#I learnt how to use tumblr colors

[lemme-just-oops]

Hi! How are youuuuu! May I request At boys s/o is good at blood manipulation magic? Thank youuuuuuu ♡

Alpheratz: He does not treat it as much of a big deal as others. In fact, as soon as he saw your potential, he had three ideas that most people with prejudices are bound to overlook. Depending on your interest, you could find diseases in bloodstreams. You could help performers with stage fright. He thinks it can be useful, but he let's you discover how you want to use it by yourself. But his grandfather once tells him to not stick to people with this dangerous magic, and his reply to that is to hang around you even more. If Schedar persists, he will remind Schedar that Sirius exists and even is a guide sorcerer, so the opinions of leaders should not count a lot.

Arcturus: Although he has a bad first impression of such magic, he tries to not treat you anyhow else. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses after all. And just because you are good at manipulating blood does not mean that you will only focus on this magic, right? Right? (Yes, he is scared. It will take a long time for him to get used to this.)

Pollux: He sees you do it once, looks at Spica with wide eyes, Spica will say: "No, you cannot change your magic now." Extremely disappointed and complains how unfair it is! Surely Blood Manipulation cannot be that difficult, he says before badly copying your techniques and accidentally hurting a snail. He is still crying.

Sirius: He drops facts you never asked for just to drop hints on how you can improve. Or on the different techniques. Did you know that horses have over twenty different blood types? Maybe you can also change someone's personality if you can change the type? Though trying that out may lead to an arrest and a ban in this sort of magic. Maybe by manipulating blood you can try to force someone to use their magical powers. What he would not give to observe that. Vega makes sure Sirius stays away from you before he gets even worse ideas.

Spica: He will not call you shameful out loud, but it is pretty obvious that this is how he feels about it. But he has seen and dealt with a lot of things. Students keeping a main focus on forbidden magic types, and students trying to make other types of magic forbidden just for fun. The discussion about whether or not your type should be forbidden has been going on for a long time, since it only gets to shine in times of war, he exclaims. This is why people tend to believe that Blood Manipulation Magic (or rather someone skilled with this) is foreshadowing time of chaos and disaster. While he explains this, he realizes how wrong it feels to judge someone based on their magical type alone and not their personality though.

Vega: Pathfinder magic and Blood Manipulation are not that different, once you learn the basics of them. Both connect you to another being, though one lets you find it and the other lets you change it. His behaviour regarding you depends on how you use it.

[mr-badjokes]

“REMEMBER, FOLLOW THE RULES OF THE LAND. WELCOME TO THE LUST RING” RING: ( II )

HOUSE OF THE UNGRATEFUL. WELCOME TO RING OF GLUTTONY. RING: ( III )

TOWER OF LOSS. WELCOME TO GREED RING. RING: ( IV )

EMERGENCY EXIT. WELCOME TO THE RING OF VIOLENCE: ( VII )

TREACHERY. RING: ( IX )

Part three of the colosseum of treachery fanarts from A Tale Of Two Tricksters by @cookiecomics

(meanwhile, in an alternative timeline where Ren somehow ended inside the colosseum)

Alt lighting for Gluttony

original composition of lust, which I scrapped completely and sent me into a two week art block bc of how ugly it was ( •̀ - •́ )

so, onto the commentary: I HAVE FINISHED!!!! A lot of things have happened since I started this project, but most important, I graduated!! I have a lot of free time until next year :D!!, so that's why I decided to make a FIVE FUCKING PIECES BATCH (worst mistake of my life, I ended up feeling overwhelmed OTL)

Lust was the first and the one I like the least, I wanted the mall to feel bigger and kinda liminal, and also make the composition focus more on Cog. Kawakami, but I just could get it right, so I gave up and left it as it is (๑>؂•̀๑)

(It references:

“Of course,” Akechi replied swallowing his annoyance. “I’d like to purchase” He pointed at her with his typical ‘detective prince’ tone. “You.”)

Second one in order of production was Violence, AND I LOVE THIS ONE OMG, I feel like it is kinda bland but at the same time its almost exactly as imagined it, I know that Goro is described as standing during the Hang Man part but the drawing had a better flow with him sitting :p

For Gluttony I had a back ache of immense proportions so I did it in a rush and just doing a kind of photobashing, the Japanese text is pure gibberish, I don't know any Japanese and just used a Chinese gibberish font and called it a day xd

Greed... well.... it's a drawing

Treachery! I LOVE UUUU TUMBLR SEXYMAN WANNABE, HE WAS SO FUN TO DRAW. I just wanted to capture kind of the energy of the conversation :D, I also added some very hidden chains here and there

It took me around 3 or 4 hours for each piece, which actually is a great improvement compared with similar compositions I've done over the years!! I learned a lot about composition and color in the making of these illustrations, and learnt to loose my hand more when drawing >:D, so I'm supper glad I decided to make this series!!

I hope u liked it!! sorry for the rambling XD

[firewalkzwit]

peace of mind // miguel o’hara x reader (1)

im new to posting on tumblr, but im working on this slowburn fic on ao3 and i’ve seen people make parallels on here so i wanted to give it a try myself

Masterlist

AO3 parallel

summary: In the eve of 2050, Spider-Woman is New York’s vigilante trying to maintain order in a revolting society, soon to collapse. The only reason to keep going is the hope for change, as the darkest hour is just before the dawn, but an unexpected turn of events will result in more than just New York to watch over.

(Contains some elements and references I gathered off other pieces of media to inspire the universe and, vaguely, the character.)

introductory chapter!!

word count: 1.8k

Chapter 1

There's no rush hour in Brooklyn, I knew there used to be one, but now every hour of the day is rush hour. The smog blocks my vision just about two cars away, and the acidic rain precipitates over my head as I try to get by, it's way too dark for this early in this afternoon. My hood covers most of my face, as I get by looking down and swiftly dodging the congested mass of people. It's as if I roamed aimlessly, I don't seem to have a fixed sense of direction, I just move where the crowd takes me, knowing I will get to where I need to. My bloodshot eyes try to stay open, I have to push myself. The commotion tells me the insurrection has rised near. I try to push my senses as I look around for instigation, but I soon sense a hand of threatning proximity to my shoulder. I turn rapidly, only to look up to the figure of a police officer on the robust side, who pulls off my hood as he looks down at me with a frown. "We don't need you here. We're taking care of it alright." He hissed at me furrowing his brows.

Now why would he assume I was there to help, out of all the things? Easy, I was dressed the part..

Let's do this one last time,

For my name... there's some people who would pay a lot of money for that information, but you'll figure it out eventually.

I was bitten by a radioactive spider, and for the last two and a half years I've been the one and only Spider-Woman.

I saved a bunch of people, saved the city, saved the city, saved the city... saved the city, you know how it goes.

Some would love the phylantropist role of being a vigilante with superpowers, but I can't say I wanted this for me. However I did embrace it, eventually, and learnt to cope with the fact that we are not always faced with choices, even with who we want to be.

Her fingers typed in a code almost by muscle memory, completing the facial registry. The sound of a familiar voice greeted her as usual, her AI continuing to list her schedule for the day. The apartment was furnished with warm-colored elements that tried to give a cozy sensation, almost enough to allow it's only inhabitant to forget how grey it always was outside. And while it was very unkept, it was equiped with only the necessary to provide strictly physical comfort, being visually and aesthetically very lacking. It contrasted immensely with the constricted streets of Brooklyn, where the compact spaces everywhere had always demanded her great speed and reflexes to get around. There was almost too much space, which could only be filled with gear, cables and other gadgets spread around it in a disordered manner. The main room could only lead to two places, the kitchen or the bedroom, which had a bathroom within it. These two spaces were hardly homey, as everything else in the apartment was stocked in them without necessarily belonging to them, further contributing to the clutter. The hollowness of the living room contrasted with the desk of strange placement, situated in the middle of the room. While despite it's size not being big enough to cramp the room, it certainly contasted with the aesthetic, as it contained multiple devices of different sizes and functions. Screens, a computer, and other gadgets placed somewhat strategically over it. She sat herself as she commanded her home-AI to prepare her a meal, carefully revising what her suit's memory gear had registered of her day. Maintaining her attention on the projection on the screens, she typed without looking on the computer by her side, carrying out a registry of relevant events. It had become routinary, however the pressure of the job rised slowly but steadily, society was aiming for change.

