#daughterofthewest

[daughterofthewest]

I know I haven’t posted any original artwork in quite a while- just too much else going on in my life for the past several months to have the time for it but today I had some quiet time to myself and Finally got around to playing with the paints from my September 2017 #ArtSnacks subscribers Liquitex bonus box - I don’t usually use acrylics for my painting but this was fun. I think I’m Not quite finished with this yet but this is where I stopped for the night. This painting is very small- done on a 2”x4” Canvas. Special thanks @forest-of-books for the suggestion of what to attempt to paint with the colors they gave us: Sample size tubes of red, yellow and white Liquitex professional series acrylic paints. Hope you like your abstract Phoenix kiddo.

[foxfiregalaxy]

Akeshu Fanfic Recs ♡

All I have done during this quarantine is eat, sleep, and breathe akeshu. Amidst powering through Persona 5 Royal I have read so much fanfiction. I always love when people give recommendations so I thought I would too! Be sure to read tags before you read in case one of these fics has something you’re not comfortable with. (I’ll also probably make an nsfw list later because I’m bored and I’m thirsty apparently) Enjoy! 

New game + by Tayani

I feel like I shouldn’t have to recommend the epitome of akeshu culture but here it is. NG+ is one of the best fics I have ever read. It’s Akira restarting the game with all his memories in tact from the previous run. It’s beautifully written with peak Goro representation and it’s absolutely amazing. Its a long one with a roller coaster of emotions but its worth every second. 

Yesterday’s Protagonist by valiantarmor 

This IS IT YA’LL. This is the fic that officially turned me into a goroboi. Takes place past vanilla p5 where Goro lives and Akira reunites with him several years later. A beautiful fic where both boys heal their past scares and grow to love each other. God I love this fic I couldn’t recommend it more. 

L’appel du vide by Xov  (not completed) 

Another time travel fic because apparently we all like to see Akira suffer. Akira’s past and future haunt him. Its hard to describe this one but its very well known in the akeshu fandom. Its wonderfully written and I feel like the impending doom I feel at each update will kill me BUT I recommend it immensely. 

Hungry Thirsty Roots by coolkidroland

Au where Goro has a palace and Akira is desperate to help him. Some of the other thieves are not necessarily on the same page. Side of makoharu. One of the first fics I’ve read and the characterization ya’ll the CHARACTERIZATION is amazing. 1000/10.

Several people are typing... by Txbris (not completed)

This one is still updating but its amazing! A chatfic that takes place during p5 and is heading towards the events of royal. Its hilarious but also emotional and I jump at every update. If you love desperate pinning Akira then click away. 

this account’s tweets are protected by alsahm/benetnash

A twitter fic told in tweets! Akira has 50000 private accounts and is obsessed with feathermen fanfic writer, murderless crow, who has some secrets of their own. Amazing fic that has me dying of laughter multiple times. Yet it had a lot of lore??? Incredible, read it! 

Kintsugi by Daughterofthewest/Ethereally

Occurs post the events of vanilla p5 where seeds of mementos open up and the phantom thieves are back to close them. Akira enters the velvet room only to see Lavenza and Goro. Goro is his new attendent. Good old emotional/slowburn/redemption fic that had me weeping at 3am. 

Polaris by pastel_didactic

Au where the Phantom thieves are wanted criminals who take out big baddies irl (no personas). Goro is a detective who despite trying to catch the famous criminal Joker, catches feelings for him instead. I love this fic, its one of the top ones I reread from time to time. Does have a fair amount of violence though so read the tags just in case! 

Home is where the heart is by sinnamon_nerd (not completed) 

Fem! Akira fic where she returns home and has to deal with the scrutiny from her peers. Luckily she runs in to a familiar face with an undercut (hngggg goro with a undercut kills me). Its such a sweet, adorable fic and each update warms my heart. The vibe of Akira’s hometown is so quaint and Goro is mad pinning. 10000/10 perfect for keeping warm during this quarantine

Shuake’s first lovers holidays series by yukari 

Two one shots that take place after p5r. Just sweet fluffy fics about Goro making a split decision to see Akira in his hometown on valentines day. So fluffy and soft I love these fics. 

