#figured a color ref is important since the asks are all daRK

[ashintheairlikesnow]

As you can see, I’m ALREADY pepped for

✨Kauri with sick jake✨

So don’t worry about that

Honestly, this is for @eatyourdamnpears and everyone else encouraging my silly whims

CW: Description of migraine visual aura, migraine, sick whumpee, some consensual spice refs/flirting at the end

It starts as a dot in the center of his vision, a bit of gray he can’t quite see around. Jake frowns, closes one eye and then the other, but it’s there in both of them when he tries to look at the clock on the oven. He checks his text messages and there it is, little gray dot, making it... not impossible, but difficult to read the message.

“What are you doing?” Kauri asks the question from the doorway, standing with his shoulder leaning on the frame and his arms crossed in front of himself, wearing nothing but one of Jake’s shirts, hanging off his frame in a way that somehow makes him seem more graceful, not less. 

“Go get pants on before Ant comes down and blacks out from blushing so hard,” Jake says, voice still upbeat, but... is the spot getting bigger?

He picks up his phone and types in ‘signs of seizure’ into Google. 

Nope.

‘Sudden changes in vision.’

Oh, well, the potential answers to that one are definitely fucking terrifying.

How about... ‘gray dot in center of eye’.

“What the fuck is retinal detachment?” Jake mumbles, squinting. The dot is definitely getting bigger, and it’s in both eyes, not just one. So... not retinal detachment, unless his eyes both did it simultaneously, which seems impossible, but...

Google seems very convinced he might be dying. That is not comforting him at all as he tries to read around the spot.

“Jake?” Kauri pads across the kitchen tile on bare feet, and his hand presses cool to Jake’s bare back, long fingers against his spine. “What’s up?”

“I’m having a weird-... a thing in my eye... or my eyes?” Jake leans slightly back into Kauri’s touch. He hasn’t stopped being grateful for Kauri’s presence, and so deeply aware of it. It feels fragile, whatever is happening now, even though Kauri has always been made of steel underneath his insistence that he was nothing but tissue.

“What kind of weird thing?” Kauri moves around him, to lean his back against the counter next to the stove, head tilted to look up at Jake.

Jake looks down at him, tousled black curls and the way his face has changed with time, cheekbones and jawline more prominent, but his eyes have never been anything but the widest, brightest blue, and he can see Kauri through the arc that the gray dot is forming in his vision as it expands.

“I can’t-... I keep seeing gray,” He confesses, shaking his head - and he feels pressure there, a sense of something just... sitting behind his eyes, over his eyebrows. Like the weight of a small animal is there, and getting heavier. “Just, like, a dot, but it’s getting... bigger. And... like, breaking up?”

He tries to look at Kauri again, and the dot is a half-circle now. There’s a flash in the rounded curve of it, and then another. Then a third, but this one is colors, and there are small rainbows flashing lights along the arch as it grows. 

“Am I-... is this a fucking seizure? Or a, a brain tumor? Or...”

Kauri, to Jake’s shock, laughs. “Oh! No, Jake. No, that sounds like - you said it’s getting bigger?” He reaches up, going up on his toes as Jake leans down, and presses his cool hand against the side of Jake’s face. “Is it, like, turning into a circle? Do you see lights?”

“Um... yeah. Yeah, like, like a fucking rainbow strobe light on the right side.” Jake closes his eyes, and the pressure is getting worse. 

“Jake.” Kauri’s voice is soft. “You’ve got a migraine. Or you’re about to have one. When did you last sleep through the night? Or, like, at all?”

Jake snorts. “You’re one to talk.” 

“Answer the question, you.” Kauri pokes him in the side, with gentle affection, and Jake wishes he could focus on his face around the widening, flashing arch at the right side of his vision. At least it’s sort of framing Kauri, now, and Jake wonders at Kauri just... here.

No backpack by the door next to his shoes, ready to run. The backpack is in Jake’s room, and it’s empty. Kauri’s fucking... pet Roomba Keira is in her place of honor in the living room by the Christmas tree. One of the new rescues is convinced they can fix her broken wheel even though it’s been actual years since Keira could roll around on her own. 

For her part, Keira informed Kauri in that... unsettling metallic female voice that her visual sensors were enjoying the shifting colors of the Christmas lights and that she didn’t mind playing a sort of living Wikipedia for the rescues - all former Romantics - learning about a world they were forced to forget.

Keira reported to Jake that the most common question she received was some variation on how many pets run away, and how many go back?

 The numbers are getting bigger - and the amount that end up back in WRU custody or with their former owners is going down.  That alone drives Jake to keep working, harder than ever, to give as many as he can somewhere safe to land.

“I don’t know. Chris is here for Christmas break, we have new rescues, there’s-... just been a lot going on, and-” He sighs as Kauri’s hand moves up, thumb rubbing soft little circles just above his eyebrow, and the pressure building behind his eyes seems to lessen, just a little, at the touch.

“So the answer is that you’re stressed and not sleeping. So this is definitely a migraine. Is it still getting bigger?”

Jake opens his eyes and looks down at Kauri’s face, giving a slight smile. “Uh, yeah. It’s... almost all off to the right, now. You’re pretty with a rainbow around you.”

“Well I’m gay as hell, so I should hope I look good in rainbows,” Kauri says, smiling with his nose scrunched up the way he does when he’s not being self-conscious about it, and then he takes Jake by the hand, pulling him back across the kitchen. “Come on, you. Time to lay down.”

“Kaur, the rescues will wake up any second now-”

“Antoni can feed them as well as you can - way better, honestly. He can just reheat those little pocket things with the cheese in them.”

“... Hot Pockets? I don’t think-”

“No, the thingies. The, um. The pirouettes?”

“Piroshkis?”

“Sure, that sounds right, too.”

“Well, pirouette is a ballet term-”

“Jake. Not important. Let’s just be happy I remember anything at all. Come on.”

Jake doesn’t feel like he follows Kauri so much as, like always, Kauri is a planet on its own orbit that Jake is drawn to, has always been drawn to, long before he could have had a moment with him like this. “But Chris-”

“Chris is twenty-three years old,” Kauri points out. “More or less. He can take care of himself, and right now you need someone to take care of you. And trust me, I have a lot of experience with migraines - and so does he.”

The rainbow flashes are fading out, moving so far to the side of his vision that they are effectively gone, but the pressure is still building and Jake squints against the way the first hints of sunlight hurts, a little, to see coming through the windows. “You do?”

