pigeonfeather

[pigeonfeather]

Please share/reblog this, I am in a bit of a bind! 😭

Okay, I never actually closed my commissions, but I've adjusted prices and added a bunch of new options, so...here goes nothin'.

As stated, I am in a bit of a bind - existing costs too much, so on top of launching a GoFundMe explaining why, I'm offering 10% off my (already tentative) commission prices on Ko-Fi until May. And, until at least June, I will be doubling the time I spend on a drawing (from two minutes up to four) for every dollar donated via the timed donation commission option!

Kindly note that if you copy-pasta the discount link anywhere else, that discount will still apply for anyone else who clicks it. (Please copy-pasta it somewhere else. I will be so grateful to you for the help in spreading this around.)

QUICK N' DIRTY PRICE BREAKDOWN, FROM SIMPLE N CHEAP TO DETAILED N PRICEY:

Silly lil sprites: $2 sketch > $4 ink > $5 colored > $8 color lineart. You can get 'em BIG for $5 more. (Allows for more and cleaner detail.) ~350px -> ~1000px

Cute n tiny: $3 sketch > $5 ink > $6 color > $10 color lineart. BIG = +$10 ~600px -> ~2000px BIGGER = +$15 ~600px -> ~2500px

Avatars/PFPs: $8 sketch > $13 ink > $15 color > $25 color lineart. BIG = +$10 400px -> 1500px

Framed Busts: $8 sketch > $13 ink > $15 color > $25 color lineart. BIG = +$10 400px -> 1500px

Half-body: $10 sketch > $17 ink > $20 color > $30 color lineart. BIG = +$15 ~1000px -> ~2500px

Full Chibi: $15 sketch > $25 ink > $30 color > $40 color lineart. BIG = +$10 ~800px -> ~2000px

Basic Full-Body: $20 sketch > $30 ink > $35 color > $45 color lineart. BIG = +$20 ~900px -> 3000px +Matching Bust: $6 sketch > $10 ink > $12 color > $20 color lineart. [Discounted from standard rate by ~25%!] BIG = +$10 ~400px -> ~1500px

Full-body: $25 sketch > $35 ink > $40 color > $50 color lineart. BIG = +$30 ~1500px -> 5000px

And if you just wanna help out but still wanna get a fun little something in return, there are the ~Timed Donation Drawings~

For every dollar you send my way with a prompt or character or what have you, I will draw exactly that as fast as I can for four minutes straight (two, after May). And, as you can see from the examples above, I can do quite a lot with that time when I'm not super concerned about pesky things like anatomy and composition! Also I might go crazy overboard and completely forget about time constraints altogether if I like your prompt enough~

And now, potential questions that might come up under the readmore, and my very serious answers to each one:

Q: Why is inking so expensive compared to sketching and coloring? A: Because it takes forever and I hate doing it. :)

Q: Why is colored lineart so expensive? A: Because it's a pain in the ass no matter which way I do it. :) [I either have to have the inking separated into multiple different layers, which slows down the inking process I already hate but makes the coloring process faster, or I have to apply the color to a single inking layer bit by tedious bit and then redo a bunch of sections over and over when I inevitably can't color it in perfectly every time.]

Q: Why are the busts the same price as the avatars when you're drawing slightly more of the character? A: Because I don't have to pay attention to making them fit nice and neat and cohesive into a 400x400 square. Also, you don't get to pick the pose for the busts - aside from the expression, I draw them all in the exact same pose. So there's a little discount built in for the reduction of buyer choice. :)

Q: Why only two dollars more to upgrade from avatars/busts to half-body drawings? A: Because they don't involve drawing legs. Most of what you're paying for in a full-body commission is the Krys Has To Draw Legs Tax. :)

Q: Is there that much of a difference between the different full-body options? A: If there wasn't, I wouldn't be charging less for the one that's easier and faster for me to draw. :) [The actual difference is that I don't have to draw proper eyes and also the anatomy is still kinda chibi-adjacent.]

