#I still have the art stuff too so I’m looking forward to working on those… just… again ;;; ;;; trying to get started first.

[jamminvroomvroom]

4 with lando :)))

flashing lights - kanye west (respect the art not the artist!)

LN4 x reader

tysm for the request xoxo!! finally continuing my requests (sorry it took ages whoops) flipped my list and went from the bottom for this bc otherwise we were gonna have some repeats lol

images below from pinterest - i claim no ownership 🙃

warnings: none! some swearing, some fluff, lando being a funny little camera shy pr machine - but fr minors pls just dni with my work okay tysm!!!

lando was frantically pacing your apartment when you walked in, eyes wild, as if he hadn’t slept, and hair an absolute disheveled state. his usually sun-kissed skin seemed to get even paler when he heard the door shut behind you, coming to a halt in your kitchen and staring at you as though he’d seen a ghost.

“lando?” you questioned, confused as to, a) why he was here so early, and b) why he looked like he was about to confess that he had killed your entire bloodline.

“baby, i’m so sorry.” your blood ran cold. what had he done? he closed the space between you, tentatively taking your hands.

“lando… what’s going on?” you tilted your head, starting to sweat in your oversized leather jacket. you’d just been out running errands, picking up bits for the dinner you were supposed to be sharing with the mclaren driver, much later in the day.

“i didn’t think anyone had seen us but then i had my assistant, the entire pr department and my mother phoning me, and then max called and said that him and pietra wanted to see if we were okay, before i could call anyone else back which confused the fuck outta me, so i finally checked twitter and there it was and i just got in the car and came here but god, i’m so sorry.” lando finally exhaled, looking like he was about to pass out, with creases so deep on his forehead that you thought they’d stay there permanently.

“okay, lando? sweetheart? yeah, okay i’m gonna need a bit more info.” you over enunciated each word, stressing that you were still in the absolute dark about whatever was on the verge of sending him into cardiac arrest.

“there’s photos. of us. kissing.” he finally said, quietly, and after a good ten seconds of staring at you in utter fear.

“fucking hell, i thought something terrible had happened. jesus christ, lando.” you exhaled, eyes wide. he stared at you like you’d grown a second head, stepping forward to mockingly rest his hand against your forehead as if he was checking your temperature.

“are you… are you… okay?” lando asked, eyebrow quirked. he was shocked at how calm you were.

you’d both agreed to keep your relationship private, and over the last five months, that had gone swimmingly well. but some low quality photos taken, as you waited for some friends outside a restaurant in the outskirts of london, had fucking launched the cat out of the bag.

“how bad are the pictures? are we naked or something?” you scoffed at him and now lando was truly confused.

“no, but- but i thought we were gonna keep this quiet.” he murmured.

“i know, baby, but okay, it’s out. is that really so bad? it was bound to happen eventually.” you reasoned, and lando finally saw your point.

“i just want to protect you, from all of the lights and the flashing cameras. love you too much to lose you to those vultures.” lando dipped his forehead against yours as he spoke, eyes locked on yours. you couldn’t help but smile at him, the loveliest man you could have wished for.

“oh, my sweet, sweet boy,” you crooned, pecking his lips. “you know i love to show off.” he laughed at that, a low rumbling in his chest.

you pulled away, stepping around him and walking further into your apartment, dropping all of your stuff down in your kitchen.

“anyways, i already saw the pictures. we look hot.” you ignored his incredulous ‘what?’, waving him off. “now, come here and help me make dinner.”

[bloomeng]

A long overdue update about the Magical Girl Au for those who are interested:

When I originally started this project it wasn’t even a project it was a one off drawing but I love designing themed clothing so it sorta spiraled from there. And it’s been very fun. I approached the au with the idea of basically attaching magical girl elements onto their already existing costumes. I really wanted the deisgns to feel like they could be put into a preexisting episode like a themed episode or for a gag.

As of right now Cass will be the last character to be designed in this aesthetic.

Somewhere along the road I decided since I was already putting so much time and effort into this might as well pick a more focused vision. Since then I’ve spent time laying out a more structured timeline and cast. With that shift also meant a shift in how I wanted to tackle the designs themselves.

A lot of this shift happened when I first started designing Batman. Batman’s design is so simple that it makes it very hard to reinvent the wheel. It wasn’t working out how I wanted—maybe this was just my own expectations getting in the way but regardless— so I started looking for inspiration. Somewhere around this time I started designing my 16th century Robin. I’ve always liked historical clothing and costuming in general. With that in mind I wanted these designs to feel a bit more original and I decided the best way to do that was to add more historical (and lotr type fantasy) elements.

I’ve enjoyed this au and appreciate all the support I’ve gotten. Fear not this is not the end nor am I taking down posts but yeah some of the lore is in fact outdated at this point. I also will say that because they will no longer just be sketches I want to practice pushing my shape language not just in the clothing but in the characters themselves so the style will likely change. Not too much because it’s still me drawing them, but it’s another thing I will be considering way more moving forward.

I want to get more into my ideas but I’m gonna hold back until I have some actual art to show. A lot of it will feel familiar but def new stuff to come.

[sheepie-self-ships]

By the time I’m posting this this art is a few weeks old, but I HAVE DOODLES AND I ALSO HAVE LIKE STORY BITS 👉👈 a little s/i story lore to drop…,.,,, spoilers for s.tex I guess?? Not really 💀 the art isn’t related to the writing, more so I just had the ideas to put them together to see how it’d go

First off, Ace is employed by the train yard s.tex takes place in after the events of the musical as a temporary locomotive mechanic due to E.lectra, GB, and CB all crashing during the final race (in my mind they just didn’t get fixed after One R.ock n R.oll Too Many quite yet), and they needed some extra hands to help out with the wreck and also restoring the trains 😭

They’d just gotten out of trade school so they were struggling to find a job, so they figured this temp position would be good for them to at least get some experience if nothing, and buy them some time while they look for a more permanent thing

So Ace joins the team and is shown around, and those three are like completely out of commission, all their parts are mixed together, I’m pretty sure CB has some burnt planks and stuff that need to be replaced and such, it was just a bad time all around

Ace is put in a small group to restore GB, and once all his parts are separated and unsalvageable parts are reordered, the group starts working on getting him back up and running as fast as they can. He is their champion engine after all, even if he didn’t win this championship.

Once he comes to, I don’t think he respects them at alllll. Ace is probably the youngest worker in there, since they just got out of school. Granted, I don’t think he respects any of the mechanics, sigh. But right out the gate, he’s a wiggle worm, he won’t stop talking, flirting, and generally getting in the way of the job getting done, and being an overall nuisance to everyone working on him.

Maybe one day he sees Ace coming into the shop in an already sour mood, and he chills out, just to get through that day. Ace is busy with him, working in silence and he doesn’t care enough today to give them a hard time. Normally they’d respond to his banter, but he can already tell it wouldn’t be great for either of them so he kinda just sits there finally.

This is a real relief for Ace, and even if he gets back to his regular self by the next day, he’s a bit more likely to calm himself if it’s needed.

They get to know each other more due to forced proximity, and eventually his flirting gets more serious day by day, and he looks forward to them working together.

When they finally get done restoring G.reaseball, he still wants them to work with him, so he pulls some strings and gets them on his team permanently (Ace has no idea he did that)

And they kinda groan, but it’s not the worst gig they could get stuck with… the guy was funny sometimes at least

Also surprise!! More sketchbook scans :3 these are the informational Aceball ones hehe

————

TAGLIST

@scaramutual @okiria @scientistkerberos @arsene-fixates @dreamwinged

@thetalesofforest @sunflawyer @l0v3sickl0s3r @charge2005 @wuffverine

@catships777 @sparkyscissorhands @natetrx-selfships-n-shit

[ollypopwrites]

Weekly WIP Preview

Got tagged by the wonderful @razildor to share some WIP goodness.

This is a (very rough first draft) bit from a fic I’m working on called Grace and Fervor, which highlights Emmrich’s perspective on falling in love with Mourn Watcher Rook. I’m undecided if it’s going to be explicitly about Vanya Ingellvar.

It features some fun head canons i have about magic and mourn watch stuff!!!

As usual, pls forgive how rough this is. I’m a firm believer in First Drafts just being about getting the words on the screen.

no pressure tagging @flightlessangelwings @bankabb (ART WIPS IFYOU FEEL UP TO ITTTT) and @aldisobey

“Got a bit sidetracked there,” Rook said as they made their way back towards the Veil Jumper camp and the eluvian. “Sorry, Bel.”

“No,” the elf said quickly. “No, that was good! I think I get it now, the Mourn Watch stuff.” She smiled genuinely but sadly, “thanks for doing all of that, I’ll let Irelin know where to find the bodies.” Then she jumped as if she had been shocked by her own electrical magic, “oh! I did want to grab something from the artifact vault, I completely forgot! Damn, and we were just there!” She groaned, “I’m sorry. Can we go back? It’ll be quick!”

“Of course we can,” Rook said easily.

Bellara hurried forward, leading the way back towards the vault. Emmrich stayed a few steps behind with Rook, hands behind his back.

