#so i try to find tutorials and there are none

[liarvibe]

SPRITE THEFT HALL OF SHAME: AN ARTIST'S SALT POST ON THEFT AND LACK OF CREDIT.

Okay I just went on a Journey and I'm going to post about it now because I think this warrants me dragging everyone else into my insanity.

SO. My Hat and Cloak Sprites. I knew they were often reposted and stolen, but some of the places where I've found them is--it's baffling.

So, hall of shame time because I'm done! I'm done and tired and salty!

First batch of the Hall of Shame: Pintrest is Theft Hell.

These sprites--both the discontinued old ones and the remakes, are everywhere on pintrest. Not a single one of them I've found has been credited back to me in ANY way. This is probably where most people who get the sprite uncredited get them, and why people think these sprites are "canon" without actually doing much research on the sprites themselves. Pintrest is by far the worst offender here, with dozens of reposts of the same sprites I edited.

Let's take a look at a few examples for funsies.

This specific sprite has been floating around for a while now, and it ALWAYS baffled me because--because I sure as hell didn't make this one.

Because this sprite is a fanon sprite. I sadly cannot find the actual creator of this sprite, even with google images because there are SO many reposts of it, but I know for a fact this is a fan-made sprite. So, then I ask--who took two fanmade sprites and mashed them together?

If anyone knows the original artist for this fan sprite, PLEASE let me know. I would love to give them credit too because their sprite has ALSO been reposted and stolen a bunch online and they deserve the credit for the edit!

Anyway, this specific pintrest post has comments about people enjoying the design change on the hat, which is really disheartening to see as that was MY design choice, and I'm not getting any credit for it!

Anyway, next example on the Pintrest Hall of Shame:

This one is also an edit I did not make! I'm not sure if the base sprite is yet again another artist who got their work mashed up with mine, as I cannot personally find anything, but once again, this was made with no credit.

Eugh, an old sprite! But THIS one gets into the Hall of Shame because the comment saying the edit is cool. Why thank you! I wish this user knew who ACTUALLY MADE THESE SPRITES..

Kokichi Ouma Shames You For Your Art/Sprite Edit Theft.

Another old Sprite, Eugh! This one ALSO received a bit of praise. GEE, I WONDER WHAT THESE GUYS WOULD THINK OF THE FACT THAT THIS WAS REPOSTED/STOLEN.

Huh??? Huh???? You put him a school uniform, you did NOT make the hat and cloak! Don't imply you made the whole thing!

You grayed him out. All you did was gray him out.

I wonder if this one pintrest user knows that the Hat's symbols on the rerelease of these sprites has a different hat design...

I think that's enough Pintrest Hall of Shame, since it was the biggest offender and I could be here all day trying to find every single sprite reposted or edited without credit.

Second batch of the Hall of Shame: Redditors that Have No Shame

This Talent Swap Maki seems like she's wearing a very familiar hat and cloak.

And oh look! I asked for credit!

And none was Ever Given.

This one has a bunch of sprites with the stolen sprite being at the end of the set. One of the grayed-out sprites, I presume this person got it on Pintrest.

A personality swap that just, threw the hat on there, why not I guess?

Third batch of the Hall of Shame: Videos, Thumbnails, and Animations! All without Credit!

I found this video of animations a WHILE Ago and I'm pretty sure I asked for credit. The Comment of me asking for credit was promptly deleted.

No credit to be seen, at least not from where I'm standing!

This one only uses one sprite for a short moment but it still gets a spot in the Hall of Shame.

This one is just a tutorial on how to make your Roblox character look more like Kokichi with his hat and cloak. Like why is my sprite even here you HAVE the CG for it!

Eugh, old sprite alert! No credit regardless.

THIS one ESPECIALLY pisses me off because it sTOLE MY OLD TWINS AU SPRITES.

WHAT THE HELL.

THIS WHOLE ACCOUNT HAS VIDEOS OF MY TWINS AU SPRITES AND MY HAT AND CLOAK SPRITES.

WHAT THE HELL!!!!

While that pisses me off to no end, have some screenshots of thumbnails from BilliBilli because these sprites have gone INTERNATIONAL, BAYBEEE

Fourth batch of the Hall of Shame: Steam, Garry's Mod and--Huh???

This one is the one that made me laugh in despair--FNF??? Really??And while it's not quite a sprite edit theft, don't think I didn't notice that you just copy and pasted my Sprite's "Hat and Cloak" hat design onto Kokichi's hat and tweaked it! I know the design isn't easy to replicate, but at least draw it yourself, it's so obvious that you did not Draw That. It's not even in the Right Art Style. My God.

Ack, old sprite version jumpscare! This one is quite interesting as it appears to be a Garry's Mod thing?? Don't ask me. I don't understand it either.

Another Garry's mod thing, but THIS one is on STEAM!

Fifth batch of the Hall of Shame: The Misc Batch

This Batch of sprite thefts/reposts without credit are some ones I found that didn't match in any specific category. Let's go!

This sprite edit I found without credit a while back on my old blog, but I don't know where I found it. Pintrest? Reddit? Tiktok? Who the HELL knows.

This person is trying to pass off this edit of my "Hat and Cloak" sprites as THEIR OWN ART. They posted traced sketch lines to "show" they drew the art, but it's traced and faked.

They posted this on 07/15/19 as shown in the link and in this screenshot here:

I posted MY SPRITE EDIT REMASTER November 24th, 2018.

This one is especially egregious for ACTIVELY TRYING TO STEAL AND PASS OFF MY HAT AND CLOAK SPRITE ASSETS AS THEIR OWN ART. This isn't just ignorance, this is malicious theft.

Anyway. This has been a long... what, 7 years coming? Because it's been 7 years since I posted these sprites up for people to use WITH CREDIT, and they have been passed around without credit, mistaken as canon sprites (when a little bit of research would show that there are no sprites of him in his hat and cloak in canon) and maliciously stolen by people trying to pass off my work as their own!

And I am tired of it.

I'm tired of trying to laugh it off, I'm trying of trying to tell myself it's fine when it hurts me deep inside, when it discourages me from ever creating canon-like sprites again because I know they'll just get stolen and passed around without credit or consent. Thieves will try to pose it as their own edits or art, and ignorant people will just mistakenly believe it's canon or be too lazy to look up the original creator.

And I'm just. I'm tired. I don't want to resent these sprites as much as I do. I don't want to come across another pintrest post with an uncredited edit or repost. I don't want to come across tiktoks or youtube videos that use my sprites without credit.

When I made these sprites, I thought seeing people use them would bring me so much more joy. Now, I just feel extremely hollow and disappointed. Despair, even, if you will.

So yeah. Here's my Sprite Art Theft Hall of Shame for you all to enjoy and laugh at. because it's the only thing I can do at this point--to show off these thefts in a hall of shame so maybe on the off chance people will spread this around and maybe I'll get some credit. Who knows. Like this is just a mere fraction of the theft going around with these sprites. It's insane how far this has gone.

I'm frustrated. I'm angry.

But really, I'm just. Tired.

[aspendruid]

I'm getting so so so so frustrated right now

[haemey]

Aaaaand that's why I prefer charts tonwritten patterns. Itxs so much easier when you can just see what you're supposed to do. Also makes counting way easier, becaude you can just look at where you're supposed to be in the pattern instead of doing calculus in your head

Novice sewing pattern: Cut out shapes. Line up the little triangles on the edges. Stitch edges together. We've also included step-by-step assembly instructions with illustrations.

Novice knitting pattern: yOU MUSt uNDerstANd thE SECret cOdE CO67 (73, 87, 93) BO44 (63, 76, 90) 28 (32, 34) slip first pw repeat 7x K to end *kl (pl) 42 * until 13" (13, 13, 15) join new at 30 pl for 17 rows ssk 27 k2tog mattress lengthwise BO and sacrifice a goat to the knitting gods. WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WANT "INSTRUCTIONS," I JUST GAVE THEM TO YOU

[insertdisc5]

🎮 HEY I WANNA MAKE A GAME! 🎮

Yeah I getcha. I was once like you. Pure and naive. Great news. I AM STILL PURE AND NAIVE, GAME DEV IS FUN! But where to start?

To start, here are a couple of entry level softwares you can use! source: I just made a game called In Stars and Time and people are asking me how to start making vidy gaems. Now, without further ado:

SOFTWARES AND ENGINES FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW HOW TO CODE!!!

Ren'py (and also a link to it if you click here do it): THE visual novel software. Comic artists, look no further ✨Pros: It's free! It's simple! It has great documentation! It has a bunch of plugins and UI stuff and assets for you to buy! It can be used even if you have LITERALLY no programming experience! (You'll just need to read the doc a bunch) You can also port your game to a BUNCH of consoles! ✨Cons: None really <3 Some games to look at: Doki Doki Literature Club, Bad End Theater, Butterfly Soup

Twine: Great for text-based games! GREAT FOR WRITERS WHO DONT WANNA DRAW!!!!!!!!! (but you can draw if you want) ✨Pros: It's free! It's simple! It's versatile! It has great documentation! It can be used even if you have LITERALLY no programming experience! (You'll just need to read the doc a bunch) ✨Cons: You can add pictures, but it's a pain. Some games to look at: The Uncle Who Works For Nintendo, Queers In love At The End of The World, Escape Velocity

Bitsy: Little topdown games! ✨Pros: It's free! It's simple! It's (somewhat) intuitive! It has great documentation! It can be used even if you have LITERALLY no programming experience! You can make everything in it, from text to sprites to code! Those games sure are small! ✨Cons: Those games sure are small. This is to make THE simplest game. Barely any animation for your sprites, can barely fit a line of text in there. But honestly, the restrictions are refreshing! Some games to look at: honestly I haven't played that many bitsy games because i am a fake gamer. The picture above is from Under A Star Called Sun though and that looks so pretty

RPGMaker: To make RPGs! LIKE ME!!!!! NOTE: I recommend getting the latest version if you can, but all have their pros and cons. You can get a better idea by looking at this post. ✨Pros: Literally everything you need to make an RPG. Has a tutorial inside the software itself that will teach you the basics. Pretty simple to understand, even if you have no coding experience! Also I made a post helping you out with RPGMaker right here! ✨Cons: Some stuff can be hard to figure out. Also, the latest version is expensive. Get it on sale! Some games to look at: Yume Nikki, Hylics, In Stars and Time (hehe. I made it)

engine.lol: collage worlds! it is relatively new so I don't know much about it, but it seems fascinating. picture is from Garden! NOTE: There's a bunch of smaller engines to find out there. Just yesterday I found out there's an Idle Game Maker made by the Cookie Clicker creator. Isn't life wonderful?

✨more advice under the cut. this is Long ok✨

ENGINES I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT AND THEY SEEM HARD BUT ALSO GIVE IT A TRY I GUESS!!!! :

Unity and Unreal: I don't know anything about those! That looks hard to learn! But indie devs use them! It seems expensive! Follow your dreams though! Don't ask me how!

GameMaker: Wuh I just don't know anything about it either! I just know it's now free if your game is non-commercial (aka, you're not selling it), and Undertale was made on it! It seems good! You probably need some coding experience though!!!

Godot: Man I know even less about this one. Heard good things though!

BUNCHA RANDOM ADVICE!!!!

-Make something small first! Try making simple: a character is in a room, and exits the room. The character can look around, decide to take an item with them, can leave, and maybe the door is locked and you have to find the key. Figuring out how to code something like that, whether it is as a fully text-based game or as an RPGMaker map, should be a good start to figure out how your software of choice works!

-After that, if you have an idea, try first to make the simplest version of that idea. For my timeloop RPG, my simplest version was two rooms: first room you can walk in, second room with the King, where a cutscene automatically plays and the battle starts, you immediately die, and loop back to the first room, with the text from this point on reflecting this change. I think I also added a loop counter. This helped me figure out the most important thing: Can This Game Be Made? After that, the rest is just fun stuff. So if you want to make a dating sim, try and figure out how to add choices, and how to have affection points go up and down depending on your choices! If you want to make a platformer, figure out how to make your character move and jump and how to create a simple level! If you just want to make a kinetic visual novel with no choices, figure out how to add text, and how to add portraits! You'll be surprised at how powerful you'll feel after having figured even those simple things out.

