#<- it is now 2024 and i drew these all the way back in 2021 and like. anyway. delayed gratification my beloved.

[heleneplays]

Scene redraws - Ch. 5, Relics 2: The Crusader's Tomb

The Maríamancer in me jumped out!!!!!!!! I have 0 regrets, it's abt the long awaited romance start for this slow burn enemies to lovers arc of two pining dumbasses for me 👏😩💖

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[wigglebox]

Follow up [x]

If you click the link and go to the original post made in 2015, you'll see in the tags how I felt insecure about what I was doing and how my art style never felt like my own.

And I've seen others, particularly newer or younger artists (but sometimes seasoned ones as well!) who talk about how they feel like their style changes every day and that they don't know how to make a consistent style and how they don't feel like what they draw is truly their own.

At this point, I'm convinced this is just something we all have to go through.

The art that I used to get me into art school back in 2009 was heavily inspired by Tim Burton. Every year after that (and I dropped out of art school in 2010) I just felt like I couldn't get ahold of a style of my own.

But in 2021, after a handful of years where I more or less gave up on any art muse or any real art in general (other than some doodles on my phone), I drew this (on said phone):

And from October 2021 to now, June 2024 we've gone from that to this:

Even in the last three years my style has changed but I've finally been on the highway of "A Style That Feels Like My Own" so even changing a lane here and there doesn't take me off there.

So when I saw this 2015 post in which I lamented the fact that I felt like I didn't have my own style, I found art that inspires rather than makes me feel bad, my voice, the medium that I work best with, and how to implement resources and references in a way that works.

I wanted to follow up on that 2015 post because I feel like many of us get into this spot when it comes to our art.

Your art is an expression of yourself, and you'll eventually find your voice! There's no time limit.

[genericpuff]

I drew this 5 years ago in 2019 when I was in the midst of some hardcore burnout with my original projects-

A year later, in the midst of the 2020 pandemic lockdowns, I completed Volume 6 and jumped right into Volume 7. I had finally "gotten over it" as my past self had hoped for but couldn't see through the haze of burnout at the time.

A year after that, on December 31st 2021, the series ended, coming in at 11 volumes, 2000+ page, and 7 years of work.

Now it's 2024. The "sequel" to this series has been on hiatus since December 2022, with only one update since in April 2023 and the next episode is still sitting in my WIP's. I'm feeling the suffocation I felt back then, and trying to remind myself that, like last time, I'll eventually "get over it". In the meantime, I've been working hard on a comic I never saw coming, LORE | REKINDLED, and I couldn't be more thankful for the things I've learned making it. It gave me the space and time I needed away from the pit I was digging myself into, a pit that I'm still working to get out of.

For 7 long years I felt like a "failure". I defined it as "not having readers", "not making money" , "not getting seen". And while my definition of success still includes some of those things - we all want to see some kind of tangible return for our work and that's natural - I know now in hindsight that the "failures" of that comic were necessary to get to where I am now. I'm thankful that it was nothing more than that, that I was able to make those mistakes and learn what I needed to learn without the pressures of what the popular definition of "success" tends to bring.

That comic was still a success in its own way. I completed it. I learned. The scars from what I put myself through making it are still there, but I'm healing, and getting stronger. I'm putting out some of the best work I've ever pushed myself to do, and I'm having a blast doing it. And I'm starting to make plans for my return to my original series, with the focus and skills I've gained working on Rekindled at the forefront.

And I can happily say that I'm no longer afraid of panels.

[fran-aka-mak]

art development !!

i started doing digital art in 2013 but the template starts at 2015 hehe

[[ template ]]

my essaying about my digital art journey below!!

2015 - i was very immersed in the soul eater community! i kept doing resbangs and making friends, and i love doing AUs, specifically soul & maka centric. this is the HTTYD AU where soul is the dragon!

2016 - yes this is Little Things PH's OCs that i did back in the day! i love their lil guys so much i had to make fanart. this was the art i gave to Ate in person!!

2017 - i drew a lot more pokemon this time ! idk why i didn't draw more of it digitally before. i had too much soul eater brainrot lmao. so i combined them! behold contestshipping x soma AU

2018 - this was the time when i got into K-pop! specifically Monsta X haha, i got more interested in doing fashion, especially for male characters~ (and i had to draw my beloved agenda, somakid)

2019 - my bias from MX, Minhyuk on a whale with Minggom! this was made for an artbook that was sent to him! i hope he got to see this along with my tiny message ;; i delved more into a new tiny chibi art style here

2020 - i drew way too much during this year and it led me to impossibly high standards for my art to this day //sobs. i redrew my Your Lie in April AU fanart and i really think i improved so much….. i went out of my comfort zone to really draw the background and the piano

2021 - genshin brainrot started here !! i was trying to find my style even more, and i love kokomi's color palette. i remember looking at 10x references and combining them into this specific pose in the fanart. i still think to this day this is one of my personal favorite art pieces of all time

2022 - another personal favorite art piece (and something my friend aura and a commissioner personally loved!), i was practicing on drawing men since i wasn't confident, but seeing how this turned out made me want to keep going ❤️

2023 - the latest maka & kid piece that i made! they are so precious to me. i love trying out new poses and dynamics, and i tried changing their outfits a bit more to highlight that i wanna try new fashion stuff ^^; i'd like to say it was a job well done ngl

2024 - and finally, a recent piece that i'm most proud of, and shows a lot of my art style (and i drew the background from scratch!). i redrew an old comic panel from a now discontinued comic, but i feel like i improved so much in terms of rendering, coloring, and anatomy!!

[tomorrowusa]

J.D. Vance is so awful that I'm starting to think that Trump chose him as "impeachment insurance" – if Republicans indeed win the November election.

Maybe the devil put the Trump-Vance ticket together...