“You did wonderfully with that spirit, Rook,” he complimented. “It pleases me that we can enlighten others on how to prevent Spirits from getting into those knots that make them lash out.”

Rook smiled, genuinely this time. “Me too. There are a lot of spirits here in Arlathan that I think could be set back on their course. The business with the Gods and the Veil, it doesn’t just affect us.”

“Very true.” He agreed. “You know, you would have done well in my Spirit Calling course.”

“I thought about taking Spirit Calling,” she said, “but I didn’t really think I needed to be taught how to do it. And it interfered with a course on Bone-Throwing.”

“I had no idea you dabbled in the divinatory!”

“I haven’t done a good divination ritual in a while. There’s a lot I’ve had to put on the back burner, recently,” she sighed. “Y’know Varric and Harding still think I majored in fortune telling.”

He paused, not wanting to put too much emphasis on her slip up with Master Tethras. The grieving mind sometimes did mix up the semantics, not used to adjusting to the absence.

“Divining is as widely a misunderstood subject as Necromancy,” he said with a sigh. “Yet it is so easily explained, it’s not the future we seek, but traces of messages in the unknown of the Fade. What is your preferred method of throwing?”

“I use my own baby teeth.” Rook grinned. “And any little bits and pieces I find. Arlathan has so many animal bones, I’ve had to restrict myself to one keepsake a trip.” Digging into the bag at her hip, she procured a mesh bag, dozens of little teeth and small bones inside as she shook them.

“Delightful!” Emmrich grinned. “You must show me some time, I admit, I was only ever very talented in scrying.”

“I could never sit still long enough for scrying,” she said, tucking her collection back in her bag.

“You do have a natural way with the Spirits, though, Rook. You ought to hone it. Spirit Calling does not always need to be taught to a mage, but there is something to be said about nurturing natural talent.” He said.

“Right.” She smiled, another tight lipped one that was more out of politeness than anything else. “But… they’re your specialty. That’s what we have you here for, isn’t it?”

He had done something wrong. Yet, he couldn’t figure out what. But he felt it as she pushed ahead, the ease of conversation abruptly ruined as she avoided looking back at him or engaging in any further discussion.

It was no wonder the others found his presence unsettling, when Rook herself seemed to be unable to decide whether she was comfortable with him being there or not. She flipped wildly from eagerly discussing home with him to seeming as if she couldn’t be as far away as possible. A brick in the wall would wiggle, slip out of place so he could peer through and then she would swiftly turn tail and run.

He had hoped her presence and influence would be a comfort to him, another Watcher so far from home when most never wandered too far. That had not been the case, thus far.

[e-vay]

Hi E-Vay! I was wondering...I'm currently teaching myself art and how to draw and stuff, and since you're such a master and youre the one that inspired me, I was wondering...you got any advice? And I don't mean the generic "practice makes perfect" and "tutorials available" and "look at your references" kinda advice, (which is nice and helpful too) but like "oh jeez I REALLY WISH I'd known THIS" kinda advice.

K thanks all the love and kisses bye! 💋

That is so kind of you to say, thank you! I’m really excited to see what you come up with!

I know those tips are repeated by artists a lot, but that’s because they work! You really do just have to keep at it and use references and you’re guaranteed to improve.

I do have two “tricks” I learned late in life that I wish I had known sooner. These won’t be a cure-all but it has made a difference for me:

1 - If you do digital drawings, FLIP YOUR CANVAS! Flip it REPEATEDLY! Our eyes have a habit of correcting things, so we can’t always tell that the faces are askew or that your character is leaning very far forward. So every so often, mirror your canvas and you’ll be shocked to see how weird it looks! Make those corrections. And then flip it back. If you don’t draw digitally, you can still do this with traditional art by rotating your paper or canvas upside down. You’ll see errors in your work and you should be able to fix it.

2 - DO WARM UP SKETCHES! I thought this was so stupid when I first heard it, but ever since I started doing it holy moly it’s made a difference. Creating art is like exercising: you really need to warm those muscles up first to get the best results. So if you do a sketch or two before you jump into your big project, it really helps.

Happy drawing! 🥰

[oneatlatime]

A Precariously Stacked Pile of Random Season 2 Thoughts

These are notes I took as I watched the season. Usually after I’d already posted about the episode in question, and I thought of something I would have added to the post. Rather than edit them into my posts, I’m rounding them up and posting them all at once. As such, they are vaguely chronological. Unfortunately, because I made the notes legible to me and me only, I didn't bother to write down what episode I was referring to. I've also added some notes in as I was editing these notes. So this is also a bit of a scavenger hunt. Enjoy!

Iroh poisoning himself: dumbass moment or 5D chess?

My autocorrect corrects “Sokka” to Sock, and “Sokka’s” to socks. This causes double takes when editing.

Badgermoles have excellent eyeliner. Is that where the Kyoshi Warriors get their jaw dropping cat eye?

Why is Ty Lee spelled Ty Lee and not Tai Li? Why is Dai Li spelled Dai Li and not Dy Lee?

Sometimes Sokka makes me think of Mulan. Am I crazy?

Are the swampbenders’ moves based on a real martial art style too?

Why didn’t Aang use his swamp sense to locate Appa post-appanapping?

Where did Toph, who spent her whole life as a prisoner of her parents’ house and a moonlighting WWE wrestler until Team Avatar busted her out, get such emotional intelligence?

Why did Zuko’s dad put forward the plan to disinherit Iron in favour of him less than 24 hours after Lu Ten’s death? Why did he think that moving quickly was the right approach? Does the Fire Nation not do grieving periods? In what world was 'strike while the iron is hot' the correct course of action here?

Looking back, I’m amazed that season 2 didn’t end in Zuko’s redemption. I didn’t much like Zuko Alone, but I was sure that a season that included that much set up for a Zuko redemption arc would prioritise finishing that arc.

I haven’t even met this Firelord guy yet, but I am peeved that that twerp has a name as cool as Ozai.

Why haven't I met that Firelord guy yet?

I really thought that the older brother character in Zuko Alone would make an appearance later on in the season, giving Zuko a chance to flex some newly acquired morals. But the parallel to Lu Ten and the general message about the evils of war lands better if we never hear of him again.

Zuko in the first half of season 2 had me so annoyed that I was incredibly uncharitable to him in my write ups. Reading through some of the stuff I wrote while watching episodes, I kind of wince now. Zuko in the second half of the season was much less annoying. Which I feel bad for saying, because he’s clearly not in a good place in the second half of the season.

I would love to know why the writers decided to have Toph and Iroh meet in the wilderness. I think it’s a good choice, but I want to know how they came up with it, and why those characters? Is there anything about Toph (especially at that point, when we’ve known her for 1 episode) that suggests that she and Iroh should meet? Or would get along if they did?

Zuko has so many rock bottom fake outs this season: Zuko Alone? Nope, he gets worse in The Chase. The Chase? Nope, he gets worse in Bitter Work. Bitter Work? Nope, he gets worse in the finale.

I’m still peeved that Azula won a 6 on 1 showdown. Sorry, but that breaks immersion.

I bet the Blue Spirit could make lightning.

If water is the element of change, why does the Northern Water Tribe have such strictly defined traditions? I get that it's literally the element of change, in that water can exist in different physical states, but shouldn't the metaphorical interpretation also be true?

I like that Toph can think like an Airbender sooner than Aang can think like an earthbender.

What is Sokka’s boomerang made of? Is it metal? Because if it’s metal, does that mean that there’s a blacksmith somewhere in the South Pole? With a forge?

I still can’t get over how dumb the whole eclipse plot was.

Suki is TINY!!!

I mocked this guy’s 80s aerobics video leotard aesthetic, and I stand by that mockery, because this guy is ugly. Those colours are awful. But do you know who else has those colours?

Jet this season fascinates me. He’s positioned as genuinely repentant and legitimately seeking a second chance and I don’t believe him for one minute. Why don’t I believe him? This show has a theme of learning from mistakes and doing better, so shouldn’t Jet be a perfect fit for this show’s themes? I should be primed to believe him. And yet I don’t.

I have to applaud Iron’s enthusiasm for their new life in Ba Sing Se. A lot of that cheer (at least before the tea shop) is put on for Zuko’s sake. I don’t know where Iroh gets the energy to keep trying with Zuko after years of minimal results, but I’m glad he does.

I think Aang and Ty Lee should hang out. They have similar circus energy. Or maybe it’s that they’re the only two characters in the show so far who are remotely playful.

Aang = surface silliness, core of calm. Not that the silliness doesn't run deep, but he seems to have an untouchable anchor of calm deep within that rarely gets disturbed. Gyatso raised him well.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~Poetry bouncer ~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

I need next season to have more Appa & Mono subplots à la their escapades in The Swamp. Not à la Momo’s Tale.

Tales of Ba Sing Se definitive ranking: Momo Aang Sokka Zuko Iroh Katara & Toph

I love that Momo still sleeps in the Momo bag from The Blind Bandit

Are Suki and her warriors sitting in the middle of some Earth Kingdom forest in their underwear?

So are Smellerbee and Longshot just done? Will they be back in season 3? What happens to their life now? They are known associates of an enemy of the state who was just executed. It doesn't look good.