-If you have a programming problem or just get confused, never underestimate the power of asking Google! You most likely won't be the only person asking this question, and you will learn some useful tips! If you are powerful enough, you can even… Ask people??? On forums??? Not me though.

-Yeah I know you probably want to make Your Big Idea RIGHT NOW but please. Make a smaller prototype first. You need to get that experience. Trust me.

-If you are not a womanthing of many skills like me, you might realize you need help. Maybe you need an artist, or a programmer. So! Game jams on itch.io are a great way to get to work and meet other game devs that have different strengths! Or ask around! Maybe your artist friend secretly always wanted to draw for a game. Ask! Collaborate! Have fun!!!

I hope that was useful! If it was. Maybe. You'd like to buy me a coffee. Or maybe you could check out my comics and games. Or just my new critically acclaimed game In Stars and Time. If you want. Ok bye

[dandysworlds]

how does one make graphics (i need to . improve)

Well, the Princess' methods are very simple! She would be glad to teach you.

A bit long graphic tutorial under cut ^_^ (all art by Iinquint on twitter)

First, we import the frame or mask you will use. You can find these by searching "rentry frame".

Then, we will import our picture and erase any excess outside of the frame.

Then we usually add a chibi, You can do this by finding chibi art and erasing the background.

And now we will add any PNGs to the graphic. We chose circle laces for this.

Now we will duplicate the layer of our chibi.

We then use the Stroke Outer filter to find dots that weren't erased, we will go to the top original later and erase where all the exposed dots are.

After that, we delete the layer & reduplicate it. Then we use stroke outer for a white outline, and then a black one. If the chibi or whatever you are using is white or very light already, feel free to reverse the white & black.

Then we add glow outer (usually around 1-2px)

Continue this process for everything

Save it

And then we will import it into a new canvas through 'import picture' & then use the grayscale.

Now, We do not always use a gradient map. But feel free to try out gradients to see if it looks nice on the graphic. Either of the 2 top sites work.

Find a gradient that looks nice. If none fit your vision, feel free to skip it.

Now, import the new image and then add textures. Play around with blending modes & opacity until it looks right.

Boom! You've made your very own graphic.

Now for animated graphics...

(No visuals) If you'd like one where the small chibi moves, move it to be angle -5, save it, and then angle 5 and save it. (Also adjust angles if the 5 looks weird.)

Import the images into ezgif gif maker and turn on "Don't stack frames" and adjust delay time. (I usually use 80ish)

--

Animated graphics 2

Import your graphic into capcut. Add a green background or whatever color is not present on your graphic at all. Add the gif you want on the graphic. Adjust for all the images to go on for equal times so it works.

Ezgif > Mp4 to gif > Remove Background > Select hex code of background > "Replace hex with transparency" > Adjust Fuzz > Optimize

And voila, your graphic is completed! Feel free to adjust in ezgif effects if needed.

[sweetsbelcva]

More of you | Jack Abbot x Reader

⟡ Getting ready for a fancy dinner gets interrupted by a Mass Casualty, but that doesn't stop Jack from taking his eyes off you.

— fem!reader. No body/appearance descriptions for Reader. Suggestive language and teasing. Established secret relationship.

— masterlist

You're watching a fancy updo hairstyle tutorial on tiktok, the girl makes it look so simple even if it's on a slower speed and you had to rewind some parts over the past few minutes.

You don't know for sure when you decided to commit to the fancy updo but you are halfway through and there's nothing that can stop you.

Jack sits on the bed, scrolling through his phone as he prepares for dinner. Black trousers, a black button-up shirt, and that slight smirk on his face as he watches your face through the mirror.

"You sure you don't any help, doll?" his face lightens up as he sees you, your tongue falling from the corner of your mouth, something you do when you focus. "My fingers work just fine," he says, the sexy tone coming up as his eyes scan over your curves and that amazing white dress he got for you.

"Nope," you reply, quickly as your fingers place pins, delicately and strategically. "I'm almost done"

When you're done, you squeal and turn around walking towards Jack, the bright proud smile on your face.

"Told you so" You do a turn, slowly, so he can see your craft.

"Nice..." his breath hitches on his throat, his eyes scanning over you. The way you did your hair this time gives him a different view of your neck and your shoulders, his eyes are glued to your clavicle as his mouth waters. "Good job, doll" he nods, licking his lips as his fingers slide from your jaw to your neck and all the way to your collarbone.

You are melting at his touch, his free hand coming to your waist to push you closer, groaning as he reaches for your neck and leaves a small peck. He takes you in, the softness of your skin and the sweet smell of your perfume.

Unfortunately, the phone rings, and is none other than Robby. He picks up, nodding and agreeing to everything the voice on the other side of the line says.

"We need to go," he says, worried, after hanging up and rushing you to the closet for some scrubs. "Mass casualty, they need us"

You don't roll your eyes, you run towards the space he made for you in his closet getting your scrubs. Changing was easy, your dress came off pretty smoothly and Jack cursed at whoever caused a disaster tonight that impeded having you in his hands.

"Don't-" he reaches for your wrist as you are about to take the pins off your hair. "You look good and it took a lot of work" he tilts his head, finding your gaze to lock it with his.

"They are going to-" You open your mouth, your words barely a whisper.

"Let them" Jack shakes his head. Kissing the inside of your wrist and dropping it softly to change his shoes.

When you get back to The Pitt, Robby stands his ground welcoming the night shift and the group that was off from the day shift. You and Jack arrive at the same time, your steps synchronized and quick.

"You guys arriving at the same time?" Robby asks, getting close to his friend to give him the primary emergency MD orange vest.

"Oh!" you glance at Jack. "Dr. Abbot, I haven't seen you in how long? Three days?"

You try to lie, but it isn't working.

"Just drop it, Doll" he shakes his head, putting the vest on. "He already knew I assume"

"Dana told me" Robby shrugs, his eyebrows rising. "You guys look cute, nice hair by the way"

"Thank you"

"It does look good, I like it on you" Jack whispers, fighting the urge to wrap you around his arms. "It suits you, it lets me see more of you"

"I might've taken it off, now you won't focus on the job" You shake your head, laughing as the soft pink comes to your cheeks.

"No, I got it" his smirk growing with each step he takes closer to you. "I’ll do the job and then fuck you 'til every pin comes off" Jack whispers in your ear, hard hand on your shoulder to keep you close.

⟡ This is my first fanfiction after a while, if you like it please reblog and comment. If you want more you can request!

⟡ Dividers: cafekitsune Gif: ho-ii

[stellawish]

swiss roll

summary: satoru trying to help his son to learn how to roll over genre: fluff, domestic life warnings: none dad!gojo x mom!reader

“Here we go, buddy.” Sitting on the floor in Haru’s nursery, Gojo gently laid his son on his belly. The baby started to wiggle his short legs while looking at the colorful animals printed on the mattress.

Satoru began to gently massage the baby’s small back. Using rubbing motions with his hands, he drew a line from the shoulders to the lower back. In response, Haru started babbling.

The contrast between your son's small back and Gojo's large hands looked comical. Watching this, you giggled.

As first-time parents, you are always learning and seeking new information, whether from books or various websites.

Recently, you caught Satoru watching a tutorial video. "Massage helps strengthen the back muscles and aids in digestion," said the woman in the video about helping your baby learn to roll over.

Satoru continued with the same gentle movements of his thumbs, drawing lines in opposite directions as he moved lower.

When he finished, he turned the baby onto his back and said in a mock-serious voice, "Now the real training begins. This time, don’t expect any mercy."

Your 4-month-old boy showed his gummy smile, and unable to resist, Satoru kissed his son’s round cheek.

Your husband took Haru's short legs and lifted them into the air, directing them towards his tummy. Then he lowered them down and repeated the movement again.

You were lying next to them on your side, resting your hand under your head and watching the scene with a broad smile. “By the way, Toru, Megumi texted me and said they’ve arrived.”

Megumi and his friends went to summer camp for a few weeks. When he first told you about this plan, both you and Gojo were surprised, as Megumi isn’t very social and prefers spending time alone.

So, his decision to attend summer camp delighted both of you. “I’m glad he’s opening up and coming out of his shell,” you said.

“They’re good kids,” Gojo added.

“There's a great spot nearby that sells some awesome strawberry Swiss rolls. I should get him to bring some home.”

You watches him simultaneously lifting the little boy by his arms and placing him in a sitting position. Satoru read somewhere that such activities strengthen the baby’s muscles and help them learn to roll over independently.

“There you go, little one.” As he turned Haru onto his back, Satoru tickled the baby’s neck, making him wiggle.

Next, your husband, carefully supporting the baby’s side, flipped him onto his tummy and then back onto his back, repeating the action once more.

For the last time, Gojo exaggeratedly sighed and, in a playful manner, said, “Good job, buddy. You did great.” He praised his son. “Now tell me, where did you get your athleticism from, hmm?”

You giggled. “You, my little Swiss roll.” Gojo tickled the baby’s belly and blew raspberries, causing Haru to wiggle and giggle.

Satoru decided to spare the baby and pulled away with a big smile. “Okay, now which book do you want to read today?”

He flipped Haru back onto his tummy and stood up while you gently stroked the baby’s back.

Gojo chose a book and lay down on the other side of Haru. He opened the first page and placed the colorful interactive book in front of his son, encouraging him to explore it.

You stretched your left arm out and accidentally pressed a toy, which squeaked “meow.”

This distracted Haru from the book, and he turned his head toward you. Unable to find the source of the sound, he tucked his right arm underneath himself and, lifting his plump left thigh, ended up on his back.

You and Gojo looked at each other in shock, questions in your eyes. “Did you see that?” your lips stretched into identical smiles. “Oh, my baby, what a good boy. Can you do that again, hmm?” You both began to shower your chubby little one with kisses, eliciting his laughter and making his cheeks rosy.

While you all cuddled together, praising your little one, you locked eyes with Satoru. Despite the genuine joy for your son’s first victory, you saw the reflection of your own thoughts in his eyes: Don’t grow up too fast, son.

more dad!gojo HERE

all rights reserved ©stellawish. do not copy, repost, translate, or modify my works in any platform.

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @camberdraws

Hello! My name is Camber (any pronouns), and I’m a mixed media illustrator located in the southwestern United States. I love drawing everything, but I have a special interest in depicting strange creatures and environments, often accompanied by abstract imagery and mark-making. Professionally, I’ve worked creating concept art and 2D assets for museum exhibits, but currently, I am engaged full-time as a software developer and make standalone illustrations in my free time. I’ve been posting art on Tumblr since I was a teenager, and the site has been very welcoming towards my work to this very day!

Check out Camber’s interview below!

Did you originally have a background in art? If not, how did you start?

I’ve had an interest in drawing since I was barely sentient, but at thirteen years old I decided to become “serious” about art. I was all about reading tutorials and doing a ton of studies. I would tote my heavy instructional art books to school every single day (my poor back!) Despite all this, I decided to forgo art school in favor of a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science at my local college. Alongside my major, I received a minor in Art Studio with a specialization in fine art, which totally changed my views on creating artwork and drastically changed my style.

How has your style developed over the years?

As mentioned previously, my style did a 180 after I studied under some very skilled fine art professors! As a kid, my drawings were very realism-heavy and inspired by video game concept art. I mostly worked digitally, too. During college, I was thrown for a loop when we were instructed to do strange things like, for example, make a bunch of marks on paper using pastel, WITHOUT looking, and then turn said marks into a finished piece of art! I quickly and deeply fell in love with abstract work, and especially appreciated images that are not easily parsed by the viewer. Since then, I’ve made it my goal to combine abstract mark-making with more representational subject matter.

What is one habit you find yourself doing a lot as an artist?

Hmmm, one habit I really enjoy as an artist is strictly tracking the amount of time I spend drawing! I currently work a full-time job wholly unrelated to art, so I have to be careful with my time if I want to spend enough hours drawing each week. I created a spreadsheet that allows you to enter the amount of minutes you’ve drawn each day and calculate how much drawing time you still need to reach your weekly goal (I aim for 20 hours a week.) Having such a clear, numbers-based objective keeps me motivated to work like nothing else!

Over the years as an artist, what were your biggest inspirations behind your creativity?