Bona fide villain? by mar (gloomy ghost)  (not completed) 

Sort of character study of Goro that takes place during p5. A redemption arc for Goro which also includes him having a palace. Wonderfully written and really looks into Goro’s character. 

Customer Connections by Chummy/Hator (not completed) 

Starbucks au full of memes and a SHIT TON of overworked employees. I LOVE Goro in this fic, he’s a mood. Highly recommend this one especially, if your an overworked gremlin like Goro. 

The Great Birthday Massacre of St. Valentine’s Day by papersandals

The PTs throw an incredibly last minute birthday party for Akira. Goro is not amused by their shenanigans (neither is Akira). Funny, cute fic where Goro and Akira get their revenge on their stupid friends by having their own party. 

The Next Time Around by chashmish

If you like pain then this fic is for you. I struggled to like this one at first but I’m so glad I finished it. Alternate au where Akira goes to his friend Ann’s wedding in Venice where he runs into his ex Goro Akechi. The scenery is beautiful and the characters are beautiful. Its just beautiful.

and without knowing I feel asleep by joshriku

Goro is a tired boi and he takes naps on Akira’s shoulder. Soft fluff 

Normalcy (and how to be happy without it) by the_pen_dragon

Goro cannot cook worth a shit. Akira still loves him. 

orange ball of love by venusbot

Ren cannot cook worth a shit. Goro still loves him.

A study in distress by Xov 

Everything by Xov is TOP TIER. College au where Goro and Akira have been friends for years and Akira has a crush on Goro. He tries to avoid him because he believes its unrequited. Akira’s an idiot. 

Flashing lights by navibot

Goro learns to open up and Akira is here to listen. 

An unexpected friend by kougayon 

Goro adopts a puppy while Akira is gone on a business trip. Morgana is not amused. 

(You Play me) like a fiddle by Lia404

Goro plays the violin and Akira plays the guitar. Akira really wants Goro in his band. (Full of musical pieces which I love!!!!) 

[figmentedink]

Congrats on passing your CNA test! Also I adore your art and hope you have a lovely day.

Thanks ‘Nonymous!! And thanks to all the folks that shared in my good news!! A special shout out to @daughterofthewest, @pomrania, @sky-and-sometimes-others, @gladius212, @thelatestkate, and @thistlepixels for the personal congrats!!!

[ofinkanddragons-blog]

ask meme

 Tagged by @m808vthetank (thanks)

Answer the 30 questions and tag 30 people

Questions:

Nickname: none

Name: Mira

Gender: Female

Star sign: don’t believe in them (fite me)

Height: short :(

Time right now: 9:08

My bday: everday! lol

Fav Band: How to Train Your Dragon soundtrack

Fav solo artist: I’ll default to Taylor Swift

Song stuck in my head: Young God by Halsey

Last movie I watched: Spiderman Homecoming

Last show I watched: Bones

When did I create my blog: Less than a month ago

What do I post: Art!

Last thing I googled: Story of Your Life (a short story)

Do I have other blogs?: draco-in-astris is my aesthetic blog, mostly inactive

Do you get asks?: nah, I’m always ready to answer random questions though 

Why did I choose this blog name?: Well, the dragons part is obvious since I love and draw dragons mostly. Also the ink part, because, ya know, art. Although mostly I work with pencils, paint, or digitally. But “of electronic pens and dragons” didn’t sound as good

Blogs I’m following: 66

My follower count: 21

Fav colors: Midnight blue spattered with gold

Average hours of sleep: 9 and proud of it

Lucky number: 576

Do I play any instruments?: Piano

What I’m wearing?: sweatpants and a shirt

How many blankets I sleep with: one

Dream job:  scientist and street artist and CIA agent all at once

Dream trip: ROME 

Fav food: too many

Nationality: USA

Fav song right now: Lose by Julian Moon, it’s really sweet

I’ll tag: @trailwolf @daughterofthewest @arya-svit-kona @rainingwater @scaledgrace @blueplue2

[ao3feed-p5-boyslove]

Kintsugi

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2rE4wY8

by DaughterOfTheWest, Ethereally

Kintsugi - (Noun) To repair with gold; The art of repairing metal with gold or silver lacquer and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken.

