#if it's unreadable I'll write a transcript

[anglerflsh]

could you recommend any tutorials for hatching?

i think you do it very well and i’m interested in learning how

Alas I do not have any tutorials on hand - I can put together one on my own methods though:

my biggest tip is to layer your shading bit by bit with "w" shaped strokes in low opacity on top of higher-opacity straight lines for a softer (and more forgiving of little mistakes) look

[herbat-melis]

What would Ink write on his scarf? (Gimme ideas, I'll write them on the scarf!)

The human!Ink I drew was inspired by a great cosplayer who you can find on TikTok under the nick Tragified or Alastair so shoutout to them!

I am not really good at drawing (especially people) but I have this cool headcanon that when human!Ink would have no space in his belt, he'd put his pencils in his hair when he has to stop drawing for a sec or change the pencil to another one instead of putting it anywhere else to "not forget where it is"... But then he always forgets and wonders where it is until he reaches his hand to his hair to fidget with them while he tries to remember and finds them. So I wanted to draw it!

Sketch:

Current state (while writing the post):

The stuff I wrote so far:

If it's unreadable, there is a transcript

"DO NOT PUT METAL IN A MICROWAVE"

"DO NOT TRUST THE FANDOM"

"GO GET CHOCOLATE FOR ERROR"

"ASK FRESH ABOUT THE FURBIES"

"TRUCE WITH ERROR"

"TAKE UR VIALS"

And a little doodle of a cat saying "MEOW" that I imagine Ink made while Dream was giving him a lecture and he got bored because he didn't listen and in the middle he forgot what Dream was even talking about.

I appriciate any tips when it comes to drawing, I'm constantly trying to improve!

[theressomethinghappeninginparis]

A lot...has happened.

It's been a while and you can trust me, I took some time off because I needed a moment to process all of this. Currently I am safe, all is cool, don't worry. But the path there has been so overwhelming and honestly crazy I just...needed a moment.

Transcript of the first and second page: All I see is...particles. Some kind of shield glowing. I can hear gunshots and I see Lara Croft shooting Eckhardt, it has to be him.

What the fuck?

Okay they're busy and I don't care and I can't care since I need to fuck off. There's two floors above, metal platforms in the shape of a circle, and I'm still looking for an escape. Is there a way out??

My pen died. I am dying mentally.

There's a ladder and it goes up to the first floor. I need to get there. There's so much screaming in the middle and I need to leave and my head hurts and my ears are pierced by the sounds. I need to leave, I'm not as durable as Lara Croft.

What the heck, here is something hanging from...the ceiling? I don't have much time, I'll try to sketch out what I see. I'm upstairs, and I can barely write. There is something? Hanging? From there, it looks kinda humanoid, not quite. Could it be a true nephilim? The one Eckhardt wanted to use?

There's also a platform with a golden disk and it is looking like this: Somehow it's flower shaped, has symbols surrounding it, spaces for five pieces to be inserted, the stuff hidden in the Obscura Paintings! I think this could be the Sanglyph. It's five golden pieces and they could be used (unreadable)

Transcript of the third and fourth page: Okay I'm not sure what to do, what happened or anything. Honestly all is a blur. I woke up and there's a lot of rumble, dust and chaos. The Sleeper is gone, the room is destroyed. Eckhardt is gone, so is Miss Croft, so is my head, it hurts fucking badly. I'm okay, I think, my head is shit, I have cuts, my already sore knee is bleeding, it's...aweful. There's an open gate on the ground floor, and I hope it leads outside.

It has to.

In the debris I've seen a small piece of this flower-shaped thingy. It's a metal part that I think belonged in the Obscura Paintings. I took it with me. I'm on my way to the train station...finally. If Lara Croft is really the archeologist I think she is, she'd be interested in the piece. If I manage to offer her this metal plate, maybe she'll talk to me about her knowledge of the Paintings, Eckhardt, and the Sleeper?

I am finally back at civilization and am seeing living human beings again. I got myself a new Shirt, washed myself and my wounds and got medical gauze to treat my knee. My head stopped hurting when I drank plenty of water, luckily I was only dehydrated. Surely if I ever tell anybody about what I had seen I'll be considered a maniac...I thought about what to ask Miss Croft. I made a small list:

Is Eckhardt really this 500 year old alchemist?

Who is Kurtis Trent? What'd he got to do with the LV?

Was he responsible for the Monstrum killings since I assume you weren't?

What do you know about the Sanglyph?

The Periapt Shards can kill Eckhardt, right?

What purpose serves the Sanitarium?

Transcript of the fifth, sixth and seventh page: I'll be in Paris soon. I slept until now, the train ride takes so long and I'm just so exhausted. This journey is almost over, but I might be able to find even more. In case of Lara Croftwants to talk to me. I'll write her an email. Will she reply?

We're arriving at Paris. I wrote her a mail with a photo of the Sanglyph piece, asking her whether she'd like it in return for some answers. I even offered her to send her this notebook. I'm sure she'll return it either way, I trust her reputation, and I can prove my volicity and that I'm not a paranoid stalker or something.

