#all the (finished) sketches of him I've ever done in fact

[theminecraftbee]

fic masterpost

last updated: august 2024

note that this masterpost does not include tumblr-exclusive fics, because i write those as effectively "sketches"; they're practice and meant to be easy for me, so i deliberately don't 'take them seriously' enough to list them here. (also, there are probably over a hundred at this point.) you can find the tumblr exclusive fics in the tag 'a bee fic' if you're looking for them.

additionally: for ANY of my fics, you can always DM me to ask me to give you spoilers if the tags and summary do not give you enough information to decide if you want to read the fic or if the fic might contain one of your triggers. just let me know in a way i can respond privately, and i will give you that information!

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multichapter fics

this is about a stuffed bird, hermitcraft, T (warning: a bordeline M), 78k. in which an apocalypse happens that turns much of humanity into horrible monsters, mumbo gets a distressing call from grian and decides to travel across the country to meet him. still my most popular hermitcraft fic and my second-most popular fic overall. heavy on body horror, themes of what makes someone a person, and also evil x is here. i still love the mumbo voice in this, and it even has a complete podfic by quackingfish if you prefer audiobooks.

the continued adventures of the boatem road trip, hermitcraft, T, 28k. a series of events that take place as boatem is trapped in the void together for three months after big moon. originally written as a series of vaguely-connected oneshots on tumblr, gathered here into one place. the ending is a little abrupt, but if you're looking for something with the highest concentration of some of my favorite jokes i've made sitting right next to some good old cosmic horror, this is the fic for you.

the last days of the free angel of carrows, hermitcraft, T, 79k. the angel joe hills and the zombie cleo, owners of the atsign agency, investigate a strange mystery brought to them by pearl, and must save their city as they go. a noir-inspired urban fantasy i originally wrote for a big bang, and still my longest fic! it's got some of my favorite worldbuilding i've done, a great joe-and-cleo plot, a pearl i'm still obsessed with, and so much angel symbolism. if you like aus or urban fantasies, this is the one of my fics you should read.

solving counting sheep, evo, T, 78k. blade-three, living weapon of the watchers, is stolen by martyn after martyn finds its command words and taken home to jimmy to try to rehabilitate. what neither the property police or three itself know is that three is the ultimate fate of grian, their friend who they presumed dead. a fic that is very VERY much about identity and learning who you are, and also plays into many of my favorite living weapon and watcher!grian tropes--as well as subverts them in some heavy ways. probably one of the most personal fics i've ever written, as well. my understanding is that both people who like watcher!grian and people who hate it like this fic, which i take as praise.

the carriers, life series, M, 40k. PET mail (the group made up of Pearl, Etho, and Tango) are mail carriers after the zombie apocalypse, as well as asymptomatic carriers of the zombie virus. when cleo, a person from pearl's past, asks them to bring her a package, they go on a journey that barrels through all three of their pasts. this one is rated M for two specific reasons (both violence) but if you're chill with violence this one turned out pretty well! it is a very me take on a zombie apocalypse, what with the fact that the remnants of heavy industry are almost as much of a threat as the zombies, and a fic that leans pretty heavily on the double life soulmate pairs.

san luis, dream smp, T, 23k, perpetually unfinished. after the other three members of sbi die, philza tries to put back together the pieces. it would be easier if he wasn't hearing their ghosts. this is a fic i'm unfortunately unlikely to finish because it just makes me too sad to write after irl events, but it has some of my best handling of grief, and i know it brings some people comfort. if you don't mind me at my most unrelentingly sad, or are looking for that, i might still recommend it.

in deference to saint george, original superhero work, T, 42k. superhero superball, aka jack harlan, starts dating a customer he meets at the coffee shop he works at, while at the same time dealing with the attacks of the villain dragon and natural disasters. a hero/villain fic with a very ME kind of ending, i am still SUPER PROUD of this. i think the worldbuilding and characters work and it's my proof to myself i can write ow! also, if you've always wanted to read a superhero au from me, good news: this may not be an au, but it's very much exactly that.

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long oneshots

consequentialism, hermitcraft, M, 5k. as the members of boatem start falling in the boatem hole, their own dead bodies start showing up. peak "WOULD THAT BE FUCKED UP OR WHAT" horror from me, and also the first hermitcraft fic i ever wrote! if you like my horror writing and aren't too squeamish, good news: this exists.

to convey a certain brilliance, hermitcraft, T, 21k. joe hills and zombiecleo slowly, and through many death loops, drag their way out of their collapsed base to try to survive after a lunar apocalypse. this is the second hermitcraft fic i ever wrote and i wrote it before we knew how moon's big would end, inspired by super hostile; people still tell me it has some of their favorite joe characterization.

cura te ipsum, hermitcraft, T, 15k. tango, in a world where the hermatrix is canon, wakes up on-board the hermethius after dying to the moon and has to try to figure out how to cope. still one of my favorite oneshots i've written, full-stop, and the culmination of all my big moon emotions. it can be considered fully canon-compliant, and it's mostly about all the big emotions something like big moon would cause.

jevin's egg disaster, hermitcraft, G, 7k. the eggs from the season nine egg hunt turn into real children. chaos ensues. this is technically sorted into chapters, and written as a series of very short ficlets on tumblr originally. it doesn't really "conclude" as a result. however this is me on pure crackfic and contains my favorite joke i've ever made (it's in chapter 7 if you're wondering) so PLEASE read it if all the rest of my 'everyone talks about their big feelings' is causing you to need a laugh because it WILL make you laugh.

attempt thirty-three, hermitcraft, T, 14k. joe hills experiences the thirty-third loop of the time loop he's been stuck in, trying to save the world from the rift. a fic exploring the idea of "what happens in that middle part of the time loop when you've been there a while, but don't have things solved yet?" if you like joe hills and you also like hurt/comfort, this is very much a fic with both of those things, and some of my best with both of those things.

a thing that is thicker than starlight, hermitcraft, T, 13k. after reuniting on an adventure through space, long-lost siblings cleo and gem return home and try to figure out where they're supposed to fit into each other's lives. written for recursive exchange and based on "out to the galaxy steady she goes" by thedepressedcanary, although this fic stands on its own. it's a vaguely treasure planet-like au, but it's also MOSTLY about the trauma your parents leave you and the feeling of knowing you're supposed to care about someone (but don't know how to yet). this is my sibling feelings fic, read it for sibling feelings.

the inner mechanism of a black box, dream smp, T, 14k. techno is trapped, isolated, in a horrible version of the prison with only his voices for company. still my most popular fic, and also the fic of mine that is most describable as 'whump'. i still really love the techno writing in this one; it may be the first complete thing i posted to the account but it's still good. written before we knew anything about the prison, and so the situation is entirely speculative; also written before 'techno in prison' really became a genre. you can tell both of these things, for both good and ill.

revenant, dream smp, M, 11k. jack manifold descends back into hell in order to drag tommy back up and out with him. written in a fugue state during the like, three days tommy was still dead. jack manifold is way cooler than he deserves in this fic (he is also EXACTLY as cool as he deserves). to be honest i don't remember why i rated this one M, but not stuffed bird? if you can read stuffed bird you can almost certainly read this. has some of my cooler weird formatting decisions in it and a WAY COOLER VERSION OF HELL THAN THE DSMP GAVE US I'LL STAND BY THAT.

bad beat, dream smp, T, 10k. techno goes to play a high-stakes game of poker against quackity, hoping to win insurance for his friends' lives. do you like card games? i like card games. most of this fic is a thriller in which they are playing poker. both people who like and dislike poker like this fic, though, because the thriller elements still work. also, my one take on casino quackity, so if you like quackity, give it a shot.

a kind of playing heartstrings, empires smp, G, 6k. jimmy invites scott to a cod empire gathering. an older fic of mine that's a cute take on empires flower husbands with a LOT of music culture worldbuilding for the codlands! this is just a fic that makes me feel cozy and happy. it is uncomplicated fluff.

