#THIS IS MY FIRST FULL FINISHED PAINTING OF 2016

[cuntycheol]

(Teaser) Shadows of Rememberance (K.MG)

Idol!Mingyu x Reincarnated!(afab)Reader

Summary:

In 2016, your first love Mingyu's hardwork and a couple of years worth training finally turns to fruition when he sets to debut the next year and hopes to have you by his side. Difference is he debuts, and he has 12 members beside but no you. 4 years later, smaller in size, you got paws for hands, a tail, and limited time to solve your own death. So how do you exactly get to your boyfriend?

WC: TBD (teaser wc is 500)

Genre: more of like fantasy romance? With a small thriller into it?

Theme: lovers!au(childhood sweethearts) typical idol training au (we do not letting the green room slide by :) ) in the beginning, my style of writing is a bit 2017 :3 , flashbacks and transitions(I'll try to make it less confusing as possible), humor, some murder mystery, angst(major), implied smut (no details) Tsundere!Mingyu but eventually turns a new leaf in attitude, alterated seventeen debut timeline (they debut in 2017 with DWC)

A/N: hello readers, carats and gyuldaengies! This one is for you! Not too long ago, I finished See you in my 19th life and you know the phase where you're unable to get out of a particular fantasy-romance lore for a while! Its basically what inspired me to create this whole Korean setting of sojus and starry nights :) I'm actually enjoying the showcase of my work on tumblr even though it's just the beginning but thank you so much for reading my work and liking it! Unconditional gratitudes 😔💙 here's a small teaser from somewhere, in the fic. Feel free to drop comments/or if you're interested for a tag!

From the twelfth-story vantage point of his dormitory building, Mingyu stood on the balcony, his thoughts mirroring the expanse before him. "Is this how the height felt that day?" he wondered, his gaze drawn to the distant city lights that spread like a sea of stars. Beside him, Wonwoo, his roommate and fellow member, along with Seungkwan, offered silent companionship, their presence a comforting assurance.

"You'll only hurt yourself, so cry as much as your heart has always desired to, Mingyu" Wonwoo's voice, soft and understanding, carried the weight of empathy. The full moon hung in the sky, its luminous glow casting light on the scene below. A subtle shift in the atmosphere seemed to whisper that this was an opportune moment to unburden himself, to relinquish the facade he had worn for so long.

And so, within the embrace of the moon's radiant embrace, Mingyu let his emotions cascade forth. A torrent of feelings, suppressed and concealed behind his persistent smile, surged from the depths of his being. His tears flowed, an uncontainable torrent that mirrored the city's night lights, shimmering with raw vulnerability. Each teardrop he shed resonated within you, a mirror of the emotions you felt, transcending the boundaries of species.

Unbeknownst to Mingyu, the same Calico who had been jumping in and out of the balcony railings, silently witness Mingyu's vulnerability of the misunderstood turmoils he's being put into. He leans on his members, and let the tears paint his pain more vividly than words could.

Your feline instincts yearned to leap across the balcony and into his arms, to nuzzle against him and purr your concerns and comfort him. But the confines of your new existence held you captive. A silent observer.

"Trapped within these fur and paws, I long to bridge the divide, to whisper words of understanding to you, Mingyu" even if you're in your feline form, your heart and mind worked as how it used to when you were a human. But it was this very struggle that fueled my resolve. You couldn't stand idly by, separated from him by a veil of existence. You yearned to show yourself, to bridge the divide that separated our worlds and provide him with the reassurance that he must overcome you. He must live.

Yet, the question of how remained a daunting puzzle. "How could I convey my presence, my empathy, without words or gestures he could perceive in the conventional sense?"

Another glance at Mingyu, your heart beats with a fierce determination. You knew that time was of the essence, that the threads of fate were aligning in a way that demanded action. The moonlit night seemed to hold a promise, a promise that if you could find a way to breach the boundaries that constrained you most certainly could offer him the comfort he so desperately needed. And that's when you muster your courage, in the same moonlit of mystery and determination.

《《______________________________________》》

[stalwart-spirit]

16. Do you have the same OC (broadly speaking) across multiple fandoms or settings?

I saw that the answer to this is 'yes,' but I figured this would be a good excuse for you to talk about what bits carried over and which parts you shed to put 'em into FFXIV better and such!

I start levitating ominously. You do not know what you have started (thank you though, I love talking about my characters!)

As you said, yes, all my characters have started off elsewhere before FFXIV, mostly just lil guys I make up in my head! I'll take this chance to go into a little more depth though, since I can source some development art for some of them!

Saeed is a good example, since he goes back to 2016! I don't have any art I'm willing to share for this initial version of him cause it's so old and so basic, but he was made for a duel roleplay and art group back on deviantART, back when you had to draw out and write full applications for roleplay groups and contribute both roleplays and art to get little rewards and be involved in the plot!

Fast forward to 2020, and I decided to revamp him and use him for another roleplay group (same vibe as above, but based on Discord but hosting art and writing via dA)

These were actually some of the concept sketches I made to get a feeling of him! And yes, that IS an Emet-Selch quote I used for some dialogue, I'd literally just finished SHB I think when I made him. As you can tell, he had COMPLETELY different vibes to what he has now. More of a bastard, not someone that people could get along with, a lot more selfish.

Then I started playing FFXIV, and through that I met my D&D group who asked for me to join their group and current campaign in 2021. When thinking of who to make, I thought "Huh, party doesn't have a rogue or someone who can deception their way through things... I know a character I could use who does that-"

Above is some concepting sketches and other stuff from when I was first making him. Some of his old personality remained, but in the end it ended up being developed as he was like that due to some trauma, and eventually grew out of it and ended up being party dad with some wonderfully warm and close bonds with the party!

2023, I still adore this finale painting I made for the whole party upon campaign ending <3

Just as the campaign was wrapping up was when I added Saeed to FFXIV as an alt but now he's become my main! Honestly still shocked at how pretty damn close I managed to get him considering FFXIV's chargen limitations!

It's kinda what I do though, I get attatched and still wanna write and roleplay a character actively with others. His plot honestly transferred over super well, keeping the plot as a rogue rising to a position he never intially expected, fighting against a corrupt empire (though in D&D it was his own empire home that was being corrupted internally).

I also happen to play him in other games, like I have him in GW2 (no plot, no pics to share cause that's just when I take the nostalgic urge to play Baby's First MMO again) and he's also my Drifter in Warframe!

I could go on endlessly about all my other characters, especially since Saeed isn't my oldest in terms of creation, but this is already quite long, and they follow a smiliar pattern!

Also shameless plug, I have more art of him both on my Twitter and my website :^)

[doorbloggr]

What is Inktober?

And what's the controversy?

Sunday 23/19/22

So in 2009, a concept artist and creator named Jake Parker started a challenge, mostly for himself, to complete a hand-drawn art piece for every day of October. In subsequent years, other artists worldwide joined in on the challenge, and from 2015(sic), Parker has posted a list of prompts prior to October for artists to inspire what they'd draw each day.

Originally, as the name suggests, Inktober participation would only count if you completed ink-drawn pieces on paper, often with a fountain pen, but it has since grown to a challenge incorporating all artistic mediums, include paints, music, writing, and even digital art.

