#this is how it always starts. once the character designs start getting simplified like this that's when it all begins

[alkalinefrog]

Hey Alka, I had a quick question for you (whenever you have the time to answer or even if you have the time), I've been taking some storyboard classes and with my illustration background, it's been hard to really find a good shorthand for characters to really get that anatomy/gesture looking right without it being too sketchy and unreadable.

How long did it take you to find your storyboard shorthand, and what exercises would you recommend to try to find it? I'm sure it just takes time and practice, I've been doing a lot more studies and gesture drawings (currently following along all the free Glenn Vilppu videos I can find on youtube) but I wanted to ask you as well because I am in love with how fluid your anatomy is, and how clear your storyboards read. And those hands my god you're a wizard!!!

Thanks a bunch, have a wonderful day!

Heya Secret, great to hear from ya! Well, what you don’t see online is how gross the rough stage of my boards can get LMFAO. Most of the boards I post are actually overly cleaned up because I'm just doing them for fun and can afford the time! I'm not really sure how long it took to develop my shorthand, I've never really enjoyed drawing detail to begin with, so when I decided to go into boarding I kinda just leaned into it!

I’ve covered a bunch of gesture drawing exercises already if you scroll through my advice tag, but ***once you have a good foundation*** here's some stuff you can try!

First you'll want to build up an arsenal of anatomy hacks you can always fallback on, particularly for complex parts of the body. The less time you spend on details, the more time you have to focus on the overall pose and storytelling. Aim to find ways to draw with as FEW lines as possible. If I had to make a list to streamline what to practice:

Head shapes - find the most efficient way to draw the front + 3/4 + side view in as few lines as possible (the challenge is still making them look structured with dimension)

Eyes - are SO important for expressions! Unless your project has characters with dot eyes, you're going to need to find a quick way to do the circle and iris in as few lines as possible. Make sure you can convey where they're looking

Hands - fists (you'll be drawing a lot of people holding poles), open palms at various angles, foreshortened fingers pointing at viewer, fingers making grabby motions----protips: 1) half the time all you need is a vague triangle/rectangle plus thumb sticking up and that's a hand 2) if the hand is relaxed, you probably don't need to draw the knuckles. Save some time!

Feet - just learn how to make sure they look like they're standing on the ground, and do some studies of what they look like when you're running. Otherwise you can usually get away with a vague shoe or boot shape (just add toe lines if they're not wearing any)

----everything else you'll practice as you go!

Jump from SUPER rough straight into clean boards to really force yourself to be economic. I've done each of these methods for work before:

Before you start boarding with a character, sketch them a few times with the intention of simplifying their design while keeping them recognizable:

You'd be surprised how little you need to recognize a character:

Depending on the scene, you can adjust how much detail you want to include:

Stay loose/more generalized with action, especially for the "inbetweens" between key poses. Clean up enough to communicate movement and make the character recognizable.

If the character's small on screen in a wide shot, edit out most details and focus on the silhouette

Save the detail work for character acting, when you really want to be specific with their expressions and gestures.

But outside of all that, be bold and fearless!! Everyone has that stage where their boards look like spaghetti! Boarding is like handwriting; you could have really shitty chicken scratch, but if you're writing beautiful poetry, who cares!

god I love drawing hands you don’t even know thank you so much!! Good luck dude!! You’ve more than got this!!

#my art #advice #ask #secretsivekept #you got this! #sorry this took a while! my mental health was in the pits for a solid couple weeks #getting better now though! #storyboards

[thydungeongal]

Hi there, I got started with ttrpgs after dnd 5e came out so I don't have any personal experience or strong opinions about 4e. Would you be willing to share some of the things that were different in that version that you enjoyed?

So okay with the caveat that there isn't a single edition of D&D I don't enjoy to some extent, this isn't really a "list of reasons why D&D 4e is objectively better than any edition of D&D ever," but more like "list of features of D&D 4e where I feel it distinguishes itself from other editions":

As much as D&D has always been a combat-focused game, where characters usually have to at some point rely on violence, D&D 4e is the one edition where combat has felt the most tactically engaging and where there are sometimes genuinely tough tactical decisions to be made. Part of the beauty of D&D 4e's combat is down to a very simple fact: combat isn't quite as swingy as in other editions, where a couple of lucky rounds can either make or break the combat in the characters' favor. If you lose in D&D 4e it's usually not the result of a single bad turn, but multiple turns' worth of bad decision-making and bad luck. There's nearly always a way for players to turn around a combat that's going badly. While I also enjoy the extremely lethal and swingy editions of old on the macro level, combat in them isn't as tactically satisfying as in 4e to me (but on the flipside, combat being very quick and dirty is definitely a benefit of those systems).

I genuinely feel that it does class balance better than any other edition of D&D. Class balance has always been tough in D&D: you've either had artificial balancing like "start Magic-Users weak and have them advance slower, but once they survive to higher levels they become extremely strong," or just poorly thought out "I guess one of the Druid's class features is having an extra character that's a bear and almost as strong as a Fighter, and the Druid can summon more bears while turned into a bear." That isn't to say that it's perfect: some classes had their growing pains (Warlocks weren't great to begin with, Avengers were good but not great) and some classes did outshine others (I'm not sure if this was ever the consensus, but I always got the vibe from discussions that Fighters were probably the best Defender), but it was very hard to build a character who could overwhelm an entire party or play rocket tag while everyone else was still playing D&D.

Many of the additions and changes to the lore and cosmology of D&D were welcome to me. I liked reframing the cosmic conflict as gods vs elemental primordials, as it felt like a return to the Law vs Chaos conflict of old. I liked the idea of devils as corrupted angels, punished for deicide, which also made them a great mirror to demons that in 4e were technically corrupted elementals! It basically turned the Blood War into a dark reflection of the ongoing conflict between order and chaos (as represented by the gods and the primordials)

The Warlord is such an amazing class. It is genuinely my favorite thing to come out of 4e, and the fact that it was never brought into 5e is actually the worst thing the designers of 5e ever did, even though they explicitly promised the return of every class that had ever been featured in the first PHB of the game.

Of all the WotC D&Ds it had the simplest and most intuitive action economy. Standard, Move, Minor. You get one of each. Standard action can be traded in for a Move or Minor action. Move action can be turned in for a Minor action. It's hilarious to me how simple it is and how 5e in trying to simplify it further by making movement something you have every turn by default and making bonus actions a separate thing ended up making the action economy more complex with its various if: then statements about when you're allowed to use a specific bonus action and how sometimes a bonus action you've used can limit the actions you can take.

#thydungeongal answers

[soundbluster]

for a while since i got into transformers 3 years ago and i loved the franchies instiantly even since i was a kid especially the designs of transformers and Seeing fan arts and fan Designs and fans make thire own continuity made me me want to start learning to draw when im ready but i don't know how to draw cybertronians so do you have any tips and advices for someone who want to learn to draw transformers characters both Traditional & digital art?

Biggest advice I can give is: "Break a character apart into simple components!"

Drawing bots is honestly not that difficult, I find it much easier than people because you can more easily break a character apart into simplified blocks.

When it comes to designing characters it can take a few times to get one you're happy with so doing lots of basic sketches can help. References are always useful too! Every artist uses references.

Here's how I do it (In this case I'm doing an alt design for tfe Nightshade):

(It's not a definitive guide as you kinda have to figure out what works best for you both in terms of technique and art style. I'm aware my art style is definitely not for everyone, as it veers more on the cartoony side. I've had comments about how my faces all look effed up etc XD)

Initial sketch

Break a bot down into basic shapes, circles and sausage shapes for more rounded characters and boxes for squarer ones. I normally start with the head and draw the rest of the body down from it (torso and arms then legs then any back kibble that might be visible) Think of it like the protoform beneath the armour.

To help with figuring out a pose I'll often use my toys. It can help you visualise where their arms and legs etc go along with whether part of a bot is actually visible from a certain angle. For example in this case:

(Yes that's my cat chilling in the background)

This can help you to figure out if a certain design can pull a given pose, for example would a bot with kibble on their hips or arms be able to move their legs or arms a certain way. I used POTP Elita one as a reference for my SG Megatron a lot for example as they've got very similar builds. But this is not essential.

(There are mannequin apps on mobiles etc. you can use to help with pose references too, and image searches are always useful for references.)

For more dynamic poses it helps to think about how the character is moving, so add a curve to the torso/spine to add to any implied motion etc.

Details

Once I'm happy with the basic shape and pose I typically add the armour over the top. Again the head is usually the first bit I do. You can see I got a bit lazy with their left hand and just did a scribble here XD

Inking

Normally when inking I do the edges of each armour piece first then add any details on afterwards in a finer pen. Generally I'll do one body part at the time eg. fully ink the arm before doing the head etc. Its best to make sure you do parts that are in front first!

Here's the finished picture:

Though it'll need some digital cleaning up at another time.

As for digital art...

I can't really give much advice on starting a drawing digitally as I never quite got the hang of it (colouring and corrections I do digitally but all my line art is traditional), I need the feedback of a pen in my hand and pressure on the paper to get it right.

These days the Hardware I mainly use is a refurbished huion art tablet (it was about £120 when I bought it) that's probably the cheapest your going to find a graphics tablet with a screen. BUT it's really not essential to get one especially if you're just starting out. Basic graphic tablets without a screen (just a pen and a pad) are much cheaper or you can use a mouse. I used a mouse for ages when I was first starting out.

In terms of software, for colouring and edits on the PC I use GIMP (I've been using it since like 2009 so I'm not really going to change any time soon!). It's freeware software and can do a lot of stuff, but it's user interface isn't the most user friendly especially if you're not familiar with graphics software but there are plenty of tutorials available for it. I'll try to remember to make a post showing how I use that another time :) as I'm not at my computer at the moment.

There are plenty of alternative image manipulation/graphics software to use as well, some free, some free but with ads, and some paid for (either one off payment or subscription). It's best to see what other artists have to say about them though as I've never really used them!

#my asks #my ask box #fan art #art stuff #how i draw #my ask is open #ask me stuff #nightshade #transformers nightshade #earthspark #transformers Earthspark #tfe #tfes #nightshade malto

[gattnk]

Rector Cassidy and Rector Kubral will do what they must. They'll soldier on to the end.

I'm currently working on the redesigns for the Golden School staff; normally I would've started with Arkan and Temptel, but believe it or not Cassidy and Kubral were my first redesigns for this project! Yes, they precede even Raf and Sulfus in my sketchbook. I like to start with villains first when designing casts, since they tend to give me more wiggle room to be creative: this way I get to set the bar for the rest of the project, and I can make my heroes just as visually interesting. Here's my usual notes on the process:

The first step was understanding the characters and their motivations. Once I had their personalities and roles established, I could work on their appearance. I decided Kubral would embody brutality, and Cassidy, fear.

The themes stem from their origins: war is forever linked to brutality and fear as both causes and effects, so it makes sense that two generals personify them, since they too are both products and promulgators of war.

Kubral was easy enough to figure out. Heavy-looking square shapes, towering height accentuated by even taller horns, meaty claws that could snap you like a twig... As a whole, Kubral was based on gothic grotesques. I was also particularly inspired by Goliath from Disney's Gargoyles (his wings folding behind him like a cape is peak character design I tell you). All in all I simplified his original design to his most iconic features, with the addition of a forked beard as a symbol of power and authority.

