#i made the sketch for this back in 2020 and was too afraid to finish it

[batcrooks]

the elevator pitch for this is "a Toy Story/Night at the Museum-style educational series that teaches kids about art history"

they probably wouldn't let me have the tits-out minoan snake woman but that's ok

[hazelenergy]

How I Digitally Paint like a Scenic Artist/Designer

Aka: how I did this and put my degree to good use. 

LONG POST WARNING

Step 1: Research. 

First off, get to your image search. If you are going to be using Google, you may want to type “-pinterest” in the search to eliminate the countless boards. 

I had to figure out clothing that is vaguely late 1800s. I found a multitude of reference images that were fancier clothes- but I wanted to find images of clothing for kindred across all social classes. Photographs from the era and paintings are your friend. They will more accurately showcase what was worn. 

After Fashion research comes location research. The 1890s in America is known for the rapid industrialization. Factories were getting bigger and work days were getting longer. But, I wanted the moonlight to be cascading into the place, illuminating the scene. This means I needed to find a structure that had skylights or let sunlight in. And the best images I found? Slaughterhouses. Fitting, huh?

The same rule for fashion still stands- if you can find photographs or paintings from the era- they’re better. There are tons of places still standing today from the 1800s. But today, they look WAY different. Ya know, Abandoned! So just be sure to take this into consideration if you search “abandoned slaughterhouses” or go trespassing like I did.

Lastly, pose research. Finding the poses for a fight scene can be tedious. So, I enlisted some help from a few fight choreographers and stunt men. You can record their fights and play them back at quarter or half speed. You can also get a mirror and flop on the floor a bunch. I did both. This lets you see the action/motion lines you are going to replicate in the drawing.  Heres how we initially did fina’s pose:

And sometimes you have to go back and get a clean shot. I ended up using this pose for the axe.

Step 2: Set up and Background!

When you open a new file, set it to the dimensions and resolution you want. I was working at 600. Usually, I’m working at 300-350. You can always reduce resolution. Its hard to prevent fuzzy lines if you increase it later. 

I cannot stress the following enough:

You work background to foreground. Big Shapes and areas to little shapes. Work your way forward. What this means is you need to fill in as much space as possible first. Then build your details. I prefer working as follows: Big Solid tones, Soft shadows, Dark Shadows, Highlights, then final blend. Once you finish this, put an overlay on top. This knocks everything back and helps create the illusion of depth. See this at work with the video below or here

Step 3: Figure Drawings + Composition

Utilize that research and images you collected to pose your characters. I create subfolders for each set of figures. Organization is important here. This will help keep you on the right layer and prevent the eternal digital artist struggle of “Fuck that was on the wrong layer!”

Even after you move on to lineart and shading, Keep the sketch layer as a reference. You may need to see what youre original notes/ figures looked like as you do the lineart and shade. Don’t be afraid to move them around and alter the composition rn. You want to be able to make changes. Make notes! Detail light sources! 

I’m about to through out some art jargon:

You want to think about asymmetric balance. The easiest way to achieve this in an eye-pleasing manner is to use the Fibonacci spiral. Yeah. This boi:

Place your figures and actions in a similar sequence to the spiral and the viewer’s eye tends to naturally follow it. This is sometimes called the Golden Ratio in the art world. 

Doesn’t need to be perfectly on the spiral. You can break it- but its an excellent tool to plan how things move in the piece. 

Step 4: Lineart

Once you got things sketched- its time to do the lineart. I’m using clip studio paint’s standard brushes. Nothing fancy. I often switch between the G-pen and the For Effect Liner. Mapping and Turnip are for thicker lines. 

Usually I set these pens to a specific thickness depending on where I’m drawing.

My background figures are lined at 0.05 thickness, the midground is .1 to .2, Fina is .3 and the foreground is .4. I set my stabilization high to help keep my lines smooth. Stabilization 100 means there’s a significant delay between where the pen is and the cursor. I like the stabilization to be at 20 for freehanding and at 50 ish for outlining. Dont become completely reliant on the stabilization though. Good and smooth lineart is drawn from the arm not the wrist. Your range of motion is severely limited if you only move your wrist. Practice moving from your elbow and you’ll be surprised how much smoother your lines get. 

Once I finish lining the figures, I usually go around it with an outline. This does three things: 

1. Solidifies the figure and cleans lineart for paint bucket tool. More on that in the next step.

2. Its a stylistic choice. Helps give it that comic book feel with a heavy outline. 

3. Pushes figures forward or back in the composition. Thicker outline helps denote that a figure is farther forward than another. My background figures have no outline to push them away 

Step 5: Digitally coloring

For each figure you are going to select outside the lineart. 

Create a new layer under the lineart

Invert the selection. Paint bucket. You should now have a solid shape of the figure under the lineart. Do not deselect.

Create a new layer above the one color. Title it solid colors. Paint in thick, solid tones. I like to use the mapping pen and turnip pen to color in my solid tones: skin, clothing, hair, etc.  

After that, deselect. Create a multiply layer if you can. If your program does not have a multiplier function, Pick a tone you want to use for shadows and lower the opacity (usually 30-40% I like to use lavenders or blue tones). It will not be as vibrant, but you can edit it in post. Select off of the solid colors layer. I like to start with skin tones. Use the airbrush tool to create soft shadows. You don’t want to create harsh lines on this layer.

Then repeat this process with harsh lines.  

Then knock it all back with an overlay. If you dont have the ability to create an overlay, you can again drop a solid color and lower the opacity, but you’ll have to mess with the color balance/ brightness/contrast to let all the hard work come through. 

You’re going to repeat this for every single figure. Here’s a few color theory tips though.

