#the books filled with concept art were so fun

[dawns-beauty]

Has it been 5 years since ESO: Elsweyr released?

Yes.

Do I still think the devs were cowards to not include (at least) some Ohmes NPCs?

Also, yes.

#eso #it would've been so easy. literally just slap some catlike tattoos on a bosmer. #go a little farther with some fur textures and a tail and boom! ohmes-raht. #their skin system is already there it would've been less work than the senche/alfiq. #theyre weird little guys and i love them. #granted im also annoyed that they stopped doing physical collector's editions that year too #the books filled with concept art were so fun

[bloodmoonmuses]

stereo 127 | johnny suh

(for @lovesuhng !!! I hope you like it!!!)

genre: johnny suh x reader, college au, teacher's assistant! johnny, friends to lovers

warnings: none!

summary: johnny is your campus crush. he also happens to be the teaching assistant in your music history class. when you (innocently) ask for help on a project, you end up learning about more than just music.

You’re a bit obsessed with this guy who skates around campus- or the concept of him, more accurately. You don’t even know his name. All you know is that last semester, you (accidentally) memorized his schedule, resulting in you walking to certain classes a few minutes earlier than necessary to catch a glimpse of him. These glimpses were merely a blur, whipping past you like an apparition. He was a ghost to you, and you enjoyed being haunted by him. 

Your friends made fun of you for having a campus crush, arguing that it’s not real since you don’t actually know him. However, you honestly preferred the distance. Then, you could fill in the gaps in your knowledge with your own imagination. Admiring him from afar worked for a while- that is, until the start of Spring semester. 

When you saunter into your music history class, a random elective you took for fun, you’re met with the elusive Skater Boy. You knew he was tall, but he’s even taller than you’d imagined in your daydreams. You glance at him briefly, before going to take a seat at a desk near the back. 

Skater Boy chats with a few of his friends at the front of the classroom, then sits next to the teacher’s desk when the professor enters. You infer that he must be the teacher’s assistant. 

This was a big problem. Surely, you’ll fail this class now. There’s simply no way you’ll be able to focus. The breathy laughs that escape him are already distracting you to the point of being almost unbearable. His smile is so breezy, like a wave catching the wind. He looks just as cool here in the classroom as he does on his skateboard.

The underlying crush that lay dormant in you begins to boil, and you know it will soon bubble over, scalding everything in its wake. You couldn’t wait for the burn. In fact, you aimed to spur it on sooner. 

You make a concerted effort to pay attention to the professor’s spiel, pulling out your notebook to take notes. It's syllabus day, sure, but you want to look studious. The first assignment of the semester is to research the history of your favorite music genre. 

Despite your efforts to focus, your eyes drift to the stickers that adorn Skater Boy’s laptop: Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, an Arctic Monkeys logo and a cartoon surfboard. You want to know everything he likes and commit the list to memory. You want to sew his idiosyncrasies into a quilt and blanket him with your loving knowledge of them.

The professor introduces him as Johnny Suh- a third year music composition major. Now the ghost has a name.

—

You look at the office hours on the bottom of your syllabus. Johnny would be in office in lieu of your professor for the majority of the semester. Would it be so bad to pop in and ask him for help on the first assignment? 

While you admittedly feel silly, walking to the Arts and Humanities building looking a bit too gussied up, you swallow the nervousness. You stand in front of the room, reading the placard:

Professor: Dr. Moon

TA: Johnny Suh 

You knock on the office door. On the third knock Johnny says, “Come on in!”

Meekly, you enter. He’s too real, too tangible, in this small space. You’ve never been within touching distance of him. The prospect makes your fingers tingle. Professor Moon has an insane book collection, two bookcases spanning the walls opposite one another. The rest of the office is cluttered with a slew of instruments.

Johnny is wearing a backwards hat and quarter sleeve sweater. Your eyes graze the expanse of his forearms, then drift upwards. There’s a pen clipped to his collar and another in between his lips. It’s the most tantalizing pen you’ve ever seen. Finally, you make eye contact. 

Introducing yourself, you say, “Hi, my name is _____. I’m in the music history course.”

“Nice to meet you.!” He takes the pen out of his mouth, and your eyes follow it forlornly. That could’ve stayed. “How can I help?” 

Johnny gathers some papers, places them in a neat stack at the center of the desk, then sits on the edge of it.

“Um, I’m a non-major. So, I’m struggling a bit with the first assignment.”

Johnny nods understandingly. “Ah, the dreaded favorite genre assignment. What’d you pick?”

“Pop punk,” you say.

“Fascinating. You don’t strike me as a punk person.”

You shrug. “Grew up on it.”

“Have you been to the record store near campus?”  

You shake your head.

“It’s called Stereo 127. I think it would be cool to listen to some records and base your research on specific albums. Then you’ll have a clearer framework for when it’s time to write the paper.”

“Thanks. Um,” you clear your throat, “Would you mind… showing me?”

“The record store? Yeah, sure. No problem. Does this weekend work for you?” Johnny asks.

“Sounds good!”

—

Stereo 127 is densely packed with all sorts of records, mimicking the state of Dr. Moon’s office. There’s a classmate of yours named Jaehyun who’s keeping watch of the store. He walks around the shop, reorganizing things as he sees fit. As you peruse the albums, you’re peeking at Johnny over the records, trying to catch his eye. Unlike you, Johnny is actually scanning the selection, genuinely trying to help you.

“Let’s get the obvious ones out the way,” he says, holding a Blink-182 record. He’s somehow managed to track down a copy of their debut album, Cheshire Cat.  

“If Cheshire Cat is an ‘obvious’ pick to you, then I’m way out of my depth,” you confess.

“A little pretentiousness never hurt anyone,” Johnny replies. 

So far, you have a copy of Green Day’s Nimrod (which you’re quite excited about) and Paramore’s newest album. As the minutes pass, you get gradually more enraptured by the thicket of albums. Before you know it, you’ve accumulated quite a few records. After a bit, you sidle up to Johnny, peering over his shoulder to check out his picks. You spot a Yellowcard compilation record.

“This is more fun than I thought it’d be,” you pipe, turning to face Johnny. His face floods with fondness when he sees the stack of albums in your arms, caramel eyes warming you from the inside out. 

“Yeah, you have a good eye,” he retorts. “I’ve been meaning to check out a few other shops around town. Y’know. To compare selections.” He’s sputtering now, having fallen into a cough fit.

“You okay buddy?” you say, chuckling. You gingerly pat his back, holding back a full blown laugh as Johnny continues to cough.

He waves you off, but you pat his back once more for good measure.

“I’m good, I’m good,” Johnny says. When he regains his composure, he continues. “I was just wondering… Are you busy on the 27th?”

—

You’re sprinting across campus, eager to meet Johnny outside of the boys’ dorm. It’s been two weeks since you’ve last seen him. He’s leaning against the building as he waits for you, clad in a page boy cap (which he’s wearing backwards again) and tank top. You allow yourself a quick glance at his arms, immediately regretting it as your face heats up. When he spots you, Johnny waves excitedly, the width of his smile making your own double in size.

After your first excursion, Johnny had asked for your number (“in case you have questions on the assignment!” he had said). Since then, the two of you have texted occasionally, mostly about school.

The record store he takes you to this time is called The Boot. It’s less trendy than Stereo 127 and less organized as well. Most of the vinyls are in bins, withering at the edges and clearly sundamaged. Johnny says he comes here to find obscure records to spin during his DJ sets, not to necessarily hunt for additions to his collection. 

“So, you’re a music composition major?” you ask as you crouch down to sift through a box.

Johnny nods. “With a minor in photography.”

“Favorite camera brand?”

“Nikon for sure, but I mostly shoot 33mm film.”

“How pretentious,” you say.

“Oh, you love it.” This is true, you do love it. 

Johnny continues. “I found another record store for us to try out after this one.”

“Yeah, just text me whenever.”

