#observation exercise

[sorry-but-no-sorry]

Maybe part 1 of the poses freely given by major_pectoralis

I needed the observation exercise

[r-aindr0p]

Pomefiore shenanigans and Deuce casually doing the human during training flag as asked for an upcoming spectacle Idk yet if I add a bit of shine or decoration to the thief outfits or if I lust leave it like that, not that it would matter much in monochrome but I want them to be stylish at all times Other info is that this is a non magic circus, including the magic tricks ! Of course the theft is done without the use of magic as well, it's much more thrilling that way. Circus Corvus is based in Sage Island on an artificial peninsula No theft operation is done on Sage Island, the rest isn't spared :))))

Bonus cheebs, I just wanted to make the joke w/ leona but He's probably going to be on the "got robbed" side of this story.

[hyohaehyuk]

Sam Reid and Jacob Anderson about *Dreamstat* (Interview with the Vampire Season 2 ❤️🩸 Behind The Scenes)

Note: i dont know what is the original source (maybe is a content from amc+ u need to pay to watch) but i found a similar video on amc official channel.

Sam saying that it was Jacob that came up with name "Dreamstat" (what surprise ofc it was him) and Jacob mentioning about Sam was mirroring his/Louis' body language when he was playing Dreamstat.

[surumarssi]

This image wouldn't leave my mind until I drew it.

[quadrantadvisor]

This post reminded me of the time I got entranced by the idea of in-universe rpf and wrote an "excerpt" of a hypothetical accidental selfcest fanfic.

The Lore tm is that in a universe where Bernard never met Tim, he became a prolific Capes RPF writer as well as conspiracy theorist, and that the popularity of the Bruce Wayne/Batman ship gave him the fun idea of pairing up the Wayne kids with Batclan counterparts, which lined up surprisingly well! Tim, who frequents the Gotham Capes RPF tag for normal reasons (as a kid he wrote a surpisingly popular series of gen fics where his self insert oc got adopted by Batman, he was like 11 don't judge him) sees this fic and finds certain details, such as, y'know, shipping his family members with themselves, highly suspicious. He must investigate this person and find out how much they know.

-

[...]

“What are you doing here, Nightwing?” Officer Grayson sighed. He looked tired, the hero noted. He understood that. A city like this could make a man tired in his soul. “The case is over. There's no reason to see eachother anymore.”

It didn't take long for Nightwing to find a reason. “There's no Batman in Bludhaven,” he said. “I need to take allies where I can get them, and you… I think you're in the same boat.” He remembered the photos of young, pretty Richie Grayson, smiling in the tabloids,  and thought about how the force could beat down someone like that. “I know you want to make Bludhaven a better place. We can keep helping eachother, working together. We need eachother.” That was all true. But none of it was why Nightwing had come to the officer's apartment balcony.

Grayson rubbed a hand over his face. “I don't think you understand how much trouble I could be in. If the other officers found out I was slipping information to a vigilante…” He frowned, the dark circles beneath his eyes even more pronounced with the expression. “They don't trust you.”

“Do you?” Nightwing couldn't help but ask.

Grayson clenched his jaw, and his gaze on Nightwing became piercing. Looking at him, the vigilante knew—he had been beaten down, but not broken. His free spirit compressed into something stronger, harder. There was fire in his eyes. “I don't know,” the officer said, “should I?”

In some ways, the display of dominance was adorable, and Nightwing couldn't help flashing his signature sharp grin. “You can,” he promised. “It's up to you. But I could show you.” He hopped onto the balcony's railing with his inhuman grace, and held out his hand. “If you put your trust in me, I'll make it worth your while.”

The man looked dubious, gaze flicking from Nightwing's shielded eyes to his outstretched hand. “How?”

“You used to be an acrobat, didn't you, officer?” the hero asked.

Grayson looked away. “That was a long time ago.’”

“Well,” said Nightwing, still grinning that wicked grin, teeth flashing in the dim light, “how would you like to really fly?”

The officer's eyes went wide, and for a moment, Nightwing worried he would close the door, shut him out, and it would all be over. Then a determined look swept over him, and he stepped forward, reaching out.

Grayson's hand slipped into his, and Nightwing took the leap.

[...]