Your overlay colors should be darker (not more vibrant) in the foreground and lighter (avoid using pure white) in the background. This helps with the depth of the piece. Things closer tend to be darker (not always true, depends on lighting)

You can choose to use color theory to aid your shadows. Instead of choosing black or grey for shadows, choose a complimentary color. I used a lot of green for this piece, I used red for really dark shadows. Its not that black drains color- its just loses some depth if not used carefully. 

Keep your colors consistent. Helps unify the piece. You can strategically break the consistency to draw focus. For example, Fina is the only figure with a true blue overlay. This helps her stand out from the other figures who have reds and greens. 

Step 6: Touch Ups and Final Renderings

Now comes the most tedious part. If you’re like me, your computer fans have been whirring for the last few hours trying to render this monster of a file. If you havent already,  SAVE FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS GOOD

These are the last four layers I have for the entire piece. Here, I am trying to create effective and believable lighting. This kind of work I have only been able to achieve in clip studio or photoshop. You can do it with normal layers, but choose your colors CAREFULLY. Stay away from pure white. Carefully utilize your knowledge of light and shadow to create soft highlights. Harsh lines tend to be a stylistic choice for me. The final layer, subtract, dulls out harsh red tones. I used this as a final overlay to help put everyone and everything in the scene. Without it, things are a little too green and skin tones are a little too blushed for vampires.

The challenge here is I want to tone down the red, but not lose the vibrancy of the blood. So, shift it to a blue. This also helped reinforce the “nighttime” effect. Its only a slight change.

Final thoughts:

Whenever you finish something, its important to reflect.

1. I am so FUCKING PROUD OF MYSELF. This is easily one of the most complicated pieces I’ve done in a while- and I’ve made 16′ tall faux stained glass. Brag. Let yourself feel awesome cuz you just made something awesome. 

2. I timed myself on the piece. I could have easily spent another 7 hours on it. But its important to know when to stop messing with it. Partially for budget reasons but also when you get down to the details you can make yourself go insane. Theres also a ton of detail work I lost cuz of overlays or its just too small to notice. Fina’s face? hard to see cuz its not close enough. 

3. I needed to take frequent breaks for this piece. That was good. Resting and stretching was very important. That is one of the reasons why I was able to work so fast. 

4. I started doing more digital art in April 2020. I have to say, practice makes perfect. I practice drawing and digital painting for at least 3 hours a day. 

That discipline has allowed me to improve so rapidly. So- I don’t wanna hear shit about I can’t possibly get this good! Or I couldn’t even draw a stick figure! BULLSHIT. You can. Get yourself some free software like Krita or Autodesk sketchbook and start playing! 

And thats what I got! Thanks for coming with me on this long post! 

[billyboymiki]

5 Works Tag Game

Rules: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 (ish) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and post or link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

I got tagged by @tippenfunkaport and @caramelaire for this tag game!!

I’m not one to compliment myself on anything honestly. Recently I remember thinking about how I barely drew anything this year. There was a part of my brain nagging at me to check how much I had drawn last year. So, I uh did. Turns out I drew basically nothing?! I triple checked this in fact. My DeviantART, Tumblr AND my camera roll. Nothing . . . I drew 5 very basic pinback button designs and that was it. I couldn’t believe it; but, it made be feel so much better about what I did this year. Basically my whole instagram is all artwork from this year, since I am actually really new to IG. I got super close to 40 works this year!

Now onto the works! They are in order of when I drew them 😊

Glimmer Inspired Patterns

I wanted to teach myself how to make patterns on Clip Studio so bad! I watched a couple of YT tutorials, and I can’t even remember why I decided to make She-ra ones specifically; I’m glad I did though! The Glimmer one means so much to me. Just looking at makes me so happy! The fact that so many people have now called it ‘aesthetically pleasing’ makes me feel as though I actually created a work that others could relate to. That was enough praise for me; to create something for myself that everyone else loved as well 💖

Glimbow Cuddle

This was my first real She-ra artwork. When I saw there was a Glimbow Week again I knew I had to join this one. I don’t know if anyone knows this; but, drawings take me forever to make. I used to be strictly a traditional artist and still prefer to draw rough drafts on paper. I couldn’t decide if I wanted them on Glimmer’s window seat or in Bow’s dads’ library. I was afraid of doing backgrounds; so, both sounded absolutely terrifying. I decided to go for the fireplace even if it meant fancy lighting on top of the background aspect. I think I actually spent more time on the lighting that’s hitting Bow than on anything else in this picture. It was worth it though. I studied how the show did backgrounds and lighting for a while. I tried so many different attempts at how I wanted it to look and ultimately went with this one! I love it so much 🥺

Bow’s list with doodles

Ah, yes the drawings I did for Tippen’s birthday!! I knew I wanted to draw a scene from ‘Tuna Cans’, but I was worried to try something like this. You see, I’m somebody that likes to stay in a comfort zone and only uploaded fully rendered perfect artworks. This year was the first time that I let the ‘fun’ aspect overrule my perfectionism. I’m so happy that I stepped out of my comfort zone for this, because I love Chibi styles so much. I can’t even explain the absolute joy I had drawing these. I didn’t tell anyone what I was up to, so it was just me laughing at myself for being an absolute goofball. The end result and everyone’s reactions were more than I could have ever expected. I’ve decided I’m going to revive this style soon as well so please look forwards to it!!

Space Suit Squad

Okay, so I cheated a little with this one! I couldn’t just pick ONE of the squad. Honestly though, I drew these with the thought of making them into prints in the back of my mind. I taught myself how to draw a space background and I’m really proud of it! So much in fact that the one in the final pictures is the first and last one I ended up doing! If I had to pick my favorites I think I’d have to pick Glimmer, Bow and then Catra. I LOVE the way I draw Catra I don’t know why? Maybe the eyebrows I’m not sure 🤔 It took me a while to decide on expressions and poses; although, I figured these were the ones because I could look at them and go ‘yep that’s them.’

