#i see i've started to work out a technique to this motif

[chronicallyonline101]

hiiii!!! if u feel like writing it i would love to request some rohan x fem reader headcanons or scenario where rohan's gf is also an artist but she's way more inexperienced than him. ty <3333

hi!!! i would love to do this it sounds so sweet! I am SO sorry for the wait, i've been pretty busy, BUT it's here now and i hope you enjoy!

Kishibe Rohan x Fem!Reader || Scenario + HCs - mostly scenario.

As much as it pains him to see you desecrate art in the way you do, I think Rohan would enjoy being with someone who is inexperienced in art.

Thanks to his career, and his stand, Rohan is naturally one of the best people there is at this kind of thing - people compliment him for it all the time, but it's special when it comes from someone he loves.

He wants your approval, and thanks to your inexperience, you're full of it; every time he creates something you're clapping your hands and singing praise and he devours it every single time.

However, it may be a little frustrating for him when you do start dabbling in the world of craft because wow, you really are new to this. That painting of a dog looks like a deformed cow.

He would offer to teach you, and you'd accept; but that would quickly fall down the drain because he has a very specific way of drawing - using Heavens Door - that literally no one else on Earth could achieve.

He also believes his art style is the best, and would try to convince you to use that instead of learning your own style.

But anyways, I can't think of any more HCs so lets just get on with what I'm good at - THE SCENARIO:

There was something so calming about art - the craft, the technique, the aptitude; each fine brush of paint against canvas, a blotch of ink to paper. It was soothing, and you felt silly for having only just picked up the hobby.

It was nice knowing that even with your inexperience, you could still create. And that's what you had been doing, that very afternoon - though late into the day, the sun continued to hang high in the air. Gentle golden rays of shimmering light flittered through your open window, splaying itself across your splattered canvas.

A smile settled across your lips at the sight, pressing a thin brush to the fabric for the last, small details. The lighting was perfect, displaying a visage of your boyfriend in the elegance he deserved - while you dipped your brush into a cup of water to clean it, you found yourself hoping that the sun would remain once you had made it to his place.

Yesterday, you had bought a fresh set of utensils; it had taken some brief self-encouragement, but in the late hours of the night you had picked them up and started sketching. With no real motif in mind, it hadn't surprised you to find a portrait of your partner sat before you. He had the face of a model; the kind of looks that were easy to detail, and though you hadn't slept a single wink last night, your efforts had paid off now that the work was done.

This was probably your best piece yet. Eagerly, you plucked the portrait from it's frame, wrapped it in thin, grease-proof paper to stop it from smudging, and tucked it into a large portfolio bag.

It took you no time at all to throw a jacket over your shoulders and slip out of the door - though the sun was high and the air was warm, there was a small breeze that flittered through the air, dragging along with it small, dry leaves and puffy clouds of pollen, a sign that soon, Spring would find itself curling around Morioh.

On a usual day, you'd likely find yourself bumping into a few friends or acquaintances on your way through the small town, but today you weren't bothered much. You supposed most of your friends would still be in work - blessed as you were to have a job that didn't involve a commute. It took you only a few minutes to reach your boyfriends house, and with a giddy smile held the large portfolio behind your back as you knocked at the door.

Kishibe Rohan didn't like being bothered.

Unless he was expecting someone, the likelihood of him opening his door to a random knocker was low; there was simply no need to. If it was urgent, they could call his landline.

When it came to you, however, he didn't mind being bothered. Living only a few minutes down the street from him, the two of you would frequently visit each others houses - you, more so coming to him than he did to you. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy visiting you, he was just always so busy during the day with his work and he knew that you would definitely come to him if you needed company.

Such is why you had a special knock - you would rap your first against the door in a particular rhythm, a melody unique to you, and he would recognise immediately who it was at his door.

Stuck in a block of what to do for his manga; hearing you knock at his door brought forth relief in his soul. As frustrating as it was to take a break from his important work, he at least at the restraint to recognise that perhaps a break was needed.

He wasn't sure what to expect when opening the front door to his house, but, seeing you try - and fail - to hide a rather large portfolio bag behind your back was not it. He eyed you up and down, growing sceptical.

"And what is that?" He inquired, tilting his body forward - a weak attempt at trying to see inside the bag. You quickly caught onto his snooping, and shifted the bag out of his view.

"Just wait," Was your gleeful chirp, ushering him aside so that you could flitter inside his house. Kicking off your shoes by the front door so that you could at least retain some semblance of respect, you quickly made your way past his stairs and into the main living area.

Startled, it took him a moment to clip the door shut once you had entered. He eyed you through his peripherals, before moving toward the kitchen.

"I'll put on some tea then."

"Oh, yes please!" You called out. With him distracted, you made swift work of unwrapping the portrait you had made - setting it up so that the fabric canvas was leant against the top of his coffee table.

It took a few seconds of setting up, but eventually, you had everything perfect. The canvas was angled in such a way that it bathed in the suns radiant glow. You stood in front of the picture, facing the doorway to the room; a cocky grin splayed itself across your lips when Rohan re-entered the room, a tray of tea clutched tightly in his hands.

He paused in the doorway. There was still a lilt of suspicion to his glare - he was unsure of what you were doing, but knew that you were up to something.

Slowly edging his way further into the room, Rohan placed the tray of tea on a table near the couch - a different one from the one you had been using for your artwork.

He crossed his arms over his chest, and with his brows furrowed, cocked his head to the side. "Can I see now?"

Giggling, you uttered out a jovial: "Yes!" And took a step to the side, allowing Rohan a full view of your artwork. "Look, I made you;"

Upon hearing that you had taken the time to make a portrait of him, Rohan's eyes lit up - he was a vain man, and the thought that you had been thinking of him enough to craft a portrait in his image pleased him greatly.

However, his excitement was quick to fade when he lay his gaze across the artwork. "Oh-!"

He gasped, his expression turning sour - the kind of sour where he had to bite his cheeks to stop himself from saying anything unsavoury. "Uh, that's... me?"

"Mhm! Do you like it?" You nodded your head, eager to hear his praises - It would be obvious that Rohan was exceptional at art, and so, you sought his approval more than anyone else's. His silence proved to be discouraging.

"It's certainly," He wanted to praise you, he really did. But, it was just so unflattering! Did you even look at a reference when you were making it, or were you doing it from memory? Or worse, did you have a pixelated polaroid? He couldn't even call it abstract, it was worse than that!

He swallowed thickly. "Well... it's,"

Your expression dropped, turning narrow the longer it took him to muster up a compliment. You crossed your arms over your chest, and with a huff, spoke out dully:

"I spent all night on it."

"Did you sleep last night?" His gaze flickered from the portrait to you. There wasn't concern in his tone, what you did in your spare time didn't bother him - you were an adult, and knew better than to stay awake late at night. He wasn't going to police you around like a parent.

When you shook your head, he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. "Ah... that explains it,"

His attitude was infuriating you. You had spent an entire night on that painting, and he couldn't even think of one nice thing to say? You were sure if you took it to anyone else, they would compliment it - but of course, you just had to try and impress the great and amazing Kishibe Rohan.

"Explains what?" You grumbled, rolling your eyes to the side sarcastically. He didn't take kindly to your sass, but spoke nothing on the matter.

Instead, he walked to the other side of the room. Prying open a set of drawers to pull out a small, A-4 notebook and a thin ink-pen. Your eyes followed his lithe figure as he walked back toward you, narrowing in suspicion when he then sat on the couch; moving a pillow out the way so you could sit next to him. You didn't give in to what he wanted.

"You mustn't spent all night on these things," He reprimanded, frowning when he realised you were being petty. He was only trying to teach you: "It wears you out. You need to take breaks to ensure your skill doesn't deplete."

You said nothing on the matter. Huffing in disapproval. You didn't need to be taught, you just wanted appraisal - when he realised you weren't coming, he rolled his eyes and repeated a small:

"Look, come here," But offered no chance for you to move of your own accord. An invisible force seemed to push you forward, guiding you rather forcefully toward the couch where you were then plonked down.

Before you could even register what was happening, you found yourself flushing. His hand had coiled its way around your back and he held your hand with his, slipping the ink-pen between your fingers. He used your hand as a sort of puppet; pressing the tip of the pen to the paper gently.

With his lips close to your ear, Rohan murmured a quiet: "I'll show you how." You were flustered, but made no move to stop him - maybe your inexperience was a good thing after all.

[spaceselkie]

Beatrice Build Log - Scalloped Skirt

This post was a long time coming. I started working on this skirt in January, and finally finished it this past weekend!