Cassidy's design had to be much more subtle: fear is a thing that creeps on you, it catches you off-guard and overpowers you. My use of lean curves with sudden sharp angles is meant to represent just that. I included an eye motif to evoke an ever-present state of vigilance and paranoia; the eyes are also a callback to prophetic descriptions of angels, since I was very inspired by medieval stained glass at the time. This is the closest thing to a religious reference you'll get from me here!

I established early on in my creative process that, as angels and devils age, they gain new physical traits. Cassidy's carved halo and double pair of wings are a sign of her age and power. In Kubral's case, there's his tail and enlarged horns, wings and claws.

Cassidy's colors are derived from Raf's: blue, gold and white, sans the touch of red. The only "red" in Cassidy's color scheme is her faded ginger hair (no matter how much time passes, the enemy is still in her head). Her gloves and dark blue shirt underneath her white jacket symbolize her veiled intentions, and her shoes, the same shade as her shirt, represent the dark path she threads.

Kubral's hues are all shades of red (except for his hair, same principle as Cassidy's). This includes his eyes; you could say he "sees red" all the time. He's a straightforward character, so he doesn't conceal his old medals, his general rank proudly displayed on his chest. Still, Kubral is not just brawns, his cruelty motivates his more scheming side. He keeps an ace on his sleeve, or more accurately, his pocket: the tip of his tail is always hidden on his right side, so he may strike his enemies on their left with it.

Phew! If you think I overthink my character designs sometimes, you should see my scene notes regarding architecture lol. Still, I'm proud of my process with these two! For now they've only briefly appeared in my rewrite fic I'll Fly With You, but they'll get their moment to shine soon enough. Their plans will be certainly different from Season 2, so there's that to look forward to!

#my art tag #angel's friends #angels friends #IFWY #character redesign #cassidy #kubral

[slightlyhopefulromantic]

i was gonna wait until i finished the bitd and deadlands line-ups before posting these, but i'm not gonna get those done before the final season starts, so might as well bite the bullet now XD woohoo, oxventure d&d designs! i'll go into further detail below the cut for all of my thoughts on these designs and reasoning for smaller details, but for now, just know that i will never draw a cape. i simply cannot do it. hoods and weird draped fabric or nothing XD

okay i put like. waaay too many thoughts into a lot of these small details so im gonna allow myself to geek out here X3 firstly - though they're way too small to read properly, i did the little symbol eye shines i used in my first art for them! dob gets music notes, prudence gets fire, corazón gets hearts, and merilwen gets flowers. i usually draw egbert's pupils pretty thin to resemble a reptile, so he just gets normal eye shines, but i probably could have given him some here... he would get suns if i thought of that

dob - muscular in a wiry and dehydrated way, lol, hence having a more defined stomach/hips despite not being as strong as prudence or egbert. he has sad/down-turned puppy dog eyes at all times because i think the big-eyed endearing look is fitting for him, though i do make them darker blue than his canonical baby blues because i just... like how dark blue eyes look, lol. i'm pretty sure he canonically has the stomach scar, and obviously his facial scar has always been there, but i gave him a couple other ones just to show that hes pretty reckless. and he gets freckles because even though they arent mentioned in the dragon dogma's video, i noticed luke added some and. i like freckles a lot

prudence - i've said this before, but i love the thought of pru getting muscular after the werebear bite <3 i just think she should be a little bit hench. as a treat. once again, the heavy stomach scarring comes from the dragon dogma's video, because i found their design choices in that really fun. i change prudence's outfit the most out of any of the characters, just because her canonical outfit confuses me. i'm really bad at understanding/drawing fantasy wear as is, but her fit... i'm lost entirely XD so i free-balled a bit. her inner sleeves that hook around her fingers are based on jane's various prudence looks, and then the looser outer sleeve is just because i love prudence with a dramatic sleeve. originally the colors were closer to her canon outfit, but it just looked messy without all the details of the original, and then i tried red like jane's prudence looks but it didn't contrast enough with her skin. so i restricted them to just deep purples and black with pops of gold and dark magenta!

corazón - what can i say besides. transgender. LMAO honestly though, besides adding the top surgery scars, i just really like his canon look. i simplified the details, obviously, but i really love his big coat and his tall boots and the earrings and the black-on-black-on-black of it all. i didn't particularly feel like drawing hats when i was doing this, lol, so i stuck with a red bandana instead. the beads that are strung from it are black, red, purple, green, and yellow to match their guild's canonical color associations/the colored name plates they get in later seasons :] because corazón is the sentimental sort, even when he won't say it. also he gets a little cateye for his eyeliner, i dunno if i've ever said why i do that before haha

egbert - egbert my dearly beloved. literally just his canon look except he has la vache mauve on his tunic instead of fire! and the nose spikes i give him, i guess, but i forget those aren't canon. i actually usually draw him in mike's egbert get up, with the black robes and the golden dragon sigil, but i kinda wanted to move away from that to lean more into the end of legacy of dragons, where egbert fully commits to never going back to the dragon d'or. also i just love drawing little cow heads <3 also! i like the idea that rather than typical scar tissue, dragonborns grow thicker scales over places where they've been injured. so the thicker patches of small scales on egbert's body are meant to be scars! including his kidney scar, lol. the larger scales and the ones on his face were always there though, that's just dragonborn biology baby

merilwen - if i said i based merilwen's body on cartoon bears, would you forgive me... i just think it's cute LOL tummy <3 for the final dragon dogma's video reference, that's where her freckles and tattoos come from. ellen was right, merilwen with floral tattoos fucking rules. who am i to deny it. as a hairy woman myself, i also like making merilwen a hairy woman. she's a hippie, she would NOT shave. i also really love the red earrings she wears in her canon art, so i tried to carry that through to some other small parts of my drawing for her, and landed on the bands she has on her pants as well as the odd feather for her arrows. fun archery fact, for those who may not know - in modern archery at least, you usually will have a differently colored feather (or for my arrows, rubber fins lol) that indicate how youre meant to string the arrow! so i took advantage of that to give merilwen some more red, hehe

#oxventure #dob the half orc bard #prudence the tiefling warlock #corazón de ballena #egbert the careless #merilwen the wood elf druid #I really wanted to post all the line ups at once but I have fallen ill XD #and I’m busy tomorrow. so drawing is not in the cards for a bit #I’ll try and finish those soon 👍

[sepublic]

A previous post of mine has me thinking because really... Icarax is kind of a meta reflection of Teridax?

He’s the completely straightforward, conventional dark lord without any subtelty or creativity; He’s a big scary dude who relies on brute force and open conquest. Icarax doesn’t care for the twists, cleverness, nor subversions of Teridax, he thinks simplicity is the best solution.

I remember an interview Greg did a while back, how he admitted Time Trap was his favorite novel because it gave him the chance to elevate Teridax from this generic supervillain who always gets foiled at the end of the day, to someone more clever and threatening... A person who’s always calculating, for whom each setback may actually be part of the grander plan.

The fact that Icarax wears the Kraahkan feels like a meta commentary in and of itself; He’s a reflection to Teridax of the villain he started off as and was intended to be by his ‘makers’, the in-universe and real life creators whose designated role he rebels against. But despite Icarax vying for leadership, we see how the machinations of Teridax always win out. Icarax thinks the Brotherhood should be open, obvious villains who fight and boast; Teridax prefers to operate from behind the scenes, manipulating the heroes into helping him win in one of the biggest subversions I’ve ever seen.

It’s like Teridax is fighting against and constantly beating a frustrated younger self, someone he once was, but again only in the meta sense; In-universe, he was always a calculating trickster, but in real life he used to be more of an Icarax. And this comparison takes a whole new meaning if you consider that Icarax’s set may have been intended to be Teridax at one point...

In the end, while Icarax takes his place as a big titan set that’s advertised in magazines, he just brings the attention away from his rival in a way Teridax actually needed. Icarax is the simplified corporate mandate that is meant to sell toys, while Teridax is the character who focuses on the story, and is represented only in writing and no longer as a set by this point.

#bionicle #icarax #teridax #makuta #brotherhood of makuta #foils #meta #analysis #lego #greg farshtey

[crowkip]

hi there!! i came across your art recently and love how you simplify forms for your style!! Do you have any tips on what you did to learn art and develop your current style? Did you take figure drawing lessons or just hyperfixate on an anime?? Any materials/exercises that were particularly helpful for learning how to draw humans? Thanks for your time!

thank u so much!!! i do have some handy info but im gonna put it under the cut so it doesnt clog up ppl's feeds bc it's gonna get a little long, hope this helps out!! ꉂ(ˊᗜˋ*)

ok so!! my top tip is to try out some life drawing classes! you'll often be expected to capture a full body gesture in 5-15 minutes which really helps you learn break the body down into its simplest forms since you wont have time to work on all the details. i only ever did a few sessions since they were part of a design course i was taking but even that alone definitely helped me streamline my process when it comes to planning out poses and making sure things arent looking too stiff

as for developing a style i honestly dont have a super clear answer bc i still find that i feel like my art is vERY very inconsistent, but even with that being said i do still have a few things that've helped personally!! easiest place to start is finding the tools you enjoy working with, for me i have a handful of brushes in csp that i tend to default to which helps form a little bit of consistency across my drawings (ofc dont be scared to branch out!! it's just handy to know what brushes work best for you). the other thing that's influenced my style is reading lots of comics and spending a lot of time looking at other artists' sketches, if you see a specific feature you like in their work try giving it a go yourself!! i remember noticing the contrast of soft and hard shadows in old oil paintings a few years ago n thinking 'ooh ive gotta try that' and ive been using it on my own art ever since. in the end your own style is greatly just a reflection of little things you've loved seeing in other peoples art and once you combine all those you end up with smth uniquely yours which i just think is awesome tbh

and as for shows n stuff that got me drawing, i dont have the coolest answer but as a kid i got super into drawing my friends as my little pony characters lmao i would spend every minute between classes drawing these stupid little rainbow horses and it actually really got me into picking out colour palettes and helped me build up that muscle memory which was what led into me drawing things that were a little more challenging. even if whatever motivates you to draw is considered kind childish or 'cringy' or whatever, dont stop drawing what you enjoy!! i wouldnt be drawing now without the years of pony doodles on homework as a kid and im glad i embraced it. i hope this can be helpful to you, so sorry for the long read but thanks for getting through it all!! good luck as dont be scared to dm me if you ever have any questions, i'll always do my best to help out :D

#omg this got so long but i did my best to keep it concise #rlly great question!! #ask crow

[petra-creat0r]

Welcome to the Azmayca Region!

Alright so I know in the past I've alluded to my Fakemon Region, dubbed the Azmayca Region, and even posted old designs for my starters, but feel that now that I've redesigned my mons, I should properly introduce it!

So, with that said, welcome to the Azmayca Region! My Fakemon region based on Mexico, some parts of the South West US (mostly Texas, Arizona, California, and New Mexico), and bits of the rest of Central America. I have loads more about this Fakemon Region than I'll share in this post, but for now, let's start your Pokemon journey by meeting the protagonists and Starters

Starting with the protagonists! Gabriel and Isabella.