 ------------------------------------------

Akira is called back to the Velvet Room two years after the end of the Phantom Thieves' journey. The last person he expects to see there is Goro Akechi-- and yet, here they both are.

This is the story of two broken boys, and how they put themselves (and each other) back together again.

Words: 14745, Chapters: 1/2, Language: English

Fandoms: Persona Series, Persona 5

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Kurusu Akira, Persona 5 Protagonist, Akechi Goro, Lavenza

Relationships: Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist

Additional Tags: Post Game, spoilers everywhere, Fix-It, Slow-ish burn, Velvet Room Attendant AU, Akechi Goro redemption arc GO, Trans Male Character, silly memes abound, but also THE FEELS, coital star wars references, Major Endgame Spoilers, can't stress that enough, Set two years after the end of P5

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2rE4wY8

[stella-rogers]

Rating: Mature

Ships: Fukutomi Juichi/Kinjou Shingo, Arakita Yasutomo/Shinkai Hayato, Makishima Yuusuke/Toudou Jinpachi, Aoyagi Hajime/Teshima Junta, Kanzaki Miki/Tachibana Aya

Characters: Fukutomi Juichi, Shinkai Hayato, Arakita Yasutomo, Toudou Jinpachi, Teshima Junta, Aoyagi Hajime, Kinjou Shingo, Makishima Yuusuke, Tadokoro Jin, Onoda Sakamichi, Imaizumi Shunsuke, Naruko Shoukichi, Tachibana Aya, Kanzaki Miki, Shinkai Yuuto

Tags: Violence, Forced Medication, trans headcanons, Blood, mentioned transmisogyny, PTSD, therapy animals, mentioned animal abuse, Arakita's potty mouth, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, these tags make it sound a lot worse than it is tbh, Basically this is Desertpunk!Yowapeda, you don't need to know the killjoys canon, So many nicknames, did I mention guerilla graffiti artists Toudou and Makishima?

Summary: 

Every story starts with a question. Different questions for different tales, sure, but it always has to begin with something:

“When did the world start going to shit?”

“Why are we in the desert?”

“Who are the Fabulous Killjoys?”

Deceptively difficult to answer. The short version-- the half-lie and plastic truth-- is that the Killjoys were legends. Heroes of the broken. Scourge of that hell called “the Desert,” or Saviors of that haven called "the Zones". Depends on who you’re talking to.

The long version?

True to form, that would take a little longer.

[After over a year of having this sitting in my drafts, I finally finished + posted my MCR Killjoys AU prompt from SWAG 2016, lol.]

[daughterofthewest]

Louis quatorze,(my sun king), on the left, is my pumpkin spice fluff nugget raised from a tiny rescued kitten and I love him with all my heart. He may not look it but being part Maine coon he is HUGE. He is about 21 mos old.

Storm trooper, on the right,(my son’s cat that he rescued from a storm drain at work as a tiny kitten a few years ago and hand raised and then had to bring home to me “temporarily” when he moved because his new place did not allow animals and now she has been here so long thinks she’s mine and will hardly have anything to do with him when he comes over, often sleeps next to my head on my pillow or climbs into my lap when I’m sitting in a chair reading/studying. She is very sweet but still has feral instincts /tendencies and brings me “presents” from her hunting ventures in the the woods behind my house. She also decided when we brought Louis home as a tiny kitten that he was HER kitten and helped raise him. Their dynamic was very sweet.

The bottom picture is the result of a few minutes of seeing what fun and silly things I could do by scribbling with the two or three colors of fine tip Stabilo pens that came in one of my #Art Snacks boxes last year - inspired by a Japanese Artist’s work I saw who did cool things with scribbles - I reblogged one of his Godzillas a while back.