He said that every person in attendance for his speech believed “something that’s a little crazy.” In his case, he said, “I believe the devil is real and that he works terrible things in our society. That’s a crazy conspiracy theory to a lot of very well-educated people in this country right now.” Vance made these remarks at a September 2021 gathering of the Teneo Network, an invitation-only group of young conservatives that counts elected officials, pro athletes, financial executives and media figures among its members. Vance joined Teneo six years ago. ProPublica and Documented obtained a video recording of his 30-minute speech and question-and-answer session, which has not been previously reported. [ ... ] According to tax records, the Teneo Network’s chairman is Leonard Leo, the legal activist who built a pipeline of lawyers who interpret the Constitution based on the “original intent” of the framers or the meaning of the words in the text when they were written. One of the most influential conservatives of the past three decades, Leo helped confirm all six conservative justices currently serving on the U.S. Supreme Court. Leo-aligned judges have pushed to restrict abortion rights and rein in the government’s power to regulate corporations. Leo has said he views the Teneo Network as a way to extend his influence beyond the judiciary to industries including finance, media, government and Silicon Valley. The network identifies and cultivates conservative leaders in “other areas of American culture and American life where things are really messed up right now,” as Leo put it in a Teneo video.

Leonard Leo is behind the effort to pack the judiciary with far right judges. Of course he has connections to Project 2025.

Adding Vance to the ticket bolsters the connections between Leo’s network and the Trump 2024 campaign. It also strengthens ties between Trump’s reelection bid and the Project 2025 blueprint, which outlines plans for a second Trump administration, including firing thousands of career civil servants, shuttering the Department of Education and replacing ambitious goals to combat climate change with ramped-up fossil fuel production. In a recent TV interview, Vance said the document contained “some good ideas” but claimed that “most Americans couldn’t care less about Project 2025” and that the Trump campaign wasn’t affiliated with it.

If people "don't care" about Project 2025 it's because they don't know about it yet. d'oh!

And yes, Project 2025 is filled with old Trump administration staffers/officials and people who worked in Trump campaigns. Saying there's no affiliation with the Trump campaign is like having a paramour and claiming there's no relationship because the couple isn't married.

J.D. is a fanboy of Alex Jones who spreads vicious conspiracy theories about the 2012 Sandy Hook school massacre.

Shortly before he spoke at the Teneo conference, Vance drew criticism when he tweeted that “Alex Jones is a far more reputable source of information than Rachel Maddow.” Jones, founder of the online show Infowars, gained a following with his promotion of conspiracy theories about the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. More recently, judges in several states ordered him to pay $1.5 billion to the families of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting, which Jones had called a hoax.

Don't think that Trump and his apprentice can't get elected just because they have bizarre extremist ideas. Remember 2016?

Trump has basically chosen Vance as his successor. Permit Trump-Vance to win and you help make America Russia.

[bosskie]

3 Years of Molluck: Art 'n' the Journey

Man, it's time to 'celebrate' me drawing this Gluk for 3 years since I have barely drawn anything else than him since then... So, this is gonna be a huge post where I have bundled the most of my Molluck stuff (2021-2024) and tell ya about my Molluck (art) journey.

I started sharing my Molluck content first on Twitter but then, I moved to here since this was more fitting home for my 'Molluck love headquarters'. I have pretty much abandoned every social media but Tumblr. Right now, it just feels like I have found the right place to be but also myself. I mean, it feels like I have finally found out what actually interests me and what feels like me, so Oddworld made me find home.

I have known Oddworld for... Well, at least known about its existence for a decade or something, seen gameplay of AO and AE for multiple times, but I actually got into it only in Janurary (?) 2021 when, for some odd reason, I wanted to watch all those cutscenes from AO, AE and MO. Those cutscenes made me fall in love with Oddworld! Even I'm quite a new fan still, it's my favourite game series! It just hit me... I just love the dark humour, that darkness in general, the brutality but also that silly humour (yes, I laugh at farts)! I can understand why Lorne never really liked the fart tho' but man, I cannot let it be... I really need to draw my silly comic idea of Molluck farting... Got some proper comic paper for it; just perfect waste of paper! (Never used that paper, even it's like over a decade old pad...)

But yeah, for this reason, I got no nostalgia for the series but I got into it 'just in time', before the release of SoulStorm on the same year. So, I had time to play the previous games before playing SS, though I have never finished Stranger's Wrath... Must be the lack of Glukkons... But I'll try to continue it one day! So, from the ones I have finished, my top3 is: Abe's Exoddus, Abe's Oddysee, and SoulStorm. I have finished them all at least 3 times.

Since the beginning, Gluks and Sligs have been my favourite Oddworld species, but yes, Glukkons are my beloveds! First, I actually drew just my own Glukkons, probably because I didn't really have any favourite Gluk first, just loved them in general, but Molluck was the first 'official' Gluk I ever drew since I had started to love him. It happened after watching all those SoulStorm cutscenes; I started to see myself in him and only after that he got my attention, noticed his special appearance too. So, it wasn't love at the first sight but after I got into him, saw his personality; I just felt like he is me as a Glukkon. Man, he has felt like the love of my life and still does!

But my first ever Oddworld piece was this Abe:

Yeah, just some random Abe I felt like drawing since I got quite into Oddworld stuff! But yes, getting into Oddworld was also like starting from a new table for me since I wanted to abandon my old stuff for multiple reasons. I just wish to let that past be and focus on the present. Like I said, it just feels like I have finally found home, thanks to Oddworld! I have heard so often that I'm 'odd', so I indeed belong to there! Molluck has just made me finally comfortable with who I am and helped me to find myself. No one else has felt so right as him. Therefore I believe that I'll have lots of years with Molluck in the future!