If one were to simplify the overall societal structure almost comically, it could be compared to a pendulum, and in 2049, society had already begun to swing back, meaning it was starting to aim for change. But change can't come easily and peacefully, humanity hasn't reached that level yet, and the rise of industrialization and veneration of technology had begun to be rejected after reaching it's historical peak. The masses had grown tired of exploitation and irreversible pollution of all kinds, the streets were crowded with harmful lights from the amounts of screens and holograms that had rapidly conquered any habited environment. The average person spent more than ninety percent of their waking life staring at a screen, and the damage was such, that most left their houses wearing glasses with light-blockage lenses to mitigate the headaches these screens produced. Everyone worked to consume, and to further slave themselves away to a technology that did not benefit them, finally reaching the breaking point. The rise in riots and violent manifestations had become a regularly growing issue, and through some of these somewhat well-intentioned movements also rised dangerously powerful instigators and organizers, generating the second biggest crime wave of New York in the twenty-first century. The aim was no longer peace, it was simply keeping order, and sometimes order meant some sacrifices in the name of greater good. As much as it could be a naturally hard concept to assimilate for most common people, being Spider-Woman meant she could not afford to hold herself up to the standards of the average citizen, she had to go a step further. A responsibility she did not choose, but was hers to handle. Carrying the name of Spider-Woman meant she had to push herself, and to always reach the apex of her performance in the field, in the name of greater good. But it was certainly a lonely working field, as far as she was concerned there was no other "bitten by a radioactive spider so I saw myself forced to become a superhero" people, at least in New York. If there were to be more radioactive spider-bitten people, she could certainly see why they wouldn't choose the role she did, with the state the city was in, and with no indications of getting better anytime soon despite her efforts, most people in her situation would become reclusive or simply exploit it to gain power. Ever since she was bitten she had assumed this was the only possible outcome for Spider-Woman, a good intentioned hero guided by the motivation of making her home a better place, but as time advanced and her role only seemed to put her in situations of loss, she began to assume it as more of a facade to camouflage the potential guilt behind the idea of holding so much power to use for good and doing nothing about it. And while one could attribute her losses to collaterals of such a risky job, she felt this strengthened her character in a way, and found it motivating to continue pursuing her unconventionally good deeds.

She had been working on her suit's improvements for months now, and gearing up to be able to sustain not only the harsh environmental conditions of being outside, but also maximize her effectiveness. With time and experience she learnt that a suit that protected her from acid rain and the effects of smog on her skin was almost indispensable, as the long term exposure to them had caused her some damage back in the day. Forced to develop protective material from repellent nanoparticles strong enough to block any form of pollution from filtering in and coming in contact with her skin, and with the help of some theft from Alchemax's latest developments and testing subjects, which is a detail mostly omitted for moral reasons, she was able to somewhat acheive said goal, and diminish the effect the smog and acid rain had been having on her skin. She had also exhaustively worked many sleepless nights for her mask's 'eyes' to be able to capture high-resolution footage on command, synchronizing it with her AI to compile everything to her computer. As she sat on her desk, carefully analyzing the footage loaded and working on her ID software, she shifted her attention sporadically from screen to screen, trying to keep track of everything and everyone she saw. She quickly got to the part where the police officer stopped her and attempted to block her way. She watched how the screen reproduced the recently occurred events, and squinted as she watched herself web up from the lane on top of them, soon loosing sight of the officer and crawling on it as she looked down to the riot. She would often pause, zoom, make identification of the most active figures in the conflict, registrating language spoken and features. She cursed under her breath whenever the picture was unsteady and failed to identify subjects, which was most of the times, signaling that she needed to work on the frames per second of her video. She continued her routinary analysis of footage when a sudden anomalous figure quickly captured her attention. She typed in commands on the big screen in front of her and rapidly receded a few seconds, zooming in on a strangely not-conflictive yet captivating white silhouette. She analyzed it's movements on each frame, trying to see anything that could help her identify it under it's coat and hat. The white silhouette moved briskly, dodging the police and agitators alike. Whatever that was, it seemed like it wanted nothing to do with anyone or anything there, and walked like it was in a rush. What caught her attention the most, was that it seemed to have no face, at least the video lacked enough pixels to identify any shade caused by features of the face, adding another layer to the mystery. Soon enough, it disappeared out of the frame, and went unnoticed by her while she swung into the conflict. She audibly groaned as her eyebrows furrowed, the few frames in which the mysterious figure appeared were unable to make any identification, not because of the incompetence of her device, but rather the unusual lack of a face the figure had. The software identified people based on facial features, so even if she were to have this being right in front of her, she would probably be unable to identify it.

She rocked in her rolling chair, her sharp nails scratching the back of her neck. Exhausted and confused, she felt like she was burning braincells thinking of how to find it again. Clearly easy to spot in a crowd, but in a city of a million crowds, it's hard to coincide in the same place, at the same time, in the same crowd. It was a tough coincidence that would take a miracle to get.

[boyfhee]

10 QUESTIONS FOR U - enhablrinas edition get it bc tumblrina + enhablr

favorite color of themes?

moot with best theme?

you can send a love letter to anyone. fictional/idols/celebs. who?

which moot is most active? which moot do you barely ever run into but LOVE?

most rizzful mutual? do you flirt with ur moots?

favorite petnames/nicknames? giving or recieving?

have you ever had an online crush? (or on a moot GASP)

ever been involved in drama?

do u keep up with tumblr drama?

be honest. how many times have u swapped biases? no judgement here :D

were u here for the insaneness that was lockdown enhablr?

MIA moot u want to comeback?

ur fave fic or smau that gagged u when u read it? seungstarss BET was the end of the fucking world for me I WAS DISTRAUGHT oddeonu too grrrr the ptsd fuckkkk too there was someone m1ngh8o or smtg idk w this jungwon smau and it KILLLED MEEE he was yns roommate and always so fucking rude and his gf was legit cheating on him but he didn't leave her. gf made moves on his bff jake too who liked reader. slowburns where the main lead is an ass rlly annoy me but i also will them the shit up bc i luv angst and toxicity :DDD

are you close w ur moots? do u have any on socials?

what is ur biggest ick to see on tumblr?

words u find urself repeating too much? words u love using?

any enhablr inside jokes ur part of?

ever been featured in a moots fic?

have u ever dreamt of enhypen?

ur favorite enha pc u want rlly badly?

DRINK WATER + YOU ARE LOVED <3 loveeeeeee ur rich boyhoon

tumblrina + enhablr so real that's so cute >< also i love these games, tysm for sending me one yayaya :D hope u have a good day, stay hydrated ^^ and ty for reading my works ><

𝟎𝟏. i love my recent theme colour a lot ! pink and green never goes wrong, but also blue, white— or any pastel shade, actually, works. i've been liking yellow too after my rina theme :O

𝟎𝟐. @okwonyo, @okwons, @tyunni, @atrirose, @isoobie, @yenqa @fleurre— they have the best themes on this app. some new additions would be @dioll and @hoonored since i love their current themes.

𝟎𝟑. JAY !!!!! it doesn't even have to be a love letter bruh i just want to tell him that his smile is the prettiest thing in the entire world ◞⌓◟ and karina from aespa i'm in love with her actually

𝟎𝟒. most active . . . i see @junislqve and @okwonyo a lot on my dash, especially jiah ! i've been seeing @weoris a lot too recently but we never talk TT on the other hand, it's a historical event to catch @isoobie, @okwons and @fleurre on the dash, but we talk a lot ! and i love them, of course ><

𝟎𝟓. freak club rizz ( me, ri, vi, and ji ) is so powerful that whenever someone says i love you, moonstruck plays ( happened three times yesterday ) and yes i flirt a lot with my moots :D

𝟎𝟔. mangocat by jiah stays on top ! bc i love mangoes and i love cats too :3 vi and ri once called me 'meri jaan' so that's a close second, and ri usually calls me 'mi amor' >< i love her sm

𝟎𝟕. i have had an online crush but it was so silly >< i don't even like talking about it, it wasn't even that serious either

𝟎𝟖. i was on animeblr before so i've been involved in a drama once there ! on enhablr, i wouldn't i was involved directly but i did have some part, although not publicly. it's safe to say i've learnt from it and am on good terms with my friends

𝟎𝟗. i do keep up with drama i'm nosey :/ most of the time, i ignore if it doesn't involved a person i / my moots know. although, keeping up is not the most appropriate term because sometimes i'd be going thru a blog and come across a controversial or expose post TT