Firstly, patterning this took forever. I worked on the pattern for most of January. In total, I ended up making approximately 4 major mockups, and every single time (apart from initial draping, I had to put everything from the corset layer up on. There was the original draping, the second round of changes (mostly fitting the seams and bottom hem - pictured above), the third round of changes (small seam changes and waistband), and then adding the scallops to make sure that everything was sitting where it should be. I took some creative liberties with the sizing of the scallops and how they were laid out because hers are variable, and the number and size I got when I counted hers up (looks like 16, doubled) resulted in scallops that were too large, so I ended up with more than that. In total there were 21 scallops on each layer of the main skirt, so 42 doubled, plus approximately 6 more made on the front under panel between both layers.

I added both rows of scallops to the master pattern, so I could get a good sense of where they were overall in the length and how they looked adjacent to each other. This was also so that I would have a clear sense of stitch lines. After I mapped out all of the scallops around the hem, I cut the top section off at the line where the gold would end at the edge, and went back in and added some excess for seam allowance to both pieces. I didn't have to be precise with the seam allowance addition because I knew that when I went to make the scallops, I'd be marking the precise stitch line on my fabric, so it was better to have the template matched to that - just as long as it overlapped on both ends, it was fine. This was a little wasteful on fabric, but I had to have excess anyway since I couldn't cut the scallops until after the applique had been fully applied and embroidered.

To "simplify" things (air quotes are relevant here), each panel ended up with 6 pattern pieces - one each of the upper panel, upper panel gold, lower panel, lower panel facing, lower panel gold, and the liner. This meant a lot of cutting, as I underlined the "black" dupioni with silk organza for increased stability and body, and the skirt was lined. I don't even want to count how many pieces that is but I think it's something like 45, maybe more. Above is the final cotton mockup, with the bird/wing designs for the applique drawn on. The skirt itself required about 60 different pieces due to the motifs, facings, interlining, and technique I used for the scallops.

Before I get into the process, a note on fabrics. I actually managed to find a really close color match to Beatrice, whose dress is a very particular "off black" (in the visual novel, it's described as black pretty explicity, but if you look at her next to someone like Ronove, you can see that it's a different black than his coat, and more faded). I swatched it at the beginning of this project when I was looking for materials, and it swatches as a purple, of all things. I had already decided I wanted to splurge and make this out of silk (the dress is also explicitly described as being silk in the VN) and the perfect matches that I found were vampyre and antique gold from Silk Baron. The antique gold being shot with burgundy is just *chef's kiss* for uniting all of these colors. This is also why you'll see this dress look like different colors in different shots, depending on what time of day it was and the lighting situation in my craft room at any given point. I did want to share the fabrics I used though because I'm very happy with them. Obviously, you don't ever need to use real silk on a cosplay if you don't want to or if you don't have the budget - but I stand by this decision for Beatrice because of how long I've wanted to make this dress, and the color payoff that I've only really found when using real silk.

Another reason I want to mention the fabric is because it informed some of my construction decisions, including a very tedious part where I underlined with silk organza (I hand basted it to every piece of the "black" fabric). I've seen mixed perspectives on embroidering on dupioni in regards to strength. Most of my research indicated that an underlining was to my benefit (since I knew I would be embellishing and doing intensive satin stitching). I opted for silk organza because it's got a tight weave, but it's also lightweight and would have minimal impact on the natural drape of the dupioni. My silk organza was sourced from Dharma trading co. I would NOT suggest anyone underline with poly organza (the stuff I used for my petticoat); it does not behave the same and you're potentially going to end up with weirdness.

I don't have clear pictures of the silk organza underlining as such, but you'll see it as the white layer on the back of the main color of her dress later on in the photos.

The motifs were refined from the initial sketches on the mockup of the skirt. These are the final form of the templates, and their placements on the gold dupioni before I fused the fabric with heat n bond lite. I didn't want to waste a lot of the material (because silk is expensive), and I'm pretty proud of how compressed I got these. I mirrored these after I put the heat n bond on the silk and then I traced the shapes on the paper side, so they would be facing up the right way. Then, I ironed them onto the main skirt.

AND I fucked it up immediately. I got confused on my seams and the back motif was ironed on the wrong spot at the top. Which meant I had to recut 2 panels, underline them again, and reassemble the skirt. MARK YOUR CENTER BACK SEAM.

The second time, I was really careful and I ironed it on successfully. I top stitched around the edges first to secure the applique, and then, I went around with a sulky embroidery thread satin stitch on my less than $200 Brother sewing machine. Don't let anyone try to convince you that you can't be successful in cosplay unless you buy the overpriced $600+ bernette machines, you can run craft foam and vinyl through a Brother too, and I'm pretty happy with the satin stitch It just requires more finesse (and as a bonus, Brothers can survive being knocked off of a table! Ask me how I know!).

A note on satin stitching - since I've been using silk for this project, I used microtex needles, and changed them out frequently. I've had a lot of success with embroidery needles as well on machines for satin stitching (didn't notice a big difference between embroidery and microtex though for the satin stitching particularly). The very very important thing is to use stabilizer. I used sulky sticky tearaway, but also, I'd suggest doing small sections at once, because it kept getting stuck to my machine when I tried to put on a lot at one time.

I was super happy with how this turned out, that I was nervous about the next step I had planned. I'm glad that I did it though, because I do think it enhanced the finished skirt, and it's my own personal embellishment flair. That being said, it added an additional 3 weeks to the making of the skirt.

I added beads and sequins to all of the motifs! I found an amazing match to my gold fabric. The idea here was to lean into the "gold leaf" that comes up a lot with Beatrice and the butterflies, as well as to mimic that dissolving and shattering that comes up in the series. Focusing on the outer tips as well, I leaned in on it resembling "feathers" with the bird motifs. It adds a lot of pretty shine from a distance, which should look nice on stage.

After that, I ran out of other things to do and finally had to face the hardest part of this project - the doubled, bound scallops.

I'm going to walk through the scallop sewing step by step as I would tell someone else to do it, as it was complicated to figure out with the double scallops. I also highly, highly recommend watching Sarah Spaceman's Youtube video on the construction of her Snow Miku, which gives a video tutorial of this technique and is where I learned the technique from (though she is working with a single layer of scallops in hers, the process is the same. The hyperlink goes to the specific timestamp in the video where she discusses bound scallops). All panels of the outer skirt layer have been sewn together at this point, since the applique has been added and embroidered.

I was originally going to mark the scallop placement on the top skirt, but I ended up struggling with this. The slippery silk organza kept slipping out of place, so I ended up skipping that step. On a different fabric, this would not be all that difficult to do, but for the sake of transparency, I wanted to mention it.

First step (not pictured) was to sew the entire strip that will become the gold scallop binding together - twice, and mirrored. This is important, because you need a "liner" to it to sew the top of the scallop cleanly. I cut both pieces in my silk so the top would blend better, as I struggled to find a gold lining fabric that matched the intensity of Beato's gold.

Mark the stitch line for the top part of the scallops on the wrong side of the underside gold pieces. Sew right sides together the gold pieces on the marked stitch line, clip curves and corners (I used my pinking shears for this to help reduce fraying as well), and turn. Press thoroughly. From the right side, no marks should be visible, since those were on the inside and underside (pictured above)

Line up the top of the scallops where they need to go. I intuitively placed them based on seam allowances and where the gold pieces ended, as I was having a difficult time marking my silk organza layer). Topstitch to attach. We haven't touched the lower layers of the skirt yet (the 2nd row scallops).

We're now going to sew the facing to this layer, to finish off these scallops and get a nice clean edge. The upper panels are the only ones that get the facing - the lower scallops will be finished by the master liner, which will be the full length of the skirt.

The red line marked here (as an aside, I marked everything internal with my red heat erase pen - but for Beatrice, that's actually pretty funny, despite being a complete accident) is our stitch line, which I added by measuring out a half inch from the stitch line above it. I felt fairly certain this would be an event measurement because I did a very close and slow edge stitch on the upper part of the gold. A template would be helpful here, but on the main skirt I had too many issues with things shifting. The templates *were* helpful to mark the top stitch line on the gold dupioni, though.

I stitched directly on the red line, and attached my facing.

What you end up with looks like this, when you've clipped corners, curves, and turned. I pressed this really good, and since it didn't seem realistic or practical to understitch my scallops with how close I'd cut to the seam, I did a very close edge top stitch on the outside. This also aesthetically mirrored the top stitch line on the top of the scallops.

Next step will anchor the facing, and simultaneously add the next layer of the skirt where the bottom scallops will go.

I pinned the lower panels on (they were sewn together already into a strip, same as the gold pieces were) and did a stitch in the ditch around the scallops. This locked the facing in place.

The final result yields a clean top scallop with no raw edges, and a bottom layer that is attached in a way that is invisible (I actually can't find my stitch line because I stitched so close in most places).

So here's a question you may be asking at this point - why bother? This skirt could be completed in one layer without any need for this system. And that is true, but for me, it was important to have the double layers.