But yes, it's time for Molluck art! I drew my first Molluck exactly 3 years ago:

I swear, I didn't draw this badly back then... You know when you just have some kind of 'skill drops' when your skills just get worse for some reason. I just had no idea how to draw him, so I ended up drawing quite horrible Molluck stuff first... But after a few months, I already started to get a lot better at drawing him. My way to draw Molluck was quite experiemental for a long time and kinda still is... I still have no idea what my style is but some randomly stylized realism... I have never even liked my own style to draw, no matter if the others liked it. Maybe it's just like food: it's better when someone else does it!

I didn't repost all my Molluck art here, just with some criteria since I have drawn Molluck so much... You can also already find on my blog almost every Molluck I have drawn, so nothing new here really but maybe two lil things. I bet that next time, when I do a post like this, I'll only post my top favourites since yeah, I do draw Molluck a lot... Cannot still draw him too much!

So yeah, welcome to my life Molluck art journey:

2021

2022

2023

[Less stuff due to worse mental health and exhaustion.]

2024

Yeah, this was like my Molluck art journey in a nutshell! I feel like redrawing some of these, at least as sketches, not really because the original looked bad but because I just love the idea I drew! There are also some WIPs I still wish to work on and finish... But maybe after I feel like doing digital paintings again. I'm just kinda tired of drawing with the mouse... Yes, all my digital stuff is done with a computer mouse; it's actually restricting me but don't feel like investing in digital art supplies, at least right now... I haven't even liked using a drawing tablet nor a touch screen, so it's what makes me hesitate... I also just enjoy doing traditional art stuff in general. The main reason why I did mainly digital stuff before was my self-hatred because I thought that I just draw some trash and therefore would waste the art supplies... Yeah, it wasn't about preference, just mental health issues... Though digital art has its advantages I miss while doing traditional stuff... So, I do still like doing digital stuff for those reasons.

Heck, what a difference:

Frankly, I feel like this year, I have finally managed to start drawing Molluck like I have wished to be able to or at least close to that since I still feel like I have a lot to learn... I more like feel like I have gotten my older skills back than actually gotten better... I mean, I haven't really improved that much. Even I have pretty much zero desire to post my old stuff, I wanna give you an example of what I mean:

This is actually a WIP still but I did it 6 years ago. Never really done any proper car drawing/painting before but I like old cars, so had to paint one! Yeah, I actually wish to draw more vehicles... I don't wonder why I actually enjoyed drawing Molluck's blimp. Gotta draw a proper 'GlukMobile' for Molluck, I guess!

I'm not here to boast, just sharing my journey, and that it can happen that one's skills kinda get worse for some reason but it doesn't mean that they are gone. I more like wish to inspire people! Like, frankly, there's one specific (SoulStorm) Molluck fan art I saw like 3 years ago, posted by OWI, that really made me wanna push harder to improve my Molluck art. I really wanted to draw Molluck like that person, it was so amazing, and still is! Just gotta give some credit to that piece, at last; it's been such a big inspiration for me! Though, I still cannot see Molluck's sinister spirit there, like OWI describes the piece... I must function somehow differently since I have never really found Molluck intimidating, no matter which Molluck it is... Oh, and I don't really wish OWI to share my Molluck stuff... I don't feel like it's good enough for such, yet... I don't really enjoy (too much) attention either. Those are also reasons why I didn't send anything to their fan art celebration thing they held recently. I'm still kinda curious to know what they would think about my doings... It was like a miracle I even felt like taking a part in that SoulStorm tattoo competition since I don't enjoy competitions, just wanna do my stuff in peace.

I still don't know how 'perfect' my way to draw Molluck is, but like I have said, I'm finally starting to feel like I draw him somewhat like I have wanted since I started drawing him. I just feel like I could still draw him better, and better... But thru telling you this, I only wish to encourage you! There has been people who have said that they wish to have my skills/talent and I have been in that same position with my Molluck stuff, wishing being able to draw like someone else. It only made me push harder, though yes, it has also made me feel like my stuff looks like crap, but I don't wish it to look like that, so gotta just keep drawing! Art is pain, got even a deep scar from making it, but I do still love creating stuff; enjoying my own results is a different story though... Like, I seriously thought that my entry to that SoulStorm tattoo competition (that realistic piece of Molluck and his Slig from 2022) looks bad and almost deleted it after submitting it, but I won... I still don't know how to really handle it...

But honestly, I never thought that someone would ever look at my stuff and think that they wish to have my talent... It's such a big compliment... I feel speechless when I think about it, especially when I'm a someone who has literally taken all his own stuff away multiple times because he has hated his own creations, saw them as mere trash... One side of me is still saying that 'What talent? Please, wish to have someone better's talent...' or 'Oh, you want it? I can give it since I'm only wasting it!' since I don't personally feel talented (and I suffer from self-hatred), even I have heard so long that I'm a multi-talent, been even called a genius... I don't know what's the reality with this... Welp, I just wanna focus on creating my Molluck crap stuff in the best way possible! I still got so much Molluck stuff to do... But I still hope that I could see the talent the others see me having... Maybe it's just too close to me, literally being me, so I just cannot see it... Or maybe I can see it but wanna deny it... I really don't know what to think of my stuff; sometimes I only see it as just some trash, feel throwing them away, and sometimes I'm even able to like my stuff but that I loved my art... Nope, just cannot say it, mostly because I don't love myself either, but I'm trying my best to learn it. I only love my subject, Molluck.

I'm sorry but I just can be honest about how I feel about my stuff... I do not wanna create any idealized picture. Also, I have suffered from self-hatred for over a decade, so I'm sick 'n' tired of it... It just makes we wanna be brutally honest. I know how it can affect people but I just cannot hide my actual feelings, I'm so exhausted... Molluck also just relates so much to my mental health, like he is keeping me together... Man, I don't know in what kind of dark 'n' deep pit I would be right now without him... That Gluk just means so much to me... I don't really wish to post my self-insert stuff because it's my personal stuff but here's one old WIP I could show, especially when I really wish I could hug Molluck right now...