𝟏𝟎. twice ! i got into enha because of sunghoon so he was my bias for a few weeks, since he was the only member i knew and he's mad fine. but then i became heeseung biased when i got to know the group more. now, i'm a jay girlie through and through :D

𝟏𝟏. oh lord YES enhablr during lockdown was something. . .it was so fun, apart from a discourses that happened every single day TT i made a lot of friends during that time, really close ones. we were all just going crazy together TT

𝟏𝟐. @maiverie & @seungstarss my wives mai and sei please come back i miss u :( we were really close but i lost contact with both of them. i have their socials but they're in active, it makes me super had :< they made locklown bearable i love them sm

𝟏𝟑. BRO anything by @hoonvrs gags me because i love saint's smaus ( i'm planning to read cigarettes trust ) like it's literally just pure comedy and crack but i love it and i love having a good laugh ^_^ another would be @jaeminvore's smaus ESPECIALLY demon roomie .. still not over it. nics has crazy smaus like i've read all her enha smaus and all of them belong to the hall of fame. ALSO, we can't forget @jayflrt >< her smaus give me life idk i've read sugar daddy like ten times alr and reread stoner hee one a few days ago. and yfi786 is definitely the gag of the year i feel it. what r u even doing on enhablr if u haven't read alice's smaus :/

AND i agree, sei's smaus were so so good ! i've read her jungwon one and it left me shook it was so good. i started bet but halfway through and the characters were pissing me off so i gave up TT definitely lives up to the type i can assure !!!! oddeonu uhh i'm sure i've read a few but unforch, i don't remember the names

𝟏𝟒. i'm close to lot of my moots ^_^ i have them on insta, disc and twitter. i have rose's number even though i don't text her there ... i need to and i WILL. @atrirose watch out

𝟏𝟓. i don't have anything specific but not using the read more option is one of them. another would be people who are constantly involved in dramas ... ? like it has nothing to do with them but they involve themselves :/ although, these are not very serious and i've just learnt to ignore. ignorance is bliss godbless 🙏

𝟏𝟔. i repeat a lot of words, especially as / while TT i love using 'intoxicating' and 'vinous,' a lot but those are also my most repeated words, especially the former .. i need to work on this

𝟏𝟕. no, i don't think so TT and if i am then i don't remember lol

𝟏𝟖. OH YES many many times. especially in @ctrlemis and @svnclaired smaus when kira was in his jungwonize era. was a member of a gg twice 😼

𝟏𝟗. oh brother i've had so many enhypen dreams .. none good. jay pushed me off the couch in one, heeseung sacrificing me to demons, aenha supernova concert dream, sunghoon leaving me in a dark alley, enha exorcist version, jay dupe cousin dream ... the freakiest yet

𝟐𝟎. PCS FROM R:U PLEASEEEE I need wonki ones especially ... riki glasses pleaseee idk how i will get my hands on that one but i Will. sunjay pcs from darkblood .. i think the jay one will cure whatever's wrong with me.

[yandere-yearnings]

how do you do that color stuff with your text ‼

okay, i'm gonna assume you're talking abt the gradient text nonnie!! i'm kinda bad at explaining things so just in case what i say doesn't make sense, i'll link you to the original tutorial that i learnt from here.

it's fairly simple❗❗ using this website, enter the text you'd like to colour into the first box in the bottom right, then select two colours to create the gradient from the adjacent red and green boxes (you can use the picker, rgb, hsl or hex codes if you want) and then all you have to do is click run and copy the text that appears in the box below the first🥰

now, to get it to show up on your tumblr, i believe you can only do the next steps on the web version. pull up the post you want to add the text to, and click on the little settings icon in the top right corner. scroll until you see the 'text editor' section and switch from rich text to html. paste the text where you'd want it and then when you save, it should appear as a gradient😌💕

hope this helped, nonnie🥺🩷 lmk if you need anything else bc ik i can be confusing sometimes😭💔

[spotsandsocks]

15 questions 15 mutuals

Tagged by @monsterrae1 @wikiangela @thewolvesof1998 @exhuastedpigeon @daffi-990 @underwater-ninja-13 and @buddierights

Are you named after anyone?

Nope, but it’s a Welsh name so I was named for my parents home and my kids also have welsh names keeping the tradition going.

When was the last time you cried?

2 weeks ago when I thought the cat was very poorly. She’s doing better now.

Do you have kids?

I do, a boy and girl both older teens.

What sports do you play/have played?

I do not sports! I am starting to do some gym work, bit of running

Do you use sarcasm?

I do indeed

What's the first thing you notice about people?

Not sure- voice? Hair? I’m not particularly observant.

What's your eye color?

Fairly dark brown quite clear no flecks or anything

Scary move or happy ending?

Happy everytime

Any talents?

Not especially I can twitch one eyebrow at a time like Spock - a deliberately learnt skill when I was around 15

Where were you born?

Uk outer London area

What are your hobbies?

Writing, crafting and creating, drawing (not particularly well) endless scrolling on tumblr and starting to get into some exercising and fitness too

Do you have any pets?

One very old cat almost 19 so not sure how much longer we’ll have her.

How tall are you?

157 cm / 5'2" ish maybe a little taller.

Favorite subject in school?

English and History

Dream job?

I always wanted to do some useful, so that’s what I trained for and what I’ve done for a long time now, working with families and children within the NHS mostly with developmental language disorder

So that’s me.

No pressure tagging @giddyupbuck @hippolotamus @weewootruck @hoodie-buck @loserdiaz @honestlydarkprincess @spaceprincessem @mysteriouslyyounggalaxy @the-likesofus and anyone else

[yuseirra]

Hello, I just wanted to tell you that your work had inspired me to make my own animatics (the first "proper" one is almost ready!), and your art style was the primary influence for my storyboarding. I still remember the first time I watched one of the animatics of yours, and was absolutely blown away by it. Fast forward a year, and I am making my own fan art for another niche, indie game. So, I wanted to thank you personally, and I hope I can share what I did with that inspiration!

I still recall when I first started really imagining animation as it relates to characters in a setting and plot. The animatic of yours is like a knitted blanket, all of the characters go together despite the colour scheme being very different. I was memerized by the coordination - it was like a dance, almost!

So, I started wondering about other games I played, and I thought "Maybe I can try something like that too". It wasn't easy, I suck at art, but I learnt quite a lot. For example, how to blend two different scenes with different rooms in a fluid manner. Or how to protray a character with only a few sketches, as I cannot make every frame colourful.

I deeply recall going back to the"Road Less Taken" video, as well as so many others, and slowing down the speed to 0.5, so I could see every single frame slowly, and trying to figure out how to add movements that won't be too "noisy". In that time, I tried experimenting with art styles, and sort of mixed up a lot of brushes together.

One particular moment was when I tried to make a "dramatic" moment in my badly drawn sketch. I remember seeing that you would take a black and white frame, and then, the next frame would be the same thing but in colour. I thought it was so cool! So, I tried it.

It didn't work out as I hoped (my colouring was messy and poor). The technique I am currently using is by using a black and white sketch, and then the same frame with 3 colours. But I learnt that I could adjust the layers with filters, until the lightening had enough contrast. This way, it would seem "dramatic".

Sorry, that was super long of an ask. My first proper animatic won't be good, but that is another learning experience! If I have the courage, I may post it on Tumblr. Honestly, I really am glad I stumbled upon your videos, else I would not have done all of that drawing and creativity.

So, thank you for everything!

I came across this message first thing in the morning and it's made me have so many different feelings.. before I say anything further, I'd like to tell you that I feel this message is wonderful! I'm glad to have you had stumbled upon my videos, too.

Ah, my Road Less Taken fanvideo.. and my other videos too. Being reminded of it really hurts me because I loved everything I put into it, I put in a lot of passion, I put in a lot of love, I bought the artbook, played the game it was based on and went through to do a full analysis, went back and forth through the plot, I just couldn't bear upholding it though, I just couldn't. I'm sad it turned out to be the way it is now since I was really sure I did a great job with it with the skills I had, and I love what I did with it, but I don't regret having it taken down. It took me some time to muster the courage to do it, and I feel lucky that people were very accepting about it too. ^^ It existed and it was able to give a lot of people fun as it did for me, and I'm very happy that was the case. I know that work of mine was really loved, and I'm glad I could create something that could do something like that. I hope I can do that again and I'd probably have a chance to, since I have a life ahead of me.