[daughterofthewest]

Best Friends

[daughterofthewest]

Original artwork by yours truly: Random wild dragon of my own design, chilling out in the clouds. Watercolor and ink practice doodle for today on post-card sized aquarelle paper using my Windsor & Newton and Gansai Tambi Starry Colors paints and the Zig (Kuretake) Cocoiro refillable fine tip letter pen that was included with my August 2017 ArtSnacks box (Very cool)... I hope you enjoy seeing him as much as I enjoyed creating him.

[daughterofthewest]

Original artwork from another time in my life: one of my unfinished colored pencil drawings from almost 24 years ago or so, of a young Ash tree in our yard started for my son on his 4th birthday October 1997 when I was still not much more than a child myself as a young wife and mother but was desperate to connect in any way with my beautiful pale and silent son who had been in speech therapy for a year at that point and was still just...not seeming to make any progress yet. 

He had a rambunctious older brother who had been sweet with him when they were younger but now seemed to have a hard time dealing with him and was quite boisterous and talkative himself and a baby sister who was already starting to babble and “sing” by that point so I was really getting worried by then - at a time before the widespread dispersal of the internet in American homes - when I knew almost nothing about ASD other than that I had a child who had been diagnosed as being autistic as well as having other physical birth defects (a familial variant CTD on the Marfan spectrum) that would affect his health and whole life. 

And maybe he felt like his voice would only be superfluous and get lost in the crowd? I may never know- other than that he had some physical difficulties to overcome with speech as well as neurological ones that got worked out eventually - more or less. But I knew then that no matter what I could not lose him or rather let him be lost in the crowd. 

I had no idea what I was doing but I figured that love would show me the way...and it did. It always does somehow.

In any case, He loved it!...this was not the end...but the beginning of that exercise/experience even though this picture stayed unfinished in my old sketchbook. 

He took my hand and pulled me off the porch to go play in the leaves on the ground with him...we gathered a few and made etchings of them with my colored pencils and his crayons.  We categorized and labeled them and lined them up by shape and size and color and then I laminated that for him to have for keeps and comfort...his... or mine for that matter when I wanted to revisit the first day he had smiled again in almost two years. 

We made sugar cookie dough from scratch with a recipe I had gotten from an old cookbook and cut them out in the shapes of fall leaves with plastic safety cutters I had found at the store and then painted and drizzled them prettily with my own made-up icing recipe (which is delicious btw- with butter and vanilla added instead of just powdered sugar and water or meringue powder that gets hard and gross) divided and colored for fall leaves and made a mess (something we did for many holidays in the following years thereafter as well to much acclaim of the recipients of those special treats I might add).

He got a bit visibly upset at the mess once he realized it was on him and not just the counter but he calmed down when I gently cleaned the icing off his face with a warm damp rag and helped him wash his hands...he never said a single word through any of this but he did not have to...we had communicated and bonded all the better without them to get in the way. 

But for the first time in almost a year, he had smiled...an honest to goodness beaming smile. My heart leapt. It was that day that I knew no matter what else we had to face together (and in retrospect, it was a helluva lot folks), we would be OK. He would be OK. 

[daughterofthewest]

Original artwork by me from 2014.  Slightly damaged but still mostly intact. Previously posted on my old blog at that time and in an early post here on my new one in a smaller format, with the second image of same with a tonal filter added side by side to this one to make it darker for comparison. Here, it is left unadulterated in original format w/ all details as shown. Resolution is not the best but this picture was taken and uploaded by my old iPhone 5s and it’s what I’ve got. The drawing was rendered in #2 pencil on an ordinary piece of computer printer paper available to hand at the time while recovering from surgery and unable to speak or move anything but the one hand I drew it with for several days.  

