#part 6 is my favorite part in terms of art style

[shoechoe]

The eyes and lips are definitely consistently my favorite part of Jojo's art styles. Very pretty. I always really like the detailed shots where you can see them in full quality.

There has always been a particular allure to me with the way faces are drawn in Jojo- especially the manga. It gives it a very serene and delicate feeling which is interesting for a fighting series. I'd even say this about parts 1-3 to an extent despite everyone being hulkish and otherwise hyper-masculine.

[sineala]

What do you think of Iron Man Volume 2? The Heroes Reborn stuff

When you asked this, I had not read any of v2 -- for any title -- beyond isolated panels, and I was fully prepared to tell you it was bad.

Then I thought, "No, I haven't actually read v2 properly, and I shouldn't just say that without having read it. I should form my own opinion. And IM v2 is only 13 issues." So I just read it.

It's still bad.

The sad thing is that it's not actually the worst comic I've read. It's bad, but it's only… medium bad? I have definitely read things that are worse than Iron Man v2. That doesn't mean it's in any way good. It's just not The Worst.

(It's The Crossing. The Crossing is worse than IM v2. If you have any other answer to "what is the worst comic book?" then I know that you have not read The Crossing because there is no other possible answer. Nothing is worse than The Crossing. Please do not take this paragraph as some kind of reverse-psychology encouragement to try to read The Crossing. It is so bad. It is bad in a way that no other comic can even approach. You will be sorry. I own it in hardcover.)

Insofar as anything would have been able to improve the IM v2 reading experience, it turns out that reading IM v2 in isolation doesn't do it a lot of favors. I didn't know this before I read any of it, but there are multiple issues that are crossovers with FF, Cap, and Avengers v2 -- and they're the kind of four-part crossover where each part is really in a different book, so it's hard to wing it. I knew that the #13 issues were Wildstorm crossovers, and in the case of IM v2 #13 specifically StormWatch (which I am familiar with in the sense that I've read The Authority so I know who Jenny Sparks is, but I don't know that I ever read the original StormWatch, because it's been a while). Anyway, it turns out that #6 and #12 are also the same kind of four-part crossover, so like a quarter of this comic is already incomprehensible crossovers! Great!

I do actually own the other three v2 series, and I could in fact have read them along with this, but I decided I had suffered enough.

The other thing I didn't realize is that these v2 series don't actually explain how everyone got back to 616. I thought they would! They did not! It turns out this is covered in Heroes Reborn: The Return, which is a separate miniseries taking place after v2 and is not the same thing as Heroes Return (either of them) which is obviously a different thing. Thanks, comics. I did go and skim that to get a general idea of the plot. It's not as bad as v2, possibly because Peter David was doing the writing, and the art is also less bad.

Because, yeah, the IM v2 art is horrendous. The best thing I can say about it is that it's not quite as bad as The Crossing and also that, luckily, IM v2 is not the v2 book Rob Liefeld was drawing, although everyone who was drawing these books appears to have wanted to be Rob Liefeld, in terms of style. But this doesn't mean you are free from horrors like this:

The IM v2 armor design is also bad. I say this as someone who does not normally care about armor in the sense that armor doesn't usually affect whether I like a run, as it does for some Iron Man fans. Is it nice if Tony has aesthetically-pleasing armor? Sure! Who doesn't want to look at nice things? But if a run has good writing, Tony could be wearing a cardboard box and I wouldn't care. In my favorite IM run, he literally lives in a cardboard box and later constructs a superhero outfit out of other superheroes' spare uniform bits!

However, the v2 armor sure got hit with the ugly stick:

So that's not… really helping.

The actual plot was-- I mean, yeah, no, it wasn't great, and it did start out with Tony being terrible and uncaring, and then approximately 50% of it was about the Hulk, who was not the character I'd come here to read about, and there were the aforementioned inexplicable crossovers.

What was left of the plot didn't make much sense, and I'm not sure if any of this was actually explained clearly in the other books, but as far as I can tell what was going on was that all the heroes here were dropped onto Counter-Earth here after fighting Onslaught, and given memories and backstories to suggest that they'd always been here, and a lot of their backstories weren't the same. In Tony's case, he wasn't the original Iron Man; this was Conner O'Reilly (Rebel), one of Tony's friends from college, who died being Iron Man. Tony then ends up being Iron Man but of course Rebel isn't really permanently dead and he comes back to fight Titanium Man with Tony. The series treats this information like you of course already knew it and it already happened, which, since comic books already do this while talking about things that did actually happen in previous comics, makes it even more incomprehensible. I spent like three issues wondering if I was actually supposed to know this character.

(Somehow Rebel shows up again in Fabian Nicieza's Thunderbolts run. IDK how, I haven't read it. I have, like, five T-Bolts books in my TBR pile. I do fully intend to read T-Bolts at some point. It just hasn't happened yet.)

I will say that the one interesting thing about reading IM v2 here was how much of it ended up in the MCU. I wasn't expecting that. I know people always say that about Ults, and I can definitely see where the MCU took some inspiration from Ults, but no one ever says that about v2. And I can see why they would do it, because both Ults and v2 are reimagined versions that are trying to tell a story that sort of evokes the feel of 616 without the reader actually needing to be familiar with decades of comics. Which is, you know, the thing the MCU wanted to do, so it makes sense. I just hadn't realized the MCU had borrowed any of this.

What did the MCU take from IM v2? Probably the most notable aspect is Tony being BFFs with Bruce Banner. Here in the v2 backstory, Tony, Bruce, Reed, Doom, and Hank all went to college together and became friends (or frenemies, in the case of Doom). Everyone on that list other than Bruce already had some kind of connection to Tony in 616. Mostly science friendship. Or, uh, science enmity, in the case of Doom. Bruce actually didn't have any connection to Tony, in 616. The Hulk leaves the Avengers in issue #3 and pretty much does not come back until after comics start getting MCU-ified. I think the Hulk being on Hickman's initial Avengers team and also Bendis' Avengers Assemble is when that started happening. So that's all starting in 2012, for sure.

Bruce does not play well with others in 616; the main team he's ever associated with is the Defenders, whose raison d'être is not playing well with others -- like, Namor's on the Defenders. 616 Tony and 616 Bruce were absolutely not BFFs and Hulk was never a regular Avenger; every so often, when they were building new teams, the Avengers called and asked him if he wanted to come back and he told them to fuck off. Tony's never, like, calling him up for advice. They're not friends. If you are here from MCU fandom, I really want to stress this. They're not friends. If Tony needs a science buddy, he probably calls Reed Richards. And yet, here, in v2, Bruce and Tony are lifelong BFFs! They were roommates in college! Tony cares deeply about him, to the point that half the plot of this series is actually about him trying to help the Hulk! I really wasn't expecting that.

The other thing in IM v2 that might look familiar to you, the MCU fan, is Tony/Pepper. They clearly have some UST all throughout v2 -- which, sure, is a thing they had in 616 -- but here, they actually sleep together, which they had never done in 616 at the time. (This actually happens in Heroes Reborn: The Return #4, if you've read IM v2 and are wondering how you missed it.) The only time Tony and Pepper sleep together in 616 is during World's Most Wanted, an arc that came out in 2009, which was clearly after IM1 and also clearly taking inspiration from IM1 because Tony gets a glowy light in his chest by the end of the arc after that one. So, yeah… it looks like MCU grabbed the canon Tony/Pepper too.

(Over in Cap v2, Steve is actually a robot fucker. He has also slept with robots on regular Earth-616. Come on, MCU! Why are you cowards?)

So, yeah. It's not by any means a great comic, but IM v2 is not the worst comic I have ever read, and it's actually kind of an interesting read from the perspective of seeing what they borrowed for MCU. I'm not saying you should run out and read this right now or anything, though. I personally took a bunch of plot notes while I was reading this just so I would never have to read it again.

Also, please enjoy this page from IM v2 #9 in which Tony brings Thor to Avengers Mansion to show him his hole.

Please note that Tony wishes that he had instead chosen to show his hole to Steve. This is all I am going to say about this.

[madamlaydebug]

Erykah Badu Posing for her High School Senior Picture in 1989.

The Photo at the very bottom was also Taken in 1989.

Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut album Baduizm (1997), placed her at the forefront of the neo soul movement, earning her the nickname "Queen of Neo Soul" by music critics.

Erykah Badu was born in Dallas, Texas. Badu had her first taste of show business at the age of four, singing and dancing at the Dallas Theater Center and The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL) under the guidance of her godmother, Gwen Hargrove, and uncle TBAAL founder Curtis King. By the age of 14, Badu was freestyling for a local radio station alongside such talent as Roy Hargrove. In her youth, she had decided to change the spelling of her first name from Erica to Erykah, as she believed her original name was a "slave name". The term "kah" signifies the inner self. She adopted the surname "Badu" because it is her favorite jazz scat sound; also, among the Akan people in Ghana, it is the term for the 10th-born child.

After graduating from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Badu went on to study theater at Grambling State University, a historically black university. She left the university in 1993 before graduating, to focus more fully on music. During this time, Badu took several minimum-wage jobs to support herself. She taught drama and dance to children at the South Dallas Cultural Center. Working and touring with her cousin, Robert "Free" Bradford, she recorded a 19-song demo, Country Cousins, which attracted the attention of Kedar Massenburg. He set Badu up to record a duet with D'Angelo, "Your Precious Love", and eventually signed her to a record deal with Universal Records.

Badu's career began after she opened a show for D'Angelo in 1994 in Fort Worth, leading to record label executive Kedar Massenburg signing her to Kedar Entertainment. Her first album, Baduizm, was released in February 1997. It spawned four singles: "On & On", "Appletree", "Next Lifetime" and "Otherside of the Game". The album was certified triple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Her first live album, Live, was released in November 1997 and was certified double Platinum by the RIAA.

Her second studio album, Mama's Gun, was released in 2000. It spawned three singles: "Bag Lady", which became her first top 10 single on the Billboard Hot 100 peaking at #6, "Didn't Cha Know?" and "Cleva". The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA. Badu's third album, Worldwide Underground, was released in 2003. It generated three singles: "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)", "Danger" and "Back in the Day (Puff)" with 'Love' becoming her second song to reach the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #9. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA. Badu's fourth album, New Amerykah Part One, was released in 2008. It spawned two singles: "Honey" and "Soldier". New Amerykah Part Two was released in 2010 and fared well both critically and commercially. It contained the album's lead single "Window Seat", which led to controversy.

Badu's voice has been compared to jazz singer Billie Holiday. Early in her career, Badu was recognizable for her eccentric style, which often included wearing very large and colorful headwraps. She was a core member of the Soulquarians.