There is definitely a shadow there, separating the two layers from each other. That being said... these skirts are really really heavy. I wanted to minimize the weight, and having only one top skirt will also reduce the risk of scallop misalignment with each other, which necessitated this overly complicated process.

The same scallop process is repeated for the bottom scallops, but with the master liner instead of the facing. The result is the obvious separation of the two layers, but with only one skirt, keeping everything together and reducing the overall weight of the garment.

The undermost panel is not yet attached in the above picture, but it got all of the same steps as the main skirt.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how everything would connect for this skirt - part of my process was looking to see how other people handled Beatrice cosplays, so that I could troubleshoot in advance. One thing I noticed some cosplayers having problems with was if the undermost panel was loose, it would shift around and the edge would become visible, so I knew I would have to have it attached to the waistband and at least partially to the main skirt down the length. As a result, while I was working on the pattern, I made the undermost panel the same size side to side as the two front most panels based on how they overlap, so that everything would line up with the seams. I thought a lot about this process and how I could execute this so that everything was lined and attached by machine, but the scallops took priority so I decided that the attachments would be best executed by hand after the liner had been installed around the perimeter of the skirt.

I basted the top edge of the under panel to the right side of the skirt, lining up the center front spot (which I marked on all pieces) and then by hand, attached it underneath the panel's seam, so that it would be anchored, but invisible on the outer layer. I only did this partially on each side (above picture), because I was concerned that sitting down would put additional strain on this seam if it was attached all the way down due to how the skirt would move. This was the compromise I made between structure and flexibility. I used a ladder stitch so it would be invisible - that's also how I attached the waistband.

I didn't take any pictures of the waistband attachment because I did it almost exactly the same as for the red skirt - I used the same pattern (though I extended it to overlap due to the wrap skirt panels), interfaced it with a midweight, and attached it. The only difference really is that I finished the inside by hand, via ladder stitch again, because that's slightly cleaner on the inside of a garment than a stitch in the ditch.

And with that, the skirt is done! I've already started working on the pattern for the bodice. I'm hoping to have that finished no later than the end of April, or I'll be cutting it really close to my deadline, which is to have her done in time to wear to Momocon in May. I like to have my costumes finished up at least a couple of weeks before an event to troubleshoot anything that might come up, so I'm now unfortunately in crunch time.

A few last notes on the skirt - there are easier ways to do this, especially if you're not going for the most technical build. Firstly, you can simplify some of the process with the scallops and layering if you added the scallops via heat n bond applique, like I did for the motifs. That being said, that would mean you'd have a lot of satin stitching to do to finish it, so that may not be your preference. I've also seen people do the scallops and motifs with bias tape - I personally didn't want to do that many mitered corners, since I know that I'll have to do at least several for the bodice upcoming, but if that feels easier to you, do what makes sense for you. My method of doing this skirt is not the only way. Also, your life will be infinitely easier if you do not try to make the skirt elliptical like this. An a-line would work for this costume as well, and create less pattern drafting trouble all around in my opinion.

Let me know if you have any questions about this costume and I'd be happy to answer/share more details.

[mysticsparklewings]

Obscutober 2024 Day 20: Ichnite 🦖

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Ichnite (n.)

a fossilized footprint or track of an animal

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I was a bit concerned about how this one was going to go—I picked this word mostly because I like dinosaurs & how it kinda sounds like “ignite,” not because I knew what to do with it artistically. 😅

But! I think it turned out pretty neat! 😃

Click the "Keep Reading" and we'll talk a bit more about my general thoughts/process. ✨

⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

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Today's evening post time brought to you by: "I put this word on the prompt list mostly because I like dinosaurs and (not unlike my reasoning for Day 2) I'm amused that it sounds kind of like 'ignite,' not because I actually had any ideas of what to do with it artistically."

And also like...one of the previous days—I can't remember which one and I don't have time to go back and read every description to figure it out—this is one word I think may have benefitted more from my usual mini-magnet approach that the mandala one...But, then again, maybe not. I'm less sure than I was for that previous day, but I do think I'd still maybe like to eventually revisit this one with the magnets and see what they can do with it.

In any case, my biggest worry when I sat down to get started was that I could really only think of 2 distinct images for "trace fossils" like this word describes. And to be clear, that is a little bit of a "my bad" on this one—Technically, the definition is supposed to cover more than just footprint/track fossils specifically and somehow I glossed over that when I put the definition list together; It can also cover things like fossilized burrows or like, fossilized vegetation prints, etc.

I mention that because I tried not to stray too far from footprints and tracks because that was all I covered in the definition, but the two distinct I alluded to a moment ago were: 3-toed dinosaur prints and what I now know are called ammonite fossil imprints—Kind of like the classic swirly-fossil shape you might be familiar with if you've played an Animal Crossing game. [Animal Crossing isn't the only way I'm personally familiar with fossils like that; Somehow they just got buried in the general "fossils and dinosaur things" folder in my brain, Animal Crossing just seemed like an easy reference other people might understand.]

Ammonites are technically, usually ichnites—at least as far as I know, and I'm not a palentologist—but as far as I understand, I don't see why the impression left behind by an ammonite couldn't be considered one. It would be a "trace" of the creature, after all.

Either way, whether ammonites—or imprints they left behind—have anything to do with ichnites or not, I went ahead with the idea anyway because the swirl shape works so well with some "more traditional" mandala techniques, and otherwise I would've been pretty lacking in those here. And I don't know if you Sparklers were able to gather or not, but over the last few mandalas I've noticed how I sorted drifted away from more typical mandala motifs and ideas, and I want to try and drift back towards them.

But I still did my best to make more "proper" ichnites the focus. Obviously, that started with the nice big 3-toed...They're probably not actually to-scale for this, but we'll call them T-rex prints because that's definitely the dinosaur I was thinking of for them. Those served as my starting point that I build the either rest of the mandala around.

You'll notice I fit some human-ish prints inside of the T-rex prints. They're only human-ish because it was a little too cramped for me to get 5 full toes in there and I didn't want to size my brush down to do it at that stage. That said, it's worth noting I hadn't even considered this word might call for barefoot prints when I made the decision to go for shoe prints instead back on Day 15, but I'm definitely thanking past-me for that decision now!

I don't think I necessarily would have had too much of a problem of today and Day 15 feeling too similar if I had still gone with barefoot prints at that time, just because of all the other differences, but it does make me feel better knowing they have that one extra degree of separation between them.

That said, I did still want to re-use the idea of having some footprints "walk around" the mandala because I just think it's a cute one. But to aide the separation even further, I ended up going with something more like—if the chart I found via Google is to be believed and my doodle version retains any integrity to the proper shape—Velociraptor prints. If they don't really look like velociraptor prints, we'll just call them prehistoric bird prints and be done with it. 😆

Although, kind of ironically I think they came out looking a bit like flying bird silhouettes, which I had considered using somewhere on Day 15 but ultimately decided against. [Now I'm thinking that was maybe another good call to help keep this one separate that past-me wasn't even thinking about!]

But before I put the 'raptor prints in, I spent a lot more time trying to fill more of the space with the ammonite-esque swirls I mentioned before. I definitely spent way longer on those than anything else because getting the base swirls just right proved for more difficult that I anticipated—even more so for the ones towards the edge rather than the ones towards the center.

And then I maybe went a bit overboard trying to make the swirls towards the outer edge a little more interesting. In hindsight, I may have overdone them a bit, but after I spent so long on them I very much did not have it in me to go back and try to figure out how to "un-over-do" them. So they are what they are. 🤷‍♀️

I did however also decide to fill some space and accent a bit with one other kind of more proper trace fossil—My very simple approximation if what I think were snake trails that I kept seeing pop up in my search for ichnite references. I saw at least a few that really did look look that lines-with-V's-down-the-center that I drew along the outer edge and just a bit in the center.

They also ended up kinda going along with some of the more decorative lines around those outer swirls, which was nice.

Oh, and the line that weaves between the 'rapot prints was both a last-might attempt to just fill more space and also I think is a nice nod to the cracks and crevices I personally associate fossil imagery with.

There was kind of a trade-off in that this was one of the mandalas where I spent a lot of time on the lines, because this was probably the simplest color scheme so far. I just smashed browns and tans like the color of both fossils and the dirt/rock their buried in together and tried to get the contrast to enhance the footprint ichnites in a reasonable way.

I did have a little trouble getting the amount of brightness just right like I did yesterday, but yesterday's was still worse in that regard.

Ultimately, I think I was right to be worried about how this one turned out...However, this is one of the ones that ended up surprising me with the results. 😊 It turned out much stronger than I was expecting even though here are things I'm second-guessing like you more or less heard me mention (and other ones I'd rather not call specific attention to).