Enough about me and let's talk about you and your message! Aaaah wow, this is really incredible! Have you seen my channel though? My early videos (and I may still would draw that way) aren't so colorful and proper you know! A lot of them are consisted of sketches of what I want to see in that certain segment. It's very interesting and exciting to hear from your perspective, because I hadn't considered my movies to be so "proper" enough either!! That's why, I can say for a fact, that "Oh you'll do well and do a wonderful job" with 100% sincerity. You came to the right person. I mean look at me! I posted videos like that all the time and just because I thought it'd be fun! If you went to some other talented artist who has these bizarre techniques and astounding professionalism who could create full-fledged CLEAN animations it may not sound so convincing. But i'm someone who starts from scratches and lines and posts those without shame. Drawing colored movies was a huge challenge in my part as well and it took me awhile to feel I'll be skilled enough to do it- perhaps you're already getting a huge head-start compared to how I started out because moving up that one step for me took years to do.

You can do it!! You can!

If there's something I learned from posting my drawings and works out here, it's that you just do what you wanna do. Not everyone will notice you, and your works may not be blown up out there as you wish it to be, yeah, but there's always going to be someone that comes along and appreciates it, which is a miracle on its own. For me, one of those people is you. You'll have someone who comes up to you and does the same thing for you, too if you keep sticking out there. Until then, just continue doing what you love and have fun, without having recognition being your only motive. I made my works for myself (to share, of course, but there were things I was so passionate about I felt I HAD to put this out there and let everyone notice how GOOD and FITTING it is) and although having thousands of people love my works, and tens of hundreds of thousands watch 'em together with me was wonderful.. it all feels like a dream now, the number doesn't matter as much for me. If numbers mattered, I'd have given up a long time ago because there's always people who are so much better than you. However, there's something that only you can do and think of.

See? You're already telling me about your unique style and is thinking of what you could do to make it more effective. That approach you're using is something that I'm unfamiliar of doing. Even if we had the same ideas, I wouldn't be able to create the same things you do and that's what makes yours special! Good luck with that, never did I think what I drew would be able to inspire you to create your own, I should work harder myself to make sure I don't get beaten by you so fast XD, You see, I'm a slow improver. I have artist friends who've gone places and make incredible art. But I can still be one too, as long as I keep drawing. I hope you do that too, as well as keep having fun in the way. And please remember about me if you become famous one day, okay? 'v')9

"The animatic of yours is like a knitted blanket, all of the characters go together despite the colour scheme being very different. I was memerized by the coordination - it was like a dance, almost!"< Ah, I really liked this part of your ask, too. The coordination part is something I really tried hard on when I make an animatic! I sit down and listen to music one day and then something hits me. 'Huh? Isn't this that? And that part works with that and can't this be used to convey this?' Very vague expressions but that's actually how it works in my head. The inspirations come very fast, and when that happens, I sit down and write up a memo to see if the whole song really fits along with the stories I know. And when I'm convinced that it works, I start weaving the two different stories together, the lyrics and the story of the material I wish to make a video out of. That process really makes my heart race because yes, like how you've described it, it feels like a dance, or a knit. Like 90% of the animatics I've made happen like this, so I have no idea when I'll get another inspiration. Till then, I just keep having fun with the fandoms I'm in! Having a good understanding of the source material helps. If you know it well, then everything folds together as one. The song and the story does it for you, and you just follow through its flow.

"slowing down the speed to 0.5, so I could see every single frame slowly, and trying to figure out how to add movements that won't be too "noisy". <this part ;v;...hnngh I have no words.. goodness I had NO idea someone would look at my videos with such intense care.. I don't consider my videos to have the most..how do you put it, creative effects out there, a lot of the effects I put in are something that's built in in the base program or something really simple! You'll be able to learn it in a jiffy no problem. I really look up to vids that have these wacky, shiny and fast-paced effects myself.. One thing I think I could do a pretty good job on, on the other hand, would be the pacing! And that has a lot to relate with the songs you're using. Where the instruments come in, the beat, parts where the vocal stresses, I use the songs I really like, so it makes me think oh, a panel could be added there, and there! and let's make this one drawing show up longer than the others! All that. If you understand the materials you're using (the song, the story, your art) you'll be able to coordinate them well within the limits of your abilities. As I said earlier, that's going to be something only you could do, and what's unique. They say creativity isn't about making entirely new stuff, you know! It's more about putting two different things together in a way no one else has. So movies and fanarts are a great way to show yours :)

I've had others who inspired me to create a video. I've seen lots of fanvids and there were amazing ones, (the fact I was in the kagepro fandom when it was still releasing new songs explains a lot, doesn't it? That surely was a huge inspiration) but I think what's given me the final push to start was seeing my artist friend make a short 6 second one on her tumblr a few years ago. There it hit me that I might be able to do it too, so I asked them what program they were using and made mine right away.

I still have it in fact, it's this video, and I made this one too shortly after. And then I realized that although it wouldn't be perfect, making a video itself isn't something too much of a big deal. You make one and that's it! Because I enjoyed it,(I loved the idea of seeing my own drawings move) I made more.. and I won't be so afraid to, either, because I could always go back to making those simple ones if I wished. Make colored and detailed ones if I wish to push myself further. I'm happy I was able to inspire you to make yours. I hope your experience making stuff would be as enjoyable and exciting as mine!

I'll be happy if you can show me your first video, too!// Whether if you do, or if you don't, I will cheer for you~ Thank you so much for telling me all this. I'm honored to know I was able to give you such a positive impact, because you never know what influence you're giving to someone unless they tell you.. and this, IS SO TOUCHING. You're doing all these things because you were able to find the good, you had it in you always! I'm glad I played a part somewhere on the road. 'v')9

Good luck with your videos~ I'll.. keep making mine in the future too! ;v; GOD I found a song for persona but I gotta finish P3R to get a better understanding for this plot once again, I'm going to do an even better job than I ever did, in the long run. So you too, I know you'll keep improving, so take your time and have fun on the way!

[fluffsheath]

(TW: plush en-nerds) Very long post with many pictures. Mostly sfw, though one image has a mysterious object and some text is suggestive.

I have had some of my plushes for many years, some of which were even around when I was very young. I have also only recently learnt how to properly wash them. I used to just put them in the washer and dryer as is without taking the stuffing out. Over years, this has made them less and less soft and more like rags.

Mira here I have had since I was atleast 8-9(?). There is a photo of me from this time with a couple of plushes, and she is there with me. She's the only one of my original plushes to be with me currently. Some of them are across country and some of them are still at my abusive family's house (aka: lost forever). Her "character" to say has changed a lot since then. She started out as a generic milf, like I had with a lot of my plushes when I was a kid, but then changed into more of an anarchist type(?). She still has the protective nature, but she's not motherly in the slightest. I do not remember when this changed took place, as it was a while ago.

This is how lumpy she was due to the improper washing.

Obviously, the first thing I did was slit her throat and let all her insides run out. I think the stuffing looks like that due to it all being clumped together, but it also could be that she's more of a pillow pet type plush and that's just what pillows look like inside. The stuffing that was in her head still looked completely normal.

This is the part where I changed her eyes out. Her old eyes were a bit damaged. Also, in their I guess anthro forms, most of my plushes have different eye colors than what their actual body in the real world have, so I wanted to make them match.

There is something special about seeing a loved one gutted like a fish.

This is her new eyes, before I went to wash her.

Though, and this is a nsft tumblr, I wanted to have some fun with her in the shower before I wouldn't be able to get her wet again. Despite having no stuffing, her material still felt like her. I did not take picture of what happened, but I can assure you that it was very good.

I washed her with my other clothes because they were dirty and its 4 dollars per load.

After staring at the clock and waiting for her to dry, I brought her back to my apartment and sewed on a zipper. It isn't perfectly done at all, and I need to redo the sides, but it keeps the stuffing in and that's good enough for us.

Here's her after she ate 45 dollars worth of stuffing. Her belly was still a bit warm from the dryer and soft.

Her velcro straps are getting old and soon I will replace them with buttons. For now, I leave them as is and will maybe put baby pins in them if I get some.

This is her now. This was long overdue for her and I'm glad I finally got around to not watching youtube for 8 hours a day to help her. I love her so much.

Next time, I'm going to work on Chip.

[liches-covered-in-lich]

A bit late but *glares at tumblr* it's better be late than never ey?