But in 2019, Jake Parker made the decision to copyright the term "Inktober", meaning that artists trying to sell art under the "Inktober" title were receiving cease and desist notices or legal action would be threatened. Parker has given several reasons for the decision, including protecting his own work; books of his own art, and about doing ink art; and to not allow predatory profiting off the brand; people using the Inktober name of discriminatory tshirts or posters, selling merchandise using the brand name without permission from Jake Parker and his team.

He has assured artists that it is not his intention to scare artists away from participating in Inktober, or selling their own art made during the challenge. But there are guidelines on how to avoid action from his team. Artbooks must use Inktober as a subtitle and not as the main title, ideally, together with the year of the challenge (e.g. Doorbloggr: Inktober 2022), and avoid using the official Inktober Logo in any merchandising.

In August 2019, it came out that Parker may have plagiarised most of the content for his book "Inktober All Year Long" from an artist named Alphonso Dunn, and their book "Pen & Ink Drawing".

Rightfully so, this brutal stance and the controversy around it scared away a lot of artists from participating in the Official Inktober challenge. But luckily, the variety of artists that this original challenge brought in gave rise to iteration and elaboration on the idea. And so the Inktober spin-off was born.

October: A Month of Art

In the same way that Parker made prompt lists for each new October, many different communities made their own challenges with their own names and flavours. Many still have prompts for 31 days, while others ease it down to 16 days, or even once a week.

One of the first offshoots was Drawlloween in 2012. And from my own limited research, it may have not even been inspired by Inktober. It just so happened to also take place in October. Since October is Spooky Month, Drawlloween prompts are all based on Halloween, many very specific to pieces of spooky media and horror stories. In a similar vein, other Halloween themed challenges are Witchtober, Spooktober, Drawtober, and Goretober.

INKTtober is a spin-off I've seen on a couple different social media's I'm on that focuses specifically on Tattoo art. OCtober or OC October is a common one I see on Tumblr where each day is about an artist's Original Characters or OCs.

Other artists have grown the idea of a monthly challenge beyond October. And I wanna specifically shout out @regal-bones for their beautiful work on Swordtember (Sword designs in September) this year. Amazing work.

Day 2: Candle, Day 25: Spider

And finally, the one that I have been partaking in, Linktober. Linktober is a celebration of the Legend of Zelda series. The challenge began in 2015 as a spin-off of Drawlloween, and in 2016, the team created their first full month calender of prompts.

Each year of Linktober has brought a new calender of prompts and in some years, they even introduced alternate challenges that spice it up beyond just Legend of Zelda art. 2018 introduced Linktober Chance, where the prompt is only half finished and you roll a d6 dice to generate a more specific prompt. 2019 introduced Linktober Quest, where each day is part of a story about a Zelda OC you make and the adventure they go on to save the world. Linktober 2020 introduced Linktober Shadow, a counterpart to the regular challenge where every day is spooky, or about the villainous side of the Zelda series.

I want to talk more about my experience with Linktober, but I fear this post may be getting too long. So I will talk more about Art and Deadlines in a Part 2(?) to this post.

Thanks for Reading

A lot of the information I wrote in this blogpost I sourced from the following article, so I implore you to read it too if you want to gain more insight:

The Controversy with Inktober, Alexis Epinoza (September 2020) The Telescope

Also, if you don't already, please follow the tags #drawlloween #witchtober #linktober #swordtember or any other drawing challenges promoted across this and other sites. Artists love reblogs and if there's a fandom you like, there's likely to be creative people making things for you. So show them some love.

[inariedwards]

This is a selection of selfportraits from a series I made in 2011-2016. They're made with colour pencils on paper. In them I placed myself into various existing paintings and artworks. The series progresses from a fully finished drawing to the least finished drawing. The title of each work in the series is a female name (in lower case) and a body part. The body part in the title is always obscured in the image or not in the frame at all. Out of the fifteen portaits five are full body format, five are half figure and five are shoulders and up. Several of the works have very Mormon themes, and those are the ones I wanted to lift up here.

You can see the whole series on https://inariporkka.tumblr.com/portraits at the bottom of the page. That might not work on Tumblr app, might need to look at it on a browser.

agnes (arms)

The name comes from the Latin term Agnus Dei, the Lamb of God. The painting inspiration is Zurbaran, specifically his Agnus Dei and his Saint Francis. The arms of the figure are obscured by the lamb she carries. It is ambiguous whether she is sacrificing the lamb or rescuing it. There is a possible indication of female priestesshood going on here. The background is a reference to an abstract artist whose name escapes me. I can't remember what I was going for there with the chalk on blackboard look - unfinished plans, maybe?

josephine (knees)

The name comes from Joseph Smith of course, and the main reference painting is of course that famous one of the First Vision. The other reference is this Renaissance trend of making religious paintings and inserting the donor of the painting into the scene. Like there are paintings of like Bible scenes like the crucifixion or Mary holding Baby Jesus and then some Renaissance guy in there too with them. So I put myself into the First Vision, like  a donor. The figure is reading while kneeling behind a little... prayer box thingy that was in the original painting too, with the knees obscured. The idea there is that by reading other people's accounts of their experiences (such as Joseph Smith's First Vision) is like being there.

maria (shoulder)

The name is obviously a reference to Virgin Mary and the painting reference is to like early Renaissance/late Middle Ages iconography. Shoulders are hidden from view on one side by the veil and on the other by the baby leaning on the shoulder.

anna (loins)

I must admit I can't remember what the name is in reference to. But the painting is Whistler's Mother. I've drawn myself in place of the old lady in the original, my late dog is on the floor, and on the wall is my temple sealing diploma. On the left there is a white cloth - a curtain or the veil? The vibe is temple-y: either waiting to pass through the veil or having done it.

eva (nose)

The name refers to Eve. The nudity and the lush jungle all around (borrowed from Rousseau) suggest it's pre-Fall. Nose is hidden from view by the flower she sniffs. Since Mormons have a pretty different view of Eve compared to other Christians, it's kind of focused on just who she was, rather than eating of the fruit or any of those central story beats.

sara (neck)

The name refers to Sarah, the wife of Abraham. This is the most unfinished drawing in the series. To me it's about exaltation (hence the crown) and not being reasy for it yet. This one is also the first one in the entire series, so it follows the system the least - for example it's not as such a remix of a particular painting, just inspired by Botticelli in general, like the hair, really.

@personshapedsplder @lingering-sunrise

[likeadevils]

2012 Lover Diaries Transcripts

Feb 2012

Holy Ground Lyrics

Mar 2, 2012- Perth, Australia

So here we are in Perth. It’s a beach town on the Indian Ocean and it’s beautiful. It’s 85º and sunny and yesterday I went to Cottesloe Beach – I’ve never seen water that crystal blue before. And white sand. There was this art festival going on, so there were all these sculptures set up on the beach. We laid our towels out and got tans and frolicked in the water. After our beach afternoon, we went to this restaurant right on the beach called Indiana. It was built in 1910 and looked like an old fancy hotel. It’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve been, with old world arches and moldings, antique tables and big french doors opening out to views of azure blue ocean. We sat there for hours drinking strawberry mojitos and eating calamari until I was so tired, I went back to my fluffy hotel bed and slept. I’ve been thinking a lot about getting older and relevancy and how all my heroes have ended up alone. I wrote a song on the plane ride from Sydney to Perth on the appalachian dulcimer I bought the day of my flight. I bought it because Joni played on most of her blue record. I taught myself to play ‘A Case of You.’ Anyway, I wrote a song on it called “Nothin New” and it’s about being scared of aging and things changing and losing what you have. It says “I’m getting older and less sure of what you like about me anyway.” And in the chorus it says “How can a person know everything at 18, and nothing at 22? And will you still want me … when I’m nothing new.” It’s a really vulnerable song, but I think it’s important to say.