Yes, there was a version of this without me earlier and it's not the only self-insert thing I posted without myself. Some of them are also cropped NSFW stuff... Sometimes, it kinda feels sad when I succeed to draw Molluck well but then, it's something I don't wish to show... Yeah, could have more stuff to show but eh, I keeping them to myself, at least for now. I already confessed that the only Molluck animations, in 2D 'n' in 3D, I have done are NSFW... I wish to do ones I can actually post...

But yes, I'm sorry but I'm not the one 'contribuiting' the rule 34, even I do create NSFW stuff about Molluck, like I have said... But I could make his 'OnlyChumps' account, like I have seen some people joking about, but it would cost an arm and leg; Molluck ain't cheap! Just joking but, yeah it's just my own self-insert stuff and it would be odd to let people kinda come to 'our bedroom'... Also yeah, I know that Molluck is asexual for a natural reason but maybe he could still enjoy it since for me, it is about sharing and giving love. I just wish to give love to his beautiful body! Frankly, I feel like I'm kinda in a minority when it comes to loving his body like it is... Like I have said earlier, haven't seen anyone like me with this, especially when it comes the way I 'want' him... I have just mainly seen people laughing at his body... Welp, maybe I just got odd taste but he is literally the most beautiful creature I know and drives me crazy... Just no one else has made me feel like this... There was always a feeling like something isn't right but not with Molluck. I only just feel so good with him! Oh, and I'm not talking about real living people here, never had such a relationship.

Oh, and yeah, I have forgotten to say that when I think about my self-insert relationship with Molluck, I feel equal with him, even though yes, he got the moolah, owns the stuff ect... But we could own the stuff together too. The thing is just that there is no boss in our relationship; there are compromises. I just feel true love toward him. I tend to think that he kinda loses his 'boss-self' with me, meaning that he can be vulnerable, show his soft side, and feel free with me. Though yes, he does still have his dominant side but at the same time, he can be submissive and vulnerable, so this is complicated to explain... But yeah, the thing is that we both prefer to be dominant, so it creates a certain dynamic to our relationship. I have also just read that some people who are in a dominant positition, like a leader, like to swap the role in private, so it has inspired me. There is still no need to really explain this stuff but just saying that I have built a complex and deep relationship with Molluck.

It took me some time to build this relationship with Molluck and figure out how I prefer/like him to be, in many ways. But I have always just seen that there's a sweet side of him, even it's barely visible, but he just feels friendly... I don't know if it's just me being like the opposite, again, but he just doesn't give me that 'sinister vibe' I often hear people saying... So yeah, my way to see him is kinda soft but just because he did make me have this image. I have tried to find all the information about Molluck but there ain't much still, so I have done my own part to fill the gaps and try to make this all make sense. I also do feel like he is actually softer now since he is different in New 'n' Tasty than he was in Abe's Oddysee; he doesn't even laugh with the other Gluks anymore when he revealed his Mudokon Pops plan! He just seemed to be happy about that the other Gluks liked his plan. I just bet that it was actually like his last hope to save his business since he did invent the other products first, like his own cigar brand and that Molluck's MouthLube... But I just bet that he did his best but his fate was unfortunate... His Mudokon Pops plan might have been like his last hope, him being desperate. I just love this Gluk so much that I feel genuinely sad for him... I don't wanna pity him and I bet that he doesn't want it either but he just has my sympathy and I don't wish him to get killed... I still laugh at that AO's good ending like every time I see it since I just love that Abe's disgust and shock when he sees naked Molluck! It's really the funniest Oddworld cutscene for me, even at the same time I feel bad for Molluck...

This cutscene is the best reason to play the good ending in AO. (Y) Man, we don't even see Molluck's suit burn in NnT! I mean, it's really a worse version of this, Abe doesn't even sound disgusted there... I have also said this earlier but in NnT, Molluck's voice is awful... Just way too much pitch shift... AO one had more personality there too, and SS Molluck feels more like that AO Molluck still. I love the both Mollucks! Oh, and I would also say that I'm glad that they added a bit pitch shift to SS Molluck's final voice... I heard the trailer one later on and man, it just made me laugh! Though, when he breathes, that pitch shift sounds too artificial... When I have done my Molluck dubs, I also add a bit pitch shift to make it sound more accurate since it's a part of his voice in SS. It's just funny to me that I can imitate him quite accurately... But it's useful too since I can 'make' him say whatever I want for whatever I wanna do! I can say that I use it like every day to entertain myself... Mostly just saying silly things or quoting him...

When I create my Molluck content, I do wish to respect him, handle him with care, even I can also kinda make fun of him... I see that his personality has different shades, like that he can be an angry, bossy jerk but also such a sweet Gluk. He still cannot do much with his body but he is able to give affection, love, and pleasure, even if in a limited way. Yeah, since I did say it out loud back then, him being 'the receiver' only makes sense to me too... I mean, his body ain't really meant for physical acts... But maybe it's just my own preference and the way I see him... I love his body like it is, even it kinda happens that I make him somehow a bit more muscular... It's not my intention but well, I bet that it's not a bad thing. He does still have his arms and... Well, his mouth... Just saying that he is able to do some physical stuff with them!

This already a long ass post but since I mentioned some stuff, I feel like saying that I know some fan stories about humans being in Oddworld and I know that some people don't like humans being therem, so it's a controversial topic. But my reason to imagine myself being in Oddworld is just that I wish to be with Molluck, looking like I do IRL. I have invented my own story like how we ended up together but it's kinda still in development, especially when I just cannot really think of a single reason why anyone would start to love me or get interested in me and so on... Like, I just recently started to feel alright with that if I was an artist in Oddworld and Molluck was one of my customers and something just 'clicked' between us, but he would have also really loved the way I drew/painted/sculpted him, wishing me to be his personal artist. I had another story earlier, mostly because I just couldn't imagine myself doing art in Oddworld due to my self-hatred... That ad I drew recently just inspired me to think about this new version of the story. This version would just make much more sense but I don't really care about thinking of how I ended up in Oddworld in the first place, it's not really important. I only care about my time with Molluck!

