc in there. My big introduction into folk music was through Dylan & I really enjoy his songwriting. This one is... kind of a silly song to pick but I think it's the one I'm the most not normal about. Whhhheeennn I was coming out to some of my childhood friends, I wrote some fiction with some old old old shared OCs of mine and it was basically songfic about this character going on a solo roadtrip and listening to Blood on the Tracks and realizing that she wants to break up with her boyfriend. That it's gonna be painful because she DOES love him and always will have a love for him, but damn, it's not right, it's all theater for her, and not fair to either of them to let them stay trapped. ASIDE from all the Baggage I have with this song I just adore the lyrics & they're some of my favorites from Dylan. ;m;

this growing old is getting old I often find myself here thinking about the birds, the boats, and past loves that flew away or started sinking and it's crazy here without you I used to think this all was ours we'd stay up late, debate on how we'd find our way say it's all up in the stars well, some nights I rule the world with bar lights and pretty girls but most nights I stay straight and think about my mom oh god, I miss her so much and there are people on the street they're coming up to me they're telling me that they like what I do now and so I tried my best when I took the fall to get right back up, back in your arms if you're out here why do I miss you so much I just need a helping hand I close my eyes and think about tomorrow it never came true and you, you're always holding on to stars I think they're better from afar because no one here's gonna save us don't you wish on me why can't you see that no one's gonna save us? no one's gonna save us no one's gonna save me now

A teenager scream-in-the-shower song for sure. Lots of feelings around the mom lines 🤪 & lots of anti-religious feelings bottled up in my young body lskfjaslk. I did cry when I heard this live thanks

believe me I never wanted to be this way never thought that I'd be this age and fail so soon we'll settle down out west look at the cage I've been caught up in look at the way I've been brought up look at the pain I called my God, I never wanted it bad enough, well bury me in some fashion in something fashionable with a procession whose words / with dirt and words that sound like a song I used to know but never wrote 'cause it was beautiful and predictable like oh, oh, all I ever wanted how'd I ever fail so soon?

aha L;FJSADKFL it's a cute nugget of a song that just gently guts me like im a crab being shelled and dipped in butter.

#asked and answered #old jams #ask box meme response #music #pinyonrice

[ex-textura]

Hiya, Sebastian! ♥ I'm just passing by to say I really admire your art and your talent, and one day I hope to have enough money to share with you and support your beautiful work. :( ♥ I'd like to know a little bit about how you first came into contact with drawing and if you have any cheap/free tools and tutorials you'd recommend to someone who wants to start taking drawing more seriously (and knows 0% about it lmao), if you don't mind. Much love always! - tiefling enthusiast anon

Anon!! I’m so sorry it took me so long to get to this! This is such a kind ask omg thank you 🥺🥺

Don’t ever worry about not being able to buy anything from me, your kind words are honestly enough (and I know what it’s like not to be able to afford to support artists. It’s hard but I promise you messages like this mean so, so much more than money. I’m giddy rn lol)

As for getting into art, tbh I started drawing very young. I used to draw Pokémon and digimon on my desk in elementary school, and then going into junior high I started to branch out a little more though I stopped around high school and didn’t pick up drawing again until more than 10 years later lol….but it’s always been something I loved to do, and coming back to it has really filled a hole in my life I didn’t realize was there for a long time.

For a lot of my early drawings, it was just printer paper and ballpoint pens or plain old pencils until I got my first graphics tablet years later. So if you’re just starting out you don’t really need anything but the will to draw and something to scribble on. If you’re looking to start with digital art though there’s a couple of routes you can take. If you have access to an iPad, or can get one cheap (think used, past model… you don’t need much) there are a number of apps you can get such as ibis paint (which I think may be free or have a free version though I don’t use it myself) or procreate (it’s what I use on my iPad, but it has a one-time fee of I believe $13.99CAD). Or, if you have a computer I got started on a simple graphics tablet and you can get them for fairly cheap these days used (mine was like $80CAD) and I used a free version of Paint Tool SAI which works great.

Still though, if you’re okay not starting with digital art I would recommend just getting a small sketch book for under $10, a mechanical pencil and a gum eraser (those brownish ones). That’s all you really need to get started.

As for tutorials, I mostly watch YouTubers for art advice. I’d recommend Sam Does Arts, Drawfee, and Sinix Design

Sam does a lot of “rating art advice” videos, critiquing his followers pieces, and some goofy things but he has a lot of great tips and he explains things in a very easy to understand way. He also calls out his own flaws easily and teaches you to learn from his own mistakes which I find very encouraging.

Drawfee is four artists with different styles that mostly do art challenges among themselves but they also host art classes for their patrons and those videos get posted to their channel for the general public so you can still follow along for free. I like that they have different styles and different methods, and when they post their speed draws they talk through their process which is very informative.

Sinix is an incredible artist and while some of his videos are definitely more advanced he has beginner videos too that teach the very basics and I still spend a lot of time watching those ones to really drill them into my brain. He’s more informative than entertaining like the other two are, but his stuff is so good.

Other than YouTube videos, I also spend a lot of time on Line of Action which is a great site for practicing form and anatomy.

I’d also recommend the morpho drawing books if you can find a free pdf online (there are definitely sources for them I just can’t seem to find any right now…).

Im sorry this got so long winded xD I don’t even know if it makes any sense anymore lol. But basically…. Get yourself some paper and a mechanical pencil, a decent eraser and start with the basics. There are so many free resources online to get you there. After that… just get yourself a blorbo that you’re just so obsessed with and draw them over and over again until you can do it from memory. Then keep drawing them some more. It takes time and persistence and you might even feel frustrated when you start out, but remember that everyone starts somewhere and even the greatest artists are still learning.

And, please if you do start drawing feel free to share your art with me! I’d love to see it, and hopefully we can grow together ❤️❤️

#thank you for this ask anon #I really hope I was able to help even a little bit #drawing can be so frustrating but mostly it’s liberating #and I would love to share that with you #anon ask #advice