I know this is a common inspiration, but Hayao Miyazaki’s work has been rewiring my neurons since I was a child. Seemingly all of my artistic interests can be summed up by the movie Princess Mononoke: it has strange/abstract creature designs, a strong focus on nature and environmental storytelling, and a mix of dark and hopeful themes. Additionally, I’ve been deeply inspired by video game series such as Zelda, Okami, Pikmin, and Dark Souls. But arguably, none of these have influenced me more than Pokemon! I’ve been drawing Pokemon since I could barely hold a pencil, and I haven’t stopped since! I believe my love of designing creatures originated with my endless deluge of Pokemon fanart during my childhood.

What is a medium that you have always been intrigued by but would never use yourself?

I’ve always been fascinated by 3D mediums and am so tempted to try them out! Whether that’s 3D models created digitally or sculptures made from clay, I profoundly admire artists who have this skill. Oftentimes, it feels like I don’t have time to delve into a totally different artistic paradigm. However, I feel very strongly that learning new skills can enrich your current work. I should take that advice and someday give 3D mediums a shot!

What is a recent creative project that you are proud of?

I am in the process of creating an art book (a dream of mine!) and have been executing smaller drawings of concepts I find interesting from both a visual and storytelling standpoint. A recent drawing for said book is that of a snail made of ink with an ink bottle as a shell, and it went absolutely viral! I’ve never had an experience like this as an artist before and it has been spectacular! I was able to open a shop using my newly acquired art printer and sell many prints of my snail. Creating something original, directly stemming from my interests, and having that resonate with so many people has been unreal. I couldn’t ask for more as an artist!

What advice would you give to younger you about making art that’s personal or truthful to your own experiences?

I would tell my younger self to chill out and experiment more! I was so caught up in the idea that I needed to have a realistic style to be considered “good.” I also believed that technical skill was the only measure of how worthy my art was. That’s not to say technical skill doesn’t matter, but I now firmly believe the creativity and voice of your ideas far outweigh the skill of execution in terms of importance. Technical skills should elevate ideas, not the other way around. Once I began to revel in strange ideas and stories for my work, depicted oftentimes in odd styles or mediums, I truly found my voice as an artist.

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

My peers here on Tumblr inspire me more than anything! Sharing my work with contemporaries and giving each other support brings me joy like no other, and keeps me motivated to continue creating. I wouldn’t be where I am today without them! @beetlestench, @theogm-art, @trustyalt, @ratwednesday, @phantom-nisnow, @svltart, @mintsdraws, @mothhh-hh, @jupiterweathers, @thesewispsofsmoke, @picoffee, @fetchiko, @kaisei-ink, and @pine-niidles just to name only a few!

Thanks for stopping by, Camber! If you haven’t seen their Meet the Artist piece, check it out here. For more of Camber’s work, follow their Tumblr, @camberdraws!

[trendywaifus]

astra, miyabi, and caeser domestic fluff

2 hours before i close reqs!!! caesar’s part is the longest. myb. I love my king. cw: none. gn! reader, fluff, small hurt with comfort.

“ astra baby, eve’s calling for transport, we gotta get outta here in fifteen. i’ll apply that eyeliner for you. “

you offered, walking inside of the shared bathroom while the singer does her makeup for the meet n’ greet she’s has to be attend in thirty minutes. astra was supposed to already be at the event an hour early to coordinate with the directors but she overslept. given that astra had a busy schedule this week, you and evelyn allowed her to sleep in. that was probably a mistake because it was hard to get her awake. slobber running down her chin, black tresses ruffled, and she was out of it.

“ yes! “ your girlfriend celebrates, grinning jubilantly at you, “ alright, c’mon! “ she grasps your forearm excitedly, luring you next to her.

amused, you fumble around for her signature eyeliner amongst her makeup items messily strewn about across the bathroom counter. “ i don’t get why you’re always get so excited for me to do your makeup, sunshine. i only do this whenever we gotta get you ready quicker. “

“ oh that’s fine, i don’t care! i just love it when you do my makeup. actually, i’d prefer for you to be my makeup artist! “

you chuckled, finding the star liquid liner and pop it open with ease. “ let’s not go too far, honey. i only learn through tutorials and you to help out. unfortunately, eve had to be my training dummy until i got decent. “

poor evelyn, she volunteered and had to deal with your beginner mistakes. the amount of times you fucked up even under astra’s guide and evelyn’s face looked as if a kid drew on her was insane. astra didn’t even bother to hold back her wheezing laughter and snap just rolled on the floor laughing too—leaving you and evelyn sitting in embarrassment.

“ mm, still don’t care! you and eve are my one and onlys after all~! “

you roll your eyes, resisting to smile ear to ear at her affectionate words. yet, the shy expression on your face says it all. of course, astra notices, her shiny pearl earrings jingles as she tilts her head towards your face, the corner of loving eyes crinkling,

“ aww, flustered? you’re so cute, darling! “ she croons, “ i just wanna kiss you silly—c’mon, gimme a kiss! “

“ astraa, no. we’re on crunch time. now, stand still and close your eyes, i have to do your eyeliner. “

the adorable look of disappointment dawns on her face and she does as instructed. she closes her pretty eyes and straightens her posture. you hold her chin with careful fingers and tilt her head at an angle for you to manage. holding the pen a certain way, you let out a thoughtful hum, scanning her facial features.

“ gonna do the left eye first, ‘kay? “

“ okie. “

using your wrist, you apply the red liquid tip to close to the center of eye and applied the ink outwards, gliding it along her curled lashes in short strokes.

“ alllright. look at the mirror and see if i did it right. “

astra does with excitement.

“ yup! you did it perfectly! can i get a kiss now? “ she looks back at you with hopeful, sparkling eyes. you shake your head, holding her chin once again.

“ no baby, now i gotta do your other eye and we dip. snap is probably gonna come to get us if we take too long. “

“ just one kiss, just one kiss! pleaseee? “

“ no. remember last time you couldn’t hold still while i was trying to trim your bangs, you tried to kiss me and I ended up cutting half your bang, making it terribly uneven? “

“ that time was different! plus, my ‘uneven bang’ isn’t even that bad! i think it fits me! i’m asking for a kiss now instead of trying to do it during this time! “

“ except this time, we have to get your makeup done as quickly as possible so we can leave, astra. i know you want to kiss me but now isn’t the time. i also don’t want to smudge your lipstick. “ you sighed, trying your best to ignore the puppy eyes astra is currently giving you.

the singer argues back, “ but it’s a star product, the type of product that doesn’t smudge!—“

“ nope, close your eyes, astra. the longer you argue back the more late we are. “ you chimed firmly and she does so with a cute pout.

you did the same thing you’ve done earlier with her left eye with practiced ease. studying her closed lids, the liner looks perfect.

“ ok, i’m done. let’s—“

she puckers her lips out, eyes still closed.

“ fine. you better be right with the lipstick not smudging bit. “

you lean in to peck her lips. with lightning speed you didn’t know she had, her palms fly to the fat of your cheeks and she pulls you into a full blown kiss.

“ muwahhhh! “

“ mmhn?! “

poor snap walts in right in time just to see the scene.”

“ ethu na naaaaa! (oh my goshhh, where’s the cameraboo?! oh i am the cameraboo!)“

“ miyabi, break time! “

her fox ears perk up at the sound of your voice. she stops her training, relaxing her sword stance to advert her undivided attention over to you walking across the engawa, holding a melon and a decently sized plate in your hands. she finds herself staring at the captivating smile on your lips as you make your way towards the training area. although her expression doesn’t necessarily change, her heart was swooning. mountains of motivation adds on to the endless motivation that she has to become stronger. everyday you remind of the reason why she needs to.

“ okay. allow me to cut the melon, my love. “

you nod your head happily and tossed the fruit in the air and held out your plate. in a flash, she jumps after the melon to cut it into perfect, triangular pieces in several quick, precise slashes, and lands on the gravel gracefully. not a moment later, the slices of melon drops perfectly onto the plate.

“ 10/10! as expected, you’d be the perfect fruit ninja!”

miyabi flicks her blade to the side, skillfully wiping off the juices from the special metal and sheathes it. she adjusts her kimono, tilting her head to the side with pique interest.

“ fruit ninja? “

“ you know, that game where you slice fruit that’s tossed up in the air and you use your finger to cut them up on your phone. actually, it should be in the arcades now. “ you explained, beckoning her to follow you to sit down the wooden deck to eat the melon slices.

“ i see. that sounds helpful to my training. to obtain the perfect fruit ninja title, i simply have to cut down all of the fruits that are thrown? “

“ yup, that’s right! “ you hand miyabi a melon she gladly accepts. “ we can go there after this if you want. “

“ no, not today. i want stay in with you. we can go to the arcade after i skip my last meeting tomorrow.” miyabi replies blandly and bites into the slice. she releases a satisfied hum.

“ uhhh, let’s not skip your meeting? your meeting is more important than—“

“ it’s not. you’ll always be more important than a pointless meeting. you’re my priority. “

your eyes soften at the determined expression on her face as she casually finishes her melon and grabs another. you giggled, switching your gaze up at the cloudless, blue canvas. “ I don’t know if i should be flustered or worried. i’m going to be expecting a phone call from yanagi tomorrow about your disappearance. “

“ that’s fine. i can just tell her to take my place for me if she wishes. “

“ i’m definitely expecting a phone call. . “

“ caesar, you know you didn’t have to come all the way over to the city, “ you continue with a worried gaze, watching caesar lazily slip off her crop jacket and tossed it on the head of the lounge chair, “ lucy told me you’ve been busy with overlord duties today. i didn’t think you’d be at my doorstep. “

she then blinks at you with prized confusion, “ but lucy told me you’ve been itchin’ to see me so i came? don’t tell me she—“

“ yup. she set us up. “

caesar let out a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of her head with an awkward smile. “ ahhh, that lucy! i shoulda known when all she said was that you just wanted to see me without telling me when! i thought today! “

“ baby, that’s probably when you should’ve called me for more detes. i guess she also thought you’d come anyways without checking with me first. she read you like a book. “ you chuckled, coming up to her for a warm hug. she accepts with enthusiasm, bringing you into her strong arms.

“ well, i’m pretty much an open book. got nothin’ to hide. you know me, h-hehe. “ your overlord laughs shyly, growing rather shy in the warmth of your embrace, enjoying your signature scent she missed so dearly. she’s content with where she is right now regarding her position and life in the outer ring. but, she feels like something is missing, a spot by her side that she wants to be filled. you’re from the city and she would hate to ask of you to come join her in the outer ring because of course, you have your own life here. the last thing caesar wants is for you to move with her into a new lifestyle you don’t enjoy.

the sons of calydon never stay in one place—they are always on the move. a city folk like yourself can probably have a difficult time getting adjusted to the outer ring hustle.

caesar wants you in the gang (well, with her and the gang, because in her eyes, you’re already a member) so she can see you often. before today, she hasn’t seen you in over two weeks because of so many things had to take of as overlord. caesar hated the phone calls, video chats, she wanted to see her one and only in person. if you were riding by her side in the outer ring, she would see you everyday, introduce you to soo many things; her culture and traditions.

she would show you her freedom.

“ i missed you, (name). . “ she half-laughs, voice starting to crack a little. “ you have noo idea. .”

you pull back a bit to see her teary eyed and cheeks flushed. caesar looked like a sad puppy. you gently glide a tender thumb under her right eye to brush a tear away. “ well now i do, you’re crying. c’mon let’s get you to the couch. “

“ m-mhm. “

guiding her to the couch by the hand, you sat down first and patted your lap.

“ u-um, on your lap? y-you sure? “ caesar sniffles.

“ i’m always, pretty. let me cradle you like a princess in one of those mangas you love to read. “ you joked with a knowing smile.

she wet laughs, appearing more embarrassed, “ i’m cryin’ and you still wanna tease me. pretty mean move by my precious one. “

caesar reluctantly sits on your lap, wrapping her stern arms around your neck, legs stretched across the cushions. your hand slide up and down her back tenderly, she buries her nose into the side of your neck. she’s feel weird being held like this, so vulnerable, yet so loved. is this what feels like to be at the mercy of the person you love?

“ how long you’re staying, caesar? “ you asked softly before pressing a sweet kiss to her temple.

“ pr-probably not for long. i hafta to oversee some meet-up with rival gangs later. “ caesar responds in a uncharacteristically small voice, slowly calming down to her normal self.

“ ohhh, okay. “

momentary silence settles in before she speaks up again.