As an actress, she has played a number of supporting roles in movies including Blues Brothers 2000, The Cider House Rules and House of D. She also has appeared in the documentaries Before the Music Dies and The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975.

AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

▪In 1997, Badu received twenty nominations and won three, Favorite Female Solo Single for "On & On", Favorite Female Solo Album for Baduizm and Best R&B/Soul or Rap Song of the Year for "On & On" at the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards.

▪In 1998, Badu received fourteen nominations and won eight, including Favorite R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist at the American Music Awards; Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "On & On" and Best R&B Album for Baduizm at the Grammy Awards; Outstanding New Artist and Outstanding Female Artist at the NAACP Image Awards; Favorite Female Soul/R&B Single for "On & On", Favorite Female Soul/R&B Album for Baduizm and Favorite New R&B/Soul or Rap New Artist for "On & On" at the Soul Train Music Awards.

▪In 2000, Badu received two nominations and won one, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the Grammy Awards.

▪In 2003, Badu received twelve nominations and won two, including Video of the Year for "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)" at the BET Awards and Best Urban/Alternative Performance for "Love of My Life (An Ode to Hip-Hop)" at the Grammy Awards.

▪In 2008, Badu received eleven nominations and won two, including Best Director for "Honey" at the BET Awards and Best Direction in a Video for "Honey" at the MTV Video Music Awards. Overall, Badu has won 16 awards from 59 nominations.

▪In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Badu at number 115 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.

[danidoesathing]

Top 5 (or 10 if you feel it) albums of all time?

ooo thats kinda hard. this isnt so much as the best albums ever as in my personal favorite list. im limited myself to two albums per artist because otherwise i'd be filled with LH

Vide Noir by Lord Huron

never gonna be over this album. its top tier shit and i love it so much. the amount of EFFORT that was put into all this both in the album (THE MUSIC AND STORY HOLY SHIT!!!) and the outside stuff (products of the universe and a whole ass movie. never gonna be over the fact they made a whole ass movie. who does that) is just. insane. fucking insane i love it

2. Strange Trails by Lord Huron

Just barely under Vide Noir in my heart but god. god what an album. love me an anthology and an album that experiments a lot with different styles. its a no skip album and you're rewarded for not skipping with those fucking TRANSITIONS!!!! what a kick off to the main universe. listen to it on vinyl if you have the chance its an experience

3. Coyote Stories by The Crane Wives

i love folk so so much. i started to appreciate this one a lot more after listening to it on vinyl like. agh. i love it here. listen to the hand that feeds

4. Wasteland Baby! by Hozier

Hozier never misses sorry. absolutely gorgeous sound. never before have i seen a man balance between "deep poltical messaging" and "GOD i love women". nobody doing it like him

5. Boreas by The Oh Hellos

BOREAS MY DEAR FRIEND BOREAS. the four seasons/winds albums are so so good with the cycle of death and rebirth and continuation of life. Boreas is the winter album and it focuses heavy on themes of depression and feeling cold but enduring anyway. the album of all time

6. Mania by Fall Out Boy

Got a soft spot for this one in particular due to some memories in high school. its also just a great album in general but im always gonna be biased in its favor. mania my beloved

7. Jiminy by Bear Ghost

its just kinda silly and i love it (at least until Vulture comes in for your throat. seriously why did that one go so hard). took like 8 years to get made and im glad it did. the individual art they have for each song is cool and i cant wait to see them live in august :)

8. Unreal Unearth by Hozier

same thing i said about wasteland baby except now theres dante's inferno and layers of hell stuff that also doubles as a breakup album. we love religious theming here

9. Hayfields by Yaelokre

I dont care if its an EP its a BANGER. its so so good and its got funky fantasy lore. i cannot wait for her to make more music because ive have been rotating these four songs in my brain for so long

10. Angel Face (Club Deluxe)

listened to Howling at Wolves 1 (one) time and got addicted. not usually my type of jam (i like pop but im not crazy about it usually) but i really like this vibe. theres a lot of LH inpso here (both in terms of the style and the lore) as well as a lot of older 60s songs (i like hes got a playlist or two for his characters that have a ton of older music on it). cannot stand until i found you but its worth it for the rest of the album. also going to see him live in august :)

[yomogi-mogi-mochi]

Spolia

Parings: Malleus/(Light Fae) MC // Slight Rook/Vil // MC (Parental)

Summary: You wondered why you ever got accepted into NRC but never bothered to look back when the infamous black carriage whisked you away from a place you could never call home. Having been handed an opportunity of freedom, of solitude, of hope- how come you're paralyzed with fear rather than excitement? Your sunny plein air sessions and nightly walks contemplating this has attracted a certain dragon fae with an affinity for your nimble gargoyle sketches and magnificent paintings.

Notes: Character's lore heavily based on "changelings"- they are fae children who are swapped out with human children because fae believe humans strengthen their bloodline, can be used as servants, etc. They usually develop faster, are an "unearthly" beauty, and are quite intelligent, but appear/behave odd and unnerving. Their existence stems from religious beliefs that odd/sickly children are possessed by the devil/succubus/incubi or a hybrid of the latter and human. TW for religious trauma and child abuse overall but I'm adding comfort since I would literally explode without it. Am I projecting as an art history major with a noggin full of trauma? Shut up. Notes at the end explaining some of the terms. My autistic brain isn’t satisfied without one

I’m cross posting from ao3 to here, so I will be posting there first, before tumblr.

CW: Child Abuse, Mentions of Verbal Abuse, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Bad French

Part 1 (here) // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // Part 6 // Part 7

AO3 Link Here.

Masterlist

————————————————————

You glanced quickly around the classroom from your seat at the far left corner, your heart thumping at the mere thought of having to raise your hand AND your voice. After a quick confirmation that everyone seemed to be as half asleep as they usually were, you slowly raised your hand.

"Yes?" Trein gestured towards your direction.

"I, uh, had a question about the development of the architectural structures after the fae and human war." You struggled to look at your Professor's eyes while talking as it had been ingrained into you, however you settled for a spot slightly below his face at the beautiful emerald brooch.

"...after the war, was each race more specialized in their own architectural styles? Or did they care for a spolia* situation with certain buildings or areas each of them conquered?"

Despite all the complaints of drowsiness and the workload of the class, Trein's history lessons were your favorite. Your family background never allowed for any lessons outside of family and national history, so you were happy that Trein would indulge in your inquiries of the art and architecture surrounding the history of magic. Unlike people, buildings and paintings were easier to read- and often they were much more rich with beauty within the layers of history they called with them. Unlike humans.

"That's a good question Mx. D’aramitz. Now I cannot say I have the exact answer as of now..."

Your shoulders slouched a bit in disappointment.

"...however I do have some suggestions on readings if you are interested after class. Any other questions from any other students besides Mx. D’aramitz?" Treins eyes bore into the collective glazed look of the other students. After a beat of deafening silence he swiftly turned to the chalkboard, writing the homework for the weekend.

"That is your work for the weekend. You're all dismissed."

Students began to filter out the door, eager to get to their lunch. You anxiously made your way to Trein, carefully collecting your books, as well as a leather bag containing your art supplies.

"Ah Mx. D’aramitz. Glad to see that you've stayed. Wait here I'll write out the list for you- I take it you've already finished my last recommendations?"

"Ah- yes! It was very interesting, the intertwining between magical royalty and stained glass has some interesting symbolism and political history I never considered...thank you for the suggestions!" You felt your lips unintentionally pull into a grin, as you attempted not to gush about the nuance and beauty of Gothic architecture. Trein listened intently to your review regarding his reading recommendations. His usually tight expression softened into a small smile.

"I'm glad you enjoyed those books. I actually have some other suggestions if you're curious- I'll write them along with the others I promised you." He neatly listed a couple of titles onto a piece of parchment before he handed it to you. "It's always a pleasant surprise to see students like you Mx. D’aramitz. However I don't want to keep you from your lunch. I'll see you in class."

You see some students already filtering into the classroom for their next period, you quickly bow your head. "Th-thank you! Have a good weekend!"

Swiveling around to scurry out of the classroom, your face was met with a large body instead. You instinctively flinched backwards, quickly snapping your anxious gaze to Malleus Draconia, with a calm expression resting on his slender face.

He looked down onto your scrawny figure, virescent eyes staring into your own.

You internally screamed.

"S-sorry! Excuse me..."

Pulling the hem of your hood down, you weaved around the incoming students, making a beeline to your usual place for lunch. Unlike the bustling bodies and loud chaos of the school’s hallways, you were relieved to find the library mostly empty, and tranquil as usual. Despite the silence, you pulled your noise canceling headphones over your pointed ears tucked under your hood, and hit shuffle on your music library. Neatly placing you books on the table, you excitedly trotted over to book shelves, Trein’s list in hand. After some vigilant searching, you found two of the books on your list. However, Power of Artistic Appropriation: Postwar Victory of Gothic Fae Architecture was nowhere to be found.

Ah I guess I can just look at a later time…

Scurrying back to your usual corner, you laid out your lunchbox on the table. You were much more interested in devouring the contents of your book, than eating the homemade meal you had made this morning. Excitement rumbled through your chest, to the tips of your hands and feet, as you absorbed the information on the page. You enjoyed peaceful times like this, untethered to the thoughts that normally weighed you down. The honey gold warmth that shone from the large arched windows reminded you that you needed to buy more yellow pigment from Sam’s shop after your plain air session after classes. You swatted that thought away as you continued to leaf through the last few pages of the chapter Trein recommended.

Ah what peace…

“I said, hey, human .”

You jumped at the sudden presence.

What is with all of the Diasmonia students today??

Stern green eyes looked down in seeming disgust as narrowed in annoyance. You took this que to take off your headphones, careful not to let your hood down. Sebek held out his hand expectantly, shoving it in front of your face. You flinched on instinct but maintained a trained look of composure despite the rush of tingling anxiety creeping to the tips of your hands. You dug your fingernails into the palms of your hands to ground yourself.

“I believe you have a book that my young master is in need of. Hand it over and we can be done here, human .”

…hah?

“S-Sorry?”

To your horror his face twisted in anger. “Are you deaf, human ?! I said hand it over.” Sebek seethed through his teeth.

He seems more trouble than he’s worth… and this feeling, and the Diasmonia uniform…half fae perhaps? It can’t possibly end well…

“Ah s-sorry! My notes are still in it but‒“ The student snatched the book from your hands, before marching away from you with a pile of books in hand. Maybe the book you were looking for earlier is also in that pile. Ah, at least you finished most of the chapter, better than being hurt or in a difficult situation. You collected your things before brushing off your pomefiore uniform, heading to your next class.

