#i wish i started drawing more planned arts and not random one like this

[gomosmorodina]

:^(

[pyr0-kai]

Could you maybe write a mike x reader that the reader has a crush on Mike for a long time now secretly but dont dare tell him because she just can't is too shy and Abby helps reader and Mike to find together with her drawings since she noticed how they look at each other every time but no one says anything and maybe with just fluffy please. The reader knows mike a long time and knows what he is going through and Mike did become distance from the reader but the reader is still here for him when he needs it too.. And they kiss too :)

Hiiii, thank you for my first official request!! I hope you like it!

There shouldn’t be anything to spoiler-y just some tooth rotting fluff and bad writing!! (And one spicy reference ish? Nothing too bad)

Also So sorry, my art class was watching the little mermaid today so its been in the back of my mind.

Abby, The Little Matchmaker

You had moved in next door to the Schmidt house a few years ago. Mike was watched out the window the day you moved in, while eating breakfast with Abby one morning. He saw you outside of the window, and he wasn’t trying to stare, but ended up staring at your driveway, watching you bring in and out boxes of stuff from one of those large moving trucks. Abby finished a little doodle before looking up, seeing her big brother staring. When Abby spoke up, he zapped out of his little trance.

As a lot of time had passed you had gotten to know him somewhat well. Sometimes he would talk with you from the other side of your fence, or you two would sit on the curb or one of your porches together and just chat about random stuff. As he became more focused on his work, trying and failing to keep a good few job, he slowly began to, unintentionally, become distant. No longer speaking to you directly. But he still would watch you from the window of his kitchen if he saw you pretty [hair color] flash in the corner of his vision. Often seeing you playing with your younger sibling, or younger family members.

Once he landed the job at Freddy’s, he knew he would need help. And you were the best and only person he could really think to ask. It was awkward but, you agreed. Excited to officially meet his little sister, and hopefully see more of him once again. Thats how you ended up watching over Abby once he started working late nights.

Abby was very shy at first, but as time past, and you spent more time at the Schmidt house, she began to open up a bit, talking more and inviting you to draw with her. She also noticed though, how awkward you were with Mike. How you two both seemed to like each other a lot, but it was strange.

One evening however, it was just you and Abby. One of her favorite movies, The Little Mermaid was playing in the background, and she was drawing. Not looking up from the paper, she spoke.

“Hey, [Y/N]?”

“Yeah Abby? Whats up?”

“Do you like my brother? I mean, Like-Like him?”

Your face flustered at that question.

“N-Not like that no… We are just friends really.” You replied, voice cracking a bit.

She turns her head and looks at you.

“Oh really? At dinner sometimes when I mention you, he always says you’re pretty and appreciates you being friends and taking care of me at night. Also, sometimes when i’m not asleep yet, I hear weird noises, and your name coming from his room.”

She notices your face and how red it gets from hearing her speak. She knew you had a crush on him, no matter how much you tried to deny it. Then she turned her head back, smirked to to herself and grabbed a new piece of paper, before heading back into her room, to plan.

Later, Mike invited you to stay for breakfast. He was cooking up some slightly burnt scrambled eggs while you were tapping your nails on the kitchen table. After what Abby had told you, it became even more difficult to talk to him.

Abby came out of her room a few minutes later, a piece of folded paper in her pj pocket. She sat at the table, across from you, wishing you and Mike a good morning. You 3 ate Mike’s slightly burnt food, as Abby told you about a project she’s excited to start at school. Once the food was done, and the dishes were put in the sink, Abby perked up again.

“I drew this for both pf you! Don’t open it until I’m back in my room please!”

You and Mike both nodded as she dashed off into her room to get ready for school. You stood next to Mike as he unfolded the sheet of paper. The inside revealing a picture of You, Mike, And Abby, all happily hugging. You and Mike looked at each other, admiring each other’s eyes. Before you both heard Kiss the girl, from The Little Mermaid start playing from the Cassette player in Abby’s room.

You two both looked at each other, the paper still in Mike’s hand.

“Did Abby tell you that I like you?” He asked.

“Yeah, did she say that I like you..?”

You replied.

But you’re dying to try

You wanna kiss the girl

Yes, you want her

The song played, while you and mike looked each other. He gulped before leaning in slightly for a kiss, and you met his lips halfway. The kiss was everything you both wanted, soft, loving and passionate.

“I love you…”

He spoke.

“I love you too…”

You replied.

The song ended from Abbys room, and you both heard her shout

“I KNEW IT!”

You and Mike both laughed before he pulled you into a tight hug. To this very day, the specific picture Abby drew is framed and sits on a shelf. She draws all 3 of you together much more, loving how happy it makes you all. This always ends with a group hug, as well as you and mike sharing a loving kiss.

[choicesficwriterscreations]

January Creator of the Month: Jerzwriter

Each month, CFWC highlights one of our talented fanfic writers or artists, and this month’s creator of the month is CFWC's own @jerzwriter.  The writer is selected at random. More info can be found on the navigation page.

Quick Links:

Tumblr Blog Complete Masterlist

How do you want to be known on Tumblr? 

Elsa

More below...

1- When did you start playing Choices? What was the first book you played? 

It was sometime in 2017, and the first book I ever played was The Royal Romance, Book 1.

2- When and why did you join Choices fandom?

I joined a couple Facebook groups in 2019. I just wanted to discuss stories with others who were interested, as no one in my real life reads Choices. I didn't even know I was entering a fandom. lol I started reading fanfic on Tumblr the following year, but I found Tumblr intimidating, so I was mostly a silent reader. I didn’t start writing and contributing until May 2021, mostly because Open Heart was ending and I was in denial. 🙂

3- How did you pick your blog name? 

It’s pretty boring, actually. I’m from NJ, and I write. I wanted it to be JerZwriter, so people would know it is Jer-ZEE-Writer, but that wasn’t doable, so it’s Jerzwriter, and most think it is Jerz-Writer. Oh, well!  

4- Pull up the first and last posts in your archive, and tell us about them!  

My first post was the first chapter of my Ethan x Casey x Tobias love triangle, Delaying the Inevitable (OH).  It was my very first fanfic and I really didn't think I'd write anything beyond that.  I was so green back then, not only to fanfic but to the fandom as well. I’m really glad that I was naive because I don’t think I would have had the courage to post it if I had, but I’m glad that I did. 

My last post was Falling for You, a little drabble I wrote for Tobias x Casey (OH), and it featured a commission by the talented artist @weetlebeetle. It was a light, fun piece that took place early in Tobias and Casey's relationship, and it shows Tobias at his absolute simpiest. Lol 

5- Do you write fanfiction, create fan art, or are you one of those really gifted people who do both? 

Oh, how I wish I could draw, but I can't.  So, I’m strictly a writer. I may try giving drawing a go again, but I don't expect much to come of it. lol

6- How long have you been creating for Choices and for any other fandoms?

Choices was the first fandom I ever wrote for, and I started in May of 2021.  So, just over two and a half years. I have written a little bit for some other fandoms since that time, but I primarily write for Choices.

7- What is your favorite Choices book, and what is your favorite Choices book to create for?

Tough question.  I write for Open Heart, Crimes of Passion, and Wake the Dead, and they are three of my favorite stories. I also loved Desire & Decorum, but I never wrote for it.  Though, I’m planning a re-read, and you never know. 🙂

8- Share your first Choices fanfic or fan art that you posted with us. Do you still like it, or would you change it if you were creating it today?

It was the first chapter of Delaying the Inevitable. I was so green when I started that series that I’m sure there are things I would change, but I’m still very proud of it.  That series will always have a special place in my heart.  I’d like to revisit it one day to “clean it up”, it could use some condensing. But I would never change the storyline.

9- What is your favorite piece of fiction or art that you created? 

This is such an unfair question. lol The Delaying the Inevitable Series definitely comes to mind, but I’m also very proud of my Eli Sipes prequel stories, A Mother’s Journal, Coming Up Blank, and The End of the World. But Tobias and Casey are my favorite pairing, and I simply love the world I created for them. And while my headcanon for them is my favorite, I cannot pick just one fic for them, and I'm not going to! lol But, I've also written a bunch of AUs for them, and Friends* is one of my favorites.

10- Do you have a fic/art that you didn’t expect to be well received, but it was? What about one you expected to do well but found it could use a little more love?

Yes, to both! The fandom is much smaller today, but back when we were more active, I learned you couldn't predict how a fic would be received.  There are too many to name, but I will say whenever my smut does well (and quite a few of them have), I’m always astounded. lol 

11-  If you could write only angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why? 

This is such a difficult question because I believe the best stories incorporate a little of each, and, as a writer, exploring all three helps spur creativity. Also, my absolute favorite is angst with a happy ending, so there is definitely some fluff in there (and I'm never mad at a little smut being thrown in!) But if I were forced to choose, it would probably be angst.  I think that's where I am strongest, and I just love raw emotion. I think that’s where character development really occurs. I have not written as much angst recently, and I miss it.  Perhaps I need a change in 2024. 

12 - Do you ever recognize yourself in any of your MCs or in your writing?

There are definitely parts of me in my MCs and OCs, but I do my best to prevent them from becoming self-inserts.  I'm not as cool as any of them, that's for sure! lol That said, I do find inspiration for my fics in real life, so there is bound to be a little crossover. When using real-life inspiration, I try to change details so that the fiction is not a carbon copy of the real-life event. Normally, by the time I'm done, they're hardly recognizable.

13 - What element of writing/art do you struggle with most? Where do you feel you are strongest?

I struggle most with setting a scene. Dialogue is my strong suit, and that just flows for me. It flows so much that sometimes I forget to describe what's going on around the conversation. I think this is particularly easy to do in fanfiction because so much of the "world" has already been provided for us, so I recognize this more when I'm writing original works.

The other thing I struggle with? Brevity. I know I can go on, and on, and on. lol I've gotten much better at this, but there is still room for improvement.

14 - Do you have any neglected work you really want to finish?

(Elsa leaves the room, quietly crawls under her desk, and hides…) YES!!! Far, far too many, and no matter how much I share those posts that say, "You don't have to finish! If you're not feeling it, move on!" I don't believe it! lol I really want to make wrapping them up a priority in 2024.  But I also know writing - particularly good writing - cannot be forced.  So, it's a goal, but I'll only do it if I feel it’s right. 

15 - If someone you know in real life (who isn’t involved in fandoms) asked to see your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you show them first? 