It was my reintroduction to an old favorite pastime from my childhood - the first time I had picked up a pencil to even attempt to draw - in a very long time at that point (over a decade) - and the one which started me back on this path towards Art as therapy as I had done with my children when they were little after their father died. Only, this was for me this time - a way to refocus my attention and cope with the inscrutable pain of multiple nerve and joint injuries (and the surgical attempts to repair the damage from them) that I was in without the benefit of analgesic medication because I can’t take the standard drugs (allergic to pretty much all of them); and the overall response to it from others like my surgeons and other doctor’s I’ve had to follow-up with that I have gotten since, who encouraged me to pursue illustration and share my “gift” with other people which made me start to believe in my own long-forgotten powers of imagination and creativity again, from which I had been distracted and deterred and had denied myself the pleasure of for many years in pursuit of higher education and basic survival before this just surfaced out of nowhere from the depths of my injured brain.

 I am reposting this now without the accompanying filtered side-by-side image and extensively long-read explanatory text post I posted it with originally because it is now a few years old and I have not done anything quite like it since and I need inspiration. I have gotten some really positive feedback for some of the old and smaller pieces of new art I have posted here on Tumblr since I rejoined in July and for that, I am really very grateful and appreciative to the kind folks who have taken notice and given it. And yet, And yet, it is difficult when I see so many who are so much more advanced in their skills than I am even though they may be far younger than I - even than the age of my own children in some cases....it is hard not to be discouraged that I can never hope to measure up or have enough time to catch up to make something really worth putting out there. 

[daughterofthewest]

Original artwork. (Previously posted on my old account.)

Lighthouse painting rendered in watercolors from early 2014 when I was just starting to paint again. This one was done as a gift for my best friend to hopefully lift said friend's downcast spirits/help overcome some difficult things in life at the time. A bit messy as my hands were not very steady, as yet recovering from surgery, and I was still just starting to experiment with the medium at the time but the friend liked it. I hope you do too. 

For anyone who is curious, the words are those of a favorite Disney song I used to sing to my late husband when he was lying in hospital bed in a deep coma after surgery for brain cancer before he eventually died due to complications from that many, many years ago and I did indeed have to let him go. The song is Candle on the Water from Pete's Dragon (1977), originally performed by Helen Reddy.

[daughterofthewest]

Fun with ArtSnacks. This is Original Artwork by me for my first attempt at the August 2017 ArtSnacks challenge: 

"Black-eyed Susan's gremlin" done on post-card sized aquarelle paper,  inspired by and rendered in Amsterdam acrylic ink ( the color I got was yellow ochre) with the ‘Velvet -touch” Princeton brand #8 round long mixed media brush and cool and really comfortable Faber-Castell Ecco-Pigment 0.7 black ink pen, made from recycled materials, all included in the August 2017 box. There was another really cool looking refillable Zig pen with ink cartridge too but I haven’t opened that one yet. The design and background wash is the result of me dragging the brush through the ink after dripping it directly on the paper from the eye dropper that also serves as a lid to the bottle, and rinsing it in the dregs of my watercolor palette that had not yet been thoroughly washed out for the day from a previous piece I was working on. As per usual, I had no idea what I was going to do when I started, I just wanted to play with the materials and this is where they led me -Im not a trained artist with any kind of leaned skills, I just do Art for my own therapy and enjoyment so that’s just how my process works. My youngest kid ( who is 21) walked up behind me as I was working on this at the table after dinner last night and said: “Ooh that’s pretty, I like your sunflower painting mom”....then she leaned in a little closer and said    “Oh wait what’s that there? Aack! There’s a face in that one! Now it’s just creepy. Dammit mom, Why??!!”...lmao...I guess because that’s just me. I like to throw curve balls and she has been showing me the same ridiculous meme about a cat for days so it must have wormed its way into my brain. So this one is dedicated to her...you know who you are. I don’t know if I’m quite done messing with it and getting all the little details I might want to add yet, but this is as far as I got before I had to clean up and go to sleep so I’m posting it for now as is. I might just leave it ragged and wild in keeping with the nature of little gremlins though. Thoughts? 