Oh, and yes, I don't mind being his 'partner in crime' either! Love is... well, blind since I just feel like I love this Gluk, no matter what he has done. It doesn't give me anything special 'kicks', more like just see that his personality has different sides, and he is a part of the Magog Cartel, so he kinda must act that way. He has grown in that environment, got the Gluk narrative of the things, thinks that he is doing the right things. I understand him and wish to be kind to him since I just feel like there somewhere he is actually a sweet Gluk. I don't know how alone I'm with this but SoulStorm Molluck just gives me 'friendly vibes'... I bet that the fact I see myself in him affects a lot the way I see him. It's just that I associate myself the most with the Gluks... I would be a Glukkon if I was an Oddworld character! (I should redesign my Gluk-sona...) Well, Lorne also associates himself with the Gluks the most, so, heh, I'm not alone with this. Dunno if it's a good thing but Gluks have just won my heart, despite of all the crap they do... Maybe they are just way too adorable to me... Glukkons literally made me be into octopuses too! Oh, and related to this I haven't actually ever really had Molluck as my wallpaper/background... Dunno if it's a surprise but just felt like using the default stuff or octopuses... Though, I found from the files of Steam version of Abe's Oddysee some desktop icons, like the best possible trash can icon, being RuptureFarms meat barrel! Just had to use it after I discovered it by accident. So, if you got that, check out the game files! There's quite interesting sound effects too... Yeah, good stuff! (Fun fact: I got 7 copies of AO... 4 physical and 3 digital. Maybe it's my fave after all, not sure honestly... Maybe it's just my love for Molluck...)

Man, it's time to end this post... I still feel like I have only gotten started with my Molluck stuff. There is still so much to create, so many styles to explore, just so much to do! I don't even really feel like I have a certain style... It feels like I always draw somehow differently... Like, just look how varied my Molluck stuff looks! Welp, life is too short to use only one style! Just joking, I just wish to see Molluck in different styles and put him in different situations! I'm actually quite used to draw with different styles... I personally feel like I got nothing that makes people think that 'Oh, it's drawn by Bosskie/Riki!' if there was no signature nor maybe even Molluck...

I have no idea what kind of style I wish to exactly have, I just draw something in a way I feel like drawing it. I mainly do realism because it's something 'easy'... Just draw what you see and that's it. Though, I do enjoy different drawing styles, like photorealism but also cartoony style, so why only choose one? But like I have said earlier, I have never liked my cartoony style, even the others have... Though, I also like to mix different styles together, so yeah, my way to do art is kinda a mess... Don't really know what I'm doing... But that I'm trying to picture Molluck! But one style I have wished to achieve for years is to draw in a photorealistic way but like it has a filter on it, so stylized realism or something. Can't help that the style I admire the most do is realism...

I cannot really say what I think of my own art but that I feel like I don't really draw well... Just have so much to improve here and there but at least now I do draw actively, after a long time! It's just that whenever I look at how the others draw, I tend to feel I draw worse stuff... But it only makes me push myself harder, maybe even too hard, to improve my stuff, though sometimes, I also feel like I should stop doing art since my stuff just sucks... Well, I only wish to create more Molluck content, no matter how crappy it was. It's just the truth that I tend to feel depressed when I look at my stuff... I often find it that bad... They are rare moments when I can actually say I liked something I drew. This is pretty muchly the reason why I'm also drawing Molluck so much: I'm not often pleased with the result but I just love drawing Molluck. I'm sorry but I could mop the floors with my self-esteem, it's just quite low... Still trying to build it and stay positive, even I can easily think quite harsh things about myself...

Whoa, if you made this far, I really wanna thank you for your time! I hope that my stuff is enjoyable, despite of my mental health issues!

~ Much love to ya! 💛

[tytangfei]

Jina’s dramas awards 2023

It’s here! I feel like I say this every time, but truly, this year, I had less time to devote to dramas. Also, there were few dramas that held my full attention from beginning to end, so this year's list will be pretty short! (Check out my favs from 2020 , 2021, and from 2022.)

As usual, these are mostly Chinese historical/period romance dramas. I do have a category for modern dramas but I didn't watch any this year, so I'll be taking it off for this year. :)

Best Overall Drama

Lost You Forever (Season 1): A brilliant first episode played by talented kid actors who just drew you to this solemn, aching world of xiao yao and others. Technically, the drama isn't over, but my goodness, the characters are so good. The actors are chef's kiss.

Most Delightful/Fun Drama

The Starry Love: Knowing xianxia and wuxia genres, I expected this drama to have more angst, but I was laughing more than I was crying. A strong ensemble cast too that made everything more fun. I love this drama so much.

Most Impactful Drama

Lost You Forever: I still mull over certain scenes, cry over the characters' back stories and motivations and what gives them grief. I am still patiently waiting for season 2.

Drama with the Best Soundtrack

Circle of Love: Bangers after bangers. I still play it after all these months. The drama is such a wild intense ride, it was super entertaining.

Best Costume/Design/Set Drama

My Journey to You: Everything felt so elevated and elegant and sharp and mysterious and dangerous. Love it.

Best Short Drama

Butterflied Lover: This director never misses. Adore the two couples, even though the plot slowed down a little bit about 2/3 of the way. Beautifully shot, interesting storyline, happy ending. Nothing else I could ask for from a short drama.

Most Unexpected Drama (aka the Dark Horse) / Drama(s) I'm Enjoying Right Now But Have Not Finished

Mysterious Lotus Casebook, A Journey to Love, and The Last Immortal. For all three, I was surprised I enjoyed them so much. For MLC and AJTL, I know there are some major characters deaths, so I have yet the heart to finish it but I know that I've enjoyed a huge portion of it and I know their endings will not ruin that.