Winter Glimbow

This one took me soooo long; I actually had to tell myself that I should put my pen down because it was done and I should stop touching it!!! I was sketching pictures in my sketchbook to make more patterns for my Redbubble account, and of course I’m like 100% Glimbow brainrot. My brain went, oooo you know what would be cute? If this skate was actually Bow’s and not just generic. So, I ended up sketching Glimmer’s as well. The heart that their skates make is like the cherry on the top for me, it had to be done! I’m not sure I did the background justice on this one? It doesn’t matter to me though because the concept was worth the effort. It was snowing here and I needed this picture like I needed air, even if it wasn’t even December at the time I posted it 🤣 I liked this one so much that I have similar ideas for the other seasons sketched out as well 👀

I’m sorry that I ramble so often. I’m like this quiet person; yet, it’s hard for me to get out everything I want to say? I’m horrible at it actually my brain runs at a hundred miles a minute and I’m not good with words most of the time. This turned out as more of a thought process than my actual feelings on each one I suppose. SO, in conclusion. I drew A LOT, I stepped out of my comfort zone, taught myself digital art and patterns. I let myself come to terms with the fact that not every piece of art has to be ‘perfect’. I drew at least 5 FULL backgrounds and I never used to draw them! I’ve also always been one for simple shading and lighting, and I do think there’s a time for that type of style, while other times sometimes a more difficult one might be appropriate. I’m glad that I did both because now I know I can do both, and they each give a characteristic that I adore 🥰 Thank you to everyone that has followed me through this journey, or just anyone who read my rambling! I have an honorable mention under the cut and some originals for anyone that made it this far! 💖

I’m not going to tag anyone; but, if you want to do this PLEASE do it. It was so great to reflect on what I did this year, it really surprised me and I think what you have done will surprise you as well! It’s been a rough year, and in the end we have been here supporting each other and that’s one of the most rewarding parts of being in a fandom! 💜

Glimmer screencap redraw

Another picture where I really tested myself on drawing a background! I love it even if it killed my hand!! The background definitely took the longest on this one too. My sister literally said ‘Wait, you did the background? I thought you just drew her?!’ And that was the only validation I needed!! I ended up thinning out Glimmer’s outline so she matched the background better. If you use the vectors on Clip please use this feature! You can do the opposite as well, it’s super useful!

Oh hi! Remember when I said I couldn’t decide between the two locations? Truth is, I also couldn’t decide if I was going to make it traditional or digital. I ended up getting really mad at the traditional version unfortunately. I haven’t gotten the hang of traditional backgrounds. In the end, I should have also done it in Copic and not cheap pencil crayons 😫

Just some space friends! There is something so rewarding about traditional art. Yes, I can see the mistakes and the proportions are most likely off; yet, it doesn’t bother me? I wanted to also show these bonus drawings because nobody is perfect and I thought some of you might like to see some of my process. Being able to hold it in my hands is something I will never tire of, in a way it’s super rewarding. I keep all my art actually and sometimes I like the rough drafts more than the finished work 👀 Outlining artwork can actually ruin the charm every so often 😔 I do really love the final versions of these though!

Annnnnd the last bonus!! As you can tell the final version stayed pretty true to my sketches! I almost went with a more realistic look and made the symbols ‘stitched’ onto the skates. In the end it felt like it didn’t fit the rest of the drawing unless I wanted to add extra details to the clothing as well. The wings on Glimmer’s skates turned into ‘Shwings’ PLEASE tell me other people know what that is? I had a pair a few years ago and misplaced them. I was doing the rough draft and it popped into brain and I treated it as a joke at first, until I gave it a proper chance XD In the end I fell in love with it!!!

[moonlit-manifesto]

Heartbreak Red Takeover 2020

“I’ll make your heart beat again - BA-DUMP!” - Heartbreak Red (Uduki Arata)

It’s April Fool’s Day once again, and Heartbreak Red has taken over the Tsukiuta twitter account (@tsukiuta1)! Only this time - he’s taken over some of the other Tsukino Production accounts as well! If the tweet comes from an account other than the Tsukiuta account, I’ll mark it.

Heartbreak Red responds to some fans’ tweets, and they’re mostly categorized in three ways: Advice, Request, and Other. There’s a lot of tweets, so I’ll only be translating the funny ones because some are just regular advice. There’s also some news announcements like previews of Six Gravity and Procellarum’s new unit songs and a Tsukiuta official instagram account, so check out the twitter account to see those! There’s also some audio recordings too!

Read below the cut for all the Heartbreak Red goodness!

[REQUEST] Since my school is temporarily closed, I want to be cheered up by the goddesses!!

Heartbreak Red: “Hey!! Thousand Sakura Red!! Kannaduki Otaku Red!!”

Sakura Red (Chisa from Fluna):  “Since your heart is beating again, do your best!!!”

Otaku Red (Reina from Seleas): “Do you have a favorite idol? Are you reading a fun manga!? Let’s give our hearts nourishment!!!”

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[REQUEST] It’s cold and rainy today, so can I get Curry Rice Genau-san to warm up my heart with a one-liner or joke?

Heartbreak Red: “Curry Redddddd!!!”

Curry Red (You from Procella): “You can only call on me once a year! Go watch the reuploaded video from last year’s April Fool’s Day!!! 💢💢💢💢

Heartbreak Red: “That was his one-liner! Sparking Curry Red!!!”

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[REQUEST] I want to ask if Hajime-san has been eating properly!

Heartbreak Red: “Even if you’re busy, make sure to eat enough, okay?”

Hajime: “All right. Thanks...”

Heartbreak Red: “Make sure to tell Heartbreak Purple [Hajime’s ‘Heartbreak’ alter ego] that too.”

Hajime: “...I’ll tell him. By the way, I’m not Heartbreak Purple.”

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[REQUEST] Starting in April I’ll have a lot of difficult stuff going on in life, so can you and Shiki-kun cheer me on with all your strength?