You may notice how on the drawing, it says Player/Rival. That's because which ever player character you don't pick, becomes one of your rivals! (The other rival to be revealed at a later time). So assuming you pick Gabriel, then your rival would be Isabella or vice versa!

The story of this Fakemon Region (like if it were a game) is you, the player character, moved to the Azmayca Region with your Mom to live with your extended family a few months ago. Now that you and your mother have properly moved in an had a bit of time to get somewhat used to this new climate and region, you decide you want to explore it to learn more.

Shortly after deciding to set on your journey, you run into your rivals, the first one being the opposite player character (so either Gabriel or Isabella), who's your cousin. They're a little rude and act more like rivals like Gary or Bede, however still being related to you, they will also beat up whoever tries to mess with you. Only they get to make fun of you.

After you meet your rivals, all 3 of you head to meet the professors of the region (who I'll reveal at some other point) and get your starters!

Starting off the regional dex, we've got the grass starter of Azmayca, Cubalje!

Cubalje's name pulls from cub, copal, and alebreje. Elements of which will show later in its evolution line.

Stated in the dex entry, Cubalje are fun and playful. They enjoy bathing in warm sunlight to replenish their energy through photosynthesis and can often be found in lush forests or grassy grottos. They have surprisingly long, orange tongues to slurp bug types or honey out of hollow branches and if a Cubalje likes you, they might give you a nice gift of colorful leaves or berries!

As some might've guessed based on Cubalje's classification and looks, it's based on a sun bear. Orginally it wasn't supposed to have any sun bear inspiration, instead taking after the speckled bear which ties into it's final stage's megafauna inspiration. However while redesigning it, the simplified patterns ended up looking like a sun bear on sorta accident so...? I guess sun bears and speckled bears are, sorta related? They have kinda similar patterns I guess, lol. Rest assured though, the second stage should take more after the speckled bear.

Next up we've got Coaltro, the fire starter!

Coaltro's name comes from coal, colt (a male baby horse), foal (also a baby horse), and potro, Spanish for, you guessed it, a baby horse.

Coaltro are rather shy and skittish, often running away from those it doesn't know by kicking up sand or dirt as a distraction. Once a Coaltro gets used to you though, it is a very loyal Pokemon. Because of this loyalty and the hardiness and speed of its evolved form, these Pokemon are often used on farms, making them common place among other farm based Pokemon on ranches in Azmayca. Other than farm work though, Coaltro are also sometimes used for entertainment such as races or rodeos. Coaltro's front hooves are always coated in a thick layer of mud as this Pokemon enjoys playing in dirt or mud to relax. Its also said to possibly be related to Ponyta and Mudbray

In case it wasn't obvious, Coaltro is based on the Azteca horse, a breed of horse native to Mexico. Also yes, I did follow the fire zodiac theory even if Fuecoco broke the trend. I don't care. I made this region before Paldea and before Fuecoco. I can continue with the silly fan theory made by the community even if the canon broke it. The only thing Fuecoco does to the zodiac theory is give Fakemon creators more leeway if they don't wanna use the zodiac. ... okay little rant over, in reality, I love Fuecoco (its evolved forms are... kinda mid bit still cool inspiration wise) but just felt I should explain why I still went with the horse on the zodiac, even though it's likely debunked.

Finally, we have the water starter, Swavink!

Swavink's name comes from suave, swamp, visón (Spanish for mink) and mink

Swavink are crafty little tricksters of Pokemon. They like to steal and swipe things, primarily jewelry or other shiny objects, which they hoard in their own little nests of shiny things. Even though most find Swavink a nuisance or pest, Swavink honestly just doesn't have a sense of someone's personal property. They just like shiny things. For trainers or people who keep them as pets, they're often able to get their stuff back if they find Swavink's not so hidden nest, and Swavink will barely notice. Until they spot the shiny object again outside their nest. This behavior however gets more annoying when this Pokemon evolves so... watch out. Also Swavink are often found in swamps or urban areas.

Alright, I think its obvious that Swavink is well, a mink. It's right there in the name! However this little trickster also pulls a bit from cats and ferrets, given both creatures' more crafty depiction and knack for mischief. Also the idea of a little mink cat creature is adorable. Yes it'll steal your gold necklace and loose change, but also its smooth and cuddly! It'll smuggle up on your chest and trap you with cuteness! It could almost make you forget the amount of jewelry you've lost because of this thing! ... almost. Just wait till it evolves, that theft thing will likely get more annoying but for those that can look past that, Swavink and its line are pretty good companions. Like cats, they'll love you and give you snuggles... occasionally. If they remember your existence or aren't demanding food. (LOL, I'm joking. I love cats and own two of my own. One of which is a very snuggly cuddly boi who's even in bed with me right know as I write this!)

Aaaaanyways, that's all I have for now! If this post gets any attention, I might draw the professors and other rival or even the redesigned evolved forms of these starters!

I hope you enjoyed and see ya later Creative Creators!

#fakemon region #fakemon #azmayca region #azmayca #pokémon #pokemon #fakemon art #pokemon art

[knotalot]

Hi ! I saw your Aether doll, and I was just wondering what's your process for the hair and the clothes? A friend's birthday is coming up (very) soon, and they really like Aether, so I'd love to know how to make this kind of stuff. I think you're really talented! :)

Hi! Thank you for your kind words :)

My process is largely on a ‘trial and error’ basis, but I’ve done my best to make a guide for you (using Aether as an example, since you mentioned him specifically). Unfortunately right now all of my stuff is in storage due to unstable living conditions, so I hope you’ll forgive me for only being able to offer pre-existing photos and hand-drawn diagrams. When I get access to my stuff again, I might do a step-by-step process for hair (for Lumine, since she’s my current WIP) but that could be quite a while yet.

Stuck under a read more because this is gonna get long lol

I’ll start with clothes because I always leave hair til last.

The first thing I do is hoard as many references as I possibly can, from as many different angles as possible. These are the one I used for Aether (made myself because I couldn’t find any online that met my needs), though I did also sometimes log into my game and rotate him in the character menu haha

From here, the next step is to start dissecting the layers. Work from the base up, and break it down specifically into what you would make as a single piece, rather than say the shirt base AND the sleeves AND the decal. If that makes sense.

I don’t normally draw diagrams or anything like I will be for this, but if that helps you visualise it by all means do!

(I also tend to go really ham on the details because I’m a perfectionist, but please don’t torture yourself unless you really want to. Making things a little more simplistic is perfectly fine and valid.)

I won’t do the whole thing or I’ll reach image limit but here’s an example of how you might break it down:

The more you simplify it, the easier time you’re going to have.

The next step for me, after I raid my cupboard and the local craft store for the right colours, is to work out which pieces of the clothing I’m going to incorporate into the doll’s base body and which will be separate.

For Aether, for example, the ‘hand’ part of his gloves are the actual doll’s hands, but the bit that flares up his arm isn’t. The boots are part of his actual legs up until the part where it flares up over the top of his pants, which I made as a separate piece. The seat of his pants are the bottom half of his base body, but the pant legs themselves are add-ons. Does that make sense?

Next, make your base body! If you’d like to use my pattern, you can find it in my pinned post :)

Once you’ve got the base doll, I start adding layers of clothing. I always use a smaller hook size for the clothes than I do for the base body. In my case I like 2.5mm (and a teeny tiny 1.25mm for fine details and thin layers – but we’ll get to that later). I normally start with the pants.

My normal method of doing pants is this:

Essentially, I crochet directly into the base body in a circle around the base of the leg (so I am not chaining, but actually single crocheting through random stitches on the base in a loose circle shape), and then work in rounds until I reach the length I want.

Because Aether’s pants are puffy at the bottom and have two colours (*shakes fist at hoyo designers*), though, the process ends up being a little different.

I made his pants in two pieces: the outer side and the inner side. So instead of rounds, it ends up being rows. To get that nice puff, just do some standard increases in the right spot and make sure to decrease on the lower rows to taper it back in.

Once you have both pieces, you can just sew the two halves together.

The flare of the boot over the top of the pants is exactly the same process. Attach and single crochet directly onto the leg from the top of the boot, working up towards the waist.

For trickier shapes like the gloves, it’s sort of just familiarising yourself with what kinds of effects different stitches do and allowing yourself to get it wrong about a dozen times before it actually works lol

If you break down the gloves properly, you end up with a shape similar to this:

(this is not great i am so sorry – I am realising once again my reference was awful for the gloves)

But you can kind of see how it’s largely bulb shapes for the brown part, which is easy to do with increases and decreases. The white part I made separately and attached afterwards. Yes it was a huge, tedious pain in the ass.

For finer details, like his jewellery and, like, the shoulder armour, etc etc, I use the smallest hook I can tolerate. Please do not attempt this unless you lowkey hate yourself because it is torture.

So when you look at yarn, you can see that it has a bunch of smaller strands wound together, right?

You gotta split em.

Like this.

(image borrowed from http://illuminatecrochet.blogspot.com/2015/03/what-is-ply.html)

And then. You are going to use that tiny ass hook. And crochet those individual strands. It sucks. It breaks constantly. It makes you want to commit a crime. But damn if it doesn’t look good.

On a similar note, don’t be afraid to use the 2.5mm/whatever hook you use for clothes with less than the full ply of the skein you’re using. For Aether’s cape, I did the outer facing white part with only 2 of the strands in my 8ply yarn, and the inside orangey part with the 1.25mm and one strand. It’s still a little fatter than I’d like but it’s better than doing the whole thing in single strand torture mode lol

I’ll wrap up clothing here but if you want some help with anything specific just let me know!

On to hair!

For hair, I use felt square sheets that are like $1 each. Except for Aether because he has to have a Very Special Hair Colour that my craft store doesn’t stock so his cost me $7 :/

It’s a similar kind of deal for hair as it is for clothes. Break down the shapes and start from the bottom up.

(This is not a good look for him rip)

Layers are your friend! As are sewing pins! For real, do not glue anything down until you’ve got the whole thing pinned down because once you glue you’re in for a bad time if you need to fix something.

I’ve made two Aethers (one as a custom gift commission, one for myself) and they’re both a little different from each other, but this should help give you an idea of how I translated it to felt. I like to simplify if I can, purely because larger pieces tend to look a bit neater and less chaotic than a bunch of smaller ones.

For his braid, I found the easiest way to do it was to just cut three really long straight pieces, braid em, and then trim the end to the length I needed.

My absolute biggest #1 tip for hair:

If it looks bad but you haven’t finished, do not stop and restart.

It will always looks stupid as hell in the early stages. Don’t make a judgement call on whether or not it looks right until you’ve at least got the whole front part/fringe area fully pinned in place. Trust me.

I think that’s probably about all I have the energy for right at this second, but again if you have any questions or want help on anything specific, my inbox/DMs are always open – and that goes for anyone reading this! I’m always happy to help :)

#hope this is useful for you! #answered

[junkyardescape]

Singed as Orianna's Father

Since this shot in Arcane there's been a pretty sizeable group of people suggesting Orianna will be written into Arcane as the daughter of Singed. I'm not entirely sold on this being the case, given that the shot we get is so small, but given that there's a chance, I've been thinking a lot about the possibility and I'm. Not A Fan.

