#go forth with intent

[iron-sparrow]

you must understand: they fear you

And so they continue their efforts to erase us.

When seeking updates about my passport (I'm aware it will likely be rejected) this morning, I saw that QIA+ had been removed from the Department of State's website. Previous instances of LGBTQIA+ have now been changed to LGB.

While federal institutions ban Black History Month and other observances as part of the new regime's ongoing efforts to strip away diversity, equity and inclusiveness, we must remember to keep celebrating; not with forced joy, but fire and rage. Do not go quietly. Fight for yourselves and those beside you. Chase your shouts for solidarity with true acts of advocacy, education, and service.

Once more, I choose to love you by offering to you a few basic resources.

The National Assoc. for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

Each and every NAACP member makes a difference to the complex, ongoing work of advancing racial equity. We have driven the hardest-fought wins for civil rights and social justice — with you by our side, we can accelerate the next milestones for Black Americans.

Zinn Education Project

The Zinn Education Project promotes and supports the teaching of people’s history in middle and high school classrooms across the country. Based on the lens of history highlighted in Howard Zinn’s best-selling book A People’s History of the United States, the website offers free, downloadable lessons and articles organized by theme, time period, and reading level.

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

With immigrant rights, trans justice, reproductive freedom, and more at risk, we’re in courts and communities across the country to protect everyone’s rights — and we need you with us.

Human Rights Campaign (HRC)

The Human Rights Campaign envisions a world where every member of the LGBTQ+ family has the freedom to live their truth without fear, and with equality under the law. We empower our 3 million members and supporters to mobilize against attacks on the most marginalized people in our community.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH runs between February 1 and March 1, 2025.

[egophiliac]

I was wanting to try doing an art piece in the style of the signature spell poster art pieces you create. But I’m not really the best at coming up with a composition for such a thing.

Do you have a process for how you come up with the compositions for them?

oh, awesome! it is an INCREDIBLY enjoyable style to work in; I hope you have fun with it! :D

I'm not great at putting my thought/art process into words, so my apologies if this doesn't make a lot of sense, but I'll try! my first step is always to do a LOT of thumbnails to figure out both the idea and how I want to show it; not trying to do a real sketch or anything, just little doodles to figure out what exactly I'm trying to portray. (I also call these "garbage passes" because they're not meant to be any good, they're just there to throw things out. aha. ha. ...anyway.) I think it's important during that first stage to really focus on the idea and the layout and not to get too bogged down in the actual drawing yet!

I tend to save my final thumbnails, so I'll use 'em as examples (I posted the ones up through episode 5 here if you're interested!) (and, uhhh, spoilers through episode 5 also in this post, hopefully that won't be an issue!)

the main thing I try to think about in composition is balance -- not necessarily in terms of symmetry, but in where each element is placed and how much space it's taking up. remember, empty space is still space! it's also really important to think about the parts that don't have anything in them, as much as the parts that do!

personally, I like to divide things up roughly by both halves and by thirds -- there's a lot more in-depth info out there on why the "rule of thirds" in particular works well visually, but in short, our brains tend to focus on things that are placed closer to imaginary division lines, instead of in the exact center of an image. so even when I'm doing something that is very centered and symmetrical, I try to keep that in mind and generally aim around those for landmarks like faces/eyes (or...where they would be, anyway) and other focal points.

it's not a formula of "the character's face should be in this division of this grid" or anything, more like "our minds like to focus on these areas, let's think about how to use that", if that makes sense! and of course rules are made to be broken, art is lawless anarchy, and so on. but it can be a good starting place for deciding where you want to put things!

(blue - thirds, red - half)

and against the finished versions, because they do usually end up changing a lot (including the empty space of the border):

(...these actually lined up a lot better than I thought they would. :') it makes me look like I do things way more intentionally than I do.)

other stuff I just try to keep in mind is that our eyes like following arcs and paths, which can be a good way to guide the eye:

and frame and control the focus:

honestly, composition is one of those things I feel like I struggle with a lot, so I'm not sure how much of this is helpful or actually makes sense outside of my head. but hopefully it helps a little! it's all just stuff to think about while drawing and not anything hard-and-fast, so don't, like, stress out about making sure things are lining up exactly on the thirds or anything. again, it's more "our brains think these are the dopest parts of the rectangle" than anything else! take advantage of the cool parts of the rectangle!