“ . . yo, babe. .”

“ yes, baby? “

“do you ever thought about riding with us in the outer ring? “ caesar inquires.

“ everyday. i’ll try to find a way to come over there a little more often. i hate that you ride such a long way for me. “ you muttered, idly playing with her pale green hair.

“ as long as i can see your face in person, I don’t mind how long i have to go. . .but i will admit that it’d be nice for you to be join us. the gang—i want you to be ridin’ the roads with us. “

“ it sounds like a fun experience but—“

“ i-i know, you probably can’t, “ she sputters, holding on to your neck a little tighter, “ it was just wishful thinkin’— “

“ caesar, hun, look at me. “

and she does tentatively, looking you in the eyes with a tearful gaze again. you plant a firm kiss on her lips and she wastes no time to reciprocate back. “ you didn’t let me finish. “ you whispered.

“ a-ah. m’sorry. .wh-what were y-you goin’ to say? “

“ i gotta try to see if i can take vacation for a month to see if your lifestyle is for me. if i like it well, i’ll join you and the gang. “

“ h-huh? really?! “ caesar’s face breaks into a toothy grin that stretches ear to ear.

“ yup! probably be in a month or two—woah! “

caesar cheers out of pure excitement, rubbing her cheek against yours. you two laugh wondrously, filling your home with laughter and hope for the upcoming future.

thank you, lucy.

[trippinsorrows]

dreamland: trick or treat

authors note: not sure where the idea for this came from, nor did i expect it to be this long, but here we are. there are some callback moments to 'the school projects' oneshot, but it's not germane, in the event you haven't read that one.

warnings: none, outside of roman being on the verge of a nervous breakdown from dealing with his 5011 children.

word count: 6k (and some change)

He knew it was a bad idea.

Roman just knew it was a bad idea. Knew that he should have pushed back more. Should have helped his kind, wonderful, beautiful, sexy, fine ass but sometimes naive wife understand why in the many ideas she’s had since they’ve been together, this has to be one of the worst. If not thee worst.

But, also….he knows it’s not like they have very many options.

Neither himself nor Solana have ever been big on leaving the kids alone when they’re not feeling well, especially when they’re babies.

And at barely three, Koa and Kai fall under all of the listed categories.

Kai was the first one to come down with a nasty cold, his twin brother following shortly after. Something both parents already knew to expect having experienced the ease at which sickness passes between twin children. What they weren’t entirely expecting, however, was Solana to also contract said cold from their babies. Not entirely, at least, as it was “her” turn to tend to them, given the two parents often alternate who is the primary caretaker of their ill kids while the other caters to the non-sick kids.

At the time, Roman questioned if he’d been given the short-end of the stick, because of course, this all kicked off a little under two weeks before Halloween. That meant he was in charge helping the children prepare, namely helping them figure out costumes.

And not that Solana, again, his amazing, too good for him and these damn kids, wife didn’t think to start preparing ahead of time. No, she’d helped all the kids pick out costumes before even Thanksgiving rolled around.

But, of course, only his children would change their minds at the last minute. Everyone except Leya.

He swears when all is said and done she’ll be the one to inherit everything.

Lina, Tama, and Aria all wanting to get new costumes, no longer wanting to dress as what they’d chosen before. That meant he had to take them shopping to try to find the new characters they’d decided they wanted to be because their mission in life it seems is to stress him the fuck out with these things.

Or, to kill him.

He’s still undecided.

Roman spent six hours driving them all over town, helping them track down this headpiece and that princess dress. Sat in the art room trying to help them modify certain things, because off the rack and just right would be too good.

Endured the horror of watching various makeup tutorials on YouTube trying to nail down face paint, all things completely out of his league. Hence why his artistic daughter, Leya, had to help out at some points. A small part of him wishing he’d taken up Solana’s suggestion to have Rhea come over and assist, as she had last year with costumes and makeup.

He declined.

That girl will not turn any of his children into satanic cult members.

He just…..did what he could.

But, even with all of that stress, nothing could have prepared him for when the night finally arrived. Because a part of him thought, naively probably, that Solana would be better by then. That she would be coming with them, as she always did, as they both took the kids trick or treating.

He was wrong.

So….so wrong.

Not only was she still not up to it, but his baby boys were still not entirely out the woods.

That only meant one thing.

Alone.

He would have to take the kids trick or treating alone.

Hence the moment he knew this was going to be a shit show of a night.

And as with most of his projections, he was right.

Roman never really realized just how crucial and how much of a difference it makes to have another adult present trying to watch and manage four children, all under the age of 10. Especially his kids.

Though, truth be told, it’s not entirely awful at first.

They’re mostly well behaved as he drives them to the neighborhood he and Solana always take the children to for one of their favorite holidays.

As the massive compound he’d built for his forever growing family sits pretty isolated, traveling to a different neighborhood is a requirement. Not his favorite. He’d much prefer to just buy the kids a bunch of candy, pop in a movie, and call it a night.

But, that’s neither here nor there.

“Ya’ll know the rules,” he reminded, glancing at the four of them through the rearview mirror. “Stay close to me. I don’t care what friend you see or costume you want to look at up close. Don’t wander off. You hear me?”

A chorus of “yes, sir’s” that are the closest thing he gets to agreement from them, because if there’s one thing the kids are usually good with, it's not playing around with safety.

They know that that’s where the line is drawn.

Roman parks near one of the houses closest to entrance of the gated community, uncaring of whose house it is, of course.

And, the minute the car is in park, the shenanigans begin. Tama, the first one out of his seat, trying to unlock the door. Having met the height requirements, he's no longer in a booster seat. Thus, his helping Lina get out of hers. Aria kicking her feet in hers, eager and ready to be released. Leya is the only one to sit patiently and quietly, waiting for Roman to take her out. Unlike the rest of his unruly ass children.

“Remember what I said,” he calls out once all the children are freed, feet on the ground, ready to get to it.

Not that they’re listening to him. Leya, probably, but she always listens.

If only her siblings could do the same.

Naturally, Roman is most horrified at the amount of children present. He’s not sure if it’s because having Solana with him to talk to helps distract him from just how many little bodies are present for this night, but it seems like every damn kid in the city has decided to make this neighborhood their first or only stop for the night.

Roman’s scowl remains present as he ignores the little people that occasionally brush against him and the parents who fail to teach their children the importance of social fucking distancing.

It’s really the way that Leya stays beside him as they move between houses, her hand in his, that sort of helps to keep him grounded. The only time she moves away is when the kids approach porches and houses to collect candy.

He’s half expecting Aria to be in his arms the whole night, as she was last year. Feet hardly hitting pavement as she preferred for him to hold her, Solana with her candy bucket, handling the collection of candy.

Not this year.

This year, his youngest daughter, seems eager for any and all to get a full view of her selected costume. Princess. Some Disney princess. Beatrice or something like that. Aria decked from head to toe in a yellow gown, diamond tiara, matching shoes, and a diamond necklace.

Excessive, to some people, for his five year-old to be wearing thousands of dollars in jewelry. If only he gave two shits what anyone thought.

“I’m a princess!” Is her introduction to almost every set of parents, grandparents, and others who, for some reason, choose to participate in this damn nightmare of a holiday. Lord knows if he and Solana actually had neighbors at the compound, he would keep damn near every light off outside to keep any and all away.

But, unlike her potentially obvious introduction, Lina and Tama are less about the explanations and more about the collection.

Understandable, given even Roman, with his lack of knowledge regarding most things entertainment and pop culture, knows and can pinpoint and identify.

Lina’s two toned wig, blue and red on top of blonde, borderline white hair. Pale, almost clown-like face paints. The matching outfit that consists of shorts, a shirt, and a biker themed jacket. The bat in her hand that Solana told him to not let her bring for fear of safety concerns but he ultimately decided against.

Tama’s black padded costume, the mask, and pointed ears.

Anyone with vision could see Harley Quinn and Batman.

Thus, they need no introductions.

The first thing happening after “trick or treat” leaves their mouth is the extending of their arms as they await candy Solana and Roman will certainly have to hide to keep their sugar craving children from eating it all.

Leya, in her insanely appropriate and fitting white angel costume—halo included—is usually right behind the non-twins, patiently and kindly waiting for her turn to retrieve candy.

It’s the song and the dance for the night, Roman often having to call out various commands.

“Stop getting so close to the street.”

“How much more candy do ya’ll need?”

“No, you cannot go talk to them. Ya’ll don’t even know them.”

“Well, you better hold it. I told ya’ll to use the bathroom before we left.”

“Ya’ll ain’t ready to go home yet?”

As the night passes, Roman works hard to maintain his composure, though being surrounded by loud ass, rambunctious children that he didn’t create makes it infinitely difficult. Solana’s occasional check-in texts receiving simple, one to three word responses. He’ll be sure to give her the full story whenever they escape this minor filled hell.

And, Roman damn sure ignores the mostly mocking texts from his brother and cousin. The fuckers already aware of the fact that Roman is deeply regretting any and all decisions leading up to this nightmare of an evening.

The family approaches another house, Lina and Tama rushing up the steps, Leya holding Aria’s hand as they walk calmly behind, when all of a sudden, a rush of stale smelling wind that makes Roman’s scowl deepens.

A reaction that only intensifies following what happens next.

Two little boys, probably around 7 or 8, rush past the other kids, but it’s not those kids Roman cares about. It’s the fact that they’re rushing, brushing, and shoving Leya and Aria that has him fuming.

Has his fist forming at his side as both his girls fall to the pavement, Leya frowning, and Aria calling out a passioned, angry “hey!” after the little fuckers.

“Son of a—” Roman stops himself, moving to his girls, checking up on them first and helping them back to their first. That’s the first order of business. However, before he can redirect his focus to handling the second part, it appears he’s beaten to it.

Both Lina and Tama are turned around, looking down from the top of the porch steps, and their matching scowls—similar to Roman’s—clearly prove they either saw or are aware of what just happened.

And, they’re the farthest thing from happy.

Lina is the first to move, turning and looking at the boys, dressed in some weird ass robot looking costume. “Hey!” Her loud shout collects the attention of several kids and parents. “Don’t touch my sisters!”

“Yeah!” Tama echoes, the two of them pushing the boys away from the front door where a blonde woman frowns at the scene unfolding. Similar expressions as Lina and Tama take it a step—or several—further.

Roman sees the moment Tama lifts his arm, fist flying and aiming at one of the boys. The moment Lina lifts her bat and swings it in the other boy’s direction. Their acts of retaliation sending the boys toppling down the steps and earning horrified, shocked gasps and sounds.

Roman keeps his hand on both Aria and Leya’s shoulder, uncaring of the boys groaning in pain, two adults coming forward to tend to them, one of them that unnamed blonde woman.

“What the hell!”

The scowl on the Tribal Chief’s face is replaced with a small smirk as two of his oldest kids come down the steps, taking Leya and Aria’s hand, leading them back up the porch as they help themselves to candy, filling their baskets as well as Leya and Aria’s baskets. Completely unbothered.

“What the fuck is wrong with them?” An angered question, Roman turning to one of the parents, or whomever, a male with a receding hairline and a height that starts with a 5.

Pathetic.

Roman’s demeanor is as stoic and even as his tone. “You wanna end up on the ground with your kid?” A calm question with the promise of everything but, the other man swallowing, eyes wide with a wise amount of fear. “Then, I suggest you shut the fuck up.”

Words the man heeds to, sulking shoulders as he turns his attention back to the boys, one of which is holding onto his side with a grimace of pain, the other with his hand over his nose, blood seeping through.

Roman remains unbothered.

He simply reaches for his kids who come down the steps, Lina skipping happily while swinging her bat. Roman already know she’s good, so it’s Tama he checks on, asking, “your fist alright?”

Tama nods, giving a thumbs up, going right back to discussing with his siblings the candy he scored. Roman chuckles, making a mental note to check out his hand when they get home and his son is out of costume.

One thing he and Solana have always noticed about the terrible non-twins is that they, like Roman, have high pain tolerances. Those two could have limbs hanging off and still walk it off, ready to move onto the next thing.

Nothing fazes them.

Despite the scene caused at some random person’s house, the kids continue to stride on without a care in the world, Roman keeping an even closer eye on his youngest girls.

Clearly, his oldest two are good and fine.

