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Making a flat/wide/bulbous nose appreciation post because those big nose posts never include them:

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i want to hear the pedantic lecture on urban fantasy pls

Okay. So.

As I learned it, and the way I basically always saw it used until probably the emergence of romantasy as a major genre/subgenre, urban fantasy meant basically the following:

Low fantasy (generally primary world/set on Earth, though that's not a requirement)

Focused in one city/urban area, which the MC generally has some sort of connection to, either magical or otherwise (the character can go to other areas particularly in later books, but the city is essentially home base, and that doesn't change)

Usually contemporary or contemporary-esque (if not set on Earth), so these are generally more modern cities than medieval-y villages like we see in a lot more high fantasy (though I've seen urban fantasy in steampunk settings, for example)

Generally one main character rather than an ensemble cast, though the MC may have major side characters and/or a love interest with them (but we're generally not getting 3+ POVs)

Often investigative or about helping people, though the MC doesn't need to have an investigative job

Often involves supernatural/paranormal creatures and/or elements of folklore or mythology, though that's not a strict requirement

Often (though not required to be) a series, which may have an overarching plot but is more in the monster/mystery-of-the-week style, where each book focuses on a new threat even if they are still dealing with consequences from previous books

In some ways, urban fantasy has a lot in common with both mystery and romantic suspense series, which are much more episodic and investigative than genres like romantasy or high fantasy and much more focused on a single character than long romance series.

Over the last five or so years, though, I've seen urban fantasy used much more for "anything fantasy set in an urban setting" or "romantasy set in something that may resemble a city" which makes it way harder to find actual urban fantasy.

The current top listed book for Urban Fantasy on Amazon is The Book of Azrael by Amber V. Nicole. From what I can tell from reading the summaries of the books on the series and clicking around on Goodreads, this is a secondary world romantasy with one single arc across the four books in the series and no major investigative elements. The only reason I can imagine it is listed there is that it is, presumably, set in a city? I assume?

The current second listed book is Fated to the Wolf Prince by April L. Moon, which is a paranormal romance novel that is not actually set in a city.

The current third listed book is City of Gods and Monsters by Kayla Edwards, which seems like the closest to what I would consider an urban fantasy, in that it is actually set in a city, and there is an investigative element. It looks like it's secondary world, and the books may have more of an overarching arc that's more romantasy than the general episodic nature of urban fantasy, but it could fit the definition.

And sure, by some definition, could you call those first two urban fantasy? I guess. But we use subgenre distinctions for a reason.

It would be like calling most romantic suspense "contemporary romance" because it happens to be set in the modern era, or calling a romance between someone from Tennessee and someone from Boston "multicultural romance" because they have different cultures.

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Venezia

Nikon F80 - Kodak Portra 400

Portfolio, prints and more

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To Hear You Speak And Sing Again Is Medicine - Submitted by: fastman27

#A064B2 #AE84D6 #D8C7F0 #E9E6C1 #EACE9A #E3AA7B

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writing tip: searching "[place of origin]ish names" will get you a lot of stuff and nonsense made up by baby bloggers.

searching "[place] census [year]" will get you lists of real names of real people who lived in that place.

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Filipino artist, Gregory Halili, carves intricate skulls into mother of pearl shells.

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How to Paint Light by jonhuangart

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Some Writing Prompt Generators

Serendipity (names, places, mapbuilding, etc.) Quick Story Idea Full Story Idea Writing Challenges General Character Quick Character really just all of Seventh Sanctum RPGesque generators Writing Prompts Inspiration Finder Story Arc Fantasy Story Situaton Adventure Chaotic Shiny is just really good in general Random Plot 

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Life drawing

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written badly is better than not written at all i say to myself for the umpteenth time 70k deep into a first draft

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Current Reading/Liveblogging List

If you want me to add YOUR book to this list, DM me-- I can trade review copies or simply leave a review when I'm done.

@ameliahcrowley 's The Vicar Man. Anything described as Pratchettesque is up my alley.

@thesylverlining 's Life Beyond Parole and The Lifeline Signal. I'm currently rereading Chameleon Moon- it's honestly one of my all time favourite books- and it is a genuine mystery to me how I hadn't gotten to this sooner.

@derinthescarletpescatarian 's Time To Orbit: Unknown. Comes highly recommended. I may have to schedule time to stare at the wall afterwards.

@thebibliosphere's Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites, which I started reading and loved but had to stop at the very well drawn depiction of a migraine.

@tyrantisterror's Tyrantis Walks Among Us! (reread) and Tyrantis Roams the Earth! I loved the first one, but again: genuine mystery how I hadn't gotten to the second, which I own, and have been looking forward to reading for an age.

CZ Edwards' Rien's Rebellion series- which. again. GENUINE MYSTERY. How I have not finished this. It's one of my favourite series of all time and was a huge influence on my current longform project (codename Glider Kids).

@shiraglassman 's Knit One, Girl Two.

@plaguedocboi 's Quest for the Sea's Revenge. I really, really, really want to read this one! ...but I am probably going to have to wait for a holiday to pick it up. Heckin' RIP.

If you guys like, I might also sprinkle in a mix of some of the reading I'm doing that's not other indie author's books, which is likely to be stuff from the library or from Project Gutenberg. My personal tastes skew towards kidlit (especially Victorian kidlit), queer romance, SF/F (both classic and modern), nonfiction about history (especially historical fashion, historical crime, and nonfiction written during the periods I enjoy).

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hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

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btw I’ve found these stretches from the WAK blog very helpful when knitting a lot:

Plus make sure to take breaks regularly - and stop if anything starts to hurt!

especially with gift knitting I know it can be tempting to push through it for a deadline, but it’s really not worth causing long term injury. (And anyone knit-worthy should be understanding of that, imho.) Stay well :)

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i love u characters who are victims who don't show things in a way that's appealing i love u characters whos trauma leaves them with anger issues, with violence issues, with issues with connection and trust and being truthful i love you characters who don't get "better" in a way that's palatable, who don't find growth and meaning in their trauma

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hey these are some tips for some of the little details in drawing fat folks that some people might not know!

everyone has fat on their bodies so its a worthwhile skill to have, but most art tutorials leave it out. heres some other good tips from artists!!