NOW GO HAVE FUN DRAWING seriously though, it is always super cool that other people like this idea and style enough to want to do it themselves and for other/their own characters! thank you! ❤️❤️❤️

[mi-tu-o-moli-poka]

I THINK THEY'RE CUTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[archduchses]

re: these tags imo it's not even a question it's matteo. people like to think since matteo is older and someone jannik looks up to and especially did when he was younger and not Mr. World Number One, that jannik was initially the one most insane about the other or even that it was unrequited at first. but i have this headcanon that matteo is actually the one who fell first AND harder. jannik captured his heart and not only that since very early into their meeting and knowing each other. and jannik drove him crazy with his push and pull like one day he's affectionate, touches him more than it's necessary, laughs hard at his jokes, looks at him In That Way. and the next he's kind of distant, or at least none of the stuff that made matteo's heart beat like crazy the day before is there. so matteo yearnssss and is driven insane by thoughts of "did i imagine all that? was i reading too much into it?" but then the next day once again jannik's fingers linger a little Too long on his arm, he stares at him when it seems matteo isn't looking etc. so: matteo would've killed for jannik to touch him For Real and he's been gone for him for years, before jannik was ever seriously considering it. like jannik was attracted to him because duh but he was so young, he didn't really care about love like that. and was immature.

i would've continued because i actually have a lot of thoughts about early sinnettini but this is already a long enough essay 😭 sorry for dumping it into your askbix fjfvhcs

oh the obsession is there

shy puppy with so much hyper energy chasing his play yard crush around the play set.

notice me. acknowledge me.

being so young he was to still figuring out in real time ‘friend’ touch and ‘i want to be more than your friend’ touch

he would be overly touchy and basically hang off of matteo and than over correct it by being dude bro chill and not even looking in his direction and than over correct that by hanging on like a koala and than over correct that and the cycle goes in circles and circles and circles with circus music in the background

teenage jannik had to physically restrain himself from biting matteo ON. SIGHT. he was bouncing off the walls with adolescent restless type energy when they’re in the same room.

matteo the object of all his affection. SO. VERY. CLOSE. right there in the flesh. he can just reach out his hand and touch him. but bros don’t do that so he gnash his teeth together. vibrating in his skin. like the worked up confused and frustrated puppy he is.

and poor matteo is like ????? “this child is playing childish games with me” because in what way can he even react to it?

while matteo being a few years ahead is more sure of himself and of social interactions. which makes him more affable in his interactions with people.

which directly makes him more affectionate with his friends and teammates and jannik absorbs it all like a mountain man who’s never seen the sea.

[abhorcnt]

i do think it’s hard to understand avery’s character and have a proper critique on their purpose in the story if you’re not actively including them and pushing your mc to meet them but also having the option to completely ostracize them and only know them as a stranger most of, if not, the whole time does tell you a lot about who they are in comparison to everyone else’s connection to scarlet hollow

[soulshards]

What does your heart look like?

Tagged by @naejlas-axe! Thank you! I spun the wheel and picked 2 OCs for this one as, uh, yeah, we would be here a while otherwise!

Rhulvan // a cage with iron locks

You are an enigma. You take care to remain that way. You aim to keep people guessing; your motives are uncertain even to yourself. What is it you truly want? You’ll never know if you keep your heart locked away like that. You deserve to be known, truly and fully. Stop being afraid of what you might find if you open your heart up to self-reflection. Stop thinking that no one will love you the moment they understand you. You are more than the facade you put on.

Nanako // an open door, a burning hearth

Your chest is wide open, and your heart is a home. Others are welcomed in readily and asked to stay. You are comfort and love, everything you were never given but so desperately want to provide for others. You have built this welcoming hearth with your own two hands and won’t see anyone else left out in the cold. Be careful to not burn yourself out trying to keep everyone else warm.