“Of course I do.” Kauri’s legs are pale where they show under the hem of the big shirt he wears, and Jake swallows against the way something in him stirs at the sight, but that bit of pain that had come with seeing the sun isn’t leaving. It’s getting worse. “When I stopped blacking out, I started getting headaches, migraines, lasted for days. Fucking hated it. I used to get them in training a lot, too.”

“You did?”

“Mmhmm.” Kauri pauses, briefly, at the top of the stairs. “When I relearned how to read, and when I looked at myself again, they came back. But I had to keep trying, anyway.” He glances over at Jake and gives him a slight smile. “All that time I spent trying to figure out what you were seeing when you looked at me. Migraines come with the territory.”

“Why don’t I know that you were getting headaches?”

“Because I didn’t tell you about them. We’re, um. We’re good at ignoring pain.” Kauri smiles, still, but there’s something a little more brittle in it now. “Chris got them, too, learning to read. And... probably before. But everything-... hurts so much, in training. You get used to doing everything with the pain instead of waiting until it’s over. You don’t have a choice. There we go, I’ve distracted you with a sob story long enough to get you back to your room.” Kauri helps Jake inside, closing the door, and Jake sighs in relief as the room is beautifully, perfectly dark. 

“Our room,” He says, and his head is starting to really hurt, now. “I don’t have time to lie down, Kaur.”

“You sure as fuck do,” Kauri says cheerfully, getting him back to the bed, hands running over Jake’s shoulders, back, and sides as he lays down on his stomach, groaning. Kauri presses a little, here and there, gnawing on his lower lip. “You’ve got some serious fucking stress in your back, Jake.”

“When do I not?” Jake asks, muffled by shoving his face into a pillow.

“... good point. I’m going to get you something for your headache and tell Antoni he’s in charge today. You... don’t move. Or I’ll be very unhappy with you.” Kauri’s voice teases, effortlessly flirty, just a little with the graze of his fingertips before he pulls away. 

He’s gone, for just a few minutes, and Jake’s headache seems to worsen by the second, moving from the first hints of pressure to a full-on pounding pain. He doesn’t dare pull his head up, afraid even the slightest sliver of light will be too much. His stomach twists and turns, too, and Jake’s glad he got up here before he ate anything. 

That Kauri got him up here.

Kauri reappears with two pills, a glass of water, and a surprisingly bright smile on his face. “Well, I’ve embarrassed Antoni by stretching and forgetting I’m not wearing any pants, so... good thing I look good naked. Here, take this.”

Jake swallows down the pills and drinks the water until it’s gone, then hides his face back in the pillow. “What’re you gonna do?”

“Stay right here, dumbass,” Kauri says, softly, and he crawls up into the bed, lying down on his side next to Jake. Jake can feel the soft brush of his hair before he leans in and kisses Jake’s neck. “Stay right here with you. That’s my plan for the day.”

“I’m gonna be real boring,” Jake mumbles into the pillow. 

Kauri’s voice is low, situated just above a whisper but below the threshold that would make Jake’s head pound any harder. “I spent years alone with a talking Roomba and some plants on a balcony. Boring doesn’t bother me. I’d rather sit in this bedroom in the dark with you being a big whiny baby than be anywhere else.”

“... ‘m not whiny.”

“He said, whinily,” Kauri teased, and snuggled up next to him. Somehow he’d taken his shirt off and Jake slid one arm over the warm skin of his back, pulling him close. “Hey now-”

“Isn’t sex a pain reliever?” Jake asks, eyes still closed, nuzzling into Kauri’s neck, the warm smell of his skin, with the faintest hint of Jake’s own cologne. Something about having known Kauri to never smell like the same cologne twice for so long, and to know now he only ever smelled like Jake... 

“Not for migraines. Wait til your head feels better, dumbass.”

“Thought you liked my ass,” Jake murmurs, kissing just under Kauri’s ear, a spot he knows Kauri likes, a spot Kauri didn’t know he liked, because nobody ever bothered to explore Kauri the way he deserves. His hand slid down and between Kauri’s legs-

And then he winces and turns his head back to the pillow. “Ow. Okay, I can’t right now.”

“Told you so,” Kauri says, moving Jake’s hand back over his waist. “No sex until you feel better, Doctor Kauri’s orders.”

Jake pauses, and says softly, “I must be the only guy on earth who fucking loves hearing you say ‘no.’”

Kauri pauses, and then kisses Jake’s hair, the top of his head, and slides back into his embrace, the warmth that came with lying together under the blankets together. 

“Yeah, maybe. But I like that you want to hear it.”

“Always. Whenever you need to say it. I love you, Kaur.”

Jake thinks he hears the faintest hint of hidden tears in Kauri’s voice when he answers, “Love you, too.” 

---

Tagging: @burtlederp , @finder-of-rings , @endless-whump , @whumpfigure , @slaintetowhump , @astrobly @newandfiguringitout , @doveotions , @pretty-face-breaker , @boxboysandotherwhump , @oops-its-whump @moose-teeth , @cubeswhump , @cupcakes-and-pain @whump-tr0pes @whumpiary

[hoardlikegoldenirises]

johnnywyatt wedding outfits cause i... have NO self control. and just do things. for fun. just because i enjoy them. technically for a fic but it’s not done yet so i can’t link that.

i’d like to, in theory, draw an actual illustration with this but i like to design things so that’s what i did instead. maybe in the future. 

post on twitter: link 

re: beadwork:

transcription of what the jewelry detail image says:

“I think it would be nice if Wyatt had a collar stud mounted with some beadwork, as a small thing. BUT. I'm white. And it's really not my place to try to design something like that, with visual language I don't understand and lack the cultural context for.”

idk that i have anything more to add, really, but i want to include some links to some actual Indigenous artists/info about finding them--

profiles of beadwork artists: https://www.vogue.com/vogueworld/article/indigenous-beadwork-instagram-artists-jewelry-accessories 

a contemporary beader/jeweler: http://dorlah.tripod.com/index.html

and Beyond Buckskin's list of Native-run businesses: http://www.beyondbuckskin.com/p/buy-native.html

I have..... words.... about all the rest.

So have a readmore for all my words:

As far as everything else

Here’s my notes on some of that: 

(my condolences if readmores don’t work for you)

For the outfits overall, I wanted them to be a little less... well, boring, for one. I didn’t want to go with simply the traditional tuxedo style so I looked for different kinds of shirts and jackets I could use that were a little less typical but still suitable--though overall this does make them less formal, especially the lack of bowties. 

This works for me cause I was also considering a less formal wedding--still nice and fancy but not like... church-going. not white tie. Not even a huge event. Friends and family, you know?

I’m also just a fan of upright collars. Which I’m sure is tooootally not obvious to anyone who’s seen a lot of my outfit designs through the years. 