Jun 10, 2012- Los Angeles, CA

I’ve been in the studio non stop. This week I was in with Max Martin and Johan Shellback, the guys I wrote ‘Getting Back Together’ with. The first day, I had to do this corporate performance for an arena full of managers. I played Love Story and Mean, solo acoustic and Justin Timberlake was MCing so he introduced me. Hilarious sense of humor. He was making the whole arena laugh. When I finished there, I got on the plane and this idea came to me “I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling 22.” I wrote the entire chorus on the plane ride to LA. When I landed, I went straight to the studio and played it for Max and Johan. They loved it. I was so excited. I wrote 22 about how much fun I’ve been having this summer and this year in general. It’s so carefree and sounds like a summer anthem. I was floating on a cloud after we wrote it. The next day I brought them a chorus called 'Trouble’ that’s about how I should’ve known what I was getting into. We came back to 'Trouble’ and it turned out to be absolutely amazing. It’s so edgy and unexpected. It’s almost dub step. My friends love that one the most. I love writing so much. It’s the only thing that makes total sense to me. If I missed a day in the studio, I’d be so mad at myself. God I’ve been having such a beautiful life lately. I can’t believe it. It’s like there’s magic in the air. Friday was my day off. I woke up and went hiking. Then went home and showered. painted my nails, daydreamed about our trip for 4th of July. Taylor

Oct 17, 2012- Los Angeles, CA

This Love lyrics

(2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 & 2008 • 2009 • 2010 • 2011 • 2012 • 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 & 2017)

[emachinescat]

A Year in (Book) Review: My 2024 Reading Journey 📚

#3 - As Old as Time by Liz Braswell

Fantasy / Twisted Tales #3 / 510 pages / published 2016 / Finished Jan. 5

One Sentence Review: A darkly beautiful retelling full of love, hate, prejudice, betrayal, revenge, friendship, and murder - so familiar yet different, a tale as old as time and unpredictable as love. 

Favorite Quotes

"You can't have adventures without risk. You can't have great things if you constantly fear loss."

*

"Everyone should have a journey - and everyone should also have a home, too. Go out into the world for adventure, come home for love."

*

"The village was like an egg - she had developed there, she had been imprisoned there, she was trying to break free. But it had a pretty shell."

*

"The scariest, most frightening person can turn out to be quite a lovely character...if you give him time."

*

"And no doubt British tourists would be thronging through on a weekly basis, begging to be taken to the romantic abandoned castle to paint pictures, smoke opium, and write terrible poetry about their experience."

My rating: 5/5

A Few More Thoughts (Spoilers)

I loved this book! Though I wasn't sure how different the twist would make it at first, I was pleasantly surprised at how deep, different, original, and dark this book was. It was smart, beautiful, terrifying, and so well characterized - it kept me at the edge of my seat!

I was shocked at how dark and "grown up" the book was. There were some parts, especially in Part III, that were genuinely disturbing and distressing. A lot of this has to do with the way D'Arque's plot so closely mirrors the Holocaust.

I took so much wisdom from the book - beauty is so much more than appearance, monsters don't always look like monsters, even though someone may have good intentions or a righteous cause, that does not always make their rash actions just, sometimes what we hate most in others is what we hate in ourselves, and that love and adventure are important. Also, don't trust feather dusters!

[noro-noro-noro]

i finished my work tasks again so i’m sooo chatty on here today~~~ 

anyway i think doing digital art was great for me & i’ve been enjoying it a super lot when i DO do it! but i lost a lot of what i liked about my art style when i went from traditional & i don’t know if i still have it... my lines.....my monsters......my beasts......i’m not as good as traditional art as i used to be!! i used to just draw whatever on the back of worksheets & shit in middle school & high school. if i struggled with the anatomy i would just cut that limb off or put some weird body horror shit coming out. but now instead of something i do for fun when i’d otherwise be bored, drawing is something that has to be done Right TM. 

it’s not like i haven’t improved either. i’ve learned a lot about colors & rendering stuff & cool effects. it’s not like i’m not happy with my art right now either......but i’m kind of not. somewhere along the way it became easier for me to draw a person than the things i always used to like drawing. i would rather go back to what i used to do but it’s not fun to draw that way digitally & when i put my pen to paper in my sketchbook it doesn’t feel the same. but i’ll get over it! 

it’s all bc of lineart. the more art i do the less lineart i have bc i hate refining a sketch into nice lines, so i just paint directly over the lines most of the time & everything is time consuming. also i’m over-reliant on pose references. i’m so bad at drawing a person. if i can’t find a pose reference or get a good pic of myself i just don’t do it

anyway just thinkin some thoughts ^_^; in conclusion i should draw dys more bc she’s 1. full of lines, 2. not a person, & 3. i made her out of everything i liked drawing in 2012-2016. & 4. she’s my first oc. my babygirl forever. my violent woman. i’ve been neglecting her for gacha game characters.

[livewireprojects]

Rambling about old art program

I'm mostly doing this cause I want to ramble & I don't want it being most of the text on an old image I'm posting.(Cause lots of rambling)

When I was younger I had a program called Manga Studio Pro 4.0, I didn't know how to use it much but I eventually was able to use it good enough.(Although at points I couldn't figure how to remove the text on some things if I was making a comic instead of just an image) This was an old program, while some of my stuff was digital installs I don't know how I got or were already there(MSPaint) this was the old way involving a CD that came in a box with a code.

At some point either from either from losing the box(this was a program I had a CD & code for in the past), using it too many times(I transferred computers a few times) or who knows what like not knowing how to use the code or losing the code for it I eventually lost the ability to install/use it. I think I tossed everything I had left for it after I lost the ability to use it & I don't remember when I tried to reinstall it. It worked I was able to reinstall it I just couldn't figure out if I had the code or not anymore cause some stuff confused me.

I don't remember much but I know that when you saved new projects you'd have a folder with the file to open the picture in the program(with layers there if they were there) & an image that was a jpeg full sized(depending on how big you made it) image with all visible layers merged.(I mean it's an image so of course) I have many unfinished projects I found in some backups I made of past computers, they'll never be finished & I'll never be able to open them up in the program again. It's not like I could finish them without starting over anyway thanks to how much shit has changed.

Looking around what I was able to it seems the most recent pics I made in manga studio were from 2012 which was my second year of high school.

My art programs back then were MSPaint & a copy of Paint Tool Sai I found somewhere(I bought a license for the program a few years back so use an actual legal ver now)

When I was younger I use to use Photoshop CS & MSPaint(every once in a while I used Manga Studio Pro 4.0)

Today/in recent years I use Clip Studio Paint EX, sometimes Paint Tool Sai, MSPaint occasionally(mostly use it for quickly pasting screenshots or stuff to copy to paste elsewhere) & very recently Procreate.

Up until a certain point after high school I drew with a mouse, I sometimes draw with a mouse but I mostly use a wacom tablet I've had for a few years. Also use an ipad for procreate.

It's kind of funny, I didn't use manga studio that much but I use clip studio paint a lot now. I bring this up cause manga studio is still going, it's called clip studio now.

Here's so images I was able to find from when I still used the program just so you can see what I worked on. If you've seen my art stuff you'll know how much things have changed too.