How troublesome…

You couldn’t wait until you were away from the noise of people.

Letting out a relieved sigh, you trotted out of the school, towards the gothic structure of the Diasmonia dorm. To be frank, you had half a mind to avoid the dorm with the run-ins you’ve had with the students today, however you were almost finished with the painting , aside from the painful drying process and varnish. Eager to begin another piece featuring the gargoyles you read of in the book that was rudely snatched from you today, you decided to risk it. You were already creating a color palette you could use for the painting, perhaps you would check with Sam if any interesting or rare pigments arrived.

Swiveling your head to check for any students, you were thankful to see no one. After all, this was an unpopular part of the campus, off to the side of the Diasmonia dorm where you could get a good look at the dynamic structures supported by the towering buttresses. Airy walls suspended from the heavens, while the hefty stone ground it into the Earth creeping up the structure with its mossy appendages.

Finally able to relax, you let down your hood, putting your music on speaker to give your pointed ears a break from the noise canceling headphones not made for fae ear structure. Shrugging off your uniform jacket, you let your translucent wings free from the restricting fabri. Stretching your achy wings, you basked in the light wind, and warm sunlight‒ soaking it deeply into your wings. As a light fae (you were pretty sure anyway, your family deflected any questions of your origins), the sunlight felt especially good on the delicate appendages on your back, too bad this itchy wing prevented you from feeling it in your light hair. However, that would leave you completely vulnerable to people finding out your identity‒ and no good sunbath would be good enough to make up for the verbal abuse you would suffer if that were to happen. You tried not to think about that place; the cold, dark closet; the venomous words‒ ah, no, time to get to work.

It’s almost the culture festival, and I want a couple more pieces to what I have planned already. It’s my duty as Art Club president to act as model for the underclass men…

Opening your leather bag, you pulled out a sealed palette, some bristle brushes, palette knife, and some linseed oil you extracted yourself. As a member of the Pomefiore dorm, you took quiet pride in your collection of homemade oils, tinctures, and pigments you made specially to improve the longevity, quality, and opaqueness of your works. Though you had been originally sorted due to your family’s involvement in dealing expensive health and beauty potions, you thanked the great seven you were placed into a dorm that appealed to the prestigious image you had to maintain, and your parents constant pushing for modeling, while also fitting within your interests of artistic pursuits of painting and experimenting with paint formulas. However, you weren’t too fond of the rococo* design the Pomefiore dorm favored, and gravitated more to the gothic styles of the Diasmonia dorm. Despite your fondness for the dorm, you did not excel especially in magic like other fae, and in fact strictly forbidden in your home to practice magic.

Do not bring such demonic workings into our house! Your existence is a manifestation of the devil’s doings as it is. Pathetic child.

The center of your chest sunk to your stomach reminded of those words by your “mother”. You quietly tugged your uniform back on, pulling your hood over your head once more. Rolling your sleeves up, you began to layer thick globs of paint onto the impasto below.

———————————————————————————————

“Young Master! I’ve returned with some reading I thought you would be interested in!”

Malleus set down his borrowed copy of Power of Artistic Appropriation: Postwar Victory of Gothic Fae Architecture , slightly taken back from the tall stack of books that was dropped onto the table.

“You didn’t have to do that Sebek…Though I do thank you, these readings seem intriguing and would serve well to the Gargoyle Appreciation Club during the cultural festival coming soon.”

“My pleasure young master!” Sebek boomed, bowing. As Malleus leafed through some of the books that appealed to his interest, his eyes paused at the sight of a wad of purple sticky notes lining almost every page of a chapter, decorated in neat cursive written in red ink. He softly traced the curly lettering, feeling goosebumps on his skin as his fingertips felt the raised paper from the ink soaking into the thin paper. He was entranced by the intricate notes, full of excitement and terms he had never heard before, steeping to every inch of his mind as he devoured the chapter. To his absolute pleasure, he also found a few pieces of nimbly scrawled sketches of the types of gargoyles the chapter introduced. Though they were rough, he could sense a sort of liveliness and breath to them. He hadn’t even seen Sebek excuse himself to club activities, engrossed in the internal dialogue of mystery person who had left their pretty cursive and sketches in every crevice of this particular chapter.

Mn? Pretty? When had he decided that?

However, such a melody he could imagine from this person’s internal dialogue and vibrant imagery could only be described as pretty .

Not even bothering to finish the book in its entirety, he leafed through the pages once more. It was imperative that he find this mystery person immediately, of course to ask for their help in for his club during the cultural festival. Could it be a fourth year? That would definitely be a challenge finding them. He quickly checked the library card‒ ah, no luck, just a stamp from today, presumably from Sebek and two more from more than 60 years ago. Could this mystery person made the notes in the library without checking it out? Dozens of scenarios spun in his head. Maybe he could ask the librarian? Or he could ask the art-related students on campus?

He felt and airy warmth bubble from his chest grazing his hands across the sketches, and annotations once more. The sun had began to set, slowly sinking his dormitory in a blazing orange. Perhaps he could think of a solution on his nightly walk.

———————————————————————————————

After stopping by Sam’s shop to peruse through his collection of pigments and oils, you were struggling to balance the precious vials of rare Lapis Lazuli* and Tyrian Purple* powders for your next painting. It had been an expensive decision, surely your funds were going to run out soon, which meant you would be having to complete a modeling job sooner or later.

You really should have taken up the offer for a bag damn it. Your bad habit of declining the smallest bit of help had gotten the best of you once more.

The sky was beginning to darken, a deep mauve hue starting staining the vermillion sunset.

Between the day you’ve had today, your scrunched up wings folded uncomfortably under your uniform, the itchy wig that was digging into your temples, and the mere idea of having to interact with your parents to acquire merely a percentage’s worth of the work you do for them‒ this was too much. You slumped to the ground, setting all of your items down while holding back the tears that were burning the back of your eyes. However, after a beat, you swallowed that feeling like a rock, plunging it deep down in your chest, cradling it within the slow, heavy breaths as if to lull it back to sleep.

Go down go down go down go down

“Are you alright?”

You slowly pulled your gaze to a towering figure, one with the same sharp green eyes that bored into you in Trein’s classroom. For a minute you questioned what planets could have aligned for such encounters to happen today.

“Y-Yes! Sorry, excuse me!” Malleus’ steel gaze watched you immediately scramble for your things, cupping it within your clumsy arms, but not without your canvas slipping from your hand and thumping onto the ground.

“I can help you carry that for you. You’re a Pomefiore student?”

I am absolutely going to scream

“Oh…um, sorry, thank you! And y-yes, third year Pomefiore student. It’s this way…”

Ah yes as if a third year like him doesn’t know where things are

The man hummed in acknowledgement, before following behind with your canvas in hand.

“What were you doing out all alone here? It’s almost completely black out, and a child of man like you cannot see in the dark. It’s dangerous.”

“I’m sorry! I-I was just painting after school to prepare for the cultural festival for the Arts club, and I took too much time at the store choosing pigments for my next painting and I’m so stupid, I didn’t bring a bag to fit all my supplies and the paint still isn’t dry yet because I didn’t add enough fast drying medium this time and‒“

“You’re part of the Arts Club?”

For a second you were taken off guard from his geninely interested expression. Rarely you would see such an expression when you explained the activities of the Art Club. Usually you were met with passive stares or a polite nod before they moved on.

“Yes, I’m the president actually! If you’d like, please visit us during the cultural fair!” You wanted to gush about the events you held, and your specific special interests within the field, but you held back.

No one would want to hear that.

“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea, child of man.”

“Ahaha…child of man?”

“What your species is called. ‘Humans’, correct?” You felt his eyes turn towards yours, your cheeks slightly rosy with the intense eye contact. You prayed to the great seven that he had not sensed anything from you, especially with the bitter potions that you choked down everyday to appease your family’s relentless reminder for you to be anything other than what you were.

“…yeah…haha I-I guess. Oh! You should join the Art Club if you’re that interested. We’re always short on members so I’m usually the only one organizing and participating in events…”

“Ah, as much as I would like to…I’m already in my own club, the Gargoyle Appreciation Club. I appreciate the offer however.”

“Oh…that’s a shame‒ ah! Not that your club isn’t interesting‒ in fact‒“ you caught yourself mid sentence, preventing yourself from dumping the loads of information that was threatening to bubble up from your throat. You were pretty sure you had used up a life time’s worth of luck with today’s events when the Pomefiore’s dormitory came into view to save the day.

“W-We’re here. I think I can carry the short distance to my room. Thank you for helping me!”

“No need for thanks, child of man. I look forward to seeing your presentation at the cultural festival.”

“I’ll keep an eye out for your booth as well!” After seeing him off, you scurried into the dormitory, eager to get a head start on preparing your paint mixtures before your plain air tomorrow.

“Ah L’artiste en folie! Marvelous timing.”

“Indeed!”

“(name), good timing. We were just talking about you”

I am absolutely at my limit‒

You leaned your canvas against the staircase ( for quick escape ), turning to the voice.

“Yes, vice dorm leader, dorm leader? Oh, and headmage Crowley, a pleasure.” You answered with a curt bow. Just like you were taught.

“We were wondering if L’artiste en folie would be willing to draft up some posters for the cultural festival!”

“I had a connection with someone in the professional art industry but they bailed last minute. Rook suggested we ask you instead, based on the art galleries you’ve been holding every now and then.”

Weird that they know about that. You make sure never to sign your works in case of any slim chance your family would hear about your activities at Night Raven College, and to mix it with the submissions by the other Art Club Members. However you haven’t seen many other members or artists wandering around the campus with canvases as big as yours, or struggling to balance vials of previous pigment to your dorm ah, you definitely weren’t as sneaky as you thought. Still you glanced over at Rook, he is a hunter after all, you figured, he’s likely trained in careful observation. You’ve also seen him sneaking around spying on people, so, there’s that.

“I said it was a brilliant idea Mx. D’aramitz! You must! I’ll even offer compensation for the job!”

Your ears definitely perked up at the sound of that.

Hm. Money and some practice for my calligraphy. Temping offer…

“…Ok. I do have one condition though since the posters will be in public.”

“Phenomenal!” Crowley shot up, already ready to take his leave upon sealing the deal. You flinched in surprise at the sudden movement. “Your condition is?”

“Please leave out any evidence of my name or involvement in this project. That is all.”

The three paused, slight surprise adorned on their faces. Crowley was the first to relax, letting out a hearty laugh.