—

You had finished your paper days ago, so the subsequent record store outing was completely unnecessary to a certain extent. Johnny had no choice but to admit that he simply wanted to hang out with you- though, he’s not complaining. 

The final record store you visit with Johnny is called WAYVE. This time, he picks you up in his car to take you there- a dinky pick up truck with a shitty paint job.

“Before we head out- “ Johnny reaches over, opening the glove department in front of you. His hand brushes your leg briefly.. He pulls out a CD case and places it in your lap.

“I made a playlist for you.” He can’t look you in the eyes properly. You’ve never seen him look this sheepish.

Johnny continues. “Not vinyl, I know, but I wanted to decorate the cover.” Taped to the front of the jewel case is a polaroid of you perusing records. In the photo, your brows are furrowed in concentration.

“When did you even take this, you weirdo?”

“A few weeks ago at The Boot. The lighting was nice.”

You’re practically buzzing with excitement when you get home, racing to put the CD in your busted boombox. The first song on the playlist is Going Away to College by Blink-182.

“I haven't been this scared in a long time

And I'm so unprepared, so here's your valentine

Bouquet of clumsy words, a simple melody

This world's an ugly place, but you're so beautiful to me.”

—

You got a B minus on the paper, which is better than you would've done without Johnny’s help. However, the project is the furthest thing from your mind. 

All you can think about is the lyrics of Going Away to College. You’re trying not to read into things, but Johnny wasn’t the most subtle. 

Maybe you should make a playlist for him. Or buy him a record. According to him, Johnny’s not a true collector- that was reserved for cameras. Maybe he’d appreciate it.

Johnny spots you walking to class (though he’s sure your next one isn’t for another half hour). He skates over to you, stopping right at your feet. You shriek, almost stumbling backwards.

“What the hell, Johnny?”

He dismounts his skateboard, holding it under his arm nonchalantly.  “Do you wanna hang out somewhere other than a record store?”

“Yeah. I’d like that.”

—

The skatepark is overstimulating in the best way. After trying (and failing) to teach you how to do an ollie for an hour, the two of you set up a picnic off to the side of the halfpipe. You eat kimbap off Johnny’s skateboard, using it as a little table.

“Sorry you got a B on your paper, by the way. If it’s any consolation, I didn’t grade it.” 

“It’s okay. I’d rather earn a B from Professor Moon than have your biased ass give me a higher grade than I deserve.”

Johnny places a hand on his chest, gasping dramatically.

“Um, what about academic integrity? I would do nothing of the sort!” he insists.

“Oh come on, you’re obsessed with me,” you say, half-joking. To your surprise, Johnny nods to himself, agreeing with you.

“Only a healthy amount though.”

When you and Johnny finish the kimbap, he scooches next to you. The sun is setting, oranges slowly darkening into a wash of deep indigo. You shiver as the sun dips beneath the horizon. Johnny places his jacket across your shoulders.

“Thanks,” you say.

“No problem.”

You place your head on Johnny’s shoulder.

“Um, and thanks for the playlist too. It’s really good.”

“Yeah?”

“It sorta had… a theme to it.”

Johnny suddenly pulls out from under you, leaving you to stumble around for a bit as you catch yourself. When he turns to you, he stares, caramel eyes pouring into your own. You feel warm in spite of the chilly breeze.

“I’ve never really been good with words,” Johnny confesses. “I figured I’d let the music do the talking.”

With that, he takes your face into his hands. He traces your features with the pads of his fingers- running them over your eyebrows, the lids of your closed eyes, your nose and, finally, your mouth. When he’s satisfied, he places a faint kiss upon your lips. 

He pulls back, caressing your cheeks with his thumbs. “I’m so glad my pretentious bullshit doesn’t give you the ick,” Johnny says.

“Only a healthy amount,” you say through a smile. 

Suddenly, you initiate another kiss, your lips crashing into his fervently. When Johnny recovers from the initial shock, you deepen the kiss further. He’s a patient kisser, never demanding too much or taking more than he’s given. This only heightens your hunger for him, throwing your arms around his neck to pull him impossibly closer. When the two of you come up for air, you linger with Johnny still in your embrace, his eyes crinkling at the edges with pure joy.

a/n: currently unedited + feedback is always appreciated! thanks for reading!

#bloodmoonmuses #nct 127 #nct 127 fluff #johnny suh x reader #johnny suh fanfic #johnny suh

[elysianhades]

Hi! I would like to request mammon x mc fluff. Maybe something like a painting date where you pass the canvases back and forth? Up to you, but just some mammon please!!!

Here you go! Thank you so much for requesting! I hope this is acceptable!

I haven't ever written Mammon before so hopefull he isn't too ooc

Somplace Only We Know

Mammon x Mc

Downy Fluff ahead!

“What’s the point in this again?” Mammon asks, watching you pull out the pencils and sketchbooks out of the bag you brought with you.

It was a smart decision on your part, for you both to ‘sneak’ to the human realm. If any of the other brothers knew about this little date the two of you had planned, you knew they would try to sabotage it, but seriously, you put too much effort in this outing for it to be spoiled by pouting demon lords. You both were sitting on a beach, a bluff actually, if you wanted to get technical. It was nice, being in weather that wasn’t actively trying to kill you. The Devildom is nice, but being able to wander around and not be sweating a concerning amount or literally bundled up is something you will never take for granted again.

“My older brother and I used to play a game like this when we were younger, granted I was 5 and he was terrible at drawing, but I also used to do this before I went to the Devildom, it helps warm up skills. Besides, I wanted to spend time with you and what better way than by doing this? It’s fun I swear!” You laugh, nudging the demon next to you with your knee.

“I trust ya, precious. It’s not everyday the Great Mammon has time off ya know? Imma very busy demon, I’m sure whatever ya planned is gonna be entertain’.” He boasts, chuckling and puffing his chest out.

You roll your eyes lovingly, a small smile on your lips as you flip one of the sketchbooks to an open page. For all the comments he was making on the way here, he did seem like he was looking forward to this and he did look like he was enjoying himself.

“Here you go, oh Great Mammon.” You tease, watching Mammon’s ears flush a rosy red when he meets your eyes and sees your smiling face. You swear you see his eyes dart between your eyes and lips once or twice before he carefully takes the offered book out of your hands. He taps his fingers on the cover as he looks around at the mini picnic you had set up. He swallows and looks at the open sketchbook on his lap, quickly flipping through the other pages, not looking at the art there but seeing how much of the book is filled.

“Ya know, one day ya should show me all the sketchbooks ya have. I’d… I’d like ta see what else you’ve made.” He quickly says, looking at you out of the side of his eye. His cheeks now are a little more colorful than they were a second ago.

“If you want to see my older art you can, be warned though, I wasn’t always as adept as I am now,” You snort at his attempt to sound nonchalant, when he is practically vibrating with the want to peek through the book in his hands, “also be warned that there are sketches of you in there.” You add on almost as an afterthought, looking at him head on to catch his reaction.

It takes a couple seconds for your statement to actually register, but you can tell when it did. His eyes widened a tiny bit and his jaw unclenched before the red covered his face and he was choking on nothing. His head whipped over to you as he tried to catch his breath and at this point you were struggling to breathe as well because you were trying not to laugh at him. It was a funny concept to you though, how he could get pictures taken of himself all the time in different positions and not bat an eye but the thought of a few messy drawings are enough to derail any thoughts in his head.

“Well- ah- I mean, of course ya have sketches of me in here, I’m pretty great aren’t I.” He coughs, clearing his throat and looking away from you to try and regain his composure, “seriously though treasure, ya have ta warn me before ya say sappy things like that. Oi! Wait! I better be the only one who you’ve drawn! My brothers better not be in here as well! Just me! I’m yer first after all!”

You chuckle and shake your head as you pull another (almost full) sketchbook out of your bag. This one probably has two or three more pages in it until it’s full, you figured now would be the best time to finish it. You hum as you turn your shoulder so the flustered demon next to you can see the contents of the book. There are a lot of drawings of sceneries around RAD, the castle, even the House of Lamentation, but if the few drawings of people that could be seen, they were all different poses and styles of Mammon doing different things.