This isn't to say I think it'll be poorly done or anything - The writers of Arcane are incredible, so I wholeheartedly believe that, if this is made the case, it'll be well written and compelling. My issue is not that it's going to be bad, or even that it'll be worse than the current lore. My main issue is that I don't think it lines up well with the established aspects of Orianna's character and simplifies her relationship with her father in a way I don't love, while also harming the worldbuilding of Runeterra and of Piltover specifically.

Something that has always intrigued me about Orianna's lore is her relationship with her father Corin. Part of why is because that relationship is so poorly explored in her original lore. Her father doesn't let her go anywhere without him, and only lets her leave home to go to the theater, which becomes her only understanding of the outside world. When she escapes for Zaun to help people after a mining explosion and ends up getting terminally sick, her father DOES make her a set of prosthetic lungs - shout out to him for that one - but he makes it so they only work when wound up with a key that he keeps behind a locked door. And still, in spite of the obviously poor treatment she received, Orianna gives her heart to her father once his own health starts failing.

There's like. SO much interesting stuff here. I kinda like that Corin is mostly just a guy? He's a not great father in a way that feels really resonant and grounded in a fantasy setting, whereas Singed being her father means she has a dad who's shitty in a grounded way and also makes nukes to destroy Ionia with and manufactured the drug crisis of a millennia in Zaun, one of which he's already done in Arcane lol. This choice inexorably ties Orianna to the larger narrative, when honestly I'm not sold on the need for that? It might just be my love of smaller slice-of-life storytelling, but it's hard to imagine how Orianna's journey toward regaining her humanity and understanding her new self ties into the current plot of Arcane. There are ties to Viktor there that could have their plots sort of opposed to one another, with Viktor getting further from humanity while Orianna aspires to it, and there are a million other ideas they could go with which could be compelling and exciting, but again, the quality of the storytelling isn't my concern.

I feel that the relationship she has with Corin is an essential part of Orianna's character. It is something which contributes to her feelings of isolation and her love of the outside world, as well as speaking to her nature as a fundamentally caring person. It's also something that to this day has never been resolved; for all we know, Orianna is still just out there, not understanding herself or her relationships and thinking her isolation is permanent. And that's not a satisfying ending for a character who is completely capable of self-love and in a world where her isolation is genuinely fabricated. And I like these aspects of her character! She's complex, she's grounded, and there's already such a great base for her character that I think would be hurt with this relationship with Singed.

There's also a couple issues I have with how it impacts the worldbuilding, and what the implications of Arcane's story as it stands has on Orianna as a character. Orianna's dad, in base canon, runs a shop where he designs sells prosthetics. He's not a huge scholar, he's not insanely wealthy, he has no access to special tech. Orianna doesn't gain hextech until she manages to get some from a chembaron. I really like this choice! It tells us a little something more about Piltover to know that there is some weirdo in his shop in the city turning his daughter into a robot, showing off a little bit more about the culture of the city and attitudes toward augmentation at the time Orianna was needing new parts. This isn't necessarily lost if Singed is her father, but Zaun has a different attitude toward mods, and it's harder to consider Singed's opinion on anything to represent the common people considering his... everything.

I'm also very interested to see how they would manage to conflict of hextech that she presents; in order for her to exist as her current self in Arcane, she would've had to be built before or during season 1, which was before the discovery of hextech. I have some thoughts about how they could do this with respect to her Old Lore, but that's gonna have to be a separate post, as this one is long enough as it is already XD

Basically, I like the Orianna we have now. I think there's so much of her left unexplored, and the changes to her character this represents would leave her original story incomplete and also change her to a significant capacity. The new Orianna that could be made from that totally has the ability to be as interesting or more than the one of base lore, but I'm not sure it's the Orianna I know.

#league of legends #orianna lol #singed lol #arcane #arcane league of legends #league of legends lore #I cannot believe how many thoughts I have about her to put here but. I will continue lol #feel bad for suddenly becoming the “literally just talks about Orianna” blog so #Might end up making a sideblog for this kind of thing? Haven't decided yet

[satoshi-mochida]

Shiravune will release the PC version of novamicus-developed romance visual novel ONE. via Steam and Johren day and date with its Japanese release on December 22, the publisher announced. It will support English, Japanese, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese language options.

In Japan, a Switch version is also due out on December 22. It is currently unknown whether it will support multiple language options.

Here is an overview of the game, via Shiravune:

About

ONE. is a remaster of NEXTON‘s genre-defining and highly influential romance visual novel One: Kagayaku Kisetsu e, originally released in 1998, and is currently in production to celebrate the 30th anniversary of NEXTON’s foundation.

ONE. faithfully recaptures the beloved story of the original game and brings refined character designs by the one and only Itaru Hinoue. Further refinements and improvements are also provided for modern systems, ensuring that this classic story will remain a joy to experience for years to come. ONE. is sure to bring back memories for fans of old, and to draw a new crowd of fans to one of the foundational pillars of the genre.

ONE. is planned for release December 22, 2023, on Steam & Johren in English, Chinese, and Japanese.

Story What tied me to this world… 1998, winter. I was just a regular student until another world was born in me. Like softly falling snow, it blanketed and began to bury my everyday life. It was only then that I realized… That there were certain things in my life that never changed. The same familiar scenery. The warmth of the one I loved, who filled me with a joy I never noticed. Their existence tied me to this world.

It was when I first started to want these bonds, to want that special someone, that time began to pass, and sunlight caused the season to really shine.

When it did, which world was I standing in, and who was holding my hand?

Characters

Mizuka Nagamori

Birthday: September 26

Kohei’s childhood friend and classmate. A busybody who wakes him up every morning and can’t help but worry about him. If there’s anybody in my life who I should probably thank, it’s you, Nagamori. If we hadn’t met as children, I wonder where I would be now. Since the day we met, we’ve spent a lot of time together… even though you’re a meddler who gets on my nerves sometimes. But still, I have to thank you. You’ll always be my friend, right? But the words you said that day, that saved me… it’s like they’ve disappeared. I could’ve sworn you said—

Rumi Nanase

Birthday: August 8

A girl who transfers into Kohei’s class. She tries her best to be ladylike, but she always messes things up. Possibly because once she sets her mind on something, she single-mindedly sticks to it. On her first day, she ended up bumping into me after turning a corner like we were in some kind of rom-com. Unlike her looks, her personality was kinda… Actually, I’m scared of what she’d do to me if I finished that thought. She always seems to put a lot of thought and effort into becoming the ideal “lady.” Maybe I should reward her enthusiasm with a copy of my manuscript? “Nanase, always chasing the feminine ideal.” Of course, “always chasing” means never quite getting there… (THWUNK!!!)

Akane Satomura

Birthday: April 21

Kohei’s quiet classmate who makes her thoughts known with just a few words. She’s a great cook with a major sweet tooth. It was a gloomy, rainy day when I happened to leave home a bit early and met a girl holding a pink umbrella outside. That girl happened to be Akane. Turns out she was actually in my class. I didn’t think much of that encounter at the time, but I started talking to Akane a lot after that. She kept her distance from others even though all she wanted was for someone to see through her act and get close to her. At least, that’s how it felt to me. But… it also kinda did feel like she was really trying to avoid me, sometimes…

Misaki Kawana

Birthday: June 3

Kohei’s senior who lost her eyesight in an accident when she was little. Despite living in a world of darkness, her personality overflows with light, always positive and sociable. She loves her school’s katsu curry special. I was chilling on the sunset-dyed roof after school when a girl I didn’t know started talking to me. Her eyes were cool, but her smile was warm. I only found out she was my senior in both age and grade later. Also, what that cool look actually meant. Noticing my sudden uncertainty about how to speak to her, she whispered downcast, “Just how you normally would to anyone else.”

Mayu Shiina

Birthday: May 15

A girl younger than Kohei and Mizuka who refuses to go to school. She bursts into tears whenever something doesn’t go her way. Her favorite food is hamburgers. We met her the day she lost her one and only friend. A ferret. I guess she decided we were a good enough replacement, because from then on she stuck to us like glue. However, whenever something happened, she would throw a tantrum and scream that ferret’s name. She was a pain in the butt. But since it was the first time she was reaching out and getting to know other people, I couldn’t be too mad at her. Her beloved ferret might’ve died, but that death was the first step on her road to adulthood. Right, Shiina?

Mio Kouzuki

Birthday: June 4

Kohei’s expressive and bubbly junior. She doesn’t speak, but always carries a sketchbook to communicate with others. She’s a member of the drama club. I met Mio in our school’s cafeteria. Since then, whenever I happened to look for her, she was right there, smiling up at me. If I had to describe her, I guess she was like a rambunctious little sister? I have no idea what caused her to always smile like that, but I somehow came to take it for granted. She always tried her best at everything—usually resulting in nothing but a new mess for the rest of us to deal with. I doubt she ever noticed, though…

#ONE. #ONE: Kagayaku Kisetsu e #ONE: To The Radiant Season #novamicus #Nexton #Shiravune #visual novel #Gematsu #That's a long wait but heck yeah.

[katyspersonal]

Omg, I’m so glad to hear this! I totally thought you were maybe tired of writing those long posts, and I mean granted, I wouldn’t blame you. That’s A LOT of writing, but man, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy devouring every word of it. Your thoughts are incredibly insightful (hehe, get it?). No one else I’ve seen really delves into the Japanese text and all the visual details quite the same way. I really do hope you feel encouraged to keep sharing but with no pressure simultaneously if you are looking to keep your main blog mostly for art stuff! It’s all up to you of course, but yes, please know that you have a very dedicated fan hiding in the shadows that loves scouring through your notes like a Byrgenwerth scholar studying the cosmos lol!

...Ahaha allllllright I really need to find the weird guy that started to apparently pay people to send me compliments fshjghds Because recently I am having abundance of them and that never happens :^) /j

Thank you very much though; This means a lot! I will admit, I shared majority of my core theories, the rest are just some details I share at my own pace or when prompted <:3 Bloodborne solidified my belief that videogames ARE the best form of art for me. With BB, to understand more you need to analyse EVERY medium - more lore lurks in the songs lyrics, in songs leitmotifs, in colors, in subtle design similarities between clothes, in environment, in face datas, in cut content that is STILL useful, in internal filenames, in item descriptions, in item placements... And, ah, yeah, dialogue is there too I guess! xD

I have strong love for complicated, multi-sided things like this. If BB music was just pretty music with no lore significance - that would not be the same. Just check out how first stage of Rom's theme sounds like broken version of first stage of OoK's theme! If clothes designs were just cool drips with no lore significance - that would not be the same. Look at how interesting it is that default Hunter and Henriett are wearing bootleg style of Old Hunters! It just means a lot for me when someone enjoys all these infinite DETAILS with me ;-; Bloodborne is a godsend for my habit to overthink!