“Haha! That’s it? That can be arranged Mx. D’aramitz, rest assured. Ah this is wonderful news…” Crowley began to mumble something about not having to spend so much money on professional artists, which you quirked your eyebrow at. Oh well, you weren’t really in the position to be lecturing people about money right now, taking note of how painfully light your wallet was in your pocket after your visit at Sam’s.

“L’artiste en folie! Truly magnifique that you’re pouring your artists soul for us to save us from the absolute peril!”

He’s a little confused but he’s got the spirit.

“We appreciate this (name). Here is the information we need on the posters. We’ll leave creative liberty for the design aspects. I trust your taste after seeing your work on display.” Vil handed you a piece of paper with the date, time, groups, and main highlights of the cultural festival. You had a feeling it was going to be a busy few weeks before the festival.

———————————————————————————————

Notes:

Adding bits and pieces of my knowledge of medieval/gothic architecture is hard when you’ve only taken 1 course on it lol. Though I consider my art history knowledge to be pretty well rounded, my academic concentration isn’t in the Middle Ages (it's contemporary/modern and non European) so please correct me if you see anything wrong, because my autistic brain likes information yum.

Spolia: Basically when you defeat someone, break apart pieces of an Artwork of their country and incorporate it into a symbol of victory. Not only does this save time during the building process, but it's also a political/social/religious/symbolic fuck you to your opponent. Also can show that you're building upon the foundations of the old to rebuild the new.

The Arch of Constantine is a very good example of this. A lot of examples I've personally seen are triumph arches. Lots in France because they're always fighting

Rococo: From what I can largely gather, while the exterior of the castle is largely based off of German castles post medieval era, the interior of the Pomefiore’s dormitory is heavily inspired by Rococo design. Similar to Rococo art, the style is very frivolous, decadent, and overall excessive. I imagine due to the reader’s family connections which I will establish further on, their home is in a similar style, perhaps with more religious elements.

If you look up the Palace of Versailles (A heightened example of Rococo culture right at the prissy center of the movement) and compare it side by side to the hallway of the Pomefiore's dorm its literally the same. I took one glance at the wiki page and was like wait I've seen that before. Low and behold the French have come to haunt me everywhere

Gothic: people have a lot of misconceptions about this word including and especially the people at Disney lmao their architecture is a mess. But "gothic" as we art historians use it refers more to a list of characteristics than a specific time period (Though usually around the 12th to 16th century). You've seen the stained glass windows with the thin frames and the dynamic, pointy architecture from sites like Notre Dame de Paris (the one that caught on fire also the one Victor Hugo based the Hunchback for Notre Dame off of‒ praying for cool architecture in the new dorm based off of the Disney movie so I can analyze the fuck out of it.) or the Notre Dame de Reims‒ these are actually late gothic when the technology to build higher, more airy structures was available. But there's actually a lot more to gothic architecture, like I mentioned buttresses which allow gothic architecture to be as tall as it is, or gothic arches, ribbed vaulting, arcade (essentially an added strip of decorated wall), and a long long nave that leads to a central apse. Oh and of course Malleus' favorite, gargoyles. They actually served a very functional purpose in the beginning, aiding in water flow off the building to prevent erosion. It is also told that the head of a Gargoyle helps in repelling evil spirits which cathedrals would obviously want to do. I imagine this to be some sort of symbol of technology and innovation on the Fae's part, and perhaps used as a symbol of victory over humans during the war?? Idk I'm making shit up and I think too much but I think the idea is interesting

Not going to go too far into explaining because it gets long but Diasmonia's high windows, separation of each section of the wall (ie the arcade and clerestory) and gothic arches (the ones that are pointed slightly at the top) and ribbed vaulting makes be believe the artists were going for early gothic or at least was what they were referencing when designing the interior of the dorm (Look up Sens Cathedral if you want an example). Really wish they leaned more heavily into the gothic thing and designed it to be more late gothic with "goth" touches, but maybe the new dorm based on the movie based on the book based on the late gothic Cathedral has me having hope we will get our beautiful stained windows and voluptuous flying buttresses

Lapis Lazuli is the mineral that makes Ultramarine, but it's super fucking expensive and it's been heralded as a symbol of royalty since the Bronze age by some of the oldest civilizations in the world (Bull Headed Lyre of Ur is one famous example of how it was used to honor royalty, even in death since it was a funerary object). The color is also featured in Vermeer's Girl with the Pearl Earring. Mans was rich

Tyrian purple is the pigment made out of crushing a certain sea snail, also expensive because it's very labor intensive, and has a specific locality in availability. I'd like to think Vil's robes are dyed in this color just because he's extra like that. I also imagine Sam making a deal with Azul to acquire the snails/pigment which is why reader is so very broke after purchasing it lol

[spinaroos-47]

3, 4, 6 and 34 for the Artist Ask Game!!

3- your favorite piece(s)?

Already answered here

4- piece you wish got more love?

Honestly, in general i just really wish my non fandom stuff got more love. I really care about my guys, i want more people to like them too

6- favorite thing to draw?

The human body in general, i think. The shapes are really fun! That or clothes dnfnfn

34- whats something you still like from your old art?

Since Ive been doing some backups of my old art recently, i have been thinking a lot about it. And its kinda hard because at every point in this almost decade of drawing and posting, theres always something something i still like about it.

Well, mostly. Theres one part of 2016 that i REALLY hate how it looks and Ive hated for years now

But this is about what i like soooo, I'll pick 2019.

I still think that this style is pretty charming, the lineart especially is very nice, and I used to be really good with colored pencils, especially when it came to gradients. 2019 was still a bit of my gradient heavy era

It was a more time consuming style due to me having to sketch and then line stuff with inks, plus that colored pencils take more time than something like highlighters. But yeah, good style, just not really workable long term with how many drawings i used to make at the time

[create-with-afp]

Bleach Fanfiction Master Post

Figured I would make a fun little catalog of my years of Bleach fanfiction. (Jeez, I am so old.) All of it is ByaHisa because that is my special kind of brain rot. My favorite romantic set-up involves a firm stoic falling hard, and we know like… five things … maybe? … about the other half of this canon pairing, which leaves a lot open to interpretation/artistic license. Also, contextualizing or reframing the woman character whose sole function in a narrative is to serve as characterization for a male character is a Fine Undertaking* in my opinion, and Bleach has so many interesting dead wives to choose from….

So, without further ado, here we go (in-progress or completed stories only):

Mortal Devices: Part III of the Maid!Heist/Dark Academia series with The Darkest Black as Part I and An Education as Part II. This WIP departs from both Maid!Heist and Dark Academia, as it's more of a political slow burn with espionage and clan politics taking up most of the breathing room. It's still firmly ByaHisa (as the politics of their marriage is explored in depth), but the main plot revolves around locating stolen documents and research from the Twelfth before they can be used to devastating effect in the WOTL. [a03 exclusive]

An Education: Part II of the Maid!Heist/Dark Academia series with The Darkest Black (described below) as Part I. This is finally complete and is the “Dark Academia” portion of the tale. The chapters are broken up into seasons for each year (Year One: Autumn, Year One: Winter, etc.). Accordingly, the chapters are largely episodic with a few themes woven into each “Year.” I’m not quite convinced I’ve nailed Dark Academia with this one; it seems more “Slice of Life” than anything else, which I think is partially owing to the dual POVs with Byakuya (the other POV character) not attending the Academy. (He’s actually banned so… yikes….) [ff.net (discontinued on ffn, but there are a few chapters there so I'll link it) │ a03]

A Thin Red Line: This is my longest work to date, as it’s basically the length of four traditionally published fantasy novels (400k+ words). To be fair to me, this is a retelling of Bleach where Hisana does not die so it covers the Byakuya and Hisana origin story, the major arcs, plus that whole 40-year period where canon Rukia was basically living in a gothic novel. Mind the tags. Still in progress after like 10 years…. Edit 6/19/23: And she’s DONE! Bonus content on AO3 for registered users. [ff.net │ a03]

The Darkest Black: While stuck with writer’s block on ATRL, I wrote an entirely different “how did Byakuya meet Hisana” story that is… bleak? Bleak for me, at least. Probably not bleak objectively. Hisana is a thief who agrees to steal a priceless piece of art from the Kuchiki family posing as a maid. Hijinks ensue. Byakuya is particularly unlikeable as a character in this one, but that’s probably more of a side-effect of Hisana being the main POV character. This was my way to make a “Hisana as a maid” meet-cute between these two characters make sense in my head. Complete. [ff.net │ a03]

Smoke and Mirrors: A dark ByaHisa origin story with Hisana as an oiran. It isn’t particularly graphic in terms of sex or violence since that isn’t really my style, but the text and subtext are definitely there that terrible things happen to Hisana, and her mental state is understandably not great. [ff.net │ a03]

Without Frontiers: Like the Peter Gabriel song! (Yes, that song was the inspo. I write to music just like probably 95% of anyone who writes.) This is a pretty fluffy one-shot where Byakuya and Hisana are childhood friends. There is like 0 romance. They are legit kids just making up stories and being goofy. There are some hints that Hisana may be exposed to Bad Things that she is trying to process through story-telling because, really, who doesn’t want a little Adult Fear injected into an otherwise light-hearted story? [ff.net │ a03]

Charcoal Hearts: This is my very tame attempt at a reincarnation fic. The story is about Byakuya taking Rukia to a ballet during their off-time. He is there basically to ogle the reincarnation of his dead wife as a ballerina performing Serenade. It has a flirty ending, but, since I don’t particularly love Hisana reincarnation fics, it ends ambiguously. [ff.net │ a03]

So Far Away: A pretty depressive one-shot where an injured Byakuya recovers in Hisana’s hovel in the deep Rukon. Here, Hisana is a barmaid who scavenges and does side jobs to support herself, and Byakuya is… well… sort of an asshole? Like I think writing this one-shot was where I had an epiphany about Byakuya’s character (or at least my attempt to write his character): That “epiphany” being that because he lives in a rich people bubble, he (1) is extremely entitled and (2) struggles to understand and connect with others. These two traits create a feedback loop that makes him come off as simultaneously arrogant and stiff/awkward. I don’t think Byakuya is canonically on the spectrum, but I could entertain that theory, especially in light of the CFYOW books. Instead, I think there is a point when someone has so much privilege that they never learn how to read the damn room because all rooms, at that point, are basically designed to cater to them. Everyone is artificial with them so genuine concern or emotion seems inconvenient, at best, to alien, at worst. All that said, in this story he very much trips all over himself, but he improves. Slowly. Over the course of like years. [ff.net │ a03]