At the next house, the kids retrieving their candy, Roman feels a presence near him. Looking down, he’s met with wide green eyes surrounded by an eye mask. One look reveals it’s a little boy in a Robin costume. Around the same age as Lina and/or Tama. His presence and close proximity instantly irritating the Tribal Chief.

“You’re really big,” he observes, voice filled with all the childhood wonder. “What are you dressed up as?”

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Roman dons one of the OTC hoodies Solana had made for him, jeans, and Jordan’s. He’s dressed as a father who clearly loves his kids to sacrifice his mental wellbeing just for a few hours of their enjoyment.

But, that seems not like the best response. Not like his actual one is any better, though.

“A mafia kingpin that kills people who annoy him for asking too many fucking questions.”

Even Roman and all his stubbornness can acknowledge that’s probably not the best thing to say to a young kid, but in his weak defense, he’s been out here a little over an hour with his children. It’s late, he’s surrounded by kids, and he doesn’t have his wife. These are all the ingredients for a disastrous recipe.

Kid can just get some therapy later in life or something.

Except, instead of being met with a horrified expression, he encounters the exact opposite.

“That’s so cool!”

The roles are reversed, and Roman is the one who’s slightly disturbed. His scowl deepened. The fuck is wrong with this kid? “What—”

“How do you kill people?” The kid asks with all the curiosity and calmness, as if inquiring about Roman’s favorite color. “Guns? Knives? Machete?”

Roman says nothing, still annoyed by being spoken to but mostly disturbed by the line of questioning this conversation has taken.

Thankfully, it’s a short-lived conversation.

A woman, psycho Billy’s mother, Roman would assume, comes rushing over offering a nervous smile while moving her arms around the young boy, ushering him away. Roman can vaguely overhear her lecturing him about talking to strangers.

Lady, I think him talking to strangers should be the least of your worries.

Perhaps that therapy should come sooner rather than later.

Onto the next house, Roman has just responded to Solana’s latest text asking if they’re having “fun,” something that he offers a simple ‘yes’ to. Surely, his wife must know that nothing about this whole thing is fun. It’s torture. Nothing but pure torture that only her sitting on his face once she’s all better will somewhat ease the discomfort from.

But, they can have that discussion later.

Once more, he waits, lingering near the sidewalk as the kids continue to fill their baskets with way too much candy for any one kid, when yet another unwanted distraction.

Not a child. Worse.

A soccer mom. One that Roman actually recognizes from Lina’s team.

Fucking hell.

“Mr. Reigns,” she smiles, the act revealing the crow’s line near her eyes. “What a pleasant surprise.”

Roman says absolutely nothing.

She clears her throat, adjusting her bang and then her top. It’s only then Roman briefly takes notice of her costume. Not from admiration or anything of the sort. More disgust. She’s dressed as Selena. Her purple bodysuit with cutouts near the chest, an outfit worn by the late singer at her infamous and last concert at the Houston Astrodome. An iconic look. A look being put to shame by a clearly botched body. Hips awkwardly wide, stick thin legs, no thighs, an ass that matches none of it, and a set of hard looking fake tits to top it all off. It’s unappealing in every sort of way, especially when Roman thinks about his wife. How Solana, ironically, wore the same costume last year for Halloween, beautifully filling it out in every sort of way Pilates Penny probably thinks she’s filling it out.

Not even fucking close.

“Where are your kids?”

Taking too damn long to get some goddamn candy.

Still, Roman says nothing, his ability to ignore unparalleled.

Another awkward clearing of her throat as the botched bitch has the audacity to move closure. Roman’s nose turns up at the smell of her cheap ass perfume. Shit is nauseating. Almost as much as the glimpse he catches through excellent peripheral vision of her trying to shove them hard ass tits in his face.

All the while with that Jared’s Jewelry looking ass wedding ring on her finger.

The audacity.

Finally irritated enough to break his silence, Roman doesn’t stutter nor does he hesitate as he, in only the way he can do, puts Botox Beth in her place. “You keep trying to shove those fake ass tits of yours in my face, acting like I actually give a fuck about them or you.” Her eyes widening in horror and instant shame only further encourage his abrasive scolding. “The only woman I have interest in and care about is my wife whose body doesn’t look like a failed science experiment from a piss poor plastic surgeon.” A beat. “And unlike your stiff ass shit, both her breast and ass move like water when I’m fucking her, something I do a lot, hence our kids you were asking about.” There’s never been a more mortified expression than the one from the woman beside him. “So fuck off, lady.”

And without a single word of protest, argument, agreement, whatever, she turns on her heel, tail in between her legs and does just that.

She fucks off.

Onto the next house, Roman has to stop himself from chiding Aria from her singing. Something she tends to do a lot of, regardless of where they are. The car, the bathtub, school, in the middle of a movie. If she’s not singing, she’s talking.

He still doesn't know just how in the hell he and Solana made such a talkative ass child when neither of them are remotely close to that.

Roman also notices how Leya, something she’s done all night, continues to try to separate her candies within her pumpkin basket. A bit of a losing task given the amount of candy and the shape of the basket, but he leaves her be, already knowing it’s part of her OCD. One of the symptoms that doesn’t cause any harm, thus not needing a comment or correction.

A yawn from Aria, however, most definitely snags his attention. In the best sort of way. She’s getting tired, thus an out that will allow him to escape this hell of a night.

“Alright, ya’ll, not much longer. It’s getting late.” Not a lie, either. Any other time, Roman would be helping his wife get the kids ready for bed, another sort of madness, but one that doesn’t involve so many damn people, thus a preferred sort of chaos.

As they walk up the steps of the next house, Roman eases right back into his routine of watching them while also being mindful of surroundings. Except, there’s an almost familiar voice that disturbs this routine.

“John!” He drags his focus over to the elderly couple sitting in matching rocking chairs on the porch. “Look! It’s that nice single father and his kids that we met at Target a few weeks ago!”

Roman shuts his eyes.

You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.

Of all the fucking houses, they just had to go to this one.

The wife stands from the chair, leaned over, gaze traveling over his four children. “Would you look at all of you? Just precious little angels.”

And playing up the role of angelic children, Tama and Lina lift their baskets with plastered on big smiles. “Trick or treat!”

The old man shakes his head, a genuine grin on his aged face. “Aren’t you all well-mannered?”

Yeah, for everyone except me.

Roman pushes past his discomfort to move a bit closer to the porch, unsure why he feels the need to clarify and set the record straight for perfect strangers.

“Look, I told you both before, I’m not a single father.” Just saying it aloud sounds weird. There is not him and their kids without Solana. “Their mom is home. She’s just sick.”

A horrified gasp from the old lady who looks like she’s a couple more months away from the grave. “Addiction?” Roman’s eyes widen slightly. What the fuck? She shakes her head, hand over her heart. “It’s ruining so many families.”

John, the old man, continues with unnecessary sadness as his wife starts to fill the kids’ baskets. “To think, she found her way back home only to still be struggling with that terrible disease.”

“She’s not—” Pinching the bridge of his nose, trying his best not to snap or commit murder, Roman tries a different route. “Lina. Tama. Would you please tell these people about your mom?”

Of the four of his present kids, they’d 100% be the ones to clear shit up. Aria is too young, and Leya far too shy. And one thing about Lina and Tama, like their baby sister, but unlike Leya, talking is never an issue.

Except Roman forgot how clever his two older kids are, how these two just live to stress him the fuck out, because of course, he’s met with nothing but performative sighs, frowns, and heads bowing.

“Our mommy is sick,” Lina says in the saddest yet fake ass voice he’s ever heard from his eight-year-old.

And naturally, her partner in crime backs her up, offering an equally sad. “We hope she feels better soon.”

But, while Roman is contemplating leaving their asses with these misinformed old people, the couple in question are just shattered.

“She absolutely will, you sweet babies.” Betty White’s big sister wags her aged finger. “We’ll be sure to lift her up in prayer at church Sunday.” Clearly moved and touched by their story, she motions to the basket. “You all take as much candy as you want, okay?” All the words needed to be heard as three of the four kids go to grabbing and stuffing, Leya the only one content with what’s already been retrieved.

Roman looks away, biting back the lecture he wants to give his lying ass children. At least until they’re away from the house, the couple saying something about praying fervently.

“Why the hell would ya’ll tell them people that?”

Snickering from the mischievous duo, Lina being the one to smartly point out, “we didn’t lie, daddy. Mommy is sick.”

Roman is convinced at this point these children will be the death of him one day, and his smart ass eight year-old daughter and her equally mischievous little brother are at the top of the suspect list.

Roman stands with his hands on his hips. “Yeah, but she’s not a damn drug addict.”

“What’s a drug addict?” Tama questions, counting all his full size candy bars.

Samaria yawns, asking with a mixture of curiosity and tiredness, “is that what mommy is?”

“No, Aria, that’s not what—” Once more, Roman has to stop himself. His blood pressure has to be through the damn roof at this point. “You know what, it’s time to go home.”

Some protest, not as much as there could be, mostly because he knows even the kids have to recognize the weight of their almost overflowing buckets is just another sign that it’s indeed time to call it a night.

Leya simply nods in agreement, while Aria reaches her bucket to him, soon lifting her arms, indicating that she wants to be held.

“But, we didn’t hit all the houses!” Is Lina’s final attempt to bargain.

“I’ll buy you all some more candy tomorrow,” Roman mutters, feeling Aria lay her head on his shoulder as he supports her little body with one arm, his other hand holding her bucket of candy.

Naturally, Roman’s hustler of a son can’t accept this deal without first negotiating. “Full size?”

This boy….

“Yes,” he agrees, seeing Tama and Lina high five. “Now, come on.”

With the promise of more candy none of them really need given how much they obtained tonight, the kids follow him back to the vehicle. Conversations among them as he works to get them all seated and buckled. Aria, even though clearly sleepy, continuing to sing, though lightly.

What she’s singing a mystery. He swears she just be making shit up sometimes.

There’s a request to stop for pizza that Roman shoots down immediately, because it’s almost 9pm, and the last thing any of these kids need is some damn pizza.

He’ll get it for them tomorrow.

“Keep your voices down. Your brothers are probably sleep,” Roman advises once they return home, and he’s working to get them out the car. Last he heard from Solana, his babies were sleep, and given Koa and Kai tend to be a bit sensitive to noise, the last thing he wants is to wake them up. Even more, like himself, they’re irritable as hell when prematurely awoken.

The kids technically listen to his directive, their voices low, but the stomps of their feet as they rush up the stairs is anything but.

However, he decides to pick his battles wisely, not correcting them, already knowing why they’re in such a rush.

Roman quietly follows behind as the kids all run towards his bedroom, Lina being the one to open the door, spilling in with heightened enthusiasm.

“Mommy!”

Walking into the room, Roman watches the kids surround the bed where a clearly sleepy Solana sits up with a warm smile.

She’s still in the thin sleeved, baby pink pajama gown he left her in. Hair concealed by her black bonnet, wiping at her slightly puffy eyes, the crinkle of her nose a sign of sniffling buried under the excited voices of the kids.

“My babies,” she greets, reaching for them as they create a sort of circle around her, Aria climbing onto the bed to hug Solana who makes a sound, eyes briefly shutting. “I missed you guys.”

“We missed you, too, mommy,” Leya murmurs, some of the few words he’s heard from her all night. It pulls a small smile to his face. The older she gets, the more he’s noticed she’s starting to talk. Something he appreciates more than anything. Because as much as he enjoys the silence, the sound of his little girl’s voice, so soft and sweet, will always be the exception.

“We got you lots of candy,” Tama shares, little hands dipping in his bucket to pull out a Hershey’s Almond Chocolate bar, offering said candy. “Your favorite!”

Solana’s smile deepens, “thank you, babies.” A small set of coughs as Roman briefly considers telling the kids they shouldn’t be that close to her but deciding against it, as he already knows they won’t care nor would they probably listen. Not to mention that nine times out of ten, a cold is probably in their near future. With so many young kids, it’s not uncommon for sickness to get passed around like hot potato. “You’re all so sweet.”

Aria, sitting on the bed with her legs crossed, reaches her little hand into her bucket of candy, pulling out a Snickers bar. “We got candy for you, too, daddy!”

It’s then that the rest of the kids all pull out several Snickers bars making him aware that they all seemed to have made sure to collect their parents favorite candies.