Q: Why charge so little to add color? A: Because it doesn't take me very long and it's a process I actually enjoy doing. :3c

Q: Why is there no price listed for fully-rendered color with shading and lighting? A: You couldn't pay me to fully render most of my own characters, let alone someone else's. >.>;

Q: How much do backgrounds cost? A: They don't, because I don't offer them. I hate doing those, too. {:)

Q: Why have an example that features a background, then? A: Because I forgot to take it out and then didn't feel like fixing it, leave me alone... 🥲

Q: Do you offer a discount for multiple characters? A: I do, in fact! You'll be able to see the reduced price for them in the add-ons section of any commission listing. For the really cheap listings, though, the discount only applies for the fourth character onward. Because otherwise I'm drawing a lot of stuff for very little money, and that sucks for me, my free time, and my wallet. {:(

Q: What's the maximum number of characters I can get in one commission? A: Six total, otherwise I get overwhelmed and want to run into the ocean screaming. {:)

Q: What difference does the big sizing really make? A: For whatever I might draw for you, at a size of 350x350px at 300dpi, you could get a cute little sticker printed on a site like Redbubble. At around 600x600px, you could get that same image printed as a nice pin or button. At something closer to 2000x2000px, meanwhile, you could get it printed on a t-shirt or journal cover, instead, without having to blow it up and leave it looking pixelated. And the largest size I offer at around 5000x5000? That can print nice and neat on a whole-ass shower curtain. That's the difference the big sizing really makes. >:3c

Q: What are you willing to draw? A: Original characters (i.e. D&D parties, novel casts, fursonas, etc.), fan characters (i.e. Pokemon trainers, Homestuck trolls, Among Us beans crewmates/impostors, etc.), official characters (from cartoons, anime, comics, etc.), animals (I cannot guarantee quality here, though), and robots (I definitely cannot guarantee quality here). Suggestive/revealing outfits are fine, as is mild body horror (though I am still learning how to draw that, so keep that in mind if you want it). Queer and queer-coded characters are especially welcome! >w<

Q: What are you not willing to draw? A: Anything supporting extremism, fascism, bigotry, and so on. Basically, if it's right wing, I ain't drawing it; even satire against right wing trash is pushing it unless it's hyper-obvious. Also, no outright nudity and certainly no smut - I'm too ace for NSFW art, so if you want obvious kink/fetish stuff, no judgments from me whatsoever, but my commissions will not be a good option for you. {:) And while I'll happily draw a bit of body horror here or there, I will not draw actual gore. ........Oh, right, I also won't draw backgrounds. Fuck that shit. :)

Q: What about religious themes? A: I will consider those on a case by case basis. As long as whatever you're wanting me to draw isn't hateful towards any particular group of people, though (i.e. queer folks or other minorities), it should be fine. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Q: Can you go into better detail as to what you will or won't draw? A: If you're worried I won't draw something for you, you can just ask me directly. I don't bite. ...Usually. >:3c

Q: Can you give me a bigger discount if I tell you it's my birthday or my family member is sick or- A: No, next question. :)

Q: What if I have proof that it's my birthday or that my family member is sick or- A: You will get the appropriate congrats or condolences from me! ...And also my standard commission prices. :)

Q: Can I get a drawing from you in exchange for me sharing your work with my audience instead of- A: Pay me or eat shit. Exposure won't pay my bills. :)

Q: Hello, are you available for commissions? Please DM me and- A: Hi, yeah, and I know what an advance fee scam is already, so thanks but no thanks. If you're going to order a commission from me, then you get to do it directly through Ko-Fi using an actual payment method that's confirmed to exist. :)

Q: Could you please please please do a commission with full-rendering and a background for me? A: I would honestly rather eat glass. :)

Q: Why even offer inking and colored lineart if you don't like doing it when you could just offer colored sketches? A: Because attempting to show anyone what my brain interprets as an unfinished piece of art will immediately induce a perfectionism-induced hernia in me, and I would hope we'd all rather avoid that. {:)

Q: Can you draw something for me in a different art style? A: Can I? Yes. Will I? No. :)

Q: Why are your prices so high? A: Well, first of all, they're not - everyone is just so used to undervaluing artists and their work that it seems like the prices are high. And second of all, I'm basing said prices off of minimum hourly wage and the amount of time I expect any given drawing to take, so if you expect me to make less than minimum wage for a skill that took literal decades of time and effort for me to cultivate, you can go sit in a corner and think about how fucked up that is for a while. >:\

(That aside, the current commission prices aren't even fully accurate to the time it takes for me to draw, so they will be changing in May. Whether they go up or down is yet to be determined.)

Q: I'm too poor to get a commission from you, what do I do? A: Cry with me in the No Money Zone, I guess? And, I dunno...reblog this to help me out? That'd be nice. <:)

Q: Do you even like most of the artistic process??? A: My artistic process is 'have fun sketching, suffer through inking, and then continue to have fun coloring, before I typically end the process there so I don't have to suffer through rendering and backgrounds'. So...yes, actually! :D

Q: I feel like you're just making up random questions for shits and giggles at this point. A: That's not a question, but you might be right. ;)

Q: Is this stupid FAQ over yet? A: No, you're stuck in it with me for forever. >:]

Q: You're joking, right? A: Yes.