This one is also probably helped a bit by the fact that I wasn't in quite the frenzy to finish it that I was yesterday's. 😅

That said, I think I covered everything I wanted to and I've still got to get to cross-posting...And I have no clue what song I'm going to pick for the Instagram post, which will definitely slow me down. 🙃 So I'll leave off here while we all ponder the footprints of the past and hope for a tomorrow that turns out at least as well as these did. 😉

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See the Prompt List

Artwork © me, MysticSparklewings

Obscutober Concept Inspired by nikolas_tower

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⭐️ Like My Art and Want to see more of it? Here's All My Links! ⭐️

[lauramkaye]

More information about the Codywan Socks

I've been so pleased to see how much people are liking my Codywan socks! (well, sock, right now, heh.)

I wanted to gather up answers to questions I saw in the notes and put them in a reblog so that hopefully people could find them.

What yarn is that?

The speckled is Knit Picks Hawthorne Fingering in the color Karaoke Speckle. (On sale as of late January 2024!) The orange sparkly variegated is Sparkle Princess sock yarn from the Etsy store Lady Purl in the color Merida. (Also check out her other fannish yarns, I love this shop.) The solid colors in the colorwork are Valley Yarns Huntington in the colors Sea Gull, Mustard, Banana Cream, and Dark Grey Heather. The sparkly blue in the lightsaber is Skacel Vegas Color in the color Light Blue.

How do you make the helmet, lightsaber, writing etc?

It's a technique called stranded colorwork, combined with duplicate stitch. (The lightsaber near the toe and the dark grey and yellow on the helmet and foot are duplicate stitch.)

How long did that take you? (@dahscribbler)

I started designing the pattern in early December 2023 and started the knitting in early January. I finished the first sock around January 25, 2024. (Note that I am also working on another pair of socks so this wasn't the only project I was working on.)

Were these hard to make?

It depends on what you already know how to knit. I wouldn't do this as a first knitting project and probably not your very attempt at both socks and colorwork. (It was only my second colorwork project but I've knit a LOT of socks, they are one of my favorite things to knit.) To make this, you should know (or will need to learn) how to knit a sock with a contrast heel and toe, the basics of stranded colorwork, and how to do a duplicate stitch. Aside from the increases and decreases involved in shaping the heel and toe of the sock, there are only knit and purl stitches in the pattern; you don't have to do lace or cables or anything.

Is there a pattern I can buy?

Not yet. I am writing one, though, and I will put it up on Ravelry when I'm done. It will include more than just Codywan! I have plans for a Quinfox pair, a Blyala pair, and a Kix pair. I have designs for a lot of other troopers as well and I'm going to see if I can do some other lightsaber designs and foot motifs/wording so you can mix and match. (My Ravelry project page for these socks is here, feel free to follow me there if you like! That page has some of my colorwork charts, though I am revising them based on my experience knitting the prototype sock.)

Currently I have designs charted for:

Cody

Bly

Gree

Fox

Wolffe

Kix

Rex

Waxer

Boil

212th Trooper (generic paint)

Many thanks to everyone who has been so complimentary about my work! It's made me very happy to see others share my very niche creative joy. :)

First sock complete!!

Now I just have to do the second one…

[a-nice-and-interpretive-fanzine]

[ID: A cream-colored banner that says "A Nice and Interpretive Fanzine: essays and art about the meanings we've found in Good Omens." There is a photo of a book page with a key on it behind the banner text. The photo source is rosy_photo on Pixabay. /end ID]

A Nice and Interpretive Fanzine: Information Masterpost

Welcome!

This is a zine for those of us who love the subtle, complex work that is Good Omens, and who’ve enjoyed the thoughtfulness of the fandom as people interpret how the many moving pieces of the story come together, creating a slightly different meaning for each of us.

To put it simply, it’s a book full of the fandom’s own analysis and commentary about the Good Omens TV show, enhanced with illustrations from our brilliant artists.

This zine is analytical in the sense that all the writers are expressing their own nonfiction thoughts and feelings about the show, rather than writing fanfic, but it is not meant to be heavily academic. Anybody who likes to pick apart the series and discuss it should be able to enjoy it.

The zine will contain essays by fans who are passionate about analyzing and interpreting different parts of Good Omens - the characters, the plot, the writing techniques for the book and script, the cinematography of the TV show, the popular content of the fandom itself. Accompanying these essays will be black and white illustrations from our artists.

How are you organizing this process?

May 1-May 15: Everyone submits their application to do writing or art through a Google form. Behind the scenes, I’ll be setting up a separate email and Discord.

May 16-20: Applicants will be screened during this time.

May 20: I’ll email everyone to let them know the outcomes of their applications. The final participants will get a link to the Discord server for the zine (totally optional, of course).

May 21: If there’s any clarification or solidifying of ideas that needs to happen, I’ll contact you and discuss with you by this point. This is also when artists will be matched up with essays.

May 22 to August 14: This will be a period of just working on our essays and art. The Discord chat and Tumblr will be there for support and for exchanging ideas!

August 15: Participants need to email their full works to the zine’s email address by this date. No special formatting is needed; I’ll do that in InDesign.

August 15 to August 31: I’ll be putting the zine together in InDesign.

September 1: Preorders will open.

September 30: Preorders will close.

October 1: The zine order will be placed!

October 15: Assuming all goes well with printing and shipping, the zines will be shipped out in waves starting on this date. If the printing or shipping from the manufacturer is delayed, then shipping will just start ASAP.

Writer Application HERE Artist Application HERE Asked and Answered Questions on Tumblr The Fanzine's Page on Twitter

Read below for more detailed information about the zine in a Q and A format!

What are the specifications for the zine contributions?

For writers, I’m starting with 3k words or fewer per essay (approximately 10 pages at the size of this book). This depends heavily on how many participants we actually get, so it may change!

For artists, I’d be looking at black and white works, 300 DPI, 5.5 x 8.5 inches or smaller. If your art is supposed to fill up the entire page (i.e. no white space), please make it a total of 5.75 x 8.75 inches with nothing too important around the edges to account for bleed during the printing process.

Can I submit an essay to this zine if I’ve already posted it on Tumblr?

Not as you’ve already posted it. We don’t want to just copy/paste the exact thing that hundreds or perhaps even thousands of people have already read.

However, it IS fine and maybe even a good idea to take the same thought from your post and refine it, preserving your same thesis. For example, a lot of Tumblr posts are just us fans jotting down 5 or 6 paragraphs of random thoughts at 2 AM, but some of them are really cool thoughts! Expanding them and turning them into a bona-fide Essay would make those posts into excellent zine chapters. And you can copy small pieces of your own language as long as the whole thing isn’t just pasted word-for-word.

How long do essays have to be? Is there a limit?

With the number of writers we have, I've calculated that each person should ideally keep their essay to about 6000 words. There is wiggle room.

There’s no real minimum for your contribution; some analytical ideas are really good but can be expressed concisely, so it’s okay if your essays only come out to a few pages typed. For reference, with our book size, a page is about 300 words.

What happens if the zine sells a lot and you end up not only breaking even, but turning a profit?

It’ll go to charity. While I’ll ask the participants what they want to do for certain if we do make enough money, my suggestion will be donating it to Alzheimer’s Research UK in honor of Sir Terry Pratchett.

I’m not really comfortable calling this a “charity zine” up front since I simply don’t know if it will raise a significant amount. For the most part, I just want the thing to physically exist, which means breaking even, and don’t want to make it more expensive for buyers than it needs to be to afford the printing costs.

What kinds of essays are you talking about? What could be included?

In short, any analytical thoughts about the Good Omens TV show - and possibly even the fandom as it interacts with the show - are possible inclusions for the zine.

To expand a bit, think about the meta posts you see floating around Tumblr. Often these involve analyzing characters, or picking up on patterns in the plot. Sometimes fans use their own background knowledge to write posts about the significance of certain costume choices or the way music plays into each individual scene. Some posts examine the ways the series approaches gender, while others might discuss ways that the characters present as neurodivergent. That’s how diverse the pool of possibilities is for subjects in this zine.

How does art come into this?

Images will be black and white, to match the bookish mood of the project overall. Images can range in size from a half page to a full page.

I’m planning to talk to the artists and authors and loosely pair artists with essays that appeal to their personal interests.

I know how to illustrate a story, but how do I illustrate an essay?

There are infinite answers to this! I’ve seen some beautiful symbolic artwork in the fandom already (e.g. a number of takes on Aziraphale munching on an apple with Crowley in snake form curving around him), and there are tons of symbolic motifs to draw from, but these are not the only options. An artist illustrating an essay about cinematography, for example, could draw a well-known scene from an alternative angle. An essay about Heaven as a capitalist corporation could be illustrated with a cartoon of Gabriel giving some sort of excruciating PowerPoint presentation. A character analysis could be accompanied by a simple portrait. And on and on. I’m not interested in limiting the possibilities by trying to make a list, but just know that there are many and you don’t have to make it complicated if you don’t want to.

If the writers can reuse their essay ideas, can artists reuse their drawings?