I liked Wyatt in all-white. I dunno why. I just thought it worked. That’s very classic but still a little bold. Johnny... I am not sure if I can explain why I ended up choosing the dark colors or the blue velvet... but I like it. The silk lining is SUPPOSEDLY Liberty London but I’m not sure how true that is--it’s from a random Etsy listing that’s actually for a pocket square. lol.

Shoes... shoes.... I just love drawing shoes and I like outfits where the shoes pop. So I went. a little ham. wyatt’s are based on a pair of red leather men’s boots I found on google.. with some modifications so they aren’t just the same as the pair I found--I used a few different references including western and cowboy boots. these red things were the main inspiration though--

For Johnny’s shoes I also used severa different references--mostly women’s Chelsea boots, wanting to retain some of the cowboy boot influence (idk WHY i just thought it was fun and he’s worn cowboy boots a few times), but also a fire-themed pair of suede Louboutin high heels, which is where I got the overall color scheme from--

yes i do collage my refs

as far as jewelry and accessories-- like I said I didn’t feel comfortable trying to design a beadwork collar pin for Wyatt but ideally he would have that small bit of his culture. 

in the WIP fic johnny proposes For Real (after already planning some) with a leather bracelet w/ infinity charm--as you can see. I just thought it was romantic and suited Wyatt’s overall very masculine sense of style... a sparkly diamond ring didn’t seem like the right choice to me, and I kind of wanted them to have the same number of rings. 

Tye mentioned the possibility of Johnny having a matching bracelet too which I had NOT thought of since Wyatt’s return gift was a little less concrete, but it is very cute to think about...

YES johnny is wearing diamond stud earrings. I just think it’s cute.

The cuff links were really just me saving a few varieties of cuff links and seeing what I liked.... just noodling around. I knew I wanted red enamel and I initially wanted some kind of pave diamond settings but I spent so long between saving refs and actually drawing this that I forgot my original idea XD So I just made up a new one. Arguably it fits some of the theming with the wedding rings BECAUSE

the wedding rings are shooting star themed.

i know, it’s corny. call me a cornivore.

moreso i originally wanted to work the infinity into both of their rings but I ended up dropping that mostly.

I saved a lot of pictures of various shooting star and comet themed rings--comet rings are actually an existing style and I looked at those a lot and at various shapes and tried to come up with something that evoked some of those but uh without like. stealing a specific design. I think I managed?

(you can also see peeks at designs for wyatt’s dad’s wedding ring where i decided on the simple 2 diamond band)

Wyatt’s was kind of hard for me to design at first.... though I def wanted some kind of art deco style for some reason? maybe just saw a ring and went, damn that’s cool. but i wanted it to retain the shooting star motif--it went through a few versions trying to work that in until I finished designing Johnny’s and realized something and just simplified Wyatt’s down a lot and let the motif be in the fact that it matched and also had sparkly stones.

As far as material, me and Tye had several entire conversations about heatproof jewelry (for johnny obvs) and i decided no stones, and on using ceramic... I also spent a bit of time looking up jewelry stuff and metal types and eventually settled on black colored titanium carbide (ceramic) for Johnny and on black zirconium for Wyatt, since his doesn’t need to be fireproof. Wyatt's ring has a fire opal (LISTEN. romance.) and gold + diamonds from father's ring (the band with diamonds) and... 

I did it so that even without a stone Johnny’s still was faceted to match the opal on Wyatt’s..... yes.... i know...... i amaze me too.

I’m not actually sure if the process to make the metal black (assuming it’s not naturally black?) would hold under extreme heat but I figure re-blackening is less of an ordeal than like.... making an entire new ring. not that even ceramic would hold up if he went nova, but... that is truly asking a lot lmfaooo he can just put it in a special unstable molecule pouch or something. before he, you know, uses his emergency ultra-huge explosion power. yeah, ring would be the least important in any situation where he burns hot enough to destroy... *squints*... a material used on spacecraft for heat shielding. 

that’s def a ring that has to be very precisely and carefully made. 

....

anyway.

i think... that’s everything..... very long post...... if you read it.... congrats? i’ll probably add a fic link to this post when i actually finish it, not for another month at least tho lol

maybe someday i will get around to drawing an actual drawing using these outfits.

[shima-draws]

OH HEWWO here’s the two new characters for ATS I’ve been gushing about nonstop!! Their refs have actually been done for quite a while, I wanted to draw more of them before I shared but I just got so excited I couldn’t wait!!

Their inspiration is probably pretty obvious lmao as stated several times by my pals but well, Albion’s been planned to look smth like that for a long time now so :’Dc

Albion’s on the top!! And Ikaia’s on the bottom!!

Their backgrounds and story details are under the cut, but be warned, it is LONG lol

Albion Kerrigan Age: ??? (Physically, early twenties) Hair color: Black and white Eye color: Black and white (Dual-user) Element: Light and Darkness

Remember when I introduced Edan and Valdis way waaaay back? Well, Albion is one of their companions--the Grandmaster of Light and Darkness! (His name was Alva previously, but I changed it.) He’s existed within Kishuniia for countless millennia, ever since that world was created. However, unlike his Grandmaster brethren he doesn’t like to play by their rules, and goes to interact with humans despite the fact that it’s strictly forbidden by Astraeus (the Grandmaster’s leader and the only existing tri-user (besides Kaz, who is a special case)). Because of his Grandmaster status, he serves as a pillar for Shima’s world, being an existence that keeps it thriving. If a Grandmaster were to be killed, the entire world would collapse instantly, for those seven pillars are needed to keep it functioning. And that is the reason why they conceal themselves from humans, spending thousands of years avoiding humanity or just in hibernation, and why Astraeus, being their leader, is so cautious about interacting with humans, who could easily abuse them for their power and unknowingly cause the world’s destruction.

Even so! Albion has always been an outsider within the Grandmaster group--not because he doesn’t get along with them (Edan’s his closest friend among them) but because he doesn’t like being tied down by their rules. Humans fascinate him and he’s always seeking knowledge on how they function and evolve, and he’s sorta inherited their mischief, always getting into trouble with people. But that’s just because he’s playful! Being a very curious and energetic person, he easily falls into misunderstandings, and also enjoys playing pranks on people lol

Astraeus is a really calm and laid back person, but with Albion they’re kinda strict--they pretty much act like a parental figure lmao and Albion HATES it. Astraeus kinda treats him like a kid, mostly because they don’t believe Albion is capable of understanding just how important of a being he is, being a god of this world, and it frustrates them. They’re quite protective of all of their Grandmaster allies, especially Albion since they know he attracts trouble and will disobey them no matter what they say. Albion’s constantly just like “Go away” and Astraeus is like “If I don’t keep an eye on you, who knows what will happen” so they’re just constantly arguing. Family squabble. Mkdmasdas

Ikaia Belcour Age: 23 Hair color: Blonde (very subtle pink gradient at the bottom) Eye color: Pinkish-red Element: Water

Ikaia is my newest baby...I would and can die for him...he’s a good soft boy that doesn’t allow any bullshit and pretty much does whatever he can to achieve his goals. He’s also trans!! 