This pic was from 2011, it's an old image of my fursona's quad form

To the right is a more up-to-date version from 2016, not much has changed but the paw print is gone(the tail has a little more detail like it has fins now)

Here's a pic from 2021 were my fursona is dressed for pride month that shows better details. Funny enough first pic is manga studio, second pic is sai & third is clip studio paint so I guess it comes full circle.

Pic 1

This is the most recent pic(2012) I made in manga studio, according to the description I sketched it in manga studio then colored it in sai, the text is done in MSPaint. This was for an Alice in Wonderland based project I didn't get far in except for a few ideas.

Pic 2:

I have no idea when I made this, DA says I posted it there in 2012 but going off the art style looks older than I recall. After trying to search around I think this & pic 3 are maybe from 2010 & I got a little better in 2012 when I made pic 1.

This is for someone I use to know that I don't exactly have good memories of. I use to be in an AMV group with her & at some point she requested art from me & would repeatedly ask if it was done. I don't remember how often but I know she was asking about it to the point it was considered rude especially after I asked her to stop.

This was for one of her projects that as far as I know never got very far. I don't even remember what the plot was. I think it was two high schoolers falling in love while caring for a kid that was either their future daughter or the guy's little sister.

I think I was experimenting with the background on this & pic 3 cause I think the backgrounds had to do with finding random brushes & using them as much as I could were I thought it fit.

Pic 3:

From the same person that the less said that I remember the better cause I'm just going to end up ranting about how she kept making child me pissed from repeatedly asking if an art request was done when I kept asking her to stop & it wasn't done yet.

Anyway I think this was suppose to be for a slice of life fanime she was working on. I don't remember much past the blond(Midori) being the I think main character & something involving her having 3 ex-boyfriends with the magenta/pink hair one being dead. I think I drew this before pic 2 but I put it at the end cause there's more stuff.

Three of the images(the image in the thought bubble, the photo to the left & all three chibis if you count them as one image) were all imported into manga studio to be part of it.(Or the photo on the very left & the chibis were imported cause I think the pic in the thought bubble was edited in using Photoshop CS & the text was shaded in Photoshop as well)

Here's the three images in pic 3

Pic 1 was made with MSPaint & Photoshop CS(background is one I made in photoshop at some point), the writing was suppose to look crayon like cause this was before I had Sai which had a crayon brush

Pic 2 was made traditionally on paper & with sharpy before editing it in Photoshop CS. Don't know where I found the floor, the text in the corner is the only thing helping me guess this is from 2010. That cat charm is an old character of mine, was kind of a joke on Hello Kitty for some reason.

Pic 3 was made in MSPaint

I got one more pic I made in manga studio but it's getting it's own post.(Link to said post)

It's kind of crazy just how much was done & how much has changed from then & now.(I dunno how to end this)

[novantinuum]

Finger painting, cricut, film?

Ohohoh the first one is going to be interesting indeed... *eye emoji as I look at this list...*

Thank you so much for sending one in, fren! :D

Writer/OC ask meme source

__

Finger Painting- Share a small snippet from your earliest work (or the earliest that you can get back to). How would you rewrite it today? Either share the rewrite itself or just describe how you’d do it.

Hmm... so, I'm only going to go back to my earliest Gravity Falls story, because to go any earlier would be to lose my sanity. Let's look at "Stanford in the Looking Glass."

Interestingly enough, I already AM re-imagining this fic! It's a series of thematically interconnected one-shots about Ford and his reflection throughout his life. I'm definitely not finished with this re-write yet, not enough to start posting what I have in full, but I can definitely share a small snippet.

Original, written in 2016:

When Stanford Pines returned home from school that day, his father was miraculously nowhere to be seen. "He just left for a- a breath of fresh air," his mother said when he asked about it, and that was that. Didn't even bother to shed a single glance at him. Her eyes were glued to the pages of her book instead. She’s trying to distract herself, he realized. It hurt, but he was used to it. "...Oh." He wasn't entirely sure what else he expected. Suddenly feeling much smaller than he really was, the young boy shoved his scuffed hands into his overall pockets─ too-narrow pockets, which were definitely not made to hide more than five fingers─ and timidly shuffled away.

Re-written in 2023:

When Stanford Pines returns home from school that day, Dad is miraculously nowhere to be seen. "Your father?” his mother says when he inquires about it. “He just left, for uh- a breath of fresh air.” And that’s that. Not a single word more. She doesn’t even bother to spare an empty glance at him, her focus too caught up within the crinkled, yellowing pages of her latest novel. (He flipped through some of her books once, out of idle curiosity. Her tastes aren’t anything to his interests. All she ever reads about is boring historical romances, where the men sweep the women off their feet and everyone lives happily ever after.) "...Oh,” he mutters, rocking back and forth on his heels. He’s not entirely sure what else he expected, asking this question. Still, Ma’s scattered lack of attention stings more than she probably realizes. Circumstances suddenly making him feel much smaller than he really is, the young boy shoves his scuffed hands into his overall pockets─ too-narrow pockets, which were definitely not made with more than the typical number of fingers in mind─ and timidly shuffles away.

Cricut- Are there any characters you’ve had to “cut” from a story? Are there any moments/chapters/stories you’ve had to “cut” entirely?

So, I've cut moments from my stories- like, a few paragraphs at most- but I don't think I've ever had to resort to fully chopping a chapter, let alone a character. Mostly that's just because I write 100% for hobby, and am not looking to make this feel like a job. I like trying to ensure my work is as decent quality as I can muster, but also... there's a limit to how fervently I'm going to edit before I throw something online. I don't want to stifle my creative spirit by starting to give myself rules, y'know?

That being said, I keep all of my cut scenes just in case I ever wish to go back and recycle any metaphors or phrasing from them. I think one of the largest scenes I've ever cut was from an early chapter of The Ballad of Aryll. The moment just wasn't working, and I ended up having to approach it from an entirely different angle before I was satisfied with the direction. It was actually a kinda rare moment for me, usually I'm able to wrestle with my words until they slot into place, but that time I had to physically delete around 700 words before I could continue.

Film- Which one of your fics do you think would work best if turned into a movie? Who would direct it?

Oh god... Uhhh... does picking a storyboarder team work? I can think of one SU fic I'd love to see as a boarded storyline, and that's my four chapter misadventure "Contact," in which Steven accidentally cracks his gem on a mission and his family has to reckon with the genuine possibility of his death before finally sourcing the cure for it at Rose's fountain.

In the 100% hypothetical universe where this happened, I think this story would translate to an animation best with the talents of SU storyboarders Raven and Paul IMO, because I feel like their style always provides really good, exaggerated expressions at wham moments- perfect for providing contrast between the mundane and the delicate, and then the distressed, painful moments of this story.

[karenarella22]

First.

So, as the title says this is the first chapter of the story, hope you guys like it, if there's any grammar mistakes you let me now.

***

I wake up shaken, the telephone ringing in the air breaking the deathly silence that reigned in the room. I turn around looking for the cedar wood wall clock, which my mother inherited from my grandmother after she died of old age. Its gold-colored hands mark 8:30 am; With suspicion I look for the infernal device that acts as my alarm clock and I answer the incoming call that will surely disturb my good day.