It would depend on who asked.  I’m not ashamed of writing fanfic at all, but if I believed the person would be judgemental, I wouldn't be willing to share.  A few of my friends have read select pieces of my fanfic, and I’ve always received positive feedback from them. I wouldn’t be opposed to sharing more.  What I'd share would depend greatly on the person asking.

16 - Are there any writers (published authors and/or fanfic writers) who influenced your writing or art? Are there any artists that influence you?

There are many published writers that I admire, but I don’t think they've influenced my writing here. Within the fandom, there are many writers who have inspired me in different ways. There is no way I can ever name them all. But I'd like to give a shout-out to some.

@jamespotterthefirst and @bex-la-get were among the first writers I read when I joined Tumblr. I found their passion for both canon and the worlds they created inspiring, especially as Open Heart was nearing its end and all of us addicts needed our fill. Reading their works helped keep the story alive for me and so many others, and it inspired me to try my hand at it as well. To my shock, they were both so encouraging and supportive of me when I arrived, and I'm forever grateful. Back then, I thought they were rockstars - and they are! But now, they're also friends. I wasn't familiar with @alwaysmychoices from the start, but when I came across their work, I was just blown away.  Weekend with Dr. Ramsey will live rent-free in my head forever, and that headcanon about Charlie calling Ethan the night before she marries someone else. (I faint.) Ohhh, the delicious angst! The way she made me feel what Charlie felt was just mind-boggling, and it encouraged me to really dig into my character's emotions and bring them to life in a more meaningful way.

Early on, I read @utterlyinevitable, and the thing that impressed me the most was how Dom was willing to "write stories that “went "go there.”  They tackled issues that others wouldn't touch.  In their world, everything wasn’t perfect, including the characters themselves. I admired that vision and, frankly, bravery, and it definitely encouraged me to write what I wanted to and not what I felt was expected of me.

More recently, @mydemonsdrivealimo inspired me to explore parts of my MCs that I have not delved into in the past.  In particular, Casey's bisexuality. It can be challenging to represent a bisexual character when they are in a straight-presenting relationship, and you risk alienating readers no matter what you do (looking at all readers here.) So it becomes easier to be lazy and ignore it. But that's a disservice to the character as much as it's a disservice to people living similar situations in real life... like I have many times. Through MJ's writing and our conversations, they've helped me become more aware and do a better job in this regard, and I'm not even sure if they know this - it may totally be news to them lol - but I'm eternally grateful. Now, I feel my girl Casey is free, and OMG, how I love our characters playing together in HC now!

Then there are @lilyoffandoms and @storyofmychoices, who bring joy to all that they touch. Who knew when Lily created a little drabble putting our characters in a new world together, it would end up being one of the brightest fandom spots of 2023? Who knew that so much more would stem from that one work? Seriously, it's been one of the highlights of my fandom experience this year, and it's helped me to find inspiration at times when I felt like it was lost. Thank you both - I am so lucky to have you both here!

There are so many more I could mention, but I'd still forget people and feel horrible, so I want to take the chance to thank every writer in the fandom for sharing their gifts with us. Each of you is an inspiration in your own way; each of you can give someone an idea, and you have no idea where that spark will lead. So, never stop sharing!

17-  Which one of your stories would you most like to see as a movie/series? 

Delaying the Inevitable, Friends*, All in the Past, and the WIP What’s Forever For. I also think some of my Ethan x Tobias works would have made for a good sitcom, and how I wish my Tobias x Casey friendship with Bryce x Jensen would be an epic sitcom. The world needs it! lol   (Jensen belongs to @mydemonsdrivealimo.)

19- Do you write original fiction or create non-fandom art? 

I do. Mostly shorter stories that will never see the light of day, but also some more substantive works... which will also never see the light of day! lol I wrote a novel-length political thriller some time ago. It would need a ton of work to bring it up to 2024, as the political landscape has changed so much. I also have two original WIPs I've been writing. One is an angsty story about a friendship that's loosely based on a childhood friend I lost to cancer a few years ago.  The other is a polyamorous romance about two best friends who fall for the same person. It's really a beautiful, emotional story. If I like the end result, maybe I'll let it see the light of day... maybe. lol

20-  What other hobbies do you have?

I enjoy theater, and I'm lucky enough to live in the best part of the world to partake in that.  I go to a lot of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and local theater productions. I also love going to concerts - they’re like group therapy! Trust me, I got more out of seeing Noah Kahan and Hozier in 2023 than I did from the entirety of sessions with my therapist - and I loved my therapist. lol

Prior to 2020, I did a fair amount of traveling, and I hope to start doing a little more this year.  But I have to admit, since the lockdown, I’ve become more of a homebody, and I like it, so we’ll see how that goes! 

I used to be very involved with activism and advocacy for women’s, lgbtq+, and mental health issues. I still am, but in a different capacity than I was in the past. These issues require people fighting for them, and doing so has always been a huge part of who I am, but it can be draining, and burnout is real. I really reached the end of my rope. So, nowadays, I work as a volunteer for a couple local organizations that really mean a lot to me. I'm not involved in grassroots efforts or taking trips to talk to legislators as often, but I'm helping people on a smaller scale, and that still goes a long, long way.

22: BONUS - tell us anything you’d like (if you want to).

As most of you know, I’m one of the mods here at CFWC, so it was a little weird when my the wheel landed on my name.  But, honestly, it’s happened before, and I've just spun again, even though I am eligible. But this time around, I decided to do it. This fandom really means a lot to me, and I wanted to share a little more about myself and my crazy pixelated people.

I'm truly grateful to everyone in the fandom who does their part to make this a place that many, like me, still see as a place they want to be. We're smaller, it's imperfect, it has plenty of problems, but I am choosing to focus on the good... because there is much more of that than there is bad. So, thank you to each of you... and I hope we all have a wonderful 2024! xo

PS... My header... I know Tobias wasn't technically an LI... which was truly criminal. So, that's what fandom is for, fixing what canon effed up. lol My favorite canon LI is Trystan Thorne (COP). I tried adding their picture to the header alongside Tobias, but it looked terrible, so here I am. :)

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I can't wait to highlight more of you in 2024! :)

[niuniente]

Genuine question: how are you able to produce a coherent story while doing it on the fly? I've never been able to manage that. Do you have any tips? Is it a skill that can be learned and practiced?

I wish I knew! Working freely and improvising is really something which I have always done in creative works - school and education included, all to my teachers' horrors - and it just works for me. The more freedom, the better I work. I absolutely wither as a person, if I don't have freedom in my life.

I know my method doesn't work for everyone but here are a few tips if you want to try more freestyle way, or take creating easier. Of course, this doesn't really work in commercial work where you have employers, clients and deadlines but you can take some of these into such a world, too.

You don't need to know everything One of the core elements for freer creativity is to accept and live with the fact that you don't need to know everything. No, even if it's your OC. No, even if it's your world-building. No, even if it's your own idea you are working on/with. You only need a basic red line, a basic concept and then allow it to unfold naturally over time. The very same way as if you would move to a new place, start a new job, start studies in a new school, befriend new people. You do not know everything about any of these from the day one. You get involved more and more into them as the time flies by. You CAN approach your creative work like that, too. Have a new OC? Great, he/she/they/it is a new acquaintance! You don't usually know about acquaintances more than their name and looks in real life, so why should you know about this just met character of yours any more than that? Let them tell you who they are. Befriend with them (and realize some characters befriend with you easier than others). There's no hurry. "I don't know" is always a valid answer.

Don't immediately plan everything till its end This gives you freedom to allow the characters, story elements etc. to merge with each other peacefully and you can always revisit your earlier plans/thoughts and chance them. If you have already set into the stone your character's whole life with all possible quirks from birth to death, leaving nothing out - well, good luck with trying to fit that into your story. The characters tend to have their own agendas, wishes and quirks aside from your plans and wishes. The more you treat them as you would treat a living, breathing human being and take the journey as "I'm learning to know knew people", the better.

Don't assume. Explore. Allow. This goes together with the above tips but genuinely? Don't assume anything. The basic line works. "This is a story of a boy who befriends with an alien". That's it. That's all. You can start working with this idea. Details will follow later. Allow the stories come to you. There's no need to worry if it's worth of your time or attention. If you like it, if it comes to you as inspiration, go for it! See what comes out. Resting is very important to allow your mind to come up with ideas.

Get inspired! See how others do things and what they do! Get inspired! It is really great to see how others do things as everyone has an unique way of doing whatever they do. All sources are fine for inspiration! It doesn't mean that if you draw, only art can be your inspirational source. It can be books, nature, history, religion, societies, fashion, modern art, cave art, poem, food, stickers, countries, colors, shapes, crafting, mood boards, music. It can be your own experiences, wishes, dreams. It can be other people, their wishes, experiences, their looks and life experience. It can be an event in your life which made its mark on you. Damn, I've gotten inspiration from a random car register plate, too! The more you allow yourself to be inspired - and KILL THE CRINGE, IN THIS FUCKING HOUSE NOTHING IS CRINGE AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY OTHERS' APPROVAL BY DENYING YOURSELF AND WHAT FUCKING INSPIRES YOU - the more freely you can create.

Respect your own inspiration Everything is already done. It's fine. Repeating trophies are what make creative people successful. Would you listen to your favorite band/artist if they changed their style completely? Do you moan that your favorite author or a comic artist did again similar stuff? Do we write hate letters to Stephen King or Neil Gaiman, that "Damn man, write something else! Again this same shit with tropes X, Y and O!" Whatever inspires you, inspires you. Whatever tropes you want to use, use them. No hesitation!

Not everything is for everyone You don't need to please everyone. Please the audience who is naturally pleased with what you do. Don't try to brake the code for success and analyze what you should do. Do whatever the hell you want.

Be Punk Genuinely, have a punk attitude towards arts and writing or whatever you do. Punk's original idea is that anyone can create. Literally anyone. The punk's fashion idea came from the 70's where bands did their own outfits and music - no matter what the quality - and their fans followed. Everything was supposed to be available for everyone; look, I'm a band artist, I painted this shirt's logo with red paint on my living room floor with a dollar brush - you can do it, too! Punk never asks if what I have created is good enough or am I good enough to do this. Fuck it! You want to play guitar, play it, however the hell you play it! You want to do crafts? Great, go for it! You want to try to make a cosplay outfit! Awesome, I wish you all the best! As long as you create, that matters. It never needs to be perfect or done the way that you're "supposed to" do it. A story driven comic without backgrounds? Ah, blasphemy! How about I do it anyway because who is stopping me, the Comic Police? Also, be kind to others who create, include those who are not at your level. Your inner punk rebel should always be giving hand and support to those who are starting (or who aren't or will be at your level, if you are super pro). Kiss the art elitism's ass and bite a good chunk out of it! In your household, art should be done with any equipment, with any method and you do not need polished art of the fanciest equipment (albeit some things do make creativity easier - if you can afford them, then by all means, you them).

