#i shall make a bigger post when i can😭

[jeonsupershy]

this blog just hit 1k🩷🩵

[archandshri]

9th feb '24 - [arch] characters, interactions and emotion - making a mini webcomic

Gahhhh Shri this has been an absolutely crazy couple of weeks!!!! Hope you are doing well :)) First of all, WOW! You have a lot of goals, and I’m sure you’ll get them done! I’ve worked a lot on my graphic design during the process of making Winter Wellbeing. If you wanna see a blog post dedicated just to that, I can do so! It would be cool to compare notes on the approaches we take for graphic layouts. If you wanna share your knowledge of camera skills when you build that up that would be awesome 😭😭

It’s been a tough few weeks, art wise. I have been reflecting on my process, motivations to create, the ego and all the baggage that’s lumped into the creative process for me. It turns out there’s a lot. I took some space from my illustration practise (literally for a weekend!) and began to realise how dysfunctional it is. I’ve been writing a lot about that so there may be a larger piece of writing coming about that at some point (no promises!!)

But for now, let's talk about little successes!

I’ve been playing with some characters for a while but I’d hit a bit of a block with the plot. I realised the expectation of having a finished project of high quality soon is unrealistic, and an unhealthy expectation to put on myself. I rarely give myself time to play with concepts for a long time and let the characters, plot and interactions evolve naturally. Maybe this in part came from sticking to the short university module turnaround. I noticed that that short turnaround was causing a lot of block, so I have decided to bench it as a comic for now and focus on using it as a playground - falling in love with the characters, creating stories and drawing them for fun. Maybe years down the line I’ll make them into a comic - we shall see! 

I *tried* to do hourly comics day this year and it didn’t quite work for me. I think I made 3 comics? And then got distracted with a bigger project that ended up taking a week or so to complete. Let’s have a look at it, shall we?

[you can find the full version here]

First of all, it’s based on an unfinished fanfiction I started a couple of months ago, which was mostly bad, but there was one nice scene that I liked and wanted to expand on. I started by having a look at the script I wrote and thumbnailing on the iPad. I’m away from home at the mo and usually would prefer to do most of my artwork traditionally, but because I don’t have access to a scanner, the whole process was digital this time. A lot of the pages got scrapped because the dialogue wasn’t necessary, and I’m not drawing pages that aren’t necessary.

some more development screenshots

I thought a lot about posing during the process, acting the scenes out in my mind and sometimes physically, really understanding the emotions of the characters, why they’re saying what they’re saying, their tone and how to convey that though their body language and expression (i find grian really annoying normally [affectionate] but I want this grian to step on me).

Pearl was hard with this because she’s quite erratic and unpredictable in this series, so I wanted her to switch from raw explodey anger to playful jabs at Grian. I’m hoping this comes across as somewhat insane, rather than tonally off and inconsistent. I did super enjoy drawing her and her explosive nature though, especially in comparison to Grian’s coldness.

I played with levels and monotone colour too - I’m not working with multiple colours much at the moment so I’m able to focus on things like values composition, characters and backgrounds. My skills limit the kind of stories I can tell currently, so I’m working to improve those foundations. Maybe when I’m back in the riso studio I can play with colours a little more.

Colours - despite the simple pallete it gets a bit nerdy here.I stuck to specific flat percentages for most of it - Pearl’s hair and Grians jumper are 60%, Grian’s hair and Pearl’s cloak are 20%. Then I added a 14% layer for shadows, using a ahrd blend eraser tool for highlights, making the images quite dark. I fill a layer with texture from Forystr’s riso brush for procreate, and turn it into a 40% opacity colour dodge layer. This gives it some much needed texture and makes the lighting feel low and nighttimecore. It also pushes the values to look really nice - I tend to be too scared to push them by myself.

I tried a few different colour layers to get a *vibe* but settled on a low percentage riso blue in a colour layer. All layers besides the riso blue are in a riso black, colour picked from a riso colour pallete. I learnt these tools - using percentages to get good values - from working with risograph. I really recommend having a look at these techniques and doing some monotone work. It's really improved by character designs, page layouts and compositions.

That's all from me today, though I have had MANY other thoughts over the past two weeks about creating, but perhaps we'll dive into them another time. If you (or anyone else) has any questions, hit me up with a reblog or an ask and I will get right to it. Lovely to hear from you! Hope your art is going great too :)) Arch :)

[nezumi-writes]

I heard your call and I came as fast as I could. Can I get Grimm's Platonic headcanons? When he hears mean students bullied, insulted, or trying to make his beloved henchman feel bad. 🐈‍⬛🌌

Both of your Grim requests are so cute, plus I already had another Grim idea so I might be posting three Grim ones back to back 😭

Thank you for requesting and I hope you enjoy!

Tw- bullying, brief swearing, slight physical violence

Early into your arrival at Twisted Wonderland other students picking a fight with you wasn’t uncommon

Being a magicless human made you an easy target

Or so everyone thought

At first Grim didn't much care and seeing as you seemed more unimpressed then anything he brushed it off

That was until you suddenly broke down one day in the privacy of Ramshackle dorm

You spilled about how everything those bullies were saying to you were wearing you down

"There is no reason to fret my loyal henchman I, the almighty Grim, shall protect you! For some extra cans of tuna of course."