End notes:

😭 why did you have to become a cop richie how am i meant to acab like this????

like yes cops are Bastard but like. Richie Grayson was an outlier and should not have been counted. he's perfect your honor. he's never done anything wrong in his whole life. no one tell me otherwise pls

also nightwing is some kind of fae creature but don't worry about that

[sisterdivinium]

It’s tempting to think of Jillian as an atheist given her connexion to science, her confrontation with the church in s1 and simply as a counterpoint to all the religious characters around her. I’ve used the word for her myself in fic before, but I did it fully knowing that Jillian is perhaps the character who most wants to believe.

There’s an implication that she speaks from experience when she tells Kristian one doesn’t ever really leave the church…

… And her firm principle of proving faith and science can coexist shows she has no intention of dismantling faith in itself or the value people find in spirituality.

When Luther supposedly nailed his objections to that fateful church door, he didn't intend to shake the core of what faith actually is—quite the contrary, one could argue.

Neither is Jillian trying to destabilise faith in itself... The difference is that she just decided to build her own door instead.

The church might stand in her way, yes, but one could could make a case about how it is more due to their keeping of divinium than to the criticism she directs at Vincent on the subject of Hell and the subjugation of women. She might well believe it—or any part of her performance during most of season one, really—but her conflict with the institution lies less in the way of ideology than in matters of practical consequences.

Were it not so, wouldn’t she have been a little more resistant to her son’s visions of an angel? Why believe in a child’s prophetic drawings otherwise? Even if she by any chance didn’t consider the giver of those visions an angel, the very fact of taking a vision seriously would suggest some degree of fidelity to the very idea of there being something more, something else than the life we know in this plane of existence.

If she doesn’t admit the existence of a god outright, she at least lends credence to the idea that there is something. We might not be able to take her fully at her word in the scenes where she’s playing her part as a seeker of knowledge maligned by the Vatican, but there is some amount of truth to what she says. She might not have truly found Heaven, she might not be able to prove her portal actually leads there...

… But she most certainly wants to be right. For Michael’s sake, there must be something else, even if not precisely what has been foreseen by scripture.

And, even so, she finds worth in that very scripture she doubts.

Perhaps she’s being honest when she tells Vincent she likes the stories—there’s a lot of knowledge to be found in even the simplest of them to she who knows how to seek it.

Perhaps there’s an underlying attachment of hers to the Bible, a past she cannot really abandon. It’s not all that common for people with absolutely no ties to Catholicism to have something like the image of a saint as decoration hanging in the background.

Sure, there are other religious elements scattered in her workplace including a Buddha, but it’s a man who used to be an archivist at the Vatican she hires, not a defected monk or rabbi.

Yes, she will work with anyone who is equally willing to work with her. It’s not from the goodness of her heart as there is a component of selfishness in such cooperation—one to which she admits herself—but her attitude is also a testament to the openness she has concerning the results she might obtain. Maybe the OCS is right, maybe there’s a God and saints and Heaven and Hell…

It doesn’t really matter as long as there is something, something to work towards, something to seek.

Or it didn’t matter—while Michael was alive.

She has had her proof of there being more... And she has paid a high price for learning of it.

It’s a pity we don’t know what she would have done with this information. How do we react when what we believe is confirmed to be true but not in the way we expected or desired?

Whatever shock the nuns have experienced to their faith in this business with Adriel, the perversion of the power of prayer and all else they've survived during season two, Jillian is likely to have felt the very same blow right alongside them.

[middlenamesage]

MARS, the planet of ACTION: What type of exercise Mars in each sign makes me think of

Note: this is not necessarily advice about exercise to consider based on your Mars sign. So many things in the chart and the individual’s life will tweak the picture. Being that I’m a 6th house Mars who’s making it a goal lately to exercise daily (or most-daily😆) because I see the benefits for my mental and physical health of having intentional physical activity in my routine, this is just my musings on the type of exercise that comes to mind first/strongest when thinking about the archetypes of each sign. ✨

Mars in Aries- lifting weights/strength training 🏋️‍♀️ Mars at home! I thought about maybe also going with martial arts for this one! ❤️‍🔥 Mars/Aries does have a strong purpose for defense. As the first sign in the zodiac, Aries’ archetype is also that of a straightforward, more simple and direct energy. To simply get buff seems like quite the way to pay tribute to this potent combined yang energy! 💪

Mars in Taurus- Yoga 🧘🏽‍♂️ Taurus needs something at a bit slower of a physical pace, and the very conscientious attention yoga places on your relationship with your body is very Taurus/2nd house. Plus every Taurus rising I’ve ever known has been into meditation and/or yoga. 🤷‍♀️ Always looking for the calmest ways to do things! 🧘‍♀️