-Hello, good morning...yes sir, send me the address please, I'll be there in a few minutes- I end the conversation snorting because of the shivering that the morning cold produces on my body and the total lack of caffeine. After so many years I understood that my addiction to caffeine was nothing more than the urgent need not to sleep. Lazily but in a hurry I move my anatomy around the house preparing myself for another workday full of stress and the occasional stupid comments from the Neanderthals of my colleagues, I put the coffee pot on while I get dressed, a pair of tight jeans to the body, a thermal shirt and the leather jacket with synthetic fur that does not let any cold bother me.

I pour myself a cup of coffee and climb into the 2016 Mercedes-Benz the boss gave me when I graduated as a detective. The road at this time of the morning is crowded with people who, with the minutes counted, go to their respective jobs and those who no longer have the luxury of time, run trying to reach them by any means possible.

I turn the corner at the intersection of Manson and Richmond. A picturesque avenue, which functioned as the main avenue in the early days of the town, it gradually lost its charm as the industrial revolution took the good life elsewhere, so it remained little traveled, on the outskirts of the city and from which the operator received the distress call from our officers.

It is easy for me to find the beautiful mansion at the end of the block which is the location of our new crime scene. Not only the situation but also the weather is gloomy, last night's storm that came without warning hit the city mercilessly, the temperature managed to reach 6 degrees below zero, freezing pipes and causing more than one accident.

I turn off the engine seeing the large two story-house. The pale pink paint mixed with the white finishes that covers it has worn over time, but the facade still retains the splendor it once had in the last century.

I get out of the car with a glass of coffee in hand and walk towards the place, I observe some neighbors gather next to the police tape that goes from one side of the house to the other, the murmur of their conversations and even the occasional sob can be heard so far. I look back at the mansion where a handful of policemen come and go, each one on his job but all with the same stunned expression.

-Aeryne, you're finally here- Dylan approaches, state police detective, fellow force considering that we graduated at the same time that June 2016. He makes a gesture with his hand from afar for me to follow him and so I do up the rungs of the worn porch stairs. Detective Dylan Carter is a 36-year-old man, six feet tall, stocky, very handsome to tell the truth, he was married and has a teenage daughter, Julia, 15 years old- we have already notified the family, the parents must be coming back any minute- he snaps me out of my thoughts with the comment.

-Any witnesses?-I feel a shiver run down my spine, I thought that when I entered the house cold would subside a little but the place feels even colder than the outside.

-No, her mother called 911 because she hadn't come to work and didn't answer her phone, then she came here but didn't find her. When the officers discover the body they sent her home with her husband- he guides me through the corridors, not very wide for this type of house, they are decorated with paintings with abstract styles by different authors.

We arrived at the main room, by protocol to protect the crime scene or any evidence in it I put on white latex gloves and a light blue mask provided by the crime scene investigation body at the house.

-What happened here?-

-30-year-old woman, with a cross cut from left to right in the throat that reached the bone, presumably she was asleep when she was attacked-

-Where's the other victim? - I interrupt his story, scanning the room.

- What other victim? – He asks confused.

-Clearly she sleeps on the left side, when we sleep we unconsciously tend to move to the place that is most comfortable for us, hers is the left, someone slept on the right side, they would never occupy two pillows at night- I point to the place of the bed- Did she had a boyfriend or husband? - I comment still in my thoughts.

-She had a boyfriend, we haven't found him yet, and I already sent two officers to his work- I nod, letting him understand that I heard him while I take the notebook out of my pocket.

Victim in an unnatural position (arms above head, legs crossed, mouth glued together, genitalia removed.

-Aeryne- Cadet Brooks calls my attention- the victim's parents are ready to give their statement-

-Don't let them come in, I don't want them to contaminate the little clean scene that remains in this house- I keep the notebook in the right pocket of the leather jacket. I see Diana's corpse for the last time, the forensic doctor wraps her in her own sheets and along with all the evidence she is laid on the stretcher to be transported to the morgue.

[phantoms14]

I posted 551 times in 2022

5 posts created (1%)

546 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@dp-marvel94

@auroraphantasma

@wastefulreverie

@cookietastic

@lexosaurus

I tagged 54 of my posts in 2022

#danny phantom - 43 posts

#dannypocalypse - 38 posts

#specterscorner - 10 posts

#dannypocalypse rewind - 5 posts

#phandom - 4 posts

#danno - 4 posts

#danny fenton - 3 posts

#fanart - 3 posts

#dp - 3 posts

#my art - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 134 characters

#not me not knowing what to do for a caption so i just throw out the song i listened to on repeat while i was working on the damn thing

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

;O; Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

1 note - Posted February 14, 2022

#4

Happy birthday!! And nice art!! :)

3 notes - Posted February 17, 2022

#3

🎵 Under the surface

🎵 Was Hercules ever like "Yo, I don't wanna fight Cerberus"?

🎵 Under the surface

🎵 I'm pretty sure I'm worthless if I can't be of service

I made art of @agitatedghost ‘s character Ares and my character Ceci, inspired by a screencap from Encanto. This song (and whole movie, let's be honest) is just amazing.

Here's AG's post with more fanart of these two in an Encanto scene!

Some progress pics and close ups are under the cut :)

See the full post

6 notes - Posted January 28, 2022

#2

🎵 Trapped in your world where you're burning in my eyes

You're like a shadow that never hides

I'm stuck in parallel worlds, it's something supernatural

It wont let me go

It's paranormal and no one else believes me

I feel so alone again 🎵

-Parallel Worlds by Elliot Minor

This is a redraw of really old fanart for an event on the DP artists discord server! :D The old one (from 2016 when I first entered the phandom... and still used MS paint... gross xD) is under the cut. Pretty crazy what 6 years can do, huh?

See the full post

62 notes - Posted April 8, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Invisobang art time! :D

This is a piece for @punchspeedchunk 's fic Growing Pains! It's a sequel to their amazing fic Coming of Age so check that out too! See their tumblr post here

Go check out my fellow artist @i-think-in-metaphors post here!

Special thanks to @invisobang for organizing this great event!

More of my silly words and an additional sketch I did for the fic under the cut :)

Second invisobang done! This year has been pretty hectic. I ended up switching fics more than halfway through the event, so it was kind of a struggle to get anything done near the end lol. I still had fun though, and I really enjoyed getting to talk to a lot of other folks in the phandom!

(I also have an unfinished sketch from my first fic I might finish and post later on because I liked it)

Anyway here's a sketch of another scene from Growing Pains!

See the full post

92 notes - Posted August 31, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[laylaart]

Week 6 

Tuesday 25th October - In this session we continued with the digital lab and looked at the concept of everything old being new again, we discussed traditional methods of projection and the idea that this concept of projection has almost come full circle in a sense that these traditional methods have been used and developed further to create the modern versions used today. We discussed various traditional methods of projections such as, ' Dioramas' 'Panoramas' and 'Cycloramas'. As well as 'Peppers Ghost's which form kind of hologram figures. We also looked at 'Stereoscopic Images' which seemed to mirror 360 VR headsets. And the final method was the zoetropes which were first invented in the 1866 and has been mimicked in recent dates, for example, the brit awards set design in 2016.