Everyone on this show has big ears. Zuko has the smallest ears simply because he has the least amount of ears remaining. But everyone else? Big ears.

Can I have more Gyatso? I forgot how cool he was. More Guru too please.

Hakodilf.

Everyone in the SWT has such wonderfully fluffy hair.

I like Sokka’s boots. Southern Water Tribe boots in general.

If this is the grand total of the SWT, I have some bad news about population dynamics.

Is there a proper naval term for what the SWT are doing? They’re a stealth strike force that seems to be going after individual enemy ships, using both direct and indirect tactics. Not pirates, because as far as we know they aren't going for FN supplies. They're doing what submarines do, but above water. There’s got to be a proper name for that.

Is there a raft of FN corpses chilling in the waters in front of the NWT's big wall?

I saw ATLA described as a show where all the characters are Asian-inspired people of colour, but isn’t Suki a blue-eyed redhead?

I had no idea that you could decline an Agni Kai. Zuko should have done that.

Why are the Dai Li so in love with Azula? I get that they're pissed with Long Feng for getting arrested, but wouldn't the logical choice be to direct their loyalties to the Earth King rather than a wildcard princess? I'm not going to pretend for a minute that the Dai Li are loyal to the Earth Kingdom or to Ba Sing Se, but the Earth King is a known quantity. Seems to me that it would be easier for them to re-puppetify him, rather than a FN princess.

Katara & Zuko bonding over their missing mothers is the same “makes sense until you think about it for five seconds” as Song & Zuko bonding over losing their fathers to war. Technically the same, sort of, on paper, but actually kind of rude to equate them once you know the full story. Same with the parallel between Lu Ten and the older brother in Zuko Alone. The proper dead mom parallel is Katara and Jet. Although Katara doesn’t object to the Zuko comparison, so I have no grounds to do so.

I’m really glad that Katara didn’t remove Zuko’s scar with her spirit oasis water. Both because she kind of really needed that water, but also because one thing this show has always done right is permanence. No quick fixes, no fake outs, no take backs. Lu Ten is dead, and he stays that way. Princess Yue is the moon, and she stays that way. Half a dozen people’s moms are dead, and they stay that way. Aang is the last Airbender, and he stays that way. Zuko is scarred, and he stays that way. There are no hand waves, no easy fixes. All the characters can do is learn to live with it, and go forward. And I’m grateful the show is like that, because that permanence, as well as being a good lesson to learn, functions as a reward for audience investment.

Aang did come to a crossroads of destiny in the finale, chose his duties to the world over his friends, and got aggressively slapped down for it. I have a feeling that he’ll take the wrong lesson from that, since he was already inclined to shun that path.

Overall Season 1 was prettier.

Ty Lee was the cause of more than one Beat Up Sokka Quota fulfillment this season. Make of that what you will.

Will Zuko & Azula spend season 3 bouncing between the FN and Ba Sing Se? They could be heavily involved with establishing the FN governance over Ba Sing Se, since the city is already inclined towards royalty.

Favourite episode this season? The Guru. The Blind Bandit and The Swamp are tied for second place.

[b-n-hendricks]

D.ALL 1st Anniversary!

Hi! Hello! Greetings!

D.ALL’s been going on for a whole year! Frankly, I can hardly believe I’m still working on it. In a good way! Can’t really put it into words, but it feels “right” to be working on D.ALL.

I won’t be coy, I did promise D.ALL book 1 would come out today, but apparently writing is hard and takes a lot of time—who’d a thunk!

To compensate, here’s a little progress report on all things D.ALL.

Editin’s Over Halfway Done!

That’s right! From Prologue.A to Chapter 17 is all edited!

D.ALL’s gonna be (including epilogues and prologues) 29 chapters total, so that means I’m 66.5% percent done! For about two months of work (I didn’t write at all in March.), I’m pretty proud of that percentage.

Sadly doesn’t mean I only have another two months to go, since these next chapters are gonna be completely rewritten—as those chapters were made during my depression and burnout. I dislike how I handled them and didn’t give enough time to flesh out the cast, especially the folk of Lilipass and Free.

Now, I don’t hate my old writing. For the first thing I’ve ever written, it’s fine! It’s got good ideas! It’s got a flair! But!…

I’ve decided to remove the original version of D.ALL from my site. It will be back as a secret for people to find once D.ALL Book 1 is released, along with some commentary.

HOWEVER, since I'm kind, adorable, and the greatest, I’ve released the new edits of Prologue.A/B and Chapters 1 to 9—all of the first arc! As always, you can find them on my website: bnhendricks.neocities.org.

Don’t know if I’m gonna keep to my word and upload the rest of the chapters for free, but at the very least those chapters will be. There are two wolves inside of me, one’s a punk who’s all for media bein’ free, the other knows hard work should be compensated.

Anyhoo, that’s it when it comes to writing stuff!

Cover Art’s Bein’ Worked On!

Not much I can show, been focused on writing, but figured I’d be cool to talk about the trio’s new designs/my new designing process.

I’m working on Foxx, Frost, and Free’s new models in stages. Blocking them out, refining their shapes, sculpting detail, rigging, then—and only then—doing material work. Doing the same stage for each at the same time so I don’t lose momentum or feel like I’m starting all over again.

I’m nearing the middle of the block out stage, but I already feel very happy with the direction I’m going. The original models weren’t necessarily rushed, rather, I didn’t commit to the ideas I had because I lacked self-confidence and kindness. Feels nice to finally be able to express those ideas.

Free

Starting with Free, he'll remain mostly the same, just a clothes update and a shave (Yeah, I've decided removed his “hair.” Didn’t feel right.). I’ve spent a good amount of time working on his pins, since it’s easy, fun work that I can do when I can’t do anything else.

Frost

I’ve been re-thinking Frost’s horns and their overall shape. Frost’s original horns were just too complex, and I think, even with my better skills, would feel too heavy and complicated to look good. Right now, their horns are little too small but fit with the idea I’m going for.

The trio aren’t really folks with the gun so-to-speak; I want to especially express this in Frost’s design. They’re more grounded now—that’s the best way I can explain it.

Foxx

Can’t show much, or really anything, spoilers—heavy spoilers… but know this, with Foxx I’m moving towards something more organic-looking, more fox! Furthermore, I have a good idea for how his cloak works, how it’s layered. Looking forward to doing his material work.

Remember, every model starts with, hopes, dreams, and a crappy little sketch!

[greypetrel]

WIP Wednesday

Thank you @heniareth for the tag! :D

I posted the main thing I worked on last weekend, oopsie! I have some progress on art, but not anything relevant nor anything new. So it's a writing thing. Beside the prompts, I'm working on the next DadWolf chapter. Aisling in Kirkwall working at the Gallows, Dorian still in Tevinter, everyone is having a great time.

Tagging: @salsedinepicta @ndostairlyrium @shivunin @dungeons-and-dragon-age

@dreadfutures (more on the Mythal redesign? I'm so curious) @inquisimer @rowanisawriter @skinwalkingxana @cao-the-dreamer and YOU!

The year had turned and Aisling was still in Kirkwall.

She sighed, deeply, slouching on the desk in Varric’s childhood home. She got her room -got told it was a guestroom, he insisted not to have her neither in Bartrand nor in his parent’s room- and it was simple but elegant, more spacious than whatever she’s had in the last years, between Denerim and Minrathous. The mail on the screen still looked at her and demanded an answer, asking her where she would have come back exactly, that she was needed up north, that they couldn’t postpone their research so much. Her grades, her doctorate, so on and so forth.

By now she knew the drill: Felix’s health plunged and professor Alexius became antsy and started pushing her and Dorian for more results, and quicker. Which was what he was doing now.

Aisling, 6:39 [ What’s the story, morning glory?

A fluke or I should really get back? How’s Felix? ]

She started to type her answer, carefully weighting words to be vague but not too much. Deleted a sentence, rewrote it, munched the nail of her thumb some more, as she thought. Surprisingly, her phone vibrated in few minutes.

Dorian, 6:42 [ The usual. Rough night, but he’s stable. He answers the phone if you want to write him, later. Yet another day of me alone reviewing notes and equations, I will die of consumptions, all alone and bored, no one to bring me snacks and working for all three. Alas!

But I’m that genial, so you can take your time. You haven’t finished there and what you sent me is… Concerning.

How’s the situation? ]

Aisling, 6:47 [ Already or still awake?

I’m worried. The results I have are… It’s nothing like any rock, it almost seems… Organic? I don’t know, I requested some treatises on lyrium from Orzammar, but the situation in the city is terrible, I don’t know if interlibrary loans are still even possible? I don’t know if anyone in the Shaperate will answer…

I don’t know, Dor, it’s… I just want to come back, but I don’t think I can. Can you send me those notes checked by today, please? I don’t want to drag it further than I should.

Sorry for the rant. I’m just tired. ]

Dorian, 6:55 [ Still awake, running on the fifth coffee and maybe getting some progress. You?

I was about to ask you if you were sure you sent me data on anything organic. I’m no biologist, but it’s weird, it’s too variable to be inert? I was supposing the etheric values to be like so, but not with such variability feels unlikely? Can you check again, please? I’ll forward you everything as soon as I’ll reach the pc.