Mars in Gemini- Running 🏃🏻‍♀️ idk this just seems like a flighty Mars sign! 🏃‍♂️🚀💨

Mars in Cancer- In-home exercise, regardless of type, is what immediately comes to mind! Maybe a really pimped out Mars in Cancer would have an in-home pool.💧😂 🏊‍♀️🏠

Mars in Leo- Dancing! 💃🏻🕺🏼This is my Mars sign and never been a dancer, so this goes to show how I’m just thinking about the archetypes of the signs. But the Sun’s gotta shine/will get noticed 🌞 and dancing also is so highly CREATIVE. ♌️

Mars in Virgo- Gymnastics 🤸🏿‍♀️ I’m just so impressed with the precision♍️ in the routines of gymnasts. Perhaps Pilates is another example, that’s a little more common place. I personally avoid any exercise that requires attention to precise detail as it gets my Mars worked up in a bad way😤… so more power to anyone who’s built to like this type of exercise!

Mars in Libra- Ballet 🩰 The pure archetype of Libra is grace. Enough said.

Mars in Scorpio- whichever combat sport or martial art is the slyest. 😂 Mars at home I think could be quite motivated to be fighting somebody; but Scorpio’s gonna be concerned with technique, not in it to make a big bold scene. 🤺

Mars in Sagittarius- Hiking 🥾🌄🌲 Or biking! 🚴🏻‍♀️ The sign built for exploring. Hiking is always an adventure. You never quite know what you’ll see even when you’re hiking nature trails you’ve hiked before. And it tends to be a popular activity when visiting new places. ✈️

Mars in Capricorn- Climbing 🧗🏽‍♂️ Climbing has an obvious association with Capricorn. 🐐🌄 And Caps could always use inspiration to reach some pinnacle! 🙏 Also, fun fact, Saturn is the planet that rules the skeletal system and muscles in medical astrology. 🩻 Climbing works basically every muscle in your body!

Mars in Aquarius- some eccentric aerial sport. 😂 I don’t know much about anything in this area, I just know something that’s done in the air 🌬️ and something that’s unusual makes me think of Aquarius! ♒️

Mars in Pisces- Swimming 🏊‍♀️ I’m giving the final water💧sign, the one most like the vastness of the whole ocean, this official association with swimming. Related fun fact: my Piscean🌞 grandmother was the one who taught me how to swim (and was very delighted to do it). 💙

Bonus thoughts, from a Mars conjunct Venus: it’s really worth considering exercise that puts you in nature if you too have this conjunction, or Venus in harmonious aspect with Mars!🌲🌷 On this note, I’d think of Mars-Mercury being suited for things that are also exercise for the mind, Mars-Sun being suited for daytime outside exercise, Mars-Moon being a good fit for nighttime exercise, and exercise in new places or that doesn’t follow a set routine being suited for Mars-Jupiter!

[manyblinkinglights]

I went to mom’s human horse doctor, who quietly does barely anything to you (gentle sustained maybe half a limp handshake’s pressure on your business) and then all your problems are solved. And he solved all my problems! It’s been long enough that the actual slipped disc is like, healed, but I hadn’t recovered from my back muscles all locking up, or so long spent lopsidedly hobbling around.

I got prescribed toe walking/sneaking around the house like a cartoon character to help get a more active foot and keep from locking all up again.

This guy’s highly skilled, it was cool to feel him zero in on a prodromal migraine tension spot on the back of my neck that I did NOT tell him about, and then, over the course of a few minutes, fucking fix it. I rub that shit and make it ten times worse—which is why I never do anything about neck tension—and he sat there for a while with his fingertips on it and picked my head up for a bit and, just, it was dealt with.

I feel like a .unitypackage that just got migrated to a new project.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Observation balloon exercise in Toulon, Provence region of France

French vintage postcard

[inkwingart]

Three skills you need to make beautiful art, in order of importance:

observation/perception

taste/creativity

coordination

Note that these are skills. They’re not gifts bestowed by some divine entity. And skills can be improved through practice.

Note, also, that I rank observational skills highest, even above creativity, because without strong observational skills, you won’t be able to identify your own mistakes. It’s also not intuitive to train.

Here’s a simple exercise to get you started:

Pick an aesthetically pleasing photo or artwork that doesn’t have obvious lineart. Turn up the contrast a bit if the colors are muddy. Print it out or import it to your choice of drawing software.

Put some tracing paper over it or turn down the opacity and make a new layer. Don’t use tracing paper that is *too* transparent.