Heartbreak Red: “I-It’s not Shiki-san, but...?”

Dignified Red (Shiki from SolidS): “Next year I’ll have gone around the Earth 30 times!!! And I’m still pushing on!!! I’m Dignified Red!!!!! Overcoming difficulties is a fact of life!!! Good luck!!!!”

Heartbreak Red: “Good luck~”

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[ADVICE] Until now, the only men I’ve dated have been good-for-nothing, and I’m afraid of falling in love again. Please tell me how to distinguish the good men from the bad men.

Heartbreak Red: “Looks like you had a thing for the hopeless ones. But you’re strong because you could tell they were hopeless! Do you have a friend you can trust? You can let them be the judge!”

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[REQUEST] I want to ask what’s on Chef Yoru’s menu for tonight’s dinner?

Yoru: “Katsudon!”

Heartbreak Red: “Juicy~”

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[REQUEST] Does Heartbreak Gold exist?? I want to meet the shining, sparkling Heartbreak Gold (>_<)

Heartbreak Red: “Kake...Gold!!!”

Heartbreak Gold (Kakeru from Gravi): “Gold is always getting his heart broken by lady luck (bright smile).”

Heartbreak Red: “This guy turned into a twinkling star...”

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☆Sorry For the Intrusion☆ (@solids_info)

Heartbreak Red: “Wheeeee!!!! How are you, Blushing Red 2?”

Blushing Red 2 (Dai from SolidS): “You’re here?”

Heartbreak Red: “Now for the intro!! It doesn’t matter which Twitter account - Boundary-Free Hero Heartbreak Red presents: Account Attack!!”

---

Heartbreak Red: “Dai-chan-san, your line when I came in doesn’t fit with Blushing Red 2-san’s character, so instead we’ll replace it later and plan your entrance for then.”

Tsubasa: “Don’t try to protect your weird characters so stubbornly lol.”

Ichiru: “I [Love] Red Red will return, too... Issei will show up later.” [Ichiru doesn’t say the ‘love’ part cuz he’s embarassed lol]

Eichi: “You’re blushing (haha).”

---

Heartbreak Red: “Uhhh so, Happy April Fool’s Day!! Here’s some pork cutlets Yorurun fried. And Purple- I mean - Hajime-san told me to contact him immediately if I run into any trouble.”

Shu: “This feels like you’re on your first outside mission.”

Rikka: “Speaking of trouble, there’s a certain someone who ran out earlier...”

Shiki: “I wonder who that could be?” [it was him]

---

Dai: “Sorry for the wait.”

Issei: “Hello. Whoa, it’s Hearbreak Red-san!”

Heartbreak Red: “What’s up!”

Eichi: “This kind of sketch comedy act makes me nostalgic for those variety TV shows, haha.”

Shiki: “We’re all here now, so let’s start this thing with all of us.”

Rikka: “Yeah, let’s do it! I’ve actually been looking forward to this.”

Heartbreak Red: “Time for the SQ edition!”

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[REQUEST - SQ] Humidity makes my hair messy... What should I do? I need Rikka-san’s advice!! Also, is Shiki-san’s hair still smooth as usual? Lol

Rikka: “When you wash your hair, make sure to properly dry it. You’ll notice a difference the next day. Don’t just leave it half-wet, okay? Using hair care products will yield greater results, too! And Shiki... His hair is so smooth today that I’m angry.”

Shiki: “What can I say, I’m Mr. Smooth Hair Cuticles #1.”

Heartbreak Red: “I’m #2.”

Rikka: “I’m jealous~ (haha).”

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[ADVICE - SQ] There’s a 20cm height difference between me and the person I like! And I’m taller! I hate guys...  ( ;ᯅ; )

Shiki: “No need for that, I think that’s cool. Believe in yourself. The person you like will realize it’s cool, too.”

Heartbreak Red: “It’s a gift from the heavens. I hope the person you like will like you back!”

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[OTHER - SQ] Ichiru-kun♥ I love you ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Everyone: “Awwww!!!”

Ichiru: “Be quiet, all you adults!!!! But thank you for your message! I’m super happy! I’ll continue to do my best!”

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[REQUEST - SQ] Heartbreak Red, what do you think of Dignified Red?

Shiki: “Yeah, let’s hear it! Not that I’m Dignified Red or anything!!”

Heartbreak Red: “He has an amazing force, I’m jealous. And to possess such a grand presence really is the meaning of dignified. Dignified Red’s calm aura is so cool.”

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[REQUEST - SQ] Rikka-san!!! Rikka-saaaaaan!! What has made you smile recently?

Rikka: Yoru-kun’s delicious fried pork cutlet made me smile~ I now have a great, big smile on my face ♪”

Dai: “...Just hurry up and finish it.”

Heartbreak Red: “I like you ‘cause you eat until you’re full.”

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[OTHER - SQ] Issei-kun, are you enjoying university life?? The juniors are growing up and your horizons are expanding.

Issei: “Thank you for your message! They haven’t decided whether or not to start a new semester [due to current events, aka the corona virus], but me being impatient won’t help anything. I’ll happily wait for a decision (haha).”

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[REQUEST - SQ] I haven’t seen much interaction between Okui Tsubasa and Kagurazaka Soushi even though their image colors are both yellow. I’d like to hear a conversation between them. Please help with this, Heartbreak Red~ [originally requested on the Tsukiuta account, but he’s answering it on the SQ account]

Heartbreak Red: “I’m a man of my word, so I called Soushi over.”

Soushi: “Now that I’m here, let’s talk, Tsubasa-san.”

Tsubasa: “This somehow seems forced lolol, but sure let’s talk.”

Soushi: “Then let’s find something to do instead. Like a dance lesson or something.”

Tsubasa: “Oh, yeah. Did you know there’s a dance lesson day organized by the office? People who want to practice on their own, regardless of unit, can go.”