Is there anyone valid who can help you, there? We’re too far to really be of help. Felix is also concerned about you, and Maevaris, I hope the lab is equipped enough for you to handle that stuff.

Would love to fly down but I think Alexius would have a stroke, and Felix will only feel worse without my brilliant company.

Work is dull without you, even if my ears are recovering without anyone screaming and you calling it music.

Get back soon before I die of boredom. ]

Aisling, 6:59 [ Go take a nap! Or tell Felix he can throw a shoe at you to make you go.

I really want to get back, by the way. ]

Dorian, 7:13 [ My head is forever disfigured, I hope you’re happy of the great results of your shoe-tossing campaign.

So bad? ]

Aisling, 7:15 [ I am drowning in a valley of tears out of my deep, deep regret for doing such a vile thing.

One of the templars is nice, and the mages stopped hating me so openly. But I keep feeling observed and out of place. I’m trying to help more, but I don’t know whether it’ll be appreciated.

Can I send you another project for you to read? I think I got the numbers right, but you’ve always been better than me with them. Show Felix too, I’d use an engineer.

I’ll present it in three days, wish me luck. -_- ]

Dorian, 7:17 [ You could have spared telling him to throw the second shoe.

You’re risking yourself by finding a way to avoid weird lyrium. Truly despicable, they all must be right.

Send whatever, as the best brother in the entire universe I’ll grace you with my attention. Yes, yes, a gift will be enough to thank me, no need to make it two, please.

By the way, you haven’t heard it from me but there are voices of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in class. I’ll sign you up for Truly. ]

Aisling, 7:20 [ The first one was very envious that only her sister got the chance to hit such a modest, humble, totally demure personality.

You get what I mean.

Oh, cool!! Sign me up, but please, please, don’t sign up for Caractacus. I don’t want to go through Grease all over again, if mr Licinius wants us to remotely pass like we’re in love, I’m out. Plus, you were born to sing Posh!

On my way to the ferry, it’s too windy. Do you remember Kirkwall to be that windy? I’m freezing! >< ]

Dorian, 7:23 [ Preposterous, vile and malevolent! I’ll tell Varric to ground you. Surely he’ll send you to the Merchant Guild in his place if I suggest it.

Hey, our inverted part rendition was great. Sandy and Rizzo should have been together in the original, come on, we improved it. And say what you want on the moustache, but it gave Sandy the personality she lacks. We’ll improve Chitty too. Maybe we can also make it fly for real.

Mh.

Will send you calculations on the matter.

I remember it being cold. Have a nice day, and please get a further pair of gloves before playing with the lyrium. ]

Aisling, 7:45 [ Sadly he doesn’t want me to use the Guild money to buy horses. A good attempt, bro.

It was epic, thank you for leaving me Danny to play. But I think we’ll be kicked out of the musical theatre school altogether if we try it again. Plus I really want to play Truly.

I will! I’ll roll around from how many protective layers I’ll have on! I’ll be a sphere!

Have a nice day you too, hug Felix for me and get some sleep, please. ] *forwarded a selfie, Aisling is wrapped in an XXL scarf rolled around her neck, shoulders and head. Under a hat, all that peeks out is her reddened nose and eyes, closed in the wind that’s making short locks of hair stick horizontally. On the background, the Gallows towers emerges from the mist*

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WRONG I actually went on with something! >:) Thank you for reading this long wip, have a treat:

[dragunflies]

⤯ 𝐈𝐧 𝐊𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐲 -> 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐢

Ellie Williams X Fem Reader

(tlou concept art from pt 2 art book) part 2! lmk if I should add anything specific next part, I'll work on it tonight and it should be up by tmr, I hope, maybe, I dunno. AND I KNOW THIS IS A LOT OF WORLD-BUILDING I JUST NEVER LIKE READING ANYTHING THAT IS JUST SMUT I NEED WORLD-BUILDING. TRUST THE FUN STUFF WILL BE SOON I SWEAR. Ok bye wash your hands and be safe ok love you! <3

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You walk up to her, expecting to be ignored or just simply brushed off. But no, Ellie peered from the small crowd in the alleyway and turned her gaze to you. Her sight lingered on the conversation until turning her full attention to you. It almost startled you how much she suddenly cared. 

“Hey Y/n,” Ellie stated from the small collection of people, causing them all to pause their conversation. She turned her gaze to the figure approaching the small clique. “You’re the girl I have patrol with, right?”

You stood confused, “Yea?” You state, looking at the rest of her group, standing beside her, annoyed.

“Oh.” A couple of people scoffed. 

Meanwhile, Ellie looked you up and down. Her hard gaze; you could feel it looking at you. Her judgmental stare was harsh but still slight. What was she looking at you like that for?

“Uhuh,” she rolled her tongue over her teeth as she looked back up to your face, connecting her gaze to your line of sight again. “So-”

“How come Maria only chose you?” One of the crowd folk interrupted.

You froze, not necessarily knowing what to say. “Because I’m stronger than I look” No, who the fuck would say that. Going through the possible responses you could return with, Ellie speaks yet again,

“We’ll be fine.” She states, hesitantly, but still confidently.

“We?” One of the side-kicks replied the rest of the small crowd whispered to each other in response, “I know you can survive on your own, not too sure about Nurse Joy over here…” 

You scoff, your quick tongue getting the best of you, “I know what the fuck I’m doing.” You snap, stepping forward once, your pupils contracted. Don’t make this weird. 

They collectively look at each other, laughing under their breaths, Ellie, looking at them with a stone-cold stare as the collectively contain their side conversations.

“Alright, listen,” She stated, rolling her eyes and shooting the remainder of the group beside her a stern look, shutting them up. She pulled you aside for a moment, lowering her voice for a split second. Her auburn hair fell from being held behind her ear and swept into her face, she lowered her gaze, tilted her head down, and looked at you with those damned green eyes. Although you were taller than her, her personality alone made her seem like the bigger person, always, “I’ll meet you at the gate around 10:00 so we can get all of our shit together, I’ll see you then.” 

You look at her and back at the people behind her, making comments to themselves. 

“See you then.” You respond, walking off immediately. 

Ellie watched you completely cold shoulder her, leaving with honestly the lack of a response. She huffed a slight laugh before then turning back to the conversion she originally had running, returning like they weren’t even on pause.

You made your way back to your house so you could gather some loose ends before the patrol. With such a long trip it’s bound to take more than a day. The two of them should be back by morning tomorrow, but it’s best to be safe than sorry. So, you packed your bag with the necessities. Your gun, your medications (ibuprofen, Tylenol, etc), lighters, notebook, knife, ammo, all the loose ends and needs for a trip like this. 

 But as you pack more and more, you just think about those green eyes. How her hair complimented her warm skin and freckles that lingered from last summer, suited her so well. The look she gave you when speaking to you privately suddenly made you feel like butterflies were dancing in your gut. So much so that you felt nauseous. Like you were going to throw up your feelings, yet you reached for a water bottle nearby and inhaled a swig of water. You shook your head forcefully and threw your hair into a low ponytail. Your long dark brown hair swept your shirt as it fell from your shoulder. 

With the final zip up from your shoulder, you refill your water bottle, throw it into the side pocket, and grab your coat as you leave your front room. With the door locked behind you now, you have no choice but to head to the gate, to see the green-eyed girl for your excursion north. 

-

Upon arrival, it was now 10:15 am. 15 minutes past the agreed time. Of course, you were late, why wouldn’t you be? You overheard the calling for attendance of patrols for the day.

“Matthew,” says one voice. “Chris,” says the same monotone voice, “Ellie” continued the attendance, each name followed by a “Here.”

Shit, you were late. Immediately and without a second to spare, you grab your horse. It was a black bay mare you had named Challenger. So you lay your saddle on the horse, swung your back on top, and walked yourself and Challenger to the meeting circle. Grabbing your assigned rifle and scurrying to the meeting area, you begin to look around instantly at the patrols trying to spot Ellie. Then you found her build instantly. Her short and lean structure was quickly recognizable.  The way you saw her standing there looked like she was fully prepared to go out all by herself. Her body language was fed up, and her eyes fell heavy as she already appeared to be ready to be home.

“Hey.” You approached her whispering your acknowledgment. She turned her head to you but not her eyes, they were fixed on the details being played out by Jesse. 

“Why are you so late?” She asked, her gaze still fixed on Jesse.

“I was busy.” You replied curtly.

No reply.

“I want Y/n and Ellie to go to the outlook in Kelly like Maria said before.” Jesse announced, “You two will need to check up on the farm and lake over there as well, it’s another 2-hour trip from the center of Kelly.”

You both rolled your eyes. Ellie held her neck as she rolled her head and closed her eyes, groaning in anticipation of traveling such a far distance. You look over, Ellie biting her lower lip as she awaits her next task handed to her or the signal of send-off. You looked down from her green eyes and watched her soft pink lips roll around. Your face became flushed, getting blushed pink cheeks that contrasted with your pale skin. 

Fuck.          

Then, without paying attention, the announcement of the gate opening and hooves galloping away snapped you out of your trance. 

Ellie jumped onto her horse and you jumped onto Challenger. 