It's not that deep - unless you wish it Your creations don't need to be deep, have any strong message, dive into current societal or political issues if you don't want to do that. Your story can be a story of a boy who befriends with an alien, and together they explore society's gender norms, but it can also be a story were the boy and the alien just play in the mud and eat ice-cream. Every story has its audience and you should be THE Audience number 1.

I hope these help! Most important thing is to find your own way to work, explore freely and allow yourself to be whatever you be and create whatever speaks to your heart's language.

[love-kurdt]

Swooping, Sloping, Cursive Letters: 5

word count: 578

PLEASE READ THIS IS ME TRYING FIRST, AS THIS STORY RELIES HEAVILY UPON THE CONTEXT OF TIMT

October 3, 1987

Dear Will,

Why does loving you feel so wrong, yet so right? It seems like for every thought I have about you, another comes to bite me in the ass. I wish I could just think about you in peace without all of the shame. But at the same time, I know it isn’t normal for me to like you, to love you, to want you. I’m usually able to stop my mind from wandering into that territory, but there’s something about you that is making it more and more difficult for me to resist those thoughts from entering my head. I think the main culprit is your shoulders. Yes, I said it. I am attracted to your shoulders. Specifically when you wear your polo shirts that are a size or two too small and hug your upper body a little too tightly. Or when you steal my leather jacket and shove it on, and it accentuates your arms, rather than making them disappear like it does to mine. You’re so attractive, it’s actually crazy. I think my brain needs to catch up to my heart. Because my heart is thriving, but my brain is a killjoy.

On another (less horny) note, it feels amazing to have you back in school again. I meant it when I told you that Hawkins wasn’t the same without you. I wasn’t the same without you. But now I have you. As a friend, of course. Obviously. And that’s totally okay. Because now, walking through the hallways doesn’t feel so lonely. Now, when someone says something funny, I’m able to turn and see your reaction. Now, I can put effort into my English notes again, because someone never reads the assigned chapters. And now, I’m not going to fail art!

Speaking of, I might have run out of space in my binder of your art. So I had to run to Melvald’s to pick up another one. Your mom had so many questions, and I was a stuttering mess for literally no reason. I ended up telling her it was for an English project, which was a stupid idea, because I momentarily blanked and failed to remember that we’re in the same class. Your mom got all wound up like she usually does and sent me off with a second binder to drop off at your house on her behalf, because she didn’t know we had a “project” due. I was so embarrassed, standing in your doorway and watching your face morph from surprise to confusion, then to amusement. But seeing you laugh at my idiocy made it all the more worth it. And now you have a random binder in your possession that is definitely not for an English project. I hope you find some use for it.

When I got home, I started putting your newer drawings in the second binder, and kind of spent an hour staring at and analyzing them when I should have been doing homework. So your notes for the next few chapters of The Grapes of Wrath probably won’t be too detailed this time around… sorry. I can’t help that I’m completely obsessed with you. I should probably get to those notes, though, before I forget to take them altogether. Plus, we have plans to ride bikes to school early so we can work on our next campaign, and this overdramatic paladin needs his beauty rest.

I’ll see you tomorrow.

Love,

Mike

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[tetrakys]

I'm sorry it's been a hot minute since I interacted with the fandom but what is happening with Eldarya??? Also what is call of the dragon?? 👀

Oh boy anon... where to start?!

Let me try to draw a timeline...

1. The company decided to cut Eldarya in two seasons, move Lance's introduction as LI to season 2, remove other LIs and give the game to another creator since around episode 22 of TO. Since then Chino has stopped working on Eldarya and, this is my personal opinion, the person who took over had no interest in romance because since then the only romantic interactions we've had in Eldarya have been a few random sex scenes. No deep dialogues, no dates, no cuddling, not even kissing except maybe one or two exceptions and this has continued all the way through season 2.

2. In March 2021 the company hosting Beemoov's servers in Europe caught fire. Beemoov's servers were destroyed, fortunately most backups were in another building so all their games and accounts were saved except for... you guess it, Eldarya. All European language accounts were lost and the american and brazillian servers were the only ones who got spared. We all lost our accounts and the company had to come up with a way to bring people back to the game. They created a new free currency for TO and opened a shop for a few months. This led to the first season becoming completely unprofitable, plus lots of people never came back since then. Mostly old players who used to spend money on their collections.

3. New games started to be developped, Uncoven and Henri's Secret season 2. The "new" Eldarya creator went off to write Uncoven at the same time as still being theoretically in charge of Eldarya. The company started to recycle events mechanics both in MCL and Eldarya so everyone has been unhappy with events in both games because they are extremely repetitive since basically two years.

4. ANE's writing has gone more and more downhill. It'd started decently but because the writer was new and had no idea what happened in TO nor what were Chino's characters backhrounds and history, the story is full of plot holes, contraddicting things all the time and all the characters' personalities have changed. It reads like a different game.

5. Lots of people have left, very few are playing the game at this point, and even less are spending money on it, so it's very very obvious that the company is just letting it die, the game is often bugged and the art quality is a hit or miss. Only 2 episodes are left at this point. Fans who still cling to it are angry. Fans who abandoned are sad. No one wants to play ANE anymore but lots of people wish there was a revamp of the game once ANE ends, with good writing and art. However, because the game isn't making money right now the company won't invest in something that is not profitable.

This is it I think 🤔

About your last question, Eldarya: the Dragon's Call is a story I'm writing and publishing on my AO3. The main plot is Chinomiko's and we brainstorm together all events and characters' backgrounds and personalities. This is the story of Lance's route and Valkyon’s routes if she were to make Alternate Eldarya games. Because at the moment this isn't planned I asked her if I could write it and share it with people and she kidly said yes. If the company ever decides to make Alternate Eldarya games I will delete it. If you want to read this story, links are in the pinned post in my blog, I've released 4 chapters so far and the 5th is coming this weekend ☺️

[frodo-with-glasses]

✨ Happy Birthday Frodo-with-Glasses! ✨

He’s gonna kill him.

One year ago today, on December 7th, 2021, I posted the Frodo-With-Glasses timeline as the official first post of this blog. The blog turns one today! Were it a baby, it would probably be toddling around on its little feet by now, and it would no longer conveniently stay in the same spot you left it.

Y’know how youtubers do that thing where they say “thank you guys so much, I never thought we’d get here”, and all that sentimental nonsense and nobody buys it?? Well, that, but sincerely. When I started out this blog, I expected very, very little to come out of it. I was just re-reading LotR for myself, and live-blogging my reactions and doodles for fun. I never expected my audience to be anything more than just my friends, and maybe a dozen random strangers who found me through them.

Well, one year, 950 posts, a few viral hits, and over 800 followers later, here we are! I don’t think I can overstate how wild it is that this blog grew so quickly in the span of just a year. It’s a marvelous testament to the power of Lord of the Rings—and the love it’s created in this fanbase—that some random moron from Nowheresville, USA can just pop on the internet and start talking about LotR and people will flock to it.

Lord of the Rings has given me hope and courage in what would otherwise be a difficult part of my life. It’s given me the much-needed nudge to venture outside my comfort zone with my art, and because of that, I’ve acquired new skills and improved in leaps and bounds since this time last year. I’ve made new friends, tried new things, and learned so much about art and this book and myself thanks to this blog, and people like you.

Thank you. I mean that sincerely. Though I know more than half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve, you guys are what made this blog what it is. Would I still be posting doodles if you weren’t around? Absolutely! But it’s more fun with you here. So, thank you. ^-^

So what happens next? Well, I still have about half of Return of the King left to go, and a few epilogue-ish comics that I want to draw. After that, I plan to go back through LotR again, reblogging old art that still holds up, redrawing old art that doesn’t, and even drawing new things for parts I neglected (like the Mines of Moria)! I’m hoping to get a shop set up sometime next year so that those of you who wish to own some of my art can do so. And when those projects are completed to my satisfaction, you can expect to see the patented Lady Glasses treatment given to a read-through of The Hobbit, called Bilbo-With-Glasses!

Until then, here’s to you, and here’s to one year of Frodo-With-Glasses, and hopefully many more!

[leviathansartstudio]

It's ya boi back at it again with some random ramblings about TSAMS

This time it's a throw back to my Ruin pieces and when Reed and Davis called my Lunar design cool, I wish to reach that peak again but it's hard when I have to combine 10 designs into one that looks more like the new design lmfao.

Also if anyone for some reason had questions about each piece: Yes I forgot to give everyone exposed wiring, Yes I started getting lazy with them and it shows, Yes the cats in Sun's piece is Comet and Bear as I didn't know Midnight existed, No I didn't have a single bit of lore planned when I made them and if I did I don't fully remember it, Yes in the background of Moon's piece there are drawings and doodles of Blood Moon, Sun, Lunar, Moon, and even Eclipse, No my New Moon design doesn't have one red and a blue eye (Old had pure red, New had pure blue, take the hint lol), and finally Yes I will be redrawing them to give them the justice they deserve because Lord all mighty they look like shit compared to my new art

Also also, Have a old sketch of the AI's so y'all can get a better look at them (I did have a plan for the newer AI but never sketched it since it's just the combination of these guys

Just realized that in the Ruin Moon piece one of the AI's is bald but in that piece I gave him a hat, God damnit

[albatmobile]

The Art of Rehabilitating Snowbirds Chapter 3

𓅪 After not hearing from Roy or Jason for five years, you suddenly find yourself taking in extra income as a babysitter for Roy and Jason's child.

𓅪 Rated: M | TW: addiction mention | 6.5k fem!Reader x Jason Todd x Roy Harper [masterlist]

Chapter Three: Work is Easy...| ao3 - wattpad

You show up two minutes after the set time even though you’ve been waiting in the parking lot for fifteen minutes. After calculating how long it'd take you to walk up, you decided on an inconspicuous four minutes before the expected time to start your trek up to their apartment.

Definitely not overthinking anything or overreacting in any way. You? No way. Not at all.

The building is as shitty as your freshman year college dorm with dulled, florescent-lit hallways, though you expect just as much, seeing as you pulled up to the slums of Gotham.

While some people are scattered about the hallways, no one seems to pay you much mind. It’s a relief because now you're now free to worry in peace. Not to mention, the last thing you want to do is draw too much attention to yourself on this side of town.

Even though you’d grown up in the area, you can never be too cautious.