He actually met Albion when he was 8 years old, after finding him collapsed in some bushes outside his house--apparently Albion had irritated some of the boys in town and gotten into a fight with them (but of course, he pulled his punches, letting them get out their anger and trying not to inflict too much damage). Ikaia then tended to his wounds and started asking all sorts of questions. Albion found him immensely entertaining. When Albion asked for his name, Ikaia hesitated because he didn’t like the name he was born with--so Albion gave him the name Ikaia, and he’s stuck with it ever since! 

Albion stays around town for a little while, and he slowly starts getting attached to Ika along the way. Ikaia, being the youngest of a large family, is ostracized by them, especially since they’re all gifted with elemental abilities and can use them brilliantly while he fails to master his powers of water. The only person who really cares for him is his older sister, but it’s hard for her to protect him when everyone else is essentially out to get him. Ikaia tells Albion he dreams of running away and being free from the ties of his family, and doesn’t have to put up with their misgendering and bad treatment of him. Ikaia excitedly suggests traveling with Albion, who sorta just goes with the flow and travels to wherever, being the adventurous type he is (which is smth Ikaia dreams of doing), and Albion jokingly says maybe he can one day.

By mistake Albion realizes that Ikaia’s elemental gifts lie more on the side of ice rather than just water--as elementals tend to specialize in different fields of their element, down to specific battle styles and practical uses. Once Ikaia discovers that he’s able to control his ability EASILY--he realizes he’s better at freezing things, developing a knack for it right away! Albion trains him a bit and teaches him a few Grandmaster tricks that only he knows. Ikaia excitedly goes home to show off to his family--they are proud at first, but immediately turn around and start using Ikaia for his powers, which makes him miserable. They also start noticing Ikaia hanging around Albion, which they find VERY suspicious, and punish Ikaia for meeting with him. Albion feels immensely guilty for getting Ikaia in trouble, and even worse, a very furious Astraeus shows up and berates Albion for interacting with humans, fearing that the secret of his Grandmaster status might leak.

Astraeus threatens to erase Ikaia’s memory of Albion, to which Albion protests, saying it isn’t fair to erase all the happy moments they had together just to preserve their secret. (Also they’d have to get Valdis to come do that who is like halfway across the world anyway.) Because of how close Ikaia and Albion had become, Astraeus says they won’t erase the child’s memory, but that Albion has to leave town and never look back, and forbids him from ever seeing Ikaia again lest Ikaia realizes that Albion’s immortal. At this point Albion’s been driven into a corner and can’t really oppose that decision, so he goes along with it, reluctantly, because he’d actually wanted to see the type of person Ikaia would grow up to be. 

Finally, Albion resolves to leave town. Ikaia is absolutely distraught, of course, not wanting to lose the only friend he has, and the person who’s taught him so much. Albion tearfully says he’ll come back one day, and Ikaia makes him promise to take him with on a journey across Kishuniia and show him everything he knows once he’s grown up and mature enough for the journey :’) Ofc this is a lie but Ikaia doesn’t know that;;

Years after Albion has left, Ikaia becomes stronger and trains more often to master his elemental abilities--and also lashes out more frequently against his family. At this point, he’s become a bitter sort of person, under his family’s control and the promise that Albion never came back to fulfill. His sister gives him encouragement but Ikaia tells her there’s no point in believing in lies, that Albion had probably just been humoring his childish fantasy. Still though, he finally leaves home at age 16--sick of his parents and siblings’ manipulation, he starts traveling around and participating in tournaments to hone his skills. 

And then, 15 years after Albion had left--Ikaia is in his early 20s at this point, and has become a renowned champion of local tournaments, going under the name “Ruka” because he doesn’t feel super comfortable using his actual name, especially because of how important it is to him, being the one big reminder of Albion he has. People refer to him as the “Frigid Prince” because of his use of ice and his cold personality lol. It’s at one of these tournaments that Albion stumbles upon him again, completely by accident 👀 Ikaia is shocked to see him from the audience and almost loses his match but he uses his irritation at Albion to win lol. He honestly thinks it was just a hallucination for a while, but he runs into Albion again outside of town--who had been avoiding meeting him--and just. Shit hits the FAN LMAO. Ikaia is absolutely FURIOUS at Albion for breaking his promise, and ofc is very confused as to why Albion still looks exactly the same. Albion refuses to reveal his identity as a Grandmaster, since he knows the truth would put Ikaia in danger with both Astraeus and any other humans looking to take advantage of them. But it becomes clear to Ikaia that Albion definitely doesn’t age, and probably isn’t human like he’d assumed--and he realizes that was the reason Albion never came back, and slowly but surely forgives him. (He’s still irritated for a long time after tho lmao)

With that said, Albion’s finally able to fulfill his promise and take Ikaia with him on a journey :’D They do a lot of catching up and they spar against each other occasionally, tho most of the time it ends in a draw since Albion’s afraid of hurting Ikaia despite the fact that Ika’s definitely strong enough to handle his blows lol. To Albion, Ikaia feels like an entirely different person, and it takes him a while to adapt to how snarky he’s become, and slowly begins to realize that Ikaia definitely doesn’t smile as much as he used to when he was a kid. (He then starts blaming himself for this drastic change in his friend, wondering if Ikaia’s become such a bitter person because of Albion’s “abandonment” of him.)