Mammon counting grimm, Mammon talking to one of the crows that always follow him around, him grabbing the popcorn bowl from a movie night, him mid-stretch, and so many workshops of his hands in different positions and holding different things. What can you say? He has some attractive hands. You hear a strange dying noise from right beside you. A noise you know is his ‘I don’t know whether to feel giddy or be embarrassed’ he’s made it enough times for you to know what it means.

“Come on, let’s start! I’m going to set a timer on my phone for 15 minutes! During those 15 minutes I want you to draw what you see, could be the beach, could be the water, could be the sky, it doesn't matter. After the timer is up, we are gonna switch books and I’ll continue what you are drawing and you’ll continue mine! I think we should do this two or three times just to be safe. You can use any of the pencils here, anything I’ve brought is free range! Have at it. Do you need some time to think of something to draw or should I start the timer now?” You explain, bouncing lightly, excited to start.

It takes a minute for Mammon to find his words again, but eventually he is able to form a coherent sentence. He looks at the jar full of different colored pencils you have sitting on the blanket, at the pens that are being held together by a rubber band, and finally at the scene around him.

“Yeah, I think I got somethin. Jus no peekin til the time’s up!”

“Ok then! I’m starting the timer!” You cheer, pressing the ‘start’ button on your phone and get to drawing.

The thought to draw Mammon does cross your mind, for multiple reasons, but as soon as those thoughts appear you brush them away, you think he would combust if he saw that right out of the gate. The place that you decided to sit for this date is a bit of a walk away from the trail you had to take to get here. The way to get to this particular bluff was a tiny bit of a walk but it was worth it. Normally, you would park on the side of the road and then walk through the trail to the beach, but since magic was a thing, you were able to teleport right to where the trail through the forest meets the ocean. The beach looks like it's separated into two parts, there's a sandy side where driftwood is littered all over the sand, some pieces so big that people who have visited before have made little forts out of them, broken seashells are scattered throughout the beach as well, sandbars, old sand dollars, huge clumps of seaweed and crab shells are in sight as well.

The other side of the beach is where you both haven’t gotten to look at yet, but it has rocks covered in barnacles everywhere. The rocks are practically on top of eachother, and you can’t even see the sand without having to move rocks. You also know however, that if you lift up the little rocks, that you’ll see tiny crabs. If you guys are lucky, you might even be able to see a sea snail. You hum, since it is the first round, you decide to draw something easy. You start sketching the part of the beach that meets the forest, with all the driftwood and the trees.

As you start getting into your drawing, you hear Mammon start muttering to himself, he is talking too quietly for you to hear what he is saying. Angling your body towards him, you can see he is hunched over to ensure you couldn’t see what he is drawing. His tongue is poking out of his lips in concentration, and every now and then he’ll look at what he has on the paper hum, then nod before getting back to drawing. Smiling, you go back to your own piece, relieved that he is enjoying himself. Before you know it, your phone is going off, signaling that it’s time to switch books.

“Now remember human, no judgin’!” Mammon all but shouts, hiding the book to his chest and mock-glaring at you.

“Yeah, how about we make a deal then? I won’t judge yours and you won’t judge mine? We’re doing this for fun anyway, it’s not like I’m gonna grade you on it.” You smile, making grabby hands at his book. He grumbles before slowly handing the sketch and the pencil over to you. You are much more enthusiastic about trading with him.

Both you and Mammon are still as you look over each other’s work. You can’t imagine why he thinks you would judge him for what he has done so far, it looks so good. He chose to draw the scene in front of both of you, with the water, the islands in the back, and the sun in the middle of the sky. The lines are good and you can clearly see what he was drawing. He also whistles when he is done looking at yours.

“Wow, baby, ya sure are talented. Like actually, this is damn good.” Mammon praises, smiling as he looks over it one more time. He held up the book so he could see the comparison side-to-side. You feel heat rush up to your face and ears and try to hide your face by grabbing your phone to start the timer over and clearing your throat to swallow the giddy embarrassment you feel. “You’re telling me that? Honey, you should have told me you could draw, we would’ve done this sooner.” You say, determined to fluster him as well and make him know he is talented. God knows he isn’t told enough.

Your compliment works, he chokes again and whips his head over to you. His eyes are searching yours, you can tell he is trying to see if you are teasing him or making fun of him. You tilt your head and look at him, giving him a smile. When he finds no trace of a lie in your words, you can see a sheepish smile break across his face. He slowly reaches over to grab your hand, giving you time to move yours away if you didn’t want him to hold it.

“Yer the best thing to happen to me treasure,” he starts, pausing and looking back over to the beach and the picnic you set up when you first got here. “I know I don’t say it as much as I should, but ya really mean everything to me.”

“You might not be able to say it as often as you want, but you show me everyday how much I mean to you and that’s more than enough. I love you, Mammon.” You smile, squeeze his hand as you talk. You sigh and look down at the sketchbook in your lap. “We have a tiny problem, honey.”

“Yeah? What?” He looks around to see if he can see what you are referring to. He doesn’t notice anything that could have dampened your mood, and you don’t look unhappy. You tsk and lightheartedly shake his hand still in yours.

“I don’t want to draw anymore, I just want to focus on you.” You don’t mind how warm your face feels being this vulnerable, you know you’re safe with Mammon here.

He snorts at your confession, shaking his head and squeezing your hand. He grabs both books and closes them before putting them back in your bag with the pencils. He carefully pulls you into his chest and shifts so you can lean on him comfortably. He promptly ignores his own blush as he holds you.

“Well, we are here for the whole day, I’m sure we can get back to drawin’ after ya get yer cuddling fix out of the way. An I love ya too by the way, more than anythin’.”

#obey me #obey me shall we date #fanfic #obey me nightbringer #obey me mammon #mammon x reader #om! mammon #obey me x reader #one shot #fluff #uhhh yeah thats it

[bunnydoobles]

TRADITIONAL DOOBLES (pt. 2)

okay! so in case you haven't seen the first post of this (you totally should), these are a continuation of my traditional art of the arcana! the last collection showed my older drawings and doodads, but this shows more of my recent art and how ive improved!! with minor explanations haha-

we're dipping our toes into more of my recent stuff!! PIRATE ANDREA INCLUDED!! the first two were small doodles i made for portia and julian's birthday but didn't exactly have a media to post art at the time so i merely posted it to my arcana server filled with my friends! we had mini celebrations

this was concepts of younger Andrea (the dooble of him and younger Julian was obviously noncanon, i simply thought it'd be cute to put them together), and a silly headcanon with some friends of mine where we talked about Andrea's first kiss being Asra when they were younger, as a distraction to steal his food!! :D it was a funny idea so i drew it! also medical studies Andrea! while he was Julian's apprentice!

now to the most recent stuff! i drew these just this week!! i finished the route and was going coconuts bananas over the confession so i drew it!! the other two were also about certain scenes i found cute! fun fact! andrea first started realizing he was falling for julian in Book XIV, Temperance "An Uninvited Guest" while they were in the masquerade! hense the dooble!! and the second one was based off of after the horrors in the nightmare world they endured and were transported into death's realm, julian relieved and sobbing over andrea being safe (Book XVIII- The Moon, Chapter "Dream Within a Dream")!!

anyways! thanks for looking at my art (whatever few who cared enough to scroll through)!! i hope you enjoyed and care to stay a bit! im trying to grow as an artist and have a media to thrive in and a fun community!! thanks for the support!! comment or dm or just follow me- anything really- if you also like the arcana and it's content!! :DD

#the arcane game #the arcana mc #the arcana #ilya devorak #julian devorak #julian devorak x mc #oc x canon #asra alnazar #asra the arcana #asra the magician #portia devorak

[uwmspeccoll]

Staff Pick of the Week

My name is Elizabeth Voorhorst, and I am a new writing intern for Special Collections this semester. It is a pleasure to share this space, as I am excited to delve into the vast sea of books that Special Collections makes a home for.