The Last Immortal is still airing and could have a disastrous end since they have to cut a lot to fit the 40-ep max limit, but I am surprised that I really like the characters. Unlike their prequel An Ancient Love Poetry where I did not care for the male lead's God self, for this drama, I care much about gu jin/yuan qi and a yin. I hope this drama ends on a good note.

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That’s all for me! Did we share any favs? Which drama would you in what category? Feel free to let me know. :) Thanks, all! Here's to new and beloved dramas in 2024!

[peculiar-potato]

My Art Fight 2024 Stats & Summary!

(This might be really boring but I like numbers and this is my tumblr so too bad)

For starters, here’s my progress on the Art Fight Bingo card, almost blacked the whole thing out! I hit a lot of categories with the same attacks, so to avoid too much repetition I decided to fill in the blocks with attacks I thought fit the brief the best, even if they weren’t the first one to check it off.

A few things of note, compared to previous years:

I had 28 level 1 attacks I needed to revenge (not counting chains). This most direct revenges I had to do so far! (Previous record was 21 in 2021). Essentially a lot more people attacked me first this year!

My attacks to defenses ratio this year (including mass attacks I was included in) was 42.2%. This is my lowest ratio of all the years, and the first time it fell below 50%. I did revenge everyone but I got a lot of attacks back for my mass attack so I technically received more art.

I did 38 attacks, which is my second-lowest amount of attacks (I did 31 in 2018). This was because my mass attack took up a ton of time, and now it just takes me longer to make attacks of the quality I want to.

18 of those attacks were friendly fire, which ties for the most friendly fire attacks in a year (I also did 18 in 2020), but friendly fire overall made up a higher percentage of my total attacks this year.

I had at least one character included in 19 mass attacks, which beat my record of being included in 12 in 2021. (Worth noting that between both 2022 and 2023 I was included in only 8, so I was not used to this many ahah).

This year my mass attack scored 9609.75 points, which absolutely destroyed my previous personal record of 3750.25 in 2021.

That helped my total points scored this year land at 12445.75, which is way more than previous years, my previous record being 7340.75 also in 2021.

In general, my fan characters took my art fight by storm, receiving wayyy more attacks than any of my original characters, which hasn’t happened before! I think a big contributing factor to this was all the mass attacks I was included in, but still, it was really interesting!

This year’s “fan favorite” (character who received the most attacks) was actually a tie between two characters- Twelve and Cyrus, both being included in 12 (aha) attacks each! Gray was a pretty close second being included in 11 attacks.

New/different things I did this year:

A lot more animation! I’ve done tiny bits here and there, but this year I actually fully animated a few attacks (including my mass attack)

Also my giant amv mass attack lol. So much fun but so much work ahah.

A traditional art attack! I’ve never actually submitted a traditional art attack in all my years of art fight despite originally being a traditional artist before I got into digital art in like 2017.

More comics! I did quite a few comics as revenge, (usually as revenge for others’ comics), and those were really fun too.

A lot more character interaction! I included my characters in attacks on other characters more, usually as revenge for people who already drew our characters together. Building off of other attacks and kind of “continuing the story” when I got a coupe comics was really fun.

Bonus doodle reward! Whoever was the first to draw one of my characters for the year got a bonus mini-doodle in my cartoony style of the character of theirs I attacked/revenged with. This was in an effort to try and get more of my characters attacked instead of people just focusing on some of the same ones. I don’t know if it actually made that much of a difference in getting more of my characters attacked, but it was kinda fun. I almost forgot to add the doodles though sometimes ahah. I haven’t decided if I’ll bring that back next year or not

Overall I had a great time! I would say this has been my favorite year of Art Fight so far, beating 2021 which was my old favorite. Only disappointment is not getting to do quite as many attacks as I wanted to due to time constraints- there were a few people I wanted to attack but didn’t get to. In general though, this year was awesome, and I’m sad to see it end. Already cooking up some fun ideas for next fight though!

Here’s a few screenshots from my overcomplicated spreadsheet that break down some of the numbers!

[unclewarwick]

introducing Yzyck Fournier and his friends, starting with this drawing i just finished today!

Cat Something is a very nervous and generally silent person. He was 'created' by Dr. Gones when she removed his brain from his original body and put it into the body he now inhabits. He does not like being near her. His memories of life before the procedure are scant; "Cat-something" was his response when asked for his name. Dr. Nibha Gones (pronounced 'Jones') is a mad scientist who likes to find the strangest and often most unethical ways to create new life. She likes to think she is the most reasonable person in her circle, but such a thing does not really exist. She is more reserved and disconnected from everyone. Yzyck Fournier (first name pronounced 'Isaac') is a Frankenstein-cum-Geppetto type who performs gender-affirming surgeries. He views Dr. Gones as his enemy, but they have also been friends for a very long time. Yzyck's friends (not including Dr. Gones) live with him in a big laboratory. He refers to many of his friends as his 'creations'.

Yaag Kralaaga is the most recent of Yzyck's creations. It's not quite dead and not quite alive. He is very clingy to Yzyck and sometimes only speaks one word at a time. It likes to meet new people, but new people do not like to meet it. Yaag can tend to have an aggressive demeanour. Accordion Doll is an animated accordion doll that Yzyck made. It does not have a name and mostly slinks around the lab aimlessly, not capable of much else. Magret is one of Yzyck's very old friends. He speaks through the gramophone horn and likes to wear a large variety of dresses. He was the subject of Yzyck's first experiment, which failed and resulted in Magret losing his head. His body was preserved for a long time until Yzyck felt he was skilled enough to bring his friend back.

there's not really a set storyline with this group, it's mostly just a way to have fun and draw whatever ridiculous ideas i get. the rest of the art in this post is from newest to oldest.

2024-07-17 -- dr. gones is invited to yzyck's place.