It takes a long time for Ikaia to finally start opening up to Albion, but when he does, and when he finally discovers Albion’s status as a Grandmaster--he resolves to protect Albion no matter what, and even stands up to Astraeus and challenges them to a fight in order to prove he’s worthy enough as a human being to stand by Albion’s side :’) Before this Ikaia had kinda been going through life without any real purpose, only wanting to get stronger without knowing why--but when Albion crashes back into his life again, he realizes that Albi’s been the driving force behind everything he’s done in his life, and finally knows what he wants to do from then on out. Seeing Ikaia stand up to Astraeus moves Albion tremendously, and that’s when he starts Catching Feels >:3c (It also doesn’t help that Ika looks REALLY good in thigh highs. Albion’s very weak for them fnadkald)

Ikaia’s pretty popular with his fans--especially the girls, who find him to be very handsome and charming with his cold and quiet demeanor--and Ikaia’s ignorance of them usually makes them freak out over him more lmao he just can’t avoid it :’D He doesn’t really care about fame particularly, and is disinterested in the affairs of his peers in the tournaments, but he does appreciate the support he gets! He’s a very careful battler and strategist, preferring to think first before charging in, while Albion is the exact opposite lmao. Being so cold and calculating gives him an air of arrogance, but he’s not like that, not at all! Deep down he’s still the excited, kind child he used to be, and he still really looks up to Albion a lot and is inspired by him! He likes teasing Albion a lot; they’ll get into friendly arguments and bicker over silly things. Ika thinks Albion’s an idiot despite being an all-powerful immortal being and sorta appoints himself as a babysitter for Albion under Astraeus’ instructions and Albion’s fury at that lol. Ikaia teaches him a lot about the human world, what humans are like, and how they function--which is something Albion’s always been extremely interested in.

They do fall in love, eventually! But it takes a long time because Albion’s never developed feelings for a human before, due to their lifespans being so short and him never being super attached to any of them in particular. He’s curious about them and he likes them, but human lives are fleeting and fragile, so he doesn’t really allow himself to get really close with any out of fear of losing them. After he starts getting closer to Ikaia he becomes very...overprotective of him, and worries constantly about his health and his state of being, and nags at him to be more careful when he gets hurt. Eventually Ikaia snaps back at him and tells him to stop coddling him and acting like a mother hen lmao. He does understand Albion’s fear, as Ikaia feels the same, worried that someone will take Albion away and try to use him against his will, and does his best to reassure him...!

A long time later when they finally get the balls to confess to each other, Albion pleads for Astraeus to let Ikaia become an immortal (who had already considered his options and decided yeah, spending an eternity with Albion would be really nice), and Astraeus, having seen how important they are to each other and viewing Ikaia as Albion’s only true friend, grants him immortality!! (Which they can easily do, being the Grandmaster of Time, Space AND Stars--) And then, Albi and Ika begin their eternity together. Insufferable partners to the end. LMAO

There’s this whole thing where people do eventually find out about Albion and there’s a huge battle arc where they fight to get him back and he turns into a raging demon and unlocks his Grandmaster Destruction Powers or something after Ikaia gets hurt and. Yeah. That’s a story for another time LOL

WHEW sorry that got long but that’s the gist of it!! I love my boys very much and would lay my life on the line for them, yessir

Bonus screencaps from me blabbing on about them in Discord:

[syntaxeme]

Name: Natalie “Nat” Cordova

Callsign: Estrella Flux (formerly Firefly)

Species: human (mutant)

Age: 19

Gender/sexuality: cis bi girl

Ethnicity: Mixed Latina. Her father is Mexican, and her mother is Cuban (grew up in America; her parents immigrated before she was born).

Alignment: Chaotic Good 

Body: 5’ 7”. Medium brown skin, notably darker than Myles as she spends more time in the sun. Her freckles aren’t as numerous as Myles’s, but they’re there if you look closely. Pointing them out or complimenting them seems to embarrass her, because she knows it means you are looking closely. She’s slim, almost lanky, like her brother, but with more muscle; think gymnast. She doesn’t have much going for her in the T&A department, but it doesn’t really concern her. She feels like her body fits her perfectly. She has numerous scars, all earned in various ways but for the same reason: her overconfidence outmatched her skill/control. She kind of likes them, though. The only one she doesn’t like is a particularly nasty gash down her left temple and cheek, and she’s always used her bangs to try to cover it up.

Body language: What’s the opposite of “ladylike”? That’s what Nat is. Maybe it’s intentional, maybe it’s subconscious, but she can often be seen taking up as much space as possible, stretching her legs out open instead of crossing them, lying out full length and taking up two seats on the bus, etc. Her stance is very firm, not to be shaken; as previously mentioned, she is incredibly self-confident. She has no qualms about making eye contact and will not back down if pushed. The only time she may not be quite so immovable is during an especially manic spell; for that period of time, she’ll become more hyper, restless, almost jittery, and she’ll feel she needs to constantly be moving.

Hair: Thick, black, wavy. Since disappearing out of her family’s life, she’s cut off practically the entire length of it, something she didn’t dare do while in school. The sides and back are buzzed short, but the top still has some length so she sort of has bangs to hang over her forehead. 

Eyes: Very light, very bright blue; they mark her as a mutant right off the bat to anyone who knows what they’re looking at, especially when the rest of her is so dark. When they moved schools in the seventh grade, she started wearing brown contacts so people would stop staring and teasing her. They’re deep set and slightly narrow.

Powers: Energy manipulation. Her control applies to several kinds of energy: potential, kinetic, thermal, radiant, and electric. To be clear, these are the types she’s learned to work with; it’s possible she may learn to do more in the future. She’s tried to work with sound and found that she can’t; that’s Myles’s territory. Because energy can’t be created or destroyed, she’s only able to transfer and convert the energy in question. This means she’s able to transfer live electric energy from one device to another or sacrifice heat energy to create light, etc. The larger the conversion, the more concentration it takes from her. She does have a great deal of stamina, however, having built it up over the years, so she’s capable of some pretty impressive feats when (let’s say) fully-rested. Because her abilities are so versatile, it would be very easy for them to become dangerous in the wrong hands. Nat tries her best to prove that she’s worthy of them and that she can control them. She does, however, question whether that’s true herself.

Background: Since the age of thirteen, Nat has been doing hero work with her parents and her twin, Myles. She was advocating for them (her and Myles) to join in the hero stuff since they were ten, and their parents insisted that they weren’t old enough (heroes can’t become officially sanctioned until they’re legal adults). They changed their mind about that when the twins were captured by an enemy and held hostage. This was when Nat got the scar on her face. She tried to fight their captors, using her powers, but since she had no training and not much experience controlling them, she pretty much got the shit kicked out of her. But she kept Myles from getting hurt, which was the important part to her. After their parents rescued them, it was clear to everyone that they needed to be taught how to defend themselves. That quickly led into them becoming involved in the work itself.            Nat took to hero work easily, as it gave her an outlet for her practically-boundless energy. She did have some extracurricular gymnastics to occupy her, but learning MMA from her mother was even better. Learning to control her powers was also very intellectually stimulating for her; it led to her developing an interest in physics, which entailed a lot of research on her part. Through study and practice, she’s gotten very good at precisely controlling her power. The idea of justice is also very appealing to her; she can’t stand to see people get less (or more) than they deserve.            At around sixteen, Nat began experiencing symptoms of schizophrenia: she started to see and hear things that others didn’t, started to perceive others (outside her family) in ways that weren’t accurate, and developed the powerful believe that she was “supposed” to be enacting justice where it hadn’t turned out naturally, that it was what she was made to do. She was diagnosed at age seventeen, but she had a mortal fear of medication for it. They were told that her condition could be managed, so her parents let her choose to do so.            She doesn’t hallucinate “normal” things, like everyday conversations or images that could easily be real; they’re almost always fantastic enough to make her question them right away. This leads to her often asking those around her for reality checks, e.g. “are you seeing this happening right now?” Her auditory hallucinations are usually very clear and easy to understand, most often insulting her decisions and telling her that other people can’t stand her. They don’t really have distinct, recurring voices that she’s noticed.