But here is my 2023 art roundup! :D

General retrospectives under the cut per month if anyone is curious 😘

Jan: This was a gift I made for a buddy of mine! It was of his oc that the friend group collectively simped for and cultivated together, as a family. He's a great lad and a starting point for me to use stock textures for the general look of my art

Feb: An older design of my Miraak, but I really still like this piece. It was the starting point of me trying to learn how to draw characters interacting together. While I do think I can improve in some aspects, I still think it holds up really well and looks super cute!

Mar: Ah, gore. This was the beginning of me doing a 'soft' art style. It's of a melting Emperor Belos for the Tales of a Tyrant Zine (I believe the link is still active for access to the pdf? If curious, I should still have it around somewhere. It's pretty sick ngl). I really like this piece, it helped me deal with my imposter's syndrome in the group of Amazing artists as they really liked this piece of mine! And generally I love drawing gore

Apr: This was a commission for someone on tumblr! I used my softer style for this piece and had fun figuring out how to make the light imposing but not loose the main colors and details! Also fun fact - I had a friend pose for me holding a sign so I can get GOOD hand references as google was no help

May: Ah the first full drawing on Krita. This was a test on the art program as Autodesk Sketchbook was no longer working for me on desktop (tho I still use it for my ipad art!). It's of my HOK who I don't talk much about as they're just a Dude. Sorry Jhyth, I should do more with you

Jun: This bitch. Elyden I adore you, you're my favorite oc and one of my longest lasting ones but. . . It took so damn long to get a good design with him that showed his personality and wasn't a pain to draw. I really like his design here, I think he looks wonderful

Jul: A commission done for my Skyrim fanfic's editor actually! She's pretty cool and greatly improved my writing skills! And she paid me to draw a mudcrab in Sovngarde! What more do you want? I love this piece too as I learnt how to do backgrounds in my style that won't kill me in my detailed art style

Aug: Another commission done for a friend of mine! It was based off a doodle I did of his oc as a gift but he paid me to finish it as a full rendered piece! :D I got to draw a tiddy window and an evil throne!!!

Sep: An art collab I did with a friend of mine! Where we split the image in half and drew each other's ocs interacting! It's actually the same dude as the Jan's piece. I both hate loved working on this. His hands gave me so much trouble

Oct: My second favorite oc's revamped design, Lorelei <3 I love her a lot and I really love her design. I think it fits her perfectly and you can tell what she's about immediately by just looking at her. I adore this lady (also fun fact, she's the older sister of Elyden!). This drawing means a lot to me as it was me figuring out that I like drawing character references only in more fun poses in a sense

Nov: Funny thing, I finished that drawing yesterday. But it's a reference of my Rahgot! I chose this as my Nov piece as I feel like it was when I was getting better at character designs. In terms of practicality, function, aesthetics, colors, and visual language

Dec: A commission for an old friend of mine that I knew since...fuck me, I think...6 years? He wanted me to draw an antagonist for his body horror gundom ttrpg campaign! Even though he doesn't draw, his designs fuck so hard and I'm so glad I got to draw one fully <3 I love this piece and I think it was a great send off to the end of this year

I feel like I exploded in improvement this year. My skills and my methods for art became more practical and made my life a bit easier in general in the process (especially in the coloring department). And I cannot wait to see what I'll make for next year :D

Thank you all for coming with me to this journey <3 and have a blessed new year

[simsbooo]

15 questions for 15 mutuals:

1. are you named after anyone?

I am not sure, I believe my mum just liked my name! However it is likely I was named after a book!

2. when was the last time you cried?

Probably today or yesterday, I cry when happy, sad, overwhelmed.. etc! I am a pretty huge empath, so if you cry I will too!

3. do you have any kids?

No real kids, however do my pets count? #catmum

4. do you use sarcasm a lot?

Everyday! It’s not everyone cup of tea, so I do try to only be sarcastic with friends these days! I’ve learnt my lesson in the past from accidentally making people upset!

5. what sports do you/have you played?

When I was younger I played netball and did karate, but now I don’t play any sports! Just the occasional tennis match with friends!

5. what’s the first thing you notice about people?

*The vibe* I have a pretty good intuition and will usually know right off the bat if someone means well or not! Physical wise, usually peoples teeth! I am not sure why, but it tends to be the first thing I notice about someone!

6. eye color?

Blue/Grey with a dark blue rim!

7. scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings! I get pretty vivid nightmares, so I try to stay away from anything that sets my imagination off!

8. any special talents?

Not really! I can burp the alphabet??

9. where were you born?

Australia! 

10. any hobbies?

Gaming & variety arts (sewing, knitting, pottery, whatever else I feel like trying that month)

11. do you have any pets?

Three cats! 

12. how tall are you?

5′7 - 5′8 !

13. favorite subject in school?

Probably media studies or maths - maths has always come naturally to me so It was definitely my easiest class, however I enjoyed media or arts the most!

14. dream job?

no job, lol? Honestly, I have never had a “dream job” but I’d love to make money from something I have a passion in! 

Tagged: My OG tumblr buddies @simsonnet @ellcrze @ginovasims

Have fun!

[junijupi]

I love your art so much omg :0

do you have any tips or advice for coloring, shading, rendering, etc?

your drawings motivated me to draw again and i wanted to see if you have any good art tips :D

hello!!! so sorry for the late response, i kinda left tumblr for a bit haha. And yeah, i have tips!!

Many number one tip for rendering is to be aware of the environment. you can use cool colours for highlights and warm colours for shadows, but you have to be acutely aware of how that lighting affects the subject. Reflection is a huge one i've learnt recently;

An apple sitting on a table is just that, an apple. But apples are smooth, highly reflective surface. Thus, they will reflect the colour of the table, as well as have lots of highlights.

Another important thing for me was beginning some very bad painting to better understand colour. if you have, say, an orange light and a green subject.

You need to be aware that the green is made of yellow and blue, and the orange is yellow and red. So, the green subject's yellow tones will be VERY visible because of the yellow tones in the light.

I like to use desaturated complementary tones to compliment the saturated highlights. for ex., a desaturated magenta (very close to red) to compliment a saturated aqua green (very close to normal green)

hope this helps!! sorry if i got kinda ranty lmao

[m00nsbaby]

Hiii!! Hello hello hello hi

I just wanna thank y’all for reading, liking and commenting 🩷🩷 But most importantly, I want to apologize for the “read more” thing, I’m still learning how to use tumblr (today I learnt how to change the color of the text lol) and I didn’t know about what problems it could lead to, sorry, sorry, sorry, I won’t forget about it in future works (and I already changed my posted fics)

Thank you for kindly explaining 🩷🩷

[introverted-ghost]

Hello, how are you doing? :))

Just realized how ~weird~ it is that we have been friends for this long and I do not know your name. I don't mean your real name necessarily, but just some way to call you? Lmao I literally cannot believe I am only now asking this, I feel like a terrible online friend :((

Funny how internet friendships work tho. Like I know you're a half-psychic pisces, and your favorite color is green, and you like The Owl House and The Ninja Turtles and Ninjago, and you have cats and several siblings.....

But I don't have a way to call you.

????

Honestly wtFUCK.

So imma ask you some questions to know you a lil better, if you don't mind.

1. HOW CAN I CALL YOU OMGGGG

2. Favorite candy

3. How was this past week? Anything fun?

4. What kind of books do you like? Not gonna ask favorite book, but just talk to me about books :) you like reading, right? I know you like comics, and reading comics is reading. You can talk to me about comics.

5. What is your favorite fun fact? Can be about anything. I'll tell you mine: a human teeth has 32 calories.

6. YOU HAVE CATS, RIGHT? I HAVE THIS MEMORY THAT YOU SHOWED ME SOME PICTURES OF THEM. RIGHT?? TWO OF THEM. I DIDN'T MADE THAT UP. RIGHT????

7. Do you still wanna be friends after this mess of an ask? Lmao.

Sorry. Currently 2:00 am. I shouldn't be allowed to use internet at this unholy hours.