survivorship bias, empires smp, G, 9k. an amnesiac jimmy is fished out of the water and into a surviving village that exists a few decades after the rapture, but still a great deal of time before empires season two will happen. a combination of worldbuilding of that transition period and emotions about jimmy, who doesn't remember why he's sad but certainly feels it. i enjoyed meshing different empires cultures together for this a lot!

the perils of updating your vault hunters server before even the public release (seriously who qa checks this), vault hunters smp, G, 9k. in which a bug on the vault hunters server turns all of iskall's friends into cute small children and he has to get them out of a vault again. this one is just an excuse for me to write endless Cute Baby Shenanigans, and if Cute Baby Shenanigans sound like they're your kind of thing, give it a read!

it's a long way down if you want to get up again, yugioh dm, T, 12k. mokuba tries to puzzle out why his brother is acting so strangely; as it turns out, this is because kaiba has recently time traveled. a fic shoving DSoD kaiba into the earliest parts of yugioh. he is very bad as a time traveler, and he's not necessarily making things better, but they aren't necessarily worse. also, a fic with a lot of my feelings about mokuba and seto's relationship, as well as their relationship with gozaburo. the kaibas will always make me feel things.

on burdens, yugioh dm, T, 11k. kaiba realizes that jounouchi is both more complicated than he gave him credit for and probably being abused, which changes his perspective on him. violetshipping, but mostly pre-violetshipping. another fic where i write people playing a card game! it is also as much about kaiba having the world's worst emotional intelligence as it is about kaiba and jounouchi both having shitty dads.

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selected short oneshots

a question for the dead, life series, G, 1.2k. a script-format fic interviewing the dead players of last life. one of my favorite experiments with formatting of all time, line after line of character study with no wasted words. read it.

different sort of soulmates, life series, G, 926. an aromantic mumbo jumbo hears about double life after the fact, and talks through with grian his fears that he wouldn't have been capable of having a soulmate. cute grumbo friendship and also some feelings about feeling disconnected from the people around you. a personal favorite ficlet of mine.

the long odds, life series, G, 1.8k. martyn is invited to the table with the other writers to play a game. a very meta fic in which martyn plays blackjack with watchers and listeners. this fic is like 80% metafiction and allegory by weight, and i like it very much.

a murder, life series, G, 483. before limited life, jimmy and joel realize it's coming via a flock of birds on empires. a fic both with jimmy and joel's unique friendship and a meta twist on the whole canary thing.

task: answer the following question: do you believe in curses?, life series, G, 1.2k. the surviving members of secret life explain their thoughts on curses. a spiritual successor to 'a question for the dead' and another one of my absolute favorite experiments with formatting. another one with no wasted words that hinges on the character voice of it all.

home, life series, G, 887. cleo and etho have a conversation about their new relationship after secret life, given that cleo's aromantic. man, i love cletho so much, and i also really like the idea of aromantic cleo, so this is my ficlet with both of those things.

do you even lift, bro?, hermitcraft, G, 2.4k. boatem fluff about who can bench press the most members of boatem. this fic is still really cute tbh, not much else to say.

like father, hermitcraft, T, 2k. grumbot prime decides he has to protect grian the same way grian protected grumbot in another world. the horror of being trapped by something you can't escape in a box designed to stop you from hurting yourself; also, the horror of your mistakes coming to haunt you.

forgetful, hermitcraft, T, 977. an interaction between evil x and xisuma near the end of season eight. a ficlet exploring some of my feelings about how season eight evil x can very easily be read as abusive and not even xisuma ever seems to acknowledge that. also, the horror of admin powers in minecraft.

to spite your face, hermitcraft, T, 980. a ficlet where joe gets to be mad about how he was treated by hermitopia during the crossover. i just think i still have so many crossover feelings about joe hills on empires, that's all.

as what you make becomes you, hermitcraft, T, 3.2k. decked out consumes tango, as seen from three perspectives. technically three separate oneshots collected into one fic as one story, the idea of decked out 2 'eating' tango is one of my favorite horror concepts from season 9. this is my execution of it.

missed the shovel talk so this is the next best thing, hermitcraft, T, 941. the rest of the NHO throws a party for doc and then interrogates him about when he even got married to ren in the first place. a goofy, funny fic about the hermits hanging out and being friends. this one is mostly jokes, but i think they're very funny jokes.

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i also have a number of other 'shorter' oneshots that aren't included here for the sake of the length of the post. to find all of my fics, including those left out of this masterpost, check my ao3! and, as suggested above, browse the 'a bee fic' tag on tumblr to find a collection of everything i've written, including things i either haven't yet transferred to ao3 or will not transfer there.

i hope you enjoy my writing!

[ribbononline]

Oh yeah! Since I have no clue if/when I'm ever finishing these and I've had them laying around for forever by now- here's the adult IT metaverse outfits I've made! They're all based on their ultimate personas and the concept of heros! Since these were made for an aged up p4 cast, these aren't quite what I'd put their during p4 time selves in- some changing more then others- but if you wanna follow me into design details, that'll all be under the cut!

First off to get em out of the way- Teddie is very largely the same as his p4 time metaverse outfit I made for him back here . The design is still meant to be inspired by magical girls, but the biggest change is that while the old one was meant to look like a magical girl protagonists outfit, this one I tried to lean a bit more into the older/more experienced cast member of the magical girl group type design. Overall a pretty minor change (and I will admit, largely because I'm still incredibly happy with that old design) but it felt fitting!

Chie and Yukiko were, as always when I work on them, designed to match. Their masks specifically mirror eachother with the opposites sides sticking out, and they both have a golden dragon pattern on their clothes as a reference to the twin dragons move! Chie was... honestly one where I had to sacrifice my goals a bit. Like mentioned before, these were meant specifically for an aged up cast. And while p4 era Chie I would absolutely imagine in a kung fu Chung-Li type outfit, we know what a more mature version of her action hero dreams look like; the police! And I.... really did not want to put her in a cop outfit, Ill be real. Instead I just tried focusing on making the outfit look more mature. Also tried to combine a practical and strong look with a more feminine aesthetic, since she struggles pretty badly with her femininity in p4 and I like to think she'd grow more comfortable with her own brand of it over time!

Yukiko is perhaps one of the most drastic one for changes compared to her younger self- if you asked me to design a p4 era outfit for her, it would look nothing like this, hah. Anyways, she's definitely inspired by onna-musha! Compared to Tomoe who was a full on commander of an army going out there, for Yukiko the idea was more the women taking up arms to protect their home when the battle comes their way. Fully having embraced the role she has as the next owner of the Amagi Inn and the responsibility and want to protect it, it's meant to be somewhat of an outing of that!

Fun fact: She has two color schemes! Because uhh I did not know what to go for at all. Her ultimate persona is like a single solid color and I kind of panicked and just ended up winging the colorscheme. One is more red since, y'know, thats her color! The other is more white gold to match her actual persona better. Included at the end of this post for the curious

Rise was based on a greek goddess- though not any particular one, moreso how they're commonly depicteed in art and old statues. Pretty, holy, someone you'd go to for advice and help (someone just out of reach from the general public) It just felt like a good combination of something she'd like to be seen as and percieved as as well. She gets two outfits- for scan and fight mode! Kouzeon has no canon fight mode, thats just for Himiko, but man it exists in my heart. The transistion between the two is literally just her throwing off the long overskirt, hah.

How does her mask work? Excellent question. The p5 idea of having it there when vibing but gone when the persona is out feels a little awkward when her persona's whole thing is putting a visor over her face. Quite frankly I have no idea. Sorry folks. Have all concept sketches for the outfits I've done as compensation with a bonus Noot in there that I never continued on and finished.

[aphroditesmoon]

what about being jace's childhood crush, then to disappear for a few years only to return to dragonstone as a full-fledged noble lady? i know it's a really common concept but the idea of shy Jace trying to approach his former (and current) crush makes me all giddybdkdkdndn

go as a dream

jacaerys velaryon x reader

warnings: none

a/n: sorry I took so long!! I've been so busy these days w school

°°°

The first time he met you, he caught you stealing lemon cakes made for his mother in the kitchen and you punched him in the face before running away with a basket of lemon cakes when he threatened to tell the kitchen maids.