THE END!

[pigeonfeather]

It's my 14 year anniversary on Tumblr 🥳

[pigeonfeather]

OC Chibi in 2 versions with small adjustments

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Just a redraw of a scene from the show as a 2D comic, for fun and science.

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You know what, fuck you. *adopts your Puppingtons*

I originally drew this at work with no reference, but colored it with.

[pigeonfeather]

And so I have watched Morl Orl

[pigeonfeather]

This has been said before but ahhh ohhh I dislike this era of folks relying only on like. Chatgpt for information, do what you want but also on my hands and knees begging y'all to retain research skills. Don't loose even your googling abilities, I'm begging y'all, it's gonna rot our brains ( he's had to see an irl friend consult that instead of relying on him to know what he's talking about and that is so...!!! )

[pigeonfeather]

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Can I offer you a snack in these trying times

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The digital zine of Failgirl Fluttershy is now available for free/PWYW!

Failgirl is about the tragic loss of Angel and Shy's recovery from grief and a painful past. The zine includes everything I made for the story up to the point of printing it. Thank you checking it out!

[pigeonfeather]

I hate to do it but, Barry has missed 3 days of work already and may miss a 4th + I am too sick to hustle this much money via art alone before we need it:

We've both had fevers and coughs since Friday the 8th, which I been complaining about on twitter but not here OTL

[pigeonfeather]

Reading Mordecai Heller as a repressed gay man

The tragic attraction

This is a full post based on my response to a great analysis by @sedgewick-gayble

Let me start by saying that if you read Mordecai as being totally asexual/aromantic and any affection he has for other characters to be entirely platonic that is entirely valid and I respect that

However as this response by Tracy makes clear on the topic of fans reading Mordecai as gay there is an intentional ambiguity about it. Being 28 at the time of the main story his "lifestyle is certainly asexual" up to this point, yet "being ace and being gay are not mutually exclusive things" and people sometimes "don't know themselves or understand their own motivations all that well"

This leaves the possibility open that Mordecai is actively repressing his natural desires and feelings

Mordecai's early life didn't exactly provide much time or opportunity for "self discovery", even by the usual standards of the less than tolerant and understanding world of the early 20th century

Being born into an impoverished family and having his father die very early in his life leaving him and his Mother and two younger sisters in dire straits, Mordecai had to get to work and assume adult responsibilities pretty damn early.

As Tracy says "selling newspapers wasn't going to cut it" and so using his natural talent with numbers Mordecai starts bookkeeping for the mob. Is it any wonder someone with that background would develop such a serious and rigidly buttoned up demeanour?

Since being forced to abandon his mother and two sisters at the start of the 1920s and flee New York, being picked up by Atlas's due to his habit of collecting useful strays, Mordecai had very few people he was close to in St Louis. With his generally anti-social personality and not only lack of interest but discomfort with any sort of flirting or romantic entanglements, that would be unlikely to change

Side note: Probaby coincidence but

There are only two people who seem to make it onto that exclusive list of people that "count" for Mordecai, who he cares about and are able to bring things to the surface he would normally keep hidden

Atlas to Mordecai is not just an employer, he is the man who saved his life, the man who moulded a desperate fearful shabby young stray into the sharp professional he is today, who took him under his wing and made him his protege. Filling the empty space his father left in his life. His grief and desperate hunt for those responsible for his death are his big motivation (the strain of which is slowly tearing him apart)

That connection is undertsandable

Much more surprising on the surface is the bond with the partner Atlas teamed him up with soon after his arrival, Viktor Vasko.

The assumption at the start would have been that while their skill sets might compliment each other in the field there would have been no warmth in their dynamic.

Certainly not on Mordecai's part as Viktor appears to be a sum total of many things Mordecai hates. Viktor is unshaven, relatively casual in his attire, speaks a broken English, and hates people chattering or “noise, noise, noise” as he calls it. Clashing hard with his obsession with good grooming, high quality tailoring, correct grammar etc. Indeed Mordecai doesn't hesitate to nag/criticize Viktor for these things

Yet at the same time Mordecai has far better chemistry with Viktor than with anyone else, able to banter and bicker with him in a way you rarely if ever see with others

Its why when he gets tailored clothes for the first time Viktor is the first person he wants to show off too. Its why the one time he is intoxicated Viktor (and his large physique) are his chosen topic of converation. Its why at Christmas/Hanuhhah he gives him the gift of a tie while claiming its just because of the big guys poor fashion sense and that its "embarassing to be seen with him" (even that justification makes him sound like a nagging girlfriend)