Similarly to the writers, if you already have an interpretive drawing that you’re in love with, artists can use the same ideas and the same fundamental composition that is present in their own existing work. However, it has to be redone in some significant way. Whether it’s taking something you drew in 2019 and redrawing it using an updated style, taking a sketch and turning it into a lined and shaded piece, or redoing a full-color drawing so it presents more strikingly in black and white, it shouldn’t be identical to the thing you’ve already posted.

So how are you choosing participants here?

It’ll be based on what people are interested in writing about (or illustrating). I’ll be looking for people who are passionate about their essays, but I’ll also be looking for variety. It all depends on what people want to offer, so I won’t know for sure what it will look like put together until everyone’s application is in.

For artists, I’ll be trying to figure out whose style looks like it would adapt well to illustrations in black and white, and also who demonstrates an interest in the same subjects as the writers.

If we don’t get a lot of applicants, I’d love to simply include everyone, but I can’t commit to that without knowing for sure how many people are involved.

Do I have to use a formal writing style to participate?

No. You should use a style that makes your thoughts and ideas as clear as possible, but as long as it’s understandable, you can also get a little artistic with it. You can “write like you speak,” though perhaps in a more organized way. You definitely don’t need to worry about stylistic rules like not using the first person. This is not academia.

Is this zine going to center only on Crowley and Aziraphale?

That remains to be seen! It depends on what ideas show up in the applications. There will be a lot of the ineffable partners for sure, but whether the whole zine will center on them or whether there’s plentiful stuff about other characters will depend on what the participants suggest.

Do we have to agree with all your personal interpretations of Good Omens to be in the zine?

No! In fact, I’m assuming that a number of essays will contradict each other, too, and that’s perfectly okay. The zine is a sampler of fan interpretations meant to inspire, not instruct. It’s not “Here’s a fan-made guide on how to understand this TV show,” it’s “Look at all these moving parts and how many meanings we can find in them. What does it mean to you?”

However, there are some basic rules and assumptions by which I’m working here.

I don’t personally have the energy to include essays that are highly critical (“negative”) in this zine. It’s analytical but also meant to be fun.

I’m pretty focused on the TV adaptation. This isn’t “no book analysis allowed” but just that the essays will end up being weighted toward subjects that apply to either the TV show or both the book and the show.

Each writer should focus on making their own points over disproving other fan interpretations. If you’re writing in an expository style, it’s normal for the essay to contain rebuttals to opposing ideas, but these should be minor supporting points, not the heart and soul of your essay. For reference, I’d say the majority of meta I see floating around on tumblr would follow this rule just fine.

Essay ideas that seem to contain bigoted or exclusionary sentiments will not be accepted (no TERFy stuff, for example).

What kinds of editing will go into the zine? Are you going to argue with us about the contents of our writing?

While I might ask you to elaborate on certain points in your writing or clarify your thoughts about your subject, I’m absolutely not here to ask you to change the thesis, opinions, or headcanons on which your writing is based. If I really have a problem with your initial idea, I’ll tell you that up front and politely decline the contribution.

While formatting the zine, I’ll make minor edits if I think I see a typo or misspelling, something small and obviously unintentional. As with any other zine, your content won’t be changed without consulting you.

Is this a SFW zine?

Yes. If people want to discuss sexuality in a theoretical way, like erotic subtext, that would be allowed. There are canon references like Newt and Anathema’s moment under the bed that might come up, too. But there will be nothing explicit, and since these are essays instead of stories, there will be no “action” going on between characters. Let’s just say sex isn’t a forbidden topic, but it will be like discussing it in English class.

As for other topics that could make the zine NSFW, like gore or extreme language, I don’t think they will be an issue. Some dark topics, like abuse by Heaven and Hell, may be discussed, but they will be warned for, and these are not stories, so you aren’t going to see violent actions playing out.

Will there be any “extras” like charms or stickers?

I’m not sure yet. I’m most inclined to keep it simple, because of the nature of the zine, but would be open to including some bonus items if there’s an artist who’s really passionate about it.

With that said, I am pretty committed to making a hardcover edition of the book available, in addition to the standard softcover version.

You’re doing this with only one mod?!

Yes. I personally find it easiest. While I’ve worked on multi-mod projects in other domains and adore all of my co-mods, it’s a little bit different when it’s a project with this many moving pieces that includes real-life components like printing and shipping. Though there are a lot of individual things to be done, I am experienced with all of them, so it’s less overwhelming to just take on the whole project. That way, I know exactly what needs to be done and when, and there are no issues with assigning tasks.

What qualifies you to run this zine?

The résumé answer: in fandom, I successfully solo-modded a large not-for-profit zine in the past, the @soulmakazine2018, and while I can’t speak for the whole fandom, it definitely seemed to be well-received. <3 In real life, I’m a case manager and this involves coordinating and communicating with a lot of different people including my 100-person caseload, budgeting services, and filling out all kinds of paperwork on the fly, all skills that can be imported into zine work.

The practical answer: well, I’m the one who decided to start this project, so if you like the sound of it, you're stuck with me. I say with encouragement and enthusiasm that if you’d like to do a different take on a commentary zine, you should absolutely do it.

[littleeyesofpallas]

So a(nother) weird thing I noticed with Hachi...

ここの周りに施した「八爻双崖」はワタシが仮面化してから独自に創り出した術...

The "Hachigyou Sougai*" that was applieds around here is a technique that I created independently after I became a Visored

死神の鬼道で解くことは不可能デス...

It's impossible to solve with Shinigami's Kidou

I was going over some of Hacchi's kidou stuff and I noticed this weird phrase that wasn't translated properly:

「八爻双崖」(はちぎょうそうがい)

Most of this isn't anything special. The Sougai[双崖]: "Twin Cliff(s)" this is super simple to translate, and is consistently handled across the board.

But you'll notice that that means the real focus here is the kanji gyou[爻]... You can see on the right most panel there, that Viz's translator just didn't bother with the Hachigyou bit at all. But in the fan scanlation they went with "joined" which does seem to have some precedent...

...Except that I couldn't actually find any corroborating information on that. Jisho is the one you see above, but Google translate, Wiktionary, and Weblio all fail to list those readings, apart from the mention of "radical no.89" which is less a translation and more a description of how it fits into the organizational structure of the Japanese kanji system;

that is to say, it is itself a "radical" which is a series of strokes used as the basis for a whole subset of related words. And i think... think... this discrepancy is that it etymologically lends the meaning of "mixing/joining/twining" to the kanji that use it, but it can't actually be used in a sentence, as its own word, to mean "mixing/joining/twining."

I don't really know how to explain that in a less technical way... It's almost like how -ton as a suffix is just a contracted form of "town" and we all just kind of understand that, but you'd never refer to "a ton" or "the next ton over" or "my hometon" as if it were its own word. Right? It's not quite the same, but that's the best I can think of...

Anyway, the point is I had to keep digging, and the alternative reading I found was this...

and against all odds... despite this being kind of an obscure term, I actually know exactly what this means! To start, I'm sure you're actually all familiar in one way or another with some variation of this image/motif,

Bagua is often translated into English as something like "8 trigrams" and it's a part of taoist philosophy/cosmology. Taoism, I think I've mentioned on this blog before, is the broad system of Chinese philosophy and lore and mysticism revolving around the concept of yin and yang; in Japan the adopted form of taoism was called onmyoudou[陰陽道], meaning literally "yin yang way." It's a very broad set of ideas ranging from cosmology and geomancy and divination to the basis of a lot of traditional Chinese medicines and a kind of proto-psychology and spiritualism, etc.... It's also where the concept of chi in Chinese(ki in Japanese) comes from. But getting back to the point...

"8 Trigrams" is actually kind of a vague way to translate it, even if it's pretty literal. The "trigrams" in question are each of the sets of three bars, either broken or unbroken. Each unique sequence of bars is its own trigram. And the eight trigrams are ☰, ☱, ☲, ☳, ☴, ☵, ☶, and ☷. They have a whole series of different systems of meaning that map over them, as is just kind of the way taoism in general tends to work. It's all really cool, but also just not something I can summarize neatly in any short amount of time.

BUT even though the Bagua tends to be the most familiar, there's actually both a much more complicated system involving the trigrams* as well as an underlying concept as well. Because at it's most basic all the more complicated symbols stemming from the trigrams are made up of just two foundational symbols: ⚋, the "broken" bar representing yin, and ⚊, the "unbroken" bar representing yang. And THESE singular units are what 爻 refers to.

The weird part of that is that this whole system of symbols tends to work off of units of 3 digits at a time; you wouldn't normally have an octagram, you'd have a trigram or a hexagram. It's also not super clear if it means to refer to "8 things" where the thing is "yao", and also "two cliffs." ...or if it means "8 things", where the thing is "a yao pair" and then... "cliff" is in there for some reason? The trigram ☶ is actually a symbol for Mountain, but I feel like that's not what Kubo meant? Or else he'd have just used the kanji [山]mountain, not [崖]cliff. And either way it's a trigram, not a pair of two.