Stages: A short ByaHisa origin story that incorporates the five stages of love challenge that was popular on LiveJournal back when LJ was a thing. (Is it still a thing?) Hisana is a courtesan. It isn’t the best, and I sort of hate it, but it is part of the plot bunny that prompted me to make a version of Hisana as a courtesan that would be interesting, or more interesting, and better researched in keeping with the Edo Period sensibilities of Soul Society, which led to Smoke and Mirrors and A Thin Red Line. [ff.net │ a03]

White Flowers and Red Hearts Trilogy: These stories are the earliest of my ByaHisa brain rot, and they probably read exactly like that. I have not done a re-write (or, hell, even a re-read) of any of these in like a decade or more so… yikes… But, from what I recall, the first story, Dissidence is the meet-cute, where Byakuya meets Hisana while on a mission. Hisana is a Rukon local working as a host performing tea ceremonies, and Byakuya sort of winds up in a “you broke the thing, now you must buy the thing” situation with Hisana, explaining his decision to marry her. Dimuendo is the middle child, and it chronicles their first year of marriage. Both Dissidence and Dimuendo are pretty fluffy with some light angst. Dolente is like super depressive because… well… death is pretty sad, and it is the final year of their marriage. Would not recommend any of these, and, like Stages, I would probably delete them if not for the sentimental value. [a03]

The Rites of the Dead: It’s a weird story. Technically, it’s a one-shot, but it has a few “movements” that break the story into parts. It has no romance. The subject matter is dark: Hisana is a member of the Fourth and is tasked with preparing the funerary arrangements upon Ginrei’s death. And, I like it? Still. For some strange reason. Sure, there are things that I would go back and fix on a technical level if I were to re-edit it (which I have no plans to do), but the idea of Hisana and Byakuya’s first meeting being on a tragic occasion seems poetic? Also, the idea of a bunch of “dead” people having to mourn and “bury” their dead is so on the nose, that it seems right. I found the wordplay in some parts of this story to be pretty clever. (No one else did.) [ff.net │ a03]

A Suggestion of Marriage: A light fluffy one-shot where Byakuya asks Hisana to marry him. She says, “yes.” Shocker. I know. I do kind of like the backstory for Hisana in this one, which is that of an Academy flunkie who goes on to work at a tea house. I think this is the story where I got the idea to finally take the plunge and make her an oiran; although, she isn’t technically one here. [ff.net │ a03]

Fan Dance: A one-shot where Byakuya and Hisana meet during a sparring match. She is the Lieutenant of the Fourth, Byakuya is the Lieutenant of the Sixth, and they get matched to spar during an event where all the fancy pants Shinigami are supposed to release their zanpakuto for public spectacle. Byakuya gets more than he bargains for when Hisana winds up not being a total powder puff. No hugging or kissing, which seems to be a theme among like half of the one-shots…. [ff.net │ a03]

*On a tangentially-related aside for anyone who comes across this random post and who wants recommendations from an internet rando on actual literature where real, serious authors reframe women who got the short end of the narrative stick, see Wide Sargasso Sea, The Penelopiad, or The Problem with Susan (Jane Eyre, The Odyssey, and the Narnia series, respectively).

[foreverrunningfree]

@czigonas wanted to see me answer those artist questions and I did them all so it’ll be under the cut

1. Art programs you have but don’t use?

As of rn I cannot draw on my laptop/tablet so technically paint tool SAI and photoshop(idk what version). But I guess I hadn’t used photoshop for /years/ back before my drawing hiatus. Sorry but SAI is so much nicer to look at and to use, for me personally.

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left,right, or forward?

I flip flop my canvas a ton to a) look at it for wonkiness and b) to get specific lines in a direction that feels good, but the actual act of drawing I typically like to have them looking left cause most the the lines flow from top right to bottom left which is nicer to do since I use my right hand to draw even tho I am ambidextrous.

3. What ideas come from when you were little?

This question confuses me on what it’s actually asking soooo? When I was like 12 I had to write a story for school so I did a story about a plane crash in which the survivor came face to face to a rat/bat/cat/dog creature thing? I’ve always wanted to redraw the creature, idk if I have the original drawing I did and I don’t feel up to digging to see if I kept it during all my moves.

4. Fave character/subject that’s a bitch to draw?

My favorite animal color patterns aka brindle, merle ,roan, spots/stripes. So time consuming. In terms of shape, human faces for sure.

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself?

Before hiatus, probably 90% /shared/. Currently, probably 75% /posted/cause I can’t post the porn to tumblr lmaoooo but I have shared them with like half a dozen friends.

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously?

I’m sure there’s a ton but if it’s subconsciously then how would I consciously know?🤔 ok serious answer, probably every single 2D animated movie or show I’ve ever seen, and all the various artists I follow. I mean, there’s parts of my style I can pinpoint you to what it’s inspired by.

7. A medium of art you don’t work in but appreciate?

I’ve never /seriously/ tried oil paint, acrylic paint, or pastels but that shit always looks so good. Also watercolor even though i have tried and enjoyed using watercolors but I am far far faaarrr from being proficient in them. Non drawing wise, I fucking love dioramas, especially those that are then filled in(?) with acrylic(?). I watch a lot of those videos on YouTube.

8. What’s an old project idea you’ve lost interest in?

Most of my old animal ocs I had in the same universe in my mind and had a comic planned that I never got around to. I still love and wanna revisit those ocs. But also my dragon age ocs who I’ve SERIOUSLY BEEN CONSIDERING drawing in @soaps-hoe-141 universe 👀

9. What are your file name conventions?

Before hiatus/ on my laptop, subject or character and whatever was happening in the pic. Now using procreate on my iPad? I don’t think I’ve named a single one lol.

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw?

Nothing, no clothes, nude, nakedness please and thank you. lol but I guess I do sorta enjoy figuring out clothing in general, folds and shit, getting that practice in. Like how it hangs and creases in poses since I’m not used to drawing it.

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing?

I don’t usually listen to /only/ music while drawing, I much prefer having a favorite movie playing in the background and/or a show I enjoy rewatching/am actively watching. I also watch a lot of gamer YouTubers I put on as background noise/short watch breaks that their voice is just soothing to me even if I’m not /watching/.

12. Easiest part of the body to draw?

I’m not sure… maybe boobs/pecs for humanoids. General body shape for animals?

13. A creator you admire but whose work isn’t your thing?

Honestly can’t think of a single one. I mean, plenty of artists do work(or with a medium) that I can’t or don’t want to do/use personally but I read the question of “isn’t your thing” as “subject you don’t enjoy”. If that’s correct, then idk what to tell you. I don’t follow or remember people who majority does things I can’t enjoy on some level.

14. Any fave motifs?

Quite a lot of religious imagery I guess ex. Circles around a persons head. Less serious answer is drawing characters in meme formats lol

15. Where do you draw?

Please don’t tell any physical therapists I live like this… on my back on my couch with my head on the arm rest while holding my iPad propped up on my chest like 8 inches away from my face lmao

16. Something you are good at but don’t really have fun doing?

Idk???? I do shit for my own enjoyment so I’m not sure? Maybe perhaps backgrounds? Like I could do something decent if i wanted to but I’m not into it so I usually just don’t?

17. Do you eat or drink while drawing?

I take breaks… but while actively drawing? I often drink aka let the horny demons out while I enjoy whiskey lol.

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you’ve broken?

Broken broken? Next to fucking none? some charcoal sticks but otherwise…. None… I majority do digital art so really nothing to break there lol

19. Fave inanimate objects to draw?

Idk? I like doing life charcoal drawings? Of whatever, but particularly statues if that counts? I usually have living beings as my subjects.

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy?

Ok, I hate this question, cause we are all good at different things. Maybe it’s just most of those I follow have different strengths than me???? But I guess if I had to pick, recreating from life(or picture) is a lot easier for me than some others(like making it life like/very accurate).

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways?

Yooo, anything I’ve reblogged honestly. Love everyone.

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing?

Absolutely none, again don’t let the pros know cause damn. But I will do stretches or take breaks as needed.

23. Do you use different layer modes?

Absolutely. Mostly for lighting and shading but yes, if I’m doing digital imma take advantage of it.

24. Do your references include stock images?

Yes? I don’t really understand what it’s asking?

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were not inspired by?

Idk? I don’t usually get feedback of that sort.

26. What’s a piece that’s viewed a wildly different interpretation from what you intended?

Again idk? I guess my shit is straight forward?

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff?

Almost never, again don’t let the pros know lol I do sometimes jump between pieces or start a new sketch before going to something farther along.

28. Any art events you have participated in, like zines?

Nope, wanted to and have tried before but I tend to NOT do something if I feel pressured to do it.

29. Media you love but doesn’t inspire you artistically?

Again I feel like this is a weird question or maybe it’s just my understanding of it but I can feel inspiration from all sort of artist shit even if it’s something I’ll never do(ex making a crochet animal or dioramas). I guess I can feel inspired to create from other creators even if it’s not direct inspiration/subject/medium.

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated?

Underrated as in no one has seen aside from a few people irl would be my colored pencil pieces I did during afternoon naps when I worked at a daycare a few years ago.

[writing-for-life]

Hellooooooooo if you’re still doing the fandom ask game— can i ask 6, 7, 14?? 😊💜

I am so happy you found the way into my inbox, @safeuphigh

Here we go:

6. something you see in art a lot and love

Dream and some sort of cosmic/stellar references, be they stars, night skies, constellations, nebulae, whether they’re part of him or he’s surrounded by them.

Plus, I am the #sparkle content curator, so there’s definitely that, and there’s no shortage of Dream thirst art 🤣

7. your favorite tropes to read/write/draw

First of all: Tropes are good! They help with genre expectations (and also with sales), so we have to stop feeling icky about them and just go “that one’s for me, that one isn’t.”

Reading and writing, because I like roughly the same in both:

I admit it, I am a sucker for soulmates. I know it’s mostly unrealistic (or maybe it isn’t, because I’ve definitely found mine. Maybe the unrealistic bit is rather that people assume that’s where the work ends?), but I just can’t help it.

Unbreakable codes and rules (and the chaos that ensues because naturally, someone has to break them).

Older characters as mentors (really).

Puzzles and MacGuffins.

The Quest/Hero(ine)s Journey (yes, it’s a series of tropes)

Paying the price.

Righting Past Wrongs.

And of course, Love is always the answer (doesn’t have to be romantic love).

In art:

I don’t know, I find that much harder because if I think of my own art, I draw both abstract and realistic, and different tropes work very differently (or not at all) in different art styles for me. Maybe sad eyes, distant stares, male lines/female curves (which isn’t the same as broad shoulders and big tits 🤣)?