“Ready?” Ellie asked, looking over to you. Those exact eyes you were dreaming about earlier, looking back at you again.

Your face matched hers, “Ready enough.”

With a nod, you two were off. The galloping of hooves brought up loose dirt behind the two of you as you headed north and the rest of the patrols headed west. Soon enough the gate was nothing more than a checkpoint now, and off to Kelly, you guys went.

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Taglist!:

@boobdrug , @ariariarr

Comment to be on the next tag list! xx

[aporeticelenchus]

While struck down by Covid (alas, alack, etc), I’ve been watching operas on my mom’s Met Opera account. So far we’ve gotten through:

Barber of Seville (2007, Peter Mattei and Joyce DiDonato):

Charming! A delight! I want to spend more time with the music later to get a better sense of individual movements. Largo Al Factotum looms large and is as good as promised. I enjoyed Peter Mattei as Figaro and Joyce DiDonato as Rosina a lot too! Bartolo’s patter songs are fun. Looking forward to hearing those again.

Marriage of Figaro (1998; Bryn Terfel and Cecilia Bartoli as Figaro and Susanna; Renee Fleming and Dwayne Croft as Countess and Count):

Finally watched a Figaro production after listening to it a million times! Also a delight! For some reason they switched out Susanna’s two solo arias, which threw me. I saw some reviewers thought Cecilia Bartoli did a little too much physical comedy, but I really liked her. Renee Fleming was a great countess; Porgi Amor is still a dead bore to me but that’s not her fault. Cherubino was adorable, but seemed to struggle a bit with Non So Piu.

This continues to be my favorite opera, and I enjoyed this as a production. I plan to watch the other two productions available on the Met on Demand later.

Don Giovanni (2000; Bryn Terfel, Renee Fleming, Solveig Kringelborn, Hei-Kyung Hong):

I’ve now spent enough time with Don Giovanni to have an opinion: it’s good, but I don’t like it nearly as much as Figaro. The plot flow and pacing frustrate me. There are some standout musical moments, but also some parts that drag (hi act 2 Donna Anna). I do love La Ci Darem and Hei-Kyung Hong’s Zerlina was charming. Finch’Han Dal Vino and Deh Vieni A La Finestra are songs I enjoy from Don G, and of course Lepprello’s little list is fun. Donna Elivra generally has good music behind her, as does Act 1 Donna Anna.

Does Don Ottavio need to be in this opera? I’m just…not sure he does….

Every time I hear the Statue sing “Don Giovaaaaaaaannnnniiii” at the end, my brain fills in “from thy dark exile thou art suuuuuuumoned”, and it took me a bit to realize I was pulling that from Iolanthe. I like to think it’s a deliberate musical homage by Sullivan.

I definitely want to watch some more stagings of Don Giovanni; overall I enjoy the opera and I can imagine it changing a lot with different directorial choices.

Die Fledermaus (1986, Kiri Te Kanawa, Judith Blegan, Tatiana Troyanos, and some men probably)

I love an operatta. I love a dumb musical comedy. I love a catchy waltz I can’t get out of my head. Two thumbs up; great use of my time listening, bad use of my time trying to follow the details of the plot because it did not really matter. Special shout out to the Overture for being a jam. It almost renders the rest of the operetta superfluous.

A+ joke having an opera singer character who won’t stop singing during the talky bits. Love that the prince is a trouser role; that helped me through some of the dumb gender stuff elsewhere.

Total blast. I plan to listen to some more recording, including two English-language adaptations. (The POP Opera project did their English-language adaptation set in 1920s Hollywood; that’s on my short list to watch) I think I like J Strauss II!

Carmen (2014; Anita Rachvelishvili and Aleksanders Antonenko)

I’ve seen Carmen before, but it’s been awhile. My mom loves Carmen; I…struggle with it. Maybe it’s just my pro-comedy bias.

The music is very good, of course; the Habañera and Toreador song are some of the most recognizable music today for a reason. The Act 1 overture is great! Short and punchy! I think the opera might be growing on me musically as I listen to it more; I’ve found the group numbers initially overwhelming, but with a little more time i can better parse the music and find parts I really like.

But anyway, I liked most of this production! I thought the Carmen was compelling, and Don Jose was a good singer (I just hate his character a lot). The set deign (1930s Spain vibes) worked for me, which was a pleasant surprise.

Going to see La Boheme tonight! Wish me luck.

[twunny20fission]

Books of 2024

Here are the books I read in 2024, with some thoughts on each

“The World We Make” by N.K. Jemison. A sequel to a book I was looking forward to, but found a bit disappointing. This one was fine. It really made the first book shine by comparison. The series was supposed to be a trilogy, but the author didn’t want to do it anymore. So this one felt rushed.

“Sweet Tooth, Book One” by Jeff Lemire. Visually great and well-written. Didn’t blow me away, but felt worthwhile. I’d like to read the next in the series, but it’s harder to find.

“Pageboy” by Elliot Page. This is one of those memoirs where you think, “well, they definitely didn’t hire a ghost writer.” Page is not a skilled writer. The stories he lived through were enough to be good nonetheless.

“Moon Knight, Vol. 1: The Midnight Mission” by Jed McKay, et al. Pretty tame for such an interesting character.

“Moon Knight, Vol. 2: Too Tough to Die” by Jed McKay, et al. Meandering, with a rushed ending. Meh.

“Safe & Sound” by Mercury Stardust. How to take care of a lot of stuff around your house. It was inspiring and affirming. Not a lot of it was necessarily useful to me presently. But it was still good.

“Usagi Yojimbo, Vol 6: Circles” by Stan Sakai. I love everything about Usagi. This is a strong volume.

“Evvie Drake Starts Over” by Linda Holmes. A great time. I took a swing on a type of book I don’t normally pick up, and I’m extremely happy I did. It’s a romance novel, but not AT ALL a bodice-ripper. A modern, thoughtful, realistic novel about an adult woman falling in love. Super good.

“The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck” by Mark Manson. Nowhere near as good as I wanted it to be. Very bro-ey, and not particularly resonant.

“Ms. Marvel Vol 5: Super Famous” by G. Willow Wilson, et al. A very middle-of-the-road entry in Wilson’s Marvel volumes.

“Making It So: A Memoir” by Patrick Stewart. Outstanding. Exceeded every expectation, and my expectations were high. Even the less-than-flattering elements of his life were handled well.

“Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant” by Iman Vellani, et al. This book really hung its hat on “Iman Vellani got to write this one.” Which is great, but it wasn’t a spectacular book.

“An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us” by Ed Yong. Very disappointing. It could have been very cool, but it was not.

“poyums” by Len Pennie. I dislike 95% of all poetry I've ever experienced. This book is in the other 5%. Even when I didn’t understand it (either because it was in Scots, because it was poetry, or both) it was great.

“Ms. Marvel Vol 6: Civil War II” by G. Willow Wilson, et al. Good art, mediocre plots, pretty decent dialogue.

“Camp Damascus” by Chuck Tingle. I listened to the audiobook, but I’m counting it. This was engaging start to finish. The creepy parts were good, and the sense of fun that the author brings to things was apparent throughout.

“Mighty Nein Origins: Beauregard Lionett” by Mae Catt, et al. None of these Origins books were great standalone stories. This one was *pretty* good.

“Sourcery” by Terry Pratchett. Another great entry in what might at this point be my favorite book series. Like ever. After I reckoned with the fact that I’d never read another Douglas Adams book, I figured that part of my brain would go fallow. Thank goodness for Sir Terry, and thank goodness he was so prolific. This one was exciting and emotional.

“Three Novels,” by Samuel Beckett. I don’t get what he was trying to do here. Beckett’s plays work for me. Whatever this was did NOT. I tortured myself into finishing it, after a months-long break.

“Star Trek: Lower Decks #1” by Ryan North, et al. Really enjoyable. You have to come into the book with a knowledge of how Lower Decks works. Which I have, and it was great. Ryan North has never missed.

“Survival Street” by James Asmus, et al. As with any good satire, this was hard to “enjoy.” It was too sharp an implement, but it was very well-executed. The idea is that the S*same St*eet m*ppets are real, living, immigrant people. And when the tyrannical government takes over and de-funds PBS and basically all non-propaganda children’s TV, they go HAM.

“Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros. Very glad I picked this one up. I get caught in the “do I really have bandwidth for a long book, or to start another series right now” of it all. But this one was worth it. But I wish it had been a little less infatuation-obsessed. The romance makes sense, and is even relevant to the plot. But the “oh, how could I ever have denied myself the exquisite pleasure of having this person’s skin under my fingertips” is just…blegh.

“The Adventure Zone, Vol. 6: The Suffering Game” by the McElroys, et al. The comics are not as good as the podcast. Part of that opinion might be nostalgia for the golden age of “about 10 years ago.” But it’s how I feel. This one fits in nicely with the others, which is to say it’s competently written and arted. There are one or two great bits per book, but overall it’s fine.

“Wyrd Sisters” by Terry Pratchett. I look back on every Discworld novel with a sense of it being the best one and not as good as at least one other one. My favorite is constantly in flux. This one stands out for its treatment of the magic of theater (and greater magick of headology) and its deeper insights into the witches.