Personality: Outgoing, playful, confident. She’s a bit cynical, a bit sarcastic sometimes, but rarely in a way that’s meant to be hurtful. She doesn’t see any reason to be rude to others unless they started it. She’s generally very friendly and likes attention, likes making friends. For the most part, she’s pretty open about her mental condition and doesn’t mind talking about it. If people look at her funny when they find out, she doesn’t care; she does want to be liked, but some other person’s approval isn’t worth lying about who she is. Ever. It’s not uncommon for her to have mood swings that are difficult to explain to other people (not that they happen for no reason, but the reasoning wouldn’t make sense to most others).

           She has a habit of speaking and acting without thoroughly considering the consequences; she sometimes needs to be reminded or informed of a potential problem with what she’s doing/saying/planning in order to rethink it. Sometimes she listens, usually if it’s in regards to other people’s safety or wellbeing. If her own ability is being questioned, however, she instead feels the need to prove that she knows what she’s doing. She rarely worries about her own safety, as one of her persistent delusions makes her feel like she’s pretty much invincible. The only time she really questions herself is when her naysaying voices are being especially persistent.

Misc.:

She’s fluent in both English and Spanish. I think she prefers Spanish, and she probably has several Spanish-speaking friends. Usually if she’s speaking privately to someone in her family, it’s in Spanish.

Nat is as contemporary as one can possibly be. Her pop culture interests are all 100% modern, and she doesn’t really care for “deep” shit that has to be deciphered. She wants music that’s fun to dance to, often with sexual and/or aggressive lyrics (Ke$ha is one of her favorites), she wants movies that are fun and engaging to watch (art films and anything depressing are o-u-t), and she has an easier time getting engrossed in a comic book than in a novel. Comics led her to manga, which led her to anime, so she likes that, too.

She uses the words “schizo” and “psycho” to describe herself on occasion, usually in a negative way. However, she will not stand for the word “crazy.” Hearing it in passing (e.g. “the traffic here is crazy”) bothers her, but hearing it directed at a person, especially herself, makes her absolutely furious, which quickly leads to her being aggressive and physically violent toward the person who used it. “Loco/loca” will get a similar reaction.

Clothing:

Civvies – Cut-off shorts, crop tops and bralettes, sneakers, whatever allows her to move most easily. She has no issues with showing skin. She hates dresses and skirts. Just. Hates them with a passion. They inhibit her movement and make fighting difficult, especially long ones, so she avoids them whenever possible. She likes boots and jackets. She likes the colors blue and green. And she loves galaxy print. Or anything to do with stars.

“Work”

Her theme color is cobalt blue. She wants to look cute and flashy, but functionality comes before anything else. Meaning nothing strapless, nothing restrictive (like tight leather pants), nothing she’ll have to worry about slipping or coming off, etc. For some reason, peplum shorts are really speaking to me. And a ¾ sleeve crop top. Maybe with some fun sheer details.

In order to leave her fingertips and palms to be exposed (for whatever energy-based purpose she may need) but not cut up her knuckles, she wears knuckle guards like one would use for boxing.

Her mask is the opposite of what most heroes wear; rather than covering her eyes, it covers the lower half of her face (from her nose down). When she’s working, she doesn’t bother with her contacts (unless it’s a sudden, spur-of-the-moment thing), so her eyes don’t look the way they normally do, so she figures this is okay. 

Visual refs: 

[jansegers]