After discussing the different projection methods we then, in groups, selected one of our objects from that week and were then set to re-design the object to complete its function without the modern technology that it requires, as if it were a piece of technology from the victorian era. We were instructed to brainstorm this new product and create a story board explaining how it would work. In my group we chose to work from may digital object which was the MIDI Keyboard. We combined the idea of music with the technology used for musical purposes in the Victorian era. In the 1800's a common source of music was the gramophone. We used the idea of midi boards using sounds from other instruments and transforming them, to then use traditional instruments to play through a gramophone and potential alter the sounds through this device. This task was fairly difficult as my digital object for this week was a particularly modern one. Once we created our story board we then presented our idea to the rest of the class. We finished the session by listening and discussing each of the objects that the different groups had come up with. It was interesting to hear and understand the kinds of technologies that the groups had managed to come up with especially as we were combining such dated times with such modern technologies.

Friday 28th October - On Fridays session we began by discussing this weeks reading task which was another insert from the interactive installations book. The insert discussed an art collective group called team Lab. They created immersive installations and the insert displayed an interview with the group, questioning their experiences and preferences when creating such installations. The insert was also filled with images of their installations that were seemingly based around nature, people, water, space and light.

We then presented our findings on this weeks objects, my object being the MIDI board. we shared our presentations with the group and listened as others shared their research also.

We finished this weeks session with a roundup of the post 6 working weeks that we had accomplished. As a group we went over what we did in the past sessions, as well as the skills that we had used, gained, and improved in these past weeks. We revisited the workshops we had done throughout these past six weeks, these included, multiple creative tech sessions, the laser cutting induction, an introductory workshop in Arduino, Arduino with with graphite painting, VR introductions and LiDAR scanning.

[saltygilmores]

Thoughts While Watching Gilmore Girls,Season 1-Episode 1 ("Pilot")

I've decided I'm going to rewatch Gilmore Girls from the beginning and post all of my old episode reviews from Twitter. These are from my last full run through the series which began in 2020. Yeah, it's been a while. I watched the series for the first time in 2016, but didn't do it again until 2020 when I needed a distraction during lockdowns. When I was finished that run, I immediately watched it all over again. I reviewed every season but AYITL and season 5, but who cares, that's the Logan season. Time to bring my tweets that nobody read the first time to another social media platform where they'll be even more ignored! Let's go! June 26,2020: GeeGees, Season 1, Episode 1, Holy Shit, I'm really Doing This shit AGAIN, I need a Job, Someone please hire me. The only time I'll EVER be thankful for Dean is that season 1 is such a bore that his awfulness is the only interesting thing to write about. It will give me something to do. Thanks for nothing, a-hole. I am 100% Anti-Dean-Forrester. Let us proceed. Lorelai looking at Luke like a snack 1 minute into the series and CAN YOU BLAME HER?

"Oh yeah. Pour that coffee. Sloowwwwly. Yeah." Omg you two. Get a fucking ROOM. Don't wait like, 5 seasons to do it either! Now! Macy Gray! Dated reference! It's been a while since I've heard one of those on the show. #ItryToSayGoodbye #AndIChoke #TryToWalkAway #AndIStumble No I'm serious that sexual tension between L&L already is crackling. It's palpable. You could practically eat it. "Boys don't like funny girls." Well that explains why I'm still single.

Michel is an icon.

These Stars Hollow "teens" look like they've all been left back a few years.

Chock Full O Nuts coffee (Drella's tip jar) is yet another cheap, common, supermarket brand coffee in a town that prides itself on it's local coffee shop.

WHAT IS GOING ON BEHIND LORELAI! It was not a painting! It was a man standing in a doorway! That guy never moved! Hold me!

I am a person infinitely curious about tiny details. She has a professional looking posed picture of her and Rory in Luke's Diner like they own the place, although the length of Luke and Lorelai's friendship as of the pilot is unclear. And whose dog is that?

I'm sorry but who the fuck asked?

Is getting hit by a bus a job? They're hiring. (this is funnier now that I know Milo wanted Jess to get hit by a bus. No, really).

Of course you don't, you boring, humorless, joyless garbageperson

The answer should be "plotting my escape". #RunRory #Run #Danger

You mean the Garbage Person standing in front of you, right Rory?

Don't try to discuss literature with her, you ass clown.

My feed is now cursed.

Is the first episode in the series the only time they actually show Rory and Lorelai paying Luke for their food? I guess everything's on the house as long as Luke is trying to get into Lorelai's pants. You're gonna be playing the long game, pal.

Hmm. Right. Sure. Dean Forrester. Cute. I think someone needs an eye exam.

You are very similar. You're both in love with Dean.

Now now Lorelai, your future nephew won't arrive for another season. "If you're going to throw your life away, he better have a motorycle!" Thanks Lorelai, that was already my plan.

Huhuhuh. These two.

[hikari-kaitou]

Capcom’s Official AA Fanclub Surveys - Main Series Edition

Naturally, Capcom’s official AA fanclub site didn't only post surveys about the DGS characters; they published far more of them about the main series characters. It makes sense, as they started the trend before the DGS series had even been conceived.

Back in the old days, they used to hold a survey on Capcom’s official AA fansite every few months where they’d write about the seasonal activities of a handful of characters and ask fans to vote for the funniest/most pleasant/strangest/etc answer.

They stopped doing them in like… 2016? 2017? The original text is lost for good as far as I can tell. Even the wayback machine couldn’t help because the content was password locked and you can’t get past the password wall while remaining in the archived version.

Fortunately, I saved some of my translations of them so I thought I’d share them. Unfortunately, I was doing these translations very casually and only intended to share them with two of my close friends at the time when I did them, so some of them are just summaries rather than proper translations, and I tended to only focus on characters that we personally were interested in or scenarios that we thought were funny or interesting. That means there are parts missing, and because I didn't expect the original text to be wiped off the site I didn't save it so I could go back and fill in the blanks. Sorry about that...

Cut for length!

"Spring is on its way and each of the AA cast members spent their day off in different ways. Who's way of spending their day off sounds the most pleasant?"

Phoenix- he finished unpacking his moving boxes and sorting his seasonal clothing. While he was packing away his ugly pink sweater and such, he happened across the complete works of Shakespeare at the bottom of one of the boxes, got completely absorbed in reading, and ended up abandoning his unpacking.

Mia- She went shopping at a department store for a new summer suit. On her way, she coincidentally ran into Maya, who was on her way to the agency to hang out, but then at some point Maya vanished. Mia tried calling her cell phone but she didn't answer. "Don't tell me she's lost at her age," Mia thought, and began to search for her. She found Maya transfixed by a rooftop Steel Samurai show. It seems that she was both exasperated and relieved.

Maya- she tagged along on Mia's shopping trip, but the second she spied a poster for a rooftop Steel Samurai show, she made a beeline for the roof. She got into a cheering battle with a mean-looking elementary school boy and really enjoyed the show. When the show was over, she reunited with an exasperated looking Mia. She gleefully led Mia to a burger restaurant so they could eat some burgers together.

Edgeworth- he treated himself to a drive along the coast in his red sports car... Well, that was the plan, but then he was pushed by his mentor Von Karma into being the driver for his shopping trip. As a reward for his service, he received a brand new Von Karma style, stylish and flashy summer suit.

Then there's Larry, who dragged Phoenix to a café to hit on its hot owner, and the judge who bought a wig.

"Apollo, Fulbright, Edgeworth, Klavier and Kristoph made visits to a nursery school near the courthouse. Which of them did the most pleasant activity with the children?"

Apollo acted out the story of the “Crying Red Ogre” for the children. Phoenix played the part of the blue ogre, and Apollo was the red ogre, and Apollo’s wailing moved the children to tears too. In a panic over all the crying, they got Trucy to cheer them up with a magic trick in which she made Apollo disappear.