A small chuckle, the Tribal Chief realizing that’s why they were so intent on collecting as much candy as they could. To make sure they got enough for himself and Solana, too.

Huh.

“You all were good for your daddy, right?” Solana’s question is met with interrupted eye contact and only Leya answering, nodding her head.

“They were…..the usual,” Roman answers, his wife meeting his eyes, her smile shifting to something close to a smirk. She already knows what that means.

“Hmm.” Solana makes a sound, reaching to caress Lina’s hair as she rips off her wig. “Baby….why do you have that bat?”

It’s only then that Roman clears his throat, feeling his wife’s didn’t we talk about not letting her take that with her stare on him as he redirects the kids. “Ya’ll go downstairs and start dividing your candy, while I get your baths ready.”

Something he’s not necessarily looking forward to, given how chaotic that can be. His hope though is that they’ll be too tired out to give him a hard time.

Hopefully.

Hugs and kisses from Solana, something they refuse to depart without, before Roman is left alone with his wife.

He sits on the side of her bed, hand reaching to her forehead. “How you feeling?”

She shrugs, hand reaching to grab his as he drops it, pleased to see that she at least no longer has a fever. “Medicine is helping, but the boys are doing better, so that’s all that matters.” A knowing smile, followed by an almost amused, “you know they’re all going to get sick, right?”

Roman chuckles. “Yeah…but we’re not there yet, so let’s enjoy it now.” He looks around the room, realizing Dulce’s bed is empty. “Where is she?”

“Sleeping in the living room. Well….she was.” Because they both know that with the kids no doubt surrounding the dining room table, trading and sectioning off candy, Dulce is either lounging in her bed, wondering why the kids are so damn loud or sitting near Leya, waiting to see if someone will give her some food.

There’s no in-between.

“You want me to help you get them down?”

“Naw.” Roman shakes his head, stroking her cheek, leaning over to kiss her forehead. “I just want you to rest.”

Solana rolls her pretty eyes. “Have you met our children?”

“Yes, unfortunately.”

“Roman,” she chides, lightly slapping him on the chest. “Be serious….” Her smile dims, replaced with a hint of a frown. “How bad did they stress you out?”

It’s an easy answer. “Baby, you better not ask me to give you no more damn kids.” Her smile returns, Solana clearly amused at his misery. “That shit was fucking terrible. All them children that aren’t ours, annoying ass people—”

“Ro, you act like we don’t take them every year.”

“Yeah, but I usually have you with me.”

Solana rolls her eyes, rolling her thumb over his knuckles. “I told you to take someone with you to help you out.”

“I didn’t need help. I just needed you.”

There’s something about that that statement that makes her heart flutter. “Well….” She brings his hand to her mouth, pressing a kiss. “God willing, I’ll be able to go with you all next year. Koa and Kai, too.”

At that, Roman’s eyes widen. “You wanna take all six of them trick or treating?”

Solana pouts. “We can’t leave our baby boys out.”

“I’ll stay home with them,” he offers, quickly. Solana rolls her eyes. “Baby, you know they’re like me and don’t like people anyway.”

Solana doesn’t say anything, cause she knows he’s not wrong. Even as toddlers, when they were still babies even, it became pretty obvious they took after his disposition when it comes to socialization.

They hate it.

They love being held by their parents, tolerate interactions with their siblings, and scowl with almost anyone else.

It’s mostly why the short-lived idea of having someone stay with them, before Solana got sick, while she and Roman took the kids out, was shelved. Because Koa and Kai don’t necessarily play well with others.

At all.

Solana leans back in bed after another brief coughing session. “You should start getting them ready for bed. They shouldn’t give you much trouble, since I’m sure they’re tired from tonight.”

“Shit, if they’re not. I am.” Roman mutters, standing up and blowing out a breath. “I’ll come check on you once they’re all in the tub.”

Solana nods, saying nothing, allowing Roman to move onto his next task for the night.

Thankfully, his wife, though he shouldn’t be entirely surprised, is correct. As Aria is clearly more tired than her siblings, along with her being the only one of them that still needs a parent to handle her bath time, he gets her cleaned and in bed first. She’s almost out the minute her head hits the pillow, only wanting a kiss and hug goodnight from him before she’s off in slumber land.

The OG’s grab their own pajamas and bath caddy, simply needing Roman to run the water for them, before they’re good to go. It started out with just Lina and Leya transitioning to bathing themselves, but Tama, naturally, didn’t like his big sisters doing something he couldn’t. So, before Roman and Solana knew it, he was asking to bathe himself, too.

If only his was a little….smoother than his sister’s.

Solana, feeling wrong letting Roman handle everything by himself, has just finished checking on her youngest babies, pleased to see them fast asleep. This is only after, however, going downstairs and hiding the candy that the kids separated, trying to make things a little easier on her husband.

She’s in the boy’s wing of the house, turning the corner just in time to see Roman’s head in the door of Tama’s bathroom.

“Boy, why is the water on?” She bites down on her bottom lip, imagining her oldest son explaining himself. “It’s cold? Well, if you hadn’t spent 20 minutes playing with all those damn toys, it wouldn’t be cold anymore.” A giggle topples out at the sound of Tama defending himself, Roman interrupting, “fine, keep it on, but I’m telling you right now, Tamasa, if you flood my damn bathroom again, you’re staying up and helping me get all that water up. And, I’m not letting you use a mop to clean it, either.”

Solana shakes her head, a giggle upgrading into light laughter. The interactions between Roman and the kids, especially him and Tama, will never fail to be hilarious.

Something tells her of all the children, even Lina, Tamasa will be the one to stress Roman out the most.

“Baby, what are you doing up?”

She brings her focus back to Roman who walks up to her, hands on her hips as he tugs her into him.

“Just trying to help you out.”

He shakes his head, frowning, “I got it—”

“You sure?” Her brow lifts, chin jutted to the bathroom. “Seems a little….tense.”

Roman scowls. “You know how that boy is. Just stubborn for no fucking reason.”

Solana makes a sound. “Wonder where he gets that from.”

“Your side of the family, clearly.”

She opens her mouth, ready to point out the ridiculousness of such a statement given who he is, but Solana opts against it. He’s already had a long ass night.

No need to make him aware of the fact that Tama, and Lina for that matter, are nothing but mini versions of himself.

Determined, headstrong, and stubborn.

How he doesn’t see and/or recognize that is beyond her, but that’s a conversation for a different day.

She sniffles, Roman’s big hands on the small of her back, his mouth pressed into the top of her head. “Go get back in bed….please?”

Agreement that only stems from the fact that she knows he can handle the rest of bedtime shenanigans as well as the fact it probably stresses him out even more to know she’s walking around instead of laid up in bed somewhere.

“Okay,” she agrees. Roman moves his hand to tap the side of her ass, mumbling a quiet, “thank you.” She presses her lips together, murmuring, “I love you.”

An easy reciprocated thing. “I love you too, baby.”

Solana’s smile remains on her face, a strong sense of appreciation and happiness filling and overwhelming her. She loves her family more than anything.

But, the smile is soon interrupted, dimmed at the sound of Roman’s voice that travels from the wing of the house that she was standing in not even minutes earlier.

“Tamasa! Didn’t I tell you not to flood my damn bathroom?”

[meanbossart]

ASK COMPILATION: Boomer Drow, Scratch, Mouthwashing, Cats and musical opinions.

A more casual compilation this time as I desperately try to make some room in my inbox. I went back so far I found lore questions and art prompts that I really liked but had completely forgotten about... That's why it's a mess in there LOL I will hopefully get to those soon!

Hi! Thank you! I still dream about smoking almost every night and had a couple during the new year but I'm hanging in there :')

Very loose and mostly as a bit. It might be something that I explore more in the future, but as of right now their "canon" setting is far, far more interesting to me!

...That's brutal and highly accurate 😭

[MORE UNDER THE CUT]

I'm not gonna lie, when I started posting I got, uh, a lot of responses like this to my art. About how I drew people "ugly" and frightening and even though it MOSTLY was meant as a compliment, it got kinda... Overwhelming 😅 It definitely led me to do a 180 for a while and re-access how I wanted to draw people. I love drawing flaws but I think that comes from not really seeing them as flaws, so the amount of folks AGGRESSIVELY harping on it did eventually get to me a little bit.

I think I've since found a pretty good balance between simple, pretty and "flawed" that I enjoy, though. So, thank you! I do take your message as a compliment and I'm glad you enjoy him.

DU drow was my first run! I have since played with a different character called Izzantar who was my first non-urge campaign though.

...

...

... I didn't find scratch in the DU drow run. Sorry anon LOL

Now you see, this is the legacy I want to leave behind.

(thanks for making Astarion feel included)

I was the one who recommended it to him and I really liked it! I've always DREAMED of a game that actually and unapologetically put you in the shoes of a shitty person and took you through the complex reasons why they are the way that they are without justifying their actions. And I adore the way the secondary character undeniably had a hand in the tragedy that unfolded despite his good intentions. The game sincerely explored the types of flawed characters I rarely ever see explored and I can only give it my sincerest kudos to it.

I've been considering playing Origins on stream after MANY recommendations, actually!

I would suggest examining and referencing off athletes and gymnasts videos for practice while trying to garner a more in-depth understanding of musculature by crossreferencing that stuff with dry, medical anatomy diagrams. I have a few more in-depth examples and advice in my #tutorial and #advice tags!

DU drow would really like Frida. Jarboe would constantly disappoint him by being the very dumb animal that she is.

I think Astarion would like both of them but complain endlessly about how much attention they demand and how up in his business they'd want to be - I have a feeling he likes street cats, which none of my cats are (Frida has a little street-smarts remaining but has been thoroughly spoiled by now. Jarboe was a hoarder cat before I adopted her and is extremely sociable and un-cat-like because of it.)

I DM'd a single Call of Cthulhu session in my teens and only recently participated in my first ever DnD game in a discord event! That's about it.

This is for the over-attentive ANE readers but Brutus is a Dalyria song for me ☺️

He'd like Jazz A LOT.

But I think he'd be more of a root-punk/post-rock guy, not really into synth. And then a lot of the classics like Elvis, Nina Simone, Marley, etc.

Also Foetus and GG allin for whatever reason.

3 for Astarion, 5 for Shadowheart. Jaheira would never but she could get away with 8.

[dreemurr-skelememer]

Hello :D

I have been following you for the last year or so (a few days after I got my Tumblr lmao) and I absolutely love your art!

I have been wanting to study your art style for a while but don't really know where to start,,,

Could you please show me a small portion of your art process, if it isn't too much trouble of course. Thank you and have a nice day!

hello. oh my god. this took forever to find.

im sorry it took 2 WHOLE FUCKING MONTHS for me to respond to this but i wanted to put it off until i felt happy with my art process again, so here it is

my fall 2024 rendering tutorial!

(this will be very very long)

FLATS AND WHATEVER YOU WANNA DO WITH LINES GIRL. then make sure to recolor the lineart to better match your base. trust me it helps, bold dark lines are Not your best friend when rendering. wait for that post-rendering

i start off with a doodle or a sketch, and then filling it in with flats and other details such as blush

FIGURE OUT YOUR LIGHT SOURCE. FIGURE IT OUT GIRL YOU CAN DO IT you can make it as simple as possible, make it as big as possible, dont even THINK about the details.........just make it really fucking big so you at least know where the shadows and the light goes THEN add smaller shading details LISTEN TO ME. LISTEN TO ME OKAY!!!!!!!!

my key point with this is for you to learn lighting fundamentals.

it's SOOO ANNOYING but alas......they are all correct. it helps a lot.

one thing i also really want to point out is that i like creating a big shadow shape first before fixing up the little details (such as folds and whatever) because it helps me focus on the way the lighting actually works instead of tunnel vision-ing into making the shading make sense on the clothing.

contact shadows (i dont remember if thats what theyre called okay) theyre fucking ugly because im not actually thinking sorry 💔

okay so basically:

contact shadows (if that's what they're called) are the spots in shading and lighting where light will NEVER hit.

shadows are still influenced by the colors and lights around it (it's why a blue shadow and a yellow shadow feel completely different, despite both being shadows) so it's not always COMPLETELY dark.