From that moment onward, he was a man in love, a man of age ten and two.

The next and last time he met you was during his thirteenth name day. You had all of your hair up in braids and a deep blue dress that seemed almost black in the dark. Luckily the moon shone bright that night, illuminating on your skin as he finds you by a lake outside the palace feeding fishes.

"They bite you know." His attempt to suprise you had not work, his shoes have already alerted you of his presence moments ago.

"They bite you, my prince." He snorted at your response as he moves to sit next to you.

"Give me some?" He offers to help.

Your head snaps at his direction and your eyes meet, for the first time ever, he has the opportunity to really study your face.

And you were more beautiful up close compared to the incomparable sketch in his dreams that appears every night when he sleeps.

You frown at first, not understanding what he's doing here with you instead of inside the feast laid out for him.

"You should be inside, I'm sure many efforts were put into this feast for you." You suggest casually, turning away from his stare.

"Only if you come with me." His boldness was admirable, you almost had a sense of respect for him because of that.

"Is that an order from my prince?" You raised your eyebrows and he sighs.

"For a little girl you are quite stubborn." You reel back suprised.

"Me-? Well for a little boy you are quite up your own arse." He bursts out laughing and buries his face on his knees.

His reaction was unexpected but contagious as you can't help laughing along.

Soon both of you went back in, meeting the gaze of his worried mother, the princess Rhaenyra.

"Will you dance with me?" He asks suddenly.

When you only stare at him he continues; "My mother is going to drag me somewhere to lecture me about my duty or something, but she can't if I'm already occupied."

Understanding fills you in as you nod slowly. "And if your mother is willing to wait until we're done to lecture you anyways?" You question.

He grins at you mischievously while pulling you to the center to dance. "Then I hope you're prepared to spend the whole night with your feet on the ground and arms in mine."

His mother was in fact, willing to wait until the whole feast was finished to scold him for disappearing. She unfortunately did not forget about it like he hoped she would.

But he could not care less about it, not when the warmth of you palms on his shoulder still burns through. His mother would laugh if he told her, and his brother would jest about it.

But he really did believe she was the most amazing girl in the seven kingdoms, the smartest and prettiest, your beauty rivaling the moon's, and your sharp tongue that never fails to put him in his place while making him feel butterflies. He would find you tomorrow again, he swore.

Though unfortunately, the promise was never fulfilled, as that was the last time he ever saw you. As entranced as he was to you, He did not know or asked of your family house, therefore couldn't find you.

Years passed and he finds himself grown and over his silly infatuation as more concerning issues starts to present himself. Yet some nights he admits, you cross his mind as a part of his happier youth.

And today was one of the moments. He had woken from dreaming of you. a jumbled confusing dream, but of you nonetheless.

Your face plagued his mind longer than he would like, distracted by the memory you two shared, he couldn't get a single task done.

A whole day wasted of his head being plagued by the memory of his childhood crush. Reminded of lords arriving to dragonstone tomorrow for renewal of their pledges and alliance, he forces himself to clear his mind and fall into sleep.

°°°

His brother stormed through his room running towards his peacefully sleeping body and shook him awake.

"Go away you rat" He whines as Lucerys kept shouting something he can't be bothered to listen to.

Pushing a pillow on his face triggered Lucerys to become louder, earnings a groan from Jacaerys.

He removes the pillow and looked at him with puffy eyes.

"Hm? What'd you say?" He asked groggily earning an annoyed sigh from his brother.

"I said, They're here Jace, mother's waiting for you!" Immediately his eyes widen and he scrambles for the bath to clean himself as he curses himself for his irresponsibility.

°°°

He barges into the council room muttering an apology as he takes his heat. His mother sent him a disapproving look before continuing as if she wasn't interrupted by his entrance.

"As I was saying, the oath pledge ceremony will take place this evening, I've already had my maids make accomodations for yours and your daughter's room, I hope you will find it adequate enough my Lord."

The lord laughs and waves her off. "Of course of course, we are indebted for such hospitality, our house will always side with you Princess."

Jacaerys' felt in awe of the loyalty shown in front of him, seeing how many allies have pledge themselves to his mother proved how much his mother deserves to be Queen.

The council was dismissed and as everyone leaves, Jacaerys rushes to get up and join them before Rhaenyra calls out to him.

"Sit here Jace."

He sighed, defeated.

°°°

The lecture has drained him to be honest, but the feast tonight must be attended, it's in the honor of the lords that has come tonight,

It would be unseemly if the crown prince didn't attend.

As he walks inside the hall, heads bow at his direction, he greets some lord's before taking his place at the dinner table.

His mother stands up to make a toast thanking and reassuring the lords of their alliance while he scans the crowd and spots a particular lord from the council meeting this morning and who he assumed was her daughter.

His daughter.

Jace stands up abruptly, his chair making a loud screech noise, and all eyes turns to him in an awkward silence.

His mother looks confused as she asks her son if he's alright.

"I.." He relaxes his heartbeat before waving off the concerned eyes of his mother.

"I apologize, I thought I saw...a bee." unconvincingly he states and sit back down and the eyes slowly leaves him.

All eyes except yours. Directly looking at him, you gift him with a kind smile, one he reciprocate before turning his attention back to the toast.

As the feast official starts, Jace barely eats anything but some cake and wine, wanting to hurry to find you. His brother notices his odd behavior and frowns at him.

"What the hell is wrong with you today, you're acting like you got a bug in your pants of something."

"I'm fine." He says without meeting his eye, basically chugging down his wine, for confidence, he assures himself.

His eyes scans the dancing crowds and stops at the sight of you and ser Erryk Cargyll together.

He had his arm linked with yours as the two of you danced together, and Jace almost jumps off the table to drag ser Erryk away from you.

Of course , he contains himself and walks towards you instead.

Your gaze met his and you didn't look suprised, almost as if you've been waiting for him.

Ser Erryk excuses himself leaving the two of you together.

You give him a small smile and he beams at the sight of it.

"Well, you're going to dance with me until my shoe falls off again or what?" Your voice sent shivers down your spine. The same teasing tone and sarcasm still runs through you. He was glad.

"I will, though, I suggest you prepare yourself, I don't plan on letting you go so easily like last time."

Your smile softens and you take his hand in yours as the two of you slowly move more to the center.

"I should hope not."

His eyes does not leave yours once, and you revel in his attention.

"I looked for you. After you left, but I didn't know who you were, so I couldn't find you." He confesses as the two of you dance in slow turns, arms linked like old times.

"You did?" You asked suprised and he nods.

"I had to leave back that morning, I didn't know you would come to find me, or else I'd ask to say goodbye first." You assured him.

"I know, but it doesn't matter, we're both here now, all grown up, yet still in our old ways. And you should know that now I have you, you'll never be rid of me ever." You laugh at his words and shook your head.

"Oh you still have your head up your arse is it? Well you would do well to know I don't plan on leaving, We'll be residing here from now on, and you'll be seeing so much of me you'll wish you'd take your words back " You jest, wiggling your eyebrows.

He looks at you with such intensity you feel your heart speed up.

"I would never tire of you."

[skitty-kirby]

It's been… ah. December was the last month I've had the motivation to actually finish something. In fact I think I sketched this out EXACTLY 3 MONTHS AGO. But hey! I tried some new stuff out and I'm happy to finally have an updated reference of Acrid's kiddos after so many years. Feels good. Also, I'm going to start posting to Pillowfort in tandem with my other socials! Username is the same. :D Feel free to read an excerpt from their Toyhouse biography beneath the cut:

Poki (she/her) | Don (he/him) Bane's Mire, with Acrid Poki and Don are the adopted children of Acrid, the acidic swamp monster who lives in Bane's Mire. The two are about 8 years old. One day, Acrid was exploring out of his swamp a bit further than he normally would and ended up in the outskirts of a rural village- when suddenly he heard distant crying and decided to investigate. As Acrid is mostly driven by instinct, he instantly knew the sounds originated from an infant; two of them in fact. He listened closely and followed the sound to its source; a pair of twins, both swaddled in soft cloths, curiously peering out of their shared cradle at the now looming behemoth above them. Carefully keeping his jaw closed as to not burn them, he gently scooped their cradle off of the doorstep he found them on, and started the long walk home with his new family. It is uncertain if the babies were genuinely abandoned, or simply left unattended too long; regardless, Acrid has been an amazing father to the two of them. As mentioned in Acrid's bio, he encouraged them to socialize with other children of the village and to go to school so they can function in society with ease... all while watching like a hawk from a distance of course. He is extremely protective of them and would do anything to keep them safe. Also mentioned elsewhere, Acrid himself cannot speak very well- but Poki and Don are able to translate the sounds he makes. In fact, 'poki' and 'don' were simply sounds Acrid associated the children with and thus became their names.