Simple English Word List

SIMPLE1540 : a simple English wikipedia word list based on the XML export of all articles related to the nine major groups: Everyday life, Geography, History, Knowledge, Language, Literature, People, Religion, and Science and retaining all word forms appearing 7 times or more in this corpus. The total number of words in this corpus is well over the 100.000 words. a A.D. ability able about above absence abstinence abstract academic academy accent accept access accord account across act action active activity actual actually ad add addition adherent adjective adult advance advice affect after again against age agnostic agnosticism ago agree agreement agriculture air alcohol all allow ally almost alone along alphabet also although always amateur amendment among amount an analysis ancient and angel animal annals anonymous another answer anthropomorphism any anyone anything aphasia appear apple apply approach archaeology architecture area argue argument around arrange art article artificial artist ask aspect associate association astronomy at atheism atheist atomic attack attempt attribute audience author authority available average avoid award away B.C. baby back background backpack bad bah balance band baptism base basic basis battle BCE be bear beautiful beauty because become bed bee before begin behavior behind being belief believe believing belong below best better between beyond bias biblical bibliography big billion biological biology birth bit black blind blood blue body book born both bottom boundary box boy brain branch bring brown buffalo build building bull burn business but by c. ca. calendar call can cancer canon capital caption car carbon card carry case cassette cat category cathedral catholic cause cell center central century cerebral certain change chapel chapter character chemical chemistry child china China choice choir choose chronicle church circumcise circumcision cite citizen city civil civilian civilization claim clan class classical cleanup clear clergy click climate close closer clothes clothing coast coauthor code codex cognitive col cold collection college colonization colony color column com come commentary commission common commonly communicate communication communion communist community companion company compare competition complete complex compose composer computer concept conception concern condition confuse confusion congregational connect connection conquer conquest consciousness consider consistent constitution construct construction contain contemporary content context continent continue contrary control convention conversation conversion convert cook cooking copy core correct could council country course court cover covered create creation credit crime critical criticism crop cross crust cultural culture current currently daily damage dark data date day dead death debt decadence decadent decide declaration decline deconstruction deep define definition deity demonstrate denomination department depth describe description design detail determinism developed development device devil diagnosis dialect dictionary die difference different difficult difficulty diphthong dipstick direct directly dirt disagree disambiguation disbelief discipline discover discovery discussion disease disorder distance distinct distinction distinguish distribution divide divine do doctor doctrine document dog don't door down Dr. dream drink drown druid due during dynasty each earlier early earth easier easily easy eat economic economics economy ed edge edit edition editor education effect eight either electric electricity electronic element elevation else emperor empire encyclopedia end energy engine engineering enlightenment enough enter entertainment environment environmental epic episode equal era error especially establish etc. etymology even event eventually ever every everyday everyone everything evidence evil evolution evolve exact exactly example except exchange exist existence expansion experience experiment expert explain explanation express expression external extinct face fact failure fair faith fall false family famous far fast father feature feel feeling female feudal few fiction field fight figure file find finding fire first fish fit five fix flow folk follow food for force foreign foreskin form formal former fortune fought foundation founded four fourth frame framework free freedom frequently friend from front fruit full function functional further future gas general generally generation genre geographer geographic geographical geography geology geometry germ get give glass global go god gold golden good government grammar great greatly green ground group grow growth guide guillotine hair half hall hand handbook handicap handle happen happens happiness happy hard have he head heading health hear heat heaven help hemisphere her here heritage hero high highly him himself his historian historical historiography history hold holy home homo hope hot hour house how however human hundred hunter hypothesis hysteresis I ice icon idea identify identity if illiteracy illiterate illusory image importance important impossible improve in inc. incense include increase indeed independence independent indigenous individual industrial industry influence information inquiry inside instead institute institution instrument instrumentation intellectual intelligence interlinear internal international internet interpretation into introduce introduction invent invention involve iron island issue it IT itself job join journal journalism judge just keep key kill kind king kingdom know knowledge la LA label lack lake lamp land landlocked landscape language large last late later law lead leader leap learn learned least leave legacy legal legend let letter level lexeme library life light lightning like likely limited line linguistic linguistics link liquid list literacy literary literature little liturgy live local location logic logical long longer look lord lore lose lot love low lower mac machine magazine magic magnetic magnum mail main mainly major make male mammal man mankind manuscript many map march March mark market mass material mathematical mathematics matter may May me mean meaning meant measure measurement meat median medical medicine medieval mediterranean medium meet member memory men mental mention mercury message metal method mid middle might migrate migration military millennium million mind minister minute misconception miss model modern modernism modernist moment money monologue monophthong month monument moon moral morality more morning most mostly mother mount mountain mouth move movement much museum music musical musicians must my myth mythology name narrative nation national nationality native natural naturalism naturally nature near nearly necessarily necessary need negative neither neologism network neurogenesis neuron neuroscience never new news newspaper next night nine no non none nor normal normally not note nothing noun novel now nuclear number object objective objectivity observation observe occupation occur ocean octane of off offer office official officially often oil old older on once one online only open opera opposite or oral orbit order org organization organize origin original originally orthography orthology other others our out outer outside over own oxygen p. pack pagan page paint palace paper paradigm parent parish park part participant particular particularly party pas pass past pasta pattern pay peace peer penguin penis people per percent percentage perception performance perhaps period peroxide persecution person personal personality perspective persuasion pet phenomenon philosopher philosophical philosophy phoneme phonetic phonetics photo phrase physic physical picture piece pilgrimage place plan planet plant plat plate play please poem poems poet poetry point pole police policy political politics polytheism polytheistic popular population position positive possession possible possibly post power powerful pp. practical practice praise pray prayer precise predict prediction prehistory present preserve press prevent priest primary principle print printing private probably problem process produce product production professional program project pronounce pronunciation proof property prophet propose prose proselytism protection protein provide province psychological psychology public publication publish publisher publishing punishment pure purpose put pyramid quantum question quickly quite quote race racial rack radiation radio rain range rate rather read reader real realism reality really reason receive recent recently reclamation recognize record recreation red ref refer reference referred reform reformation regard region reign rejection relate relation relationship relatively relativity reliable relic religion religious remain remember remove renaissance replace report republic request require research researcher resource respect response result resurrection retrieve return revelation revert review revision revival revolution rhetoric rich right rise ritual river rock role room royal rule ruled ruler run rural sacred sacrifice safe saga sage saint salad same sample satellite saw say schizophrenia scholar school science scientific scientist scope sea search second secondary section secular see seek seem selection self sense sent sentence separate sequence series service set seven several sexual shall shaman shape share she short should show shrine side sign significant silence similar simple simply since single situation six size skill skin slavery sleep slightly slow small smell smith snake so social society sociology soft soil solar soldier solid soliloquy some someone something sometimes song soon sortable sound source space speak speaker special specie specific speech speed spell spirit spiritual spirituality split sport spread square st. stage stain standard star start state statement station statistic statistical statue status stick still stone stop story strange strap strong structure struggle stub student study stutter style subject successful such sugar suggest sun sung sunlight superior superiority supernatural support suppose supreme sure surface survey surveyor sushi sustainability sustainable sweat symbol symbolic system table take talk tam tan task teach teacher teaching technique technology tectonics teeth tell temperature template temple ten term terminology territory tertiary test testament text textual than thank that the their theism them themselves then theology theoretical theory therapy there therefore thesaurus these they thick thing think third this those though thought thousand three through throughout thumb thus ticket tight time title to today together toilet tolerance toleration tongue too tool top topic total towards tower trade tradition traditional train translation transport travel treat treatment tree trench trial tribe tried trig true truth try turn twentieth twenty two type typical typically ultimate ultraviolet under understand understood union unit united universal universe university unknown unsortable until up upon upper urban urbanization usage use useful usually valley value van vandalism various vassal vegetable verb verbal verse version very video view violence virgin visit vitamin vocabulary voice vol. volume vowel vs. wale wall want war warm warmer wash waste water wave way we weak wealth wear weather web website weight well what when where whether which while white who whole whom whose why wide widely wild wilderness will window wisdom wise witch witchcraft with within without witness woman word work worker world worship would write writer writing wrong yam year yellow you young your

China, March and May made this list because china, march and may are on it and I didn't want to decide in favor of the common noun or the proper noun; all other proper nouns have been omitted (even the ten other months that met the criterium of appearing more then 6 times). #SimpleWikipedia #SimpleEnglish #wordlist #English #words #level1540 #Inli #nimi #selo1540

[freakypumpkin]

heya, it's the anon from the other day!! thank you so much for replying and i must say, your answer was so fucking interesting and i must've read it like 5 times or so by now. everything you explained about your creative process and personal history with drawing was fascinating and i think i can say that you truly inspired me to try and perseverate, so thanks again! i have another question i forgot to ask, about colors, and again it's about how you visualize them. i find it pretty hard -(1)

-(2) when i look around me to differenciate which color is what; by that, i mean that i can’t really put a name on colors, especially if it’s sort of gray, to me it will look gray even though it’s actually dark blue if you were to pick it out with the eyedropper tool. and i just can’t imagine how you color and shadow things without a reference, like how do you figure out the exact hue you should put there ? i’m kinda rambling here but it just blows my mind how you can make realistic looking -