UPDATE: It's been a week since I arrived back home and I got a LETTER via CURIER, can you believe that? Lara Croft is indeed interested in the piece and she invited me to London. She had the tickets in the mail, too. I cannot believe it!

She writes she is delighted I survived (I laughed here) and I should come over within two weeks. And that in case I come over with bad intention she's going to shoot me. I think...I think she means that.

Transcript of the eighth and ninth page: The tickets are valid for two weeks for any flight in first class. A ticket to get to London AND come back.

I'm really on my way to London. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. I'm a bit nervous obviously, and the spartanic answer is more than I thought I'd get, but still. Meeting her in person while knowing what she went through is like...we've been in the same places. Seen similar things. I know about this maniac that wants to take over the world, that accused and framed her for murder, I know about the Lux Veritatis and their only member that is still alive (if he is, now). I'll miss the Sanglyph- it's the only thing that can confirm my story. But in Lara's collection not only will it be safe, but it won't do any damage no more. Maybe through her I can also contact Kurtis Trent? He can answer about the LV way more I think. I'll take some pics of the manor if I may. Oh! I'm excited.

Transcript of the tenth and eleventh page: I arrived at the airport in London. I also got a new pen since I've written so much in this book I needed one. It's almost as if I'm at a new chapter right now and since I'm moving countries again- yeah. I think I'm on a good way. The butler, his name is Winston, picked me up in a black cab. I got checked thoroughly for weapons, metals, cameras and whatnot and now I'm on my way to the Croft Manor. I've gotten a few wishes by Miss Croft concearning the talk:

I'm not allowed to take photos of the Manor, but she'll hand me one of the Sanglyph.

She'll hand me the post adress of Mr.Trent and contact him first

I can write down the interview, yet I am to keep it to myself.

So, only here we have the truth.

It's been two hours since I've been here. I had lots of tea, a lot of food and some rest in one of the guest rooms. Lara was slightly cold in the beginning, but as I showed her this book, my photos and talked to her about my findings, like Carvier's death (poor soul), Rennes, Werner's appartment, the poor, poor souls in the Sanitarium, everything she saw I've seen as well. Tomorrow she'll talk about my questions, she listened to me being tired as hell. She got me a key to lock my room and I'm cuddled up in a blanket.

I just noticed how muchmy body hurts. I really need a good rest.

[fictionadventurer]

I had the (probably cringe) idea to write a yearly wrap-up of my blog in the form of a Christmas letter, but going back through the archive made me realize that there's a lot of memories that I want to address, so I'll casually take this month by month and talk about the things that seem interesting.

First up:

January

The year started off with an ask game where I recommended a book I read last year and an unread book on my shelves. It was tons of fun (and I'm considering doing it next year), though unfortunately it did not have the intended effect of getting me to read the unread books on my shelf. Of the books I recommended, I only read one (though I did read pieces of others and donated others unread when I decided I just wasn't interested enough.)

@magpie-trove started an ask game where mutuals played fairy godmother and chose ballgowns for people. I got several and they were lovely.

I watched the first couple of episodes of the new Around the World in 80 Days. I liked some parts, even though it was wildly different from the book, but I stopped watching when all of the character changes opted for the most cliche melodramatic backstory for every character.

I posted the first part of the Glorya M. Hayers Christmas mystery "The Christmas Card Caper", thanks to an interlibrary loan from @isfjmel-phleg. Unfortunately, distractions kept me from posting the rest, and it became less of a priority once the Christmas season passed. I would very much like to see if I can find where I stashed the rest of the transcription and post the remainder for this year's holiday season, but with my switch to a new computer, there's no guarantee I'll find it.

@freenarnian's Light in the Dark Academia trend swept through the circle of mutuals, leading to some beautiful moodboards. Jumping on the bandwagon taught me how to make moodboards, so I made several in January and used others for various projects throughout the year.

I finished off the first round of Imaginary Book Recs, and then archived them in a post that also provided Real Book Recs for the people who had requested them.

I read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Its weirdness baffled and delighted me.

I reread Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South for the first time (via audiobook) and adored it much more than I did on first read. The book became a very important part of my mental landscape this year.

@brown-little-robin inspired a challenge for people to write poems in response to Robert Frost's "Nothing Gold Can Stay". I caved to temptation and wrote my first poem in years. I had all but forgotten I'd written it, so it was an unexpected delight to remember that I wrote a poem this year, even if it's aggressively mediocre.

I posted the complete story of "Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch and the Frog Prince", which gives a Wodehouse spin on the fairy tale that provides an origin story for the hero of this particular universe.

I posted my long-overdue essay defending concise writing techniques from those who say they're only meant to keep you from using too many words by arguing it's meant to teach you when to use words for the best effect.

There were a surprising number of posts where we discussed the difference between lyric-forward and music-forward songs, and songs that are meant to be listened to versus sung-along with.

I finished off a few posts discussing characters from my Jane Austen with Superpowers Powers and Prejudice universe, which I proceeded to ignore until July, when I overhauled the universe.