Trace out the areas of light and shadow. Don’t get hung up on details, just the broad strokes. Fill in the shadows, try to stick to just 2-3 values of shadow. Try hard NOT to outline “objects” in the image. Try not to erase.

Now view your trace without the original image. Can you still recognize the original subject? Can you see where you messed up/want to make changes?

Now do it while looking *at* the image rather than tracing directly from it.

Compare your referenced drawing to the traced one.

Repeat steps 1-6 with new photos/images.

Once you feel confident, try drawing from a reference without tracing.

This exercise will help you learn how to use light and shadow to define 3D forms as 2D shapes. Questions you should ask yourself during this exercise:

Can you tell where the light is coming from?

Is it a strong or weak light source?

Is there more than one light source?

What kind of materials are you observing?

How does light interact with shiny surfaces versus matte ones? Soft versus hard? Round versus angular?

Where are the edges of light and shadow? Are they soft or hard edges? Is the transition gradual or abrupt?

How would you use these observations to depict something from your imagination?

[nonbinary-octopus]

I understand rock/metal music now.

my previous experiences with them mostly amounted to "driver of this long car trip likes this band and is playing a lot of it too loud and I have a headache", so I was not much a fan.

But

I have just listened to a heavy metal cover of a song I like

And guys

It was so good

you could not have prevented me from moving enthusiastically to the beat if you tried.

just dancing happily, a mixture of stompy feet, hip swinging, head bobbing, and like. it's not exactly fist pumping but it is similar

these were the motions that were spontaneously evoked by this song

and I get it now

I really do

I understand the headbanging and the yelling along and all of it

fabulous.

[balluprojects]

Fuzzy Hairs, 2024

Mixed media: wax crayons, eccoline pens and coffee on 200g paper

have a funky weekend ahead*

[sisterdivinium]

Warrior Nun truly is the most fucked up fucking show in the whole fucking world isn't it

Thecla (Ancient Greek: Θέκλα, Thékla; Greek: Θέκλα; Turkish: Tekla) was a saint of the early Christian Church, and a reported follower of Paul the Apostle. The earliest record of her life comes from the ancient apocryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla.

In one scene, female beasts, particularly lionesses, protected her against her male aggressors.

It is also said that Thecla spent the rest of her life in Maaloula, a village in Syria. There, she became a healer and performed many miracles...

...but remained constantly persecuted.

In one instance, as her persecutors were about to get to her, she called out to God, a new passage was opened in the cave she was in, and the stones closed behind her.

Around AD 280, Thecla features as one of the characters in Methodius of Olympus' Symposium, in which she displays considerable knowledge of profane philosophy, various branches of literature, and eloquent yet modest discourse. Methodius states that she received her instruction in divine and evangelical knowledge from Paul, and was eminent for her skill in sacred science ("Logos 8").

According to some scholars, Thecla's story inspired many later stories of women saints who dressed as men

All of these women were empowered by Thecla, a woman who did things that not many women would ever dare to do

In Spanish-speaking countries, she is also facetiously counted as the patron saint of computers and Internet, from the homophony with the Spanish and Catalan word tecla ("key").[citation needed]

(text on Thecla of Iconium taken from Wikipedia)

[ailelie]

observations from the 9th of may

bright green leaves pressed against a vivid blue sky, with just a bare wisp of cloud

a glass, one-third full of water, siting near the edge of a coaster; the light passing through creates patterns of shadow and light; the shadows fade in and out of depth, radiate from and twist around each other

a stone griffin standing atop a high pillar, backed by the clear, bright sky

the too salty, herb-pressed crust of a sandwich

fingers splayed, pushed through thick, light-brown curls

a laughing boy with chin-length hair, neither blonde nor brown, racing up and down the side-wall of a cafe, his arms raised behind him

bushes of purple flowers, darker in the dusk, each tall flower a cluster of smaller blossoms; the sweet fragrance fades in and out as I pass

the trash overflows next to the bus stop

layer after layer of words, all different colors, all different hands, cover the walls and stalls of the bathroom, except for a patch between the sink and the door that is a cool, flat black

a small, circular radio attached, by chain or clip, to an older black man with thin limbs. The music is good. He sways and mouths along to the words. He exits the bus mid-dance step.

[nikibogwater]

Terrible news, everyone. The grown-ups were right. Working out regularly actually does increase your overall quality of life by a significant margin.

[postcard-from-the-past]

Observation balloon exercise of the French Navy on a vintage postcard