2024-07-15 and 2024-06-02 -- comic i struggled to colour in bc Tired, and some life advice from a man with varied and fantastical experience! both of these are the first time i properly drew a character (dr. gones, magret) while having the concept for them a very long time beforehand.

2024-04-20 -- an 'animation' using audio from conan o'brien's appearance on hot ones, with other original characters (Mick and Christian) that you can see more of in the #attic dweller tag.

2024-02-27 -- mick brought christian to be observed by yzyck, who observes more than mick hoped.

both 2023-12-28 -- a newspaper clipping and a very normal vlog.

2023-12-17 -- poster about how the ongoing pandemic is a workers' rights issue.

2023-11-12 and 2023-11-13 -- yaag in the "flirty" and "very flirty" sims 4 emotion poses as part of a not-abandoned-but-on-hold WIP where i'm trying to draw characters in each emotion pose from the game.

2023-10-23 -- one of my favourite drawings of my fellas! poses based off a photo of the monkees. it was hard to interpret whose body parts belonged to who since they were wearing matching outfits in the photo.

2023-09-04 -- mick asks if yzyck can take a look at this beast being kept in his attic. he is scared of everything. yaag is there too.

2023-07-13 -- animated gif of yzyck showing off his incredible skills. one of the first times i felt i "properly" drew him.

2023-06-22 -- ariel needs legs meme redraw with mick and yzyck.

2023-06-22 -- yzyck talks about his favourite thing to eat for breakfast.

2023-04-30 -- my first (kinda) full drawing of yaag. i am simply not good at planning out reference sheets, so i was unable to draw its head actually attached to its body..

all 2022-04-13 -- some loose early drawings of yzyck and magret.

2022-03-02 -- first drawing of yzyck - the words were a note to myself to remember the name and details of a new character i wanted to make.

2021-08-08 -- a demonstration of how the accordion doll can move. i'd forgotten to draw the pattern on the bellows.

2021-07-04 -- this all started with the accordion doll, which was a concept a friend had. at the time i drew this, i began to think about who would have created it.

[guacomelon]

I wanna ask about the JSaBsonas, actually! I'm intrigued about all of them, so if you could say a few words about each one or at least how they came to be, that would be nice, but if you want to focus on a specific one - I'm curious to know more about the sunny one, top right.

Alright,

we'll be going in this order: 006, "Sunny", "Crown", and "Pae-ki" Here we go. Forgive me for using the same old art, it's the only rendered stuff I have of them 😅

🎵 Dancing on Our Disasters by Calavera

alt song: 🎵 Granite by Shirobon

The very first was 006, or "Six". All the way back in Sep 2021, I had the idea of creating a shapesona. At the time I had certain.. feelings, about JSB and my identity surrounding it. I definitely see those feelings represented in the character now.

Six is a professional JSB player in a world where the game is in AR. They're reclusive, obsessive. Attention seeking. And they dance. Oh, they dance until they no longer can.

Some of you had the chance of talking with them on April Fools of 2022; I liked that. It was very fun to write them, and I wish I could do it again. Maybe in the form of their own roleplay/ask blog, just like I always intended.

🎵 A New Day by Danimal Cannon

alt song: 🎵 Same Song by DEFENSE MECHANISM

Second persona is a character I've nicknamed "Sunny."

I started a continuation of a previously failed project under a pseudonym, a persona. It wasn't until Jun 2021 when I gave that persona her design... I think it helps when I'm writing as them.

There's currently not much character story to them, other than she exists in the same world as Six. She gets burnout often but never gives up. It's not over til it's over.

I'm sure you've seen a certain one of my projects so far. Maybe it was obvious from the beginning, maybe it just clicked now, or you're still lost. Those who know, I want you to know this aswell: I'm not being sneaky, I'm just anxious. When I'm tired of pretending and gain the confidence to put my face on these projects, I do plan on just using them as the mascot.

🎵 Ecstacy by Nitro Fun & Rob Gasser

alt song: 🎵 Fracture by Shirobon

Third is the crown. It doesn't have a name, and it probably won't - Jan 2024

Ok, this ones strange. I've been invited to play a certain fangame a few times, and one of their available shapes is a crown. The crown is just the shape I played with. Nothing else, nothing more. It will never be something greater, involving me.

So what about that art...well.... I think I'm just going through post-JSB:FE depression 😭 ... Recently I've been thinking about the "maybes", alot of "what ifs" And if I'll be honest with myself, I need to let those go.

🎵 happy camper by laamaa

alt song: 🎵 DON'T STOP by DEFENSE MECHANISM

And last, but not least, is my actual JSB/shapesona!

They currently have no real name (idk you can call them my ingame name "GUAC" lol,) but for records sake I've been using "Pae-ki". I first drew them up in Oct 2023, around when I first played The Fangame.

They are just, me! Lover of 'Close to Me', unreasonable hater of 'First Crush', and protector of triangle players. An "OG god" as some say. (I'm not sure what else to say that isn't just me talking about myself. idk, I still play Challenge Runs, come join me on NSwitch or Steam)

I'm still working on their design.. I wanted to incorporate mementos from all the JSB-like things I got to do. They were always going to have a crown.

[it's been 3 months I'm not working on this ask anymore, I'm just happy to have it out GOOD LIRD]

[incarnateirony]

It's possible Flash's premiere #s don't look as hot as usual because of the blow-up after the firing of H@rtley Sawyer, the guy who played R@lph Dibny, after past racist/misogynistic tweets of his resurfaced around the time the Floyd protests were bursting across the country. It sparked debate about whether he should be fired for older opinions when he's supposedly changed (not noting that flash is also a work-place and not just a tv show), but ppl were saying they'd no longer watch bc of it

Tiny violin for the CW (it could also be the shuffled timeslot, we’ll see)

Is AA really the only non-cancelled/final season show they have running above like 0.15 that doesn’t have some sort of major bullshit around it? It would explain why it’s up 20% on the year to year average while everything else is 40-60% down. (Or in Walker’s case, down almost 30% within the same year as its forebearer within the same 12 months period in the same time/slot).