But... Yeah, never count on localizations of foreign media, ESPECIALLY Japanese ones. For some reason western translations often seem to warp the original context to fit their values/agendas more - and then western fans pick that up and continue. Or sometimes they simplify lore for no reason? Just ask Kirby fans what they did with Four Matters in Star Allies! Gehrman being made into a creep that tells you that you can do... things with the Doll is just one of the most awful examples, and I totally believe it was intentional and not a misinterpretation! Because a sexist creep is "easier to understand", in opinion of localization team, for western audience than an actually cool character or something? It is CRUCIAL for me to know what creators were truly trying to say! For example:

This is what Miyazaki had to say about Fauxsefka, and it changed my perception of her a lot back then! I used to think she was just a crazy binch using people to drain Insight from them once they're Kin with the cosmos yeah... But angle of Miyazaki helped me to look from different perspective and I could suddenly see what he meant with her character? Her dialogue about 'willing to save even if just one person' no longer seemed like bullshit lying to win sympathy, but as genuine sentiment - she was helping people to evolve past the risk of falling into beasthood the only way she knew how!

And it is arguable, twisted 'heroism' but isn't it what makes it SO interesting? THE core fun of interacting with overseas media is how different some things can be! Original Japanese script is just the next fastest way to access what creators TRULY wanted to say, after reading direct interviews of course x) So yeah that's why I always rely on direct excerpts from Japanese for my theories!

#ask replies #fandomry rambles #i am not good at reacting at a praise sorry dsfhdshfds #but this made my day! #tbh i am not sure if i could return to SIMPLER games/lores to analyze anymore. #besides nonverbal aspect of bloodborne loredigging is a feast for my autistic mug really. visuals and sounds are just :ok hand: #you'd think someone as wordy as me LIKES words but... it is complicated really. #deep down i wish we could just invent Runes too that would just pass the 'context' without flaws of human speech and semantics #my fav bit is still how red moon is called paleblood sky and blood of moon worshipping Kin is indeed pale #so it is called that because it drains their blood out of color!

[procreate02]

Unlock Your Creative Potential with the Best Procreate Brushes

In the world of digital art and design, procreate has emerged as a powerhouse tool for artists and illustrators. Its versatility and user-friendly interface make it a top choice for creating stunning artwork on iPad devices. However, one of the secrets to achieving exceptional results with Procreate lies in using the right brushes. Bakeroner.com offers a curated selection of Procreate brushes that can take your digital creations to the next level. In this article, we'll explore the world of Procreate brushes and how they can be your go-to source for enhancing your artistic endeavours.

The Magic of Procreate Brushes

Procreate Brushes are digital tools that mimic the effects of traditional art supplies. They allow artists to paint, sketch, and illustrate with a wide range of realistic textures and styles. Whether you're a professional illustrator or an aspiring artist, the right Procreate brushes can make a significant difference in your creative process and the quality of your artwork.

Why Procreate Brushes Matter

Diverse Styles: 

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Discovering Procreate Brushes 

Bakeroner.com is a hub for digital artists seeking high-quality Procreate brushes. Here's why it's the go-to platform for enhancing your Procreate toolkit:

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Getting started with enhancing your Procreate toolkit is a straightforward process:

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Browse through the available brushes and select the ones that align with your creative vision.

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ﾠProcreate brushes from Bakeroner.com open up a universe of imaginative opportunities for advanced artisans and illustrators. Whether you're looking to add depth and texture to your artwork or simplify your creative process, the right Procreate brushes can make all the difference. Carefully curated selection, user-friendly interface, and active artist community make it the ideal platform to enhance your Procreate toolkit.

[dlamp-dictator]

Allen’s Favorite Elsword Characters

With Fourth Paths slowly coming out and my own interest in Elsword slowly starting to wane due to various reasons I felt I should talk about some of my favorite paths, jobs and characters in the game. For all my nitpicks and gripes with Elsword I do love these characters and designs. I’ve said it before, but if there’s one thing I will always respect about this game it’s the character designs and the story those character designs tell. I’ll be honest, the designs are really the only sort of storytelling I follow in Elsword, as its actual lore and story is a bit long-winded and could desperately use some further simplifying.

But this is about the game’s good points, so I wanted to take a bit of time to talk about some of my favorite characters, classes, and playstyles. Consider this a sort of spin-off to my Arknights Favorite Operators post. It surprisingly still gets some traction even though I’ve only just recently gotten back into Arknights to check things out and I figured if there was one thing about this MMO and come back to once a year I should discuss it’s the characters and designs behind them.

But anyway, here are a few of my favorite characters and classes in Elsword.

Rena - Anemos

I think something that should be known about me is that I really love my martial arts classes. The idea that among all these wizards, warriors, and god-tier superpowers being thrown around there’s still someone that just beats the hell out of things with straightforward hand-to-hand combat just appeals to my monkey brain a little. And while Anemos isn’t exactly that she was my first taste of the idea before Laby came along.

For a quick summary of Rena as a character, she’s an elven archer that came to the world of Elrios (the land Elsword takes place in) in order to find and restore the El, a magical gemstone that basically fuels the planet’s life energy. She specializes in archery and close-quarters combat via kicks. Another important lore not is that she has a natural connection to the spirits, specifically wind spirits, a connection that has been fading even within elven kind.

The lore behind this specific class is that Rena decided to focus on her kicking techniques as a way to avoid accidentally hitting her friends in the crossfire of her arrows and take out foes non-lethally. As her enemies get tougher and her body reaches its physical limits she learns how to use wind spirits to increase her martial capabilities to the point of becoming one with the wind as she flies through the battlefield in a whirlwind of kicks speed.

The lore itself is rather simple compared to some of her other classes, but I find it interesting that her desire to take the harder path comes from a sort of pacifism to not want to completely kill her enemies or risk hurting her friends, and she only really decides to gain more power as her enemies go from humans and living creatures to robots and eventually demons. It really helps sell you on the fact that Rena is, at her core, a gentle and caring person, even in combat.

Ara - Shakti

I’m gonna’ be honest here, Ara/Shakti is mostly here because I like this class’s design and I don’t want this post to be littered with Renas and LuCiels since I’m just trying to keep it to my top five and avoid the fourth paths until they’re out for all the characters. That said I do think Shakti is an interesting class. A lot of the 3rd Paths often have darker implications. Originally called the Transformation Path, characters would often transform themselves into a completely new direction that often put their bodies and minds at risk for the sake of further power. Twilight is a more cutthroat fighter that will do anything to protect the forest, Bloody Queen is a dark knight that aimlessly slaughters and only hopes her blade continues pointing at what is clearly even, and Mad Paradox... is Mad Paradox.

But back to Ara, her lore is that she’s a martial artist from the martial Haan family, specifically the youngest and weakest child within it due to her shy nature and hesitation toward combat. However, her eldest brother and personal confidant Aren soon got possessed and corrupted by a demonic spirit, now terrorizing the world as the demon lord Ran. In an desperate attempt to gain enough power to stop him Ara went to her family’s shrine to take the fox spirit within herself, working out a sort of agreement for the spirit to lend her power to Ara in times of need in exchange for what seems to be some minor freedom while dwelling within Ara and traveling with her.

Back to the class itself, Shakti is one of the few 3rd Paths that has a more neutral story compared to the others. Ara, after communicated with the fox spirit Eun, decided to take a chance and unlock more and more her power, slowly gaining the spirit’s trust until their bond leads to Ara becoming the first Fox Sage in the history of her family as she uses Eun’s power for good. This is honestly a pretty solid path since a lot of the side material show that Ara and Eun had a pretty good relationship and understanding the other’s point of view and logic, even if they disagreed at times on certain matters. I feel like this path puts all of that trust to its limit and Ara’s kindness and empathy helps make Eun less wary and spiteful of humans, or at the very least toward Ara.

Elesis - Bloody Queen

Speaking of 3rd path, this is the one that on here mainly for gameplay and not much else. I love how Bloody Queen plays, even if I personally can’t stand the lore behind it. She’s so self-sufficient in this class. She can heal herself, do massive DPS, has good Bossing and Clearing skills, and has really good mana management compared to some of her other classes. It just comes at the cost of her being an absolute glass cannon if you can’t cycle through her skills properly and has no real support tools, which means if you can’t DPS properly on raids the entire raid party with emotionally eat you alive and spit you out like garbage.

For a bit of background on Elesis herself she’s the older sister of the main character Elsword, a well known commander of strong ability in one of Elrios’s kingdoms who’s known as The Red-Haired Knight, as well as a sort of a wall for Elsword due to the massive skill-gap between him and his sister. And that skill-gap can be felt via gameplay because it really feels like all of her skills and moveset is just ‘Elsword, but better’. Seriously, her path-adjacent classes to Elsword are just... better, or at least do what Elsword’s classes do with more efficiency, consistency, and flash.

But back to the class. On the lore front... well, I’ve never cared for the edgelord-esque backstory of most characters, but a knight that decides being honorable doesn’t always going to cut it and slowly grows more and more corrupt as bad things happen to them... it’s not a bad route, or at least not as fanfic-esque as some of the 3rd and 4th Path storylines have been anyway. The idea that Elesis, in both pragmatism and desperation, draws on darker sources of power and pays the price for it with her sanity is really pushing the boundaries of her character, but it’s not improbable. And frankly, Reba Buhr’s voicelines for Bloody Queen are hot as hell and makes me wish the English dub had that kind of direction sooner.

Also, a personal headcanon of mine is that Elesis in this path is find going berserk and losing herself because she’s confident that Immortal Elsword (his 3rd Path adjacent to this) is a competent enough swordsman to kill her if she goes too far. It’s nothing mentioned in either 3rd path storylines, but Elsword’s paths have always had this sibling competitiveness to them, and an Elsword that conquered darkness through swordsmanship taking on and defeating his sister who attempted the same path only to fail at it and leave her life in the hands of her brother with the confidence that he can surpass her berserk nature with his martial skill is just the perfect cherry on top of their stories.

Sorry, I got wrapped up in my own fanfic for a moment, let’s continue the list.

LuCiel - Catastrophe

Okay, so this is the one exception to the edgelord paths I’m willing to go with. This is also one of my favorite classes that I’ll never play. I like the aesthetic so much, but I hate the actual gameplay of how they work. The idea of Lu tapping into her demonic abilities to utilize terror as a physical resource and Ciel going back to his hitman days to help in that is honestly really good in the lore depart. It let’s Lu be an actual demon lord and Ciel bring back that hitman backstory that rarely gets called back to.

Oh right, their lore and story.

In a nutshell, Lu is a former Demon Princess that lost her standing in court and was otherwise left to die at the hands of assassins and other political rivals before she landed herself in the human world where she met Ciel, a former hitman that seemed to have retired from a life of killing to become a normal civilian. Protecting Lu from an assassin he nearly lost his life until Lu performed a demonic contract to give Ciel a second chance at life in exchange for serving Lu, which Ciel accepted since he couldn’t stand the idea of seeing a young girl cry tears for him.

Lore wise... well, I already explained it above, but gameplay-wise this is a focus on debuffs and positioning, the latter being something rather difficult to do because of the mechanics of certain raid bosses. But design-wise I love the idea of these going from a servant and princess to demonic military commanders. The class-specific lore is also interesting as Lu realizes Ciel is willing to fully give up his humanity in order to keep up with Lu’s pace, and Lu realizing this willingness is Ciel’s earnest resolve to stand by her as another demon lord and not just him following the obligations of his contract.

This is also one of the few paths that didn’t try sticking Lu in a thong until Demensio came around and gave her a good 3rd Job design, and I say that as a Diangelion main, but that’s neither here nor there.