14. the ship that always makes you smile

Difficult because I don’t really ship that much.

In terms of crack ships, it obviously has to be Muhulhu.

And definitely Morpheus/Thalia (my OFC), because they just make me laugh and cry. They don’t even ask anymore if I think something makes sense because they just know what makes sense to them and shamelessly use me to bring it to the page.

And Lucien(ne)/Merv? They just make me cackle as a ship. I always imagine them to have this “we’ve been together for aeons, love each other while simultaneously getting on each other’s nerves, but we laugh about the same shit and roll our eyes at the same nonsense”-energy to me. Fly on the wall-material…

[walkingcorpse03]

hi!! I loved your anime recommendations, especially the ones about romance, I watched them all and I agree with you on them! so I wanted to ask you if you have more recs on the same genre :) or just ones that you really like please! thank you in advance!

Hello !!!! thank you so much for the ask !! I’m happy you liked the recs :)  I’d like to know more about your thoughts on them if you're comfortable because they are some of my favorites,, 

anyways, I’ve taken a break from anime for a while, but I do have a few more recs for you if you haven’t already seen them:  (this is a very weird mix of anime btw, the themes can jump from complete fluffy goodness to emotional damage so sorry in advance for the very mixed bag I have constructed for you)

1. Sasaki to Miyano

I love this anime so much, it’s so wholesome and it’s always refreshing to me to see lgbtq+ pairings that aren’t absolutely toxic. It follows a boy named Miyano and he slowly starts gaining feelings for Sasaki and coming to terms with his sexuality. All of the characters are super lovable too which is always a plus. Its short, light on angst, and a super cute watch! (Genre: Slice of Life, Romance / 13 Episodes) 

2. Orange

Orange put me through some things I’m not gonna lie. It was a very emotional watch for me and that’s why it’s so high up on the list. it’s a bit of a slower anime and it has a lot of layers, but I really enjoyed it personally. It kind of had similar vibes to My Little Monster, but it does have a darker plot. It also has a cool time travel/sci-fi twist without making it to technical (just how I like it). You can really feel for a lot of the characters and I think it makes for a very captivating story. I would recommend it to anyone. (Genre: Drama, Slice of Life, Romance / 13 Episodes)

3. Umibe no Etranger/The Stranger by the Shore

This is a movie, but it’s absolutely stunning. The art and animation is so cool and as an artist I really found myself appreciating the amount of detail. Every scene is gorgeous. It takes place on an island where two people re-connect and fall in love. There’s angst, happiness, and a really pretty vibe to the whole thing. It’s not my favorite, but I do think it’s worth a watch. (Genre: Drama, Romance) 

4. Beastars

okay hear me out-- This anime is a little out there, but genuinely really good. The characters being animals threw me off, but the story and the world is insanely well planned and thought out and I was hooked from episode one. It’s definitely not your typical romance, in fact it’s barely a romance, but its definitely present and a part of the the main storyline. It has dark themes and the storytelling is really good. I give this anime an 11/10 and I say that with my full chest. It's just really different from other shows and my pattern-scouting brain can normally guess the plot of an anime by episode three, but not this one, I genuinely had no idea where it was going.  (Genre: Drama, " Coming-of-age Drama Fantasy” / 2 Seasons)

5. Horimiya

Just a silly little anime that I did really like. Sometimes I like taking a break from stories that really drag me into the plot and the emotion and just watch lighthearted things that can take my mind off stress for a little bit, and this anime falls into that category. The characters are very modern and the story was actually really refreshing so if you're looking for something like that then this is definitely an anime you should consider watching,, the art style is also gorgeous.  (Genre: Romance, Shojo / 13 Episodes)

6. Romantic Killer

A funny/lighthearted anime to mix in with the group incase you would rather save yourself from any angst. It was corny and fun to watch and the art style is really bright and pretty. I also really liked the character designs. I really had to give the anime a good fighting chance, but I did like it after a few episodes. It follows a girl who finds herself stuck in all sorts of stereotypical/trope type romantic scenarios with multiple love interests and she’s just like “this is a no from me” the entire time and it made for a fun watch. It helped take my mind off the day to day, and it’s nice when a show can do that. (Genre: Romantic comedy, Comedy drama / 12 Episodes)

That’s all the romance/romance-ish recs I have at the moment, sorry it took me second to respond I wanted to sit down and answer it correctly when I had the time to do it,, but like I said, send me your full thoughts about them if you're comfortable I’d love to hear and I hope you like some of these ones as well!! 

- Have a nice day !!

[southernageless]

Blog Post 6 - Who Am I?

Happy Monday!

I have always considered myself intertwined into art. Whether it’s been painting, drawing, photography, writing, or performing, I have always felt at home in the arts.

When I started my path to being a teacher, I had to take elementary education classes and in one, we studied Eric Carle. I fell in love with his collage-art style and started making my own collages. My favorite is an eye (below) I made using construction paper scraps from my students arts and crafts.

For class this week, we made our personal history collage, and it made me think, “who am I?”

Here is my personal collage:

I want to start by explaining the photos.

Top left and middle right- I love music. My boyfriend and I have our own love languages, but music is something we share. I make a point to go to at least 2 concerts a year, if not more. Music is my escape. When the world is crumbling or my life is excelling, music magnified my emotions or becomes my escape.

Top middle and middle left- I am adopted, but I lived with my biological family for 8 years and still talk to some of them today. A big part of my biological family is our heritage. My family is “Cheromanian.” That is the fun word we made for our culturally blended family. My moms family is a part of the Eastern Band of Cherokees. My maternal grandparents met on the reservation and lived there until my mom came along and then they moved to Wyoming. When I was on the way, they moved back and had me outside of the reservation because my fathers beliefs and culture was different and some other chaos and what not. My dads family is Romanian. I have fallen in love with the culture and have tried to learn more about it since my dad passed last year. Interesting fact - most people assume “Romani” is the same as Romanian, and assume “gypsies” (please don’t use this term) are from Romania. However, Romani came from India mostly, and only 8% of the Romanian population is Romani.

Top Right - I have learned to love myself. I am okay with who I am today, however, I know that I am a better person when my better half, my best friend, my partner, my love is by my side. I love being Austin’s partner and I love when I get to take care of him or cook for him. Not every person likes that, and there is no right or wrong way to love, but I show my love by acts of kindness, and I absolutely love getting to love him.

Middle - I am a survivor and as a teacher, I try to advocate for any of my students who feel like they are unsafe, in dangerous relationships, or have no choice. It is an extremely gray area and is not talked about enough, but when I was in school, I did not have teachers who were open with their students. When I was assaulted, everyone pointed fingers and victim blamed. My voice was taken and I was not given the choice to press charges or stand up for myself. If even one teacher had told me they could in some way relate to what I was feeling, so much would have been different. Because of the choices that were taken from me, I never want my students to suffer that way. I try to always be honest with them. They know when I am at a low. They know when my life is soaring. They know that I have trauma and I will never not tell my story. My choices were taken, but I want to live in a world where “My body, my choice” means something. I want my kids to be raised where they feel safe.

Bottom left - I love art. I began pour painting about 3 years ago and it is such a rush of serotonin for me. There is something calming and thrilling about the process and I want very much to get back into it soon!!

Bottom right - I believe everyone is entitled to their beliefs. I respect the beliefs of others, even if I do not necessarily agree with them. I grew up in the Appalachian Mountains and fell in love with nature. Both of my cultures have faith deeply rooted in nature and the more I dove into the histories of my family, the closer I became to nature. I am pagan and I know that my faith is considered taboo. I know the slander that is associated and the rumors that circulate. We are called demon worshippers, satanists, evil, etc., however, what many don’t understand is that a lot of us believe in God. We use our beliefs and faith in positive ways l, so don’t let a few bad seeds define us all.

[moonlight-coffeebean-147]

Doodles featuring @twistedtummies2 ocs ft. Usagi. Or as I like to call it… late night doodles to distract myself from how I’m being boiled alive in my apartment/hj (The boiler’s being garbage)

1. Not much to say other than it’s just based on a meme 😂 And I love Smitty’s confused face here

2 & 3

It’s super funny drawing Elias as dog images 😂 Especially with the second which I felt goes perfectly with that part in Chapter two of his introduction story. There is a third one that is still a w.i.p. But I might finish it. Btw…. At this point I’m basically gonna be known as the “Elias artist” aren’t I? 😂/lh

4. I was originally gonna do all of your Twisted ocs… but I need to at least try to sleep it’s like 3 AM 😭. Plus to me it’d be poetic for me since these four were the characters that were the most developed and I grew the most familiar with when I first discovered your page. With this I added how I drew their eyes… since I’m trying to practice with eye style variety. Technical details:

Nakoda: I’ve actually doodled him once in one of my sketchbooks before. And he was actually fairly easy to draw, I’ve had ocs that had similar hair to him before. And… I have plenty of ocs who are just as flirtatious as he is and have made the exact look I drew him with 😂

Billy: Other than Elias… he was the easiest to draw and figure out how he’d work in my style. I was at first worried about his hair since it was my first time drawing his kind of hairstyle and I’m not that used to drawing short hair. But it actually worked out. It also helped that he’s similar to one of my own giant ocs in terms of personality. Fun fact, to the point where I almost thought he had freckles… which is a trait on my oc… but he doesn’t so… 👌

Elias: Is it obvious who my favorite is 😭

Reno: ……I’m just gonna say it. His hair SUCKED to draw 😭😂 I don’t know if it’s because I’m tired… the heat was getting to me.. or what… but his hair was not working out. Like with Billy I’ve at least drawn hair similar to his in the past… with Reno it was like the first time I’ve ever drawn that hairstyle in general. Even now I’m still not that happy with it… even in the first doodle. Like bruh I just 🥲I know that’s probably just me being over critical of myself since this does count as fanart of someone’s ocs, not just that, but someone who I admire the work of, believe me my years of participating in Art Fight has familiarized me with that feeling but just….. don’t be an artist guys 😭/j. Maybe when I do the others I’ll redo him.

5. ….Usagi going through how I feel right now

Don’t know who’s next to her… could be any of the pred lads… Insert “Twisted Wonderland isn’t an Otome Game” joke here. Though I do think this could be an interesting Vore concept… being so hot and just done that even the idea of being in a warm stomach is just… “bruh can you not?” 😂. Btw… this is how Usagi acts when their in one of her moods… a lot more snappy, sarcastic, and blunt with their wording…. I wish your bois good luck with that. Also fact about Usagi is that they literally have trouble finding pjs their size since she’s a frail little thing.