[daughterofthewest]

Here I have part of a recent (really excellent sale) haul at my local Michael’s store -  very happy to have found these sets I’ve been wanting at an affordable price. Woot! Woot! 

I do love these markers which I only recently discovered by getting a few (two shades of pink and an orange one,  along with a  bright blue Zig marker of a similar type, (with which I have been drawing/designing and coloring something in my own peculiar whimsical fantasy art style and having a grand old time - will post pic of that ASC when that particular work that is a bit more involved so it is taking me a while, is finished) in one of my #ArtSnacks boxes from earlier this summer and liked them so much when I tried them that I am now in danger of becoming obsessed with collecting them in every color made. 

I don’t know what other artist grade colored ink dual tip marker brands besides Copic and Prismacolor, there are out there that might be better, but after becoming recently acquainted with them through my ArtSnacks subscription, so far I think these are just marvelous (and a good place for me to start with markers since I can actually afford them on sale and what not. #why are decent art supplies so often so darned expensive?!  

Nevermind, I know why;  it was a rhetorical question. 

I just can’t say enough good things about these Tombow brand markers.

I love their versatility with that brush tip at one end and very fine tip at the other which allows me to do broad strokes like I would with a paintbrush, fine or bold lines, and stippled effects for color shading all with one tool. 

But most especially, I appreciate that they are water based so they don’t have that alcohol smell like Copic and similar markers in other brands do since I have trouble with that (unfortunately, as I have seen some truly gorgeous work done using Copics and would like to try them myself but can’t due to the smell of the alcohol in them that they give off to which I am allergic - severely- yes it is that bad and yes I know it is an odd and unusual allergy to have), and yet the colors are vibrant and have not shown any tendency to fade as far as I can tell thus far. 

Still, I have been wanting to learn how to better use artist grade markers and work some things with them as a medium into my own repertoire for a while but I’m just a bit unsure of the best approach to doing this.

 So, for other more experienced artists out there, can anyone offer advice/suggestions on how to handle this medium to make the most/best of them or suggest a good first project to try with them in either of these palettes?  I’d be grateful. 

Thanks ever so much. 

Peace, Love, ArtSnacks. 

[daughterofthewest]

Tales From The Swamp: Original artwork by me - the result of an evening spent playing with some tonal colors in my watercolor palette on slick Yupo paper (of a very small trial size that was included in a previous month’s ArtSnacks box) while reminiscing about my childhood.

That is to say, thinking about my dearly beloved big brother and the B-grade? (more like D-grade) monster movies he used to drag me to and make me sit through as a double feature, usually paired with one of those truly awful, yet quite hilarious (badly dubbed) old Kung Fu movies of the same era that were  his other favorite genre of the times, when we got dropped off at the historic Baghdad Theatre (a once truly beautiful and magical place in my home town of Portland, Oregon) for the afternoon when we were kids. Good Times.

Personally, I preferred early 20th century Film Noir, Gilbert & Sullivan musicals and anything with the incomparable Fred Astaire and/or Audrey Hepburn myself. However, as I was little sister so I was not allowed to go alone, I also rarely got to choose; But, in the immortal words of the infamous Kilgore Trout and his illustrious creator, So it goes...

I know this painting is rather lopsided and sloppy, however ... because I keep seeing Halloween stuff come across my dash even though it is still only August (btw, wtf is up with that?), and as this lovely creature feature has just crawled out of the toxic swamp that is the diseased brain of a mad scientist (mine) to terrorize the night, that is after all, rather the point. 

So bearing that in mind, Happy freaking Halloween Y’all (in advance).

[daughterofthewest]

Original Therapy Artwork by me: “Birds in the Rain.” today’s abstract-ish watercolor practice piece on postcard sized aquarelle paper w/ Windsor & Newton paints and iridescent wc medium. Playing with colors, values, and techniques again, trying to decide which version works best for the mood I was attempting to convey with this painting but I’m not completely satisfied with any of them and could use some constructive criticism and advice. What do you think Tumblr folks? I welcome your thoughts and opinions. Comments appreciated.Thanks