But then there's the i ching's use of hexagrams instead of trigrams... And ䷳ is made up of two ☶, so literally a pair of cliffs. There's more context to the I Ching that I can really explain here but that hexagram is called gen[艮] and can be interpreted to mean things like "Bound" or "keeping still, mountain" and "stilling." But again.... that's not "8 Yao..."

I guess a big snag in all this, is that I'm not sure how much Kubo knew about i ching or bagua when he wrote this, so there's always the chance he meant one thing but said something different by mistake...

*do go check out the wiki on I Ching if you have the time, because it's super cool in its own right, but like I said there's a LOT there to read up on

Any way, what's really interesting about this is that it's actually always been a distinct feature of Hachi's that he stacks or layers his barriers, AND later, after the long MIA period for the Visored as a whole, his kidou tends to show up in the form of long bars. So, once you've made the connection to yao, his layering of bars/barriers is like building up to the more complex concepts in the various trigrams and hexgrams of bagua and i ching as you add yao.

AND I've actually stumbled into that subject before, because the emphasis on the bars seems to lean into foodbased themes with him as well...

Incidentally when I went looking for the bar images to clip out I noticed this panel of Hachi summoning up some barriers to slap Barregan with and wouldn't you know it, they're the same shape as 爻, although perhaps more similar to some of its archaic glyph forms.

[palimpsessed]

So @captain-aralias​ did one of these and invited other writers to do the same. And I wasn't really going to because it feels a bit late now and also I've done quite a few other year in review posts for 2020. But then I got to thinking that it would be really nice to have one of these for each year to look back on and compare, which convinced me. So, here we go!

If you’re a writer, I’d also encourage you to steal this. Tag me on your post so I can see your thoughts! 🥰

List of Complete Fics for 2020 1. At the Top of a Tower, With You- General, 900 words 2. Use Your Words- Teen, 16k 3. A Man of Letters, or Five Times Baz Retreats and the One Time He Doesn’t- Teen, 54k 4. To the Manor Borne- Teen, 43k

Total: 4 fics, 113k words

Every one of these fics was written for an event, which, realistically, is the only reason they got finished. I have so many ideas I'm working on all at once, and I came into fandom with a focus on making art, so to actually find the motivation to sit down and write/finish/post a fic was entirely deadline based. And it's a technique I'm sure I will also employ in 2021.

Best/Worst Title?

Well, I've mentioned a few times before that I usually have a title before I have much in the way of a fic concept. I don't really dislike any of the my titles, because they all did exactly what I needed them to do, which was help me focus on what I wanted to accomplish in the fic. Comparatively speaking, though, I can answer this.

Best: Use Your Words - succinct, idiomatic, a book quote/motif that also has the potential to be a spell, does what it says on the tin, is probably what all of us are constantly yelling at Baz and Simon to do throughout the books and the fic itself

(Honorable mention to A Man of Letters because that title forms a perfect heart shape when viewed on mobile on AO3. ❤️)

Worst: At the Top of a Tower, With You - this is also a quote and it fits the fic perfectly, but it is a bit of a mouthful and it has a comma in the middle of it, which, while I love commas, feels a bit off-putting in terms of a title - also, it's always kind of bothered me that it's a Baz WS quote used for a CO-era Lucy POV

Best/worst summary?

Again, I don't really dislike any of my summaries.

Best:

To the Manor Borne: The gang decides to spend Christmas together at Pitch Manor. Romance, hijinks, and holiday cheer ensue.

Anything that lets me use the word hijinks is always good! - it's short and sweet - it does a fair job of setting up the premise for the fic and giving highlights, without giving anything away

Worst: A Man of Letters

I'm not going to include this one because it's so long, I had to cut down the version I posted on tumblr to fit in the AO3 field, which is really why I rank it below my others - it effectively sets up the world of Simon and Baz in Regency England prior to where the story starts, but it is prohibitively long - and it's set up, not summary, so it also loses points for not doing what it purports to do - I could have said exactly what this fic was in one sentence: "Simon and Baz meet at several Regency-appropriate venues over the course of a London season and reflect on their acquaintance in letters", but instead I did the full book jacket version because it was more interesting to me.

Best/Worst First Line?

Oh, this is interesting. I can honestly say that I have no idea where this will go. Going to pull up my docs and find out! Okay, since I only have four fics to consider, and I'm feeling split, I'm going to do two for each. I feel good about my words, but I will say that half of my first lines actually provide information, and the other half are incomplete thoughts. Those were stylistic decisions I made, but when taken alone, it does somewhat limit the effectivness of a sentence when it can't stand without the rest of the paragraph. Perhaps that decision will lure readers in for more?

Best:

In the end, we wind up at Pitch Manor. (To the Manor Borne)

I know that you won't be surprised when I tell you that I do not like writing letters. (A Man of Letters)

Kind of interesting that these both contain key words from the titles 🤔

Worst:

I'm not sure how I'm supposed to do this. (Use Your Words)

I love how the title seems to be answering Baz's question when the two are put together like this 😂

Strange that it should end here, where it all started. (At the Top of a Tower, With You)

The title also seems to complete the first line in this one, too. I'm learning about my writing as this goes on, so that's cool!

Best/Worst Last Line?

Hmm. Okay, again, no idea. Also, a little leery of including last lines for anyone who hasn't read the fics they're from yet. (Tho I guess it's unlikely those people would be reading this😆) But let's see what we've got.

Use Your Words and A Man of Letters have very similar final lines, and both are somewhat spoilery.

Best: The ending of A Man of Letters felt risky to me, in the way that it is formatted and changes tone from the rest of the story. It was something that happened as I wrote it and I loved it. I had no idea if readers would like it, if they would feel like it worked as an ending, but I felt strongly enough about it to let the entire fic hinge on that and I think it really paid off. So, without giving you the actual last line, which is only one word, I'm going to say that one is my best ending.

Worst:

To the Manor Borne: "Carry on, Simon."

It's not bad, it's just not mine.

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, fewer than you thought, or about what you predicted?

I did not set out to write any fics in 2020. I was supposed to be taking a break from writing. I've been an aspiring novelist for half my life now, and have been going through major ups and downs with my writing. I decided I needed to re-evaluate and figure out if writing was something that was even going to be able to make me happy anymore. The answer is: YES! Just…not original fiction. At the moment. I'm happiest when I can write for the sake of writing and not have to DO something with that writing. Which is why discovering fan fiction was AMAZING!!!! 🥰🥰🥰

To actually answer the question, yes, I wrote more than I thought I would. I also wrote exactly as much as I thought I would, simply because these were all things I signed up for (with the exception of my Countdown fic, but I committed to it as if it were something that required a sign up).

I have a lot more ideas for 2021, but I don't know how many of them will come to fruition. I'm not putting pressure on myself to have to do anything beyond what I sign up for again, because it did work out so well for me starting off.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

I mean, the pairing and the fandom were in no way a surprise. 😆 They're my only ones, so those were both a given. The genre is also not surprising.

What's your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest?

A Man of Letters, without any hesitation. I adore it so much. It's the kind of fic I know I will unabashedly sit down to read over and over, even if I'm the one who wrote it. I had one reader to please and it was ME. By far, my most self-indulgent fic.

Okay, NOW your most popular story?

That depends on the metric.

To the Manor Borne leads in Comments (107), Kudos (153), and Hits (1992), and Use Your Words leads in Bookmarks (26).

But since To the Manor Borne is top in 3 out of 4 metrics, I'll say that one.

Story most upderappreciated by the universe?

I mean, the least popular by a wide margin is At the Top of a Tower, With You, but I don't know if I'd call it underappreciated. It's short, it's angsty, it's got a very unusual style, it's Lucy POV, it's the first fic I wrote and posted. I didn't really go into it with high performance expectations. I'm proud of it, I just didn't expect it to be popular. It would be nice if more people read it, but I'm not broken up over it.

Story that could have been better?

I'm not even going to touch this one. Everything can always be improved upon, but if I go down that route, nothing will ever be done. This is one of the things I have come to appreciate about traditional art versus digital. With traditional, there is only so much you can do before something is permanent and you have to live with it. It's an exercise in letting go and acceptance. Digital is flashier and more flexible, but I could (and have) spend months on a single piece and never feel satisfied, never stop tweaking. I think that's also the reason I started to hate my novels.

Sexiest story?

Based purely on overall vibes, I find the understated tension of the Regency the most appealing, so I'm going to say A Man of Letters. I didn't actually stray into sex territory in any of my fics (though Simon and Baz have had sex by the time To the Manor Borne starts, and refer to it, and probably do it "offscreen"), but A Man of Letters is the one that feels sexiest to me. Lots of thirsting!Baz and feral!Simon and sensual hand touching (how risqué!) - and YEARNING. That, to me, is the sexiest vibe of all. So. Much. Yearning.