You know as soon as you reach the address that it’s theirs. The door is covered in gaudy shit like a flower wreath, complete with a sign that reads ‘Bless this Apartment’ with angels around it. 

You internally gag at the horrid decor and wonder if it truly is just Roy, Jason and a kid.

What, do they have a minivan now, too, or something?

You check your clock to see that you’re right on time, so you send Damian a quick message to let him know you’ve arrived and take a deep breath.

Two minutes after your set time and you finally knock on the door.

You don’t have to wait long, seeing as the door opens immediately to reveal an unfamiliar yet familiar face.

God, it’s been so fucking long.

You choke down the random urge to cry and fight the other urge to hug the big-ass doofus in front of you. You have to play it cool.

“I was wondering how long you were gonna stand out there,” Roy leans casually against the door frame with arms way more filled out than you remember. Even as a senior, Roy had muscles, but this? Even through the sleeves of his hoodie, you can see that this is a whole other level of strength.

You don’t understand what Damian meant about Roy's supposed addiction. His face still looks like a typical stoner. Aside from his overgrown stubble, you notice that his kind, gorgeous, light green eyes have changed the most drastically, though you can’t quite place why.

He seems to notice you eyeing him up because he noticeably begins rubbing at his arms. Well, arm, considering he only seems concerned with the right one by the looks of it.

It’s only then that you see the red, wretched-looking scars that reach out from underneath one of his long sleeves. You’re immediately smacked in the face with heat, feeling a blush of embarrassment fan across your cheeks. 

Damian had mentioned addiction, but heroin?

You need to divert attention away from his arms and fast.

“I was just texting someone in case you were actually planning to kill me or some shit.” It's a complete lie, one that makes entirely no sense, but your brain is currently short-circuiting, trying to put new Roy and old Roy together. 

No matter what you do, you can't seem to make sense of the man in front of you.

“Still paranoid, princess?” Roy holds up his hands with a smirk. It’s then you notice that his right hand is black and metallic- just how exactly did you miss that? Roy swiftly shoves it behind his back and you politely continue on like you haven’t noticed.

It seems like you're going to be doing a lot of that today.

A lot has changed.

“No,” You shamefully admit, wishing your blush would fuck the fuck off. Not that Roy’s old nickname for you helped any.

"I’m still not scared of Damian, by the way, so I'm not sure what help he’d be.” Of course he’d know exactly who you'd been texting. “You wanna come in?” He removes his arm from the doorway to motion you inward.

Do you want to come in?

No.

You want to go home and crawl up in your bed and pretend like they hadn't even texted you in the first place.

But you're here.

You look into his eyes hesitantly before nodding. 

You're still trying to make sense of this whole thing and not be awkward at the same time, but you don’t know how when all you want to do is stare at your ex-friend until you memorize every part of his foreign body.

Wait, that sounds wrong. You start over.

You just want to run your hands through his fiery locks to make sure he still smells the same.

Okay, fuck it, you ditch your train of thought entirely before you start blushing again as you brush past him to go inside. You catch a whiff of whatever body wash he'd been using and are extremely disappointed in yourself when it leaves you dizzy upon contact. 

Okay, so he doesn't smell the same exactly, but it's still intoxicating, nonetheless.

“Alrighty then,” He laughs to himself as you continue to take everything in.

It’s completely domestic and you can't help but cringe when you see that the tacky decorations continue inside. 

There’s shit everywhere, including the remains of a pillow fort next to the tv in the living room. In the kitchen, you see the first real evidence of a child: crudely drawn drawings plastered over the cheap fridge.

You nearly miss the artwork, though, through the mess. You're quickly affronted by the sight of plastic plates practically falling out of the trashcan and a sink that’s seemingly disappeared under a pile of petrified dishes.

You gag silently and fight the urge to get on your hands and knees and clean everything in sight.

Roy seems to notice as he runs a sheepish hand through his stringy hair. “Yeah, not exactly the cleanest, but that hasn’t really changed now, has it?”

You nod, thinking back to all those times you had to organize his backpack so that he could find his notes. “I’m more surprised your cleaning habits rubbed off on Jason and not the other way around.”

You and Roy smile at each other, basking in what you know. It’s a safe zone and safe is good. Especially right now when all you want to do is bolt.

You'd known Jason to be as much of a clean freak as you've always been, especially when it came to cooking.

Jason was the only one who never dared to comment on the cleanliness of your apartment the one time he and Roy came over to pick you up. It was a place not even Damian had been to. You were too embarrassed at the time when his house was a whole fucking manor in Bristol and yours was an empty, shitty apartment in The Bowery.

You remembered trying to clean it as best you could, but, just like Jason and Roy's apartment, it was a shithole to begin with, so cleaning only helped so much. Not like your parents were around enough to help out with chores, let alone much of anything else. 

"Yeah, well,” Another sheepish grin from the redhead that leaves your stomach flipping. “Full-time job and kid doesn't exactly leave time to clean,” He shrugs a bit. “Speaking of, let me go grab her.”

Ah, yes. The reason you're here in the first place.

While he's gone, you look around, noticing framed photos of a little girl, who you assume to be their kid, though there's not much else to go by. The place is technically decorated, yet it still feels somewhat impersonal.

Roy returns a few seconds later, hand-in-hand with a dark-haired little girl. Meanwhile, his right, metallic one remains concealed behind his giant back. “Lian, this is,” He pauses briefly after saying your name. “Possibly your new babysitter?”

You crouch a bit, giving her a tiny wave, “It’s nice to meet you, Lian.”

She huddles further into Roy’s muscular side as she shies away from you.

Roy rubs at the back of his head with his prosthetic hand (arm? You couldn’t be sure with the long sleeves) while the other remains on Lian. “She takes a little while to warm up to new people.” He tries to assure you, so you nod, never having interacted with a child for this long before, anyway. You can't help but feel pained with how he refers to you. How are you new when he's the one who went M.I.A.? “Don’t get discouraged.”

You don't have to worry there, Roy, you think humorlessly. After all, you should be used to it by now with them.

“It’s all good,” You say instead of voicing your actual thoughts, giving Lian a thumbs up as you stand back up. “I’m shy sometimes, too,” You admit, causing the girl to meet your eyes for the first time.

Roy clears a seat for you on the couch next to him and Lian. You end up sitting on one side of Roy while she clings to his other side.

The close proximity is enough to leave you gasping for air.

This is too casual. Way too casual for what happened.

“So, you never answered my question from the other night,” His eyebrows wiggle up and down.

“Couldn’t hardly recognize your voice, dipshi-oot,” You barely catch yourself from cursing in front of Lian, who keeps peeking out around Roy’s bicep to get a better look at you.

You give her a tiny smile, but instead of smiling back, she just seeks cover behind her dad again. You wish she'd stop because all it does is draw your attention to those sinful, rippling muscles and once you're looking, it's hard to force your attention away.

“She doesn’t bite, right?” He says your name lowly, inadvertently causing you to shiver. “Maybe not the right reassurance,” He throws a quick wink your way.

You roll your eyes before you can stop yourself, “One-track mind still in full effect, I see.”

Had he seen you checking him out? Oh, god, please say no.

He laughs mirthfully, “You’ve always been fun to tease. Can you blame me?”

“Excuse me,” You and Roy turn to Lian, who speaks up suddenly.

“What’s up, kid?” Roy asks, giving her a pat on her little head.

“I can braid,” She nods your way shyly.

Roy smirks at you, “Oh, yeah. She’s really into braiding right now,” He points to the little braid underneath the rest of his hair.

Lian nods, confirming this, “Your hair is prettier than my dad’s.”

“Okay,” You hesitantly run your fingers through your hair. 

You don't really want a kid to rip it out after you’ve carefully taken the time to dry it properly after your shower earlier. Your want to make a good impression ultimately wins out, though and you slip to the floor in front of Lian to offer her your hair by turning and placing it on her lap.

She gently takes your hair and runs her fingers through it a few times. “You smell nice.” It’s the only warning you get before she’s off, wrestling at the hair she's sectioned off.

“Wow, you’ve got a strong grip there,” You say through gritted teeth as she makes a particularly hard tug.

“She’s very strong, right, Lian?” Roy throws slow, fake punches around her that she dodges with ease.

“I have super ninja strength, probably,” She says as she continues to torment your scalp.

“I can tell,” You nod in agreement. “Superman would be jealous.” You face your head up a bit more so she can see your smirk.

She laughs as she quickly pushes your face back down. “I love Superman and Superboy.”

Kids always like Superman, you internally roll your eyes, but everyone knows that Batman is where it's at.

“They’re alright." You aren’t about to go on a comic book rant to a four-year-old. You hear Roy snort from next to Lian on the couch, but you don’t dare mess up whatever progress she’s made on the braid for fear of having your face pushed down again. “Do you like Batman?” You feel the girl shrug, but you gasp, turning dramatically. “What?!”

“I like Superboy a lot,” She looks at you expectantly.

You turn around to shoot Roy a dirty glance, “This is sacrilege.”

“Glad to know you’re still a nerd,” He sighs with fake exasperation.

You wave him off as your face is pushed down and forced frontward once again by an impatient Lian.

“Stay still.”

You apologize and get back into braiding position with your back pressed up against the couch

“So, are you taking classes?” Roy shifts over more so you can see him without punishment for moving from Lian. He’s counting on his fingers. “You’re 19, right? Sophomore?”

“You’ve been gone for too long.” It’s the first time either of you admits it out loud, but it’s true. The last time you saw him was when you were 15. “No, not a sophomore. Yes, 19, but I'm turning 20 in a few months.” You clarify for seemingly no reason, though you both know exactly why you've said it.

“I hardly doubt you skipped out on college.” You can tell he's trying to piece everything together, so you help him out by further elaborating.

“You already said it,” You sigh, suddenly feeling the weight of this meeting again. “This nerd took all AP courses Junior and Senior year, so I only went to college for one year.”

Roy’s eyes widen at this piece of information. “You already graduated college?”

“Not like I had the money to stick around much longer than that,” You glance away from him with embarrassment. "Y'know, even with the scholarships and all."

Jason and Roy had both grown up around wealth, not that you're able to tell from their tacky apartment now, but what they had available to them back then is still nothing you’ve ever experienced.

“Pesky student loans,” He tries to lighten the mood, but your stomach is already feeling sick with anxiety now that you've dug into the taboo topic.

Luckily, the conversation gets cut short before either of you can make further fools of yourselves.

The door opens suddenly and shuts quietly as Jason slips in without glancing up. 

You and Roy are both silent as Jason comes in and doesn’t seem to notice you, or, more likely, doesn’t want to. 