Also fair warning to all the Vore enthusiasts.. it’s not necessarily a big kink for me, hell it’s why safe Vore is in the neutral section of my pinned post so in turn….. I don’t take it seriously. I very much make a lot more jokes and memes involving it.

6. To end things off… this

Death stare Usagi. Is not something to be messed with. They may be small… but they will bite and is legitimately terrifying sometimes.

Would like to know reactions to not even just Usagi, the Prefect in general making this face 😂

Anyways that’s all from me for tonight…. Or morning technically lol

Moon signing off… wish me luck in this heat. Art is hard

[justcallmelivvy]

Virtual Sketchbook #4

4/1/2024 - 4/14/2024

Part 1 - Writing, Thinking, & Looking Critically “I want you to see the artist Jackson Pollock at work and think deeply about the style of Abstract Expressionism/Action Painting. How did Jackson Pollock go from studying with Thomas Hart Benton and using abstract imagery in his paintings to removing all imagery in his famous ‘drip’ paintings? This answer should be thoughtful and at least 6 sentences long.”

My favorite quote from the video on Canvas came from Jackson Pollock himself when he stated, “I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them.” I believe this quote summarizes the power of his “drip” paintings and explains why they became so popular despite having no direct imagery. Although he spent time studying with Thomas Hart Benton and practicing abstract imagery, it seems as though nothing that can be learned out of a traditional art textbook or class could capture what he really wanted to accomplish with his art, which is expressing his feelings without anything else interfering. From his art, it seems as though he did not want the audience to find any meaning behind it directly, but rather just feel the intentions of the artwork and understand the emotions behind it. Having imagery attached to his work would just be a distraction from his intentions to the audience, so he scrapped it entirely. Overall, Pollock’s work seems to symbolize what abstract art is about without all the fancy terms or mystical, confusing explanations thus far: abstract art is not about what you see, but what you feel.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Part 2 - Art Project (Abstract/Non-Representational Artwork) “Create an ORIGINAL abstract, non-representational artwork. It can be a photograph, a drawing, a painting or digital artwork. My advice: Use something as your inspiration – examples include a favorite memory, a song, an object you treasure, or someone that is important to you. Convey your meaning without using anything that represents something in ‘real’ life (imagery).”

This is my abstract, non-representational artwork that I titled “Pastime.” It was inspired by a video game I play in my spare time and all the unique character options available within it. I chose some of my favorite elements from their designs, especially their unique color palettes. Working on this piece gave me a new light on abstract art, as I am usually somewhat critical about abstract artworks. However, this piece has meaning to me, and I know what each element of the artwork means to me specifically. After seeing Pollock's work, I think that is what abstract art is about.

[snherrett211]

Term Project #6: Tags

Tagging is probably one of my favorite mediums of art. Its illegality in certain locations gives it a sort of forbidden medium feeling that creates an intriguing rebellious nature in the world of design. Locations where tagging has become an accepted form of art in ways that are commissioned by cities or towns has given more life to urban locations.

This particular tag that I created tries to lean towards the more classic and rushed style of tagging. The letters are implemented as part of the whole, creating the phrase "RUSH" all while imitating a pair of eyes and nostrils on a silly looking face. The swirl help s to guide the viewer's eyes around the composition. It's a bit simple, but I believe that simplicity lends to the crude nature of the more common (and often destructive) tagging seen in smaller towns. I'd love to try more stylized illustrations like this. I think the underground style of tagging is one that appears very rarely, but should be more prevalent in unique compositions.

Possible Chosen Topics:

Ransom Notes: Mysterious, Anonymous, Intimidating

Tags: Organic, Rushed, Troublesome

Mono-Alphabets: Singular, Simple, Streamlined

Chosen Topic: Tags: "The creative nature of tagging gives such an underground feeling to art that I personally love exploring"

Keywords: Rush, Spray, Sign, Name

Software: Photoshop

[beforecolin]

the purpose of this blog is to give a place to the abundance of words and images that i am constantly in the midst of processing. it should serve as a place to put my thoughts, a record of my thinking that i can refer back to. It is, of course, mostly for my own benefit, and it is my hope that this blog will keep me accountable to myself. Its a way of pretending what i do matters, without being too precious about it. And it’s fun because someone else can look at it if they want.

it’s funny when i pursue threads of interest that seem new, but suddenly reveal their connectedness to a whole web of previous interests. It is odd how i discovered the term art brut. i’ve been playing around with generating images with midjourney recently and one of the features that is a real boon of the software is that you can tell it to describe an image for you. so i plugged in an image that i created with it and had it describe it to me, and one of the neat things that happens is that it will give you names of artists along with other critical terminology from art theory. in this case i was pursuing an image rendered in a childlike style.

i had just recently gotten chatgpt to write the three little pigs in the nouveau roman style of alain robbe-grillet, the results of which were hilarious (the real joke of it, though, was that the output was evidence of a poor and reductive understanding of what robbe-grillet is really up to). one edition of my prompts was “poorly drawn, bad drawing, big bad wolf, drawn by a 3 year old with no drawing skills, "the wolf, a mere occurence" is legibly written in the piece depicting a scene with the big bad wolf and the three little pigs” ; another, “the big bad wolf with the phrase, ‘the wolf, a mere occurence’ included in the image, drawn by a 5 year old boy born in north carolina in 1993 with adhd and no artistic skill.” i really wanted to emphasize the poorly drawn, childlike style of the output. midjourney is so good at “good,” i wanted to see how it dealt with the bad. in some sense it failed to fail. every image it produced was compositionally perfect, but rendered with “loose, gestural mark-making,” as it so described itself. one of the things that worked out in an interesting way involved the text. “the wolf, a mere occurrence,” a line from the robbe-grillet three little pigs that encapsulated the dead-pan humor of it, never quite made into the image with perfect legibility. i was making these on the day midjourney released an update that was supposed to make text more legible, but it was still failing to get it right. The fact that AI is so bad at writing legible text is perfect for a prompt that includes within it the form of poor execution, as was the case with these. These are still some of my favorite images i’ve made with midjourney.

just before i had the idea to do the three little pigs, i was trying these ideas: “the annunciation drawn by a 5 year old boy born in 1993 with mediocre drawing skills and adhd” and “assumption of mary drawn by a 6 year old boy with adhd born in 1993” traditional themes rendered in a childlike style. In my approach to creation in general there is always a predominance of the recombinatory, so it is no surprise that it occurred to me to enact a conceptual juxtaposition like this before doing something more obvious like children’s story (albeit a version already corrupted by the nouveau roman, granted) in a children’s style. but once i discovered art brut, i began doing a lot of research on jean dubuffet. like, a lot. i will get into that more, but one of the things i read in a book titled Brutal Aesthetics said that dubuffet was interested in the “treatment of traditional themes with childish techniques.” this is part of what we are seeing in his Woman Pinning Up Her Hair and Childbirth. It was a moment of recognition, like, oh, i was thinking of doing something that has been done in a serious way. Art brut and jean dubuffet came as validating discovery. And this is something i’m excited about.

There is an essential irony to learning the history and tradition of a fascination with childlike drawing that exemplifies the paradox that was central to dubuffet’s understanding of art brut. In general it is a twist in the nature/culture distinction that mirrors other oppositions in play with the child, the naive, the innocent, on the side of nature, and the corrupted adult on the side of culture. “Dubuffet”, Hal Foster writes, “was on the side of the very acculturation that he lamented.” Art brut cannot be made consciously. Art made in the style of art brut can never be art brut, and that is ok. I can make a childlike drawing, but it will only be childlike, not a drawing made by a child. Unless i’m really just a 30 year old child, which is probably closer to the truth, and that is where we want to be. But the paradox is even more murky, aas we proceed with kettle logic: on the one hand there is no way of truly coaxing the childlike into enacting itself so that we can harness the pure essential quality of the child, but on the other hand, we can, because the child never existed, not in a pure, prelapsarian sate, not prior to but always already after corruption, somehow both before and after the fall. there is a mystical way of intuing this that is valuable and that I pursue alongside with a scientific approach, with measurable, quantifiable phenomena that fit into an analytic framework (mystic-child / scientist - man)(we will have to add briccoleur / engineer to this dichotomy soon, as dubuffett and levi-strauss were in direct correspondence and engagement with one another’s work. central to my thinking is a keen attentiveness to the ways we might create, enact, discover, invent the denaturalized child, that a precultural entity doesn’t exist as a static being but a state of becoming, and in a spot, for a moment, the mystical mind of the child exists and is born, distorted, and cataylzed by the knowledge of the acculturated. That it is never fully precultural, but that when it is, as animal, as child, as savage, as madman, it becomes so by the preexistence of a culture that it has not yet encountered itself. When the libido of a culture is liberated, it is a moment of recognition of that which it condemns externally as integral to its consistency as a distinct body. “insofar as it liberates libinal instincts, these instincts are sadistic,” and my thinking is informed by De Sade the dialectician. my feeling is more or less this: perhaps kid art can only fully become kid art when a man does it. and that kid art is always made by a little man. art brut, the childlike, is kin to the hard, indigestible kernel of the real that resists symbolic order while also serving as grounds for a new symbolic order. and with the author of brutal aestetics again, “Dubuffet and Bataille in particular seize on negative remainders, such as the brut and the informe, that appear to resist any cultural assimilation.”

kids are little men with their own rigorous schemata. everything i do in my work is in some sense chasing children, just as they chase me away from the playground, they’re a terrifying mob of bullies and mad scientists. all grounds are playgrounds. who says we can’t work on the playground? working with these images i realize that this quality of loose, gestural mark making was one of the central qualities i am in pursuit of in some way, in terms of the defining characteristics of kid art. (but, for me, it may turn out that largely what i will come to understand as the defining characteristics of kid art happen to coincide with the criteria for good art in general.) it is a recovery of raw vision without nostalgia, with new directions toward the child to come. kids are little men of knowledge with their own rigorous schemata, and according to student of bergson and pioneer in the study of child art, georges-henri luquet, they have a logically consistent framework that informs (l’informe) their works to a large degree. before kids learn the convention of visual, perspecitval realism, they are enmeshed in something Luquet called intellectual realism. this is when children draw things not really as they see them, but as they know them. one technique by which this is evidenced is one that relies on an objective notion of transparency: when a kid draws a shoe, you can often still see the toes on the feet through the shoe.