I am an English major, with a focus on creative writing. Because of this, my time spent in Special Collections will be focused predominantly on fairy tales and folklore, perhaps dipping into mythology when curiosity and inspiration strikes hardest.

For this week, I wanted to focus on black creators and their works for Black History Month. Because my pride and passion is folklore and fairy tales, I thought it would be fun to take a look at what we have in our collection and share it with you!

Retellings are always enjoyable, as you get to see the way writers recreate and offer their own flare and heritage to the story. One such story is The Girl Who Spun Gold, a retelling of the German classic fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin. This retelling was written by Virginia Hamilton (1932-2002) and illustrated by Leo Dillon (1933-2012) and Diane Dillon (1933- ).The book was published 1n 2000 by Blue Sky Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.

The story is about a West Indian girl named Quashiba, whose mother lies to Big King that she is able to spin golden thread. The King takes Quashiba as his queen, expecting her to fill whole rooms with golden fabrics and finery, which of course she would be unable to do. However, she meets a creature who offers to help, but demands that in three days she must guess his name correctly or be bound to him forever.

Quashiba is now able to fulfill the King’s continuous demands, but is unable to guess the name of her helper, until the King reveals to her that he ran across a strange creature in the woods who was dancing and singing a song that included his name, Lit’mahn Bittyun. So, on the final night, after the room is filled with fabrics and wondrous goods, Quashiba plays dumb for the first two guesses, and on the last guess she gives him his full name and he explodes into a confetti of golden specks. The King repents his greed, but only after three years and a day does Quashiba reconcile with him.

The absolutely stunning illustrations for The Girl Who Spun Gold were made using a four-color process with gold as a fifth color. The Dillons comment on the painting process, stating:

Knowing the difficulty of painting with metallic paint as well as the difficulty of reproducing gold, we still chose to use it, for the story itself revolved around the concept of gold. The art was done with acrylic paint on acetate, over-painted with gold paint. The gold borders were created using gold leaf.

The book was printed on one-hundred-pound Nymolla Matte paper, and each illustration was spot-varnished.  Color separations were made by Digicon Imaging Inc., Buffalo, New York, and the book was printed and bound by Tien Wah Press, Singapore, with production supervision by Angela Biola and Alison Forner. Along with Leo & Diane Dillon, the book was also designed with help from Kathleen Westray.

View more work by African American artists.

View more posts concerning African Americans.

View more Staff Picks.

- Elizabeth V., Special Collections Undergraduate Writing Intern

#Staff Pick of the Week #black history month #virginia hamilton #fairy tales #Leo Dillon #Diane Dillon #the girl who spun gold #rumplestiltskin #folk tale #black writers #African American writers #African American artists #scholastic #black artists #Blue Sky Press #children's books #Historical Curriculum Collection #illustrated books #Elizabeth V.

[simpcityy]

Hi! :)

Can I request a one shot or head cannons if the spider teens + Miguel (platonic) with a reader who is like jolyne cujoh from Jo-Jos bizarre adventure they are also a spider person I’ll link below jolyne and her stand in case you do pick up this request and don’t know much about either of them

Stone free/stone ocean -> https://jojo.fandom.com/wiki/Stone_Free

Jolyne cujoh/kujo -> https://jojowiki.com/Jolyne_Cujoh

Anyways have a nice day/night :)

My second ever request! It took so long to write this since I was having a hard time, I'm not familiar with Jo-jos Bizarre Adventure but after seeing the amazing color concept and style, it's on my list to watch! Remember to stay hydrated and to keep on simping! ( I hope this is what you had mind 😊)

Hobie: 🧷The moment he met you, one thing came to mind. You’re going to be his new partner in crime. The moment he heard about your small crimes you’ve committed since you were young. You would be perfect in his small projects of fighting the government establishment. 🧷 Especially hearing the time you were in a maximum-Security Ward; he definitely wants to help you put more crap into your government establishment in your earth as well. It must have been tough for you, but he salutes you for pushing it through, making you more amazing to him. Heck, he has mad respect for you for taking one for the team knowing you were innocent. He looks at you talking with others, just by the way you look, he wouldn’t have a clue that you went through so much. He definitely wouldn’t mind doing favors for you, he doesn’t believe in taking orders but you’re an exception. 🧷Whenever he finds matching pins, he always hands you the other half. “What’s this? Wouldn’t you give this to Pav?”  “Nah, this suits you more” Would be his excuse, seeing you wear the pins on your suit or bag got him smiling proudly since the pins were pretty much saying ‘fuck the govenment’ and so on. 

Gwen: 🥁Your style is what brought her closer to you before dating you. She wonders if you dyed your hair all by yourself but one thing, she could agree is that your style is pretty cool. She even thinks about growing her hair out to try cool and funky hairstyles like yours. 🥁The first time she talked to you; her first conversation started was. “Can you adopt me?” “What…” Was your only response to her odd question. Gwen has to admit, having you as an older/younger sibling would be so cool and fun.

🥁It kind of happened over time, you two would dye each other's hair and even taught Gwen to do your signature hairstyle on yourself. Motivating the girl to grow her hair out to do a similar style like yours and even dye her hair more to express herself.

Pav: 🍵Once you stepped foot into the HQ, he was asking all sorts of questions. Is your hair naturally like that? What’s your Stands job? How were you bit? So much more that Hobie had to snap him out of it as Pav had his eyes glowing with admiration once you were introduced by Miguel. His friendly and cute behavior is what made you two into the cute couple. 🍵What made you stand out to him was your flashy colors and choice of clothing which he finds so cool. Even the way you fight had a flashy style and overall, he found it amazing how different you are from different spider people. When Pav joined the team for the first time, he felt like he didn’t belong from how different he was but now, he doesn’t feel alone when you joined the team. 🍵 A lot of Chai breaks to gossip the latest romance between the spider-people. He feels so happy to share this little hobby of his. While you get the juicy gossip of what happens when you’re off working. You have to admit, he’s pretty good at being cupid. I mean look how happy you two are with each other.

Miles: 🖌 You are a new inspiration to his book of art. Pages and pages filled with you in different poses, standing, drinking and he even captured some of your fighting poses when you were assigned a mission with him.  When you discover his book laying around at his place, he was having a mental breakdown only to feel stupid for overreacting when you were cool with it and even offer to pose for him to draw different angles. 🖌 Hangouts and dates are mostly consisting in his earth teaching you how to do a mural in some alley wall. It brings him a sense of relief since he used to be taught by his uncle and now, he gets to share moments like this again with someone he cherishes, you and sometimes would take the time to admire your stand from up close. Your stand has their own personal mural of them created by Miles! 🖌 Found a new person who admires his sneaker collection. Seeing the way, you dressed yourself, he introduced you to the whole sneaker world and he has to say, he got you addicted to getting yourself new kicks once a month as a treat for yourself for saving lives. You even got Miles some limited editions from your earth, let's just say, you're the street fashion couple. Miguel (platonic): 🕷️ Miguel finds you troublesome, but he admits one thing to himself that he would never tell anyone not even Lyla, the strength you carry to the team, he admires it. Seeing you always making sure no one comes back injured after a mission. He does scold you for taking all the hits. “Ay niño/ niña! Don’t be the punching doll for others!” It’s like a father scolding their crazy teenager which Lyla always has fun watching the chaos between the two of you. 🕷️ He has many questions like Pav but his are more about your past. He knows how it feels to have a shitty dad so he would always check up on you. How was the mission? Did you eat? The brand sold out your favorite hair dye, come check his earth to see if it’s stocked there. He hates to admit but, he bonded with you over the similarities of childhood trauma. 🕷️He has complained about your clothing choice, and he knows it’s how you express yourself, but his excuse is always, “You’re showing too much skin, Look! “ Comments that every parent worries about their child's safety, Miguel is one of them. Always giving the glare to any of the young spiderlings that get close to you or even lay a hand on your shoulder but in the end, he respects it but he still keeps an eye on anyone who stares at you for too long. As Lyla tells him, “you’re just a single tired father with a punk type, angsty type of teenerager.”