You watch his movements out of the corner of your eyes from where you sit on the floor. If he's going to ignore you, you definitely have no trouble doing the same. This is how you and Jason end up staring in each other’s general direction with crossed arms, refusing to actually look at each other.

Roy, per usual, breaks up the tension with his shit-singing. “Ah, yes,” He teases with his signature smirk. “Reunited and it feels so good.”

“Hardly,” You insist with a roll of your eyes.

It's a lie, you know that much, but not one you're willing to let them in on.

Lian tugs your head back with strength you're pretty sure no four-something-year-old should have, effectively startling you out of the moment. “The braid.” Is all she says and you nod while you lean back further to try and give her a better angle.

“You still have that scar.” It’s a simple, somewhat off-handed thing to say in all the awkwardness, yet completely how you remembered Jason. It would be the first thing he mentions, seeing as he'd spent years lamenting over how you got it in the first place.

“Yeah, it’s a scar,” You state, obviously not really wanting to get into the encounter that had just recently stopped haunting your dreams. “You'd know all about that, though.” You glance up at his somewhat familiar scars scattered across his cheekbones. It’s too much for you to reminisce, so you change the subject before you can ask yourself why you even want the conversation to continue, “Guess I missed the protein shake diet memo?”

As many elephants as there are in this tiny apartment, one of the smaller ones seemed to be that both Jason and Roy had god-like, insane-looking muscles. You can only imagine what's going on under those clothes, though- NO! No, not doing this, you steel yourself.

Focus.

You notice all the to-go containers lying around, “I’m surprised Jason doesn’t cook for you.”

He shrugs and gestures to where Roy and Lian sit on the couch, “Hard to cook when you have a loving boyfriend and child.”

You scrunch up your nose and don’t realize you have before it’s too late. You blame it on it being hard to see just how much has changed. Well, supposedly, you remind yourself. You still can’t bring yourself to buy this whole lovey-dovey little story they're putting down.

“We were just talking about what she’s been up to,” Roy supplements into the awkward silence that's settled across the room.

You and Jason have always been like oil and vinegar. They may taste pretty good together, but they don’t, and never will, mix.

In the past, you were always at odds and ends with each other, always on each other’s nerves, always testing each other, always pushing each other's limits. You remember now, in this moment, just how exhausting and thrilling it was. 

You're only getting a little taste of it now and you can’t deny a part of you yearns for more of him.

“College, right?” Jason settles into the couch beside Roy with careful steps as he gets closer to you. It's as if he’s scared he’ll startle you off. Or maybe he's too disgusted to be near you. You can’t quite tell after his dramatic entrance.

“I graduated last year,” You fill him in on the AP’s you took after both of them vanished into thin air. “I work freelance programming now, so that’s pretty much it.”

Now on to where the fuck you guys have been, you think to yourself. You glance up at Jason out of the corner of your eyes, watching as he reaches over to ruffle Lian’s hair with familiar ease.

You know the fucker can see you staring, but you don’t care. It almost becomes a challenge to see if he'll meet you head-on.

He does.

Predictable, you think with a barely concealed smirk as you meet his bright green eyes for the first time in years. The smirk quickly falters, though and it becomes difficult to swallow as you feel your anxiety jam itself heavily into your throat at the shared eye contact.

Besides the sounds coming from Lian’s frustration with your hair, it's completely silent as you take each other in.

“I know we both owe you some kind of explanation.”

It's weird seeing how Roy now seems to be the voice of reason throughout this whole ordeal when it always used to be Jason or you.

Things really have changed.

It's just like you've silently feared, making it harder to distance yourself from them. Even though you aren’t sure if distancing yourself is even what you want, you can't deny that you'd come running as soon as they came knocking.

“You think?” You butt in. “My friends just disappear for years and now you’re some ripped gay fucks who need me to look after your child?” You can't help but get up to pace around, unable to hold in your doubts any longer. “Look, I don’t even believe this shit. You,” You abruptly turn to Roy, “were banging multiple chicks a night for the entire year I knew you and you,” You don’t even bother pointing or looking at Jason directly and instead focus on the ceiling, “were so busy being an angst king to even want to fuck anyone.”

“That’s not even true,” Jason huffs, crossing his arms. “I’m not an angst king,” His mouth downturns a bit, only further proving his angstiness.

Instead of being offended, Roy just smirks. “What, you want to see us make out that bad or something? Some kinky shit there,” He says your last name. “I’m surprised," He says, though doesn't actually sound surprised. "You used to be such a goody-two-shoes.”

You think back to all the nights you snuck off to smoke pot with them in the manor, skipped class, or even to the shit you didn’t necessarily remember, like your first high school party. “That’s not exactly how I remember it, but okay.”

You cross your arms again when you feel Jason’s stare on you, not that you'd actually know since you haven’t looked in his direction since the unofficial staring contest ended.

Roy shrugs and wastes no time in covering Jason's body with his own. Jason scoffs but pulls him in for an exaggerated, wet kiss nonetheless.

You're so busy staring at your two ex-friends going at each other’s mouths that you don’t notice Lian sidle up next to you on the floor. She pulls on your leggings, forcing your eyes away from something that you admittedly don’t want to as their sloppy sounds become louder with each passing moment.

You're confused enough as it is, but now you're left blushing like a virgin over them making out.

You forget, once again, that Lian is next to you until her quiet whisper reaches your ears, “Family.”

It’s almost too rehearsed. Your eyebrows shoot up inadvertently at the little girl.

Standing there with your half-braided hair, you've seen enough.

“Okay, enough, fuck-shoot,” You quickly look at Lian and then at her apparent dads. “You see this?” You motion around exasperatedly at the gaudy fucking decorations, to the horndogs on the couch, then finally to the little girl beside you. “This is not going to work.”

They look dejected as they wipe away the trail of saliva stringing from their mouths. It may be harsh, but they need to know the truth.

You haven’t talked to them in years, you're shit with kids and this is an uncomfortable position to be put in when you can’t deny your old feelings for them are very much coming back. Aggressively. It had already caused enough strain on your relationship the one year you'd hung out with them, but now? As adults? This shit is even messier. Throw a kid into the mix and you've got yourself a certified fucking shit show.

Nope, no thanks.

“You’re a freelance programmer,” Jason says your name, causing your heart to jump uncomfortably. “Think of it as working two jobs in one.”

Always one to get back to business.

“Just a business deal?” The hell is your life coming to? How does this make the situation any different? You think of the cash and how you struggle to pay rent, let alone all of your other bills. “After all these years of complaining about how annoying these cretins are, why would you even choose me to babysit in the first place?”

The unanswered question of why you haven’t talked for over five years hangs heavy in the room.

The unanswered question ends up getting answered by Jason, no less, in ever the unhelpful manner. He looks dead at you and taunts you, “Pick me, choose me.”

You gasp.

Seriously? The fucking audacity.

And how is this not further proving his angst-king nature?

You flip him off and face Roy after, once again, crossing your arms.

Roy has the decency to look somewhat abashed for his supposed boyfriend.

“What?” He runs a hand through his long, greasy hair, though all you can focus on is how his forearms flex and bulge in the process. “We’ve known you forever,” He looks up as if thinking of the points on the spot. “You’ll cook her actual food,” He points to you with raised eyebrows, seemingly impressed that he managed to weave your earlier point into his argument.

“And you know self-defense,” Jason adds helpfully for once.

Roy snaps his fingers. “Right, that. Plus, we miss you.” Roy looks over to Jason, who ducks his head in response, “Both of us.”

“And you’re a people pleaser too, so.” Jason ends his sentence as if it was obvious you would say yes, which annoys the shit out of you because you don't want to say yes.

He's changed physically, yet, underneath it all, he's still the same annoying, presumptuous asshole you've always known.

Great.

Then there's Roy, staring you down after all these years whilst giving you with his iconic green puppy dog eyes. All the while, Lian tugs your head back in an attempt to finish her braid.

Meanwhile, Jason's still brooding as ever, refusing to give you any sort of clue as to what he's actually thinking.

Just like old times.

Well, you think back to Lian, almost.

You sigh and then look at both of them. What the fuck are you doing?

“Weekly pay, you stingy whores.” You stare down at your unpainted nails while the two of them glance at each other, “When do you need me to start?”

•••

Turns out they need someone the next day and you return just in time to see Jason heading out.

“Roy said you were coming,” Jason nods in your direction from where he stands in the kitchen. It appears he's still refusing to make eye contact with you.  

Whatever.

“Yup,” You answer the obvious as you plop your shit down onto the cluttered kitchen counter.

“She hasn’t eaten yet. She’ll probably want Chinese food or pizza, so,” Jason awkwardly slides $40 across the counter.

“I can just cook.” 

He looks at you now like he's also being flooded with memories of the times you’d cooked together. Maybe that’s why he didn’t want to look at you. Maybe it’s just as painful for them to see you again as it is for you to see them.

"Uh," He clears his throat as he looks away to the fridge. “It's probably not what you're used to me having.” Jason, well, the manor, always had every single ingredient anyone could ever need to cook any type of meal and then some.

You walk to his side of the counter to open it up, only to be met by packs of beer, packets of ketchup and a few cracked eggs.

“Do you have flour and butter?” He opens a cabinet to reveal a shit ton of spices. At least you won’t have to worry on that front.

“We have Wonderbread and olive oil,” He searches around a bit more and from the top cupboard, you’re able to see syrup.

“I can make something with that.” You point to the top shelf he was rifling through.

He nods and brings down the pancake syrup for you to use. He obviously remembers that you wouldn’t be able to reach on your own without having to climb on the counters like you used to do during your cooking sessions at the manor.

You reminisce fondly, remembering how your days in the kitchen with Jason always made Damian upset. It was supposedly because 'you wouldn’t paint with him,' but you know it's just because he couldn't (and still can't, for that matter) cook for shit. Plus, you're a woman of many talents and sometimes a bitch just wants a fresh scone, okay?

You'd never admit it out loud, but Jason’s recipe always turned out better than your own and you've been craving them since the last time you saw him.

“I’m still leaving the money in case you want to order groceries or something.” You nod in appreciation but can't help but feel the awkwardness lingering between the two of you. He taps at the counter a bit before grabbing his keys. “Lian’s watching a movie in our room right now,” Somehow, you keep forgetting they're dating. Part of you wants to doubt it still but after the kiss, you're pretty sure it's all real. “I’ve gotta head out, though. Roy’s waiting.”

You smile a bit, but it feels fake even to you. “Have a good shift, I guess?”