Laby - Eternity Winner

And lastly we have Laby’s Eternity Winner path to close things out, the true martial artist class that I honestly fell in love with at first sight.

I love Laby’s story. It’s a tale about self-discovery of both yourself and your emotions, and it’s the main theme that Laby confronts in all her paths. To not spoil things too much, in this path Laby trains her body with the handful of techniques Gaia teaches, slowly growing suspicious of the magical mirror Nisha that seems to hinder her growth as a fighter and person to the point where she seals Nisha’s powers. However, as she learns who and what Nisha really is Laby decides to accept it, the good and bad of her emotions and to channel those emotions into her as motivation to push past her limits as a fighter and enjoy the thing she truly loves more than anything in the world: combat.

Admittedly like Anemos I find the lore on this class very weak compared to Laby’s other class. Laby decides to shut herself off from negativity, only to realize that by shutting out emotions she’s left bored and tired from anything that isn’t a fight that forces her to move her body until she’s forced to either accept Nisha or feel the empty void of boredom for the rest of her life.

Not to write a second fanfic in this post, but I think a better outcome would be that as Laby trains her body she learns that martial arts and general physical activity makes for a good outlet for her emotions. As she feels negativity from Nisha she channels those feelings into her fists and techniques to work through the complicated feelings, eventually learning that through martial arts and working together with Nisha and her own negative emotions she can take her combat to a higher level and learns to accept all those emotions into her fists to let out an explosion of martial power. That way Laby can keep her martial artist aesthetic and give it some proper story relevance.

Again, I decided to write a fanfic... ah well.

And those are some of my favorite classes. I might make a second one of these when all the 4th paths are revealed, but so far Demersio, Revenant, and whatever Laby’s 4th Path is  are currently on top.

Anyway, I’ll see you folks later.

#your dictator is speaking #elsword

[thechekhov]

Hi Chekhov! Really enjoying your white diamond au! I had a quick art question: How do you start comissions? I've been improving my drawing skills and thinking about drawing for others after having fun in artfight, but I don't know where to start? How much to charge, how to get paid, etc. Do you have any tips? Hope you're doing well! :)

Alright, since a few people have asked, I’ve decided to put together a few things about how to get started on commissions - what you need, what you should make, and how to keep things organized. 

This will get a little long, so I’ll divide it into 4 main sections:

1) Draw Art - Getting started

2) Get Commissioned - Making a commission sheet, Advertising

3) ??? - Communicating, Setting Limits, Running the Business

4) Profit - Pricing Yourself and Getting Paid

* Disclaimer: I’m an artist, so this How-To will be illustration-focused. I’m sure many of these tips can apply to ANY types of commissions, but I will be focusing on the type I know best. If you are proficient in other types of commissions for other types of art - music commissions, photography, etc - feel free to chime in and leave a comment or make your own tutorial!

1) Draw Art

I think this is probably the most obvious part, but it needs to be said:

Before you start making art for other people, you must first be comfortable making art in general.

I’m not saying your art has to be Disney-quality, or industry-level! Not at all. 

BUT! You must be comfortable creating what you sell. If you try to sell something you have little confidence in, you will stress yourself out and possibly end up losing time AND money.

Don’t shoot for the moon if you haven’t landed on it even once. Sell what you know you’re good at. Your commissions don’t HAVE to include full-body illustrations if you don’t know how to draw feet/solid stances. Limit yourself to what you can do.

Things you need to should probably have before starting commissions:

1. Access to art materials or a fully downloaded art program

DO NOT - Use a free tutorial version that will expire in a month and leave you without a way to draw! If you are having trouble finding a program, try free ones like MediBang Paint Pro. 

2. Free time to complete the amount of commissions you want to take.

DO NOT - Take on or offer commissions if you KNOW you’re going to be overwhelmed with school or personal life for the next 2+ months. Pace yourself, otherwise you’ll burn out, get stressed, and get discouraged.

3. A reliable way to communicate with your customers like a commissions-only email 

DO NOT - Use your friend/family/college email. It’s hard to keep track of things as it is, and creating new emails is easy and free. And keep it professional if you can! Not many people will reach out to dong-wiggles20434 to ask for a design. Ideally, your email should be close to your brand - however you want to brand yourself. Usernames are fine!)

DO NOT - Use Instagram/Twitter/Tumblr to collect commission info unless you are ready to do the organizing yourself. Some people make it work, but in my experience, if you use these SNS sites to communicate with friends and network... you’re going to be losing commission inquiries right and left and accidentally ignoring people. Email is much easier to organize and sort into folders.

4. A portfolio or at least 2-3 pieces of each type of art you’re planning to sell. 

DO NOT - Advertise commissions without having any examples of the art you plan to sell. People will find it difficult to trust you if you can’t even give them a vague idea of what sort of drawing they’ll be getting. 

Disclaimer: These are not hard ‘do not’s. If you have had a different experience, I respect that. I’m simplifying for the sake of streamlining this advice. 

.

2) Get Commissioned

So - you have your art, you have your art program, and you’ve got all the time in the world. That means.... that’s right! It’s time to let the world know you’re taking commissions.

One of the most common ways artists signal to their audience that they can do commissions is by creating a commissions sheet. There are MANY ways to make this - and they range from simple and doodly ones to VERY complex designs. For example, here’s mine! 

There are many ways to organize a commission sheet. At its core, a commission sheet should display the types of art you WANT to be commissioned to make. Let’s go over a few ways they can be done!

#1.... Body Portion Dividers!

This sheet is most common with those who want to capitalize on drawing people and characters. If you want to draw lots of characters, this is a great way to offer several tiers of pricing based on how much of their character your customers want to see. 

#2... Complexity Scale

If you’re open to drawing many things but want to base your pricing off of how complex something is, you can split your tiers into done-ness. This type of commission is popular with those that draw characters AND animals, furries, etc.

#3....  Style and Type

If you’re more on the design side of things, or if you have various niche art styles that you can’t quite lump together, display a variety of your skills alongside each other! It helps if all the ones you have can be organized under a common customer - like those looking to advance their own business and get logos, websites, or mascots made for them!

.

3) ???

You got your first commission... what happens now???

Well, ideally you have the time, tools and motivation to make things happen! Now all you have to do is... sit down and... draw.......

I’m going to say something that may be a little controversial: 

Commissions aren’t fun. 

No, no, hear me out: I have fun doing commissions! I genuinely enjoy drawing characters and coming up with designs. But even with all that said, commissions are, first and foremost: WORK

I’m not saying this to discourage you, I’m saying this to keep things realistic. When I first began commissions, I thought it would be just like any other type of drawing. I would sit down, imagine a thing, draw it... it would be fun! 

But then I realized that I couldn’t just draw what I wanted - another person had an idea in mind and had asked me to do it. I stressed over getting the design correct from descriptions. I stressed over not having the right reference for the pose the commissioner wanted. I stressed over not being able to draw the leg right in the way I had promised I would do. I stressed about billing. I stressed about digital money transfers. It was difficult, and time-consuming, and I did not enjoy it. At all. 

And a part of that is definitely on the commissioner - we, as artists, NEED to demand proper references or descriptions. We, as artists, NEED to limit the amount of changes we’re going to make at the flick of a finger. We NEED to demand clear instructions and set boundaries. That’s also super important. 

But also - don’t be discouraged if you find yourself exhausted drawing your first commission. MANY artists go through this. Adjust your rules, fix up your limits, practice putting your foot down on finicky commissioners who expect you to read their mind! It does get easier, but you have to communicate and put in the effort and act as your own manager AND your own customer service AND your own accountant. That’s what you’re looking at. 

Good limits and boundaries to set: 

Limit the amount of changes a person can ask to make. “I want blue hair.” Next email: “No wait, yeah, make it red.” Next email: “Actually I changed my mind, can I get the blue but like, lighter?” Next email: “No, not that light.” ... At some point, we have to stop. I personally allow 2-3 changes on the final stages of a commission before I start refusing or start asking for extra money.

Demand clear instructions and/or references. If something isn’t described, you have to take artistic liberty and design it, but that’s difficult! And if the customer is not happy with it but can’t tell you more? That’s not your problem - the burden of reference is on THEM. You cannot read their mind, and that’s not your fault.

Get at least half the payment up front! This is a good balance between the ‘pay before art’ and the ‘pay after art’ conundrum that will limit the amount of woes between artist and customer. (I’ll touch upon this a little more in the Profit section.)

Organization:

Where possible, create good habits! Tag your emails and organize your folders. I have a tag on my emails for active and finished commissions. I also keep my emails on Unread until I have time to sit down and properly look at/reply to them.

My Commissions in the folder are also organized chronologically and I mark down which ones are paid and which ones are not.

(I understand not everyone can do this, but if you want to give it a try, it does make things easier in the long run. Again, this advice is just what I have found personally helps.)

One last thing - I do not want to shame ANYONE for taking their time with commissions! Commissions are complex, and they take time and work. You can draw in 8 hours, but some things take research, materials, etc. Some illustrations realistically take up to half a year, or, depending on what’s involved, several years!!

THAT BEING SAID - it’s good manners to be upfront with your customers about how long you expect the commission to take. If you think you’re busy, just say that! Explain that you have a lot going on, and you will probably take (insert time period here).

And if your commissioners are worried, work out a system to keep them updated! I send my commissioners updates when I finish the lineart/flat colors/etc and I try to be clear about how long everything will take. I try to estimate with a +3-5 days buffer to give myself extra time... and recently I’ve been using it. Always say a bigger number than you think you’ll need. 

If someone wants a rushed commission... make them pay more. If ANYONE wants a commission done ‘by the end of the week’ - that’s an automatic rush-job for me because I’m juggling an irl job and several commissions at once. I WILL charge a rush fee and I won’t feel bad about it. 

If someone wants a commission within 24 hours...... Well, they better be paying you 3x your normal amount, or more. And remember - you CAN refuse! It’s perfectly reasonable to say ‘No, sorry, that sort of turnaround time is not realistic for me.’

Food For Thought - Invoicing

Many artists I’ve commissioned in the past have not used Invoicing, but I’ve recently begun to fill out invoices and file them in my Commissions folder just to keep track of things. It’s not necessary until you start getting into the Small Business side of Freelancing, but it’s not a bad idea to get into the habit early in case you might need to do it later for tax purposes. 

Here’s what my Invoice looks like, for example. 

I’ve optimized it to help me remember who, what, and how much is involved! It also contains important info for my customers like where to send the money.

Which brings us to...

.

4) Profit

One of the hardest things for artists is pricing themselves. I’m not going to tell you which way is BEST - there is no BEST way, only the best way for YOU. 

One of the options available to you is pricing by the hour. It includes averaging out how long it takes you to draw a specific type of art (whatever you’re offering as a commission) and multiplying that by an hourly wage you’ve decided on.

When you do this, I stress - do NOT price yourself below minimum wage if you can help it. When you first start out, aim for the $15/hour mark and adjust accordingly. 

Other ways to price your art:

- Per complexity: Portraits vs full body should be scaled based on how difficult you find one vs. the other. You can also easily decide on a price for a sketch and double it for lineart, triple it for full color, etc.