Foster quoting Luquet:

“According to Luquet, intellectual realism is governed by “internal models”; the object depicted by the child exists in her mind more than in the world, and she is faithful to this mental type more to any mundane referent.19 Indeed, she aims to conserve this model at all cost. Hence her sign for a horse or a house will reappear, in whole or part, in drawing after drawing (Luquet called this insistence “graphic automatism”), and if the image seems wrong to the child, she will simply do it over

on the same piece of paper. What defines the internal model is its “exemplarity”; it “is not meant to represent an individual object or person, but a category of objects.” To achieve this goal of “a generic image,” the child works “to present the greatest number, if not all, of the essential elements of the represented object, and to pre- serve each in its characteristic shape, ‘in itself,’ as it were.”It is this imperative that leads the child to her intellectual realism, which adults see as distortion but she regards as fidelity, and in this matter she proceeds logically.”

children are extreme idealists of Tlönian order (hlör u fang axaxaxas mlö).

from Brutal Aesthetics:

“For the art of children, which he included in the art brut collection from the beginning, speaks directly to his anti-aesthetic then in emergence: it has a strong claim on the moti- vated (children draw “solely for their own personal satisfaction,” not for others like parents and teachers), on the fundamental (according to Luquet, this art reveals prime elements of picture-making), and on the general (we were all child artists once). This last point was especially important to Dubuffet; again and again he favored generality over specificity. Of course, these broad concerns with the necessary, the essential, and the universal are quintessentially modernist; so too are the particular qualities typical of child drawing, such as flatness of image, frontality of figure, ambiguity between horizontal and vertical planes, and composition understood as tabulation more than as tableau.”

composition understood as tabulation more than as tableau. I’ve thought about this line a lot since i read it because i think it is another articulation of something i had been searching for in art in general, and it made explicit for me the connection between kid art and outsider art by way of defining a particular aesthetic characteristic, something like the aesthetic of the diagram. this is also where the child and the madman are connected. much in the way that children are faithful to internal models as they compose, as they are drawing what they know, so too is the schizophrenic, or other people that experience life in a way that has been, either or both internally or externally characterized as atypical, biologically and or socially, who i will simply refer to as the madman. (it seems apt that a dedication to a logic of exemplarity would be found to be a guiding principle in those that have somehow been deemed exceptional or exemplary.) supposedly what separates the fantastical compositions of a madman from those of the common man is the fact that for the madman, what is depicted, though fanciful, is not an imagined abstraction of the world and how they see it but a faithful representation of it. it is plain to see that these are the faultlines around which faulter the distinction between the common man and the exceptional man. perhaps it is only ever a difference in degree of deviation from the accepted image of thought, varying in degrees of abnormality against the standard scale of the normal. again the nature culture divide comes back here but with new stakes, perhaps we are less willing to admit that this dichotomy penetrates the substrate of something we hold to be so foundational as a a cognitive science of human perspective, that there is, at some level an equivalence in what we mean when we say, respectively, how we see the world (neuro-bio-physiologically) and how we see the world (culturally, aesthically). this reveals to me another question that recurs for me which has to do with speculating upon the relative spatio-temporal relation of position with regards to perception and interpretation and their (im)possible simultinaeity and/or coincidence (or maybe kant really did already settle this: “thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts blind”). for the madman, the world is regular so he makes regular things. for the common man, the world is wonky so he makes things wonky.

[interact-if]

Day 6 of the interviews! Introducing Adrian! 

Adrian, author of The Twilight Order & The Mystic Pawn 

People With Disabilities Month Featured Author

You are a Seer: a respected member of the Twilight Order. Seers are bound to a Nightmare, making them the only mortals capable of Void magic and, thus, the only ones capable of neutralizing the Nightmare threat. Seers are honored for their sacrifice, as their power, while necessary, is a death sentence. Most die violent deaths from the corruption or simply go insane in only a few short years.

Not you, though. You are special. You didn’t choose the position, train vigorously for years, or undergo the binding ritual that would forcibly meld a Nightmare to your psyche. Your Nightmare has always been there, seemingly because they want to be.

You were brought to the Order as a child when your abilities became known. After many years of study, tests, and training, you have made a name for yourself as one of the most potent Seers in history.

Now the Order is sending you to investigate Void activity reports out of Alli vi Piugio, capital of the merchant kingdom of Chepria. While there, it has become quickly apparent there is more going on than meets the eye.

Figures that being ’special’ would mean you have to literally save the world.

Demo TBA | Discord | Art Blog | Read more about The Twilight Order [here] & The Mystic Pawn [here]

Tags: Psychological Horror, Thriller, Fantasy, 18+

(INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!) 

Q1. So, tell us a little bit about the projects you're working on!

Currently, I'm working on two different active projects, The Twilight Order (TTO) and The Mystic Pawn (TMP)!

Let's begin with TTO, since it's my first and primary project. To start, it is enormous!  Way bigger than TMP in terms of story length, variability, and code complexity. It's also much more severe and dark in tone, predominantly falling into the psychological horror/thriller genre. I'm really into psychology and sociology, and TTO reflects this by being a story about exploring and questioning morality at its core. I'm aiming to provoke thought about what makes 'good' things good and 'bad' things bad and why we tend to assume the 'hero' of a story isn't the one with blood on their hands. It's designed to have no particular right or wrong choices but still force you to face the consequences of your actions. Suffice to say, the story is heavy.

This is why The Mystic Pawn is a complete genre switch to a lighthearted slice-of-life romance-focused story! TMP is set up much more like your traditional dating sim kind of game, with specific 'routes' to pursue rather than an overarching plotline. It's designed to be a fun, feel-good game that's heavily indulgent in the 'happy ending' department! Call it a break from the heavier aspects of real-life and darker stories. Plus, everyone needs a romanceable dragon or two in their lives, in my opinion.

Also, both these projects will feature CGs! Since I also enjoy doing art, I figured it would be fun to introduce a few visual novel aspects to my IFs. Also, as a bit of a teaser, once I finish TMP I'm plotting to make a full-fledged VN about romancing villains, but that project is technically unannounced and on the backburner. So, uh... shh, keep it secret!

Q2. What has been your favorite thing about interactive fiction as a medium? What are some of the biggest challenges?

Variability is my answer for both, actually! I've always loved choose-your-own-adventure style games, as well as games that employ 'choices matter' dynamics. Personally, I feel interactive fiction, as a medium, takes the best parts of both those things and wonderfully expands on them. It is so much fun to explore all the choices that can be made and how they impact the story and characters as you go along. Plus, there's a level of depth to the storytelling that I think is easier to achieve through a novel format than in graphical form, which makes it so easy to get immersed into IFs.

On the flip side, as an author, I struggle with limiting that variability. I have lots of ideas and a huge desire to give as much freedom of choice and customization as possible, to really make every choice feel like it matters, but... Doing so is, frankly, rarely feasible. My biggest hurdle has truly been finding a balance between having variability and keeping the story on track and actually possible to write. After all, nothing will ever get finished if I spend all my time writing 8 billion variations on a single scene. Alas.

Q3. What is something you're excited to explore within your work?

Psychology! I cannot stress this enough! I am especially looking forward to seeing how different readers respond to the scenarios and characters in my stories. How people from different walks of life will perceive the same situation, and what drives them to make their individual choices. I am especially hoping to see people asking questions about why they made their choices, too. To confront their own beliefs and explore new ideas. Er... maybe that's too heavy or creepy of me, but I am an observer by nature, and I just find the things that make people tick absolutely fascinating.

But, on a less 'wow-this-author-is-a-weirdo' note, I am also excited to explore the stories of my main casts. I am admittedly a much better character writer than a narrative writer, so there is always heavy focus on each of the main cast's own development both towards/with the MC, towards each other, and towards their individual histories. It's been enjoyable to explore already!

Q4. Has your disability influenced your work? Whether it's worldbuilding, the design, the process, and positive or negative--what is your advice in working with your disability and being creative?

They absolutely have, often in pretty big and fundamental ways across the board. I, uh, will do my best not to get on my soapbox with this answer!

From a creative perspective, I do my utmost to normalize the existence of disabilities and disabled people in my stories/worlds. Remind everyone that disabled people are still people, and that having a different version of 'normal, everyday life' than someone who is able-bodied doesn't somehow change that fact, define their whole existence, or make their version of normal inherently inferior. Call it my way of combating how real life is commonly viewed exclusively through an able-bodied lens, where 'disability' is treated as a word with undesirable/negative context.

I'd say this goal pops up in my projects both subtly and more obviously, too. Sometimes, it manifests in worldbuilding, like a society that considers the needs of their disabled populace by default in their civic designs. Sometimes it's in the characters, as mental and physical disabilities are featured among the majority of my casts. I have also included the option for the MCs of my projects to be disabled, should the player want, and have made sure that choice actually reflects in the narrative and isn't just some superficial add-on.

So, yeah. From a creative standpoint alone, big influence!

As for process and the other, more tangible aspects of things, the most significant impact comes from my timeline. Specifically, that a realistically doable timeline will be a loooot longer for me than for someone who is able-bodied. I do my best to be mindful of my health, remind myself that it's okay to take my time, and try to set small goals for myself as I go along. And I think that's actually the best advice I could offer to anyone pursuing something similar. Remember to be kind to yourself, that it's not a race or competition, and it's okay to go slow if you need to. Baby steps are still steps, after all!

Q5. What's an accessibility issue you see glazed over a lot in IF? and what accessibility features would you like to see implemented more in IF?

One of the significant hurdles I've been thinking about is platform support for screenreaders. Some IF engines support them natively, others don't, and some would, but the way the game host presents the finished product breaks things. It would be wonderful to get native support across the board and get web hosts to stop using code that breaks that support.

Also, I would love to continue seeing tutorials & advice by IF devs about coding and designing IFs. I know that might not immediately seem like an accessibility thing. Still, code can be hard to grasp, and coding tutorials are often written in jargon or assume that someone already knows the basics. The tutorials and advice I've seen other IF devs post approach these topics in much easier-to-understand language and from a practical application standpoint, making the concepts much easier to grasp. And I just think that's super cool and helpful for anyone struggling to understand stuff.

Q6. What is something you'd love to see in interactive fiction?

I thought about this for a while and kept coming back to the same point, so I'm just going to go with it: at the extreme risk of painting a target on my back, I am going to say that I would really love to see more critical thinking, understanding, and kindness in the IF community. I don't believe it to be a problem in the majority by any means, but even so, it seems there's new drama or hate messages being sent every week. So I just think it would, you know, be nice if we could all be a little kinder to each other? Maybe? ...Please???

Q7. Any advice to give to aspiring devs?

Before anyone else, make sure you are creating for yourself. And, above all, remember to be kind to yourself along the way.