“Sure,” Jason huffs somewhat amusedly as he unlocks the front door. “Our numbers are on the fridge if you need anything, but you might want to call the other fuckers on there if we’re not responding.”

Other fuckers? 

You give a thumbs up as he locks the door behind himself. You go to the fridge to see Dick, Tim and Barbara’s numbers splayed across a page that Lian clearly wrote in crayon. Well, you remind yourself, it could also easily be Roy’s shitty ass handwriting. You think back to all the assignments you’d helped him with and how his handwriting basically made it impossible for you to use any of the notes- if he’d even bothered to take any anyway.

You look around at the mess, really wanting to clean it up, but decide to say greet Lian first.

“Hey,” You wave awkwardly from the doorway, not wanting to intrude on her parents’ private space. “What’s up.” She gives you a shy look, so you try again. “What movie are you watching?” She hesitantly maneuvers the screen so you can see a Spider-Man cartoon playing. “You know, I once thought I saw Spider-Man.” You nod seriously at her skeptical gaze. “Yup, he was swinging around right in this neighborhood!” She sat up straighter as she listened to you.

“Nuh-uh,” She shook her head and set the iPad down. “He’s from New York.”

You smile, impressed she knows that piece of information. Jason's going to be so pissed you're making his daughter into exactly what he called you- a certified nerd. 

“Lian,” You say seriously. “I saw string and someone swinging on it, so you tell me.”

Her mouth gapes open, “No way.”

You nod, pointing to her screen where the webbed hero is swinging from building to building. “Just like that.”

“Wow,” Her voice sounds monotonous, but her face looks up at you like you've just told her she can eat candy for every meal forever.

You switch the topic. “Are you hungry?” She gives you so-so hands. “Want to come shopping with me?” She nods a bit, so you motion for her to follow you into the main room, where the kitchen and living room are. “Where are your shoes?” She disappears and returns with light-up Superman sneakers. Of course.

“Do you need help?” You gesture to her shoes, but she shakes her head 'no' and plops down to put them on. While she fusses with the Velcro, you pick up a majority of the trash in the kitchen before grabbing the one from the full trash can to throw away when you leave. Lian hops up from behind you and grabs a tiny purse from one of the bar stools tucked into the very same island that you and Jason had used to avoid each other earlier, “Ready.” You grab the money off the counter and take off.

You used to go to the grocery store that’s a block away from their apartment all the time, so you forego the car and walk hand-in-hand with Lian down the street.

You grab a couple of essentials before heading out of the shop with three bags worth of groceries and less than a dollar in change.

This might not have been the best idea, though, as you now realize that both your arms are completely filled and completely useless to defend you or Lian with. The sun is still out, you note gratefully, albeit just barely, though.

You hesitate to leave the safety of the store, then remember the intense self-defense training the Wayne's had put you through after that one incident… You can't help but shudder at the memory.

“Stay close to me,” You tell Lian, who tries to reach for one of your hands, but it’s too much to hold both bags and her hand at the same time. “I can’t hold your hand, but you can hold my leggings.” You stick your leg out towards her and she picks up the cue to grab at the material of your pants like she'd done earlier.

You get back safe, but you definitely now understand why Jason had said grocery delivery. It isn’t safe for you to be walking alone around this neighborhood, especially with their kid, you admonish yourself. The only real thing stopping you from doing so is how expensive grocery delivery is.

For now, though, you have dinner at least.

You finish putting away the groceries while Lian sits on the couch, humming along to the Spider-Man theme song.

“You want tacos, chicken parm, or French toast?” You tack on the last option after you remember Jason pulling down the syrup for you.

“Chicken.”

“That’s Italian,” You clarify, just to be sure. You know kids can be picky fucks and don’t want to have to cook twice. Also, because you definitely want to appease this sweet little girl. “Is that okay?”

“Mhm,” She wiggles her feet that are sticking off the couch.

Cute.

You realize quickly enough that all the utensils you need are somewhere within the piles, yes, plural, of dishes in and around the sink, so you start washing.

After the first round of dishes had been cleared into the dishwasher, you hand wash and towel dry the rest as you needed most of it to cook with.

You sigh. It's already been half an hour and you haven’t even started. “You still okay?” You call out.

“Yeah?” She looks at you like you told a weird joke. 

Your parents had never been around to do anything close to this, so this whole caregiver role is completely foreign territory for you.

You nod, figuring you can at least wipe down the newly cleared counters and sink before starting to cook. “Would you want to help me?”

You feel her rather than hear her, reminding you of Damian’s ninja-ass, when she comes to stand beside you.

“We’re going to start the pasta water and then bread the chicken, okay?” She nods like she’s done it so many times before, even though she seems to have no prior cooking experience.

You fall into companionable silence as Spider-Man drones on from the iPad behind the two of you. Occasionally you have to help her, but for the most part, she does a really good job on her own. You stick the chicken you fried into a pan and dump vodka sauce across them, adding fresh mozzarella on top before sticking it in the oven.

You hold up Lian so she can dump the pasta into the boiling water and salt it, then set her back down so she can return to the couch.

“I’m hungry,” She rubs petulantly at her stomach as she sits down.

Yours grumbles back in response as you clean up the kitchen again. This time, from your mess. “Should be done here soon,” You reassure her.

When it’s ready, Lian digs in wholeheartedly. “Are you a chef? Do you have a restaurant?”

You laugh and begin eating too, “No, just love to cook.”

“I want to cook just like you,” She stares at you with pure determination and a mouth full of pasta.

You wink at her, wiping her messy, sauce-ridden mouth with a Halloween napkin you’d found in one of the kitchen drawers. “I’ll teach you, then,” You twirl a bite into your fork. “Your dad can cook, too.” She wrinkles her nose quickly. “Not Roy,” You laugh, but she just looks at you with confusion. “Your other dad?” She just shakes her head in confusion.

Okay…

Doubt sets in again that Roy and Jason aren't actually together. 

Sure, they may have made out with each other, but you're pretty sure you'd remembered seeing them do that before, though you couldn't be quite sure with how wasted you'd been.

The rest of the night goes by in a blur of princess dresses and Lian forcing her Ariel makeup palette onto your face. You don’t even want to know what your face looks like after her purple eyeshadow and bright red lipstick assault, but it’s probably for the best.

It’s during your princess tea party, technically apple juice party, that she begins to nod off. You claim you’re also tired, which is enough for her to slip down from her seat.

Works for you, you shrug as you help her prepare for bed by washing off her makeup and helping her brush her teeth. You tuck her into bed a few minutes later, but her tiny arm shoots out from under her Superman sheets, effectively stopping you from leaving her tiny room.

“My daddy reads to me.”

Dad. Singular.

You squint your eyes a bit at the information but file it away for later.

You pick up the closest book you can find while she wiggles to get comfortable under Superman's laser beams on her blanket and sit on the floor beside her bed to read the first page of Goodnight Moon. You continue reading to her until, eventually, her breathing evens out and soft snores begin to fill the room.

You quietly get up from the floor, trying not to disturb Lian as you put away the book and turn out the lights. 

Once the door is clicked shut behind you, you grab your bag from the kitchen counter that has your laptop in it and make off toward the living room to finish your most recent gig. If there's ever a time to get shit done, it's now.

You try to clear off a spot on the couch, but the whole room is a complete disaster after your play session with Lian. You remind yourself that it wasn’t exactly the cleanest to begin with, though, as you sigh and get up to straighten up the mess.

Once done, you sit back down to work only to immediately have to use the bathroom. Which is, you remind yourself sadly as you walk back in, just as messy as the living room and kitchen had been. You sigh even bigger this time as you set to work, scrubbing at the built-up grime. This whole fucking apartment is going to be clean by the time you're gone, so help you god. You'll finish cleaning even if, you yawn, disrupting your thoughts, it kills you... You yawn again, this time deep enough to bring tears to both of your aching eyes.

You don’t even notice your eyes becoming heavier and heavier with each movement until you find your head pressed gently against someone’s delicious-smelling towel.

Just a little break before work and then you'll be good to go. You nod at your logic, curling back into what your sleep-hazed mind convinces you is a blanket.

“God DAMN.” You wake with a start at the deep voice reverberating throughout the apartment, followed by a quick ‘shush.’

You feel drool on the towel you were apparently spooning and cringe. 

You’re still in the process of coming to when you catch a bright glint of red limping around the living room and hear more grunts of pain. You’re more awake now and about to get up when you hear Roy’s familiar voice telling whoever’s groaning to shut up. 

You smile sleepily at his voice as you close your eyes again. You snuggle back up into the woodsy-smelling towel and fall into a dreamless sleep until you hear Roy’s voice again. This time, though, it sounds as if he's right next to you.

He stinks.

You wrinkle your nose at his offending scent, leaving him laugh lightly. “Go back to sleep, princess.” You smack him lightly on account of the old nickname as he picks you up, but soon you’re snoring again.

You wake up a few hours later on the completely cleared-off couch (thanks to you, you might add) with a blanket laid on top of you and a nearly missed deadline.

You look around the room with bleary eyes to find Roy and Jason eating leftovers in the kitchen. As if knowing you’re awake, Roy cheers his fork in your direction, “Still as good a chef as ever.”

You yawn and rub the sleep from your eyes, realizing too late the makeup escapade Lian had done on your face earlier still remains. 

“The fuck do you guys do again?” You manage with a groggy voice as you open your computer to finish your assignment for the week. Said week ending in T-minus 24 hours.

You begrudgingly realize that you’re going to have to pull an all-nighter, sending your mind reeling back to the days of Tim, studying and the inordinate amount of coffee that man could drink. 

“Freelance,” Jason tones monotonously.

“Fuck off.”

You don’t even realize you stay there the whole day until Jason and Roy are already headed out the door again and Lian is up and begging for breakfast.

This really better not become a habit. 

A/N: I hope ur enjoying! if u are, likes, reblogs, comments, asks all make my day! i respond to every comment <33 this fic has been a labor of love and yalls support means the world to me

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[alexissara]

15 Years Of Love

Today marks my 15 year anniversary with my Fiancé. It means officially half of my life has been with them. I'm 30 years old now and when I was 15 we started dating. I was a freshmen in high school, I wasn't out, I casually might have said I was bi but I had not yet come to realize that I was ace, a lesbian, a trans woman, or polyamarous at the time. Nor had he realized he was trans masc gender fucky pansexual polyamarous sexy little goblin. They and I did not have the most clear start, as teens we both did and said plenty of things we wished we never said or did to one another. Still in 15 years we've every year become more of ourselves and as a consequence fallen more in love.