Fulbright: He came dressed in a blinding white costume to teach the children about justice and put on a play. The children gave him thunderous applause... But when Jinxie, who had been forced to play the part of the heroine, saw Fulbright, she thought he was the ghost of an army general, got scared, and slapped a charm on his face.

Edgeworth and Gumshoe: He and Gumshoe were going to reenact the story of Kintarou (an old Japanese fairytale). Franziska handed Edgeworth the Kintarou costume she’d designed (If you've seen Ghibli's Spirited Away, recall what Bou, the giant baby, wears. That's what we're talking about here). Edgeworth fearfully asked “You... expect me to wear this...?” Gumshoe, who had painted his whole body black to play the role of a bear, told him “Of course, sir! It doesn’t fit me!” and shoved Edgeworth out on stage in it. Edgeworth quickly began to reconsider Gumshoe’s salary for next month.

Klavier and Kristoph: Kristoph started giving a boring lecture on the importance of law, and the kids were getting antsy. Seeing this, Klavier came over with his guitar to liven things up, performing a rock style arrangement of the “The Bear Went Over The Mountain". But then he threw in the unnecessary comment of “If any of you scratch the frets of my guitar, I’ll be suing for damage of property, ok?” And they both ended up getting kicked out.

"This survey is about who knows how to enjoy a sunny day at Gourd Lake the best"

Simon: To give Taka some exercise, Blackquill took him and Fulbright (who was on guard duty) out for some falconry. Things were going well until Taka heard something about this mysterious creature “Gourdy,” freaked out, flew into the little shop selling Gourdy merchandise and started making a huge mess. Blackquill and Fulbright gathered Taka up in a panic and hightailed it out of there as fast as they could.

Edgeworth had seen Phoenix home and on his way back passed by Gourd Lake. Just as he was starting to get bad flashbacks... he happened to hear Larry in the middle of a flirting attempt and got dragged in. The woman he was trying to put the moves on was a foreigner, and she and Edgeworth started chatting in her native language. Larry couldn’t understand and was annoyed that Edgeworth was apparently moving in on his target, so he sulked and blew up at Edgeworth.

Athena tried to play matchmaker for Apollo and Juniper, so she told them to meet her in the forest near Gourd Lake so that they would run into each other there and hopefully hit it off. Juniper got there first, expecting to find Athena, but when Apollo showed up, she panicked and hid behind a tree. While she was trying to gather her nerve to go talk to him, he wandered off and she lost sight of him.

Phoenix was at the park and he got caught by Larry who was doing his part time job of selling Samurai Dogs. Larry saw a pretty lady that he wanted to flirt with so he asked Phoenix to mind the shop while he was gone. Business was slow, so he called in all the WAA members to put their full range of skills to use. They seem to have managed to sell them all!

Gumshoe took Missile for a walk in the park. They stopped for a rest and Gumshoe fell asleep, so Missile slipped out of his collar and ran over to where the Samurai Dogs were being sold. He ate them all without Phoenix noticing. Phoenix handed things back over to Larry when he got back and Larry got in huge trouble for losing so much product.

"This survey is talking about how the cast spent their Valentines Day"

Trucy gave Polly chocolate for himself and some for Klavier and asked Apollo to give it to him for her. Klavier wasn’t in court when Apollo went to look for him, though, so he and Phoenix went to the prosecutors’ office together with their chocolate. On their way, though, Apollo found himself getting a lot of strange looks from Themis Legal Academy students.

Ema gave some chocolates to Phoenix to give to Edgeworth because she suddenly got called to a crime scene. Phoenix headed over to the prosecutors’ office but Edgeworth was in court and wasn’t there, so Phoenix waited out in front of the prosecutors’ office with this flashy, girly looking bag of chocolates. Edgeworth’s trial ended up going a long time and Phoenix got a lot of stares as he waited.

Edgeworth was hit by a pollen-filled spring breeze on his way back to the office and suddenly his eyes got all red and itchy and he was left sneezing and sniffling. Phoenix came to talk to him and got quite a surprise when he saw the state Edgeworth’s face was in. The chocolates Ema gave him were in the shape of the Steel Samurai and they made Edgeworth so pleased that it seemed to ease his suffering a little.

Flower Viewing:

Phoenix and Apollo go to the park early to hold flower viewing spots for the WAA members. They see some people from around town that they know who ask them to hold their spots while they go and grab this or that. Phoenix and Apollo do their best to hold those people’s spots and in the process lose their own. They end up begging Edgeworth to let them share his and Klavier’s spot.

White Day:

Because of his painful memories about Valentine’s Day from elementary school, he doesn’t like Valentine’s Day or White Day that much. As a return gift to his beloved daughter, he gave her painstakingly handmade magic panty shaped chocolates. Apparently he forced the ones that didn’t turn out on Edgeworth...

Klavier was holding a ladies only concert, which he invited Trucy to. Phoenix was worried about letting Trucy be out at night by herself, so he sent Apollo along in disguise (as a woman!!). But Klavier saw through Apollo’s disguise easily and to Apollo’s horror, called him up on stage.

Autumn/Moon Viewing:

Phoenix, Edgeworth and Larry went to collect chestnuts together. Larry was too focused on looking for chestnuts and not watching where he was going and fell down the mountain slope. Phoenix had tried to catch Larry but he ended up falling too and spraining his ankle slightly. Edgeworth had to carry Phoenix on his back down the mountain.

Apollo went moon viewing with the rest of the WAA. It turned out into kind of an office party and Apollo had drink after drink while assuring everyone that “I’m fine!” but ended up getting pretty hammered. He proceeded to pass out and Phoenix took care of him.

Obon Festival:

Klavier performed a bonfire festival dance version of the Guitar’s Serenade at the summer festival and Apollo provided the taiko drum backup. He filled the gaps in the taiko drumming with his chords of steel, and it was a very energetic bonfire dance.

Edgeworth noticed the festival going on on his way home from work and decided to have a look. He saw Phoenix selling Samurai Dogs and desperately wanted one, but couldn’t bear the thought of Phoenix finding out that he was a Steel Samurai fan. He hemmed and hawed in front of the festival stall, trying to decide whether to buy one, but they sold out before he could make up his mind.

Phoenix went to the festival with Maya. Larry, who was working the Samurai Dog stand, called them over and forced them to watch the stand while he made a booty call. Phoenix and Maya’s manzai comedy duo style vocal advertising was so successful that they quickly sold out.

Christmas:

Phoenix, Trucy, Athena, Apollo and Pearl all spent the night at the office after their party wrapped up. Phoenix put presents next to the kids' pillows during the night.

Edgeworth grumbled about having to play Santa but dressed up anyway and snuck in at night to bring the younger ones at Phoenix's office some presents. He accidentally ends up sneaking into Phoenix’s room instead.

Apollo wanted to be a good big brother to Trucy and Pearl, so he snuck into their rooms to leave gifts but tripped over something, let out a Chords of Steel volume shout as he fell and ruined the surprise/

Klavier, as a favor to Trucy, snuck in dressed as a Visual Kei style Santa, but he announced his arrival with a rock arrangement of Santa Claus is Coming to Town and got caught and kicked out.

Blackquill had to make a jailbreak in order to play Santa, was chased down and Phoenix woke to find the police surrounding his office.

DGS Edition

[wakandaiscoming]

Ryan Coogler’s statement on Chadwick Boseman’s death has gutted me again. “He’s an ancestor now.”