Saddest story?

At the Top of a Tower, With You - for this one, I tagged "angst without plot" and I stand by that. It's Lucy losing her connection to Simon at the end of CO and trying to find a way to reconcile herself to leaving him alone again. I gave it as much of a hopeful bent as I could, with the refrain of Baz's spoken "love" to cling to, but it's very sad.

Most fun?

To the Manor Borne - All of my fics have their fair share of angst, but this one also has some good, silly, holiday fluff thrown in. Since I wrote it for the Countdown, each chapter was based on a different prompt, which led to this one going in all sorts of directions no single fic probably ever should. Plus, it has the most Shepard, and Shepard always makes things more fun.

Story with the single sweetest moment?

Oh my god. I don't know. No, never mind. I do. It's To the Manor Borne, but it's split between the two gift giving scenes, the Constellations and Secret Santa/Gift Giving prompts. These were private moments between Simon and Baz, sharing themselves with each other, being vulnerable, and communicating. It's the gifts they give each other, yes, but it's more so the reasons they chose those gifts, and how they show part of themselves and share their love for each other, through those gifts, that had me in tears writing those two scenes. I'm super proud of them.

Hardest story to write?

Use Your Words - it was written for an exchange and that made it really hard to write it knowing there was this pressure of making my gift-ee happy with the fic. I'm proud of it, and they really liked it, but the anxiety was too much for me.

Easiest/most fun story to write?

A Man of Letters - if there is a fic better suited to me as a writer, I haven't met it. I started writing after reading Pride and Prejudice in high school, so I started out writing Regency and I spent years and years and years of my life obsessed. When I transferred into college, an administrator I had never met before heard my name during orientation and said, "Oh, you're the Austen scholar." (It is a small, private college, and I was a transfer, so the pool of students was even smaller. But still. Many years later, I'm clearly not over it.) I also did my senior thesis on an epistolary novel (Frances Burney’s Evelina), and my English Lit emphasis was for that time period. So, I felt like I had been preparing for this fic my entire adult life. 😂

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

I don't think so. I tend to let my writing be dictated by the characters, so I'm always following their lead. Sometimes they'll do or say something that surprises me and takes me down a route I didn't necessarily foresee, but I don't think there was ever a point where one of them did something that made me rethink who they are as a character.

Most overdue story?

I will say A Man of Letters, since that one felt like a culmination of my seventeen-year-old self's wildest writing dreams. But I should probably say the Scooby Doo AU I still haven't managed to finish, because that one has been a WIP since I joined the fandom. Oops. (I'm hoping when I look over this in a year, I can feel smug that it's finally done.)

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

Writing at all was a risk for me! And writing fan fic for the very first time! Writing an entire fic told only through letters. And then ending it in a completely different style from the rest of the fic. Doing a multi-chaptered fic for the Countdown, using a different prompt for each chapter, and publishing a chapter every single day for thirty days (with the exception of two days that had art). Signing up for fandom events in the first place!

What I learned from taking risks in my writing is the same thing I learned when I took risks in my art this year. I have a much better appreciation for what I've done when I push myself, I feel better about the end product, and I like it longer. I think it's really good for me to challenge myself creatively.

This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it most?

Oh boy. Um. Therapy! Both Use Your Words and To the Manor Borne had their big HEA moments built around sending Simon and Baz to therapy. I don't think that's likely to change for future fics, either. I feel like therapy as the theme for 2020 seems very fitting. (Also, I think I keep sending the boys to therapy because I'm trying to get myself there…)

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

Just to write what I want to write, have fun, not put any pressure on myself, and to take risks in my writing and my art because it will help me to grow.

[jimlingss]

Hi, Kina! I think you're one of the most talented fiction writers I've literally ever known. My friend and I always make time to read your fics and sit down, analyze and discuss. We love your ideas, your prose, your writing style so much! Many professional authors write a beautiful beginning, but by the end of their story, they forget to tie up a few loose ends. You, however, elaborately craft stories that are consistently well-written—from the beginning to the end. (1/5)

Anonymous said: I've read A Memory Without You a while back and the only reason I remember it so well is because the ending parallels the beginning. OC steps forward into an office when the fic starts, signifying her step into her story; in the end, Hoseok takes a step forward, mirroring OC's actions (and subsequently entering her life again). I have no idea if that was planned or not, but you tend to parallel the beginning and endings in many of your stories. That's what makes them so memorable. (2/5)

When I read the last line of your stories (I'm usually crying or smiling giddily), I always get this feeling of nostalgia. I'm brought back to vague memories of the introduction of the fic when the OC had yet to experience hardship and character development. I always get to look back at the character's development and see how far they've come. Stories that exemplify this strongly (A Kiss of Poison, APOTM, Tears of a Villain). (3/5)

Your characters have depth, and I appreciate that so much. You somehow convey to me that these characters are REAL humans facing REAL problems. Even if the character is as eccentric as OC from Annihilation of You, as spunky as OC from Brass & Strings or like, not even HUMAN as OC from Game of Temptation, you convince me that these people deserve their story to be told. And I always fall in love with them. Sorry this is so long omg I have ONE more point to make; bear with me 😭 (4/5)

The best part about being on your blog for so long is seeing the improvement. Don't get me wrong, you were always a fantastic writer. But the closer I come to your recent stories, the more I see of subtle plot advances, character development, flow, imagery. I know you say that most of your writing comes from experience, but the talent was always in there somewhere, you know? I hope you'll use your amazing ideas and writing prowess to go do more of god's work in this world! (5/5)

anon, you are praising me too highly. I’m honoured that you and your friend actually sits down to discuss my writing hahaha and that you analyze it like some kind of literature review book club. I’m genuinely honoured.

One of the reasons I actually always make an effort to tie up all loose ends is because when I watch K-Dramas it actually irritates the hell out of me when they often times don’t. I sit there at the end and think ‘what about THIS character from ep 3?? what about that part in ep 7? WHAT HAPPENED?!’. So for that reason, I actually make a whole character list and try my best to keep track of everything that’s happening.

The motif of taking steps forward in A Memory Without You is definitely intentional. While I don’t include it for all my stories and series, reoccurring motifs and symbols are a personal favourite of mine. I really like utilizing them when I can. Another technique I really like is reflecting the end to the beginning. I think it’s called chiastic structure, but I’m not sure. I started doing it in For Love & Money back in 2016 and thought it made for such a good ending, that I’ve been using it ever since LOL I honestly think I use it too much, but whatever. Like ALL my slice of life series have chiastic structure which is one of its signatures, but it makes for a good ending so I’ve been lenient about using it so excessively. 

And thank you. I think I get praised for character development a lot, but frankly, that’s actually a game of russian roulette to me lol. I plan my stories from A to Z and sometimes I intentionally include character development into the story but most often, character development is a byproduct rather than an intention of mine. since it’s actually pretty hard to plan for. it happens naturally as I write and that’s because I prefer to prioritize my plot rather than character development. I don’t want to force something if it doesn’t call for it. So sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t.

Anyway, thank you. Your comments and feedback is sincerely heartwarming.

It’s actually quite difficult for me to see my own improvement in writing because it feels a lot like growing hair. You don’t notice a difference between yesterday or today, or even from 3 months ago from today. But over the years, you notice.

I don’t think I’m a better writer today than I was yesterday or even six months ago. But am I better than I was two years ago? I’d like to think so!

[icharchivist]

What colors would you associate with the main 4. I always thought it was green = gon, blue = killua, red = kurapika, yellow = leorio. but in canon I've also seen them use purple for killua and blue for leorio. Mostly tho it's purple for killua which I find kinda weird b/c his eyes are blue and his powers are blue and his clothes are blue so?? I have also kinda started associating Leorio with green more b/c his tie is green and he's working for the hospital which has a green cross n stuff.

Heya!!

Actually, Leorio is often associated to Yellow in the 2011 anime. I think he’s the only one not strongly associated to a color tho.

Gon is always Green, always, close to nature and all, I think he was always consistant in staying Green. And it fits him as a character, especially a green close to forest’s sort of green.

Kurapika is heavily associated with Red, of course, because of the red eyes, but I like the fact he’s still heavily pictured with blue? A lot of covers involving Kurapika usually puts a lot of details about his blue outfits, even recently his suit has blue hues. I think it eventually makes for a good duality to represent Kurapika, the blue being a colder, calmer color, while Red is a warmer color, usually considered more violent. It illustrates well the contrast between his different behaviors.

I wouldn’t take Leorio’s green tie into account too much personally, as it’s mostly heavily the anime’s fault (Leorio changes ties a LOT toward the course of the manga) (yes I pick this kind of details because that’s all I do), but I like the idea of Green because of the medical cross, it’s neat.