It is wild to think how radically different we both are from where we started and how our love and selves have bloomed. Being with someone as long as we have clearly shapes you. This kind of love is the kind of love where you become the same kind of weirdos in so many ways but we're still also very different people. We have so many layers of inside jokes, so many shared memories, so much life experience that it is impossible to really decipher us if you were a fly on the wall. It is such a joyful life to be able to live as silly as fucking possible together. We are two halves of a whole without being monogamous or dependent on one another, we date separately and both have very long term committed relationships with amazing women that aren't ending any time soon. It's like a Soul Mates AU if they weren't hyper monogamous where somehow we were meant to each other.

Our love story is funny too, we were enemies to lovers over a mutual crush. At the time they didn't know they liked girls and I didn't know I was a girl but we both had a crush on a mutual bi friend of ours. We met at a Japanese cultural festival both wanting to learn more about the culture sure but also both wanting to spend time with our crush. Neither of us particularly liked each other and in fact they gave advice to my crush that going on one date with me didn't mean we were dating and she didn't owe me shit. Which is so true, very true and also very funny in retrospect. We add each other on myspace, I had been pretty in my depression era we talk and talk from time to time about our mutual crush and about random stuff. I decide to ask him out and he says yes. From that showing of What Happens In Vegas, a movie which is a time capsule for sure we started dating.

While our goals and ambitions have shifted radically to this day my Fiancé inspires me in my art. Even back then I knew I wanted to tell stories and they were an apple of my eye always making me want to tell more. They always supported me in making art and telling stories and acting and everything I did and I always supported them in drawing and crafting and aiming for whatever goals they wanted. Our hearts and spirits always longed for making the world better in whatever ways we could and it's something we still do together.

While we may no longer be teens caught between Emo and Scene we still get to radically be ourselves together, to express ourselves how we want and encourage each other to explore ourselves, challenge our ideas about the world and expand what we know. At the end of this year we plan on leaving our home for the whole of our relationship Texas thanks to anti trans, anti LGBT and racist laws popping up left and right. While this anniversary is huge for us the future looks so exciting with us hopefully finally leaving this hell hole behind and entering a new era of our lives with hopefully more community, love and exciting discovery along the way.

I don't know where I would be without my Fiancé, they got me through all the worst times in my life, their a part of my DNA. I feel so incredibly lucky to have had 15 years with the worlds most sweet little gender monster. This love is always going to be worth fighting for to me and I hope I can tell so many more new stories that honor the love they've given me in my life.

[If you want me to spoil my gender gremlin consider giving me money on Patreon or Ko-fi ]

[waywardvoidpoetry]

Kind of want to Lore-dump about these characters,

around the 8th of last year I created a character with no name, it started off as a doodle, concept art for just a random character:

In the same day I drew the semi-iconic image in my friend-group of the character holding a skull with a red hoodie that had the numbers "17" on it, in which they would be named 17 or shortened later on to "Sev", 17 became a fun thing to draw for me and soon i began making two other characters, pulling one of my old oc's that i barely ever used, "Devil."

From this point i started creating a small little OC series called Flip17Devil about a band of 3 monsters, A Doll, A Vampire and a Devil who were the leaders of their year period (2014)'s band club.

Soon the concept of "Nowhere Town" began becoming reocurring and began the general plot of the story:

Nowhere Town was a fictional hidden away village ran by an organization who took in delinquent kids and tried to rehabilitate them by putting them in a kid run society outside of the organizers running the school and delivering shipments.

at the age of 19 you graduate Nowhere Town and are considered rehabilitated, Now you're probably wondering how does this tie in with the first image? who are the 4 hands what IS the triangle.

this is the class of 2004, the class that ran their year periods Drama Club and began the "the drama club 2009" sketchbook.

in 2009 the Drama club discovered a tunnel system underneath Nowhere Town and Marrow, the owner of the sketchbook would write and draw everything they learned about it.

however you learn in the sketchbook art both Alissa and Andrew went missing shortly after discovering the tunnels on their "graduation day" leaving Marrow to stop talking to Deen and the drama club falling apart out of fear Marrow drawing Deen or himself would make them "Graduate" too.

in 1977 a project for the creation of nowhere town launched called "The Blue Reunion." the project would be building tunnels to every point in nowhere town Robert R found most important to his plans, in the construction of The Blue Reunion his right man Dominik Maley would suffer injuries and die in the tunnels after an accident with the lights blowing out, the blue triangles are heavily assumed at least to my friend group to be involved with The Blue Reunion given that they are always Blue and they mark every entrance to the tunnels besides Maley's workshop.

nowhere town comes from a sincere part of me, a part of me i came to be okay with and that was growing up and the fear of growing up, how it continues to be apart of my life no matter what age i am, and to me the kids of 2004 and the kids of 2014 represented the childlike wonder i wish i still had and my overthinking as a teenager unable to come to terms with everything changing and the people around me leaving.

I dont expect nowhere town to make people feel the same i do, Like i said it was always a personal little project i enjoyed and I think I'll keep enjoying it, because in every dumb thing these characters do, I see a younger version of me and a younger version of me more willing to express myself.

[koolkat9]

Tag Game To Better Know You! Send this to people you’d like to know better!

Thanks @fizzycherrycola @sigridhere and @draw-a-circle-thats-the-compass. I thought someone else tagged me too in this when I was knee deep in my final assignments and couldn't respond but I can't find it. Maybe I imagined it lol, but if I didn't thank you fourth person.

What book are you currently reading?

I haven't have time to read and when I have I've been reading fanfiction. But I plan on starting In Deeper Waters by F.T Lukens (The cover literally makes the characters look like PortEng only emphasized by the fact they're on a ship.)

What’s your favourite movie you saw in theatres this year?

I haven't went to the theatre, but I did just watch Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio and it was nothing short of amazing. The animation, the story, the themes, telling Fascists to eat shit, all great stuff. Highly recommend, just be prepared to cry.

What do you usually wear?

Jeans or jogging pants. Graphic tees and cardigans or sweaters.

How tall are you?

5'3/160cm (give or take)

What’s your Star Sign? Do you share a birthday with a celebrity or a historical event?

I'm a Libra which is fairly fitting. There are a few celeberties, but I'll share the ones I personally know and consumed content of: Bella Thorne, Bruno Mars, Nick Cannon, R.L Stine. There are some historical events, but none I'm the most interested in looking into.

Do you go by your name or a nick-name?

Irl I go by my name, online I go by the nick-name Kat.

Did you grow up to become what you wanted to be when you were a child?

Not exactly. For most of my childhood I saw myself becoming an actor, but over Covid I kind of fell out of love with acting. I just thought it was because hadn't been on stage for awhile so my anxiety was making me overthink things, but when I actually got into the acting program in university, I realized acting was not for me, at least not as a career. But, there was a period in the 7th grade where I actually thought about being a writer and well...My dream career that I'm working towards is being a writer be that for novels, screenplays, scripts or maybe all of that.

Are you in a relationship? If not, who is your crush if you have one?

Single, no crush, but I would like to be in a relationship.

What’s something you’re good at vs. something you’re bad at?

Good: Making really cute stories.

Bad: I can't do sports for the life of me.

Dogs or cats?

Both!

What’s something you would like to create content for?

I want to make more EngUkr stuff, fill up the tag on Tumblr and AO3.

What’s something you’re currently obsessed with?

Hetalia

What’s something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year?

Hmmm...I can't think of something at this moment.

What’s a hidden talent of yours?

Cooking, martial arts, piano, driving specialty vehicles... I have raging ADHD it lead to a lot of weird random skills.

Are you religious?    

No. I used to be Catholic but now I'm like agonistic.

What’s something you wish to have at this moment?

freedom from my doubt about going on exchange I guess.

@bluudpop @fweebiee @astrophilic-soulul @dappy-dappernette @kpop-emo-trash @ratongue @oh-ru (no pressure guys!)

[pioneeroverc-my-5000th-sideblog]

FOUR MONTH ART IMPROVEMENT RATE COMPARISON - May 2023

art block: 2/19 (from 2/19)

personal: 19/19

study/figure drawing sessions: 12/129 days(from 32/105) check numbers on these

Same goals as yearly - absolutely not, I've really fallen off on these. Currently re-evaluating whether these are actually doable

Finish DAB Lesson 7 - no, but I did make good progress on it last month!

1 finished piece with 2pt+ perspective plotted background (or two sketched screenshot studies with same) - I assume this was supposed to be 'per month'… I did five things with actual perspective in the entire four month period but two of them were just sketches and most of them were very plain and undetailed. NO WONDER I'm not getting better at this lol

one screenshot study per month - can focus on any area (perspective, expressions, colours, composition, etc.) - I DIDN'T DO THIS AT ALL

In May, I will have even more mileage drawing hands interacting with things and have experimented with different ways of ideating on composition thumbnails - actually true!Definitely not anywhere near good at drawing hands yet but my 3D sense improving is helping me draw interactions. I tried a few ways of doing thumbnails but nothing has really stuck more than my painful 'just draw a bunch of stuff and try to fit it together afterwards' process. At least I tried

Studies done: FIGUARY, DAB stuff, breakdowns for some random objects I needed to draw, Proko ribcage and shoulder bones, lots of tracing (boot opening contours, heads to see how eyes fit in at 3/4 view, stylised hair/outfit trims to see how different artists do them), one fold study, some form intersections

Ups and downs here, with periods of Good Study interspersed with (more) periods of I Am Too Unmotivated To Do Anything. Whenever I am struggling to draw something, I end up just not drawing anything at all, even stuff that's unrelated and should be fun for me. This is something I really wish I could overcome because it ends up making me more stressed out overall when I have The Thing I've Been Putting Off and then all my other fun ideas AND STUDIES in the back of my head that also feel like they have deadlines on them. I'm still having trouble drawing stuff that isn't a character staring blankly off-screen with a solid colour background.

I started drawing a bunch of fake FEH alts during this period, and although I've really enjoyed designing them and getting to do more in-depth inking and rendering for once, I do feel like my time could be better spent drawing full pieces with backgrounds and, like, any thought for composition (since I'm hitting my skill ceiling with perspective and anatomy in particular for the alts - and the full pieces look 5000x more impressive). I still have a bunch of time-sensitive ideas for them, so I'm really not sure what to do here.

IMPROVEMENT METRICS

Anatomy/gesture: I am CERTAIN that my figure drawing improved because of Figuary but none of my actual finished stuff reflects that… I'm going to say same as last year just because I literally can't tell

Backgrounds/perspective: Much worse than last year lol

Composition/storytelling: Thinking about negative space more and still trying to add supporting elements. Worse than last year though

Colours/values: still having problems with stuff being too dark but also still working on it. Screencap studies could probably help this. Starting to get better at controlling saturation. Actually better than last year! Woo! Not a total failure!