Soushi: “And you’re a kind senpai who treats people to things like ramen afterwards, right~?”

Tsubasa: “What an indirect way to ask for that lolol. Since you have such a big body, I’ll treat you.”

Soushi: “That’s a weird reason (lol). And I hear you always treat Dai-chan-san to things?”

Tsubasa: “That’s because Dai-chan is an eternal little brother!”

Dai: “This turned into such an embarrassing conversation...”

Rikka: “Your ears are red, Dai (haha).”

Heartbreak Red: “That’s all for the yellows’ talk!”

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Heartbreak Red: “And so, time is up!!! I’ll be taking my leave now, SQ~!!

Shiki: “He really blew in and out just like the wind (ah, youth)...  What a ‘chill dude’ (ah, youth)...”

Tsubasa: “Shiki, don’t try to use young people slang... (but he sure is a chill dude)”

Shu: “What a crazy time this session was...”

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Heartbreak Red: “Pool of Blood-kun is in his green forest. Blushing Red-kun has returned to the sky... Actually that sounds morbid, so let’s say he returned to the bottom part of the blue sky. To everyone here except Ryou-kun and Ren-kyun who are in the middle of changing clothes right now: Happy April Fool’s Day!!”

Koki: “Happy April Fool’s! I’ve been looking forward to this, haha.”

Sora: “We’ve been waiting-!”

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[He’s now infiltrated the ALIVE twitter account (@aliveinfo1)]

Heartbreak Red: “Now that I’m here, you know what that means, right? Let’s get to it!”

Nozomu: “Yeah, let’s do it!!”

Kensuke: “Answering real questions and giving advice in a rapid-fire setting is a test of idol power. I’ll do my best!”

Morihito: “I wonder what kind of messages we’ll get.”

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[OTHER - ALIVE] Kou-kun, how is your mother doing? (From: a fan of your mom)

Koki: “I didn’t even know my mom had fans (haha). Thank you on behalf of my family. She is doing just fine.”

Heartbreak Red: “This morning my mom left me this supportive message: ‘Red, do your best!’ If you could see it, it would be so embarrassing.”

Koki: “I’m sure (haha).”

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[REQUEST - ALIVE] I love Pool of Blood Red-san so so much. From morning til night, I long to be a tomato crushed and eaten by him. Please, please, please let me be your tomato...!

Ryota: “I’m not Pool of Blood Red [yes he is], but I’ll tell him that for you... You want to be eaten?”

Heartbreak Red: “!!”

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[REQUEST - ALIVE] When Heartbreak Red and Nozomu-kun are together, what are some common things you say? I’m curious about what happens when the two energies meet!

Heartbreak Red: “Wheeee~”

Nozomu: “Whee-whee~”

Heartbreak Red: “Weh?”

Nozomu: “Ooweh-ooweeeh~”

Heartbreak Read & Nozomu: “Wheeeeeeeee~ lololol”

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[INQUIRY - ALIVE] What does everyone in ALIVE wear to sleep?!

Heartbreak Red: “I am a capable man, so I will gather this information!!”

☆Everyone’s Sleepwear☆

Those in sweats or activewear: Sora, Soushi, Nozomu, Kensuke, Mamoru

Those in Gelato Pique [brand name of luxury sleepwear]: Ryota

Those in pajamas: Morihito, Ren, Koki

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[OTHER - ALIVE] Who is the strongest in ALIVE?

Heartbreak Red: “Time to answer with your physical skills! Let’s go!”

Everyone: “Roger!”

~ Please Hold ~

[sometime later]

Soushi: *victorious pose*

Kensuke: “Ryou’s inability to laugh makes him strong in a different sense, but this competition wasn’t about making people laugh.”

Ryota: *annoyed*

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[REQUEST - ALIVE] Mamoru-san, tell us about something that happened recently!

Mamoru: “I was thirsty at night, so I had some half-finished water bottle by my bedside. When I woke up in the morning, my face was drenched...!!”

Heartbreak Red: “I’ve never woken up to having water splashed on me, but I feel your pain.”

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[REQUEST - ALIVE] Sakuraba-san, please show us your ‘dere’ [lovey] side...!!

Ryota: “One can’t just be ‘told’ to be dere... Did you forget? (laughs)”

Heartbreak Red: “An extra-large serving of dere-------”

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[OTHER - ALIVE] Sora-kun! Have you gotten any taller?!

Heartbreak Red: “Good question!!! As a matter of fact!!! They were going to make an announcement later, but!!! All of the official websites will be updating everyone’s height measurements to reflect this year!!!!

Sora: “The results will be online!!!!! (teary-eyed)”

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[REQUEST - ALIVE] I want to be charismatic like Nozomu-kun! Please tell me three things I can do to be charismatic!

Nozomu: “#1: Believe in yourself! #2: Believe in those around you!! #3: Make an effort to have faith!! That’s all!”

Heartbreak Red: “Those are all good points!”

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[REQUEST - ALIVE] What color is everyone’s lucky underwear?

Soushi: “Mine are black. But that’s because of the color of our stage outfits (SOARA’s costumes are white).”

Ren: “Uh... well...”

Heartbreak Red: “My lucky underwear is red of course! I’m sure all of these ‘sky’ and ‘forest’ people have cool colors, too. Well, if I’m the one saying it then it’s probably true (haha).”

Ren: *relieved he doesn’t have to answer*

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Heartbreak Red: “That’s all the time I’ve got!! To all of you sky and forest dwellers - I’ll be taking my leave~!!

Kensuke: “Thank you, Heartbreak Red---!!!”

Sora: “Good luck out there---!!!”

Soushi: “Feel free to abduct me again.”

Morihito: “Soushi (haha). Thank you very much, Heartbreak Red.”

Mamoru: “I had fun!”