For some reasons I think I personally associate Leorio with gold, for some reason? Not really yellow, sometimes I associate him with ocean-blue, but I always picture a strong, warm gold-hue when I think about him. Not only because he’s trying to get money, but also because I think it’d fit this “heart of gold” motif around him. And I do find it also pleasingly ironical to associate him with this color since it’s what he seeks. (and I really don’t think Yellow comes close to the Gold color).

I think the anime went with Yellow because they were setted on the other three’s colors, and they needed a different color that would be different from the other three. tbh I think they just didn’t think Leorio too much through, unless they considered yellow like gold like i would but idk with the anime.

When it comes to Killua, I have a lot to say, because I think the anime was telling a story with the colors used. 

For Killua, I personally picture him more with a cyan kind of blue. It’s usually the color used to color him on the manga covers, and it’s also a good color to use to shade white (like his hair - and it’s how it’s often used in the manga) while it’s also somewhat linked to the Electric blue of his technique.

But I consider also that the purple is more a color associated to the Zoldyck than to Killua - showing a color story of Killua getting out of the systematic color to embrace his own (the last time I can remember of purple being associated heavily with Killua in the 2011 anime is when he removes the needle - the techniques of assassination he uses after the removal, which are Zoldyck’s techniques.). 

Purple is often used as a threatening color, it’s strange, and you’ll notice it’s heavily used in the Zoldyck family’s colors in the 2011 anime : Silva’s, Zeno’s, Kikyo’s clothes are in those shades, so is Kalluto’s ribbon and eyes, Milluki’s clothes are pink (watered down Zoldyck), and when we see Illumi in the York New Arc doing a Zoldyck job, he wears purple as well. (Alluka being associated to pink and green would make her one-step-in-one-step-out, a duality between the Zoldyck and the Nature of Nanika, following this reasoning).

Purple is heavily pictured around Killua when he is under the Zoldyck’s influence. Illumi’s Nen is purple, which surrounds Killua when he’s being subjected to it. When Kikyo talks about Killua “not wanting to see Gon” when he was tortured (ie under their control), it’s also heavily purple:

(you’ll note the torture scenes are always with a candlelight kind of color, and is purple only when it’s Kikyo who talks about controlling Killua, and when Killua threatens to kill Milluki if he touches Gon - an assassin’s instinct, a Zoldyck’s instinct.)

If Purple comes back, it’s always in Threatening situation : but Killua himself is associated to purple only when it comes to him being controled by the Zoldyck, or when he’s using a Zoldyck’s technique or thinking of assassination.

However, I do think his color is supposed to be blue. The blue of his clothes (which in itself is inconsistant, but I talked elsewhere about how Killua’s inconsistant fashion seemed to be an instance of him looking for who he was outside of the family’s circle) his eyes of course, and most importantly, his electricity techniques, the techniques he developpped by himself, something he associate badly to his family (even more considering electricity torture is the reason he distanced himself from his mother). 

Therefore, at the end of the anime, Blue is heavily used when Killua finally faces Silva to get back to Alluka, as it’s the moment he comes to talk for himself, barely as a Zoldyck. 

He also uses blue to threaten his father in that scene.

The blue became Killua’s color, and an assertment of his distance to the family and its control. Therefore I still think the use of Purple is actually on point, toward the course of the manga: it’s just not a color “for” Killua, but “about” Killua. It’s the color Killua has to break free from.

Now, let’s be clear this: This is anime only. The manga doesn’t have this much focus on color (the only color that was actually confirmed was that the Kurta had brown eyes that could turn red - and neither anime gave Kurapika’s brown eyes, despite the fact in 2011 he actually says “all Kurta have brown eyes.”. Moreover the anime is completely biased and it’s like.. not really a secret they loved Killua but didn’t care for Leorio, so it results with Killua being likely more thought of where Leorio was neglected. So. Ye don’t trust the anime’s colors). Killua is heavily associated to Cyan the whole way throught he manga, which is eventually just forshadowing his use of Electricity.

But when it comes to the anime, the use of color is consistant: Purple is the Zoldyck. Killua is blue. If Killua is purple, it’s because of the Zoldyck, everytime. 

Killua breaks out from the purple, he becomes Blue. He was Blue to start with, he was heavily associated with blue, but the purple is always from the Zoldyck’s influence on him - which is a part of him, sadly, but it’s also something he’s breaking away from.

So I totally get personally why purple is used for Killua, but that’s not a color to associate with Killua himself i’d say.

… man I hope it’s not too confusing ahah.

Take care!!

[onnocollective]

Conversations w/ Haved Jabib

a conversation with mixed media artist and musician Haved Jabib (@haved.jabib) who is behind the track titled 'Park Hotel Bathroom Floor'. Filled with breakneck and dirty disco beats, Park Hotel Bathroom Floor is track number 02 from our compilation tape - rough cuts

Listen to Park Hotel Bathroom Floor here -

OC: How have you been in the pandemic ?

Haved Jabib: It’s been alright, I think I was terminally sick for such a large part of the first wave that I didn’t really get the time to mentally focus or fully notice that there was a pandemic. But it’s definitely fucked, so not good

OC: What is one piece of music that you can’t erase from your head

Damn that’s a hard question, there’s a lot of stuff from all different kinds of genres that has that effect on me. But definitely In Death Valley by Tim Hecker. I remember not being able to move just staring blankly at the ceiling the first time I heard it

Tim Hecker is definitely a huge influence for me.

OC: What type of music have you been the most into these days? Any particular track?

I usually listen to a lot of pop and trap hip hop, mumble rap type shit because it calms me down, but lately I’ve been listening to a lot of psychedelic rock. Like King Gizzard and Flaming Lips type shit. Also digging a lot of smooth jazz

OC: Have you noticed any changes in the way you approach music now compared to when you first started ?

Not really, I think I still just go into it trying to be as expressive and honest as possible. Try to kinda capture the kind of energy I’m trying to bring to the table without focusing too much on technicality. But I’ve definitely noticed my older stuff sounds more free and honest

OC: Describe your setup and your music-making process

Phone. Always phone. Except my mom got a tablet now so I guess that’s a screen update lmao. My process depends completely on what I’m trying to achieve. For my noisier tracks it’s all about trying to create that atmosphere by creating an almost dissociative soundscape by just fucking with samples

OC: How did you get started with music?

I've always really wanted to make music for like as long as I can remember. Just growing up in a financially challenged family never quite allowed me to explore my possibilities since I never had a computer or any instruments required to make the kind of shit I wanted to. I think that all changed for me sometime in 2019 when a friend of mine showed me an app on the Android smartphone that lets you produce shit. I was aware of smartphone music apps before but they were all mostly very limited in their approach and never really gave you the amount of freedom that a proper DAW did. And Caustic did that for me . Shortly following my discovery of said app, Rana Ghose from Reproduce asked if I wanted to play a set at an upcoming show. I knew him since I used to do gate for them and had sent him some rough shit I had done on one of those apps before. Where you loop samples and shit. So him asking me to play kinda forced me to put myself in that headspace where I had to teach myself how to figure out the app and do it fast . So yeah, first time playing a gig was also how I started making music.

OC: Did you have any visual motif in mind during the making of your track - Park Hotel Bathroom Floor?

Visual motif definitely. This is from back when I had just been introduced to the club scene of Kolkata - used to hop clubs to check out every gig we could multiple days a week, get fucked, be up all night and party a lot basically. I think this track for me is like a sketch of that time. Trying to capture that person and that lifestyle and moment and music in my own way . I've moved way past it since then but it's still a pretty important time of my personal growth I guess. Hence Park Hotel Bathroom Floor, because I've been on that floor throwing my guts out at 3 in the morning at least once a week every month with an empty stomach. So the idea was to get that energy but to try and retain the noise and dissociative aesthetic of my sound

OC: What have you been currently working on?

I haven't really been working on a lot. Been trying my hand at some classical piano stuff. I had this really intense experience a few months ago in March where a friend sent me some classical albums to try to listen to and I fell in love with them. Have been wanting to try something of that sort for a while since

OC: What type of music have you always wanted to try your hand at ?

Always wanted to be in a band, learn every instrument. Try all kinds of genres I like. I think I've fantasized about playing music all my life. Noise rock, screamo, post punk, hardcore, shoegaze laced grind music, psychedelic stuff, hip hop - everything basically. Always wanted to start a bad brains influenced punk band called Dendrite. There's so much stuff I wanna play

OC: Which do you prefer - experimenting and discovering a song while in the making process or having a rough mental idea beforehand and then trying to actualise it ?

Always experimenting. But I also want to train myself enough to be able to do the second bit so I'm never really limited by my abilities. I've always been a do what you like guy but I think I'm starting to get to a point in my music where I want to try my hand with some more traditional techniques see where it takes me. Definitely have everything come together in some way make some intense shit