BUT! there are small points in shadows where light never hits, and they're almost always super dark or pitch black.

it's hard to explain shadow and light so briefly for a tutorial, but you'll notice it when watching fundamental studies and when trying it out for yourself

YES i unclipped the multiply layer YES its ugly and terrifying but it makes coloring the multiply layer easier okay the colors merged w multiply so now it looks cool and has depth overlaying colors that actually make sense

so basically what i did was color the multiply layer that i used to shade the overall drawing

adding a band of red/orange/yellow around where the light hits, and blue where the shadows get big and wide, gives it a fake ambient occlusion effect in the way that a person would get if they stood under the sun with a clear blue sky

the colors don't have to make sense, especially because i never draw backgrounds, but coloring the shadows really help it give a sense of depth and extra subtle detail and effect that just helps make the painting look nicer

around the end, i also put in colors (in an overlay layer with a low opacity brush) that actually make sense in context of the drawing, which is the lit cigarette and the yellow eyelights

mostly because none of the colors were making sense and i needed to actually make use of the lighting that DOES exist in the drawing lol

adding a muddy golden yellow pin light layer (opacity turned down to like 40-50%) to make the light colors less ugly lol

i SWEAR by the fucking pin light layer style. it's so useful and so so underrated.

i used an almost brown-ish gold color on stop of all the layers, and with the pin light layer, it helped make the bright (almost blue-ish) white colors more warm and more yellow. it just helps make things more warm (something i prefer)

i could probably show what it looks like without adjusting the layer opacity to truly show off what i mean (like in the coming section) but i sadly forgot to do that lol

make a layer on top of your drawing with this color in these ranges YES the drawing is fully merged NO don't be afraid, the base was fucking ugly anyway 💔 make this layer into an exclude/exclusion layer style TRUST turn down your exclusion layer opacity from a range of 10% to 40% literally until you're happy with the contrast and the way the color over the drawing. use your eyeballs. i know you can do it im so proud of you

this is pretty self-explanatory instruction-wise, so i'll go into why i do this instead

i really like art that seems like it has low contrast, with almost mid-gray shading and lines. i don't personally use dark and bold lines and shading, unless i find it necessary for the tone of the piece, so using this method helps lower the contrast of the art and make it look "pleasantly muddy" in the way that it's easier and softer on the eyes.

the inverted blue color also helps makes things warmer!

the exclusion layer style is still a bit of a mystery to me but i really like the effect it gives, even if i don't completely get how it works lol

if you want an alternative method to this, and if you have access to it (because i primarily use sai and sai only),

i absolutely encourage you to play around and experiment with gradient maps.

there are so many out there you can make yourself or even get from others that just give the painting an extra amount of depth and color variation. they're SO fun.

personally, if sai2 gets a gradient map update, it's over for y'all it will literally be so over no one will be able to stop me

then i merged everything and actually adjusted the contrast back up because it was looking too muddy for me 💔 but the color adjustments are still there so all hope is not lost here's a comparison of the adjusted contrast in black and white (adjusted on the left) (newly merged layer without adjusting the contrast on the right)

as you can see, i actually turned the contrast back up (despite talking all about how i liked things with less contrast lol)

i wanted to demonstrate that doing adjustments should be done in moderation, and is why i adjust layer opacity often when making color effects

you are free to play around with colors to help your style, but don't lose your initial idea and colors along the way.

you still need to trust your own colors and intuition!

along with that, i just want to say that it's completely okay to change your mind mid-painting, and it's okay to make somewhat drastic changes.

don't be afraid to change things you don't like or change your mind about certain aspects way later on

that's basically the whole thing of this!!! don't be scared!!!

now im gonna hold your hand when i say this..........but you need to learn how to render by yourself. it seems like i can teach you but i literally can't, because rendering is different on every piece and depending on how clean your base is. i have to render A LOT because of how fucking ugly my sketches are LMAO to simplify it, think of it as obsessively cleaning up every detail you can see, but with a color picker and a clean, hard edged brush. if you have shit lineart, you don't have to redraw it cleanly over and over, just paint over it. that's basically what rendering is

THIS especially is where you need to be brave and stop being scared.

like i said, i can't teach you how to render, and it's something you have to discover yourself because rendering is something that will always be personal to every single piece you make. the way you render on every piece is different.

on one piece, you will barely need to render, and on another, rendering is more than half of your ENTIRE process.

don't be afraid to paint over your old art.

rendering is a process that's both very perfectionist yet also very careless.

find your balance and just go for it.

and then that's it……..u did it………..now yuo know how to paint and render. it's literally just layering shading and lighting knowledge until you think it makes sense and looks okay lol additional note: since i render in only one layer (you don't HAVE to do this, but it'll be harder for you…), i also made slight adjustments with the transform (and liquify, if you have it) tool to make things more proportionate. (i drew the head too big lol)

if you compare the finished piece to the final unrendered base, you can see that a LOT changed, including a bit of subtle proportion adjustment.

particularly, the sleeves changed A LOT (because i really didn't like them)

but it's also over all cleaner and more coherent, instead of having haphazard colors and shading just thrown about.

rendering is when you finally use all 100% of your brain to finalize and figure out where the shading should go, where to clean up your lines, where to ERASE or ADD BACK in lines, and make sure all your colors look coherent.

it's not as intimidating as it seems, i only use a hard edged brush with a little bit of color mixing and my color picker.

it's like dragging and dropping colors to cover up mistakes, it's really quite fun when you get used to it

i wish i could explain it clearer but it's hard to describe without visuals!

i hope this helped, and i hope all my yapping isn't annoying (art as a special interest beloved)

have fun studying and trying to render in my art style!

[ff-killjam]

How The Tables Turned [Ford x reader oneshot]

Summary: This time, its Ford making you stop what you're going to make sure you get sleep.

Rating: SFW and very fluffy

Warnings: Aside from a slightly suggestive part, none!

AO3 version

A/N: Actually based on a period of time where I tried to learn how to use unity (before the whole drama of it happened). I refused to do ANYTHING but to work on my little project no matter how much I was starving for a few weeks straight. lol.

It’s basically routine at this point for you to drag Ford out of his lab to head for bed. Even if you remind him of the benefits on sleeping and how the lack of it will impact his work, you still needed to get him into bed, sometimes having some food ready for him to make sure he didn’t sleep on an empty stomach.

That’s how its USUALLY IS.

Lately, you’ve started your own personal project involving learning a game engine to play around with. It was mostly just a random idea one day, wanting to try your hand at making your own little “video game”. Nothing too fancy, just something fun to put together and to learn some new skills along the way. There was A LOT you needed to look into and learn to make this happen, however.

From learning a coding language, the game engine itself, a mix between finding free to use assets and even making your own when nothing suited your taste- you had a lot on your plate. It wasn’t all that bad really, considering how this whole thing turned into a full blown hyper fixation fairly soon after starting it. It was easy to let the hours fly by as you were split between watching tutorial videos, drawing and fixing any errors/bugs in any of the codes you wrote down. You were aware of when you needed to sleep, eat and do other things for your health, but something about working on this project made you refuse to move from your chair. And you weren’t the only one to noticed this.

After a decent amount of time being with you, Ford has grown used to the routine of you coming to his lab to check up on him. It got to the point where he purposely stayed late in the lab to get you to come in and “pester” him to take care of himself better. The feeling of knowing you cared and loved him so much to go out of your way to make sure he knew that was something he relished in. Of course, he did felt a little “silly” and “immature” doing this instead of straight up telling you, but there was no harm being done anyways, so it was fine.

So when you stopped checking on him after a few nights, he couldn’t help but to worry a bit. At first, he figured you were just a bit busy, possibly even out for the night, so he didn’t think too much of it. However, when walking into your computer room and seeing you up staring at your screen with an open notebook with various random things written on it, he couldn’t help to smile a bit as you reminded him of his university days. You were just working on something, nothing too bad.

But as time passed by, he soon realizes he only ever sees you in your computer room. You barely went out for anything, even for food. Ford didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, but he was worried. Things escalated for him when he barely sees you in bed anymore.

It’s not like he didn’t talk to you as you were deep in your work. He would sometimes check in on you when things felt a little too quite after he started to noticed your absent in his lab. Ford was happy you were able to pursue something new and to take the time and effort to do it. He was aware of the little game you wanted to make for the sake of saying “I made this!”. When he had the free time, he’ll listen to you talk about the things you learned, some of the issues you faced and how you fixed them, etc etc. But he can only take so much before he had to really step in for your own sake.

The sky was dark out, and it was around 1am. You weren’t in bed yet. Again. Ford was really concerned for you now. Walking through the dim hallway, he opens up the door of your computer room. He can see you fully concentrated on your screen, looking over some codes you put together, as if you were trying to find any errors in the lines of text that was presented in front of you. It was obvious how dry your eyes were, how your body longed for rest, but the urge to keep going and to fix this one mistake kept you from wanting to sleep despite how much you felt the need to do so.

It was almost funny to him. A taste of his own medicine some would say. It reminds him of the many nights on how he too would refuse to stop for the night, always needing to do one more thing before he could let himself rest. How you would do your best to persuade him to let himself walk away from his work, to take care of himself to avoid any health complications, and to spend time with you in the comfort of your bed.

It made him feel guilty as well. The things you did for him and how much you loved him to always go out of your way to show it. Ford knew he was taking full advantage of that, and he wanted to repay it back.

You jumped a little in your seat when you felt his familiar six finger hand land on your shoulder, being so focused on the lines of text on your screen that you forgot where you were for a good bit. You look over at Ford as he stood beside your seat, giving him a weak smile.

“Oh hey! Do you need anything?” You asked before quickly looking back at the screen again.

“Love, when was the last time you ate?” Ford asked you in a gentle voice.

“Uh… I had breakfast?” You answered, only remembering you had some toast with a sunny side egg on top when you last ate. It didn’t seem like it mattered too much though.

“Its almost one am” Ford replied, a little stern this time. You quickly check the clock on your taskbar, feeling surprised from how much time had passed.

“Oh… oops” you spoke mostly to yourself, feeling a little silly for not checking the time more often. “I’ll probably head to bed soon”

“Not soon,” Ford points out, “you’re going to bed now.” His words made you look at him again, confusion viable on your face.

“Just let me do this one fix-” Ford says your name, stern voice again, causing you to stop your sentence.

“You are fully aware of the effects of not taking care of yourself” Ford spoke to you with a smirk on his face. You knew that he was referencing the many of times where you brought out the facts of how the lack of sleep and self care can affect your health and day to day life. It was the best way to convince him to come to bed and let you cuddle with him until you were both asleep. “You’re no different form me, sweetheart. Got to practice what they preach, as they say”

“Uh…. I’m built different?” You gave a half shrug and a low chuckle at your own joke. Obviously, this did nothing to change his mind. You knew he was right, and had nothing to say to argue back. Ford knew this too. “Fine… let me quickly save and shut off my computer…”

Ford watches you quickly save any progress before shutting off your computer, the light of the screen turning off and making the room dark as it was the only thing on. As you start to stand, your body fully conveyed how tired you really were. You were about to walk to the hallway door before Ford lets out a ‘let me’, and you were now being picked up bridle style in his arms. You let out a small gasp, often forgetting how much muscle the older man has as he often hides it away in his iconic turtleneck. The comfort of him holding you made the realization at your own exhaustion hit hard. You can feel yourself somewhat go limp as Ford carried you to your shared room.

Ford felt you quickly relax in his arms, feeling prideful as he carried you to your bed. Sitting you on the side and pulling the blanket back. He lays you on your pillow before fallowing suit into his usual spot on the bed beside you. Your eyes were shut as you let yourself sink into the soft mattress, the weight of the blanket being pulled over you giving a sense of security, along with how his arms wrapped around you to pull you close to his chest. You let out a sigh of relief as you feel him nuzzle his face into the crook of your neck, getting a few shivers down your spine.

“Sorry…” You mumbled to him, feeling guilty now for making him go out of his way to get you to bed. You feel him chuckle into your skin, the smile forming on his face being easily felt on your skin.

“Nothing to be sorry about sweetheart,” his replied, voice audibly sounding more tired, “I should be the one to apologize, making you go through this almost every night. I see how doing this almost all the time can be a bit frustrating for you.”

“Not if its you,” You were quickly to reply, “I’m always happy to make sure you’re okay”. Ford felt his heart flutter at your words. You always did surprised him with how much you loved him despite how many times you pointed it out.