I’m gonna fucking die I just finished answering this then tumblr crashed and it was gone. Anyways~

1. To be honest I don’t really care what people call me. Most folks call me dryad but I also go by edland, xero, kylan, and rian or anything else really since I don’t super care

2. I don’t think I have a favourite candy so I went to check what was in my stash which was virtually nothing (Imma have to stock up once I get paid) but there was a container of pink lemonade lemonheads (which are pretty good btw)

3. Id probably have to make a whole separate post to cover everything I did but basically we went camping a lot in different places across the province each night (depending on where you’re from that may not seem too impressive but I’ll tell you in messages the size of it compared to Colombia so you get the picture)

4. I like fiction stories, usually fantasy but chill if it’s not. I recently (yesterday) got a book from the library I asked for ages ago (it took extra time since the one they gave me originally was in Chinese so I returned that one and asked for one in english) it’s called journey to the west btw. I know a lot about it and have watched many adaptations of it but it’s nice to be able to read it. Yes I also like comics

These are all the Tmnt comics I have so far

5. I don’t know if this is my favourite fun fact or if I’ve already told you or if you already know since you’re super smart. The Latin words for 7 8 9 10 are septem octo novem decem respectively. You may recognize them as the 9-12 months of the year, which you would be correct. It bothered me that it doesn’t match up but they were named during the Julian calendar which started in April (that’s also how April fools started) so with quick comparing I learnt that it STILL DOESNT MATCH UP :|

6. I do have cats. Three of them though

First there’s Meredith he’s the oldest by a month

Then jingles

Skip ahead 5 or 6 years and you got Maggie (this picture was taken after she was spayed and we had to put her cone on when I wasn’t there to watch, she tried to escape while I was at school but just ended up making things worse for herself)

7. Yes of course I do!

Now you answer them! Well except 5 since you kinda already did. And 6 since it was kinda a me specific question. And 1 since I already know your name. And a modified 7 (do you still want to be my friend after this mess of an answer?)

Also go to sleep 🔫

[sayitaliano]

34,35,36 🥰

Ciao!

34.What do you think is the best for learning? Websites and apps or books and notebooks and stuff?

I think each one of us should find their own way to learn, as we're all kinda different and have different approaches to studying in general (same when it comes to languages). The most important thing is to never force ourselves (days off are okay, as days in which we do a little less), but it's good to keep ourselves engaged into a little bit of practice at least few times per week. Have fun while at it, keep oursleves interested and curious, and try to never rush or feel obliged in doing something (despite some learning passages may be annoying, they're useful -says the girl who never really studied verbs' grammar in Spanish :D). Start slowly, from the translitteration (where necessary); keep a notebook for grammar, for vocabulary and for your exercises (single words' translations and then sentences/paragraphs). Writing personally helps me a lot in remembering and understanding (and keeping track of what I do), but again, it depends on how you work better. And start from easy words, like colors, family, animals, numbers to move onto easy (weather, e.g.) sentences and grow from there: like a kid in school. I personally find Memrise (it has audios from natives, and better grammar than Duolingo imo) and youtube, but also tumblr, to be a great source of infos and resources. Memrise gave me an idea of subjects/what type of road to follow (Duolingo does that too ofc but I found some errors here and there, IDK I might be biased tho). I have studied/am studying Russian and Korean like this and tbh it works. It's a matter of putting together different stuff from different sources, so I understand it may not be the best for everyone as it's kinda messy (but it is also vary, so it works for me as it keeps me kinda interested).

[For more infos about studying Italian, the resources masterpost has lots of websites and apps suggestions + other resources as books, movies, yt channels... + on @sayitalianohome there's a masterpost with a bunch of studying tips, many of which I have written too]

35.Any ultimate goals?

Trying to be able to call myself fluent in at least 3 of the languages I have learnt/am learning (Spanish, French, Korean) and work on my English.

36. Is there a language you would not like to learn? What one(s) why?

No, I don't think there's such a language. But I am making choices according on my likes ofc... time is what it is! I realized I have a passion for different alphabets so yeah, for now I might stick with such languages tbh

Grazie^^

[anmarifromearth]

Chapter 10: The Box of Colored Chalks

Note: You can read the finished version on Quotev, but for Tumblr, I'd like to upload the chapters one by one.

WC: 4.4 K -- Masterlist -- featuring art by @amalthiaph

It was Monday again. The halls are once again filled with noise, and students walking fast and brushing against each other. We had just descended the main staircase, of course Zach picked me up again this morning; a small gesture that had begun to be our routine. We both had our canisters over our shoulders. Zach was obviously older than everybody else's; it's now a shade lighter having faded over the years. But unless one's got a keen eye, it's unnoticable that he bears the only other copy of the school's floor plan. 

It’s only been the second week of school but we had already learnt so much. Well, not from the school but about the school.

We saw Charles waiting for us by his locker, with his own canister hanging on his right shoulder. He was checking a little leather notebook, and quickly straightened up as soon as we came into view. We decided to walk to History class together to make sure we’d all be on time, and to discuss our next move.

“So,” I began, “What now, captain?” I looked at Zach. He agreed to be the team captain. 

“Let’s sneak out again tonight,” Zach began. “We do the same pattern: start somewhere else and ‘accidentally’ run into one another.”

Charles nodded in understanding. “They probably already know we always go through the door in the White Room,” Zach continued, “So this time, we’d enter through the dining hall, where we got caught the other night.”

By now, we had reached our History class, so Zach started to lower his voice, “I’ll sketch our path later,” he said, in a whisper now, “Let’s have lunch together. Same spot. Underneath the oak tree.”

The school bell rang and five more students hurried inside. Following them was Mr. Philipps. He was eyeing from the moment he entered.

It was lunch. As planned earlier, we were to meet beneath the oak tree, our usual spot. We had the same picnic blanket spread out. It was seafood marinara for lunch.

I was in my usual position, back against the tree trunk, legs straightened out, one over the other. Zach was rummaging through his bag, in search of what I think is the sketch he promised us. He finally found the notebook it was put at, opened it on the page, and placed it in the middle of the blanket for Charles and I to see. It was like a “T” with an arrow pointing to the right.

“It’s actually nearer to our destination,” Zach began. “When we enter here,” he pointed to the bottom of the “T” then travelled to the crossing, “We’ll walk straight ahead until this intersection. In here, the skeleton would be on our left and where they went, according to Iris,” he looked at me at the mention of my name, “Would be to our right.”

From the right of the “T”, there’s drawn a straight line, a turn to the north, then another turn to the east. “Then, we turn left just like they did,” Zach continued, “Then a right. Then straight ahead. Then dead end.” He pointed to the end of the lines. “There’s probably an exit here.”

Zach passed the notebook to Charles so he can take a closer look. Charles examined the illustration. “Where would the exit lead to?” He looked at Zach.

“That’s the thing,” Zach said, swallowing his marinara, “There’s no room next to the dining hall.”

I tried to dig deep into my mind to remember how the dining hall looked like from the inside. It was a long rectangular room. The kitchen was on one side. “Wait a second,” I began as I remembered a small detail, “I once had a glimpse of the kitchen.” I now have their attention, so I continued, “The dining hall is rectangular, right? But the kitchen is square. That means— “

“There is another room next to the kitchen,” Zach finished for me.

Charles didn’t seem convinced, he was frowning, “Yeah, but I saw the back yard of our school one Physical Education class,” he began to counter, “And there’s only one door at the back. Just the pantry, leading to kitchen.”

“They closed it off,” Zach said, his face dropping.

I shifted on my position, plopped down my shoulders, and sighed. For some reasons, I am disappointed we may not continue tonight seeing as we’d just lead to a dead end.

“That means,” he pulled out his notebook. “We need to find another exit. But the bad news is, we’re not going in tonight.” He said as he put the notebook back in his bag, “I’ll study the plans first and compare the kitchen plan to the original. Hopefully we’ll find an exit.”

“Yes, thank you, father,” Zach said to his phone as I entered his room, Charles just behind me. We decided to meet at Zach’s room so we can freely open the floor plans. Speaking of which, he already has it sprawled out on his huge desk by the window. I still wonder why Zach has a room all to himself. I guess money does do wonders.

“Uhh, that was my father,” he said as he turned off his phone. “I had to ask him about the plan.” He pointed to the paper lying on his desk. He started to make for it, and Charles and I were quick to follow. “He told me that it was originally the kitchen, and the kitchen now was a lanai.” He pointed to the box next to the dining room. “There used to be three doors there; one to the dining hall, one to the lanai—now the kitchen—and last one was to the outside.”

He looked at Charles, “And you said it is now closed out. The other two are also closed out. So,” he looked back at the map, “we only have one chance for exit. My father said there used to be a cellar there too. We exit through the cellar.”

Charles and I nodded. So there’s still space beneath the school, as if the passages aren’t enough. “We just need to find the other end of the cellar. And exit there. It might lead us to the grounds.”

I smiled. This would be the longest we’d ever go. And there isn’t any other chance that we don’t. It’s the only way. “It’s a long journey,” I finally said.