A smaller detail is that during their iconic chess playing in the side content, set during their days staking out the remote town of Defiance, Viktor is shown very casually winning the game much to Mordecai's visible distress

This is hilarious but could also be taken as a metaphor for Viktor (possibly without even realizing it) breaking through his defensive emotional barriers

Something Mordecai doesn't know how to handle or respond to

The animated short only adds fuel to the fire

During their dispute over strategy Mordecai moves his face so close to Viktors that he almost knocks his cap off his head. His eyes at one point even dart down towards his mouth

Sharp eyed Vikdecai fans have also noted that Mordecai seems on some level to want the two of them to match

The tie being the same colour could simpy be Mordecai giving Viktor one of his own ties because its a joke gift and he just grabbed it on a whim to tease Viktor about his poor fashion choices

But think about the matching suits at the New Years party for 1926

I mean, seriously, not only is it the exact same style of suit in the same blue-grey colour distinct from everyone else, but they are standing in the perfect spots to be symmetrical to each other. Something that we all know means a lot to this compulsive man

Mordecai must have known there was going to be a big group photo ahead of time and then carefully planned this

Got matching suits made to his and Viktors measurements

Then most impressively convinced/nagged Viktor into cooperating (he may have taken off the tie and rolled up the sleeves but hey him playing along at all is quite a compromise from Viktor "I hate dressing up" Vasko)

Mordecai is intent on making Viktor retire and get out of danger, and avoid a situation where he gets sent to kill him by Marigold because he knows he could NOT do it, and his cover and investigation into Atlas's death would be over

He is horrified that Viktor is still working at Lackadaisy (though he again has to hide how much he cares) and that he has gotten not only hurt again but hurt by Mordecai again (albeit this time indirectly by stealing the guns)

Can this be read as simply platonic comradere? Absolutely

But there is something so *intense* in the fact he was willing to resort to kneecapping him. Its an extreme and desperate act that could only result from intense emotions, seemingly out of character for someone who tries very hard to appear logical and controlled.

While Vikdecai is a very fun ship when imagining them as an actual bickering married couple, I have often said that a tragic one-sided on Mordecai's part version of Vikdecai is the one that fits closest and surprisingly well into the canon.

His nagging and complaining about Viktor in that context take on a Tsundere aspect, both to protect himself from being found out and maybe even try and convince himself the uncomfortable alien feelings aren't there. He not only doesn't want others looking too hard at his feeling he doesn't want to examine them himself all that much

There is a heartbreaking but appealing angst to the idea of this extremely repressed man having such feelings for the first time in his life for his straight best friend and NOT knowing how to handle that. Having to perform the balancing act of being around him so much as his partner but being painfully aware that he can't let anyone catch on, especially not Viktor himself, as it would likely destroy his bond with the only person in town other than Atlas he is close to.

Though tragically he did that anyway later via the kneecapping, which while about trying to keep Viktor safe, he may now looking back try and tell himself its actually somehow "better" for Viktor to hate him for that

Because the big guy now wrongly thinks the feeling is mutual and that Mordecai never really cared about him, which may be better than (what Mordecai assumes would be) disgust at his partners doomed more than platonic feelings

Because he sees those feelings and his situation as a sad perfectly structured joke life has played on him

[pigeonfeather]

[pigeonfeather]

Happy Halloween

Ooey gooey gourds, freshly eviscerated!

[pigeonfeather]

Vet visit fund...

So, turns out one of my cats, Pollux, had an abscess on her bum, and she is so good at hiding pain (thanks to her shitty past owner getting a botched declawing on all four of her paws) that I didn't realize anything was wrong with her until the abscess fucking ruptured today. I don't know what the final cost of this is going to be, but the transportation and exam fee are already going to be upwards of $100, so if anyone is willing and able to help out, I've linked to my ko-fi up above. I also still have commissions open, if you'd rather get something in return for helping me out!

I'll be taking her in to the vet first chance tomorrow morning - nothing I can do about it today other than keep a close eye on her. She's ignoring the sore almost entirely, and still acting like she's fine, but it looks...pretty yikes. 😬 Plus my boy cat, Castor, is being a brat to her as usual.

The furbaby in question:

And, of course, my all-time favorite picture of her, captured while she was lost in the sauce of her pizza-box obsession...

She's a goofball, and I adore her, and I want to get this taken care of as soon as I can for her sake. If you can't chip in, please at least reblog - every little bit of awareness helps! Thank you~

[pigeonfeather]

@tamtamthealmighty one last late revenge from artfight!

[pigeonfeather]

Late Art Fight revenge, sorry for the delay! @awiola