I won't tag anyone as I've seen this floating around a bunch already / people I would tag have already done it! But if you have not done it and wish too, feel free to @ me!

[mortalscience]

ten caps per episode - Law and Order Criminal Intent - s01e22 - Tuxedo Hill

Eames: What a snake-oil merchant. Goren: The snake oil he's selling is Tuxedo Hill. Eames: He wasn't anxious to give us the recipe. Goren: Well, maybe there's a place we can find the ingredients...

[cooltapes]

love to start my precious day off with an anxiety attack because someone accused me of hiding a sw*st*ka in my art and then STARTED DRAWING A SW*ST*KA OVER IT when I said that I understood but it wasn't intentional

love to feel bullied into deleting art by someone who broaches this conversation with the fucking 👁️👄👁️ emojis and never once acknowledged that their behaviour was inappropriate (at first I thought they were joking they were so flippant??) and finished off with a fucking "be careful" lmao BE CAREFUL OF WHAT????? THIS WAS ALL IN YOUR HEADDDDDD

[nerdyqueerr]

sometimes i think a little bit about how the Wyrm's ultimate Evil Ploy on Elora was to grant her heterosexual marriage and then not only does she turn that down but she and two lesbian knights defeat the evil AND THEN the Power Of Love comes in to save the heterosexual marriage guy but its literally just the power of his sister saying hey come back i miss you. and, dear readers, i find myself going insane a little

[orphanbychoice]

bruce wayne is not a girldad 😭 the only time he tells cassandra he’s proud of her is after she pulls some suicidal self destructive insane shit

[stabbyfoxandrew]

hello my cuties, you may now rejoice, the masterposts are now all up to date! :) sorry it took me so long to get around to it. but it is supremely boring lol

[ineffmoth]

can't stop thinking about how the game essentially lets you decide how much dan heng remembers about the past and whether he even wants to remember or considers it his past at all. the other characters make implications about the status of his memory and identity but almost every time he's directly asked or prompted to speak on the subject the game lets you, the player, decide how to respond. and because of the way the game is structured, that means dan heng's conception of self has almost 0 impact on his story or like. character. which is absolutely wild.

[starbuck]

editing my fic after working on a workplace leadership training and making mental notes of how many healthy workplace communication techniques one character uses while intentionally and gleefully gaslighting the other and goading him into a breakdown

[moe-broey]

Moe ref I made today to sorta update its look, to how I've been drawing it lately (focusing on the face!)

Biggest update is getting rid of the bottom lashes, and giving it creases/just the eyebags instead... and also committing to giving it facial hair! So creatureful........ (the chin hairs make me think of goats... the little hairs beneath the side burns make me think of whiskers.....)

Also

[vv-ispy]

man if humans turned out to be decended from dragons in genshin that would be a True Chinese Story Moment

[strangerwheelerthings]

Ok, I just saw that, in one of your posts, you said that a lot of Ronance fics are Robin-centric.

And well, no offense, but I think you're wrong.

It's actually the contrary.

A majority of Ronance fics are Nancy-centric, at least from what I saw.

And don't get me wrong, i'm not against that or something, I love Nancy.

But I think there should actually be more Ronance fics where Robin is the centric character.

So, if you see some author who wrote a Ronance fic where Robin is the protagonist, it doesn't necessarily mean that that author don't like Nancy.

It could simply mean that that author thinks, like me, that there should be more Robin-centric fics.

I have to be honest, I don't remember the post you are referring to. It was likely written a number of months ago, and it's entirely possible that the ratio within ronance fics has shifted since. I haven't read many recently.

But I do know enough about the way I think to know that I'd never accuse an author of disliking Nancy *just* because Robin was the focus????? That's kinda insane. My issue with people disliking Nancy comes in the way they portray her so out of character or make her the villain of Steve's love story, especially in a ronance-centric fic.

I absolutely adore Robin and would love to read some Robin-centric fics!