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☆Red Went Back Home☆

Heartbreak Red: “Now that I’ve accomplished my missions, I’m back home. Happy April Fools Day, everyone! I want to end this at home. By the way, I think I’ll be able to do some ‘Account Attacks’ that I couldn’t do this time around sometime later in April. I hope you all look forward to it~

My last audio greeting is just my final thoughts, haha. Alrighty! Thanks for a wonderful April Fools!! Until next time!”

[tdenvs3000]

For Tomorrow

Prologue:

I sit cross-legged on the floor with my 6-year-old nephew (something that my knees are starting to resent me for). We’re sketching out superheroes, he wanted to do Spiderman, and I’ve been told to draw Captain America. We’re both quiet and content as we start to colour in our Avengers. “How do I draw the spider thingy?” He says without losing his laser focus on the sketch. “What do you mean?” I respond a little confused. “The spider thingy, on his chest.” He points to his own chest to illustrate his point. “Ohhh his symbol? Well why don’t we look at a picture of it.” He pauses and then grabs my phone to search for an image. We scroll through a plethora of different images before he settles on one. “Can you draw that one?” He points to an admittedly awesome look drawing. “I’m drawing Cap buddy, you’re drawing Spiderman.” He shoots me a squinty look. He wants it to look like the picture, but he’s afraid it’s too hard. I know him well enough to recognize his frustration face, but I’m not relenting. “Here I’ll move closer and we can talk it out.” He begrudgingly grabs a blue marker and starts to draw the body of it. We talk about how many legs it has and how they sit in relation to each other. He finishes up the symbol and then silently continues with the rest of the picture. He doesn’t say anything, but I can tell he is a little proud of himself.

He nailed it 

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

“Oh, you’re one of those kinds of people...”

I stand there somewhat dumbfounded; how do I respond to that? Her tone was so judgmental that she didn’t have utter another word, I knew exactly what she was saying. I was a “tree hugger,” a “hippy,” someone who would march on parliament or try to convert their friends to veganism. I was every stereotype you can have for people in the environmental field. This was an actual encounter I had at a party, and while I never saw that person again, their words stuck with me. I mean, it was 6 years ago, yet I can remember that sentence so clearly. To give context she asked what I do, to which I responded, “going to school for environmental science” (easier than saying environmental technician). At that point I had barely spoken about myself, let alone made any mention of environmental issues, it was purely a judgmental bias she brought to the conversation herself.

With that in mind it probably doesn’t shock you that I am often seen as the nature guy from the circles I hang out in. While that’s flattering (and a gross overestimation of my knowledge) I always fear that the information I provide comes across as me talking down to people, rather than having a conversation. I have found with most things in life when someone talks down to or flaunts knowledge above an audience, the message gets lost because you immediately disconnect from the speaker. I have seen many a TEDtalks where I shut off ¼ of the way through because the persons tone comes across as disingenuous. Simply put, I’m afraid of being the stereotype others put upon me.

So what does this all have to do with being a Nature Interpreter? Well before I get into that I’m going to share a clip that has absolutely nothing to do with nature, but everything to do with interpretation. It’s a show called Ted Lasso and while the context isn’t super important (good guy challenges bad guy to darts), what it has to say seems fitting. 

Be Curious, Not Judgmental…I think that sums up an interpreter’s role quite nicely (Youtube, 2020)

So why am I the nature guy? Why am I “one of those people?” Why is nature so disconnected from society that you seem like the outlier if you have a bit of passion for it? Well it could take 100 blog posts to really delve into all that. But I think if we were to boil it down to it’s core, it would be our dissociation from nature. In a time of ever-expanding knowledge, we see more and more how complex our world really is and as we have expanding access to learn about an issue, we are simultaneously overwhelmed by how little power we have to effect it. So we dissociate, we put our backs up against the wall and get defensive. Interpretation is at its worst when it is blaming the audience, making them feel small and overwhelmed by the scale of the world. People cannot find their connection to nature if they go into it feeling persecuted. Perhaps that is what a true interpreter’s role is. Not to simply educate, but ensure that everyone has the access and the right to that education (Rodenburg, 2019).

This picture carries a memory. It was one of the first times I felt like an interpreter. My partner asked me a simple question “why a tree would grow out of another tree?” What followed was a 30min discussion between us about forest succession. (Photo by me in 2016)

We have been exposed to so many forms of interpretation through various mediums and methods of expression, and while I haven’t yet found an approach that is singularly mine, I think I’m starting to understand the kind of methodology I want to bring to the role. I’m discovering this by looking inward first and trying to decipher what would be conducive for me as a learner. I want an environment where I don’t feel judged for what I have to say (Blog 2:“Facing my fears”), I don’t want to feel as though I’m excluded from the material (Hooykaas, 2021, Unit 3), and most of all I want to feel part of the narrative (Beck et al, 2018). So as an interpreter I want to be someone who creates an environment in which my audience does not feel as though they are being lectured, rather that they are part of a conversation. I want to create a place where questions are not mandatory but certainly encouraged. I know I can’t change the preconceived notions people bring to nature interpretation. To some I’ll always be one of those kinds of people. My job is not to lecture them, but instead invite them to be part of the narrative. To help others find their voice, make discoveries for themselves, and see the world from a place of curiosity rather than judgement. I think of my nephew, so full of questions about his world. Knowing that it’s not my job to answer them all, but ensure he has the opportunity and encouragement to find the answers for himself.

Cheers,

Tim

 References

Beck, L., Cable, T. T., & Knudson, D. M. (2018). Interpreting cultural and natural heritage: For a better world. CHAMPAIGN: SAGAMORE Publishing.