Author notes: THANK YOU I HAVE REACHED 200 FOLLOWERS. Wow, also thank you for loving my I'm not her series, it's the most popular out of all the works I did so far. So, I am working on that. The poll also finished so I will do that 100-follower special as well.

#miguel ohara fic #across the spiderverse fic #miguel o'hara #miguel ohara x reader #father figure miguel ohara #miguel ohara x platonic reader #answered asks #miles molares #miles morales x y/n #gwen x reader #astv hobie #hobie x y/n #pavitr x reader #pavitr x you #ATSv Headcannons

[genderkoolaid]

actually re: that other post abt masculinity: I think that's what makes transness in general so radical.

the patriarchy doesn't want us to freely and fully enjoy gender roles. it doesn't want us to have fun with them. women have to be feminine, but they can't relish it. men have to be masculine, but they can't revel in it. letting people have full anarchistic freedom with gender would mean losing what the patriarchy wants most: the ability to control people at the deepest level (for capitalistic imperialist gains). gender is a powerful tool for control. think about how much advertising & propaganda uses gender to convince people of things they need. you have to force people to fill carefully defined boxes, but they can never make those boxes a true home or reinvent the boxes in interesting ways because then, gender doesn't belong to the patriarchs, it belongs to the people.

trans people throw all that out by choosing to live as ourselves! the fact that we choose, not only free of pressure but in spite of it, to claim gender as our own is powerful. our existence is reclaiming gender from patriarchs and making it our own.

it's kind of like assigned books in school. when you are forced to read a book, and your teacher isn't concerned with making it fun or interesting but making sure you get a good test score and you can memorize the pre approved answers they give you— books aren't fun. they are something you read because you are forced to.

but choosing to read a book, and analyzing it and discussing it in ways you never considered before, that's when you realize books can be FUN. they can do things with words and constructs you didn't think were possible, they can have fun and play around with old concepts in new interesting ways. trans people show how you can take cultural constructs of gender and truly, truly make them your own. it's about making gender an art form, like blackout poetry and scrap booking. taking something and making something entirely different out of it, but still having recognizable pieces. the patriarchy doesn't want people to unabashedly and wholeheartedly love their gender, because once you truly love the performance and the messy feelings you don't give a shit about what's "proper". gender anarchy is so fucking fun

#m.

[nanowrimo]

30 Covers, 30 Days 2023: Day 8

Since it's day 8 of NaNoWriMo, some of you might start wishing someone else could write your novel for you. Here's a fun novel that explores that exact idea! Today, we have 10 Maniacs are Trapped in a Death Trap and they Each Must Write a Short Story or They Will All Be Killed by Adam Marler, a Satire/Humor novel! This novel cover was designed by the amazing returning artist, Christopher Simmons!

(For those of you who don’t know, 30C30D stands for 30 Covers, 30 Days in which 17 Wrimos and 5 YWP Participants get the chance to win a professionally designed cover! The rest of the days are being filled by community features. We’ll be posting a cover a day throughout November, so make sure to check them out!)

10 Maniacs are Trapped in a Death Trap and they Each Must Write a Short Story or They Will All Be Killed

(What if the bad guy from Saw trapped people and made them write his NaNoWriMo?)

On June 15th, a brilliant creative mind met tragic fate. Dr. Bloodcastle, a literary genius, faced a fate worse than death. A horrifying collision with a bus filled with 10 total maniacs left him messed up, both physically and creatively. His life's work, a collection of short stories, lay in ruins, missing a staggering 50,000 words. His literary agent, once a faithful ally, severed their professional ties.

Years passed, and from the depths of despair, Dr. Bloodcastle emerged with a visage as chilling as his resolve. Now his face was a skull.

The 10 maniacs responsible for his ruin would soon discover that their twisted fate had taken a malevolent turn. Dr. Bloodcastle, with a thirst for retribution, kidnapped each one of them. He would force them to wield the pen and write, an agonizing task of producing 50,000 words in a mere month.

Prepare for a chilling tale of literary revenge, where the boundaries between sanity and madness blur, and the pen becomes a weapon of torment. Dr. Bloodcastle's macabre narrative unfolds, and justice will be written in the ink of vengeance.

About the Author

Adam Marler is a lifelong reader with a great appreciation for literature and the written word. Despite that, he is currently working on 10 Maniacs are Trapped in a Death Trap and they Each Must Write a Short Story or They Will All Be Killed which shouldn't be considered a reflection on any of his previous teachers, academic or otherwise.

When he isn't writing this dumb thing he's spending time with his wife, son, two dogs and house that is roughly 25% remodeled.

About the Designer

Christopher Simmons is a designer, author, artist, occasional hamburger blogger, and a former curator of NaNoWriMo’s 30 Days/30 Covers project. His work has been exhibited in museums and galleries ranging from The Hiroshima Museum of Contemporary Art to the de Young Museum in San Francisco to The Smithsonian Institution. He has written four books and designed considerably more.

Cover Design Process:

This year. we gave designers the optional prompt to explain their design process for the cover! Here's Christopher's:

The title, as I was given it, was “10 Maniacs are Trapped in a Death Trap and they Each Must Write a Short Story or They Will All Be Killed by Adam Marler.” My first instinct was to play with the absurd length of that title. Most of my early explorations were around that. But there was also something intriguing to me about the run-on between title and author; it almost read as if Adam Marler was going to do the killing. I became interested with blurring the boundary between author and title, which is how I arrived at implicating him as one of the maniacs. Since the book is a satire about the writing process it seemed apropos. The full title appears on the spine, but this is the kind of concept cover that would probably get rejected. Still, I like to lead with it to jumpstart creative discussions.

#nanowrimo #nano #30c30d #30 covers 30 days #design #satire/humor #christopher simmons #adam marler

[queer-ragnelle]

who do you consider the "main" (or most common) knights of the round table and what does your ideal round table look like

Hi there! What a fun question.

I have a very specific answer for this because I actually had to work this out when writing my books. :^) I'll talk a little bit about my inspirations as the potential for the Table is literally endless. Narrowing the scope of sources, both fictional and historical, helped me decided on what exactly my ideal was.

First of all there's a documentary about the Round Table hanging at Winchester that I've made available to watch here. When I first shared it, I made a post talking about how silly some of the inclusions were as they had characters that were most definitely not historical, but nonetheless interesting. That Round Table seats 24 knights, plus King Arthur. Some legends say the Table was part of Guinevere's dowry and came with 100 knights, although it could seat a total of 150. Personally, I have two minds about this.

I was inspired by the idea of a guild of knights in the historical sense. I looked at the Order of the Garter, which is the oldest of such groups in Britain still in exitance today. This guild was founded by King Edward III and directly inspired by his love of Arthurian Legend. So, building on that concept, I think "Knights of the Round Table" can be considered a guild of sorts which doesn't necessarily constitute an equal number of seats to butts. ;^) While I do write about magic, I wanted this aspect to be grounded somewhat in potential reality, so "my" Round Table, the actual physical object, only seats thirteen, including King Arthur himself. This number comes from the Prose Tristan, which in turn draws on the Bible, more specifically, the last supper at which Jesus broke bread with his disciples.

The great and skillful Merlin had exhausted all the secrets of his art in the constructing of that table. Thirteen seats were placed round it in honor of the thirteen apostles. Twelve only of these could be filled up, and only by the bravest and truest Knights. The thirteenth represented that of the execrable traitor Judas.