Before sharing my thoughts on the passing of the great Chadwick Boseman, I first offer my condolences to his family who meant so very much to him. To his wife, Simone, especially.

I inherited Marvel and the Russo Brothers’ casting choice of T’Challa. It is something that I will forever be grateful for. The first time I saw Chad’s performance as T’Challa, it was in an unfinished cut of “Captain America: Civil War.” I was deciding whether or not directing “Black Panther” was the right choice for me. I’ll never forget, sitting in an editorial suite on the Disney Lot and watching his scenes. His first with Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, then, with the South African cinema titan, John Kani as T’Challa’s father, King T’Chaka. It was at that moment I knew I wanted to make this movie. After Scarlett’s character leaves them, Chad and John began conversing in a language I had never heard before. It sounded familiar, full of the same clicks and smacks that young black children would make in the States. The same clicks that we would often be chided for being disrespectful or improper. But, it had a musicality to it that felt ancient, powerful, and African.

I learned later that there was much conversation over how T’Challa would sound in the film. The decision to have Xhosa be the official language of Wakanda was solidified by Chad, a native of South Carolina, because he was able to learn his lines in Xhosa, there on the spot. He also advocated for his character to speak with an African accent, so that he could present T’Challa to audiences as an African king, whose dialect had not been conquered by the West.

I finally met Chad in person in early 2016, once I signed onto the film. He snuck past journalists that were congregated for a press junket I was doing for CREED, and met with me in the green room. We talked about our lives, my time playing football in college, and his time at Howard studying to be a director, about our collective vision for T’Challa and Wakanda. We spoke about the irony of how his former Howard classmate Ta-Nehisi Coates was writing T’Challa’s current arc with Marvel Comics. And how Chad knew Howard student Prince Jones, who’s murder by a police officer inspired Coates’ memoir Between The World and Me.

I noticed then that Chad was an anomaly. He was calm. Assured. Constantly studying. But also kind, comforting, had the warmest laugh in the world, and eyes that seen much beyond his years, but could still sparkle like a child seeing something for the first time.

That was the first of many conversations. He was a special person. We would often speak about heritage and what it means to be African. When preparing for the film, he would ponder every decision, every choice, not just for how it would reflect on himself, but how those choices could reverberate. “They not ready for this, what we are doing…” “This is Star Wars, this is Lord of the Rings, but for us… and bigger!” He would say this to me while we were struggling to finish a dramatic scene, stretching into double overtime. Or while he was covered in body paint, doing his own stunts. Or crashing into frigid water, and foam landing pads. I would nod and smile, but I didn’t believe him. I had no idea if the film would work. I wasn’t sure I knew what I was doing. But I look back and realize that Chad knew something we all didn’t. He was playing the long game. All while putting in the work. And work he did.

He would come to auditions for supporting roles, which is not common for lead actors in big budget movies. He was there for several M’Baku auditions. In Winston Duke’s, he turned a chemistry read into a wrestling match. Winston broke his bracelet. In Letitia Wright’s audition for Shuri, she pierced his royal poise with her signature humor, and would bring about a smile to T’Challa’s face that was 100% Chad.

While filming the movie, we would meet at the office or at my rental home in Atlanta, to discuss lines and different ways to add depth to each scene. We talked costumes, military practices. He said to me “Wakandans have to dance during the coronations. If they just stand there with spears, what separates them from Romans?” In early drafts of the script. Eric Killmonger’s character would ask T’Challa to be buried in Wakanda. Chad challenged that and asked, what if Killmonger asked to be buried somewhere else?

Chad deeply valued his privacy, and I wasn’t privy to the details of his illness. After his family released their statement, I realized that he was living with his illness the entire time I knew him. Because he was a caretaker, a leader, and a man of faith, dignity and pride, he shielded his collaborators from his suffering. He lived a beautiful life. And he made great art. Day after day, year after year. That was who he was. He was an epic firework display. I will tell stories about being there for some of the brilliant sparks till the end of my days. What an incredible mark he’s left for us.

I haven’t grieved a loss this acute before. I spent the last year preparing, imagining and writing words for him to say, that we weren’t destined to see. It leaves me broken knowing that I won’t be able to watch another close-up of him in the monitor again or walk up to him and ask for another take.

It hurts more to know that we can’t have another conversation, or facetime, or text message exchange. He would send vegetarian recipes and eating regimens for my family and me to follow during the pandemic. He would check in on me and my loved ones, even as he dealt with the scourge of cancer.

In African cultures we often refer to loved ones that have passed on as ancestors. Sometimes you are genetically related. Sometimes you are not. I had the privilege of directing scenes of Chad’s character, T’Challa, communicating with the ancestors of Wakanda. We were in Atlanta, in an abandoned warehouse, with bluescreens, and massive movie lights, but Chad’s performance made it feel real. I think it was because from the time that I met him, the ancestors spoke through him. It’s no secret to me now how he was able to skillfully portray some of our most notable ones. I had no doubt that he would live on and continue to bless us with more. But it is with a heavy heart and a sense of deep gratitude to have ever been in his presence, that I have to reckon with the fact that Chad is an ancestor now. And I know that he will watch over us, until we meet again."

[hometoursandotherstuff]

Lisa, Joe, and their teen daughter Raven, call their home in Sedro-Woolley, Washington, “The Moonlit Manor,” and it’s Gothic, gorgeous, and full of Halloween inspiration.

The house may look like an older home, but it was only built in 2016.

Owning this home has allowed Lisa to really let loose with her own interior decor style, which she likens to "a cross between an old-timey bordello, a tattoo shop, and a haunted house... 

with just a pinch of grandma’s house.

“It was essentially an ugly beige box inside and out (insert vomit emoji here),” says Lisa of their house when they bought it.

Lisa says, “I despise beige with every fiber of my being. For me, the only acceptable form of beige is in leopard print; ALL HAIL LEOPARD PRINT! “

Lisa grew up watching “The Munsters,” “The Addams Family,” and old horror movies with incredibly ornate interiors, as well as Westerns with the most gorgeous red monochrome bordellos with velvet everything.

Most of the lighting in their house is vintage.

Her grandma side is collecting doilies. "Dyeing white thrift store doilies with orange RIT dye is a cheap and easy upcycle that’s cute," shares Lisa.

Lisa feels fortunate to own this house, but is not pleased with the builder’s choices of finishes.

She knows that they will make it better, in time.

The main part of the house is painted in Sherwin-Williams' “Black of Night.” Isn’t that giant curtain spider an amazing idea?

Growing up, Lisa’s mom decorated the house for Halloween and Christmas. She always looked forward to those special times of the year.

She got her first apartment at 19 and started decorating for the holidays right away. “I didn’t have nearly the amount that I have now. Once we bought a house it was game on and I really ramped up my collecting."

Lisa’s decorating tip is, “First and foremost, spare yourself the heartache and torture of comparing your home to anyone else’s. We’re all at different income levels and circumstances.”

"With that being said, I would just say follow your heart and decorate your home in any way that truly does it for you. If you’re still figuring that out, that’s okay, you’ll get there. Collecting and curating the things that speak to you take time, sometimes a lifetime."

Tony likes it all, too. 

She also likes collecting old movie posters.

She dislikes the color of the cabinets so much and the backsplash is such a snore, that she doesn’t even post the kitchen. 

https://www.instagram.com/themoonlitmanor/