Hooykaas, A. (2021). Unit 03: Risk versus Reward in Interpretation. University of Guelph Courselink. Retrieved from https://courselink.uoguelph.ca/d2l/le/content/666945/viewContent/2590559/View

Rodenburg, J. (2019, July 17). Why environmental educators shouldn't give up hope. Retrieved March 26, 2021, from https://clearingmagazine.org/archives/14300

Youtube (2020) 'Be curious, not judgmental' Walt Whitman. Ted Lesso S01E08 [video] Accessed March 26, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7V6x-qmhzm0

[fleetingmotivation]

I'll probably delete this in the morning but whatever, hope I did the read more right, click here for the deep Luna lore

Where to start? Okay how about this: My name is Luna and I have had a nervous pit in my stomach for about 18 hours now. Current date is Friday September 25th 2020, not that it matters, one day has been bleeding into the next for the last 3 years or so for me. I graduated high school back in 2017 and since then have pretty much been a shut in, too afraid of any kind of confrontation to go much of anywhere. Doesn't help I figured out I was trans somewhere in 2018, and am fully out now for all the good that does me. I still feel like my life has never started, but I feel like I've missed the boat to start. I don't really want anything. Don't get me wrong I have needs, (eat, sleep, whatever) but I don't have anything I truly want. I'd like to transition, you know, hormones and hair removal and vocal something and whatever else I feel I need after that, but that doesn't feel, I dunno, actionable? That feels less like a goal and more like, just something that will happen one day. In the meantime I don't want a career, I don't really want to study, I just want to Be. I just want to exist and not be worrying and panicking and loathing constantly. I dunno. As you can imagine I'm not very fun at parties, the few I've been to that is. I worry I'm kinda a bummer to be around. In messages anyway I'm short with my friends, and come off super rude. I hear myself being rude or typing something unnecessarily mean and I know I should care more but my void of a heart stays empty. I know I can go out, join voice calls and whatever, but I feel like I have nothing to add, I can't smalltalk for the life of me, and it's not like I have a job to talk about. "Oh Luna what did you do today?" "Oh me? I rewatched a youtube video essay about dark souls so I could from hearing the voice in my head that I hate and hates me, so you know, same as the last 2 months." So yeah, I don't talk with people as much as I want to. Or maybe I want to want to talk to people more but I just can't cause it just doesn't click. I haven't talked to someone my age in real life by choice in nearly 3 years. Oh not counting Evan, old high school friend, but I haven't so much as sent a message to him in like 4 months so I dunno. And I feel bad about that, but I have nothing to say, never do. Whenever I end up talking to a stranger it always ends the same way. They tell me about their life, college, work, dating, whatever. And I nod and smile (at least I think I am, I could just not be doing that, who knows) and go "mhmm" because I desperately don't want to engage and have it revealed that im a poorly made shell of a person whose main goal is to blend in so much no one ever thinks twice of me. God I've got like 1.75 people I talk to regularly enough that I even feel safe calling them friends, everyone else is just, people that I know and think are fine. I run these semi regular tabletop gaming things every couple of weeks, and I liked doing it! But when I ask myself why I liked doing it I don't think it's for the right reasons. I'm supposed to like writing these things right? And to a certain extent I guess I do. But I'm out of ideas and my motivation is gone (ha.) And when I try to remember anything in detail about these sessions I remember my friends cool characters and me just sorta, being there. And I know that's not true I run the damn things, and I thought I liked doing it to. But maybe I just liked doing something to breakup this hellish forever depression I live in, I dunno. So I'm out of ideas on the finale of our latest season and I feel no desire to finish it, just obligation and not wanting to let people down, (healthy I know.) I haven't really drawn anything in weeks either. I've tried but at the end of the 4 hours of empty pages and bad sketches I've made nothing that I like or makes me happy. At the end of the the day I want to draw but I don't want to draw anything, I want to write but I don't want to write anything, I want to feel but I don't feel anything, I want to be but I don't want to be anything. I've turned in a job application last week. Some local

[limejuicer1862]

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews

I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me. I gave the writers three options: an emailed list of questions or a more fluid interview via messenger or an interview on their most recent book, or a combination of these.

The usual ground is covered about motivation, daily routines and work ethic, but some surprises too. Some of these poets you may know, others may be new to you. I hope you enjoy the experience as much as I do.

Stephen Claughton

grew up in Manchester, read English at Oxford and worked for many years as a civil servant in London. His poems have appeared widely in magazines, both in print and online, and he has recently published two pamphlets: The War with Hannibal (Poetry Salzburg, 2019) and The 3-D Clock (Dempsey and Windle, 2020). He reviews regularly for London Grip and blogs occasionally at www.stephenclaughton.com, where links to his reviews, poems and pamphlets can also be found.

The Interview

1. What inspired you to write poetry?

I can’t remember what originally inspired me. I began writing poems in my early teens, but didn’t really get going until I retired from the Civil Service ten years ago. I like to think that I was held back by lack of time, but really it was a lack of confidence. Poetry was too important to me to risk failing. Then, once I’d reached a certain age, I realised I’d got nothing left to lose. You can’t write without taking risks; you have to accept every time the possibility of failure.

2. Who introduced you to poetry?

As an English teacher, my mother was very keen that I should like literature. I remember one wet holiday, when she insisted on reciting part of The Song of Hiawatha to me, but I wasn’t a bookish child and — much to her dismay — resisted her attempt to interest me in it. The 3-D Clock, my pamphlet about her dementia, reflects what always remained a difficult relationship. Poetry — and literature more generally — was something I had to discover for myself, encouraged by some excellent teachers at my school. It was, of course, a great help then to have books in the house. (I read Hiawatha again recently and for the most part I concur with my youthful judgement.)

3. How aware were you of the dominating presence of older poets?

English was my main interest at school and the subject I went on to study at university, so I was aware of the poetic tradition. But it was 20th century poets who first sparked my interest — Eliot, Auden and Dylan Thomas from school anthologies — and then the usual influences on my generation — poets such as Ted Hughes, Thom Gunn, R S Thomas, Philip Larkin, Seamus Heaney and Robert Lowell (all but one of them Faber poets). Robert Graves was also an influence, although I think The White Goddess made more of an impression at that time than the poems themselves.