So, my Round Table seats thirteen people. The people in those seats fluctuates, as is customary with the legend. When a seat-holder dies, their name disappears, and someone can then replace them. I like to believe there's a lineage aspect to it as well, so scion replace predecessors. When King Arthur first began his reign and welcomed his allies into his guild, the Round Table would alighted with names it had deemed worthy. Joining the guild (or Arthur's "household" as some medieval texts would say) wasn't enough, this inner council constitutes an additional layer of honor afforded to but a handful. In the timeline of my books, the "original" members were King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, Royal Wizard Merlin, King Ban, King Bors, King Pellinore, King Urien, Sir Kay, Sir Bedwyr, with 4 empty seats. Had King Lot allied with Arthur, perhaps he would have had a seat. But as it were, his son Sir Gawain ended up there instead. And thus, Lancelot replaced Ban, Lamorak replaced Pellinore, Owain replaced Urien, etc. Eventually, Sir Tristan, High Prince Galehaut, Sir Percival, and lastly Sir Galahad also get seats. It's a perpetually revolving door of people on the council, with more knights joining the "Knights of the Round Table" guild all the time. I think this adds a little extra spice to the whole thing, possibly fueling rivalries. I mean, how many of Lancelot's kinsmen get proper seats while Gawain's kinsmen, Arthur's nephews, stand around outside the hold like chumps? All three grail knights have seats but only one queen? Is it Merlin's magic that decides this or some divine force? How can this force be trusted? Who knows! :^)

Now as for the look of it, I really liked the design in The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (1956).

Each knight is labeled by name, they rest a decorative shield on the surface with their heraldry which is also on a little flag at each seat. It's so extra I love it. I went more rustic though and believe the Table to be made from a cross section of a giant oak tree and the names appear in gold lettering before the person. Fun fact as well, the Table doesn't deadname.

That was a very long answer lol but I think a great deal about these things. Thanks for the ask and take care!

#arthurian legend #arthurian legends #arthuriana #arthurian mythology #arthurian literature #knights of the round table #ask #wixch-or-wizard #writing

[pickypickypeak]

I am curious what your take is on this "star boy the shape shifter" after seeing your nice reply to that clown. Even if the idea remained I have a funny feeling about it in my spirit.

Thank you for the ask!! People will cling on anything just to hate on another Disney movie (without even watching it nor caring about Disney in the first place lol), they think it makes them look cool I guess?

Honestly, I like the concept of human Star. I know we don’t know for sure if he was gonna be a love interest, even though the demo version of At All Costs strongly makes me think so. Even having him as a platonic friend to Asha, not necessarily a love interest, had potential in my opinion, but an old fashioned love story would have been nice for the Disney 100th (we arguably don’t have one since Tangled). Especially the shapeshifting part would have been so fun to see in animation! I’m imagining some sort of fusion between Maui and Jack Frost lmao

HOWEVER, unlike some people who, clearly, are just in love with the aesthetic of it and were searching for yet another reason to sh*t on Disney, I’m not PISSED at the writers for changing that. First of all I’m pretty satisfied with what we got: as I said previously, I definitely don’t consider Wish the BEST Disney movie, but still a quite enjoyable one with nice characters, animation, and music. Secondly, we don’t know the full original story, we don’t even know if they had one when Starboy was considered. Maybe it didn’t work, maybe they were just exploring ideas and some concepts of him as a human were made. It’s not like this is the first time a cool scrapped concept appears in an art book lol, Disney art books are filled with those.

Also, I feel like people need to understand that it’s perfectly fine to say “you know what this would have been cool. I’m making a fic/fanart/headcanon” instead of immediately going “oh my goddd!!! this would have been SO much cooler than the actual movie, which I haven’t seen, based on this specific scrapped concept art and some ai art I’ve seen on tiktok!!!” I know it’s not EVERYONE acting this way but, sorry, most complaints I’ve seen are coming from these people lol. Fortunately I’ve also seen a few comments from people who genuinely wonder what the movie would have been like if they went with Starboy without making tragedies, as well as people making fanarts out of creativity and not hate for the actual movie (which is not deserved come on. You can dislike it ofc but it’s not some immoral monster like some people paint it).

So that said, I’m glad people are having fun exploring concepts and making fanarts, I’m all for it! Long post but I took an opportunity to express all my thoughts on the topic lol

#wish #wish disney #wish 2023 #disney wish #disney #I still don’t know how to tag it #star boy #star wish #asha

[crispycreambacon]

I thought I'd share the sketch of this poster/book cover as well as my initial concepts! You can click the "Read More" button for more in-depth explanations on my design process.

Thhis is all for my latest fanfiction, Snip Snip, so if you'd like to check that out, then...

Now let's crack in!

For the release of "Snip Snip", I actually had several different directions in mind! One was a comic of one of the scenes from the fanfic—specifically the one where the Professor breaks down in front of Kate and Joyce with the line "I don't like being a woman"—and the other was a series of doodles showing the Professor's transition. Unfortunately, both directions met dead ends as I couldn't find the motivation to do either. The most progress I made were these sketches.

If you're wondering, "The first one looks familiar..." that's because I reused that pose for my first promo art! It was too good of a pose. I couldn't waste it :P

But anyways, after a period of getting extremely frustrated over the lack of progress, I realized my main problem: I was biting off more than I could chew. I didn't know this at the time, but I was dealing with burnout from school assignments that made drawing more ambitious ideas like the ones I had very difficult. Hence, I had to scale it down. It made me think, "Why not do something like a movie poster or a book cover?"

That's how the sketches at the top of the post came to be! I consulted a friend of mine over which pose to choose, and he picked the third one which I understand why so. The obscuring of the Professor's face not only made it cool, but it adds symbolism in how we don't really see his true identity—the real him—until his transition. Here's the first sketch!

As you can see, the title is on the top left corner! However, I moved it to the bottom for two reasons

It's advice I learnt while looking up how to make movie posters since moving the title to the bottom tends to bring more focus to the illustration above.

I couldn't find a font that fits! And the idea of doing typography again (especially after the Keep Yourself Safe poster...) was really not what I signed up for.

But then it left the problem of the top corner looking empty. It was too distracting! So what did I fill it in with? The subtitle: This is their story. The composition is now more balanced, and also the subtitle tickles me.

As I said before, I looked up movie posters for this! Special thanks to the Nashville Film Institute and Muse by Clio for their articles that guided me during this poster making process. I will say though I got really sidetracked watching Filmmaker IQ's The History of the Hollywood Movie Poster 😭 It's really interesting, I'd recommend watching it!

One thing I learnt is that movie posters limit their colour palettes. Of course, this is good advice for art in general, but movie posters emphasize on its colour usage to attract the audience with their simple yet bold schemes. It is a piece of advertisement after all! Following their footsteps, I limited my colours to the primary colours (red, yellow, blue) and purple to make the scissors pop and allude to the nonbinary flag colour scheme.

And from there, it was just a matter of experimenting with rendering! I wanted a mix of pop art and storybook illustrations, so I mixed lineart with lineless, and I wanted to retain the energy of the sketch while still polishing it, so I cleaned the sketch, merged it with the colours, and painted on top of it rather than make a separate lineart layer.

Overall, I'm extremly proud of the end result! The struggle of figuring out the promo art for this fic has been tormenting me since the beginning of the year, so I'm glad to bring it to an end. Thank you for reading my ramblings! I hope you learnt something or at least had fun? Either way, have a good day!!

#this truly has been a rambles moment #i really really recommend watching that video by the way it is FASCINATING #the professor #shane madej #puppet history #poster design #art process #design process #art #artists on tumblr #sketches #concept art #chris p fried rambles #chris p fried art

[queenofcringe]

Rating 2000's Dystopian Novels

The Hunger Games- The Dystopian novel to start it all. I love how dark these books are with interesting characters and impactful themes. I read these in 6th grade which was probably too young but I remember really enjoying it.

2. The Maze Runner- This was one of the rare Dystopian books to not come off as a complete Hunger Games rip off. I love the writing in these books although my favorite book was The Kill Order. Anything with zombies is bound to be good.

3. The Selection- Looking back at these books they...weren't great. Still at the time I read them (middle school) I remember liking them. I think the fashion descriptions were the best part. It was fun to redraw all of the cover art.