Other facts: - Poki and Don have long, eye-covering hair because they've yet to have it cut in their lives. - The plants found in their hair is by choice! Poki found a single blossom tree she loves to take care of in the outskirts of the swamp where it's less acidic. Don looks for strong branches from bushes that can be crafted into tools/items, usually using his hair as extra storage space. Collectively, they both also like to pretend that the branches in their hair are their 'horns', attempting to resemble their father. - The twins have paw-like nubs that make it easier to grip, and actual paw-pads on their feet. It's uncertain if they'll ever develop claws. - Acrid takes great care as to not burn the children with his acid. He is more than aware of the damage it can do, as it is his main way of attacking; he's seen what it's done to his victims as well as himself given his own eyes have mostly eroded away over the years from careless fighting behaviors of his youth. Thankfully, living in such an acidic environment for so long (regarding the swamp itself), the kids have developed a strong resistance to corrosive materials as a whole and are generally fine around their father regardless.

[acaciapines]

for the ask game, answer whichever of these speak to you the most: 4, 5, 11, 14 :D

HI ASH MY LOVE ASH.

oh they ALWAYS speak to me. i answer All. i will not be contained.

4. How many WIPs do you have right now?

actually shockingly few! ever since i finished my big owl house editing pass back in june i've not done a whole lot in terms of projects...and recently i've been playing rain world so instead of writing im playing rain world like 24/7. currently my only main project is the dess raises kris au, and in that 'verse the only thing i'm writing right now is a dess/chara relationship study. i WOULD finish it, but, uh. rain world. (<- guy who is trying so hard not to write rain world fic. i probably wont but also i am always tormented by ideas. but consider i have to tell the story of my slugpup scooter SCOOTER I WONT EVER FORGET YOU--)

5. What's a fic idea you've had that you will never write?

probably countless that i do not remember right now! but digging around through my drafts, i've got a few deltarune daemon aus that won't ever see the light of day...one of them was a fangame where the player played as one of kris's two daemons, and the other was a fic where ralsei was kris's daemon. the ideas from there have basically been repurposed elsewhere--a lot of my kris&ralsei stuff went into various works, and the fangame stuff is being reworked into the dess raises kris au.

beyond that, in terms of things that are actually abandoned and won't be used elsewhere, there are so many daemon aus that i've left behind for one reason or another, though the gravity falls transcendence au is the one that i think was the best...that one postcanon his dark materials fic i was gonna write where lyra and pan return to will's world and cause general shenanigans there with him and kirjava...a vera-centric son of sea foam wings of fire au because vera is the love of my life and i was rereading wings of fire bc i felt nostalgic....oh my god fantasy high SOPHOMORE YEAR FIC, which i tried to start TWICE, once from fig's pov and once from ayda's that was their road trip back home and i have some very funny snippets from...MY INFINITY TRAIN DAEMON AU WAIT THAT ONE STILL GOES SO HARD ACTUALLY. okay drop everything ive ever said the fact that i never wrote my infinity train book two daemon au is a travesty. i was cooking with that one.

11. Do you have specific playlists for writing fics?

sort of! i usually always have at least one or two songs i connect to any given fic, but in terms of what i listen to when actually WRITING, it's changed over the years. i used to put on compilations of video game music--usually utdr, pmd, and then just whatever got recommended to me lol--then i did like. those character playlists people make on youtube? mostly bc they tended to pull from the same pool of songs so it became good background noise lol. now i use the youtube mix or whatever its called for a similar reason--it tends to play the same handful of songs ive listened to a lot, so they dont distract me.

14. If you could see one of your fics adapted into a visual medium, such as comic or film, which fan fic would you pick?

oh i LOVE this question, and it would be without a doubt my nimona daemon au oh, are you at all like me. nimona itself is obviously both a comic and a movie, and i'd say animated film since the fic follows the movie plot more--i think there'd be a LOT of really cool scenes you could get with that fic. i also think i could make killer animatics based on my fics if i could draw good enough <3 and thats not a joke i have scripts and sketch storyboards and everything. maybe one day i'll finish one of those.

[no0t2]

@checkadii

I literally just woke up so this is the worst time to post this but ngl I have this problem where I wanna talk about it but I blank so fucking hard and fall flat on my face that I end up not talking about it anyway out of sheer embarrassment.

I'm not good at structuring my thoughts properly either because of ADHD, but here goes I guess.

I usually gotta segway into the topic if it's relevant to the conversation usually via,, friend convo, I don't know how people do deepdives of characters and whatnot I can't do that. I'm not sure why that is, this always has been a thing for me where I've got some level of understanding and my own HCs and such but they're not written or anything, so I can't express them.

To me Postal is just a silly series (minus P1 and Redux), not to be taken too seriously. So I don't really think about the "lore" that it has so much. I can ramble about Postal: Brain Damaged tho, that's probably my favourite cos of gameplay... And the designs as well as the soundtrack. It's just such a good game, I never thought shooters would ever be a genre I'd like to play, as I was so against playing them (thanks Half-Life for opening up my eyes). I can say definitely with confidence that retro styled FPS are especially something I find fun? Not on intense difficulty or anything either, I usually can't go above normal.

I've listened to "Straight Outta Suburbia" for like over an hour straight, I'm pretty sure even during while I was drawing one of my BD sketches lol

Back to Postal in general, I frankly haven't done enough "research" on it where I can properly speak about it aside from the games I've played (P1, P2, Paradise Lost and P:BD) And they're all games that are super different from each other (aside from P2 and PL, but even then). I'd also say I'm still pretty new to the series, speaking as I haven't played all of the games yet. Frankly, I was planning to just stick to P2 and that's it, glad I didn't.

Postal 1 I remember making me feel all sorts of weird things when I both played it and after I finished it. The load up intro scared the shit out of me the first time I opened the game, to where I had to pause for a minute. And it kept spooking me each time I did open it. I think that was kinda the point of the game as it's pretty dark compared to it's counterparts. I won't get into the lore of the 1st Dude cos I've seen people pluck at each other's feathers over the interpretation of him. But essentially, guy looses his shit during an episode, starts killing everyone. (Or just, "hostiles", depends how you play the game.)

P2 is so wildly different (aside from the fact that you can shoot people) that when I first opened it I was so confused how I was met with THAT Dude. I was surprised to hear him talk more beyond than just "BLEED" or "Only my weapon understands me". At the time I was also wrangling personal fears and feelings(which I don't know if I wanna get into, let alone if people would even wanna hear it lol) over playing the Postal series, so my initial expectation towards the game was:

"Okay, I know this is going to have some offensive shit in it, there's parts that won't be fun probably." And hoped for the worst, surprisingly a lot of the stuff in it I didn't find that bad, most of it is definitely fucked up, but nothing I couldn't handle, surprisingly. I played neutral-y, so I only attacked whoever attacked me, but I'd bail if I had the chance.

Paradise Lost plays similarly to Postal 2 (as it's literally the same branch of game just in the form of DLC). But I've found myself enjoying it way more than Postal 2, mostly cuz I found some of the jokes in it actually funny.