Lighting/rendering: better than last year again, CAN I PLEASE TRADE THIS POWER FOR SOMETHING THAT'S ACTUALLY USEFUL??

PLAN OF ACTION FOR NEXT FOUR MONTHS:

Re-evaluate yearly goals

Finish DAB Lesson 7

one screenshot study per month, focussing on values first

two object studies per month

In September, I will have a better understanding of how the parts of the body fit together and be better at manipulating them, as simplified forms, in 3d space.

[a-sadnoodle]

Hey Noodle! How's life been? I was wondering a few things...if you wouldn't mind answering a couple of questions!

What kinds of landscapes do you really enjoy painting/drawing?

Are there colours you find yourself really gravitating to?

What do you reference when drawing/painting? Your own pictures? Other peoples? Real life subjects?

Favourite watercolour method?

Do you pick out the size of your canvas/paper or just grab one on a whim?

What kind of subjects draw your attention? (e.g Happy people, colourful flowers, or maybe even still life's you create yourself?)

Favourite pencils/charcoal for drawing?

Do you have any tips for younger artists getting into traditional art? Anything you wish younger you knew?

:] No pressure to answer all of these, if any, btw! Have a good one :D

Hello there :D life has been decent and I hope you've been well too!! Let's see

-i really like to paint very green and saturated landscapes. It can be anything from flowers to trees to mountains, I just love it when there's lots of strong colours. But I mostly like to paint landscapes that are a bit messy? It helps me be a little looser with the painting and not obssess over details, if that makes sense. I try to use techniques that give the illusion of details and depth, though i don't know if i succeed but I try lol

-at the beginning, when I started out with art, I was always quite worried about it being realistic. But after a while I now feel that real life is quite desaturated, everything in nature is a tone of grey, and absolute colours are not very common to find. So I now try to make my art as colourful as possible for it to look lively and more my style, becasue when I was aiming for realism, all my art would turn out dull and muted and I couldn't figure out why. Some colours I really use a lot are greens, all kinds really. I love all colours, but I think green is the colour I enjoy using the most these days.

-i use a lot of places to find my reference photos- pinterest, tumblr, Instagram, Google, and my mom is always sending me random pictures of clouds and landscapes and mountains too. Sometimes when I'm drawing people and I need to understand anatomy I use myself as a reference, although I don't really draw full human anatomy much, only portraits. Sometimes I use my own pictures of flowers and clouds and all that as reference too. I actually have a folder in my phone gallery for references, and I put at least 5 pictures I find in it everyday, because I'm always finding weird things to use as references. I save a lot of old paintings by classical painters too so that I can study them later, learning from the masters is the best way to learn :)

-ehh I don't really know the formal names for methods, you know? But I do like the wet on wet method, I love the look of it. I also like making clouds in watercolour, also fun hack- put down a wash of your blue watercolour, take a paper towel and blot where you want clouds to be-voila pretty clouds!!

-i just grab stuff on a whim and use whatever I feel like whenever I want and make it fit to my art, I don't really plan much, although I'm trying to do that more lol

-i actually don't have a definite favorite subject, I think it really depends on my mood, but I think most of the time I really like making simple things you know, like goats, urban sketches, simple portraits. I don't try to overthink about it, and just draw whatever I feel like. Although in portraits I really love drawing people candid lately

-i use the Staedlr pencils and Faber castle Matt black hb pencils for graphite drawing, and for charcoal pencils I use a local brand. I also have charcoal pencils from General Pencil Co. And they're really good too

-well I think one thing about traditional art is it can be expensive. So what I used to do when trying out a new medium was buy a cheap one and if I like it then get a better quality one. Also when it comes to brushes, I think it's best to buy good quality brushes. I used to buy cheap brushes and use them until they were in horrid condition and then buy new ones every few months. It wasn't a very good system, so I bought better quality brushes and learned how to take care of them and now I have had some of my brushes for years and they're still in really good condition. So learn how to take care of your art supplies!! Also do research about art mediums and supplies, so that you know what you should start with when you're trying something new and don't get overwhelmed

When trying out a new medium, don't feel bad if you don't get it at first, it takes time and the first painting will probably be muddy, but don't give up without trying your best!!

I also think that when it comes to art, it's very important to practice. So draw everything! Fill lots of sketchbooks. And not everything has to be good or perfect, it's quite cruel to expect such perfection from yourself. I still struggle with practicing regularly but it really does help.

And as I mentioned earlier, learn form the masters! Whatever art style you're trying to do or learning, studying and drawing older artworks of masters will help you a lot

thats all I can think of now, thank you so much for this ask galen, you have a good one too <3333

[seahdalune]

Seana’s 2022 art highlights (a thread)

(Note: this is a reupload of a thread i did on twitter a few years back. so these are really old. don't worry, this is the final reupload.)

this thread, unlike the previous 3 art threads, will be full of holes. this is because i haven’t drawn shit this year, mostly introspect. and gaming. tf2 has done horrors to my schedule.

January: I didn’t draw anything. Skip. well, nothing of SHOWING, anyways. i scribbled, but they’re horseshit and that’s all you should know about them.

February: Charlie’s family, ft Mia. i drew the left picture for the comic but i’m gonna be honest... i don’t, like the poses that much. posing has been a big weakness for me, for a long time, and the limited bends in objects kinda highlight that.

March: redraw of an old traditional drawing. i don’t think i liked this one either. unsatisfied. there’s been a pattern for this year. also [there's] a commission, that’s been asked for since January. i wish i didn’t take that long. i’m still very sorry to my commissioner.

April: Portal phase. my commission money was spent on the Orange Box... because i didn’t know Portal 2 wasn’t on the Orange Box. oops. my friend bought Portal 2 for me. i’m really thankful for them.

[note: hey! some of these i've actually posted on tumblr... lemme link those posts.] [post 2] [post 3]

May: strangely, i drew Cutter Knife a lot? i like him, wish i had time and motivation to work on the comic, but i fucked with myself by hastily releasing it when i still didn’t know everything about them.

June: didn’t have much drawing opportunities, due to finals and the vacation to America that followed. i did draw these 2 things tho, and i think these are the pieces i’m very satisfied with.

July: probably the last month of this year that i ever worked hard on. i had online writing classes, which means i just tuned the video as background noise while i tried out some stuff. it was the best month i ever had. oh, btw, trad art from May~August is mostly lost because my main phone was broken for that time and i was forced to use my older phone. they still exist, just not saved onto my device.

August: made during the writing class. i’m not very happy with this, but i was trying to do something. maybe the fact i didn’t have a clear vision of WHAT, was blocking me from what i wanted to do.

oh, there are these things too. hi guys, hope sunlight wasn’t too dear to you.

September: i surprise myself more and more. i did draw characters a lot! but that wasn’t what i wanted for this whole year. i wanted to draw cartoons. characters living. talking. i just captured their souls behind a dead, white, background. [note: ?]

October: my persona. the new one. [art 1]

i realize, i’m not posting my trad drawings. there isn’t much to post. here are some from random points of the year, though.

November: i start drawing things about tf2. and i’m still going strong, thanks. (ft. Dicey Dungeons)

[art 1+2] [art 3]

December: as i said, nothing much. stepped away from coloring to focus more on the shape. coloring exhausts me.

[post 1] [post 2]

*looks at past threads* oh, right, i still need to do my retrospective.... something, things. i planned a lot this year. but i just kinda ended up... burned out. school has been a big factor, but it’s been partially my fault for just doomscrolling on twitter, not doing things. partially?? no, this is entirely your fault, mister. anyways, i hope i can just... do things again. draw. not feel like i need to do something groundbreaking for each piece. i think i’ll focus on quantity over quality, for next year.

[note: this post ends by saying "hopefully this site lasts for me to do a 2023 art retrospective thread"... hah, well, funny thing is...]

[chelzone]

Assorted Thoughts (08/26/23)

got a bunch of random thoughts bouncing throughout my head lately that i feel like spillin in one post rather than multiple ones so ummmmmmmmmm

ive been acting a lot more responsible with my time lately, especially when sticking to my working schedules for projects. recently, ive been making a good effort to change my drawing plans about to make sure i start recording video stuff at a reasonable time instead of too late in the night / having to scrap said video plans cus its too late

having a webcomic has been a godsend lately for two art-focused reasons. on certain days i might feel too tired to do a full-scale drawing, so working on my webcomic acts as a good way to get something done that is still part of a big project but is absolutely not stressful nor super time-consuming at all to draw. second reason i appreciate working on it is that on nights when i DO wanna do more work at night, the webcomic is a great choice for said work!!

ive been playing Terraria lately and jesus christ this game is so much fucking fun, no matter how many years its been since i last played it (may 2020?). like,, for starters, my partner zajac has been playing it too lately so it has a sort of communal feeling as we play it at similar times these days. second its like,, the whole progression thruout the game's arcs / acts / ''''story'''' is so fucking fulfilling and fun and the grinding aspect is somehow relaxing as hell. i wish Minecraft had this feeling for me, cus i fucking hate going thru its survival mode honestly

i feel like im doing well since i started doing art digitally (2013) in terms of improving upon it AND experimenting regularly. lately ive been having fun messing with lighting a lot, doing it in a form of blocks in harsh alternating chunks. you can see it especially in the pieces i have uploaded of my characters Brady Bray and Celeste Mateus. sure, it's not '''realistic''' or '''clean''' but thats never EVER been a goal with my cartoony art.

making new characters AND writing down stories for them to debut in textually lately has been so fucking fun like oh my GOD!!! i can feel myself getting better and better at both, and using the new characters and stories to build upon the already established lore, factions, and older characters' lives has been great and feels correct as hell. also having fun dabbling with more characters of different real and fictional species alike!!!

i know it's been some time since my last music release (Jan 2023) or game release (Nov 2022) but like,, i need to realize that that is 100% OKAY!! things take time, and it's entirely reasonable that as the scope of my projects grow, so will the time to development them. its not a race, and id rather put in the longer time to make something shine than rush to get it out to stay relevant. one day at a time!! regardless, the current plans still are for my next game release to be the kinky text-adventure Hallowed Discharge and the music release to be the soundtrack for the semi-romantic wizard-focused visual novel Enchanted Bliss (which said game is slated for release after the former mentioned here).

i think thats all i can muster for thoughts rn, my head is about to asplode if i write anything else rn oops