4. Divergent- I remember getting this book for easter and being so disappointed. Then I found out it was written by a 20 year old. It wasn't terrible but the sentences were choppy. The series was like a soda that gradually got filled with more and more water each book.

5. Matched- These books had an interesting concept and the writing was effective without being too flourishy. However, the stakes weren't particularly intense and the romantic plot made it feel lackluster. Not to mention the stock image esque cover art.

Shatter Me- I have several reasons to hate this book but the cover art is not one of them. It was actually the reason why I picked up these books in the first place. Unfortunately, Shatter Me proved to be a huge let down with a Mary Sue protagonist. The worst part was that I didn't even finish this series and left it on an airplane. I PAID 20 DOLLARS FOR THIS MEDIOCRE ASS BOOK.

#dystopia #2000s nostalgia #the hunger games #the maze runner #the selection #divergent #matched #shatter me #books and reading

[midnightsilver]

Artist Process Post

Some process pics and behind the scenes for my Sam and Dean Costume artwork 😄:

My usual style for digital artwork is free-hand painting. I usually either build a reference scene in a 3D modeller or I draw a messy concept sketch from reference photos to get my basic shapes. Next I do a neater sketch on a new layer in Procreate and turn off my old concept sketch layer. After that I draw block colours on a layer underneath my sketch layer, before finally painting the shading and detailed features on a new layer over the top of it all. I use this process because I am a self-taught digital artist coming from a traditional art background. Plus I just really like painting 😄 - laying down colour in freehand brush strokes to build up my picture - it lets me adjust and change my ideas as I go (pre-planning is not my forte! 😅). However a lot of digital art originated in animation and anime styles, so it uses line art and colour fills in closed shapes to produce a much cleaner style. I thought I’d change up my regular process and give that style a go here and I’m really proud of my novice achievements 😄

I still started with a sketch of the boys. I drew the poses and body shapes in blue, using classic superhero poses and musculature. Then on a new layer I added the costume details in red. (I had loads of fun with this stage, it took me back to teenage me who used to draw comic book heroes instead of doing my homework 😂)

Next I lowered the opacity of my sketch and did some line work on a new layer. The trick here is to try and draw clean smooth lines in a single stroke and to make sure that the lines meet so that shapes are closed. (Later on you select individual closed shapes and fill them with colour, but if you have left gaps in your lines the colour floods out into other areas or fills up the whole page.) My lines aren’t the smoothest (I messy sketch for a reason! I have very shaky hands!!😂) and they also don’t have much nuance to them (lines should vary in thickness to add emphasis and flow to the design) but I was just pleased my work was neat-ish and still looking like my concept! 😄

The next stage is flat colour. This is a straightforward stage if you have taken time on the line work. I selected the areas that I wanted and used the fill tool to add my chosen colours inside the lines. (I also painted a freehand background to add atmosphere before I started on my shading.)

The final stages I did were shading and lighting. I drifted back towards my traditional painting style with the shading. Anime styles often use single colour shadows in block shapes, or gradient overlays to add depth, but instead I clipped my shading layer over the top of my flat colour (clipping a layer prevents you from accidentally going outside the edges of the layer below) and hand painted shadows, tone variations and highlights with freehand strokes and a blender brush. The final layer on top of that I used the hard light setting to paint on glows and shine.

And that’s everything. 😄 All in all this took me about 8 hours but that’s because I’m incredibly slow at line work 😭 (I spent soooo much time erasing and undoing crappy lines) and because freehand painting my shading layer is much slower than using block shape shadows - but I would need a lot more practice at that to make it look good, freehand painting is slower but it let’s me cover more of my errors as I go 😁. So while this art style for this pic is still not as clean or as efficient as typical anime/animation style digital artwork, I’m really pleased with the look of it compared to my usual loose style.

P.s. if you hadn’t noticed, I’m not an expert! This is not a tutorial, this is just an explanation of how I did this this time - and I’m learning more every day. If you wanna learn more about digital drawing from people who know what they are doing you can check out amazing artists like @kirathehyrulian and many others. 🤗

Stay awesome and happy Arting my friends

- Midnight

Art post on its own without the behind the scenes 😄

#supernatural #spn fanart #MidnightSilver #my artwork #artists process #digital drawing #sam winchester #dean winchester #wonder woman #superheroes

[cluelessbees]

Okay….

A concept— Dash and Lily Byler AU (I posted a part 2-ish)

Idk if you guys have watched dash and lily but it’s a very cute season-long like cheesy Christmas romance. The whole premise is that Lily puts this book in a bookstore that Dash finds and they essentially communicate through the notebook. They don’t know each others identities but they have to do a dare in order for the other to answer their question.

Im like not explaining it well but it’s very cute 😭. So like I was wondering ….byler au 👀?

So now enjoy my take on their notebook entries to each other—

(For context this one is Will’s to Mike after Mike proposed being called Blue + Mike’s entry afterwards)

Idk if it’s any good but enjoy—

***

Blue huh? 

You really aren’t giving me any clues to your name? I guess you do really like the mystery aspect of this all.

I guess I’ll continue in the theme of colours. Call me yellow. Or…think of me as yellow. I don’t think yellow works as well as a name compare to Blue, but it’s my favourite colour.

It just feels warm….which feels sorta weird to say. How can a colour feel warm? 

I don’t know. It just- reminds me of sun and how it would tickle my skin when I would lay on the grass in the park with my family. It’s just one of those warm memories. Something I think about when I want to escape.

That’s- a really weird thing to admit to a boy I’ve never met. But it’s just easier to tell you these things I guess? You’re easy to talk to- or write to.

I’m sorry if I’m being weird. I hope I’m not scaring you away.

Because ….i like talking to you blue. I hope you like talking to me.

Anyways, enough about me. It’s time for your dare. 

You’ve mentioned never really being an artist, huh? I’m not buying it. I think you like being creative. You just hate showing it.

I’ve attached a drawing of a map to this art centre. Go to it. I’ve booked you for a 4pm painting lesson. Let me know what you draw.

Don’t focus on perfection just have fun, okay? 

Give the book to the instructor, tall guy with a weird mustache you’ll know what I mean when you see it.

From, 

Yellow (?) (i have no idea of yellow is working or not)

***

Dear Yellow,

I’ll have to admit- it doesn’t work as well as Blue, but that’s okay. I think I’ll continue calling you notebook boy. I like the mystery element behind it. You’re very mysterious to me. I cant help wanting to know more about you.

You do remind me of yellow though- the warmth that is. I don’t know how else to describe it you just seem like such a warm person. Which- is weird to admit because I don’t even know you but it’s true.

Also, you don’t have to worry about scaring me off. I’m far too intrigued in knowing who you are to be scared off by anything. 

And….I happen to like you too, Notebook Boy

(See notebook boy just works better)

Anyways, a finger painting class huh? Have to admit I did not expect that. You’re always filled with surprises.

At first I thought you were just being sadistic. Like- you wanted me to stain my hands as some sort of punishment for a previous dare. But- I have to admit it was fun getting messy.

And I managed to get a sweet finger painted rainbow out of it. I’m sure I can’t compete with the art you make. You’re probably the most talented artist I know (I’m aware I haven’t seen your art yet but I’m still right.) But I like it- I think. It’s a decent painting.

Scratch that my friend just asked me if it was made by my little sister— okay so maybe not decent, but I had fun. Maybe…I do like creativity. Although no one will know but you.

I hope I get to see your paintings someday.

For now, i leave you with a dare and a question. 

What’s your taste of music like, Notebook Boy?

Mine is a mixed of genres, but I thought it would be fun for you to try something new. You seem very reserved so…I’ve attached a ticket to a friends rock show. It’s for tomorrow at 9. He makes good music. I’ve always like the atmosphere of his gigs. They’re so loud and the energy just seeps through the veins. 

I hope you like it. 

Blue 

P.S. hand the book over to my friend at the end of the show! He’s the guitarist. Tell him Blue sent you. 