“A Wizard of Earthsea” by Ursula Le Guin. I should have read this sooner. It pretty much holds up, though the style is clearly of a type that no one really uses anymore.

“Priestdaddy” by Patricia Lockwood. Bit of a disappointment. It was like reading a clever blog of an autobiography. I didn’t really hold together well. A lot of it was entertaining, but it wasn’t Great.

“Legends and Lattes” by Travis Baldree. Right up my alley. A very cozy, thoughtful story in a kind of hand-wavy fantasy world. Really enjoyed it.

“The Theory of Everything Else” by Dan Schreiber. Wasn’t exactly a narrative, wasn’t exactly just a list of facts & curiosities. It was okay. I feel like Schreiber is at his best in the audio format, in the company of other weirdos.

“Pyramids” by Terry Pratchett. Very cool expansion of Discworld. I’m hoping it is a foundation to something ahead, as I liked the characters and the new elements of the plane.

"Iron Flame" by Rebecca Yarros. A stellar second entry in the series. It was infuriating how engrossed I was for the last 150 or so pages especially. The spicy scenes still seem to be...too much. They stick out as an insanely different experience than the rest of the narrative. Look, I liked the book a lot. I had a hard time telling certain characters apart sometimes, and some of the narrative bits were too confusing until they weren't. This series is A Lot.

Metrics!

Total books: 31 Total (non-graphic novels and other picture-heavy books) pages: 6450 Total pages: 8403 Highest-rated: Making It So Lowest-rated: Three Novels Very Glad I Read It Award: poyums Honorable Mention: Evvie Drake Starts Over Glad It's Over Award: The World We Make Most disappointing: Three Novels

[littlemisssquiggles]

LittleMissSquiggles’ Summary of Art 2024

Another year successfully completed!

In all honestly, 2024 was pretty alright, in my books.

Similar to last year's summary entry, 2024 was another year in which this squiggle meister doesn’t have much to say about it pretty much. Sure; things happened, some good and some indifferent. It had its usual fair share of high and low points as with any year but like always, I persevered through them and now even the rougher patches are like a blip in my memory.

Overall, much like the last one, I focused a lot on my professional work. Had no choice to cause finances was a little touch and go during the first few months. Even though I had planned to jump back into working on personal projects, in the end, work became the priority. And for the most part, I took it as a positive since it granted me the opportunity to work on some pretty cool projects this year for my freelance work which in turn enabled me to flex skills that I’ve been hoping to further improve.

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Some squiggly good accomplishments I achieved in 2024

Celebrated another year of work as a freelance 3D Artist for Foxie Games (and come this Janaury, it would be three years since I’ve been working with them) and still going strong! Worked on some pretty fun projects this year with the Foxie Team which allowed me to improve my hand-painting skills in 3D art. For those unfamiliar, I absolutely love the hand-painted texture style to 3D art.

Blame it on shows and/or games such League of Legend or Arcane or RWBY or Dragon Prince, but I am a huge fan of that texturing style and I’m always looking for ways to keep improving on it. To bring my digital painting skills to the 3D world and flex those muscles, particularly in Substance Painter which is my go-to app for texturing. And needless to say, I got the chance to do just that this year and I’m excited to hopefully get more opportunities again with Foxie for the coming year. Fingers crossed.

Speaking of freelanced work, this year marked the premiere drop of the first episode of MechWest - an animated series created by my alma mater - Animschool. Got to see everyone’s fantastic work finally put to finished film including my own which is always fun to see.

From what I’ve heard, the second episode of MechWest is expected to drop sometime early 2025 so looking forward to that once it premieres.

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Other than that, that’s basically all I have to report.

Overall, 2024 was a pretty decent year for me, all things considered.

And for what it’s worth, I hope it was a pretty good year for you guys reading too. Still not as active as I used to be on here but I still try to share some stuff whenever I get the chance.

Continuous many, many thanks to those of you who continue to follow me and support my blog!

To close off my post, I hope everyone was able to enjoy their holidays and as always, wishing all of you budding squiggle meisters and fellow star kids all the best for coming new year. Nothing but well wishes and blessings in your respective lives and endeavors heading into 2025!

See ya’ll in the New Year peeps !!! Here we go for 2025!!!

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♦  PREVIOUS ART SUMMARIES  ♦

2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023

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LittleMissSquiggles (2024)

[dis0rderly-cl0wn-nerd]

So before I start OC-TOBER I want to give some background on the OC I picked. Below are some drawings of her and a face claim (basically Heath Ledger but genderbent). Some of the drawings are recent and some are up to two years old. I did the reference sheet for art fight this year. I don’t like it because it’s super rushed and I could’ve done better but it gives you an idea.

The oc I picked is Hailey, (my absolute favorite oc). She is from an AU I have where Batman rogues have kids. Here’s some info about her:

Her full name is Jacqueline Hailey Quinzel. She was named after her grandmother 🥺 (if you’ve read my fic you’ll get this) She goes by Hailey because when she was little Jacqueline was hard for her to say/spell/write out. She is Joker and Harley Quinn’s youngest of three kids. The oldest is Jeremy and the middle is Hannah. (I know they wouldn’t ever canonically or realistically have that many but let’s just pretend!) 

They have Quinzel as their last name because Joker’s identity wasn’t revealed yet when they were born. It finally was when Hailey was about 16. Joker came forward and told the police everything because he was tired of carrying around that burden for so long and he felt his family deserved to know who he was. (His story in this AU is a little different from my headcanon/the current fanfic I’m writing so it fits the timeline better. For example he’s a 70s baby instead of 80s and fought in Desert Storm instead of Afghanistan) 

Anyway back to Hailey, as you can see she looks a lot like her father. She is the most like him out of his kids and also secretly his favorite lol. Her personality is a lot like J’s, except she’s not as silly as he is. Jeremy is more like that. Hailey has his seriousness, sarcasm, and overall badassery. Sadly she makes an effort to not smile as much because she looks so much like her dad. She loves J a lot but she’s self conscious about her smile, it freaks people out, and it’s been pointed out to her before. As she gets older she doesn’t care about it as much because what does it even matter? But in school it really bothered her. 

Her hobbies are art (she’s very artsy like J!), aerial dance (silks, lyra, etc), singing, and playing a little guitar. She can do gymnastics and stuff but she’s not as into that and regular dance as her sister is. 

Hailey is 5’11 and very muscular. She’s naturally bigger and leaner, again like her father. Basically she can kick ass. J definitely taught her a thing or two. 

She has a similar music taste to her dad. He passed down his favorites to her and then she added to it. She’s into grunge, metal, nu metal, alternative, indie, etc. things along those lines. 

When she’s an adult she becomes a full time artist doing commissions and murals in Gotham. They pay her pretty well for it! She also has YT, Tik Tok, and Instagram accounts for her art with decent followings.

Her bf and later husband is a random character I made up named Laine. He is a photographer. They went to the same schools but she didn’t actually meet him until after they graduated. He wanted to photograph one of her murals for the blog he runs. They really liked each other and Hailey let him take photos anytime he wanted. Then it grew from there. 

One of her best friends is Delilah, which is Frost’s daughter. J thinks it funny how history repeats itself. 

...

About the AU, when I was younger I loved Descendants and I really loved Batman so I decided to combine those two and make my own AU. Years later I still hold onto it. I’ve just tweaked it to make it more realistic (and less cringe lmao). 

So basically! Gotham got tired of dealing with the rogues over and over again. Arkham (Blackgate too in some cases) was like a revolving door and nothing was working. So the government/city decided to put them on a strip of land just outside of Gotham near the harbor. I still haven't come up with a name for it yet. I just think of it as a ‘Badlands’ type thing.

The land is fenced in and the rogues are not allowed to leave. Unless it’s like worst case scenario and they need serious medical attention or something. They are supervised and have meetings with officials once a month to make sure things are going okay or make town decisions. 

Everything they have is government provided. That's who pays for the water and electricity. They have food and supplies sent to them every month. Sometimes things are donated, especially when the kids came along. When the rogues were preparing to leave they were allowed to take belongings with them, just nothing illegal or guns obviously.

The rogues were all proven competent enough to take care of their kids so the state didn't take them away. Much to everyone's surprise the rogues were really trying to turn over a new leaf and live out the rest of their lives right. They had officially given up on crime. What was the point? They had a chance to start over. Why ruin it?

The children were homeschooled for most of their childhood. They were all like siblings to each other. It wasn't until 10 years later when it was finally decided that they could start going to public school. It was a huge adjustment but eventually the kids got settled in. There was of course teasing and bullying but as tight knit and close as they were, they were able to pick each other up and it rarely bothered them.

Batman, Batgirl, and Gotham socialites also have kids. Batman and Julie Madison have a son. They later get divorced because as we all know, Bruce can't stay in a relationship to save his life. Barbara has a daughter with somebody (idk who the dad is). He's pretty much nonexistent in her life. The other important people in Gotham that have kids are Vikki Vale, Veronica Vreeland, and that rich girl from my Harley fic that stole Harley's job.

Jonny Frost doesn't live with the rogues. Frost is out on parole, also retired from crime, and working multiple jobs to be able to pay child support and take care of Delilah on the days he has custody of her. When she gets older, he has a connection to Joker again through Delilah's friendship with Hailey.