P3 I haven't played because I got rick rolled by RWS on the website so I'm not gonna play it out of spite </33 (But I've seen gameplay)

Postal: Brain Damaged is like, even more different than the previous entries as it's a retro styled shooter. But it has the charm of a Postal game and MAN is it good, I think the fact that it was released more recently is what made me enjoy its humor more. And it just!! Is so fun in general like wow, I'm still processing playing the game and I've already been thinking of replaying it because of how much I've enjoyed it. Definitely recommend trying it out.

AND WOWWW this has gotten long oops. Sorry.

I wanna note tho that, although there are aspects of Postal I enjoy, there's a lot of them that I don't, namely the offensive bits, some of them are genuinely fucked up where I can't go past them even in a comedic sense. Which I think is OK. I still enjoy other parts of it :^]

[lunadeathbed]

★ Popular ★

I've only seen fics of Our Life Now And Forever MC’s being shy and quiet. So I decided to make a fc with a popular MC for fun. It occurs during step one.

BLUE : MC

PINK : Tamarak

ORANGE : Qiu

★ Autumn Has Always Been My Favourite Season : 1) Popular ★

Yet again you sat on the plastic slippery red chair next to Tamarack. Mrs Murray was talking about… something? You hadn't really been paying attention, of course you enjoyed Mrs Murray's teaching but today…

Today you had been sucked into your imagination and thoughts.

You were popular.

You thought at least, Ma had said you were. She talked about how whenever you were around people they liked to hang around you.

The fact that you were new already dragged a lot of attention to you in the first place.

You knew Qiu was popular but you didn't think you were as popular…

Were you?

You hung around Qiu a lot. Ever since you arrived at Golden Grove you had stuck with him and Tamarack, and they chose to stick with you too.

It was only nature that you'd end up talking to Qiu’s fans and admirers at some point. Maybe they'd turned into your fans too?

Tamarack and Qiu said that you were cool, smart, kind, interesting, and all that stuff but you never thought about it too much. It was sort of hard for you to believe that you were actually all that, originally you thought they were just being nice but… Maybe you really were that and more, enough for people to actually want to get to know you.

Absentmindedly you taped your cool gell pen against the hard wood surface of your little desk.

Tap, tap, tap.

With every tap of your pen you seemed to get further and further into thought.

Maybe because Qiu chose to hang out with you people though you were cool too?

You flipped open you travel sized sketch book and began doodling aimlessly.

You smiled softly looking at it, Qiu and Tamarack had bought it together for your birthday.

It was sort of weird that people wanted to follow you around like minions.

You thought about lunch time. You routine was roughly the same every day but there was always a little fan group around you.

You didn't eaven notice until now.

You traced the edge of the small book. The cover was made of a sleek black leather with little painted on silver stars and moons. In the front page there was a note written by Qiu and Tamarack had drew you a little picture of all three of you.

You were pulled out of your thoughts as you felt someone tap your shoulder.

“What's up?”

You answered without looking at who it was first. You closed your scetchbook at looked at whoever needed you attention.

It was Qiu with Tamarack standing right next to him.

“Oh!”

“Hi.”

“Hey, are you coming it's lunch?”

Qiu looks at you with his trademark smile shineing brightly.

It never failed to make your heart race every time. You smiled softly at the both of them.

“Yeah.”

You stood up and pushed the hard plastic chair back into its place and of your little trio went to the cafeteria.

“Are you ok?”

“You seem spacy.”

“Yeah, you were zoning out for the whole of class.”

“I'm fine.”

You smile happily walking into the cafeteria and up to the line with them.

“Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Being popular.”

“Popular?”

“What do you mean?”

Tamarak and Qiu both look puzzled by what you said.

“Well…”

You trailed of thinking about what to say next.

“I’ve noticed that there's always a group of people around us… sort of like fans or something. I dunno, it's stupid. Nevermind.”

“No! You've said it now you have to finish!”

Qiu looks at you teasingly and Tamarack bounced up and down on the balls of her feat.

“Yeah! Come onnnn.”

You laugh softly at there antics.

“mmh, ok then.”

“I mean, I think we're like a little exclusive group of cool kids to everyone else.”

Qiu shrugs before his trademark smile returned.

“We are cool.”

“Yeah! Super cool!”

“I guess we are.”

This fic is sort of just a setup for a series I'm trying to write, I'm sick right now so I might get more writing done :)

[bluemoonwolf17]

Small Idea on Optic/eye colors but make it Feral

Okay, so I really like an Au where Optimus is somewhat feral. He grew up in the wastelands of Cybertron and so he had to fend for himself until Alpha Trion or somebot took him in.

And I had an idea what if Optimus’s eyes change color if he goes feral, I like to think he would be able to go into a “Feral Mode” and his eyes would probably change to show he’s in that mode.

I kind of imagine it as a code in their processors so if it’s a code implanted into the processor technically, you could call upon that code if you choose to, I kind of had another idea about that.

What if the code can be transferred to an offsprin’ if that's true, if Optimus ever has a sparklin’ there is a chance that the code could be dormant in his sparklin’ and I think dependin’ on how feral somebot is the more potent the code is.

And I kinda did a thin’ with the cybertronian's optics and their colors

I was gonna actually draw an eye but I didn’t feel like it, so this is what I did now this is just a rough sketch. So it may or may not change in the near future.

And yes I know that Breakdown had more of a darker yellow I just didn’t have enough room for it, and I did try to get the colors as close as I could without doin’ a color grab.

I started this last night and I had an itch to make an animation of the optic changing into the “feral state”. It was actually quite fun to make although I've never done it before so it was a new experience for me.

It's actually kinda cool, anyways I'm gettin’ off track.

What if the full feral state is dangerous because there’s a 50-50 chance that you won’t be able to go back to the normal state of mind. I can imagine that most of the bots in the wasteland got killed because of that fact.

Nothin’ can get them out of that state if they can't get back to normal themselves they’re goin’ to be killed on sight, so Orion/Optimus only uses that as a last resort.

Also, I think besides the optics changin’ I think their denta would get sharper and their digits would also get sharper kinda like Megatron's teeth and digits but not like his shark teeth just the lower and upper canines.

I also think that there's a way to tell that they have the feral code. It's very subtle unless you’re looking for it and I think that it's different with each bot.

They’re also looked down on in Cybertron’s society there “feral” and “uncontrollable beasts” Orion had a lot of controversy in the higher society most thought he was goin’ to damage the Iacon, News flash glitch he never did!

Orion probably even hides somewhere high and I mean HIGH to the point where they got seekers to check the high spots in the Iacon they never found him though but most seekers that would be sent to find Orion would claim to feel that they were bein’ watched but could never find the source or they refused to ever try to look for Orion again #traumatized.

They also swore whenever a seeker would refuse to ever go look for Orion again they heard the feral little thin’ giggle.

Well sadly that is all I have for this idea for now, I can’t really think of anythin’ else but I really do like the idea of Orion\Optimus bein’ a feral little slag

….But now I have an idea about Optimus goin’ feral ...oh no I already have too many docs that I haven't finished, no bad brain!

[demaparbat-hp]

Hello, Dema. I am trying to reign in my feels so that this doesn't come across as demanding, because you owe me nothing at all. And have, in fact, already served me more feels than I have ever been owed by you.

It's just that the second picture from your recent Lee and Kya post with her holding him while he kneels? That comforting pose? The bandages? Yeah. That has done to my brain what I suspect a very lively ferret in an overfull boxing room would have done. That is to say: caused chaos and spilled a lot of things everywhere. That is to say: I cannot stop thinking about it.

So. Thank you. Very, very much. But also: I will now be coming back to your Tumblr regularly in the hope that more on this scene is shared. No matter how long it takes. So I do very much hope that more on this scene will be shared.

Ending this off as ungracefully as it began: your art style is wonderful. Truly wonderful. And I have adored short-hair Katara for a long time, which makes this even more perfect. And also thank you for sharing your brain with us.

You, my dear, have left me speechless. This is so sweet! So lovely! Thank you so so much for your kind words and your love, really ❤️

That particular artwork has held me since I first pictured the scene, so I had to at least sketch it. I've been planning to properly finish it for a long time now, but other projects have kept my attention away. The day will come, though I don't know when.