- Per type: Look up for industry prices for website design and logo design. They may surprise you! You don’t have to charge that much, but it helps to keep things in perspective. 

It’s okay to change your prices! Keep your commission sheet image handy so you can update the amounts as you grow. :)

Payment up front or after completion?

Some artist take full payment up front. Some only demand payment after they’ve finished and sent out the piece. I personally think these are both risky for everyone involved. 

I recommend doing at least HALF of the payment BEFORE you start the commission. Calculate your full price and ask for half before you start working on it in earnest, to make sure the person can actually pay you. Then, when they receive the full piece and are satisfied, they can complete the payment. 

I personally work in this structure:

> Someone emails me with their idea/reference

> I send back a rough draft sketch that shows the idea/pose (only takes me 10-20 minutes so not a huge loss if they ghost) and quote them a price

> They can pay the full thing upfront OR pay half

> I finish the commission and send updates when I do the lineart/colors to double check anything so they have multiple chances to spot any errors

> If the person paid only half on completion, I send them a low-res version of the finished thing, they finish up their payment and THEN I send them the full-res version plus any other filetypes/CYMK proofs, etc. 

Many of the people who commission me pay me up front even though I offer they pay half - and I’m really flattered that they trust me that much! Because of that, I feel encouraged to update them frequently and ask for their input as I work, so they have the peace of mind knowing I’m actually doing their commission. 

Great, but how do I get PAID????

There are NUMEROUS ways - these days money is relatively easy to transfer over digital means, and you have a few options. 

Paypal is perhaps one of the oldest digital wallets and is geared towards businesses. By setting up a PayPal and connecting it to your debit card of bank account, you can tunnel a pathway from your online business directly into your hands in a matter of days. 

Paypal also offers Invoicing - you make an invoice, price it and send it to the person’s email and they can pay whatever way they need! (It also allows partial payments.)

Pros: transfers from PayPal to bank account are free, and take a couple of business days. It also has no upper limit to the amount of money you can move in/out each month. It can force refunds due to the nature of its business-oriented payment system.

Cons: Because it’s used by businesses for larger transactions, PayPal may demand a more rigorous proof of your identity. It may also take longer to set up and be harder to get used to. I’ve also heard that they can be a hassle when it comes to closing your account. 

Venmo is another type of digital wallet that acts much like paypal, except for a few key differences - it is NOT made for businesses (so depending on whether you’re officially registered as a freelancer, you may not be able to use it). I personally don’t use venmo, so I cannot speak to its usefulness, but I know a few people that use it for casual transactions. It’s easy and quick! :) 

Keep in mind that you cannot force a refund over venmo! The transactions are final.

There’s also CashApp, GooglePay (which could load gift cards but also allows peer-to-peer transactions) and I’ve heard good things about Due, though I’ve never personally used it.

Other ways to pay: I’ve had people pay me over Patreon by upping their pledge, and I’ve had people pay me over Ko-Fi by donating a specific amount. 

Many people even use Etsy - the website specialized for independent small businesses selling art - by listing their commission sheet and offering up several ‘slots’ of commissions, which allows you to track taxes AND allows your clients to pay using whatever they feel comfortable with.

If you’re in Canada, you can even pay by emailing money directly from bank account to bank account - check whether your country offers this type of service! There’s no shortage of ways to move money in the digital world.

Just like everything else, there’s no singular ‘Best’ way. It just depends on what works for you.

I think that just about wraps it up! I can’t quite think of what else to put here - but I’m sure other artists will chime in with their own advice. :) I’m very sorry this became so long but I hope it was helpful! 

Obligatory Disclaimer: I’m not qualified to give legal or accounting counsel. Please double-check the laws in your own country/state in regards to taxation of freelancing work and do your own research. If you are underage, DEFINITELY get an adult’s permission before you start doing commissions, and have the adult help you through the process.   

. . . . . . . . . . . . 

OTHER POSTS YOU MAY FIND USEFUL:

An Extended Post on Pricing Yourself for Commissions

Dealing with Imposter Syndrome/Feeling ‘Not Good Enough’

Growing Your Audience

Advice for Starting Digital Art

#Anonymous #long post #commissions #how to #infograph #how to do commissions #arting #art tutorial

[leiawritesstories]

Speak To My Heart

Rowaelin Month, Day 15: A bad day

Word count: 3422

Warnings: language, bit of depression, fighting. In short, there is angst in this fic. Hope the ending makes up for the rest.

Linguistics and foreign languages are two of my personal passions, so please bear with the bits of language talk that I couldn’t resist including. Brief word of clarification: a lot of expressions we use in English either translate into something extremely rude or don’t make sense in other languages. Translation companies have been trying for quite some time to make sure they don’t accidentally send a client a translated instruction manual that reads “fuck your mother” instead of “for questions, contact your local energy department.” All right I’ll get off my soapbox. :)

The phrases in foreign languages, marked with *, are translated into English at the end. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rowan’s day had been shit. The second he walked through the door, he’d been bombarded with an endless slew of crash reports, malfunctioning equipment, faulty passwords, and best of all, having to rewrite half the security firewalls because one of the rash young idiots in his department couldn’t be bothered to check his work for errors before sending it to management. And management thought it was the department boss’s job to fix all of his employees’ fuckups.

He hated IT.

Even more so since being promoted to department chair. 

All he wanted to do was the fun stuff--program design and development, fixing the flaws in his own designs, and of course making those who tried to break into his company’s systems regret their pitiful existence. But Cadre Tech’s bitch of a CEO refused to let the best software engineer on her staff actually do his job. 

Most days, he could cope with the pile of useless shit she directed to his desk. Most days. Today was not one of those days. Probably because on top of all the meaningless tasks he’d had to field, he was also forced to sit through one of Maeve’s bullshit “department head strategy sessions,” where every department chair had to pretend they gave a single shit about any word coming from their CEO’s garishly red, pinched mouth. 

As if she knew anything her staff actually did. 

Thanks to the compulsory meeting, Rowan was stuck in his office at nearly ten o’clock, painstakingly combing through the final draft of the update to CT’s translation program. This program had shot the company to fame and fortune, or at least insane stock value. “A Google Translate that actually translates,” their marketing department called it, and by the gods, that stupid slogan worked. And made sense. Rowan knew the program was just as good as it claimed to be.

He’d put in the hours, alongside a team of linguists, software engineers, designers, and people fluent in at least one other language. Frequent were the sessions where the project whiteboard turned into a jumble of words in twenty or more languages, Spanish alongside Arabic next to a column of simplified Japanese characters spilling over into a row of Cyrillic lettering. Rowan himself spoke German and some Spanish, but even he was lost amid the cacophony of eighteen different people switching from language to language, trying to figure out how idiomatic expressions translated from one language to another and what words should never, ever be placed together. 

It took the team well over a year of bickering, or as they called it, friendly linguistic disagreements, to make it from loosely mapped concept to functioning program. By the time it hit the market three years ago, the software had been so well promoted that companies all over the world snapped up their chance to finally communicate properly with the client they’d offended years ago with a bad translation. 

At launch, of course, Maeve stood in front of a sea of shouting reporters brandishing microphones, smiling her serpentine smile, and proceeded to thank the creative team for all their “contributions” before taking all the credit herself. 

Said creative team went to the bar that had become their usual gathering spot that night to get drunk and shit-talk their horrible boss, not necessarily in that order. 

His favorite memory of that night was hearing the chief linguist, an outside contract with multiple advanced degrees who spoke eight separate languages besides English fluently, refer to Maeve as “quella puttana rugosa che non riusciva a convincere un cazzo a venire a dieci metri da lei se si vestiva da figa.*” The Italian speakers on the team were crying with laughter, and so was everyone else, once she translated it.

And then she downed another shot of vodka and hissed something that sounded like “sukya bliyad, no puedo mich betrinken con esta ordures.**” When everyone blinked in confusion, she sighed and relayed the sentiment in English. 

Nobody had laughed as hard as Rowan. Aelin Galathynius just had that effect on him.

She brightened his darkest days.

But she couldn’t ease the strain of today.

And it was all his fault.

~

Aelin glanced up at the clock on her wall and cursed in three different languages when she saw that it was nearly eleven. Without meaning to, she’d spent all afternoon and evening writing lesson notes on idiomatic expressions. She really couldn’t help herself once she got into the topic; it was her pet project.

And the subject of one of her dissertations. Yes, she had multiple. 

She’d worked her ass off for years to get through college, then through graduate and doctoral work while teaching at universities to offset costs, then earned a full-time teaching position at one of the top-ranked universities in the world. She got to teach linguistics, her lifetime love, and give guest lectures at other universities and at conferences, teaching people all over the world about the complexities and interrelatedness of language. Hell, she spoke ten; she’d be qualified to speak on linguistic relationships by virtue of that alone.

Gods, she was the chief linguist behind the most successful translation software ever produced. Even if the bitch who owned the rights to said software had literally threatened to sue over ownership rights if any of the people who’d poured their figurative blood and sweat and literal tears into building the program tried to claim a small piece of the credit each of them so richly deserved. 

That software and her role in its creation--even though Maeve Ond had claimed the public credit, the creative team spoke at interviews and made news features for their work in Cadre Tech’s massive success--had solidified her credentials as a professor of linguistics, had boosted her into her lecturer spot.

Last year, her university granted her tenure. 

She should have been overjoyed, and she was, but not as much as earning tenure deserved. 

Because there was nobody to share her joy.

Three years ago, in the wake of CT’s overnight jump to worldwide fame, Aelin fled a love she did not and never would deserve. 

She told herself she would never look back. But she did. Almost every day, she looked back at the life she’d shared with Rowan and tried to convince herself that she did the right thing.

Try as she might, she could never silence the whisper that echoed always in her mind. 

“You broke both of your hearts” 

Someday, she told herself, someday she would be back in Doranelle. Someday, she would have a chance to apologize. Someday, maybe she could fix the Rowan-shaped chasm that gaped wide in her heart. 

Yet here she was, sitting in a very nicely appointed hotel room in the university district of Doranelle, typing furiously away as if burying herself in notes and prep for tomorrow’s lecture could make the urge to contact Rowan disappear.

~

Three years earlier. Doranelle.

“Knock, knock.”

Rowan’s head jerked up from where it had most definitely not been slumped on his desk. “Wha--Oh. Hi, Aelin.”

“You’re falling asleep, buzzard, let’s go home.” He heard laughter in her soft voice. 

“As if you won’t just get home and start cross-checking every single one of the phrases on your ‘potential problem’ list.”

She chuckled, walking over to him. “Fine. We’re both perfectionist work whores. Doesn’t mean we don’t need sleep.”

“I know you too well to believe you’re actually going to sleep.”

“All right, you win. Come home now, I’ll make some food, and you can put me to bed.” She winked saucily at him, leaving very little doubt what putting her to bed would entail, and he was up out of his chair in seconds. 

“Hand over your computer, Fireheart,” he grinned as they walked into the small house they shared on the outskirts of the city. 

“What?”

“Your computer, love. I’m leaving both of our work bags on the shelf by the front door so we can actually catch some rest tonight.” He pressed a finger to her mouth to silence her protests. “Uh-uh, Ae, we have interviews tomorrow and I won’t let the genius behind this program’s flawless word-to-word be anything but well-rested.”