Batman, the rogues, and the story line are a mix of the Nolanverse and my own version.

Here's the majority of my OCs from this AU. I think there's like two missing because they wouldn't fit on the page but they're side characters and not that important.

All my ocs (there’s over 20 lmao) from this AU have a special place in my heart but Hailey is my favorite 💜

I may do a fanfic or comic with this AU one day and I really want to. I have for years. But I have so much on plate right now so if I ever do, it won’t be for a long time. I may post some art that goes along with it though ☺️

Okay I think that’s enough rambling!

Bonus drawing I forgot to add:

[uncannysam]

PARTIES: @saithebatguy, @uncannysam TIMING: Mid-June SUMMARY: Sai returns to further discuss Bat Week with Sam! WARNINGS: None!

Sai walked up to Escape Your Fate Comics, this time with a set of posters in hand. They were all bat week branded, featuring bat photos and fun facts along with calls to action that sent people to the conservation society website. He’d have to make a Bat Week page for the occasion. Maybe detailing the local business, and the ways to participate or support the animals. 

He was looking forward to talking about Sam again and hearing more of her ideas. He had plenty of his own, but it was always good to breathe some fresh life into projects. The only thing he wasn’t sure on was what to tell her about the comic she’d so kindly gifted him. Fiction never really interested him. The real world was always more interesting, to him at least. The comic hadn’t been much of an exception. He made about half-way through before giving up and skimming the rest and confirming there weren’t really any bats in the comic. The branding was a bit misleading. He probably wasn’t the first one to be thrown off by the batman name. 

He was stopping by a little before closing this time, but the store was still pretty empty when he got in, except for one person browsing through comics in the back. Seeing Sam up by the front counter, he walked up. “Sam?” Sai said to catch her attention, and then held up the pile of posters he brought with me. “I’m back to talk more about Bat Week. And I brought a few posters with me too.”

—

Things had been going rather well with someone in town, until they hadn’t, and the relationship just ended without any notice. And while her heart ached, Sam figured there was no sense in dwelling on it all and to just continue one with life one day at a time. Luckily, today hadn’t been so bad, and when she heard the bell over the door and saw it was Sai coming back, a smile came over her face, “Hey Sai!” She had honestly forgotten about Bat Week, even though she had started working on poster and flyer ideas herself not too long after their first meeting, and when he held up his own pile, it had reminded her.

“Right! Bat Week. Hold on.” Running to the back office, Sam rifled through the papers on her desk, until she had found what she was looking for. It was a sketchbook filled with some ideas and layouts she had in mind for him. Nothing finalized, but maybe a start to something that could help.

Coming back out to the front, she laid the sketchbook down on the counter, “You reminded me that I had some of my own stuff I had started working on, and I wanted to get your thoughts.” She smiled warmly at the man, just grateful to have another distraction to take her mind off of another failed attempt at a relationship.

—

Sai flipped through the sketchbook that Sam had brought out. They were good. Better than anything he could come up with. He wasn’t so much for the drawing parts of design. Moving photos and text in Word, he felt more comfortable with. “Wow,” he said. “These are pretty incredible.” He’d expected her to just come up with a few activities for her store, but she’d really taken the idea and run with it. “I’m thrilled you’ve gotten so excited about this, honestly.” He laid the posters he’d brought on the counter. “Not to discount my own work or anything, but I’m thinking maybe we don’t need these, then. If you’d be open to finishing some of those, at least. I could get them printed, and they could be the official materials. I’d be happy to put the credit to your art and all of that.” 

“Do you do this art professionally? In addition to,” Sai gestured to the store around them, “all of this.” It would make sense to have a couple of income streams, after all. He’d read that having physical businesses with storefronts could be a risky endeavor. The costs were higher. And the work she was showing him did seem professional caliber to him. 

—

Sam was flattered by his compliments. Almost embarrassed. She didn’t know why it was so hard to take a compliment on her art. It was one of her passions after all. And she did do self-published comic books on the side for fun, but not in the hopes of making more money. It was just a hobby. Plus, she had found a little more muse lately in her budding relationship, until it had just abruptly ended. But the art had still been there, and even in her saddest moments, it was something she could get lost in. Just like the pages of a comic book.

“Thank you, and I would be more than happy to finish these up. They’ve been fun, and they’ll be a nice distraction.” Sam looked down at the sketches, before looking back up at Sai, “It’s more of a hobby. I took some art classes in college, and I love sketching, but my heart veered towards owning my own shop, so I could share other people’s work. Like my friend, Maggie’s.” She motioned to one of Maggie’s comics on the counter. 

—

Sai glanced over at the comic, but didn’t bother to pick it up. His foray into Batman had been enough to convince him comics weren’t for him, as much as novels weren’t. But he appreciated the sentiment behind what she was saying. He’d seen for himself how generous she was, with ideas and with her work. “That’s nice of you, to support your friends,” he said. “And other artists too. Although with your talent, I’m sure people interested in comics would love to look at your stuff.” 

“I did read the Batman comic, by the way,” he said, deciding he might as well rip the band-aid off. “It was… not bad. Not my thing, really. I’m not so much of a fiction person, and I guess the comics are no exception. To be honest, with the name, I did expect a couple more bats.” He glanced around the store. It amazed him that so many people would get this excited about comics. Adults, even. But to each their own, right? “But it was interesting to see what this all is about,” Sai said, nodding back to the store. “So, thank you again, for that.” 

—

Sam blushed softly and looked down. Thinking back to the night she first met Sai, the young woman had been glad she had given him a chance. He was a nice guy, and she loved the idea of supporting the bats, and getting the community on board. For as long as Sam had lived in Wicked’s Rest, there were still times when she felt so distant from her neighbors and the people she had grown up around. They all seemed nice enough, but community was supposed to be about closeness and helping each other out. And while she had gotten that from the people her parents knew, the day her store was wrecked, no one nearby had offered to come over and help. It took a passerby to come in, and she would forever be in his debt, “I actually do have a few self-published things stuck around here somewhere. I don’t advertise it, but if people want to buy it, I’m more than happy to sell it to them.”

Sam wasn’t surprised by his answer. In fact, it was refreshing to hear his honest opinion. Comic books weren’t for everyone, and she understood that, “Well I appreciate you being honest with me. I get that they’re not for everyone, and I could see where the title could be misleading.” She laughed softly, “But if I ever do come across one that’s purely educational about bats…” Sam paused, an idea coming to mind. “Actually, what if that’s what I contribute? A comic book about bats. The animal. Not the superhero.” She was curious to know Sai’s opinion.

—

The polite thing might be to offer to buy a couple of Sam’s comics too. Although since Sai already mentioned he wasn’t into them, it would clearly be an empty offer, so he didn’t bother. But he was surprised to hear she made people go looking for them. “I mean, you are the owner of the store,” he pointed out. “I’m sure people would be excited to see your work if they knew about it. It might not seem humble, but a display or something like that could help add local character. There’s nothing wrong with a little self-promotion.” It seemed like maybe she didn’t want the spotlight, but from what he’d seen, she definitely deserved it. 

And her idea for a bat comic was a stroke of genius. Sai might not like comics, but plenty of people did. What better way to bring those people into bat conservation? “I think that’s an amazing idea, if it’s something you’re willing to do. I’m always looking for new ways to engage people. Something like that could really get people excited about Bat Week and our local bats. What are you thinking the comic would be about, exactly? I’m happy to contribute any factual information.” 

—

Sam liked that Sai understood where she was coming from with her not wanting to display her art, and maybe one day she would get there. Self-promotion was definitely a thing these days. Just ask any social media influencer, “You’re right. I might consider it. Maybe the next time I have an in-store event or something.” She had contemplated displaying it before, but hadn’t gotten into the business of selling her own work. Still it would be a big boost in the area of self-confidence, and Sam knew she could always use more of that.

“I was thinking the comic could be just about bats in general. Interesting facts and figures. More educational than anything. Help you to spread the word about your conservation efforts. If you want to email me a list of facts, I could pull from that?” Sam was already having character ideas in her head and couldn’t wait to sketch them out. Her comic book that was an ongoing project for her may not have been center spotlight for this event, but a fun bat comic would be, and it made this whole Bat Week thing look even more fun. Life may have been crappy lately, but Sai and his beloved bats were easily making it a lot more interesting. “Was there anything in particular you wanted included?”

—

“Well bat week might make a good reason for an in-store event,” Sai pointed out. “And at this point, the whole thing’s going to be a big feature of your work, between the flyers and the comic. Which is not a bad thing at all or anything. I think this all is really going to help it succeed.” The posters were the perfect thing to make people stop and go what is that about. And the comic would be the push they needed to engage further. Publicity was the least he could offer Sam, since he wasn’t paying her. “I’m sure people would want to see more of the artistic talent behind the campaign.” 

Sai drummed his fingers along the counter, thinking. Of course, there were endless possibilities of what he wanted to include, but he wouldn’t want to overwhelm Sam or the readers with too much. “I think it would be great to include some key takeaways for readers in there somewhere. Building bat houses, not using pesticides, advocating for bat-friendly policies, that sort of thing. But other than that, I’d really defer to your discretion on how to engage people,” he said. “I can provide you information about the local species, hibernation and migration habits, diet, anything really, that you think might be good to include.” 

