[TRIGGER WARNING: BLOOD]
“He knew exactly what his mom would do if she were here. The same thing he was going to do.” - CEMETERY BOYS by Aiden Thomas
I’ve long wanted to bring this scene to life, and it took my patrons to finally give me the courage to draw it! This book was the winner of the August fanart poll on my Patreon, and the scene depicts the critical moment when Yadriel decides he’s going to sacrifice himself to [REDACTED]. (If you know, you know.) I’m proud of how it came out, gazillion light sources and spoopyness and all. 💕🕯📿☠️🗡
PS: If you’d like a say in the future fanart I draw, consider joining my Patreon!
1K notes
·
View notes
The Skelita Howliday doll has been on sale on Amazon (at fluctuating prices) so I gave in and bought her as a birthday gift for myself. As I scrolled through the reviews I was concerned that she would arrive in a mangled box and damaged. Thankfully, she turned up pristine!
The packaging is quite nice. I very much like the skull winged butterflies. It's a shame that they are not really used anywhere else besides the fabric print of the dress.
Anywho, I've already complained enough about the doll's design and I'm sure there are plenty of reviews out there so I'll go quickly!
STAND:
Yes, very nice details on stand base. Good. I was surprised when I realized it's a saddle stand. I've had to stick a wad of putty on the saddle to keep Skelita in place lest she falls out.
Now she topples over stand and all! X'D
HEADPIECE:
I was happy to see the skullettes in the flowers have all this sculpted detail! Unfortunately, the painted detailed are a bit off.
The headpiece is made of a harder plastic and is hollow with an open back.
At first, I thought, "Oh, nice. It's much lighter than the first adult collector Skelita's headpiece!"
But then I remembered that I actually really dislike when companies cut corners by neglecting the backside of their toys and products. All angles should be taken into consideration.
Especially on a collector doll.
SHOES:
Shoes are nice. I like the detail of the sole and flowers.
JEWELRY:
Itty bitty skullette beads.
And another skullette with sculpted details. A nice touch.
I'm honestly surprised to see a total of six bracelets and a necklace on this doll. They don't have much in the way of painted details, but I'll take what I can get.
DRESS:
Skelitas used to come with a plastic piece in the shape of the standard Monster High torso to help clothes fit on her boney frame. Now she comes with this. Undergarments I guess? ;P
The ruffle and sleeves are made of the same stretchy fabric and covered with some gold glitter. The sleeves' edges are secured with an overlock stitch while the ruffle is left raw.
Beginning to fray.
The dress's skirt fabric is that thick plasticy fabric that kind of feels like paper. I do not care for this fabric in the least.
(I was trying to capture the stiffness of the fabric by scrunching it in the photo.)
------------------------------------------------------
After disassembly, I washed her and her clothes. The purple stretchy fabric began to stick onto itself during the washing process. Perhaps the glitter adhesive reactivated with the water and/or the heat. Thankfully, I was able to separate it all again. The top portion of the skirt ruffle folded over during washing and I actually prefer it this way.
Happy accident.
I was able to bring down and relax the sleeves with some added (light) heat. Thank goodness because I did not like how those sleeves looked from factory.
I also took it upon myself to straighten and quickly style her hair with a half ponytail.
For a collector doll, I expect some styling from the company but she came with nothing.
-----------------------------------------------------
Here she is:
The more I look at her, the more I appreciate her. The colors are nice and are pretty cohesive. There are some nice details and she's a "pretty" doll.
However, for this being a collector doll priced at almost 50USD and knowing that Mattel can and has done so much better in terms of design and materials, I'm very disappointed.
But for what I actually paid?
She's okay.
Either way, I'm very happy to have her.
In truth, I would like to buy another one. Either for fodder, or to keep one as factory and another customized. Will only do that if she drops considerably in price.
42 notes
·
View notes
En México sabemos que la vida no termina en el panteón.
Cada año, entre octubre y noviembre, México celebra el "Día de los muertos", uno de los festejos más significativos y dramáticos del país, es nuestra manera de celebrar la vida recordando a los seres queridos que ya no están. Esta es una festividad totalmente diferente a los tonos oscuros y macabros de Halloween. Por el contrario, para nosotros la banda mexicana, el Día de los muertos acoge la muerte como algo inevitable y celebra el día dedicado a los seres queridos fallecidos con animadas y coloridas conmemoraciones. Un requisito fundamental para que los muertos vuelvan a ese hogar en donde una vez caminaron y sean buenas o malas dejaron huellas con las que son recordados. Se levanta un altar con una foto de ellos cuando están vivos, de preferencia que sea la última imagen de tal cual como hemos decidido que quedarán impresos en nuestra memoria; estas son exhibidas en los coloridos altares instalados siguiendo las reglas precisas que dicta la tradición. No puede dejar de faltar una de las principales protagonistas del aniversario mexicano, es, sin duda, también la gastronomía. Entre los símbolos de la fiesta, incluso en la mesa, hay calaveras: el "Pan de muertos" es el postre típico de esta fiesta, elaborado con una base dulce, anís, y muchas botellas de agua, que sirven como ofrenda al difunto para refrescarse después del largo viaje que ha enfrentado desde el reino de los muertos al de los vivos. Pero también velas (que permanecerán encendidas durante toda la noche) y dulces típicos, además de flores y otros pequeños obsequios. La fiesta es muy sentida: nos recuerda que hay que vivir la vida al máximo, ¡y que no hay que desperdiciarla! “El Día de los Muertos forma parte de la lista del patrimonio inmaterial de la Humanidad de la UNESCO, por ser una de las expresiones culturales más antiguas de un pueblo, capaz de afirmar su identidad y sus orígenes.
269 notes
·
View notes