She sighed, but he saw the love in her eyes. “Here, then, my dear brilliant software engineer. Leave your notebook, too, because I know if it’s anywhere near you, you’ll be up at three in the morning scribbling blocks of gibberish and picking apart your faultless code until you go insane.”

Both of their work satisfactorily put aside, Aelin made good on her promise to cook Rowan dinner. 

And then he made very good on his promise to put her to bed. 

The next morning, they were both awake with the sunrise, content to lay curled in each other’s arms as the morning light spread across their room.

Rowan drifted back into sleep, waking for good when he caught a whiff of coffee from the kitchen’s direction. 

“Morning, you sleepy buzzard,” Aelin grinned, sipping from her mug.

Rowan dropped a kiss on her head as he reached for his mug. He took a long drink, sighing as the milky, sweetened caffeine hit his mouth. 

“I will never understand how you drink your coffee black, Fireheart.”

“Not all of us need to sweeten the hell out of coffee to drink it, Ro. Maybe if you can’t handle the real thing, you should go back to your pretty little cups of crappy cafe tea.”

“Mention my pretty little teacups again, Ae…”

She giggled. “You be quiet and drink your coffee-flavored milk, my love.  We both know you’re impossibly grumpy until you have caffeine in your veins.”

He grumbled something unintelligible as he drank his coffee.

They were nearly late to work that morning, even having planned an extra half hour to arrive, thanks to Aelin wearing what Rowan dubbed her “sexy professor suit.” She fixed the pins in her French twist in the car, making herself once again a portrait of professionalism, and slipped Rowan’s hand from her leg.

“Two hands on the wheel, Whitethorn.”

He pouted. “But I’m a safe driver and I want to hold your hand.”

“My hands are over here, love, not down by my skirt.”

When he pulled into his spot, Aelin closed her eyes and took a deep, slow breath. 

“You good, Fireheart?”

Gods, she loved hearing him call her that. “Yeah. I just…needed a moment to settle myself. To tell myself the cameras aren’t here to tear apart what I say.”

Rowan wrapped his hands around hers. “Dr. Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, the bland reporters are here to stand in awe of your expertise. Not a single word you say will come across as anything but brilliant and beautifully said.”

She squeezed his hands, her usual confidence returning. “I love you, buzzard.”

“I love you too, Fireheart. Let’s go talk about our amazing achievement.”

The day sped by in a blur of reporters, interviewers, teleprompters, practiced speeches, lights, cameras, and crew. When the last bleached-blonde anchor of the last interview of the day cut her crew’s cameras, Aelin flopped against her second-in-linguistic-command, Dr. Nehemia Ytger, the expert on ethnic African languages. 

“If I never see a news crew again, it’ll be too soon,” she sighed. “I’m beat.”

Nehemia snickered. “But we’re done talking about how proud we are that Maeve and her marvelous company have done such a grand service to the world.”

Aelin snorted softly. “Right. And now we servicepeople want to go home and take off our heels.”

“Amen to that.”

As the team filed out of the studio, Rowan made his way over to Aelin. “Holding up?”

“Not anymore,” she said, leaning casually into his side. “My heels are killing me, there’s a hairpin stabbing into my scalp, and I really, really need to pee.”

Rowan laughed, deep and husky. “Let’s get you home, then.”

“I’m stopping in the bathroom first.”

Just before she left the ladies’ room, Aelin heard voices in the break area. Familiar voices--Rowan’s, Maeve’s, and the snippy, borderline whiny tones of Remelle Frelau, who worked in the marketing department and had a hell of a boner for Rowan. 

“--looking at revenue over--” Maeve’s voice cut out, but from the gasps of the other two, the revenue was through the roof. 

“And it’s all thanks to this genius here,” drawled Remelle, who if Aelin had her guess was probably clinging onto Rowan like a platinum-blonde leech. 

“Ms. Frelau, this was the product of a team. No single person could possibly have made it happen alone.”

“Oh, call me Remelle, or even better Remy. And you’re the team leader, so you practically did create it by yourself.”

Aelin snickered to herself. Vapid bitch had no idea what she was saying. 

“That’s not how teams work, Ms. Frelau. We wouldn’t be here without Dr. Galathynius and Dr. Ytger’s language expertise, not to mention the creative genius of the engineers, graphic designers, linguists, and programmers.”

“Ms. Frelau, though her judgment is clearly biased, has a point, Mr. Whitethorn,” Mave said. “You demonstrated remarkable collaborative leadership qualities throughout this project, and I fully expect that you will continue to do so.” Maeve’s heels clicked away. Rowan’s voice followed her.

“Thank you, Ms. Ond, but I have to credit Dr. Galathynius--”

“Will you stop kissing that woman’s ass?” snorted Remelle. “Gods, she’s not worth your time or your praise; all she does is translate words into different languages and you idiots drool over that like it means anything.”

Aelin jerked like she’d been slapped. She knew Remelle was a self-centered, shallow, spiteful bitch, but she hadn’t known she would do this.

“--did more for this project than you and your useless whiteboard of catchphrases,” growled Rowan. 

“I don’t care what she ‘did for the project,’ Rowan, she’s never going to be good enough for you.”

“Thank you for caring about my welfare, Frelau, now please kindly fuck off.”

Aelin chose that moment to saunter out of the bathroom and head straight for Rowan, her face showing no hint of having heard that conversation. She did note with satisfaction Remelle’s vain attempt to march out of the room with some semblance of dignity. Too bad her heel caught on the seam of the hallway carpet and the break room’s tile flooring and she had to grab the doorframe to keep from collapsing. 

“You’re awfully quiet, Aelin.”

“Just thinking. Processing, really. It’s been a hell of a day.”

Rowan nodded. “I bet.”

“And hearing fucking Remelle rip into me for being useless…didn’t make it better.”

“Shit, you heard that?”

“Yeah. I heard that.” Her voice was hollow. 

Rowan pulled into their driveway and shut off the engine. Reaching across the console, he cupped Aelin’s face in his hands. “Aelin. You are brilliant. You are terrifyingly smart. You are a force of nature. Nothing, nothing you will ever do is useless. Don’t let that jealous bitch make you think you are less than the perfect woman.”

She smiled tentatively at him. “She…she told me before that last interview that I could never be enough for you. Because you--because of Lyria.”

Rowan raked a hand through his hair. “Ae, can we talk about this inside?”

That night, he told her about his former fiancé, Lyria. He told her about their whirlwind romance, their youthful dreams. He told her about the horrific crash that stole away Lyria’s life. A drunk trucker, a narrow pass in the mountains. He showed her the box in which he kept all the memories of that life. He cried. Aelin cried. He curled against her, let her comfort him.

“Sometimes, I wish she was still here. She’d understand everything. She always did.”

Aelin had no response. She let Rowan fall asleep, his weight shifting off her and into his bed, and looked through the box. Everything she saw served as another reminder that this was the first woman he loved, the woman who understood everything. 

She was worthy of him. 

But was Aelin?

The more she looked at Rowan and Lyria’s happiness, the more the answer solidified. 

No.

When Rowan woke up the next morning, Lyria’s box sat on Aelin’s side of the bed, a side that had not held Aelin.

He glanced out the window.

Her car was gone.

He got up and frantically paced through the house.

Everything she’d brought into his home was gone.

As was she.

~

Present day. 

Rowan opened his front door mechanically, pulled off his shoes, dropped his work backpack on its shelf, and was halfway to his bedroom before he realized he’d just opened his front door. His front door that was always locked. 

Someone was in his house.

Someone who either had a duplicate key or insanely good lockpicking skills.

Exactly one person owned a duplicate key to his house.

Aelin.

That’s impossible, she lives in Orynth, she can’t be here, he told the traitorous part of his brain that leapt with joy at seeing Aelin’s face again.

He turned around and made his way through the kitchen--nobody there--to the living room. He flicked on a lamp, casting a soft light around the room.

And nearly had a heart attack.

Aelin Galathynius sat on his couch. 

For a moment, he just gawked at her. She looked so…different. Older. Gone was the infectious smile that had captured his heart. Dark shadows smeared under her eyes, testament both to the long hours she devoted to her work and to recent sleepless nights. She was twisting a ring on her right hand, a familiar sign of her nerves. From his angle, Rowan could see a hint of dark script on her wrist. A tattoo. The Aelin he knew didn’t have tattoos.

“I’m not a ghost.” Her voice, weary and hollow, broke the tense silence.

Rowan crossed the room, propped an arm on the fireplace. “Why?”

“Why am I here? Why did I leave? Why did I cut you out of my life?”

“Everything.” He couldn’t keep the waver from his voice, but his eyes burned into hers.

She took a steadying breath. “I’m here to apologize, first of all. I’m here to face what I ruined and to try and start mending it. I’m here to come to terms with everything I broke when I left three years ago.”

Whatever he’d expected her to say, it certainly wasn’t that.

“I’m sorry, Rowan. I’m sorry I left like that. I was…I was scared.”

“You can’t just run away from your fears, Aelin!” He couldn’t keep the frustration from his tone. “You can’t just abandon someone when you have a bad day!”

“I’m sorry! I know I shouldn’t have left! I know I can’t run from my fears; I’ve spent the last three years trying and fucking failing to do that! But I don’t know what else to do.”

“Saying something about it would have been a good first step.” 

“I’m bad at emotions, Rowan. I tried. It wasn’t enough.”

“That’s not a good enough excuse.”

Aelin flicked a tear from her face. “I know.” Her shoulders slumped. “I’m so sorry, Rowan. I should never have left. I let some stupid comment root into my head and make me doubt myself. I made myself believe I would never be good enough for you. I left you. I loved you, and I still left you. I still love you, even though I’ve tried to suppress it. I can never make up for that. I…I just wanted to tell you how much I’ve regretted that horrible decision all these years. I want you to be happy, Rowan, I--”

“How am I supposed to be happy without a source?” He’d dropped onto the couch, close enough to touch her but still keeping his distance.

“What?”

“You didn’t just take yourself away, Aelin. You were my happiness. I’ve spent three fucking years trying to make myself believe I’m better without you in my life, and I can’t.”

She was unabashedly crying by that point. “What do you want me to do? How can I make up for abandoning you?”

“Stay.”

Her gaze locked onto his, both of their eyes pooling with tears.

“Stay with me, Fireheart.”

“But--”

“I never stopped loving you either.”

A choked sob ripped out of Aelin. Rowan couldn’t hold himself in check any longer; he reached out and tugged her gently into his arms. To his shock, she didn’t resist, burying her face into his chest as sobs shook her shoulders. When she calmed, he tilted her chin up.

“Will you stay, Aelin?”

“Yes. Even though I will never deserve your forgiveness, yes.”

~

Translations:

* = “that pinched old whore who couldn’t convince a dick to come within ten metres of her if she dressed up provocatively” (Italian)

** = loosely translated as “Fucking hell, I can’t get drunk off this garbage.” (in order, Russian (badly phonetically spelled out because Rowan POV), Spanish, German, Spanish again, French) (the Russian doesn’t directly translate, so it could mean several different variations of expletive)

~

Might there be a second part? Perhaps......

#my writing #rowaelin month #aaaaaangst