And thank you.

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Chortle headlines.

Some of these are interesting. I don't know if it bodes well if Paddy Young is the absolute best rookie comedians in all of Britain, but he definitely had a good show last year (that got streamed on NextUp from Edinburgh). I have trouble believing anyone wrote a show that's better than both Paul Foot's Dissolve and Ahir Shah's Ends, but to be fair, I haven't seen John Kearns' show and he is very fucking good at these things, makes me hope even more that he'll be doing something in Edinburgh while I'm there. Alex Horne got an award for Taskmaster being an outstanding achievement, not quite sure what that means but I think it's accurate. I think if you look up the definition of "breakthrough act" you'll just find a note that says "see Sam Campbell's career throughout 2023", so that couldn't really have gone any other way. I've heard Kiri Pritchard-McLean compere a bunch on NextUp things, she is in fact very good at clubs. I haven't seen any of the other nominees but I'm still sure that James Acaster deserved to win that best tour one. I couldn't stomach the amount of Celebrity Glamour in Joe Lycett's new show but he is a great comedian and he is definitely made to be a TV comedian, which in some ways could be an insult but I really mean it as a compliment, he's great at that, good for him. Munya Chawawa posts highly amusing song parodies on YouTube. Fern Brady's is one of the best comedian books I've read. Three Bean Salad I was unable to get into, but maybe I'll give it another shot sometimes, after I finish with the winners of that radio award, John and Elis - well done to them for getting over ten years and not completely falling apart. I usually find it hard to get into sketch comedy (or anything that isn't straight stand-up) but Lorna Rose Treen made me laugh with character things last summer, so she probably deserves that one.

Those are my unsolicited opinions on that. The existence of Taskmaster is definitely an outstanding achievement for all involved.

This a special feature that happens every once in a while, called "Chortle publishes the contents of Daniel Kitson's mailing list". I find it gets funnier the less it sounds like Steve Bennett knows about the news items beyond the contents of the mailing list email, and in this case, that is clearly fuck all. But anyway, it's a great show and exciting announcement, anyone who has the opportunity should go see this tour. He said in the email that he might try to get something going in NYC later this year, which would be incredibly logistically difficult for me to get to (8.5-hour drive each way if I can borrow a car from someone, which would be tough, 14 hours on the bus otherwise, I've been told I can't take any more vacation days in 2024 because I used them on the London/Edinburgh trip), but still, I have found myself wondering how I might be able to make that work if he actually announces it.

Fucking hell. I can't believe this. My local comedian Facebook group is going pretty wild in response to this news. That's fucking huge, a massive amount of stuff is centred around this. To be honest I'm still not clear on the scope of this news so I won't go into it too much, I'll just say, fucking hell. Truly shocking. That's like a sport just canceling its national championships halfway through the season.

Excellent. Everyone should read this. His 2023 show (which I think he's still touring) is one of my favourite comedy shows ever. And the one before that, which inspired this book, is also very fucking funny, though not as good as his latest one.

Also, I am up for a trend of one comedian per year writing a book about their relatively recent autism diagnosis. Who do we think it'll be in 2025? I have approximately four to five suggestions.

[impishdullahan]

Do you have any advice on speedlanging for us conlangers who never done such a task?

Oof, em... I don't know how to answer this. I've only ever managed to finish a speedlang within the official challenge period twice on my own, and both were only accomplished because of multiple days of strong hyperfocus. Also, importantly, both were recent, in the last year or so, so I had nearly a decade of experience in the craft. This to say when I get in the right flow state with the right inspiration combined with enough experience, a conlang sketch sorta just begets itself in front of me.

I guess all this to characterise is that I can't give useful from my own experience. That being said, I would encourage newbie splangers to commit to choices and not him and haw over each possibility. A splang is a quick and dirty sketch and it only needs to be serviceable; you can clean it up and labour over it to make it all pretty after the fact. Decide how you'll tackle the requirements/limitations, commit to the bit, and wrap those features together with enough linguistic duct tape that it looks cohesive at a glance.

[ggoatz]

Special Operations Original Art Concepts & Thumbnails!

Since it's been over a year since Special Operations was first ever uploaded, I thought I should celebrate and make a proper masterlist of everything I've compiled throughout the year. I will also go ahead and link the official designs down below!

Quick disclaimer: Special Operations is MY fanfic, but I obviously don't own the characters! As always, thank you to Spoon & double-thank you to the fanartists and for 1,000 hits on the fanfic!!! Thank you thank you!

This post will get pretty long, so I'm gonna go ahead and make a cut below if you're interested in seeing more/reading my rambles!

Here are the very first ever art I did about a year and a half ago, before I even started writing the fic:

God damn, has my art come far. I don't want to get too sentimental, so let's move on the redesigns of these designs & my thoughts on these:

This was Donnie's first ever concept design (after the original designs) - I always knew I wanted to have him have a gas mask or mask of some kind - his ultimate design really changed there at the end! It's really cool to see how far my art has come since this last year LOL.

-

This was Mikey's original design concept for this au, once I reworked the original one above. I wasn't really happy with it, or any of the designs, for that fact... I didn't really have anything directly in mind over than the fact that knowing his brothers were mad overprotective of him would mean he's covered in clothes. I wanted a mask for him as well and really took inspiration from his design from the show, and tried to include the aspects from that. below here is a few mask concepts I tried out, and a sneak peak of Raph's design/doodle I did.

Even though these other mask concepts were cute, I just couldn't resist going with the first and original design I had. I took the inspiration off of that for the stickers/paints on his shell from the show. Below is an additional drawing of Mikey! Not much changed in his final design other than the fact that he has no shoes, really.

-

Here's Leo's first ever intial design. I am glad Spoon convinced me to change it, because while it's cool, I don't think it really fits Leo's flashy and show style. He is a fighter who works beautifully with his skills, so while stealth was obviously the #1 thing to be considered on the list, I ultimately just kind of handed his design to Spoon to decide how he should look LOL. This was such a starch contrast to the first drafts...

-

I've always struggled at drawing Raph, so I don't really have any photos of him saved ): / to show off. Sorry Raph lovers, but Spoon did him JUSTICE and I will forever be grateful for them for that <3<3

Below are the final designs, done by Spoon through nearly a year of us talking about the designs!

Spoon does not have a Tumblr, but they do have a Twitter, which you can find here: @Hydratedturtle! Without them, these designs would have never been finished/completed. It was so beyond crazy to see the very first drafts by me and the finished concepts executed beautifully by Spoon and making my ideas coming to life.

Below are all of the thumbnails of Special Operations that I've done, and the improvement is obvious! These are done through the year of 2023!

Annnd, finally, here's a sketch I did of Donnie back in November/December with his more updated design!

And that's all for now!!! <3

[goblinoid-wretch]

Finished the sketch of Lux for @icerosesummerbracket ! [ I'll color him later once I redo the linear on my phone, just wanted to put him out here now. ]

He's been a character I've personally loved from his first appearance as a visitor to Madame Spiceberry's inn. Though he ended up being pulled from his initial role as a hidden manipulator following [spoilers]'s death at the end of Book 1 to become Radiance's right-hand man, that just let his character develop and [ if you'll excuse the pun ] bloom further into its own.

This drawing is what I would envision him as somewhere towards the end of Book 2 and throughout Book 3, when he's somewhere around 16 years old. I did my best to incorporate the type of symbolism the series is known to use into my design, but I don't feel like I've done enough yet.

[ Regarding the symbolism/aspects highlighted in the image ]

His hair is shaped to imitate a closed Scilla Siberica, or Siberian Squill. Squills are plants that represent loyalty or fidelity, which I felt tied in fairly well to his wholehearted devotion to Radiance and her plot at this time in the books.

His tie has a vine design, which is essentially the only bit of plant theming he has in his outfit. It was mentioned that Radiance wouldn't let him carry out his initial idea of theming himself around sunflowers to incorporate his plant magic into his new form, so he has to content himself with this. It still irks Radiance that he hasn't yet cast away all ties to that "impure" magic and fully accepted light magic, the only magic worth knowing in her eyes.