Zach started to roll the map; it made noise. “That being said,” he began, “We’ll need gear.”

“What do we need again?”, asked Charles, pushing a cart on the aisle of the nearest supermarket to the school. Zach walks by us, reading our list.

“We need,” Zach read, “Three flashlights, biscuits and water—in case we get hungry, and chalk, so we can mark our path.”

Soon, we got all the items we need. We decided to split the expenses equally. Zach, being too much of a gentleman, carried the bag for us; three flashlights, a couple boxes of biscuits, six bottles of water, and a box of colored chalks inside it, as we walk across the parking lot. There are about a few cars parked in it. We decided it’s a good site to discuss.

“We’ll try to make our move on the weekend,” Zach began. “Again. That way, we could easily make up an excuse. Also, it’s going to be a long one, so we can’t do it on a school night.”

He took out the box of chalk from the bag. “I chose colored chalks so that in case we have to go separate ways,” he held the box to my face, “We’ll know where the other has been. I’ll assign a color for each of us: yours is pink, Iris, Charles gets blue, and I’ll get yellow. Mark your path with these chalks. In case someone gets lost, we’ll just follow you chalk line.” He shook the box playfully before putting it back in the bag. “Hopefully,” he continued to speak, “We’d have reception there. Try to charge your phones as well, we might also track one another through music.”

We are now walking on the main street, the one that leads directly to the gates of Wessman. The town was not, in any way, modern; none of them were renovated and are still old buildings of dark red bricks. Perhaps it was a law that the town be preserved, to match Velvet Manor, but ironically, the town ended up being much more preserved than the manor itself. The sidewalks are made of stone, with streetlamps distanced at five meters each. 

I glanced on our left and saw that cafe we love to go to. It has an al fresco adorned with planters and fairy lights. On one of the seats sat that same cab driver that took me to Wessman. He was dressed in a dark plaid shirt, with brown leather jacket. He had what I assume to be Turkish Coffee. Without saying a word, I ran to him, the tapping of my shoes against the cold stone ground gave me away. "Hello," I began, "I'm sorry, you were the cab driver from the first day, right?" 

He chuckled, “Yes, I am.” He held out his hand, which I gladly took. "I am Edward Monet." He gave it a little shake. 

"I'm Iris Gardner," I replied. 

He glanced behind me and saw the two-thirds of the group. "And these are my friends, Charles Andrews, and Zach von Stratmann." Mr. Monet raised his right hand and waved at them. "He took me to Wessman on the first day." His eyes landed to our bag of supplies. 

"Those don't look like they're part of a school project," Mr. Monet motioned to the paper bags clutched within Zach's arms. 

"They're not," I said, lips curving up to a smile. "I think we actually might end up finding Christina." 

I wrapped the pink chalks on a tissue paper before placing it inside my backpack, the flashlight and my share of the food are already inside. It is Saturday. We decided to enter the passages in the afternoon so it wouldn’t be too dark when we exit.

I went to the dining hall, Charles went to the guidance counselor’s office to pretend to search for Miss Johnson, and Zach went to the library and pretend to take out some books. The plan was to make it look like Zach borrowed a book for me and Charles went back to us to tell us “he can’t find Miss Johnson since it’s Saturday”.

Luckily, the plan worked just like last time. Zach really did borrow some books, one of which came from the 'forbidden section'--it was about Wessman this time, and the other was a geology book. I pretended to read the books Zach 'borrowed' for us. And once the dining hall was deserted, one by one, we slipped into the small door to the passages. Zach made us all a copy of his simple illustration on his notebook for when we need to split up.

Charles walked in front, arms stretched out so he can feel what we’re walking into. Zach was marking the walls with chalk. I was holding the flashlight and the camera for us.

On what seems to be an eternity of clearing cobwebs and inhaling dust, Charles finally spoke, tapping in front of him. “This is the intersection,” he began. Zach flashed a light on both sides to make sure. It is the intersection. Just like in what I saw, we turned a left, then a right, making an ‘L’ path.

Charles walked a little more, his arms stretched out in front of him. “It’s a wall,” he said, running his hands on something, “We are at the end.”

Zach flashed the light everywhere, up and down, “There has to be a door here.”

That being said, I began to search for the door too. Charles started to tap and knock everywhere. We did the same. We did it for about two minutes until we heard different sound; Charles knocked on something thinner.

“It must be the door,” Zach said. We all kneeled to where Charles is knocking. Zach pushed and pushed, it still hasn’t moved. He shifted his position so that now, he is sitting across the passage. He raised his right leg and started kicking. After three kicks, the door finally flung open, sending dust everywhere.

Zach began to crawl out but not before having to cough multiple times. I followed after him, and Charles was the last to exit. Zach has now begun to stand up and wipe the dust off of him. He was already looking around the room by the time Charles and I are standing up.

Once we’re all settled, we started to look around, flashing our lights everywhere. I saw cabinets, glasses, and plates, all grey due to dust. “It’s the old kitchen, right?”

“Yes,” Zach answered. “We need to find the door to the cellar.”

We continued to shine our light. It was a mix of grey and the sound of our footsteps in the room.

“Uhhh, guys,” I jumped up at the sound of Charles’ voice. We all shone to him and found him standing on one side, staring at the floor, his eyes wide.

I feared for I know what he might have seen. With shaky hands, I shone my light to what he was looking at.

Another skeleton, all grey due to dust, lay on the ground. Their arms are positioned outward. They must have fought the man.

I heard Zach’s footsteps approach us. He kneeled down in front of the skeleton, and blew on it. Dust scattered everywhere but a layer still remains. With shaky but careful hands, Zach reached onto it. He continued dusting it off until a few fabric was revealed. It’s what used to be a puff sleeve. “She must be one of the maids,” Zach whispered.

He continued dusting it off. Charles and I began to help. We dusted the skeleton off to the best we could. There are still dust left, but her dress—or what’s left of it—is now fully visible.

Zach inhaled. “Do you want to do the honor?” he was speaking to me. He motioned to the skeleton. I know what he meant.

It was my turn to inhale, a deep one. I knew I had to be the one to do it, to be able to yield the same results as last time. I slowly examined the skeleton, shining my light in between the bones. I catch something shiny. It was beneath her dress. I carefully lifted the torn fabric to reveal her legs.

There, in her legs or leg bones, attached two long silver objects, like tubes. They were bound to her legs with belts.

“Looks like she hid it under her dress,” Charles whispered.

I passed the camera to Zach and braced myself before reaching in. I started to untie the belt buckles and let the silver tubes fall to the ground. I braced myself once more before reaching to pick up one, then the other.

And, as if on cue, my surroundings turned to smoke little by little. I saw Zach and Charles’ astonished faces as I start to dissolve away. My surroundings grow lighter by the second. I saw the dust start to disappear, revealing beautiful porcelain, shiny utensils, and fresh fruits. It’s a kitchen now. I know I am in the past.

I stood up quick. I do not have the skeleton to worry about. Before I could even admire the surroundings, I heard Christina kick the door open. I quickly hid behind one of the kitchen islands. I carefully peeked in between the silverware in front of me.

I saw Christina, still carrying something. It’s bigger that I thought it was. Behind her are her mother and the two maids.

“Through there,” a maid said. She pointed to the cellar door. The other maid and Marion lift the door open. Christina was the one to run inside and Marion was next.

“Come on!”, the other maid said as she held one door panel open.

“NO!”, the other maid said. “I’ll guard the cellar door. Just exit to the forest.”

The other maid simply nodded and started to enter. Before fully closing the door, she looked back to the other maid. “Goodbye,” she said with teary eyes. The other maid only smiled, a sad one. The other maid finally closed the cellar door.

As soon as the door clicked close, the maid ran around the kitchen, probably to search for any kind of weapon. I quickly crawled to the other side, avoiding her, wishing she wouldn’t see me.

The small door to the passage opened. The man with the sword came in. I had a better look of his face. He is tall, towering tall. He has black wavy hair that reaches to his shoulders. He has dark brown eyes that show darkness.

A shrill scream was heard from the one side of the kitchen. The maid, with a sharp knife on her hands, fearlessly charged onto him. The man swung his sword at her but she was quick to dodge it. She slashed him with the knife, cutting his arm.

“AHHH!”, the man cried and clutched it hard and fell to the ground. Before the maid could run away, the man grabbed her foot and pulled, knocking her. He rolled over and sat, reached for the table and grabbed the first object his hands land on. He got a glass bottle and hit it on the maid’s head.