—

Sai did have a very solid point. Maybe Sam could showcase her comic during Bat Week. Kind of a segway for people who might’ve been interested in her work. She’d consider it, “You do have a very valid point. I’ll consider it, but this is about Bat Week and all the good your idea is going to generate. So you, too, should be proud. Have you gotten any other businesses on-board with the idea?” Sam mindlessly picked up a nearby pencil and began sketching out more ideas as she listened.

“I think that’s a great idea. Thinking maybe getting people to fall in love with the bats with facts and then include towards the end all the information about how people can help out. And send me all of that. You’re the expert at bats. And I’m an expert at drawing.” It felt weird calling herself an expert. Sam had been drawing most of her life, but to say it outloud was just different. But also a small boost to her self-confidence and something that made her smile. “I’ll get a rough comic worked out and then I can send it to you to see what you think, and we can go from there?”

—

“Some,” Sai said. “I’m working on it, but I’m sure I’ll be able to get a good number.” It had been a mixed bag really, of interest and flat nos. And there were, of course, establishments with community bulletin boards, who would be supporting it one way or another. Getting the bulk of businesses in town to participate would really come down to persistence in Sai’s eyes. That he had plenty of. “No one who’s matched your enthusiasm yet, though. But I think that’s a pretty high bar.” Besides, with new and improved materials, it would be an even easier sell. Sam work’s captured the vision of the event well, he thought.  

“Really, I think whatever you come up with will be perfect,” Sam had a knack for this sort of thing, Sai could tell from the way she talked about it. He didn’t feel any hesitation about leaving the project in her hands. “But I’m happy to take a look partway through, if you like. You already have my email, right?” 

—

Sam could only imagine how hard it must have been getting businesses on board, but she admired his dedication, “Well thank you for considering me and coming in that night. I’ve really enjoyed this side project so far. It’s given me a chance to really flex my drawing skills.” She laughed. “But I will keep trying to send more people your way. I know this is probably a pretty daunting task to be taking on alone for the most part.” She really wanted to help him as best she could.

Finishing up a rough sketch of something, she put her pencil down and shut the sketchbook, seeing that it was getting close to closing and there was still one customer remaining, “Thanks for putting that kind of trust in me. And yeah, I’ve got it from our last meeting.” Peaking around Sai, she spoke to the other customer, “Hey Nicky, I’m closing up in ten. Final selection time, yeah?” Sam turned her attention back to the man in front of her, “He’s a regular. He knows the drill. But yeah, I’ll start working on that and get it emailed to you soon. And if I have any other leads or ideas I’ll let you know.”

—

“Oh, I’m not alone or anything,” Sai said. “I have my co-founder of the Bat Conservation Society, who’s helping some, and I’d consider you pretty much an equal partner in this project at this point too, if you don’t mind me saying so. Considering how much you’re contributing. But the more people the better. And a personal touch can really make all the difference for getting people involved. So if you know anyone, definitely let them know about it.” 

At the mention of closing, Sai started gathering back up the materials he’d brought. She wouldn’t need those anymore, not with the new ones they’d be making, and he got the sense that the meeting was wrapping up. It might just be the start of his night, but it was probably coming up on the end of hers. “No problem, I look forward to hearing more from you. And I’m always open to more ideas. That’s half the fun, right? But I’ll get out of your hair for today,” he said to her, nodding to Nicky too on his way out. “Have a nice night, both of you.” 

[georgiapeach30513]

Acting has so many aspects and there are actors who grew up in the industry and some have improved, others still get jobs but not good ones. To know those who have been in this industry from childhood, teenage or young adulthood, as a majority don’t understand just because you had previous success doesn’t mean it’ll last forever, especially of you don’t work on your skillset.

There are new upcoming actors who have legit studied their craft, went to prestigious universities and come from performing arts backgrounds and that’s their life. They are hungry and coming into the business so well known actors are competing against various things. Child stars and others have to worry about being typecast and their audience.

Chris is competing with all of that on top of his internal stuff, that’s a lot. Fortunately he’s still getting roles which is more than some can say, so at this rate it’s up to him.

Looking forward to him surprising us in a good way!

Here’s the thing with entertainment, especially in Hollywood, it’s extremely fickle. If you’re able to have a longstanding career, you’re doing well. There’s so many actors that have fallen by the wayside, and so much potential. Talent isn’t enough anymore. You have to have the looks, the marketability, the drive, the work ethic, pleasure on set, willing to learn, you have to sell yourself to the public. Once you’re established, it is what it is, but entertainment is hard. People’s attention spans are so short, and so many don’t fully watch and engage in the movie. We have all these distractions, and you can have a subpar performance be good enough.

Not to mention you also have the aspect of there will always be someone younger, better looking, cheaper, and more talented coming up behind you. Staying relevant in an ever changing industry is not for the weak. Typecasting unfortunately happens a lot, and @nancydrewwouldnever explained that beautifully.

I think we’re, hopefully, seeing a shift in Chris’ career. I’m sure he and his team are aware that his audience is growing older and changing, just like he is. And it appears that they’re trying interesting roles, more adult and mature (again, I hope). And I still think it’s too early to say anything about Honey Don’t, Materialists, and obviously Sacrifice.

[bvannn]

Weekly update June 14 2024

I was extremely busy this week and I’m extremely tired tonight. I got a bunch of life things tidied up but didn’t do as much as I would’ve liked but still got some stuff done.

Artfight prep is the main thing, Josh’s thumbnail is done and his refsheet is also almost done, Romeo’s thumbnail is also almost done. I was going to finish it tonight but I’m very tired. Maybe after I eat and shower I might get a burst of energy and finish it up but seems unlikely. Now that I’ve figured out the trick to overcoming adobe’s shitty drawing tools I’m making good stride on animation stuff, and while the OEB video is not a high priority at all right now, I’m looking forward to how it’ll look. Fwiw the puppet I’m building for that is going pretty well as a low priority task, and building it was much faster than what it used to be so I’m pretty sure the animation itself will also go a lot quicker. Again no progress made on that this week, though.

Music: I’m learning a bunch of new mixing and sound balancing strategies and I’m hoping tomorrow I’ll have the energy to unleash them all. I’m going to re-mix OEB for sure, already redid instruments and set up instrument channels. Also hoping tomorrow will put me in enough of a music kick to finish up the other projects I’ve been sitting on. Everything I’m sitting on could use the new plugin chain, plus BMBO has lyrics done and needs a VPR, WOTW could use some VPR tweaking, RR also has finished lyrics now so I can get going on it’s instruments and VPR (and also pick out what voice to use), plus the ambient quickie could needs a melody recorded plus mixing, the pop quickie needs that too and lyrics, BATB lyrics are close to done but I keep procrastinating, the SOS medley needs some more instrument selections plus mixing, and a couple other miscellaneous songs, there’s a lot. I’m hoping I can get to bed early today and just unload on a bunch of those tomorrow, so I think I’ll try.

Other news: that AC game I’ve been on and off writing: finally sat down and started like, actual coherent notes. This is a good step because I do want to turn it into a prewritten module for other people to run. Main thing I did this week in the way of that was a proper description of the setting, to help character creation. Any of these other times I’m too tired to do anything I’ll try to pour into that, which should in turn motivate me to get visual stuff for that done too. I have done a few character tokens that haven’t been posted because again, I’d like the module to be free and any extras to be paid, rather than the whole thing being paid.

Comic: it’s going, albeit slowly. This whole week at work I tried to sketch out stuff while I was working, but for whatever reason the comic wasn’t cooperating. Probably because the poses and layouts are more dynamic than my splash art, so drawing them with a pen doesn’t really work out well. Once I import and fix the panels I did sketch, the comic will be around 24% done. I will attempt to smuggle in pencils next week, in order to get more done. Like all things considered being able to sketch while at work is definitely a help for my confidence in my projects, and I hope to continue it wherever I can.

Plan for next week is: tonight I go to bed early, tomorrow I go buckwild on music and get a bunch of stuff finished up, maybe finish up Romeo’s AF thumbnail or get the assets for someone else’s done. Sunday, I’ll try to finish up Josh’s AF ref and redo Romeo’s, and get as many assets for the other AF thumbnails done as I can. Monday at work I’ll try to sneak in a pencil, and I’ll get more comic sketching or OEB storyboards done, then Monday night I’ll continue making and/or animating those AF thumbnails. I’ll continue sketches at work where I can and animations during lunch as best I can, Tuesday night I’m introducing another friend to epithet erased, so good chance I’ll get writing for TTRPG done that night too, Wednesday night have a pathfinder game so I should be able to get some digital art done during that, more AF thumbnail assets or maybe comic work, and the rest of the week I should be able to continue sketches at work, and digital stuff in the evening. I might swap out some of that digital drawing with more music if I have the energy but at the moment seems unlikely. I’m getting stuff done, but tonight I’m taking a rest. I’ll try to post something tomorrow, worst case it’ll be a WIP, but really hoping I’ll have something good! Thanks again to everyone for being patient with me!