His cloak is comprised of a larger, heavier outer cloak and a thinner inner one, which come together to form the wings of an Indian Meal [aka Pantry] Moth. This particular type of moth is known to occasionally cannibalize other members of its kind. I don't remember if it's ever specifically mentioned what kind of moth Radiance is themed after, but I've been running with Pantry Moth because of her habit of bringing about the downfalls/deaths of everyone who works with her. Hence, she gives everyone who joins her a cloak similar to her wings. Lux wears his with pride as a symbol of his loyalty; a shame, really, given the events of Book 3's ending, but it was brilliant foreshadowing in hindsight.

I headcanon that his light magic always manifests with some kind of plant-based appearance, a quirk which Radiance also despises. His signature spell is, in fact, the White Rose, a fusion plant-light spell which Radiance would forbid him from ever using again if it wasn't so damn effective at driving away enemies. Because of his effectiveness as a spellcaster, she tolerates his blatant disregard for the sanctity of light magic with a poker face she has had ages to perfect.

He has acne. This one's for me more than anything else, as a former acne-ridden 16-year-old.

Anyway, that's all I have for this design. Gotta color and repost this drawing [ oog, color symbolism coming up next? idk if I can manage. ] I also have to get to work on his Book 4 design, cause I've got some great ideas for that one too.

Edit: yeag sorry about the right hand assumption, I think there's some plot built up in my brain that I'm accidentally incorporating without it being canon.

[revilleaj]

Art update & 3D Robodi model images

It has been quite a while since I've last really done anything online. I've been heavily burned out and tired constantly since at least December or so (I have done drawings in months prior, but I have never posted them publically). I still do not have a new computer, even though I have enough money (about £1k) to buy the parts or even an entire computer, but there are other factors in life that need more attention being put towards right now.

I'm still in the midst of trying to get a job (damn required experience and driving license listings!), and drawing right now is bottom priority. It feels like a chore and it's not fun when I have rusted from not drawing in so long (making so many mistakes really sets off my anger problems). I really do not like being pressured into trying to do things, and I have been experimenting with 3D, but only to an extent.

So, with that said, I am going to put making newer drawings on hold for an indefinite amount of time until I feel motivated enough to draw. I'm not done with art entirely and I never will be, but I think I really shouldn't pressure myself as if art is some kind of requirement in life. I've been also having drawing tablet issues, and I noticed there's a small crack in my Huion that I haven't been able to use almost ever since I had it (thankfully the thing still works, and the crack is near the top, only half getting on the drawing area).

I may also finally add some images to my empty DeviantArt account. As much as I do not like that website nor its community, I think it would work if I just put my favorite drawings I've worked on there, specifically ones up until the end of 2023. All of the really old and weaker art (mostly from 2018 and 2020, and anything from 2017) I won't be reposting, as they no longer reflect me, and have not done so for a very long time.

-----

Now, for the second topic of this post, and in a much better light; the 3D Robodi model. I'm sure I've talked about this years ago on Twitter. Back in 2020, when I was still in my first year of university, I worked on a 3D model of one of my characters named Robodi, using Cinema 4D. It was never finished, but I did learn quite a bit when working on it. Here's some newer screenshots of him, now that I've managed to pick back up an older version of C4D (I do not like the 2022 UI layout change):

This is the last version of the model to not be animated, from May 2020. The image is rendered using the Sketch & Toon shader with the Standard renderer. A few options were altered to remove unnecessary outlines.

The model in the renderer itself; right is the objects list, bottom are the materials (vertex colors and textures, some with C4D specific features).

The last ever version of this specific model from September 2021, with the FOV heavily reduced to improve the depth. A single black thin cube was added between the eyes to create a fake extra outline. A bit of a hacky effect; I did not know how to do inverted normals, in fact I don't think I knew that was how most computer games handled outlines.

The very first saved version of the model, in Cinema 4D's editor, made earlier in May 2020. The pieces have default names and are not parented, some materials are not added yet, and the shapes are noticeably bigger, especially the base of the head and the torso.

I once experimented with "realistic" materials and shading (including the dreadfully slow Global Illumination), which doesn't make the most sense for a cartoon character. Here you can see the unit plate on the back of his head, which I don't think I have ever shown before. The camera may look close here, but it's actually extremely far away with a very low FOV (dubbed Super-Telescope). Some textures are no longer in the project files, so this looks slightly off from how it did back in 2020.

In October 2021, I went back to the older May 2020 model and decided to try and remake it. I realized that using one mesh and extruding it works a lot better with the Sketch & Toon shader, as it does not create unnecessary outlines when the default shader options are left the way they are. The lines in the middle of the eyes and nose are from the shader, rather than a black material cube. Of course, it would be more wise to just duplicate each mesh, enlarge them and invert the normals while applying a pitch black texture to them. I abandoned the model shortly after the progress I made here, and I am not sure why. Maybe I was burned out and lost interest.

I should probably try to attempt making a 3D model of him again and some others, now that I know a lot more than I did nearly 4 years ago (yeah, can you believe it has also been nearly 6 years since my Reville character was created? Robodi was first created in mid-2019; almost 5 years ago! Good things take time and care). It will be a difficult task, but I'll make sure to export whatever I make to a .FBX model, so that it doesn't get lost to C4D licensing Hell. Hopefully, that would make the models work in Blender and such (the materials will have to be baked into textures however, instead of being separate C4D ones. At least .FBX doesn't use an external material file unlike .OBJ, which I and others have had issues with). Maybe I could use them for rotoscoping or somethin'.

Here's hoping to me eventually finding motivation, losing my tiredness, and getting a job with stable income alongside continuing to work on my passion projects, no matter how much time has past since the day I first thought of them. I want to keep doing things, not resting in bed most of my days. Too bad winter is freezing cold where I live, and I suffer from mild hypothermia...

[whimsicaldragonette]

ARC Review: Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales

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Publication Date: November 29, 2022

Synopsis:

When their now famous ex-boyfriend asks them to participate in a teen reality show, two eighteen year old girls—one bent on revenge, the other open to rekindling romance—get tangled up in an unexpected twist when they fall for each other instead in Never Ever Getting Back Together by nationally and internationally-bestselling and Indie Next Pick author Sophie Gonzales. It’s been two years since Maya's ex-boyfriend cheated on her, and she still can’t escape him: his sister married the crown prince of a minor European country and he captured hearts as her charming younger brother. If the world only knew the real Jordy, the manipulative liar who broke Maya’s heart. Skye Kaplan was always cautious with her heart until Jordy said all the right things and earned her trust. Now his face is all over the media and Skye is still wondering why he stopped calling. When Maya and Skye are invited to star on the reality dating show Second-Chance Romance, they’re whisked away to a beautiful mansion—along with four more of Jordy’s exes— to compete for his affections while the whole world watches. Skye wonders if she and Jordy can recapture the spark she knows they had, but Maya has other plans: exposing Jordy and getting revenge. As they navigate the competition, Skye and Maya discover that their real happily ever after is nothing they could have scripted.

My Rating: ★★★★★

*My Review below the cut.

My Review:

This was super cute. It's funny - I don't watch reality TV, but I've really enjoyed a number of books that center around reality TV shows in the past few years. This one hit all the right notes for me.

I love love loved that it was two girls supposedly competing for a past boyfriend's heart who really try to take him down and fall in love along the way. They were great together. Their frank 'yes i dated this guy and this girl and this guy' coming out to one another was enjoyable because it was very much a "yes, I'm bi, what are you going to do about it?" and very matter-of-fact.

Jordy was the sleaziest sleazeball ever and his part was painful to watch but bearable because you just know that he'll get his comeuppance in the end. The 'enemies to lovers' thing was done well and believable. Maya and Skye were enjoyable and while it was frustrating to watch them at odds with each other over a misunderstanding created by sleazeball Jordy, it was very satisfying when they finally worked things out.

The other girls were very much not in focus for most of the book, so I don't feel like I have a very good sense of them beyond the barest sketch of personality, but they worked as background characters to better show Maya, Skye, and Jordy.