***

I have more if y'all want but yeah--- thoughts? (Part 2)

#byler #I need to post more content so #I've sent this to my friends and I thought why not post it here #byler ficlet #Byler fanfic #mike wheeler #will byers #Dash and Lily Byler Au

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: February 2023

Okay I didn’t watch any movies this month BUT I’m very excited for the D&D movie and I watched plenty of youtube.

……….TELEVISION……….

Arcane (Episode 1.01 to 1.09) It took a few episodes for me to get invested (and a few mid-season eps that felt like a CW series...only young beautiful people allowed) but by the end I was into it. I know nothing about League of Legends and to the show’s credit, I couldn’t tell when there was fanservice. I’ll check out season 2 if it happens.

The Great (Episode 2.01 to 2.08) Loved the first season and currently love the second. Still a few eps left but it’s kept me guessing the entire time. Stellar characters, very funny, and the world continues to walk the edge between whimsical and dangerous.

Spy x Family (Episode 1.01 to 1.07) Super fun premise and very funny. I’ve only just started but I hope we get to see more of Yor’s world. It seems to be spy-centric and psychic-centric (which, based on the name and current plot, makes sense) but I hope it can start weaving in more of her role in the future.

Cunk on Earth (Episode 1.01 to 1.02) Sure I’ve only seen two episodes but both were very funny. Something about her timing and delivery just works every time for me.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Chronically underwhelmed? This might be why... by Daily Mindtrap A concise reflection on why we’re not having as much fun as when we were kids. Touches on a lot of thoughtful points though my hatred of subscriptions does make me a little biased. VIDEO

The Decline of Tim Burton by Broey Deschanel One thing that scares me as an artist is that I’ll get stuck in a spot and start copying and reiterating on my own work to the point that it becomes caricature. Just a random thought and totally unrelated to this video. VIDEO

How To Analyze Movies – Film Studies 101 and What Do The LOONEY TUNES Mean In 2023? by Patrick Willems Both really great in their own way. Film studies 101 is fairly universal as a lot of the topics apply to all art. And the Looney Tunes share a room in my mind palace with the Muppets: concepts I love but haven’t connected with anything of theirs in the last 15 years. VIDEO (Film 101) VIDEO (Muppets) 

……….READING……….

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Death Pedlar by Jimmy Sangster (Complete) The cover was so good and the write-up pitched it as a comedy that I took a gamble on a thrift store find. Swing and a miss. Comedy is difficult in your own time let alone 50 years after being published. Are the offensive bits a sendup of the time, or have they just aged poorly? Comedy that requires context doesn’t land for me so this whole thing fell flat. Anyway all this is to say I’m a sucker for a good book cover.

Confronting Capitalism by Vivek Chiboer (Complete) An easily digestible primer on Capitalism and it’s...faults. It really gave a lot of insight into the structural problems with politics in a capitalistic system and for that alone, I recommend. I wish the last chapter (talking about how a society moves past capitalism) was a little more robust, but hopefully I can find some other books to fill in those gaps.

Batgirl/Robin Year One by Scott Beatty, Chuck Dixon, Marcos, Martin, and Javier Pulido (Complete) Great introductions to both characters and the perfect balance of fun and dangerous. It feels like there are real stakes while not getting too dark. I’d love if a Batman movie could strive for this sorta tone, you know?

……….AUDIO……….

Paranoid by Black Sabbath (1970) One thing I appreciate about getting into Girl Talk years ago was it introduced me to bits of really great albums. And I somehow missed that Ozzy Osbourne was the lead singer. Anyway filling in a lot of blind spots here and War Pigs holds up so well. The whole album really. 

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The group is unearthing some underground tunnels and playing the political game as well. If you want to read more of the recaps, they’re over here!

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 group is busy making plans and saving Pirates. They recently acquired some protective suits so they’re now exploring the iron mines and its fluctuating temperatures!

And that’s it. See you in March!

#Monthly Media #Kolbisneat #Andrew Kolb

[dailycass-cain]

Fare Thee Well Batman: Urban Legends

Batman: Urban Legends ended this week sadly with #23. So in memorial, I'm going to talk about this series as a whole, what I truly enjoyed most about it, and of course, talk about Cass within this series.

I'm really sad to see this series go. It was a comic that allowed a MASSIVE amount of Batman stories to be told here by creatives who probably wouldn't get the chance elsewhere on other Batman comics these days.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold appears to be filling the void (come May), but it feels more like more major talents trying their hands at stories there. Not clear risks as we saw here.

That's probably the one thing I enjoyed so much about this comic. That it gave new avenues for creators and characters (we got a freaking multi-part Ace story in this! ACE!) to be seen.  Even for twenty-three issues, the book saw spinoffs. Because of this comic, we got Batman Beyond: Neo-Year and Sword of Azrael. Along with ongoings such as... Deathstroke Inc, W.I.L.D.C.A.T.s, Tim Drake: Robin, and Batgirls. Who knows? Maybe we'll see concepts near the end sprout fruit later?

For Cass, it was nice seeing the character have a clear presence in the book both in use via the Bat Family (and I'll always be grateful for artists slipping her in 🙏)...

Along with appearing in various stories (she appeared in cameos when Oracle, Lady Shiva, and the BoP). Though, my personal favorites favorite appearances would have to be...

The holiday issue in #10 which was an inspired choice of the Batgirls being the Ghosts of Christmas. Though, I almost wish Steph got her old Batgirl costume as Cass and Babs had gotten theirs with the former appearing as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.

Along with the first CANON call out to Cass being adopted into the Wayne Family since-- 2009! It does have a few questionable moments, but I can't fault writer Tini Howard for going with that above and Cass's actual gift to Dick for the holiday season being SOO in character.

Likewise, artist Christian Duce's two variants of Cass (the ghost and real) were exceptional. Just a fun little story.

"Wild Card" in #5 while the ending never truly gave us any payoff in the main Batgirls series (or anywhere else sadly with Ryan Wilder).  The story by Marguerite Bennett and drawn by Sweeney Boo still has an exceptionally cute opening with Cass/Steph.

Sadly I just don't think the payoff in the end with Wilder was worth it (as well the character hasn't been seen since this issue). Which again, is the flaw of the book. Concepts are given and taken away.

#9 was probably the best main canon story of Cass we got in the series as whole with it being both the setup to Batgirls but really it just gave us the gift of Alyssa Wong writing Cass again (first writing the character in DC: the Doom & the Damned #1).

Wong just GETS the character of Cass and it was an absolute treat just seeing Cass be Cass. Where she's allowed to be in her element and see things you wish you saw more of.

Like in this issue working with Batwoman. Yes, it would've been nice to see a story of them mending, but still seeing them teaming up is a treat into itself.

Likewise, Wong hammering the idea that Cass was fully Batgirl again as many times they could on the panel.

Put Wong's stellar writing with exceptional art by Vasco Georgiev? 

*chef's kiss* 

 But the story I think I'll be forever grateful Batman: Urban Legends giving the character of Cass was #7 aka "Hunter... or Hunted" by Guillaume Singelin.

The story is probably the best single-issue story in the entire series and one of the best stories of the entire volume (I think the only ones that could surpass it is the opening six-issue arc "Cheer" with Jason/Bruce and "Dark Knight of Soul" with Azrael.

The story is just stellar from top to bottom giving Singelin the canvas to layer a gorgeously drawn and action-packed short story that starred Cass.

It's one of the best modern Cass stories and one that I reread now and again. Just to take in Singelin's style and just the utterly breathtaking action. I'm glad DC gave him another Batgirl (Steph) in the secondary tale in DC vs. Vampires: All-Out War #1.

But man the one with Cass in #7?

So again thank you to all the creators who were in this book and thank you for the wonderful stories you gave us.

They shall not be forgotten. 🙏🙏🙏

Nor the idea of Batman: Urban Legends which I think is an idea that should be continued or carried on another day (online via DC Infinite service perhaps?)

If not then the book should be remembered for what it tried and at times did succeed at. To that...

#dc comics #batman #batman: urban legends #cassandra cain