"Thank you, Grim." You laughed not really thinking he could do much but you felt much better for the time being at least

The next time it happened Grim found you in an empty hallway cornered by three Savannaclaw guys

You were trying to put up a brave face but it was obvious to Grim that you were scared

"Get away from my henchman!"

Grim charged at the three butting at their ankles

"It's the little beast!" One of them laughed

"Scram, this has nothing to do with you." Another pushed Grim away with his heel sending the Grim skidding across the floor

"Don't hurt him!" You yelled swinging a fist at the one who had pushed Grim

But he caught your fist before it could make contact

It was useless to fight three to one with guys so much bigger then you anyway

Grim was now outraged and going for their ankles again he bite down hard this time

"Shit! It bite me!"

With the three a good distance away from you now Grim let out a burst of fire

It wasn't enough to harm them but it still had them fleeing

"Grim!" You scooped him up into your arms

"You know you aren't supposed to use magic to fight other students" you scolded

The way you were hugging him and even giving him more then enough tuna that night let him know you weren't really angry at all

As you settled into Twisted Wonderland it became rare that anyone sought out you for malicious intent

But everytime they did Grim was right there to scare them off

[wild-ride-to-headcanons]

Hi, I’m on around 30 minutes of sleep at the moment, and I think it’s time to give team Prime their height, and vehicle modes, and a rough idea on their age and what they did before the war. (This includes all team Prime through the entire show dead or alive.)

Ok before I begin, just to let people know, I haven’t put much thought into this and am very tired but can’t see to sleep until I get this out. If you want to see more then check out my post I did on the Rescue bots. Also some of the heights that I find will be slightly added onto or rounded up, if deemed necessary.

Let’s Roll on, shall we!

Optimus Prime: the big guy himself, second oldest on the team. He is of course an old Peterbilt, I based him of a peterbilt 379. It’s difficult for me to find his height on this because I could add the trailer making him tall or just the truck. As just the truck he’d be short close to 10 or 11 feet, which obviously doesn’t fit the Prime. (Though it’d be funny). With the trailer he’d be around 50 feet which is a better size for him, but the trailer is not apart of his body which is why I’m hesitant to use its length. Though I guess we could use some G1 magic.

Ratchet: the good old doctor of doom (dramatic Megatron go brrr) he’s obviously the oldest of the team, mostly likely an elder by cybertronian standards. I’d say he’s a type 3 ambulance, making him around 23 feet. Not Prime big, but a decent size.

Arcee: before UltraMagnus and Wheeljack showed up, she was the third oldest on the team (not much older than Bulk tho). Unfortunately for her she’s the smallest. I chose a fast motorcycle for her, a dodge tomahawk, the fastest motorcycle in the world (according to google). Now onto her size, I’m sorry but she’s around 10 feet tall😭.

Bulkhead: the wrecker himself! Good old Bulk is 4th in age at the start of the series but at the end, he’s forced to 6th place for age. So we can go the jeep route like Prime did, making him around 20 feet tall. Though we could go the animated route and make him some sort of armored vehicle, likely military. If he went that route I’d say he’s around, 25 ft, I know not much bigger.

Bumblebee: Ah the good old scout, the youngest of the bots throughout the whole series. He probably has the most iconic vehicles mode of all the bots, making him easy to pick for. I looked it up and they said in one of the movies he was a slightly modified 2011 Camaro SS. This would make Bee around 16 feet tall.

Wheeljack: Ah yes Jackie, best friend of Bulk, tormentor of Ratchet. When he joins the team full time, head around the third oldest (a bit older than Magnus) as for his vehicle form, that was slightly tricky to pick. Idk what car he his, so imma choose a new one or similar one. Ok, so the 2017 Ford GT does look close to his car in the show. This would make him around 17 feet, so around Bee’s height.

SmokeScreen: the good old rookie, he’s the second youngest on the team (only slightly older than bee). He be a speedy boi, so he need a fast car. I was going to pick the fastest car in the world but, another fit his alt in the show. That would be the Hennessy Venom F5, this would make him around (technically 15) but I’m going to add a couple feet making him around 20 ft.

UltraMagnus: this rule dude was easy to decide for, when he joins he’d the 4th oldest on the team. As for his alt mode, he chose what Prime had before the upgrade. He’d be around 53 ft.

Cliffjumper: poor boi, he deserves much better. When he was alive he was between Bull and Arcee’s age. His alt mode was a 1964 Pontiac GTO. This alt would’ve made him around 18 feet tall.

Yay finally done with all that stuff, let’s get into what they were before the war.

Optimus: he was of course Orion Pax before the war, a simple data clerk.

Ratchet: he was a doctor, though less experienced than he is now.

Magnus: he was in the Elite guard.

Arcee: idk about her, she’s difficult to tell. Maybe a racer or was in the entertainment business (I know stranger for this Arcee, but it’s clear that she’s very war torn, so she could have changed a bit.)

Jackie: he was most definitely and scientists/ engineer before the war.