It was her turn to squeal in pain.

I slowly got up and carefully reached for the wine bottle on the counter. The man began to stand up. He picked up his sword and prepared to pierce it through the maid, before, with all the strength I could, I hit him with the bottle from behind.

Red liquid scattered all around. His head bleeds.

“Why, you!”, he shouted as his eyes land on me. He stopped as soon as he saw my face. From shock, it almost immediately turned to rage. “WHERE IS IT?” He charged toward me as I began to run away.

I felt something made of glass hit my head, and I fell to the ground. I crawled and rolled over to face him again. He was extremely angry, “Tell me where it is.” He pointed his sword on my throat.

I gasped, stretching my neck and feeling the edge of the pointy metal.

“I don’t,” I whimpered, “I do not have it.”

“So who has it?”

“I do not know.”

He growled. He grabbed me on my neck and started to strangle me. I kicked and punched as hard as I could but I cannot push him away. He is far too strong.

“NO! STOP!” the maid jumped on him from behind. However, he is still too strong for us and he easily broke free.

Before I could even comprehend what’s happening, he has reached for his sword and aimed it above my neck, ready to stab me.

“Marion has it! They went to the cellar!” the maid shouted.

The man stopped.

“Do not kill Christina!” the maid said.

The man, slowly and angrily, walked to her. “Thank you,” he said. The maid straightened up. “I’ll follow them to the cellar.”

The maid took a step back.

“Oh,” the man added, “in case you plan to run and get help,” he slashed his sword across her. The maid bled terribly before falling back. It wasn’t long until she stopped moving.

The man slowly faced to me. “You’re coming with me!” He grabbed me by my neck and started to drag me to the cellar. I tried to reach out for something or anything to grab on but failed.

The cellar doors flung open and we started to descend. I tried to reach but the walls are plain and there is nothing—no groove—I could hold on to. The chalk. I remember the chalk. Zach and Charles will know where I got dragged to. I reached for the chalk in my pocket. I reached out and held it near the walls. Our movement caused it to create a line.

We took a few turns; I wasn’t able to count. I was too hurt to be able to count.

I suddenly saw everything begin to turn to smoke. I’ve never felt this happy. I am getting transported back to the present. Slowly, I felt the man’s arm de-materialize and saw the surroundings turn dark. Finally, I fell and hit the ground. I am back at the present.

“IRIS!” I heard Zach and Charles exclaim.

Zach quickly picked me up and noticed the cut behind my head. “What happened to you?” he asked worriedly.

“How did you find me?” I said, ignoring Zach who is now checking my scar.

Charles smiled, “the chalk”.

I started to wipe my pants off of the dust. “I saw the man,” I began. Charles is now saving the video while Zach holds the flashlight for me. “He is tall, and he has black wavy hair. I don’t know what his problem was with the Velvets but he sure knows about this,” I held out the two silver tubes.

“Where did they go?” Zach asked.

“They excited through the cellar,” I began, “And into the forest.” I remembered their conversation.

“Right,” Zach said, nodding, “The problem is I don’t have a copy of the cellar’s plan. We really need to find the exit.”

“Hmmm,” Charles started. “We are now at the cellar underneath the old kitchen, right?” Zach nodded. “That means the dining hall is on our right, and the exit is probably on our left.”

Zach smiled and nodded. “That’s true,” he said as he started to walk onwards. I followed after him and Charles after me. I took the camera from Charles, and he held the flashlight for me.

It was very dark now, compared to earlier. It’s surely because it is no longer in use. All I can see now are the unlit torches in their holders, lined up along the cellar. It is also damp. And silent. We could hear drops echo through the chambers.

In the direction we’re walking to, we were met with a grey stone wall. It must be the end. Charles walked forward, and shone his light to the left. He almost dropped his light as he pointed, “Another skeleton!”

“It must be the other maid,” I said, remembering how she held the door open for everyone. It must be the same this time.

Zach and Charles shone their light on me, I know what they meant. I inhaled. Slowly, I kneeled down and started to examine the skeleton. It is slightly wrapped in torn fabric which resembles a skirt. I held it, “She is the other maid”,

I started to examine her bones. She is upside down. Her bones are disoriented and her spine is broken. It looks like she fell down the cellar stairs. Or was pushed. Maybe she stood guard for the Velvets and fought the man and lost. Such a brave little maid.

I began to search her skeleton. I carefully groped and tapped until I feel something heavy. I did. It was on her back. She must have hidden the object behind her back. I tried to flip her over. Zach saw and was quick to help, trying his best not to touch the silver object. Only I should do that.

Once my hand can slip underneath, I began to search for it in the space between the fabric and her bones. My finger felt cold. It must be the object. With an inhale, I grabbed onto the cold metal and began to slowly and carefully pull it. It tangled in the fabric multiple times. It has many curves.

Once I successfully pulled the object into the open, Charles flashed his light on it. I was right. It did have curves. It looks like a lotus only flat, like a two-dimensional drawing of a lotus. Like an upside down wings of a swan. On the other end, a thread. It must go with the tubes.

I prepared myself to journey back to the 1800s. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. I can still hear the dropping from somewhere in the chambers. Two minutes, I can still see darkness. Five minutes, everything hasn’t turned to smoke yet. “I am not transporting,” I finally said, looking up to Zach’s already disappointed face.

“What could be wrong this time?” he asked, pulling me up.

“She also wasn’t able to do it that one time in the café,” Charles pointed out, taking the object from me.

“Well,” Zach started, I could somewhat hear his voice is louder than usual, “That was the second time she touched it. It usually happens in her first.”

Charles seemed to have noticed it too. He took a step back, “Zach, you need to chill.”

Zach closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he finally said, “I have been so caught up in this.”

I nodded, “It’s alright. Let’s just find a way out.” I shone my flashlight to the top of the stairs. We see a small beam of light. It’s from the moon. That must be the door. I took one last look at the skeleton before starting for the stairs. The wonder of why I didn’t transport this time still lingered in my mind.

I heard Charles and Zach head for the stairs too. “Crap,” I began, “We’re not sure if this is open.”

I let Zach pass me.

“Christina!” Charles suddenly shouted. I quickly ran to cover his mouth but in a swift movement, he managed to break free. “Help us like you did last time!”, he jokingly shouted.

Zach can’t help but chuckle.

CLICK!

Zach’s smile suddenly turned upside down. It was the lock. It clicked open.

I felt my nerves begin to tremble.

Zach immediately ran up the flight, covering two steps at a time. With one kick, the cellar door flung open. It was only darkness. “Damn it!” he cursed. “We missed Christina again.” Disappointed, he climbed out of the cellar and offered his hand for me to hold on to. He did the same with Charles.

We inhaled a breath of fresh air. It’s probably been hours since we last did this. Crickets now filled the air. The evening breeze blew in our faces. It’s night time.

[fibretowire]

Final result of the silk carré. Total prototype, i learnt a new stitch for the border half way...

My whole point is : i'm too self conscious to actually offer paintings to my friends. But if i paint on silk, they can still wear it for the color scheme and i have less pressure on the image.

Also i'm totaly obsessed with vegetal patterns, negative space, and contrast between organic and artificial shapes, i make tones of small gouache paintings. This allows me to experiment in more complexe (and wide) compositions.

I don't have any silk paint nor wooden frame. I had some corean textile dye that allowed to paint like watercolor on material. But i took too long to use them and they kind of dried. I had some opaque textile paint pots left and i did some test : if i diluted it, it did look very close to the corean dye.

Then i looked up what textile paints are made of and i believe it is more or less acrylic paint with a slightly more gello binder. Since it's for a present, i still used the textile paint, but i could use acrylic to broden the palette.

I wanted to work on color theory, so i only used ultramarine blue, a slightly purple deep pink, and a orangy yellow. The greys are chromatic greys, no black, only a mix of the 3 colors.

And here is the result.

It used very few paint compared to the size.

Some areas are a bit light and desaturated to my taste, but the silk is very rich and pretty so it's ok. The color scheme is still very safe to wear. And depending on how you wear it you get the chaotic plants or the regular buiding pattern.

I really like the straight brush stokes that fade into gradients on the border, i will keep experimenting on that. Next time i'll try wet on wet to get more diffuse stains.

Also the photo is not great (i took it last minute after i offered it because i forgot to do it at home) but hey we're on tumblr, ain't we