The way the show played out, and the way we could see Jordy manipulating everyone and pulling them all along was fascinating and kept my interest riveted. I listened to the audio and ended up finishing it in two sittings because I just couldn't stop listening.

The audiobook narrators did a great job bringing the characters to life. They made Maya and Skye sympathetic, though not without flaws, and made Jordy truly insufferable. They also did a good job making the other characters waver between sympathetic and self-interested.

I loved the way things played out. The misunderstandings and conflict and moment of realization and grand gesture. Not Jordy's "grand gesture" - his sucked. Maya's, though, was great. Also the ending was sooooo satisfying.

Thanks to NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and Macmillan Audio for providing an early copy for review.

[denimbex1986]

'He is the new indie revelation. Apollo-like physique, insane sensitivity and magnetic acting, the 28-year-old Irish actor burst onto the screens with two silent roles overflowing with love which instantly made him a phenomenon on social networks. First in the series “Normal People” in 2020, then in the film “Aftersun” in 2023 – which earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor. In the moving “Without Ever Knowing Us” by Andrew Haigh (in theaters February 14), he comes to delight the heart of the hero (Andrew Scott) – and a little more ours. Between two phases of filming for Ridley Scott's "Gladiator 2", which should finish raising him to stardom, we rushed to London to meet our new idol for an exclusive interview.

In Without Ever Knowing Us , you play Harry, the hero's neighbor, who comes to take him out of his loneliness, by forming a very strong relationship with him. Were you already familiar with the work of Andrew Haigh?

Yes, I was a big fan. The film that particularly struck me was 45 Years. In my eyes, he is a phenomenal director, his characters and his writing touch me a lot. When I first read the script, I told myself that Harry was someone who needed to be taken care of. Whereas, in fact, his job in the story is to take care of Adam. It's a very interesting dramatic issue because he gives a lot of love even though he hasn't received that much.

Your character and that of Andrew Scott share great intimacy, sexual and emotional. How did you work together to achieve such accuracy?

There was something mutual and instinctive, which meant that I never worried about these scenes. I don't think we ever really talked about it, we knew it was going to go well. And then, we knew each other from before, we have mutual friends and we had done a kind of comedy sketch together. He is an incredibly kind person, in addition to being an exceptional actor. He really impressed me in Pride, and obviously in the series Fleabag.

For these intimate scenes to work, you have to be with a person you trust, but you also have to know how to remove yourself from the scenes so that the characters can interact with each other. And then, during filming, we got a lot closer. He is an incredible person who will remain very dear to my heart.

Was there an intimacy coordinator position on set?

Yes, we had a great person in this position. I think that was the case on all the projects I've been in, including Normal People and Aftersun . I know the concept is recent, but it seems vital to me, I couldn't imagine doing without it. But, beyond that, I think Andrew Haigh is one of the best at directing these kinds of very intimate scenes. We are super proud of what it looks like on screen.

What scene from the film was your favorite to shoot?

There are plenty ! Obviously, the ones that are really fun, like the ketamine club scene. But I especially like the hardest scenes to do. Like my very first, when Harry and Adam meet. Harry is drunk and rings Adam's doorbell. I was super happy because it's been a long time since I played someone so direct, Harry is very in-your-face. He leans all his weight on the door frame and starts flirting with Adam to make him a little uncomfortable. When we know the whole story, we understand that there is another reason that pushes him to want to enter Adam's apartment, and it's quite upsetting. If you asked me what I would dream of working on and with whom, it would be exactly on a stage like this. And it may seem a little twisted to people who have seen the film, but another one that I really enjoyed doing, in any case which was "a good difficult moment", is the reunion scene between Harry and Adam, towards the end, because it's very... rough.

After a Master of Dramatic Arts at Trinity College Dublin in 2017 and several theater roles, you experienced very sudden international recognition in 2020 with your first on-screen role in the Irish miniseries Normal People . How did you experience it?

The series was released at the time of Covid-19. As terrible as this period was, it was a blessing in disguise for me since it saved me from being recognized in the street. I was confined at home like the rest of the world, and that allowed me to slowly get used to notoriety while maintaining a certain stability. So it was both abrupt and very gradual, I was very lucky. Sure, it can be overwhelming at times, but overall, I'm happy to be able to do my dream job with filmmakers and actors and actresses that I deeply admire.

You told Harper's Bazaar that you would be proud all your life to have made this series, which shows with great subtlety the stormy relationship between two complex young people who meet in high school and begin by seeing each other out of sight. For what ?

I think we did a very good job, in all areas: writing, directing, acting... It allowed me to meet one of my best friends in the world. It changed our lives.

Your father was a schoolteacher and semi-professional actor in Ireland. What films did he show you as a child?

With my father, we mostly watched Laurel and Hardy at home. I wasn't really interested in cinema when I was a kid. I preferred sport, so I didn't spend a lot of time indoors. But I loved going to the cinema, the ritual of popcorn or Maltesers, sitting in a dark room watching The Lord of the Rings … I remember being a big fan of the cinema experience growing up.

When did you start watching movies on your own?

When I was studying theater. At first, I pretended to have seen a lot of stuff when that was clearly not the case. It still happens to me. Besides, it's criminal, but I have to admit: I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey for the first time only three weeks ago... C It was in 70mm print at the Prince Charles cinema, in London, an incredible place. So I spent all my years at college catching up on classics of cinema and theater, scared to death of getting found out.

Most of the time, you play charming, gentle and sensitive men. With one exception: in God's Creatures by Anna Rose Holmer and Saela Davis (selected for the 2022 Directors' Fortnight and broadcast in France the following year on OCS), you play a young fisherman, Brian, who commits rape. Is it interesting to also explore the dark side of the human soul?

All my characters are complex. It's true that Harry is charming and caring, but he's also incredibly dark. He's someone who hates himself, who hides his pain and tries to convince himself and others that he's not like Brian. With God's Creatures, I wasn't looking to surprise the audience, but rather myself. That said, that's not enough to accept a role. If I like the story, the filmmaker, the performers, I'm happy to play almost anything. I also recently performed at the Stanley Kowalski Theater in A Streetcar Named Desire, it is another example of a dark character. But, again, this is not my only compass. If an actor only focuses on one thing, it makes for a disembodied performance. I do everything I can to avoid that.

Which actors and actresses do you admire?

Anthony Hopkins remains one of my greatest references. If he walked into the room, I would break down. Michelle Williams is also one of my idols. I came across him a few times last year, I almost died. I also really like Marlon Brando at the beginning of his career, some of his performances changed the face of cinema. And I spoke with Natalie Portman the other day, I think she's amazing. To have been a child actress and to have continued her career with such performances, like in May December, it's crazy.

The other highlight of your career was the film Aftersun , released in 2023. You play Calum, a young father on vacation with his teenage daughter, who finds himself in an undefined state, a form of depression. How did you work with director Charlotte Wells to achieve this murky performance, this floating state?

There are similarities between Calum's character in Aftersun and Harry's character in Without Ever Knowing Us. Charlotte is a genius. At the beginning of our work together, I remember telling him that I preferred not to diagnose Calum's condition, to call it depression, because, although that was what I felt, he himself did not have the words to define it. He's in a state of confusion, he's navigating it, he can't seem to be happy while he's on vacation with one of the people he loves most in the world. I think that, in our current context, this appears more clearly to us. But he is a man of a certain generation who does not necessarily have access to the resources of today's men.

Fortunately, we're moving toward a world where men are more comfortable talking about their feelings. It can also serve as a warning: this is what threatens when society, in particular the men who make it up, locks down its emotions. Similarly, Harry's journey in Without Ever Knowing Us can serve as a warning to parents who marginalize their child because of his sexuality, or for any other reason - even if it is only by failing him attention. Coming back to Calum, Charlotte directed me with great clarity and a form of kindness and attention. Working with her is a bit like sailing in a dream, you feel taken care of. I am very proud to be able to consider her my friend, I know that she will become – and that she already is – a huge artist.'