CW only partially depends on live--I’ve said this. But if its live space completely devalues, their ability to sell ads that make up for their costs of running broadcast deplete, their ability to be sales worthy to cable networks is shaky, etc. Like when--was it Spectrum? Turned off the CW as well as several other channels on a related package for how much they wanted to air it.

It’s one thing for your normal shows to be running 1/3 everyone else with your tops running 1/2 everyone else or in SPN’s case at the time a few years back before it had a minor crunch (and I do mean minor, bronlies would never understand how little the descent meant what they would claim it did) almost 2/3 everyone else (around S11-13--and SPN was like 2nd-3rd on the network then). It’s another if your shows are by and large running 1/6th the average and your tops are running 1/3 the average.

Selling that adspace is gonna be a bitch. Especially if the products are all surrounded by controversy.

There’s the fact that the parent companies bankroll it expecting digital profit, but if they’re skewing way too old, they’re not even going to stream well to make up for it (Nancy Drew, Walker at the top of that list, the latter way more.) The others will handle okay digitally, but the question is at what point is it just not enough?

What’s summer going to look like, especially when the US is mostly vaccinated? What’s fall going to look like once decline kicks in?

Again, CW’s products are down 40-60%. The industry average from 1 year prior is 13%... across 5 networks, of which CW is one. If you remove CW’s crunch, it’s actually more like... 6% on other stations. Which is what I mean with this year’s YTY not being the same as other years with more people watching classic TV live on classic stations seeking entertainment during covid. CW used to be the one holding above the line, not diving below it.

There’s a good question-- will it only drop another 13-15% between now and fall, or will the universe catch up once everyone can resume normal and it drop more like 20%? And if CW is running 6-40 now, well... let’s say 3 x 6 20, 40 x 6 = 240? UH. Well we can’t go negative ratings but. Let’s take 0.1 down as the -40. Well it can’t go 0.6 down. 

It will be fascinating to see how it translates. CW might already be so bottomed it doesn’t matter. a show running 0.2 losing another 40% for example will be running 0.12

All I can say is CW better hope, truly, this is “just” boycott impact and that it can’t spread any further. A show running 0.2 right now losing 15% by fall season will at least “just” premiere at 0.17. And that’s where most of their “big” shows are gonna settle this season -- 0.2. Multiple properties are running under 0.1. Many will inarguably be under it by fall 2021.

In a literal best case scenario, unless CW’s ratings somehow get a miraculous bounceback, it’s Fall 2021 average season ratings are likely to look like:

S&L: TBD, but maybe 0.18, if we’re being nice, it it could land at Walker level. Flash: 0.17 (if it even comes back, rumor it isn’t) AA, if it holds: 0.15 Walker: 0.12 Riverdale: 0.1 Batwoman: 0.1 Charmed: 0.07 Nancy Drew: 0.07

While the industry average is probably gonna be around 0.56~

Ouch?

You can go “live doesn’t matter much” only so long.  Then keep in mind they have to figure out what to do by fall 2022 when those numbers go down to like 

S&L: 0.15 Flash: 0.15 AA, if it holds: 0.13 Walker: 0.097 Riverdale: 0.078 Batwoman: 0.078 Charmed: 0.059 Nancy Drew: 0.059

*if all shows maintain retention.* While the universe will be like 0.47 around it.

Charmed and Nancy Drew would be rounding down to 0.0 by 2023. Batwoman and Riverdale would be fighting not to. Walker will be running a strong 0.08 if it's lucky. Flash won't be around by then. AA may... maybe. It's shiny new premieres might debut at a strong 0.15 before falling in 30% like its recent premieres to uh *checks notes* 0.1, woo. With a TV universe operating around maybe 0.38.

 If they tried to air another year.If they pushed through Fall 2023, by Fall 2024, s everal of these products will be rounding down to 0.0 that didn’t. Think: Riverdale, Batwoman, Charmed, Nancy Drew, all 0s. Walker, if it stays “strong”, around 0.06. Everything else not breaking 0.1, even with a TV universe functioning at 0.29. Like, that’s its best situation kind of thing, too. That’s assuming there’s no more 40-60% drop for the CW specifically. Which is the point on continuing to make noise NOW. Because the 2022 or 2023 numbers could even hit by Fall 2021 if the press stays on.

At some point, CW classic broadcast is going to be forced to fold them, several years before the rest of TV channels are going to have to.

Then the question is what happens to CW products.

Remember what I said about kicking CW in the shins so you can hold the parent companies accountable directly? And that now was the time? Yeah.

I don’t think the CW is going to be around by fall 2023. The question is how much we can speed up its heat death, and force companies to make hard choices. Does HBO REALLY want to order CBS products that don’t even perform digitally just to feed money to CBS and not keep it themselves? Will the WB deal in management stand if they’re not married over a child company to host it on Max? How many years until Walker is grounded to CBS All Access? If they even choose to keep producing it?

How many years until we stop being fed bullshit marketing, and start making the parent companies actually manage their products and put it on main TV if they’re gonna be shitlords about the content with a woke rainbow flag on CW anyway?

Keep. Kicking them. In. The shins.

Do it. NOW.

This is also why it’s important to stop streaming all content that ever aired on the CW through paid platforms like Netflix and Amazon.

Those companies pay to host that product to gain subscribers. If the material isn’t performing, they stop paying the IP holders--be that WB or CBS--meaning it’s harder for the CW to peddle its products off that way.

Jazz. Fucking. Hands.

KEEP. KICKING THEM. IN. THE SHINS.

STOP. STREAMING. ANY. OF THEIR STUFF.

KEEP. BEING. LOUD.

Join #IStandWithNadria May 18 7pm est. 

Schedule your tweets NOW. There’s plenty of content to use in the tags already if you need material.