Bulk: he said it himself, he was in construction.

Cliff: now we don’t get a lot about him, but I think it’s be a funny nod to his first VA (DWAYNE THE ROCK JHONSON!) that he was either a wrestler or an actor, or perhaps both.

SmokeScreen: was still in the Academy to become an Elite guardsman.

Bee: like Smokey, he was still in school, though I’d say he was around a high school senior before the war broke out.

Now that all for now, I might make a post about the human either together or separately. Also I plan on making Jasper a lot more lively than it is in the show.

[encooks]

(This post was written on le 3rd Oktober)

Peace! Wassup? Yes. I'm here again to sprinkle some confetti on your day. Teehee~

So, this dish (the one above this text) was cooked on the 16th July.

It was probably my 2nd or 3rd time making it. Its a traditional meal that is on my top 5 favorite traditional foods list. Now let me teach you how to make it:

Also, you start with picking the right Aletria/Vermicelli pasta. This is tricky. Mom tested a few Marken and apparently one that's 500g in a yellow back from our local Egyptian shop won her favor. We use 1 Kg (two 500g packs) of that for our household. Another Marke ist die von Lidl. It has 4 or 6 spirals of vermicelli. That one though requires the cook to break it in order to have it ready for this particular dish, but who hates extra work?? 😭

After picking your vermicelli, you put it in a nice bowle and take some oil (usually sunflower oil) and mix it well. Don't oil it too much, but just enough to avoid having it stick together when cooking it. Next you need to get yourself the two-story pot. You put in the lower pot some water and allow the oiled vermicelli to take in some of the steam for around 10 mins. Don't forget to mix it ab und zu in those 10 mins to not allow it to stick!

Meanwhile you can start with the "Bısla" (the onion with chickpea sauce-like thing) by getting another pot and chop some onions in it. The onions chopping for this is called "wings". You chop them like wings... not too thin and not too thick. Now the trick here is that onions, when simmered and wilted, they reduce in size. This is normal and we don't hate them for it. But what we can do to avoid having too little Bısla is to use lots of onions for it. Use more onions. The more the better. For example: I used for this one 4 big onions and 6 medium sized ones. This was enough for my family so experiment and see what amount works best. Now quickly add a handful (one hand and not too full LOL) of chickpeas. I'll tell you how I prefer my chickpeas in another post, but for now, round clean chickpeas shall do. Now a little bit of water and allow it to sit on the lowest head you possible can and go back to your main star of the day...

The 10 mins should be up. Now you remove it from le waters and start working the magical tomato sauce. I am not a big fan of red dishes tbh but I allow this one once a week since I like it lol

You remove the water in the lower pot and add sunflower oil, meat (the bigger the meat chunks the better and I'll tell u why later), spices: Curcum (a spoonful), medium sized cinnamon stick, 3 pieces Nelke, maybe star anise (i never tried it but i assume it'll give it good flavour), Rosmarin (its so good...), one medium sized onion (do not chop it!!! Just remove the outer layer, wash and add it! No cutting. Leave it round and cute). Finally: two or one pieces of pepper! For spice... oh and red chili powder. I have no room for experimenting here tbh but i sometimes add the 7-spices mix thing just because it gives it a good kick.

Now mix it all and let the two peppers gut braten mit dem Fleisch. Don't make them turn black like me... I'm not a good pepper brater. YET! Ok. Now, when your pepper is well gebraten and looks brownish, remove it on a separate plate and get your concentrated tomato paste and add 2 full big table spoons. Yes. Thats right. A lot is good in this case!

Now let it all sizzle nicely with the meat and when you notice the color of the tomato paste changing and becoming less red, add water to the mixture. Its better to add normal temp water cuz boiling water will change the color of the meat and we want to save the color to be nice and... meaty. And not too brownish... the explanation of this sounded better in my head...

Moving on: You let the vermicelli cook on top of the pot with the red sauce. After around 15 mins you put the half-cooked vermicelli in a big round bowel and you scoop away the fat emulsions from the red sauce and add them into the vermicelli. You mix it well and put a few more oils scoops. Then you put it back to cook. After 30 or 35 mins you redo that but this time you scoop some sauce (it needs to be the water only without any spice pieces like the cinnamon bar or little leaves... you repeat this 3 or 4 time or even 5 times. Its called "Gießen" lol.

In the mean time you need to check on the onions pot. Also, don't forget to add a good big spoon of salt in the sauce before you water the vermicelli.

You keep that cooking for an hour and a half till the meat is cooked. check on the water in the soup that it doesn't drain. The soups' only purpose is to let the meat cook and to feed the vermicelli. Thats it.

Then you serve it in a big round bowel. You put the cooked vermicelli first. Add the cute onion Bısla on top and then the meat chunks. Why bigger meat the better? Cuz it looks cuter LOL

Garnish with the hopefully not burned peppers and guten Appetit~

This big plate of love and protein Fasern here was made by yours truly on the 19th of July. It was so much caramelized goodness with potato and flavor.

I was a bit disappointed with the meat texture and only because I added a little bit of water in there. Which was a beginners mistake but we learn from it and move on. Regardless of that, it was happily devoured UvU