-(3) drawings and get the textures and shadows and tones all great?? like, for instance, your mermen malec piece; the tails are so beautiful? how do you manage to get the darkest and the lightest parts right, it’s so hard to imagine the scene and reproduce it?? i’m just in love with what you do at this point. about drawing from pictures, i feel like i can do it alright but i can’t help but feel like i’m not a “real artist” because of that, because i don’t exactly “create” something from scratch-

-(4) i’ve even been told by people that if i wasn’t drawing things without ref, it was because i wasn’t confident enough (love it when people think they know how you work and who you are and feel free to pass judgement upon it!). i’ve seen that you useddifferent papers for the rough sketches and the lineart pieces that come after, so i was also wondering what kind of paper you used for the first sketches? does the paper quality matter for them since they’re not final product? and i think that’s-

-(5? or 6) that’s it ! again, i hope you’re having a great day and i wish you the best ! love ya

Hey there :D 

I’m glad I managed a answer of some quality :3 and reading, that it made you want to keep going totally made my morning.

You do create things from scratch, my friend. You start with a blank page and have a drawing in end, right? There you go. Wether or not you have a reference, you still have to draw the picture yourself, it’s not that with having a picture to copy from, the lines suddenly start appearing on the page. ;3

And when people say, you lack confidence because you draw from reference, I would say, that you simply find beauty in the things, that exist in the world around you and you want to capture that. And I would say, in terms of bravery, it is pretty brave to draw something people can compare to the original. Taking on reality is brave. Also, on that same note, I personally decided, that you will always be the only one to completely understand your art. You create art for yourself, it’s a part of you and a form of expression, that will never be completely open to others, and is surprisingly intimate in certain aspects, I think. So, who cares? (If they offer constructive criticism, great, if their comments are harmful to you, don’t listen.)

Sidenote: Classmates used to mock me for drawing non-realistically, with the big eyes and the non-natural colored hair and my mother was always like ‘do they have to have this pointed chins?’. Somebody is always going to be ‘Oh, that’s not real art’. But at some point, I decided, that there are so many different kinds of art and art forms, why shouldn’t what I create not be found somewhere on that spectrum?

About the colors … it’s a learning curve. xD One of the reasons I started working with grey tones is, that this way, I only have to look for the shading and not the color combination, because I am not good at that. I have like a few color combinations, that I know will work and I tend to use them whenever I use colors at all. I have a few cheating strategies, like combining colors with black or grey, or only using grey tones and then you can put in a pop of any color you want to create a certain ‘dramatic effect’. In general, I would say, just try it out. Like, I have papers filled with random patches of colors, where I drew one marker over another and just looked at what happened. So yeah, there’s a lot of experimenting in it on my part. And I think, being able to see colors is a question of training, too. 

By now i have a collection of all different kinds of paper, I just like paper and trying out different kinds of paper. The yellowish one I usually make my sketches on is a bit thinner (90g or 61 lb) than the white one I use for the clean linearts (185 g) and the difference is just that. Both are labeled as sketch paper and I can use markers on both of them, but on the sketch-paper, I feel less pressured to make a perfect drawing and I just don’t like pencil marks from erased lines on the white one. I did some lineart on the yellowish paper, too, and if i needed thinner paper for tracing of a sketch via lightbox, I wouldn’t have an issue with taking the yellowish one. :) 

Specifically about that mermaid-drawing I have to add, that I have no real experience with water colors at this point. Whatever you see turned out good on the picture in the end is often a case of me going ‘Let’s see, what happens when I do this’ and stuff turning out semi-successful. For the tails I had references at the start. I mean, not for that particular picture, but in general. They are based on the tails of tropical fish. So, when talking about the shading, It’s a lot about looking at pictures of fish and adapting the shades from there. Where fins overlap, there are shadows, etc. (Pinterest is awesome for that, btw)And I also usually wet the area I want to paint first and then dip the brush in paint and put it at a point in a corner, where I know will be a shadow and due to the formerly applied water, the color spreads out itself and I just help a bit with the brush, I think. I mostly follow the form of whatever I’m coloring; going from one side of the tail to the other with a slight curve and the farther I get, the more the brush will run out of color and there’s the effect. I usually put shadows at the edges and where fins overlap the tail to add depth, but there’s really not any kind of detailed plan behind it, especially with water colors. 

When it’s with skin, there are just some general areas where I like adding shadows, which is around the eyes, under the eyebrows, wherever the hair falls, underneath the chin and on the lips and nose. I saw that kind of shading in a lot of other drawings, and kind of just adapted it. If you would look closer, I’m pretty sure, that most of them would not be as they are if you’d be going for natural lighting. But I like it and therefore I will keep putting them there. :3Shadows with water colors for me work the way of using more or less of the same color and with copics I have the advantage of them being numbered according to their hue of a certain color. So, light grey is C-1 and it goes darker through C-2, C-3, C-5, and so on, and this way, when I use C-2 as a base color, I will use C-3 for the shadows and C-5 for the darkest parts of those shadows. 

But all in all it’s a process. When you draw a lot fishes, for example from reference you start learning where shadows will most likely be and this way, you don’t need the reference material that close by if you’re not interested in copying it in detail. I think, you subconsciously learn how shadows work on a certain object at some point. It’s like learning a new form of math and in the beginning you will have to write down every little step you take, but when you’re secure enough in the method, you will start to skip them. Just give yourself time. 

As for textures it’s again about looking at reference material. To learn about how shadows work on different kinds of material, working on how to translate that with whatever material you’re using. Also, youtube tutorials are great as well. Just keep in mind, that you don’t have to do things exactly as shown on the video, just look if you can learn something new from it, that feels like it could work for you. 

And I tell you, copying from nature and life is one the most useful things you can do. Writers work with research material and rerference material is the research of artists. Never let yourself get talked down for doing that. You wouldn’t call a writer ‘not a real writer’ just because they wrote something about a real story, right? :) It’s simply another genre. And they don’t write about things, that really happened beacuse they aren’t confident enough, it’s just, that they like what they write about and they also have to start with a blank page and therefore from scratch. Just the same way, you are a real artist. :)

Creating art is constant work and practice. Something will always be a challenge and somebody will always be better than you. The most important thing is, that you don’t give up if you really want to do it and that at some point you reach that feeling of ‘I like my art’. That should be your goal :)

I hope this helped, feel free to ask if anything was left unclear. :) Have a great day!

[asknymphali-blog]

Paris has been added to the ref page!