4. What is your daily writing routine?

I’m ashamed to say that I don’t really have one. In the past, I tended to write when I felt like it, provided nothing more pressing needed doing. It probably explains why I got so little done! These days, although I’m retired, I have a number of other calls on my time — as a town and borough councillor and (before the pandemic lockdown) helping to look after our young grandson. It’s meant that in order to remain seriously committed to writing, I have to be more careful about managing my time. I’ve been surprised by how productive it can be just to sit down and apply yourself, although it can also be very frustrating. I work best in the late morning, late afternoon, or early evening.

5. What motivates you to write?

I can’t really explain the need to write poetry, other than that it’s been a compulsion I’ve had for most of my life. Even when I wasn’t publishing any poems, I was still planning them in my head and producing various, unsatisfactory drafts. There has to be something that sparks a poem off — an idea, a line, an image; I couldn’t write one to order. I’ve recently started reviewing, which is something I do for enjoyment. It helps that I have some say in the books I review and don’t have to work to deadlines. I like to take my time, so that I’m not influenced by any particular mood I’m in — I worry about being fair. Fortunately, I haven’t had to write any unfavourable reviews so far, although I do say what I think works and doesn’t work.

6. What is your work ethic?

Professionally, I used to have a strong work ethic, but when you retire people don’t expect it of you and you don’t expect it of yourself. (Thom Gunn stopped writing poetry after he gave up his academic job — he no longer had the motivation.) I get twitchy, if I haven’t been working on a poem for a bit. I wouldn’t want to write out of a sense of duty, but having started late, there’s always the sense of having to make up for lost time.

7. How do the writers you read when you were young influence you today?

I think it’s more in terms of subject matter than style. The War with Hannibal has two poems about Larkin, one occasioned by The Guardian reprinting an old article, “Poet on the 8.15”, and another about Larkin’s famous last words (‘I am going to the inevitable’), which I’d hoped to write as a cento, consisting entirely of lines by Larkin. That didn’t work out, but the poem includes references to several of his poems. Some of my early influences were unhelpful — Eliot in particular. I read him when I was too young to understand what he was doing and just thought that good poetry had to be obscure. It took me a long time to find my way out of that blind alley. I wrote one poem, when I was fourteen, that seemed to come out of nowhere and was highly praised, but after that my teenage career went rapidly downhill. I recently came across one of the poems I was trying to write then, still in the plastic writing case I used to use. It was so awful that I binned the lot without a second thought. ‘Inspissated’ is the only word to describe my style then.

8. Who of today’s writers do you admire the most and why?

There’s a long list of poets I admire and I’m always finding people I should have read years ago. Ciaran Carson, who died last year, is an example. Perhaps because of my early tangle with Eliot, I’m most attracted to poets who write accessible poems in a conversational style (though Eliot himself could, of course, adopt a conversational mode). Hugo Williams, in particular, helped me get back on track. Reading about the way he rewrote poems as a whole rather than line by line was an eye-opener. Before that, I’d put poems together in the painstaking, bit-by-bit way of the fictional poets, Gordon Comstock (in Orwell’s Keep the Aspidistra Flying) and Anthony Burgess’s Enderby. Some of my more recent poems have come easily, but a lot have been through multiple drafts — usually to try and make them sound more spontaneous! There’s something of the obsessive-compulsive about me.

Another, less well-known, poet who inspired me was Gareth Reeves. I particularly liked the moving series of poems about his father, the poet and critic James Reeves, gradually losing his sight. It intrigued me that you could convey so much in such a simple-seeming way. Of course, it’s only when you try to do it yourself that you realise how difficult it is. I also like the poems of Reeves’ Oxford contemporary, Grevel Lindop. Both are or were academics and Lindop has written biographies of De Quincey and Charles Williams, as well as producing an edition of The White Goddess.

9. Why do you write, as opposed to doing anything else?

I can’t really explain why I’m compelled to write poetry, except to say that my life would be very empty without it. Poetry is a way of capturing something alive. What you do with it when you’ve caught it is another matter and one that’s always open for debate. For me, it’s principally a way of finding meaning and structure in an increasingly crazy world. Also, I like the concentration that’s required by any kind of writing. The same is true of reading, of course, but writing gives you the prospect of having produced something at the end of it. It’s mostly an unconscious process. The only real control I have is when I’m acting as my own editor. Writing and reviewing have given me a sense, for the first time, of doing something that feels ‘right’.

10. What would you say to someone who asked you “How do you become a writer?”

I’d say the usual things — practise your craft and read as widely as possible. Like most things, the more you do the better you become at it. As for reading, I’m lucky to be within striking distance of the National Poetry Library, which is an excellent resource, but other libraries are available. Most of all, don’t be afraid of failure. You can’t get anywhere without being prepared to take risks. And lastly, don’t give up: as long as the impulse is there, keep on writing.

11. Tell me about the writing projects you have on at the moment.

There are a few poems I’ve been working on about my mother’s dementia that didn’t make it in time for The 3-D Clock, although I hope that, when they’re finished, that will be it: I don’t want to keep writing about the same subject. I’m interested in ekphrastic poems. The War with Hannibal has two: one about a watercolour sketch by van Dyck and another about Munch’s “The Night Wanderer”. I’ve written others since and perhaps I’ll have enough for a small collection one day. I’m also toying with the idea of doing a ‘version’ of some incidents from The Aeneid, which I studied at school. And it’s hard these days not to write about the current pandemic, although it may not produce anything useable in my case. I don’t know if anything will come of any of these projects. I depend on poems approaching me rather than me them.

Wombwell Rainbow Interviews: Stephen Claughton Wombwell Rainbow Interviews I am honoured and privileged that the following writers local, national and international have agreed to be interviewed by me.