“The feeling is mutual,” Ford placed a kiss on your skin as he caressed one of his thumbs that rested on you, “lets get to sleep now, I’ll be sure to do something for you in the morning” Ford gave another kiss on your skin, and you can’t help but to feel excited for what he had planned.

Silence followed as you two let yourselves slowly fall asleep in each others comfort. Feeling his steady heartbeat on your back lulled you to your sleep.

Ford smiled when he realized you fell asleep before he did. It was no surprise, you needed it really bad. Without fail every night when he has you in his arms like this, he feels like the luckiest man in the multiverse. He didn’t deserve you, but it was almost as if this is the repayment he deserved after many years of suffering, a way of life saying sorry to him.

And he wouldn’t ask for anything else.

[mmatchadd]

Hi 😊

Just found your blog and love your writing.

May I ask for a request please? 😇

There are bearely Tsukishima Kei x chubby reader one shots 🥲

So, could you do a Tsukishima Kei x chubby reader?

Reader is part of the Karasuno Team and they go to the beach for swimming. But reader is super insecure about her body. Wearing a cute bikini but stays coverd. And things goes on. The rest is up to you. Feel free to write what you like.

yess! ofc (´꒳`)♡

warnings (?) reader is a bit insecure, mentions of being nauseous.

a/n: I took so long because I was trying to do those color gradient texts but it wasn’t cooperating and those tutorials weren’t even tutorials bruh. I raged half way and just gave up..and it wasn’t any better cause I was trying to do the same with my other request! So sorry, I wasn’t ignoring you it was just kinda collecting dust😞

I got..carried away. sorry 😞

let’s pretend these are the bikini options!! (or two piece)

when you were made aware of the trip to the beach you were somewhat thrilled until you had to pick out a bikini to wear. You never really wore bikinis whenever you went swimming..just an old shirt and some gym shorts was enough for you. But considering this was a BEACH and not the public pool..you definitely felt obligated to buy a bikini.

As the day of the trip crept closer and closer, you began to overthink and become nervous. “What if there isn’t any in my size?” , “what if my stomach starts to spill out?” , “what if they laugh at me? Or take pictures of me?” , “what if there aren’t any cute bikinis?!” Your mind was plagued with thoughts and the way you hands were sweating did not help. You sighed as you put your head down on the desk, letting out a small desperated sigh. You look up once you hear your name and see that it’s yachi, you smile and chat with her. She asks if you already found a swimsuit for the trip and your chest twist as you wanted to lie and say yes but you couldn’t really bring yourself to do so..”no I haven’t, none of the ones online look good and I have no idea where to buy any in person”. Yachi tells you that her and kiyoko are going to buy some this Friday, before the trip, and you should come to find you one! And yeah, you being you. You reluctantly agreed..too deep in already to say no.

Friday came and you’re standing inside the fitting room with the bikini on..turning side to side, checking out your body. A small frown graced upon your face as you saw how your stomach poked out over the fabric. How the strings felt suffocated between your back rolls. The analyzing of your crooks and Nannies came to a hault as you heard a soft knock on the door. “Y/n are you done?? Did you find what you like?” Yachi asked on the other side of the door. “y-yeah!” you replied. Opening the door, you showed kiyoko and yachi the bikini you picked out. Searching their face for any judgement or disgust but all you saw was them, the bikinis they had tried on and how effortlessly their body look without sucking in their stomach. You felt small under their gaze but big next to them.

The weekend came and you’re sitting on the bus next to them both. Watching as you passed by many houses, resorts, big cities and rural areas before getting to the big sandy dunes full of people and chatter. Everyone was enthusiastic, some already in their swimming trunks and others waiting to get changed in their swimming attire.

Once everyone is situated, you wait till they leave to get dressed on your own. Nervous, scared..you didn’t want to walk outside looking like this. oh lord..your stomach is twisting and churning just thinking of all the things that could go wrong. As you lollygagged and wasted time in the bathroom changing, lost in thought..you didn’t hear anyone come in the room. A knock on the bathroom door was enough to startle you “hello? Who is it?” You asked, intently listening. “Come out the bathroom y/n.” You internally sighed..of all people Tsukishima? What did he need!? “did he really have to use the bathroom?? Why this one??!” You groaned in a defeated manner. The last person you’d want to see your body is Tsukishima kei..god knows what he’s thinking or might say behind your back.

You Settle down to just throwing a flimsy see through shirt over your bikini with a thin patterned towel to cover your waist (your mom insisted you bring it with you..it definitely came in handy.) with a deep breathe you open the door to a Tsukishima in a compress shirt with his swim trunks on in his signature color. He scoffs and looks at you “no way you’re wearing that to the beach, y/n.” you whip your heard to look at him, words stuck in your throat. “You’re getting in the water, not SUNbathing.” he teases “I- what’s wrong with it?? I just didn’t want too much skin to be showing…that’s all!” You fumble with your words as his presence alone is intimidating, but with the constant fear of judgment lingering in your head..him being around you makes it even worse. He’s known for his bluntness and sass..one comment about your body is enough to make you hide under the covers for the rest of the day.

“It’s literally the beach. Not a public pool, no one will be looking at you like that.” He scoffs “besides..it’s too hot to be wearing rags around your waist..but if that’s what you want to wear then go ahead.” He shrugs, seeing the pink fabric beneath the see through T-shirt you had on. He knew you had something on beneath it..just didn’t understand why you’d want to cover yourself so much. You roll your eyes at his remarks before walking behind him going out to the shore. You stopped and look..yeah it was a lot of people but that doesn’t mean anything! Maybe they won’t be paying attention you or maybe they will. You watched everyone on the karasuno team play beach volleyball and walk around, playing in the sand. But there you were, standing in the shade watching others enjoy themselves.

sitting down on the towel you brought out, just morning your business, too lost in your thoughts to look up or try to include yourself in beach activities. You felt a presence hovering above you. Looking back, it was none other than Tsukishima again. He found his way next to you “why are you sitting here by yourself..like a loner” you could feel him smirking by the way he called you a loner. “I don’t know, same reason why you’re bothering me?” You retort back, somewhat annoyed of how he disturbed your peace. “Well excuse me, sorry I’m not wearing my bedsheets to the beach” he jokes as he leans back on his elbows “why are you even wearing that in the first place? I can see your bikini underneath that shirt you know.” with a sigh you look at him as he’s waiting for an answer “I just..really don’t wanna show too much skin. It’s sensitive..” he looks at you with a raised eyebrow “lies..” he mumbles “you don’t have to be modest or hide..especially around me.” He says that last part underneath his breath.

The delayed look you gave him as you thought and wondered..why is he so persistent on what I’m wearing?? “If you think someone is gonna make fun your body..I wouldn’t let them. You know I wouldn’t.” He states that like it’s facts and yeah, if you’re someone dear to Tsukishima he wouldn’t let anyone disrespect you. You saw how he was with tadashi and how he shut the whole show down when some upperclassmen thought they were bigger than the program. But you were just their manager, not really a friend to them per se. especially to Tsukishima. “Why do you care so much about it?” You asked, looking over at him. There was a long pause as he stared ahead of him “cause..I personally don’t think there’s nothing wrong with the way you look. I like your..body. It’s nice.”

He’s for sure you heard that last part but he didn’t care, he just hoped you didn’t see how pink his ears were and him avoiding your eyes. A small smirk appeared on your face and he rolled his eyes at it “tch, don’t get too happy about it” but how could you?? When the Tsukishima kei is giving a girl like you words of encouragement about her body? wow. Standing up, he looks down at you and sticks his hand out..signaling for you to grab it and stand up as well. As you do the cloth around your waist gracefully fell and pooled around your ankles. You felt naked sure, but less insecure with the words he spoke to you “I guess I might as well take the top off as well” you say. The way he looked at you wasn’t disgust or judgment, it was like revisiting his favorite movie again.

a/n: you can tell I got carried away..ANYWAYS I hope you enjoy this and I pray I didn’t go off course with the prompt.

[skyrim-forever]

This is gonna be a very personal post but given the situation I wanted to say something here but

My 6.5 year relationship has ended, I have nothing but love for my ex but it was clear that we need different things in life. We met at 20 and went through 3 years long distance together spread across the country. We had hopes to be together forever and he is the only person I've pictured spending my life with. Despite our differences, we had some great times together.

I particularly wanted to say something here because he was the person who got me into Skyrim. My relationship before him (my only other relationship), my ex got me to play through the tutorial and I said "it was alright but I don't think it's for me" *bombastic sideeye*

After I had moved in back in 2019, he had a spare pc and suggested I try Skyrim because it was one of his favs. I had some time over winter break from uni and got instantly obsessed. I played the game a whole bunch but never dipped any further than what the general Skyrim audience knows. It wasn't until 2022 while I was bored during the summer in grad school that I started playing again, watched all the lore videos I could find and eventually on July 4th 2022 I made this blog because none of my friends where into Skyrim and I needed an outlet for it. Then of course I discovered people made ocs for their Dragonborn's and the imperial named Theodora started to develop in my head. Initially, she hated the Thalmor but as you all know that didn't last long :P

Then I started interacting with some of the cool people here and seeing them write fanfic made me think I could too and even put it out on ao3. And then I made more friends, and I took up beading and I combined it with tes. And then meet more people, wonderful people I now chat with in discord servers and in the dms where we are *very normal* about elves :P I've even had a few voice calls with some and I hope to have many more in the future <3

So all this to say that although my life is in upheaval, my anxiety in particular is really rough now, that relationship did much good for me and one of those things was helping me find this community. Tumblr really has been my refuge throughout the difficult time I had in grad school and the loneliness I've experienced moving away from my irl friends. Thank you all for being funny, kind, creative, very normal :P I'm blessed to have not only a good community around me but a good online community. I hope to have blorbo thoughts again soon <3

[saszor]

Hey! You're tutorial on drawing burn scars was really helpful. I've been trying to draw burns for a while and I could just never find a tutorial for drawing them, especially not one that showcased burns on multiple skin colors.

I have a question though, and I'm not entirely sure if you'll be able to answer it or point me at a good resource, but I figured I'd ask anyways.

In the guide you have some different types of burn scars listed (hypertrophic, keloid, and contracture). Do you know what causes each type to scar differently? Is it the severity of the burn? Or something else.

Again, thank you so much for the work you've done. No pressure to answer if you can't, that's totally fine. Have a good day/night!

Hi! Fair question!

As for the severity: 1st degree burns very rarely leave anything behind after they heal and if they do it's usually mild skin discoloration. 2nd degree sometimes leaves some scarring but it usually fades away after some time since it's partial thickness, but deeper 2nd degree burns can cause permanent scarring that'll generally be less severe than those caused by higher degrees and mostly be hypertrophic. Third degree basically always leaves scars of all kinds. There might be tissue loss, so parts like ears or nose can be gone. Fourth degree is defined as going all the way to the bone, so the place with the burn will often be amputated because well it's just bone left. In this way it doesn't really leave scars I guess? But the area that's left will usually have severe scarring of basically any type.

For location: Hypertrophic scars happen wherever but are more common in places where skin is tight rather than loose. Pressure garments are used to prevent the hypertrophy so if for example your character wore compression sleeves as prescribed on their arms but nothing on their chest, the scars would probably be much more visible (more thick, discolored, and probably more painful as well) on their chest.

Keloids tend to form on the shoulders, cheeks, chest, and most commonly ears, but there is not much room to get a keloid there when it comes to burns - often if there is enough damage for them to scar, there will be tissue loss first. Keloids also happen more often in people with darker skin because their formation has something to do with melanocytes. Some people are also just more susceptible to getting keloids and if you have one you have a higher chance of getting another. Because of this keloids are rarely removed because they tend to just come back.

Contracture scars tend to happen where regular contractions do - where things move around a lot. So joints, facial and neck muscles, and especially digits. Contractures get less visible with physical therapy, wearing things like splints, or surgeries (like z-plasty or just skin grafts/flaps) that loosen them up and/or allow for more range of movement.

Ofc this is more of a rough guideline than anything else, every scar can potentially form anywhere and from anything (I'm just mentioning what's the Most Typical) and it depends on what resources someone has available to them. I have scars on my torso that according to this theory would have a high chance of being keloids (none of them are) and two on my hand that shouldn't have turned into scars at all (but they did) and they're hypertrophic for some reason. So I'd keep it in mind but don't stress about it 👍